Aflatoxin M1 contamination of cow’s raw milk in different seasons from Qazvin province, Iran

Aflatoxins are extremely teratogenic, mutagenic, toxic, and carcinogenic compounds. In the present study, 60 cow’s raw milk samples were collected from Qazvin province, Iran during Dec 2015 till July 2016. Enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to determine Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in the milk samples. AFM1 was detected in 34 raw milk samples ranging from 6.25×10-3 to 127.87×10-3 (part per billion). AFM1 contents in all positive samples were far below the US legal limit (0.5 ppb), but AFM1 in30% of the raw milk samples exceeded the EU legal limit (0.05) and 5% of the samples exceeded the Iran legal limit (0.1 ppb). This study indicates a high occurrence of AFM1 in cow’s raw milk especially in winter (40.71×10- 3ppb) but the level of contamination were not significantly different in various seasons (P<0.05). Since contamination of milk with AFM1 is a potential risk for human health, in order to prevent the repetition, milk and milk products should be controlled periodically. The levels of AFM1 contamination of milk in the present study showed that continuous examining of milk is necessary to improve public health and reduce consumer exposure to aflatoxins. Reducing the levels of AFB1 in animal feedstuffs can be regarded as initial step to control the transfer of AFM1 to the humans

The role of coping strategies in the academic engagement of students in Bushehr University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Coping strategies are a set of cognitive and behavioral efforts that are employed to interpret and modify a stressful situation. For students, it seems appropriate to employ coping strategies, which seems to be an important factor for academic achievement. Therefore, this study endeavored to examine the relationship between coping strategies and academic engagement in students of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences in 2017. Methods: This correlational study was performed with 232 undergraduate students of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences through relative stratified random sampling. The instruments were three questionnaires of demographic information and academic achievement of Frederick Bloomfield, as well as a short scale of coping with Andrew Parker's stress conditions. Data analysis was done through independent t-test and Pearson test within the significance level of 0.05. Results: The average age of students was 21.75± 2.72 and most of them were single (86%). The mean score of students' academic motivation was 51/0 2/79 0/51 and the mean score of coping strategies was 2.99 0.43. It was found that there is a direct and significant relationship between the score of coping strategy and the score of academic motivation (p=0. 001). Conclusion: The results reveled that the variable of academic engagement is of special importance in predicting coping strategies in students. As a result, guiding students in the right direction could have positive educational consequences