Radon transfer from water to milk

Radon, as naturally occurring radioactive gas, is responsible for 50% of the total background radiations in human. Radon gas is able to enter to human body through eating and drinking. So, measurement of received radiation in the human body is essential. In this study, the presence of radon in milk and its dose was examined. This experiment was conducted using 12 Rayeni goats which have been categorized in a completely randomized design by 4 treatments and 3 replication (Treatment A = Radon-containing water + zero antioxidant, Treatment B = Radoncontaining water + antioxidant, Treatment C = healthy water + antioxidant, Treatment D = healthy water+ zero antioxidant). The experiment was prolonged for 60 days. During the experiment the goats were milked every day. The samples were transferred to laboratory to determine the milk compounds and properties, as well as to measure its radon level. Presence of radon in milk was detected using Rad7 device. The averaged radon concentration in milk samples (for treatments A and B) receiving radon was about 126 Bq m-3. There was no significant difference between protein. But there was a significant difference between the percentages of fat, lactose, total antioxidant capacity and the number of somatic cells. Radon did not change pH and Malondialdehyde contents of the treatments. We also determined annual received radon dose per person from drinking milk. It was different among age groups. Newborns were at higher risk of internal radon exposure from contaminated milk. Radon can enter the livestock milk. According to our findings, with, this radon amount in milk was not higher than the allowable level in valid resources for human health

Responsible aquaculture: warm water fish preparation management and preparation of guidelines

Responsible aquaculture is a new concept in Iran but in some countries there are good historical performances. In fact this concept is as the spacial challenge for developing countries in order to improvement of aquaculturist livelihood. In bangladesh, near to 60% of the people, which the most of are villagers, live under the poor line. Developing the NGOs and their activities to reach the responsible aquaculture objectives were so effective, since this activity has been knew as profitable acuaculture and many international workshops, symposiums and conferences have been held in this regard all the world. In this project, a complex of parameters affected on preparing management of warmwater fish farms have been studied with using previous studies and experiments of different countries and executive guidelines of four modules prepared including: -Guidline of preparing of warmwater fish ponds -Guidline of water enrichment and using fertilization in warmwater fish ponds -Guidline of using aeration in warmwater fish ponds -Guidline of stocking method in warmwater fish pond

Science-Technology-Society (STS): a new paradigm in Science Education

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleChanges in the past two decades of goals for science education in schools have induced new orientations in science education worldwide. One of the emerging complementary approaches was the science-technology-society (STS) movement. STS has been called the current megatrend in science education. Others have called it a paradigm shift for the field of science education. The success of science education reform depends on teachers' ability to integrate the philosophy and practices of current programs of science education reform with their existing philosophy. Thus, when considering the STS approach to science education, teacher beliefs about STS implementation require attention. Without this attention, negative beliefs concerning STS implementation and inquiry learning could defeat the reform movements emphasizing STS. This article argues the role of STS in science education and the importance of considering science teachers' beliefs about STS in implementing significant reforms in science education

National roadmap for aquatic organisms biological products

Specialists in Marine biotechnology using marine biological engineering and scientific principles to develop natural products and regarded services. One of the most important applications of this new branch is produce the natural products such as enzymes, natural colors, vaccines and drugs and etc. which produced from marine living organisms. These products are used in various industries such as pharmaceutical, food or health industry. In the current study, we try to remark the application of marine biological products in the northern (Caspian Sea), southern (Persian Gulf and Oman Sea) or internal waters of Iran into six categories, including aquaculture, pharmaceutical industry, food, healthcare and cosmetic industries. For this purpose, the required information will be collected using investigations which conducted inside and also outside of our country by reviewing and analysis of derived data by attention to our economical facilities for national self-sufficiency in production. Applied research projects will be introduced in three parts including research, technology development and pilot plant as well. Hope that using this strategic document will be effective and practical to production of biological products from marine resources until 2025

Insulin and insulin receptor gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Insulina e polimorfismos do gene do receptor de insulina e a suscetibilidade à doença hepática gordurosa não alcoólica

