Balloon Measurements of Cosmic Ray Muon Spectra in the Atmosphere along with those of Primary Protons and Helium Nuclei over Mid-Latitude

We report here the measurements of the energy spectra of atmospheric muons and of the cosmic ray primary proton and helium nuclei in a single experiment. These were carried out using the MASS superconducting spectrometer in a balloon flight experiment in 1991. The relevance of these results to the atmospheric neutrino anomaly is emphasized. In particular, this approach allows uncertainties caused by the level of solar modulation, the geomagnetic cut-off of the primaries and possible experimental systematics to be decoupled in the comparison of calculated fluxes of muons to measured muon fluxes. The muon observations cover the momentum and depth ranges of 0.3-40 GeV/c and 5-886 g/cmsquared, respectively. The proton and helium primary measurements cover the rigidity range from 3 to 100 GV, in which both the solar modulation and the geomagnetic cut-off affect the energy spectra at low energies.Comment: 31 pages, including 17 figures, simplified apparatus figure, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Psychological distress during pandemic Covid-19 among adult general population: Result across 13 countries

The COVID-19 pandemics caused an unprecedented mortality, distress, and globally poses a challenge to mental resilience. To our knowledge, this is the first study that aimed to investigate the psychological distress among the adult general population across 13 countries. This cross-sectional study was conducted through online survey by recruiting 7091 respondents. Psychological distress was evaluated with COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI). The crude prevalence of psychological distress due to COVID-19 is highest in Vietnam, followed by Egypt, and Bangladesh. Through Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis, the respondents from Vietnam holds the highest level of distress, while the respondents from Sri Lanka holds the lowest level of distress with reference to Nepal.Female respondents had higher odds of having reported psychological distress, and those with tertiary education were less likely to report psychological distress compared to those with lower level of education. The findings indicate that psychological distress is varies across different countries. Therefore, different countries should continue the surveillance on psychological consequences through the COVID-19 pandemic to monitor the burden and to prepare for the targeted mental health support interventions according to the need. The coping strategies and social support should be provided especially to the lower educational attainment group

The Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery: defining a model for antimicrobial stewardship-results from an international cross-sectional survey

Contains fulltext : 177987.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) have been promoted to optimize antimicrobial usage and patient outcomes, and to reduce the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant organisms. However, the best strategies for an ASP are not definitively established and are likely to vary based on local culture, policy, and routine clinical practice, and probably limited resources in middle-income countries. The aim of this study is to evaluate structures and resources of antimicrobial stewardship teams (ASTs) in surgical departments from different regions of the world. METHODS: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in 2016 on 173 physicians who participated in the AGORA (Antimicrobials: A Global Alliance for Optimizing their Rational Use in Intra-Abdominal Infections) project and on 658 international experts in the fields of ASPs, infection control, and infections in surgery. RESULTS: The response rate was 19.4%. One hundred fifty-six (98.7%) participants stated their hospital had a multidisciplinary AST. The median number of physicians working inside the team was five [interquartile range 4-6]. An infectious disease specialist, a microbiologist and an infection control specialist were, respectively, present in 80.1, 76.3, and 67.9% of the ASTs. A surgeon was a component in 59.0% of cases and was significantly more likely to be present in university hospitals (89.5%, p < 0.05) compared to community teaching (83.3%) and community hospitals (66.7%). Protocols for pre-operative prophylaxis and for antimicrobial treatment of surgical infections were respectively implemented in 96.2 and 82.3% of the hospitals. The majority of the surgical departments implemented both persuasive and restrictive interventions (72.8%). The most common types of interventions in surgical departments were dissemination of educational materials (62.5%), expert approval (61.0%), audit and feedback (55.1%), educational outreach (53.7%), and compulsory order forms (51.5%). CONCLUSION: The survey showed a heterogeneous organization of ASPs worldwide, demonstrating the necessity of a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach in the battle against antimicrobial resistance in surgical infections, and the importance of educational efforts towards this goal