Backyard aerosol pollution monitors: foliar surfaces, dust enrichment, and factors influencing foliar retention.

Air pollution is one of the leading causes of death from noncommunicable diseases globally, and in Arizona, both mining activities and abandoned agriculture can generate erodible dust. This dust is transported via wind and can carry high amounts of toxic pollutants. Industry-adjacent communities, or "fenceline communities," are generally closer to the pollution sources and are disproportionally impacted by pollution, or in this case, dust. The dust transported from the mine settles into nearby rivers, gardens, and homes, and increases the concentrations of elements beyond their naturally occurring amounts (i.e., enriched). This study was built upon previous community science work in which plant leaves were observed to collect similar concentrations to an accepted dust collection method and illustrated promise for their use as low-cost air quality monitors in these communities. This work investigated the concentration of Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Mo, and Ba in dust from the leaves of community-collected backyard and garden plants (foliar dust), as well as if certain variables affected collection efficacy. This assessment evaluated (1) foliar concentration versus surface area for 11 elements, (2) enrichment factor (EF) values and ratios, (3) comparisons of foliar, garden, and yard samples to US Geological Survey data, and (4) what variable significantly affected dust collection efficacy. The EF results indicate that many of the samples were enriched (anthropogenically contaminated) and that the foliar samples were generally more contaminated than the yard and garden soil samples. Leaf surface area was the most influential factor for leaf collection efficiency (p < 0.05) compared to plant family or sampling location. Further studies are needed that standardize the plant species and age and include multiple replicates of the same plant species across partnering communities. This study has demonstrated that foliar dust is enriched in the participating partnering communities and that plant leaf samples can serve as backyard aerosol pollution monitors. Therefore, foliar dust is a viable indicator of outdoor settled dust and aerosol contamination and this is an adoptable monitoring technique for "fenceline communities."

Nuclear shell-model simulation in digital quantum computers.

The nuclear shell model is one of the prime many-body methods to study the structure of atomic nuclei, but it is hampered by an exponential scaling on the basis size as the number of particles increases. We present a shell-model quantum circuit design strategy to find nuclear ground states by exploiting an adaptive variational quantum eigensolver algorithm. Our circuit implementation is in excellent agreement with classical shell-model simulations for a dozen of light and medium-mass nuclei, including neon and calcium isotopes. We quantify the circuit depth, width and number of gates to encode realistic shell-model wavefunctions. Our strategy also addresses explicitly energy measurements and the required number of circuits to perform them. Our simulated circuits approach the benchmark results exponentially with a polynomial scaling in quantum resources for each nucleus. This work paves the way for quantum computing shell-model studies across the nuclear chart and our quantum resource quantification may be used in configuration-interaction calculations of other fermionic systems.

[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient safety incident and medication error reporting systems]. / Impacto de la pandemia COVID-19 en los sistemas de notificación de incidentes de seguridad del paciente y errores de medicación.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of safety incidents (SI) and medication errors (ME) reported to the CISEMadrid notification system in the hospital and primary care settings of the Madrid Health Service (SERMAS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational and descriptive study with a retrospective analysis of data including all CISEMadrid notifications from 01-Jan-2018 to 31-Dec-2020, from 33 hospitals and 262 health care centres of the SERMAS. The two periods in 2020 with the greatest increase in COVID-19 cases were identified to compare incidents reported in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. RESULTS: 36,494 incidents were reported. Comparing both periods, an overall decrease in pandemic notifications of 60.7% was observed, being higher in primary care, falling to 33% of previous levels. The reduction in notifications was similar in the peaks and valleys of the waves. The three most frequent SIs in both periods and care settings were: diagnostic tests, medical devices/equipment/clinical furniture and organisational management/citations. In ME, dose failure and inappropriate selection were the most frequent in both settings and periods. There were no relevant differences in patient consequences in both periods. CONCLUSIONS: During the pandemic, patient safety notifications decreased although the most frequent types remained the same, as did their impact on the patient, both in hospitals and in primary care. The safety culture of organisations is a critical aspect for the maintenance of reporting systems.

Minimization of measuring points for the electric field exposure map generation in indoor environments by means of Kriging interpolation and selective sampling.

