Field performance of the radon-deficit technique to detect and delineate a complex DNAPL accumulation in a multi-layer soil profile.

The performance of the radon (222Rn)-deficit technique has been evaluated at a site in which a complex DNAPL mixture (mostly hexachlorocyclohexanes and chlorobenzenes) has contaminated all four layers (from top to bottom: anthropic backfill, silt, gravel and marl) of the soil profile. Soil gas samples were collected at two depths (0.8 m and 1.7 m) in seven field campaigns and a total of 186 222Rn measurements were performed with a pulse ionization detector. A statistical assessment of the influence of field parameters on the results revealed that sampling depth and atmospheric pressure did not significantly affect the measurements, while the location of the sampling point and ground-level atmospheric temperature did. In order to remove the bias introduced by varying field temperatures and hence to be able to jointly interpret 222Rn measurements from different campaigns, 222Rn concentrations were rescaled by dividing each individual datum by the mean 222Rn concentration of its corresponding field campaign. Rescaled 222Rn maps showed a high spatial correlation between 222Rn minima and maximum contaminant concentrations in the top two layers of the soil profile, successfully delineating the surface trace of DNAPL accumulation in the anthropic backfill and silt layers. However, no correlation could be established between 222Rn concentrations in superficial soil gas and contaminant concentration in the deeper two layers of the soil profile. These results indicate that the 222Rn-deficit technique is unable to describe the vertical variation of contamination processes with depth but can be an effective tool for the preliminary characterization of sites in which the distance between the inlet point of the sampling probe and the contaminant accumulation falls within the effective diffusion length of 222Rn in the affected soil profile.

The Negro River (Ancash-Peru): A unique case of water pollution, three environmental scenarios and an unresolved issue.

This paper is focused on the hydrogeochemical characterization of the Negro River along its course, as well as in the proposal of a functioning model for the contamination processes in order to establish potential cause-effect relationships between water quality, geology (ARD), mining activities (AMD) and the tectonic framework as transmission vector of acidity, metals and sulphates. The scenario shows a heavily-contaminated river compared to the unaffected regional background. By graphical and statistical treatments of physico-chemical data of Negro River and the unaffected values of regional background and other AMD/ARD representative rivers' it is possible to conclude that Antamina Mine, is not the cause of the Negro River contamination, without the need of isotopic tracers, but just through the inexistent concentrations of Cu, Bi and Mo found in the waters. In the proposed contamination model, climatic factors (glacial retreat) activate geological (ARD) processes. The tectonic scenario (faults) intervenes as a transport medium of the contamination flux from the sulphide oxidation surface in upper altitudes until the spring in lower altitudes. At the end, it is concluded that this contamination comes from the recent glacial retreat in areas near the Cordillera Blanca that has left massive amounts of sulphide materials exposed to weathering conditions, oxidizing naturally (ARD processes) and finally contributing to the contamination of the Negro River through faults. In this case, we would face an ARD process in the strict sense, which is the direct oxidation of sulphides outcropping in the upper part of the mountain with the generation of sulphates, the release of hydrogen ions and the consequent generation of acid and the dissolution of the metals. This ARD process would come from the glacial retreat, which, through the faults, transports contaminated water until the spring.

Relationships between sources of acid mine drainage and the hydrochemistry of acid effluents during rainy season in the Iberian Pyrite Belt.

In the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), southwest Spain, a prolonged and intense mining activity of more than 4,500 years has resulted in almost a hundred mines scattered through the region. After years of inactivity, these mines are still causing high levels of hydrochemical degradation in the fluvial network. This situation represents a unique scenario in the world, taking into consideration its magnitude and intensity of the contamination processes. In order to obtain a benchmark regarding the degree of acid mine drainage (AMD) pollution in the aquatic environment, the relationship between the areas occupied by the sulfide mines and the characteristics of the respective effluents after rainfall was analysed. The methodology developed, which includes the design of a sampling network, analytical treatment and cluster analysis, is a useful tool for diagnosing the contamination level by AMD in an entire metallogenic province, at the scale of each mining group. The results presented the relationship between sulfate, total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity, as well as other parameters that are typically associated with AMD and the major elements that compose the polymetallic sulfides of IPB. This analysis also indicates the low level of proximity between the affectation area and the other variables.

Psicoterapia de trastornos de personalidad en los Servicios de Salud Mental / Psychotherapy of personality disorder in the Mental health Service

En este trabajo se presenta una reflexión sobre la utilidad de las psicoterapias de pacientes con trastornos de personalidad (TP) en los Servicios de Salud Mental. Se revisan criterios de calidad asociados a dichas psicoterapias y se recomienda trabajar con protocolos que permitan un incremento de la eficiencia de los tratamientos, la necesidad de utilizar racionalmente los recursos y realizar intervenciones integradoras que tengan en cuentan los aspectos bio-psico-sociales. Se aconseja contratar profesionales con formación psicoterapéutica acreditada y contar con la figura del consultor en psicoterapias de TP (AU)

Estudio de variables relacionadas con el abandono de pacientes de un Servicio de Salud Mental / Study of some variables related to the drop-out patients attended in a Mental Health Service

El estudio describe variables relacionadas con el abandono de pacientes que acuden a un Centro de Salud Mental Comunitario de Madrid (Equipo de Salud Mental de Vallecas. Centro de Salud Rafael Alberti), durante el periodo de un año (octubre de 1996-octubre de 1997). Se seleccionan 41 variables que describen características psico-sociales de los pacientes, del proceso psicoterapéutico y de los terapeutas. Por último se consideran una serie de medidas con el objetivo de implementar la adherencia de los pacientes a los tratamientos en los Equipos de Salud Mental. (AU)

El modelo de funcionamiento familiar psicosomático: estudio en familias de niños con artritis reumatoide juvenil / The psychosomatic family model: a study in families of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

En la revisión de la literatura sobre los aspectos psicológicos de la artritis reumatoide juvenil se elige la influencia que la misma tiene en la familia de los sujetos que la padece. Para ello se revisan las características de las familias con miembros con enfermedades crónicas médicas ylo psicosomáticas y dentro de ellas las que tienen un miembro con ARJ y su influencia en padres y hermanos (AU)

Acontecimientos vitales estresantes: relación con las enfermedades físicas en la infancia y adolescencia / Stressfull life events: the relationship to physical diseases in childhood and adolescence

Se hace una revisión sobre la importancia de los acontecimientos vitales ya sean recientes o acumulativos en la aparición y o exacerbación de enfermedades físicas (inflamación de garganta, hernias, apendicitis), el dolor crónico (cefaleas, abdominalgias, dolor en el pecho, etc.) y enfermedades crónicas en la infancia y adolescencia (diabetes, asma, fibrosis cistica, hemofilia, artritis reumatoide, herpes) (AU)