Evaluating of the disinfection and water quality effects on UV application in the primary stage of water treatment

Background: Irradiation of water by UV has been considered as an attractive alternative for disinfection because its low-impact, pathogen killing capacity shows tremendous promise for meeting today's drinking water regulatory requirements. This study has been performed with the objective of utilizing medium pressure lamp in the preliminary stage of municipal water treatment, namely prior to water clarification and filtration. Methods: Raw water samples were irradiated for 30 s in a lab-scale closed reactor. Disinfection results showed nearly 2 log reduction in HPC for all the samples without formation of nitrite in excess of its MCL. As in a few previous works the formation of nitrite as an objectionable DBP had been reported, this study was extended by preparing synthetic water samples having different amounts of nitrate and turbidities. Results: As far as the initial nitrate concentration dose not exceed 10 mg/L N-NO3, there would be no risk of nitrite increasing in excess of the MCL. Conclusion: Meeting the goal of at least 90 % disinfection for water samples with turbidity levels of as high as 750 NTU is possible by utilizing medium- pressure UV lamp

An Ethic of Connectedness: Book Review of The Connected Self: The Ethics and Governance of the Genetic Individual

Compte-rendu / ReviewThe Connected Self: The Ethics and Governance of the Genetic Individual met les lecteurs au défi de réfléchir à la fois à la complexité des enjeux sociaux et scientifiques liés à la recherche sur le génome humain et à leur influence sur les conceptions du soi. L’auteure, Heather Widdows, propose que les principes courants de la bioéthique (gouvernant la recherche biomédicale) ne reflètent pas suffisamment l’interaction des individus avec leurs communautés et les réseaux sociaux. Selon elle, la reconnaissance de telles interactions dans la compréhension de la génétique et de la santé est nécessaire afin que les politiques protègent réellement les participants des dommages qui pourraient en résulter.The Connected Self: The Ethics and Governance of the Genetic Individual challenges readers to engage in both the social and scientific complexities of researching the human genome, and how they influence evolving conceptions of the self. Heather Widdows proposes that the existing principles of bioethics, which govern biomedical research, insufficiently reflect the interactions of individuals to their communities and social networks, and argues that recognition of such interactions in understanding genetics and health is necessary for policies to effectively safeguard research participants from harms that may result

A missed opportunity for shared responsibility in adolescent contraception

The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence recently endorsed IUDs as the clinical contraceptive method of choice among sexually active adolescents. This commentary highlights the ways in which these recommendations reinforce a gender normative notion that contraceptive responsibilities continue to lie squarely with young women, and now adolescent girls. It critiques the absence of guidance from the Committee regarding how to approach both sexual partners equally in discussions of contraception. The reflection also identifies paucity in how to address sexual health among trans/intersexed adolescents and those with complex sexual orientations. Such exclusion has adverse implications, inviting marginalization of young people during particularly vulnerable years of sexual development. Moreover, sexual healthcare among adolescents ushers a poignant transition in the broader healthcare continuum for many young people. This circumstance underscores the immediacy of critical dialogue regarding contraception/sexual health between an adolescent’s new healthcare provider (the primary care physician) and familiar healthcare provider (their pediatrician). Absent strategies that promote equal responsibility for contraception among sexually active adolescents, the Committee’s recommendations have far-reaching consequences for the future of adolescent sexual health(care), and the family physicians who will eventually care for them

Essays on Environmental and Health Economics

In this dissertation, I study two questions in environmental and health economics with a focus on the role of urban configuration. The first essay investigates the impact of urban sprawl on the temperature in the United States. Sprawl contributes to the heat island effect by eliminating vegetation, expanding dark surfaces, and increasing daily travel distance. This study quantifies this effect by constructing and linking the required measures and exploiting variations in the data using different identification strategies. I construct an index of residential compactness in US metropolitan areas using satellite remote sensing information to analyze landscape changes from 1974–2012 and link them to the Global Surface Summary of the Day data. To address the reverse causality issue, I utilize the planned interstate highways emanating from the central cities as an instrument for sub-urbanization in the United States. I also examine the Impact of Sprawl on UHI by introducing a control group for each metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the sample. The results suggest a positive and causal relationship between the temperature of the MSA center and urban sprawl. Thus, horizontal development of the city imposes an extra burden on the temperature of the city center. The second essay, which is joint work with Dr. Firouzi Naeim, studies the role of labor unions in response to the pandemic. Labor unions are among the largest institutions in the United States, and their role in regulating employee-employer relations is hard to ignore. Costly efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, combined with the monopoly and collective voice faces of unions, emphasize the role unions can play in shaping the response of the workforce in coping with COVID-19. We analyze the effect of union size by utilizing state-level data in the United States and by employing a dynamic nonlinear probability model. The results suggest new evidence of positive externalities for union employees compared with nonunion employees. We find that increasing union size by 1,000 new members in the United States would lead to 110 fewer COVID-19 cases 11 months after the onset of the virus, controlling for hours of work and differences in union members\u27 characteristics

