This study is focused on the elemental analysis of fourteen-branded domestic bottled water available in the Al- Qassim area of the Saudi Arabia. The concentration of
nineteen elements (Be, B, Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sb, Ba, Sn, and Pb) on the bottled water samples were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) followed by the standard procedure. The results obtained indicated that all of the elements except Boron in the bottled water were found within the permissible limits set by standards used.

In this present work experimental test have been conducted to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine using the rubber seed oil diesel

In spite of significant progress made in tuberculosis (TB) control, nine million people developed TB disease in 2013, and 1.5 million died of TB. While implementation of the Stop TB (DOTS) Strategy has cured millions of patients with TB, and undoubtedly saved lives, the impact of this strategy on reducing TB incidence has been disappointing. The TB epidemic is declining at the rate of 1.5 per cent per year, much slower than what mathematical models had predicted. At the current rate of decline, TB elimination by 2050 is considered impossible. (Editorial)

The provision of reliable and adequate drinking water services in rural communities is important. Here, the researchers reported on a study that evaluated the respondents’ willingness to pay for water services in the two communities in Mutale Local Municipality, South Africa. The study was accomplished through open-ended questionnaire interviews with selected respondents. The study showed that respondents were dissatisfied with the unreliable water services (89.9%) but were willing to pay for water services to secure reliable water services (95.5%).

This study seeks to assess the relative impact of patent status as a component of pharmaceutical prices while controlling other market and medicine characteristics on the retail prices of oncology medicines in Thailand. Ordinary Least-Squares (OLS) regression model of log prices as a function of supply and demand factors was developed and data fitted to establish the relationship and the effects for each factor. The main finding of the model is that patented status is associated with a price of approximately 144-206% that of an equivalent generic.

Scientific research over the last decade has increasingly demonstrated that exposure to secondhand smoke is not simply a nuisance; it is deadly. Secondhand smoke exposure causes multiple diseases in children, including asthma and pneumonia, and results in thousands of avoidable hospitalizations. Secondhand smoke exposure is a major cause of sudden infant death syndrome and may cause lung cancer and heart attacks with repeated exposure. No safe level of exposure exists.

Relative abundance and Shannon-Weiner species diversity index of true mangrove species were estimated in 10 sampling stations of Indian Sundarbans during 2013. The mangrove patches in the selected stations were categorized into a 4-point scale depending on the values of Shannon-Weiner species diversity index. The health of the mangrove forest as per our constructed 4-point scale was found to be regulated primarily by anthropogenic factors, although in station like Sagar South, the natural erosion may be the key player in determining the mangrove floral diversity.

In the summer of 2010, most of the European part of Russia suffered a heat wave that was unprecedented both in strength and duration, which led to 55,000 excess deaths during this period. In Moscow alone, an estimated 10,900 excess deaths from non-accidental causes occurred during the 44-day heat wave and a shorter smog episode caused by wildfires around the city. Although the short-term forward mortality displacement (typically within 15 or 30 days after heat stress) has been well described, there are few publications on long-term health consequences of heat waves.

The 2014-2015 H1N1 outbreak in India has reportedly led to 800 fatalities. The reported influenza hemagglutinin sequences from India indicate that these viruses contain amino acid changes linked to enhanced virulence and are potentially antigenically distinct from the current vaccine containing 2009 (Cal0709) H1N1 viral hemagglutinin.

Original Source

To understand the impact of firework-burning (FW) particles on air quality and human health during the winter haze period, 39 elements, 10 water-soluble ions and 8 fractions of carbonaceous species in atmospheric PM2.5 in Nanjing were investigated during the 2014 Chinese Spring Festival (SF). Serious regional haze pollution
persisted throughout the entire sampling period, with PM2.5 averaging at 113 ± 69 µg m−3 and visibility at 4.8 ± 3.2 km. The holiday effect led to almost all the chemical species decreasing during the SF, except for Al, K, Ba and Sr which were related to FW.