Environmental Impact Assessment of Irrigation and Drainage Network Using the Conventional and Modified ICOLD Matrix Methods

With respect to the importance and considerable extent of the Kosar irrigation and drainage network, the environmental issues of the network are investigated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the environmental effects of Kowsar irrigation and drainage network located in the central basin of Karkheh in Khuzestan province, using two methods: conventional and modified ICOLD matrices. To study the environmental parameters, three physical, biological and socio-economic environments were used. Then, using two methods of conventional and modified ICOLD matrices, the effect of each of the project micro-activities on the environmental factors of the study area was measured in the operation phase separately for the three mentioned environments. Thus, a matrix was designed according to all three environments, which was completed by environmental experts and the average score of the evaluation criteria was considered. The results showed that the most positive effects are related to the socio-economic environment. It should be noted that the sum of positive values using conventional and modified ICOLD matrices was 793 and 458.9, respectively, and for negative values was 447 and 285.8, respectively. Therefore, both matrices showed reasonable and good fitness in estimating the impacts and thus the implementation of the Kawser irrigation and drainage network is verified

FMEA TECHNIQUES USED IN ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT

Other industries or strategic installations cities after the industrialization process, a large percentage of urban land use, consciously or unconsciously to have been allocated. Investigation and detection of black spots and dangerous in systems and processes to prevent accidents is of particular importance. Risks in the project, are unknown events that may happen in the event of a negative or positive impact on project objectives is effective. Each event has specific causes and consequences are distinguishable. The consequences of these events directly in time, cost and quality. Therefore, effective project risk identification and to determine the effect of special importance. Organizations should be able to use a variety of methods to assess the risk of one or a combination of the select few. This article introduces the risk assessment and FMEA methodology has been focused on the process of doing that

Petrogenic and Biogenic Inputs of n-alkanes along Shoreline of the Caspian Sea in the Mazandaran Province, North of Iran

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake in the world and is facing an increasing risk of contamination. Sea-based and land-based hydrocarbons inputs are the most critical pollutants of the Caspian Sea. In the present study, n-alkanes and related diagnostic ratios were used to identify the sources of hydrocarbon contaminants in surface sediments along the southern coastal area of the Caspian Sea in Mazandaran province. 27 surface sediment samples were collected from a depth of 5 meters under sea level. Contaminant’s compositions were extracted by Soxhlet apparatus and analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. According to the results, the total concentration of n- alkanes (ΣHC) ranged from 5.2 µg g-1 to 690.7 µg g-1. The S20 (selected station in Noshahr port) had the highest concentration, and most of the stations have levels in a moderate range. Five diagnostic ratios are used to distinguish petrogenic and biogenic contaminants in shorelines of the Mazandaran province. In all stations, Carbon Preference Index (CPI), LMW/HMW, Pr/n-C17, Phy/n-C18, Pr/Phy, and U/R values indicated the petrogenic inputs. However, in some stations biogenic inputs were additionally detected. The petrogenic pollutants were almost from sea-based inputs such as oil spills from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. On the other hand, biogenic contaminants were almost from rivers and Hyrcania forests

Prevalence and determinants of unintended pregnancies amongst women attending antenatal clinics in Pakistan

Background: Unintended pregnancies are a global public health concern and contribute significantly to adverse maternal and neonatal health, social and economic outcomes and increase the risks of maternal deaths and neonatal mortality. In countries like Pakistan where data for the unintended pregnancies is scarce, studies are required to estimate its accurate prevalence and predictors using more specific tools such as the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancies (LMUP). Methods: We conducted a hospital based cross sectional survey in two tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan. We used a pre tested structured questionnaire to collect the data on socio-demographic characteristics, reproductive history, awareness and past experience with contraceptives and unintended pregnancies using six item the LMUP. We used Univariate and multivariate analysis to explore the association between unintended pregnancies and predictor variables and presented the association as adjusted odds ratios. We also evaluated the psychometric properties of the Urdu version of the LMUP. Results: Amongst 3010 pregnant women, 1150 (38.2%) pregnancies were reported as unintended. In the multivariate analysis age \u3c 20 years (AOR 3.5 1.1-6.5), being illiterate (AOR 1.9 1.1-3.4), living in a rural setting (1.7 1.2-2.3), having a pregnancy interval of = \u3c 12 months (AOR 1.7 1.4-2.2), having a parity of \u3e2 (AOR 1.4 1.2-1.8), having no knowledge about contraceptive methods (AOR 3.0 1.7-5.4) and never use of contraceptive methods (AOR 2.3 1.4-5.1) remained significantly associated with unintended pregnancy. The Urdu version of the LMUP scale was found to be acceptable, valid and reliable with the Cronbach\u27s alpha of 0.85. Conclusions: This study explores a high prevalence of unintended pregnancies and important factors especially those related to family planning. Integrated national family program that provides contraceptive services especially the modern methods to women during pre-conception and post-partum would be beneficial in averting unintended pregnancies and their related adverse outcomes in Pakistan

