Mitochondrial apoptosis induced by Chamaemelum nobile extract in breast cancer cells

Chamaemelum nobile (Asteraceae) commonly known as ‹Roman chamomile› is a medicinal plant used for numerous diseases in traditional medicine, although its anticancer activity is unknown. The present study was carried out to investigate the anticancer as well as apoptotic activity of ethyl acetate fraction of C. nobile on different cancerous cell lines. The cells were treated with varying concentrations (0.001-0.25 mg/mL) of this fraction for 24, 48 and 72 h. Apoptosis induced in MCF-7 cells following treatment with ethyl acetate fraction was measured using Annexin V/PI, flowcytometry and western blotting analysis. The results showed that C. nobile ethyl acetate fraction revealed relatively high antiproliferative activity on MCF-7 cells; however, it caused minimal growth inhibitory response in normal cells. The involvement of apoptosis as a major cause of the fraction-induced cell death was confirmed by annexin-V/PI assay. In addition, ethyl acetate fraction triggered the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway by decreasing the Bcl-2 as well as increasing of Bax protein expressions and subsequently increasing Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Furthermore, decreased proliferation of MCF-7 cells in the presence of the fraction was associated with G2/M phase cell cycle arrest. These findings confirm that ethyl acetate fraction of C.nobile may contain a diversity of phytochemicals which suppress the proliferation of MCF-7 cells by inducing apoptosis. © 2016 by School of Pharmacy Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services

Heavy metals in recycled pastry packages and pastries

The safe use of recycled paper and board material for food packaging applications is a major area of investigations. Therefore, the aim of current study was to evaluate the amount of heavy metals in recycled paper pastry packages and measurement of migration over the time into pastries. In this study, the presence of heavy metals in common confectionery packaging and effects of storage time and kind of pastry on the migration are investigated. The results of the study indicate that harmful metals such as Pb are detected at high concentrations in most of the recycled boxes that are used for pastry packaging, and heavy metals could migrate from the recycled packages into food during usage. It seems that the procedure of preparing recycled paperboard for food packaging should be reconsidered

One-Pot synthesis, characterization and adsorption studies of amine-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles for removal of Cr (VI) and Ni (II) ions from aqueous solution: Kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic studies

Background: Discharge of heavy metals such as hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) and nickel (Ni (II)) into aquatic ecosystems is a matter of concern in wastewater treatment due to their harmful effects on humans. In this paper, removal of Cr (VI) and Ni (II) ions from aqueous solution was investigated using an amino-functionalized magnetic Nano-adsorbent (Fe3O4-NH2). Methods: An amino-functionalized magnetic Nano-adsorbent (Fe3O4-NH2) was synthesized by compositing Fe3O4 with 1, 6-hexanediamine for removal of Cr (VI) and Ni (II) ions from aqueous solution. The adsorbent was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM). Also, the effects of various operational parameters were studied. Results: According to our finding, Fe3O4-NH2 could be simply separated from aqueous solution with an external magnetic field at 30 s. The experimental data for the adsorption of Cr (VI) and Ni (II) ions revealed that the process followed the Langmuir isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity was 232.51 mg g-1 for Cr (VI) at pH = 3 and 222.12 mg g-1 and for Ni(II) at pH = 6 at 298 °K. Besides, the kinetic data indicated that the results fitted with the pseudo-second-order model (R2: 0.9871 and 0.9947 for Cr (VI) and Ni (II), respectively. The results of thermodynamic study indicated that: standard free energy changes (�G�), standard enthalpy change (�H�), and standard entropy change (�S�) were respectively -3.28, 137.1, and 26.91 kJ mol-1 for Cr (VI) and -6.8433, 116.7, and 31.02 kJ mol-1 for Ni (II). The adsorption/desorption cycles of Fe3O4-NH2 indicated that it could be used for five times. Conclusions: The selected metals' sorption was achieved mainly via electrostatic attraction and coordination interactions. In fact, Fe3O4-NH2 could be removed more than 96 for both Cr (VI) and Ni (II) ions from aqueous solution and actual wastewater. © 2016 The Author(s)

Correction to: Indoor and outdoor concentrations of BTEX and formaldehyde in Tehran, Iran: effects of building characteristics and health risk assessment (Environmental Science and Pollution Research, (2018), 10.1007/s11356-018-2794-4)

The original publication of this paper contains a mistake. The correct name and affiliation of the 3rd Author is presented in this paper. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified with iron oxide and silver nanoparticles (MWCNT-Fe<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf>/Ag) as a novel adsorbent for determining PAEs in carbonated soft drinks using magnetic SPE-GC/MS method

