Model for Investigating Relationships between Surfactant Micropollutant Properties and Their Separation from Liquid in a Bubble Column.

The removal of surfactant micropollutants, such as dyes, pharmaceuticals, and proteins, through foam is very important in biotechnology and wastewater treatment. The literature shows that previous models consider mass balances within the foam but not the adsorption dynamics of micropollutant surfactants on bubble surfaces in the liquid solution. Thus, the main objective of this work is to examine the removal of surfactant micropollutants in a bubble column considering both mass balance and adsorption dynamics to calculate surfactant transport from the liquid bulk to the bubble surface. This allows investigation of the relationships between surfactant hydrophobicity and surfactant separation efficiency from the liquid. It was found that the removal of the surfactant strongly depends on the dynamic adsorption behavior of surfactant on bubble surfaces, and the highest foam fractionation performance was achieved when the surfactant molecule was highly hydrophobic. This work demonstrates that the adsorption dynamics rather than adsorption thermodynamics on bubble surfaces is critical when modeling the removal of surfactant micropollutants from water solutions.

Collective intelligence in medical diagnosis systems: A case study.

Diagnosing a patient's condition is one of the most important and challenging tasks in medicine. We present a study of the application of collective intelligence in medical diagnosis by applying consensus methods. We compared the accuracy obtained with this method against the diagnostics accuracy reached through the knowledge of a single expert. We used the ontological structures of ten diseases. Two knowledge bases were created by placing five diseases into each knowledge base. We conducted two experiments, one with an empty knowledge base and the other with a populated knowledge base. For both experiments, five experts added and/or eliminated signs/symptoms and diagnostic tests for each disease. After this process, the individual knowledge bases were built based on the output of the consensus methods. In order to perform the evaluation, we compared the number of items for each disease in the agreed knowledge bases against the number of items in the GS (Gold Standard). We identified that, while the number of items in each knowledge base is higher, the consensus level is lower. In all cases, the lowest level of agreement (20%) exceeded the number of signs that are in the GS. In addition, when all experts agreed, the number of items decreased. The use of collective intelligence can be used to increase the consensus of physicians. This is because, by using consensus, physicians can gather more information and knowledge than when obtaining information and knowledge from knowledge bases fed or populated from the knowledge found in the literature, and, at the same time, they can keep updated and collaborate dynamically.

Complex permittivity measurements using cavity perturbation technique with substrate integrated waveguide cavities.

Cavity perturbation technique is widely used in the measurements of complex dielectric permittivity of materials due to its accuracy and ease of configuration. This paper presents the theoretical formulas for the evaluation of complex permittivity of materials using cavity perturbation technique with substrate integrated cavity resonators. With the proposed formulas, the use of various planar cavities is possible by taking into account the dielectric characteristics of the substrate in which the cavity is implemented. Simulations and measurements are performed on various dielectric samples to validate the proposed theory. The maximum deviation in the measured dielectric permittivity values is below 6% compared to the literature values. The implemented substrate integrated cavity is then analyzed in terms of sensitivity, showing a good performance.

Effectiveness and safety of ezetimibe added to statin therapy in patients with primary dyslipidaemia not achieving the LDL-C treatment goal on statin monotherapy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Elevated serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a major cardiovascular risk factor. This study aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of co-administration of the cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe with an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) in the treatment of Mexican patients with dyslipidaemia who had not attained the LDL-C treatment goal with statin monotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied 256 patients with elevated serum LDL-C (as defined by the US National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines) despite statin therapy. All patients had lipid profiles performed at baseline and after 6-8 weeks of treatment with statin therapy plus ezetimibe 10 mg/day for 6-8 weeks. RESULTS: Addition of ezetimibe to statin treatment reduced mean serum LDL-C levels significantly (from 160 +/- 42.8 to 100 +/- 36 mg/dL; p<0.001) after 6-8 weeks of treatment, with 61.7% of patients achieving LDL-C values below the goal established according to their coronary risk group. Serum LDL-C goals were achieved at the end of the study in 88.2% of the low-risk coronary group, 75.7% of the moderate-risk group and 47.8% of the high-risk group. Ezetimibe was well tolerated; no hepatic or muscle-related adverse events were observed. CONCLUSION: Addition of ezetimibe to statin treatment was both efficacious and safe when used for further reduction of serum LDL-C in dyslipidaemic patients who had not reached their LDL-C treatment goal while taking statin monotherapy.