Potential toxic elements in stream sediments, soils and waters in an abandoned radium mine (central Portugal)

The Alto da Várzea radium mine (AV) exploited ore and U-bearing minerals, such as autunite and torbernite. The mine was exploited underground from 1911 to 1922, closed in 1946 without restoration, and actually a commercial area is deployed. Stream sediments, soils and water samples were collected between 2008 and 2009. Stream sediments are mainly contaminated in As, Th, U and W, which is related to the AV radium mine. The PTEs, As, Co, Cr, Sr, Th, U, W, Zn, and electrical conductivity reached the highest values in soils collected inside the mine influence. Soils are contaminated with As and U and must not be used for any purpose. Most waters have pH values ranging from 4.3 to 6.8 and are poorly mineralized (EC = 41-186 µS/cm; TDS = 33-172 mg/L). Groundwater contains the highest Cu, Cr and Pb contents. Arsenic occurs predominantly as H2(AsO4)- and H(AsO4)2-. Waters are saturated in goethite, haematite and some of them also in lepidocrocite and ferrihydrite, which adsorbs As (V). Lead is divalent in waters collected during the warm season, being mobile in these waters. Thorium occurs mainly as Th(OH)3(CO3)-, Th(OH)2(CO3) and Th(OH)2(CO3) 22- , which increase water Th contents. Uranium occurs predominantly as UO2CO3, but CaUO2(CO3) 32- and CaUO2(CO3)3 also occur, decreasing its mobility in water. The waters are contaminated in NO2-, Mn, Cu, As, Pb and U and must not be used for human consumption and in agricultural activities. The water contamination is mainly associated with the old radium mine and human activities. A restoration of the mining area with PTE monitoring is necessary to avoid a public hazard.Thanks are due to Prof. Joao Coutinho for the determination of organic matter and cation exchange capacity in samples of stream sediments and soils and A. Rodrigues for the water analyses, EDM for some information on the Alto da Varzea mine area. This study had the support of Portuguese Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic projects UID/GEO/04035/2013 and UID/MAR/04292/2013 (MARE).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contact metamorphism associated to the Penamacor - Monsanto granitic intrusion (Central Portugal): geochemical, isotopic and mineralogical features

Contact metamorphism related to Variscan and late-Variscan granitic plutons in the Iberian Peninsula is superimposed on medium-grade regional metamorphism, making it often difficult to evaluate per se the thermal effects due to those intrusions and explaining the paucity of scientific literature on the subject. An exhaustive set of geochemical, isotopic and mineralogical data on the contact-zone metasediments hosting the Penamacor-Monsanto granite (Central Iberian Zone, Portugal) provides a significant contribution to the characterization of low- to intermediate-grade contact metamorphism in geological contexts formerly affected by regional metamorphism. The metasediments hosting the Penamacor-Monsanto pluton belong to the extensive detrital sequence of the ante-Ordovician Schist-Greywacke Complex. Bulk geochemistry, oxygen isotope data and crystal-chemistry of key minerals from those contact-zone and neighbouring metasediments have made it possible to infer metamorphic conditions on the contact zone of this granitic intrusion, and to distinguish them from late boron-metasomatism at the exocontact. Mineral paragenesis (muscovite + biotite + chlorite quartz plagioclase cordierite, in spotted-schists; biotite + chlorite quartz plagioclase ( cordierite), in hornfelses) and the composition of these coexisting mineral phases indicate that most of the contact rocks reached the biotite zone (or even the cordierite zone, in some cases), equivalent to upper greenschist – lower amphibolite metamorphic grade. The relatively narrow range of O-isotope temperatures estimated for the crystallization of the marginal granites (550-625ºC) explains the absence of significant effects of thermal flow anisotropy on the contact-zone rocks. Besides, textural, paragenetic, mineralogical, isotopic and geochemical nuances observed in hornfelses and spotted-schists seem mainly related to the local host-rock heterogeneities, rather than to thermal effects. The relatively low temperatures estimated for granitoid emplacement and their restricted isotopic and mineralogical impacts on the metasedimentary host-rocks account for the narrow metamorphic aureole associated with the Penamacor-Monsanto pluton, and suggest this massif may correspond to the outcropping tip of a larger granitic intrusion at depth.Las intrusions graníticas Varíscicas y tardivaríscicas de la Península Ibérica dieron lugar a un metamorfsmo de contacto que afecta a un encajante previamente sometido a un metamorfsmo regional de grado medio, lo que difculta separar los efectos térmicos de aquellos regionales, y explica la escasez de estudios sobre el mismo. El estudio detallado de la zona de contacto entre el Granito de Penamacor-Monsanto (Zona Centro-Ibérica; Portugal) y su encajante metasedimentario mediante técnicas geoquímicas, mineralógicas e isotópicas supone una notable contribución al conocimiento y caracterización del metamorfsmo de contacto de grados bajos a intermedios en contextos geológicos previamente afectados por metamorfsmo regional. El encajante metasedimentario del Plutón de Penamacor-Monsanto es parte de la amplia secuencia detrítica ante-Ordovícia conocida como Complejo Esquisto-Grawackico. Datos geoquímicos de roca total y cristaloquímicos de los minerales más característicos, y relaciones isotópicas de oxígeno en la zona de contacto y metasedimentos aledaños permiten inferir las condiciones metamórfcas en la zona de contacto de dicha intrusión, y diferenciarla de aquella afectada por metasomatismo tardío por B. La paragénesis mineral (muscovita + biotita + clorita ± cuarzo ± plagioclasa ± cordierita en los esquistos moteados; biotita + clorita ± cuarzo ± plagiclasa (± cordierita) en corneanas) y la composición de las fases minerales coexistentes indican que la mayoría de rocas del contacto alcanzaron la zona de la biotita (e incluso, en algunos casos, aquella de la cordierita), equivalente a la parte alta del grado metamórfco de los esquistos verdes, o a la parte baja de las anfbolitas. El rango relativamente pequeño de temperaturas de cristalización de los granitos marginales (550-625°C), calculado mediante isótopos de oxígeno, explica la carencia de anisotropías térmicas signifcativas en las rocas del contacto. Las sutiles diferencias texturales, paragenéticas, mineralógicas, isotópicas y geoquímicas en esquistos moteados y corneanas parecen relacionadas con heterogeneidades locales de los encajantes, y no con efectos térmicos diferenciados. Las temperaturas relativamente bajas estimadas durante la intrusión del granito de Penamacor-Monsanto, y el limitado efecto mineralógico e isotópico sobre el encajante metasedimentario, dan lugar a una aureola de contacto estrecha, y sugieren que este macizo puede corresponder al techo de una intrusión mayor en profundidad.Funding was provided by FCT—Fundação para a Ciên cia e Tecnologia, through project METMOB (PTDC/CTE-GIX/116204/2009

