Psychological disorders and quality of life in oral lichen planus patients and a control group.

Objectives: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common disease whose aetiopathogenesis is linked to psychological disorders. This study aims to determine the influence of anxiety and depression in OLP patients, define the perception of quality of life in these patients and check for potential differences between atrophic/ ulcerative and reticular lesions.

Materials And Methods: A group of 48 OLP patients and a control group of 40 patients were selected.

Mapping soil organic carbon content using spectroscopic and environmental data: A case study in acidic soils from NW Spain.

In this study we present a methodology to estimate and map the content of soil organic carbon (SOC) in topsoils using spectroscopic (FTIR-ATR) and environmental raster data. We determined the SOC content in 221 topsoil samples in Galicia (NW Spain) using the Walkley-Black method. FTIR-ATR spectroscopic data was measured upon the same set of samples.

Long-term (∼57 ka) controls on mercury accumulation in the Southern Hemisphere reconstructed using a peat record from Pinheiro mire (Minas Gerais, Brazil).

Natural archives have been used to reconstruct mercury atmospheric deposition at different spatial and temporal scales during the Holocene in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study, we present the results from a Brazilian mountain mire (Pinheiro mire, Minas Gerais, SE Brazil), extending back to ∼57 ka. The core was analyzed for mercury concentration, organic matter content, organic carbon isotopic composition, and tracers of mineral matter flux.

Groundwater arsenic contamination throughout China.

Arsenic-contaminated groundwater used for drinking in China is a health threat that was first recognized in the 1960s. However, because of the sheer size of the country, millions of groundwater wells remain to be tested in order to determine the magnitude of the problem. We developed a statistical risk model that classifies safe and unsafe areas with respect to geogenic arsenic contamination in China, using the threshold of 10 micrograms per liter, the World Health Organization guideline and current Chinese standard for drinking water.

Coupling predicted model of arsenic in groundwater with endemic arsenism occurrence in Shanxi Province, Northern China.

Statistical modeling has been used to predict high risk area of arsenic (As) hazard, but information about its application on endemic arsenism is limited. In this study, we aim to link the prediction model with population census data and endemic arsenicosis in Shanxi Province, Northern China. 23 explanatory variables from different sources were compiled in the format of grid at 1km resolution in a GIS environment.

Predicting the risk of arsenic contaminated groundwater in Shanxi Province, Northern China.

Shanxi Province is one of the regions in northern China where endemic arsenicosis occurs. In this study, stepwise logistic regression was applied to analyze the statistical relationships of a dataset of arsenic (As) concentrations in groundwaters with some environmental explanatory parameters. Finally, a 2D spatial model showing the potential As-affected areas in this province was created.