Seawater reverse osmosis technology is fully mature at industrial scale which has been installed in all coastal areas around the world with limited natural hydrological resources. There are many ...technological advances and innovations which are trying to improve the reverse osmosis desalination process. In particular, all pursue to reduce the process energy consumption, as well as to minimize the harmful effects of scaling and fouling on membranes and to obtain higher water flux membranes. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the main innovations and future trends in the design of seawater reverse osmosis desalination technology. These are intended to improve the process performance and the efficiency of this technique for high production. Special focus is placed on the use of renewable energies as an innovation in the medium-term for medium and large production capacities. It supports desalination with renewable energies as an attractive combination in many regions with the possibility of reducing stress on existing water supplies.
► Technological innovations are trying to improve the reverse osmosis process. ► A comprehensive review of them is presented for seawater reverse osmosis. ► Reverse osmosis membrane and rack design improvements are deeply described. ► Special focus is placed on the use of renewable energies for medium/ large capacities.
Zika Virus Infection in Pregnancy Zorrilla, Carmen D.; García, Inés García; Fragoso, Lourdes García ...
The Journal of infectious diseases,
12/2017, Letnik:
216, Številka:
suppl_10
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
An infection with the Zika virus (ZIKV) is usually mild, with nonspecific symptoms and most often asymptomatic. However, because of its causal relationship with severe congenital malformations, the ...ZIKV epidemic became an imperative for mobilization, renewed strategies for vector control, and biomedical research. A congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) has been characterized with 5 distinctive features that focus on brain development abnormalities (including microcephaly and brain calcifications), retinal manifestations, and defects on extremities including congenital contractures and hypertonia. The CZS could be just “the tip of the iceberg”, pending the documentation of a spectrum of disease that could manifest later in life, from mild dysfunction to severe disease. It will be a matter of time for neurodevelopmental abnormalities, learning disabilities, and other unknown but yet-to-be-described outcomes to be associated with intrauterine ZIKV infection. In addition, ZIKV infection during pregnancy has been associated with other adverse outcomes. Reports mostly include ZIKV-affected pregnancies, and it will be difficult to clearly establish causality without appropriate control groups. We are summarizing some of the known or reported consequences of such infection during pregnancy. Women of reproductive age and particularly pregnant women are the most vulnerable to the adverse consequences of the ZIKV epidemic. Vector control programs need to be expanded to curtail new infections. Research is needed to develop safe and effective treatments, a preventive or therapeutic vaccine, and specific and sensitive tests and to diagnose and identify correlates of long-term immunity. Vaccines and treatments should be safe to be used in pregnancy. To do nothing would allow thousands of pregnant women to expose their fetuses to an infection that causes birth defects and other problems. Prenatal diagnosis technology development is necessary to be able to predict or diagnose adverse fetal outcomes related to ZIKV. Moreover, these tests should be used in a manner similar to the testing/screening method for neural tube defects and common chromosomal anomalies during prenatal care.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the slope of the epidemic curve in Mexico City has been quite unstable. Changes in human activity led to changes in epidemic activity, hampering attempts at economic and ...general reactivation of the city.
We have predicted that where a fraction of the population above a certain threshold returns to the public space, the negative tendency of the epidemic curve will revert. Such predictions were based on modeling the reactivation of economic activity after lockdown using an epidemiological model resting upon a contact network of Mexico City derived from mobile device co-localization. We modeled scenarios with different proportions of the population returning to normalcy. Null models were built using the Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia (the Mexican model of elective lockdown). There was a mobility reduction of 75% and no mandatory mobility restrictions.
We found that a new peak of cases in the epidemic curve was very likely for scenarios in which more than 5% of the population rejoined the public space. The return of more than 50% of the population synchronously will unleash a magnitude similar to the one predicted with no mitigation strategies. By evaluating the tendencies of the epidemic dynamics, the number of new cases registered, hospitalizations, and recent deaths, we consider that reactivation following only elective measures may not be optimal under this scenario.
Given the need to resume economic activities, we suggest alternative measures that minimize unnecessary contacts among people returning to the public space. We evaluated that "encapsulating" reactivated workers (that is, using measures to reduce the number of contacts beyond their influential community in the contact network) may allow reactivation of a more significant fraction of the population without compromising the desired tendency in the epidemic curve.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Joel’s oracle proclaiming the day of the Lord concludes with the announcement of a series of wonders. The event that the prophet announces is not devoid of chromatism, since the language of color ...emerges in the prophecy through elements of nature that connote color (blood, fire, smoke Joel 3:3–4; Eng. 2:30–31). It is logical, then, to ask if חשך means “darkness” or, on the contrary, “color.” In order to determine if חשך has a chromatic meaning, I will apply a specific methodology based on cognitive linguistics. First, I will discuss the “encyclopedic knowledge” of the native speaker, describing the meaning of the color terms proposed in the main dictionaries and undertaking a comparative study of how the terms have been translated in the early versions of the Bible. I will then study the occurrences of the color terms in context and analyze the entity that describes the color term—the sun. In the light of this semantic analysis, I conclude that חשך expresses color in Joel 3:4, and this fact has great relevance for the interpretation of the prophecy.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Cancer survival has doubled and is likely to continue increasing in the near future. Cancer survivors experience long-term adverse effects, with associated psychological changes, and often they have ...needs that are yet to be met. Recognizing the lack of continuity-of-care initiatives for cancer survivors and caregivers, Osakidetza Basque Health Service has started to implement through primary care a peer-led active patient education program called "Looking after my health after cancer". This study explores how cancer survivors and their caregivers rate the experience of participating in the program, to what extent the program helps them understand and address their unmet felt needs, and helps them improve their activation for self-care and self-management.