Identification of the highest potential human health and environmental hazard in contaminated sediment near the point sources in the northwest Persian Gulf

The overall goal of this work was to determine the concentration levels and the potential ecological risks of 30 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Persian Gulf sediments, Iran. The study also predicted the bioaccumulation of PAHs using the Monte Carlo simulation. For these goals, 68 surface sediment samples were collected from the Persian Gulf in January 2017. Then, the experiments were performed with Soxhlet system, chromatographic column and GC-MS instrument. According to the Canadian Sediment Quality Guidelines, 35.29% of sampling sites exhibited high potential adverse biological effects and 79.41% of samples have a low probability of toxicity. The mean bioaccumulated concentrations of carcinogenic PAHs in the Persian Gulf were predicted as 207.78 ± 262.23, 116.06 ± 146.47 and 69.26 ± 87.41 ng g–1 for mollusks, shrimps and crabs, respectively. The mean Toxic Equivalency and Mutagenic Equivalent Quotient for sediments was 702.06 ± 1012.37 and 500.37 ± 665.71 ng g−1, respectively. The 95th percentile carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks calculated for children and adults were lower than the threshold values of 10−6 and 1.0, respectively, revealing no potential health risk. The highest potential risks for toxicity were observed at sampling sites close to the Nowruz oil field and Mahshahr petrochemical economic zone based on the highest TEQcarc and MEQcarc values in this area

Comparison of Common Monogenic Defects in a Large Predominantly Antibody Deficiency Cohort

Background: Predominantly antibody deficiencies (PADs) are the most common primary immunodeficiencies, characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia and inability to generate effective antibody responses. Objective: We intended to report most common monogenic PADs and to investigate how patients with PAD who were primarily diagnosed as suffering from agammaglobulinemia, hyper-IgM (HIgM) syndrome, and common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) have different clinical and immunological findings. Methods: Stepwise next-generation sequencing and Sanger sequencing were performed for confirmation of the mutations in the patients clinically diagnosed as suffering from agammaglobulinemia, HIgM syndrome, and CVID. Results: Among 550 registered patients, the predominant genetic defects associated with agammaglobulinemia (48 Bruton's tyrosine kinase [BTK] and 6 μ heavy chain deficiencies), HIgM syndrome (21 CD40 ligand and 7 activation-induced cytidine deaminase deficiencies), and CVID (17 lipopolysaccharides-responsive beige-like anchor deficiency and 12 atypical Immunodeficiency, Centromeric instability, and Facial dysmorphism syndromes) were identified. Clinical disease severity was significantly higher in patients with μ heavy chain and CD40 ligand mutations compared with patients with BTK (P = .003) and activation-induced cytidine deaminase (P = .009) mutations. Paralysis following live polio vaccination was considerably higher in patients with μ heavy chain deficiency compared with BTK deficiency (P < .001). We found a genotype-phenotype correlation among patients with BTK mutations regarding clinical manifestation of meningitis and chronic diarrhea. Surprisingly, we noticed that first presentations in most patients with Immunodeficiency, Centromeric instability, and Facial dysmorphism were respiratory complications (P = .008), whereas first presentations in patients with lipopolysaccharides-responsive beige-like anchor deficiency were nonrespiratory complications (P = .008). Conclusions: This study highlights similarities and differences in the clinical and genetic spectrum of the most common PAD-associated gene defects. This comprehensive comparison will facilitate clinical decision making, and improve prognosis and targeted treatment

Comparison of Common Monogenic Defects in a Large Predominantly Antibody Deficiency Cohort

Predominantly antibody deficiencies (PADs) are the most common primary immunodeficiencies, characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia and inability to generate effective antibody responses