The effect of diazinon on blood glucose homeostasis: a systematic and meta-analysis study

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Though evidence exists on the association between diazinon (DZN), an organophosphate pesticide, with hyperglycemia, contrasting reports also exist....     

Association between perceived demands and musculoskeletal disorders among hospital nurses of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences: a questionnaire survey.

Excessive demands on nurses may result in high rates of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This study was conducted among hospital nurses of Iran's Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) to determine the prevalence of MSDs and to examine the relationship between perceived demands and reported MSDs. In this study, 641 randomly selected nurses from 12 SUMS hospitals participated. The Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire and Job Content Questionnaire were used as collecting data tools. The results showed that 84.4% of the participants had experienced some form of symptoms of MSDs during the past 12 months. Lower back symptoms were found to be the most prevalent problem. Perceived physical demands were significantly associated with MSDs (OR = 1.5-2.7). No association was found between perceived psychological demands and reported symptoms. It was concluded that any intervention program for preventing MSDs among SUMS hospital nurses had to focus on reducing physical demands, particularly excessive postural demands.     

The interactions of Cr (VI) concentrations and amendments (biochar and manure) on growth and metal accumulation of two species of Salicornia in contaminated soil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Heavy metals are among the most dangerous contaminants in the environment. Organic components and plant species that can accumulate and stabilize...     

Strong correlations between metal in mollusk soft tissue and nonresistant sediment fraction: a tool for biomonitoring intertidal zone of the Persian Gulf,Iran

Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were determined in three species of mollusks and associated sediment. Samples were collected from two locations along the intertidal zone of the Persian Gulf near Bandar Abbas. The study was conducted during the spring of 2011, 10 sediment samples and 15 mollusks from each of the following species: Saccostrea cucullata, Solen brevis, and Callista umbonella, were simultaneously collected. Soft tissue, shell, and sediment were tested for metals using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Geochemical fractions of the sediment were examined for metals using a sequential extraction technique. Our results indicate that over half of Cd and Pb in the sediment had natural origins. Independent sample t test showed statistically significant (p?<?0.05) inter-tissue differences in accumulation of Cd and Pb. Soft tissue of C. umbonella contained highest levels of Cd. Pb accumulation was highest in S. brevis shell. Significant correlations (p?<?0.05) were found between Cd in the soft tissue of C. umbonella and its levels in the geochemical fractions of the sediment. Lead levels in the resistant geochemical fractions of the sediment and S. brevis shell were significantly correlated. Our results suggest that soft tissue of C. umbonella and shell of S. brevis are reliable biomonitoring tools for Cd and Pb, respectively.     

Statistical analysis of arsenic contamination in drinking water in a city of Iran and its modeling using GIS

In this research, probable arsenic contamination in drinking water in the city of Ardabil was studied in 163 samples during four seasons. In each season, sampling was carried out randomly in the study area. Results were analyzed statistically applying SPSS 19 software, and the data was also modeled by Arc GIS 10.1 software. The maximum permissible arsenic concentration in drinking water defined by the World Health Organization and Iranian national standard is 10 μg/L. Statistical analysis showed 75, 88, 47, and 69% of samples in autumn, winter, spring, and summer, respectively, had concentrations higher than the national standard. The mean concentrations of arsenic in autumn, winter, spring, and summer were 19.89, 15.9, 10.87, and 14.6 μg/L, respectively, and the overall average in all samples through the year was 15.32 μg/L. Although GIS outputs indicated that the concentration distribution profiles changed in four consecutive seasons, variance analysis of the results showed that statistically there is no significant difference in arsenic levels in four seasons.     

The evolving trends of landfill leachate treatment research over the past 45 years

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Landfilling is one of the most prevalent waste management strategies on a global scale. However, one major drawback of landfills is the production of...     

