The Harmful Impacts of Microplastics in the Marine Environment- A Review

Microplastics as emerging and unfamiliar contaminants have been considered by researchers during the last decades. These small particles and fragments, typically have a size less than 5 mm and could penetrate into the marine environments by different ways, threatening the environment and animal health. Therefore, in this study, according to the studies by different researchers, this pollutant is introduced and some of its effects are mentioned in marine environments. One impacts of microplastics on marine organisms, such as marine vertebrates and invertebrates, arise from direct ingestion of plastic fragmentS by the marine biota leading into internal injuries. They also can have negative effects on the distribution of certain species of marine organisms, which they oviposit on the surface of these contaminants. Chemical adsorption is the most important impact of microplastics in marine environments, which not only transfers pollution, but also increases environmental resistance of these contaminants. Recent research works on the effects of microplastics pollution in the marine environment emphesis that permanent and continous monitoring of these materials and discovery of the pollution hotspots is crucial in environmental issues

The structure Biology and Application of Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in Phytomedicine: With special up-to-date references to lectins

Lectins first discovered more than 100 years ago in plants, they are now known to be present throughout nature. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA), the lectin extract from the red kidney bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris), contain potent, cell agglutinating and mitogenic activities. They play a role in biological recognition phenomena involving cells and proteins towards medical applications. The present article is a brief review of the history of lectin in nature.  By reviewing the web-based search for all types of peer review articles published, was initiated using ISI web of Sciences and Medline / PubMed, and other pertinent references on websites about lectins. Here, we present a brief account of 100-plus years of lectin research and show how these proteins have become the focus of intense interest for biologists and in particular for the research and applications in medicine. Phytohemagglutinin, has been widely used for mitotic stimulation to human lymphocytes, cell arrest, or apoptosis, potential sources for developing novel  pharmaceutical preparation    and intensive interest for health care services, biologist and phytomedicine  research can be considere

Identification and Prioritization of Effective Interventions in the Control of the COVID-19 Pandemic using DEMATEL Method

Introduction: COVID-19, which appeared in December 2019, has impressed the whole world. The corona virus had far-reaching effects on all health care systems and has had a direct impact on almost all areas of human life in all countries of the world, which has led countries to take various public and social health measures. Making decisions during the coronavirus pandemic has numerous challenges. In this study, a multi-criteria decision-making method called DEMATEL was used to identify and prioritize effective interventions in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Material & Methods:  Effective interventions to control COVID-19 were identified using literature review, and these factors were then ranked employing DEMATEL. Furthermore, three experts specialized in DEMATEL methodology were requested to rank 21 influential factors identified based on the relative importance. Findings: The results of this study showed that prompt and timely public health measures (20/238), home quarantine for patients and carriers (20/130), appropriate patient tracking with the implementation of Shahid Soleimani plan (19/383), the availability of health services and social services during the quarantine (19/239), and educational interventions regarding public acceptance of the vaccine (19/161) are the most important effective interventions in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion & Conclusion: The results of the study showed that 21 interventions were effective in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic .According to the identification and prioritization of effective interventions obtained from this study, using DEMATEL method, it is possible to control coronavirus infection in the community with high accuracy

Experimental studies on the viscosity of Fe nanoparticles dispersed in ethylene glycol and water mixture

In this paper, experimental studies are conducted in order to measure the viscosity of Fe nanoparticles dispersed in various weight concentration (25/75%, 45/55% and 55/45%) of ethylene glycol and water (EG-water) mixture. The experimental measurements are performed at various volume concentrations up to 2% and temperature ranging from 10°C to 60°C. The experimental results disclose that the viscosity of nanofluids increases with increase in Fe particle volume fraction, and decreases with increase in temperature. Maximum enhancement in viscosity of nanofluids is 2.14 times for 55/45% EG-water based nanofluid at 2% volume concentration compared to the base fluid. Moreover, some comparisons between experimental results and theoretical models are drawn. It is also observed that the prior theoretical models do not estimate the viscosity of nanofluid accurately. Finally, a new empirical correlation is proposed to predict the viscosity of nanofluids as a function of volume concentration, temperature, and the viscosity of base fluid

