Magnetic properties of PM in indoor/outdoor domestic environments 

Author(s):  
Aruã Da Silva Leite ◽  
Melina Macouin ◽  
Sonia Rousse ◽  
Jean-François Leon ◽  
Loïc Drigo ◽  
...  

<p>The finer fraction of the particulate matter (PM) is the most harmful health wise, as it has more capacity to reach deeper parts of the respiratory system. Among other constituents, PM also contains iron oxides, allowing for the use of magnetic methods in its investigation as proxies for the whole of PM. Those methods present advantages in comparison to traditional ones, being quick, cost effective and sensible to investigate iron oxides among PM. </p><p>To better understand the risks related to PM exposition in the domestic context, the assessment of magnetic parameters may be used in outdoor and indoor environments, giving us information on the concentration of iron oxides (and consequently, PM) and its dispersion from one environment to the other. </p><p>We developed a citizen sciences experiment in the city of Toulouse, France. Tree barks were used as bio-collectors. Garlands composed of tree bark pieces were distributed to the population in May-2019, and placed in both indoors and outdoors of flats and homes to capture PM. They were retrieved after one year. Measurement of magnetic susceptibility, ARM, SIRM, S -ratio and estimation of superparamagnetic concentration were performed. A total of 86 bio-collectors kits were successfully analyzed. The preliminary results indicate a higher concentration of iron oxides outdoors, with a mean difference between outdoor and indoor measurements of 6.58x10<sup>-9</sup>m<sup>3</sup>/kg and 1.38x10<sup>-5</sup>Am<sup>2</sup>/kg in susceptibility and SIRM respectively. The concentration of the SP fraction also follows this trend of higher outdoor values. The magnetic mineralogy is mostly dominated by low coercivity magnetite-like carriers.</p><div> <div> <div> </div> </div> <div> <div> </div> </div> </div>

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Martins Gurgatz ◽  
Regiani Carvalho-Oliveira ◽  
Gisele Antoniaconi ◽  
Paulo Hilário do Nascimento Saldiva ◽  
Luciano Fernandes Huergo ◽  
...  

Several studies have shown that tree barks can absorb air contaminants, therefore, trees can be used as biomonitors to identify the distribution of atmospheric pollutants. The city of Paranaguá, located at the coast of the Paraná State in Brazil, hosts the largest bulk cargo port in Latin America and an elevated number of fertilizer processing industries. In this study we used tree barks coupled to X-ray fluorescence spectrometer analysis to biomonitor the distribution of air pollutants in the city of Paranaguá. We identified a visual correlation between the level of the elements K and Cl, with high levels detected near fertilizer warehouses. A relation between Fe levels and position of railways and train stations were also clear. The low levels of the elements Zn, Al, Ba and Mg detected in a traffic restricted zone confirm the use of these elements as markers of vehicles traffic and validate the approach of using tree barks for air pollution biomonitoring.  


Phlebologie ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (06) ◽  
pp. 309-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Schulz ◽  
M. Jünger ◽  
M. Hahn

Summary Objective: The goal of the study was to assess the effectiveness and patient tolerability of single-session, sonographically guided, transcatheter foam sclerotherapy and to evaluate its economic impact. Patients, methods: We treated 20 patients with a total of 22 varicoses of the great saphenous vein (GSV) in Hach stage III-IV, clinical stage C2-C5 and a mean GSV diameter of 9 mm (range: 7 to 13 mm). We used 10 ml 3% Aethoxysklerol®. Additional varicoses of the auxiliary veins of the GSV were sclerosed immediately afterwards. Results: The occlusion rate in the treated GSVs was 100% one week after therapy as demonstrated with duplex sonography. The cost of the procedure was 207.91 E including follow-up visit, with an average loss of working time of 0.6 days. After one year one patient showed clinical signs of recurrent varicosis in the GSV; duplex sonography showed reflux in the region of the saphenofemoral junction in a total of seven patients (32% of the treated GSVs). Conclusion: Transcatheter foam sclerotherapy of the GSV is a cost-effective, safe method of treating varicoses of GSV and broadens the spectrum of therapeutic options. Relapses can be re-treated inexpensively with sclerotherapy.


