The Carrying Capacity of the Environment as it relates to Human Consumerism

The authors introduce and make an attempt to describe the main problems that present and future populations of the underdeveloped world will be facing to provide enough food for themeselves.This essay describes the anachronistic situation where underdeveloped countries grow, with big deal of economical efforts, agricultural products that eventually will be used to grow and feed cattle whose meat does constitutes the principal component of the western world diet.Should this practice be reduced, underdeveloped countries will be able to provide food for themeselves in large quantities.Ironically, meat diet and overfeeding, lead to a number of disease like overweight, heart attack which may lead to death.With the abnormal and speculative increase of oil price and with the "save the world from pollution" philosophy, farmers were induced, hoping to make more profit from their work, to turn their agricultural production into product which will be used to make ecological fuel like Ethanol, retrieving, by doing so..

Antimicrobial coatings for implant surfaces

Body-foreign materials are used more and more frequently in our lives: joint implants (hips, knees, fingers, etc.), catheters, pacemakers, dental and aesthetic implants, etc. The increasing numbers of patients requiring such implants also raises the absolute numbers of implant-related infections. Thus, it is known that body-foreign materials are prone to bacterial adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation, either via bacterial debris on implant materials, infections during implantation or, later on, via haematogenous seeding. Biofilms, once formed, are impossible to treat with antibiotics, and the immune system response leads to implant loosening, requiring total replacement. The strategy is thus to prevent bacterial adhesion to implant materials' surfaces. Different strategies have been tested in this context and will be presented here, together with our own approach, using a combination of different anti-microbial compounds

Cellular-Automata model for dense-snow avalanches

This paper introduces a three-dimensional model for simulating dense-snow avalanches, based on the numerical method of cellular automata. This method allows one to study the complex behavior of the avalanche by dividing it into small elements, whose interaction is described by simple laws, obtaining a reduction of the computational power needed to perform a three-dimensional simulation. Similar models by several authors have been used to model rock avalanches, mud and lava flows, and debris avalanches. A peculiar aspect of avalanche dynamics, i.e., the mechanisms of erosion of the snowpack and deposition of material from the avalanche is taken into account in the model. The capability of the proposed approach has been illustrated by modeling three documented avalanches that occurred in Susa Valley (Western Italian Alps). Despite the qualitative observations used for calibration, the proposed method is able to reproduce the correct three-dimensional avalanche path, using a digital terrain model, and the order of magnitude of the avalanche deposit volume

Subperiostial orbital abscess and apex syndrome as a complication after a mandibular molar extraction

Indexación: Web of Science; ScieloIntroducción: La diseminación de las infecciones que se extienden de dientes mandibulares y estructuras adyacentes hacia la órbita y tejido periorbitario son infrecuentes, pero graves ya que tienen el potencial de causar la pérdida de la visión. Objetivos: El propósito de este artículo es publicar un caso clínico muy interesante por lo infrecuente, y explicar a juicio de los autores las vías de diseminación de la infección, a su vez alertar a los diferentes especialistas involucrados sobre las severas consecuencias que pueden resultar tras la extracción de piezas dentales, como es la pérdida definitiva de la visión. Reporte del caso: Se trata de un paciente masculino de 43 años, sin antecedentes mórbidos relevantes, que fue enviado al Servicio Médico Legal para examen clínico forense con pérdida total de la visión del ojo derecho por atrofia óptica como complicación de un síndrome del vértice orbitario, luego de la exodoncia del tercer molar mandibular derecho. Conclusiones: Es fundamental el tratamiento oportuno y agresivo para detener la diseminación de una infección desde las estructuras adyacentes hacia la órbita. La comunicación efectiva interdisciplinaria entre los profesionales involucrados evita complicaciones de tipo médico-legales y secuelas definitivas al paciente.Introduction: Infection dissemination from mandibular teeth to the orbit and adjacent structures is infrequent, but nevertheless serious, as they may cause severe problems, including vision loss. Aim: The purpose of this study is to present a rare and interesting case of such a dissemination, to discuss the possible routes of infection propagation, and to alert the different specialists involved on the possible complications after dental extractions, such as visual loss. Report of the case: The case of a 43-year-old previously healthy male is presented. The patient was sent to the Medical Legal Service for clinical forensic examination after total vision loss of the right eye, caused by optic atrophy as a complication of orbital apex syndrome, after the extraction of the third right mandibular molar. Conclusions: Opportune and aggressive treatment is crucial to stop infection spread from adjacent structures to the orbit. Effective communication among the professionals involved avoids medical - legal complications and precludes permanent sequels to the patient.http://ref.scielo.org/yz5gt

Multiple introductions and onward transmission of non-pandemic HIV-1 subtype B strains in North America and Europe

Most HIV-1 subtype B infections in North America and Europe seem to have resulted from the expansion of a single pandemic lineage (B PANDEMIC) disseminated from the United States (US). Some non-pandemic subtype B strains of Caribbean origin (B CAR) may have also reached North America and Europe, but their epidemiological relevance in those regions remains largely unknown. Here we analyze a total of 20,045 HIV-1 subtype B pol sequences from the US, Canada, and Europe, to estimate the prevalence and to reconstruct the spatiotemporal dynamics of dissemination of HIV-1 B CAR strains in those regions. We find that B CAR strains were probably disseminated from the Caribbean into North America and Europe at multiple times since the early 1970s onwards. The B CAR strains reached the US, Canada and at least 16 different European countries, where they account for a very low fraction (<5%) of subtype B infections, with exception of the Czech Republic (7.7%). We also find evidence of the onward transmission of B CAR clades in the US, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, as well as short-distance spreading of B CAR lineages between neighboring European countries from Central and Western Europe, and long-distance dissemination between the US and Europe