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on TAVR Activity: A Worldwide Registry

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a considerable impact on the provision of structural heart intervention worldwide. Our objectives were: 1) to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) activity globally; and 2) to determine the differences in the impact according to geographic region and the demographic, development, and economic status of diverse international health care systems. Methods: We developed a multinational registry of global TAVR activity and invited individual TAVR sites to submit TAVR implant data before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the number of TAVR procedures performed monthly from January 2019 to December 2021 was collected. The adaptive measures to maintain TAVR activity by each site were recorded, as was a variety of indices relating to type of health care system and national economic indices. The primary subject of interest was the impact on TAVR activity during each of the pandemic waves (2020 and 2021) compared with the same period pre–COVID-19 (2019). Results: Data were received from 130 centers from 61 countries, with 14 subcontinents and 5 continents participating in the study. Overall, TAVR activity increased by 16.7% (2,337 procedures) between 2018 and 2019 (ie, before the pandemic), but between 2019 and 2020 (ie, first year of the pandemic), there was no significant growth (–0.1%; –10 procedures). In contrast, activity again increased by 18.9% (3,085 procedures) between 2020 and 2021 (ie, second year of the pandemic). During the first pandemic wave, there was a reduction of 18.9% (945 procedures) in TAVR activity among participating sites, while during the second and third waves, there was an increase of 6.7% (489 procedures) and 15.9% (1,042 procedures), respectively. Further analysis and results of this study are ongoing and will be available at the time of the congress. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic initially led to a reduction in the number of patients undergoing TAVR worldwide, although health care systems subsequently adapted, and the number of TAVR recipients continued to grow in subsequent COVID-19 pandemic waves. Categories: STRUCTURAL: Valvular Disease: Aorti

The International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce (INPST) and the power of Twitter networking exemplified through #INPST hashtag analysis

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled "International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce" (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together in collaborative environment individuals and organizations interested in natural product scientific research, and to empower their interactions by using digital communication tools. Methods: In this work, we present a general overview of INPST activities and showcase the specific use of Twitter as a powerful networking tool that was used to host a one-week "2021 INPST Twitter Networking Event" (spanning from 31st May 2021 to 6th June 2021) based on the application of the Twitter hashtag #INPST. Results and Conclusion: The use of this hashtag during the networking event period was analyzed with Symplur Signals (https://www.symplur.com/), revealing a total of 6,036 tweets, shared by 686 users, which generated a total of 65,004,773 impressions (views of the respective tweets). This networking event's achieved high visibility and participation rate showcases a convincing example of how this social media platform can be used as a highly effective tool to host virtual Twitter-based international biomedical research events

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis