Herbicide Movement and Dissipation at Four Midwestern Sites

This study was conducted to evaluate atrazine (2‐chloro‐4‐ethylamino‐6‐isopropyl‐1, 3, 5‐triazine) and alachlor (2‐chIoro‐N‐(methoxymethyl)acetamide) dissipation and movement to shallow aquifers across the Northern Sand Plains region of the United States. Sites were located at Minnesota on a Zimmerman fine sand, North Dakota on Hecla sandy loam, South Dakota on a Brandt silty clay loam, and Wisconsin on a Sparta sand. Herbicide concentrations were determined in soil samples taken to 90 cm four times during the growing season and water samples taken from the top one m of aquifer at least once every three months. Herbicides were detected to a depth of 30 cm in Sparta sand and 90 cm in all other soils. Some aquifer samples from each site contained atrazine with the highest concentration in the aquifer beneath the Sparta sand (1.28 μg L‐1). Alachlor was detected only once in the aquifer at the SD site. The time to 50% atrazine dissipation (DT50) in the top 15 cm of soil averaged about 21 d in Sparta and Zimmerman sands and more than 45 d for Brandt and Hecla soils. Atrazine DT50 was correlated positively with % clay and organic carbon (OC), and negatively with % fine sand. Alachlor DT50 ranged from 12 to 32 d for Zimmerman and Brandt soils, respectively, and was correlated negatively with % clay and OC and positively with % sand

Advanced Air Bag Technology Assessment

As a result of the concern for the growing number of air-bag-induced injuries and fatalities, the administrators of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) agreed to a cooperative effort that "leverages NHTSA's expertise in motor vehicle safety restraint systems and biomechanics with NASAs position as one of the leaders in advanced technology development... to enable the state of air bag safety technology to advance at a faster pace..." They signed a NASA/NHTSA memorandum of understanding for NASA to "evaluate air bag to assess advanced air bag performance, establish the technological potential for improved technology (smart) air bag systems, and identify key expertise and technology within the agency (i.e., NASA) that can potentially contribute significantly to the improved effectiveness of air bags." NASA is committed to contributing to NHTSAs effort to: (1) understand and define critical parameters affecting air bag performance; (2) systematically assess air bag technology state of the art and its future potential; and (3) identify new concepts for air bag systems. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was selected by NASA to respond to the memorandum of understanding by conducting an advanced air bag technology assessment. JPL analyzed the nature of the need for occupant restraint, how air bags operate alone and with safety belts to provide restraint, and the potential hazards introduced by the technology. This analysis yielded a set of critical parameters for restraint systems. The researchers examined data on the performance of current air bag technology, and searched for and assessed how new technologies could reduce the hazards introduced by air bags while providing the restraint protection that is their primary purpose. The critical parameters which were derived are: (1) the crash severity; (2) the use of seat belts; (3) the physical characteristics of the occupants; (4) the proximity of the occupants to the airbag module; (5) the deployment time, which includes the time to sense the need for deployment, the inflator response parameters, the air bag response, and the reliability of the air bag. The requirements for an advanced air bag technology is discussed. These requirements includes that the system use information related to: (1) the crash severity; (2) the status of belt usage; (3) the occupant category; and (4) the proximity to the air bag to adjust air bag deployment. The parameters for the response of the air bag are: (1) deployment time; (2) inflator parameters; and (3) air bag response and reliability. The state of occupant protection advanced technology is reviewed. This review includes: the current safety restraint systems, and advanced technology characteristics. These characteristics are summarized in a table, which has information regarding the technology item, the potential, and an date of expected utilization. The use of technology and expertise at NASA centers is discussed. NASA expertise relating to sensors, computing, simulation, propellants, propulsion, inflatable systems, systems analysis and engineering is considered most useful. Specific NASA technology developments, which were included in the study are: (1) a capacitive detector; (2) stereoscopic vision system; (3) improved crash sensors; (4) the use of the acoustic signature of the crash to determine crash severity; and (5) the use of radar antenna for pre-crash sensing. Information relating to injury risk assessment is included, as is a summary of the areas of the technology which requires further development

Serological Testing Versus Other Strategies for Diagnosis of Active Tuberculosis in India: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

This cost-effectiveness study shows that sputum smear microscopy is the most cost-effective test for active tuberculosis (TB) in India, and liquid culture plus microscopy is more cost-effective for TB diagnosis than serological tests

Communication in Diagnostic Radiology

Communication in the diagnostic radiology department in regard to the current work load has been discussed with certain recommendations being made to increase efficiency. The need for improvement in communication equipment and techniques is necessitated by problems facing diagnostic radiology today.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73519/1/j.1440-1673.1972.tb01316.x.pd

The Impact and Cost of Scaling up GeneXpert MTB/RIF in South Africa

We estimated the incremental cost and impact on diagnosis and treatment uptake of national rollout of Xpert MTB/RIF technology (Xpert) for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB above the cost of current guidelines for the years 2011 to 2016 in South Africa.We parameterised a population-level decision model with data from national-level TB databases (n = 199,511) and implementation studies. The model follows cohorts of TB suspects from diagnosis to treatment under current diagnostic guidelines or an algorithm that includes Xpert. Assumptions include the number of TB suspects, symptom prevalence of 5.5%, annual suspect growth rate of 10%, and 2010 public-sector salaries and drug and service delivery costs. Xpert test costs are based on data from an in-country pilot evaluation and assumptions about when global volumes allowing cartridge discounts will be reached.At full scale, Xpert will increase the number of TB cases diagnosed per year by 30%-37% and the number of MDR-TB cases diagnosed by 69%-71%. It will diagnose 81% of patients after the first visit, compared to 46% currently. The cost of TB diagnosis per suspect will increase by 55% to USD 60-61 and the cost of diagnosis and treatment per TB case treated by 8% to USD 797-873. The incremental capital cost of the Xpert scale-up will be USD 22 million and the incremental recurrent cost USD 287-316 million over six years.Xpert will increase both the number of TB cases diagnosed and treated and the cost of TB diagnosis. These results do not include savings due to reduced transmission of TB as a result of earlier diagnosis and treatment initiation

Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Culture for Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in HIV-Infected Brazilian Adults

Culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis currently represents the closest "gold standard" for diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), but operational data are scant on the impact and cost-effectiveness of TB culture for human immunodeficiency (HIV-) infected individuals in resource-limited settings.We recorded costs, laboratory results, and dates of initiating TB therapy in a centralized TB culture program for HIV-infected patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, constructing a decision-analysis model to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of TB culture from the perspective of a public-sector TB control program. Of 217 TB suspects presenting between January 2006 and March 2008, 33 (15%) had culture-confirmed active tuberculosis; 23 (70%) were smear-negative. Among smear-negative, culture-positive patients, 6 (26%) began TB therapy before culture results were available, 11 (48%) began TB therapy after culture result availability, and 6 (26%) did not begin TB therapy within 180 days of presentation. The cost per negative culture was US$17.52 (solid media)-$23.50 (liquid media). Per 1,000 TB suspects and compared with smear alone, TB culture with solid media would avert an estimated eight TB deaths (95% simulation interval [SI]: 4, 15) and 37 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (95% SI: 13, 76), at a cost of $36 (95$25, $50) per TB suspect or$962 (95% SI: $469,$2642) per DALY averted. Replacing solid media with automated liquid culture would avert one further death (95% SI: -1, 4) and eight DALYs (95% SI: -4, 23) at $2751 per DALY (95$680, dominated). The cost-effectiveness of TB culture was more sensitive to characteristics of the existing TB diagnostic system than to the accuracy or cost of TB culture.TB culture is potentially effective and cost-effective for HIV-positive patients in resource-constrained settings. Reliable transmission of culture results to patients and integration with existing systems are essential

