A Study for the Necessity of Risk Assessment for Heavy metal Pollution in the Barada Basin, Syria

Manufacturing industries are blooming rapidly in Barada Basin carrying high risk to environment and human health due to generating huge amounts of heavy metals to environmental media, particularly rivers. Few studies show that concentrations of chromium, cadmium, and lead exceed the standards in down streams of rivers. Risk assessment on human health urges for immediate measures to control the emission of these metals. In this paper, we discuss the implementation of comprehensive risk management policy as an element to introduce an optimal policy to reduce water pollution and improve water quality in the Barada Basin.

Climate Change Strategy and Sustainable Power Technologies in China

Global warming is likely to be the greatest environmental challenge among various known climate changes that related with many aspects of land use and water management in the 21st century. In general, the phenomenon of global warming is almost proportionally related with the pace of industrialization, which has to be resolved with high priority. Fossil fuel production and consumption is primarily responsible for the emission of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), into the environment, increasing the level of global warming. In this research, a policy mix as a kind of climate change strategy is proposed, imposing carbon tax in China. Based on available data, an eco-conscious socioeconomic framework model is built and several scenarios of energy use and CO2 emission are developed in order to evaluate comprehensively the effect of carbon tax on CO2 emission curtailment and introduce suitable alternative energy in China. Sustainable power technologies mean solar power technology and wind power technology in the research. The main target is to form a low carbon sustainable society in China, using a multi-sectoral macro-economical model including Input-Output (I-O) table. Then an optimum carbon tax rate is derived endogenously by running the simulation model under CO2 emission restrictions.

A study on dynamic modeling to examine the impact of reducing water pollution on market condition in the Turkish Black Sea Basin

The Black Sea has severe water pollution problems during the last three decades due to tremendous loads of different types of pollutants discharged from the entire basin Therefore, finding solutions to improve the environmental status of the Black Sea is one of the critical issues. Previous paper, we analyzed Turkish black Sea Basin using a conceptual mathematical model describes the interaction between the socioeconomic activities and behavior of the pollutants starting from the contamination sources ending to the sea. As a results, set of mix policies was introduced to reduce the water pollution generate from Turkish Black Sea Basin. In this paper, we discuss the implementation of such approach on formulating a comprehensive policy to reduce the water pollution from the whole Black Sea basin in order to improve the water quality of The Black Sea.

Endogenous derivation of the optimal policy measures to improve the water quality in Barada Basin, Syria

Barada Basin, where the capital of Syria, Damascus, is located, in hence where most of the human activities are concentrated, suffers from serious environmental problems due to urbanization, industrialization, and overexploitation of environmental media. Huge amounts of wastewater (domestic, industrial, and agricultural) are discharged everyday to the land, Barada and Awaj Rivers without sufficient treatment converting the only-two water bodies in the region to waste dump. In this paper, an optimal policy will be introduced including set of policy measures to improve the water quality in the rivers by running a mathematical model and simulating the data available.

An Evaluation of Policy Measures against Global Warming by Promoting Effective Use of Potential Energy in Wastes

Utilizing potential energy in wastes is significant for achieving sustainable development of the environment and the society. It can not only prevent the wastes from polluting the environment, but also possess many other advantages such as saving energy resources, material recycle and creation of employment. Moreover, reuse of wastes can also play an important role in mitigating global warming by reducing emission of methane, which is likely to be generated from stockbreeding wastes left in the open. The greenhouse effect of a methane molecule is 21 times higher than that of a carbon dioxide. To promote effective use of potential energy in wastes and restructuring the existing energy system, some management instruments and economic policies need to be adopted. In this regard, levying tax on emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and subsiding industries producing energy from wastes are considered most applicable and effective. The aim of this study is to evaluate Japanese economic policies in which the tax and subsidy are introduced. For this purpose, a socioeconomic model has been constructed. The model is based on an I/O model and considers the flow of wastes and energy. New industries which produce energy from wastes, as well as the economic policies of the tax and the subsidy are introduced in the model. Being subject to restriction on total emission of GHGs, GDP is maximized as the objective function.The effects of the policies on reducing GHG emission and promoting new industries have been analyzed and the optimum tax rate is proposed.

