Field efficacy evaluation and post-treatment contamination risk assessment of an ultraviolet disinfection and safe storage system.

Inconsistent use of household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) systems reduces their potential health benefits. Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection is more convenient than some existing HWTS systems, but it does not provide post-treatment residual disinfectant, which could leave drinking water vulnerable to recontamination. In this paper, using as-treated analyses, we report on the field efficacy of a UV disinfection system at improving household drinking water quality in rural Mexico. We further assess the risk of post-treatment contamination from the UV system, and develop a process-based model to better understand household risk factors for recontamination. This study was part of a larger cluster-randomized stepped wedge trial, and the results complement previously published population-level results of the intervention on diarrheal prevalence and water quality. Based on the presence of Escherichia coli (proportion of households with ≥ 1 E. coli/100 mL), we estimated a risk difference of -28.0% (95% confidence interval (CI): -33.9%, -22.1%) when comparing intervention to control households; -38.6% (CI: -48.9%, -28.2%) when comparing post- and pre-intervention results; and -37.1% (CI: -45.2%, -28.9%) when comparing UV disinfected water to alternatives within the household. We found substantial increases in post-treatment E. coli contamination when comparing samples from the UV system effluent (5.0%) to samples taken from the storage container (21.1%) and drinking glasses (26.0%). We found that improved household infrastructure, additional extractions from the storage container, additional time from when the storage container was filled, and increased experience of the UV system operator were associated with reductions in post-treatment contamination. Our results suggest that the UV system is efficacious at improving household water quality when used as intended. Promoting safe storage habits is essential for an effective UV system dissemination. The drinking glass appears to represent a small but significant source of recontamination that is likely to impact all HWTS systems

Charged Open Membrane Solutions On A Manifold With Boundary

Explicit open single and multi-membrane solutions of the low energy limit of M-theory on the orbifold $R^{10}\times S^1/Z_2$ are presented. This low energy action is described by an 11-dimensional supergravity action coupled to two $E_8$ super Yang-Mills fields, which propagate only on the 10-dimensional boundaries of the target space. The membrane solutions we construct preserve half the supersymmetries. They carry electric charge and current with respect to the gauge fields, whose generators are in the Cartan subalgebra of the two $E_8$ gauge groups present at the boundaries.Comment: 14 pages, Late

Impact of Sb and Na Doping on the Surface Electronic Landscape of Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin Films

Open-circuit voltage deficiency is the key limiting factor in Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin-film solar cells, which is commonly associated with band tails and deep gap states arising from elemental disorder. The introduction of dopants such as Na and Sb has led to improvement in device performance, yet their effects on the optoelectronic properties of CZTS are yet to be fully elucidated. In this Letter, we unraveled the effect of Sb and Na:Sb co-doping on the surface energy landscape of solution-processed CZTS films employing energy-filtered photoelectron emission microscopy. In the absence of the additives, 150 nm resolution photoemission maps reveal oscillations in the local effective work function as well as areas of low photoemission energy threshold. The introduction of dopants substantially reshapes the photoemission maps, which we rationalize in terms of Cu:Zn and Sn disorder. Finally, we establish unprecedented correlations between the photoemission landscape of thin films and the performance of over 200 devices

One-parameter Darboux-transformed quantum actions in Thermodynamics

We use nonrelativistic supersymmetry, mainly Darboux transformations of the general (one-parameter) type, for the quantum oscillator thermodynamic actions. Interesting Darboux generalizations of the fundamental Planck and pure vacuum cases are discussed in some detail with relevant plots. It is shown that the one-parameter Darboux-transformed Thermodynamics refers to superpositions of boson and fermion excitations of positive and negative absolute temperature, respectively. Recent results of Arnaud, Chusseau, and Philippe physics/0105048 regarding a single mode oscillator Carnot cycle are extended in the same Darboux perspective. We also conjecture a Darboux generalization of the fluctuation-dissipation theoremComment: 14 pages, 13 figures, correction of the formula in the text after Eq. 7, accepted at Physica Script

Implicações éticas da violência doméstica contra a criança para profissionais de saúde

Baseando-se em alguns problemas com os quais profissionais de saúde se deparam no atendimento a crianças vítimas de violência, discutem-se as implicações éticas da interferência na dinâmica familiar utilizada para promover a proteção dessas crianças. Partindo do princípio de que a violência contra a criança é prima facie moralmente errada, aborda-se a questão dos direitos da criança e discute-se a intervenção praticada a partir de algumas teorias éticas: conseqüencialismo, utilitarismo e deontologia. Conclui-se que uma interferência que proteja a criança, tentando preservar a integridade familiar sempre que possível, é moralmente justificável.Based upon some problems faced by health professionals in the care of abused children, this is a discussion of the ethical implications in family interventions aiming to protect these children. Accepting the prima facie principle that violence is morally wrong, some issues related to the children's rights as well as some ethical theories such as consequentialism, utilitarianism and deontology are discussed. The conclusion is that the protection of these children is morally justifiable and the maintenance of the families' unity should always be attempted

Associations between olfactory pathway gene methylation marks, obesity features and dietary intakes

Abstract Background Olfaction is an important sense influencing food preferences, appetite, and eating behaviors. This hypothesis-driven study aimed to assess associations between olfactory pathway gene methylation signatures, obesity features, and dietary intakes. Methods A nutriepigenomic analysis was conducted in 474 adults from the Methyl Epigenome Network Association (MENA) project. Anthropometric measurements, clinical data, and serum metabolic profiles of the study population were obtained from structured databases of the MENA cohorts. Habitual dietary intake was assessed using a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. DNA methylation was measured in circulating white blood cells by microarray (Infinium Human Methylation 450 K BeadChips). FDR values (p < 0.0001) were used to select those CpGs that showed the best correlation with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Pathway analyses involving the characterization of genes involved in the olfactory transduction system were performed using KEGG and pathDIP reference databases. Results Overall, 15 CpG sites at olfactory pathway genes were associated with BMI (p < 0.0001) and WC (p < 0.0001) after adjustments for potential confounding factors. Together, methylation levels at the15 CpG sites accounted for 22% and 20% of the variability in BMI and WC (r 2 = 0.219, p < 0.001, and r 2 = 0.204, p < 0.001, respectively). These genes encompassed olfactory receptors (OR4D2, OR51A7, OR2T34, and OR2Y1) and several downstream signaling molecules (SLC8A1, ANO2, PDE2A, CALML3, GNG7, CALML6, PRKG1, and CAMK2D), which significantly regulated odor detection and signal transduction processes within the complete olfactory cascade, as revealed by pathway enrichment analyses (p = 1.94 × 10–10). Moreover, OR4D2 and OR2Y1 gene methylation patterns strongly correlated with daily intakes of total energy (p < 0.0001), carbohydrates (p < 0.0001), protein (p < 0.0001), and fat (p < 0.0001). Conclusions The results of this study suggest novel relationships between olfactory pathway gene methylation signatures, obesity indices, and dietary intakes

Tellurium-doped lanthanum manganite as catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

The effect of tellurium (Te) doping on the electrocatalytic activity of La1−xTexMnO3 toward the oxygen reduction reaction is investigated for the first time. La1−xTexMnO3 with x-values up 23% were synthesized from a single ionic liquid-based precursor, yielding nanoparticles with mean diameter in the range of 40–68 nm and rhombohedral unit cell. Electrochemical studies were performed on carbon-supported particles in alkaline environment. The composition dependence activity is discussed in terms of surface density of Mn sites and changes in the effective Mn oxidation state