Towing Vessel Safety: Analysis of Congressional and Coast Guard Investigative Response to Operator Involvement in Casualties Where a Presumption of Negligence Exist

Legislation proposed by members of the 103rd Congress to address towing vessel safety resulted from three focusing events. The proposed legislation was not passed. There is a continuing need to address the human element in marine casualties. Prevention through enforcement is a viable solution to some human causal factors. Numerous personnel investigations which should have been initiated following towing vessel groundings during 1992 and 1993, were not pursued; despite a presumption of negligence that exists in grounding cases. Due to the presumption, all groundings, and particularly those attributed to human factors during a casualty investigation provide sufficient reason to initiate a personnel investigation to ascertain if the casualty is attributable to the operator\u27s action or inaction. Initiating personnel investigations is necessary to establish whether remedial action is justified. Failure to initiate remedial action against a negligent towing vessel operator\u27s license following a grounding allows the individual to continue operating under the authority of a license. When remedial action is not pursued, similar casualties could reoccur. Therefore, the Coast guard has foregone a prime opportunity; to preclude similar casualties from recurring; and, ultimately improve towing vessel safety

Using an external exposome framework to examine pregnancy-related morbidities and mortalities: Implications for health disparities research

© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Objective: We have conducted a study to assess the role of environment on the burden of maternal morbidities and mortalities among women using an external exposome approach for the purpose of developing targeted public health interventions to decrease disparities. Methods: We identified counties in the 48 contiguous USA where observed low birthweight (LBW) rates were higher than expected during a five-year study period. The identification was conducted using a retrospective space-time analysis scan for statistically significant clusters with high or low rates by a Discrete Poisson Model. Results: We observed statistically significant associations of LBW rate with a set of predictive variables. However, in one of the two spatiotemporal models we discovered LBW to be associated with five predictive variables (teen birth rate, adult obesity, uninsured adults, physically unhealthy days, and percent of adults who smoke) in two counties situated in Alabama after adjusting for location changes. Counties with higher than expected LBW rates were similarly associated with two environmental variables (ozone and fine particulate matter). Conclusions: The county-level predictive measures of LBW offer new insights into spatiotemporal patterns relative to key contributory factors. An external framework provides a promising place-based approach for identifying “hotspots” with implications for designing targeted interventions and control measures to reduce and eliminate health disparities

Directed flow of antiprotons in Au+Au collisions at AGS

Directed flow of antiprotons is studied in Au+Au collisions at a beam momentum of 11.5A GeV/c. It is shown that antiproton directed flow is anti-correlated to proton flow. The measured transverse momentum dependence of the antiproton flow is compared with predictions of the RQMD event generator.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Proton and Pion Production in Au+Au Collisions at 10.8A GeV/c

We present proton and pion tranverse momentum spectra and rapidity distributions for Au+Au collisions at 10.8A GeV/c. The proton spectra exhibit collective transverse flow effects. Evidence of the influence of the Coulomb interaction from the fireball is found in the pion transverse momentum spectra. The data are compared with the predictions of the RQMD event generator.Comment: plain tex (revtex), 24 pages Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Model combustion-generated particulate matter containing persistent free radicals redox cycle to produce reactive oxygen species

Particulate matter (PM) is emitted during thermal decomposition of waste. During this process, aromatic compounds chemisorb to the surface of metal-oxide-containing PM, forming a surface-stabilized environmentally persistent free radical (EPFR). We hypothesized that EPFR-containing PM redox cycle to produce ROS and that this redox cycle is maintained in biological environments. To test our hypothesis, we incubated model EPFRs with the fluorescent probe dihydrorhodamine (DHR). Marked increases in DHR fluorescence were observed. Using a more specific assay, hydroxyl radicals ( •OH) were also detected, and their level was further increased by cotreatment with thiols or ascorbic acid (AA), known components of epithelial lining fluid. Next, we incubated our model EPFR in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) or serum. Detection of EPFRs and •OH verified that PM generate ROS in biological fluids. Moreover, incubation of pulmonary epithelial cells with EPFR-containing PM increased •OH levels compared to those in PM lacking EPFRs. Finally, measurements of oxidant injury in neonatal rats exposed to EPFRs by inhalation suggested that EPFRs induce an oxidant injury within the lung lining fluid and that the lung responds by increasing antioxidant levels. In summary, our EPFR-containing PM redox cycle to produce ROS, and these ROS are maintained in biological fluids and environments. Moreover, these ROS may modulate toxic responses of PM in biological tissues such as the lung. © 2013 American Chemical Society

