e. rahimi

Yersinia enterocolitica is the cause of yersiniosis in humans and its symptoms range from mild diarrhea to mesenteric lymphadenitis that may lead to appendicitis. In this study, the frequency and antibiotic resistance of Yersinia enterocolitica isolated from fish caught in Anzali wetland were investigated. Sampling was carried out for one year in four seasons from the autumn 2018 to the summer 2019 from four geographical directions: east, west, north and south, from different wetland levels. A total number of 91 fish were sampled from the body of these fish. Microbiological tests including biochemical tests, specific culture, and PCR were performed. In the specific culture method, 20 samples (21.97%) were contaminated with Yersinia enterocolitica. For the final confirmation of PCR, 20 samples were isolated from 14 samples (15.4%) containing specific culture method (6 Carp, 3 Anchovy, 0 Bream, 4 Pike Perch and 1 Pike) were infected with Yersinia enterocolitica. The chi-square test showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the various seasons (p >0.05), while there was a significant difference between fish species (p <0.05). Isolates from Yersinia enterocolitica using an antibiogram test of 10 antibiotics, the most susceptible isolates, Imipenem (92.8%), Kanamycin and Gentamicin (85.7%), Ceftazidime (78.57%). Cotrimoxazole and Nalidixic acid (71.4%) were the most resistant isolates to Ampicillin (64.28%), respectively. The results showed high levels of contamination of Yersinia enterocolitica, and indicative of potential dangers of Yersinia enterocolitica pathogenicity, especially in immunocompromised and susceptible individuals. Further studies on the pathogenicity of Yersinia enterocolitica in fish within the Anzali wetland and preventing sewage from entering the wetland are suggested.

A new structure for SiGe Hetero-junction Bipolar transistor (HBT) is designed and simulated using Silvaco simulator. The considered extra terminal gives the ability to control the transistor's current gain. By applying voltage to the gate terminal, the base effective width would be controlled. Decrement of the Base width yields to the carrier recombination rate reduction, let the emitted electrons to have higher chance to reach the collector. Considering extra terminal have two approaches. One is to improve the current gain of the transistor by applying a constant voltage to the gate and the other is to modify the characteristics of the transistor in such a way that the current gain became optimized. The current gain of the transistor without any gate voltage is about 50V, which increases to 750 for high and 50,000 for low collector currents with the gate voltage variation consideration. In addition, our final proposed gate-controlled HBT with a large gate over the base and collector has the breakdown voltage of 8V and the cut-off frequency of about 11 GHz. The maximum FoM of 1200 is achieved using the proposed structure.

The displacement of molecules is one of the major fabrication faults in manufacturing molecular electronic devices. In this paper, we profoundly study the effect of displacement on the current-voltage, and conductance-voltage characteristics of the Au-Benzenedithiol-Au single-molecule device. The ab-initio calculations on the isolated molecules were performed to obtain the basic single-level quantum-dot model parameters. These parameters were then used within the self-consistent field algorithm to calculate the electrical characteristics of the device. The maximum conductance occurs when the molecule is placed exactly in the midpoint of the distance between the two electrodes, where the electrostatic capacitance reaches its minimum. When the molecule deviates from this point, and approaches one electrode, the conductance is decreased, and asymmetric behavior emerges. A molecular rectifier can be manufactured by placing the molecule close to one electrode. Although modern software packages may employ advanced and complicated models including the combination of the density functional theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) methods to obtain accurate results, they are demanding in computer memory and time. Moreover, understanding the physical quantities of the systems from large-scale matrices is often difficult. The single-level model is a computationally light method, which provides a profound understanding of the device characteristics since all quantities are presented by numbers.

