Tomato commercialization in Mexican and Latin-American markets is economically affected by three main physical aspects of the fruit: ripening time, size, and mass. Digital image processing combined ...with mathematical models and machine learning approaches allows the development of prediction models to minimize fruit waste, among other applications. Particularly crossed validation, linear and non-linear adjustment by quadratic mean least error approximation, and digital image processing are used to obtain a post-harvest mass loss estimation model based upon the fruit's area. A database for fruit characterization of 97,200 images and mass (kg) and area (cm2) measurement entries over a continuous post-harvest timeline of 54 days was considered in the methodology. Results from the linear (polynomial) adjustment model presented an efficiency of 94.65%, while the non-linear (exponential and potential) adjustment models gave in their turn efficiencies of 99.21 and 99.82%, respectively. It was concluded that the best mass loss estimation model was the potential adjustment one, with an approximation error of just 0.18% between actual and estimated data.
In this work, Fe3+ was used to modify TiO2 to give improved performance under UV and visible light irradiation. The catalysts were prepared via a hydrothermal method without further calcination. ...Box-Behnken design was used to investigate the effects of hydrothermal temperature, hydrothermal time, and Fe content (wt%) on the photocatalytic performance of TiO2. Pollutants such as reactive red 3 (RR3) dye and alachlor were examined. The synthesized catalysts have been characterized by many techniques. Photodegradation of RR3 dye was performed under UV light irradiation whereas photodegradation of alachlor was performed under both UV and visible light irradiation. In RR3 photodegradation, the effect hydrothermal settings for temperature and time were found significant and the highest removal percentages were 92 and 94% for 15 and 30 min UV irradiation, respectively. In alachlor photodegradation, the effect of Fe-doping was found significant under both UV and visible light irradiation. The highest removal percentages were 49 and 82% for 15 and 30 min of UV light irradiation, respectively, and 51% for 60 min of visible light irradiation. Only anatase crystallite was found in catalysts with and without Fe. Energy band gaps decreased with increasing Fe contents. The crystallite sizes of catalysts with 0.10 wt% Fe3+ content decreased with increasing hydrothermal time and temperature, while surface area increased. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy technique was able to detect nitrogen contents of about 10 wt% and X-ray absorption near edge structure was used to find the oxidation states of Fe3+ and Fe3+/4+ in Fe-TiO2 as well.
Alachlor is a recalcitrant carcinogenic contaminant that may easily spread in water sources due to its wide usage as an herbicide. The aim of this study is to synthesize Fe-TiO2 on granular activated ...carbon (GAC) support via hydrothermal method for the photocatalytic degradation of alachlor under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation. The effects of Fe-TiO2 loading, initial alachlor concentration, and initial solution pH were determined using Box-Behnken design (BBD). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of Fe-TiO2-GAC samples showed anatase TiO2 peaks as well as the graphite peak from carbon. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images verified that Fe-TiO2 was immobilized onto the GAC. In UV photocatalysis, the interaction between Fe and TiO2 loading and initial alachlor concentration is significant wherein low Fe-TiO2 loading and 50 ppm initial alachlor concentration increased the removal efficiency. In visible light photocatalysis, low Fe-TiO2 loading and initial alachlor concentrations of 30 and 70 ppm are significant. The interactions of the initial solution pH with Fe-TiO2 loading and initial alachlor concentration are also significant in which low solution pH increased alachlor removal for low Fe-TiO2 loading and low initial concentration. The highest alachlor removal percentages obtained were 99.74 and 99.96% under UV and visible light irradiation, respectively. Total organic carbon analysis confirmed the mineralization of alachlor with 92.44 and 66.49% removal by UV and visible light photocatalysis, respectively.
The performance characterization of a liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic alternate generator is numerically investigated via its electric isotropic efficiency. The model consists of a harmonically ...driven liquid metal oscillatory flow confined to a thin-walled closed rectangular duct interacting with a uniform magnetic field transverse to its motion and attached to a load resistance. Spectral collocation method is used to solve the properly boundary-conditioned Navier-Stokes equation under inductionless approximation for the magnetic field with implementation of gradient formulation for the electric field. Flow is considered fully developed in the direction perpendicular to the applied uniform magnetic field (i.e., motion direction), incompressible, viscous, and laminar in regime. Currently, there are neither purely analytical or experimental results on this problem, but ours were cross-referenced with those from a one-dimensional analytical model as close as possible to it, finding reasonable correspondence. Dimensional estimates on the power production of prospective mesoscale devices having in mind household application are provided for different liquid metals as well.
