Reduction of traditional pollutants and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans emitted from a diesel engine generator equipped with a catalytic ceramic fiber filter system

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - A series of electrostatic precipitator-selective catalytic reductions can capture particulate matters and oxidize polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and...     

Prevalence of Down's syndrome in Asturias, 1987-1993. Members of the Work Group of the RCDA

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of Down Syndrome (DS) in Asturias and the prenatal diagnosis impact on the birth prevalence of this chromosomal anomaly. METHODS: The analysed data came from the Registry of Congenital Defects of Asturias (1990-1993) and from a retrospective study conducted by the same working group (1987-1989). The total prevalence rates and the prevalence at birth were calculated. RESULTS: Out of 55,601 births, DS was recorded in 83 cases: 69 livebirths, two fetal deaths and 12 induced abortions following prenatal diagnosis, giving a total prevalence rate of 14.9 per 10,000 and a birth prevalence of 12.8. The proportion of induced abortions was 15 per cent in this period; the proportion of cases in the high risk maternal age group (35 years and over) was around 50% of the total. The proportion of induced abortions was 15 per cent in this period. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of DS in Asturias is comparable to the other populations. Prenatal diagnosis had little impact on the birth prevalence figures. These results may help us draw up prevention and prenatal diagnosis policies for these defects in Asturias when giving the frequency of this health problem.     

Assembly of magnetic microcomposites from low pH precursors using a novel micro-fluidic-jet-spray-dryer

Spray drying is a convenient method to produce particles in high yields within a short period of time. The benefits of this technique include efficient uses of energy and solvent, and being a virtually waste-free process that allows for scale-up. A major drawback in conventional spray drying is the polydispersity of the produced particles. Herein, a specially designed spray dryer called micro-fluidic-jet-spray-drier (MFJSD) coupled with a micro-fluidic-aerosol-nozzle (MFAN) could generate droplets in a single trajectory pattern, to produce monodisperse particles. The drying temperature could vary from <90 °C to 300 °C to accommodate heat sensitive materials if necessary. For the first time we investigated the use of MFJSD to generate uniform magnetic microcomposites, specifically focusing on the effects of precursor composition, droplet size, and secondary heat treatment on the final properties of the particles. The presence of silica nanoparticles in the precursor was demonstrated to directly affect the morphology of the particles. Precursor containing silica nanoparticles generated particles with bowl-like shapes due to slower redistribution of solutes to support the particle skeleton during drying. In the absence of silica nanoparticles, the particles were almost perfectly spherical albeit with dimpled surfaces. After being subjected to calcination after drying, iron oxide crystals were found on the particle surfaces accounting for the overall magnetic property of the microcomposites, with lower magnetisation observed for particles containing higher amount of silica.     

Stoichiometry Dependence on the Diameter of La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 Manganite Nanoparticles

This study presents the magnetic properties of manganite fine particles using Monte Carlo simulations in the framework of a core?Cshell model. A single-spin movement Metropolis dynamics was implemented to compute equilibrium averages. Calculations were performed on the basis of a three-dimensional classical Heisenberg Hamiltonian, involving the presence of Mn³⁺ ( $\mathrm{Mn}^{3+e_{g}}$ and $\mathrm{Mn}^{3+e_{g}'}$ ) and Mn⁴⁺ ( $\mathrm{Mn}^{4 + d^{3}}$ ) cations, and their nearest neighbor interaction. The Hamiltonian includes a surface anisotropy term applied to surface ions, and cubic anisotropy for ions belonging to the core. Different diameters were considered in order to figure out different off-stoichiometric scenarios and the influence on the magnetic properties. Results reveal a well-defined linear particle size inverse dependence of the Curie temperature. No evidence for surface spin disorder was detected. Finally, susceptibility data reveal that the ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic transition occurs in a gradual fashion ascribed to a differentiated behavior between the core and surface. Initially, the surface contribution to magnetic properties is high; as the nanoparticle size increases, the core contribution becomes stronger.     

Combining open‐source natural language processing tools to parse clinical practice guidelines

Natural language processing (NLP) has been used to process text pertaining to patient records and narratives. However, most of the methods used were developed for specific systems, so new research is necessary to assess whether such methods can be easily retargeted for new applications and goals, with the same performance. In this paper, open‐source tools are reused as building blocks on which a new system is built. The aim of our work is to evaluate the applicability of the current NLP technology to a new domain: automatic knowledge acquisition of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures from clinical practice guideline free‐text documents. In order to do this, two publicly available syntactic parsers, several terminology resources and a tool oriented to identify semantic predications were tailored to increase the performance of each tool individually. We apply this new approach to 171 sentences selected by the experts from a clinical guideline, and compare the results with those of the tools applied with no tailoring. The results of this paper show that with some adaptation, open‐source NLP tools can be retargeted for new tasks, providing an accuracy that is equivalent to the methods designed for specific tasks.     

