The key role of surface tension in the transport and quantification of plastic pollution in rivers

Current riverine plastic monitoring best practices mainly consider surface observations, thus neglecting the underlying distribution of plastics in the water column. Bias on plastic budgets estimations hinders advances on modelling and prediction of plastics fate. Here, we experimentally disclose the structure of plastics transport in surface water flows by investigating how thousands of samples of plastics commonly found in fluvial environments travel in turbulent river flows. We show for the first time that surface tension plays a key role in the transport of plastics since its effects can be of the same magnitude as buoyancy and turbulence, therefore holding a part of the dispersed buoyant plastics captive by the water surface. We investigate two types of transport; surfaced plastics (surface tension-turbulence-buoyancy dominated), in contact with the free surface, and suspended plastics (turbulence-buoyancy dominated). We prove that this duality in transport modes is a major source of error in the estimation of plastic budgets, which can be underestimated by 90 % following current, well-established monitoring protocols if sampling is conducted solely in the water surface. Based on our empirical findings, we optimize physics-driven monitoring strategies for plastic fluxes in rivers, thereby achieving over a ten-fold reduction of the bias and uncertainty of riverine plastic pollution estimates.</p

Assessment of laboratory logistics management information system practice for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis laboratory commodities in selected public health facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Introduction: Logistics management information system for health commodities remained poorly implemented in most of developing countries. To assess the status of laboratory logistics management information system for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis laboratory commodities in public health facilities in Addis Ababa. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from September 2010-January 2011 at selected public health facilities. A stratified random sampling method was used to include a total of 43 facilities which, were investigated through quantitative methods using structured questionnaires interviews. Focus group discussion with the designated supply chain managers and key informant interviews were conducted for the qualitative method. Results: There exists a well-designed logistics system for laboratory commodities with trained pharmacy personnel, distributed standard LMIS formats and established inventory control procedures. However, majority of laboratory professionals were not trained in LMIS. Majority of the facilities (60.5%) were stocked out for at least one ART monitoring and TB laboratory reagents and the highest stock out rate was for chemistry reagents. Expired ART monitoring laboratory commodities were found in 25 (73.5%) of facilities. Fifty percent (50%) of the assessed hospitals and 54% of health centers were currently using stock/bin cards for all HIV/AIDS and TB laboratory commodities in main pharmacy store, among these only 25% and 20.8% of them were updated with accurate information matching with the physical count done at the time of visit for hospitals and health centers respectively. Conclusion: Even though there exists a well designed laboratory LMIS, keeping quality stock/bin cards and LMIS reports were very low. Key ART monitoring laboratory commodities were stock out at many facilities at the day of visit and during the past six months. Based on findings, training of laboratory personnel's managing laboratory commodities and keeping accurate inventory control procedures were recommended.Key words: Logistics management information system, stock outs, laboratory commoditie

BayesGmed : An R-package for Bayesian Causal Mediation Analysis

3 figures. A missing appendix sections added and a text about prior specification added in section 4Preprin

How Being Inside or Outside of Buildings Affects the Causal Relationship Between Weather and Pain Among People Living with Chronic Pain

Although many people believe their pain fluctuates with weather conditions, both weather and pain may be associated with time spent outside. For example, pleasant weather may mean that people spend more time outside doing physical activity and exposed to the weather, leading to more (or less) pain, and poor weather or severe pain may keep people inside, sedentary, and not exposed to the weather. We conducted a smartphone study where participants with chronic pain reported daily pain severity, as well as time spent outside. We address the relationship between four weather variables (temperature, dewpoint temperature, pressure, and wind speed) and pain by proposing a three-step approach to untangle their effects: (i) propose a set of plausible directed acyclic graphs (also known as DAGs) that account for potential roles of time spent outside (e.g., collider, effect modifier, mediator), (ii) analyze the compatibility of the observed data with the assumed model, and (iii) identify the most plausible model by combining evidence from the observed data and domain-specific knowledge. We found that the data do not support time spent outside as a collider or mediator of the relationship between weather variables and pain. On the other hand, time spent outside modifies the effect between temperature and pain, as well as wind speed and pain, with the effect being absent on days that participants spent inside and present if they spent some or all of the day outside. Our results show the utility of using directed acyclic graphs for studying causal inference.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure, 3 table

Barriers to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Autopsies, California

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) surveillance relies on autopsy and neuropathologic evaluation. The 1990–2000 CJD autopsy rate in California was 21%. Most neurologists were comfortable diagnosing CJD (83%), but few pathologists felt comfortable diagnosing CJD (35%) or performing autopsy (29%). Addressing obstacles to autopsy is necessary to improve CJD surveillance

Married women's decision making power on family planning use and associated factors in Mizan-Aman, South Ethiopia : a cross sectional study