The synthesis of compounds with an excellent adsorption capability plays an essential role to remove contaminants such as phthalic acid esters (PAEs) with potential carcinogenic characteristics from different food products. In this context, for the first time, a novel adsorbent (MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag) was synthesized by using iron (magnetic agent), and silver (catalytic and surface enhancer agent) to further approach in a magnetic SPE-GC/MS method for determining of PAEs in carbonated soft drink samples. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values of MSPE-GC/MS were determined in six PAEs as a range of 10.8–22.5 and 36–75 ng/L, respectively. Also, the calibration curves of PAEs were linear (R2 = 0.9981–0.9995) over the concentration level of 10.000 ng/L and the recoveries of the six PAEs were ranging from 96.60% to 109.22% with the RSDs less than 8%. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and transmission electron microscopy analyses (TEM) were utilized to characterize the produced MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag. Based on the findings, the surface of MWCNT is relatively uniform, which became coarser after loading with Fe3O4/Ag particles. Also, EDX spectrum showed the carbon (C), iron (Fe), oxygen (O), Ag and copper (Cu) are the main components of synthesized MWCNTs-Fe3O4/Ag. The successful adhesion of Fe3O4/Ag on the texture of MWCNTs using a co-precipitation method was confirmed by XRD and FT-IR assays. Additionally, excellent crystallinity and clear lattice nanocrystals fringes of prepared MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag was demonstrated by TEM analysis. Based on the obtained VSM images, the prepared sorbent (MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag) has the good magnetic performance for magnetic separation and extraction processes. It was concluded that the synthesized MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag could be used as an efficient adsorbent for determining contaminants such as PAEs in different beverage samples. © 201

Monitoring of salt iodisation programme in Iran; Health outcomes, shortages and perspective

Iodine deficiency disorders include a wide range of metabolic and nonmetabolic disorders including goiter. To control IDDs, the World Health Organization and responsible agencies in countries established daily iodine uptake. Almost all the countries in the world provide the required iodine through salt iodisation. IDDs are not completely eradicable, so monitoring the salt iodisation programme is necessary for control of IDDs. In Iran, a salt iodisation programme was started in 1996. In this study, we took salt samples from all legally produced salt brands in Iran in 30 provinces and measured iodine concentration. The results of the monitoring programme for iodine concentration in schoolchildren's urine was used to compare accessibility to iodized salts and health outcomes. The results show that more than 80 of available salts have a suitable or acceptable concentration of iodine. Despite large variance in iodine concentration in available salt in some provinces, the median of iodine concentration in salts is within an acceptable range. Also, the urinary concentration of iodine (national median = 161) confirms that shortage of iodine intake is very low in Iran. The high rate of salt consumption of the Iranian people also has a significant effect on iodine uptake, but can lead to hyperthyroidism and hypertension that must be controlled. © 2018 Elsevier Gmb

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified with iron oxide and silver nanoparticles (MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag) as a novel adsorbent for determining PAEs in carbonated soft drinks using magnetic SPE-GC/MS method

The synthesis of compounds with an excellent adsorption capability plays an essential role to remove contaminants such as phthalic acid esters (PAEs) with potential carcinogenic characteristics from different food products. In this context, for the first time, a novel adsorbent (MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag) was synthesized by using iron (magnetic agent), and silver (catalytic and surface enhancer agent) to further approach in a magnetic SPE-GC/MS method for determining of PAEs in carbonated soft drink samples. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values of MSPE-GC/MS were determined in six PAEs as a range of 10.8�22.5 and 36�75 ng/L, respectively. Also, the calibration curves of PAEs were linear (R2 = 0.9981�0.9995) over the concentration level of 10.000 ng/L and the recoveries of the six PAEs were ranging from 96.60 to 109.22 with the RSDs less than 8. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and transmission electron microscopy analyses (TEM) were utilized to characterize the produced MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag. Based on the findings, the surface of MWCNT is relatively uniform, which became coarser after loading with Fe3O4/Ag particles. Also, EDX spectrum showed the carbon (C), iron (Fe), oxygen (O), Ag and copper (Cu) are the main components of synthesized MWCNTs-Fe3O4/Ag. The successful adhesion of Fe3O4/Ag on the texture of MWCNTs using a co-precipitation method was confirmed by XRD and FT-IR assays. Additionally, excellent crystallinity and clear lattice nanocrystals fringes of prepared MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag was demonstrated by TEM analysis. Based on the obtained VSM images, the prepared sorbent (MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag) has the good magnetic performance for magnetic separation and extraction processes. It was concluded that the synthesized MWCNT-Fe3O4/Ag could be used as an efficient adsorbent for determining contaminants such as PAEs in different beverage samples. © 201

