Investigation of fungal bioaerosols in Shiraz composting facilities during 2017

Background: Fungi are one of the pollutant emissions from the composting plants which change in variety during the composting process. They are predominant in stabilization stage

Methods: This study assessed the thermotolerant airborne fungi based on NIOSH 0800 on 200 ambient samples from four composting processes and outdoor spaces in a composting plant

Results: The concentration of fungi during shredding, separating and screening was higher than 1000 CFU/m[3]. The level of fungi in all stages was higher than outdoor [P<0.001]. The highest concentration was detected in shredding [6749 +/- 1347 CFU/m[3]] [P=0.007], and the lowest concentration was related to screening [113 +/- 32 CFU/m[3]] [P=0.013]. The predominant species was varied during the stages. Yeast and A. niger were predominant species in shredding and separating

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the concentration of airborne fungi was decreased during composting process. The effect of these aerosols on indoor air was more than that in the outdoor space and workers at this site were exposed to high levels of thermotolerant fungi. Therefore, air-condition, ventilation system and safety operations such as respiratory masks are essential. The results of this study can be used in risk assessment

Giant skin tag

Skin tags are common skin colored, asymptomatic pedunculated tumors with smooth surface, located usually at the neck, axillae or groin. The average diameters of these lesions are around 2 mm, but larger lesions, called giant skin tags are reported rarely in the literature. We report a 59 year old woman with giant skin tag measuring 12 cm in diameter at shoulder region which is not a common site of this tumor

accuracy of intraoperative aspiration cytology in diagnosis of ovarian tumors

To determine the accuracy of cytology in intraoperative diagnosis of ovarian tumors and to compare it with frozen section [F.S] and permanent section. We compared the accuracy of intraoperative cytology [I.O.C] with F.S in 105 cases of ovarian tumors received in Urmia Imam Khomeini and Shahid Motahari hospitals during March 2007 to March 2008. Sensitivity of both techniques of F.S and I.O.C was 93.1%. Specificity of F.S and I.O.C were 98.7% and 94.7%, respectively. Positive predictive value of F.S was 96.4% and of I.O.C, 87.1%. Negative predictive value of both methods was 97.4%. Accuracy of F.S and I.O.C were 97.1% and 94.3% respectively. The area under receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve was 0.959 for F.S and 0.939 for I.O.C. These results showed that intra operative cytology can be performed for intraoperative diagnosis of ovarian tumors as an alternative to Frozen Section [FS], however combination of these two techniques is more reliable

Differentiation of keratoacanthoma from squamous cell carcinoma by argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region [AgNOR] staining

The objective was to evaluate the differentiation of keratoacanthoma from squamous cell carcinoma by using argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region staining. Thirty one cases of keratoacanthoma and 31 cases of squamous cell carcinoma [S.C.C] were selected. The AgNOR staining carried out. Counting of AgNOR was done in 100 cells of each tumor. Two criterias including M.AgNOR [mean number of AgNORs] and P.AgNOR [percentage of nuclei with five or more than five AgNORs per nucleous] were used. Statistical analysis was done by Mann- Whitney test. Significant increase in M.AgNOR and P.AgNOR was found in S.C.C compared with keratoacanthoma [M.AgNOR =16.52 +/- 10.1 and P.AgNOR = 84.12 +/- 23.4 in S.C.C compared with M.AgNOR = 6.58 +/- 4.4 and P.AgNOR = 52.29 +/- 26.7 in keratoacanthoma, P=0.000]. Exceptionally overlapping was seen. This study indicated that the AgNOR counting is a valuable diagnostic criterion for differentiation of keratoacanthoma and S.C.C especially in cases with borderline histologic features