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Nowadays, the use of packaging materials based on natural polymers reduces the use of synthetic materials that cause environmental pollution. For this reason, in the present study, the possibility of preparing biodegradable films from cellulose acetate incorporated with Falcaria vulgaris extract was investigated. Cellulose acetate films were produced by casting method and Falcaria vulgaris extract was added in concentrations of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%. Mechanical properties, permeability to water vapor and oxygen, solubility, color, opacity, contact angle, morphology, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of cellulose acetate films were evaluated. The results showed that the tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, vapor permeability, water absorption, solubility, swelling percentage and percentage of water content of the resulting films decreased with the increase of Falcaria vulgaris extract concentration. The contact angle percentage of cellulose acetate film and cellulose acetate film with 0.3% extract were 59.32 ± 0.97, 65.47 ± 1.16, respectively. Cellulose acetate films containing Falcaria vulgaris extract showed good antioxidant properties, namely the amount of DPPH radical trapping of cellulose acetate film with 0.3% extract equals 35.31% compared to cellulose acetate film (0.15%), which showed a significant increase. Furthermore, the produced films showed good antimicrobial properties against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Candida glabrata. In general, this study showed that cellulose acetate film containing extract could be used for food packaging that increasing the shelf life of food.

Introduction: The biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa seems to protect the bacteria from antibiotics since these entities are highly resistant to such antimicrobial agents. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Lactobacillus salivarus, Lactobacillus plantarum supernatants and CuII Schiff base complex in eliminating planktonic cells and biofilm of P. aeruginosa. Methods: One hundred specimens of blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, respiratory samples, and wound swabs were collected from patients attending three hospitals in Mashhad. All specimens were identified by biochemical tests. The susceptibility of the isolates to the conventional antibiotics was assessed using disk diffusion method. The biofilm formation ability of P. aeruginosa isolates was evaluated by crystal violet assay and confirmed using PCR. The anti-planktonic and antibiofilm ability of L. salivarus, L. plantarum supernatants and CuII Schiff base complex was evaluated separately in P. aeruginosa isolates. Results: The highest and lowest resistance rates were detected in Cefazoline (95%) and cefepime (23%), respectively. The thickest biofilm was produced by 8% of P. aeruginosa isolates, 9% and 83% of the isolates were considered as moderate and weak biofilm producers, respectively. The rhlR and lasR genes were reported in 100% of the isolates, but the algD gene existed in 92% of them. Conclusion: Particularly, the CuII Schiff base complex could affect both planktonic and biofilm cells by the lowest concentration in comparison of probiotic supernatants. L. plantarum supernatant inhibited planktonic cells at a lower concentration than L. salivarius. Also, L. salivarius showed better antibiofilm activity than another probiotic in lower doses of supernatant. Unlike that, these compounds have not completely eliminated biofilm cells, but only reduced the biofilm formation. : Metal Schiff base complex and Lactobacillus supernatants is a potent antimicrobial agent against Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm cells.

It was 11 March 2020 when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the name COVID-19 for coronavirus disease and also described it as a pandemic. Till that day 118,000 cases were confirmed of pneumonia with breathing problem throughout the world. At the start of New Year when COVID-19 came into knowledge a few days later, the gene sequencing of the virus was revealed. Today the number of confirmed cases is scary, i.e. 9,472,473 in the whole world and 484,236 deaths have been recorded by WHO till 26 June 2020. WHO's global risk assessment is very high [1]. The report is enlightening the lessons learned by India from the highly affected countries.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of acoustic cavitation on phenolic compounds recovery from Cucurbita pepo seed using continuous ultrasound-assisted extraction (CUAE) as a green extraction process. A Box–Behnken response surface design was carried out to investigate and optimize the CUAE independent variables, including concentration of hydroethanolic solvent, biomass to solvent ratio, and sonication time on the total extractable phenols (TEP). The optimized conditions were 70.98% v/v concentration of hydroethanolic solvent, 1:26.49 g/mL ratio of biomass to solvent, and 55.38 min sonication time, under which the predicted TEP was 14.01 mg GAE/g. The determination of DPPH and HO free radical scavenging abilities revealed that the extract had a good ability to scavenge these free radicals and polyphenol concentration was positively correlated with antiradical capacity (AC). The gas chromatography–mass spectrophotometer (GC/MS) analysis revealed that C. pepo seed extract is a potential source of essential fatty acids (39% of total fatty acids). From the results, the phenolic compounds and essential fatty acids from C. pepo seeds could be obtained using the cavitation phenomenon during short time extraction. The AC of product was considerably influenced by the CUAE process mode, while the fatty acid composition was almost constant. The microstructure of cells was investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM), which confirmed the cell disruption by acoustic cavitation technology.

