Ten striped dolphins, Stenella coeruleoalba, stranded along the Costa Rican Pacific coast, had meningoencephalitis and antibodies against Brucella spp. Brucella...Full Text Available
This study aims to evaluate the economic and environmental viability of the exploitation of methane gas (CH4) - biogas - concentrated at the bottom of the mountains of waste from landfill Chapeco for power generation. The landfill receives approximately of 80 tons / day, the vast majority of domestic origin.
I travelled to San Jose, Costa Rica on July 8, 1990 to evaluate all of the completed elements of the ongoing feasibility study for the San Lorenzo River hydroelectric project. The feasibility study is being supported by ORNL under the Renewable Energy Applications and Training Project. The project is being studied for implementation by CONELECTRICAS, a consortium of rural electric cooperatives and the study itself is being conducted by BEL Engineering, a Costa Rican consulting firm under contract to CONELECTRICAS, USAID/PIC and NRECA.
Summary The objective of this study was to quantify the genetic diversity among breeds under evaluation for tropical adaptability traits that affect the performance of beef cattle at the USDA/ARS SubTropical Agricultural Research Station (STARS) near Brooksville, FL, USA. Twenty-six microsatellite loci were used to estimate parameters of genetic diversity among the breeds American Brahman, Angus, Senepol and Romosinuano; the latter was comprised of two distinct bloodlines (Costa Rican and Venezuelan). Genotypes of 47 animals from each of these STARS herds were analysed for genetic diversity and genetic distance. Using two methods, the greatest genetic distance was detected between the Costa Rican line of Romosinuano and the Senepol. Gene diversity ranged between 0.64 (Costa Rican line of R...
The erosion phenomena of coastal regions in Italy and in the world is remarkable from the environmental point of view. Are showed activities of mechanical defense and numerical models to solve complex problem.
Although salamanders are characteristic amphibians in Holarctic temperate habitats, in tropical regions they have diversified evolutionarily only in tropical America. An adaptive radiation centered...Full Text Available
The oil palm Elaeis guineensis is usually attacked by pests, particularly, defoliating caterpillars. Between 2004 and 2006 a stinkbug predator (Asopinae) was registered preying on caterpillars of Brassolis sophorae L., Opsiphanes invirae Hubner (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) and Sibine spp. (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae), reducing their populations in commercial oil palm plantations in the State of Para, Brazil. Specimens of the natural enemy were collected, mounted, and identified as Alcaeorrhynchus grandis (Dallas) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), corresponding to the first report of the occurrence of this stinkbug attacking defoliating caterpillars of oil palm in Brazil. (author)
... 1988 - Mitchell College and Hobsons Press National Student Art Prize , NSW. Copyright RMIT University - Disclaimer Privacy ABN 49 781 030 034 CRICOS provider number: 00122A Print version Open Universities Australia RSS Add to Delicious Interact with RMIT ...
Maps transformed so as to have constant density of residential population were used to analyze the spatial distribution of disease in three specific areas. Each area had received recent attention because of suspected environmental pollution. The area adjacent to the Rocky Flats Facility (CO) was examined to identify any association between possible plutonium releases and increases in lung cancer or leukemia incidence. The industrial area of northern Contra Costa County (CA) was studied to explore a relationship between petrochemical industrial emissions and histologic-specific lung cancers. Finally, a suspected increase in the risk of congenital cardiac defects possibly related to pollution of the Santa Clara County (CA) water supply was investigated. No evidence of elevated risk of disease was found to be associated with either the Rocky Flats Facility or the polluted water of Santa Clara County. An increase in lung cancer, found by other investigators in earlier ...
ABSTRACT We present evidence that differences in soil seedbank persistence among pioneer plants in the cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica, are influenced by differences in seed chemical defense. We used extracted seed chemicals from Bocconia frutescens (Papaveraceae), Guettarda poasana (Rubiaceae), Phytolacca rivinoides (Phytolaccaceae), Urera elata (Urticaceae), Cecropia polyphlebia (Cecropiaceae), and Witheringia meiantha (Solanaceae) to assess seed chemical defense in two ways: (1) a plant pathogen inhibition assay using Pythium irregulare; and (2) a brine shrimp toxicity assay using Artemia salina. The combined performance of each species in the two assays positively correlated with seedbank persistence. In the pathogen assay, mycelium growth was reduced when Pythium was cultured o...
