THERMAL POST-FABRICATION PROCESSING OF Y2O3:Tm CERAMIC SCINTILLATORS

The effects of thermal post-fabrication processing in O2 flux on the luminescence and scintillation of Y2O3:Tm transparent ceramics were investigated. The material\u27s microstructure, optical properties, and scintillation properties were characterized using X-ray diffraction, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermoluminescence measurements, differential pulse height distribution measurements, Archimedes density measurements, photoluminescence measurements, and ultra violet-visible transmission measurements. The processing is effective if performed in the time frame of 60-120mins at 1050°C under oxygen flow. After the first hour of processing, about 40% enhancement in the luminescence output together with about 20% enhancement in the scintillation light yield were observed. The enhancements were tentatively assigned to the incorporation of oxygen into vacancy sites. Longer cumulative processing times lead to the incorporation of oxygen as interstitials that is detrimental to scintillation light yield but not to luminescence output. This work also revealed that thermoluminescence measurements are a useful tool to predict scintillation light yield of Y2O3:Tm

The relationship between reductions in knee loading and immediate pain response whilst wearing lateral wedged insoles in knee osteoarthritis.

Studies of lateral wedge insoles (LWIs) in medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) have shown reductions in the average external knee adduction moment (EKAM) but no lessening of knee pain. Some treated patients actually experience increases in the EKAM which could explain the overall absence of pain response. We examined whether, in patients with painful medial OA, reductions in the EKAM were associated with lessening of knee pain. Each patient underwent gait analysis whilst walking in a control shoe and two LWI’s. We evaluated the relationship between change in EKAM and change in knee pain using Spearman Rank Correlation coefficients and tested whether dichotomising patients into biomechanical responders (decreased EKAM) and non-responders (increased EKAM) would identify those with reductions in knee pain. In 70 patients studied, the EKAM was reduced in both LWIs vs. control shoe (-5.21% and -6.29% for typical and supported wedges, respectively). The change in EKAM using LWIs was not significantly associated with the direction of knee pain change. Further, 54% were biomechanical responders, but these persons did not have more knee pain reduction than non-responders. Whilst LWIs reduce EKAM, there is no clearcut relationship between change in medial load when wearing LWIs and corresponding change in knee pain

Environmental Stewardship: Reducing Food Waste While Improving Food Security

Report, poster, project brief and presentation completed by students participating in the Economic Development Fellowship Consulting Program, offered through the Office of University Economic Development in Spring 2019.This project was completed as part of the 2018-2019 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Ramsey County. In 2015, 12.7% of the population in Ramsey County did not have consistent access to enough food for an active and healthy life, or had limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate food. At the same time, food remains the largest source of solid waste by weight in Ramsey County, accounting for 26% of the total trash collected for disposal each year. Ramsey County project lead Rae Eden Frank worked with students participating in the Economic Development Fellowship Consulting Program to investigate strategies for reducing food waste and diverting edible food to sources where it can be distributed for human consumption. The students’ final report and presentation, and a poster and project brief summarizing the project, are available.This project was supported by the Resilient Communities Project (RCP), a program at the University of Minnesota whose mission is to connect communities in Minnesota with U of MN faculty and students to advance community resilience through collaborative, course-based projects. RCP is a program of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA). More information at http://www.rcp.umn.edu

A new approach to prevention of knee osteoarthritis: reducing medial load in the contralateral knee

Background. Few if any prevention strategies are available for knee osteoarthritis (OA). In those with symptomatic medial OA, the contralateral knee may be at high risk of disease and a reduction in medial loading in that knee might prevent disease or its progression there. Lateral wedge insoles reduce loading across an affected medial knee but their effect on the contralateral knee is unknown. Methods: To determine the proportion of persons with medial knee OA who had concurrent medial contralateral OA or developed contralateral medial OA later, we examined knee radiographs from the longitudinal Framingham Osteoarthritis Study. Then, to examine an approach to reducing medial load in the contralateral knee, 51 people from a separate study with painful medial tibiofemoral OA underwent gait analysis wearing bilateral controlled shoes with i) no insoles ii) two types of lateral wedge insoles laterally posted by 5 degrees. Primary outcome was the external knee adduction moment (EKAM) in the contralateral knee. Non-parametric confidence intervals were constructed around the median differences in percentage change in the affected and contralateral sides. Results: Of Framingham subjects with medial radiograph knee OA, 137/152 (90%) either had concurrent contralateral medial OA or developed it within 10 years. 43/67 (64%) of those with medial symptomatic knee OA had or developed the same disease state in the contralateral knee. Compared to a control shoe, medial loading was reduced substantially on both the affected (median percentage EKAM change =-4.84%; 95% CI -11.33% to -0.65%) and contralateral sides (median EKAM percentage change -9.34% (95% CI -10.57% to -6.45%). Conclusions: In persons with medial OA, the contralateral knee is also at high risk of medial OA. Bilateral reduction in medial loading in knees by use of strategies such as lateral wedge insoles might not only reduce medial load in affected knees but prevent knee OA or its progression on the contralateral side

Understanding the transmission dynamics of Leishmania donovani to provide robust evidence for interventions to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis in Bihar, India.