2012 ◽  
pp. 66-80
Author(s):  
Michał Mrozowicki

Michel Butor, born in 1926, one of the leaders of the French New Novel movement, has written only four novels between 1954 and 1960. The most famous of them is La Modification (Second thoughts), published in 1957. The author of the paper analyzes two other Butor’s novels: L’Emploi du temps (Passing time) – 1956, and Degrés (Degrees) – 1960. The theme of absence is crucial in both of them. In the former, the novel, presented as the diary of Jacques Revel, a young Frenchman spending a year in Bleston (a fictitious English city vaguely similar to Manchester), describes the narrator’s struggle to survive in a double – spatial and temporal – labyrinth. The first of them, formed by Bleston’s streets, squares and parks, is symbolized by the City plan. During his one year sojourn in the city, using its plan, Revel learns patiently how to move in its different districts, and in its strange labyrinth – strange because devoid any centre – that at the end stops annoying him. The other, the temporal one, symbolized by the diary itself, the labyrinth of the human memory, discovered by the narrator rather lately, somewhere in the middle of the year passed in Bleston, becomes, by contrast, more and more dense and complex, which is reflected by an increasinly complex narration used to describe the past. However, at the moment Revel is leaving the city, he is still unable to recall and to describe the events of the 29th of February 1952. This gap, this absence, symbolizes his defeat as the narrator, and, in the same time, the human memory’s limits. In Degrees temporal and spatial structures are also very important. This time round, however, the problems of the narration itself, become predominant. Considered from this point of view, the novel announces Gerard Genette’s work Narrative Discourse and his theoretical discussion of two narratological categories: narrative voice and narrative mode. Having transgressed his narrative competences, Pierre Vernier, the narrator of the first and the second parts of the novel, who, taking as a starting point, a complete account of one hour at school, tries to describe the whole world and various aspects of the human civilization for the benefit of his nephew, Pierre Eller, must fail and disappear, as the narrator, from the third part, which is narrated by another narrator, less audacious and more credible.


REVISTA FIMCA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-42
Author(s):  
Amanda Leite Silva Cabral ◽  
Flávia Peres Lima ◽  
Jéssica Iara Costa Bessa Paraguassú

Introdução: A afasia é uma das sequelas mais importantes que ocorrem após lesão cerebral de acidente vascular encefálico (AVE). Objetivos: Identificar o perfil da linguagem oral de pacientes com AVE, atendidos pelo Serviço Assistencial Multidisciplinar Domiciliar (SAMD) na cidade de Porto Velho – RO. Materiais e Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal e quantitativo, realizado na residência dos pacientes que estavam sendo atendidos pelo SAMD. Onde foi utilizado o protocolo de Teste de Reabilitação das Afasias composto inicialmente de um questionário que foi aplicados com os familiares dos pacientes para coletar dados quanto ao AVE e os Testes de Comunicação Oral para avaliar dos pacientes. Resultados: Foram avaliados 11 sujeitos com AVE e oito sujeitos apresentaram afasia emissiva do tipo Broca (100%) com presença de agramatismo e anomia (87,5%), e déficit na organização da comunicação e na memória (100%). Referente à etiologia do AVE, verificou-se que 62,5% dos sujeitos apresentaram etiologia decorrente de hipertensão, com tempo de sequelas com tempo entre um ano menos e a três anos (37,5%). Todos os sujeitos (100%) eram muito falantes antes do AVE, porem 50% continuaram muito falantes após o AVE e os outros 50% se tornaram pouco falantes. Conclusão: Os resultados evidenciam que a maioria dos sujeitos apresentaram afasia emissiva do tipo Broca, em decorrência de Acidente Vascular Encefálico Isquêmico tendo como fator etiológico a hipertensão. Desencadeando alterações de linguagem como anomia e agramatismo, afetando ainda suas habilidades de comunicação como a memória e a organização da linguagem. Introduction: Aphasia is one of the most important sequels that occur after brain injury from stroke. Objectives: To identify the oral language profile of patients with stroke, assisted by the Multidisciplinary Home Care Service (SAMD) in the city of Porto Velho - RO. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional and quantitative study carried out at the residence of the patients who were being treated by the SAMD. Where the Aphasia Rehabilitation Test protocol was used, composed initially of a questionnaire that was applied with the relatives of the patients to collect data regarding the AVE and the Oral Communication Tests to evaluate the patients. Results: Eleven subjects with EVA were evaluated, and eight subjects presented Embryonic Emphasis of Broca type (100%) with presence of agramatism and anomia (87.5%), and deficits in the organization of communication and memory (100%). Regarding the etiology of the AVE, 62.5% of the subjects presented etiology due to hypertension, with sequelae time between one year less and three years (37.5%). All subjects (100%) were very talented before the AVE, but 50% remained very talented after the AVE and the other 50% became less talkative. Conclusion: The results show that most of the subjects presented Embryonic Emphasis of the Broca type, due to Ischemic Stroke, having as etiologic factor hypertension. Unleashing language changes such as anomie and agramatism, still affecting his communication skills as memory and the organization of language.


1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 75-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Andreadakis ◽  
G. H. Kristensen ◽  
A. Papadopoulos ◽  
C. Oikonomopoulos

The wastewater from the city of Thessaloniki is discharged without treatment to the nearby inner part of the Thessaloniki Gulf. The existing, since 1989, treatment plant offers only primary treatment and did not operate since the expected effluent quality is not suitable for safe disposal to the available recipients. Upgrading of the plant for advanced biological treatment, including seasonal nitrogen removal, is due from 1995. In the mean time, after minor modifications completed in February 1992, the existing plant was put into operation as a two-stage chemical-biological treatment plant for 40 000 m3 d−1, which corresponds to about 35% of the total sewage flow. The operational results obtained during the two years operation period are presented and evaluated. All sewage and sludge treatment units of the plant perform better than expected, with the exception of the poor sludge settling characteristics, due to severe and persistent bulking caused by excessive growth of filamentous microorganisms, particularly M. Parvicella. Effective control of the bulking problem could lead to more cost-effective operation and increased influent flows.


2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Quercia ◽  
Ronald Abrahams ◽  
C. Michael White ◽  
John D'Avella ◽  
Mary Campbell

A pharmacy-managed anemia program included distribution and clinical components, with the goal of making epoetin alpha therapy for hemodialysis patients more cost-effective. The Pharmacy Department prepared epoetin alpha doses for patients in unit-dose syringes, utilizing and documenting vial overfill. Pharmacists dosed epoetin alpha and iron (oral and intravenous) per protocol for new and established patients. Baseline data were obtained in 1994, one year prior to implementation of the program, and were re-evaluated in 1995 and 1998. Cost avoidance from utilization of epoetin alpha vial overfill in 1995 and 1998 was $83,560 and $91,148 respectively. In 1995 and 1998, cost avoidance from pharmacy management of anemia was $191,159 and $203,985 respectively. The total cost avoidance from 1995 through 1998 was estimated at $1,018,638. The number of patients with hematocrits under 31% decreased from 32% in 1994 to 21% and 14% in 1995 and 1998 respectively. We conclude that a pharmacy-managed anemia program for hemodialysis patients results in significant cost savings and better achievement of target hematocrits.


Author(s):  
William M Healy ◽  
A Hunter Fanney ◽  
Brian P Dougherty ◽  
Lisa Ng ◽  
Vance Payne ◽  
...  

Data were collected over two separate year-long test periods at the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility, alaboratory designed to evaluate a variety of technologies and operational strategies that lead to energy efficient houses with comfortable and healthful indoor environments. In a net-zero energy building, all energy consumption over the course of a year is offset by on-site renewable energy production; this facility attempts to meet that goal through use of a photovoltaic array installed on the roof. Data are presented for one-year test periods over which the research team examined whether the facility would reach net-zero status. In both years, the house was operated in an all-electric configuration, with slight modifications made in the second year related to control schemes and equipment selection. A virtual family of four was simulated to carry out the operations that would typically occur in a home (e.g., appliance usage, lighting usage, hot water usage). Data are being released for the second year of operation at the time of publication of this document, with an expectation that data from the first year will be released at a later date.


Trauma ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell S Renna ◽  
Cristiano van Zeller ◽  
Farah Abu-Hijleh ◽  
Cherlyn Tong ◽  
Jasmine Gambini ◽  
...  

