Investigation of heat stress in workplace for different work groups according to ISO 7243 standard in Mehr Petrochemical Complex, Assaluyeh, Iran

   Heat stress is a significant occupational health and safety for workers in petrochemical industries. Heat stress is a combination of heat load individual and environmental factors impose on workers’ bodies, which in turn, have impacts on workers’ performance, safety, and health. The present paper is carried out to determine the heat stress levels in workplace and to compare it with allowed Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) according to ISO 7243 standard. the present study was carried out in three consecutive weeks in Mehr Petrochemical Complex in South Pars Special Economic Zone in Assaluyeh, 270Km southeast of Bushehr in spring of 2011. The study was carried out on workers in different parts including workers in packaging, mechanics, welding, and store keeping sections.  Environmental parameters of dry temperature, natural wet temperature, glowing temperature, and relative humidity were measured to calculate an index for Wet Bulb Globe Temperature according to ISO7243 standard, and metabolism rate was estimated according to ISO 8996 standard. Metabolism level for workers in two groups of mechanics and welding sections according to ISO 8996 standard was 95W/m2, and for workers of packaging and store keeping sections calculated as 75W/m2. Based on ISO 8996, work load for all four sections was light. The means of weather parameters such as dry temperature, natural wet temperature, glowing temperature, and relative humidity were statistically significant for all four sections. It was also indicated that the highest level of WBGT were obtained for workers in mechanics (33.26±0.21), packaging (32.02±0.2), welding (31.37±0.2), and the lowest level was estimated for store keeping workers (27.4±0.22), with changes being statistically significant. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: findings of the present study indicated significant changes between different groups in measured parameters and calculated indices, which confirm results of previous body of research. Workers in three groups of mechanics, packaging, and welding are exposed to heat stress, and among these three, mechanics workers’ exposure to heat stress is higher, but WBGT index in store keeping work place is lower than allowed level. Thus, they have been experiencing favourable work atmosphere.

Monsoon effects on the copepod community structure in the Chabahar Bay, Oman Sea

Calanoid, cyclopoid, harpacticoid and poecilostomatoid copepods were investigated over the year at five stations in the Chabahar Bay, Oman Sea. This area is under the influence of the Indian Ocean seasonal monsoons. The samples were collected using vertical plankton tows with 100 µm mesh nets. Copepods were identified into 20 genera and 59 species. Calanoid formed about 15% to 62% and cyclopoid 26% to 39% of total copepod abundance. Harpacticoid constituted about 6% in South West (SW)-monsoon and flourished well in pre (SW)-monsoon, formed 46% of copepod abundance. Poecilostomatoid accounted for approximately 5% to 13% of the total copepods. The most dominant species were Temora turbinata, Paracalanus elegans, Oithona nana and Euterpina acutifrons. The results showed that the species composition and distribution of copepods differed between the monsoon seasons, due to changes in hydrographic conditions. Furthermore, high abundance of small-sized copepods observed in offshore stations

Seasonal variation of zooplankton abundance, composition and biomass in the Chabahar Bay, Oman Sea

Temporal and spatial variation of zooplankton abundance, composition and biomass were examined on the Chabahar Bay, Oman Sea. The Chabahar Bay, a subtropical and semi-enclosed bay, provides an ideal breeding ground for many fish and shellfish. Five stations were investigated along the Bay. This area is under the influence of the Indian Ocean seasonal monsoons. Zooplankton was collected with vertical plankton tows using 100 µm mesh nets. Copepods dominated the zooplankton community followed by larvacea, cladocera and chaetognatha. Fifteen taxa of zooplankton were identified. Oithona nana and Euterpina acutifrons were dominated in the whole year and Larvacea showed a bloom in Northeast Monsoon. A Two-way ANOVA indicated that there were differences in abundance and biomass between sampling periods and between stations were significant. The peak zooplankton abundance in NE Monsoon could be due to winter cooling, with entrainment of nutrients into the upper layer producing phytoplankton blooms. The decline of zooplankton abundance and biomass in South West Monsoon and post-monsoon could be explained by decrease in chlorophyll a concentrations. The present result showed the composition and distribution of zooplankton differed between the monsoon seasons, resulted from changes in hydrographic conditions

Water Quality Assessment of Beheshtabad River at the intersection of Shalamzar Spring with Koohrang River

Rivers are important as one of the main sources of water supply for uses including agriculture, industry, and human consumption. This study evaluated the water quality of the Beheshtabad River (Shalamzar Spring - Jointing to Koohrang River) located in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, using the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSFWQI). Using standard methods, this study determined nine water quality parameters: nitrate (NO3), temperature (T), phosphate (PO4), turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), electrical conductivity (EC), total solids (TS) and pH, at five selected stations along the river for three months, July to September 2015. Results showed that water quality fluctuated between medium and good quality during the investigation. In addition, according to the mean values of WQI, water quality was classified as medium quality for the three months. Water pollution increased from upstream to downstream in the end of summer because of agricultural fertilizers and wastewater discharge from upstream fish farms and recreation service centers

Influence of shock wave propagation on dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator performance

Interest in plasma actuators as active flow control devices is growing rapidly due to their lack of mechanical parts, light weight and high response frequency. Although the flow induced by these actuators has received much attention, the effect that the external flow has on the performance of the actuator itself must also be considered, especially the influence of unsteady high-speed flows which are fast becoming a norm in the operating flight envelopes. The primary objective of this study is to examine the characteristics of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator when exposed to an unsteady flow generated by a shock tube. This type of flow, which is often used in different studies, contains a range of flow regimes from sudden pressure and density changes to relatively uniform high-speed flow regions. A small circular shock tube is employed along with the schlieren photography technique to visualize the flow. The voltage and current traces of the plasma actuator are monitored throughout, and using the well-established shock tube theory the change in the actuator characteristics are related to the physical processes which occur inside the shock tube. The results show that not only is the shear layer outside of the shock tube affected by the plasma but the passage of the shock front and high-speed flow behind it also greatly influences the properties of the plasma

Global, regional, and national burden of colorectal cancer and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Funding: F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy i4HB; FCT/MCTES through the project UIDB/50006/2020. J Conde acknowledges the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2019-848325). V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, under the Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006.proofepub_ahead_of_prin

The global burden of adolescent and young adult cancer in 2019 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background In estimating the global burden of cancer, adolescents and young adults with cancer are often overlooked, despite being a distinct subgroup with unique epidemiology, clinical care needs, and societal impact. Comprehensive estimates of the global cancer burden in adolescents and young adults (aged 15-39 years) are lacking. To address this gap, we analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, with a focus on the outcome of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), to inform global cancer control measures in adolescents and young adults. Methods Using the GBD 2019 methodology, international mortality data were collected from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, and population-based cancer registry inputs modelled with mortality-to-incidence ratios (MIRs). Incidence was computed with mortality estimates and corresponding MIRs. Prevalence estimates were calculated using modelled survival and multiplied by disability weights to obtain years lived with disability (YLDs). Years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated as age-specific cancer deaths multiplied by the standard life expectancy at the age of death. The main outcome was DALYs (the sum of YLLs and YLDs). Estimates were presented globally and by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintiles (countries ranked and divided into five equal SDI groups), and all estimates were presented with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). For this analysis, we used the age range of 15-39 years to define adolescents and young adults. Findings There were 1.19 million (95% UI 1.11-1.28) incident cancer cases and 396 000 (370 000-425 000) deaths due to cancer among people aged 15-39 years worldwide in 2019. The highest age-standardised incidence rates occurred in high SDI (59.6 [54.5-65.7] per 100 000 person-years) and high-middle SDI countries (53.2 [48.8-57.9] per 100 000 person-years), while the highest age-standardised mortality rates were in low-middle SDI (14.2 [12.9-15.6] per 100 000 person-years) and middle SDI (13.6 [12.6-14.8] per 100 000 person-years) countries. In 2019, adolescent and young adult cancers contributed 23.5 million (21.9-25.2) DALYs to the global burden of disease, of which 2.7% (1.9-3.6) came from YLDs and 97.3% (96.4-98.1) from YLLs. Cancer was the fourth leading cause of death and tenth leading cause of DALYs in adolescents and young adults globally. Interpretation Adolescent and young adult cancers contributed substantially to the overall adolescent and young adult disease burden globally in 2019. These results provide new insights into the distribution and magnitude of the adolescent and young adult cancer burden around the world. With notable differences observed across SDI settings, these estimates can inform global and country-level cancer control efforts. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Applying the enhanced Water Poverty Index (eWPI) to analyze water scarcity and income poverty relation in Beheshtabad Basin, Iran

Abstract The close relationship between water and poverty has been proven in several types of research. The Water Poverty Index is an interdisciplinary approach for quantifying the socioeconomic aspects of water scarcity. The enhanced Water Poverty Index (eWPI) is aggregated in five components: Resources, Access, Capacity, Use, and Environment in a Pressure-State-Response framework. In this research, eWPI is computed on two scales: for four community centers and for the Beheshtabad Basin. Because this index is weightless, and undoubtedly the importance of each parameter is different, the preference of different variables is included in the calculation. The importance of the parameters is based on the opinion of experts, and for this reason, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Analytical Network Process (ANP) are used for weighting eWPI components in Beheshtabad Basin. According to the results, Use (U) and Capacity (C) have the lowest score among the main criteria. The average value of weightless eWPI for the watershed is 0.605 and Kiar and Farsan counties have gained less than this average. The results show the priority of the main criteria is as follows: R, A, U, E, and C, for AHP and R, E, C, A, and U for ANP. The weights obtained through ANP are more homogeneous and there is less difference between the main criteria, while in AHP, the Resources criterion (R) has gained relatively large weight compared to the other factors. The score of eWPI for AHP-weighted and ANP-weighted indices are 0.5944 and 0.626, respectively

Efficient In Vitro Somatic Embryogenesis and Plant Regeneration from Mature and Immature Embryos of Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)

ABSTRACT An efficient regeneration system is a pre-requisite for the application of genetic transformation and functional genomics study of important plants. In this study, the effect of different factors (plant growth regulators, casein hydrolysate, aspartic acid and ascorbic acid) on in vitro embryogenesis and regeneration of Arta, Bahar and Zagros cultivars from mature and immature explants were investigated. Immature and mature embryos were dissected from disinfected seeds 20-25 days after pollination and imbedded mature seeds, respectively, and cultured on MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium supplemented with different compounds. The results showed that immature embryos expose high capacity of embryogenesis and regeneration in comparison with mature embryos. There were significant differences between cultivars in terms of the percentage of callus induction and regeneration. Plant growth regulators had significant effect on percentage of callus induction in mature explants and percentage of regeneration from both explants. In immature explants, the highest percentage of regeneration (65%) was achieved with the Arta cultivar calli derived from MS medium supplemented with 1mg/L 2,4-D, 2 mg/L Picloram and 200 mg/L casein hydrolysate, and subcultured on MS medium. Also, the highest percentage of regeneration (52.38%) from mature embryo explants was achieved in the Arta cultivar with callus induction on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 2,4-D, 2 mg/L Picloram and 200 mg/L casein hydrolysate and regeneration on MS medium containing 0.05 mg/L NAA