Evaluation of the causes of error in the MCD45 burned-area product for the savannas of northern South America [Evaluación de las causas de error en el producto de área quemada MCD45 para las sabanas del norte de Suramérica]

Forest fires contribute to deforestation and have been considered a significant source of CO2 emissions. There are global maps that estimate the area affected by a fire using the reflectance variation of the surface. In this study, we evaluated the reliability and the causes of error of the MCD45 Burned Area Product, by applying the confusion matrix method to the Orinoco River Basin. This basin is located in the northern zone of South America, and consists mainly of savanna ecosystems. For the evaluation, we used as reference data five pairs of Landsat images, covering 165,000 km2. The Burned Area Product estimated a burned area of 7,576.43 km2, which is lower than the area of 12,100.16 km2 found with Landsat images, leading to an overall underestimation. The causes of error are associated to the spatial resolution of the map, and to some structures of the algorithm that generates the map

Improving the Incidence of Postoperative Delirium in the Elderly: A Quality Improvement Project

Objective: This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to improve healthcare provider knowledge and attitude regarding exogenous Melatonin to decrease postoperative delirium in the elderly population and determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention. Background: Postoperative delirium is prevalent in the elderly population. It is associated with increased healthcare costs, functional decline, prolonged hospital stays, and higher morbidity and mortality. The incidence of postoperative delirium in admitted hospitalized patients was projected to be 20% to 29% in geriatrics medicine patients and 11% to 51% in surgical patients. Evidence suggests the use of exogenous Melatonin can decrease the incidence and duration of postoperative delirium. Methods: A 672-bed acute care hospital in South Florida has a large elderly population requiring anesthetic services. Anesthesia providers were educated on preventative measures to reduce the incidence of postoperative delirium in this facility and the recognition of risk factors increasing the incidence of postoperative delirium. A pretest survey was provided to assess anesthesia providers’ knowledge and attitudes regarding using Melatonin versus Midazolam and postoperative delirium. An educational module included risk factors for developing postoperative delirium, medication classification, and literature findings on Melatonin and Midazolam. At the end of the presentation, a posttest survey containing the same questions as the pretest form was given to the same participants. Results: After implementing the educational intervention, there was an increase in knowledge and attitudes regarding anesthesia providers in reducing the incidence of postoperative delirium. Most participants reported they were likely to implement Melatonin into their clinical practice. Discussion: Postoperative delirium is associated with functional and cognitive decline, increased mortality, extended length of stay, and increased costs. Literature displays the benefits of using Melatonin for reducing postoperative delirium in elderly patients. After completing the educational intervention, there was an increased knowledge of Melatonin and its effect on reducing the incidence of postoperative delirium. Participants improved their attitudes and knowledge toward their role and preventative techniques for reducing postoperative delirium. The small sample size is a limitation of this project, as only eight participants completed the module. Conclusion: An educational intervention can enhance provider knowledge, attitudes, and increase the use of exogenous Melatonin to reduce the incidence of postoperative delirium. Keywords: Midazolam, Melatonin, elderly, postoperative delirium, postoperative cognitive dysfunction

Defect-Seeded Atomic Layer Deposition of Metal Oxides on the Basal Plane of 2D Layered Materials

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) on mechanically exfoliated 2D layered materials spontaneously produces network patterns of metal oxide nanoparticles in triangular and linear deposits on the basal surface. The network patterns formed under a range of ALD conditions and were independent of the orientation of the substrate in the ALD reactor. The patterns were produced on MoS2 or HOPG when either tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium or bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)manganese were used as precursors, suggesting that the phenomenon is general for 2D materials. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the presence, prior to deposition, of dislocation networks along the basal plane of mechanically exfoliated 2D flakes, indicating that periodical basal plane defects related to disruptions in the van der Waals stacking of layers, such as perfect line dislocations and triangular extended stacking faults networks, introduce a surface reactivity landscape that leads to the emergence of patterned deposition

Studies on the clinical significance of nonesterified and total cholesterol in urine

Gas-liquid chromatographic determinations of nonesterified and total urinary cholesterol were performed in 137 normals, 264 patients with various internal diseases without evidence of neoplasias or diseases of the kidney or urinary tract, 497 patients with malignancies and 236 patients with diseases of the kidney, urinary tract infections or prostatic adenoma with residual urine. A normal range (mean±2 SD) of 0.2–2.2 mg/24 hours nonesterified cholesterol (NEC) and of 0.3–3.0 mg/24 hours total cholesterol (TC) was calculated. Values of urinary cholesterol excretion were independent of age and sex and did not correlate with cholesterol levels in plasma. Patients with various internal diseases, without evidence of neoplasias nor diseases of the kidney or obstruction of the urinary tract, showed normal urinary cholesterol excretions, as did patients with infections of the urinary tract. However, elevated urinary cholesterol was found in patients with diseases of the kidney or urinary tract obstruction (prostatic adenoma with residual urine), malignant diseases of the urogenital tract and metastasing carcinoma of the breast. In patients with other malignant diseases urinary cholesterol was usually normal. Lesions of the urothelial cell membranes are considered to be the most likely cause of urinary cholesterol hyperexcretion. The clinical value of urinary cholesterol determinations as a possible screening test for urogenital carcinomas in unselected populations is limited by lacking specificity, expensive methodology and low prevalence of the mentioned carcinomas, although elevated urinary cholesterol excretions have been observed in early clinical stages of urogenital cancers

Local exergy cost analysis of cullet glass heating by microwaves

In this paper, the analysis of the local exergy costs of a cullet glass heated by microwaves in a cubical cavity activated by a susceptor is presented. The analysis is based on a previously validated 3-D electromagnetic model, but goes further by applying the concepts of local exergy efficiency and local unit exergy consumption, what enables a local analysis (in time and space) of the process efficiency. Furthermore, local exergy cost quantifies in detail the path of the exergy cost formation during microwave heating, which is determined by the local irreversibilities taking place in this transient process. Four different susceptor positions have been also compared, in order to find out not only which one is the most efficient but also to justify in detail this result by the time and space evolution of efficiency, unit exergy consumption (both external microwave power and conduction contributions) and unit exergy cost. The best conclusion of the paper is that the local exergy cost approach can contribute to the design of more efficient energy conversion systems, as it could be noted in its application to a complex process like this 3-D example of microwave cullet heating

Phase diagram study of a two-dimensional frustrated antiferromagnet via unsupervised machine learning

We apply unsupervised learning techniques to classify the different phases of the $J_1-J_2$ antiferromagnetic Ising model on the honeycomb lattice. We construct the phase diagram of the system using convolutional autoencoders. These neural networks can detect phase transitions in the system via `anomaly detection', without the need for any label or a priori knowledge of the phases. We present different ways of training these autoencoders and we evaluate them to discriminate between distinct magnetic phases. In this process, we highlight the case of high temperature or even random training data. Finally, we analyze the capability of the autoencoder to detect the ground state degeneracy through the reconstruction error.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figure

Immunonutrition as a potential strategy to prevent and cope with coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

In this article, a brief review of immunonutrition as a feasible alternative to modulating the immune system in defence of the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 was presented. Immunonutrition is the nutritional practice that includes the necessary nutrients to modulate the activity of the immune system in health and disease. To date, studies are encouraging because they indicate that a good diet restores or improves the immune system's response to pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. In addition, applying immunonutrition helps people recover with fewer sequelae after going through a serious infection in hospitalization and/or intensive care unit. Finally, it is suggested that immunonutrition be applied in conjunction with other good lifestyles and strictly following current health recommendations.Revisión por pare