Parasitic contamination of surface and deep soil in different areas of Sari in north of Iran

Objective:To study the parasitic contamination of soil in selected areas of Sari,north of Iran.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify all available parasites in surface and deep soil.In this study 580 soil samples(278 deep soil and 302 topsoil samples)from 21 different locations were collected from pathways,parks,greenhouses,estates around the city,cemetery,main squares,farmlands,fenced gardens and seashores.Depending on the soil type,two samples were prepared,from surface and deep soil at the depth of 3 to 5 cm.After performing various stages of preparation,including cleaning and washing,smoothing and flotation,parasitic elements were examined microscopically and quantitative parasite counting was done using a McMaster slide.Results:The results showed that the highest rate of parasitic contamination was related to nematodes larvae(26.11%).Other contaminants such as Entamoeba and Acanthamoeba cysts,vacuolization Blastocystis hominis form,oocyte containing sporocysts,Toxascaris eggs,nematoda larvae,Hymenolepis eggs,Ascaris eggs,Fasciola eggs,hookworm eggs,Toxocara eggs,insects'larvae and other ciliated and flagellated organisms were also observed.The results of this study showed that the highest contamination was found in public garden(25.80%)both in surface(29.30%)and in deep soil(21.12%),while the lowest level of contamination was observed in seashore surface soil(4.90%).Conclusions:The results showed that soil can provide a potential medium for the spread of soil transmitted parasitic diseases in the environment;therefore,preventive programs are needed.

GC-MS Analysis of Volatile Oils in Mango Leaves from Different Producing Areas

[Objectives]To analyze the composition of volatile oils from mango leaves from different producing areas.[Methods]The volatile oils in mango leaves from different areas was extracted by steam distillation,and the GC-MS method combined with retention index and peak area normalization method was used for qualitative and quantitative analysis.[Results]The volatile oils of mango leaves in southern provinces contained high content of terpenes,such asα-gurjunene(18.39%-34.13%),(+)-viridiflorene(8.95%-16.30%)and(E)-β-ocimene(3.49%-7.63%).The volatile oils components of mango leaves were significantly different in different provinces,for example,mango leaves produced in Hainan Province contained a large amount ofβ-selinene(23.00%),but not in other provinces.[Conclusions]The origin had a great influence on the composition and contents of volatile oils in mango leaves.

An Adaptive SVP Simplification Based on Area Difference

Sound velocity profile(SVP)data is indispensable in the multi-beam data processing.The sampling density is of great importance for SVP to represent the vertical variation of sound velocity accurately and guarantee the accuracy of sound ray tracing(SRT).However,the SVP also affects the SRT efficiency significantly,especially in deep-sea multi-beam sounding data processing.To improve SRT efficiency and ensure SRT accuracy,an adaptive SVP simplification method based on area difference is proposed in this article.Firstly,the relationship between the area difference of the raw SVP and the simplified one and SRT bias is studied,and the relationship model of them is built.Then,by considering the constraint of SRT accuracy,the SVP simplification method and the simplifying SVP procedure SVP are given.Finally,a deep water experiment is conducted to verify the proposed method.Compared to the existing method,the proposed method improves the robustness,feasibility of SVP simplification as well as the accuracy and efficiency of SRT.

The difference analysis of physical-mechanical properties of sediments in the central South Yellow Sea and Zhe-Min coastal area in China

The difference analysis of physical-mechanical properties of muddy sediments is made in the central South Yellow Sea and the Zhe-Min（Zhejiang Province to Fujian Province of China） coastal area. The results show that sediments in the two regions are both dominated by mud. There are perfect negative power function correlations between the water content and the density, the compression coefficient and the compression modulus; a good positive power function correlation between the liquid limit and the plastic limit, a perfect positive linear correlation between the water content and the void ratio, and a perfect polynomial function correlation between the miniature vane shear strength and the pocket penetration resistance. In general, compared with sediments in the Zhe-Min coastal area, sediments in the central South Yellow Sea possess high water content, high void ratio,low density, high plasticity, high compressibility, low shear strength. The causes of the differences between physical-mechanical properties of sediments are analyzed from the topographic features, material sources,hydrodynamic conditions, deposition rate, and material composition. Compared with the Zhe-Min coastal area,the central South Yellow Sea is far from the Mainland and low-lying; has poor hydrodynamic condition; the materials diffused to the area are less and dominated by fine clay, have the high content of smectite and organic matters. These factors lead to sediments of the central South Yellow Sea has the higher water content, the higher plasticity, the lower density, and the lower strength than sediments in the Zhe-Min coastal area.

