Long-term lead elimination from plasma and whole blood after poisoning

OBJECTIVE: Blood lead (B-Pb), one of the most used toxicological biomarker all kind, has serious limitations. Thus, the objective is to evaluate whether plasma lead (P-Pb) is more adequate. METHODS: A long-term follow-up study of five cases of lead poisoning. P-Pb was analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Kinetics after end of exposure was modelled. RESULTS: P-Pb at severe poisoning was about 20 μg/L; haematological effects at about 5 μg/L. Biological half-time of P-Pb was about 1 month; B-Pb decay was much slower. CONCLUSION: P-Pb is a valuable biomarker of exposure to and risk, particularly at high exposure

The variable contribution of larval habitats on the production of mosquitoes that transmit West Nile Virus: a landscape epidemiology approach

Many factors influence mosquito reproduction and abundance, including weather, landscape types, and habitat availability. Much of the focus of public health actions related to the reduction of mosquito-borne pathogens is on the reduction of mosquito populations through treatment or elimination of larval habitats associated with vector mosquitoes. West Nile virus is an important pathogen in North America. The objective of this study was to determine influences on Culex adult and larval mosquito population. Data for this study were collected during the summer of 2014 in a study region in suburban Chicago, Illinois. The data included a full identification of catch basin and natural standing water larval sites, weekly mosquito collections of larval and adult mosquitoes during an 18-week period, a more limited assessment of larval sites associated with containers near homes, and lawn watering activities. The analyses undertaken revealed that urban catch basins that have a higher percentage of vegetation of at least 3 meters can be expected to have more vector mosquito larvae; also warmer temperatures and less rainfall in a given week and the week prior will result in higher numbers of larvae during that week. Cemeteries in the study region tended to have more larvae in catch basins than either residential or industrial areas. One part of the study region had a spatial and temporal correlation between larval mosquitoes and adult mosquitoes, but other places had high adult abundance without a clear indication of the larval habitat contributing to that increase. It is important to consider multiple types of mosquito larval habitat, and while catch basins are an important breeding site, they are not the only source of adult mosquitoes in the region

Unipotent group actions on affine varieties

Algebraic actions of unipotent groups $U$ actions on affine $k-$varieties $X$ ($k$ an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0) for which the algebraic quotient $X//U$ has small dimension are considered$.$ In case $X$ is factorial, $O(X)^{\ast}=k^{\ast},$ and $X//U$ is one-dimensional, it is shown that $O(X)^{U}$=$k[f]$, and if some point in $X$ has trivial isotropy, then $X$ is $U$ equivariantly isomorphic to $U\times A^{1}(k).$ The main results are given distinct geometric and algebraic proofs. Links to the Abhyankar-Sathaye conjecture and a new equivalent formulation of the Sathaye conjecture are made.Comment: 10 pages. This submission comes out of an older submission ("A commuting derivations theorem on UFDs") and contains part of i

The efficacy of gestural cueing in dysphasic word-retrieval responses

The effectiveness of visual--gestural cueing as compared with traditional auditory--verbal cueing was investigated using a time-series design. Eight dysphasic adults equally divided into a control and an experimental group were the subjects for this study. Results indicated no significant improvement in response times after an intensive 2-wk treatment period. Similarly, no single cue was observed to be more effective than others in eliciting dysphasic word-retrieval responses. In contrast, there was a significant difference in the order in which different cues were presented. Findings indicated that regardless of cue type, the cue presented first was the most effective. The present discussion relates current findings to previous observations and reviews implications of the data for language rehabilitation in dysphasia.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24335/1/0000602.pd

Mirror-image relations in category learning

The discrimination of patterns that are mirror-symmetric counterparts of each other is difficult and requires substantial training. We explored whether mirror-image discrimination during expertise acquisition is based on associative learning strategies or involves a representational shift towards configural pattern descriptions that permit resolution of symmetry relations. Subjects were trained to discriminate between sets of unfamiliar grey-level patterns in two conditions, which either required the separation of mirror images or not. Both groups were subsequently tested in a 4-class category-learning task employing the same set of stimuli. The results show that subjects who had successfully learned to discriminate between mirror-symmetric counterparts were distinctly faster in the categorization task, indicating a transfer of conceptual knowledge between the two tasks. Additional computer simulations suggest that the development of such symmetry concepts involves the construction of configural, protoholistic descriptions, in which positions of pattern parts are encoded relative to a spatial frame of reference

The Ursinus Weekly, May 18, 1964

Quipping Ramblers roam through the bluegrass: Group scores with relaxed style • Graduation speakers named: Knettler at Baccalaureate, Ciardi at Commencement;; Updike and Weiss receive honorary degrees • Girls flock east, flee UC doldrums • Faculty upholds MSGA decision: Exception noted in one case • Women program Big-Little Sister activities • Thomas and Moser win in run-off • APO seeks funds for proposed service project • UC freshmen to take part in WIP panel • Doanes take year leave, teach at Miles College • PSEA elects new officers • Editorial: Ursinus men? • War in the name of peace • Letters to the editor • Ruby 1900 edition • Crossettes avenge W.C. loss; Arch-rival crushed 14-4 • Tennis improves in winning 1 of 3 • Baseball has winning week with victories in 2 of 3 • Tennis drops 3rd; Blanked 5-0 by WC • Trackmen tromp as W.C. and Muhlenberg bow • Greek gleanings • Parsons to teach on Summer grant • Final examination schedulehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1274/thumbnail.jp