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The present article provides an improvement in the method to correct indirect strain measurements in triaxial compressive strength tests through axial displacement and hydraulic fluid volume change measurements. The improvement focused on reducing the parameters of the formula proposed for indirect volumetric strain in the original method, thereby facilitating the development of a simpler formula in which the radial strain depends on only two parameters: the initial volume of the rock specimen and the volume changes of the hydraulic fluid for each instant. The comparison between the improvement proposed, and original method resulted in a mean absolute difference of 0.003.•This improvement does not depend on the axial strain, unlike the original method, which requires correcting the indirect axial strain measurements before correcting the indirect radial strain measurements.•This improvement can be useful for research on the stress-strain behavior of intact rock under laboratory conditions, such as in the study of the post-peak state.

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A study about the incidence of malignant melanoma in Puerto Rico during the calendar year 1996 was carried out compiling the information submitted by pathological reports to the Puerto Rico Cancer Registry and identifying similar reports at other pathology laboratories. A total of 107 new cases were documented in 1996, resulting in an incidence of 3.03 (+/- 17.9) per 100,000 persons for that particular year. The age of the patients fluctuated between 19 and 88 years with a mean of 61.3 years, most of them being between 50 and 80 years. More than half of the cases (54.2%) were located in the head and neck, and the extremities. Thickness measurement of the neoplasm was reported in only 42% of the cases. In 60% of those cases in which the tumor thickness was reported, it was found to be less than 1.49 mm. Previous data in Puerto Rico from the years 1981 to 1986 had shown a tendency to an increase in the incidence of melanoma per 100,000 inhabitants rising 1.20 to 1.52 respectively. The present study reflects a continuation of the same pattern, with a two-fold increase in the last 10 years (from 1.52 to 3.03).

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In view of the importance of cholesterol as a risk factor of cardiovascular disease, the present study analyzes the influence of the diet on blood cholesterol levels in a group of 156 teen-ager 14 to 18. The dietetic study pointed out the existence of diet cholesterol density higher than the recommended one of 100 mg/1000 Kcal, being the eggs, meat and the milk products the most important cholesterol food sources. No statistical correlations have been found between dietetic and blood data, though the feminine population, who has the highest cholesterolemia, has also the highest and unbalanced lipid intake when compared to men. The standing of this population seems not to be preoccupying, because the hipercholesterolemia data (all in the feminine population) are very few.

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Dietetic, hematologic and biochemical data were used to asses the iron status of a group of 64 adolescents (37 males and 27 females), aged 15 to 18 (mean age 15.94 +/- 0.76 years), who study in a High School in the comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. All were asked to keep a dietary record during 5 days, one of which had to be a sunday. Iron intake was estimated using the Food Composition Tables of the Instituto de Nutrición (1990). The hematologic survey determined hemoglobin hematocrit mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), serum iron and serum ferritin. These data were correlated with the scores obtained in the attention and school capability test (AT), that gave information about the verbal (V), reasoning (R) and calculus (C) capabilities. There is a positive correlation between MCV (r = 0.2705), MCH (r = 0.3370) ferritin (r = 0.3383) and attention. MCV (r = 0.2995), MCH (r = 0.3998), MCHC (r = 0.3134) and ferritin (r = 0.3970) were also correlated with the speed capability shown on the attention test and the hemoglobin level was correlated with the calculus capability (r = 0.2905). The students who obtained higher scores in the school capability test had also better blood parameter values. This was statistically significant for serum ferritin in males students and for hemoglobin and MCHC in female students. 19.6% of the adolescents had ferritin levels lower than 12 ng/ml. Their intelligence test scores were lower to those who had serum ferritin > or = 12 ng/ml.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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