The present study aims to investigate the slag leaching of Sarcheshmeh copper reverberatory furnace using sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The results of the analyses indicated that the slag contains 0.7% of copper and 37.75% of iron. Most of the slag minerals include fayalite, magnetite, diopside and chalcopyrite. This research scrutinizes the effect of different parameters including the size of particles, temperature, PH, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and the velocity pulp stirring on the recovery of copper and iron. Based on the results, as the size of particles of slag is reduced from 150- 250 to 48-74 micron, the maximum recovery of copper and iron is increased from 23.03% and 22.34% to 26.14 and 28.12%, respectively. However, as the size of particles is diminished less than 48 microns, less increase is detected in the recovery of copper and iron. When the pulp PH is reduced from 2.4 to 1.5, the recovery amount of copper and iron is increased from 18.12% and 20.95% to 29.14% and 31.04%, respectively. Changing the primary concentration of hydrogen peroxide affected the copper recovery the most. Increasing the concentration of hydrogen peroxide from 0.5 M to 2 M enhances copper recovery from 29.14% to 54.12%. Increasing the pulp temperature from 35 to 45°c subjected to enhance copper recovery from 53.5% to 59.5%. In fact, the enhancement of temperature to 50°c mostly influenced iron recovery. Using the hematite nano- particles in the leaching process leads to improve the function of hydrogen peroxide and increase the copper recovery.

Suicide is one of the most important psychological crises that health professionals may face in their workplace. One of the causes of suicide is depression, which requires medical and psychological treatments. One of the important approaches in this regard is the meaning therapy approach. The aim of the present study was to determine and compile a package of suicide prevention interventions based on the meaning of therapy and its effect on life expectancy, negative spontaneous thoughts and suicidal ideation of female students.

The present quasi-experimental study with pre-test-post-test design was conducted in 2020. After reviewing the scientific and written sources, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 10 psychologists to develop an educational package. The content validity of the package based on Lavasheh index is 0.94. In the second phase of the study, a package of intervention based on meaning therapy was developed in 10 sessions. In this section, from 18 to 25 years old students of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, 40 people were selected using the available method and randomly divided into two groups (experimental and control groups). The research instruments included Schneider Hope Scale, ATQ Negative Spontaneous Thought Scale and Beck Suicide Thought Scale. Based on the components extracted from scientific texts and interviews with psychologists, the package includes: Components of suicide drive (emptiness and aimlessness - a sense of self-harm), suicide prevention (meaning of life - suffering - freedom - responsibility) and excellence in life (love - work - spirituality and thoughtlessness) during 10 hours of training given. The collected data were analyzed using Levin statistical tests and analysis of variance and Wilkes lambda.

Findings indicate that the package based on meaning therapy is effective in increasing life expectancy and reducing negative spontaneous thoughts and has not been significant in reducing suicidal ideation (P = 0.0001). The intervention method has a significant effect on the total score of hope (F = 83.66 and Sig = 0.0001) and has a significant effect on the total score of negative thoughts (F = 49.01 and Sig = 0.0001). Regarding the effect of treatment on suicidal ideation, it did not have a significant effect on the total score of suicidal ideation (F = 1.63 and Sig = 0.20) and according to the results, Eta squared could only explain 6% of the variance of suicidal ideation.

Due to the effectiveness of the package developed based on meaning therapy on reducing negative thoughts and increasing the level of hope, therefore, teaching this package to increase knowledge and empower students against depression and its components is recommended.

Interference Alignment (IA) with Alamouti coding is an innovative method to increase the multiplexing gain and the diversity gain, simultaneously, in wireless Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems. The main limitation of this method is requiring Perfect Channel State Information (CSI) to perform the beamforming on transmitters and receivers signals. Contrary to the acceptable performance of Alamouti coding in perfect CSI conditions, its efficiency is severely reduced in imperfect CSI conditions. In order to overcome this shortcoming, this paper discusses about the effect of imperfect CSI on a two user MIMO X-channel which uses interference alignment together with Alamouti coding. Also, a closed form solution is extracted for the received signal in an imperfect CSI scenario. Our analysis shows that when the variance of the CSI error is increased, the Bit Error Rate (BER) of system increases linearly. Also, we propose a joint Power Allocation (PA) and constellation rotation algorithm to improve the performance of system in an imperfect CSI scenario. Computer simulations show a desirable improvement in BER by using PA, constellation rotation and joint of them.