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified with iron oxide and silver nanoparticles (MWCNT-Fe 3 O 4 /Ag) as a novel adsorbent for determining PAEs in carbonated soft drinks using magnetic SPE-GC/MS method

The synthesis of compounds with an excellent adsorption capability plays an essential role to remove contaminants such as phthalic acid esters (PAEs) with potential carcinogenic characteristics from different food products. In this context, for the first time, a novel adsorbent (MWCNT-Fe 3 O 4 /Ag) was synthesized by using iron (magnetic agent), and silver (catalytic and surface enhancer agent) to further approach in a magnetic SPE-GC/MS method for determining of PAEs in carbonated soft drink samples. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values of MSPE-GC/MS were determined in six PAEs as a range of 10.8�22.5 and 36�75 ng/L, respectively. Also, the calibration curves of PAEs were linear (R 2 = 0.9981�0.9995) over the concentration level of 10.000 ng/L and the recoveries of the six PAEs were ranging from 96.60 to 109.22 with the RSDs less than 8. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and transmission electron microscopy analyses (TEM) were utilized to characterize the produced MWCNT-Fe 3 O 4 /Ag. Based on the findings, the surface of MWCNT is relatively uniform, which became coarser after loading with Fe 3 O 4 /Ag particles. Also, EDX spectrum showed the carbon (C), iron (Fe), oxygen (O), Ag and copper (Cu) are the main components of synthesized MWCNTs-Fe 3 O 4 /Ag. The successful adhesion of Fe 3 O 4 /Ag on the texture of MWCNTs using a co-precipitation method was confirmed by XRD and FT-IR assays. Additionally, excellent crystallinity and clear lattice nanocrystals fringes of prepared MWCNT-Fe 3 O 4 /Ag was demonstrated by TEM analysis. Based on the obtained VSM images, the prepared sorbent (MWCNT-Fe 3 O 4 /Ag) has the good magnetic performance for magnetic separation and extraction processes. It was concluded that the synthesized MWCNT-Fe 3 O 4 /Ag could be used as an efficient adsorbent for determining contaminants such as PAEs in different beverage samples. © 2018 The Author

Photocatalytic Removal of Formaldehyde from Air Using Titanium Oxide-Reduced Graphene Composite

Background and Objective: Formaldehyde is a toxic volatile organic compound, which its removal from polluted air is essential. One of the techniques available for removing such compounds is photocatalytic degradation. The aim of this study was to investigate the photocatalytic degradation of gaseous formaldehyde on TiO2 nanoparticles coated on reduced graphene oxide Materials and Methods: The synthesized reduced graphene oxide- TiO2 nanocomposite was characterized using SEM, EDS, and FTIR spectra. The photocatalytic activity of prepared reduced graphene oxide- TiO2 nanocomposite was investigated for degradation of gaseous toluene under different operational conditions such as different initial concentration, flow rate, and time. Results: The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the RGO-TiO2 nanocomposite was much higher than P25 TiO2. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the RGO-TiO2 nanocomposite decreased by increasing the flow rate so the flow rate is a key factor for the use of RGO-TiO2 nanocomposite as a photocatalyst. The results showed that the photocatalytic degradation rates decreased from 89 to 30% with increasing formaldehyde initial concentration from 0.1 to 1 ppm. Conclusion: This research indicated that RGO-TiO2 nanocomposite can be effectively used as suitable photocatalyst to remove gaseous pollutants. One of the advantages of the as-prepared composite was using visible light instead of UV to activate the oxidation process

Levels Of Bisphenol A And Bisphenol F In Canned Foods In Iranian Markets

Bisphenol A and bisphenol F are chemical substances widely used in industry as monomers in the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonates, and as antioxidants in PVC. Epoxy resins are used as inner surface coating of food and beverage cans. The contamination of cans’ content by bisphenol A and bisphenol F may pose a serious threat to human because of their estrogenic activity. In this study, the concentration of bisphenol A and bisphenol F in 48 cans of different kinds of foods (corn, tomato paste, stew and tuna fish) were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry after solvent extraction with acetonitrile and preconcentration by headspace-solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME). Quantitative analysis was carried out based on spiked calibration samples and analyses were performed for each sample in triplicate. Bisphenol F was not detected in any of the canned foods with detection limits of 0.10 µg/kg.There were significant differences among the mean concentrations of bisphenol A in all kinds of canned foods. The mean concentrations of bisphenol A increased significantly all samples after heating in (ANOVA p< 0.05 and Kruskal-Wallis test p< 0.05); also tuna fish samples were found to be probably the most polluted groups in this study