Assessment of blood lead levels and associated risk factors among children In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine BLLs with a LeadCare II analyzer in children living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and to identify potential risk factors influencing their BLLs with a lifestyle and residential environment questionnaire. Methods: A total of 153 children aged 6-8 years old were tested in 2014. Results: The geometric mean BLL was 5.3 µg/dL (95% CI: 4.9 – 5.7 µg/dL) and 69.3% of the children had blood lead levels ≥5 μg/dL (the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s current reference level). Factors that were significant (p<0.05) predictors of BLL in a multiple linear regression model were sex, age, father’s education level, and father’s job type. The BLL from this study in 2014 shows a 60% decrease since a prior 2005 study, likely due to the ban on leaded gasoline in the country. Conclusion: Academic performance was significantly influenced by BLL, indicating that actions still need to be taken to reduce lead exposure in Ulaanbaatar

SiGe Building Blocks for Microwave Frequency Synthesizers

Implementations of Ku- and Ka-band PLL building blocks in the Philips QUBiC4G SiGe technology are presented: a 10 GHz fully-integrated low-phase-noise differential Colpttis oscillator, a 25 GHz low-power adaptive prescaler, and a 18 GHz truly-modular fully-programmable frequency divider