Effect of Education and Regular Examination on the Prevalence of Head Louse Infestations in Adana

Objective: The current study provides training to parents and teachers about pediculosis in schools in three villages in Adana to measure their knowledge level by conducting surveys and to determine the prevalence of pediculosis in these foci. Methods: Pre- and post-questionnaires including 30 questions about pediculosis were handed to parents and teachers. The answers were analyzed with the Pearson correlation analysis. Overall, 418 school pupils s were examined for lice. The results of the head louse control were analyzed by the chi-square test and t-test. Results: We observed that the level of awareness increased in parents and teachers. Additionally, the gender of both teachers and parents was determined as the most important factor in increasing this awareness. Because of interventions for the control of head and lice, the prevalence of pediculosis decreased from 15.22% to 1.71%. Conclusion: It is very important that parents and teachers are aware of the health problems related to pediculosis, while regular combing of school children may be essential for the control of this common infestation.

The assessment of tomato fruit quality parameters under different sound waves.

Sound stress is an abiotic stress factor wherein the sound wave form affects the growth and development of plants as an alternative mechanical stress. To explore this, 10-week-old tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants were used in this experiment. The tomato plants were exposed to three different frequency values consecutively: 600 Hz in the first week, 1240 Hz in the second week and 1600 Hz in the third week. The decibel (dB) value was adjusted to 90 dB in the sound amplifier. At the end of the experiment, lycopene, vitamin C, total sugar, total acid and total phenol levels were analysed and pH and 0Brix were measured in tomato fruits. As a result, it was determined that as the sound frequency intensity level increased, the concentration of fruit parameters also increased: lycopene, vitamin C, total sugar, total acid and total phenol. The total phenol content, lycopene content and ascorbic acid of the tomato plants that were exposed to sound waves at different frequencies increased at a rate of 70%, 20% and 14%, respectively. According to the results of all measured parameters in tomato fruits, 1600 Hz has been determined the best of sound wave frequency value.