[Safety Standards observation at clinical laboratories of hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences considering Total Quality Management safety regulations]

Clinical laboratories, due to their succeptibility to potential risks, are priorities in all activities concerning safety issues in hospitals. Total Quality Management [TQM] is a model considered by WHO for clinical laboratories safety development. This study aimed to assess how safety standards were followed at the clinical laboratories of hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences [TUMS] based on TQM safety regulations. This descriptive study was conducted on a research population including TUMS hospitals clinical laboratories in 2012. For data collection, census was applied and sampling was not considered. The data gathering instrument was a checklist measuring seven safety components based on TQM. The validity of the instrument was determined through content validation, and Cronbach alpha was calculated to be 0.82. For the analysis of the results, descriptive statistics including frequency percentage of scores was employed. The safety of research population turned out to be suitable in terms of four factors: designing, existence of general safety items, conducting standard safety activities, and safe disposal of laboratory wastes. Besides, implementation of safety programs and increase in employees' knowledge to cope with accidents were relatively acceptable. The emergency evacuation program, however, was estimated as poor. The studied laboratories enjoy relatively safe conditions, but imperfect implementation of safety protocols can endanger safety conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to take the required correcting measures to ensure full safety in clinical labs

"A comparison between sugar consumption and ethanol production in wort by immobilized Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Saccharomyces Ludwigii and Saccharomyces Rouxii on Brewer's Spent Grain"

The immobilization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae DSM 70424, Saccharomyces ludwigii DSM 3447 and Saccharomyces rouxii DSM 2531 on brewer's spent grain and then ethanol production and sugar consumption of these immobilized yeasts were investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the abilities of these three immobilized yeasts for producing alcohol for brewing at two temperatures (7 and 12 °C) using two different sugar levels (one at original level supplied in the brewery and one with 2.5 percent (w/v), added glucose to the wort). Increasing both parameters resulted in higher alcohol production by all the yeasts studied. At 7 °C and with original wort density the ethanol content at the end of fermentation was 2.7 percent (v/v) for S. cerevisiae, 1.7 percent for S. ludwigii and 2.0 percent for S. rouxii. After the addition of 2.5 percent (w/v) glucose at the same temperature (7 °C), the alcohol production was increased to 4.1, 2.8 and 4.1 percent, respectively. Similar improvements were observed when the fermentation was carried out at 12 °C with/without the addition of glucose to the wort. However, temperature indicated greater influence on S. ludwigii than did on S. rouxii and S. cerevisiae. The immobilization as carried out in this study impacted both S. ludwigii and S. rouxii in a way that they could consume maltose under certain conditions.