A new method for calculating copper content and determining appropriate copper levels in foods

ABSTRACT Since the amount of food can affect the copper content, the copper content of different amounts of food (except foods without copper) is different. The copper content of some foods is inappropriately calculated per 100 kcal, 100 g or 100 mL, or the reference amount customarily consumed (RACC). Thus, making some food choices based on these calculations to achieve adequate copper intake may increase the risk of some chronic diseases. Calculating the copper content and determining appropriate copper levels (to achieve adequate copper intake) based on U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), and the proposed method were performed in 7,379 food items. Making some food choices based on the FDA and CAC per serving (the serving is derived from the RACC) or CAC per 100 g or 100 mL to achieve adequate copper intake exceeded energy needs, which could lead to overweight or obesity. Making some food choices based on the CAC per 100 kcal or CAC per 100 g or 100 mL to achieve adequate copper intake did not meet copper requirements, which could lead to copper deficiency. Some foods that met copper requirements were not appropriate food choices based on the CAC per 100 g or 100 mL or CAC per serving to achieve adequate copper intake. On the basis of the proposed method, calculating the copper content and determining appropriate copper levels in foods are performed by considering RACCs and the energy content of foods. Thus, making food choices based on the proposed method met copper requirements and did not exceed energy needs.

RESUMEN Dado que la cantidad de alimento puede afectar el contenido de cobre, el contenido de cobre de diferentes cantidades de alimentos (excepto los alimentos sin cobre) puede ser diferente. El contenido de cobre de algunos alimentos se calcula incorrectamente por 100 kcal, 100 g o 100 mL, o la cantidad de referencia habitualmente consumida (RACC). Por lo tanto, elegir algunos alimentos en función de ellos para lograr una ingesta adecuada de cobre puede aumentar los riesgos de algunas enfermedades crónicas. El cálculo del contenido de cobre y la determinación de los niveles apropiados de cobre (para lograr una ingesta adecuada de cobre) en 7.379 alimentos según métodos de la Administración de Drogas y Alimentos de los Estados Unidos (FDA), la Comisión del Codex Alimentarius (CAC) y por el método propuesto en este trabajo. La elección de alimentos basadas en la FDA y el CAC por porción (la porción se deriva del RACC) o CAC por 100 g o 100 ml, para lograr una ingesta adecuada de cobre, excedió las necesidades energéticas, lo que podría provocar sobrepeso u obesidad. La elección de alimentos basadas en el CAC por 100 kcal o CAC por 100 g o 100 ml para lograr una ingesta adecuada de cobre no cumplió con los requisitos de cobre, lo que podría conducir a una deficiencia de cobre. Algunos alimentos que cumplían con los requisitos de cobre no eran opciones de alimentos adecuadas según el CAC por 100 g o 100 ml o el CAC por porción, para lograr una ingesta adecuada de cobre. Sobre la base del método propuesto, el cálculo del contenido de cobre y la determinación de los niveles apropiados de cobre en los alimentos se realizaron considerando las RACC y el contenido energético de los alimentos. Por lo tanto, la elección de alimentos basada en el método propuesto cumplió con los requisitos de cobre y no excedió las necesidades energéticas.

Ecological footprints of environmental resources for agricultural production in Iran: a model-based study.

A modeling system was used to calculate the resource footprints (land, water, nutrients, energy, fuel, electricity, and carbon) on a large scale in agricultural production systems (Iran as a case study), and this report is an introduction of this modeling system for future studies. Under irrigated conditions, the highest land footprint was observed in pulses and oil grains (0.6 ha t-1). The lowest water footprints were found in silage corn (300 m3 t-1), and the highest water footprints were observed in oil grains (4525 m3 t-1). The highest footprints of nitrogen were observed in maize (31.7 kg t-1), wheat (30.9 kg t-1), and oil grains (30.4 kg t-1), and the lowest value belonged to production of sugar crops (2.6 kg t-1). Most of the energy, fuel, electricity, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were occurred under irrigated cropping systems compared with the rainfed systems. Under irrigated conditions, the highest footprints of energy, fuel, and electricity and GHG emissions occurred in the production of oil grains, and their values were 24397 MJ t-1, 161 L t-1, 1195 kWh t-1, and 1699 kg CO2eq. t-1, respectively. In general, wheat production in Iran has the highest cost in terms of resource use (water, elements, energy, and carbon) compared with the other plant products. Livestock and poultry products (especially red meat) also had the highest ecological footprint among the products.

