Sensitivity of yellow passion fruit to ultraviolet-B radiation

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of UV-B radiation on the vegetative growth and on the gas exchange characteristics of passion fruit plants (Passiflora edulis) grown in greenhouse. The average unweighted UV-B radiation near the apex of the plants was 8 W m-2 for the UV-B treatment (high UV-B), and 0.8 W m-2 for the control plants (low UV-B). Plants were irradiated with UV-B for 7 hours per day, centered on solar noon, during 16 days. High UV-B radiation resulted in lower shoot dry matter accumulation per plant. The content of UV-B absorbing compounds and anthocyanins was increased in the plants exposed to high UV-B radiation, when compared with the control. UV-B radiation did not affect stomatal conductance or transpiration rate, but reduced photosynthesis and instantaneous water-use efficiency, and increased intercellular CO2 concentration. The accumulation of UV-B-absorbing compounds and anthocyanins did not effectively shield plants from supplementary UV-B radiation, since the growth and photosynthetic processes were significantly reduced.

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).

Anatomical exposure patterns of skin to sunlight: relative contributions of direct, diffuse and reflected ultraviolet radiation

Summary Background  The dose-response between ultraviolet (UV) exposure patterns and skin cancer occurrence is not fully understood. Sun-protection messages often focus on acute exposure, implicitly assuming that direct UV radiation is the key contributor to the overall UV exposure. However, little is known about the relative contribution of the direct, diffuse and reflected radiation components. Objective  To investigate solar UV exposure patterns at different body sites with respect to the relative contribution of the direct, diffuse and reflected radiation. Methods  A three-dimensional numerical model was used to assess exposure doses for various body parts and exposure scenarios of a standing individual (static and dynamic postures). The model was fed with erythemally weighted ground irradiance data for the year 2009 in Payerne, Switzerland. A year-round daily exposure (08:00-17:00 h) without protection was assumed. Results  For most anatomical sites, mean daily doses were high (typically 6·2-14·6 standard erythemal doses) and exceeded the 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 observed during cloudy summer days. Conclusions  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.

Testing of Vacuum Drum Filter

Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli testata ja optimoida erään alipainerumpusuodattimen toimivuutta, ja lisäksi maksimoida tuottavuus ja vertailla erilaisten pesumenetelmientehokkuutta. Testilietteiden ¿ rautarikasteen ja täyteainepastan ¿ karakterisointi oli myös tärkeää. Kirjallisuusosassa tarkasteltiin lyhyesti neste-kiintoaine-erotuksen teoriaa, erityisesti alipainesuodatusta ja alipainerumpusuodattimia. Lisäksi käsiteltiin kapillaarisuodatuksen toimintaperiaatteita sekä selvitettiin kaivosteollisuuden veden talteenottokeinoja, kiintoainejäämien käsittelymenetelmiä ja Chilen kaivosteollisuuden nykytilaa. Työn kokeellinen osa suoritettiin käyttämällä raskaita ja kiintoainepitoisuuksiltaan korkeita lietteitä, eli rautarikastetta ja täyteainepastaa. Kokeet suoritettiin erityisellä alipainerumpusuodattimella, joka oli muokattu perinteisestäpäältä syötettävästä alipainerumpusuodattimesta. Kokeissa tutkittiin pyörimisnopeuden ja erilaisten pesumenetelmien vaikutusta kakun kosteuteen ja suodatuskapasiteettiin. Koelietteiden karakterisointi suoritettiin analysoimalla partikkelikokojakauma, kiintoainepitoisuus, metallipitoisuus ja koostumus. Kokeiden perusteella havaittiin, että rummun pyörimisnopeudella ja lietteen kiintoainepitoisuudella on merkittävä vaikutus suodatuskapasiteettiin ja kakun kosteuspitoisuuteen. Havaittiin myös, että kakun kosteuspitoisuuksissa ja rummun suodatuskapasiteeteissa oli eroja, kun verrattiin eri suodatinväliaineen pesumenetelmiä. Täten oikean pesumenetelmän valinta on tärkeää, ja sillä pystytään lisäämään suodatinväliaineen käyttöikää.