A response surface methodology based on Box–Behnken design was deployed to optimize gluten–free bread formulation based on rice flour. Roselle seed powder (15, 25 and 35%), egg white powder (10, 20 and 30%) and xanthan gum (0.5, 0.75 and 1%) were selected as independent variables. The purpose of the optimization was to achieve maximum porosity and sensory properties as well as minimum hardness of bread samples. The results showed that the Roselle seed and egg white powders had a significant effect (p ≤ 0.05) on hardness, porosity and sensory characteristics of bread. However, xanthan gum did not show a significant effect (p > 0.05) on sensory properties. The design revealed the optimum formulation for gluten-free rice bread with low crumb firmness and improved porosity and sensory values by using 0.73, 30 and 25% of xanthan gum, Roselle seed and egg white powders, respectively. In addition, the optimized gluten–free bread showed higher nutritional properties in terms of total protein, ash, oil and fiber contents as well as lower staling rate compared to the control.

This set of cases provides important evidence of re‐infection and recurrence of SARS‐CoV‐2 even for the third time. Consequently, this possibility should be considered more in recurrent patients with Covid‐19 symptoms.

Aim The most serious problem in health care setting is over use and misuse antibiotics particularly in Iran. In 2017, some programs were implemented by the Iranian Ministry of Health (MOH) to controlling the antibacterial agent consumption in hospitals. This study evaluates the impact of implementation a restriction policy in Ghaem university hospital, which tries to limit the prescription of eight expensive antibiotics. Method According to this policy the prescription of these antibiotics were only allowed by infectious disease specialists. The restriction policy of expensive antibiotics were initiated from April 21, 2018. We compared the consumption of these eight expensive antibiotics during 2 trimesters before and after the administration of this restriction policy. We also measured these drugs usage during the same period in previous year (April 21- July 22, 2017). Results The consumption was decreased 37.7% during trimester after the starting of restriction plan compare to similar period before it (p = 0). The consumption had also declined compare to the same period in previous year. Conclusions This simple restriction policy was effective in decreasing the antibiotic usage in Ghaem university hospital.

Objective Cancer disease and its treatment methods affect the quality of life of those suffering from breast cancer. Nausea and vomiting are frequent side-effects of chemotherapy. Nowadays, complementary therapies are used along with routine treatments to control this disease. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sucking ice bits with plain water on nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. Methods In this clinical trial, participants were 60 breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. They were randomly divided into two groups of control and ice. The ice group received 30 bits of ice in 1 cc during chemotherapy, while control group received 30-cc tap water. Nausea was evaluated based on visual analog scale and vomiting was estimated based on the number of cases. The data were analyzed in SPSS software. Results The Mean±SD of nausea in ice group was 1.268±1.9 and in the control group it was 1.787±2.9 and this difference was statistically significant after intervention (P=0.015). The mean of vomiting in ice group was 0.406±0.2 and in the control group it was 0.449±0.266, but this difference was not significant; i.e. the intervention had no significant effect on vomiting (P=0.549). Conclusion Sucking ice bits containing plain water had high effect on reducing nausea caused by chemotherapy but it had no effect on occurrence of vomiting.