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most dangerous common protozoan diseases between humans and animals that infect humans in various ways. Contact with the infected animal, consuming contaminated food, and transmitting from mother to fetus is the most important means of transmission. Based on the recorded data, this study is the first report of Toxoplasma gondii in buffalo and camel milk in some parts of Iran. For this purpose, 440 raw milk samples of 5 species of animals were collected from Isfahan, Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Khuzestan, and Fars provinces during four seasons and studied for the presence of Toxoplasma gondii by nested-PCR. The results showed that 26 (5.9%) of the samples were infected with Toxoplasma gondii. The highest infection was observed in sheep milk (8%) and the lowest in buffalo milk (4.28%). The seasonal prevalence of infection was in winter (11.43%), autumn (6.8%), and spring (5.03%), while none of the samples obtained in summer the parasite was not infected. Contamination of raw milk and traditional dairy products with Toxoplasma gondii can either occur directly from infected animals or as a result of non-compliance with the principles of hygiene during the process of milking, transportation, storage, and cross-contamination. Therefore, proper pre-consumption of milk is recommended.

In this study, geotechnical properties and the relationship between cohesion (C) and internal friction angle (ϕ) with SPT number is investigated in 120 boreholes in sedimentary basins of Kerman. Also, the effect of hydrated lime on petrography and mechanical properties of CL soil was investigated. The correlation between C and SPT (R2 =0.72) is stronger than that of ϕ and SPT (R2 =0.62) which shows the effect of C on the shear strength of fine-grained soils is higher than the effect of friction angle on the strength of these soils. Based on the results of the ANN model the correlation coefficients of ϕ and c with SPT are 0.84 and 0.90, respectively. Based on the R2 and RMSE, ANN showed higher accuracy than simple regression for prediction of ϕ and c parameters. It is proved that, the SPT could be used for estimating cohesion and friction angle of clays (CL) especially at the preliminary stage of projects with acceptable accuracy. To study the effect of lime on strength and compaction properties of clay soil, a set of samples were prepared by adding different contents of lime. Next, the standard Proctor test and uniaxial compressive strength test at the optimum moisture content were performed. SEM analysis showed substantial changes in the soil structure after the addition of additives. Also, an increase in the hydrated lime content results in a decrease in their maximum dry unit weight and increase in the optimum moisture content. Furthermore, it was found that an increase in hydrated lime content results in the increase of compressive strength and optimum moisture content. The maximum compressive strength is achieved at 7% hydrated lime.

Freight transport policy analysts struggle to shift truck freight movements to rail to diminish transportation externalities including environmental costs and safety issues. Therefore, policy-makers need to be aware of the consequences of their decisions beforehand. This study is mainly focused on two policies targeting fuel price and access to rail transportation. A nation-wide freight mode choice model is developed for Iran, and shippers’ tendency to choose rail or truck freight transportation is analyzed by considering the shipping time and cost, commodity weight, commodity type, and rail accessibility. Total fuel consumption and air pollution costs are compared in various scenarios. Based on the results, environmental transportation costs are significantly reduced as a result of the modal shift from truck to rail freight transportation, if the government reallocates the gasoline subsidy to the construction of prioritized railroads.

Medical errors are one of the five most common causes of death. Patient safety is an important issue in healthcare systems, and the existence of a strong patient safety culture in hospitals influences safety-related behaviors and reduces medical errors. The present study aimed to evaluate patient safety culture in Ardabil hospitals and investigate the attitude of employees towards their own performance compared to their colleagues in the field of patient safety culture.

The data of this cross-sectional study were collected from 420 staff of four hospitals of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences by HSOPSC questionnaire and a researcher-made questionnaire for staff opinions on their own practice in the field of patient safety culture. One-way Anova and T-tests were used to determine the statistical relationship between staff demographics and dimensions of patient safety culture. SPSS24 software was used for analysis.

The overall mean percentage of positive response to the dimensions of patient safety culture was 57.71% and was in the middle range. The highest percentage of positive responses was related to the dimensions of "Feedback & Communication about Error" (86.82%) and "Teamwork within Units" (86.64%). The lowest percentage of positive response was related to the dimensions of "Frequency of Events Reported" (24.83%) and "Non-punitive Response to Errors" (27.93%). Investigating the attitude of employees towards their own performance compared to their colleagues shows that in most dimensions, employees perceive their performance better than their colleagues.

