Activated Carbon Filters

Many people feel the water supplied by public water systems to their home faucets is not safe. Most people judge the quality of their water by taste, odor and appearance. But the risk to one\u27s health cannot be judged by these factors. Many of the chemicals or biological organisms that affect one\u27s health are tasteless, odorless and cannot be seen. In searching for a means to improve the safety to their drinking water they encounter water filters, water purifiers, activated carbon (AC) filters that are common names for home drinking water treatment devices. In reading the labels, boxes and instructions on these devices to choose a reliable device, a consumer can become confused as to what the devices are able to remove from the water, by what means do they remove contaminants and how reliable these devices are. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has defined three general categories of home drinking water treatment devices

Home Water Testing

Routine testing for a few of the most common contaminants is highly recommended. Even if you currently have a safe, pure water supply, regular testing can be valuable because it establishes a record of water quality. This record can be helpful in solving any future problems and in obtaining compensation if someone damages your water supply. Testing needs to be performed by certified testing laboratory using USEPA methods of collection, storage and testing. Unbiased testing needs to be established and has more validity in court proceedings to establish responsibility

Pre-validation of a MALDI MS proteomics-based method for the reliable detection of blood and blood provenance

Abstract: The reliable identification of blood, as well as the determination of its origin (human or animal) is of great importance in a forensic investigation. Whilst presumptive tests are rapid and deployed in situ, their very nature requires confirmatory tests to be performed remotely. However, only serological tests can determine blood provenance. The present study improves on a previously devised Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (MALDI MS)—proteomics based method for the reliable detection of blood by enabling the determination of blood provenance. The overall protocol was developed to be more specific than presumptive tests and faster/easier than the gold standard liquid chromatography (LC) MS/MS analysis. This is considered a pre-validation study that has investigated stains and fingermarks made in blood, other biofluids and substances that can elicit a false-positive response to colorimetric or presumptive tests, in a blind fashion. Stains and marks were either untreated or enhanced with a range of presumptive tests. Human and animal blood were correctly discriminated from other biofluids and non-biofluid related matrices; animal species determination was also possible within the system investigated. The procedure is compatible with the prior application of presumptive tests. The refined strategy resulting from iterative improvements through a trial and error study of 56 samples was applied to a final set of 13 blind samples. This final study yielded 12/13 correct identifications with the 13th sample being correctly identified as animal blood but with no species attribution. This body of work will contribute towards the validation of MALDI MS based methods and deployment in violent crimes involving bloodshed

Initial investigation of the Landers, California, Earthquake of 28 June 1992 using TERRAscope

The 1992 Landers earthquake (M_s =7.5, M_w =7.3) was recorded at six TERRAscope stations in southern California. Peak accelerations ranged from 0.16 g at SVD (Δ=63 km) to 0.0092 g at ISA (Δ=245 km), decreasing with distance away from the fault zone. The peak velocity showed a different pattern reflecting the rupture directivity from south to north. The largest peak velocity, 19 cm/sec, was observed at GSC (Δ=125 km). Moment tensor inversion of long‐period surface waves yielded a mechanism with M_0=1.1×10^(27) dyne‐cm (M_w =7.3), dip=74°, rake=−176°, and strike=340°. Inversion of teleseismic P and S waves revealed two distinct sub‐events of 6 and 8 sec duration and about 10 sec apart. The source parameters for the first and second events are: M_0=1.9×10^(26) dyne‐cm, dip=83°, rake=179°, strike=359°; and M_0=6.1×10^(26) dyne‐cm, dip=87°, rake=178°, strike=333°, respectively. The radiated wave energy, E_S, was estimated as 4.3×10^(23) ergs. The ratio E_s/M_0=3.9×10^(−4) corresponds to a stress drop of 280 bars, and suggests that the Landers earthquake belongs to the group of high stress drop earthquakes, and occurred on a fault with a long recurrence time. The rupture directivity can be seen clearly in the records from PFO (Δ=68 km) located to the south and GSC located to the north of the epicenter. The maximum displacement at PFO is only 13% of that at GSC despite the shorter epicentral distance to PFO than to GSC. The slip distribution determined with the empirical Green's function method indicates that the Landers earthquake consists of two distinct sub‐events about 30 km apart, with the second sub‐event to the north being about twice as large as the first one. This slip distribution is consistent with the teleseismic data and the surface offsets mapped in the field

Assessing the Impact of Suboptimal Donor Characteristics on Mortality After Liver Transplantation: A Time-dependent Analysis Comparing HCC With Non-HCC Patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients who receive a liver transplant for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) often receive poorer-quality livers. Tumor recurrence also has a negative effect on posttransplant outcomes. We compared mortality of HCC and non-HCC recipients in different posttransplant time periods (epochs) to separate the impact of these different risk factors on short-term and longer-term posttransplant survival. METHODS: We identified a population-based cohort of first-time liver transplant recipients (aged ≥16 years) between 2008 and 2016 in the United Kingdom. We used Cox regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) comparing posttransplant mortality between HCC and non-HCC patients in 3 posttransplant epochs: 0 to 90 days, 90 days to 2 years, and 2 to 5 years, with adjustment first for recipient and later also for donor characteristics. RESULTS: One thousand two hundred seventy HCC and 3657 non-HCC transplant recipients were included. Five-year posttransplant survival was 74.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 71.2%-77.5%) in HCC patients and 84.6% (83.0%-86.1%) in non-HCC patients. With adjustment for recipient characteristics only, mortality of HCC patients was lower but not statistically significantly different in the first 90 days (HR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.53-1.09; P = 0.11), but significantly higher thereafter (90 days to 2 years: HR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.48-2.66; P < 0.001; 2 to 5 years HR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.30-2.42; P < 0.001). Further adjustment for donor characteristics had little impact on these results. CONCLUSIONS: HCC recipients have poorer 5-year posttransplant survival than non-HCC recipients, most likely because of tumor recurrence. The more frequent use of poorer-quality donor organs for HCC does not explain this difference