In a world with increasing systems accessing to radio spectrum, the concern for exposure to electromagnetic fields is growing and therefore it is necessary to check limits in those areas where electromagnetic sources are working. Therefore, radio and exposure maps are continuously being generated, mainly in outdoor areas, by using many interpolation techniques. In this work, Surfer software and Kriging interpolation have been used for the first time to generate an indoor exposure map. A regular measuring mesh has been generated. Elimination of Less Significant Points (ELSP) and Geometrical Elimination of Neighbors (GEN) strategies to reduce the measuring points have been presented and evaluated. Both strategies have been compared to the map generated with all the measurements by calculating the root mean square and mean absolute errors. Results indicate that ELSP method can reduce up to 70% of the mesh measuring points while producing similar exposure maps to the one generated with all the measuring points. GEN, however, produces distorted maps and much higher error indicators even for 50% of eliminated measuring points. As a conclusion, a procedure for reducing the measuring points to generate radio and exposure maps is proposed based on the ELSP method and the Kriging interpolation.

Cultural and linguistic adaptation of the Oxford Cognitive Screen to the Spanish population.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is the sixth leading cause of disability in Spain. Patients may present motor, sensory, or cognitive sequelae, which can be minimised with early treatment. To this end, there is a need for quick-to-administer assessment tools to evaluate deficits in these areas. The Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS) is a brief test specifically designed to assess cognitive function in patients with stroke. Our aim in this study is to report the linguistic and cultural adaptation of a Spanish-language version of the test (OCS-S). METHODS: The linguistic validation was conducted with a process of double translation and 10 consensus meetings of the multidisciplinary research team. We also performed 3 pilot studies, with 5 potential users, 23 healthy individuals, and 23 patients with stroke (ischaemic in 61% of cases and haemorrhagic in 39%), respectively; participants were aged between 31 and 88 years. RESULTS: The OCS-S includes the 10 subtests, the coding of responses, and the scoring system from the original version. We modified and extended the instructions for administration in order to ensure the reliability of the content and its application. Five tasks were modified (images, numbers, and sentences) and the praxis subtest was modified to evaluate both hands. The pilot studies confirmed comprehension in the target population, independently of any cognitive problems. CONCLUSION: The OCS-S is conceptually and linguistically equivalent to the original test, enabling psychometric assessment and application of the test in the Spanish population. The OCS-S may be a useful screening tool for quickly assessing cognitive function after stroke.

Precision management of pollination services to blueberry crops.

While the cultivated area of pollinator-dependent crops is increasing, pollinator availability is decreasing, leading to problems in many agroecosystems. For this reason, pollinator-dependent crop growers often rent beehives to support their pollination requirements to sustain fruit productivity. However, the efficiency of those pollination systems has not been extensively studied. Here, we compared the effect of "precision" pollination (i.e., application of pesticides coordinated with growers, audit of hives, dietary supplementation and individual distribution of hives) with conventional practices (i.e., pesticides applications without coordination with growers and no audit of hives, low maintenance of hives and hives distributed in large groups) on the mean level of pollination and fruit production and quality in blueberry crops. In nine blueberry fields, we measured bee visitation rate to flowers, fruit set, fruit firmness and fruit weight. On average, precision-pollinated plots had 70% more bee visits to flowers and produced 13% more fruits that were 12% heavier and 12% firmer than those obtained through conventional practices. These results showed that pollination efficiency could be improved if key management related to bee strength, distribution and health care are taken into account. Due to these results, we encourage growers and beekeepers to include precision pollination practices to both increase the productivity of blueberry fields and the wellbeing of honey bees within agroecosystems.

Assessing Children's Lead Exposure in an Active Mining Community Using the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model.