A qualitative exploratory phenomenological study was conducted using five focus groups: four with cancer survivors (n = 29) and caregivers (n = 2), and one with peer leaders (n = 7). Narrative content analysis was performed using the constant comparison method, facilitated by Atlas-ti software. Descriptive analysis of sociodemographic and clinical data was performed. The study was developed according to the Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist.
Five main themes emerged from the content analysis: 1) satisfaction with the program as a positive learning experience; 2) peer sharing and learning ("if they can, so can I"); 3) fears prior to attending the program; 4) becoming more aware of unmet felt needs and feeling understood in the "new normal"; and 5) a more positive view of their experience, helping them become active in self-care and empowered in the self-management of their condition.
The peer education program has shown to have a positive impact on cancer survivors and caregivers. It is necessary to design, implement and evaluate interventions of this type to address unmet felt needs during cancer survivorship and improve their quality of life.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Solar thermal driven reverse osmosis desalination is a promising renewable energy-driven desalination technology. A joint use of the solar thermal powered organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and the ...desalination technology of less energy consumption, reverse osmosis (RO), makes this combination interesting in some scarce water resource scenarios. However, prior to any practical experience with any new process, a comprehensive and rigorous theoretical study must be done in order to assess the performance of the new technology or combination of existing technologies. The main objective of the present paper is the expansion of the theoretical analysis done by the authors in previous works to the case in which the thermal energy required by a solar ORC is supplied by means of stationary solar collectors. Twelve substances are considered as working fluids of the ORC and four different models of stationary solar collectors (flat plate collectors, compound parabolic collectors and evacuated tube collectors) are also taken into account. Operating conditions of the solar ORC that minimizes the aperture area needed per unit of mechanical power output of the solar cycle are determined for every working fluid and every solar collector. The former is done considering a direct vapour generation configuration of the solar cycle and also the configuration with water as heat transfer fluid flowing inside the solar collector. This work is part of the theoretical analysis of the solar thermal driven seawater and brackish water reverse osmosis desalination technology. Nevertheless, the supplied information can be also used for the assessment of different applications of the solar ORC. In that case, results presented in this paper can be useful in techno-economic analysis, selection of working fluids of the Rankine cycle, sizing of systems and assessment of solar power cycle configuration.
The world’s oceans are currently facing major stressors in the form of overexploitation and anthropogenic climate change. The Baltic Sea was home to the first “industrial” fishery ∼800 y ago ...targeting the Baltic herring, a species that is still economically and culturally important today. Yet, the early origins of marine industries and the long-term ecological consequences of historical and contemporary fisheries remain debated. Here, we study long-term population dynamics of Baltic herring to evaluate the past impacts of humans on the marine environment. We combine modern whole-genome data with ancient DNA (aDNA) to identify the earliest-known long-distance herring trade in the region, illustrating that extensive fish trade began during the Viking Age. We further resolve population structure within the Baltic and observe demographic independence for four local herring stocks over at least 200 generations. It has been suggested that overfishing at Øresund in the 16th century resulted in a demographic shift from autumn-spawning to spring-spawning herring dominance in the Baltic. We show that while the Øresund fishery had a negative impact on the western Baltic herring stock, the demographic shift to spring-spawning dominance did not occur until the 20th century. Instead, demographic reconstructions reveal population trajectories consistent with expected impacts of environmental change and historical reports on shifting fishing targets over time. This study illustrates the joint impact of climate change and human exploitation on marine species as well as the role historical ecology can play in conservation and management policies.
Climate change has been implicated in an increased number of distributional shifts of marine species during the last century. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether earlier climatic fluctuations had ...similar impacts. We use ancient DNA to investigate the long-term spawning distribution of the Northeast Arctic cod (
) which performs yearly migrations from the Barents Sea towards spawning grounds along the Norwegian coast. The distribution of these spawning grounds has shifted northwards during the last century, which is thought to be associated with food availability and warming temperatures. We genetically identify
specimens from Ruskeneset in west Norway, an archaeological site located south of their current spawning range. Remarkably,
C analyses date these specimens to the late Holocene, when temperatures were warmer than present-day conditions. Our results either suggest that temperature is not the only driver influencing the spawning distribution of Atlantic cod, or could be indicative of uncertainty in palaeoclimate reconstructions in this region. Regardless, our findings highlight the utility of aDNA to reconstruct the historical distribution of economically important fish populations and reveal the complexity of long-term ecological interactions in the marine environment.
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