Pesticide use and opportunities of exposure among farmers and their families: cross-sectional studies 1998-2006 from Hebron governorate, occupied Palestinian territory

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adverse health effects caused by pesticide exposure have been reported in occupied Palestinian territory and the world at large. The objective of this paper is to compare patterns of pesticide use in Beit-U'mmar village, West Bank, between 1998 and 2006.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied two populations in Beit-U'mmar village, comprised of: 1) 61 male farmers and their wives in 1998 and 2) 250 male farmers in 2006. Both populations completed a structured interview, which included questions about socio-demographic factors, types of farming tasks, as well as compounds, quantities, and handling of pesticides. Using the 1998 population as a reference, we applied generalized linear regression models (GLM) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in order to estimate prevalence differences (PD) between the two populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 1998, farmers used 47 formulated pesticides on their crops. In 2006, 16 of these pesticides were still in use, including five internationally banned compounds. There were positive changes with less use of large quantities of pesticides (>40 units/year) (PD -51; CI -0.60, -0.43), in applying the recommended dosage of pesticides (PD +0.57; CI +0.48, +0.68) and complying with the safety period (PD +0.89; CI+0.83, +0.95). Changes also included farmers' habits while applying pesticides, such as less smoking (PD -0.20; CI-0.34, -0.07) and eating at the work place (PD -0.33; CI-0.47, -0.19). No significant changes were found from 1998 to 2006 regarding use of personal protective equipment, pesticide storage, farmers' habits after applying pesticides, and in using some highly hazardous pesticides.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results were based on two cross-sectional surveys and should be interpreted with caution due to potential validity problems. The results of the study suggest some positive changes in the handling of pesticides amongst participants in 2006, which could be due to different policy interventions and regulations that were implemented after 1998. However, farm workers in Beit -U'mmar village are still at risk of health effects because of ongoing exposure to pesticides. To the best of our knowledge, no studies on long-term changes in pesticide use have been reported from developing countries.</p

Simulation of a Rectangular Rectangular Spiral Shaped Microstrip Patch

For some applications it is required to lateral size and a narrow beam broadside radiation antenna is designed and simulated by using of commercial software CST Microwave Studio optimized to have an operation frequency of 6 dBi and a HPBW less than 90°. Subsurface imaging applications and other application concerned there is a need for directive antennas operating at relatively low frequencies, having smaller lateral size and narrower HPBW. However these requirements are constrained by inverse relationship about the antenna and its operating frequency. of 3.5 cm, will be able to operate between To that end the microstrip antenna is to its lightweight, low profile with conformability It is well known that to decrease In addition, to reduce the size of the patch antenna s using a substrate with high dielectric constant [2], cutting slots in radiating patch [3 permittivity substrate [5]. In this paper we present a rectangular spiral shape simulation results obtained by using of commercial software CST Microwave Studio. The geometrical configuration of the discussed rectangular spiral In every turn the microstrip increases dielectric constant of the substrate is chosen as 2.2. is in the midpoint of the antenna as it capacitance to allow the use of a thick substrate (~0.1 the spiral shaped patch. The spiral characteristics. Abstract For some applications it is required to design antennas operating at lower frequencies, have relatively low size and a narrow beam broadside radiation pattern. To that end a new rectangular spiral simulated by using of commercial software CST Microwave Studio an operation frequency around 1-3.5 GHz, maximum lateral size of 3.5°. The achieved results are promising and are tunable to specific parameters