Determining infertility treatment costs and out of pocket payments imposed on couples

Background: Infertility and infertility treatment costs are considered as one of the main challenges that human society increasingly face with.Objective: To determine infertility treatment costs and out of pocket expenditures imposed on couples referred to infertility treatment center in Yazd, Iran.Design: A descriptive cross sectional studySubjects: A total of 216 couples were selected and contributed in the study through convenient sampling method.Setting: Telephone interviews with couples and medical documents review were also used to ensure the accuracy of collected information.Results: Lost opportunity, direct and indirect costs were 5.562.526, 37.812.354 and 11.125.395 rial respectively (1USD=33,000 rial). Among direct costs the most and the least expenditures belonged to surgery (24.042.137 rial) and clinical visits (174.053 rial). The greatest portion of indirect costs was related to accommodation expenses and the least was due to travel costs (4.898.099 and 2.738.491 rial). Findings confirmed a significant statistical relation between indirect costs and patients’ living place, also a significant relation between lost opportunity cost and patients’ occupation (P<0.05).Conclusion: Due to the high expenditures related to infertility treatment services also lack of insurance coverage, policy makers should pay a particular attention on meeting the reproductive health needs of a society

Energy Saving in Tehran International Flower Exhibition's Building

The municipality ofTehran isintending to construct a permanent international flower exhibition. The activities for construction began in the year 2006. The exhibition has three distinct areas namely "northern area","southern area" and "central area". In northern and southern area the flowers are supposed to be preserved and in central area, they will be sold out. In the present study, energy consumption in the exhibition building is analyzed. To calculate cooling and heating load TABESH software was used. The heat loss from the building envelope is more than twice as much the standard in Iran. Insulation of walls with 5 cm wool stone and first floor with 3 cm polystyrene can reduce heating and cooling energy consumption by 18% with payback period of two and four years respectively ,according to international energy prices. Other energy saving measures such as double glazing windows are not economical both at national & international energy prices. To achieve national and international building energy standards, more energy subsidies must be provided on costly energy efficiency

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN TABRIZPETROCHEMICAL COMPLEX

Tabriz petrochemical complex is located in the northwest of Iran. Major products of this industry include raw plastics like, polyethylene, polystyrene, acrylonitrile, butadiene, styrene, etc. Sources of waste generation include service units, health and cure units, water, power, steam and industrial processes units. In this study, different types of solid waste including hazardous and non hazardous solid wastes were investigated separately. The aim of the study was to focus on the management of the industrial wastes in order to minimize the adverse environmental impacts. In the first stage, locating map and dispersion limits were prepared. Then, the types and amounts of industrial waste generated in were evaluated by an inventory and inspection. Wastes were classified according to Environmental Protection Agency and Basel Standards and subsequently hazards of different types were investigated. The waste management of TPC is quite complex because of the different types of waste and their pollution. In some cases recycling/reuse of waste is the best option, but treatment and disposal are also necessary tools. In this study, using different sources and references, generally petrochemical sources, various solid waste management practices were investigated and the best options were selected. Some wastes should be treated before land filling and some of them should be reused or recycled. In the case of solid waste optimization, source reduction ways were recommended as well as prior incineration system was modified