Fraxa Research Foundation

Determine efficacy of an aqueous photocatalytic disinfection system, photoClO2, against two human norovirus surrogates [feline calicivirus (FCV) and Tulane virus (TuV)] and Clostridioides difficile endospores on stainless steel and nylon carpet. The photoClO2 system was first optimized with 1% sodium chlorite (NaClO2) and 10ppm Eosin Y to produce 60.64ppm ClO2/min in a 4.5×4.5cm2 area. It was then tested against FCV, TuV, and C. difficile endospores on stainless steel and nylon carpet with two different backings. On stainless steel, photoClO2 achieved a>5 log10 plaque-forming unit (PFU) reduction of FCV in 45min, >3 log10 median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) reduction of TuV in 60min, and 1.3 log10 colony-forming unit (CFU) reduction of C. difficile endospores in 120min. Under indoor lighting conditions, photoClO2 achieved a 4.3 log10 PFU reduction of FCV and 1.4 log10 TCID50 reduction of TuV on stainless steel after 120min. Further, photoClO2 achieved a 2.9 log10 PFU reduction of FCV and 2.5 log10 TCID50 reduction of TuV on nylon carpet with waterproof backing in 60min, which was higher than carpet with water-permeable backing (1.3 log10 PFU and 1.1 log10 TCID50 reduction, respectively). ClO2 production rate of the photoClO2 system was influenced by light distribution, while disinfection efficacy was affected by light intensity, surface characteristics, and target microorganisms. PhotoClO2 was efficacious in inactivating both human norovirus surrogates on stainless steel and nylon carpet. Efficacy against C. difficile endospores was limited.

BACKGROUND The course of hepatitis B is prolonged and easy to turn into chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer as the second serious disease-causing human cancer.Hepatitis B not only affects the health of individuals, but also causes a heavy economic burden to the family society.In 2015, WHO launched a strategy to eliminate hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030; however, annual global deaths from HBV are projected to increase by 39% between 2015 and 2030 if the status quo is maintaine.Mortality from HBV-related liver diseases in China with the highest burden of HBV infection accounts for 30% of the global mortality from HBV infection. It’s important for China to achieve the WHO goal of global hepatitis eradication by 2030.In the past three decades, China has made timely vaccination of newborns and infants a top priority to prevent and control hepatitis B.The infection rate of HBV has decreased significantly, and our country is no longer a high-prevalence area.However, large differences in the burden of hepatitis B virus exist not only between countries and regions, but also within a country or region, varying by state or province, income, race or ethnicity, and other social and cultural factors. Inner Mongolia located in the north of China and life style has greater specificity. HBV vaccination has been carried out in Inner Mongolia for many years. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the actual effects of the vaccine after using. OBJECTIVE To compare the prevalence rate of hepatitis B virus serum markers in Inner Mongolia between 2020 and 2006, and understand the change of hepatitis B prevalence in the past 15 years, and provide scientific basis for the development of hepatitis B prevention and control plan. METHODS A stratified multi-stage cluster random sampling method was adopted in 12 areas of Inner Mongolia. The subjects aged 1-60 years old were selected to carry out questionnaire survey and sample collection and detect hepatitis B serum biomarkers, including HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), HBV surface antibody (HBsAb) and HBV core antibody (HBcAb). The prevalence of serum biomarkers of hepatitis B was analyzed and compared between 2020 and 2006 which were standardized by age and sex. RESULTS There were 6,500 subjects in 2020 and 6304 subjects in 2006. HBV infection rate was 22.69% (95%CI 21.67%-23.71%) and 30.06% after standardization. The positive rate of HBsAg was 2.06%, lower than 2.74% in 2006 (P=.012) with the decrease proportion of 24.82%. After the standardization using the population in the Inner Mongolia by age and sex, the prevalence of HBsAg was also lower in 2020 than in 2006 (2.75% vs. 4.11%, P<.001). Men and the subjects without the HBV vaccination were related with HBsAg prevalence. The same results were observed in the serum biomarker of HBsAb (44.65% vs. 47.76%, P<.001; standardized 41.40% vs. 42.14%, P=.39) and HBcAb (14.63% vs. 16.24%, P=.012; standardized 20.15% vs. 22.91%, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS The burden of HBV infection in Inner Mongolia has decreased significantly. The prevention and control of hepatitis B in Inner Mongolia should continue to strengthen, not only pay more attention to hepatitis B vaccination, but also emphasize the active treatment after HBV infection.

El cobre soluble se originó debido a las filtraciones y / o precipitaciones que ocurrieron en la zona superior de los Cuerpos Mineralizados cercanos a la Quebraba Topará, generando una zona secundaria de cobre luego de pasar por la zona lixiviada. La cual se quiere identificar, zonificar y caracterizar en los cuerpos mineralizados del yacimiento mediante los sondajes diamantinos, para realizar estudios geometalúrgicos que nos ayuden a buscar la viabilidad para su explotación. Debido a que este mineral no está siendo considerado en las reservas por causar problemas en la recuperación de zinc cuando se trata junto con el mineral estándar de la operación. Llegando a la conclusión que se deben realizar pruebas metalúrgicas para tratar este mineral por campañas y no perjudicar a la recuperación de zinc.