Health-related quality of life as measured with EQ-5D among populations with and without specific chronic conditions: A population-based survey in Shaanxi province, China

© 2013 Tan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as measured by EQ-5D and to investigate the influence of chronic conditions and other risk factors on HRQoL based on a distributed sample located in Shaanxi Province, China. Methods: A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method was performed to select subjects. EQ-5D was employed to measure the HRQoL. The likelihood that individuals with selected chronic diseases would report any problem in the EQ-5D dimensions was calculated and tested relative to that of each of the two reference groups. Multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate factors associated with EQ VAS. Results: The most frequently reported problems involved pain/discomfort (8.8%) and anxiety/depression (7.6%). Nearly half of the respondents who reported problems in any of the five dimensions were chronic patients. Higher EQ VAS scores were associated with the male gender, higher level of education, employment, younger age, an urban area of residence, access to free medical service and higher levels of physical activity. Except for anemia, all the selected chronic diseases were indicative of a negative EQ VAS score. The three leading risk factors were cerebrovascular disease, cancer and mental disease. Increases in age, number of chronic conditions and frequency of physical activity were found to have a gradient effect. Conclusion: The results of the present work add to the volume of knowledge regarding population health status in this area, apart from the known health status using mortality and morbidity data. Medical, policy, social and individual attention should be given to the management of chronic diseases and improvement of HRQoL. Longitudinal studies must be performed to monitor changes in HRQoL and to permit evaluation of the outcomes of chronic disease intervention programs. © 2013 Tan et al.National Nature Science Foundation (No. 8107239

Horizontal supergranule-scale motions inferred from TRACE ultraviolet observations of the chromosphere

We study horizontal supergranule-scale motions revealed by TRACE observation of the chromospheric emission, and investigate the coupling between the chromosphere and the underlying photosphere. A highly efficient feature-tracking technique called balltracking has been applied for the first time to the image sequences obtained by TRACE (Transition Region and Coronal Explorer) in the passband of white light and the three ultraviolet passbands centered at 1700 {\AA}, 1600 {\AA}, and 1550 {\AA}. The resulting velocity fields have been spatially smoothed and temporally averaged in order to reveal horizontal supergranule-scale motions that may exist at the emission heights of these passbands. We find indeed a high correlation between the horizontal velocities derived in the white-light and ultraviolet passbands. The horizontal velocities derived from the chromospheric and photospheric emission are comparable in magnitude. The horizontal motions derived in the UV passbands might indicate the existence of a supergranule-scale magnetoconvection in the chromosphere, which may shed new light on the study of mass and energy supply to the corona and solar wind at the height of the chromosphere. However, it is also possible that the apparent motions reflect the chromospheric brightness evolution as produced by acoustic shocks which might be modulated by the photospheric granular motions in their excitation process, or advected partly by the supergranule-scale flow towards the network while propagating upward from the photosphere. To reach a firm conclusion, it is necessary to investigate the role of granular motions in the excitation of shocks through numerical modeling, and future high-cadence chromospheric magnetograms must be scrutinized.Comment: 5 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

The Structure and Dynamics of the Upper Chromosphere and Lower Transition Region as Revealed by the Subarcsecond VAULT Observations

The Very high Angular resolution ULtraviolet Telescope (VAULT) is a sounding rocket payload built to study the crucial interface between the solar chromosphere and the corona by observing the strongest line in the solar spectrum, the Ly-a line at 1216 {\AA}. In two flights, VAULT succeeded in obtaining the first ever sub-arcsecond (0.5") images of this region with high sensitivity and cadence. Detailed analyses of those observations have contributed significantly to new ideas about the nature of the transition region. Here, we present a broad overview of the Ly-a atmosphere as revealed by the VAULT observations, and bring together past results and new analyses from the second VAULT flight to create a synthesis of our current knowledge of the high-resolution Ly-a Sun. We hope that this work will serve as a good reference for the design of upcoming Ly-a telescopes and observing plans.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure