Co-composting of oil-based drilling cuttings by bagasse.

The feasibility of using a locally abundant bulking material (sugarcane bagasse) in Khuzestan province, Iran, to remove petroleum hydrocarbons from oil-based drill cuttings (OBDCs), using composting process, was investigated. OBDCs were collected from the discharge point of a drilling rig and bagasse was collected from a sugarcane agro-industry near Ahwaz. Experiments were performed in the dark and at room temperature, using different bagasse to OBDCs ratios. Degradation extent and kinetics of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) and poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as well as dehydrogenase and urease enzymes activities and number of heterotroph bacteria during the co-composting of OBDCs and bagasse were studied and measured. Highest PAHs and TPH removals were observed when OBDCs were composted with 15% bagasse. After 70 days of incubation, PAHs and TPH were removed up to 24.8% and 67.5%, respectively. Studying the enzymes activities and number of heterotrophs with TPH and PAHs concentrations over time suggests that biodegradation is the main mechanism in the degradation process. The first-order kinetic model was fitted to the TPH and PAHs degradation data and contaminants half-lives were estimated to be in the range of 40-80 and 170-240 days respectively. DT90 values for TPH and PAHs were in the range of 120-260 and 560-1260 days, depending on the bagasse content.

Evaluation of Some Plant Essential Oils against the Brown-Banded Cockroach, Supella longipalpa (Blattaria: Ectobiidae): A Mechanical Vector of Human Pathogens.

BACKGROUND: Essential oils, as secondary plant compounds, present a safer alternative to conventional insecticides in insect control programs. So five essential oils including eucalyptus, mint, yarrow, oregano and rosemary oils were evaluated against the brown-banded cockroach Supella longipalpa. METHODS: Evaluation was done against the 3rd and 4th instar nymphs using three bioassay methods; continuous contact toxicity, fumigant toxicity and repellent activity. The study was done in the laboratory of medical entomology, during April 2012 to September 2013. RESULTS: Mortality rates by the lowest concentration (2.5%) of rosemary, oregano, yarrow, eucalyptus and mint oils were 100%, 62.2%, 45 %, 36.2% and 5.2% at 24 h after exposure respectively. Rosemary oil was determined as the most toxic oil because of 100 % mortality rate at the concentration range of 2.5% to 30%. The lowest fumigation effect using 50 µl/L air was recorded from mint oil with 97.2 % mortality after 24 h, while the other oils caused 100% mortality. The most repel activity was related to oregano oil which showed 96.5-99.1% repellency at the concentration range of 2.5-30% with a residual effect lasting at least a week after treatment. CONCLUSION: Oregano oil could be used as a potential repellent against S. longipalpa. Also, all five essential oils could be used as the safe compounds for surface treating or fumigation in cockroach control programs while rosmary and oregano oils exhibited the most toxicity.

Epidemiological Survey of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), a Fatal Infectious Disease in Khuzestan Province, Southwest Iran, During 1999 - 2015.

BACKGROUND: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an arboviral zoonotic disease transmitted to humans mainly through the bite of blood-sucking Ixodidae ticks and also via contact with the blood and tissues of infected livestock. OBJECTIVES: This study is a retrospective descriptive survey based on data collected from the health center of Khuzestan province, Iran, during 1999 - 2015. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with symptoms of severe headache, high fever, and bleeding were evaluated. Laboratory tests and serological or molecular assays were used to detect probable and confirmed cases, respectively. The epidemiological parameters of this study were analyzed on the basis of probable cases. RESULTS: A total of 42 patients were diagnosed as probable cases, and 17 of these (42.5%) were confirmed serologically. Two peaks of the disease occurred in Khuzestan province, in 2003 and 2010, with seven cases each of those years, leading to the deaths of five and two patients, respectively. Men and women comprised 57.1% and 42.9% of the patients, respectively. Of all probable cases, 64.3% were from urban areas and 35.7% were from rural areas. The age groups of 10 - 19 and 20 - 29 years, with a frequency of 26.2% in each group, were exposed to the most infections. Farmers and housewives were the highest at-risk occupational groups with a frequency of 28.6% and 26%, respectively. Fever, bleeding, and thrombocytopenia were reported in 95% of the patients, and the case-fatality ratio was calculated to be 28.6% (12 of 42 cases). CONCLUSIONS: Continuous training is necessary to improve the knowledge and awareness of the highest-risk groups with regard to the transmission modes, prevention, symptoms, and treatment of this disease.