Plasma focus based repetitive source of fusion neutrons and hard x-rays

A plasma focus device capable of operating at 0.2 pulses per second during several minutes is used as a source of hard x-rays and fast neutrons. An experimental demonstration of the use of the neutrons emissions for radiation probing of hydrogenated substances is presented, showing a particular application in detecting water concentrations differences in the proximity of the device by elastic scattering. Moreover, the device produces ultrashort hard x-rays pulses useful for introspective images of small objects, static or in fast motion, suitable for the identification of internal submillimetric defects. Clear images of metallic objects shielded by several millimeters iron walls are shown.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure

Myliobatis goodei, southern eagle ray

The Southern Eagle Ray (Myliobatis goodei) is a medium-sized (to at least 115 cm DW) coastal eagle ray that occurs in the Western Central and Southwest Atlantic Oceans from South Carolina and Florida, USA and Quintana Roo, Mexico to San Jorge Gulf, Santa Cruz, Argentina. It inhabits continental shelves from inshore to depths of 181 m. It is captured using artisanal longlines, gillnets, beach seines, and in industrial shrimp trawls. This species is inferred to be stable or increasing in the Western Central Atlantic, based on its similarity to the Bullnose Eagle Ray (Myliobatis freminvillei). In the Southwest Atlantic artisanal fisheries are intense, further there are largely unmanaged commercial trawl and longline fisheries in many areas. In Brazil, landings of eagle rays have been reduced by 60% over 2000?2012 in Santa Catarina State, and a reduction of 91% in Rio Grande do Sul since the 1980s. This inshore eagle ray has no refuge at depth and is exposed to intense and often unmanaged fishing pressure throughout the Atlantic South American portion of its range and there it is suspected that this species has undergone a population reduction of >80% over the past three generation lengths (44 years), but is stable in the Western Central Atlantic. Overall, based its range with the almost all threats found in the Southwest Atlantic, the suspected low productivity of the species, this species is suspected to have undergone a population reduction of 30 49% in three generation lengths (44 years) due to levels of exploitation, and it is assessed as Vulnerable A2d.Fil: Carlson, J.. National Marine Fisheries Service; Estados UnidosFil: Charvet, P.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Avalos Castillo, C.. Fundación Mundo Azul; GuatemalaFil: Blanco Parra, M. P.. Universidad de Quintana Roo; MéxicoFil: Briones Bell lloch, A.. Dirección de Regulaciones Pesqueras y Ciencias; CubaFil: Cardeñosa, D.. Florida International University; Estados UnidosFil: Chiaramonte, Gustavo Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia". Estación Hidrobiológica de Puerto Quequén (sede Quequén); ArgentinaFil: Cuevas, J.M.. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados UnidosFil: Derrick, D.. University Fraser Simon; CanadáFil: Espinoza, E.. Galapagos National Park Directorate; EcuadorFil: Mejía Falla, P. A.. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados UnidosFil: Morales Saldaña, J. M.. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; PanamáFil: Motta, F.. Universidade Federal Do Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Naranjo Elizondo, B.. Universidad de Costa Rica; Costa RicaFil: Pacoureau, N.. University Fraser Simon; CanadáFil: Paesch, L.. Direccion Nacional de Recursos Acuaticos ; UruguayFil: Pérez Jiménez, J. C.. El Colegio de la Frontera del Sur; MéxicoFil: Rincon, G.. Universidade Federal Do Maranhao.; BrasilFil: Schneider, E. V. C.. Cape Eleuthera Institute; BahamasFil: Simpson, N. J.. Salvageblue; San Vicente y las GranadinasFil: Talwar, B. S.. Florida International University; Estados UnidosFil: Pollom, R.. University Fraser Simon; Canad

