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Background and Objective: This study was aimed to determine the extent of bacterial contamination and drug resistance patterns of isolates colonized in colonoscope and endoscope and in relevant personnel. Material and Methods: A total of 107 samples were obtained from staff of endoscopy and colonoscopy units (SEU and SCU) and gastroenterological imaging equipment. For isolation and identification of the bacteria, swab culture method and biochemical identification test were used, respectively. Antimicrobial resistance profiles, multi-drug resistance (MDR) patterns and phenetic relatedness of these isolates were also analyzed according to standard methods. Results: Most frequent pathogenic bacteria among the SEU and gastroenterological imaging related equipments were included S. aureus (20.8 % and 0 %); Enterococcus spp. (0 % and 5.4%); Pseudomonas spp. (0% and 13.5 %), and Clostridium difficile (0% and 12.5%). Analysis of resistance phenotypes showed a high frequency of MDR phenotypes among the SEU (82.1%), and also in endoscopes, colonoscopes, and other equipments (20%, 50% and 100%, respectively). Phylotyping of S. epidermidis isolates showed the role of staff in transmission of resistance strains to medical equipments and also circulation of strains with identical resistance phenotype among the studied samples. Conclusion: High frequency of pathogenic bacteria in colonoscopes, endoscopes and in the staff of endoscopy & colonoscopy units, and also contamination of these instruments with MDR pathogens emphasize the need for proper disinfection of endoscopes and colonoscopes and also instruction of staff in these units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We consider a paper of Banaś and Sadarangani (2008) which deals with monotonicity properties of the superposition operator and their applications. An application of the monotonicity properties is to study the solvability of a quadratic Volterra integral equation. In this paper, we prepare an efficient numerical technique based on the fixed point method and quadrature rules to approximate a solution for quadratic Volterra integral equation. Then convergence of numerical scheme is proved by some theorems and some numerical examples are given to show applicability and accuracy of the numerical method and guarantee the theoretical results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The density functional theory (DFT) has been used to simultaneously investigate physic/chemi-sorption properties of oxygen on the (5, 5) boron nitride nanotube (BNNT). Geometry optimizations were carried out at B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory using gaussian 98 suites of program. physisorption of O2 outside the BNNT with a vertical orientation to the tube axis above a boron atom is the most stable state of physisorption and its binding energy is -0.775 kcal/mol. In the chemisorption of O2 molecule, the most stable state is above two adjacent B and N atoms of a hexagon with a B-N bond length of 2.503 Å and the binding energy of adsorbed oxygen atoms -14.389 kcal/mol. Based on these results, We also provide the effects of O2 adsorption on the electronic properties of BNNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food contact surfaces are a major concern for food services facilities in controlling the spread of food borne pathogens. This study was aimed to investigate roles of food utensils in transmission of the most important bacteria associated with nosocomial infections and hospital food borne diseases in one hospital in Tehran. Materials and methods: During the three independent sampling processes, samples of common used utensils were analyzed for bacterial contamination. Through a sterile swab the samples were collected in sterile tubes and after transferring, were immediately subjected to culture on gram negative specific and general media for bacteria. Total bacterial counts of each sample were determined and their characterizations were performed by biochemical diagnostic tests according to standards methods. Results: Among the studied cooking utensils' and food samples, the most contaminated samples were determined as samples from board and blender as 38% and 35%, respectively. The most bacteria isolated from these samples were related to species of Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacillus species that were similar to the isolates from studied food samples. Conclusion: Results of this study, in addition to high contamination rates of medical foods and utensils in their contact showed that there are significant weaknesses in proper cooking and utensils hygiene conditions in preparation and distribution of medical food in the studied hospital's samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate are two common preservatives used in Iran, yet use of these preservatives in doogh (Iranian dairy-based drink) is forbidden according to national standards. The aim of this study was to consider the presence of these preservatives in doogh by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC-UV). The method was performed using a C18 column and detection at 225 nm. The mobile phase contained ammonium acetate buffer (pH = 4.2) and acetonitrile (80:20 v/v). The survey included 130 samples of doogh for identification and quantification of the named preservatives. All samples contained sodium benzoate, but potassium sorbate was detected in only 13% of them. The means of benzoate and sorbate were 21.3 ± 2.7 and 13.3 ± 39.6 mg kg-1, respectively. The limits of detection were 2 and 40 ng g-1 for benzoate and sorbate, respectively. Results indicate that sodium benzoate may occur in doogh naturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Anemia is an important public health problem in Iran. The most prevalent type (50%) is iron-deficiency anemia. Flour fortification with iron and folic acid is one of the main strategies usually adopted to combat anemia. Two pilot projects were conducted in 2 Iranian provinces: the first one in Bushehr in 2001 and the second one in Golestan in 2007. The present study was conducted in January 2009 to evaluate the process and determine the effectiveness of the flour fortification pilot project in the 2 provinces. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the effectiveness of the project, blood hemoglobin and ferritin levels were measured in a sample population of child-bearing women aged 15-49 years in Bushehr Province (n=600) and Golestan Province (n=625), selected by multi-stage sampling before and after the intervention. For process evaluation, the iron content in samples of flour and bread made from the flour were measured in a descriptive study. Results: We found similar trends in the indicators of anemia/iron deficiency among the women in Bushehr and Golestan provinces. The flour fortification project appears to have had beneficial effects on the serum ferritin levels (low levels indicate iron deficiency) in both provinces. The prevalence of iron deficiency decreased from 22.2% to 15.7% (p<0.002) and from 26.7% to 14.6% (p<0.001), in Bushehr and Golestan, respectively. However, the prevalence of anemia was significantly higher after intervention in Golestan (p<0.001). Further analysis of the data also revealed that the intervention did not have any statistically significant effect on the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia in either province. The coverages of fortified flour and bread were 90% and 98.7% in Bushehr and 94.1% and 95% in Golestan, respectively. Conclusion: The flour fortification pilot project in Iran resulted in reducing prevalence of iron deficiency and improving body iron reserves in women, but it had no effect on anemia prevalence. It can be concluded that in circumstances where iron deficiency is not a major cause of anemia, interventions such as flour fortification with iron alone will not produce any significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Anaemia is an important public health problem in Iran; therefore, a programme of flour fortification with iron was launched in two pilot provinces. The present study was conducted in January 2009 to evaluate the effectiveness and process of this programme. Study design: A 'before-and-after study' was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the flour fortification programme, and the process of the programme was evaluated using a cross-sectional study. Methods: To evaluate the effectiveness of the programme, blood haemoglobin and ferritin levels were measured in sample populations from Bushehr and Golestan provinces. The target population was women aged 15-49 years. Iron content was measured in samples of flour and bread to evaluate the flour fortification process in these two national pilot provinces. Results: The total study population was 600 women from Bushehr province and 652 women from Golestan province. Similar trends were found in the indicators of anaemia/iron deficiency among the women studied in both provinces. The flour fortification programme only appears to have had a beneficial effect on ferritin levels (iron deficiency) in the two provinces. The prevalence of iron-deficiency anaemia before and after the intervention did not differ significantly in either province. Interestingly, the prevalence of anaemia (low haemoglobin) was significantly higher after the intervention in women from both provinces. The coverage of fortified flour and bread was 90% and 98.7% in Bushehr province, and 94.1% and 95% in Golestan province, respectively. Conclusions: In areas where anaemia is not mainly due to iron deficiency, an iron fortification programme might decrease the prevalence of iron deficiency without affecting the prevalence of anaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]