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Background and Objective: Fungi are widely distributed in nature and they are usually present in attomospher but other sources such as water play an important role in their ecology. This study was done to evaluate mycoflora assessment in drinking tap water in Sari, North of Iran. The tap water collected form Sari water distribution system for fungi. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, a volume of 100 ml of tap drinking water samples (n=60) were collected in sterile bottles. All water samples passed through sterile 0.45 micrometer filters. The filters were placed directly on Malt extract agar and incubated at 27°C for 3-7 days. Routine mycological techniques were applied to identify the grown fungi. Results: Out of 468 grown fungal colonies, eight different fungal genera were identified. The total mean cfu per 100 ml for the positive samples were 8.4. Aspergillus (37.4%) and Penicillium (27.3%) were the most common isolated fungi. Rhizopus (0.6%) had the lowest frequency. Among Aspergillus species, A. flavus had the highest frequency. Conclusion: Our result showed that various fungi were present in the tap drinking water. We propose fungi should be considered as part of the microbiological analysis parameters in drinking tap water.

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Background and Objective: The kidney has a key role in homeostatic regulation. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is essential regulator of stimulatory and inhibitory processes for neonatal, post-natal endothelial cell differentiation. This study was done to determine the effect of maternal swimming during pregnancy on VEGF level of kidney in rat pups. Methods: In this experimental study, sixteen Wistar rat dams were allocated into interventional swimming and control groups. In the first day of pregnancy, in interventional group, swimming was performed for 30 minutes a day and 5 minutes every day was added until the time of training gradually reached to one hour per workout. Dams swimming endurance training were performed in 5 days per week for three weeks. Pups’ kidneys were removed two days after birth and kindney tissue VEGF level was determined using ELISA method. Results: Kidney tissue VEGF level in interventional swimming group (133.13 pg/ml) was significantly increased in compared to controls (48.19 pg/ml) (P<0.05). Conclusion: Swimming endurance training increases the pups’ kidney VEGF level.