Effects of long-term exposure to PM2.5 on years of life lost and expected life remaining in Ahvaz city,Iran (2008–2017)

Ambient air pollution is one of the most significant environmental problems, and many individuals around the world die each year prematurely from diseases caused by this type of pollution. PM_2.5 can transpire deep to the lungs and induce some dangerous health effects in humans. In this study, the health effects of long-term PM_2.5 were estimated on expected life remaining (ELR) and years of life lost (YLL) indices in Ahvaz city during the years 2008–2017 using the AirQ+ software developed by WHO. Values obtained from the PM_2.5 averaging, ELR, and YLL data were processed for the whole population in the age range of 0–64 and over 64. These values were entered into AirQ+ software. The mean annual concentration of PM_2.5 was highly variable, with the highest concentration being 70.72 μg/m³ in 2010 and the lowest 41.97 μg/m³ in 2014. In all studied years, the concentration of PM_2.5 with the variations between 4.2 to 7.07 times was higher than the WHO standard (10 μg/m³). Ahvaz city also did not experience any clean day during the 10-year period, and in 2010, there were 47 very unhealthy days and 27 dangerous days, i.e., the highest number of very unhealthy and dangerous days during the period. The results estimated that the highest and lowest YLL in the next 10 years for all ages groups would be 137,760.49 (2010) and 5035.52 (2014), respectively. Also, the ELR index was lower than the Iranian standard and EPA which was significantly correlated with the concentration of PM_2.5.

     

Effects of golpar (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Heracleum persicum</Emphasis> Desf.) and probiotics in drinking water on performance,carcass characteristics,organ weights,blood plasma constituents,and immunity of broilers

Increasing levels of Heracleum persicum (golpar) in drinking water were studied in broilers. Two hundred and forty-one-day-old male chickens were allocated to one of six treatments: control, without added phytogenics nor probiotics in drinking water, and probiotics at recommended manufacturer’s level (P) or 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 ml/l of golpar extract solution (G1, G1.5, G2, and G2.5 treatments, respectively) in drinking water. As a result of this study, no linear or quadratic trends in the feed intake (FI) and feed conversion rate (FCR) due to golpar supplementation were found. Body weight gain, final body weight, and relative carcass weight showed a positive linear response with increasing levels of golpar supplementation. Neither golpar nor probiotics had effects on the percentages of edible parts of the carcass. Golpar supplementation levels caused a linear negative response of the albumin content in blood plasma, whereas both abdominal fat as percentage of carcass weight and uric acid levels in blood plasma linearly increased. The effects on Ig responses were only observed at 42 days of age and were similar in probiotics and the highest level of golpar supplementation. Based on our results, both probiotics and golpar supplementation could improve broiler performance and immune function.     

Spatial patterns of heavy metals in soil under different geological structures and land uses for assessing metal enrichments

One hundred and thirty composite soil samples were collected from Hamedan county, Iran to characterize the spatial distribution and trace the sources of heavy metals including As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, Zn, and Fe. The multivariate gap statistical analysis was used; for interrelation of spatial patterns of pollution, the disjunctive kriging and geoenrichment factor (EF_G) techniques were applied. Heavy metals and soil properties were grouped using agglomerative hierarchical clustering and gap statistic. Principal component analysis was used for identification of the source of metals in a set of data. Geostatistics was used for the geospatial data processing. Based on the comparison between the original data and background values of the ten metals, the disjunctive kriging and EF_G techniques were used to quantify their geospatial patterns and assess the contamination levels of the heavy metals. The spatial distribution map combined with the statistical analysis showed that the main source of Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, Pb, and V in group A land use (agriculture, rocky, and urban) was geogenic; the origin of As, Cd, and Cu was industrial and agricultural activities (anthropogenic sources). In group B land use (rangeland and orchards), the origin of metals (Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, and V) was mainly controlled by natural factors and As, Cd, Cu, and Pb had been added by organic factors. In group C land use (water), the origin of most heavy metals is natural without anthropogenic sources. The Cd and As pollution was relatively more serious in different land use. The EF_G technique used confirmed the anthropogenic influence of heavy metal pollution. All metals showed concentrations substantially higher than their background values, suggesting anthropogenic pollution.     

New correlations predict aqueous solubility and density of carbon dioxide

In this paper, new correlations for predicting density and the solubility of carbon dioxide in pure water as well as the aqueous sodium chloride solutions are developed, where using the generated interaction parameters, the solubility model is applied to correlate the carbon dioxide solubilities in aqueous solutions for temperatures between 300 and 400 K and pressures from 50 to 700 bar. The correlation developed for predicting density of carbon dioxide accurately works for pressures between 25 and 700 bar and temperatures between 293 and 433 K. The results have been compared with the reported data and it was found that there is a good agreement between the prediction results and observed values.