Free Trade Agreements and World Obesity

We study the causal link between trade openness via free trade agreements and obesity rates. We apply a difference-in-differences approach and exploit the year a country entered a free trade agreement with the United States during the period 1990 to 2016. We find statistically and economically significant results and show that our findings are robust to placebo tests, the use of synthetic control methods, and mechanically maximizing the sample. Additionally, we show that when using event studies the equal trends assumption holds

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors for Municipal Wastewater Treatment: A Literature Review

Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Currently, there is growing scientific interest in the development of more economic, efficient and environmentally friendly municipal wastewater treatment technologies. Laboratory and pilot-scale surveys have revealed that the anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) is a promising alternative for municipal wastewater treatment. Anaerobic membrane bioreactor technology combines the advantages of anaerobic processes and membrane technology. Membranes retain colloidal and suspended solids and provide complete solid–liquid separation. The slow-growing anaerobic microorganisms in the bioreactor degrade the soluble organic matter, producing biogas. The low amount of produced sludge and the production of biogas makes AnMBRs favorable over conventional biological treatment technologies. However, the AnMBR is not yet fully mature and challenging issues remain. This work focuses on fundamental aspects of AnMBRs in the treatment of municipal wastewater. The important parameters for AnMBR operation, such as pH, temperature, alkalinity, volatile fatty acids, organic loading rate, hydraulic retention time and solids retention time, are discussed. Moreover, through a comprehensive literature survey of recent applications from 2009 to 2021, the current state of AnMBR technology is assessed and its limitations are highlighted. Finally, the need for further laboratory, pilot- and full-scale research is addressed.Nazarbayev University, the Republic of Kazakhstan, grant number 110119FD4533

Центр по лечению внезапной сердечной смерти: результаты пяти лет работы

The objective was to summarize the Center's experience in the treatment of sudden cardiac death and to assess the prospects of using venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) in the complex of extended cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).Materials and methods.  109 patients aged 52.6±1.5 years, delivered  to the hospital  by emergency  medical teams with a background of ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.Results. In the majority of cases (78), extended resuscitation measures were ineffective, ECMO was not used due to inadequate technology connection criteria. In 15 cases, primary stabilization without ECMO was achieved, and these patients were transferred for further treatment to intensive care unit (ICU), 8 of them died later. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) was used in 16 cases, in 6 cases, patients were decannulated after cardiac recovery; also, ECMO was used postmortem 15 times to preserve donor organs. The overall survival rate among the delivered to the Center was 7.5%. We found out the correlation between the duration of the prehospital period and survival rate (time to hospital admission in survivors was 42.7±9.6 min versus 64.31±3.13 min in the deceased). The association between pH (AUC ROC 0.728) on admission and favorable outcome was found to be more reliable than EtCO2 (0.266) and blood lactate  (0.387).Conclusion. The creation of centers for the treatment of patients with refractory circulatory arrest seems reasonable on the basis of level 3 hospitals with the possibility  of using X-ray surgical methods  of treatment. The widespread  introduction of ECPR should be accompanied  by the change of CPR  algorithms  in the prehospital period. The effectiveness of ECPR is determined by mandatory strict  adherence  to the connection criteria, which can be revised as experience accumulates.Цель: обобщить опыт работы Центра по лечению внезапной сердечной смерти и оценить перспективы использования вено-артериальной экстракорпоральной мембранной оксигенации (ВА ЭКМО) в комплексе расширенной сердечно-легочной реанимации (СЛР).Материалы и методы. 109 пациентов в возрасте 52,6±1,5 лет, доставленных  в стационар бригадами скорой медицинской помощи на фоне продолжающихся мероприятий сердечно-легочной реанимации.Результаты. В большинстве  случаев (78)  расширенные реанимационные мероприятия были неэффективны, ЭКМО не применялась ввиду явного несоответствия критериям подключения технологии. В 15 случаях удалось добиться первичной  стабилизации состояния без применения ЭКМО, и эти пациенты  были переведены  для дальнейшего  лечения  в ОРИТ, из них 8 впоследствии погибли. Экстракорпоральная сердечно-легочная реанимация (ЭСЛР)  применена  в 16 случаях,  в 6 случаях  пациенты  были  деканюлированы после восстановления сердечной деятельности;  также ЭКМО применялась посмертно 15 раз с целью сохранения  донорских органов. Общая выживаемость среди доставленных  в Центр составила  7,5%. Обнаружена корреляция между длительностью догоспитального периода и выживаемостью (время  до госпитализации в стационар у выживших  42,7±9,6 мин против умерших 64,31±3,13 мин). Обнаружено, что связь между уровнем pH (AUC ROC 0,728) при поступлении и благоприятным исходом более достоверна, чем с уровнем EtCO2 (0,266) и лактатом крови (0,387).Вывод. Создание  центров по лечению больных с рефрактерной остановкой  кровообращения представляется целесообразным на базе стационаров 3-го уровня, имеющих возможность применения рентген-хирургических методов лечения. Внедрение в практику ЭСЛР должно сопровождаться изменением алгоритмов  СЛР  в догоспитальном периоде. Эффективность ЭСЛР определяется обязательным строгим соблюдением критериев подключения, которые могут пересматриваться по мере накопления опыта