A gestão de pneus envolve uma operação em que muitas variáveis têm que ser medidas e controladas. Medir, gerir e controlar a utilização dos pneus implica dialogar com atividades e áreas que nem sempre estão em sintonia: operação, manutenção e gestão de pessoas. Através do estudo de caso na Mina de Vazante, foi avaliado o impacto que um conjunto de medidas de gestão de pneus, como manutenção de pistas, controle da carga transportada, monitoramento automatizado de pressão, redução da velocidade máxima para tráfego na mina, frequência da calibragem de pneus, e gestão de equipe teria na redução de custos. Após implantar estas ações, observou-se uma melhora significativa nos indicadores de disponibilidade e utilização dos caminhões, além da redução de custos com pneus em 21,5 % no período analisado, sem impacto na produção mensal. Tais práticas, pouco dispendiosas, eficientes e muitas vezes negligenciadas nas minas, também contribuem a minimização de seus impactos ambientais e podem ser adotadas por outros empreendimentos que utilizam caminhões fora-de-estrada como equipamentos de transporte. Palavras-chave: Mineração. Disponibilidade. Pneus. Custos. Calibração. Calibration controls and good mining practices for reducing the cost of tires in off-road trucks Abstract Tire management involves an operation in which many variables have to be measured and controlled. Measuring, managing, and controlling the use of tires implies interacting with activities and areas that are not always in harmony: operation, maintenance, and people management. Through the case study at the Vazante mine, the impact that a set of tire management measures, such as lane maintenance, control of transported cargo, automated pressure monitoring, reduction of maximum speed for traffic in the mine, frequency of calibration of tires, and team management would have on cost reduction. After implementing these actions, a significant improvement was observed in the indicators of availability and utilization of trucks, in addition to a reduction in tire costs by 21.5 % in the analyzed period, with no impact on monthly production. Such practices, inexpensive, efficient, and often neglected in mines, also contribute to minimizing their environmental impacts and can be adopted by other enterprises that use off-road trucks as transport equipment as well. Keywords: Mining. Availability. Tires. Costs. Calibration.

O entendimento da assinatura geofísica em depósitos torna-se essencial na prospecção mineral, uma vez que a compreensão do footprint em profundidade é cada mais necessário devido a alvos e depósitos superficiais estarem cada vez mais escassos. A integração de outros tipos de dados aos dados geofísicos pode auxiliar na criação de processos de interpretações a partir do conhecimento avançado da resposta geofísica de diferentes rochas, alterações hidrotermais e mineralizações que futuramente podem aumentar a descoberta de novos alvos ou novas abordagens na prospecção. Esta pesquisa tem como alvo o depósito epitermal de Pb-Zn-(Cu-Ag) de Santa Maria, situado no distrito de Minas do Camaquã, município de Caçapava do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Trata-se de um sistema magmático-hidrotermal distal, com mineralizações controladas por sistemas de falhas em arenitos e conglomerados, que hospedam zonas de alterações hidrotermais que contêm ilita, clorita e pirita, além de galena, esfalerita, calcopirita e bornita. O objetivo principal é mapear a assinatura geofísica do depósito a partir da integração de dados geoquímicos e geofísicos das rochas encaixantes, alterações hidrotermais e mineralizações. A metodologia inicial aplicada consiste na seleção de amostras de furos de sondagens representativas da litologia predominante, das rochas alteradas e das mineralizações hidrotermais do depósito; submissão das amostras a análises geoquímicas de elementos maiores, traço e terras raras; e aquisição de dados geofísicos para serem integrados e interpretados. A magnetometria terrestre, a resistividade e a polarização induzida mostraram-se eficientes para mapear a assinatura geofísica do Depósito Santa Maria, principalmente em termos estruturais, uma vez que se identificou o possível controlador de mineralizações da área. A geoquímica facilitou o entendimento das variações geofísicas, pois a presença de sulfetos em maiores quantidades e presença de óxidos como K2O, Al2O3 e MgO utilizados para mapear zonas de ilita e clorita, possibilitaram interpretações e associações à geofísica da área. Toda a integração de dados proporcionou uma maior confiabilidade na caracterização da assinatura geofísica do depósito.

Overloading of ore transportation equipment is a problem that directly impacts the physical availability and maintenance costs of the equipment, and must be managed and minimized. In this context, the objective of this study is to improve the overload control of trucks used in the transportation of ore from an underground mine by adopting the 10/10/20 payload control policy and to evaluate the impacts on the physical availability of this equipment. Therefore, the methodology consisted basically in defining the problems caused by the overload of transportation equipment, elaboration and implementation of new operational procedures aiming at the application of the 10/10/20 load control policy, generation of management reports, evaluation of physical availability indicators and problem mitigation. The results indicated an increase in average physical availability of 9.21% from the first to the second half of 2019, the latter contemplating the period in which the overload control actions were implemented. In addition, an increase in the number of trips with load suitable to the equipment's capacity was noted.

Reports on the work of the IEEE P2725.1 Working Group: Standard for Microwave Structural, Vascular, or Functional Medical Imaging Device Safety.

Fragile-X syndrome (FXS) patients display intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder due to silencing of the X-linked, fragile-X mental retardation-1 (FMR1) gene. Dysregulation of cAMP metabolism is a consistent finding in patients and in the mouse and fly FXS models. We therefore explored if BPN14770, a prototypic phosphodiesterase-4D negative allosteric modulator (PDE4D-NAM) in early human clinical trials, might provide therapeutic benefit in the mouse FXS model. Daily treatment of adult male fmr1 C57Bl6 knock-out mice with BPN14770 for 14 days reduced hyperarousal, improved social interaction, and improved natural behaviors such as nesting and marble burying as well as dendritic spine morphology. There was no decrement in behavioral scores in control C57Bl6 treated with BPN14770. The behavioral benefit of BPN14770 persisted two weeks after washout of the drug. Thus, BPN14770 may be useful for the treatment of fragile-X syndrome and other disorders with decreased cAMP signaling.