173 research outputs found

    Factors affecting crude oil and VLCC market

    Get PDF

    Ore geology, fluid inclusions, and (H-O-S-Pb) isotope geochemistry of the sediment-hosted antimony mineralization, lyhamyar Sb deposit, southern shan plateau, eastern myanmar: Implications for ore genesis

    Get PDF
    The Lyhamyar deposit is a large Sb deposit in the Southern Shan Plateau, Eastern Myanmar. The deposit is located in the Early Silurian Linwe Formation, occurring as syntectonic quartz-stibnite veins. The ore body forms an irregular staircase shape, probably related to steep faulting. Based on the mineral assemblages and cross-cutting relationships, the deposit shows two mineralization stages: (1) the pre-ore sedimentary and diagenetic stage, and (2) the main-ore hydrothermal ore-forming stage (including stages I, II, and III), i.e., (i) early-ore stage (stage I) Quartz-Stibnite, (ii) late-ore stage (stage II) Quartz-calcite-Stibnite ± Pyrite, and (iii) post-ore stage (stage III) carbonate. The ore-forming fluid homogenization temperatures from the study of primary fluid inclusions in quartz and calcite indicate that the ore-forming fluid was of a low temperature (143.8â260.4 °C) and moderate to high-salinity (2.9â20.9 wt. % NaCl equivalent). Hydrogen and oxygen isotopes suggest that the ore-forming fluids of the Lyhamyar deposit were derived from circulating meteoric water mixed with magmatic fluids that underwent isotopic exchange with the surrounding rocks. Sulfur in Lyhamyar was dominated by thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) with dominant magmatic source sulfur. The lead isotope compositions of the stibnite indicate that the lead from the ore-forming metals was from the upper crustal lead reservoir and orogenic lead reservoir. On the basis of the integrated geological setting, ore geology, fluid inclusions, (H-O-S-Pb) isotope data, and previous literature, we propose a new ore-deposit model for the Lyhamyar Sb deposit: It was involved in an early deposition of pyrite in sedimentarEE2y and diagenetic stages and later Sb mineralization by mixing of circulating meteoric water with ascending magmatic fluids during the hydrothermal mineralization stage

    Prevalence of plasmodium falciparum in active conflict areas of eastern Burma: a summary of cross-sectional data

    Get PDF
    BACKGROUND: Burma records the highest number of malaria deaths in southeast Asia and may represent a reservoir of infection for its neighbors, but the burden of disease and magnitude of transmission among border populations of Burma remains unknown. METHODS: Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) parasitemia was detected using a HRP-II antigen based rapid test (Paracheck-Pf(R)). Pf prevalence was estimated from screenings conducted in 49 villages participating in a malaria control program, and four retrospective mortality cluster surveys encompassing a sampling frame of more than 220,000. Crude odds ratios were calculated to evaluate Pf prevalence by age, sex, and dry vs. rainy season. RESULTS: 9,796 rapid tests were performed among 28,410 villagers in malaria program areas through four years (2003: 8.4%, 95% CI: 8.3 - 8.6; 2004: 7.1%, 95% CI: 6.9 - 7.3; 2005:10.5%, 95% CI: 9.3 - 11.8 and 2006: 9.3%, 95% CI: 8.2 - 10.6). Children under 5 (OR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.93 - 2.06) and those 5 to 14 years (OR = 2.24, 95% CI: 2.18 - 2.29) were more likely to be positive than adults. Prevalence was slightly higher among females (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.02 - 1.06) and in the rainy season (OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.16 - 1.88). Among 5,538 rapid tests conducted in four cluster surveys, 10.2% were positive (range 6.3%, 95% CI: 3.9 - 8.8; to 12.4%, 95% CI: 9.4 - 15.4). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of plasmodium falciparum in conflict areas of eastern Burma is higher than rates reported among populations in neighboring Thailand, particularly among children. This population serves as a large reservoir of infection that contributes to a high disease burden within Burma and likely constitutes a source of infection for neighboring regions

    Psychological distress during pandemic Covid-19 among adult general population: Result across 13 countries

