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Landfill leachates contain a wide variety of pollutants such as organic matter, refractory compounds, ammonia, particulate and dissolved solids and hazardous metals requiring application of advanced and well designed treatment processes before release to the environment. The main purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of combined air stripping, Fenton oxidation and biological treatment in treating landfill leachate, especially the elimination of ammonia and refractory organics. The laboratory scale set-up consisted of three sequential but separate steps. The optimum conditions for air stripping and the Fenton oxidation were determined for landfill leachate from Karaj city, Iran. The final step was a moving bed bioreactor with HRTs of 18, 12 and 6 h. The highest NH3-N removal was 79% in the air stripping process at pH 10.5. At the optimum conditions for the Fenton reaction at a reaction time of 90 min, pH 3 and a H2O2/Fe2+ mass ratio of 20, the COD removal was 61% and improved the BOD/COD ratio from 0.42 to 0.78. The overall COD removal including the final biological reactor with a HRT of 6 h resulted in an effluent COD concentration of less than 100 mg L−1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recycling for recovery and reuse of material and energy resources undoubtedly provides a substantial alternative supply of raw materials and reduces the dependence on virgin feedstock. The main objective of this study was to assess the potential of dry municipal solid waste recycling in Mashhad city, Iran. Several questionnaires were prepared and distributed among various branches of the municipality, related organizations and people. The total amount of solid waste generated in Mashhad in 2008 was 594 800 tons with per capita solid waste generation rate of 0.609 kg person−1 day−1. Environmental educational programmes via mass media and direct education of civilians were implemented to publicize the advantages and necessity of recycling. The amount of recycled dry solid waste was increased from 2.42% of total dry solid waste (2588.36 ton year−1) in 1999 to 7.22% (10 165 ton year−1) in 2008. The most important fractions of recycled dry solid waste in Mashhad included paper and board (51.33%), stale bread (14.59%), glass (9.73%), ferrous metals (9.73%), plastic (9.73%), polyethylene terephthalate (2.62%) and non-ferrous metals (0.97%). It can be concluded that unfortunately the potential of dry solid waste recycling in Mashhad has not been considered properly and there is a great effort to be made in order to achieve the desired conditions of recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: This study was designed to present initial results on clinical presentation, therapeutic modalities, and outcome information of patients with pituitary tumors registered in Iran Pituitary Tumor Registry (IPTR). Methods: We collected data from a web-based electronic medical records of patients with various pituitary tumors referred to four tertiary care centers in the country. Retrospective analysis was performed on demographic, clinical, and therapeutic information of 298 patients including 51 clinically nonfunctioning adenoma (CNFA), 85 acromegaly, 135 prolactinoma, and 27 Cushing's disease (CD). Results: From October 2014 to July 2016, 298 people with the diagnosis of pituitary tumor were registered. Prolactinoma was the most prevalent tumor (45.3%), followed by Acromegaly (28.6%), CNFPA (17.1%), and CD (9%). Female dominance was seen among patients with prolactinoma and CD, while the majority of patients with CNFPA were male and acromegaly was equally distributed between men and women. Hypogonadal symptoms were almost always seen in all types of pituitary groups. Surgery alone was the most common therapeutic modality used in cases of acromegaly, CNFPA, and CD. However, medical therapy alone was frequently applied for cases of prolactinoma. Finally, biochemical cure was achieved in most cases of prolactinoma and CD, but only in 36.5% of acromegalics. Moreover, 80% of patients suffering from CNFPA showed no residual tumor in their imaging. Conclusion: In conclusion, this comprehensive tumor registry enables early identification, selection of best therapeutic approaches, and evaluation of long-term treatment outcomes. Furthermore, this registry can be used to improve surveillance protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify risk factors of in-hospital mortality among diabetic patients infected with COVID-19., Study Design: This is a retrospective cohort study., Methods: Using logistic regression analysis, the independent association of potential prognostic factors and COVID-19 in-hospital mortality was investigated in three models. Model 1 included demographic data and patient history; model 2 consisted of model 1, plus vital signs and pulse oximetry measurements at hospital admission; and model 3 included model 2, plus laboratory test results at hospital admission. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were reported for each predictor in the different models. Moreover, to examine the discriminatory powers of the models, a corrected area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated., Results: Among 560 patients with diabetes (men = 291) who were hospitalised for COVID-19, the mean age of the study population was 61.8 (standard deviation [SD] 13.4) years. During a median length of hospitalisation of 6 days, 165 deaths (men = 93) were recorded. In model 1, age and a history of cognitive impairment were associated with higher mortality; however, taking statins, oral antidiabetic drugs and beta-blockers was associated with a lower risk of mortality (AUC = 0.76). In model 2, adding the data for respiratory rate (OR 1.07 [95% CI 1.00-1.14]) and oxygen saturation (OR 0.95 [95% CI 0.92-0.98]) slightly increased the AUC to 0.80. In model 3, the data for platelet count (OR 0.99 [95% CI 0.99-1.00]), lactate dehydrogenase (OR 1.002 [95% CI 1.001-1.003]), potassium (OR 2.02 [95% CI 1.33-3.08]) and fasting plasma glucose (OR 1.04 [95% CI 1.02-1.07]) significantly improved the discriminatory power of the model to AUC 0.86 (95% CI 0.83-0.90)., Conclusions: Among patients with type 2 diabetes, a combination of past medical and drug history and pulse oximetry data, with four non-expensive laboratory measures, was significantly associated with in-hospital COVID-19 mortality., (Copyright © 2021 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess clinical features and therapeutic outcomes in patients with clinically non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas (NFPMAs)., Method: This is a retrospective cohort study of NFPMA patients treated surgically and followed periodically between 2015 and 2017 in a tertiary care center in Iran. Descriptive analysis was performed applying appropriate tests. Binary logistic regression models were used to determine the predictive factors for subtotal tumor resection (STR) and hormonal recovery. Data were analyzed by Stata software., Result: A total of 71 patients with a mean age of 50.6 ± 1.4 years were studied. The mean diameter of the adenoma was 26.8 ± 1.1 mm. The most frequent symptoms were headache (85.75%), visual field defect (VFD) (78.3%), and hypogonadal symptoms (40.3%). Gross total resection (GTR) was achieved in 45.1%. Preoperative hypopituitarism was observed in 50.7% of patients. Recovery of at least one axis occurred in 36.1% of the patients suffering from hypopituitarism preoperatively, while new-onset postoperative hormonal deficiency appeared in 14.3% of patients. Multivariate analyses showing preoperative tumor size (OR = 38.2; P = 0.008) and cavernous sinus extension (OR = 13.4; P = 0.020) were predictors of STR. Moreover, hormonal recovery was observed not to be related to age, gender, tumor size, or the extent of tumor resection., Conclusions: Tumor size and cavernous sinus extension are the main predictors for STR. Notably, recovery of the gonadal axis in a large proportion of patients supports the surgical resection of NFPAM in patients suffering from gonadal deficiency, even in the absence of VFD.