9,721 research outputs found

    Fluoride in ash leachates: environmental implications at Popocatépetl volcano, central Mexico

    Get PDF
    Ash emitted by volcanic eruptions, even of moderate magnitude, may affect the environment and the health of humans and animals through different mechanisms at distances significantly larger than those indicated in the volcanic hazard maps. One such mechanism is the high capacity of ash to transport toxic volatiles like fluoride, as soluble condensates on the particles' surface. The mobilization and hazards related to volcanic fluoride are discussed based on the data obtained during the recent activity of Popocatépetl volcano in Central Mexico

    Large-scale regression with non-convex loss and penalty

    Get PDF
    We describe a computational method for parameter estimation in linear regression, that is capable of simultaneously producing sparse estimates and dealing with outliers and heavy-tailed error distributions. The method used is based on the image restoration method proposed in Huang et al. (2017) [13]. It can be applied to problems of arbitrary size. The choice of certain parameters is discussed. Results obtained for simulated and real data are presented

    Randomized phase II study of fulvestrant plus palbociclib or placebo in endocrine-sensitive, hormone receptor-positive/HER2–advanced breast cancer: GEICAM/2014–12 (FLIPPER)

    Get PDF
    Background The potential benefit of adding palbociclib to fulvestrant as first-line treatment in hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative endocrine-sensitive advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients remains uncharacterized. Patients and methods In this randomized (1:1), double-blind, phase II study, postmenopausal women with HR-positive, HER2-negative ABC with de novo metastatic disease or those who relapsed after >12 months of adjuvant endocrine therapy received palbociclib/fulvestrant or placebo/fulvestrant. Stratification was based on recurrent versus de novo metastatic disease and visceral involvement. The primary objective was one-year progression-free survival (PFS-1y) rate. The sample size was 190 patients. The two-sided alpha of 0.2, 80% of power to detect a difference between the arms, assuming PFS rates of 0.695 and 0.545 for palbociclib/fulvestrant and placebo/fulvestrant, respectively. Results In total, 189 patients were randomized to palbociclib/fulvestrant ([n = 94] or placebo/fulvestrant [n = 95]). 45.5% and 60.3% of patients had de novo metastatic disease and visceral involvement, respectively. PFS-1y rates were 83.5% and 71.9% in the palbociclib/fulvestrant and placebo/fulvestrant arms, (HR 0.55, 80% CI 0.36–0.83, P = 0.064). The median PFS were 31.8 and 22.0 months for the palbociclib/fulvestrant and placebo/fulvestrant arms (aHR 0.48, 80% CI 0.37–0.64, P = 0.001). The most frequent grade 3–4 adverse events were neutropenia (68.1% vs. 0%), leucopenia (26.6% vs. 0%), anemia (3.2% vs. 0%), and lymphopenia (14.9% vs. 2.1%) for the palbociclib/fulvestrant and placebo/fulvestrant, respectively. The most frequent non-hematologic grade 3–4 adverse event was fatigue (4.3% vs. 0%). Conclusions Palbociclib/fulvestrant demonstrated better PFS-1y rates and median PFS than placebo/fulvestrant in HR-positive/HER2-negative endocrine-sensitive ABC patients

    Thermal Diffusion of a Two Layer System

    Full text link
    In this paper thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of a two layer system is examined from the theoretical point of view. We use the one dimensional heat diffusion equation with the appropriate solution in each layer and boundary conditions at the interfaces to calculate the heat transport in this bounded system. We also consider the heat flux at the surface of the samle as boundary condition instead of using a fixed tempertaure. From this, we obtain an expression for the efective thermal diffusivity of the composite sample in terms of the thermal diffusivity of its constituent materials whithout any approximations.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, RevTeX v. 3.0 macro packag

    Effect of Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials on the Flow Behavior of Cement Composites

    Get PDF
    Microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs) were incorporated into cement pastes of Portland cement (PC). Minislump tests and rheological properties of cement pastes containing three MPCMs with different surfaces (hydrophilic, amphiphilic and hydrophobic) were measured, and the water demand of MPCM in the cement matrix was evaluated. The hydrophilic MPCM was chosen for a more thorough rheological study, since it was found to be more compatible with the cement matrix. The dispersion of a high amounts (45 wt% with respect to the cement content, which corresponds to about 62 vol% of the total solids) of the hydrophilic MPCM in the cement pastes was achieved by optimization of the amount of superplasticizer through rheological measurements. For the viscometer tests, a Power Law model was found to give the best fit to the experimental data. While pastes (with 45 wt% of hydrophilic MPCM) prepared with low superplasticizer contents (<1.2 wt%) were found to be shear thinning, the paste exhibited a shear thickening behavior in the presence of higher amounts of superplasticizer. The shear thickening is probably caused by high water adsorption onto the microcapsules combined with deflocculation of the cement particles at high concentrations of superplasticizer. After the optimization of the superplasticizer content, homogeneous pastes were obtained, where the particles of the hydrophilic MPCM were well dispersed and unaltered after 28 days of hydration.MINECO -BIA2017-82391-R) y I3 (IEDI-2016-0079

    Development and validation of a method for the analysis of Ochratoxin A in roasted coffee by liquid chromatography/electrospray-mass spectrometry in Tandem (LC/ESI-MS/MS).

    Get PDF
    A method using LC/ESI-MS/MS for the quantitative analysis of Ochratoxin A in roasted coffee was described. Linearity was demonstrated (r = 0.9175). The limits of detection and quantification were 1.0 and 3.0 ng g-1, respectively. Trueness, repeatability and intermediate precision values were 89.0-108.8%; 2.4-13.7%; 12.5-17.8%, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which Ochratoxin A in roasted coffee is analysed by LC/ESI-MS/MS, contributing to the field of mycotoxin analysis, and it will be used for future production of Certified Reference Material

    Coulomb Parameter U and Correlation Strength in LaFeAsO

    Full text link
    First principles constrained density functional theory scheme in Wannier functions formalism has been used to calculate Coulomb repulsion U and Hund's exchange J parameters for iron 3d electrons in LaFeAsO. Results strongly depend on the basis set used in calculations: when O-2p, As-4p, and Fe-3d orbitals and corresponding bands are included, computation results in U=3-4 eV, however, with the basis set restricted to Fe-3d orbitals and bands only, computation gives parameters corresponding to F^0=0.8 eV, J=0.5 eV. LDA+DMFT (the Local Density Approximation combined with the Dynamical Mean-Field Theory) calculation with this parameters results in weakly correlated electronic structure that is in agreement with X-ray experimental spectra
    • …
    corecore