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Background: Olmesartan medoxomil (OLM) is only available in the United States as tablets. The United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) has placed OLM on its priority list of preparations that require stability data to support practitioner compounding. Objective: The purpose of the study was to develop a stability-indicating assay and then determine the beyond-use date (BUD) for an extemporaneous OLM suspension. Methods: A reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay was developed and validated according to guidelines for USP official compounded monographs. OLM 2 mg/mL suspensions were compounded with Ora-Sweet and Ora-Plus and stored at room temperature or in a refrigerator. Suspensions were assayed periodically over 90 days for OLM concentration and observed for physical stability. The pH was measured at the beginning and end of the study. Results: The OLM concentration remained above 97% of the starting concentration for 90 days when stored in the refrigerator and above 94% of the starting concentration for 90 days when stored at room temperature. The suspension pH did not change and indicators of physical stability were unchanged for 90 days. Conclusion: OLM 2 mg/mL suspensions were chemically and physically stable at room temperature and in the refrigerator for 90 days. The BUD may be set at 90 days under either storage condition.

We review 1982–1984 articles identifying Superfund sites in three national newspapers. Articles almost never identify the race of nearby residents. Based on sites receiving disproportionate coverage, readers might conclude that Superfund generally affected white, working-class families, but results do not support this narrative. In a pooled sample, neither race nor income predicts the number of times a site gets mentioned. When the sample is partitioned by newspaper or by each newspaper's coverage of nearby sites, a positive relationship emerges between the proportion of Hispanic or nonwhite residents and the number of articles about a site. We discuss this apparent contradiction.

European Union has seen a rapid increase in renewable energy sources during the last decade. The variability and uncertainty caused by the increased penetrations of renewable generation must be properly considered in day-ahead unit commitment to retain the stable operation of conventional power plants. In this work, we present an enhanced method to determine the hosting capacity of photovoltaic energy in an autonomous grid. Based on optimal unit commitment schedules derived from priority list-schemes, we examine the potential of increasing the hosting capacity performing annual simulations for different scenarios in the presence of electricity storage. According to the obtained results, the application of storage eliminates the reliability expenses of load shedding and spinning reserve deficits. Hence, the actual hosting capacity is appropriately retrieved based on the renewable generation curtailment during each case study. However, sustainable solutions are achieved at higher penetration levels, reaching a near of 20% with respect to photovoltaic systems. The proposed solution could be efficiently utilized to determine the photovoltaic hosting capacity of microgrids in islanded or interconnected mode.

An advanced public transportation system becomes an indicator for a country. Accordingly, it is essential that the decision-makers (DMs) conduct an initial study based on passengers’ view in order to improve the public transportation services. Since involving multi factors, the problem is often solved using the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches. This study aims to examine significant factors on passengers decision making to use public transportation using Fuzzy AHP and DEMATEL. The Fuzzy AHP method is proposed to determine criteria weights so that significant critera are obtained, then the causal relations including the criteria are visualized using DEMATEL. This study demonstrates the integration of the two MCDM methods in a BRT system in the region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and invites passengers and the DMs. The result indicated that 21 criteria are identified, while the 11 significant criteria are selected based on the Fuzzy AHP weight – α-cut screening. Besides, the DEMATEL has succeeded in describing the influence relationship for the criteria, where firstly, the significant criteria are classified into cause and effect group and secondly, the two criteria, namely coverage to strategic points and on time arrival, should be put on the top priority list. This study enables the DMs to solve public transportation problems more effectively. However, the follow-up study should be carried out by including other factors such as economic and sustainability to strengthen the decision-making process.

TVET graduates contribute greatly to the country’s development. Issues regarding the readiness of TVET graduates upon entering the industry have been raised especially on their level of proficiency in the English language. English language proficiency is important and has become one of the top five reasons for recruiting fresh graduates. Not only do TVET graduates need to excel in technical skills, but they also need to be equipped with other essential skills such as communication skills especially English language competency. Employers place strong communication skills at the top of their priority list, and this is the first thing they look for in every new employee interested in working for their separate businesses. TVET education content needs to be on par with the industrial demand and the active role of the industries in giving direct feedback to the educational institutions is crucial. Therefore, this study aims to highlight the importance of English competency and the challenges of teaching English in technical institutions. Apart from that, this study also suggests some measures that can be implemented in enhancing TVET graduates’ marketability in the workplace.