Lead exposure has been shown to be harmful to humans in various settings and there are no safe levels of blood lead in children. At an Alternative Superfund site in Hayden-Winkelman, Arizona, with an active copper smelter and concentrator, lead exceedances in air and soil have been measured in the past 20 years. In this work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) model was used to estimate Hayden-Winkelman children's (age 6 months-7 years) blood lead levels (BLLs) using site-specific lead concentrations measured in indoor and outdoor air, soil, indoor dust, and drinking water. Values used by a state agency's airborne lead risk forecast program were also evaluated to determine whether their forecasting program is useful in protecting children's public health. Using site-specific values in the model, the results demonstrated that lead ingested via indoor dust was the major contributor to children's BLLs. In addition, the output of the IEUBK model overestimated actual BLLs of children sampled in the community. The IEUBK model was particularly sensitive to high indoor dust levels, and these site-specific measures increased modeled BLL values. This finding is of significance as the IEUBK model is used worldwide in communities with industrial contamination. This study confirmed that the chief contributor to lead exposure in children is household dust. Thus, for lead exposure risk reduction, agencies working at Superfund sites should focus efforts on decontaminating outdoor soil and dust and indoor lead decontamination.

Foliar surfaces as dust and aerosol pollution monitors: An assessment by a mining site.

Recent studies in the southwestern United States have shown that smelting processes and mine tailings emit heavy metal(loid)s that are distributed via wind dispersion to nearby communities. With increased attention regarding the effect of air pollution on environmental health, communities have begun to use citizen/community-based monitoring techniques to measure the concentration of metal(loid)s and evaluate their air quality. This study was conducted in a mining community to assess the efficacy of foliar surfaces as compared to an inverted disc (frisbee) to sample aerosol pollutants in ambient air. The assessment was conducted by evaluating As, Pb, Cd, Cu, Al, Ni, and Zn concentrations versus distance from a former smelter, statistical and regression analyses, and enrichment factor calculations compared to similar sites worldwide. Both the foliar and frisbee collection methods had a decrease in metal(loid)s concentration as a function of distance from the retired smelter. Statistical calculations show that the collection methods had similar mean concentrations for all of the metal(loid)s of interest; however, the tests also indicate that the frisbee collection method generally collected more dust than the foliar method. The enrichment factors from both collection methods were comparable to similar studies by other mining areas referenced, except for aluminum. Since there is evidence of enrichment, correlation between methods, and citizen/community science potential, these efforts show promise for the field. Further studies should consider alternating the types of plant used for foliar collection as well as collecting samples on a more frequent basis in order to sufficiently categorize results based on meteorological conditions.

[Alzemon: a prospective follow-up study of eslicarbazepine acetate monotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy]. / Alzemon: estudio de seguimiento prospectivo del acetato de eslicarbacepina en monoterapia en pacientes con epilepsia de diagnóstico reciente.

INTRODUCTION: Eslicarbazepine acetate is a novel sodium channel blocker for use in the treatment of focal onset seizures. Prospective studies on its effectiveness in monotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy in routine clinical practice are scarce. AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of eslicarbazepine as initial monotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy in routine clinical practice. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective, multicentre, post-authorisation study. Patients with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy aged 18 years or older without previous treatment were included. The efficacy variables were: percentage of seizure-free patients, responders and reduction in monthly frequency of seizures. The safety variables analyse the 12-month retention rate and the occurrence of adverse effects. RESULTS: Fifty-three patients were included. The retention rate was 77.4%. At the end of the observation period, 83% of patients were seizure-free and 92.5% had reduced their baseline frequency by 50% or more. In addition, 68% of the patients reported some adverse effect and 7.5% of them dropped out of the study for this reason. The effectiveness analysis of the subgroup of patients aged 65 years or more showed no differences with respect to the overall population. CONCLUSION: Eslicarbazepine monotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy, both in the general population and in the population over 65 years old, is effective and safe in routine clinical practice.

