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With increasing concerns about industrial gas contaminants and the growing demand for durable and sustainable technologies, attentions have been gradually shifted to biological air pollution controls. The ability of Pseudomonas putida PTCC 1694 (bacteria) and Pleurotus ostreatus IRAN 1781C (fungus) to treat contaminated gas stream with toluene and its biological degradation was compared under similar operating conditions. For this purpose, a biofilter on the laboratory scale was designed and constructed and the tests were carried out in two stages. The first stage, bacterial testing, lasted 20 days and the second stage, fungal testing, lasted 16 days. Inlet loading rates (IL) for bacterial and fungal biofilters were 21.62 ± 6.04 and 26.24 ± 7.35 g/m3 h respectively. In general, fungal biofilter showed a higher elimination capacity (EC) than bacterial biofilter (18.1 ± 6.98 vs 13.7 ± 4.7 g/m3 h). However, the pressure drop in the fungal biofilter was higher than the bacterial biofilter (1.26 ± 0.3 vs 1 ± 0.3 mm water), which was probably due to the growth of the mycelium. Fungal biofiltration showed a better performance in the removal of toluene from the air stream.

The WBGT index is a common method to evaluate heat stress in the workplaces based on human physiological responses to environmental conditions. This systematic and meta-analysis study was aimed to estimate the mean value of the WBGT index in industries. The search protocol of this study was carried out according to PRISMA checklist. According to the heterogeneity of studies, a meta-analysis was done using a random effects model. The total value of WBGT index in the world according to this study was obtained 28.92 °C (95% CI: 28. 49–29. 35). The results regarding the fixed effect analysis showed that , average WBGT index before and after 2010, was estimated to be 26.63 °C (95% CI: 26.53–26.73) and 29.78 °C (95% CI: 29.71–29.85), respectively. The mean value of WBGT index in the men and women participants were 29.42 and 24.26 °C, respectively. The finding indicated that the average value of WBGT index is rising over time. The reason for this may be attributed to global warming or lack of proper physical work condition in these environments. It would be alarming for the workers who worked in outdoor environments or hot operating conditions.

Background: Health condition of workers affects their productivity. The relationship between general health and safety attitudes is not quite clear. Objective: The present paper is an attempt to examine the relationship of general health condition with safety attitude and demographical specifications of workers at car after-sale services workshops in Ardabil Iran. Materials and Method: The study was carried out as a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study. The sample group consisted of 650 workers in small car after-sale services workshops located in Ardabil City. Three questionnaires including a demographical form, the General Health questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the safety attitude inventory were used for data gathering. The collected data was analyzed in SPSS19. Results: The mean score of safety attitude was 71.05±2.3 and the mean score of general health was 24.96±3.35. The score of general health had a significant relationship with age group, work experience, marital status, education level, and history of work incident. The mean scores of safety attitude was significantly different depending on age group, work experience, workshop ownership status, marital status, education level, income, and history of work accident. Conclusion: The subjects had a low safety attitudes score and high probability of general heath disorders. General health condition was directly related to safety attitude of the participants. Therefore, providing applied educations based on the workers’ needs to increase awareness and improve safety attitudes of workers can lead to a decrease in the rate of work accidents and a higher general health in the workers.

Biomanipulation is reliable method for treating volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in polluted air. The performances of two biofilters in the removal of toluene vapors from air stream were compared. Two identical biofilters designed in parallel configuration were operated in lab-scale for 20 days; one of them was filled by sterilized media (compost and wood charcoal 2:1 v/v) and another was filled by the same media inoculated with Pseudomonas putida PTCC 1694, as a native strain. Moreover, batch tests were performed to determine the biodegradation rate of toluene. The results showed that, in comparison with the sterilized BF (89% vs 58%), the inoculated BF could effectively eliminate toluene from air stream. The pressure drop across the inoculated BF and the sterilized BF were 0.66±0.28 and 0.47±0.27 mm water respectively. The batch test results showed that loss of toluene in the control bottles was greater than the blanks. Based on the experimental results, inoculated BFs can effectively treat toluene vapors from gaseous streams.

Approach of United States of America towards the Uprising of Libya and Egypt’s PeopleRahmat Hajimineh1, Roohollah Ghasemi2 and Ali Mokhtari31Department of law and political sciences, Faculty of Human Sciences, East Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, PO Box 335955-163, Tehran, Iran2Department of law and political sciences, Faculty of Human Sciences, Research and Science Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran3 Department of law and political sciences, Faculty of Human Sciences, Research and Science Branch, University, Yasuj, IranAbstract: The uprising of Arab world that was started in 2011 with the public protests in Tunisia shortly covered all Arab countries. These uprisings/revolts that caused the systems’ change in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen are still continuous in some countries such as Syria and Bahrain. Each of these countries selected its own approach towards the Arabic spring, appropriate to its interest and objective. Meanwhile, the United States of America took the policy of silence and then accompanying with protests in relation with the public revolt and during the transient period and the rule of Islamists, this country was also following its security maintenance as well as its regional partners, in addition to maintaining the previous friendly relations. The foreign policy of America against the public protests of Libyan people was different than that of Egyptian people and the authorities of Washington were demanding the power farewell by Moa’ mar Gaddafi from the very beginning of uprising. However, by intensifying the armed clashes between the government of Libya and the protestors, the United States of America signed/approved a war pact against the governmental forces in association with its allies. After few months, the war followed the assassination of Gaddafi and the fall of his regime. From the viewpoint of international relations’ theories, the approach of America can be expressed in the framework of realism (endeavor to protect agreements with new Government of Egypt and regional security maintenance for itself and the partners) and the neo-Liberal idealism (emphasis on respecting the protestors’ rights, warning to the police of Egypt for avoiding the violence). This is while the foreign policy of Washington is in conformity with invasive realism (use of armed forces and the consensus of great powers) and the neo-liberal institutionalism (use of international organizations’ mechanism such as NATO and the security council of UNO) in relation with the protests and the armed conflicts in Libya.Keywords: uprising of Arab, Tunisia, Egypt, United States of America

The possible emission of sulfuric acid mists from a laboratory scale, counter-current packed bed tower operated with a caustic scrubbing solution was studied. Acid mists were applied through a local exhaust hood. The emissions from the packed bed tower were monitored in three different categories of gas flow rate as well as three liquid flow rates, while other influencing parameters were kept almost constant. Air sampling and sulfuric acid measurement were carried out iso-kinetically using USEPA method 8. The acid mists were measured by the barium-thorin titration method. According to the results when the gas flow rate increased from 10 L/s to 30 L/s, the average removal efficiency increased significantly (p 3, respectively. L/G of 2–3 was recommended for designing purposes of a packed tower for sulfuric acid mists and vapors removal from contaminated air stream.