Disassembly is a key operation that differentiates remanufacturing from traditional manufacturing. However, various factors that affects the process of disassembly are not clearly understood by the researchers. This study focuses on identifying and analyzing the factors that affect the disassembly process in remanufacturing organizations. A literature survey is conducted to identify the factors that can influence the disassembly of products. A total of 17 factors are obtained which are further classified into three main factors viz. Organizational Capabilities (OC), Process Choices (PC) and Product Attributes (PA). An approach based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is utilized to analyze the factors for developing a list of priority of these factors. A team of 8 experts from industry and academia is involved in this research for collecting their opinions. Results of this study show that product attributes play a key role in the disassembly of products for remanufacturing. ‘Value of recovered products’, ‘number of components’, ‘sequence of disassembly’, ‘volume of cores supply’ and ‘implementation of ecodesign principles’ are identified as the top five factors affecting the process of disassembly. The findings of this research can be useful for effective disassembly of products in remanufacturing based organizations. The decision makers of remanufacturing organizations can use the priority list of factors developed in this study for managing the disassembly activities in the organization.

This study proposes a novel binary optimization method for solving unit commitment (UC) problems. Developed from moth-flame optimization (MFO), the proposed method is called binary alternative MFO (BAMFO). Originally, each MFO moth is restricted to fly toward a predetermined flame (solution), causing it to be trapped in the local optimum of that flame and reducing its performance. To address these drawbacks, BAMFO represents four alternative characteristics for moths to discover better flames all over the search space. The exploration and exploitation performances of BAMFO via these characteristics are balanced by a random parameter competing with the criteria of each characteristic. A repair strategy working with the priority list is created to adjust any unit status from the BAMFO simulation to satisfy all UC constraints. Then, Lambda-iteration method is adopted to solve economic dispatch problems. The proficiency of BAMFO is verified in various scales of unit systems for short-term operational scheduling. The results show that BAMFO yields better solutions than do other methods. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was conducted to prove the predominance of BAMFO.

Hundreds of public water systems across the United States have been contaminated by the use of aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during firefighting and training activities. Prior work shows AFFF contain hundreds of polyfluoroalkyl precursors missed by standard methods. However, the most abundant precursors in AFFF remain uncertain, and mixture contents are confidential business information, hindering proactive management of PFAS exposure risks. Here, we develop and apply a novel method (Bayesian inference) for reconstructing the fluorinated chain lengths, manufacturing origin, and concentrations of oxidizable precursors obtained from the total oxidizable precursor (TOP) assay that is generally applicable to all aqueous samples. Results show virtually all (median 104 ± 19%) extractable organofluorine (EOF) in contemporary and legacy AFFF consists of targeted compounds and oxidizable precursors, 90% of which are 6:2 fluorotelomers in contemporary products. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry, we further resolved the 6:2 fluorotelomers to assign the identity of 14 major compounds, yielding a priority list that accounts for almost all detectable PFAS in contemporary AFFF. This combination of methods can accurately assign the total PFAS mass attributable to AFFF in any aqueous sample with differentiation of gross precursor classes and identification of major precursor species.

Deficiency or inadequate allocation of road maintenance and development funds leads to total road network degradation. In order to ensure proper condition of road pavement with a limited budget, we need road maintenance optimisation for the entire road network. The road maintenance optimisation can be achieved using knowledge-based strategic planning systems. The collection and analysis of necessary data help design different road maintenance long-term strategies. The output results help select priorities for road maintenance and proper fund allocation. Optimal road maintenance strategy is the way to keep a fairly good road network with available funds. In addition, the road user costs can be reduced. The aim of this paper is to offer a road maintenance management system for Lithuanian conditions. The model will help evaluate the performance of the current road network and prepare a multi-year priority list for road works.

Conservation efforts often focus on umbrella species whose distributions overlap with many other flora and fauna. However, because biodiversity is affected by different threats that are spatially variable, focusing only on the geographic range overlap of species may not be sufficient in allocating the necessary actions needed to efficiently abate threats. We developed a problem‐based method for prioritizing conservation actions for umbrella species that maximizes the total number of flora and fauna benefiting from management while considering threats, actions, and costs. We tested our new method by assessing the performance of the Australian federal government's umbrella prioritization list, which identifies 73 umbrella species as priorities for conservation attention. Our results show that the federal government priority list benefits only 6% of all Australia's threatened terrestrial species. This could be increased to benefit nearly half (or 46%) of all threatened terrestrial species for the same budget of AU$550 million/year if more suitable umbrella species were chosen. This results in a 7‐fold increase in management efficiency. We believe nations around the world can markedly improve the selection of prioritized umbrella species for conservation action with this transparent, quantitative, and objective prioritization approach., Article impact statement: Considering spatially overlapping species, threats, actions, and costs in conservation prioritization yields 7‐fold increase in efficiency.