Treatment-related mortality is common among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated in poor-resource settings. We applied a simplified flow cytometric assay to identify patients with ...precursor B-cell ALL (B-ALL) at very low risk (VLR) of relapse and treated them with a reduced-intensity treatment plan (RELLA05). VLR criteria include favorable presenting features (age ≥ 1 and < 10 years), white blood cell count of <50 ×109/L, lack of extramedullary leukemia, and minimal residual disease level of <0.01% on remission induction day 19. Except for 2 doses of daunorubicin, treatment of patients with VLR B-ALL consisted of a combination of agents with relatively low myelotoxicity profiles, including corticosteroids, vincristine, L-asparaginase, methotrexate, and 6-mercaptopurine. Cyclophosphamide, systemic cytarabine, and central nervous system radiotherapy were not used. Of 454 patients with ALL treated at the Instituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando Figueira in Recife, Brazil, between December 2005 and June 2015, 101 were classified as having VLR B-ALL. There were no cases of death resulting from toxicity or treatment abandonment during remission induction. At a median follow-up of 6.6 years, there were 8 major adverse events: 6 relapses, 1 treatment-related death (from septicemia) during remission, and 1 secondary myeloid leukemia. The estimated 5-year event-free and overall survival rates were 92.0% ± 3.9% and 96.0% ± 2.8%, respectively. The 5-year cumulative risk of relapse was 4.24% ± 2.0%. The treatment was well tolerated. Episodes of neutropenia were of short duration. Patients with B-ALL selected by a combination of presenting features and degree of early response can be successfully treated with a mildly myelosuppressive chemotherapy regimen.
•Presenting features plus degree of response, assessed by a simple flow assay, identify children with ALL at VLR of relapse.•Substantially reducing treatment intensity does not adversely affect the outcomes of a VLR ALL subset.
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CONTEXT Patients with thrombocytopenia are at risk for spontaneous or procedure-related
hemorrhage. Whether such patients can safely undergo lumbar puncture (LP)
without prophylactic platelet ...transfusion is unknown. OBJECTIVE To determine whether an association exists between thrombocytopenia
and LP complications among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS Retrospective review of the records of 958 consecutive children (median
age, 5.5 years) with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were
treated at a pediatric cancer center between February 1984 and July 1998. INTERVENTIONS All patients underwent a diagnostic LP followed by a median of 4 LPs
to instill intrathecal chemotherapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Serious complications of LP occurring during the remission induction
and consolidation treatment periods (when thrombocytopenia is likely to occur),
defined as any neurologic, infectious, or hemorrhagic problems related to
the procedure, reported by platelet count at the time of the procedure. RESULTS Of the 5223 LPs evaluated, 29 were performed at platelet counts of 10
× 109/L or less, 170 at platelet counts of 11 to 20 ×
109/L, and 742 at platelet counts of 21 to 50 × 109/L. No serious complications were encountered, regardless of the platelet
count. The 95% confidence interval for the proportion of serious complications
in the 199 patients with platelet counts of 20 × 109/L or
less was 0% to 1.75% and that for the 941 patients with platelet counts of
50 × 109/L or less was 0% to 0.37%. CONCLUSIONS In our study of children undergoing remission induction or consolidation
therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, serious complications of LP were
not observed, regardless of platelet count. Prophylactic platelet transfusion
is not necessary in children with platelet counts higher than 10 × 109/L. Due to the small number of patients in our study with platelet
counts of 10 × 109/L or less, conclusions cannot yet be drawn
for such patients.
The calibration process of a multispectral camera is fundamental for analyzing images where color standards must be referenced in a post-processing stage. This work presents a new method to process ...images acquired with a multiband/multispectral camera and scanned for reflectance information with a commercial spectrophotometer. The strategy implemented is based on a general illumination model describing lighting as an image component that changes depending on the captured environment and reflectance as a component depending only on the object’s surface. Since the relationship between intensity, luminance, and reflectance in a captured image is not linear. A novel general result is that illumination adjustment generates a valid reflectance map with better surface information. An equalization of reflectance components using RGB model separation to standardize the same pixel value for each of the images was performed on eight certified Lucideon Std ceramic tiles. Lighting of 6000k was used to perceive color similar to normal daylight to each tile, both data captured in the same position. Possible industrial applications of the proposed methodology include reducing time and complexity in color inspection, multispectral image processing, and obtention of better color surface representations under various lighting conditions and application requirements. Particularly, this work shows image results interpreted in CIE RGB color space where B12 has values of 44, 61, and 63; B11 has values of 141, 176, and 84; B10 has values of 214, 176, and 203; B9 has values of 123, 89, and 82; B8 has values of 201, 66, and 225; B7 has values of 86, 73, and 103; B6 has values of 22, 37, and 160; B5 has values of 108, 107, and 64. Those compared to values measured by an spectrophotometer as reference device were in good correspondence, achieving percentage calibrations of
∼
100
%
.