Estimating the contribution of occupational solar ultraviolet exposure to skin cancer

BACKGROUND: Exposure to solar ultraviolet (UV) light is the main causative factor for skin cancer. Outdoor workers are at particular risk because they spend long working hours outside, may have little shade available and be bound to take their lunch at their workplace. Despite epidemiological evidence of a doubling in risk of squamous cell carcinoma in outdoor workers, the recognition of skin cancer as an occupational disease remains scarce. OBJECTIVE: To assess occupational solar UV doses and its contribution to skin cancer risk. METHODS: A numerical model (SimUVEx) was used to assess occupational and lunch break exposures, characterize exposure patterns and anatomical distribution. Risk of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was estimated from an existing epidemiological model. RESULTS: Horizontal body locations received 2.0-2.5 times more UV than vertical locations. Dose associated to lunch outdoor every day was similar to outdoor work one day per week but only half of a seasonal worker. Outdoor workers are associated with an increased risk of SCC but also of frequent acute episodes. CONCLUSION: Occupational solar exposure contributes largely to the overall lifetime UV dose, resulting in an excess risk of SCC. The magnitude of the estimated excess in risk supports the recognition of SCC as an occupational disease.

Vacuum-assisted closure device for the management of infected postpneumonectomy chest cavities.

BACKGROUND: Infected postpneumonectomy chest cavities may be related to chronic postpneumonectomy empyema or arise in rare situations of necrotizing pneumonia with complete lung destruction where pneumonectomy and pleural debridement are required. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of an intrathoracic vacuum-assisted closure device (VAC) for the treatment of infected postpneumonectomy chest cavities. METHOD: A retrospective single institution review of all patients with infected postpneumonectomy chest cavities treated by VAC between 2005 and 2013. Patients underwent surgical debridement of the thoracic cavity, muscle flap closure of the bronchial stump when a fistula was present, and repeated intrathoracic VAC dressings until granulation tissue covered the entire chest cavity. After this, the cavity was obliterated by a Clagett procedure and closed. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients (14 men and 7 women) underwent VAC treatment of their infected postpneumonectomy chest cavity. Twelve patients presented with a chronic postpneumonectomy empyema (10 of them with a bronchopleural fistula) and 9 patients with an empyema occurring in the context of necrotizing pneumonia treated by pneumonectomy. In-hospital mortality was 23%. The median duration of VAC therapy was 23 days (range, 4-61 days) and the median number of VAC changes per patient was 6 (range, 2-14 days). Infection control and successful chest cavity closure was achieved in all surviving patients. One adverse VAC treatment-related event was identified (5%). CONCLUSIONS: The intrathoracic VAC application is a safe and efficient treatment of infected postpneumonectomy chest cavities and allows the preservation of chest wall integrity.

Diagnostic underestimation of atypical ductal hyperplasia and ductal carcinoma in situ at percutaneous core needle and vacuum-assisted biopsies of the breast in a Brazilian reference institution

Abstract Objective: To determine the rates of diagnostic underestimation at stereotactic percutaneous core needle biopsies (CNB) and vacuum-assisted biopsies (VABB) of nonpalpable breast lesions, with histopathological results of atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) subsequently submitted to surgical excision. As a secondary objective, the frequency of ADH and DCIS was determined for the cases submitted to biopsy. Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of 40 cases with diagnosis of ADH or DCIS on the basis of biopsies performed between February 2011 and July 2013, subsequently submitted to surgery, whose histopathological reports were available in the internal information system. Biopsy results were compared with those observed at surgery and the underestimation rate was calculated by means of specific mathematical equations. Results: The underestimation rate at CNB was 50% for ADH and 28.57% for DCIS, and at VABB it was 25% for ADH and 14.28% for DCIS. ADH represented 10.25% of all cases undergoing biopsy, whereas DCIS accounted for 23.91%. Conclusion: The diagnostic underestimation rate at CNB is two times the rate at VABB. Certainty that the target has been achieved is not the sole determining factor for a reliable diagnosis. Removal of more than 50% of the target lesion should further reduce the risk of underestimation.

A technique for high recoveries from vacuum distillations

The design and use of a novel apparatus for a variant of vacuum distillation is described. Relative to a conventional device, the apparatus/technique described permits superior recovery of multigram quantities of moderately volatile liquids from vacuum distillations.

