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In 1970s, barley straw has been known to be capable of controlling algal growth.In vitroandin situexperiments were performed to investigate the effects of barley straw on algal growth inhibition substances. In addition, its ecotoxicity and the algal growth inhibition substances extracted from barley straw were examined. In thein vitroexperiment, barley straw and retinaspora leaf treatment groups caused significant decreases (pvalue < 0.05) in the number of cells inAnabaena affinis,Microcystis aeruginosa, andScenedesmus quadricaudacompared with the control group. However, the treatment group, which applied 0.2 g of barley straw, showed a tendency of increasing the number of cells inS. quadricaudacompared with the control group. It reveals that types of algae and proper applications of barley straw are important to inhibit algal growth. In addition, the barley straw showed almost no ecotoxicities in ecotoxicity experiments while the retinaspora leaf showed a certain degree of ecotoxicity (Toxicity unit >36). In thein situexperiment, algal growth was inhibited by barley straw. In particular, diatoms exhibited a tendency of decreasing the number of algal cells compared with blue-green algae. It shows that the barley straw does not inhibit the growth of all algae and shows different effects according to types of algae. The algal growth inhibition substances were extracted from the barley straw and tested. It was found that a ferulic acid in various phenol compounds affected the algal growth most. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective It is controversial whether routine or selective iron supplementation during gestation is needed. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether screening with serum ferritin during the first trimester of pregnancy could be used to identify women who need prophylactic iron. Methods According to the serum ferritin level of cut-off point of 30 µg/L during the first trimester of pregnancy and presence of iron supplementation during gestation, the subject was divided into 4 group that were as follows: serum ferritin level of ≤30 µg/L, iron-supplemented group (n = 22), serum ferritin level of >30 µg/L, non iron-supplemented group (n = 13) serum ferritin level of ≤30 µg/L, ironsupplemented group (n = 40), serum ferritin level of >30 µg/L, non iron-supplemented group (n = 15) Maternal serum ferritin, TIBC, iron, hemoglobin, hematocrit, red cell indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW) were measured before 14 weeks of gestation and after 34 weeks of gestation. Results All hematologic and biochemical markers indicated more severe anemic status in the late pregnancy than during the first trimester of pregnancy. The effect of iron supplementation was profounder on the pregnant woman whose ferritin levels were below 30 µg/L during the first trimester of pregnancy. Regardless of iron supplementation, the group (ferritin >30 µg/L during the first trimester of pregnancy) showed relatively higher ferrtin level in late pregnancy. Conclusion The screening with serum ferritin level of cut-off point of 30 mg/L during the first trimester of pregnancy may be useful to identify women who need prophylactic iron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]