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The proliferation of pharmaceuticals in the aqueous environment has adversely impact on human health and ecosystem balance. Pharmaceutical contaminations are difficult to remove effectively by conventional treatment technologies. In order to degrade carbamazepine (CBZ) efficiently, a common antiepileptic drug, three plasma discharge modes were studied, including liquid-phase discharge, air gas-liquid jet and dielectric barrier discharge. It is noteworthy that the degradation efficiency and energy yield reached to highest levels (0.11 g/kWh) when operating at 225 W input power under liquid phase discharge, compared with the other discharge modes. The parameters of concentration, electrode distance, volume, input power and frequency of the discharge were also evaluated and optimized. Plasma emission spectroscopy revealed the degradation process is mainly attributed to reactive oxygen species (ROS), while the role of reactive nitrogen species was not significant. The contributions of diverse ROS were assessed by radical quenching experiments, including p-benzoquinone, p-phthalic acid and tert-butanol. The possible degradation intermediates and pathways of CBZ were tested and analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Comprehensively consideration of cleanliness, degradation efficiency and application difficulty, liquid-phase discharge treatment is a promising technology for water treatment.

Religious extremism has been one of the major areas of concern for communication scholars throughout the world. In Pakistan, the form of sectarian division on the ideological occasion of Muharram has always been observed. As a result, a lot of hate speech has been used on social media by the followers of Shia and Sunni sects. This study not only aims to determine a relationship between the demographics of the users who post the hateful materials on the social media regarding any sect, it also aspires to investigate whether the socio-economic background, education or gender plays any role in determining the level of hate speech against any sect. For this purpose, while drawing upon the theory of Uses and Gratification, a sample of 100 users of Facebook were surveyed through a questionnaire developed on 5- point Likert scale. It was found that the people from different sects like to post and share the sectarian hate speech. The study found that there was a strong relationship in the level of religiosity and posting of hate speech, however, the more the tilt towards religious practices, the more users post hateful speech on Facebook pages, Furthermore, it was also found that the education level and socio- economic status also play important role in this arena; the better they live (more household income and more study), the lesser they post such hateful material. Keywords: Religious Extremism, Facebook, Hate Speech, Shia, Sunni

Background: Entamoeba histolytica (Eh) causes amebiasis in humans and is in charge of 100,000 deaths yearly, making it the third driving reason for death because of a protozoan parasite. Giardiasis is a main diarrheal disease with international allocation caused by Giardia lamblia. Aim of the Study: To show the current prevalence of Eh and G. lamblia infection among people living in Al-Shomally region in Babil, Middle of Iraq, as a cause of diarrhea in the community and for thorough recognition of this social problem and its important drawbacks on the general health. Methods: A total of 3176 patients with different ages attending the Al-Shomally General Hospital in Babil Province, middle of Iraq, in 2015 were involved. After collection, samples examined via macroscopic and microscopic examination for the presence of Eh and G. lamblia utilizing normal saline and lugholes iodine by direct method examination. Results: From 3176 patients with diarrheal episodes, 699 (22%) were infected by either of Eh (17.91%) or by G. lamblia (4.09%). The highest rate of infections of Eh and G. lamblia was in the age group of 15–44 years and more than 45 years, respectively. Most infection of Eh occurs in February. No significant differences between male and female (50.65% and 49.35% respectively) were observed. Conclusions: This study demonstrated high prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection (Eh and G. lamblia) in the investigation region. Eh is prominent etiology of dysentery in Al-Shomally region. There is an urgent need to improve the living conditions, providing proper sewage disposal system and health education, and treat the infected persons by applying survey programs for parasites.