Introduction: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a devastating health event that affects over 2000 people each year in Ireland. Survival rate is low, but immediate intervention and initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and administration of an automated external defibrillator (AED) can increase chances of survival. It is not always possible for the emergency medical services (EMS) to reach OHCA cases quickly. As such, volunteers, including lay and professional responders (e.g. off-duty paramedics and fire-fighters), trained in CPR and AED use, are mobilised by the EMS to respond locally to prehospital medical emergencies (e.g. OHCA and stroke). This is known as community first response (CFR). Data on the impact of CFR interventions are limited. This research aims to identify the most important CFR data to collect and analyse, the most important uses of CFR data, as well as barriers and facilitators to data collection and use. This can inform policies to optimise the practice of CFR in Ireland. Methods: The nominal group technique (NGT) is a structured consensus process where key stakeholders (e.g. CFR volunteers, clinicians, EMS personnel, and patients/relatives) develop a set of prioritised recommendations. This study will employ the NGT, incorporating an online survey and online consensus meeting, to develop a priority list for the collection and use of CFR data in Ireland. Stakeholder responses will also identify barriers and facilitators to data collection and use, as well as indicators that improvements to these processes have been achieved. The maximum sample size for the NGT will be 20 participants to ensure sufficient representation from stakeholder groups. Discussion: This study, employing the NGT, will consult key stakeholders to establish CFR data collection, analysis, and use priorities. Results from this study will inform CFR research, practice, and policy, to improve the national CFR service model and inform international response programs.

Background: As e-cigarette popularity has increased, there is growing evidence to suggest that while they are highly likely to be considerably less harmful than cigarettes, their use is not free of risk to the user. There is therefore an ongoing need to characterise the chemical composition of e-cigarette aerosols, as a starting point in characterising risks associated with their use. This study examined the chemical complexity of aerosols generated by an e-cigarette containing one unflavored and three flavored e-liquids. A combination of targeted and untargeted chemical analysis approaches was used to examine the number of compounds comprising the aerosol. Contributions of e-liquid flavors to aerosol complexity were investigated, and the sources of other aerosol constituents sought. Emissions of 98 aerosol toxicants were quantified and compared to those in smoke from a reference tobacco cigarette generated under two different smoking regimes.Results: Combined untargeted and targeted aerosol analyses identified between 94 and 139 compounds in the flavored aerosols, compared with an estimated 72–79 in the unflavored aerosol. This is significantly less complex (by 1-2 orders of magnitude) than the reported composition of cigarette smoke. Combining both types of analysis identified 5–12 compounds over and above those found by untargeted analysis alone. Gravimetrically, 89–99% of the e-cigarette aerosol composition was composed of glycerol, propylene glycol, water and nicotine, and around 3% comprised other, more minor, constituents. Comparable data for the Ky3R4F reference tobacco cigarette pointed to 58–76% of cigarette smoke “tar” being composed of minor constituents. Levels of the targeted toxicants in the e-cigarette aerosols were significantly lower than those in cigarette smoke, with 68.5–>99% reductions under ISO 3308 puffing conditions and 88.4–>99% reductions under ISO 20778 (intense) conditions; reductions against the WHO TobReg 9 priority list were around 99%.Conclusion: These analyses showed that the e-cigarette aerosols contain fewer compounds and at significantly lower concentrations than cigarette smoke. The chemical diversity of an e-cigarette aerosol is strongly impacted by the choice of e-liquid ingredients.

In vitro cell-based toxicity testing methods generate large amounts of data informative for risk-based evaluations. To allow extrapolation of the quantitative outputs from cell-based tests to the equivalent exposure levels in humans, reverse toxicokinetic modeling is used to conduct in vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) from in vitro effective concentrations to in vivo oral dose equivalents. IVIVE modeling approaches for individual chemicals are well-established; however, the potential implications of chemical-to-chemical interactions in mixture settings on IVIVE remain largely unexplored. We hypothesized that chemical coexposures could modulate both protein binding efficiency and hepatocyte clearance of the chemicals in a mixture, which would in turn affect the quantitative IVIVE toxicokinetic parameters. To test this hypothesis, we used 20 pesticides from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Substance Priority List, both individually and as equimolar mixtures, and investigated the concentration-dependent effects of chemical interactions on in vitro toxicokinetic parameters. Plasma protein binding efficiency was determined by using ultracentrifugation, and hepatocyte clearance was estimated in suspensions of cryopreserved primary human hepatocytes. We found that for single chemicals, the protein binding efficiencies were similar at different test concentrations. In a mixture, however, both protein binding efficiency and hepatocyte clearance were affected. When IVIVE was conducted using mixture-derived toxicokinetic data, more conservative estimates of activity-to-exposure ratios were produced as compared with using data from single chemical experiments. Because humans are exposed to mixtures of chemicals, this study is significant as it demonstrates the importance of incorporating mixture-derived parameters into IVIVE for in vitro bioactivity data in order to accurately prioritize risks and facilitate science-based decision-making.