Reliable Target Prediction of Bioactive Molecules Based on Chemical Similarity Without Employing Statistical Methods.

The prediction of biological targets of bioactive molecules from machine-readable materials can be routinely performed by computational target prediction tools (CTPTs). However, the prediction of biological targets of bioactive molecules from non-digital materials (e.g., printed or handwritten documents) has not been possible due to the complex nature of bioactive molecules and impossibility of employing computations. Improving the target prediction accuracy is the most important challenge for computational target prediction. A minimum structure is identified for each group of neighbor molecules in the proposed method. Each group of neighbor molecules represents a distinct structural class of molecules with the same function in relation to the target. The minimum structure is employed as a query to search for molecules that perfectly satisfy the minimum structure of what is guessed crucial for the targeted activity. The proposed method is based on chemical similarity, but only molecules that perfectly satisfy the minimum structure are considered. Structurally related bioactive molecules found with the same minimum structure were considered as neighbor molecules of the query molecule. The known target of the neighbor molecule is used as a reference for predicting the target of the neighbor molecule with an unknown target. A lot of information is needed to identify the minimum structure, because it is necessary to know which part(s) of the bioactive molecule determines the precise target or targets responsible for the observed phenotype. Therefore, the predicted target based on the minimum structure without employing the statistical significance is considered as a reliable prediction. Since only molecules that perfectly (and not partly) satisfy the minimum structure are considered, the minimum structure can be used without similarity calculations in non-digital materials and with similarity calculations (perfect similarity) in machine-readable materials. Nine tools (PASS online, PPB, SEA, TargetHunter, PharmMapper, ChemProt, HitPick, SuperPred, and SPiDER), which can be used for computational target prediction, are compared with the proposed method for 550 target predictions. The proposed method, SEA, PPB, and PASS online, showed the best quality and quantity for the accurate predictions.

Photochemical behavior of sethoxydim in the presence of vegetable oils.

The photodecomposition of herbicides may be affected by adding vegetable oils to the spray tank. In this study nine vegetable oils were compared to assess the photodecomposition of sethoxydim under natural light conditions. The experiment was conducted as completely randomized factorial design with three replicates at the College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2013. Each herbicidal solution (with and without vegetable oil) was exposed to sunshine with time intervals of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, 120, and 240 min. The results revealed that the half-life value was increased by adding castor bean and cottonseed oils to 1.39- and 1.18-fold, respectively, compared to nonvegetable oil. These values for turnip, olive, corn, soybean, sunflower, canola, and sesame oils were decreased down to 4.74-, 2.38-, 1.81-, 1.75-, 1.52-, 1.28-, and 1.11-fold, respectively. A positive relationship existed between the half-life of sethoxydim in the presence of vegetable oils and their viscosity. However, a negative relationship was monitored between unsaturated/saturated fatty acids ratio and the monounsaturated value with half-life. A positive relationship also existed between saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, palmitic acid, and linoleic acid with half-life. This study revealed that the amount of fatty acids in vegetable oils is a determining factor in preventing or facilitating the photodecomposition of sethoxydim.

Municipal solid waste management in Tehran: current practices, opportunities and challenges.

Tehran, the capital city of Iran and a metropolis with a population of 8.2 million and containing 2.4 million households, generated 2,626,519 tons of solid waste in 2005. The present study is aimed at evaluating the generation, characteristics and management of solid waste in Tehran. Municipal solid waste comprises more than 97% of Tehran's solid waste, while three other types of solid waste comprise less than 3% of it, namely hospital waste (1.0%), industrial waste (0.6%) and construction and demolition waste (0.5%). The contribution of household solid waste to total municipal solid waste is about 62.5%. The municipality of Tehran is responsible for the solid waste management of the city; the waste is mainly landfilled in three centers in Tehran, with a small part of it usually recycled or processed as compost. However, an informal sector is also active in collecting recyclable materials from solid waste. The municipality has recently initiated some activities to mechanize solid waste management and reduce waste generation. There remain important challenges in solid waste management in Tehran which include: the proper collection and management of hospital waste; public education aimed at reducing and separating household waste and educating municipal workers in order to optimize the waste collection system; and the participation of other related organizations and the private sector in solid waste management.