Background: Women's use of family planning service is influenced by many factors, especially by their decision making power. A woman's decision-making power, be it individual or decision made in collaboration with a partner, is the most important factor in the use of family planning in a household. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of women's decision making power on family planning use and its associated factors. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on married women in the child bearing age. The women who were living in Mizan city were selected using the simple random sampling method. Trained nurses collected the data by interview, using a structured and pre-tested questioner. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify the associated factors, and the odds ratio with a 95 % CI was computed to assess the strength of the association. Collinearity was also assessed by looking at standard errors in the final fitted model. Result: Overall, more than two-thirds [67.2 %: 95 % CI (63-71 %)] of the married women were found to be more autonomous to decide family planning use. Secondary education [AOR: 9.04, 95 % CI: (4.50, 18.16)], government employment [AOR: 4.84, 95 % CI: (2.03, 11.52)], being wives of government employed spouses [AOR 2.71, 95 % CI: (1.24, 7.97)], having husbands with college or university education [AOR: 11.29, 95 % CI: (4.66, 27.35)], and being in the younger age [AOR: 0.27, 95 % CI :(0.09, 0.75)] were significantly associated with women's decision-making power on family planning. Conclusions: In this study, women had a high decision making power in family planning use. Age category (34-44-years), formal education, and occupational status had effects on women's decision making power. Promoting parental adult education and engaging women in out of house employment is essential to improve their decision making power in using family planning

Lignin biosynthesis in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): its response to waterlogging and association with hormonal levels

Phylogenetic relationships of wheat C3H and CCoAOMT genes with the homologs from other species. Phylogenetic trees of C3H (A) and CCoAOMT (B) were generated based on nucleic acid sequence similarity of wheat genes with 15 C3H and 19 CCoAOMT genes, respectively, of other monocot and dicot species identified from the NCBI nucleotide database [39] using MEGA program [41], and the trees were inferred using Maximum Likelihood method based on the Tamura-nei model. The percentage of replicate trees in which the associated taxa clustered together in the bootstrap test of 500 replicates is shown next to the branches. ●, wheat candidate gene; ▲, genes from dicot species other than Arabidopsis; *, wheat sequence used for the analysis. (PDF 175 kb

An all-electron density functional theory study of the structure and properties of the neutral and singly charged M-12 and M-13 clusters: M = Sc-Zn

The electronic and geometrical structures of the M 12 and M 13 clusters where M = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn along with their singly negatively and positively charged ions are studied using all-electron density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation. The geometries corresponding to the lowest total energy states of singly and negatively charged ions of V13, Mn12, Co12, Ni 13, Cu 13, Zn 12, and Zn 13 are found to be different from the geometries of the corresponding neutral parents. The computed ionizationenergies of the neutrals, vertical electron detachment energies from the anions, and energies required to remove a single atom from the M 13 and M 13 + clusters are in good agreement with experiment. The change in a total spin magnetic moment of the cation or anion with respect to a total spin magnetic moment of the corresponding neutral is consistent with the one-electron model in most cases, i.e., they differ by ±1.0 μ B. Exceptions are found only for Sc12 −, Ti12 +, Mn12 −, Mn12 +, Fe12 −, Fe13 +, and Co12 +

Intestinal parasitic infections among under-five children and maternal awareness about the infections in Shesha Kekele, Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Few studies have reported the magnitude of intestinal parasitic infections among under-five children in tropical countries. Moreover, there is little information on maternal awareness about intestinal parasitosis.Objective: To determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitosis among under-five children, and assess maternal awareness about it in Shesha Kebkele, Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia.Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 288 under-five children was conducted and stool samples were collected and examined for intestinal parasites using Kato-Katz and formol-ether concentration methods. In addition, a total of 130 mothers of under-five children were interviewed regarding their awareness about intestinal parasitic infections.Results: Of the 288 children, 245 (85.1%) were found infected with one or more intestinal parasites. The prevalence of Trichuris trichiura, Schistosoma mansoni and Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, and Hymenolepis nana infections as determined by Kato-Katz were 74.7%, 37.2%, 25.7%, 5.9%, and 4.5%, respectively. On the other hand, theprevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, and Entamoeba coli infections as determined by formol-ether concentration method were 0.69%, 13.2%, 0.35%, and 2.1%, respectively. Most mothers were reasonably aware of the mode of transmission of ascariasis, amoebiasis and giardiasis while they hadvery limited knowledge of bilharzia and hookworm transmission. Almost all of the respondents reported that infections with intestinal parasites could cause retardation of growth and death in children unless treated.Conclusion: Intestinal parasitic infections were prevalent in varying magnitude among under-five children in Wondo Genet area, Southern Ethiopia. Mothers in the study area had a fairly good knowledge of the impact of infections but limited knowledge of the mode of transmission of intestinal parasitic infections. Improvement of sanitation and healtheducation are required besides preventive chemotherapy to control worms (except for schistosomiasis in under-five which need treatment on an individual basis) and other intestinal parasitic infections in the area