The applications of gene editing technologies such as CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) have grown significantly in recent years. Several countries have adopted different stances on the regulation of such technology; however, India does not have any legally enforceable regulations in place. There is a need for such a development as India's regulatory, sociocultural, and economic landscape is unique. First, we discuss the uncertainty regarding India's regulatory capacity to enforce ethical standards for CRISPR use. Then, we discuss unique driving forces that could lead to the misuse of CRISPR in India, such as certain sociocultural norms like preferences for fair skin and public demand for sex determination. Given these previous concerns, we posit the question; where on the priority list does CRISPR stand in the context of public health in India?

In this paper the impact of one type of Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices whichis called Static Series Synchronous Compensator (SSSC) for improving power system stability isdeveloped. The optimal location of (SSSC) is determined related to deregulated electricity marketto reduce system losses and congestion of the transmission line, hence increasing maximum loadability of the system. The congested line based on optimal power flow (OPF) tool to find localmarginal price (LMP) difference is determined. A list is formed based on the magnitude of thedifference in (LMPs) to find the most congested lines. For each line in the priority list thecontinuation power flow (CPF) is determined with (SSSC) in that line, the best location of (SSSC)is the one where by placing (SSSC) gives highest maximum loading point. The results showed thatproposed location of (SSSC) in congested line give higher maximum loading point and improvesystem dynamic performance. The study is illustrated on IEEE 14-bus system, based on PowerSystemAnalysis Toolset (PSAT). فی ھذه المقالھ ، تم تطویر تأثیر نوع واحد من أجھزة أنظمة نقل التیار المتردد المرنة والذی یطلق علیھ المعوض المتزامنالمتعلق بسوق الکھرباء غیر المحرر لتقلیل فقد (SSSC) للمسلسل الثابت لتحسین استقرار نظام الطاقة. یتم تحدید الموقع الأمثل لالنظام وازدحام خط النقل ، وبالتالی زیادة قدرة الحمل القصوى للنظام. یتم تحدید الخط المکتظ بناء على أداة التدفق الأمثل للطاقةللعثور على فرق السعر الھامشی المحلی. یتم تکوین قائمة بناء على حجم الفرق فی للعثور على أکثر الخطوط ازدحاما. لکل سطرفی قائمة الأولویات ، یتم تحدید تدفق القدرة على الاستمرار مع فی ھذا الخط ، أفضل موقع ل ھو الذی یوفر عن طریق وضعأعلى نقطة تحمیل قصوى. أظھرت النتائج أن الموقع المقترح ل فی الخط المزدحم یعطی أعلى نقطة تحمیل ویحسن الأداءالدینامیکی للنظام. تم توضیح الدراسة على نظام ، استنادا إلى مجموعة أدوات تحلیل نظام الطاقة

PURPOSE In this study, we aimed to assess (1) the agreement between patient self-reports and general practitioner (GP) reports of the chronic conditions affecting the patients and (2) the agreement between patients and GPs on health priorities in a primary care setting. METHOD Patients were recruited in the Parisian area of France by a convenience sample of GPs; eligibility criteria required that the GP was the patient’s listed primary care provider for at least 12 months. Participants were asked to report all the patient’s current chronic conditions by using a previously developed list of 124 chronic conditions and write a list of up to 3 priority conditions. RESULTS From April to May 2017, 233 patients were recruited from 16 GP practices. Agreement between the number of conditions reported by patients and by GPs was moderate (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.59, 95% CI, 0.50 to 0.69). Agreement between patient self-reports and GP reports of each chronic condition ranged from very good (eg, κ = 0.85 for hypothyroidism) to poor (eg, κ = 0.12 for chronic anxiety disorder). Among the 153 patient-GP pairs for which both the patient and GP wrote a priority list, 45 (29.4%) of patients’ first priorities did not appear anywhere on the corresponding GPs’ lists, and 19 (12.4%) pairs had no matching priority condition. CONCLUSIONS Agreement between patients and their GPs varied widely depending on the diseases reported. Low agreement on health priorities suggests a need for improvement to ensure better alignment between patient and physician perspectives.

Background Thousands of chemicals exist in hydraulic-fracturing (HF) fluids and wastewater from unconventional oil gas development. The carcinogenicity of these chemicals in HF fluids and wastewater has never been systematically evaluated. Objectives In this study, we assessed the carcinogenicity of 1,173 HF-related chemicals in the HF chemical data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Methods We linked the HF chemical data with the agent classification data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization (WHO) (N = 998 chemicals) to evaluate human carcinogenic risk of the chemicals and with the Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) from Toxnet (N = 1,534 chemicals) to evaluate potential carcinogenicity of the chemicals. Results The Chemical Abstract Service Registry Numbers (CASRNs) for chemicals were used for data linkage. Among 1,173 chemicals, 1,039 were identified only in HF fluids, 97 only in wastewater, and 37 in both. Compared with IARC, we found information of 104 chemicals, and 48 of them may have potentially carcinogenic risk to human, among which 14 are definitely carcinogenic, 7 probably carcinogenic, and 27 possibly carcinogenic. Using the CPDB data, it suggests that 66 chemicals are potentially carcinogenic based on rats and mouse models. Conclusions Conclusions Our evaluation suggests that exposure to some chemicals in HF fluids and wastewater may increase cancer risk, and the identified chemicals could be selected as the priority list for drinking water exposure assessment or cancer-related health studies.