Novel Robot Solutions for Carrying out Field Joint Welding and Machining in the Assembly of the Vacuum Vessel of ITER

It is necessary to use highly specialized robots in ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) both in the manufacturing and maintenance of the reactor due to a demanding environment. The sectors of the ITER vacuum vessel (VV) require more stringent tolerances than normally expected for the size of the structure involved. VV consists of nine sectors that are to be welded together. The vacuum vessel has a toroidal chamber structure. The task of the designed robot is to carry the welding apparatus along a path with a stringent tolerance during the assembly operation. In addition to the initial vacuum vessel assembly, after a limited running period, sectors need to be replaced for repair. Mechanisms with closed-loop kinematic chains are used in the design of robots in this work. One version is a purely parallel manipulator and another is a hybrid manipulator where the parallel and serial structures are combined. Traditional industrial robots that generally have the links actuated in series are inherently not very rigid and have poor dynamic performance in high speed and high dynamic loading conditions. Compared with open chain manipulators, parallel manipulators have high stiffness, high accuracy and a high force/torque capacity in a reduced workspace. Parallel manipulators have a mechanical architecture where all of the links are connected to the base and to the end-effector of the robot. The purpose of this thesis is to develop special parallel robots for the assembly, machining and repairing of the VV of the ITER. The process of the assembly and machining of the vacuum vessel needs a special robot. By studying the structure of the vacuum vessel, two novel parallel robots were designed and built; they have six and ten degrees of freedom driven by hydraulic cylinders and electrical servo motors. Kinematic models for the proposed robots were defined and two prototypes built. Experiments for machine cutting and laser welding with the 6-DOF robot were carried out. It was demonstrated that the parallel robots are capable of holding all necessary machining tools and welding end-effectors in all positions accurately and stably inside the vacuum vessel sector. The kinematic models appeared to be complex especially in the case of the 10-DOF robot because of its redundant structure. Multibody dynamics simulations were carried out, ensuring sufficient stiffness during the robot motion. The entire design and testing processes of the robots appeared to be complex tasks due to the high specialization of the manufacturing technology needed in the ITER reactor, while the results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed solutions quite well. The results offer not only devices but also a methodology for the assembly and repair of ITER by means of parallel robots.

Determination of three ultraviolet filters in sunscreen formulations and from skin penetration studies by high-performance liquid chromatography

An analytical procedure to quantify 3-benzophenone, octylmethoxycinnamate and octylsalicylate was validated and employed to assess these ultraviolet filters in sunscreen formulations and from skin penetration studies. The effect of the vehicle on the skin retention of these filters was investigated. HPLC and extraction procedure were found to be reliable when obtaining data for the sunscreen formulations and for evaluation skin penetration. The results demonstrated that a cream gel generated higher epidermal concentrations of these filters than a lotion or cream-based formulation. Additionally, when comparing the skin retentions of each filter using the same formulation, 3-benzophenone showed the highest skin retention.

Determination of fipronil in bovine plasma by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

A fast and efficient method has been developed and validated for the determination of fipronil in bovine plasma. Samples were subjected to solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by reversed phase liquid chromatography (LC) separation, using acetonitrile/water (60:40 v/v) as the mobile phase with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and ultraviolet (UV) detection at 210 nm. Ethiprole was used as the internal standard (IS). The method was found to be linear over the range 5-500 ng/mL (r = 0.999). The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was validated at 5 ng/mL. The method was successfully applied to monitor plasma concentrations following subcutaneous administration of fipronil in cattle.

Spectrophotometric study of the chromium(III)/azide system in the ultraviolet region and its analytical application

A sensitive and alternative method for the spectrophotometric determination of chromium(III) based on the formation of chromium(III)/azide complexes was established by investigating a new band in the ultraviolet region. The best experimental conditions for the analytical determination of this metallic ion were: ligand and perchloric acid analytical concentration = 493 and 12.0 mmol L-1, respectively; aqueous medium; T = 25.0 ºC; contact time = 1 hour. The maximum molar absorptivity coefficient occurred at 287 nm (average 1.481 ± 0.008 ´ 10(4) L mol-1 cm-1), leading to the determination of metal ion concentrations one hundred times lower than the ones formerly determined in the visible region. The system obeys Beer's Law and is suitable for chromium determination in the 0.702-2.81 mg L-1 concentration range (15-65% T, 1.00 cm-width quartz cells). Analytical applications of the current method were tested with a nutritional supplement containing chromium. Results were compared with those obtained with atomic absorption spectrometry.