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980-2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Global development goals increasingly rely on country-specific estimates for benchmarking a nation's progress. To meet this need, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 estimated global, regional, national, and, for selected locations, subnational cause-specific mortality beginning in the year 1980. Here we report an update to that study, making use of newly available data and improved methods. GBD 2017 provides a comprehensive assessment of cause-specific mortality for 282 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1980 to 2017. Methods The causes of death database is composed of vital registration (VR), verbal autopsy (VA), registry, survey, police, and surveillance data. GBD 2017 added ten VA studies, 127 country-years of VR data, 502 cancer-registry country-years, and an additional surveillance country-year. Expansions of the GBD cause of death hierarchy resulted in 18 additional causes estimated for GBD 2017. Newly available data led to subnational estimates for five additional countries Ethiopia, Iran, New Zealand, Norway, and Russia. Deaths assigned International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for non-specific, implausible, or intermediate causes of death were reassigned to underlying causes by redistribution algorithms that were incorporated into uncertainty estimation. We used statistical modelling tools developed for GBD, including the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODErn), to generate cause fractions and cause specific death rates for each location, year, age, and sex. Instead of using UN estimates as in previous versions, GBD 2017 independently estimated population size and fertility rate for all locations. Years of life lost (YLLs) were then calculated as the sum of each death multiplied by the standard life expectancy at each age. All rates reported here are age-standardised. Findings At the broadest grouping of causes of death (Level 1), non-communicable diseases (NC Ds) comprised the greatest fraction of deaths, contributing to 73.4% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 72.5-74.1) of total deaths in 2017, while communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) causes accounted for 186% (17.9-19.6), and injuries 8.0% (7.7-8.2). Total numbers of deaths from NCD causes increased from 2007 to 2017 by 22.7% (21.5-23.9), representing an additional 7.61 million (7. 20-8.01) deaths estimated in 2017 versus 2007. The death rate from NCDs decreased globally by 7.9% (7.08.8). The number of deaths for CMNN causes decreased by 222% (20.0-24.0) and the death rate by 31.8% (30.1-33.3). Total deaths from injuries increased by 2.3% (0-5-4-0) between 2007 and 2017, and the death rate from injuries decreased by 13.7% (12.2-15.1) to 57.9 deaths (55.9-59.2) per 100 000 in 2017. Deaths from substance use disorders also increased, rising from 284 000 deaths (268 000-289 000) globally in 2007 to 352 000 (334 000-363 000) in 2017. Between 2007 and 2017, total deaths from conflict and terrorism increased by 118.0% (88.8-148.6). A greater reduction in total deaths and death rates was observed for some CMNN causes among children younger than 5 years than for older adults, such as a 36.4% (32.2-40.6) reduction in deaths from lower respiratory infections for children younger than 5 years compared with a 33.6% (31.2-36.1) increase in adults older than 70 years. Globally, the number of deaths was greater for men than for women at most ages in 2017, except at ages older than 85 years. Trends in global YLLs reflect an epidemiological transition, with decreases in total YLLs from enteric infections, respirator}, infections and tuberculosis, and maternal and neonatal disorders between 1990 and 2017; these were generally greater in magnitude at the lowest levels of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). At the same time, there were large increases in YLLs from neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases. YLL rates decreased across the five leading Level 2 causes in all SDI quintiles. The leading causes of YLLs in 1990 neonatal disorders, lower respiratory infections, and diarrhoeal diseases were ranked second, fourth, and fifth, in 2017. Meanwhile, estimated YLLs increased for ischaemic heart disease (ranked first in 2017) and stroke (ranked third), even though YLL rates decreased. Population growth contributed to increased total deaths across the 20 leading Level 2 causes of mortality between 2007 and 2017. Decreases in the cause-specific mortality rate reduced the effect of population growth for all but three causes: substance use disorders, neurological disorders, and skin and subcutaneous diseases. Interpretation Improvements in global health have been unevenly distributed among populations. Deaths due to injuries, substance use disorders, armed conflict and terrorism, neoplasms, and cardiovascular disease are expanding threats to global health. For causes of death such as lower respiratory and enteric infections, more rapid progress occurred for children than for the oldest adults, and there is continuing disparity in mortality rates by sex across age groups. Reductions in the death rate of some common diseases are themselves slowing or have ceased, primarily for NCDs, and the death rate for selected causes has increased in the past decade. Copyright (C) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Caracterización del comportamiento bajo tensión de un hilo

En este trabajo se ilustra que utilizando materiales de la vida cotidiana, se pueden realizar interesantes experiencias a muy bajo costo con resultados sorprendentes, los cuales motivan en los estudiantes un gran interés por el estudio de las ciencias. Entre los resultados que mostraremos en este experimento están: i) que la tensión máxima que soporta un hilo es independiente de su longitud, ii) que un hilo no obedece la ley de Hooke y que se caracteriza más por un comportamiento plástico, y iii) se registra un salto en la curva de elongación contra la fuerza aplicada, el cual se explica teniendo en cuenta la estructura interna del hilo

Physicochemical characterization of in situ drug-polymer nanocomplex formed between zwitterionic drug and ionomeric material in aqueous solution

Biocompatible polymeric materials with the potential to form functional structures, in association with different therapeutic molecules, in physiological media, represent a great potential for biological and pharmaceutical applications. Therefore, here the formation of a nano-complex between a synthetic cationic polymer and model drug (ampicillin trihydrate) was studied. The formed complex was characterized by size and zeta potential measurements, using dynamic light scattering and capillary electrophoresis. Moreover, the chemical and thermodynamically stability of these complexes were studied. The ionomeric material, here referred as EuCl, was obtained by equimolar reaction between Eudragit E and HCl. The structural characterization was carried out by potentiometric titration, FTIR spectroscopy, and DSC. The effect of pH, time, polymer concentration and ampicillin/polymer molar ratio over the hydrodynamic diameter and zeta potential were establishe