In the absence of good animal models, Controlled Human Infection Models (CHIMs) are useful to assess efficacy of new vaccine candidates against Enterotoxic Escherichia coli (ETEC), as well as other preventive or therapeutic interventions. At the 2018 Vaccines Against Shigella and ETEC (VASE) conference, a workshop was held to further review and discuss new challenge model developments and key issues related to further model standardization. During the workshop, invited speakers briefly summarized for attendees recent developments and main agenda issues before workshop participants were divided into four groups for more focused discussions. The main issues discussed were: (1) whether there is a need for more ETEC strains to test a diversity of vaccine candidates, and if so, what criteria/qualities are desirable in strain selection; (2) how ETEC CHIMs could be more standardized to better support ETEC vaccine development; (3) how volunteer selection criteria and screening should be performed, and; (4) how an expanded sample collection schema and collaborative analysis plan may facilitate a more in-depth assessment of the role of antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses in ETEC infection, and provide better insights into ETEC pathogenesis and correlates of protection. The workshop concluded that additional challenge strains may need to be developed to better support new vaccines and therapeutics that are advancing in the development pipeline. In this regard, the need for a well characterized ST-only expressing ETEC strain was highlighted as a priority given that promising new heat stable toxoid based vaccine candidates are on the horizon. In addition, further standardization of the ETEC CHIMs was strongly encouraged, noting that it may not be realistic to standardize across all strains. Also, intensified volunteer screening may result in higher attack rates, although more stringent eligibility criteria may contribute to a more limited application of the model and diminish its representativeness. Finally, a sampling schedule and priority list for minimum set of samples was also proposed. Future workshops could be held to further refine standards for ETEC CHIMS and to facilitate more collaborative work on stored sample sets from previous and future ETEC CHIMs to maximize the contribution of these trials to our understanding of ETEC pathogenesis and our development of better prevention and control measures for this important pathogen. publishedVersion

Given that we live in a time within a growing competitive healthcare market, the customer experience and healing opportunities are on top of the priority list. However, little attention has been dedicated on how to merge the disciplines of architecture, healthcare and management to create healthcare environments to enhance the customer experience and the healing process. The goal of this paper is to explore how design can foster customer-perceived intimacy within a healthcare context to achieve enhanced customer outcomes, such as customer well-being. Understanding the importance of customer- perceived intimacy is paramount, as customers are constantly exposed to intimate situations. The study suggest that there is potential for such situations to be wrought with problems involving complexities associated with human cognition, emotions, physiological responses, and behaviors. A literature review is undertaken to highlight the antecedents and the short-term and long-term outcomes of customer- perceived intimacy. As a result, the paper provides a conceptual framework that raises many questions that need to be answered. In doing so, a solid foundation for future inquiry has been laid.

This publication is part of a series of 3 publications and describes the clinical assessment performed to fulfill the regulatory requirement per Art. 6 (2) of the EU Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU under which Member States require manufacturers and importers of cigarettes and Roll Your Own tobacco containing an additive that is included in the priority list established by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/787 to carry out comprehensive studies (European Union, 2016). In our clinical study, two distinct end points were investigated, namely measuring plasma nicotine pharmacokinetics as a measure of nicotine uptake, and analyses of changes in smoker puffing behavior as a measure of cigarette smoke inhalation. This clinical study indicated that the inclusion of none of the priority additives either as single additive or as part of a chemical mixture, facilitated nicotine uptake. Furthermore, the data did not suggest that differences in the inhalation pattern of cigarette smoke of any of the Priority Additives tested occurred when compared to the additive-free reference cigarette. Finally, it is concluded that neither the scientific literature nor our study gave circumstantial indications of increased addictiveness for cigarettes containing these priority additives.