Rabies Encephalitis in Malaria-Endemic Area, Malawi, Africa

In a malaria-endemic area of Africa, rabies was an important cause of fatal central nervous system infection, responsible for 14 (10.5%) of 133 cases. Four patients had unusual clinical manifestations, and rabies was only diagnosed postmortem. Three (11.5%) of 26 fatal cases were originally attributed to cerebral malaria

Prospectus, April 29, 1974

STUDENTS SEEK GOVERNMENT POSTS; 14 Candidates Run For Major Stu-Go Positions; College Construction Nearing Completion; I.O.C. Sponsors Spring Carnival; Cruisin\u27 \u2774; President\u27s Report; Raines To Speak On Education; Parkland\u27s New School Fight Song; P/C Sponsors Festival Of Foreign Films; A Film For The Times; Doobie\u27s Latest Disappointing; A Column By and For Women; Going Back To Work; Hypertension Screening Tests May 6; Candidates\u27 Platforms; Let\u27s Go To The Bars; Fire Destroys Campus Building; Monday\u27s Coach; IM Department Still Scheduling Sports Events; Give The Girls A Break; Parkland College Baseball (Tentative 1974 Scehdule); Bowling Bulletin Board; Cobra Statistics Reveal Good Odds; Classified Ads; Prepare For Graduation; Graduation Calendar Events; Cobra Tracksters Run To Second At Harper Meet; Crosswords; Parkland Events; Krannert Art Schedule; P/C Jazz Band To Perform In J/C Competition; Committee Announced Special Day; SCI Plans Symposium; Attention E. I. U. Transfer Students; Mime Group Performs Visual Composition; Blood Bank I.D. Cards; Summer Field Course In American Southwesthttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1974/1014/thumbnail.jp

Southern California Seismic Network: Caltech/USGS Element of TriNet 1997-2001

The California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology (CDMG) are completing the implementation of TriNet, a modern seismic information system for southern California. TriNet consists of two elements, the Caltech-USGS element and the CDMG element (Mori et al., 1998). The Caltech-USGS element (Caltech-USGS TriNet) concentrates on rapid notification and archiving of data for seismological applications, while the CDMG element is focused on the needs of engineering users (Hauksson et al., 2002). All three. TriNet agencies are working toward facilitating emergency response and long-term mitigation of earthquake hazards in cooperation with other agencies. The technical development of Caltech-USGS TriNet is sufficiently different from the CDMG element of TriNet to warrant a separate description. This paper provides a technical overview of the design principles of Caltech-USGS TriNet. These principles were based on a document that stated the scientific requirements of TriNet (Jones et al., 1997). We also describe the implementation of these principles using modern technology. The implementation consisted of station deployments, establishing communications links, and developing and implementing new hardware and software for data processing and information distribution. Thus, the Caltech-USGS TriNet is an integrated project extending across many disciplines, using basic ground-motion data and seismological algorithms to generate in near real-time a sophisticated earthquake knowledge base following earthquakes in southern California. Caltech-USGS TriNet applies advanced technology to record both small and large earthquakes on scale. The latest generation of broadband and strong-motion sensors with 24-bit digitizers is used to acquire high-fidelity ground-motion data. Real-time communication is a requirement to facilitate rapid processing and notification about seismicity for emergency management. The data acquisition systems are designed to ensure redundancy and automated processing of data. To accomplish automation, high-speed computers and advanced software form the inner workings of the Caltech-USGS TriNet system. Adopting the commercial database Oracle is an important foundation of our data management system. The automated flow of data into an accessible data center and the automatic population of the database is part of our new seismic network design and is an essential feature of Caltech-USGS TriNet. The TriNet real-time systems and database have been operating online for more than two years, processing real-time data currently from more than 375 stations, or more than 1,200 high sample-rate data channels. Many of these capabilities were tested in the 1999 M_w 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake. New postprocessing and catalog-generation approaches have also been implemented in 2001. Caltech-USGS TriNet is one of the first U.S. regional seismic networks that uses digital technology on a scale of 200 or more stations, with both broadband and strongmotion sensors. In comparison, the IRIS Global Seismic Network consists of 108 stations, with plans for a total of 150 stations (Hutt and Bolton, 1999). Previous digital networks, such as TERRAscope (Kanamori et al., 1997) and the Berkeley Digital Seismic Network (BDSN) (Gee et aL, 1996), have been smaller than TriNet, with about 20 stations each. TriNet also benefits from the experience of other seismic networks around the world. The K-Net in Japan is another example of large-scale deployment of a digital network, although it is focused on strong motions (Kinoshita, 1998). Extensive developments of strong-motion networks in Taiwan and associated near-real-time processing of data employ somewhat different technology but have similar goals for information products following large earthquakes (Teng et al., 1997)