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Aims: Nowadays, treatment of bacterial infections is one of the most important challenges in the world. Medicinal plants offer a great hope to overcome these needs because of their chemical diversity and their significant role in the drug development. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial activity of the thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oil against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, thyme herb plants were collected and thyme essential oil was extracted. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MICs) tests were performed to determine the antimicrobial activity of Thymus plant against the first (Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Ethambutol) and second (Cycloserine, Streptomycin, Kanamycin) drug antibiotics of mycobacterium. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21 software, using one-way ANOVA test.
Findings: The MICs for Isoniazid, Ethambutol, Streptomycin and Cycloserine were less than 10µg/ml and the MIC values for Rifampicin and Kanamycin were 40µg/ml. The limits of minimal inhibitory concentration of essential oil was between 0.5-40µg/ml (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Thyme essential oil has antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberclusis.

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  Although Bakhtin did not formulate any theory of subjectivity per se, the problem of subject or, as he called it, “self” formed one of his main critical interests. This study focuses on his definition of “dialogic self” and the different notions of subjectivity discussed in his books in the course of his twenty-five year career. For convenience, five stages are introduced through which Bakhtin has constituted his definition of subjectivity by taking a piecemeal approach to the issue. These stages are labeled as: ethical, aesthetic, novelistic, carnivalesque, and dialogic subject. Except for the carnivalesque stage, each of these stages is built on the modification of the previous stages about subjectivity. It was only in the carnivalesque subject that he discusses a new characteristic for the subject—a characteristic that was eventually omitted in his final paradigm. Two of the contemporary theories of “dialogic self” predicated on Bakhtin’s ideas are also briefly discussed in this study. One is Hermans’ theory of subject-space/subject-position, and the embodied dialogic subject, and the second is the later developments on Hermans’ theory of the dialogic self.

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Recently, the quality of powder product was considered in food industry. Foam mat drying is an economical alternative to spray, drum and freeze-drying for the production of food powders. The high porosity and surface-to-volume ratio of foams during foam-mat drying improve final product quality. In this work, foaming properties of white button mushroom(Agaricusbisporus) were analyzedby response surface methodology. For optimization,xanthan gum (XG)solution range was considered between 0.05–0.3% w/w, mushroom concentration (water: mushroom puree) range was considered 1:0.5– 1:3.5 w/w and whipping time range was considered between 2–8 min. Based on face centered central composite design (CCF),twenty tests were done. Analysis of variance showed that the quadratic modelshaveconsiderable effects on both responses.In this research, the optimized pointwasobtainedat xanthan gum solution 0.2% w/w, mushroom concentration (water:mushroom puree) = 1:2.2 and whipping time= 6.19 minand the predicted values for foam density and drainage volumewere0.56 gcm^-3 and 1.8 mL, respectively.At the second step, optimized foam dried at 50, 65 and 80°C and then drying behavior of optimized foam was investigated by different mathematical models. The results indicated that theMidilli model is high accurate model for evaluating the drying behavior of mushroom foam. At the third step, the influence of the drying temperatures on some qualitative characteristics of foam-matdried mushroom powder was investigated. It was found, as the temperature increased, water activity and water binding capacity decreased. Also, Lightness parameter for the temperature of 65°Cwas higher than other temperature.So, white button mushrooms can be processed into powder and used as a functional or nutritional addition in a variety of food products.
 

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