Air pollution and mortality : results from Santiago, Chile

Heavy outdoor pollution is found in developing country cities such as Jakarta, Katowice, Mexico City, and Santiago. But most epidemiological studies of dose-response relationships between particulate air pollution (PM10) and premature deaths are from Western industrial nations. This study of such relationships in developing countries by the authors fills an important gap. It is also one of the few based on monitored PM10 values, or small particles, which is likely to be a more relevant measure of exposure to air pollution than the more traditional measure of total suspended particulates. Over several years, daily measures of ambient PM10 were collected in Santiago. Data were collected for all deaths, as well as for deaths for all men, all women, and all people over 64. Deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular disease were recorded separately, and accidental deaths were excluded. Multiple regression analysis was used to explain mortality, with particular attention to the influence of season and temperature. The association persists after controlling for daily minimum temperature and binary variables indicating temperature extremes the day of the week, the month, and the year. Additional sensitivity analysis suggests robust relationships. A change equal to 10-microgram-per-cubic-meter in daily PM10 (about 9 percent) averaged over three days was associatedwith a 1.1 percent increase in mortality (95 percent confidence interval: 0.6 to 1.5 percent). Death from respiratory and cardiovascular disease was more responsive to changes in PM10 than total mortality was. The same holds for mortality among men and mortality among individuals older than 64. The results are surprising consistent with results from industrial countries.Public Health Promotion,Air Quality&Clean Air,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Montreal Protocol,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences,Montreal Protocol,Airports and Air Services,Health Economics&Finance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Genetic Dissection of the Seminal Root System Architecture in Mediterranean Durum Wheat Landraces by Genome-Wide Association Study

Roots are crucial for adaptation to drought stress. However, phenotyping root systems is a difficult and time-consuming task due to the special feature of the traits in the process of being analyzed. Correlations between root system architecture (RSA) at the early stages of development and in adult plants have been reported. In this study, the seminal RSA was analysed on a collection of 160 durum wheat landraces from 21 Mediterranean countries and 18 modern cultivars. The landraces showed large variability in RSA, and differences in root traits were found between previously identified genetic subpopulations. Landraces from the eastern Mediterranean region, which is the driest and warmest within the Mediterranean Basin, showed the largest seminal root size in terms of root length, surface, and volume and the widest root angle, whereas landraces from eastern Balkan countries showed the lowest values. Correlations were found between RSA and yield-related traits in a very dry environment. The identification of molecular markers linked to the traits of interest detected 233 marker-trait associations for 10 RSA traits and grouped them in 82 genome regions named marker-train association quantitative trait loci (MTA-QTLs). Our results support the use of ancient local germplasm to widen the genetic background for root traits in breeding programs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Collimation technique and testing applied to finite size polychromatic sources

Highly collimated beams are required in numerous applications and techniques. Different methods have been proposed for collimating monochromatic point light sources during the recent years. In this work, we analyze how a finite size and polychromatic light source can be collimated using only one diffraction grating and a CMOS camera placed after the source and the collimating lens. For this, we determine the period of the fringes diffracted by the grating and compare it with the period of the grating. Analytical equations are obtained to predict the amplitude of the fringes and their period. Since self-images disappear for finite size polychromatic sources at long distances from the grating, the period has to be measured close to the grating. In addition, we give an analytical equation to determine the error in the positioning of the source in terms of the source size and the setup parameters. Finally, we experimentally corroborate the obtained analytical formalism using a white LED of size s = 0.6 mm collimated by a lens with focal length f = 25 mm, and a Ronchi binary grating of period d = 250 µm. In this case, we achieve an experimental error in the positioning of the source with respect to the focal plane of the lens of dzexp = 92 µm

Influence of Saturation and Geometry on Surface Electrical Resistivity Measurements

Non-destructive tests are the future for early concrete deterioration detection. The interest in surface electrical resistivity as for the quality control of concrete structures has increased in the last several years. A standardized laboratory method has recently been adopted as AASHTO TP 95-11 and an ASTM method is under consideration. Both these methods measure surface resistance by a Wenner four-electrode probe device, in which the electrodes are equally spaced on the surface of saturated concrete elements. Currently, the standardized method is restricted to laboratory specimens. For this method to be applicable to field measurements requires first to identify how much time a concrete element needs to reach saturation and how reliable resistivity values are under different saturation stages. Phase one of this research investigated the duration of saturation required to achieve stable resistivity for 20 mixture designs at a range of ages. It was generally determined that resistivity varies until 24 hours. Past that duration, some increases in surface resistivity were observed and attributed to further hydration. In the field, concrete elements are generally large and the assumptions of infinite geometry hold. Lab specimens, on the other hand, have a constricted flow of electrical current. In Phase two, the influences of geometry and saturation fluid were examined. It was found that using published geometrical conversion factors did not result in equivalent surface resistivity between cylinders and small slabs or for cylinders of different sizes, suggesting more work required in this area. The use of tap water was investigated as it would be more available on site; it was found that at 28 days, there were minimal differences between tap water and limewater. At later ages, limewater generally resulted in higher resistivity. Phase Three investigated published temperature corrections to adjust site measured resistivity to standard temperature. Regardless of the correction, significant difference was observed between the site and laboratory measurements. Lastly in Phase four, two alternate techniques were tested for potential on site use. It was found that neither resulted in any significant changes in resistivity

Independent primary-side controller applied to wireless chargers for electric vehicles

Electric vehicles rely on batteries that need to be frequently recharged. As an alternative to conductive charging, wireless chargers provide a higher reliability to pollution and electric failures and they also extend the situations and places where the recharge could be available without user’s intervention (e.g. parking spaces, on-road). In order to optimize the performance of a wireless charger, its configuration should be dynamically adapted to the varying battery’s electrical features. Towards this goal, controllers are incorporated into the system to modify the behavior of some switching devices belonging to the power electronics blocks. This paper presents a controller that acts in the DC/DC structure placed in the primary side. As a novelty, the controller infers the instantaneous battery power demands by exclusively measuring voltage and current in the primary side. In this way, there is no need for communicating (via wired or wireless links) the primary and the secondary sides. The simulation results show the ability of the controller to adapt to different battery states.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucia Tec