Effect of ascorbic acid on the retention of calcium in normal adult women, The

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An Optimal Investment Policy to Control the Land-based Water Pollutant into the Sea of Japan

Northeast Asia countries (e.g. around the Sea of Japan area) cooperate in economic and environmental policies, etc., because the comprehensive problems like the climate change and global warming occur in recent years. The ring Sea of Japan area consists of Japan, Republic of Korea, China, and Far East Russia in Northeast Asia, and the countries have to join forces in order to control the ocean environment and attain the sustainable development in the region. In this study, we try to evaluate the policy measure to control the land-based water pollutant into the Sea of Japan through a system simulation approach. The system simulation model is formulated a definition of an objective function and the structure of water pollutants inflow and the socio-economic system of the target countries and regions of the ring Sea of Japan. We present an optimal international policy for environmental investment taking account of economic situations and environmental influences of this area over a certain period of time through the dynamic simulation.

Synthesized technical and socio-economic efficient evaluation of water quality improving devices and technologies: an example of the lake Kasumigaura Basin

In this study, we analyze an optimal policy and evaluate new devices and technologies to improve the water quality of Lake Kasumigaura, considering both - the total ecological system in and around the lake and the socio-economic situational changes over a certain period of time. The optimal policies are derived so as to maximize the objective function (GRP) subject to the structural equations, which describe both the ecosystem and socio-economic system.

Investigation of Neonatal Pulmonary Structure and Function via Proton and Hyperpolarized Gas Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a modality that utilizes the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to yield tomographic images of the body. Proton (1H) MRI has historically been successful in soft tissues but has suffered in the lung due to a variety of technical challenges, such as the low proton-density, rapid T2* relaxation time of the lung parenchymal tissue, and inherent physiological motion in the chest. Recent developments in radial ultrashort echo time (UTE) MRI have in part overcome these issues. In addition, there has been much progress in techniques for hyperpolarization of noble gases (3He and 129Xe) out of thermal equilibrium via spin exchange optical pumping, which can greatly enhance the gas NMR signal such that it is detectable within the airspaces of the lung on MRI. The lung is a unique organ due to its complex structural and functional dynamics, and its early development through the neonatal (newborn) period is not yet well understood in normal or abnormal conditions. Pulmonary morbidities are relatively common in infants and are present in a majority of patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, often stemming from preterm birth and/or congenital defects. Current clinical lung imaging in these patients is typically limited to chest x-ray radiography, which does not provide tomographic information and so has lowered sensitivity. More rarely, x-ray computed tomography (CT) is used but exposes infants to ionizing radiation and typically requires sedation, both of which pose increased risks to pediatric patients. Thus the opportunity is ripe for application of novel pulmonary MRI techniques to the infant population. However, MR imaging of very small pulmonary structure and microstructure requires fundamental changes in the imaging theory of both 1H UTE MRI and hyperpolarized gas diffusion MRI. Furthermore, such young patients are often non-compliant, yielding a need for new and innovative techniques for monitoring respiratory and bulk motion. This dissertation describes methodology development and provides experimental results in both 1H UTE MRI and hyperpolarized 3He and 129Xe gas diffusion MRI, with investigation into the structure and function of infant lungs at both the macrostructural and microstructural level. In particular, anisotropically restricted gas diffusion within infant alveolar microstructure is investigated as a measurement of airspace size and geometry. Additionally, the phenomenon of respiratory and bulk motion-tracking via modulation of the k-space center\u27s magnitude and phase is explored and applied via UTE MRI in various neonatal pulmonary conditions to extract imaging-based metrics of diagnostic value. Further, the proton-density regime of pulmonary UTE MRI is validated in translational applications. These techniques are applied in infants with various pulmonary conditions, including patients diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, esophageal atresia/tracheoesophageal fistula, tracheomalacia, and no suspected lung disease. In addition, explanted lung specimens from both infants with and without lung disease are examined. Development and implementation of these techniques involves a strong understanding of the physics-based theory of NMR, hyperpolarization, and MR imaging, in addition to foundations in hardware, software, and image analysis techniques. This thesis first outlines the theory and background of NMR, MRI, and pulmonary physiology and development (Part I), then proceeds into the theory, equipment, and imaging experiments for hyperpolarized gas diffusion MRI in infant lung airspaces (Part II), and finally details the theory, data processing methods, and applications of pulmonary UTE MRI in infant patients (Part III). The potential for clinical translation of the neonatal pulmonary MRI methods presented in this dissertation is very high, with the foundations of these techniques firmly rooted in the laws of physics