TITLE: Alzemon: estudio de seguimiento prospectivo del acetato de eslicarbacepina en monoterapia en pacientes con epilepsia de diagnóstico reciente.Introducción. El acetato de eslicarbacepina es un nuevo bloqueante de los canales de sodio en el tratamiento de las crisis de inicio focal. Los estudios prospectivos sobre su efectividad en monoterapia en pacientes con epilepsia parcial de reciente diagnóstico en la práctica clínica habitual son escasos. Objetivo. Evaluar la efectividad de la eslicarbacepina en monoterapia de inicio en pacientes con epilepsia parcial de reciente diagnóstico en la práctica clínica habitual. Pacientes y métodos. Estudio postautorización prospectivo y multicéntrico. Se incluyó a pacientes con epilepsia parcial de reciente diagnóstico de 18 años o más sin tratamiento previo. Las variables de eficacia fueron: porcentaje de pacientes libres de crisis, respondedores y reducción en la frecuencia mensual de crisis. Las variables de seguridad analizan la tasa de retención a los 12 meses y la aparición de efectos adversos. Resultados. Se incluyó a 53 pacientes. La tasa de retención fue del 77,4%. Al final del período de observación, el 83% de los pacientes se encontraba libre de crisis y el 92,5% había reducido en un 50% o más su frecuencia basal. El 68% de los pacientes notificó algún efecto adverso y el 7,5% de ellos abandonó el estudio por este motivo. El análisis de efectividad del subgrupo de 65 años o más no mostró diferencias respecto a la población global. Conclusión. La eslicarbacepina en monoterapia en pacientes con epilepsia parcial de reciente diagnóstico, tanto en la población general como en la población de más de 65 años, es eficaz y segura en la práctica clínica habitual.

Ecology of the collapse of Rapa Nui society.

Collapses of food producer societies are recurrent events in prehistory and have triggered a growing concern for identifying the underlying causes of convergences/divergences across cultures around the world. One of the most studied and used as a paradigmatic case is the population collapse of the Rapa Nui society. Here, we test different hypotheses about it by developing explicit population dynamic models that integrate feedbacks between climatic, demographic and ecological factors that underpinned the socio-cultural trajectory of these people. We evaluate our model outputs against a reconstruction of past population size based on archaeological radiocarbon dates from the island. The resulting estimated demographic declines of the Rapa Nui people are linked to the long-term effects of climate change on the island's carrying capacity and, in turn, on the 'per-capita food supply'.

Inflammatory bowel disease in Mexico: Epidemiology, burden of disease, and treatment trends. / Epidemiología, carga de la enfermedad y tendencias de tratamiento de la enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal en México.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: There is no systematized information for determining/monitoring the burden of inflammatory bowel disease in Mexico. The aim of the present study was to estimate the annual burden of inflammatory bowel disease on the Mexican National Healthcare System, by number of patients seen, hospitalizations, and specific deaths, stratified into age groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Utilizing specific databases of the Mexican National Healthcare System registries coded as ICD-10: K50 and K51, we retrieved and analyzed the data corresponding to the patients seen and hospitalized in 2015, stratified by age group, as well as the specific deaths. Treatment trends among physicians were also examined. RESULTS: In 2015, 5,009 women (8.1) and 4,944 men (8.4) with Crohn's disease received medical attention (prevalence of cases seen) and 35.1% of those patients were ≥50years of age. In that same period, 17,177 women (27.7) and 15,883 men (26.9) with ulcerative colitis were seen and 31.6% of those patients were ≥50years of age. The hospitalized cases (prevalence of hospitalized cases) were 1,097 patients (0.91) with Crohn's disease and 43.7% of those patients were ≥50years of age; and 5,345 patients (4.42) with ulcerative colitis and 47.6% of those patients were ≥50years of age. Deaths (specific mortality rate) were: 32 women (0.52) and 36 men (0.50) due to Crohn's disease, and 267 women (4.31) and 186 men (3.15) due to ulcerative colitis. CONCLUSIONS: Inflammatory bowel disease is a burden on the health of Mexican adults and the Mexican National Healthcare System, and it is expected to increase over the next 15years.

Environmental monitoring and exposure science dataset to calculate ingestion and inhalation of metal(loid)s through preschool gardening.

Metal(loid) contamination may pose an increased risk of exposure to children residing near legacy and active resource extraction sites. Children may be exposed to arsenic, cadmium, and/or lead by ingestion and/or inhalation while engaging in school or home outdoor activities via environmental media including water, soil, dust, and locally grown produce. It is thus critical to collect site-specific data to best assess these risks. This data article provides gastric and lung in-vitro bioaccessibility assay (IVBA) data, as well as environmental monitoring data for water, soil, dust, and garden produce collected from preschools (N = 4) in mining communities throughout Nevada County, California in 2018. Arsenic, cadmium, and lead concentrations in the aforementioned media and synthetic gastric and lung fluids were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This dataset provides useful metal(loid) concentrations for future risk assessments for similar settings.

