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This paper aims to determine the knowledge and attitudes of the physicians regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), to emphasize that these patients exist and they will exist in the future and to raise awareness so as to prevent that their rights to treatment are revoked.

The survey was conducted via a link sent through an online system. Random physicians from 81 cities of the country were invited to the survey. The survey has 41 questions regarding knowledge and attitudes in total, including epidemiological information such as age, gender and title.

A total of 3,107 physicians has voluntarily participated in the study. In total, 2,195 (70.7%) are internal physicians and 912 (29.3%) are surgical physicians among the participant physicians. In total, 1,452 (46.7%) of the participants are specialist physicians, 608 (19.6%) of the participants are practising physician and the rest of it is physician assistants, academicians and dentists, respectively.

In this study, it has been found out that the physicians have a lack of knowledge on HIV/AIDS and they adopt a discriminatory attitude towards HIV-positive persons. HIV-positive patients who are exposed to discrimination and scared of being uncovered refrain from applying to hospitals for treatment, which puts public health into jeopardy due to the high viral load and these patients are faced with difficulties in coping with both medical and emotional load of the disease.

A composting project was introduced into an undergraduate microbiology course, to evaluate its efficacy against traditional lecturing for teaching environmental sustainability.

The research project was a semester-long intervention. Three groups of students participated in the study: a group of 47 female undergraduate students were involved in a composting project, a group of 43 female students were exposed to a traditional lecture and a group of 34 students were the control group. A pretest and a posttest were used, along with poster presentations for the composting project students. In addition, a questionnaire was used to examine students' attitudes toward composting and their waste management practices.

The project and lecture groups showed significant increases in average test-scores, with the post-project increase (20.9 points) being higher than the post-lecture increase (12.3 points). The questionnaire revealed that nonorganic waste recycling was practiced irregularly, while food waste was reused as livestock feed by 38% of the students. Composting was not common, but 23% of the students in the project group started household composting during the project. The students who were most satisfied with the project outcomes were willing to spend higher prices for a composting box (p = 0.036), showing a high correlation between awareness raising and environmental sustainability practices.

The project-based learning approach had more impact than the traditional lecture in teaching environmental sustainability to the students. The project succeeded in improving students' composting knowledge and increased their interest in continuing the composting practices at home.

The study is the first attempt to measure the direct impact of composting education on Emirati students' knowledge of, and interest in environmental sustainable practices, vis-à-vis composting.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of temperature and action time on the extraction rate of carbohydrates of Jerusalem artichoke concentrate powder and inactivation of inulin during boiling and sterilization.

Water suspension of Jerusalem artichoke concentrate (5g/100ml) at 25, 50 and 100^○C was tested after 5, 15, 30 and 60min to determine the content of inulin, glucose, fructose and sucrose and evaluate the extraction rate. The stability of inulin was studied after boiling and sterilization at 120^○C during 1, 2 and 3h. The extraction rate was evaluated by Fourier‐Transform Infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy as well.

It was shown that extraction of soluble carbohydrates – fructose, glucose, sucrose and inulin, from water suspension of Jerusalem artichoke concentrate was practically completed in 5min at 25^○C. The extraction rate was not significantly influenced by temperatures lower than 100^○C. Inulin was stable during boiling for 1h but sterilization for 1h caused significant losses. Infrared spectral analysis of soluble and insoluble fractions showed that inulin was practically fully extracted.

The paper shows that inulin can be easily extracted from Jerusalem artichoke concentrate powder even at 25^○C and it maintains for 60min at temperatures up to 100^○C, nevertheless boiling or sterilization at higher temperatures for longer time causes significant loses of inulin and consequently the functional quality of Jerusalem artichoke powder. These results must be taken into account when applying inulin concentrates as functional food components.

Traditional microbiological methods to monitor the growth or survival of microbes are very labour‐intensive and rather expensive and the knowledge acquired is not cumulative. Predictive microbiology as an alternative approach has been developed utilizing mathematical models to predict the microbial inactivation, survival or growth during food processing. The purpose of this paper is to review the evolutions and limitations of primary mathematical models in predictive microbiology.

Primary models deal with the variation of microbial populations against time under particular environmental and cultural conditions. According to the behaviour of micro organisms during food processing and storage, primary models can be divided into inactivation/survival models and growth models. Literature is reviewed to assess the performance of these mathematical models.

In order to predict microbial survival or growth curves, some empirical mathematical models have been used. Most of them have no or little microbiological or physiological basis, which make the interpretation of some model parameters difficult and their performances do not match observed microbiological outcomes. To produce a more accurate mathematical model, more mechanisms are necessary to interpret model parameters with a biological basis.

The paper reviews the evolution and limitations of primary mathematical models, which may help future model development.

Measuring patient satisfaction plays an increasingly important role in the growing push toward healthcare provider accountability. This study seeks to evaluate G.B. Pant Hospital (a North Indian tertiary care centre) patient satisfaction with clinical laboratory services.

A total of 100 out‐ and in‐patients were randomly selected and interviewed about microbiological services using a standard format, a method which can be easily used to compare patient satisfaction with laboratory services elsewhere.

Patients represented all age groups: females and males were balanced. Few were from poor socio‐economic backgrounds. Patients do not have problems getting tests done, but the laboratory's inconvenient location caused dissatisfaction. Patients do not have problems communicating with staff, but medical terms are not understood by patients. Hospital cleanliness needs improving, especially toilets, which causes the most patient dissatisfaction. Hospital staff were deemed highly competent and judged to give excellent technical help to patients. The questionnaire's financial subscale shows 100 per cent satisfaction because all tests in the microbiology department are free. The overall satisfaction with services stood at 83 per cent. Satisfaction scores for G.B. Pant Hospital appear to be satisfactory.