This paper is part of a series of 3 publications and describes the non-clinical and clinical assessment performed to fulfill the regulatory requirement per Art. 6 (2) of the EU Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU; under which Member States shall require manufacturers and importers of cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco containing an additive that is included in the priority list established by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/787 to carry out comprehensive studies. The Directive requires manufacturers and importers of cigarettes and Roll Your Own tobacco to examine for each additive whether it; contributes to and increases the toxicity or addictiveness of tobacco products to a significant or measurable degree; if it leads to a characterizing flavor of the product; if it facilitates inhalation or nicotine uptake, and if it results in the formation of CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic) constituents and if these substances increase the CMR properties of the respective tobacco product to a significant or measurable degree. This publication gives an overview on comprehensive smoke chemistry, in vitro toxicity, and human clinical studies commissioned by the members of the Priority Additives Tobacco Consortium to independent Contract Research Organizations (CROs) where the emissions of test cigarettes containing priority additives were compared to emissions emerging from an additive-free reference cigarette. Whilst minor changes in smoke chemistry parameters were observed when comparing emissions from test cigarettes with emissions from additive-free reference cigarettes, only two of the additives (sorbitol and guar gum) tested led to significant increases in a limited number of smoke constituents. These changes were not observed when sorbitol or guar gum were tested in a mixture with other priority additives. None of the priority additives resulted in increases in in vitro toxicity (Ames, Micronucleus, Neutral Red Uptake) or led to changes in smoking behavior or absorption (rate or amount) of nicotine measured during the human clinical study as compared to the additive-free reference cigarette.

Conservation planning needs reliable information on spatial patterns of biodiversity. However, existing data sets are skewed: some habitats, taxa, and locations are under-represented. Here, we map geographic publication density at the sub-national scale of individual 'provinces'. We query the Web of Science catalogues SCI and SSCI for biodiversity-related publications including country and province names (for the period 1993-2016). We combine these data with other provincial-scale factors hypothesised to affect research (i.e. economic development, human presence, infrastructure and remoteness). We show that sites that appear to be understudied, compared with the biodiversity expected from their bioclimatic conditions, are likely to have been inaccessible to researchers for a diversity of reasons amongst which current or recent armed conflicts are notable. Finally, we create a priority list of provinces where geographic publication bias is of most concern, and discuss how our provincial-scale model can assist in adjusting for publication biases in conservation planning., Comment: 10 pages; 3 figures; 1 table;R code on https://github.com/raffael-hickisch; data at https://zenodo.org/record/998889; interactive at http://bit.ly/publication_density_map

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. The OSPAR priority list entails a strategy, for monitoring the listed chemicals as well as prescribing cessation targets. However, not much is known about the best available technologies for dealing with cases of environmental pollution from these chemicals. On the other hand, Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) are among the most effective environmental treatment technologies. The scientific literature was reviewed for data regarding the application of selected AOPs in the treatment of the chemicals on the OSPAR list with emphasis on the efficacy and cost of the technologies. Remarkably, almost two decades since the OSPAR list was adopted, there are hardly any studies in which the cost applying any AOP to an “OSPAR chemical” related contamination has been explored. When the scope of the study was expanded beyond the OSPAR list and the initially selected AOPs, not much data was found either. It is clear from this study that the subject of the comparative cost evaluations of AOPs is one requiring more attention. The consequence is that some of the vital data required for evaluating the practical applicability of AOPs in real treatment applications is lacking. The review article seeks to draw attention to this gap in the scientific literature.

This research evaluates built form and demographic factors of GO Transit commuter rail station areas that contribute to ridership and utilization of existing services in the A.M. peak period using biannual GO Rail ridership information from the Spring of 2010 to Spring of 2015. In order to identify predictors of ridership growth, four regression models were estimated that evaluated factors affecting cross-sectional ridership, cross-sectional utilization of capacity, station-level utilization at each time period, and station-level year-over-year utilization growth. Results indicate that the strongest predictors of ridership, utilization, and growth were station parking capacity and household density of the surrounding area. This suggests potential for tensions in developing GO-supportive station-area land use policy strategies focused on either expanding station-area parking capacity or station-area residential intensification. The station level utilization model produced a priority list of future service increases on GO Rail corridors based on existing capacity and ridership.

Global regulations of biocides have been continuously enhanced for protecting human health and the environment from potentially harmful biocidal products. Such regulations consider the combined toxicity caused by mixture components in a biocidal product of which approval and authorization are to be enhanced. Although the combined exposure scenarios of components in mixtures are firstly needed to conduct the mixture risk assessment, systematic combined exposure scenarios are still lacking. In this study, combined inhalation exposure scenarios of biocides in household chemical and biocidal products marketed in South Korea were investigated based on the European Union (EU) and Korean chemical product databases and various data sources integration. The information of 1058 biocidal products and 675 household chemical products that are likely to cause inhalation exposure with two or more biocides was collected, and mixture combination patterns were investigated. Binary mixtures occupied 72% in biocidal products. The most frequently appearing binary mixture was phthalthrin and d-phenothrin. Based on the frequency of use, we suggested a priority list of biocide mixture combinations which need to be firstly evaluated for identifying their combined toxicity for the mixture risk assessment. This study highlights that the derived combined inhalation exposure scenarios can support and facilitate further studies on priority settings for mixture risk assessment and management of potentially inhalable biocides.