Cultural and linguistic adaptation of the Oxford Cognitive Screen to the Spanish population. / Adaptación lingüística y cultural del Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS) en población española.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is the sixth leading cause of disability in Spain. Patients may present motor, sensory, or cognitive sequelae, which can be minimised with early treatment. To this end, there is a need for quick-to-administer assessment tools to evaluate deficits in these areas. The Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS) is a brief test specifically designed to assess cognitive function in patients with stroke. Our aim in this study is to report the linguistic and cultural adaptation of a Spanish-language version of the test (OCS-S). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The linguistic validation was conducted with a process of double translation and 10 consensus meetings of the multidisciplinary research team. We also performed 3 pilot studies, with 5 potential users, 23 healthy individuals, and 23 patients with stroke (ischaemic in 61% of cases and haemorrhagic in 39%), respectively; participants were aged between 31 and 88 years. RESULTS: The OCS-S includes the 10 subtests, the coding of responses, and the scoring system from the original version. We modified and extended the instructions for administration in order to ensure the reliability of the content and its application. Five tasks were modified (images, numbers, and sentences) and the praxis subtest was modified to evaluate both hands. The pilot studies confirmed comprehension in the target population, independently of any cognitive problems. CONCLUSIONS: The OCS-S is conceptually and linguistically equivalent to the original test, enabling psychometric assessment and application of the test in the Spanish population. The OCS-S may be a useful screening tool for quickly assessing cognitive function after stroke.

Ingestion and inhalation of metal(loid)s through preschool gardening: An exposure and risk assessment in legacy mining communities.

Children residing in mining towns are potentially disproportionately exposed to metal(loid)s via ingestion and dust inhalation, thus, increasing their exposure when engaging in school or home gardening or playing outside. This citizen science study assessed preschool children's potential arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) exposure via locally grown produce, water, incidental soil ingestion, and dust inhalation at four sites. Participants were trained to properly collect water, soil, and vegetable samples from their preschools in Nevada County, California. As, Cd, and Pb concentrations in irrigation sources did not exceed the U.S. EPA's maximum contaminant and action levels. In general, garden and playground As and Pb soil concentrations exceeded the U.S. EPA Regional Screening Level, CalEPA Human Health Screening Level, and California Department of Toxic Substances Control Screening Level. In contrast, all Cd concentrations were below these recommended screening levels. Dust samples (<10 µm diameter) were generated from surface garden and playground soil collected at the preschools by a technique that simulated windblown dust. Soil and dust samples were then analyzed by in-vitro bioaccessibility assays using synthetic lung and gastric fluids to estimate the bioaccessible fraction of As, Cd, and Pb in the body. Metal(loid) exposure via grown produce revealed that lettuce, carrot, and cabbage grown in the preschool gardens accumulated a higher concentration of metal(loid) than those store-bought nation-wide. None of the vegetables exceeded the respective recommendation maximum levels for Cd and Pb set by the World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius Commission. The results of this study indicate that consumption of preschool-grown produce and incidental soil ingestion were major contributors to preschool-aged children's exposure to As, Cd, and Pb. Traditionally, this level of site- and age-specific assessment and analyses does not occur at contaminated sites. The results of this holistic risk assessment can inform future risk assessment and public health interventions related to childhood metal(loid) exposures.

Completion of the medical certificate of cause of death in Madrid: A descriptive cross-sectional study. / Cumplimentación del certificado médico de defunción en Madrid: un estudio descriptivo trasversal.