Herbicide risk assessment during the Wheat Self-sufficiency Project in Iran.

BACKGROUND: The present study describes the quantitative changes in herbicide use during the specific observation periods in the Wheat Self-sufficiency Project in Iran from 1994 to 2004 and the associated changes in herbicide risk, area and yield in this context. A risk index, the environmental impact quotient (EIQ), was used to estimate the environmental impacts (EIs) of herbicides applied to wheat agroecosystems. RESULTS: The results suggest that, during this period, the overall risk posed by the herbicides applied to wheat agroecosystems increased substantially, as evidenced by a 71% increase in herbicide usage (weight of pesticide applied) and a 62.2% increase in EI rating, in spite of an 8.2% decrease in overall EIQ rating and an 89.2% decrease in mean application rate. Furthermore, a 0.57% increase in the area and a 23.6% and 22.7% increase in irrigated and rainfed yields, respectively, were observed. The results also indicate that the EIQ(FUR) of two herbicides, dichlorprop-P/mecoprop-P/MCPA and difenzoquat, is much higher than that of other herbicides, and they could be qualified as high-risk herbicides. CONCLUSION: As a whole, an increase in herbicide usage (weight of pesticide applied) was an important factor on herbicide environmental impact boost. However, this increase has not led to a similar increase in wheat yield, which could be attributed in part to the negative impact of high herbicide consumption in wheat fields and subsequent threat to the long-term sustainability of these agroecosystems.

Evaluation of different empirical models of crop/weed competition to estimate yield and LAI losses from common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.) in maize (Zea mays L.).

Usefulness and validity of different empirical yield loss models at describing the effect of common lambsquarters competition in maize were evaluated in a two year experiment in Karaj during 2001 and 2002 growing seasons. Experimental factors were density (1st year: 2, 5, 10 and 15 plants m(-2); 2nd year: 6.6, 13.3 and 20 plants m(-2)) and the relative emergence time (1st year: simultaneous to, at 2-3 and 4-5 leaf stages of maize; 2nd year: simultaneous to, at 2-3 and 5-6 leaf stages of maize) of common lambsquarters. Results indicated that the highest maize yield and LAI losses were observed at simultaneous emergence of weed and maize resulted in 85 and 92% yield loss and 73 and 53% LAI loss in the first and second years of experiments, respectively. Also, delaying common lambsquarters emergence reduced its competitive ability against maize. Comparison of different empirical models revealed that the empirical yield loss models based on density and the relative time of weed emergence and the weed relative leaf area, also the rectangular hyperbolic yield loss model based on weed density were more reliable at predicting maize yield and LAI losses according to their high coefficient of determination (R2). Also, results indicated that the negative effect of the relative time of common lambsquarters emergence on maize yield loss was more than weed density, so that the rectangular hyperbolic yield loss model based on weed density was more capable at predicting yield loss at each of weed emergence time.

Investigating the resistance of wild oat (Avena ludoviciana Durieu.) to fenoxaprop-p-ethyl by whole plant bioassay and seed bioassay.

Greenhouse and laboratory experiments were performed to evaluate the resistant of wild oat Avena luduviciana Durieu. populations to fenoxaprop-p-ethyl. Populations of A. ludoviciana were collected from different locations in Iran, showed indications of resistance to this herbicide. Whole plant assay experiments included screening tests and dose response experiments whereas; seed bioassay experiment consisted of ID50 determination and dose response experiments. Whole plant assay experiments were conducted as a randomized complete block design in four replications. The treatments were wild oat populations included FR1, FR2, FR3, FR4 (collected from Fars province), MR1, MR2, MR3 (collected from Markazi province), KS, KR1, KR2, KR3 (collected from Khuzestan province) and S (collected from location which had never been treated previously with any graminicide). Seed bioassay experiments were conducted using a randomized design with 4 replications. On the whole plant basis, resistance was found in, KR1, KR2, KR3 and FR4 and based on a seed bioassay, these populations were also resistant to fenoxaprop-p-ethyl. Resistance ratios (R/S) of resistant populations were different. Present findings also revealed that the seed bioassay could be used as a simple, comparatively rapid, inexpensive and accurate method for identifying wild oat populations resistant to Acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitors.