Collect and sanitation of wastewater in earthquake in Iranshahr; expert panel and delphi technique

زمینه و هدف: مکان‌یابی تأسیسات شهری و به‌طور خاص تصفیه‌خانه‌های فاضلاب شهری از سابقه طولانی و اهمیت فوق‌العاده ای برخوردار است و مکان گزینی های نامناسب کاربری‌ها و تأسیسات شهری می‌تواند زمینه مهاجرت، جدایی گزینی و افزایش جرم و جنایت، در محلات ناپایدار گردد. مطالعه حاضر باهدف بررسی و تعیین بهترین منطقه برای جمع‌آوری و دفع بهداشتی فاضلاب در زلزله در شهرستان ایرانشهر در سال 1394 انجام گرفت. روش بررسی: مطالعه حاضر به‌صورت مقطعی و با استفاده از پنل خبرگان بود که به‌منظور مکان‌یابی محل مناسب برای جمع‌آوری و دفع زباله در شهرستان ایرانشهر استان سیستان و بلوچستان انجام گرفت. در ابتدا نسبت به مشاهده و جمع‌آوری و ثبت اطلاعات موردنیاز اقدام گردید و 20 نفر از صاحب‌نظران مدیریت در حوادث و بلایا، پدافند غیرعامل و مسئولان بهداشت محیط به‌عنوان جامعه وارد پژوهش شدند. با استفاده از بررسی وضعیت، اطلاعات اولیه در اختیار جامعه پژوهش قرارگرفته و با روش دلفی تعدیل‌شده، وضعیت این مناطق و نقاط قوت و ضعف هر منطقه ازنظر قرارگیری تصفیه‌خانه بهداشتی مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفت. به‌منظور تحلیل داده‌ها از نرم‌افزار Excel استفاده گردید. یافته‌ها: گزینه‌های بافت بلوچ و کریم‌آباد به دلیل معایب و مشکلات بیشتر از اولویت برخوردار نبودند. گزینه زمین‌های منطقه نوک‌آباد سرهنگ با توجه به فاکتورهای مورد بررسی، بهترین منطقه انتخاب و بهترین روش دفع فاضلاب در منطقه استفاده از سپتیک تانک و چاه جذبی برای درازمدت می‌باشد. نتیجه‌گیری: گرچه دفع فاضلاب شهرستان ایرانشهر مطلوب نبوده ولی با اقدامات مناسب، مدیریت صحیح، تأمین اعتبار و ایجاد آگاهی لازم و بینش درست می‌توان از مخاطرات آن جلوگیری و از فاضلاب استفاده مجدد و بهینه نمود. با توجه به وضعیت کنونی ایرانشهر پیشنهاد می‌گردد یک تصفیه‌خانه در این شهر ایجاد شود و بهترین مناطقی که مورد پیشنهاد است، همان مناطق پنج‌گانه محل اردوگاه‌ها است که توجه به شیب توپوگرافی زمین در ابتدای تصفیه‌خانه باید سنجش و در تصمیم‌گیری در نظر گرفته شود

Environmental effects of entrepreneurship indices on ecological footprint of croplands and grazing lands in the economy

When production resources are considered significant economic variables, the circular economy (CE) is viewed as a closed-loop economic system. It is a sustainable development strategy based on limited resources that addresses urgent problems of environmental degradation and resource scarcity and depletion. This study gives the definitions of such a strategy by thoroughly reviewing the growing research literature on the subject. Additionally, the paper reviews the rapidly growing body of literature on CE, examining its concepts and current practices and evaluating its implementation. Comparing the CE concept with the current linear economy of obtaining materials; producing, distributing, and consuming goods; and discarding waste reveals why a shift to regenerative sustainable industrial development with a closed-loop is necessary. It also compares CE with concepts like the Green Supply Chain Management in an effort to better understand their constituent dimensions. Additionally, while expressing the difficulties inherent in developing such a strategy, the paper examines the prospects and impediments to its development

Review of Hosein Aabad Sugar Factory (HASF) Wastewater and Assessment of its Pollution Load

Sugar industry is one of the largest industries in the world. Hosein Abad sugar factory (HASF) is located in Hamadan province of Iran. The aim of this research was to evaluate the quality and quantity of wastewater of the said factory and to estimate the pollution load and its emission factor as prerequisite of the management and environmental pollutions control in the region. Random grab sampling is used in twelve days between October 2010 and March 2011 during peak hours of activity. In this research, nine quality parameters as the key variables are measured to evaluate the quality of wastewater. The obtained results indicate that, the amount of wastewater produced by HASF is about 2740 m3/day. Based on the said results, the average amount of five days Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in the raw wastewater was 1296 and 2328 mg/l respectively. The results of this research showed that the effluent wastewater of HASF in the present conditions is highly polluted due to inappropriate treating and is not appropriate for artificial recharge use, discharge in rivers and lakes or utilization in agriculture, according to the DoE standards

Assessing the environmental efficiency of OECD countries through the lens of ecological footprint indices

Environmental efficiency plays a crucial role in achieving sustainable economic development. This study aims to enhance the current understanding of dynamic environmental efficiency by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in conjunction with the ecological footprint index. This study evaluates 27 OECD countries' environmental performance from 2000 to 2017, employing net capital stock, labor force, and energy consumption as inputs, ecological footprint as undesirable output, and GDP as desirable output. We utilize 16 window Slack-Based Measurement DEA (SBM-DEA) models, each representing consecutive years within the observation period. Additionally, we adopt the Global Malmquist-Luenberger Index (GMLI) techniques to facilitate a simultaneous evaluation of the efficiency levels for each country. Our findings reveal that the United Kingdom and Lithuania were the most and least ecologically efficient countries among the 27 OECD countries, respectively. Over the 18-year observation period, all countries showed both progress and setbacks in environmental efficiency, with a modest overall improvement. Poland, Denmark, Slovakia, and Lithuania were the most improved countries in environmental performance, while Canada and Japan showed the most significant regressions in environmental efficiency. We highlight the need for policymakers to prioritize sustainable economic growth and consider ecological footprints when making economic decisions to enhance environmental efficiency in OECD countries. Our findings have can guide policymakers in designing effective policies and strategies to enhance environmental efficiency and promote sustainable economic development

Model predictive-based secondary frequency control considering heat pump water heaters

The extensive development of renewable energies in power systems causes several problems due to intermittent output power generation. To tackle the challenge, demand response contribution to ancillary service is currently well recognized under the smart grid infrastructure. The application of the heat pump water heater (HPWH) as a controllable load in primary frequency control is well presented in the literature; however, the motivation of this paper is to use HPWHs for secondary frequency control. To this end, a model predictive control (MPC) method for a two-area power system incorporating HPWHs to contribute to secondary frequency control is proposed in this paper. A detailed model of HPWH is employed as a controllable load to control the power consumption during water heating. The MPC method predicts the future control signals using a quadratic programming-based optimization. It uses the system model, past inputs and outputs, as well as system control signals to predict the next signals. The effective performance of the proposed method for the two-area power system with HPWH is demonstrated for different scenarios of load changes, intermittent renewable power generation and parameter variations as the sensitivity analysis

Coordination of heat pumps, electric vehicles and AGC for efficient LFC in a smart hybrid power system via SCA-based optimized FOPID controllers

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Due to the high price of fossil fuels, the increased carbon footprint in conventional generation units and the intermittent functionality of renewable units, alternative sources must contribute to the load frequency control (LFC) of the power system. To tackle the challenge, dealing with controllable loads, the ongoing study aims at efficient LFC in smart hybrid power systems. To achieve this goal, heat pumps (HPs) and electric vehicles (EVs) are selected as the most effective controllable loads to contribute to the LFC issue. In this regard, the EVs can be controlled in a bidirectional manner as known charging and discharging states under a smart structure. In addition, regarding the HPs, the power consumption is controllable. As the main task, this paper proposes a fractional order proportional integral differential (FOPID) controller for coordinated control of power consumption in HPs, the discharging state in EVs and automatic generation control (AGC). The parameters of the FOPID controllers are optimized simultaneously by the sine cosine algorithm (SCA), which is a new method for optimization problems. In the sequel, four scenarios, including step and random load changes, aggregated intermittent generated power from wind turbines, a random load change scenario and a sensitivity analysis scenario, are selected to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed SCA-based FOPID controllers in a hybrid two-area power system

Dvogodišnje serološko istraživanje virusa goveđe virusne dijareje, goveđeg alfa-herpesvirusa 1 i virusa goveđe parainfluence tipa 3 na farmama mliječnih krava u Qazvinu, sjeverozapadni Iran

Infections with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1), and bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (BPIV-3) cause diseases in cattle with serious economic consequences worldwide. The objective of the present study was to determine of herd-level and animal-level BVDV, BoHV-1, and BPIV-3 seroprevalence, and evaluate some of the associated risk factors on farms in Qazvin province, Northwestern Iran. A total of 1036 cattle in 16 herds were randomly selected, and their serum samples were tested to detect antibodies to these viruses in a cross-sectional study over 2 years. The results showed the seroprevalence of BVDV, BoHV-1, and BPIV-3 was 100%, 56.3%, and 100% at herd-level and 55.1%, 5.1%, and 95.2% at animal-level, respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that the farm was a strong risk factor for all the studied viruses, while the year was determined as a risk factor for only BVDV (P<0.001). The seroprevalence of BVDV and BPIV-3 was significantly (P<0.01) affected by season. The proportion of seropositive cows increased with age for BVDV and BoHV-1 (P<0.001). Concurrent infection was the highest in mixed infections with BVDV and BPIV-3 (53.2%), and there was a positive correlation between BVDV and BoHV-1 seropositivity (R2= 0.106, P<0.001). The present study shows that infections of BVDV and BPIV-3 are common in cattle in Northwestern Iran and which implies the need to implement control programs to reduce the risk of the spread of these viruses.Infekcije virusom goveđe virusne dijareje (BVDV), goveđeg alfa-herpesvirusa 1(BoHV-1) i virusa goveđe parainfluenze tipa 3 (BPIV-3) uzrokuju pobol u goveda širom svijeta, sa znatnim ekonomskim posljedicama. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je odrediti seroprevalenciju BVDV-a, BoHV-1 i BPIV-3, na razini stada i na razini životinje, te procijeniti rizične čimbenike povezane s tim virusima na farmama u pokrajini Qazvin u sjeverozapadnom Iranu. U presječnom istraživanju, koje je trajalo više od dvije godine, nasumično je odabrano ukupno 1036 goveda iz 16 stada čiji su uzorci seruma testirani kako bi se pronašla antitijela na tri navedena virusa. Rezultati su pokazali da je seroprevalencija BVDV-a 100 %, BoHV-1 56,3 %, a BPIV-3 100 % na razini stada, dok je na razini životinje seroprevalencija BVDV-a bila 55,1 %, BoHV-1 5,1 %, a BPIV-3 95,2 %. Statistička je analiza pokazala da je farma znatan rizični čimbenik za sve istraživane viruse, dok se kombinacija godine i sezone pokazala rizičnim faktorom samo za BVDV (P < 0,001). Na seroprevalenciju BVDV-a i BPIV-3 znakovito je utjecala sezona (P < 0,01). Omjer seropozitivnih krava za BVDV i BoHV-1 znakovito je rastao s dobi (P < 0,001). Najčešća je koinfekcija bila virusima BVDV i BPIV-3 (53,2 %), a ustanovljena je i pozitivna korelacija između seropozitivnosti BVDV-a i BoHV-1 (R2 = 0,106, P < 0,001). Ovo je istraživanje pokazalo da su infekcije BVDV-om i BPIV-3 česte u goveda u sjeverozapadnom Iranu što upućuje na potrebu uvođenja programa nadzora kako bi se smanjio rizik od širenja ovih virusa

Increasing Antioxidant Compounds and Maintaining the Appearance Quality of Cherry Fruit after Harvest under the Influence of Marjoram Essential Oil

