Investigation of solid waste disposal alternatives in lavan island using life cycle assessment approach

Escalating development of tourism and petroleum industries in small islands such as Lavan-Iran requires sound solid waste management. In the present investigation, three scenarios which consist of the combination of landfill, recycling, incineration and composting and their environmental impacts have been evaluated for 7514 Kg/day of waste generation in Lavan island. For this purpose, life cycle assessment was used. The environmental impact assessment was carried out by Eco-indicator 99. The impacts include health [organic substances, inorganic substances, climate change, ionizing radiation, and ozone layer depletion], ecosystem quality [ecotoxic emissions, acidification, eutrophication and double coating] and resources [extraction of minerals and the fossil fuels]. Although all three scenarios have positive impacts on the environment, the third one causes the least damage. Introduced Scenario one has the most adverse effects on human health and ecosystem quality. However, introduced scenario Two has less than the others. In general, the effects of scenario three [landfilling plus recycling, incineration and composting] is less than the other two scenarios which makes it a better candidate for further investigations

[Virulence genes of verotoxigenic E. coli isolated from raw milk and unpasturized cheese]

Verotoxigenic strains of E. coli mostly contain one or both of stx1 and stx2 genes. Both of these genes play a role in pathogenicity of the bacteria. These strains cause bloody diarrhea, uremic haemolytic syndrome and purpura thrombocytopenia. Because of a high probability of the presence of verotoxigenic strains of E. coli in various foods, especially milk and cheese, and due to the importance of these strains to human health, we aimed to determine the presence of verotoxigenic strains of E. coli in unpasteurized milk and cheese by PCR. In this study, 200 samples of raw milk and 80 samples of unpasteurized cheese were collected, and verotoxigenic E. coli were isolated using selective media. PCR was used to determine some virulence genes including stx1, stx2, eaeA and hlyA. Thirty-eight and 14 E. coli samples were isolated from raw milk and unpasteurized cheese, respectively. The isolates were examined by PCR in order to find the O157:H7 specific DNA and stx1, stx2, eae and hlyA genes. Two out of 38 isolates originating from raw milk were typed as O157:H7, both of them containing stx2, eaeA and hlyA genes. Another isolate, which was not O157:H7, also contained the stx2 gene. No isolates possessed the stx1 gene. None of the isolates originating from unpasteurized cheese samples contained any of the virulence genes

Expression of E-cadherin in primary breast cancer and its correlation with prognostic factors

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and after lung cancer, it is the second cause of death in women. Different biological markers are being used for determination of prognosis and patients' responses to the therapy regimes. E-cadherin is one of these markers. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of E-cadherin expression in primary breast cancer and its correlation with the grade, size of tumor and axillary lymph nodes involved. This cross sectional study was performed on 85 patients with primary breast cancer who were admitted in Mostafa Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran [2003-2007]. One section was prepared from the tumoral tissue and lymph nodes sections from all patients and they were stained with H and E. In another tissue section, E-cadherin was evaluated by a immunohistochemical method and then the tumor size, its grade and the number of lymph nodes involved were determined. The data were analyzed with SPSS software 11.5, using Chi-square, Mann -Whitney and Spearman correlation tests. Our data showed that 95.3% of the samples were positive for E-cadherin and 67.1% of the patients had lymph nodes involvement. The average size of the tumor was found 3.09 +/- 1.33 cm. In this study, 41% of the tissue samples were stained with E-caherin more than 75% [3+]. No significant relationship was found between E-cadherin expression and related variables, but a significantly reverse relationship was found between E-cadherin expression and the grade, tumor size and the number of lymph nodes involved [P<0.01]. Considering the results of this study, it seems that the reduction in E-cadherin expression in tumor cells, leads to increase in tumor size, its grade and the number of lymph nodes involved