Hadron yields and spectra in Au+Au collisions at the AGS

Inclusive double differential multiplicities and rapidity density distributions of hadrons are presented for 10.8 A GeV/c Au+Au collisions as measured at the AGS by the E877 collaboration. The results indicate that large amounts of stopping and collective transverse flow effects are present. The data are also compared to the results from the lighter Si+Al system.Comment: 12 pages, latex, 10 figures, submitted to Nuclear Physics A (Quark Matter 1996 Proceedings

A causative relationship exists between eosinophils and the development of allergic pulmonary pathologies in the mouse

Asthma and mouse models of allergic respiratory inflammation are invariably associated with a pulmonary eosinophilia; however, this association has remained correlative. In this report, a causative relationship between eosinophils and allergen-provoked pathologies was established using eosinophil adoptive transfer. Eosinophils were transferred directly into the lungs of either naive or OVA-treated IL-5-/- mice. This strategy resulted in a pulmonary eosinophilia equivalent to that observed in OVA-treated wild-type animals. A concomitant consequence of this eosinophil transfer was an increase in Th2 bronchoalveolar lavage cytokine levels and the restoration of intracellular epithelial mucus in OVA-treated IL-5-/- mice equivalent to OVA-treated wild-type levels. Moreover, the transfer also resulted in the development of airway hyperresponsiveness. These pulmonary changes did not occur when eosinophils were transferred into naive IL-5-/- mice, eliminating nonspecific consequences of the eosinophil transfer as a possible explanation. Significantly, administration of OVA-treated IL-5-/- mice with GK1.5 (anti-CD4) Abs abolished the increases in mucus accumulation and airway hyperresponsiveness following adoptive transfer of eosinophils. Thus, CD4+ T cell-mediated inflammatory signals as well as signals derived from eosinophils are each necessary, yet alone insufficient, for the development of allergic pulmonary pathology. These data support an expanded view of T cell and eosinophil activities and suggest that eosinophil effector functions impinge directly on lung function

Radical-containing ultrafine particulate matter initiates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions in airway epithelial cells

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) in combustion generated particulate matter (PM) are capable of inducing pulmonary pathologies and contributing to the development of environmental asthma. In vivo exposure of infant rats to EPFRs demonstrates their ability to induce airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine, a hallmark of asthma. However, the mechanisms by which combustion-derived EPFRs elicit in vivo responses remain elusive. In this study, we used a chemically defined EPFR consisting of approximately 0.2 μm amorphrous silica containing 3% cupric oxide with the organic pollutant 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB-230). DCB-230 possesses similar radical content to urban-collected EPFRs but offers several advantages, including lack of contaminants and chemical uniformity. DCB-230 was readily taken up by BEAS-2B and at high doses (200 μg/cm2) caused substantial necrosis. At low doses (20 μg/cm2), DCB-230 particles caused lysosomal membrane permeabilization, oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation within 24 hours of exposure. During this period, BEAS-2B underwent epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), including loss of epithelial cell morphology, decreased E-cadherin expression, and increased α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and collagen I production. Similar results were observed in neonatal air-liquid interface culture (i.e., disruption of epithelial integrity and EMT). Acute exposure of infant mice to DCB-230 resulted in EMT, as confirmed by lineage tracing studies and evidenced by coexpression of epithelial E-cadherin and mesenchymal α-SMA proteins in airway cells and increased SNAI1 expression in the lungs. EMT in neonatal mouse lungs after EPFR exposure may provide an explanation for epidemiological evidence supporting PM exposure and increased risk of asthma. Copyright © 2013 by the American Thoracic Society

Slc20a2, Encoding the Phosphate Transporter PiT2, Is an Important Genetic Determinant of Bone Quality and Strength.

Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD) and fragility fracture and affects over 200 million people worldwide. Bone quality describes the material properties that contribute to strength independently of BMD, and its quantitative analysis is a major priority in osteoporosis research. Tissue mineralization is a fundamental process requiring calcium and phosphate transporters. Here we identify impaired bone quality and strength in Slc20a2-/- mice lacking the phosphate transporter SLC20A2. Juveniles had abnormal endochondral and intramembranous ossification, decreased mineral accrual, and short stature. Adults exhibited only small reductions in bone mass and mineralization but a profound impairment of bone strength. Bone quality was severely impaired in Slc20a2-/- mice: yield load (-2.3 SD), maximum load (-1.7 SD), and stiffness (-2.7 SD) were all below values predicted from their bone mineral content as determined in a cohort of 320 wild-type controls. These studies identify Slc20a2 as a physiological regulator of tissue mineralization and highlight its critical role in the determination of bone quality and strength. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc

Le Forum, Vol. 44 #3

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