Heavy metal pollution in drinking water - a global risk for human health: A review

Water resources in the world have been profoundly influenced over the last years by human activities, whereby the world is currently facing critical water supply and drinking water quality problems. In many parts of the world heavy metal (HM) concentrations in drinking water are higher than some international guideline values. Discussing about the HM pollution in drinking water, the incorporation of them into the food chain, and their implications as a global risk for the human health, are the objectives of this review. It is known that there are million people with chronic HM poisoning which has become a worldwide public health issue, while 1.6 million children die each year from diseases for which contaminated drinking water is a leading cause. There is also evidence of HM in drinking water that are responsible for causing adverse effect on human health through food chain contamination. A global effort to offering affordable and healthy drinking water most to be launched throughout the world, while various laws and regulations to protect and improve the utilization of drinking water resources should be updated or created throughout the world, including the low income countries; otherwise, the problem of HM-polluted drinking water will be growing because demand for drinking water is still growing such as this problem will become even more pressing in the future. Finally, notwithstanding, additional researches are necessaries about the correlation between HM concentration in drinking water and human diseases, while the development of robust, cheap and sustainable technologies to improve the drinking water quality is necessary.Key words: Groundwater, aquifer, water quality, water pollution, microorganism, water supply, microbial communities, food chain, disease

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Applet de modelo del ojo

Pertenece a JOptics, un conjunto de recursos docentes dirigidos al aprendizaje de la Óptica Física a nivel universitario en el marco de la licenciatura de Física o la titulación en Óptica y Optometría. http://www.ub.edu/javaoptics/index-es.htmlPodeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14323 ; i en anglès a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14622Aplicación que simula la formación de imágenes en el ojo humano

Applet of light dispersion

Part of Joptics, an ensemble of teaching resources for Physical Optics at university level as part of physics or optics and optometry studies. http://www.ub.edu/javaoptics/index-en.htmlPodeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14326 ; i en castellà a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14392This applet shows the phenomenon of the chromatic dispersion of light. Firstly it shows light dispersion through a prism. It also shows rainbows as an example of light dispersion

Applet experiment de Young

Pertany a JOptics, un conjunt de recursos docents dirigits a l'aprenentatge de l'òptica física en l'àmbit universitari en el marc dels ensenyaments de Física o la titulació en Òptica i Optometria. http://www.ub.edu/javaoptics/index-ca.htmlPodeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14383 ; i en anglès a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14582En aquesta aplicació s'estudien les interferències de Young que resulten de la interacció d'un cert nombre d'ones. La utilització d'una font extensa o de dues fonts puntuals separades entre si permet estudiar també el fenomen de coherència espaial

Applet of Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction

Part of Joptics, an ensemble of teaching resources for Physical Optics at university level as part of physics or optics and optometry studies. http://www.ub.edu/javaoptics/index-en.htmlThis applet shows the Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction patterns. The applet includes some default objects such as the slit, the rectangle and the circle, whose geometrical characteristics can be modified

Applet de interferómetro de Fabry-Perot

Pertenece a JOptics, un conjunto de recursos docentes dirigidos al aprendizaje de la Óptica Física a nivel universitario en el marco de la licenciatura de Física o la titulación en Óptica y Optometría. http://www.ub.edu/javaoptics/index-es.htmlPodeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14331 ; i en anglès a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14585Esta aplicación permite estudiar los factores que intervienen en un experimento con un interferómetro de Fabry-Pérot. Puede visualizarse el resultado de las interferencias con ondas múltiples que se producen en el interferómetro cuando se ilumina con una fuente extensa con dos longitudes de onda muy próximas y así encontrar el poder resolutivo en diferentes condiciones. Puede investigarse además la influencia del coeficiente de reflexión de las caras internas del interferómetro en la visibilidad de las franjas de interferencia y en el poder resolutivo

Applet experimento de Young

Pertenece a JOptics, un conjunto de recursos docentes dirigidos al aprendizaje de la Óptica Física a nivel universitario en el marco de la licenciatura de Física o la titulación en Óptica y Optometría. http://www.ub.edu/javaoptics/index-es.htmlPodeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14322 ; i en anglès a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/14582En esta aplicación se estudian las interferencias de Young que resultan de la interacción de un cierto número de ondas. El uso de una fuente extensa o de dos fuentes puntuales separadas entre sí permite estudiar también el fenómeno de coherencia espacial