The Use of Geomatic Techniques to Monitor Environmental Deformation

Geospatial deformations are very important in some countries and may lead to catastrophes. For this purpose we need to find practical accurate ways to provide continuous monitoring and measurement to allow protection and secure safety. Some countries are suffering great losses such as Jordan where the major high way that connects the north to the middle of the country is closed most of the winter due to landslides that push the road away. In this work we are employing new Geomatics technique to analyze, monitor and measure the landslides. An application of geodetic monitoring of a major landslide on the highway linked Amman to the north (Jerash, Irbid). For the purpose of monitoring the landslide we designed a geodetic network, which consists of 4 points. Measurements were carried out over the period 2007 to 2012 (before and after rainy season) of 12 points within the network. The obtained results are compared to results published previously using different techniques of measurement over the two years period (2002-2004). In the new methodology, GPS receivers and total stations of high precision were used in addition to an orthophoto of two aerial photographs. The observations adjustment and the deformation analysis were executed using locally developed computer programs. The study enabled us to determine a value of 0.26 m/year as an average displacement of the landslide-prone area for the period of 2007-2012. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.4.2.2013.92-96 [How to cite this article: Rawashdeh, S., Ruzouq, R.E., and Qtaishat, K.S.. (2013). The use of geomatic techniques to monitor environmental deformation. International Journal of Science and Engineering, 4(2),92-96. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.4.2.2013.92-96

Isolated \u3cem\u3eSporothrix schenckii\u3c/em\u3e Monoarthritis

Sporothrix schenkii sensu lato is a rare cause of arthritis. Its course is indolent with lack of constitutional symptoms resulting in delayed presentation and diagnosis. It is a dimorphic fungus found ubiquitously in sphagnum moss, decaying vegetation, soil, and hay. Inoculation of dirt into the skin and soft tissues and, in rare instances, inhalation of aerosolized conidia from soil and plants can lead to infection. Subacute and chronic involvement of skin and subcutaneous tissues is the most common manifestation of sporotrichosis in immunocompetent hosts. In patients with underlying risk factors (HIV, alcoholism, diabetes mellitus, organ transplant patients, immunosuppressive medications, steroids, and malignancies), it can often have disseminated visceral, osteoarticular, meningeal, and pulmonary involvement. Sporothrical arthritis most commonly infects knee joint followed by hand and wrist joints. A culture of Sporothrix schenkii sensu lato is the gold standard for the diagnosis of sporotrichosis. Itraconazole is the drug of choice for osteoarticular sporotrichosis. We present a case of sporotrichal arthritis in a patient without skin or lymph node involvement who underwent treatment with itraconazole resulting in resolution of his symptoms

Measurement of the Top-Quark Mass with Dilepton Events Selected Using Neuroevolution at CDF

We report a measurement of the top-quark mass Mt in the dilepton decay channel tt̄→bl′+νl′b̄l-ν̄l. Events are selected with a neural network which has been directly optimized for statistical precision in top-quark mass using neuroevolution, a technique modeled on biological evolution. The top-quark mass is extracted from per-event probability densities that are formed by the convolution of leading order matrix elements and detector resolution functions. The joint probability is the product of the probability densities from 344 candidate events in 2.0fb-1 of pp̄ collisions collected with the CDF II detector, yielding a measurement of Mt=171.2±2.7(stat)±2.9(syst)GeV/c2

Infectious consequences of hematoma from cardiac implantable electronic device procedures and the role of the antibiotic envelope: A WRAP-IT trial analysis.

