In the present study, microplastics (MPs) and metal concentrations were studied in the widely consumed tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fishes (n = 15) collected from a metropolitan reservoir of the ...Atoyac River basin, Mexico. Nearly 139 fibers were extracted from the gastrointestinal tracts and assessed using optical microscopy to evaluate their physical characteristics. The colour distribution of the fibers was mainly black (40%), blue (19%), red and white (14%). SEM images represented the surface morphology, while the elemental composition of the fibers was studied using EDX spectra. Polymer characterization using μFTIR aided in confirming the fibers as plastics (polyamide, polyester, and synthetic cellulose) and non-plastics (natural cellulose). Henceforth, ∼33% of the fibers, provisionally thought to be plastics, were natural fibers. The total metal concentrations were higher in the liver (259.24 mg kg−1) than the muscle (122.56 mg kg−1) due to diverse metabolic functions in the hepatic tissues. Human health risk assessment in terms of Hazard Index (HI) presented Pb and Zn values above unity in both adults and children, prompting regulatory measures. Statistical tests between MPs and fish biometry did not present any substantial correlations. The present study also affirmed that the presence of MPs and metals in fishes of a highly contaminated region is not only governed by their bioavailabilities, but also on the physiological characteristics of the individual organism.
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•Microplastic prevalence of 53.67% was found in Freshwater Tilapia from a metropolitan reservoir.•HI values > 1 for Pb and Zn in adults and children prompt remedial actions.•No significant correlations between MPs and fish biometry/metal levels.
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Belousov-Zhabotinsky chemical reactions and new variants were developed and studied at 277.5 K, 296.15 K, and 341.15 K using potassium bromate, sodium bromide, malonic acid, and ...ferroin as an indicator for the oscillating reaction. This reaction type is a minimal oscillator, which belongs to the fifth “uncatalyzed” family known as minimal bromate oscillators. A mathematical model is a proposal from the reaction mechanism of Zhabotinsky, the Oregonator model, and the modified Arrhenius equation. The control parameters of the mathematical model are the activation enthalpies of the oscillating reaction. Experimental and numerical results at 341.15 K show an increase in the amplitude and frequency of chemical oscillations and a decrease in the total oscillation time, while at 277.15 K the opposite mechanism happens.
This Letter reports new results from the MINOS experiment based on a two-year exposure to muon neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam. Our data are consistent with quantum-mechanical oscillations of ...neutrino flavor with mass splitting |Deltam2| = (2.43+/-0.13) x 10(-3) eV2 (68% C.L.) and mixing angle sin2(2theta) > 0.90 (90% C.L.). Our data disfavor two alternative explanations for the disappearance of neutrinos in flight: namely, neutrino decays into lighter particles and quantum decoherence of neutrinos, at the 3.7 and 5.7 standard-deviation levels, respectively.
A search for a sidereal modulation in the MINOS near detector neutrino data was performed. If present, this signature could be a consequence of Lorentz and CPT violation as predicted by the effective ...field theory called the standard-model extension. No evidence for a sidereal signal in the data set was found, implying that there is no significant change in neutrino propagation that depends on the direction of the neutrino beam in a sun-centered inertial frame. Upper limits on the magnitudes of the Lorentz and CPT violating terms in the standard-model extension lie between 10(-4) and 10(-2) of the maximum expected, assuming a suppression of these signatures by a factor of 10(-17).
Abstract
In Mexico City at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Azcapotzalco (UAMA), with the aim to build a Computerized Diagnostics System of Cardiac Diseases based on the sound emitted by the heart, ...a research project is conducting. Cardiac sound is captured in a computer through a data acquisition system which it transforms in an image that will be analyzed later. Along years, several methods had been developed in different institutions of various countries looking for identify in phonocardiograms cardiac pathologies, some of them using complex mathematical algorithms for medical sector, which make difficult to understand and apply. At UAMA we can recognize image alterations of acoustic wave by means of a visual and computerized method in which its possible identify possible damages in the different heart’s components. To get a set of images of phonocardiograms of people with different heart disease, diagnosed and being treated, phonocardiograms were taken to ambulatory patients seen in the Echocardiography office at a High Specialty Hospital. We show the obtained images and his correlation with the diagnosed cardiac diseases.