Detection methods for genetically modified crops

Due to the market introduction of genetically modified crops (GMOs) as the Roundup Ready (RR) soya and Bt corn, the European food industry came face to face with the question of the use and labeling requirements on GMO crops and its derivatives. Although even today, no defined European legislation is available, a definitive need for detection methods exists. Both DNA and protein based methods have been developed and applied for the detection of RR soya beans and its derivatives. For the CP4 synthase, synthetic peptides corresponding with the antigenic and non-homologous parts of the CP4 synthase were synthesized and mono-specific anti-CP4 synthase monoclonal antibodies were prepared by hybridoma technology. The monoclonal antibodies were able to detect the CP4 synthase in the RR soya using Western blotting analysis. Detection limits were found between 0.5% and 1%. The method is currently validated for half-and final products. The applied DNA methodology was making use of polymerase chain reactions (PCR) using sets of primers along the gene encoding the Agrobacterium CP4 synthase. DNA extraction and purification conditions were examined on a case-by-case approach for a scala of soya products (lecithin, oil, soybean meal, soy protein isolates etc.), half-products and final consumer products. Detection limits were found between 0.01% and 0.1%. In this paper a comparison will be made between the two types of methods in relation to sample preparation, sensitivity, validation and the use for half-products and final consumer products.     

The opinion of pediatricians on childhood pain

Lack of continuity is a problem for survey-based epidemiological research. Poor access to experience and inadequate retention of information means new projects seldom build on successful predecessors to the maximum possible extent. We have designed a data management framework which addresses this problem using a well-known information systems approach. Our ideas provide a means of storing data in a manner which reflects the original research concepts. This makes collected data accessible and understandable without reference to the questionnaire, and allows new questionnaires to be designed quickly and easily. Our framework provides a means for recording developmental, conceptual and other supporting information and documentation which is traditionally poorly conserved. We illustrate the components of the framework using a major Australian epidemiological project as a case study. Once the necessary software is developed, our framework will improve organisational memory within individual research units and has the potential to become a valuable support tool for survey-based research.     

Systemic sclerosis stimulates angiogenesis in the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane

The profile of nickel signal using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with deuterium and Zeeman-effect background correction is presented. The Zeeman effect system of background correction offered definitive advantages and therefore was used for the determination of nickel in saliva in the presence of various isomorphous metals. The highest nickel absorbance values corresponded at 200, 300, 300, 300, 600, and 200 ng of Tb, Mg, Sm, Lu, Tm, and Pd, respectively. On the other hand, the addition of Eu, Er, and Ho decreased the nickel signal. The presence on each modifier alone does not eliminate the matrix interference. However, the use of 200 ng of Pd in conjuction with 300 ng of Lu has a higher sensitivity, offers an advantage against interference from the background of saliva matrix and produces good recoveries (98 to 102% from unspiked and spiked saliva samples). The limit of detection was 0.11 micrograms/L for a characteristic mass of 16.6 pg of nickel using Pd-Lu as modifier. The within-batch precision varied between 0.8 and 1.5% relative standard deviations. The analysis of thirty samples of whole saliva gave an average of 0.81 +/- 0.30 of micrograms/L of Ni (range from 0.5 to 2.0 micrograms/L of Ni). The agreement between the observed and certified values obtained from a Seronorm Blood Serum Standard Reference Material was good.     

L-Malate in golden delicious apples as a possible parameter of acceptability

Summary Several batches of Golden Delicious apples from three geographical regions in the Netherlands were stored at 4° C in a controlled atmosphere (CA) of 9% CO₂, 12% O₂ and under normal atmospheric conditions (Air =A). They were judged with the aid of a palatability test after which it was established that the internal quality of a population of fruits remained satisfactory until they reached a range ofL-malate of 0.39–0.45 g per 100 g initial fresh weight.

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L-Apfelsäure als ein parameter für die innere qualität gelagerter golden-delicious-äpfel

Zusammenfassung Verschiedene MusterGolden-Delicious-Äpfel aus drei Orten in den Niederlanden wurden bei 4° C in kontrollierter Atmosphäre (CA) mit 9% CO₂ und 12% O₂ sowie bei normaler Luftzusammensetzung (Air = A) gelagert. Die Sinnenprüfung der Äpfel zeigte, daß die innere Qualität einer Population Früchte gut ist, wenn der L-Äpfelsäuregehalt von 0,39 bis 0,45 g/100 g Anfangsgewicht betrug.

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The first author thanks ir. T. van Hiele for suggesting the possible significance of ca. 0.40%L-malate as an index related to storage life.     

The Future of Human Activity Recognition: Deep Learning or Feature Engineering?

Neural Processing Letters - A significant gap exists in our knowledge of how domain-specific feature extraction compares to unsupervised feature learning in the latent space of a deep neural...