We have examined the structure-activity relationships in methemoglobin (MetHb) formation by high explosives 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl-N-nitramine (tetryl) and 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl-N-nitraminoethylnitrate (pentryl), and a number of model nitrobenzenes. In lysed human erythrocytes the rate constants of oxyhemoglobin (OxyHb) oxidation increased with an increase in single-el...

This study analyzes suicide among young Brazilians (15-24 years old) in nine metropolitan areas. Mortality data for 1979-1998 were obtained from the Mortality Information System of the Ministry of Health. External causes are the main causes of death among youth, and suicide is the sixth most frequent of these causes. The distribution is heterogeneous, varying according to the social stratum, sp...

A 15-week treatability study was conducted in a greenhouse to evaluate the potential effects of molasses on the bioremediation and phytoremediation potential of Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum) for treating energetic contaminated soil from the open burn/open detonation area of the Makua Military Reservation, Oahu, HI (USA). The energetics in the soil were royal demolition explosive (RDX) and high...

Blast-associated traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become one of the signature issues of modern warfare and is increasingly a concern in the civilian population due to a rise in terrorist attacks. Despite being a recognised feature of combat since the introduction of high explosives in conventional warfare over a century ago, only recently has there been interest in understanding the biology and...

We investigated personal and organizational functioning following an acute disaster in an explosives factory in which 14 people were killed and 14 others were injured. Multivariate analyses of covariance (controlling for age and organizational tenure) assessed whether there were any differences between the experimental group (40 individuals physically exposed to the explosion) and two control g...

Shaped-charge penetration of explosives is studied analytically and experimentally. Two models are developed, each applicable to a different regime of jet velocity. The first addresses high-velocity penetration. If a jet is sufficiently fast, its penetration velocity will exceed the explosive's detonation velocity, and the process may achieve a steady state with the crater following the detonat...

To reduce human casualties associated with explosive ordnance disposal, a wide range of protective wear has been designed to shield against the blast effects of improvised explosive devices and munitions. In this study, 4 commercially available bomb suits, representing a range of materials and armor masses, were evaluated against 0.227 and 0.567 kg of spherical C-4 explosives to determine the l...

A facile solvent/non-solvent co-crystallization technology is applied to fabricate porous CL-20, which exhibits interesting morphologies and low sensitivity with β-cyclodextrin as a crystal modifier.

The detonation process is able to build new materials with a bottom-up approach. Diamond, the hardest material on earth, can be synthesized in this way. This unconventional synthesis route is possible due to the presence of carbon inside the high-explosive molecules: firing high-explosive mixtures with a negative oxygen balance in a non-oxidative environment leads to the formation of nanodiamon...

Southern Appalachian forests are recognized as a biodiversity hot spot of global significance, particularly for endemic aquatic salamanders and mussels. The dominant driver of land-cover and land-use change in this region is surface mining, with an ever-increasing proportion occurring as mountaintop mining with valley fill operations (MTVF). In MTVF, seams of coal are exposed using explosives, ...