مهندس رضا شهرکی

 The prevalence of parasitic protozoan raises severe concerns for food safety and public health, thereby underscoring the crucial importance of understanding its extent. This study investigates Sarcocystis contamination in sheep, goat, and cow carcasses from a slaughterhouse in Esfarayen, northeastern of Iran.

In this descriptive study, 205 corpses were examined over a year. Sarcocystis bradyzoites were isolated by digestion method. This process involved crushing meat samples obtained from slaughtered animals, digesting them with a 50 ml digestive solution, and incubating them at a precise 40°C for one hour. The filtered solution was centrifuged, and the sediment was stained with Giemsa. Additionally, tissue samples were meticulously viewed for pathological examination and stained with hematoxylin and eosin histopathological sections.

This study showed that out of 205 samples, 136 (66%) were infected by Sarcocystis. The infection was mostly seen in sheep (63.6%). Based on Fischer's accurate test, there was no statistically significant relationship between animal sex and infection rate (p> 0.05). Also, there was a relationship between the goats' weight criteria and the contamination rate (p<0.05).

The results indicate that Esfarayen has a higher Sarcocystis infection rate in traditionally bred slaughtered livestock compared to the rest of the country. There was also a relationship between the research goats' body weight and the degree of contamination.

Loctococcus garvieae is a common bacterium between humans and animals, and it causes various diseases such as lactococcosis in aquatic animals. The [1,3]-Dithiine with two sulfur atoms in its structure is found in natural compounds such as garlic. Due to the antimicrobial activity of the [1,3]-Dithiine derivatives, and magnetic nanoparticles, in this study, antibacterial effects of the derivatives of this compound against Loctococcus garvieae were evaluated.

Six derivatives of [1,3]-Dithiine and a magnetic nanoparticles containing [1,3]-Dithiine were synthesized and antibacterial activity against Loctococcus garvieae were evaluated. Antimicrobial property was assessed using the CLSI (Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institut) standard and compared with gentamicin as a commercial drug.

Synthetic derivatives of [1,3]-Dithiine and magnetic nanoparticles showed acceptable antibacterial effects based on IZD (inhibition zone diameter), MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration), and MBC (minimum bactericidal concentration) with a range of 32-2048 μg/ml.

In the study of antibacterial activity, a direct and significant relationship between the structure of compounds and antibacterial activity was observed.

The demand of low-fat and reduced-fat product has greatly increased due to consumer’s awareness of the relationship between diet and health. This has led the dairy food industry to continuously work on formulating and developing “functional dairy foods” with good textural qualities. In this research, the influence of different levels of Alyssum homolocarpum seed gum (AHSG) (0-1%) and Flaxseed gum (FG) (0-1%) on the physicochemical, sensory and microbial properties of low-fat synbiotic cream cheese during 45 days of storage were evaluated. The results showed that AHSG and FG increase caused significant increment in moisture content, hardness, springiness, adhesiveness and spreadability of samples. Evaluation of the organoleptic properties showed that addition of AHSG and FG caused a double impact on the sensory properties, and sensory parameters improved up to medium concentrations of AHSG and FG. Results showed that during the storage, acidity increased while pH, hardness, springiness, adhesiveness and spreadability were decreased. Based on the probiotic count test, only optimized sample had the amount of probiotic bacteria in the standard range at the end of storage time. The findings of this study showed that incorporation of AHSG and FG into the formulation of low-fat synbiotic cream cheese could be an effective strategy to overcome the problems associated with fat reduction.

Anthropology has a special place as the science of culture and study of human interaction and accommodation with the environment. One of the most important discussion in the field of anthropology in knowing the culture of village and nomad societies is the study of their native knowledge and the method of their accommodation with the environment, nature and meeting their biological and non-biological needs in nature. Native knowledge refers to solutions that humans have achieved by experience in so many years for solving their problems based on the experience of their ancestors and which can be different in each region considering their specific conditions. Having recorded the native knowledge of the region, anthropologists make known the thoughts of animal farmers, shepherds and cameleers about their environment. The present paper studies the traditional method of camel husbandry and the native knowledge of cameleers in the grasslands of the North of Iran in Gomishan region. It also aims at knowing and detection of their common information and terminology about camel and camel husbandry. The region studied is the grasslands of Gomishan city o Golestan Province located 25 kilometers far away from the city. In this paper, the necessary information on camel husbandry method based on native knowledge is gathered through interview, observation, taking pictures and videos. The findings include the native knowledge about the cycle and calendar of the camel husbandry activities, camel herd grasslands, issues related to reproduction and delivery in camel, animals accompanying the herd, the status of camel herd, marking the animal and camel productions such as milk and its byproducts, wool and meat.