Health consultation : Exposure to fluff material from the Shine Brothers and noise concerns -- Spencer, Iowa (2011)

This letter has been prepared as a consultation to determine some potential health concerns raised by a resident of Spencer from exposure to wire shredder fluff material emitted by Shine Brothers metal salvaging facility in Spencer, Iowa on July 10, 2011 and, a concern regarding the health impacts from the level of noise measured by a resident near the metal salvaging facility.

1228-013 Center Lake Watershed Final Report

A targeted approach is being used in the Iowa Great Lakes Watershed with a keystone project featured within this project application in the heavily urbanized Center Lake Watershed. As identified in the Iowa Great Lakes Watershed Management Plan, urban runoff is the only remaining watershed concern in the Center Lake Watershed as the map in the attachments clearly shows. Fully one third of the watershed concerns of Center Lake will be treated through the installation of 7 keystone urban practices and will remove 63 pounds of phosphorous from entering the lake annually. Due to the interconnectedness of the Iowa Great Lakes (IGL), the watershed has been broken down into sub units called Resource Management Areas (RMA's) for priority practice implementation. This project will mesh with the existing Iowa Great Lakes Watershed Management Plan by reducing pollutant loads from the highest priority RMA's which are resulting in impaired water bodies. The majority of the funding needed for the specific practices specified in this proposal has already been secured through the Iowa DNR Section 319 and Lake Restoration Programs, The Water Quality Commission and the City of Spirit Lake. This funding request will simply bring the overall cost of these keystone practices into the range of affordability for the committed funders and the City of Spirit Lake

Large gypsum nodules in the Paleogene and Neogene evaporites of Spain: distribution and palaeogeographic significance

Sabkha and deep burial set tings are the most com mon sites where diagenetic anhydrite forms. In a sabkha setting, displacive facies (iso lated nodules, bed ded nodules, enterolithic levels) of early diagenetic or primary anhydrite are generated (Shearman, 1966; Hardie, 1967). These anhydrite facies are commonly foundat the top of shoal ing cycles representing the evolution from subaqueous depositional conditions at the base (carbonates, lutites) to exposure conditions at the top where in ter stitially-grown gypsum/anhydrite de velops ( sabkha cy cles). In a deep burial setting, gypsum transforms to tally to anhydrite with in creas ing temperature and lithostatic pressure (Murray, 1964). Al though this mineral transformation usually preserves the depositional gypsum facies, a significant textural change is in volved in other cases, resulting in replacive anhydrite with a nodular-mosaic or"chicken-wire" fabric (Warren, 2006). In the two settings, how ever, the size of the individual anhydrite nodules is relatively small, rarely reaching some tens of centimetres across. More over, bedding is preserved or little disturbed, al though minor de formation is caused by the displacive sabkha nodules.

An Adaptive Remeshing Procedure for Proximity Maneuvering Spacecraft Formations

We consider a methodology to optimally obtain reconfigurations of spacecraft formations. It is based on the discretization of the time interval in subintervals (called the mesh) and the obtainment of local solutions on them as a result of a variational method. Applied to a libration point orbit scenario, in this work we focus on how to find optimal meshes using an adaptive remeshing procedure and on the determination of the parameter that governs it

A numeric model to simulate solar individual ultraviolet exposure.

Exposure to solar ultraviolet (UV) light is the main causative factor for skin cancer. UV exposure depends on environmental and individual factors. Individual exposure data remain scarce and development of alternative assessment methods is greatly needed. We developed a model simulating human exposure to solar UV. The model predicts the dose and distribution of UV exposure received on the basis of ground irradiation and morphological data. Standard 3D computer graphics techniques were adapted to develop a rendering engine that estimates the solar exposure of a virtual manikin depicted as a triangle mesh surface. The amount of solar energy received by each triangle was calculated, taking into account reflected, direct and diffuse radiation, and shading from other body parts. Dosimetric measurements (n = 54) were conducted in field conditions using a foam manikin as surrogate for an exposed individual. Dosimetric results were compared to the model predictions. The model predicted exposure to solar UV adequately. The symmetric mean absolute percentage error was 13%. Half of the predictions were within 17% range of the measurements. This model provides a tool to assess outdoor occupational and recreational UV exposures, without necessitating time-consuming individual dosimetry, with numerous potential uses in skin cancer prevention and research.