This study does not compare patient satisfaction in two or more hospitals and findings may not be generalisable.

Patient satisfaction surveys are the best way to identify deficiencies and improve hospital services. Repeating studies at six monthly intervals is a useful managerial intervention aimed at delivering and maintaining quality healthcare.

This laboratory satisfaction survey is the first of its kind for government hospitals in India. The survey revealed a positive feedback and helped to identify the areas of concern along with estimating the patient satisfaction scores. This is the best way to identify the areas of deficiencies and improving the services provided by the hospital. The authors feel that repeating such studies at a regular interval of six months would be a useful guide for the managerial interventions.

For nearly 150 years the study of food safety has been dominated by a microbiological approach, however, in many countries cases of foodborne disease are at record levels. The purpose of this paper is to review the history of food safety and present a model for studying food safety.

The history of food safety is reviewed. Data from outbreak investigations and observational studies of food handling are analysed

Whilst micro‐organisms are a major factor in foodborne disease and microbiology an important research discipline, in order to reduce the incidence of foodborne disease additional research approaches should be used. Such strategies should include food handler behaviour and its links with food safety organisational culture, and food safety management systems.

The findings highlight the limitations of the present approach and the need for additional data, using a wider range of research techniques

A novel model for studying food safety is presented, which has practical implications for reducing the economic and social burden of foodborne disease.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and preliminarily evaluate an exercise to enhance student learning and engagement about the professional practice of food microbiology.

An exercise in the form of group problem‐based investigations framed from the perspective of different stakeholders, namely food producers, regulator, consumer or mass media, was developed. Problems were designed to include some anomalies and errors that could be exploited by the students. Students presented their findings, which were peer reviewed and contributed to the summative assessment of the course. A preliminary investigation into the effectiveness of the exercise in engaging students and achieving learning outcomes was conducted using a questionnaire and responses to an examination question on the subject.

Results from the preliminary evaluation questionnaire indicated that students were engaged by the exercise but some issues with group interactions were apparent. Students felt that they learned from the exercise but did not necessarily like it due to interpersonal problems within their groups. The learning outcomes were achieved with a number of students answering the examination question and indicating a deeper understanding of the issues related to microbiological food safety.

The exercise described represents a way for integrating theory and practice in food microbiology where direct immersion in a professional situation may not be possible.

Enhanced student learning about professional practice of the type described here could result in better “industry ready” graduates of the type required by employers.

The relatively new and rapidly growing field of biotechnology encompasses several disciplines, including microbiology, biochemistry, and chemical engineering. The critical elements in biotechnology, which is not itself a discipline, are a biological organism or system, human intervention in the natural process, and the application of the results to an industrial process. One of the most dramatic and most basic examples of biotechnology is recombinant DNA technology, or genetic engineering, which involves the manipulation of genetic material. The production of genetically engineered organisms on a large scale for use in industrial processes combines the efforts of biologists and engineers. Microorganisms and other biological agents such as enzymes, whole cells, and cell components are used in industrial processes in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries; and in energy production, agriculture, aquaculture, mining, waste disposal, and pollution control.

The purpose of the paper is to emphasize on contamination sources of freshly cultivated vegetables commonly consumed by the Bangladeshi people. Several local studies have been conducted to detect the microbial contamination within fresh vegetables, plantation lands and the irrigation waters separately; however, the correlation of microbial contamination between the fresh produces and the surrounding environment has not been clarified.

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo), radish (Raphanus sativus) and eggplant (Solanum melongena); their plantations soils and the fertilizers applied across the agricultural lands; and, finally, the irrigation waters used were analyzed from nine districts of Bangladesh using conventional microbiological and biochemical methods.

Almost all vegetable samples studied were found to be immensely contaminated with bacteria and fungi. Among the pathogens, Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. were found to be dominant. Besides, massive microbial growth was also observed in the plantation soils and fertilizers, including Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp., Listeria spp., Escherichia coli and Vibrio spp. Existence of the fecal coliforms, E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp., was noticed in the irrigation waters.

Although the present study revealed the combined results connecting the vegetable contamination aspect with the knowledge on microbiology ultimately in the food chain, implementation of molecular studies detecting the virulence genes both in the fresh produces and the plantation soils, fertilizers and the irrigation waters would further clarify the microbial dissemination mechanism.

Earlier studies demonstrated the ability of water bodies to disseminate numerous microorganisms into the plantation soils, and to some extent unraveled the ability of organic fertilizers to propagate pathogenic bacteria into the vegetation objects. These microorganisms may pose as a threat to vegetables, particularly by limiting crop production as well as the shelf life of the fresh produces.

The scenario of microbial divergence not only in the vegetables but also within the surroundings is gradually being heightened in Bangladesh principally due to the malpractice of sanitation, dumping the agricultural lands with feces, improperly controlled septic systems, waste water runoff across the agricultural lands, etc. Therefore, the preliminary and replicable experimental approach described in the current study would be feasible for all other developing countries to maintain the public health safety.

Growth and proliferation of microorganisms both in the vegetable samples and the environmental samples nearly to a similar extent indeed projected for the first time in Bangladesh, the agricultural perspective of the contamination sources of vegetables. Such knowledge would aid in the existing knowledge on the hygienic processing during crop production and harvesting for the sake of better consumer safety management.

Authors often accuse journal editors of excessive delays in publishing articles. The interval between acceptance and publication of an article is an average of five months in medicine and nine months from submission to publication in psychology. A further delay, which has received less attention, is the time for delivery of a journal to the library or the delay before index or abstract publications arrive. Delivery times should be small in North America and Western Europe where most journals and secondary publications are produced, but might be much longer for other continents.