The nitrate content of fresh and cooked vegetables and their health-related risks

Background Vegetables are the most important source of nitrates in the human diet. During various processes in the body, nitrates are converted into nitrites, which causes various diseases, such as blue baby syndrome and cancer. This study aimed to determine the concentration of nitrates in several vegetable farms in Sanandaj city and to evaluate their health-related risks. Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2017 to July 2018. A total of 90 samples were taken from nine farms. Soil and water sampling was also carried out. All stages of sample preparation and extraction were carried out according to Food Standards 2-16721, and the nitrate measurements were performed using ion chromatography (Compact IC Plus 882 Model, Metrohm, Switzerland). A health risk assessment was performed using the non-carcinogenic risk assessment. Results This study's results showed that the nitrate concertation in all vegetables was less than National Iranian Vegetable Nitrate Standard. Nitrate levels in leafy vegetables were higher than in root vegetables, and the root vegetables levels were higher than those in Fruit vegetable. The nitrate level in vegetables in autumn was higher than in spring. The cooking process reduced the raw vegetables' nitrate content from 4.094% to 13.407%, while the frying process increased the vegetables' nitrate content from 12.46% to 29.93%. The highest health risk level in raw, cooked and fried vegetables was parsley, parsley and beet leaves, respectively, and the lowest in all categories was tomatoes. Generally, the highest health risk was related to fried beet leaves, and the lowest was raw tomatoes. In addition, each of the abovementioned relationships between vegetables' nitrate levels and the harvest season, type of processing procedure and type of vegetables was significant (p < 0.05). The irrigation water's nitrate concentration in all fields was between 12.36 and 33.14 mg/l. The soil contained nitrate levels of between 4.35 and 9.7 mg/kg. Conclusion Based on this study, we can conclude that the amount of nitrates in raw vegetables was lower than the standard limit's level and that this level does not cause health problems for consumers

Synthesis and characterization of a heptadentate (N4O3) schiff base ligand and associated La(ІІІ), Sm(III) AND Gd(III) complexes, and a theoretical study

A new symmetrical potentially heptadentate (N4O3) Schiff base ligand    {N[CH2CH2CH2N=CH(2-OH-5-BrC6H3)]3} (H3L6) and associated neutral Gd(III), La(III) and Sm(III) complexes, were synthesized. The new compounds were characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and mass spectrometry in all cases and in the case of ligand also with NMR spectroscopy. The relative capability of H3L6 to encapsulate a lanthanide ion, herein La(III), has been theoretically studied by ab initio restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) and DFT (B3LYP) methods. The calculation confirmed that the H3L6 ligand can effectively encapsulate a lanthanide ion and enforce a seven-coordinate geometry.KEY WORDS:Ab initio, Heptadentate ligands, Lanthanide ions, Schiff base complexesBull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2010, 24(1), 59-66

Prevalence and molecular typing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carrying Panton–Valentine leukocidin gene

Panton–Valentine leukocidin (pvl) toxin is an important virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus. The main genes are coa and spa for distinguishing and typing of S. aureus isolates. The aim of this study was to investigate antibiotic resistance, presence of mecA and pvl genes, as well as epidemiological typing of these isolates according to polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method in clinical sample isolated from Rasht city, Iran. A total of 250 clinical samples have been isolated from different hospitals. First, isolates of S. aureus were identified through microbiological methods and their antibiotic sensitivity was determined by disk diffusion agar based on a standard method of Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. DNA was extracted by boiling and presence of pvl and mecA genes was investigated by PCR using specific primers. To type these isolates, amplification of fragments of coa and spa genes was done and restriction enzyme digestion pattern was determined by PCR-RFLP method. Among the 250 samples, 50 isolates belonged to S. aureus and results of antibiotic sensitivity showed that 68% (34 samples) of isolates were methicillin resistant. Frequency of mecA and pvl genes among S. aureus isolates were 60% (30 samples) and 20% (10 samples). The PCR of coa gene showed three patterns whereas that of spa gene showed two patterns for enzyme digestion. Result of PCR-RFLP using HaeIII enzymes for coa gene and Bsp1431 for spa gene showed three patterns for enzyme digestion. Recent studies indicated increase in the resistance of S. aureus to different antibiotics, which is a serious problem in the treatment of infections resulting from S. aureus in this region. The result of PCR of pvl showed high frequency of this gene in this region, and coa and spa typing by PCR-RFLP was a useful tool for typing of S. aureus isolates

