A novel stochastic model is proposed to characterize the adsorption kinetics of pollutants including dyes (direct red 80 and direct blue 1), fluoride ions, and cadmium ions removed by calcium pectinate (Pec-Ca), aluminum xanthanate (Xant-Al), and reed leaves, respectively. The model is based on a transformation over time following the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck stochastic process, which explicitly includes the uncertainty involved in the adsorption process. The model includes stochastic versions of the pseudo-first-order (PFO), pseudo-second-order (PSO), and pseudo- n -order (PNO) models. It also allows the estimation of the adsorption parameters, including the maximum removal capacity ( q e ), the adsorption rate constant ( k n ), the reaction pseudoorder ( n ), and the variability σ 2 . The model fitted produced R 2 values similar to those of the nonstochastic versions of the PFO, PSO, and PNO models; however, the obtained values for each parameter indicate that the stochastic model better reproduces the experimental data. The q e values of the Pec-Ca-dye, Xant-Al-fluoride, and reed leaf-Cd+2 systems ranged from 2.0 to 9.7, 0.41 to 1.9, and 0.04 and 0.29 mg/g, respectively, whereas the values of k n ranged from 0.051 to 0.286, 0.743 to 75.73, and 0.756 to 8.861 (mg/g)1-n/min, respectively. These results suggest a variability in the parameters q e and k n inherent to the natures of the adsorbate and adsorbent. The obtained n values ranged from 1.13 to 2.02 for the Pec-Ca-dye system, 1.0–3.5 for the Xant-Al-fluoride system, and 1.8–3.8 for the reed leaf-Cd+2 system. These ranges indicate the flexibility of the stochastic model to obtain fractional n values, resulting in high R 2 values. The variability in each system was evaluated based on σ 2 . The developed model is the first to describe pollutant removal kinetics based on a stochastic differential equation.

Degradation tests are especially difficult to conduct for items with high reliability. Test costs, caused mainly by prolonged item duration and item destruction costs, establish the necessity of sequential degradation test designs. We propose a methodology that sequentially selects the optimal observation times to measure the degradation, using a convenient rule that maximizes the inference precision and minimizes test costs. In particular our objective is to estimate a quantile of the time to failure distribution, where the degradation process is modelled as a linear model using Bayesian inference. The proposed sequential analysis is based on an index that measures the expected discrepancy between the estimated quantile and its corresponding prediction, using Monte Carlo methods. The procedure was successfully implemented for simulated and real data.

BackgroundOsteocalcin plays a role in glucose metabolism in mice, but its relevance in human energetic metabolism is controversial. Its relationship with markers of energetic metabolism in the pediatric population has not been systematically addressed in infants and adolescents.ObjectiveThis study aims to assess the mean differences between tOC, ucOC, and cOC among healthy children and children with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (T1D or T2D) and the correlation of these bone molecules with metabolic markers.MethodsA systematic review and metanalysis were performed following PRISMA criteria to identify relevant observational studies published in English and Spanish using PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, and Web of Science databases. The risk of bias was assessed using New Castle–Ottawa scale. Effect size measures comprised standardized mean difference (SMD) and Pearson correlations. Heterogeneity and meta-regressions were performed.ResultsThe 20 studies included were of high quality and comprised 3,000 pediatric patients who underwent tOC, cOC, or ucOC measurements. Among healthy subjects, there was a positive correlation of ucOC with WC and weight, a positive correlation of tOC with FPG, HDL-c, WC, height, and weight, and a negative correlation between tOC and HbA1c. Among diabetic subjects, a negative correlation of ucOC with HbA1c and glycemia in both T1D and T2D was found and a negative correlation between tOC and HbA1c in T1D but not in T2D. The ucOC concentrations were lower in T2D, T1D, and patients with abnormal glucose status than among controls. The serum concentrations of tOC concentrations were lower among T1D than in controls. The patient's age, altitude, and HbA1c influenced the levels of serum tOC.ConclusionOsteocalcin is involved in energy metabolism in pediatric subjects because it is consistently related to metabolic and anthropometric parameters.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier: CRD42019138283.

Concrete is one of the most commonly used construction materials in the world due to its versatility. There are different types of concrete according to the required mechanical responses, and these will depend on the composition of the elements. Therefore, additional elements have been developed to improve the properties and conditions of concrete. One of these elements is reinforcing fibers made of steel, polypropylene, glass, and so on, which, according to the base material, geometry, and dosage, improve the mechanical and workability properties and decrease and/or prevent the generation of cracks, which are some of the most common problems in industrial slabs. This study performs an analysis of the changes in the mechanical properties of concrete (compressive strength, rupture modulus, modulus of elasticity, Poisson’s ratio, and residual stress) due to the addition of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) to determine the physical and mechanical conditions of the fibers that improve the concrete and its application in industrial concrete. Due to the large number of samples and variables, advanced statistical methods (analysis of variance and comparative index) were used in the numerical study, which allowed to analyze and compare several results at the same time. This research is divided into two stages. In the first stage, six steel fibers (with a dosage of 2.7, 6, and 11 and three of 28 kg/m3) and five polypropylene fibers (with a dosage of 0.6, 2.15, and 2.7 and two of 3 kg/m3) were used in the study, and compression and bending tests (ASTM C39 and C78, respectively) were performed on 35 cylinders and 45 beams. Improvements were identified in several fiber-reinforced concrete samples in terms of compressive strength: 67% of the steel fiber samples and 100% of the polypropylene fiber samples had values above the average value of the simple concrete; in terms of the modulus of rupture, 83% of the steel fiber samples and 80% of the polypropylene fiber samples had values above the average value of the simple concrete. In the second stage, one type of steel fiber and one type of polypropylene fiber were selected for a second mechanical analysis (64 cylinders, 72 beams, and 15 slabs) with dosages of 20, 30, and 40 kg/m3 and 2.13, 4.25, and 6.38 kg/m3, respectively. In the second stage, statistical analysis and modeling with nonlinear analysis were used to evaluate the results, where residual strength improved but Poisson’s ratio decreased when the dosage of fibers was increased.