Safety Limit Test of Heavy Metals and Pesticide Residues in the Zhuang Ethnic Medcine Herba Polygoni Chinensis from 13 Producing Areas

[Objectives]This study was conducted to determine the contents of such five heavy metals as lead(Pb),cadmium(Cd),arsenic(As),mercury(Hg)and copper(Cu)and the contents of nine kinds of organochlorine pesticide residues including total BHC(α-BHC,β-BHC,γ-BHC,δ-BHC)and total DDT(pp-DDE,pp-DDD,op-DDT,pp-DDT)and pentachloronitrobenzene in the Zhuang medicine Herba Polygoni Chinensis from 13 producing areas.[Methods]The five heavy metals were determined in accordance with the second method of general rule 2341,the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method,in part 4 of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia;and the nine organochlorines were determined in accordance with the first method of general rule 2341,organochlorine pesticide residue determination method(chromatography),in part 4 of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia.[Results]In the Herba Polygoni Chinensis from 13 origins,the lead contents were in the range of 0.50-3.28 mg/kg;the cadmium contents were in the range of 0.06-4.21 mg/kg;the arsenic contents were in the range of 0.16-6.9 mg/kg;the copper contents were in the range of 10.5-45.1 mg/kg;the mercury contents were in the range of 0.00-0.003 mg/kg;and the nine organochlorines including the total benzene hexachloride(α-BHC,β-BHC,γ-BHC,δ-BHC),total DDT(pp-DDE,pp-DDD,op-DDT,pp-DDT)and pentachloronitrobenzene were all not detected.Referring to part 4 of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia,the Cu and As of the Herba Polygoni Chinensis produced in Hezhou exceeded the standards,the Cu of the Herba Polygoni Chinensis produced in Wuzhou exceeded the standard,and the As of the Herba Polygoni Chinensis produced in Yulin City and Guilin City exceeded the standard.[Conclusions]This study provides safety limit test data for the development and utilization of Herba Polygoni Chinensis of the Zhuang medicine.

Physical background on estimating bvalue

The G R relation lg N=a-bM( 1954)is an empirical formula used widely in the seismicity research. But the linearity of b curves has great difference in different time and space domains. An interested question in this paper is that in how large a space time strength domain the b value has certain physical connotation. This study told us that we can get optimal statistical results of b value in those space time domains which can develop correspondent strong shocks with magnitude interval( M S≥8.5, 8.0≤ M S<8.5, 7.0≤ M S<8.0). Thus, the possible seismogenic areas in which strong shocks with different magnitude intervals develop can be inferred in different regions of the mainland of China. Finally, some new problems are proposed, such as the delimitation of seismic province, the seismicity parameter determination in seismic hazard analysis and in earthquake predictions by using b value.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil from three typical industrial areas in Beijing, China

Areas containing industrial facilities belonging to three different typical industries that may cause pollution by polybrominated diphenyl ethers （PBDEs） in Beijing, China were investigated. Specifically, the areas contained a solid waste incineration plant, a chemical factory, and a heat and power plant. Investigation of the pollution status of PBDEs in the surface soil from areas around these industries revealed the highest concentration of 42 PBDE congeners （118 ng/g, dry mass） at the solid waste incineration plant. In the other two plants, the highest concentrations were both 26 ng/g （dry mass）. Among the PBDE homologues, the PBDE contamination at all sites showed similar congener compositions, with BDE 209 being the dominant congener. Our findings established the first contamination status of three typical industrial areas in Beijing. Furthermore, the total concentrations of 42 PBDE congeners tended to decrease as the distance from the investigated plants increased. Overall, these plants were identified as potential pollution sources of PBDEs in Beijing. Moreover, Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the major PBDE source in Beijing may be associated with the technical deca-BDE and penta-BDE mixture. Based on the data obtained in this preliminary investigation, further study of the potential of these sources to emit PBDEs in Beijing is warranted.

A novel non-iterative shape method for estimating the decay time constant of the finger photoplethysmographic pulse

The photoplethysmogram(PPG) of a pulse wave,similar in appearance to the arterial blood pressure(ABP) waveform,contains rich information about the cardiovascular system.The decay time constant RC,equal to the product of peripheral resistance R and total arterial compliance C,is a meaningful cardiovascular model parameter in vascular assessment.Using or ameliorating the existing ABP methods does not achieve a satisfactory estimation of RC from the PPG volume pulse(VRC).Thus,a novel non-iterative shape method(NSM) of evaluating VRC is introduced in this paper.The mathematic expression between a novel,readily available morphological parameter called the area difference ratio(ADR) and VRC was established.As it was difficult to calculate VRC from the complicated expression analytically,we recommend estimating it using a piecewise linear interpolation criterion.Also,since the effect of the PPG magnitude is eliminated in the calculation of ADR,precaliberation or normalization is dispensable in the NSM.Results of human experiments indicated that the NSM was computationally efficient,and the simulation experiments confirmed that the NSM was theoretically available for ABP.