Capacidade antioxidante e composição química de grãos integrais de gergelim creme e preto

O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a composição química, estimar o conteúdo de compostos fenólicos solúveis totais e de fitatos, e avaliar a capacidade antioxidante de grãos integrais de gergelim (Sesamum indicum) creme e preto. Amostras de ambos os tipos de grão foram submetidas a tratamento térmico em estufa de circulação de ar a 150ºC por 10 min e trituradas até granulometria de 20 mesh. O gergelim creme apresentou maior teor de lipídios, carboidratos, fibra alimentar solúvel e valor calórico, enquanto o gergelim preto apresentou maior teor de fibras alimentares insolúvel e total. O gergelim preto apresentou teor de compostos fenólicos solúveis totais de 261,9±7,5 mg em equivalente de ácido gálico (EAG) por 100 g de farinha, aproximadamente duas vezes superior ao do gergelim creme (147,5±31,7 mg por 100 g de EAG). O teor de fitatos do gergelim creme foi duas vezes inferior ao do gergelim preto (0,66±0,06 e 1,36±0,04 g por 100 g de ácido fítico, respectivamente). O gergelim preto apresenta maior potencial funcional relacionado à atividade antioxidante. Contudo, ambos os tipos de gergelim analisados podem ser considerados fontes de compostos antioxidantes naturais.

Gefäßchirurgische Ausbildung in endovaskulärer Technik in Lausanne

Between 1995 and 2005, the number of aortic aneurysms treated annually using endovascular techniques (EVAR) increased from 0 to 50, including all aortic stages. Our organization includes a large team of surgeons, a stock of three complete families of endoprostheses (straight, conical and bifurcated), a mobile trolley with accessories (arterial introducer/introducer sheath, guide wire, catheters, balloons, etc.) and an appliance on wheels for intravascular ultrasound examination (IVUS). This appliance, together with a mobile fluoroscopy device (c-arm), allows endovascular aneurysms analysis of every operating room in our institution, usually without angiography or the use of contrast medium. In general, we are therefore not depending on substantial preoperative imaging in order to identify candidates for endovascular aneurysms repair and can treat abdominal and thoracic aortic ruptures without delay. For endovascular aortic aneurysms repair we distinguish between process steps on the one hand (determining indications, imaging of the access vessels, measurement using IVUS and road mapping via fluoroscopy, selection of implant, implant insertion, positioning, setting the implant, determining success, reconstruction of the access vessel and follow-up) and the level of competence on the other (assistant, senior and directing physicians). Our ultrasound supported technique for endovascular aneurysms repair has been successfully brought to other hospitals using an IVUS transporter and telementoring.

Enterocystoplasty using modified pedicled, detubularized, de-epithelialized sigmoid patches in the mini-pig model.

Enterocystoplasty and gastrocystoplasty have been developed to restore adequate bladder capacity but they still result in the undesired harmful contact of urine with the intestinal mucosa. In an attempt to prevent this nonphysiological interface we performed several modified enterocystoplasties in the mini-pig model using a pedicled, detubularized, de-epithelialized sigmoid patch. Five techniques of patch coverage were used to evaluate urothelial growth or survival on the sigmoid patch. All but 1 patch had intestinal mucosa remnants with mucocele formation. When no coverage was applied or a biodegradable polyglactin mesh was temporarily covering the pedicled, detubularized, de-epithelialized sigmoid patch, severe shrinkage occurred. Partial cover with autologous urothelium islets seemed to decrease shrinkage. Adequate urothelium survival and satisfactory elastic properties of the patch were observed when total cover of the sigmoid patch was achieved with a sheet of homologous urothelium recovering autologous urothelial islets or when the patch was applied to protruding urothelium obtained following sagittal posterior detrusor myotomy.