On policy evaluation with aggregate time-series shocks

We propose a general strategy for estimating treatment effects, in contexts where the only source of exogenous variation is a sequence of aggregate time-series shocks. We start by arguing that commonly used estimation procedures tend to ignore the crucial time-series aspects of the data. Next, we develop a graphical tool and a novel test to illustrate the issues of the design using data from influential studies in development economics [Nunn and Qian, 2014] and macroeconomics [Nakamura and Steinsson, 2014]. Motivated by these studies, we construct a new estimator, which is based on the time-series model for the aggregate shock. We analyze the statistical properties of our estimator in the practically relevant case, where both cross-sectional and time-series dimensions are of similar size. Finally, to provide causal interpretation for our estimator, we analyze a new causal model that allows taking into account both rich unobserved heterogeneity in potential outcomes and unobserved aggregate shocks

UVA and goethite activated persulfate oxidation of landfill leachate

In this study, UVA and goethite activated persulfate oxidation was applied to treat a synthetic (SLL) and a real landfill leachate (RLL) spiked with sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Initially, SLL was used to find the optimum landfill leachate (LL) treatment conditions in terms of total organic carbon (TOC) and SMX removal. The screening experiments were conducted using a two-level, four-factor Plackett-Burman design (PBD) to investigate the effects of UVA irradiation, time, concentrations of persulfate (PS) and goethite, on the removal of TOC and SMX. Dark experiments (PS/Goethite) yielded only a 2% TOC removal. Therefore, further experiments were conducted under UVA (365 nm) using a three-factor Box-Behnken design (BBD) in conjunction with response surface methodology (RSM). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated high regression coefficients for the BBD-RSM model in the case of TOC removal (R2 = 0.9755, adjusted R2 = 0.9314 and predicted R2 = 0.7956). In the case of SLL, RSM predicted an 84.4% TOC removal at the reaction time of 5.33 h, PS concentration of 477.4 mM, and goethite dosage of 755 mg/L under UVA. Experimentally, an 81.8% TOC removal and 100% removal of SMX were obtained under these conditions. Finally, the obtained optimum conditions were recalculated using RLL from the local municipal solid waste landfill, and 87% TOC and 100% SMX removals were obtained for PS concentration of 419.3 mM and goethite dosage of 663 mg/L after 4.68 h under UVA irradiation. Air stripping of RLL at pH 11 was complementarily applied to completely remove ammonia nitrogen after 3 hours. The results demonstrated the efficiency of the UVA/PS/Goethite system for the removal of organic matter from the LL for the first time

Understanding the oxidative cleaning of UF membranes

Increased protein fouling of polyether sulphone membranes after NaOCl cleaning was previously reported but not explained. Here we show that the cleaning increases the hydrophilicity, and the degree of increase linearly correlates with the amount of adsorbed protein. The high initial flux through the cleaned membrane is a result of the hydrophilization of the membrane surface and a promise for the enhanced fouling. We propose that the proper oxidative cleaning should target the restoration of the initial flux and not its increase over initial values. The previously reported pore size changes are subjective as higher hydrophilicity of the membrane surface increases water permeability and adsorption of size test solutes