Hematoma is a complication of cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) procedures and may lead to device infection. The TYRX antibacterial envelope reduced major CIED infection by 40% in the randomized WRAP-IT (World-wide Randomized Antibiotic Envelope Infection Prevention Trial) study, but its effectiveness in the presence of hematoma is not well understood.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and infectious consequences of hematoma and the association between envelope use, hematomas, and major CIED infection among WRAP-IT patients.All 6800 study patients were included in this analysis (control 3429; envelope 3371). Hematomas occurring within 30 days postprocedure (acute) were characterized and grouped by study treatment and evaluated for subsequent infection risk. Data were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard regression modeling.Acute hematoma incidence was 2.2% at 30 days, with no significant difference between treatment groups (envelope vs control hazard ratio [HR] 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84-1.58; P = .39). Through all follow-up, the risk of major infection was significantly higher among control patients with hematoma vs those without (13.1% vs 1.6%; HR 11.3; 95% CI 5.5-23.2; P.001). The risk of major infection was significantly lower in the envelope vs control patients with hematoma (2.5% vs 13.1%; HR 0.18; 95% CI 0.04-0.85; P = .03).The risk of hematoma was 2.2% among WRAP-IT patients. Among control patients, hematoma carried a11-fold risk of developing a major CIED infection. This risk was significantly mitigated with antibacterial envelope use, with an 82% reduction in major CIED infection among envelope patients who developed hematoma compared to control

Risk Factors for CIED Infection After Secondary Procedures

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to identify risk factors for infection after secondary cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) procedures. BACKGROUND Risk factors for CIED infection are not well defined and techniques to minimize infection lack supportive evidence. WRAP-IT (World-wide Randomized Antibiotic Envelope Infection Prevention trial), a large study that assessed the safety and efficacy of an antibacterial envelope for CIED infection reduction, offers insight into procedural details and infection prevention strategies. METHODS This analysis included 2,803 control patients from the WRAP-IT trial who received standard preoperative antibiotics but not the envelope (44 patients with major infections through all follow-up). A multivariate least absolute shrinkage and selection operator machine learning model, controlling for patient characteristics and procedural variables, was used for risk factor selection and identification. Risk factors consistently retaining predictive value in the model (appeared >10 times) across 100 iterations of imputed data were deemed significant. RESULTS Of the 81 variables screened, 17 were identified as risk factors with 6 being patient/device-related (nonmodifiable) and 11 begin procedure-related (potentially modifiable). Patient/device-related factors included higher number of previous CIED procedures, history of atrial arrhythmia, geography (outside North America and Europe), device type, and lower body mass index. Procedural factors associated with increased risk included longer procedure time, implant location (non-left pectoral subcutaneous), perioperative glycopeptide antibiotic versus nonglycopeptide, anticoagulant, and/or antiplatelet use, and capsulectomy. Factors associated with decreased risk of infection included chlorhexidine skin preparation and antibiotic pocket wash. CONCLUSIONS In WRAP-IT patients, we observed that several procedural risk factors correlated with infection risk. These results can help guide infection prevention strategies to minimize infections associated with secondary CIED procedures. (J Am Coll Cardiol EP 2022;8:101-111) (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Stenosis and Aneurysm of Coronary Arteries in A Patient with Behcet’s Disease

Coronary artery disease is extremely rare in patients with Behçet’s disease. We report the case of a patient with a history of Behçet’s disease who was admitted in our hospital with instable angina pectoris. The patient’s electrocardiogram was normal. Coronary angiography revealed aneurysm of the distal right coronary artery with a tight stenosis of the proximal part of the posterolateral branch. These two conditions were initially treated with immunosuppressive treatment. Three years later coronary angiography showed a total occlusion of the right coronary artery treated with medical therapy. More than fourteen cases of coronary involvement were reported in the literature but the etiopathogeny and the treatment are yet unknow

the world wide randomized antibiotic envelope infection prevention wrap it trial long term follow up