Inferring ultraviolet anatomical exposure patterns while distinguishing the relative contribution of radiation components

Exposure to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the main causative factor for skin cancer. UV exposure depends on environmental and individual factors, but individual exposure data remain scarce. UV irradiance is monitored via different techniques including ground measurements and satellite observations. However it is difficult to translate such observations into human UV exposure or dose because of confounding factors (shape of the exposed surface, shading, behavior, etc.) A collaboration between public health institutions, a meteorological office and an institute specialized in computing techniques developed a model predicting the dose and distribution of UV exposure on the basis of ground irradiation and morphological data. Standard 3D computer graphics techniques were adapted to develop this tool, which estimates solar exposure of a virtual manikin depicted as a triangle mesh surface. The amount of solar energy received by various body locations is computed for direct, diffuse and reflected radiation separately. The radiation components are deduced from corresponding measurements of UV irradiance, and the related UV dose received by each triangle of the virtual manikin is computed accounting for shading by other body parts and eventual protection measures. The model was verified with dosimetric measurements (n=54) in field conditions using a foam manikin as surrogate for an exposed individual. Dosimetric results were compared to the model predictions. The model predicted exposure to solar UV adequately. The symmetric mean absolute percentage error was 13%. Half of the predictions were within 17% range of the measurements. This model allows assessing outdoor occupational and recreational UV exposures, without necessitating time-consuming individual dosimetry, with numerous potential uses in skin cancer prevention and research. Using this tool, we investigated solar UV exposure patterns with respect to the relative contribution of the direct, diffuse and reflected radiation. We assessed exposure doses for various body parts and exposure scenarios of a standing individual (static and dynamic postures). As input, the model used erythemally-weighted ground irradiance data measured in 2009 at Payerne, Switzerland. A year-round daily exposure (8 am to 5 pm) without protection was assumed. For most anatomical sites, mean daily doses were high (typically 6.2-14.6 SED) and exceeded recommended exposure values. Direct exposure was important during specific periods (e.g. midday during summer), but contributed moderately to the annual dose, ranging from 15 to 24% for vertical and horizontal body parts, respectively. Diffuse irradiation explained about 80% of the cumulative annual exposure dose. Acute diffuse exposures were also obtained for cloudy summer days. The importance of diffuse UV radiation should not be underestimated when advocating preventive measures. Messages focused on avoiding acute direct exposures may be of limited efficiency to prevent skin cancers associated with chronic exposure (e.g., squamous cell carcinomas).

Comments on "On the relationship between fractal dimension and the performance of multi-resonant dipole antennas using Koch curves"

Comentaris referits a l'article següent: K. J. Vinoy, J. K. Abraham, and V. K. Varadan, “On the relationshipbetween fractal dimension and the performance of multi-resonant dipoleantennas using Koch curves,” IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 2003, vol. 51, p. 2296–2303.

Linear and nonlinear terrain deformation maps from a reduced set of interferometric SAR images

In this paper, an advanced technique for the generation of deformation maps using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is presented. The algorithm estimates the linear and nonlinear components of the displacement, the error of the digital elevation model (DEM) used to cancel the topographic terms, and the atmospheric artifacts from a reduced set of low spatial resolution interferograms. The pixel candidates are selected from those presenting a good coherence level in the whole set of interferograms and the resulting nonuniform mesh tessellated with the Delauney triangulation to establish connections among them. The linear component of movement and DEM error are estimated adjusting a linear model to the data only on the connections. Later on, this information, once unwrapped to retrieve the absolute values, is used to calculate the nonlinear component of movement and atmospheric artifacts with alternate filtering techniques in both the temporal and spatial domains. The method presents high flexibility with respect to the required number of images and the baselines length. However, better results are obtained with large datasets of short baseline interferograms. The technique has been tested with European Remote Sensing SAR data from an area of Catalonia (Spain) and validated with on-field precise leveling measurements.

Uroradiological screening for upper and lower urinary tract anomalies in patients with hypospadias: a systematic literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Hypospadias is associated with anomalies of the urinary tract, but the exact prevalence and significance of these anomalies are still controversial. OBJECTIVES: To assess the percentage of patients with hypospadias and associated urological anomalies, either requiring or not requiring medical or surgical attention. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We searched several databases using the following Mesh terms: hypospadias AND urination, ultrasonography, urinary tract/abnormalities, urinary bladder/radiography, ureteral obstruction, hydronephrosis or vesico-ureteral reflux. Type of uroradiological studies performed, type of urological anomalies, medical or surgical interventions, number of patients available, enrolled and undergoing uroradiological studies and number of patients with abnormal uroradiological exams were recorded. RESULTS: We found 24 studies. Four studies included 100% of available patients. In the other ones, the percentage of patients undergoing uroradiological screening varied from 12 to 82%. Frequency of anomalies varied from 0 to 56%. The most common anomalies were kidney position anomalies, vesico-ureteral reflux and hydronephrosis. CONCLUSIONS: The data published about screening patients with hypospadias for associated anomalies of their urinary tract are of poor quality. The clinical significance of the anomalies found is difficult to evaluate. We found no relationship between the severity of the hypospadias and associated anomalies of the upper or lower urinary tract.

