Careers in the Environment

Environmental Careers
At present in the U.S. and other developing countries economists claim that the green market is one of the fastest growing segments of the economy.
Many employers are actively seeking environmentally educated graduates. They are especially interested in the people with scientific and engineering backgrounds and double major or double minors.
Environmental careers opportunities exists in a large number of fields: environmental engineering (currently the fastest growing job market), sustainable forestry and range management, parks and recreation, air and water quality control, solid waste and hazardous waste management, recycling, urban and rural land-use planning, computer modeling, ecological restoration and soil, water, fishery and wildlife conservation and management.
Environmental careers can also be found in education, environmental planning, environmental management, environmental health, toxicology, geology, ecology, conservation biology, climatology, environmental chemistry, population dynamics and regulation i.e. demography, law, risk analysis, risk management, accountings, environmental journalism, design and architecture, energy conservation and analysis, renewable energy technology, hydrology, consulting public relations, activism and lobbying, economics, diplomacy, developing and marketing, publishing( environmental magazines and books) and teaching and law enforcement(pollution detection and enforcements teams).

Radiation and Environment

Radiation Ecology- Radiation ecology is the phenomenon of study of effects of radiation on organisms.
Radioactivity- Radioactivity is the phenomenon of spontaneous emission of , and - rays by the naturally occurring elements like Uranium, Polonium, Radium, etc.
These elements constantly undergo spontaneous change with the emission of, and - rays. The term radioactivity was coined by Madam Curie in the year 1896 A.D.
Specific Background:
•  And - rays were discovered by Henri Becquerel.
• -rays were discovered by P.Villiard in 1900.
• X-rays were discovered by W. Roentgen in 1895.
• Thorium was discovered by Schmitt in 1898.
• Henry Becquerel in 1895 took up the study of phosphorescent element Uranium i.e. Potassium-Uranium Sulphate.
International Organization working in the field of Radiation:
▪ International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).
Chernobyl Disaster
On April 26, 1986 a series of explosion in one of the reactors in a nuclear power plant in Ukraine (Northern part of the Soviet Union) blew the massive roof off the reactor building and flew radioactive debris and dust high into the atmosphere. A huge radioactive cloud spread over much of the Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and other parts of Europe and vertically encircled the planet.
The consequences of this disaster according to UN studies caused by poor reactor design and human error:
• By the year 2000, an estimated 8,000 people had died prematurely from radiation-related diseases because of the accident. The Ukrainian Health Ministry says that 125,000 people had died and 3.5 million people have become ill because of the accident.
• Almost 400,000 people had to leave their homes; most were not evacuated until at least 10 days after the accident.
• Some 160,000 Sq. Km. about the size of state of Florida of the former Soviet Union remains highly contaminated with radioactivity.
• Despite the danger between 100,000 & 200,000 people either illegally remained or has returned to live inside this highly radioactive zone.
• More than half a million people were exposed to dangerous levels of radioactivity. About 2,000 people have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and 8,000-10,000 additional thyroid cancer cases are expected between 2000 & 2010.
• The total cost of the accident will reach at least $358 billion many times more than the value of all the nuclear electricity ever generated in the former Soviet Union.
The environmental refugees evacuated from the Chernobyl region had to leave their professions behind and say good-bye to-(I) lush green wheat fields and blossoming apple trees, (II) Land their families had farmed for generations, (III) Cows and goats that would be shot because the grass they ate was radioactive(IV) their radioactivity poisoned cats and dogs. They will not be able to return without exposing themselves to potentially harmful doses of ionizing radiation. In 2002 after 16 years of the accident-the Chernobyl power plant remains one of the most dangerous places on the Earth.
Chernobyl taught us that a major nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere.

