RESUMO
A lack of understanding about the effect of microorganism inoculation on compost production and relatively expensive downstream processing are the main obstacles towards an economic compost production. Our work tries to fill this gap. For this, influence of inoculation on the composting of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) to produce compost with higher agronomic value was evaluated. Three similar aerated bioreactors (A, B and C) with the same size and shape in laboratory scale designed. Reactor A was inoculated with the Aspergillus niger IBRC-M 30095, reactor B was inoculated with old compost and reactor C was used as a control. During the composting process temperature, moisture, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) were evaluated. Also, the ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C/N) and germination index (GI) were measured in during process to evaluate compost maturity. The results of this study showed that the C/Ns decreased to about 63.37%, 59.6% and 46% for bioreactors B, A and control, respectively. Also maximum GI and temperature reached to about 138% and 59 °C in reactor B. Furthermore, our results showed that inoculation with this microorganism reduces process time to 18 days that is better than the results of other researchers and thus results in cost savings. However, we think, Aspergillus niger is appropriate candidate for compost production as a model. Graphical abstractSchematic diagram of experimental reactors: Reactor A was inoculated with the Aspergillus Niger IBRC-M 30095, reactor B was inoculated with old compost and reactor C used as a control without inoculation; (1) composting tank; (2) air compressor; (3) gas flow meter; (4) air regulator; (5) thermal probe; (6) exhausted gas; (7) mixer; (8) effluent; (9) moisture content probe; (10) sampling; (11) electric motor; (12) pump.
RESUMO
Enterobiasis (oxyuriasis) is probably the most common helminth, which infects humans. Amongst different age groups, prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis in children is high compared to adults. Oxyuriasis is one of the most significant parasitic diseases of children. This nematode in children can result in loss of appetite, insomnia, grinding of the teeth, restlessness, endometritis, abdominal cramps, diarrhea and etc. Due to important complications of this parasite, the objective of the current study was to determine the prevalence of enterobiasis in kindergarten and preschool children of Amol, Mazandaran Province, North of Iran. A total number of 462 children from 32 kindergartens of Amol were examined for the prevalence of E. vermicularis infection, 2013. Adhesive cello-tape anal swab method was trained to parents for sampling. In addition, a questionnaire was designed and filled out to collect demographic information for each individual. Data were analyzed using Chi square test and multivariate logistic regression for each risk factor. The overall prevalence of E. vermicularis infection was 7.1 % (33). Although infection with E. vermicularis in girls 7.9 % was higher compared to boys 6.3 %, there was no significant difference between gender and age (p > 0.05) whereas binary logistic regression showed significant difference between enterobiasis and age (p < 0.05). The findings indicated that the prevalence of E. vermicularis in kindergarten and preschool children is relatively high and still is an important health problem and should not be underestimated due to being highly contagious infection. Therefore, educational programs and mass treatment should be carried out in order to reduce infection incidence in this area and regular parasitological test and attention to personal hygiene in kindergarten and preschool is of great importance.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Toxoplasmosis in immunocompetent people is generally asymptomatic but in immunocompromised patients including HIV/AIDS, cancer patients, and organ transplant recipients, etc. it can lead to serious pathological problems. The objective of current study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies in HIV/AIDS patients using ELISA technique in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. METHODS: Overall, 82 serum samples (61 males and 21 females) were collected from HIV/AIDS patients in Mazandaran Provinces, in 2013. Sera were surveyed employing ELISA assay. Data were analyzed using Chi-Square or Fisher exact test. In addition, before sampling a questionnaire was filled out for each subject. RESULTS: Overall seroprevalence of examined sera was 96.3% for IgG antibody but none of the sera shown IgM antibody against T. gondii. The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in males and females was 96.7% and 95.2%, respectively. An antibody titer of >1 IU/ml was considered as positive. Furthermore, none of the included variables statistically was significant. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence of chronic (latent) toxoplasmosis in HIV/AIDS patients in Mazandaran Province is high compared to toxoplasmosis in general population. Consequently, the risk of acquiring Toxoplasma encephalitis in examined seropositive HIV/AIDS patients of Toxoplasma is high.