Aims and objectives This study aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the illness experience of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients in China and the meaning they attach to those experiences. Background ALS is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that significantly impacts individuals and families. There is a large number of patients with ALS in China. However, little is known about how they live with ALS. Design Phenomenological qualitative research was performed among twenty people with ALS from the neurology department of a tertiary hospital in China. Colaizzi's method was used to analyse the participants’ data. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) was used as a guideline to secure accurate and complete reporting of the study. Results We proposed three themes and eight subthemes on the illness experience of participants: (1) life countdown: ‘my body was frozen’ (body out of control and inward suffering); (2) family self‐help: ‘we kept an eye on each other’ (family warmth and hardship, and supporting the supporter); and (3) reconstruction of life: ‘what was the meaning of my life’ (learning to accept, rebuilding self‐worth, resetting the priority list and living in the moment). Conclusions In the family self‐help model, patients are prompted to turn from negative mentalities to search for meaning in life actively. Healthcare providers need to attach importance to the family self‐help model to alleviate the pressure on medical resources. Relevance to clinical practice Healthcare providers should encourage patients to play a supportive role in the family and provide more care support and professional care knowledge guidance to caregivers, to promote the formation of the family self‐help model which might help to improve the experience of patients and families.

Seismic damage assessment is an extraordinary opportunity to evaluate the reliability of vulnerability and risk methodologies applied to historic masonry buildings, giving the possibility of enhancing and optimising mitigation and retrofit strategies. Vulnerability index methodologies are flexible and powerful tools for assessing seismic vulnerability on the urban scale, providing a first screening of the critical issues present in masonry buildings and a possible priority list for the following retrofit operations. Such approaches account for the buildings&rsquo, different structural characteristics, directly or indirectly influencing their seismic behaviour and measured through different weights and classes finally providing a vulnerability index. In this paper, we show the application of three well-known methodologies to Campi Alto di Norcia&rsquo, s medieval city in Valnerina (Italy) stroke by the earthquakes of 24 August and 30 October 2016. The methodologies&rsquo, reliability is assessed, based on the observation of real seismic consequences and damages on the masonry buildings, and an optimised methodology is then proposed for the considered case study.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has taken a toll on all of us for one year with more than 1.94 million deaths. Despite many educational interventions and precautionary measures, there is increasing number of cases with rising mortality. The only ray of hope in this uncertain situation is the development of “vaccines” against the disease. Several pharmaceutical companies across the world have started vaccine production which are in different phases of clinical trials. Till date only four vaccines, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Gamaleya Sputnik V, have completed the Phase 3 trials, received Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) and two Indian vaccines-COVISHIELD and COVAXINTM have received restricted use approval and are ready to be given according to the priority list given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Several countries have started the process of vaccination to their high risk population above the age of 16. In this review, authors have listed the various vaccine options available till the time this article is written, their route of administration, dosage with few concerns related to the storage and safety of the vaccine. Let’s hope that atleast one of the vaccines in the pipeline will give promising results and help us to overcome the pandemic.

Power systems incrementally and continuously upgrade their components, such as transmission lines, reactive capacitors, or generating units. Decision-making tools often support the selection of the best set of components to upgrade. Optimization models are often used to support decision making at a given point in time. After certain time intervals, re-optimization is performed to find new components to add. In this paper, we propose a decision-making framework for incrementally updating power system components. This is an alternative approach to the classical sequential re-optimization decision making for an investment problem with modeled budget constraints. Our approach provides a priority list as a solution with a list of new components to upgrade. We show that i) our framework is consistent with the evolution of power system upgrades, and ii) in particular circumstances, both frameworks provide the same solution if the problem satisfies submodularity property. We have selected the problem of phasor measurement unit localization and compared the solution with the classical sequential re-optimization framework. For this particular problem, we show that the two approaches provide close results, while only our proposed algorithm is applicable in practice. The cases of 14 and 118 IEEE buses are used to illustrate the proposed methodology.

Neurodevelopmental disorders are constantly increasing on a global scale. Some elements like heavy metals are known to be neurotoxic. In this cross-sectional study we assessed the neurobehavioral effect of the exposure to trace elements including lead, mercury, cadmium, manganese, arsenic and selenium and their interactions among 299 schoolchildren residing in the heavily polluted Taranto area in Italy. Whole blood, urine and hair were collected for metal analyses, while the Child Behavior Checklist and the Social Responsiveness Scale, administered to the main teacher and the mothers were considered to identify behavioral problems in children. Blood lead mainly influenced social problems, aggressive behavior, externalizing and total problems. Urinary arsenic showed an impact on anxiety and depression, somatic problems, attention problems and rule breaking behavior. A significant interaction between lead and arsenic was observed, with a synergistic effect of the two metals increasing the risk of attention problems, aggressive behavior, externalizing problems and total problems. Overall, we were able to test that higher blood lead, urinary arsenic concentrations and their interaction increase the risk of neurobehavioral problems. This is in line with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s priority list of hazardous substances where arsenic and lead are ranked as first and second respectively.