This study investigated the effect of acoustic cavitation phenomenon generated by ultrasonic waves on bioactive compounds release from Eryngium caucasicum leaves into the surrounding medium. Peleg’s model was implemented to provide a clearer insight into the kinetics modeling during 60 min sonication at different temperatures (30–60 °C) and ultrasonic power (50–150 W). The experimental data were successfully fitted employing Peleg’s model with the high coefficient of determination (0.95), low root mean square error (0.003%) and mean relative percentage deviation modulus (6.40%). Then, the optimal conditions, using response surface methodology (RSM), were determined as ultrasonic power of 112.10 W, temperature of 50.00 °C and 33.53 min sonication time. Spectrophotometric analysis revealed that extract was a potential source of phenolics (64.00 ± 0.13 mg GAE g−1) with high scavenging ability of DPPH˙, ABTS˙+ and HO˙ (78.18 ± 0.12, 74.19 ± 0.14 and 49.38 ± 0.18%, respectively). The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed that gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and apigenin were the main phenolics existed in the product. The process efficiency was enhanced significantly (p

In this study, the effective variables involved in ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum) seeds polysaccharides (FSPs) were optimized through Box–Behnken response surface design. The maximum yield of FSPs was 33.49% under the modified optimum conditions of an ultrasound power of 120 W, an irradiation time of 22 min and a liquid-to-solid ratio (L/S) of 30:1 mL g−1. The predicted yield was in a very good agreement with the experimental yield of 33.41%. This value was higher than the FSPs yield obtained using conventional extraction (CE) method for 180 min at the same extraction temperature and L/S ratio. The primary chemical and structural characteristics were investigated by UV, FT-IR, and GC-MS. FSPs found to be a heteropolysaccharide consisted of galactose (38.18%), glucose (3.71%), mannose (46.13%), rhamnose (1.02%), and arabinose (0.83%). Furthermore, the FSPs exhibited considerable scavenging activity against 1,1-Diphenyl-2-Picrylhydrazyl free radicals and ferric reducing antioxidant power and reducing power, in a concentration-dependent mode in vitro. Our results suggested that UAE technique gave a higher yield of FSPs with a shorter extraction time than the CE and FSPs can also be used as promising resources of natural agent for functional foods and medicinal industries.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the intention of lettuce producers to engage in on-farm food safety (OFFS) practices in Iran. A research-based model incorporating the psychology-based theory of planned behavior (TPB) was proposed to obtain a better understanding of motivational factors underlying intention to engage in OFFS practices. The data were collected from the survey conducted in four different counties of Alborz province located at northern part of Iran, with a total of 230 lettuce producers randomly selected from these counties. Empirical results of a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that the three following components of the original TPB model had statistically significant positive relationships with farmers' engagement intention in OFFS practices and generally explained 41% of its variance. These components were attitude, perceived behavioral control (PBC) and social norms. Furthermore, after the inclusion of two constructs of moral norms and knowledge as additional intention predictors of the extended TPB model, the predictive power of the model was increased up to 16.4%, which is considerable. The findings provide valuable inputs to design effective approaches to motivate farmers’ engagement in food safety behaviors. They furthermore help policy makers to support farmers in OFFS practices' accomplishment in Iran.

In this study, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of bioactive compounds from Feijoa sellowiana leaves was optimized using response surface methodology. Box-Behnken design was applied to evaluate the effects of ultrasonic intensity, duty cycle and extraction temperature on crude extraction yield (CEY) and radical scavenging activity (RSA) in terms of inhibition of DPPH , OH and ABTS + radicals. The correlation analysis of mathematical-regression models indicated that quadratic polynomial models could be employed to optimize UAE process. Under the optimal conditions (1569.10 W/cm2, 89.00% and 46.00 °C) the predicted values of the CEY and RSA of DPPH , OH and ABTS + were 53.22 mg g−1, 78.43%, 62.00% and 81.54%, respectively. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that gallic acid, catechin, ferulic acid, quercetin and apigenin are the major phenolic compounds existed in the extracts. The improvement of UAE was investigated by combining pre-leaching stage (PLS) with optimized UAE conditions (PLS-UAE). Spectrophotometric methods and HPLC analysis results revealed that the bioactive phenolic compounds increased using PLS-UAE, where gallic acid had the highest concentration (123.15 ± 0.34 mg g−1). The comparative study results, which has been done between optimized UAE, PLS-UAE and conventional Soxhlet extraction (CSE) revealed that higher CEY (81.11 ± 0.11 mg g−1) could be achieved using CSE even through, the quality of extracts in terms of phenolic compounds and RSA was significantly (p-value