the international data have indicated a growing trend of alcohol use worldwide during recent years. although alcohol use is against cultural norms and religious law in iran, anecdotal reports from substance abuse treatment providers show that there is demand for alcohol treatment in the country. a recent national report also documented alcohol use disorders in iran. development and implementati...

Assessment of health risk associated with fecal pollution requires a reliable fecal indicator and a rapid quantification method. We report the development of a Taq nuclease assay for enumeration of 16S rRNA genes of Bacteroidetes. Sensitivity and correlation with standard fecal indicators provide experimental evidence for application of the assay in monitoring fecal pollution.

The inactivation of fecal coliforms in anaerobic batch reactors has been investigated at the thermophilic temperatures of 50, 55 and 60 °C. Throughout inactivation experiments at each temperature, individual colonies were isolated and identified by 16S rDNA gene sequencing to illustrate how the diversity of fecal coliforms is affected by thermophilic treatment. Results indicate that even though...

Inter-individual variation in isoflavone absorption depends on gut microbial degradation and affects the efficacy of these compounds. We hypothesized that inter-individual variation in fecal isoflavone disappearance coincided with variation in bacterial species. In vitro anaerobic fecal disappearance of isoflavones was measured from 33 participants by HPLC. Fecal microbial 16S rRNA variable reg...

Aggregation of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is regulated by fecal aggregation agents (pheromones), including volatile carboxylic acids (VCAs). We demonstrate that the gut microbial community contributes to production of these semiochemicals. Chemical analysis of the fecal extract of B. germanica revealed 40 VCAs. Feces from axenic cockroaches (no microorganisms in the alimentary t...

background: swimming is often recommended because of its potentially beneficial effects on the joints and on people’s general sense of well-being . swimming is a great way to relax and beat the summer heat. the dumping of urban and industrial waste waters into the sea, with their high level of pathogens and other polluting agents, raises concern about its consequences for both swimmers’ health ...

We read with interest the report of Guerrant et al. (1). It was stated that the fecal lactoferrin assay may be a useful diagnostic tool in the evaluation of patients with acute diarrhea syndrome (ADS), offering some advantages over microscopic examination for fecal leukocytes. We would like to comment on this and report data from a study carried out in Chile in which fecal lactoferrin was measu...