Journal of Human Environment and Health Promotion
Volume:8 Issue: 2, Spring 2022

 Despite the widespread use of medicinal plants in the food basket of many families, using healthy herbs with safe nutritional standards is one of the necessities.

In this review, the required data and related keywords (such as “latest methods of measuring and analyzing toxic elements in medicinal plants and foods, etc.) were collected from databases such as Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Scopus, SID, PubMed, Elsevier, Springer, etc. Then we focused on accurate works related to toxic elements and medicinal plants.

First, we introduced the issue of toxic elements in foods, especially medicinal plants, with a new perspective. Then, some tools related to measuring toxic elements in herbs and some recent research were investigated. Further, an attempt was made to show the importance of the issue. Finally, the effects of toxic elements on various parts of the human body were discussed.

  An overview of using safe medicinal plants was presented while providing effective solutions such as identifying contaminated areas, using soil stabilizers, and preventing the leaching of toxic elements into farmland.

Awareness of  COVID-19 infection, as a public crisis, makes an emergency condition for survivors. Regarding the importance of early rehabilitation, we should pay particular attention to the potential risk of real-life toxicants in COVID-19 survivors. The adverse effects underlying COVID-19 infection lead to persistent sequelae in survivors. In addition, complete rehabilitation is challenging in seriously-ill patients due to cytokine storm severity, inflammation, oxidative stress, and cell death contributing to multi-organ damage. Different foods, environmental/occupational pollutants, and unhealthy lifestyles are real-life examples of toxicants that can pose redox imbalance and oxidative damage to the biological system. The key concept is that survived patients with persistent tissue damage, low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis are susceptible to real-life toxic stressors, which have the potential for oxidative stress. Moreover, fibrosis are susceptible to toxic stressors, which can induce harmful effects by promoting oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory components. This paper attempted to elucidate a vital toxicological concept in which the existing sequelae of COVID-19 survivors increase the potential risk of real-life toxicants and to propose a practical strategic approach to reduce toxicant exposure. Abbreviation: Lipid radical (L•), Lipid peroxyl radical (LOO•), Lipid alkoxyl radical (LO•), particulate matter (PM), reactive oxygen species (ROS), ultra-fine particle (UFP).

This study evaluated the Antibiotic Resistant Pattern and Multiple Antibiotic Index of multidrug-resistant S. aureus from wound infection patients in Federal Medical Center Umuahia, Abia State.

A total of 300 wound swab samples from diabetic leg ulcers, accident wounds, burn wounds and surgical site wounds were collected from different wards and cultured on Blood agar and Mannitol Salt agar.

S. aureus was isolated from 50 (16.7%) samples, of which, 14 (28%) were diabetic leg ulcers, 11 (22%) accident wounds, 16 (32%) burn wounds, and 9 (18%) surgical site wounds. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the different wards and sites of collection and between age and those with highly resistant S. aureus.  The antimicrobial resistance profile of the isolates in the study samples from wound swabs and surgical site wounds was highest in amoxicillin (100%), erythromycin (100%), and Norfloxacin (100%). The overall prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was 14.0%, while 66% of the S.aureus was multidrug-resistant. Multiple antibiotic resistance index from the study was between 0.4 - 0.6.

Antibiotic susceptibility testing should be performed before treatment and adequate measures should be taken.

Consumption of artisanal foods, such as Shir Berenj, is common in Iran. Nevertheless, little evidence can be found about the safety of traditional foods in the literature. This study aimed to investigate the microbiological and chemical quality of Shir Berenj samples in Khouzestan province.

Shir Berenj samples were collected from Ahvaz, Shoushtar, Andimeshk, and Dezful. They were put in an ice pack and transferred to the laboratory. Microbiological (total count, psychrophile count, mold and yeast, S. aureus, Salmonella, Enterobacteriaceae, and E. coli) and chemical (fat content, pH, and dry matter) tests were carried out to determine the safety and quality of samples.

According to Iran standards, 96% of Shir Berenj samples were rejected. The data showed that microbial contamination was the most critical problem for the safety of Shir Berenj samples. Merely 70 % of samples were contaminated with Enterobacteriaceae beyond the standard limit. Moreover, 50 % of samples were contaminated with Escherichia coli, indicating poor hygienic conditions.

Surveillance organizations should be more watchful about the safety of Shir Berenj. We suggest that appropriate approaches should be used to improve the knowledge of food handlers involved in producing Shir Berenj.