Impact of Spasticity on Balance Control During Quiet Standing in Persons Post-Stroke

Statement of the problem: Balance impairments and falls are common among people with stroke. Muscle spasticity is also common and may influence balance control. However, the effect of spasticity on balance control among people with stroke is not well understood. Methods: Twenty-seven post-stroke individuals with low or high spasticity at the ankle completed quiet standing trials with eyes open and closed. Balance control was measured by estimating centre of pressure (COP) movement and trunk sway. Results: Individuals with high spasticity had greater COP velocity, trunk sway velocity, and trunk sway velocity frequency, particularly in the eyes closed condition. These effects were predominantly in the mediolateral direction (vision by group interaction effects p= 0.033, p= 0.037, and p= 0.015 respectively). Main effect of group revealed that individuals with high spasticity had higher mediolateral mean power frequency measures (p= 0.045). Conclusion: Individuals with high spasticity post-stroke demonstrated greater balance control challenges especially in absence of vision. Furthermore, these challenges were specifically noted in the frontal plane

Significance of Epigraphy in the Islamic Architecture Emphasized on the Epigraphies in Enghelab Courtyard of Imam Reza Shrine

The Imam Reza shrine is a kind of museum with varieties of Islamic arts. In this museum the art masterpieces are related to different historical periods. The age of this great museum is more than thirteen centuries. This is a well-known museum because of the valuable position of the holy shrine of ‘Alī ibn Mūsā ar-Riḍā. There are too much epigraphies around this place. These epigraphies have been repaired by the consideration to their history. There are too many epigraphies from Timurid Empire in the Enghelab Courtyard of Haram. Another name of this courtyard is ancient courtyard. These epigraphies indicate the social conditions of each period. The current research is descriptive-analytic. Library studies and also field studies were used in this research. The findings of this research indicate that epigraphy in the Islamic architecture has an effective role in order to create the spiritualty spirit within the building. This kind of art is derived from the spiritual essence of Holy Quran. Therefore, the purpose of epigraphy in the holy shrine of ‘Alī ibn Mūsā ar-Riḍā is creation of spiritual communication between God and man. The recent studies show that most of the epigraphies are derivd from Safavid era. Most of their concepts are related to the religious contexts

Developing Marketing Strategy for Electronic Business by Using McCarthy's Four Marketing Mix Model and Porter’s Five Competitive Forces

Original Published AbstractConsidering the importance of marketing strategies in a competitive environment dominated by E-commerce and also limit the effective implementation of research results in terms of marketing mix in e-participation, can manage sales and marketing in order to implement effective marketing strategies and ultimately achieve organizational goals Sector clients and helped the market. Main focus marketing strategies, coordinate activities and allocate appropriate resources to provide marketing operational objectives of the company as a particular product market.Therefore, the main issue related to the realm of marketing strategy, include the specific purpose of determining property markets for a product family or a particular product, then, through the corporate marketing mix according to needs and demands of potential customers in its target market, competitive advantage search And creating synergy are.Considering the importance of marketing strategies in a competitive environment dominated by Electronic markets and also limit the effective implementation of research results in terms of marketing mix in e-participation, can manage sales and marketing in order to implement effective marketing strategies and ultimately achieve organizational goals Sector clients and helped the market. This study usesMcCarthy’s four marketing mix model and Porter’s five competitive forces model to identify strategies for Internetcompanies that respond to the five competitive forces and thereby achieve a competitive advantage. The study provides significant new insights into the development and implementation of e-business strategies that contribute to increased profit. Corrected AbstractE-commerce is growing worldwide and is considered one of the modes and methods of business. This initiative led to the creation of new firms has several advantages over using benefits and this is the motivation for this phenomenon. While e-commerce success in attracting customers for their goods and services, due to systematic scientific principles and techniques that utilize the marketing strategies say .Marketing strategies in electronic markets, it is one of the important issues in the field of new market research has been discussed. But in this very diverse field of view is presented. On the other hand, given that little research has been done in this area , So consider this strategy has increased the importance of, Entering the world of electronic commerce and the use of modern tools and technology in new areas of business, firms will be forced to employ new business strategies, to prepare for their new competitive pressures. The results show that in the domain of e-commerce, two PORTER 'S FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES AND MCCARTHY ' S FOUR MARKETING MIX MODEL been instrumental in the formulation and development of marketing strategies. And variables  used in the model to identify and prioritize and execute marketing strategies in the field of e-commerce is essential. Keywords : marketing, strategies, e-commerce,  porter's five competitive forces ,mccarthy's four marketing mix model