BACKGROUND The moral status of the human embryo is particularly controversial in the United States, where one debate has centered on embryos created in excess at in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics. Little has been known about the disposal of these embryos. METHODS We mailed anonymous, self-administered questionnaires to directors of 341 American IVF clinics. RESULTS 217 of 341 clinics (64...

Classical unlined sanitary landfills are well-known to release large amounts of hazardous and otherwise deleterious chemicals to nearby groundwater and to the air, via leachate ("garbage juice") and landfill gas. It is known that such releases contain a wide variety of potential carcinogens and potentially toxic chemicals that represent a threat to public health. However, little quantitative in...

Understanding flow in subsurface porous media is of great importance for society due to applications such as energy extraction and waste disposal. The governing equations for subsurface flow are a set of non-linear partial differential equations of mixed elliptichyperbolic type, and the parameter fields are highly heterogeneous with characteristic features on a continuum of length scales. This ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the methods of disposal of used syringes employed by patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C. METHODS This cross sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital of Karachi and a clinic at Khairpur, Sindh. Diagnosed cases of Hepatitis B and C currently receiving treatment in the form of Interferon alpha injection were included by convenient sampling. The study...

To assess the safety for disposal of radioactive waste-cement composition, the leaching of Co from a waste composite into a surrounding fluid has been studied. Leaching tests were carried out in accordance with a method recommended by IAEA. Determination of retardation factors, KF and coefficients of distribution, kd, using a simplified mathematical model for analyzing the migration of radionuc...

BACKGROUND During the 1980s, approximately three million people migrated from Afghanistan to Pakistan and sought refuge in several cities including the city of Karachi. After the initial settlement of the refugees, the international organizations transitioned the health care of these refugees to the two local non-profit service agencies in Karachi. One of these agencies subsidized health care t...