Evaluation of onion cultivation energy balance in east Azerbaijan province

One of the estimating methods of agricultural development and production stability in agricultural locations is the use of energy flow method. In this consideration energy flow in agricultural ecosystems of onion in East Azerbaijan was calculated by the use of gathered information and data via questionnaire and statistics of related Province’s agricultural Jihad organization and farms. The related data of inputs and outputs were altered to equal amounts of consumer and productive energy and then energy efficiency was calculated. Energy amounts of used factors and input in this type of cultivation was estimated 22307134 kcal/ha and output (production) energy amount of onion yield was 18594060 kcal/ha. Also energy efficiency value (output/input) was 0.833 percent. Data show that most of the consumer energy of onion cultivation of East Azerbaijan province is related to irrigation water use and chemical fertilizers and energy that used in machinery. In such a condition it is suggested that through precise determining of the vegetable’s water need, replacing modern irrigation methods in regard to current methods, preventing irregular use of inputs specially nitrogen fertilizers, applying proper managing methods in dry regions and using fertilizer on the base of soil test and production potential by increasing usage of function, energy could be optimum

If I Were Young Again: Phenomenology of Career Experiences of Retired Faculty Members of Isfahan Universities

Background & Purpose: One of the concerns of knowledge-based organizations after the retirement of their skilled employees is to ensure that their knowledge is retained by the organization. This issue is especially important for retired university faculty members who have extensive experience and a lot of explicit and implicit knowledge. In this regard, one of the key questions is how to take advantage of precious knowledge and literacy of these intellectuals, which has been created with great difficulty during their years of activity? The purpose of the current research is to qualitatively examine the lived experience of retired faculty members during their working years. Methodology: Using Husserl's descriptive phenomenology, 17 retired faculty members of Isfahan universities were chosen as participants using purposive sampling. The total number of participants was determined through theoretical saturation. In-depth interviews were used in order to collect information about the experiences of the participants. The interviews were analyzed using Colaizzi's method. Findings: The results identified five main themes including adherence to university norms and red lines, personal, work and life balance, shifting focus from quantity to quality, preparing for life after retirement, and developing communication skills. Besides, the results identified 16 sub-themes. Conclusion: From a theoretical point of view, the results of this study contribute to the development of concepts on knowledge management and especially knowledge sharing among retired faculty members. Practically, the results obtained can be used at the individual level (i.e., for younger faculty members), at the university level (i.e., for university administrators), and at the national level (i.e., for major policy making at Ministry of Science)

Classification of Customers' Needs and Analyzing Their Behavior

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated model of Kano and Association rules for classification of customers' needs and analyzing their behavior. Statistical population of this research includes customers of Saman Bank of Qom. After random sampling, 144 questionnaires have been used for data analysis. After data collection, the needs of customers have been classified using the Kano methodology and then the relationship between customers demographical characteristics and results of the Kano model have been discovered. The findings show that customers' demographical characteristics have obviously influenced their typical needs. The results of this paper can be effectively used in marketing strategies formulation for achieving customer satisfaction as well as in market segmentation

Customer Focused Product Design Using Integrated Model of Target Costing, Quality Function Deployment and Value Engineering

Target costing by integrating customer requirements, technical attributes and cost information into the product design phase and eliminating the non-value added functions, plays a vital role in different phases of the product life cycle. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Value Engineering (VE) are two techniques which can be used for applying target costing, successfully. The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated model of target costing, QFD and VE to explore the role of target costing in managing product costs while promoting quality specifications meeting customers’ needs. F indings indicate that the integration of target costing, QFD and VE is an essential technique in managing the costs of production process. Findings also imply that integration of the three techniques provides a competitive cost advantage to companies

EEG Signature of Object Categorization from Event-related Potentials

Human visual system recognizes objects in a fast manner and the neural activity of the human brain generates signals which provide information about objects categories seen by the subjects. The brain signals can be recorded using different systems like the electroencephalogram (EEG). The EEG signals carry significant information about the stimuli that stimulate the brain. In order to translate information derived from the EEG for the object recognition mechanism, in this study, twelve various categories were selected as visual stimuli and were presented to the subjects in a controlled task and the signals were recorded through 19-channel EEG recording system. Analysis of signals was performed using two different event-related potential (ERP) computations namely the "target/rest" and "target/non-target" tasks. Comparing ERP of target with rest time indicated that the most involved electrodes in our task were F3, F4, C3, C4, Fz, Cz, among others. ERP of "target/non-target" resulted that in target stimuli two positive peaks occurred about 400 ms and 520 ms after stimulus onset; however, in non-target stimuli only one positive peak appeared about 400 ms after stimulus onset. Moreover, reaction times of subjects were computed and the results showed that the category of flower had the lowest reaction time; however, the stationery category had the maximum reaction time among others. The results provide useful information about the channels and the part of the signals that are affected by different object categories in terms of ERP brain signals. This study can be considered as the first step in the context of human-computer interface applications