Temporal analysis of natural radionuclides deposition at Málaga(2005-2016)

Atmospheric deposition of radionuclides has been investigated in many studies from the aspects of both radiation protection and geochemistry. The present study, carried out in the city of Málaga, in the southeast of Spain, focuses on the assessment of the bulk depositional fluxes of three natural radionuclides: 7Be (cosmogenic origin), and 210Pb and 40K (crustal origin). These three radionuclides are useful markers of particles arising from their respective sources. To obtain fundamental information of atmospheric transportation, sedimentation and geological process of particulate matter, a long-term monitoring of atmospheric deposition has been carried out in Málaga from January 2005-December 2016. Samples of bulk deposition were collected on a monthly basis on a stainless steel tray from January 2005 to December 2016. Afterwards, a volume of 6 L of the bulk deposition was reduced via evaporation to 1 L approximately and transferred to a Marinelli geometry container for gamma counting. Additionally, aerosols samples were collected weekly in cellulose membrane filters of 0.8μm pore size and 47mm diameter with an air sampler lodged in an all-weather sampling station, situated on the roof near the bulk rain collector. Gamma counting of the aerosols and bulk deposition samples was performed using an intrinsic germanium coaxial detector, Re-Ge-type (CANBERRA). This study describes the results and then discusses characteristics of atmospheric deposition of mentioned radionuclides with respect to seasonal variations and dependency on controlling factors. The depositional fluxes of all radionuclides showed a clear seasonal trend with summer minimum and high values in wintertime

Myristic acid potentiates palmitic acid-induced lipotoxicity and steatohepatitis associated with lipodystrophy by sustaning de novo ceramide synthesis.

Palmitic acid (PA) induces hepatocyte apoptosis and fuels de novo ceramide synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Myristic acid (MA), a free fatty acid highly abundant in copra/palmist oils, is a predictor of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and stimulates ceramide synthesis. Here we investigated the synergism between MA and PA in ceramide synthesis, ER stress, lipotoxicity and NASH. Unlike PA, MA is not lipotoxic but potentiated PA-mediated lipoapoptosis, ER stress, caspase-3 activation and cytochrome c release in primary mouse hepatocytes (PMH). Moreover, MA kinetically sustained PA-induced total ceramide content by stimulating dehydroceramide desaturase and switched the ceramide profile from decreased to increased ceramide 14:0/ceramide16:0, without changing medium and long-chain ceramide species. PMH were more sensitive to equimolar ceramide14:0/ceramide16:0 exposure, which mimics the outcome of PA plus MA treatment on ceramide homeostasis, than to either ceramide alone. Treatment with myriocin to inhibit ceramide synthesis and tauroursodeoxycholic acid to prevent ER stress ameliorated PA plus MA induced apoptosis, similar to the protection afforded by the antioxidant BHA, the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-Fmk and JNK inhibition. Moreover, ruthenium red protected PMH against PA and MA-induced cell death. Recapitulating in vitro findings, mice fed a diet enriched in PA plus MA exhibited lipodystrophy, hepatosplenomegaly, increased liver ceramide content and cholesterol levels, ER stress, liver damage, inflammation and fibrosis compared to mice fed diets enriched in PA or MA alone. The deleterious effects of PA plus MA-enriched diet were largely prevented by in vivo myriocin treatment. These findings indicate a causal link between ceramide synthesis and ER stress in lipotoxicity, and imply that the consumption of diets enriched in MA and PA can cause NASH associated with lipodystrophy

Cross-Sectional Comparison of Behavioral Risk Factors for HIV/HCV in People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in Egypt

Background Egypt has the greatest HCV prevalence worldwide at 15% and a concentrated HIV epidemic in male people who inject drugs (PWID) at 6.8%, who are at a high risk for HCV infection as well. Injection drug use is criminalized in Egypt, and there is limited availability of harm reduction programs. Drug-use and sexual risk behaviors between PWID and the general population have not been studied there. Methods To address this gap, a cross-sectional HIV/HCV epidemiological study of 632 consenting injection drug users in Cairo and Alexandria was conducted. Bivariate logistic regression analysis was done to evaluate the associations between HIV/HCV and needle sharing or sexual practices using SAS 9.4. Results 10.6% (63/ 604) of the study population tested positive for HIV and 61.5% (384/624) tested positive for HCV. Sharing needles with more than 10 people was associated with HIV and HCV infection (OR=3.65, p-val=0.001; OR=2.05, p-val=0.02, respectably). Age was associated with both HIV and HCV (p-val=0.03 and Conclusions The results indicate that the growing epidemic among PWID in Egypt may place the general population at risk for HIV and HCV primarily through sexual contact. In Russia, repressive policies toward PWID allowed HIV to spread to the general population at the start of the epidemic in 2000. Now, 48% of HIV is heterosexually transmitted in Russia and the country contributes \u3e80% of the HIV cases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In response to the epidemic, even more punitive laws and regulations were introduced in Russia, and their HIV prevalence has seen a 49% increase between 2005 and 2015. A similar trajectory can be expected for Egypt if preventative measures are not taken. Common-sense harm reduction programs like clean needle exchanges and decriminalization of injection drug use should be part of a comprehensive plan to control the spread of HIV and HCV in Egypt

Hysteroscopic Management of an Interstitial Ectopic Pregnancy

We report a case of an interstitial ectopic pregnancy successfully managed by hysteroscopy. We highlight the benefits of using hysteroscopy, a non-invasive procedure, to preserve fertility

Diagnóstico y medidas de remediación por altas concentraciones de radón en vivienda unifamiliar en el sur de España

Desde hace años existe una importante preocupación e interés en la comunidad científica por la exposición a altos niveles de radon en el interior de la viviendas, centros de trabajo y colegios. Esta preocupación se está extendiendo al conjunto de la población y son numerosas las referencias en artículos de prensa y medios de comunicación a este gas noble. Es bien sabido que las personas que inhalan altas concentraciones de radón tienen un riesgo mayor de padecer cáncer de pulmón, que es inducido por los descendientes del gas inhalado. En este trabajo presentamos los datos más relevantes obtenidos en una vivienda unifamiliar en la que los propietarios sospechaban de estar sometidos a altas concentraciones de radon. Para realizar el estudio utilizamos sistemas activos, concretamente 6 dispositivos con cámara de difusión con diodo de silicio, modelo Alpha E de Saphimo y un equipo AlphaGuard 2000 Pro, y sistemas pasivos mediante cartuchos de carbón activo para medidas en equipo de espectrometría gamma. Se trata de una vivienda de 550 m2 distribuidos en dos módulos con dos alturas y sótano acondicionado como vivienda del servicio. Tras una evaluación inicial en toda la vivienda, detectamos altos niveles de radon en tres estancias de la casa, registrando valores medios >6000 Bqm-3 con un valor máximo de 25350 Bqm-3. Se realizaron medidas correctoras mediante el uso de materiales impermeabilizantes y sistemas de extracción forzada en la zona no habitada del sótano consiguiendo disminuir los niveles de radon por debajo de los 100 Bqm-3 como valor medio

Observational constraints to boxy/peanut bulge formation time

Boxy/peanut bulges are considered to be part of the same stellar structure as bars and both could be linked through the buckling instability. The Milky Way is our closest example. The goal of this letter is determining if the mass assembly of the different components leaves an imprint in their stellar populations allowing to estimate the time of bar formation and its evolution. To this aim we use integral field spectroscopy to derive the stellar age distributions, SADs, along the bar and disc of NGC 6032. The analysis shows clearly different SADs for the different bar areas. There is an underlying old (>=12 Gyr) stellar population for the whole galaxy. The bulge shows star formation happening at all times. The inner bar structure shows stars of ages older than 6 Gyrs with a deficit of younger populations. The outer bar region presents a SAD similar to that of the disc. To interpret our results, we use a generic numerical simulation of a barred galaxy. Thus, we constrain, for the first time, the epoch of bar formation, the buckling instability period and the posterior growth from disc material. We establish that the bar of NGC 6032 is old, formed around 10 Gyr ago while the buckling phase possibly happened around 8 Gyr ago. All these results point towards bars being long-lasting even in the presence of gas.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Современные концепции управления высшим учебным заведением

Целью и задачами статьи является исследование современных подходов к управлению вузом, их критический анализ и возможность оптимизации процессов деятельности вуза