Background � Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an increasing global health concern defined by excessive hepatic fat content in the absence of excessive alcohol consumption. Objective � Given the pivotal role of insulin resistance in NAFLD, we hypothesized that insulin (INS) and insulin receptor (INSR) gene polymorphisms may be associated with NAFLD risk. Methods � A total of 312 subjects, including 153 cases with biopsy-proven NAFLD and 159 controls were enrolled in this case-control study. Four polymorphisms in INS (rs3842752, rs689) and INSR (rs1052371, rs1799817) genes were genotyped using PCR-RFLP method. Results � The cases with NAFLD were older and had higher BMI, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, as well as higher serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and gamma glutamyl transferase than the controls (P<0.001). The �TT� genotype of INSR rs1799817 compared with �CC� genotype occurred more frequently in the controls than the cases with NAFLD and the difference remained significant after adjustment for confounding factors (P=0.018; OR=0.10, 95CI=0.02�0.76). However, no significant difference was found for INS rs3842752, INS rs689, and INSR rs1052371 gene polymorphisms between the cases with NAFLD and the controls either before or after adjustment for the confounders. Conclusion � These findings corroborate the hypothesis that genetic polymorphisms related to insulin resistance play a role in NAFLD susceptibility. Specifically, the INSR rs1799817 �TT� genotype had a protective effect for NAFLD. However, our results remain to be validated in other studies. © 2020, IBEPEGE - Inst. Bras. Estudos Pesquisas Gastroent. All rights reserved

The global, regional, and national burden of pancreatic cancer and its attributable risk factors in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: Worldwide, both the incidence and death rates of pancreatic cancer are increasing. Evaluation of pancreatic cancer burden and its global, regional, and national patterns is crucial to policy making and better resource allocation for controlling pancreatic cancer risk factors, developing early detection methods, and providing faster and more effective treatments. Methods: Vital registration, vital registration sample, and cancer registry data were used to generate mortality, incidence, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) estimates. We used the comparative risk assessment framework to estimate the proportion of deaths attributable to risk factors for pancreatic cancer: smoking, high fasting plasma glucose, and high body-mass index. All of the estimates were reported as counts and age-standardised rates per 100 000 person-years. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) were reported for all estimates. Findings: In 2017, there were 448 000 (95% UI 439 000\u2013456 000) incident cases of pancreatic cancer globally, of which 232 000 (210 000\u2013221 000; 51\ub79%) were in males. The age-standardised incidence rate was 5\ub70 (4\ub79\u20135\ub71) per 100 000 person-years in 1990 and increased to 5\ub77 (5\ub76\u20135\ub78) per 100 000 person-years in 2017. There was a 2\ub73 times increase in number of deaths for both sexes from 196 000 (193 000\u2013200 000) in 1990 to 441 000 (433 000\u2013449 000) in 2017. There was a 2\ub71 times increase in DALYs due to pancreatic cancer, increasing from 4\ub74 million (4\ub73\u20134\ub75) in 1990 to 9\ub71 million (8\ub79\u20139\ub73) in 2017. The age-standardised death rate of pancreatic cancer was highest in the high-income super-region across all years from 1990 to 2017. In 2017, the highest age-standardised death rates were observed in Greenland (17\ub74 [15\ub78\u201319\ub70] per 100 000 person-years) and Uruguay (12\ub71 [10\ub79\u201313\ub75] per 100 000 person-years). These countries also had the highest age-standardised death rates in 1990. Bangladesh (1\ub79 [1\ub75\u20132\ub73] per 100 000 person-years) had the lowest rate in 2017, and S\ue3o Tom\ue9 and Pr\uedncipe (1\ub73 [1\ub71\u20131\ub75] per 100 000 person-years) had the lowest rate in 1990. The numbers of incident cases and deaths peaked at the ages of 65\u201369 years for males and at 75\u201379 years for females. Age-standardised pancreatic cancer deaths worldwide were primarily attributable to smoking (21\ub71% [18\ub78\u201323\ub77]), high fasting plasma glucose (8\ub79% [2\ub71\u201319\ub74]), and high body-mass index (6\ub72% [2\ub75\u201311\ub74]) in 2017. Interpretation: Globally, the number of deaths, incident cases, and DALYs caused by pancreatic cancer has more than doubled from 1990 to 2017. The increase in incidence of pancreatic cancer is likely to continue as the population ages. Prevention strategies should focus on modifiable risk factors. Development of screening programmes for early detection and more effective treatment strategies for pancreatic cancer are needed. Funding: Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation

