The Kerman region stands out as one of the most significant mining areas globally, owing to its extensive and abundant mineral reSOURCES. Bam County, situated in the southeastern part of Kerman, has historically served as a crucial hub connecting the southeast of Iran with Sistan and Afghanistan, attributed to its distinctive geological and geomorphological characteristics. Enjoying considerable commercial and military importance since the Sassanid era, Bam County has garnered attention in archaeological research as a strategically vital region. The exploration of Bam's archaeological sites becomes imperative for historical governments, highlighting the need to investigate and comprehend ancient centers engaged in metal smelting and mining activities. Consequently, an archaeological survey of the central part of Bam County was initiated in 2018-2019 with the specific objective of identifying metal smelting workshops and ancient mines. This article presents the outcomes of a field survey conducted in the central part of Bam County, shedding light on evidence of metal smelting centers, furnaces, and historical mining activities. The primary research inquiries center around the chronology of mining evidence in the central part of Bam County, the types of metals extracted, and the processes involved in metal mining and metallurgy within this region. Employing field and documentary methods, the research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach. The study identified and examined eight sites showcasing evidence of smelting and slag, one ancient mine, and two active mines. These sites have been associated with the extraction and processing of metals and elements such as tin, zinc, lead, silver, iron, and, to a lesser extent, gold. Notably, the substantial volume of zinc and zinc oxide processing in seven sites holds significance. Although cultural materials for chronological dating were absent in the investigated sites, historical SOURCES indicate that the extraction and smelting of these metals in the region date back to at least the 3rd century AH (9th century AD) and persisted until the Qajar period

AbstractBackground and objectives: The existence of agricultural wastes, especially wood and degradation-resistant wastes and time-consuming composting of these residues, shows the importance of using degrading microorganisms as bioactivators. By inoculating microorganisms into hard-to-decompose agricultural residues, it is possible to increase their composting rate and produce quality compost. The aim of this study was to isolate, identify and determine the efficacy of cellulolytic and ligninolytic bacteria and fungi.Materials and methods:Samples were taken from semi-rotten tissues of trees, organic matter including compost, vermicompost, animal manure, animal samples such as termites, earthworms, amur fish and commercial samples containing bioactivators. In order to isolate bacterial and FUNGAL isolates with the ability to produce cellulose and ligninase enzymes, after preparing a series of dilutions from the extracts of each sample, culture was performed on common culture media. After purification of bacteria and fungi, the efficiency in terms of cellulase and ligninase activity was determined by measuring the diameter of the transparent halo on specific culture media. Molecular identification of selected bacterial and FUNGAL isolates was performed by amplification of 16S rDNA region and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region, respectively.Results:A total of 83 bacterial isolates and 18 FUNGAL isolates capable of producing cellulase were identified. BB12 and CCB9 isolates showed the highest cellulase activity with a ratio of halo diameter to colony diameter of 9.5 and 7.5, respectively. In FUNGAL isolates, the highest cellulolytic activity was related to WF2 and WF4 isolates; the ratio of halo diameter to colony diameter in each of these two isolates was 4.57 and 2.4, respectively. Regarding ligninolytic activity, it was found that Chapak culture medium containing one gram of methyl blue is the best medium to study ligninolytic activity and the highest ratio of halo diameter to colony diameter in Chapak medium was in WB6 and WB5 bacterial isolates, respectively in the amount of 10 and 7. In FUNGAL isolates, ligninolytic activity was observed only in WF2 and WF4 isolates; So that the ratio of halo diameter to colony diameter was 2.17 and 2, respectively. The results of molecular identification showed that the selected bacterial isolates were most similar to Bacillus halotolerans, Bacillus siamensis, Bacillus paralicheniformis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus atrophaeus, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus sercatus, Bacillus sp. The fungi were more similar to Penicillium corylophilum and Pseudogymnoascus pannorum. The maximum parsimony tree with 1000 bootstrap replications showed that bacterial and FUNGAL isolates were located in 9 and 2 clades, respectively.Conclusion: Examination of cellulolytic activity showed that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens showed the highest amount of cellulolytic activity and the highest ligninolytic activity was seen in Serratia marcescens. In FUNGAL isolates, the highest cellulolytic and ligninolytic activities were observed in Penicillium corylophilum and Pseudogymnoascus pannorum. Based on the results of this study, further investigation is suggested about the possibility of using a combination of selected microorganisms to prepare initial formulations for faster conversion of agricultural waste into compost.

The incidence of nosocomial FUNGAL infections has increased dramatically during the past two decades as the consequence of continuous increase in the number of severely immunocompromised patients. This study was done to determine the presumptive SOURCES of nosocomial FUNGAL infections at the intensive care unit and transplant wards (in a university- based teaching hospital in Tehran) during a 10-month period. Totally 583 samples were obtained from the air, surfaces, health care workers and also from the patients at those wards. Mycological culture of the samples yielded growth of 25 different genus and species of fungi and the most common isolated fungi were Candida albicans, Penicillium spp., Aspergillus niger, and Cladosporium spp., respectively. It was noted that health care workers were carrying fungi on their hands (50 %), nasal mucosa (57.6%), in oral cavity (38.6%) and also by their shoes (92.3%) and uniforms (92.7%). Environmental FUNGAL contamination was shown and it was more prominent at the intensive care unit. Hospitalization also had more significant effect on colonization of fungi in the patients at the latter ward. Therefore, the highly susceptible patients in present study were at the greatest risk of developing FUNGAL infections and preventive measures were critical for prevention and control of these life-threatening fatal infections.

Background and Purpose: The hospital environment was reported as a real habitat for different microorganisms, especially mold fungi. On the other hand, these opportunistic fungi were considered hospital-acquired mold infections in patients with weak immune status. Therefore, this multi-center study aimed to evaluate 23 hospitals in 18 provinces of Iran for FUNGAL contamination SOURCES. Materials and Methods: In total, 43 opened Petri plates and 213 surface samples were collected throughout different wards of 23 hospitals. All collected samples were inoculated into Sabouraud Dextrose Agar containing Chloramphenicol (SC), and the plates were then incubated at 27-30º, C for 7-14 days. Results: A total of 210 FUNGAL colonies from equipment (162, 77. 1%) and air (48, 22. 9%) were identified. The most predominant isolated genus was Aspergillus (47. 5%), followed by Rhizopus (14. 2%), Mucor (11. 7%), and Cladosporium (9. 2%). Aspergillus (39. 5%), Cladosporium (16. 6%), as well as Penicillium and Sterile hyphae (10. 4% each), were the most isolates from the air samples. Moreover, intensive care units (38. 5%) and operating rooms (21. 9%) had the highest number of isolated FUNGAL colonies. Out of 256 collected samples from equipment and air, 163 (63. 7%) were positive for FUNGAL growth. The rate of FUNGAL contamination in instrument and air samples was 128/213 (60. 1%) and 35/43 (81. 2%), respectively. Among the isolated species of Aspergillus, A. flavus complex (38/96, 39. 6%), A. niger complex (31/96, 32. 3%), and A. fumigatus complex (15/96, 15. 6%) were the commonest species. Conclusion: According to our findings, in addition to air, equipment and instrument should be considered among the significant SOURCES of FUNGAL contamination in the indoor environment of hospitals.