Nuclear magnetic resonance is a powerful technique that can be used in a wide range of applications, such as the structural characterization of high molecular weight molecules, conformational studies on enzymes in solution, enzyme-substrate or DNA-protein interactions, monitoring of cell metabolism in vivo, and for diagnostic purposes, employing spectroscopic and imaging techniques. This course was organized in order to introduce the participants to the fundamentals of NMR spectroscopy, and offer practical advice on performing NMR experiments on cell systems, cell and tissue extracts and animal models. The main implications regarding human experiments were also discussed. Finally the quantification of information and the interpretation of data were considered with regard to the main nuclei observed. [Italiano] La risonanza magnetica nucleare e` una delle tecniche spettroscopiche che meglio risponde all`ampio spettro di condizioni imposto dalla ricerca in biofisica ...
A variety of special regulations exist in Costa Rica for registration and transport of hazardous substances; these set the requirements for entry into the country and the security of transport units. However, the regulations mentioned no specific rules for storing hazardous substances. Tax deposits have been the initial place where are stored the substances that enter the country.The creation of basic rules that would be regulating the storage of hazardous substances has taken place through the analysis of regulations and national and international laws governing hazardous substances. The regulatory domain that currently exists will be established with a field research in fiscal deposits in the metropolitan area. The storage and security measures that have been used by the personnel handling the substances will be identified to be putting the reality with that the hazardous substances have been handled in tax deposits. A rule base for the storage of hazardous ...
A life cycle assessment was performed to quantify the non-renewable (fossil) energy use and global warming potential (GWP) in electricity generation from a typical gas fired combined cycle power plant in Singapore. The cost of electricity generation was estimated using a life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) tool. The life cycle assessment (LCA) of a 367.5 MW gas fired combined cycle power plant operating in Singapore revealed that hidden processes consume about 8% additional energy in addition to the fuel embedded energy, and the hidden GWP is about 18%. The natural gas consumed during the operational phase accounted for 82% of the life cycle cost of electricity generation. An empirical relation between plant efficiency and life cycle energy use and GWP in addition to a scenario for electricity cost with varying gas prices and plant efficiency have been established.
A life cycle assessment was performed to quantify the non-renewable (fossil) energy use and global warming potential (GWP) in electricity generation from a typical gas fired combined cycle power plant in Singapore. The cost of electricity generation was estimated using a life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) tool. The life cycle assessment (LCA) of a 367.5 MW gas fired combined cycle power plant operating in Singapore revealed that hidden processes consume about 8% additional energy in addition to the fuel embedded energy, and the hidden GWP is about 18%. The natural gas consumed during the operational phase accounted for 82% of the life cycle cost of electricity generation. An empirical relation between plant efficiency and life cycle energy use and GWP in addition to a scenario for electricity cost with varying gas prices and plant efficiency have been established.
A consortium of four institutions, based at Western Michigan University, was to plan a Research and Development Center on Student Testing, Evaluation, and Standards Setting. The four consortium sites are Boston College, the Dallas Independent School District, the University of Kansas, and Western Michigan University. This report is a final performance report for the planning grant made to Western Michigan University by the National Institute of Education. The first section provides a summary of the planning activities actually conducted under the grant. It includes a description of particular problems and successes, a list of participants and their affiliations, and an evaluation report for the planning project. The second section is a technical report on the Research and Development (R and D) mission for the Center. It updates the mission and strategy statement contained in the planning grant application and includes an agenda, with supporting justification for R ...