CONTEXT Traumatic or bloody lumbar puncture (LP) reduces the diagnostic value
of the procedure and may worsen the outcome of patients with acute lymphoblastic
leukemia (ALL). Little is known about ...the risk factors for traumatic and bloody
LP. OBJECTIVES To determine the risk factors for traumatic and bloody LP. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS Retrospective cohort study of 956 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed
childhood ALL who were treated at a pediatric cancer center between February
1984 and July 1998. INTERVENTIONS All patients underwent a diagnostic LP followed by a median of 4 LPs
to instill intrathecal chemotherapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Traumatic LP was defined as an LP in which cerebrospinal fluid contained
at least 10 red blood cells (RBCs) per microliter and bloody LP as one in
which the cerebrospinal fluid contained at least 500 RBCs per microliter. RESULTS Of the 5609 LPs evaluated, 1643 (29%) were traumatic and 581 (10%) were
bloody. The estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
for traumatic LP were 1.5 (95% CI, 1.2-1.8) for black vs white race, 2.3 (95%
CI, 1.7-3.0) for age younger than 1 year vs 1 year or older, 1.4 (95% CI,
1.2-1.7) for early vs recent (dedicated procedure area and general anesthesia)
treatment era, 1.5 (95% CI, 1.2-1.8) for platelet count of 100 × 103/µL or more vs less than 100 × 103/µL,
10.8 (95% CI, 7.7-15.2) for short (1 day) vs longer (>15 days) interval since
the previous LP, and 1.4 (95% CI, 1.1-1.8) for the least vs the most experienced
practitioners. Analyses for bloody LP yielded similar results. CONCLUSIONS The unmodifiable risk factors for traumatic and bloody LP include black
race, age younger than 1 year, a traumatic or bloody previous LP performed
within the past 2 weeks, and a previous LP performed when the platelet count
was 50 × 103/µL or less. Modifiable risk factors include
procedural factors reflected in treatment era, platelet count of 100 ×
103/µL or less, an interval of 15 days or less between LPs,
and a less experienced practitioner.
Ante la presencia de hipertrofia del ventrículo izquierdo (HVI), siempre se debe considerar el diagnóstico diferencial con la miocardiopatía hipertrófica (MCH) o alguna fenocopia, que puede ...sospecharse fácilmente cuando la hipertrofia es marcadamente asimétrica. Además, los pacientes con MCH pueden presentar angina de esfuerzo debido a la afectación de la microcirculación en el contexto de la propia hipertrofia o si ésta condiciona obstrucción dinámica al tracto de salida del ventrículo izquierdo, pero en algunos casos debe sospecharse la presencia de enfermedad coronaria concomitante como causa de la angina, especialmente si el paciente tiene una probabilidad de riesgo intermedio o alto de padecer cardiopatía isquémica. Presentamos el caso de un varón de 46 años de afroamericana con hipertensión arterial mal controlada a quien se le detectó una HVI severa, y que durante el seguimiento presentó síntomas de angina de esfuerzo. Revisaremos las características clínicas que nos pueden ayudar en el diagnóstico diferencial en este contexto.
Nance (Byrsonima crassifolia) fruit is harvested when natural abscission from the plant occurs. At this stage, the shelf life is less than 5 d in ambient conditions. The aim of the present work was ...thus to determine how quality attributes of nance fruits are modified as a function of ripening on the tree, physiological condition at harvest, and storage temperature. Fruits at three maturity stages (green, transient, and yellow) were harvested and stored at 15 and 25°C. As fruits ripened, the hue angle turned to yellow, and lightness and chroma increased, but carotenoid content decreased. The contents of total soluble solids, total sugars, and reducing sugars increased; however, the total soluble phenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity decreased. It was possible to harvest at a physiological stage previous to abscission maturity even though a non-climacteric pattern was identified. Handling of transient nance fruits at 15°C extended shelf life for more than 15 d, with adequate physical and compositional attributes including high concentration of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity. Content of total soluble solids was identified as an attribute suitable for developing a harvest index for nance fruits.
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