Abstract:Little information is available on the assessment of health impact concerning the Middle Eastern dust storms and PM 10 concentration levels despite the aridity of the region and frequent dust storms occurring in this part of the world. A prospective study was conducted to determine the association between dust particles and morbidity and mortality rates for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in Kuwait. Spearman and Pearson's correlations were used to identify such associations. Results revealed a significant correlation between dust storms, suspended dust and rising dust (p < 0.01). Correlation between the occurrence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and dust storms showed that PM 10 concentrations were significantly correlated with bronchial asthma at the 0.05 level (Pearson r = 0.292). Significant correlations at the 0.01 level were shown between bronchial asthma and both acute lower respiratory tract infection (r = 0.737) and acute upper respiratory tract infection (r = 0.839). Respiratory and cardiovascular mortality rates were both equal to 0.62 per 10,000 persons, each corresponding to 8.7% proportionate mortality rate. This study provides a good evidence of the consistent relationship between dust storm events, PM 10 concentration levels, and respiratory diseases.

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Problem statement: Empty containers are an essential part of the logistics of the movement, repositioning and distribution of containers. Optimizing the allocation and transportation of empty containers contributes significantly in reducing cost. Approach: A mathematical model is formulated with the objective of finding an optimal sequence of ships movement among ports in order to satisfy demands at the ports with minimum total cost. Results: Several numerical examples are used to compare the performance of the developed optimization model with well known standard models available in the literature. Conclusion/Recommendation: It was observed that the solution obtained by the developed method to be either as good as or better than the solution provided by other standard models. Future work should consider contribution of full containers in meeting demand for empty containers.