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is conducting an enhanced participatory rulemaking to establish radiological criteria for site cleanup and decommissioning of NRC-licensed facilities. Open public meetings were held during 1993 in Chicago, IL, San Francisco, CA, Boston, MA, Dallas, TX, Philadelphia, PA, Atlanta, GA, and Washington, DC. Interested parties were invited to provide input on the rulemaking issues before the NRC staff develops a draft proposed rule. This report summarizes 3,635 comments categorized from transcripts of the seven workshops and 1,677 comments from 100 NRC docketed letters from individuals and organizations. No analysis or response to the comments is included. The comments reflect a broad spectrum of viewpoints on the issues related to radiological criteria for site cleanup and decommissioning. The NRC also held public meetings on the scope of the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) during July 1993. The GEIS meetings were ...
Neutralizing an acidic fluid consists of adding a sodium hydroxide solution to neutralize the H group of acids, therefore increasing the pH. The injection of sodium hydroxide has to be continuous and at a proper depth inside the well to protect against the corrosion of casing and surface equipment. Neutralization is a common practice used in geothermal fields, such as at The Geysers in the US and Miravalles in Costa Rica-places where aggressive fluids cause problems for extracting and using geothermal fluids commercially. A zone surrounding wells H-4, H-16 and H-29 in the northern section of the Los Humeros, Pue., geothermal field, known as the Colapso Central, has shown evidence of aggressively acidic fluids. Several wells drilled in the area had to be repaired, thus plugging and isolating the deepest production zones. Well H-43 was drilled two years ago in the northern zone of the field, and even though it is not located in the aggressive-fluid zone, the well ...
In this work some examples of studies performed with the use of microzooplankton as biological indicator are reported. [Italian] Scopo del lavoro e' quello di dimostrare come lo studio della distribuzione del microzooplancton in ambienti aquatici, possa permettere la caratterizzazione trofica dell'ambiente oggetto di studio. Il microzooplancton, infatti, essendo un componente fondamentale della catena trofica di differenti ambienti acquatici, puo' essere considerato un buon {sup i}ndicatore biologico{sup .} E' quindi riportata un'ampia ed approfondita analisi sistematica, necessaria al fine di individuarne le diverse specie dalla cui presenza (oltreche' dal numero degli esemplari) e' possibile desumere lo stato chimico-fisico e trofico di un determinato ambiente acquatico. Sono poi indicati i diversi metodi per il campionamento, la conservazione, la concentrazione ed il conteggio del microzooplancton; ...
The new industrial political tools based on the sustainable development of productive activities, and originating at the Rio Conference in 1992, late introduced by the EU, the Government and voluntary organizations (ISO, CEM, UNI) are gradually entering the market, thereby underling their effect in terms of industrial competitiveness. The main tools were examined in the report and mostly refer to the voluntary ones which, in surpassing the 'command and control' logic, increasingly tend to get close to traditional fiscal, tariff and financial ones. Voluntary agreements, environmental management systems (EMAS, ISO 14001), the risk prevention systems (UNI 10617), certification (Eco label, ISO 14040) and environment communication tools (environment balance sheet, environmental report, environmental statement) are synthetically described. [Italian] I nuovi strumenti di politica industriale orientati allo sviluppo sostenibile delle attivita' produttive che traggono ...
The proposed aim of the work is to verify the effects produced on different kinds of environmental pollutants after exposure to a low frequency radiation such as microwaves. They have proved capable of producing minimum heating of the matrix as well as modifications in the structure of the molecules at the level of simple bonds. Steps were also taken ti check whether the degradation action of the microwaves could be boosted by sunlight. For this reason tests were run also on samples irradiated using microwaves and a lamp capable of simulating the sun's spectrum, as well as in the presence of a single lamp. [Italian] Lo scopo di questa ricerca e' di verificare gli effetti prodotti su inquinanti ambientali, di diversa natura, a seguito di un'esposizione ad una radiazione a bassa frequenza come le microonde. Le microonde possono produrre minimi riscladamenti della matrice e modificazioni della struttura delle molecole, a livello di legami semplici. Per ...