The fusion crust of the Winchcombe meteorite: vigorous degassing during atmospheric entry

Introduction: Fusion crusts form during the atmospheric entry heating of meteorites and preserve a record of the conditions that occurred in the last few seconds of their deceleration in the atmosphere [1]. Although fusion crusts are ubiquitous they are rarely characterised and studied because they obscure the primary features of meteorites. Here we report the results of a study of the fusion crust of the Winchcombe CM2 chondrite. The Winchcombe meteorite fell at 21:54 hours on 28 February 2021 in Gloucestershire in the UK and was recovered over the next week. The fall was observed on UKFAll network cameras and recorded by CCTV. The meteoroid had a low entry velocity compared to other observed falls of 13.5 km/s. Study of the fusion crust reveals unique textural features that testify to previously unknown processes related to vigorous degassing of this intensely altered CM2 chondrite. Methods: Six polished blocks of Winchcombe were studied using backscattered electron imaging, elemental mapping, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and micro-X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Apparent size distributions and abundances were obtained by threshold analysis using ImageJ. Results: The fusion crust consists of an inner thermally altered substrate and outer melted crust. The altered substrate exhibits unusually abundant dehydration cracks extending up to 5 mm into the meteorite. The crack network encompasses fragments up to 70 µm in diameter (dense rock equivalent) with increasing abundance with decreasing size. Loss of sheet-like habits for phyllosilicates and tochilinite testifies to progressive dehydration towards the exterior. The outer melted crust has a vesicular porphyritic texture with olivine phenocrysts and magnetite in a glassy mesostasis. Grain-size and magnetite abundance increase outwards similar to other CI/CM2 fusion crusts [2]. High Ni (<80 wt%) sulphide-metal droplets occur – often as menisci on vesicles. A magnetite rim occurs on the exterior surface and some vesicles, and include some tabular, rim-parallel magnetite crystals. Unique features in the fusion crust are oscillatory zoned olivine crystals, monolayers of magnetite and silicate warts. Monolayers form chains of magnetite crystals within the mesostasis that have tabular crystals similar to magnetite rims. EBSD data reveals [111] is parallel to the length of tabular crystals and is layer parallel in rims and monolayers. Oscillatory zoned crystals are equant with up to 4 Mg-rich zones. Silicate warts form lenticular features on the surface of the fusion crust and contain dendritic olivine – their compositions are, however, similar to the rest of the crust. Magnetite monolayers lie between warts and the underlying crust. Discussion: The unusualy high abundance of dehydration cracks suggests the tochlinite-rich matrix of the Winchcombe meteorite is particularly sensitive to dehydration, owing to the low decomposition temperature of this mineral (250oC [3]). Mechanical failure of the substrate, in part driven by gas pressure, is likely to inject large abundances of particulates into the meteoroid gas stream. Observations of episodic pulsed plasma in the trail of the fireball may be a phenomena associated with calving of the dehydrated substrate and generate thermal pulses explaining the presence of oscillatory zoning. Other features also are consistent with vigorous degassing. Magnetite monolayers appear to have formed as surface magnetite rims – owing to their similar alignment of tabular crystals. Trapping of surface magneite rims through collapse of melt protrusions is likely to explain how these layers become buried within the crust and is probably driven by perturbation of surface melt by rapid vesicle loss. Finally, silicate warts are likely to be droplets attached to the crust surface. Their dendritic textures suggest higher peak temperatures and strongly suggest they represent droplets removed from other stones in the shower. Warts represent the first discovery of intershower transport of ablation materials, possibly owing to enhanced ablation as a result of vigorous degassing. Implications: The fusion crust of the Winchcombe meteorite illustrates the complexity of processes affecting meteorites during atmospheric flight. Features such as magnetite monolayers and silicate warts have not previously been described, and may be unique to tochlinite-rich CM2 chondrites, which experience vigorous degassing. They may also allow ablation debris to be related to particular types of meteorite, thus providing a distributed record of the meteorite flux. Winchcombe underlines the utility of fusion crust, which should be routinely characterised in addition to meteorite interiors. References: [1] Ramsdohr P. (1967) EPSL 2, 593-598, [2] Genge M. J. & Grady M. M. (1999) MAPS 34 (3).341-356. [3] Fuchs, L. H et al. (1973) Smithsonian Contrib. Earth Sci. 1–3