A Black Day in Bhopal

December 2, 1984 will be a black day for India, because on that date the world’s worst industrial accident occurred at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India.
Some about 36 metric tons of (40 tons) of highly toxic methyl iso cyan ate (MIC) gas, used to produce carbonate pesticides, erupted from an underground storage tank after water leaked in through faulty valves and corroded pipes and caused an explosive chemical reaction. Once in the atmosphere, some of the toxic MIC was converted to even more deadly hydrogen cyanide gas.
The toxic cloud of gas settled over about 78 Sq. Km. exposing up to 600,000 people. Many of these people were illegal squatters (livings near the plant) because they had no other place to go. Since the safety Sirens at the plant had been turned off, the deadly cloud spread through Bhopal without warning.
Eyes, mouths and lungs burned, some victims tried to flee through the narrow streets but many were trampled. Others drowned in their own bodily fluids from exposure to toxic gas. Many of the old, infant and very young died in their sleep.
According to the Indian officials at least 6,000 people (some say that around 7,000-16,000based on the scales of strounds and cremation wood) were killed. An international team of Medical specialists estimated that in 1996 50,000-60,000 people sustained permanent injuries such as blindness, lungs damage and neurological problems.
The economic damage from the accident was estimated at $4.1 billion. Indian officials claim that Union Carbide probably could prevent the tragedy by spending no more than $1 million to upgrade the plant equipment and improve the safety. According to Indian officials the already substandard plant was in the middle of a cost cutting campaign. Management was reducing training time for machine operators and skimping on safety measures.
On the night of the disaster, six safety measures designed to prevent a leakage of toxic materials were inadequate, shut down or malfunctioning. However, Union Carbide officials contend that the accident was the result of sabotage by a disgruntled Indian employee.
After the accident, Union Carbide reduced the corporation’s liability risks for compensating victims by selling off a portion of its assets and giving much of the profits to its shareholders in the form of special dividends. In 1994, Union Carbide’s sold its holdings in India. In 1989 Union Carbide agreed to pay an out of court settlement of $470 million to compensate the victims without admitting any guilt or negligence concerning the accident. The company also spent $100 million to build a hospital for the victims. By 2000, most victims with injuries had received $600 in compensation and families of victims who died had received about $3,000.
On Dec 21 1999- the 15th anniversary of the disaster survivors and families of people killed by the accident filed a law suit in a New York U.S. district court charging the Union Carbide company and its former chief officer with violating international law and the fundamental human rights of the victims and survivors of the Bhopal plant accident.
The lawsuit alleges-(I) that Union Carbide “demonstrated a reckless and depraved indifference to human life in the design, operation and maintenance of the Union Carbide facility in Bhopal” (II) that the defendants are liable for fraud and civil contempt for lawful total failure to comply with the lawful orders of the courts of both the United States and India.

Chernobyl Disaster

On April 26, 1986 a series of explosion in one of the reactors in a nuclear power plant in Ukraine (Northern part of the Soviet Union) blew the massive roof off the reactor building and flew radioactive debris and dust high into the atmosphere. A huge radioactive cloud spread over much of the Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and other parts of Europe and vertically encircled the planet.
The consequences of this disaster according to UN studies caused by poor reactor design and human error:
• By the year 2000, an estimated 8,000 people had died prematurely from radiation-related diseases because of the accident. The Ukrainian Health Ministry says that 125,000 people had died and 3.5 million people have become ill because of the accident.
• Almost 400,000 people had to leave their homes; most were not evacuated until at least 10 days after the accident.
• Some 160,000 Sq. Km. about the size of state of Florida of the former Soviet Union remains highly contaminated with radioactivity.
• Despite the danger between 100,000 & 200,000 people either illegally remained or has returned to live inside this highly radioactive zone.
• More than half a million people were exposed to dangerous levels of radioactivity. About 2,000 people have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and 8,000-10,000 additional thyroid cancer cases are expected between 2000 & 2010.
• The total cost of the accident will reach at least $358 billion many times more than the value of all the nuclear electricity ever generated in the former Soviet Union.
The environmental refugees evacuated from the Chernobyl region had to leave their professions behind and say good-bye to-(I) lush green wheat fields and blossoming apple trees, (II) Land their families had farmed for generations, (III) Cows and goats that would be shot because the grass they ate was radioactive(IV) their radioactivity poisoned cats and dogs. They will not be able to return without exposing themselves to potentially harmful doses of ionizing radiation. In 2002 after 16 years of the accident-the Chernobyl power plant remains one of the most dangerous places on the Earth.
Chernobyl taught us that a major nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere.

Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy

The choice of the antimicrobial used for the treatment of an infection is influenced by several factor: the age of the patient, the site of infection, immune status of the patient, efficacy of the drug, the profile of adverse effects, the prevalence of anti-microbial resistance and the concomitant presence of other systemic diseases or organ dysfunction.
The cephalosporins include three generations of agents. The second generation extends the antimicrobial spectrum of the first generation to include wide range of gram negative rods and Pseudomonas.
The -lactams act by inhibiting the incorporation of peptidoglycon into the bacterial cell wall. Penicilin G still remains the drug of choice for syphilis, meningococci, clostridia and pneumococcous. Ampicillin has an extended spectrum of activity aganst gram negative rods(Salmonella, Hemophilus influenzae). Penicillinase-resistant penicilins are the drugs of choice for infections due to -lactamase producing staphylococci. Piperacillin and ticarcillin are antipseudomonal penicillins.

Diagnostic methods in infectious diseases

Microbiologic confirmation of an infectious diseses may be obtained by direct demonstration of the organism, by growing the organism in culture or by serologic method.
Direct demonstration of an infective agent may be:
 By direct microscopy: India ink preparation(cryptococi), dark ground illumination(vibrio spirochestes), KOH preparation(dermatophytes) and wet wount(stool parasites).
 By staining:Gram stain(malaria),Giemsa stain(chlamydia), Ziehl-Nielsen stain(acid-fast bacilli), silver stains(pneumocystis).
 By antigen detection using latex agglutination teste. (meningococcus, pneumcococcus) and enzyme immunoassay.
 Culture method: Proper collection technique(for clinical specimen), suitable transport and culture media and optimal growth conditions may be requuired for fastidious organisms(such as anaerobes), phenotyphic characterization may be done and antibiotic sensitivity determined after culture of the organism.
 Serologic method: This method may be the only method for diagnosing viral, rickettisal, chalamydial and mycoplasma infections. Serology also provides supportive evidnce for certain bacterial infections( also for streptococci, widal for typhoid).

Fever

Fever of more than three weeks duration remaining undiagnosed after a week of hospitalization is defined as pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO).
PUO may be due to the infections, malignancy, inflammatory diseases, drugs or factitious. Infections are the leading causes of PUO tuberculosis often extrapulmonary, HIV infection, infective endocarditis, prolonged mononucleosis, intraabdominal abscess and fungal infections.
Malignancies associated with PUO are lymphomas, leukemia, renal cell carcinoma and hepatoma. Immunoinflammatory causes of PUO include SLE and adult Still’s diseases.
A proper detailed history and physical examination is critical in estabilishing a dignosis and for planing investigations. The pattern of fever is seldom diagnostic by itself. Drug history, occupational hisory and sexual practices are important areas that need to be investigated.
Routine haematologic and urinary investigations, serum chemistry and chest X-ray are important investigations in all patients. A markedly elevated ESR may indicate an infection or immunoinflammatory diseases, temporal athritis, Still’s diseases. US/CT may be obtained for evaluating hepatobiliary, renal, retroperitoneal and pelvic sources of PUO and for screening for occult primaries. An echocardiogram may be ordered if endocarditis is suspected. Biopsy of the bone marrow or liver may be useful if the non-invasive investigations do not yield a definitive diagnosis.
In the absence of a definite diagnosis, a therapeutic trial of antitubercular therapy may be instituted for six weeks.
Causes of prolonged fever
• Infections
o Polygenic infection: pyogenic abscess, cholangitis, pelvic abscess, diverticular abscess, thermbophlebitis.
o Vascular infection: Infective endocartitis, infected vascular access devices.
o Chronic granulomatious infection: Tuberculosis, atypical mycobacterial infections, fungal infection.
o Other prolonged bacterial and rickettisial illnesses: Brucellosis, chronic meningococcemia.
• Immunoinflammatory diseases: Systemic lumps erythematosus, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis(stills diseases), vasculitis including giant cell arthritis.
• Neoplasms: Primary (renal, pancreas, hepatic, lung, colon), secondary(hepatic secondaries), lymphoid neoplasms(lymphomas).
• Granulomatous conditions: Sarcoidosis.
• Metabolic and familial conditions: Familial Mediterranean fever, Fabry’s diseases.
• Drug induced fever
• Factitious fever
• Undiagnosed fever.