BACKGROUND: The medical certificate of cause of death is a dual-purpose document: an official registration of an individual's death and a statistical analysis of the populational causes of death. However, the completion of this document in clinical practice creates significant conflicts. OBJECTIVES: To analyse the completion and detect the main errors that occur when filling in these documents. We then compared the most important variables between the various types of documents analysed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study that analysed 513 certificates in the municipality of Madrid, Spain. The analysis included official documents (new and old versions) and hospital documents. RESULTS: The study's main finding was that 316 documents employed the term "cardiopulmonary arrest" as the immediate cause of death. In 98 other cases, other poorly defined immediate causes were listed. We were able to conclude that the hospital documents do not always have the required sections for the certificate to be legally functional. In the Professional Medical Association certificates, there is poorer completion of the current document because the document itself hinders its appropriate completion and requires better physician training to complete. CONCLUSIONS: We propose possible improvements to the official document so that it meets the legal requirements, facilitates its completion and fulfils its function. We also offer recommendations for hospitals that have their own document and suggestions for improving its completion.

Search for histopathological characteristics of inflammatory juvenile conjunctival nevus in conjunctival nevi related to age: Analysis of 33 cases.

PURPOSE: Conjunctival nevi in young individuals can correspond to the entity named Inflammatory Juvenile Conjunctival Nevus (IJCN), presenting clinically as a rapid growth lesion, and showing at the histopathological study an inflammatory infiltrate surrounding the lesion. All these findings can suggest a diagnosis of malignancy. Due to a case of IJCN diagnosed in our Pathology department, we realized that this entity is rarely reported in the literature and histopathological diagnostic criteria are not well defined. The aim of our study is to compare the histopathological characteristics of conjunctival nevi in patients aged thirty years or less to those in patients above 30 years, looking for the findings described in IJCN. METHODS: All the excisional specimens of resected conjunctival nevus in a tertiary hospital from 2000 to 2018 were retrieved from the Pathology department archives. Demographic data were recorded, and histopathological variables (histological type of nevus, lymphocytic infiltration, eosinophilic infiltration, presence of lymphoid follicles, stromal nevomelanocytic component, intraepithelial nevomelanocytic component, epithelial inclusions, quantity of goblet cells in epithelial inclusions, cellular atypia, mitoses and maturation of the lesion) were evaluated by three independent observers. Statistical analysis was performed comparing the two age groups. RESULTS: The study determined a significant predominance of the lymphocytic and eosinophilic infiltration in the group of patients aged thirty years or less respect to the elderly group. The percentage of stromal component of the lesion is larger in patients over thirty years compared to the younger group. There was no correlation between epithelial inclusions, maturation or cytological atypia and age groups. CONCLUSION: We found some histopathological differences in conjunctival nevi related to young age, some of them coincident with the ones described in IJCN, which histopathologically could lead to a misleading diagnosis. However, we did not find significant differences related to age in many of the described histopathological findings described in IJCN. Larger series with a greater number of cases would be of interest to characterize more precisely this lesion.

Oxidative weathering decreases bioaccessibility of toxic metal(loid)s in PM10 emissions from sulfide mine tailings.

Environmental contamination from legacy mine-waste deposits is a persistent problem due to the long history of hard-rock mining. Sulfide ore deposits can contain elevated levels of toxic metal(loid)s that, when mobilized by weathering upon O2 and H2O infusion, can result in groundwater contamination. Dry-climate and lack of vegetative cover result in near-surface pedogenic processes that produce fine-particulate secondary minerals that can be translocated as geo-dusts leading to ingestion or inhalation exposure in nearby communities. In this study, in vitro bioassays were combined with synchrotron-based x-ray spectroscopy and diffraction to determine the potential risk for toxic element release from dust (PM10) samples into biofluid simulants. PM10 were isolated from across the oxidative reaction front in the top meter of tailings subjected to 50 years of weathering under semi-arid climate, and introduced to synthetic gastric- and alveolar-fluids. Aqueous concentrations were measured as a function of reaction time to determine release kinetics. X-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy analyses were performed to assess associated changes in mineralogy and elemental speciation. In vitro bioaccessibility of arsenic and lead was highest in less-weathered tailings samples (80-110 cm) and lowest in samples from the sub-oxic transition zone (40-52 cm). Conversely, zinc release to biofluids was greatest in the highly-weathered near-surface tailings. Results indicate that bioaccessibility of As and Pb was controlled by (i) the solubility of Fe2+-bearing solids, (ii) the prevalence of soluble SO4 2-, and (iii) the presence of poorly-crystalline Fe(III) oxide sorbents, whereas Zn bioaccessibility was controlled by the pH-dependent solubility of the stable solid phase.

