Removal of E. coli and helminth eggs in UASB: Polishing pond systems in Brazil.

Ponds following anaerobic reactors, such as Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors, have been termed polishing ponds in the literature. The present paper analyses the removal of E. coli and helminth eggs in five UASB-polishing pond systems in Brazil. Since there were ponds in series, the total number of ponds was 10. The ponds had average retention times varying from 2 to 21 days, and depths ranging from 0.40 to 2.00 m. The shallow ponds in series, even with low retention times, were able to produce effluents complying with the coliform WHO guidelines for unrestricted irrigation (< or = 1000 MPN/100 ml). An equation for the coliform decay coefficient was proposed: Kb (dispersed flow) = 0.710H(-0955) (20 degrees C). The equation highlights the inverse relationship between the pond depth and the decay coefficient. All polishing pond systems were able to produce effluents with helminth eggs concentrations predominantly equal to zero, and satisfying the WHO guidelines for unrestricted and restricted irrigation (< or = 1 egg/L, arithmetic mean). The approximate range of helminth eggs removal efficiency was predicted satisfactorily.     

An incomplete gauge formulation for 3D nodal finite-elementmagnetostatics

A method for imposing the gauge condition on the 3-D magnetic vector potential magnetostatic field computation using nodal finite elements is presented. In this method, the gauge A.w=0 is applied in the part of the problem that is not situated in the neighborhood of the materials interfaces that are tangential to w . This results in a formulation which maintains the discontinuous properties of the magnetic induction tangential components, reduces the number of unknowns, and improves the system matrix conditioning. The proposed formulation is compared with the Coulomb-gauge and ungauged formulations, showing that it results in better precision and worse conditioning than the Coulomb-gauge and has the same precision with a better conditioning than the ungauged formulation     

A SVET investigation on the modification of zinc dust reactivity

Weldable primers are thin zinc-rich organic coatings that are weldable due to the electrical conductivity provided by the zinc dust. They are used in the automotive industry to provide corrosion protection in regions of difficult access. The zinc particles are highly susceptible to corrosion attack and, due to the small thickness, the protection conferred by these systems is limited.     

Nephrotic syndrome. What is new since the 1988 study?

Hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) patients often have nonmeasurable disease. In such patients, predictive biomarkers other than tumor response may be required to compare therapeutic effects. We examined the predictive value for survival of various clinical and laboratory parameters, including prostate-specific antigen (PSA), in HRPC patients treated with suramin. Data from 103 HRPC patients were analyzed using various survival analyses, the likelihood ratio approach, and logistic regression analyses. When pretreatment factors, percentage decrease in PSA at 4 weeks from start of treatment (deltaPSA), and updated survival data were fit by a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, acid phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, and deltaPSA were significant, with risk ratios close to 1. There was a decrease in likelihood ratio with increasing APSA. A logistic regression model was developed to predict the probability of <1 year of survival from the start of treatment. Hemoglobin and deltaPSA were found to be significant variables. However, in view of the complexities involving the relationship between PSA expression and prostate cancer growth and possible selective effect of treatment on PSA, further prospective testing is necessary. Therefore, deltaPSA cannot necessarily be used as a biomarker for survival response in individual patients during the evaluation of the therapeutic response of HRPC to new antineoplastic drugs.     

Controlled teleportation via photonic Faraday rotations in low-Q cavities

This paper presents feasible experimental schemes to realize controlled teleportation protocols via photonic Faraday rotations in low-Q cavities. The schemes deal with controlled teleportation of superposition states and two-particle entanglement of atomic states. The information is encoded in lambda configured three-level atoms trapped inside coupled cavities by optical fibers. Also, we estimate the success probability and the current feasibility of the schemes.     

‘Podracing’: experimenting with mobile TV content consumption and delivery methods

Recently, mobile TV has been launched in several countries. While mobile TV integrates television contents into mobile phones, the most personal of communication devices, it becomes interesting to know how this feature will be used throughout the day and in varying contexts of everyday life. This paper presents empirical results on the use of mobile TV with different delivery mechanisms and both quantitative and qualitative results on how end-users prefer to use mobile TV contents in different situations. The data is based on ongoing empirical research in Finland in 2006 and 2007. The mobile TV services under study included both news and entertainment contents, and were tested in 3G, DVB-H and Wi-Fi networks using different delivery paradigms: broadcast, on-demand and download. To explore the use of different delivery methods and content consumption, we have developed a mobile TV service protoype, called Podracing. The analysis shows that users appreciated up-to-date information and information-rich media forms and contents especially for mobile news delivery. There was high demand for only the latest news on mobiles. The real-time property was considered important. Most of the users looked at the headlines or followed the news several times a day – much more often than the traditional TV and news prime times would allow.     

The "Heart Area" of Juan Canalejo Hospital Complex. A new approach to clinical management

The present work describes the process by which the pilot project of clinical management of the Hospital Complex Juan Canalejo, designated as "Heart Area", was implemented. In the first section, the needs and reasons that led to the undertaking of this project are explained. The project's objectives and operative strategies are listed. In the Material and Methods section, three basic aspects of the "Heart Area" are described: selection criteria of the "Area", its structure and function, and its foundation and development. In the Results section, we compare the activity undertaken in the "Area" to the situation present prior to its implementation, in relation to quality and costs. Finally, in the Conclusions, we comment on the important implications that our project can have within the Hospital Complex Juan Canalejo as well as in the health care field in general.