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This study examined the effects of oxygen species on the unsteady-state oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) using a lengthy catalyst bed of Na 2 WO 4 /Mn/SiO 2 . The reaction conditions, including the methane-to-oxygen ratio, ratio of feed gas dilution by N 2 , quantity of catalyst, and feed flow rate were adjusted for the continuous flow fixed bed reaction system. While the O 2 gas initiated methyl radical formation from methane, the surface lattice oxygen atoms improved the dehydrogenation of paraffins to olefins without significant activation of methane. The addition of CO 2 as a mild oxidizing agent was also tested and slightly improved OCM selectivity with slightly lower methane conversion were observed., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Background: This study aimed to analyze the barriers affecting the utilization of antenatal care (ANC) among Senegalese mothers., Methods: Health facility staffs were surveyed to examine the availability coverage of ANC (infrastructural capacity of health posts to handle maternal and newborn healthcare). A total of 113 women of childbearing age were surveyed to identify factors associated with the accessibility coverage (physical, economic, and information accessibility factors), acceptability coverage (socio-cultural features, social acceptance, and language), and effectiveness coverage (ratio of mothers having completed 4 visits) of ANC. Further, to identify the socio-cultural factors and the specific characteristics of the barriers, 5 focus group discussions were conducted with women of childbearing age, their husbands and mothers-in-law, community health workers, and health facility staff. The effectiveness coverage of ANC was analyzed by reviewing materials from the District Health Information System 2 of Senegal., Results: Key barriers of ANC utilization were associated with acceptability coverage. ANC during early pregnancy was avoided owing to the negative social stigma surrounding miscarriage. The survey results indicated an extremely high miscarriage rate of 30.9% among the participants. The social stigma towards unmarried mothers caused them to hide their pregnancy, which deterred ANC utilization. The husband was the final decision maker and social supporter on ANC utilization., Conclusion: To promote the utilization of ANC services among pregnant women in Senegal, it is important to alleviate the social stigma towards miscarriages and unmarried mothers, and to provide greater social support for pregnancies and newborn deliveries within family., Competing Interests: Disclosure: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Objectives: In light of the need to develop an integrated database on poisoning incidents in Korea, this study seeks to determine the characteristics of poisoning incidents in Korea by age, gender, location of incident, causative substance and patient prognosis., Data Sources: The Korea National Hospital Discharge In-Depth Injury Survey results (2005-2009) from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were used., Participants: 3826 participants in the survey who had been hospitalised for poisoning incidents., Results: The poisoning hospitalisation rate per 100,000 population was higher in women (1.735) than in men (1.372) and increased with age: the rate was 0.458 among individuals aged ≤9 years, 0.481 among those aged 10-19 years, 1.584 among those aged 20-64 years and 4.053 among those aged ≥65 years. The intentional poisoning hospitalisation rate differed by gender and age group. Women aged ≤19 years and 20-64 years showed a higher hospitalisation rate than men, while men aged ≥65 years showed a higher hospitalisation rate than women in the same age group. The most common poisoning substance was pesticides (33.6%), while antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic and antiparkinsonism drugs and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified were also very common. Poisoning in those aged ≤9 years usually involved other drugs, while pesticides were the most common substances in those aged 20-64 years and ≥65 years., Conclusions: This study analysed poisoning incidents in Korea from 2005 to 2009, by age and gender, causative substance, and characteristics. The results of this study may serve as evidence for new strategies in Korea to prevent poisoning., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/)

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure in the area around a cement factory with kilns using waste, including refuse plastic fuel., Methods: Atmospheric total suspended particulates (TSPs) for each of an exposed area and a non-exposed area were collected. Similarly, urine samples were collected from 330 subjects in the exposed area and 126 subjects in the non-exposed area. Gas chromatography with mass spectrometry was used to analyze PAHs in the collected TSP samples and the PAH metabolites, urinary 2-naphthol (2-NAP) and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), of the residents. The concentrations of urinary 2-NAP and 1-OHP were adjusted by creatinine concentrations., Results: The atmospheric concentrations of PAHs, including naphthalene and pyrene, were higher in the exposed area than those in the non-exposed area. The geometric means (GMs) of the urinary 2-NAP concentrations in the exposed and non-exposed groups without work experience were 4.06 and 1.55 μg/g creatinine, respectively. The GMs of the urinary 1-OHP concentrations were 0.26 and 0.14 μg/g creatinine, respectively. The results showed that the concentrations of PAH metabolites were significantly higher in the exposed group than those in the non-exposed group (p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis with the log-transformed urinary 2-NAP and 1-OHP concentrations and other variables indicated a strong correlation of residence in the exposed area and smoking with an increase in the urinary 2-NAP and 1-OHP concentrations., Conclusions: In addition to the known risk factors, this study indicated that living near a cement factory with kilns is also a risk factor for PAH exposure.

The nonpulsatile blood flow obtained using standard cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuits is still generally considered an acceptable, nonphysiologic compromise with few disadvantages. However, numerous reports have concluded that pulsatile perfusion during CPB achieves better multiorgan response postoperatively. Furthermore, pulsatile flow during CPB has been consistently recommended in pediatric and high-risk patients. However, most (80%) of the total hemodynamic energy generated by a pulsatile pump is absorbed by the components of the extracorporeal circuit and only a small portion of the pulsatile energy is delivered to the patient. Therefore, we considered that optimizations of CPB unit and extracorporeal life support (ECLS) system circuit components were needed to deliver sufficient pulsatile flow. In addition, energy equivalent pressure, surplus hemodynamic energy, and total hemodynamic energy, calculated using pressure and flow waveforms, were used to evaluate the pulsatilities of pulsatile CPB and ECLS systems.

Objectives: There has been gradually increasing concern about the adverse health effects of electromagnetic radiation originating from cell phones which are widely used in modern life. Cell phone radiation may affect human health by increasing free radicals of human blood cells. This study has been designed to identify DNA damage of blood cells by electromagnetic radiation caused by cell phone use., Methods: This study investigated the health effect of acute exposure to commercially available cell phones on certain parameters such as an indicator of DNA damage for 14 healthy adult volunteers. Each volunteer during the experiment talked over the cell phone with the keypad facing the right side of the face for 4 hours. The single cell gel electrophoresis assay (Comet assay), which is very sensitive in detecting the presence of DNA strand-breaks and alkali-labile damage in individual cells, was used to assess peripheral blood cells (T-cells, B-cells, granulocytes) from volunteers before and after exposure to cell phone radiation. The parameters of Comet assay measured were Olive Tail Moment and Tail DNA %., Results: The Olive Tail Moment of B-cells and granulocytes and Tail DNA % of B-cells and granulocytes were increased by a statistically significant extent after 4- hour use of a cell phone compared with controls., Conclusions: It is concluded that cell phone radiation caused the DNA damage during the 4 hours of experimental condition. Nonetheless, this study suggested that cell phone use may increase DNA damage by electromagnetic radiation and other contributing factors.