Structural, Thermal, and Optical Studies of Gamma Irradiated Polyvinyl Alcohol-, Lignosulfonate-, and Palladium Nanocomposite Film.

Nanocomposite (NC) films of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), lignosulfonate (Lg), and nanosized palladium (Pd) were synthesized by ex-situ casting method. Samples from the synthesized PVA-Lg/Pd NC films were irradiated with 5-100 kGy γ doses. The effect of γ doses on the structural, thermal, and optical characteristics of the NC films were studied using different characterization techniques.

Does the ICU Requirement Score allow the poisoned patient to be safely managed without admission to the intensive care unit? - a validation cohort study.

Background: The Intensive care unit (ICU) Requirement Score (IRS) has been defined as identifying poisoned patients on hospital admission who do not require ICU referral, in an effort to reduce health expenses. However, this score has been poorly validated. We aimed to evaluate the IRS in a large cohort of poisoned patients.

Combination of 137Cs and 210Pb Radioactive Atmospheric Fallouts to Estimate Soil Erosion for the Same Time Scale.

Naturally occurring Pb and artificial Cs fallouts are widely used as radioactive tracers for the determination of water-induced soil erosion for different time scales equal to 50 and 100 years, respectively. There exist several calibration models useful to convert the variation of the inventory of these radiotracers in cultivated soil compared to its value on non-disturbed soil to a soil erosion rate. The most comprehensive calibration models are based on a mass balance approach.