Personality Traits in Miners with Past Occupational Elemental Mercury Exposure

In this study, we evaluated the impact of long-term occupational exposure to elemental mercury vapor (Hg(0)) on the personality traits of ex-mercury miners. Study groups included 53 ex-miners previously exposed to Hg(0) and 53 age-matched controls. Miners and controls completed the self-reporting Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Emotional States Questionnaire. The relationship between the indices of past occupational exposure and the observed personality traits was evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and on a subgroup level by machine learning methods (regression trees). The ex-mercury miners were intermittently exposed to Hg(0) for a period of 7–31 years. The means of exposure-cycle urine mercury (U-Hg) concentrations ranged from 20 to 120 μg/L. The results obtained indicate that ex-miners tend to be more introverted and sincere, more depressive, more rigid in expressing their emotions and are likely to have more negative self-concepts than controls, but no correlations were found with the indices of past occupational exposure. Despite certain limitations, results obtained by the regression tree suggest that higher alcohol consumption per se and long-term intermittent, moderate exposure to Hg(0) (exposure cycle mean U-Hg concentrations > 38.7 < 53.5 μg/L) in interaction with alcohol remain a plausible explanation for the depression associated with negative self-concept found in subgroups of ex-mercury miners. This could be one of the reason for the higher risk of suicide among miners of the Idrija Mercury Mine in the last 45 years

Impact of Fischer Tropsch and biodiesel fuels on trade-offs between pollutant emissions and combustion noise in diesel engines

[EN] Over recent decades, direct injection diesel engines have become the propulsion systems most commonly used in automotive vehicles in Europe. Their leading position in the European market is due to improvements in performance, driveability and their capacity for facing the increasingly restrictive standards to which are subject. Nevertheless, their main drawbacks are related to the emission levels, the use of fossil fuels and the engine noise. To mitigate the first two problems, alternative fuels are being used in these engines with encouraging results. The impact of these fuels on engine noise might therefore be analyzed in order to evaluate the feasibility of such a solution. In this work the effect of diverse alternative fuels on emissions, performance and engine noise quality was analyzed. Compared with standard diesel fuel, results show a scarce variation of combustion noise quality whereas soot level decreases, NOx emissions increase and specific consumption deteriorates. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work has been partially supported by Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia through grant No. TRA2006-13782. L.F. Monico holds the grant 2009/003 from Santiago Grisolia Program of Generalitat Valenciana.Torregrosa, AJ.; Broatch, A.; Plá Moreno, B.; Mónico Muñoz, LF. (2013). Impact of Fischer Tropsch and biodiesel fuels on trade-offs between pollutant emissions and combustion noise in diesel engines. Biomass and Bioenergy. 52:22-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2013.03.004S22335

Liver hanging maneuver for right hemiliver in situ donation – anatomical considerations

Background. An anatomical study was carried out to evaluate the safety of the liver hanging maneuver for the right hemiliver in living donor and in situ splitting transplantation. During this procedure a 4–6 cm blind dissection is performed between the inferior vena cava and the liver. Short subhepatic veins entering the inferior vena cava from segments 1 and 9 could be torn with consequent hemorrhage. Materials and methods. One hundred corrosive casts of livers were evaluated to establish the position and diameter of short subhepatic veins and the inferior right hepatic vein. Results. The average distance from the right border of the inferior vena cava to the opening of segment 1 veins was 16.7±3.4 mm and to the entrance of segment 9 veins was 5.0±0.5 mm. The width of the narrowest point on the route of blind dissection was determined, with the average value being 8.7±2.3 mm (range 2–15 mm). Discussion. The results show that the liver hanging maneuver is a safe procedure. A proposed route of dissection minimizes the risk of disrupting short subhepatic veins (7%)