The new industrial political tools based on the Sustainable development of productive activities and originating at the Rio Conference in 1992, late introduced by the EU, the Government and voluntary organizations (ISO, CEM, UNI) are gradually entering the market, thereby underlying their effect in terms of industrial competitiveness. The main tools were examined in this report and mostly refer to the voluntary ones which, in surpassing the Command and Control logic, increasingly tend to get close to traditional fiscal, tariff and financial ones. [Italian] I nuovi strumenti di politica industriale orientali allo Sviluppo Sostenibile delle attivita' produttive che traggono origine dalla Conferenza di Rio del 1992 e sono stati introdotti successivamente da pare della Comunita' Europea, dal Governo e dagli Organismi di normazione volontaria (ISO, CEN, UNI), stanno gradualmente penetrando sul mercato facendo valere i loro effetti in termini di ...
Testing two or more data sets for the hypothesis that they are sampled form the same population is often required in environmental data analysis. Typically the available samples have a small number of data and often then assumption of normal distributions is not realistic. On the other hand the diffusion of the days powerful Personal Computers opens new possible opportunities based on a massive use of the CPU resources. The paper reviews the problem introducing the feasibility of two non parametric approaches based on intrinsic equi probability properties of the data samples. The first one is based on a full re sampling while the second is based on a bootstrap approach. A easy to use program is presented. A case study is given based on the Chernobyl children contamination data. [Italiano] Nell`analisi di dati ambientali ricorre spesso il caso di dover sottoporre a test l`ipotesi di provenienza di due, o piu`, insiemi di dati dalla stessa popolazione. Tipicamente i ...
The new industrial political tools based on the sustainable development of productive activities, and originating at the Rio Conference in 1992, late introduced by the European Union, the Government and voluntary organizations (ISO, CEM, UNI) are gradually entering the market, thereby underling their effect in terms of industrial competitiveness. The main tools were examined in the report and mostly refer to the voluntary ones which, in surpassing the command and control logic, increasingly tend to get close to traditional fiscal, tariff and financial ones. Voluntary agreements, environmental management systems (EMAS, ISO14000), the risk prevention systems (UNI 10617), certification (Ecolabel, ISO 14040) and environment communications tools (environment balance sheet, environmental report, environmental statement) are synthetically described. Finally, the tools regarding the incentives still under Government concern an their diffusion are examined. [Italian] I nuovi strumenti di ...
The study reports ultrasonography and computerise tomography findings in 16 patients with amoebic abscesses, 12 of whom lived in a temperate peripheral area north-east of Naples (Italy). All patients have a clinical-diagnostic condition called sub-urban amoebiasis. The personal experience with the US guided therapeutic drainage of amoebic abscess with repeated cavity washing, which is important for positive parasitology. Combined US and CT assessment facilitated the diagnosis of amoebiasis and its differentiation from pyogenic abscess and hepatoma. [Italian] La colonizzazione epatica rappresenta la localizzazione piu' comune dell'amebiasi extraintestinale e gli ascessi epatici ne costituiscono la manifestazione piu' frequente sviluppandosi nel 3-9 % dei pazienti affetti da infezione parassitaria. Diversi studi confermano che la terapia medica dell'amebiasi risulta piu' efficace quando viene associato il drenaggio percutaneo degli ascessi ...
Acute thoracic aortic injuries account for up to 10-20% of fatalities in high-speed deceleration road accidents and have an estimated immediate fatality rate of 80-90%. Untreated survivors to acute trauma (10-20%) have a dismal prognosis: 30% of them die within 6 hours, 40-50% die within 24 hours, and 90% within 4 months. It was investigated the diagnostic accuracy of Helical Computed Tomography (Helical CT) in acute traumatic injuries of the thoracic aorta, and the role of this technique in the diagnostic management of trauma patients with a strong suspicion of aortic rupture. It was compared retrospectively the chest Helical CT findings of 256 trauma patients examined June 1995 through August 1999. Chest Helical CT examinations were performed according to trauma score, to associated traumatic lesions and to plain chest radiographic findings. All the examinations were performed with no intravenous contrast agent administration and the pitch 2 technique. After a previous baseline ...
