Nasopharyngeal colonization in Costa Rican children during the first year of life

BACKGROUND: The establishment of the nasopharyngeal flora was followed in Costa Rican children from birth to 1 year of age. METHODS: Nasopharyngeal cultures were obtained at 1 (n = 413), 3 (n = 393), 6 (n = 376) and 12 months (n = 356) of age from children representative of the population in the Puriscal district. Weekly cultures were obtained from a subcohort of these children (n = 101). Mother-infant diads (n = 95) and preschool children (n = 208) attending day-care centers were also studied. RESULTS: The estimated proportion of colonized children in the population differed markedly depending on the frequency of culture. Quarterly cultures showed a slow increase in carrier rates from 3.9% for Haemophilus influenzae, 3.1% for Streptococcus pneumoniae and 6.5% for Moraxella catarrhalis at 1 month of age to 10.1% carrying H. influenzae and 19.4% carrying S. pneumoniae by the end of the first year. By quarterly culture the proportion of children colonized at least once was 36% for S. pneumoniae, 26% for H. influenzae and 28% for M. catarrhalis. In contrast weekly sampling showed that 95 to 100% of the children were colonized at least once during the first year of life with H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae or M. catarrhalis. Nasopharyngeal carriage of H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae and M. catarrhalis was low in the mothers, and very few mother-infant pairs carried identical bacteria at the same time. In contrast carrier rates were high in the siblings attending day care (H. influenzae 27.9%, S. pneumoniae 39.4%, both organisms 26.6%). Infants with siblings had significantly higher bacterial carriage at all ages than infants without siblings. CONCLUSIONS: Quarterly nasopharyngeal cultures showed that Costa Rican infants acquire their nasopharyngeal flora at a rate comparable with that for infants in developed countries and that siblings are an important source of the bacteria. Weekly samplings showed that virtually all children were colonized at least once during the first year of life.     

Assessing continuous bivariate effects among different groups through nonparametric regression models: An application to breast cancer detection

In many applications, the joint effect of two continuous covariates on the target binary response may vary across groups defined by levels of a given factor. A testing procedure that would enable this type of surface-by-factor interactions to be detected has been designed. To accomplish this goal, a logistic generalized additive model (GAM) with bivariate continuous interactions varying across groups defined by levels of a factor is considered. A local scoring algorithm based on local linear kernel smoothers was implemented to estimate the proposed logistic GAM. Bootstrap resampling techniques were used for the purpose of testing for factor-by-surface interactions. Given the high computational cost involved, binning techniques were used to speed up computation in the estimation and testing processes. The adequacy of the bootstrap-based test was assessed by means of a simulation study. If a factor-by-surface interaction is detected in the model, it is then established that the use of the odds-ratio curves is very useful in obtaining a direct interpretation of the fitted model. The benefits of using this methodology when analyzing real data are illustrated by applying the technique to the outputs produced by a computerized system dedicated to the early detection of breast cancer.     

Influence of two-step process and of different stoichiometric ratios on morphologies generated in castor oil epoxy resins

Phase separation during polymerization was studied in a model system consisting of a diepoxide based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), variable amounts of ethylenediamine (EDA) and the mass of castor oil (CO) necessary to obtain a mass fraction equal to 0-15 in a final system where the stoichiometric ratio of amine to epoxy equivalents, r, was equal to 1. A two-step polymerization process was performed by curing first a system with r = 0-5, during variable times before phase separation, and then carrying the system to r = 1. Thermodynamic analysis of samples with different r values led to a linear relationship between the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter and r. The concentration (P) and average size (D?) of dispersed-phase particles followed opposite trends, i.e. P increased while D? decreased, when either r was increased or the time of curing in the first step of a two-step process was decreased. This was explained by assuming that the competition between nucleation and growth was determined by the viscosity at the cloud point, η_cp. Low values of η_cp favoured growth over nucleation and led to fewer but larger particles.     

Biofiltration of toluene in the absence and the presence of ethyl acetate under continuous and intermittent loading

BACKGROUND: Two peat biofilters were used for the removal of toluene from air for one year. One biofilter was fed with pure toluene and the other received 1:1 (by weight) ethyl acetate:toluene mixture. RESULTS: The biofilters were operated under continuous loading: the toluene inlet load (IL) at which 80% removal occurred was 116 g m^?3 h^?1 at 57 s gas residence time. Maximum elimination capacity of 360 g m^?3 h^?1 was obtained at an IL of 745 g m^?3 h^?1. The elimination of toluene was inhibited by the presence of ethyl acetate. Intermittent loading, with pollutants supplied for 16 h/day, 5 days/week, did not significantly affect the removal efficiency (RE). Biomass was fully activated in 2 h after night closures, but 6 h were required to recover RE after weekend closures. Live cell density remained relatively constant over the operational period, while the dead cell fraction increased. Finally, a 15 day starvation period was applied and operation then re‐started. Performance was restored with similar re‐acclimatization period to that after weekend closures, and a reduction in dead cell fraction was observed. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the capacity of the system to handle intermittent loading conditions that are common in industrial practices, including long‐term starvation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

A new method for the determination of wax precipitation from non-diluted crude oils by fractional precipitation

Wax precipitation is one of the most important flow assurance problems. Unfortunately, experimental data are very scarce to confirm existing models for prediction of such precipitation problem. This work reports a new experimental method. Multistage fractional wax precipitation was carried out by decreasing the temperature of crude oil. No solvent dilution was used, so the effect of solvent on temperature wax precipitation was avoided. The reproducibility of the method was tested with comparable results. The precipitation curve and the wax appearance temperature were obtained for two crude oils with different chemical nature using the reported method.     