The status of patient safety culture in the studied hospitals needs to be improved. The error reporting by staff is also very low. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the number of staff, especially nurses in proportion to the number of patients and the workload, to reduce staff working hours, adopt policies of safety and non-punitive culture, support staff and implement effective training programs in hospitals.

Detection of mineralized zones based on ores and gangues is important for mine planning and excavation operation. The major goal of this research work was to determine the zones based on ores and gangues by a combination of fractal and factor analysis in the Chah Gaz iron ore (Central Iran). The Concentration-Volume (C-V) fractal method was carried out for Fe, P and S, which indicated that the main mineralized zones consisted of the Fe, S, and P values ≥ 57%, ≤ 0.4%, and ≤0.3%, respectively. Factor analysis categorized variables in two groups including factor 1 (F1) and factor 2 (F2) for ore and gangue, respectively. The C-V fractal modeling on the derived factors showed four zones for F1 and F2. Based on the correlation among the results of fractal modeling on the elements and factors, the first and second zones of F1 were proper for exploitation. Furthermore, the last and first zones of F1 and F2 could be assumed as the main waste for mining excavation.

Q fever with Ricketsia factor is a zoonotic disease having a high pathogenicity. In recent years, it is not just considered as the occupational disease of veterinarian and ranchers. Milk consumption plays an important role in epidemic condition and spread of the disease. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in bulk cow milk of Gilan province. In this cross-sectional-descriptive study (from summer 2016 to spring 2017), a total of 204 milk samples was collected from the milk collection bulk of Gilan province and tested for detection of the prevalence rate of C. burnetii using  Nested-PCR. From 204 sample of raw milk, 21 samples (10.29%) were positive to C. burnetii presence. The highest rate of contamination was seen in Lahijan (33.3%) and Roodbar (29.4%). The samples collected from Rasht, Talesh, Astaneh and Masal were not found positive for C. burnetii. Examination of the seasonal prevalence of the samples indicated no statistical difference between the different seasons. The results revealed that bulk cow milk could be a potential source of C. burnetii in Iran.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main causative agents of food poisoning in human. Occurrence of severe antibiotic resistances has increased the importance of this bacterium. The present study was carried out to assess the prevalence rate and antibiotic resistance pattern of S. aureus strains isolated from vegetable and salad samples in Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiari Province. In this study, 485 samples of vegetable and salad were collected and immediately transferred to the laboratory. Samples were evaluated by microbial culture and the isolated S. aureus strains were analyzed for the antibiotic resistance pattern using the disk diffusion method. The prevalence rate of S. aureus in vegetable and salad samples were 16% and 11.91%, respectively. The highest (26.50%) and the lowest (6.72%) contamination rates were observed in Lordegan and Shahrekord cities. A Significant statistical difference was observed for the prevalence of S. aureus between vegetable and salad samples (P<0.05). S. aureus strains isolated from vegetable and salad samples had the highest prevalence of resistance against penicillin (95.58%), tetracycline (88.23%), ampicillin (79.41%), erythromycin (72.05%) and methicillin (70.58%) antibiotics. The lowest prevalence of antibiotic resistance was reported against imipenem (7.35%), chloramphenicol (22.05%), cotrimoxazol (26.47%) and co-amxiclave (29.41%). Judicious prescription of antibiotics according to the results of the disk diffusion method can reduce the risk of resistant S. aureus in vegetable and salad.

In the past two decades, Enterococci resistant to some antibiotics has gained widespread that it would cause complications in the treatment of infections caused by these bacteria. Since meat as a foodstuff consumed in Iran is common and easily contaminated with bacteria therefore, we decided to detect frequency of antibiotic resistance genes in Enterococcus faecalis isolated from meat in Shahrekord. This cross sectional study was conducted on 104 samples of meat in 2016 in Shahrekord. Isolation of bacteria using by biochemical methods and confirmed with detection of 16srDNA gene, and antibiotic resistance genes isolates using by Kirby-Bauer method and molecular method for detection of tetM, ant (2'')-I, erm B and aac (6')/aph (2') genes. Most bacterial resistance to streptomycin (2/95%) and sensitivity to vancomycin (100%) were estimated. Prevalence of ermB gene reported 76.9% and prevalence of aac (6')/aph (2') gene reported 40% in E. faecalis isolated. The results indicate that is not resistance to vancomycin in E. faecalis isolated from meat in Shahrekord, but high resistance to Streptomycin, Cefotaxime, Meropenem, Erythromycin, Tetracycline were found also found that ermB gene in E. faecalis high prevalence of antibiotic-resistant gene is the most abundant strength.