International audience; Le chauffage dans le secteur résidentiel représente environ 20% de la consommation énergétique française. Cet usage étant à la fois réparti sur différents vecteurs énergétiques et très saisonnalisé, choisir le bon vecteur au bon moment est un moyen efficace de le décarboner. La gestion de la demande énergétique des bâtiments est de plus un levier pour l'intégration des énergies renouvelables non pilotables dans les mix électriques et pour l'effacement des appels de puissance lorsque les moyens marginaux de production sont carbonés. Cet article s'intéresse au pilotage de pompes à chaleur hybrides alimentées par le réseau électrique et un appoint gaz local de manière à minimiser les émissions de GES. Pour ce faire, il est nécessaire de déterminer le contenu carbone de la consommation d'électricité évitée durant tout le temps de fonctionnement de l'appoint gaz. L'objectif de cet article est d'estimer le type de pilotage (fréquence et durée de l'utilisation de l'appoint gaz) de ces systèmes. A terme, la détermination de l'impact en ACV du déploiement de telles technologies sur les émissions de GES sera nécessaire.

Microalgae and cyanobacteria have shown significant potential for the development of the next biofuels innovation because of their own characteristics as photosynthetic microorganisms. However, it is confronted with a lot of severe challenges on the economic scaling-up of the microalgae- and cyanobacteria-based biofuels production. One of these major challenges is the lack of a reliable preventing and controlling culture system of biological contamination, which can attack the cell growth or product accumulation causing crashing effects. To increase the commercial viability of microalgae- and cyanobacteria-based biofuels production, overcoming the biological contaminations should be at the top of the priority list. Here, we highlight the importance of two categories of biological contaminations and their controlling strategies in the mass cultivations of microalgae and cyanobacteria, and outline the directions that should be exploited in the future.

Background: Thioguanine (TG) is available only in the form of 40 mg tablets in the United States, and the patient population in which TG is used comprises mostly children. Recognizing its importance as a therapeutic agent and limited stability data for its compounded preparation, the United States Pharmacopoeia has listed TG in its priority list of compounded preparations monographs. Objective: The goal of the present study was to generate stability data and establish a beyond-use date for compounded TG suspension. Methods: Suspensions were compounded using TG tablets and ORA-Plus and ORA-Sweet as vehicles. A robust high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed and validated. TG and guanine (G) in suspensions were quantified immediately after compounding and at regular intervals for 90 days. Physical stability of suspensions was evaluated by observation of organoleptic properties. Results: Results from the study indicate that average TG levels in suspensions remained above 90% of the starting concentration and G formation was less than 2.5% for 90 days. There was no statistically significant difference in the amount of TG degraded over 90 days between suspensions stored at room temperature and in refrigerated conditions. There was also no statistically significant difference in G concentration of suspensions between day 0 and day 90. Conclusion: TG suspensions are stable for 90 days when stored at room temperature or refrigerated conditions and the beyond-use date can be set to 90 days.

Background: There is little consensus about the relative determinative value of each individual factor in female breast aesthetics. When performing breast surgery with an aesthetic goal, certain factors will be more important than others. The purpose of this study was to make an aesthetic factor rank list to determine the relative contributions to overall breast aesthetics. Method: Volunteers were scanned using the 3-dimensional Vectra system. Ten Scandinavian plastic surgeons rated 37 subjects, using a validated scoring system with 49 scoring items. The correlation between specific aesthetic factors and overall breast aesthetic scores of the subjects were calculated using Pearson's r, Spearman's rho, and Kendall's tau. Results: A very strong correlation was found between overall breast aesthetic score and lower pole shape (0.876, P

With reference to the urban redevelopment interventions carried out through the Public Private Partnership procedure, the present research aims at testing a model able to quickly evaluate the convenience of the parties involved (private investors and Public Administrations). The model has been applied to three urban transformation initiatives to be developed in the city of Bari (Southern Italy), in order to verify the financial feasibility of each investment. The experimentation on the three projects considered could allow i) the Public Administration to define a priority list of the three urban initiatives to be launched in the city of Bari, ii) the private investors to weigh the risk of the different alternatives, in order to identify the most appropriate investment.

During the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa an expert panel was established on the instructions of the UK Prime Minister to identify priority pathogens for outbreak diseases that had the potential to cause future epidemics. A total of 13 priority pathogens were identified, which led to the prioritisation of spending in emerging diseases vaccine research and development from the UK. This meeting report summarises the process used to develop the UK pathogen priority list, compares it to lists generated by other organisations (World Health Organisation, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) and summarises clinical progress towards the development of vaccines against priority diseases. There is clear technical progress towards the development of vaccines. However, the availability of these vaccines will be dependent on sustained funding for clinical trials and the preparation of clinically acceptable manufactured material during inter-epidemic periods.