Effect of Curing Temperature on Mechanical Properties of Bio-phenolic/Epoxy Polymer Blends

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Nowadays, researchers continue studies for alternative materials to replace the redundant petroleum-based products. The combination of various polymer...     

Assessment of pesticide toxicity on earthworms using multiple biomarkers: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Two million tonnes of pesticides are currently used globally to improve crop production, yet these pesticides induce adverse effects on soil quality and...     

Differential neuroprotective effect of curcuminoid formulations in aluminum chloride–induced Alzheimer’s disease

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a slowly progressive brain degenerative disorder which gradually impairs memory, thinking, and ability to perform...     

A time series analysis of environmental and metrological factors impact on cutaneous leishmaniasis incidence in an endemic area of Dehloran,Iran

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the environmental and metrological variables and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) transmission and its prediction in a region susceptible to this disease prevalence using a time series model. The accurate locations of 4437 CL diagnosed from 2011 to 2015 were obtained to be used in the time series model. Temperature, number of days with temperature over 30 °C, and number of earthquake were related to CL incidence using the Seasonal Auto-correlated Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model according to the Box-Jenkins method. In addition, the relationship between land use and surface soil type in 500- and 1000-m radius around the CL patients were investigated. The SARIMA models showed significant associations between environmental and meteorological variables and CL incidence adjusted for seasonality and auto-correlation. The result indicated that there are need more robust preventive programs in earthquake-prone areas with high temperature and inceptisol soil type than other areas. In addition, the region with these characteristics should be considered as high-risk areas for CL prevalence.     

Changes in plasma taurine concentration during a period of heroin detoxification

Taurine is one of the most abundant sulpho-amino acids in the body. Hypertaurinemia has already been reported following different stress states. A previous study demonstrated a significant increase of serum taurine concentration in heroin addicts. Therefore, we hypothesized that taurine could be a possible biomarker of recovery during detoxification from opiates. For this purpose, 30 heroin addicts who went under the 5-day heroin detoxification process were recruited for the study. Three blood samples (5 mL each) were taken from each patient in the first, third, and fifth days. They were collected in heparinized glass tubes and after centrifuging, the plasma was separated and kept in the ?20°C freezer until analysis using a previously developed HPLC method with fluorescence detection. The data were statistically analyzed using the Student t-test and ANOVA. Plasma taurine concentration in addicts was significantly more than that of the healthy controls (p < 0.0001). However, there were no changes in the plasma taurine concentration in the addicts during the 5-day study period (p > 0.05). Therefore, we can conclude that the plasma taurine concentration could not be considered as a biomarker of recovery in a 5-day detoxification period of heroin addiction.     

Occupational risk assessment in the construction industry in Iran

Occupational accidents in the construction industry are more common compared with other fields and these accidents are more severe compared with the global average in developing countries, especially in Iran. Studies which lead to the source of these accidents and suggest solutions for them are therefore valuable. In this study a combination of the failure mode and effects analysis method and fuzzy theory is used as a semi-qualitative–quantitative method for analyzing risks and failure modes. The main causes of occupational accidents in this field were identified and analyzed based on three factors; severity, detection and occurrence. Based on whether the risks are high or low priority, modifying actions were suggested to reduce the occupational risks. Finally, the results showed that high priority risks had a 40% decrease due to these actions.     

Study on the conversion of waste plastics/petroleum resid mixtures to transportation fuels

Catalytic coprocessing of model and waste plastics with light Arabian crude oil residue was investigated using NiMo/Al₂O₃, ZSM-5, FCC, and hydrocracking catalysts. Reaction systems that were studied included low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS), and polypropylene (PP). A series of single (plastic/catalyst) and binary (plastic/resid/catalyst) reactions were carried out in a 25-cm³ micro autoclave reactor under different conditions of weight and type of catalyst, duration, pressure, and temperature. The optimum conditions selected for our work were: 1% catalyst by weight of total feedstock weight, 60min reaction time, 8.3Mpa of H₂, and 430°C. The product distribution for the binary system using plastic and petroleum residue provided some encouraging results. High yields of liquid fuels in the boiling range of 100°–480°C and gases were obtained along with a small amount of heavy oils and insoluble material such as gums and coke. In general, this study helps to demonstrate the technical feasibility of upgrading both waste plastics and petroleum resid, as well as an alternative approach to feedstock recycling.     

Livelihood patterns of displaced households in greater khartoum

Members of impoverished households in Greater Khartoum, who have been displaced from their homelands by famine and civil war, gain a livelihood by utilising a wide variety of subsistence activities and sources. These include moonlighting, income diversification and pooling, exchange relations, scavenging, relief supplies from aid agencies and remittances from relatives working in other areas. This finding challenges the widely held view of the displaced as dependent and parasitic on the wider urban community. Several public policies are identified which have a detrimental effect on the livelihood of the displaced.