The aim of this work is to provide a comprehensive and consistent description of the complexity of laws regulating the field of biotechnology, mainly focusing on the definition of items to be patented, which is one of the most important and also controversial issues within the new 98/44/EC set of rules. As biotechnology is a specialist and multidisciplinary field, it has begun by giving a general description of the field, outlining the grounds for the new rules, and then thoroughly examined and evaluated previous national and international laws especially with regard to patenting. This was followed by an evaluation of what can be patented according to the new instructions by systematically assessing the section defining items to be patented in the field of biotechnology. It is used to be a matter of opinion whether biotechnological material was to be considered a discovery or an invention, the former being impatentable according to patenting laws. The new law pays particular attention ...
Gastric stromal tumors are an ill-defined group of lesions arising from muscle wall cells and characterized by extremely variable biological patterns. Thanks to modern immunohistochemical and ultrastructural techniques, four main classes of these lesions have been identified, namely: (1) tumors with differentiation toward smooth muscle cells; (2) tumors with differentiation toward neural elements; (3) tumors with differentiation toward neural elements; (3) tumors with dual differentiation toward either cell type. It was investigated the yield of CT in diagnosing and characterizing gastric stromal tumors. It was retrospectively reviewed the CT findings of 38 patients (15 men and 23 women; mean age 51 years) with pathologically proven gastric stromal tumors, namely 31 of myoid origin, 4 of neural origin, 2 with both muscle and neural differentiation, 1 lacking differentiation with either cell type. The myoid tumors involved gastric fundus in 9/13 and 5/7 benign lesions and lesions with ...
Rectus sheath hematomas are a frequent but sometimes misdiagnosed disease in patients under anticoagulative drugs, hemodialysis, or simply in the elderly. The most frequent localization is in the lower part of the abdomen: the explanation lies in the anatomy of the abdominal wall, especially in the arcuate line of the rectus sheath. Aim of this work is to explain the reason of the almost constant location correlating the anatomy with the CT features. The rectus abdominis muscle lies between the aponeuroses of the transverse and oblique muscles which form the so called rectus sheath. This arrangement is found from the costal arch to a level approximately between the umbilicus and the pubic symphisis, where the rear layer of the rectus sheath ends with a curved edge, called the arcuate or semicircular line of Douglas. Beneath this line the aponeuroses of the three muscles pass in front of the rectus which is separated from the peritoneum only by the fascia trasversalis, a thin connective ...
Purpose: To assess the role of CT in the evaluation of traumatic and spontaneous oesophageal perforation. Materials and methods: From March 2001 to May 2003, we studied 12 patients (7 males and 5 females; age range: 25-66 years, mean age: 43.5 years) with suspected oesophageal perforation due to motor-vehicle accidents (4 cases), stab wound (one case), post-intubation (2 cases), foreign body ingestion (2 cases) and spontaneous (3 cases). Five patients underwent standard chest and cervical radiography; two patients with suspected foreign body ingestion also underwent a gastrografin swallow study; all of the 12 patients underwent CT of the neck, chest and abdomen before and after intravenous, and in four cases oral, administration of contrast material. Results: In 5 patients with cervical, thoracic and abdominal trauma, the CT examination showed the presence of pleuroparenchymal injury (pneumothorax, pleural effusion and subcutaneous emphysema) as well as findings suggestive of ...
Purpose: Cardiomyopathy is one of the major complications of {beta} thalassaemia major as a result of transfusion iron overload. The aim of our study is to evaluate with MR if there is any difference of iron deposition signal intensity (SI) or distribution between non-cardiopatic and cardiopatic thalassaemic patients in order to establish if there is a relationship between cardiopathy and iron deposition. Materials and methods: We studied 20 patients affected by {beta} thalassaemia major, of whom 10 cardiopatic and 10 non-cardiopatic, and 10 healthy volunteers as control group. Serum ferritin and left ventricular ejection fraction were calculated in thalassaemic patients. All patients were examinated using a 1.5 MR unit with ECG-gated GE cine-MR T2*-weighted, SE T1-weighted and GE T2*-weighted sequences. In all cases, using an adequate ROI, the myocardial and skeletal muscle signal intensity (SI), the myocardial/skeletal muscle signal intensity radio (SIR) and the SI average of the ...
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