Over the course of the last two decades, continuous advances in the stereo vision field have been documented. In this paper we present an analysis of the efficiency for the stereo vision algorithm of ...the Census Transform algorithm. In addition to the conventional correlation method based on Hamming distance minimization, we use two similarity measures: the Tanimoto and the Dixon-Koehler distances. Then, we compare its performance in terms of accuracy and hardware resources needed for implementation. These comparisons are performed by introducing a generalized model for each hardware architecture, scalable depending on design parameters such as Census Transform window size and maximum disparity range.
We report the first detailed comparisons of the rates and spectra of neutral-current neutrino interactions at two widely separated locations. A depletion in the rate at the far site would indicate ...mixing between nu(mu) and a sterile particle. No anomalous depletion in the reconstructed energy spectrum is observed. Assuming oscillations occur at a single mass-squared splitting, a fit to the neutral- and charged-current energy spectra limits the fraction of nu(mu) oscillating to a sterile neutrino to be below 0.68 at 90% confidence level. A less stringent limit due to a possible contribution to the measured neutral-current event rate at the far site from nu(e) appearance at the current experimental limit is also presented.
Using LabVIEW software, we built a set of images corresponding to cardiac sounds associated to diagnosed cardiac diseases. This constitutes an image database which facilitates phonocardiograms ...interpretation, also we made the correlation with diseases and the possible causes.
Background
Evidence regarding drug provocation test (DPT) with antineoplastic and biological agents is scarce. Our aim was to assess the usefulness of including DPT as a paramount gold standard ...diagnostic tool (prior to desensitization).
Methods
Prospective, observational, longitudinal study with patients who, during a 3‐year period, were referred to the Desensitization Program at Ramon y Cajal University Hospital. Patients underwent a structured diagnostic protocol by means of anamnesis, skin tests (ST), risk assessment, and DPT. Oxaliplatin‐specific IgE was determined in oxaliplatin‐reactive patients (who underwent DPT regardless of oxaliplatin‐specific IgE results). Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were used to identify predictors of the final diagnosis among several variables.
Results
A total of 186 patients were assessed. A total of 104 (56%) patients underwent DPT. Sixty‐four percent of all DPTs were negative (i.e., hypersensitivity was excluded). Sensitivity for oxaliplatin‐specific IgE (0.35 UI/l cutoff point) was 34%, specificity 90.3%, negative predictive value 45.9%, positive predictive value 85%, negative likelihood ratio 0.7, and positive likelihood ratio 3.5.
Conclusions
These are the first reported data based on more than 100 DPTs with antineoplastic and biological agents (paclitaxel, oxaliplatin, rituximab, infliximab, irinotecan, and other drugs). Implementation of DPT in diagnostic protocols helps exclude hypersensitivity (in 36% of all referred patients), and avoids unnecessary desensitizations in nonhypersensitive patients (30–56% of patients, depending on culprit‐drug). Drug provocation test is vital to validate diagnostic tools; consequently, quality data are shown on oxaliplatin‐specific IgE and oxaliplatin‐ST in the largest series of oxaliplatin‐reactive patients reported to date (74 oxaliplatin‐reactive patients). Identifying phenotypes and predictors of a diagnosis of hypersensitivity may be helpful for tailored plans.
The design of deep dump slopes for opencast mines usually requires information about the soil resistance to liquefaction during earthquakes. This resistance depends not only on the initial stress, ...the initial density, and the amplitude of the cyclic loading, but also on the preshearing, that is, the deviatoric stress path applied to the soil before the cyclic loading. To explore the influence of preshearing on the subsequent soil behaviour, a set of triaxial tests with a combination of undrained preshearing and drained stress cycles using two sample preparation methods is presented. It is shown that the preshearing as well as the preparation method have a major influence on the strain accumulation upon cyclic loading. Simulations of the experiments with four advanced constitutive models reveal that neither the long-lasting effect of preshearing nor the preparation method can adequately be captured by all of the models. This deficiency of the constitutive models can lead to unsafe designs due to the overestimation of the cyclic resistance to liquefaction and to the underestimation of long term settlements.
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