Indications for Synergetic and Antagonistic Effects between Trace Elements in The Environment to Human Health

The objective of this work was to investigate the interactions between the level of concentrations of Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As and Pb in potable water, soil, vegetation and school children hair and disease incidences of neoplasms, diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism, endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases, mental and behavioral disorders and diseases of the circulatory system on the population groups which are homogeneously exposed to the environmental conditions. It was found that potable water among the other investigated aspects of the physical environment has the greatest impact on the public health. The environment- disease incidence interactions have been found for all investigated diseases groups. The results reported here emphasize the importance of the observation of the mutual effects of the environmental variables on the human health for the identification of their synergetic as well as antagonistic effects

Development of a new neutron probe for borehole research

Neutronska proba za ispitivanje naftnih bušotina razvijena je na Institutu Ruđer Bošković u okviru HRZZ projekta IP-2018-01-4060 \u27\u27Nove primjene 14 MeV neutrona\u27\u27. U ovom istraživanju ispitane su daljnje mogućnosti redukcije šuma u mjerenju C/O omjera metodom pridružene alfa čestice. Mješavina kvarcnog pijeska i grafitnog praha korištena je kao materijal od interesa , dok su plastične bočice ispunjene dizel gorivom korištene kao šum (smetnja) i predstavljaju tekućinu unutar naftne bušotine (npr. nafta). Podjela alfa detektora na četiri jednaka segmenta, omogućila je podjelu volumena oko osi neutronske probe na četiri kvadranta. Materijal od interesa i dizel smješteni su u različite kvadrante i pokazano je da su C/O vrijednosti u slučajevima kad je smetnja prisutna unutar statističke greške u odnosu na slučaj kada smetnje nema.The neutron probe for testing oil wells was developed at the Ruđer Bošković Institute within the HRZZ project IP-2018-01-4060 "New applications of 14 MeV neutrons". In this study, further possibilities of noise reduction in C/O ratio measurement by the associated alpha particle method were investigated. A mixture of quartz sand and graphite powder was used as the material of interest, while plastic bottles filled with diesel fuel were used as noise (interference) and represent the liquid inside the oil well (e.g. oil). Dividing the alpha detector into four equal segments, allowed portioning the volume around the neutron probe axis into four quadrants. The material of interest and diesel were located in different quadrants and it is shown that the C/O values in cases where interference is present are within statistical errors compared to the case where there is no interference

A hybrid multi-particle approach to range assessment-based treatment verification in particle therapy

Particle therapy (PT) used for cancer treatment can spare healthy tissue and reduce treatment toxicity. However, full exploitation of the dosimetric advantages of PT is not yet possible due to range uncertainties, warranting development of range-monitoring techniques. This study proposes a novel range-monitoring technique introducing the yet unexplored concept of simultaneous detection and imaging of fast neutrons and prompt-gamma rays produced in beam-tissue interactions. A quasimonolithic organic detector array is proposed, and its feasibility for detecting range shifts in the context of proton therapy is explored through Monte Carlo simulations of realistic patient models and detector resolution efects. The results indicate that range shifts of 1 mm can be detected at relatively low proton intensities (22.30(13) × 107 protons/spot) when spatial information obtained through imaging of both particle species are used simultaneously. This study lays the foundation for multiparticle detection and imaging systems in the context of range verifcation in PTpublishedVersio

Sediment as a dynamic natural resource : from catchment to open sea

Peer reviewe

Sediment challenges and opportunities due to climate change and sustainable development

No disponibl

Graphical display of variables contributing to principal component 1 (PC1) and principal component 2 (PC2) and amount of total variance explained per each PC showing strong association of sperm quality parameters including sperm concentration around PC1 and concentration of elements around PC2.

<p>The variables concentrated around graphical centre do not contribute significantly to these two PCs, although they could be interpreted by subsequent PCs describing remaining data variance. The projection of K, Ca, Cu, Zn and Y variables on PC1 describing 31% of total variance shows weaker negative correlation to motility parameters and sperm concentration. Higher concentrations of these elements negatively impact forward progression parameters and sperm concentration, but contribute to hyperactivation motility expressed as low STR and LIN, accompanied with low “elongation” (a morphological parameter). This also implies that hyperactivation activates on expense of forward progression. PC2 describing 21% of remaining variance shows that all elements are correlated between themselves although Br and Sr express lower contribution. Their higher concentrations are associated to greater forward progression and sperm concentration. These results imply that, although of secondary importance, the higher baseline status of elements improves forward progression and sperm concentration.</p

Descriptive statistics for 97 semen samples.

<p>Descriptive statistics for 97 semen samples.</p

Box-plots of trace-element concentrations, patient ages, days of abstinence and sperm-quality parameters.

<p>Groups of men diagnosed with normozoospermia (N), asthenozoospermia (A) and oligoasthenozoospermia (OA) were statistically different with respect to all sperm quality parameters and sperm concentration. No significant difference was found in concentrations of chemical elements among these three groups of patients. Results of Mann-Whitney U test and Tukey HSD showed that A and N groups were statistically significantly different with respect to STR, LIN, “elongation”, VCL and ALH indicating increased expression of spontaneous spermatozoa hyperactivation among patients with normal spermiogram according to WHO criteria. The distribution of sperm quality parameters for OA group of patients was not compared to other two groups as being heavily influenced by “0” values.</p