Potential applications of poly(vinyl alcohol)‐congo red aqueous solutions and hydrogels as liquids for hydraulic fracturing

The authors report on the viscoelastic characterization of guar hydrogels obtained through complexation reactions with borax ions. These gels are compared with hydrogels obtained from poly(vinyl alcohol) of different degree of hydrolysis through complexation reactions with congo red. The effect of the degree of hydrolysis and both, the concentration of PVA and the concentration of congo red, on the viscoelastic properties of the hydrogels is analyzed. The potential use of the PVA‐based hydrogels as hydraulic fracturing liquids is discussed in relation to the commonly used fracturing liquid based on the guar–borax system. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Mixtures of tertiary amine functionalized azo-containing mesogens with acid-functionalized polymers

A tertiary amine functionalized 4-nitro-4′-alkoxy azobenzene mesogen with a 10 or 12 carbon spacer (azo-nN) was synthesized and complexed in equimolar proportions with poly(acrylic acid) (PA-H) and poly(sulfonic acid) (PSS-H), and investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The neat azo-nN is characterized by a partial bilayer S_A mesophase at higher temperatures, and a highly ordered phase, in which the molecules are stacked orthogonally in bilayers, at lower temperatures. As supported by infrared analysis, for the azo-nN/PA-H mixture, the complexation is partial while for the same azo-nN/PSS-H mixture, complete proton transfer occurs. When the azo-nN is blended with the PA-H, regarded as a weak acid, a biphasic system is generated and the thermotropic behavior of neat mesogen is not significantly affected. In contrast, by mixing the same mesogen with a PSS-H (regarded as a strong acid), the thermotropic behavior is significantly influenced: the complexation generated a partial or interdigitated smectic A or tilted smectic C lamellar phase.     

Effects of freezing and frozen storage on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of four types of goat's cheese

Summary Physicochemical and organoleptic properties were studied in two batches of four different types of goat's milk cheese: fresh, washed curd, soft with surface flora, and Majorero, frozen for four months prior to ripening and/or chilled storage. Frozen storage did not produce significant changes in the rheological or sensory characteristics of the cheeses, except in the case of fresh cheese, the textural characteristics of which were adversely affected. The level of proteolysis, estimated from the amino-acid nitrogen, was higher in the pre-frozen washed curd, soft with surface flora, and Majorero cheeses. The level of lipolysis was comparable, except in the soft cheese with surface flora, which presented higher levels of free fatty acids when stored frozen before ripening.

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Einfluß des Gefrierens und der Gefrierlagerung auf die physikalisch-chemischen und organoleptischen Eigenschaften von vier Ziegenkäsen

Zusammenfassung Aus Ziegenmilch wurden jeweils zwei Chargen von vier spanischen Käsesorten hergestellt: Frischkäse, gewaschene Käsemasse, Weichkäse mit Oberflächenflora und Majorero -Käse. Von jeder Charge wurde die Hälfte gefroren gelagert und erst nach vier Monaten auf die übliche Weise gereift und/oder gekühlt aufbewahrt. Die physikalisch-chemischen und organoleptischen Eigenschaften wurden danach untersucht. Im Vergleich mit Käsen, die nicht gefroren gewesen waren, ergaben sich keine wesentlichen Unterschiede in den rheologischen und sensorischen Eigenschaften, mit Ausnahme bei den Frischkäsen, bei dem sich die Textur durch die Aufbewahrung in gefrorenem Zustand verschlechtert hatte. Der Gehalt an freien Aminosäuren, ein Maß für die Proteolyse, war höher in der gewaschenen Käsemasse, in dem Weichkäse mit Oberflächenflora und in dem Majorero-Käse, die vier Monate gefroren gewesen waren. Durch die Gefrierlagerung hatte sich der Fettabbau nicht verändert, mit Ausnahme bei dem Käse mit Oberflächenflora, bei dem der Gehalt an freien Fettsäuren erhöht war im Vergleich mit dem Käse, der nicht vier Monate gefriergelagert worden war.

     

Land‐use dynamic discovery based on heterogeneous mobility sources

Nowadays, cities are the most relevant type of human settlement and their population has been endlessly growing for decades. At the same time, we are witnessing an explosion of digital data that capture many different aspects and details of city life. This allows detecting human mobility patterns in urban areas with more detail than ever before. In this context, based on the fusion of mobility data from different and heterogeneous sources, such as public transport, transport‐network connectivity and Online Social Networks, this study puts forward a novel approach to uncover the actual land use of a city. Unlike previous solutions, our work avoids a time‐invariant approach and it considers the temporal factor based on the assumption that urban areas are not used by citizens all the time in the same manner. We have tested our solution in two different cities showing high accuracy rates.