The effort to reduce harm by adopting risk reduction strategies to establish a safe environment is known as school resilience to disasters. Resilient schools have a good capacity in disasters and their educational mission. Following natural disasters, schools play a critical role in the recovery of society. The study aims to assess the resilience of schools to disasters in Kermanshah, Iran.

This research is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study. A proportionate stratified random sampling strategy was used to select 231 participants from schools in Kermanshah. Total resilience showed the weakest (r = 0.499) and strongest (r = 0.910) correlations with location and function. Data were collected using standard school resilience in disasters questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Statistical tests such as Pearson correlation, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA were conducted at a significant level of 0.05.

The results showed the X ± SD of the total resilience score (143.61±32.50). The highest and lowest mean scores among the resilience dimensions were assigned to function (43.81± 13.11) and safety (6.59± 3.40) dimensions, respectively. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between total resilience and its dimensions (P <0.001). Total resilience showed the weakest (r = 0.499) and strongest (r = 0.910) correlations with location and function dimensions.

The level of school resilience was determined to be moderate. It can assist the schools’ management board in analyzing the schools’ level of resilience and setting disaster risk reduction priorities. Awareness of the resilience state can aid policymakers and professionals in developing an effective resilience program.

Encapsulation of probiotics in a carrier material is a useful tool to improve the viability, release, delivery of probiotic cells and extend food shelf by holding extra multiplying of probiotic cells to prevent changing the sensory characteristic of supplemented food. This study aimed to determine the effects of microencapsulation on the viability of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Saccharomycess boulardii probiotics in Doogh samples stored at different temperatures and their combined effect on pH, stability, and sensory attributes of Doogh samples.  

Micro-encapsulation of probiotics was done using the emulsion method under sterile conditions. Enumeration of probiotics and physical analysis (pH, stability, and organoleptic characteristics) of 120 heated Doogh samples containing free and encapsulated L. acidophilus and S. boulardii probiotics were conducted for 28 days at 7-day intervals (0, 7, 14, 21, 28 days) at three temperatures (4, 20, 35 °C).

The survival of probiotics decreased continuously at all temperatures during storage time except for the encapsulated forms of L.acidophilus at 4 and 20 °C and the free forms of S. boulardii at 4 °C remained constant significantly (P <0.05). The treatments containing free S. boulardii had the least significant decrease in pH on the last day of storage at 20 and 35 ºC temperatures. The sensory evaluation shows acceptable scores in all treatments stored at 4 °C. 

Our results show synergistic effects of encapsulated probiotics on extending the shelf life of Doogh.

Organizational environments are constantly changing; hence organizations must adapt to such changes. Therefore, this study aimed to design an HSE management change model for civil engineering projects.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 based on the Delphi method. The participants were 39 HSE experts working on Iran’s large civil engineering project. The instrument of the study was a questionnaire consisting of 40 necessary measures based on the Penfold’s change model. The Delphi method employed in this study comprised three rounds and was carried out based on the 5-stage Penfold’s change model (current situation, analysis, understanding, planning, execution, and keeping changes).

The results of the Delphi study showed that from 60 items after the three rounds, 57 proposals were approved by the specialists. Also, 10 out of 15 recommendations were taken by experts in the change management model.

The final change management model in this study included 38 items for the five stages of change management (based on the integration of 67 items). Results indicated that this model can be used to reduce the consequences of changes affecting occupational safety, health, and the environment.

The present study aimed to evaluate the in-vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of Thymoquinone (TQ), Eugenol (EUG) and their synergistic effects in combination.

Materials:

 The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC), and disc diffusion tests were used to determine the antibacterial activity of TQ and EUG.  Moreover, Reducing Power Assay and DPPH (2.2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) tests were used to indicate the antioxidant ability of TQ and EUG.  The combination index (CI) of these compounds was calculated to evaluate their interaction type.

Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Shewanella SP were the most sensitive bacteria than other studied pathogens to TQ and EUG, with MIC 0.019, 0.07, and 0.07 mg/ml for TQ and 0.6, 0.6, and 0.6 mg/ml for EUG, respectively.  The mixture of two ingredients showed a good antimicrobial and synergistic effects against all tested bacteria. The DPPH scavenging activity of the combination of TQ+ EUG were antagonistic in all combined concentrations except for TQ (5 mg/ml) + EUG (1.25 mg/ml) and TQ (2.5 mg/ml) + EUG (0.3 mg/ml) treatments.

The obtained results provided a new combination of antimicrobial and antioxidant agents in drug delivery, especially in food preservation systems, to enhance food shelf life in the food industry.