Estimation of long-term and short-term health effects attributed to PM2.5 standard pollutants in the air of Ardabil (using Air Q + model).

Clean air is considered as a basic need for human health. However, air pollution is a significant threat to health in developed and developing countries. The aim of this study was to estimate the health effects attributed to PM2.5 pollutants in the air of Ardabil in 2018 (using Air Q + model). Raw data related to particles were collected from the Department of Environment and processed in Excel software and converted into an input file of the Air Q + model, and in the final stage, by considering appropriate epidemiological parameters and combining these data with air quality data, it was possible to estimate the health effects of air pollution. The results showed that the average annual concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were 15.47 and 30.94 in the study year, respectively. The total number of deaths due to ALRI, COPD, lung cancer, IHD, and stroke deaths on average during the study period were estimated to be 73, 11, 7, 15, and 14 deaths, respectively, which include 14.62, 15.78, 4.9, 12.43, and 11.6% of deaths due to ALRI, COPD, lung cancer, IHD, and stroke deaths, respectively. In conditions of concentration above 5 µg/m3, attributed proportion, total number of attributed cases and number of attributed cases per 100,000 population (with moderate relative risk and confidence interval of 95%) for cardiovascular diseases have been estimated to be 0.95% 103 people and 42.19 people. Also, the attributed proportion, the total number of attributable cases, and the number of attributable cases per 100,000 population (with moderate relative risk and confidence of 95%) for the admission of respiratory diseases have been estimated at 97.1%, 68 persons and 3 persons, respectively. Our results suggest that particle exposure even at low concentrations is associated with an increased risk of overall mortality and specific cause mortality and hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Management of pleural empyema in a 12-year-old obese patient with COVID-19: a pediatric case report.

BACKGROUND: With the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, along with the development of new mutations of the virus and an increase in the number of cases among pediatrics, physicians should be aware and alerted on the atypical presentations of the disease, especially in less expected individuals. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we present a 12-year-old obese boy (BMI = 37.5 kg/m2) who presented with empyema, which was following SARS-CoV-2 infection. The patient had no history of fever. Due to the onset of dyspnea, a chest tube was inserted for him which was later altered to a pleural drainage needle catheter. CONCLUSION: Our case is the first report of COVID-19 presenting as empyema among pediatrics. Pleural empyema should be considered as a rare complication of COVID-19. Since there is still no guideline in the management of empyema in the context of COVID-19, delay in diagnosis and intervention may cause morbidity and mortality in children.

Anomaly detection in watershed hydrological behavior due to land use changes in Eskandari Watershed, Iran.

In this study, SWAT hydrological model was used to differentiate the effects of drought and changes in land use on hydrological balance of the system in Eskandari Watershed area. To this end, The SWAT model was implemented separately using other user maps to investigate the impact of land use changes on the hydrological cycle of the watershed. Additionally, Van Loon model was used to investigate the effects of drought and water scarcity on discharge. The results showed that the watershed area could meet its environmental needs due to an 11% decrease in rainfall and droughts in 2008 and 2009. Additionally, the average monthly simulated flows were 2.4 m3/s and 2.9 m3/s in the natural and turbulent periods, respectively, indicating a decrease of nearly 18%, which is related to the 11% decrease in rainfall in this Watershed. Furthermore, the average observational flow in the turbulent period was 4 mm, which showed a growth of nearly 13% in comparison to the observational flow in the turbulent period. Decreased rainfall and increased discharge in this period indicated the effect of land use change and human activities on the catchment.

Investigating the Role of Wind in the Dispersion of Heavy Metals Around Mines in Arid Regions (a Case Study from Kushk Pb-Zn Mine, Bafgh, Iran).

The Kushk Pb-Zn mine is located in Central Iran and it has been in operation for the last 75 years. To investigate the role of wind dispersion of heavy metal pollutants from the mine area, dust samples were collected during 1 year and topsoil samples were collected around the mine. Results showed that the topsoil is polluted with Pb and Zn to about 1500 m away from the mine. It was also found that there was not a significant difference between the metal concentrations in topsoil and dust samples. The Pb and Zn concentrations in the dust samples exceeded 200 mg kg-1 and their lateral dispersion via wind was estimated to be about 4 km away from the mine. It has been shown that a combination of mining activities and mechanical dispersion via water and wind have caused lateral movement of heavy metals in this area.

A comparison of fractal methods and probability plots in identifying and mapping soil metal contamination near an active mining area, Iran.

Mining activities may contribute significant amounts of metals to surrounding soils. Assessing the potential effects and extent of metal contamination requires the differentiation between geogenic and additional anthropogenic sources. This study compares the use of conventional probability plots with two forms of fractal analysis (number-size and concentration-area) to separate geochemical populations of ore-related elements in agricultural area soils adjacent to Pb-Zn mining operations in the Irankuh Mountains, central Iran. The two general approaches deliver similar spatial groupings of univariate geochemical populations, but the fractal methods provide more distinct separation between populations and require less data manipulation and modeling than the probability plots. The concentration-area fractal approach was more effective than the number-size fractal and probability plotting methods at separating sub-populations within the samples affected by contamination from the mining operations. There is a general lack of association between major elements and ore-related metals in the soils. The background populations display higher relative variation in the major elements than the ore-related metals whereas near the mining operations there is far greater relative variation in the ore-related metals. The extent of the transport of contaminants away from the mine site is partly a function of the greater dispersion of Zn compared with Pb and As, however, the patterns indicate dispersion of contaminants from the mine site is via dust and not surface/groundwater. A combination of geochemical and graphical assessment, with different methods of threshold determination, is shown to be effective in separating geogenic and anthropogenic geochemical patterns.