Sihtirummun väsymisominaisuuksien määrittäminen

Diplomityössä tutkittiin sihtirummun väsymisominaisuuksia. Sihtirumpu on laite, jota käytetään paperin valmistuksessa kuitumassojen käsittelyssä. Työn tavoitteena oli määrittää profiililankatyypin ja tukirenkaan erilaisten valmistustapojen vaikutus sihtirummun väsymiskestävyyteen. Lisäksi tutkittiin vauriomuotoa, jossa yksittäinen profiililanka irtoaa tukilangasta. Sihtirummun väsymisominaisuuksia määritettiin käyttämällä perinteisiä lujuusopin menetelmiä sekä FE-analyysiä ja väsytyskokeita. Teoreettisilla menetelmillä, jotka perustuivat loven vaikutuksen arviointiin, pyrittiin määrittämään perusaineen väsymislujuutta, ja väsytyskokeilla määritettiin sihtirummun hitsien väsymislujuuksia ja yksittäisen langan irtoamista. Sihtirummun hitsit olivat väsymislujuudeltaan huomattavasti perusainetta heikompia, eikä profiililankatyyppi vaikuttanut merkittävästi sihtirummun väsymiskestävyyteen. Hitsaamattoman tukirenkaan ja tukilangan liitoksen havaittiin nostavan sihtirummun väsymiskestävyyttä, mutta silloin ongelmana ovat tukirenkaan ja tukilangan väliin pääsevät kuidut. Yksittäisen profiililangan irtoamisen ei pitäisi rajoittaa sihtirummun väsymiskestävyyttä.

Hitsausparametrien vaikutus rakenneteräksen MAG-hitsin laatuun

Työn tavoitteena oli löytää teräksen S355 MAG alapienahitsaukselle, 6mm:n levypaksuudelle sellaiset parametri-ikkunat, joissa hitsin ja perusaineen liittyminen on mahdollisimman jouheva. Hitsin laadunja hitsausparametrien välille pyritiin löytämään matemaattista korrelaatiota. Työ painottui hitsin muotoon sekä hitsin ja perusaineen liittymiseen. Työstä saatuja tuloksia käytettiin hitsattaessa väsytyskoekappaleita mutta niiden tutkiminen ei sisältynyt tähän työhön. Työssä haettiin parametreja a-mitaltaan 4mm:n alapienahitsille kahdeksalle yleisesti käytetylle hitsauslangalle, joista kolme oli umpilankaa, neljä metallitäytelankaa ja yksi rutiilitäytelanka ja kaasuina käytettiin kahta argon hiilidioksidi seoskaasua ja kahta argon helium seoskaasua.

