City-wide Analysis of Electronic Health Records Reveals Gender and Age Biases in the Administration of Known Drug-Drug Interactions

The occurrence of drug-drug-interactions (DDI) from multiple drug dispensations is a serious problem, both for individuals and health-care systems, since patients with complications due to DDI are likely to reenter the system at a costlier level. We present a large-scale longitudinal study (18 months) of the DDI phenomenon at the primary- and secondary-care level using electronic health records (EHR) from the city of Blumenau in Southern Brazil (pop. $\approx 340,000$). We found that 181 distinct drug pairs known to interact were dispensed concomitantly to 12\% of the patients in the city's public health-care system. Further, 4\% of the patients were dispensed drug pairs that are likely to result in major adverse drug reactions (ADR)---with costs estimated to be much larger than previously reported in smaller studies. The large-scale analysis reveals that women have a 60\% increased risk of DDI as compared to men; the increase becomes 90\% when considering only DDI known to lead to major ADR. Furthermore, DDI risk increases substantially with age; patients aged 70-79 years have a 34\% risk of DDI when they are dispensed two or more drugs concomitantly. Interestingly, a statistical null model demonstrates that age- and female-specific risks from increased polypharmacy fail by far to explain the observed DDI risks in those populations, suggesting unknown social or biological causes. We also provide a network visualization of drugs and demographic factors that characterize the DDI phenomenon and demonstrate that accurate DDI prediction can be included in healthcare and public-health management, to reduce DDI-related ADR and costs

Dyes-environmental impact and remediation

Dyes are an important class of synthetic organic compounds used in many industries, especially textiles. Consequently, they have become common industrial environmental pollutants during their synthesis and later during fibre dyeing. Textile industries are facing a challenge in the field of quality and productivity due to the globalization of the world market. As the highly competitive atmosphere and the ecological parameters become more stringent, the prime concern of the textile processors is to be aware of the quality of their products and also the environmental friendliness of the manufacturing processes. This in turn makes it essential for innovations and changes in these processes, and investigations of appropriate and environmentally friendly treatment technologies or their residues. The large-scale production and extensive application of synthetic dyes can cause considerable environmental pollution, making it a serious public concern. Legislation on the limits of colour discharge has become increasingly rigid. There is a considerable urgent need to develop treatment methods that are effective in eliminating dyes from their waste. Physicochemical and biological methods have been studied and applied, although each has its advantages and disadvantages, with the choice being based on the wastewater characteristics, available technology and economic factors. Some industrial-scale wastewater treatment systems are now available; however, these are neither fully effective for complete colour removal nor do they address water recycling. This chapter outlines the background of dye chemistry, the application areas and the impact of dyeing effluents in the environment. The processes/techniques being implemented and developed for wastewaters remediation are revisited

O fado e “as regras da arte”: “autenticidade”, “pureza” e mercado

Fado is the most important genre of Portuguese popular music. It is part of hegemonic representations of nationality and an icon of Lisbon. Also, fado has an outstanding place in music market, nationally and abroad. By contrast, among the representations that legitimate the “authenticity” of fado, one can find a strong defense of amateur dispositions. Some fadistas (fado singers) say that “true” fado is never (and, ideally, could never be) a way to make a living; it should always be an expression of the soul. The obvious echoes of the “l’art pour l’art” discourse from the 19th century can be recognized here. This paper aims to question: how can this discourse be reproduced today? What are its meanings? Are there contradictions between the existence of this discourse and market projection of the genre

Recovery assessment in Lake Nemi (Italy) after a twenty year period (1981-2001) using plant-associated invertebrates

Lake Nemi was subjected to organic pollution in the 1970s due to domestic wastes, which led to a severe eutrophication process. Local authorities consequently planned a gradual waste diversion programme completed in 1990. Comparison between data on plant-associated invertebrates in the period of maximum eutrophication (1981/82) and twenty years after the total waste diversion (2001/02) was carried out with the aim of demonstrating the performance of this littoral community for the purpose of lake recovery assessment. Following the water clarity improvement characterizing the 2001/02 period, the macrophyte community displayed an amelioration in plant diversification, an enlargement of the colonized area, and an appearance of Charales, important bioindicators of oligotrophic conditions. In complete agreement with this new situation, the invertebrate fauna extended its colonization, and the species composition and quantitative structure changed completely. A considerable increase in species richness and diversity, and significant modifications of percentages and densities of bioindicator taxa (cladocerans, gastropods and acari) showed a very appreciable recovery, which can be defined as a phase of oligotrophication. This trophic state is closely related to nutrient reduction in the water and enhanced by a drift of organic materials from littoral to profundal bottoms. This was due to the remarkable water level reduction of about five meters which occurred in the lake in recent times

GALEX and Optical Light Curves of EF Eridanus During a Low State: the Puzzling Source of UV Light

Low state optical photometry of EF Eri during an extended low accretion state combined with GALEX near and far UV time-resolved photometry reveals a source of UV flux that is much larger than the underlying 9500K white dwarf, and that is highly modulated on the orbital period. The near UV and optical light curves can be modeled with a 20,000K spot but no spot model can explain both the large amplitude FUV variations and the SED. The limitations of limb darkening, cyclotron and magnetic white dwarf models in explaining the observations are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures to be published in ApJ Letter

Weaving and Unraveling the Factory Town: Social Alterations and European Belonging in the Aftermath of Romanian Industrial Collapse.