Abstract Background The WRAP-IT trial reported a 40% reduction in major CIED infection within 12 months of the procedure with the antibacterial-eluting envelope (TYRX). Objective This report describes the longer-term (>12 months) envelope effects on infection reduction and complications. Methods All trial patients that underwent CIED replacement, upgrade, revision, or initial CRT-D implant received standard-of-care infection prophylaxis and were randomized 1:1 to receive the envelope or not. CIED infection incidence, and procedure and system-related complications were characterized through all follow-up (36 months) using Cox proportional hazard regression modeling. Results In total, 6800 patients received their intended randomized treatment (3371 envelope; 3429 control; mean follow-up 21.0±8.3 months). Major CIED-related infection occurred in 32 envelope patients and 51 control patients (KM estimate, 1.3% vs. 1.9%; HR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.41-0.99; P=0.046). Any CIED-related infection occurred in 57 envelope patients and 84 control patients (KM estimate, 2.1% vs. 2.8%; HR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.49-0.97; P=0.030). System- or procedure-related complications occurred in 235 envelope patients and 252 control patients (KM estimate, 8.0% vs. 8.2%; HR, 0.95, 95% CI: 0.79-1.13; P Conclusions The effects of the TYRX envelope in reducing the risk of CIED infection are sustained beyond the first year post-procedure, without increased risk of complication

Myofibromatosis: imaging characteristics

Background : Infantile myofibromatosis is the most common fibrous tumor of infancy. It can involve the skin, muscle, bone, and viscera. This uncommon entity is subdivided into solitary and multicentric forms, with or without visceral involvement. Objective : To describe the imaging characteristics of extracranial myofibromatosis. Materials and methods : Six infants, aged 1 day–1 week, were evaluated by imaging. All six patients had evaluation of one of the masses by US; four patients had CT evaluation of at least one of the masses; and five patients had evaluation by MRI. Results : The US appearance of the myofibromas included a mass with a purely anechoic center with a thick wall, a mass with a partially anechoic center, and a mass without anechoic components. On enhanced CT, the masses had lower or similar attenuation compared to adjacent muscle, with some masses exhibiting peripheral enhancement. The MR appearance consisted of low signal on T1-weighted imaging. On T2-weighted imaging, two had low signal of the center and the other three had high signal. All masses showed peripheral enhancement after gadolinium administration. Conclusions : Myofibromas have variable appearance on US, with a mass with an anechoic center being the most common feature. On CT, the mass can exhibit peripheral enhancement, calcifications, and erosion of adjacent bone. The MR appearance consisted of low signal on T1-weighted imaging and high or low signal of the center on T2-weighted imaging. All masses showed peripheral enhancement after gadolinium administration.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46718/1/247_2004_Article_1357.pd

Pesticide use and opportunities of exposure among farmers and their families: cross-sectional studies 1998-2006 from Hebron governorate, occupied Palestinian territory

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adverse health effects caused by pesticide exposure have been reported in occupied Palestinian territory and the world at large. The objective of this paper is to compare patterns of pesticide use in Beit-U'mmar village, West Bank, between 1998 and 2006.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied two populations in Beit-U'mmar village, comprised of: 1) 61 male farmers and their wives in 1998 and 2) 250 male farmers in 2006. Both populations completed a structured interview, which included questions about socio-demographic factors, types of farming tasks, as well as compounds, quantities, and handling of pesticides. Using the 1998 population as a reference, we applied generalized linear regression models (GLM) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in order to estimate prevalence differences (PD) between the two populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 1998, farmers used 47 formulated pesticides on their crops. In 2006, 16 of these pesticides were still in use, including five internationally banned compounds. There were positive changes with less use of large quantities of pesticides (>40 units/year) (PD -51; CI -0.60, -0.43), in applying the recommended dosage of pesticides (PD +0.57; CI +0.48, +0.68) and complying with the safety period (PD +0.89; CI+0.83, +0.95). Changes also included farmers' habits while applying pesticides, such as less smoking (PD -0.20; CI-0.34, -0.07) and eating at the work place (PD -0.33; CI-0.47, -0.19). No significant changes were found from 1998 to 2006 regarding use of personal protective equipment, pesticide storage, farmers' habits after applying pesticides, and in using some highly hazardous pesticides.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results were based on two cross-sectional surveys and should be interpreted with caution due to potential validity problems. The results of the study suggest some positive changes in the handling of pesticides amongst participants in 2006, which could be due to different policy interventions and regulations that were implemented after 1998. However, farm workers in Beit -U'mmar village are still at risk of health effects because of ongoing exposure to pesticides. To the best of our knowledge, no studies on long-term changes in pesticide use have been reported from developing countries.</p