Early identification of neutropenic patients at risk of grampositive bacteraemia and the impact of empirical administration of vancomycin

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Analysis of 81Kr groundwater using laser resonance ionization spectroscopy

A new analytical technique based on resonant ionization of krypton with a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) laser source was used to determine low-level 81Kr concentrations in groundwater. The long half-life (210000 yr) and low concentration (1.3 × 10381Kr atoms per liter of modern water at 10°C) make the detection of 81Kr by radioactive counting techniques extremely difficult. In this method, krypton gas was removed from water taken from an underground Swiss aquifer using standard cryogenic and Chromatographic techniques. Stable krypton isotopes were then reduced by a factor of 107 by a two-stage isotopic enrichment cycle using a commercially available mass spectrometer. The enriched gas containing about 108 stable krypton atoms and about 103 atoms of 81Kr was implanted into a silicon disc. This disc was then placed in the high vacuum final counting chamber and the krypton was released by laser annealing. This chamber contained a quadrupole mass spectrometer which used a pulsed VUV laser source at the ionizer. The measured signal indicated that the sample contained 1200 (± 300) atoms of 81Kr

Fatigue after physical activity in healthy and balance-impaired elderly

This study aimed to determine whether physical activity similar to daily living results in signs and sensations of fatigue in healthy old, balance-impaired old, and healthy young adults. Sensations of general tiredness, leg tiredness, knee-extension and hip-abduction strength, and temporospatial gait variables were measured before, immediately after, and LIP to 20 min after moderate-intensity physical activity. After activity, all groups reported increased levels of tiredness but showed no changes in strength. The balance-impaired had greater and more prolonged feelings of tiredness, with a mean increase before to immediately after activity of 3.6 on the visual analogue scale and no recovery at 16 min. The young and healthy old had an increase of 3 and 2.6, respectively, and had recovered before 16 min. In the balance-impaired group only, cadence slowed immediately after activity. It is proposed that these changes, in particular the prolonged feelings of tiredness, might limit daily activity