Fermented cucumber is a traditional lactic acid fermentation that is related to the presence of microorganisms. In this study, the use of suitable L. plantarum starter culture with L.bulgaricus and S. thermophilus to improve the cucumber fermentation process with high quality has been studied. Cucumbers in brine containing 4 to 6% NaCl and 0.2 to 0.4% Inulin (w/v) were inoculated with different LAB strains and analysed for microbial and physicochemical characteristics. The numbers of LAB strains were 7.46 log10 cfu/ml in a solution containing 4% NaCl, 0.4% Inulin and a mixed starter culture on the sixth day. The initial salt concentration of 4% (w/v) and Inulin concentration of 0.4% was favored for the rapid growth of LAB. In the mixed starter culture, the value of titratable acidity and pH were 0.6% and 3, respectively, on the sixth day. The inoculated 6% NaCl and 0.4% Inulin solution with mixed starter culture had lower numbers of aerobic mesophilic and yeast (6.38 and 6.65 log10 cfu/ml) on the sixth day. The inoculated 4% NaCl solution had lower hardness and l*, a*, b* values and the highest ranking in flavor. In order to control the fermentation of cucumbers, it is advisable to make heavy inoculation with the mentioned strainsthat produce high quality uniform and safe products.

Regular consumption of seafood has been widely recommended by the authorities. However, some species especially benthic crustaceans accumulate heavy metals. In addition, the health risks associated to the consumption of such seafood might increase if the consumers use cooking methods that enhance the concentration of heavy metals. In this study, the effects of different cooking methods (boiling, steaming and frying) on the concentrations of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in shrimp and lobster were studied. Samples were prepared by wet digestion and the contents of heavy metals were measured by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Mean concentrations of lead and cadmium for raw samples of shrimp and lobster were 75.67±15.31 and 26.00±8.00 µg/kg and 316.67±66.58 and 195.33±131.46 µg/kg respectively. The findings indicated that the highest contents of lead and cadmium were observed in the fried samples (p<0.05), however the differences were not significant for cadmium. According to the results, boiling and steaming are suggested as the best cooking method to provide healthful seafood.

The species of Lactobacillus are widely present in many natural environments that areimportant in fermented processes. Among these species some belong to the lactic acid bacteria group that areuseful in fermented food. One of the species of lactobacilli group such as L. plantarum provides health benefits,but their identification is one of the main issue. In order to proceed with this project, conventional culturemethod and PCR primers have been employed to identify L. plantarum. According to the conventional culturemethod, colonies were Gram-positive and catalase-negative in the form of coccoid-rod, short, long, thin and fine.Under the PCR conditions, L. plantarum and L. brevis strains were detected in only one sample at 250C. Inchemical technique, L. plantarum was separated from L. brevis in four cultures medium with 4-7% NaCl whereL. brevis became inactive. The isolated L. plantarum that was used in the fermented cucumbers prevented thegrowth and development of pathogenic organisms.

Vibrio species are the major seafood-borne bacteria that are frequently associated with the consumption of contaminated sea food. A total of 113 samples including 58 fish and 55 shrimps were studied for the possible contamination with Vibrio species. A biochemical protocol was applied for the identification of the Vibrio isolates and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was carried out to confirm the strains. The results indicated that 25 samples (22%) were contaminated with Vibrio species. Among Vibrio isolates, Vibrio harveyi was the species most frequently isolated (11.5%), followed by followed by V. parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus, V. alginolyticus and V. mimicus. Vibrio cholerae was not detected in the studied samples. The results of this study indicated that fish and shrimp from the Persian Gulf regularly contain pathogens that might affect the public health

