Medical Geology : a globally emerging discipline

Medical Geology, the study of the impacts of geologic materials and processes on animal and human health, is a dynamic emerging discipline bringing together the geoscience, biomedical, and public health communities to solve a wide range of environmental health problems. Among the Medical Geology described in this review are examples of both deficiency and toxicity of trace element exposure. Goiter is a widespread and potentially serious health problem caused by deficiency of iodine. In many locations the deficiency is attributable to low concentrations of iodine in the bedrock. Similarly, deficiency of selenium in the soil has been cited as the principal cause of juvenile cardiomyopathy and muscular abnormalities. Overexposure to arsenic is one of the most widespread Medical Geology problems affecting more than one hundred million people in Bangladesh, India, China, Europe, Africa and North and South America. The arsenic exposure is primarily due to naturally high levels in groundwater but combustion of mineralized coal has also caused arsenic poisoning. Dental and skeletal fluorosis also impacts the health of millions of people around the world and, like arsenic, is due to naturally high concentrations in drinking water and, to a lesser extent, coal combustion. Other Medical Geology issues described include geophagia, the deliberate ingestion of soil, exposure to radon, and ingestion of high concentrations of organic compounds in drinking water. Geoscience and biomedical/public health researchers are teaming to help mitigate these health problems as well as various non-traditional issues for geoscientists such as vector-borne diseases

Characterization of surface decorations in Prehispanic archaeological ceramics by Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD and XRF

Non-invasive Raman microspectroscopy, FTIR, μXRD and XRF were used to identify the materials present in the black, red, and white surface decorations in selected pottery wares from two Prehispanic archaeological sites in Northwestern (NW) Argentina (AD 900?1530). The iron manganese spinel jacobsite, MnFe2O4, was found to be the main component of two of the fired black decorations analyzed, while hematite and amorphous silicates were found to be present in the red and white fired decorations, respectively. This is the first study, to our knowledge, that firmly identifies jacobsite in black decorations in Prehispanic archaeological ceramics. In fragments recovered from one site, a carbon-based black pigment was identified while gypsum was observed in the recessed areas of decorative surface incisions. Gypsum, potassium nitrate and halite, most likely deposited during burial, were observed on the surface of some of the fragments analyzed. The results are discussed in the context of the technological processes involved and are compared to compositions previously reported for decorations in ceramic objects from NW Argentina.Fil: Centeno, Silvia A.. The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Estados UnidosFil: Williams, Veronica Isabel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Little, Nicole C.. Museum Conservation Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Speakman, Robert J.. Museum Conservation Institute; Estados Unido

Fracture Detection in Bio-Glues with Fluorescent-Protein-Based Optical Force Probes

Glues are being used to bond, seal, and repair in industry and biomedicine. The improvement of gluing performance is hence important for the development of new glues with better and balanced property spaces, which in turn necessitates a mechanistic understanding of their mechanical failure. Optical force probes (OFPs) allow the observation of mechanical material damage in polymers from the macro- down to the microscale, yet have never been employed in glues. Here, the development of a series of ratiometric OFPs based on fluorescent-protein–dye and protein–protein conjugates and their incorporation into genetically engineered bio-glues is reported. The OFPs are designed to efficiently modulate Förster resonance energy transfer upon force application thereby reporting on force-induced molecular alterations independent of concentration and fluorescence intensity both spectrally and through their fluorescence lifetime. By fluorescence spectroscopy in solution and in the solid state and by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, stress concentrations are visualized and adhesive and cohesive failure in the fracture zone is differentiated.</p

El hábitat popular hoy en las ciudades peruanas. Una contribución a los estudios urbanos en el Perú

1. Elementos de contexto Este volumen busca contribuir a la dinámica de los estudios urbanos peruanos. Reúne investigaciones sobre el hábitat popular, objeto tradicional de los estudios urbanos, el cual sigue siendo uno de los mayores desafíos de las ciudades del país: de acuerdo con el Ministerio de Vivienda, Construcción y Saneamiento (MVCS, 2012), el 73% de los núcleos urbanos en Lima Metropolitana puede ser considerado como Barrio Urbano Marginal (BUM). Esta cifra es mayor que en otras c..