Phytoremediation Reduces Dust Emissions from Metal(loid)-Contaminated Mine Tailings.

Environmental and health risk concerns relating to airborne particles from mining operations have focused primarily on smelting activities. However, there are only three active copper smelters and less than a dozen smelters for other metals compared to an estimated 500000 abandoned and unreclaimed hard rock mine tailings in the US that have the potential to generate dust. The problem can also extend to modern tailings impoundments, which may take decades to build and remain barren for the duration before subsequent reclamation. We examined the impact of vegetation cover and irrigation on dust emissions and metal(loid) transport from mine tailings during a phytoremediation field trial at the Iron King Mine and Humboldt Smelter Superfund (IKMHSS) site. Measurements of horizontal dust flux following phytoremediation reveals that vegetated plots with 16% and 32% canopy cover enabled an average dust deposition of 371.7 and 606.1 g m-2 y-1, respectively, in comparison to the control treatment which emitted dust at an average rate of 2323 g m-2 y-1. Horizontal dust flux and dust emissions from the vegetated field plots are comparable to emission rates in undisturbed grasslands. Further, phytoremediation was effective at reducing the concentration of fine particulates, including PM1, PM2.5, and PM4, which represent the airborne particulates with the greatest health risks and the greatest potential for long-distance transport. This study demonstrates that phytoremediation can substantially decrease dust emissions as well as the transport of windblown contaminants from mine tailings.

Noninvasive Liver Assessment in Adult Patients With Fontan Circulation Using Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography and Hepatic Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

BACKGROUND: Patients who have undergone the Fontan procedure are at risk of developing hepatic dysfunction. However, broad recommendations regarding liver monitoring are limited. The purpose of this study was to characterize the frequency of liver disease in adult Fontan patients using multimodality imaging (hepatic magnetic resonance imaging [MRI], acoustic radiation force impulse [ARFI] elastography, or hepatic ultrasound). METHODS: In a prospective cross-sectional analysis of adult patients palliated with a Fontan procedure, hepatic MRI, ARFI, and hepatic ultrasound were used to assess for liver disease. The protocol compared (1) varying prevalence of liver disease based on each imaging technique, (2) agreement between different techniques, and (3) association between noninvasive imaging diagnosis of liver disease and clinical variables, including specific liver disease biomarkers. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients were enrolled. The ARFI results showed high wave propagation velocity in 35 patients (94.6%). All patients had some abnormality in the hepatic MRI. Specifically, 8 patients (21.6%) showed signs of chronic liver disease, 10 patients (27%) had significant liver fibrosis, and 27 patients (73%) had congestion. No correlation was found between liver stiffness measured as propagation velocity and hepatic MRI findings. Only 7 patients had an abnormal hepatic ultrasound study. CONCLUSIONS: There is an inherent liver injury in adult Fontan patients. Signs of liver disease were observed in most patients by both hepatic MRI and ARFI elastography but not by ultrasound imaging. Increased liver stiffness did not identify specific disease patterns from MRI, supporting the need for multimodality imaging to characterize liver disease in Fontan patients.

Detecting the manipulation of digital clinical records in dental practice.

INTRODUCTION: Radiography provides many advantages in the diagnosis and management of dental conditions. However, dental X-ray images may be subject to manipulation with malicious intent using easily accessible computer software. METHODS: In this study, we sought to evaluate a dentist's ability to identify a manipulated dental X-ray images, when compared with the original, using a variant of the methodology described by Visser and Kruger. Sixty-six dentists were invited to participate and evaluate 20 intraoral dental X-ray images, 10 originals and 10 modified, manipulated using Adobe Photoshop to simulate fillings, root canal treatments, etc. RESULTS: Participating dentists were correct in identifying the manipulated image in 56% of cases, 6% higher than by chance and 10% more than in the study by Visser and Kruger. CONCLUSION: Malicious changes to dental X-ray images may go unnoticed even by experienced dentists. Professionals must be aware of the legal consequences of such changes. A system of detection/validation should be created for radiographic images.