    Get PDF
    The COVID-19 pandemics caused an unprecedented mortality, distress, and globally poses a challenge to mental resilience. To our knowledge, this is the first study that aimed to investigate the psychological distress among the adult general population across 13 countries. This cross-sectional study was conducted through online survey by recruiting 7091 respondents. Psychological distress was evaluated with COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI). The crude prevalence of psychological distress due to COVID-19 is highest in Vietnam, followed by Egypt, and Bangladesh. Through Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis, the respondents from Vietnam holds the highest level of distress, while the respondents from Sri Lanka holds the lowest level of distress with reference to Nepal.Female respondents had higher odds of having reported psychological distress, and those with tertiary education were less likely to report psychological distress compared to those with lower level of education. The findings indicate that psychological distress is varies across different countries. Therefore, different countries should continue the surveillance on psychological consequences through the COVID-19 pandemic to monitor the burden and to prepare for the targeted mental health support interventions according to the need. The coping strategies and social support should be provided especially to the lower educational attainment group

    Current strategies for treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration: substitution and regeneration possibilities

    Get PDF
    Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration has an annual worldwide socioeconomic impact masked as low back pain of over 70 billion euros. This disease has a high prevalence over the working age class, which raises the socioeconomic impact over the years. Acute physical trauma or prolonged intervertebral disc mistreatment triggers a biochemical negative tendency of catabolic-anabolic balance that progress to a chronic degeneration disease. Current biomedical treatments are not only ineffective in the long-run, but can also cause degeneration to spread to adjacent intervertebral discs. Regenerative strategies are desperately needed in the clinics, such as: minimal invasive nucleus pulposus or annulus fibrosus treatments, total disc replacement, and cartilaginous endplates decalcification. Main Body: Herein, it is reviewed the state-of-the-art of intervertebral disc regeneration strategies from the perspective of cells, scaffolds, or constructs, including both popular and unique tissue engineering approaches. The premises for cell type and origin selection or even absence of cells is being explored. Choice of several raw materials and scaffold fabrication methods are evaluated. Extensive studies have been developed for fully regeneration of the annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus, together or separately, with a long set of different rationales already reported. Recent works show promising biomaterials and processing methods applied to intervertebral disc substitutive or regenerative strategies. Facing the abundance of studies presented in the literature aiming intervertebral disc regeneration it is interesting to observe how cartilaginous endplates have been extensively neglected, being this a major source of nutrients and water supply for the whole disc. Conclusion: Severalinnovative avenues for tackling intervertebral disc degeneration are being reported â from acellular to cellular approaches, but the cartilaginous endplates regeneration strategies remain unaddressed. Interestingly, patient-specific approaches show great promise in respecting patient anatomy and thus allow quicker translation to the clinics in the near future.The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project EPIDisc (UTAP-EXPL/BBBECT/0050/2014), funded in the Framework of the “International Collaboratory for Emerging Technologies, CoLab”, UT Austin|Portugal Program. The FCT distinctions attributed to J. Miguel Oliveira (IF/00423/2012 and IF/01285/ 2015) and J. Silva-Correia (IF/00115/2015) under the Investigator FCT program are also greatly acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

    Get PDF
    Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified

    Core outcome domains for trials in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease: An international Delphi survey

    Get PDF
    Rationale & Objective Outcomes reported in trials involving patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) are heterogeneous and rarely include patient-reported outcomes. We aimed to identify critically important consensus-based core outcome domains to be reported in trials in ADPKD. Study Design An international 2-round online Delphi survey was conducted in English, French, and Korean languages. Setting & Participants Patients/caregivers and health professionals completed a 9-point Likert scale (7-9 indicating critical importance) and a Best-Worst Scale. Analytical Approach The absolute and relative importance of outcomes were assessed. Comments were analyzed thematically. Results 1,014 participants (603 [60%] patients/caregivers, 411 [40%] health professionals) from 56 countries completed round 1, and 713 (70%) completed round 2. The prioritized outcomes were kidney function (importance score, 8.6), end-stage kidney disease (8.6), death (7.9), blood pressure (7.9), kidney cyst size/growth (7.8), and cerebral aneurysm (7.7). Kidney cyst–related pain was the highest rated patient-reported outcome by both stakeholder groups. Seven themes explained the prioritization of outcomes: protecting life and health, directly encountering life-threatening and debilitating consequences, specificity to ADPKD, optimizing and extending quality of life, hidden suffering, destroying self-confidence, and lost opportunities. Limitations Study design precluded involvement from those without access to internet or limited computer literacy. Conclusions Kidney function, end-stage kidney disease, and death were the most important outcomes to patients, caregivers, and health professionals. Kidney cyst–related pain was the highest rated patient-reported outcome. Consistent reporting of these top prioritized outcomes may strengthen the value of trials in ADPKD for decision making
    corecore