New species of Hsunycteris.

26 pages : illustrations (some color), map ; 26 cm.A new species of the nectarivorous bat genus Hsunycteris is described from lowland Amazonian forest in northeastern Peru. The new species, H. dashe, can be distinguished from other congeners by its larger size; V-shaped array of dermal chin papillae separated by a wide basal cleft; metacarpal V longer than metacarpal IV; broad rostrum; lateral margin of infraorbital foramen not projecting beyond rostral outline in dorsal view; well-developed sphenoidal crest; large outer upper incisors; weakly developed lingual cusp on P5; and well-developed, labially oriented M1 parastyle. A phylogenetic analysis of cytochrome-b sequence data indicates that H. dashe is sister to a clade that includes all other species of the genus including H. cadenai, H. pattoni, and a paraphyletic H. thomasi. We provide a key based on craniodental and external characters of all four known species of Hsunycteris

Identificación de las variables producto de embarazo y período de embarazo sobre la muerte fetal mediante el uso de estadístico de chi cuadrado

The objective of this research is to raise awareness of the sociodemographic and maternity risk factors that occur during the gestal period to achieve a decrease in the fetal death rate. The problem lies in the fact that in recent years the rate of fetal death has been increasing in Ecuador. To solve this problem, a 2016 INEC database on fetal death in Ecuador was used. The calculations will be carried out in the Rstudio work environment, designed for statistics, where contingency tables will be applied to group variables that could be related and chi-square that will allow to determine if there is a relationship between the variables. It was possible to obtain as a result the relationship between the gestation period and the pregnancy product, it was also concluded that the pregnancy product and dead born children obtain a higher percentage of relation that is present in the product of packaging Simple ration with 93.62% and the relationship between gestation period and the sex of the baby, gives the highest incidence in men with a total of 0.56% and women with 0.42%.El objetivo de esta investigación es dar a conocer los factores de riesgos sociodemográficos y de maternidad que ocurren durante el período gestal para lograr así una disminución de la tasa de defunción fetal. El problema radica debido a que en los últimos años el índice de defunción fetal se ha visto en aumento en el Ecuador. Para resolver este problema se recurrió a tomar una base de datos de la INEC del 2016 sobre la defunción fetal en el Ecuador. Los cálculos se realizarán en el entorno de trabajo Rstudio, diseñado para la estadística, donde se aplicará las tablas de contingencia para agrupar variables que podrían estar relacionadas y chi-cuadrado que permitirá determinar si existe una relación entre las variables. Se logró obtener como resultado la relación entre el periodo de gestación y el producto del embarazo, también se llegó a la conclusión que el producto de embarazo e hijos nacidos muertos obtienen un mayor porcentaje de relación que está presente en el producto de embarazo simple con un 93.62% y la relación entre periodo de gestación y el sexo del bebe, da como mayor incidencia en los hombres con un total de 0.56% y las mujeres con un 0.42%

Sparse multinomial kernel discriminant analysis (sMKDA)

Dimensionality reduction via canonical variate analysis (CVA) is important for pattern recognition and has been extended variously to permit more flexibility, e.g. by "kernelizing" the formulation. This can lead to over-fitting, usually ameliorated by regularization. Here, a method for sparse, multinomial kernel discriminant analysis (sMKDA) is proposed, using a sparse basis to control complexity. It is based on the connection between CVA and least-squares, and uses forward selection via orthogonal least-squares to approximate a basis, generalizing a similar approach for binomial problems. Classification can be performed directly via minimum Mahalanobis distance in the canonical variates. sMKDA achieves state-of-the-art performance in terms of accuracy and sparseness on 11 benchmark datasets