Baseline Scotland : groundwater chemistry of the Carboniferous sedimentary aquifers of the Midland Valley

This report describes the baseline groundwater chemistry of the sedimentary aquifers of Carboniferous age in the Midland Valley of Scotland. Groundwater is an important resource in the Midland Valley, largely for agriculture, but also for industry – including food and drink processing and mineral water bottling, and for domestic use. A large but unquantified volume of groundwater is also still pumped from former mine workings, largely coal mines, in order to maintain water levels and for quality treatment. Analyses for 62 groundwater samples were interpreted for the purposes of this study. Of these, 36 samples were collected for the Baseline Scotland project between September and December 2008. These were augmented with a further 25 samples collected during separate BGS projects since 2001. The sites were chosen largely to be representative of groundwater in the area, and sources that were very poorly constructed were avoided. A small number of samples were deliberately targeted from mines, either from adits, shafts or boreholes. The data were classed in one of five different hydrogeological units (or aquifer groups): four chronostratigraphic groups, which in decreasing order of age are the Inverclyde, Strathclyde, Clackmannan and Coal Measures groups; and a fifth group incorporating waters sampled from mine discharges. An estimate of the baseline groundwater chemistry conditions in the four chronostratigraphic hydrogeological units is presented, based on a statistical summary of the chemical data, which represents values between the 10th and 90th A summary of the conclusions arising from this study follows. percentiles of the full dataset range. This statistical approach to estimating baseline compositions was complemented by selecting 11 analyses of groundwater from sources where there is little or no indication of direct contamination, including likely impact from mining. The chemistry of these samples represents the typical groundwater conditions in the four non-mine hydrogeological units in the sedimentary Carboniferous aquifers of the Midland Valley

An agent-based model of the response to angioplasty and bare-metal stent deployment in an atherosclerotic blood vessel

Purpose: While animal models are widely used to investigate the development of restenosis in blood vessels following an intervention, computational models offer another means for investigating this phenomenon. A computational model of the response of a treated vessel would allow investigators to assess the effects of altering certain vessel- and stent-related variables. The authors aimed to develop a novel computational model of restenosis development following an angioplasty and bare-metal stent implantation in an atherosclerotic vessel using agent-based modeling techniques. The presented model is intended to demonstrate the body's response to the intervention and to explore how different vessel geometries or stent arrangements may affect restenosis development. Methods: The model was created on a two-dimensional grid space. It utilizes the post-procedural vessel lumen diameter and stent information as its input parameters. The simulation starting point of the model is an atherosclerotic vessel after an angioplasty and stent implantation procedure. The model subsequently generates the final lumen diameter, percent change in lumen cross-sectional area, time to lumen diameter stabilization, and local concentrations of inflammatory cytokines upon simulation completion. Simulation results were directly compared with the results from serial imaging studies and cytokine levels studies in atherosclerotic patients from the relevant literature. Results: The final lumen diameter results were all within one standard deviation of the mean lumen diameters reported in the comparison studies. The overlapping-stent simulations yielded results that matched published trends. The cytokine levels remained within the range of physiological levels throughout the simulations. Conclusion: We developed a novel computational model that successfully simulated the development of restenosis in a blood vessel following an angioplasty and bare-metal stent deployment based on the characteristics of the vessel crosssection and stent. A further development of this model could ultimately be used as a predictive tool to depict patient outcomes and inform treatment options. © 2014 Curtin, Zhou

Ribavirin-Induced Anemia in Hepatitis C Virus Patients Undergoing Combination Therapy

The current standard of care for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection – combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin – elicits sustained responses in only ∼50% of the patients treated. No alternatives exist for patients who do not respond to combination therapy. Addition of ribavirin substantially improves response rates to interferon and lowers relapse rates following the cessation of therapy, suggesting that increasing ribavirin exposure may further improve treatment response. A key limitation, however, is the toxic side-effect of ribavirin, hemolytic anemia, which often necessitates a reduction of ribavirin dosage and compromises treatment response. Maximizing treatment response thus requires striking a balance between the antiviral and hemolytic activities of ribavirin. Current models of viral kinetics describe the enhancement of treatment response due to ribavirin. Ribavirin-induced anemia, however, remains poorly understood and precludes rational optimization of combination therapy. Here, we develop a new mathematical model of the population dynamics of erythrocytes that quantitatively describes ribavirin-induced anemia in HCV patients. Based on the assumption that ribavirin accumulation decreases erythrocyte lifespan in a dose-dependent manner, model predictions capture several independent experimental observations of the accumulation of ribavirin in erythrocytes and the resulting decline of hemoglobin in HCV patients undergoing combination therapy, estimate the reduced erythrocyte lifespan during therapy, and describe inter-patient variations in the severity of ribavirin-induced anemia. Further, model predictions estimate the threshold ribavirin exposure beyond which anemia becomes intolerable and suggest guidelines for the usage of growth hormones, such as erythropoietin, that stimulate erythrocyte production and avert the reduction of ribavirin dosage, thereby improving treatment response. Our model thus facilitates, in conjunction with models of viral kinetics, the rational identification of treatment protocols that maximize treatment response while curtailing side effects