Étude des mécanismes de transfert des fibres en sciences forensiques

RESUME Les fibres textiles sont des produits de masse utilisés dans la fabrication de nombreux objets de notre quotidien. Le transfert de fibres lors d'une action délictueuse est dès lors extrêmement courant. Du fait de leur omniprésence dans notre environnement, il est capital que l'expert forensique évalue la valeur de l'indice fibres. L'interprétation de l'indice fibres passe par la connaissance d'un certain nombre de paramètres, comme la rareté des fibres, la probabilité de leur présence par hasard sur un certain support, ainsi que les mécanismes de transfert et de persistance des fibres. Les lacunes les plus importantes concernent les mécanismes de transfert des fibres. A ce jour, les nombreux auteurs qui se sont penchés sur le transfert de fibres ne sont pas parvenus à créer un modèle permettant de prédire le nombre de fibres que l'on s'attend à retrouver dans des circonstances de contact données, en fonction des différents paramètres caractérisant ce contact et les textiles mis en jeu. Le but principal de cette recherche est de démontrer que la création d'un modèle prédictif du nombre de fibres transférées lors d'un contact donné est possible. Dans le cadre de ce travail, le cas particulier du transfert de fibres d'un tricot en laine ou en acrylique d'un conducteur vers le dossier du siège de son véhicule a été étudié. Plusieurs caractéristiques des textiles mis en jeu lors de ces expériences ont été mesurées. Des outils statistiques (régression linéaire multiple) ont ensuite été utilisés sur ces données afin d'évaluer l'influence des caractéristiques des textiles donneurs sur le nombre de fibres transférées et d'élaborer un modèle permettant de prédire le nombre de fibres qui vont être transférées à l'aide des caractéristiques influençant significativement le transfert. Afin de faciliter la recherche et le comptage des fibres transférées lors des expériences de transfert, un appareil de recherche automatique des fibres (liber finder) a été utilisé dans le cadre de cette recherche. Les tests d'évaluation de l'efficacité de cet appareil pour la recherche de fibres montrent que la recherche automatique est globalement aussi efficace qu'une recherche visuelle pour les fibres fortement colorées. Par contre la recherche automatique perd de son efficacité pour les fibres très pâles ou très foncées. Une des caractéristiques des textiles donneurs à étudier est la longueur des fibres. Afin de pouvoir évaluer ce paramètre, une séquence d'algorithmes de traitement d'image a été implémentée. Cet outil permet la mesure de la longueur d'une fibre à partir de son image numérique à haute résolution (2'540 dpi). Les tests effectués montrent que les mesures ainsi obtenues présentent une erreur de l'ordre du dixième de millimètre, ce qui est largement suffisant pour son utilisation dans le cadre de cette recherche. Les résultats obtenus suite au traitement statistique des résultats des expériences de transfert ont permis d'aboutir à une modélisation du phénomène du transfert. Deux paramètres sont retenus dans le modèle: l'état de la surface du tissu donneur et la longueur des fibres composant le tissu donneur. L'état de la surface du tissu est un paramètre tenant compte de la quantité de fibres qui se sont détachées de la structure du tissu ou qui sont encore faiblement rattachées à celle-ci. En effet, ces fibres sont les premières à se transférer lors d'un contact, et plus la quantité de ces fibres par unité de surface est importante, plus le nombre de fibres transférées sera élevé. La longueur des fibres du tissu donneur est également un paramètre important : plus les fibres sont longues, mieux elles sont retenues dans la structure du tissu et moins elles se transféreront. SUMMARY Fibres are mass products used to produce numerous objects encountered everyday. The transfer of fibres during a criminal action is then very common. Because fibres are omnipresent in our environment, the forensic expert has to evaluate the value of the fibre evidence. To interpret fibre evidence, the expert has to know some parameters as frequency of fibres,' probability of finding extraneous fibres by chance on a given support, and transfer and persistence mechanisms. Fibre transfer is one of the most complex parameter. Many authors studied fibre transfer mechanisms but no model has been created to predict the number of fibres transferred expected in a given type of contact according to parameters as characteristics of the contact and characteristics of textiles. The main purpose of this research is to demonstrate that it is possible to create a model to predict the number of fibres transferred during a contact. In this work, the particular case of the transfer of fibres from a knitted textile in wool or in acrylic of a driver to the back of a carseat has been studied. Several characteristics of the textiles used for the experiments were measured. The data obtained were then treated with statistical tools (multiple linear regression) to evaluate the influence of the donor textile characteristics on the number of úbers transferred, and to create a model to predict this number of fibres transferred by an equation containing the characteristics having a significant influence on the transfer. To make easier the searching and the counting of fibres, an apparatus of automatic search. of fibers (fiber finder) was used. The tests realised to evaluate the efficiency of the fiber finder shows that the results obtained are generally as efficient as for visual search for well-coloured fibres. However, the efficiency of automatic search decreases for pales and dark fibres. One characteristic of the donor textile studied was the length of the fibres. To measure this parameter, a sequence of image processing algorithms was implemented. This tool allows to measure the length of a fibre from it high-resolution (2'540 dpi) numerical image. The tests done shows that the error of the measures obtained are about some tenths of millimetres. This precision is sufficient for this research. The statistical methods applied on the transfer experiment data allow to create a model of the transfer phenomenon. Two parameters are included in the model: the shedding capacity of the donor textile surface and the length of donor textile fibres. The shedding capacity of the donor textile surface is a parameter estimating the quantity of fibres that are not or slightly attached to the structure of the textile. These fibres are easily transferred during a contact, and the more this quantity of fibres is high, the more the number of fibres transferred during the contact is important. The length of fibres is also an important parameter: the more the fibres are long, the more they are attached in the structure of the textile and the less they are transferred during the contact.