The Float method is a quick approximation technique for measuring velocity and thus flow rate. Surface velocity obtained by the Float method of correction factor is multiplied by the average velocity in the cross section obtained. This coefficient by the The United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) to measure the Float method is presented. Surface velocity coefficients published by USBR are based solely on average water depth. But other hydraulic factors such as longitudinal bed slope، the wall roughness height، the shape of the channel cross section، the location of the float object and… may also affect the value of the coefficient. In this study the effect of these parameters on the surface velocity coefficient in a rectangular and compound open channel studied and the results are compared with the coefficients published by USBR. The results indicate that these parameters are the effective surface velocity coefficient and considering effect of other parameters in addition to the average water depth، be accuracy of the float method could significantly increase.

Oil in water emulsions have attracted considerable attention in food industry due to their large applications. In this study, the effect of thermal treatment on oil in water emulsions (o/w) containing 40% oil was studied. The emulsions were prepared using xanthan gum, guar gum and carboxymethyl cellulose as stabilizer and polyoxyethylen sorbitan monooleat as emulsifier. A mixture design was used to define the percentage of each stabilizer to simulate wide range of emulsions. The emulsions were pasteurized at 87 ºC for 15 minutes. Thermal treatment had a considerable influence on rheological properties of the emulsions. Viscosity of all emulsions decreased after thermal treatment and stabilizers had increasing effect on this response. All emulsionsexhibited non Newtonianpseudo plastic flow behaviorthat often referred to as shear thinning (n<1). A non linear relation between shear rate and shear stress was observed. Shear stress versus shear rate data was successfully fitted to the Power-law model. Consistency coefficient (K) decreased and flow behavior index (n) increased after thermal processing. Thermal treatment caused an increase in particle size of emulsions because of coalescence. Some of emulsions had heterogeneous coalescence (bimodal) and some of them had homogenous coalescence (mono modal). All emulsions were stable to centrifugation and did not breakdown. It was found that surface tension was affected more by temperature than by stabilizer content. Surface tension decreased by thermal processing. Viscosity of all the samples was reduced during storage. The results showed that developed emulsions are thermally under pasteurization temperatures.

Mycotoxins in animal feed transfer to animal products and thus cause some problem like cancer in human. Contaminated feed must be omitted for prevention of toxin transfer. This study was designed for determination of aflatoxin B1 levels in poultry diet. A total of 177 samples were collected randomly from broiler feeds from different farms and tested by ELISA. Results showed %98.9 contamination of total sample. Levels of aflatoxin B1 in positive samples ranged from 0.64 to 88.5µg/kg and the average contamination level of samples was estimated at 9.91 µg/kg. In the levels higher than 10µg/kg (permitted for broiler diet) the highest rate belonged to complete feed (46.2%) and soybean meal (33.4%). The results indicated that samples take in summer had more contamination. The difference between this season with others was signifcant (p<0.05). High temperature in summer causes more fungi reproduction and hence more toxin production. The difference between corn, wheat, soybean, barley and complete diet samples was not signifcant (p>0.05).

