Jundishapur Journal of Health Sciences
Volume:6 Issue: 4, Oct 2014

Low-cost anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR), which is widely used for controlling high-organic wastewater, is an effective method to remove chemical oxygen demand (COD).. The main objectives was evaluating the feasibility of using ASBR in the treatment of synthetic dairy wastewater, determining its removal efficiency, and assessing the effect of temperature on operating conditions to remove the COD effectively.. The present study was conducted at a pilot scale system. Experiments were performed using a 20-L reactor and two storage tanks with the volume of 10 L. The effect of the variation of temperatures (20°C-35°C) and the effect of running cycles (10 runs) on the efficiency of COD removal by the ASBR process were investigated. Four heaters were used to produce the heat of the reactor. At first, raw wastewater in the primary tank was heated to the desirable temperature and then three more heaters continuously produce the heat in the reactor to operate system at the constant operating temperature in each run. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16through Pearson’s correlation coefficient to analyze the association between these parameters.. The maximum COD removal rate was 89.7% at the organic loading of 4.5 g/L per day in a 24-hour cycle condition with reaction time of 21 hours and 30 minutes. The maximum biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) removal rate was 91% and occurred at the first run. The amount of COD removal efficiency was higher at the first run in comparison to the third cycle (27.5%). BOD5 removal efficiency decreased up to 24.4% due to the drop of temperature in the reactor. Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant association between the temperature and the removal efficiencies (P < 0.01).. The results of this study indicated that any decrease in the temperature caused reduction in system efficiency of removing BOD5 and COD. Temperature of 35°C is optimal for the removal of high organic load wastewater. ASBR can be used as an effective tool to treat dairy industry wastewater..

In spite of promotion of people’s hygiene in the recent years, parasitic infection problems are present in many parts of the world especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Water is one of the major sources for acquiring parasitic infections, especially protozoan parasites.. This study was conducted to evaluate the present parasitic agents in river, tap water and filtrated water in the western part of Ahvaz city.. Forty-four water samples were collected from different sources of the studied area. The samples were examined by routine parasitology methods using light microscopy.. Twenty-eight out of 44 water samples were positive for parasitic contamination with cysts and oocysts of four parasitic protozoa including: 50% Entamoeba spp (22 out of 44 samples), 27.27% Cryptosporidium spp (12 out of 44 samples), 13.63% Blastocystis spp (6 out of 44 samples) and 9.09% Giardia spp (4 out of 44 samples).. The parasite infection rate in water is high and deficits of water quality should be solved by water organization responders. It is strongly recommended to use home filtration systems for consumption of safe water..

Hexavalent Chromium (CrVI) is used for various industrial applications. This chemical agent can cause inflammation and induce numerous human diseases, including severe damage to the liver and lung. Simvastatin (SIMV) is widely clinically used for lowering hypercholesterolemia. This agent also has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-thrombotic effects.. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of SIMV on sodium dichromate (Cr VI)-induced oxidative stress in rat.. Sixty-four adult male Wistar rats (180-220 g weight) were randomly assigned to eight groups (n = 8). Group one received SIMV 20 mg/kg/day. Group two was given vehicle only. Groups three, five and seven received intraperitoneally (i.p) sodium dichromate at doses of 8, 12 and 16 mg/kg BW (Body Weight) for eight consecutive days, respectively. Groups four, six and eight pretreated with the 20 mg/kg SIMV 30 minutes to prior administration of sodium dichromate in a doses of 8, 12 and 16 mg/kg, respectively. The experiment repeated for eight consecutive days. Twenty-four hours after the last administration, animals were killed with overdose of sodium pentobarbital. Blood was collected for determination of malondialdehyd (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels.. The level of GSH significantly decreased. In contrast, the plasma level of MDA significantly increased in a dose dependent manner in CrVI-treated rats, when compared to control animals. SIMV had no effect on the biochemical parameters when compared to control rats, but significantly increased GSH concentration and decreased MDA level in CrVI-treated rats.. This finding suggests that SIMV may have a protective effect against CrVI-induced oxidative stress..

Several studies showed that dopamine and norepinephrine improve retention and retrieval of memory. Methylphenidate is an enhancer of dopamine and norepinephrine in brain.. In the present study, the effect of methylphenidate was evaluated on retention and retrieval of memory in young and aged mice using passive avoidance apparatus.. Animals were divided into groups (n = 8) as follows: test groups received electric shock plus methylphenidate (2.5, 5 and 10mg kg-1, i. P.), control group received electric shock plus normal saline and blank group received only electric shock. In all groups, step-down latency for both retention and retrieval test of memory was measured. Methylphenidate was administered immediately after receiving electric shock in the retention test, but methylphenidate was administered 23.5 hours after receiving electric shock in the retrieval test.. The mean of step-down latency on day 4 was significantly higher compared to day 2 (P < 0.05) in all young and aged groups of mice. The best response was attained with 5 mg/kg of methylphenidate. In memory retention test, the mean of step-down latency in young groups that received 2.5 and 5 mg/kg methylphenidate was significantly longer(P < 0.05) than aged groups. However, this difference was not significant in memory retrieval test.. Methylphenidate may improve memory retention and retrieval..