Introduction Major trauma is a leading cause of death and disability in young adults, especially from massive non-compressible torso haemorrhage. The standard technique to control distal haemorrhage and maximise central perfusion is resuscitative thoracotomy with aortic cross-clamping (RTACC). More recently, the minimally invasive technique of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has been developed to similarly limit distal haemorrhage without the morbidity of thoracotomy; cost–utility studies on this intervention, however, are still lacking. The aim of this study was to perform a one-year cost–utility analysis of REBOA as an intervention for patients with major traumatic non-compressible abdominal haemorrhage, compared to RTACC within the U.K.’s National Health Service. Methods A retrospective analysis of the outcomes following REBOA and RTACC was conducted based on the published literature of survival and complication rates after intervention. Utility was obtained from studies that used the EQ-5D index and from self-conducted surveys. Costs were calculated using 2016/2017 National Health Service tariff data and supplemented from further literature. A cost–utility analysis was then conducted. Results A total of 12 studies for REBOA and 20 studies for RTACC were included. The mean injury severity scores for RTACC and REBOA were 34 and 39, and mean probability of death was 9.7 and 54%, respectively. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of REBOA when compared to RTACC was £44,617.44 per quality-adjusted life year. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, by exceeding the National Institute for Health and Clinical Effectiveness’s willingness-to-pay threshold of £30,000/quality-adjusted life year, suggests that this intervention is not cost-effective in comparison to RTACC. However, REBOA yielded a 157% improvement in utility with a comparatively small cost increase of 31.5%. Conclusion Although REBOA has not been found to be cost-effective when compared to RTACC, ultimately, clinical experience and expertise should be the main factor in driving the decision over which intervention to prioritise in the emergency context.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1059
Author(s):  
Fabiana Cristina Meira Zaparoli ◽  
Nelson Vicente Lovatto Gasparetto

This research aimed to compare the surface morphology of quartz grains of the E and Bt horizons of an Ultisol of the Aratu stream basin, in the city of Floraí, Paraná. The Ultisol is derived from sandstones of the Caiuá Formation and it is subjected to mesothermal humid subtropical climate. The materials from the E horizon showed abundant porosity compared to the Bt horizon ones, due to the filling of pores by coating of clay and iron oxides. On the surface of the quartz grains of the E horizon, several features were identified such as ";craters";, pyramidal microfeatures, gulfs of dissolution, elongated cavities, and silica reprecipitation, resulting from the chemical change, and fragmented grains resulting from a phenomenon called ";plasma infusion."; In the Bt horizon, nearly all the detrital grains were surrounded by clay and iron oxide. The detrital grains of the Bt horizon were better preserved, showing little corrosion features and rare fragmented grains, compared to the E horizon. These analyzes showed that the water flow accounts for the superficial alteration of detrital quartz grains when they are under the influence of humid subtropical climate.  R E S U M OA pesquisa teve como objetivo comparar a morfologia superficial de grãos de quartzo dos horizontes E e Bt de um Argissolo da bacia do córrego Aratu, no município de Floraí, PR. O Argissolo é derivado de arenitos da Formação Caiuá e submetido a clima subtropical úmido mesotérmico. Os materiais do horizonte E apresentam porosidade abundante quando comparados com os do horizonte Bt, em razão do preenchimento dos poros por revestimentos de argila e óxidos de ferro. Foram identificadas na superfície dos grãos de quartzo do horizonte E várias feições tipo “crateras”, microfeições piramidais, golfos de dissolução, cavidades alongadas, reprecipitação de sílica, oriundas da alteração química, e grãos fragmentados devido ao fenômeno denominado “plasma infusion”. No horizonte Bt, praticamente todos os grãos detritais estão envolvidos por argila e óxidos de ferro. Os grãos detritais do horizonte Bt estão mais preservados, exibindo poucas feições de corrosão e raros grãos fragmentados, se comparados com os do horizonte E. Essas análises demonstraram que o fluxo hídrico é o responsável pela alteração superficial dos grãos detritais de quartzo quando sob a influência de clima subtropical úmido. Palavras-chave: Argissolo, morfologia de grãos de quartzo, alteração geoquímica, fluxo hídrico 


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