This dissertation explores contemporary social, historical, and ideological transformations by focusing on the material realities of Piatra Neamt, a socialist-planned industrial city in north-east Romania. It navigates, through instances of spatial alterations, the lives and histories of the poorest of Piatra-Neamț residents, self-identified members of the middle and upper classes, and various activists, bureaucrats, and scholars who negotiate, on a daily basis, their local realities with European Union expectations. This dissertation argues that, by looking at spatial transformations, and their failures to function as expected, not only are new temporalities carved out of history, but also new persons, at times accidentally, emerge out of the malfunctions of change. By looking at socialist built places as frameworks for conceptualizing personhood, social change can be understood in a new light as “making space” for, or “fitting in” a new reality. Part one traces space as catalyst for sociality as Piatra-Neamt transformed from a small timber town to a rapidly industrialized city in the 1950s. The social bonds residents fostered during this time became crucial in coping with both the socialist shortage economy in the 1980s, and the drastic transformations since the 1989 revolution. Part two is an exploration into movement and spatial shifts as local politicians engage in a process of urban alteration meant to transform the city from socialist factory town to European tourist attraction. In this process, non-governmental activists fail to translate change while certain city residents get stuck, are relocated, or rendered unfit in seemingly familiar spaces. Part three explores instances when local space seems to transcend regional and national borders. As museum actors carefully select material historical evidence for European belonging, local sociality is extended to Europe through the lives of labor migrants who support the majority of local economy. For the people of this former factory town, urban and industrial space is tied to a particular form of sociality which is linked to ideas about selves and others, one’s ability to move, to climb, to work, and to measure time.PhDAnthropology and HistoryUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120778/1/lucianab_1.pd

Strategies for the bioremediation of azo dyes containing wastewaters

Publicado em "Book of abstracts of the 2nd Meeting of the Institute for Biotechnololgy and Bioengineering"Azo dyes are an important class of wastewater pollutants resulted especially from textile industry. Biological treatment based on the anaerobic azo bound reductive cleavage, followed by a second step for the transformation of the resulted aromatic amines, seems promising. In our studies, the surface chemistry of a commercial activated carbon (AC) was selectively modified by chemical oxidation and thermal treatments and tested as a natural redox mediator on chemical and biological anaerobic azo dye reduction [1]. Batch experiments with 0.1 g L−1AC demonstrated an increase of the first-order rates, up to 9-fold, as compared with assays without AC. Thermal treated samples gave better results due to their positively charged surface, favouring electrostatic attraction between the carbon and the anionic dyes tested. The low amount of AC used and the positive results demonstrated, constitutes a significant breakthrough in the field of redox mediated processes which will certainly open new perspectives for wastewater treatment processes. In order to investigate the fate of aromatic amines, two UASB reactors were operated under denitrifying conditions: R1 contained nitrate and R2 a nitrate and nitrite mixture as terminal electron acceptors [2]. The R1 results demonstrated that aniline could be degraded under denitrifying conditions while sulfanilic acid remains. The presence of nitrite in the influent of R2, caused a chemical reaction that led to immediate disappearance of both aromatic amines and the formation of an intense yellow solution. Based on the HPLC-MS analysis, the structures of possible products were proposed. Denitrification activity tests suggest some detoxification

Anaerobic biodegradation of aniline under different electron accepting conditions

Aromatic amines are important industrial chemicals. Due to their high toxicity and persistency in both water and soils, they are of environmental concern. Aniline is not biodegradable in normal anaerobic condition. A novel approach of anaerobic biodegradation coupled with selective redox mediators, is proposed. Different redox mediators, namely manganese dioxide, Ferric citrate, ferrous chloride and magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle were tested. Fe3O4 nanoparticles, with size of 10 nm, were shown as the best, leading to 98 % of aniline removal efficiency within 24 h of operation at 37 °C. Biodegradation of aniline followed a pseudo first order kinetic model. Products of reaction were identified by GC/MS, revealing that the biodegradation occurred via catechol pathway. Methanogenic activity tests suggest that an IC50 of aniline is ~10 mM and that Fe3O4 nanoparticles are not toxic on un-adapted biomass