Introduction Cherry (Prunus avium L.) is one of the most important fruit products and due to its polyphenol and antioxidant compounds, it contributes to the nutrition and health of millions of people. Due to its high perishability, this fruit suffers from post-harvest physiological losses. According to the proven antifungal activity of plant essential oils, their use as a natural substance to reduce post-harvest waste, increase shelf life and ensure the health of consumers of horticultural products.Material and Methods In the present study, the effect of marjoram essential oil in different concentrations (0, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 µl/l) on biochemical reactions of Mashhad cherry fruit var takdaneh, including phenylalanine ammonialyase enzyme activity, total anthocyanin content, ascorbic acid content, tissue color, polyphenol oxidase enzyme activity, fruit rot and browning of the tail were evaluated with three replications. The treated fruits were transferred to the refrigerator for 30 days at a temperature of 1.0 °C and a relative humidity of 90-95%. Qualitative measurements of fruits were performed during three periods before storage, on the 15th day and on the 30th day of storage. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed based on factorial experiment in a completely randomized design. Mean comparison was performed based on Duncan's multiple range test using SAS software and its graphs were drawn with Excel. Finally, correlation analysis was performed using R software.Results and Discussion The results of this evaluation showed that marjoram essential oil maintained the activity of phenylalanine ammonialyase enzyme, total anthocyanin content, ascorbic acid content and color significantly. It also reduced the activity of polyphenol oxidase activity, tissue color change, rot and browning of cherry fruit tail. The level of ascorbic acid in all treated samples decreased over time, but this decrease was more severe in the control sample than the other treatments. Increasing storage time and essential oil concentration improved the amount of anthocyanin in the treated fruits. The essential oil at a concentration of 750 μl/l avoided reduction of color change compared to the control. The activity of phenylalanine ammonialyase enzyme in all essential oil concentrations in both periods had an upward trend. The lowest and highest polyphenol oxidase enzyme activity were recorded in 750 μl/l essential oil treatment and control treatment, respectively. use of essential oil decreased the browning of the fruit tail in which, is probably due to the antioxidant activity of the essential oil. Also, the lowest rate of decay and the highest marketability were observed in the concentration of 750 μl/l of marjoram essential oil. On the other hand, there were significant correlations between most traits. Marketability as one of the most important traits had a positive correlation with traits such as ascorbic acid (r=0.82**) and fruit color (r=0.77**). These results clearly show that the increase of these traits leads to high marketability of cherry fruit. Also, the existence of a negative correlation between the rate of maintaining marketability with the traits of rot (r= -0.95**) and browning of the fruit tail (r= -0.89**) shows that with the increase of these traits, the marketability of the fruit decreases. Finally, according to the findings of the present study and considering the quality and durability of treated cherry fruits compared to untreated fruits, instead of harmful chemical compounds, marjoram essential oil can be recommended as an additive in cherry fruit.Conclusion The use of plant essential oils as a natural method can be effective in increasing the shelf life of this fruit by preventing deterioration and degradation. The results of this study showed that marjoram essential oil at a concentration of 750 µl/l by increasing and maintaining ascorbic acid, anthocyanin, PAL enzyme activity, marketability and also by reducing the activity of PPO enzyme, color variability, degree of rot and browning of the fruit tail led to maintaining the internal quality and better durability of the cherry fruit during storage. The reason for this can be related to the phenolic and antioxidant compounds in marjoram essential oil. These compounds directly affect fruit spoilage and indirectly increase the host fruit's defense system and maintain fruit quality. According to the results of this study, marjoram essential oil with a concentration of 750 µl/l can be introduced as a healthy method to maintain physicochemical properties and improve the cherries quality characteristics after harvest

Suppression of crosstalk in superconducting qubits using dynamical decoupling

Currently available superconducting quantum processors with interconnected transmon qubits are noisy and prone to various errors. The errors can be attributed to sources such as open quantum system effects and spurious inter-qubit couplings (crosstalk). The ZZ-coupling between qubits in fixed frequency transmon architectures is always present and contributes to both coherent and incoherent crosstalk errors. Its suppression is therefore a key step towards enhancing the fidelity of quantum computation using transmons. Here we propose the use of dynamical decoupling to suppress the crosstalk, and demonstrate the success of this scheme through experiments performed on several IBM quantum cloud processors. In particular, we demonstrate improvements in quantum memory as well as the performance of single-qubit and two-qubit gate operations. We perform open quantum system simulations of the multi-qubit processors and find good agreement with the experimental results. We analyze the performance of the protocol based on a simple analytical model and elucidate the importance of the qubit drive frequency in interpreting the results. In particular, we demonstrate that the XY4 dynamical decoupling sequence loses its universality if the drive frequency is not much larger than the system-bath coupling strength. Our work demonstrates that dynamical decoupling is an effective and practical way to suppress crosstalk and open system effects, thus paving the way towards higher-fidelity logic gates in transmon-based quantum computers.Comment: Updated version includes additional results on improving the performance of single and two-qubit gates using dynamical decoupling. 22 pages and 12 figure