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected vector-borne disease. In India, it is transmitted to humans by Leishmania donovani-infected Phlebotomus argentipes sand flies. In 2005, VL was targeted for elimination by the governments of India, Nepal and Bangladesh by 2015. The elimination strategy consists of rapid case detection, treatment of VL cases and vector control using indoor residual spraying (IRS). However, to achieve sustained elimination of VL, an appropriate post elimination surveillance programme should be designed, and crucial knowledge gaps in vector bionomics, human infection and transmission need to be addressed. This review examines the outstanding knowledge gaps, specifically in the context of Bihar State, India.The knowledge gaps in vector bionomics that will be of immediate benefit to current control operations include better estimates of human biting rates and natural infection rates of P. argentipes, with L. donovani, and how these vary spatially, temporally and in response to IRS. The relative importance of indoor and outdoor transmission, and how P. argentipes disperse, are also unknown. With respect to human transmission it is important to use a range of diagnostic tools to distinguish individuals in endemic communities into those who: 1) are to going to progress to clinical VL, 2) are immune/refractory to infection and 3) have had past exposure to sand flies.It is crucial to keep in mind that close to elimination, and post-elimination, VL cases will become infrequent, so it is vital to define what the surveillance programme should target and how it should be designed to prevent resurgence. Therefore, a better understanding of the transmission dynamics of VL, in particular of how rates of infection in humans and sand flies vary as functions of each other, is required to guide VL elimination efforts and ensure sustained elimination in the Indian subcontinent. By collecting contemporary entomological and human data in the same geographical locations, more precise epidemiological models can be produced. The suite of data collected can also be used to inform the national programme if supplementary vector control tools, in addition to IRS, are required to address the issues of people sleeping outside

Quantitative analyses and modelling to support achievement of the 2020 goals for nine neglected tropical diseases

Quantitative analysis and mathematical models are useful tools in informing strategies to control or eliminate disease. Currently, there is an urgent need to develop these tools to inform policy to achieve the 2020 goals for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In this paper we give an overview of a collection of novel model-based analyses which aim to address key questions on the dynamics of transmission and control of nine NTDs: Chagas disease, visceral leishmaniasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy, soil-transmitted helminths, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and trachoma. Several common themes resonate throughout these analyses, including: the importance of epidemiological setting on the success of interventions; targeting groups who are at highest risk of infection or re-infection; and reaching populations who are not accessing interventions and may act as a reservoir for infection,. The results also highlight the challenge of maintaining elimination ‘as a public health problem’ when true elimination is not reached. The models elucidate the factors that may be contributing most to persistence of disease and discuss the requirements for eventually achieving true elimination, if that is possible. Overall this collection presents new analyses to inform current control initiatives. These papers form a base from which further development of the models and more rigorous validation against a variety of datasets can help to give more detailed advice. At the moment, the models’ predictions are being considered as the world prepares for a final push towards control or elimination of neglected tropical diseases by 2020

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Quantitative analyses and modelling to support achievement of the 2020 goals for nine neglected tropical diseases

Quantitative analysis and mathematical models are useful tools in informing strategies to control or eliminate disease. Currently, there is an urgent need to develop these tools to inform policy to achieve the 2020 goals for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In this paper we give an overview of a collection of novel model-based analyses which aim to address key questions on the dynamics of transmission and control of nine NTDs: Chagas disease, visceral leishmaniasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy, soil-transmitted helminths, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and trachoma. Several common themes resonate throughout these analyses, including: the importance of epidemiological setting on the success of interventions; targeting groups who are at highest risk of infection or re-infection; and reaching populations who are not accessing interventions and may act as a reservoir for infection,. The results also highlight the challenge of maintaining elimination 'as a public health problem' when true elimination is not reached. The models elucidate the factors that may be contributing most to persistence of disease and discuss the requirements for eventually achieving true elimination, if that is possible. Overall this collection presents new analyses to inform current control initiatives. These papers form a base from which further development of the models and more rigorous validation against a variety of datasets can help to give more detailed advice. At the moment, the models' predictions are being considered as the world prepares for a final push towards control or elimination of neglected tropical diseases by 2020

Cost-effectiveness of Population Screening for BRCA Mutations in Ashkenazi Jewish Women Compared With Family History-Based Testing

BACKGROUND: Population-based testing for BRCA1/2 mutations detects the high proportion of carriers not identified by cancer family history (FH)-based testing. We compared the cost-effectiveness of population-based BRCA testing with the standard FH-based approach in Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) women. METHODS: A decision-analytic model was developed to compare lifetime costs and effects amongst AJ women in the UK of BRCA founder-mutation testing amongst: 1) all women in the population age 30 years or older and 2) just those with a strong FH (≥10% mutation risk). The model assumes that BRCA carriers are offered risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy and annual MRI/mammography screening or risk-reducing mastectomy. Model probabilities utilize the Genetic Cancer Prediction through Population Screening trial/published literature to estimate total costs, effects in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), cancer incidence, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and population impact. Costs are reported at 2010 prices. Costs/outcomes were discounted at 3.5%. We used deterministic/probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) to evaluate model uncertainty. RESULTS: Compared with FH-based testing, population-screening saved 0.090 more life-years and 0.101 more QALYs resulting in 33 days' gain in life expectancy. Population screening was found to be cost saving with a baseline-discounted ICER of -£2079/QALY. Population-based screening lowered ovarian and breast cancer incidence by 0.34% and 0.62%. Assuming 71% testing uptake, this leads to 276 fewer ovarian and 508 fewer breast cancer cases. Overall, reduction in treatment costs led to a discounted cost savings of £3.7 million. Deterministic sensitivity analysis and 94% of simulations on PSA (threshold £20000) indicated that population screening is cost-effective, compared with current NHS policy. CONCLUSION: Population-based screening for BRCA mutations is highly cost-effective compared with an FH-based approach in AJ women age 30 years and older

Denial of long-term issues with agriculture on tropical peatlands will have devastating consequences

Non peer reviewe