Qualitative Structural Characterization of Two Lignin Samples and Quantitative Determination of Hydroxyl and Methoxyl Functional Groups in Kraft Lignin via Acetylation

In this research, two types of lignin, i.e. one extracted from industrial waste water of the Iran wood and paper (choka) factory as black liquor and another provided from Aldrich company, were studied. Firstly, the lignin was precipitated from its black liquor by a dilute acid and was then purified by dissolving in tetrahydrofuran (THF). Lignin samples were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) spectroscopies. It was found from results that the Aldrich lignin has a structure similar with the lignosulfonate while lignin extracted from black liquor does not have a hydrophilic sulfonate group and has a Kraft lignin structure. Using acetylation of Kraft lignin and complementary characterization with 1HNMR spectroscopy, the ratio of hydroxyl functional groups to methoxy groups was calculated to be 1.11 to 1, and amount of the hydroxyl groups was calculated to be 5.91 mmol/g of acetylated lignin, where 53% of the hydroxyl groups is related to the aromatic hydroxyl groups. By having the molecular weight of the Kraft lignin which was obtained from the gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis of the acetylated Kraft lignin to be 1260 g/mol, average number of the hydroxyl groups per acetylated lignin chain was calculated to be 7.44

Frequency of Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma hominis among the women with vaginal infection in Robat Karim-Tehran (2013)

Background: Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma hominis are among the major causes of vaginosis, which their detection is difficult in culture media. The aim of this study was to compare two detection methods (PCR and conventional culture media) for the determination of frequency of these bacteria among women with vaginal infection. Material and Methods: For this purpose, we conducted a study for patients with bacterial vaginosis admitted to Imam Zaman and Imam Khomeini Hospitals (n=250) in comparison with healthy women with no vaginal infections (n=150). The extracted DNA was used as template to amplify 16srRNA coding gene using specific primers in two separate PCR reactions. Then the data were analyzed using the logistic regression at the P<0.05 significant level. Results: The results indicated that 38 and 46.8 of Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma hominis were positive in culture, while this was the case in 68.8 and 77 of samples in PCR, respectively. The results show that the using PCR for molecular identification of bacteria is highly accurate, sensitive and particularly specific, where the culture negative samples were detected by this method. Conclusion: For the detection of Mycoplasma genitalium and hominis among the vaginotic cases PCR is a highly reliable and sensitive method compared to the culture media. Using specific primers, PCR can confidently detect and separate infectious agents even in the genesis and species level

Short-term survival rates of upper gastrointestinal cancers in rural areas of Golestan province, Iran

Background and Objective: Esophageal and gastric cancers are among the most common and fatal cancers. These are diagnosed at the latest phase and the prognosis is too poor. Due to the importance and high incidence rate of the upper gastrointestinal cancers in Golestan province, this study was conducted to explore the overall survival rate of these patients in rural area of this region. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total of 121 pathologically confirmed esophageal or gastric cancers, with rural place of residence, were retrieved from the cancer registry at the health department in Gorgan. After conducting interview with patients or their relatives, analysis of their sociodemographic and clinicopathologic features was performed. The median survival rate was compared regarding age groups and gender using Kaplan-Meier statistical test. Results: Male to female ratio in esophageal and gastric group were 1.2 to 1 and 3.8 to 1, respectively. Short-term survival rates were 54.76% and 26.2% for esophageal cancer and 66.6% and 37.5% for gastric cancer. Collected information regarding patients’ sociodemographic and clinicophathologic factors did not have significant association with patients’ survival in both esophageal and gastric cancers. The mean survival rate in patient with gastric and esophageal cancers according to age and gender was not significant. Conclusion: This study showed that the overall short-term survival rates for upper gastrointestinal cancers are very low in Golestan province. Therefore the need for intervention the need and allocating more diagnosis and therapeutic resources for upper gastrointestinal cancers are required