Date Syrup is a natural sweetener that is a suitable ingredient to be used in formulation of food products in order to improve the nutrient properties. In this research a new drink is produced by the addition of date syrup in concentration of 5%, 8%, and 10% to milk. Physical, chemical, rheological and sensory properties of the samples were evaluated. Statistical analysis using SPSS software and Duncan test at 95% confidence level were employed. It was concluded that with increasing the amount of date syrup in the formulation of drink, characteristics such as dry matter, specific gravity, turbidity, were increased. Color measurement of the samples reported that the color parameters, L*, a*and b*, of the samples have a significant difference and using date syrup in formulation of drink caused changes in the color of the samples. Sensory evaluation of the samples also indicated that by increasing the amount of date syrup the acceptability of the samples was increased and the highest score belonged to the sample including %10 date syrup.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) continues to attract global attention concerning the hazard and impact on both human and animals based on its toxicity and occurrence. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies it as possible carcinogen to human (group 2B). A total of 98 samples of dried fruits consisting of coconut, sour cherry, slices of peaches, quinces, and pineapple from Isfahan, Iran were analyzed for OTA by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The mean recovery percentage of OTA in spiked dried fruit samples at the concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 ng/g were found to be 84.9, 89.3 and 90.4%, respectively. The detection limits for OTA by ELISA was 0.625 ng/g according to the manufacturer’s description. OTA was found in 3.1% of the analyzed samples by average concentration of 3.73 ± 2.27 ng/g. The incidence rates of OTA contamination in dried coconut, and slices of quince samples were, 10.0%, and 5.6%, respectively. The concentration of OTA in any of contaminated dried fruit samples were not higher than maximum tolerance limit accepted by the European Union (10 ng/g). This value reflects that the analyzed samples have a minimal contribution to toxicological risk.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is now recognized as an important cause of diarrhea, hemorrhagia colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome worldwide. Meat contaminated with animal feces is probably the major source of the E. coli O157:H7. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in meat samples of bovine in Rafsanjan, Iran. This was a descriptive - analytical and descriptive study, which was conducted from April 2011 to February 2012. A total of 148 bovine carcasses were sampled by surface section of neck meat taken immediately after slaughter analyzed using microbiological examinations. Suspected colonies to E. coli O157:H7 were confirmed by a specific polymerase chain reaction method (PCR). The results showed that the contamination rate of samples to E. coli and E. coli O157:H7 were 36(24/32%) and 10(6/75%), respectively, six samples (4/05%) were identified as E. coli O157:H7, using polymerase chain reaction. Seasonal distribution showed that the highest prevalence of E. coli and E. coli O157:H7 occurred in summer samples (P<0.05).These results indicate that bovine can be a reservoir for E. coli O157:H7 and bovine meat may serve as a vehicle for the pathogen transmission to human.

Ninety meat samples of fishes caught from BeheshtabadRiver including Cyprinus carpio (n=29), Carassius auratus gibelio (n=15), Alburnus alburnus (n=27) and Capoeta aculeata (n=19) collected and used for determination of lead and cadmium with the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after wet digestion. Fish sampling was done by cast net during summer, autumn and winter 2007 and spring 2008. The results showed that the mean concentrations of lead and cadmium was 181.6 and 91.03 in Cyprinus carpio, 191.07 and 88.13 in Carassius auratus gibelio, 145.7 and 70.85 in Alburnus alburnus and 117.92 and 60.68 µg/kg in Capoeta aculeata. The mean concentrations of lead and cadmium in total samples were 159.02 and 78.09 µg/kg, respectively. The mean concentration of cadmium in samples examined exceeded acceptable threshold established in the European Commission (EC). Lead and cadmium concentration in 10% and 57.5% of samples exceeded the tolerance limits established in EC respectively. The results showed that there is significant difference between cadmium levels in meat of fish species (P<0.05). The high concentration of cadmium and lead in fish meat is probably due to missusing of phosphate fertilizers in agriculture affairs and entry of agricultural sewage into the river. 
Ninety meat samples of fishes caught from BeheshtabadRiver including Cyprinus carpio (n=29), Carassius auratus gibelio (n=15), Alburnus alburnus (n=27) and Capoeta aculeata (n=19) collected and used for determination of lead and cadmium with the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after wet digestion. Fish sampling was done by cast net during summer, autumn and winter 2007 and spring 2008. The results showed that the mean concentrations of lead and cadmium was 181.6 and 91.03 in Cyprinus carpio, 191.07 and 88.13 in Carassius auratus gibelio, 145.7 and 70.85 in Alburnus alburnus and 117.92 and 60.68 µg/kg in Capoeta aculeata. The mean concentrations of lead and cadmium in total samples were 159.02 and 78.09 µg/kg, respectively. The mean concentration of cadmium in samples examined exceeded acceptable threshold established in the European Commission (EC). Lead and cadmium concentration in 10% and 57.5% of samples exceeded the tolerance limits established in EC respectively. The results showed that there is significant difference between cadmium levels in meat of fish species (P<0.05). The high concentration of cadmium and lead in fish meat is probably due to missusing of phosphate fertilizers in agriculture affairs and entry of agricultural sewage into the river.