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a corrosive, strong oxidant and a physiologic stimulant of lower respiratory tract. Every human being inhales an average of 10-m3 air per day; therefore, assessment of the effect of inhaled air on health is a vital issue. The main source NO2 in urban regions is intra-urban public transport system. The annual average of determined air quality for NO2 is 40 μg/m3.. The present study aimed to estimate and compare epidemiologic indices attributed to the pollutant NO2 in the urban air of southwest cities of Iran, namely, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, and Bushehr, in 2011.. In the present study, data relevant to the air-pollutant NO2 in 2011 was obtained from the Iranian Department of Environment and meteorological organizations of the studied cities. Raw data processing by Excel software included instruction set correction of averaging, coding, and filtering. Then the meteorological parameters were converted as input file to the Air Q model. Finally, by using epidemiologic formulas, relative risk (RR) and attributed part to NO2 in the three studied cites were estimated.. The results showed that in summer, winter, and the whole year, Kermanshah and Bushehr had on average the maximum and minimum NO2 concentration, respectively, in 2011. In addition, accumulative number of cases attributed to exposure with NO2 in the studied cities was maximum in Kermanshah (21 cases) and minimum in Bushehr (one case). The results revealed that approximately, the maximum number of death cases attributed to NO2 were observed in Kermanshah due to heart problems (1.06%), acute infarction (1.8%), and obstructive pulmonary disease (1.9%) with concentration > 20 μg/m3.. Every 10 μg/m3 increase in the concentration of the pollutant NO2 in the studied cities led to increase in the RR of myocardial infarction, cardiovascular diseases, and obstructive pulmonary disease by 0.4%, 0.2%, and 0.4%, respectively, in 2011. Higher RR value can depict mismanagement in urban air quality. The lower level of RR value might be achieved if some control strategies for reducing NO2 emission were used..

Bivalves have been used to study pollution level caused by heavy metals due to their biological characteristics. Bahrakan region includes Bahrakansar, Hendijan, Norouz and Soroush oil fields, and current information regarding sea management, especially from the protective aspect is very little.. This study aimed to assess region pollution with heavy metals. For this purpose, pollution caused by heavy metals in bivalves was assessed and compared with the standard values.. Bivalve sampling was performed using Grab to determine the pollution content with heavy metals of vanadium, nickel, lead and copper in five different stations on 15 samples (3 samples for each station) in spring 2013. The digestion process was completed using the Yap method, then the concentrations of mentioned metals were measured using the ICP device in each of digested samples.. Nickel (13.12 ± 6.07 mg/kg) had the highest total average concentration and the lowest for lead (1.15 ± 0.28 mg/kg). Concentrations of nickel, vanadium and lead were higher than the WHO international standards, but much lower for copper regarding the same standards. Concentrations of nickel and vanadium were higher than copper compared to FAO, but lower than lead regarding the presented allowable limit.. Nickel and vanadium had the highest concentration among other metals. Since these two metals are used as oil pollution parameters and the region is rich in oil, it can be concluded that oil pollution is present in the region. The existing oil pollution threatens all the living organisms in the area. Therefore, it would be of great importance to examine pollution sources of this region. The results can be used to constantly monitor the amount of heavy metals in bivalves of Timoclea imbricate species in this region..

Methadone effectively alleviates psychiatric disorders..

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of methadone maintenance therapy in reduction of anxiety and depression among drug-abuser prisoners in Ahvaz Karoon’s prison..Patients and

In our interventional case-control study, 100 drug-abuser prisoners in Ahvaz Karoon’s Prison, Iran, with the symptoms of depression and anxiety according to symptom checklist (SCL-90-R) were divided into methadone and control groups. Methadone group prisoners filled out the questionnaire at the beginning of the study and 6 months after methadone therapy and their scores were recorded. Similarly, 50 control group (without methadone or any other therapy) prisoners filled out the SCL-90-R and their scores were recorded. Afterwards, the data were collected and analyzed statistically by SPSS version 20. Independent T-test was used for comparison between the case and the control group..

The average ages of control and methadone groups were 42.24 ± 9.8 and 42.30 ± 9.8 years, respectively. The difference between groups regarding depression in methadone group (0.67 ± 0.49) and control group (2.82 ± 0.67) was significant (P = 0.001). The difference between methadone (0.59 ± 0.24) and control (2.56 ± 0.38) groups regarding anxiety was significant (P = 0.001). The difference in obsession between methadone (0.51 ± 0.25) and control (2.78 ± 0.43) groups was significant (P = 0.001). Moreover, the difference between hostility in methadone (0.61 ± 0.43) and control (2.48 ± 0.52) groups was significant (P = 0.001)..

This study indicated that methadone effectively alleviates psychiatric disorders in drug addicts. Furthermore, methadone maintenance treatment improved patients’ quality of life and kept them in a mood-stabilization stage..

Since 2000, increase in frequency and severity of natural disasters has necessitate designing an agile relief supply chain to help to affected people.. This study aimed to develop an agile model for supply chains with emphasis on health services in Iranian relief organizations.. This was a descriptive-comparative study. In order to design the conceptual model, agility patterns of supply chains were reviewed in a comparative study. Moreover, a questionnaire was prepared to examine construct (model) validation. The validity of questionnaire was confirmed by the judgment of experts and its reliability was ensured by test-retest method with scale of 0.99, and Cronbach''s alpha of 0.98. All data were analyzed through factor analyses by SPSS 16 and LISREL 8.53.. Responsiveness, effectiveness, and flexibility with eigenvalue of 2.628 were identified as the main aspects of agility in humanitarian health supply chains. The components of visibility, reactivity, and speed were identified as components of responsiveness. Quality, reliability, and completeness were identified as components of effectiveness. Volume, delivery, mix, and product were known as components of flexibility.. Findings confirmed agility dimensions and relationships between them in a model that can be considered as a comprehensive and appropriate model in the establishment, promotion, and evaluation of relief supply chains by policy-makers and authorities of Red Crescent Society and Medical Emergencies..