Kinetics of the O plus O3 reaction

The gas phase reaction O + O3 yields 2 O2 was studied directly in a flow system under conditions of excess ozone, with O-atoms produced by thermal decomposition of Ar-O3 mixtures on a Nernst Glower, and measurement of the spatial O-atom decay by O + NO chemiluminescence with small, variable NO additions. The rate constant was found to be (9.6 + or - 0.7) x 10 to the minus 15th power cu/cm/molecule/sec at 298 K. Over the temperature range 269 to 409 K a rate expression (1.78 + or - 0.28) x 10 to the 11th power exp((-4.46 + or - 0.10 kcal/mole)/RT) is reported. The effects of interference by O2 (delta sub g) and product excitation are discussed, and the present results are compared with earlier investigations

Analysis of Connectivity in EMG Signals to Examine Neural Correlations in Muscular Activation of Lower Leg Muscles for Postural Stability

In quiet standing the central nervous systems implements a pre-programmed ankle strategy of postural control to maintain upright balance and stability. This strategy is comprised of a synchronized common neural drive being delivered to synergistically grouped muscles. In this study connectivity between EMG signals of unilateral and bilateral homologous muscle pairs, of the lower legs, during various standing balance conditions was evaluated using magnitude squared coherence (MSC) and mutual information (MI). The leg muscles of interest were the tibialis anterior (TA), medial gastrocnemius (MG), and the soleus (S) of both legs. MSC is a linear measure of the phase relation between two signals in the frequency domain. MI is an information theoretic measure of the amount of information two signals have in common. Both MSC and MI were analyzed in the delta (0.5 – 4 Hz), theta (4 – 8 Hz), alpha (8 – 13 Hz), beta (13 – 30 Hz), and gamma (30 – 100 Hz) neural frequency bands for feet together and feet tandem, with eyes open and eyes closed conditions. Both MSC and MI found that overall connectivity was highest in the delta band followed by the theta band. Connectivity in the beta and lower gamma bands (30 – 60 Hz) was influenced by standing balance condition and indicative of a neural drive originating from the motor cortex. Instability was evaluated by comparing less stable standing conditions with a baseline eyes open, feet together stance. Changes in connectivity in the beta and gamma bands were found be most significant in the muscle pairs of the back leg of tandem stance regardless of foot dominance. MI was found to be a better connectivity analysis method by identifying significance of increased connectivity in the agonistic muscle pair between the MG:S, the antagonistic muscle pair between TA:S, and all the bilateral homologous muscle pairs. MSC was only able to identify the MG:S muscle pair as significant. The results of this study provided insight into the neural mechanism of postural control and presented an alternative connectivity analysis method of MI

Video Education for Improved Education of Newly Diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Anxiety and depression are prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, especially those newly diagnosed. Receiving a diagnosis of MS can be overwhelming and impact patients in multiple areas including physical issues, cognitive changes and anxiety and depression (Kantor, Bright & Burtchell, 2017). This anxiety and depression can cause patients to be less engaged in their plan of care and thereby reduce their quality of life (Rieckmann, et al., 2015). According to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA), four of 10 MS patients are diagnosed with depression and anxiety, with the highest incidence at diagnosis (Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, 2014). Without a clear understanding, the information can be frustrating and highly anxiety producing. The purpose of this DNP project was to evaluate a standardized video education process for newly diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. This video was developed for implementation at a later date when organizational priorities allow. This video was developed to standardize education, create a process to assess the impact of the video education on anxiety and depression of MS patients at each clinic visit. The Health Belief Model guided the development of this toolkit. This model addresses patient perception and how their perception influences behavior (Hochbaum, 1958). Since anxiety and depression are associated with the diagnosis of MS, a process was developed for the assessment of anxiety and depression in this process

Physiotherapists' awareness, knowledge and confidence in screening and referral of suspected axial spondyloarthritis: A survey of UK clinical practice

© 2021 The Authors. Musculoskeletal Care published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Background: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is an inflammatory disease associated with significant diagnostic delays and is commonly missed in assessments of persistent back pain. Objective: To explore musculoskeletal physiotherapists' awareness, knowledge and confidence in screening for signs, symptoms and risk factors of suspected axSpA and criteria for rheumatology referral. Design: An online UK survey was undertaken combining back pain vignettes (reflecting axSpA, non-specific back pain and radicular syndrome) and questioning on features of suspected axSpA. Recruitment utilised online professional forums and social media. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and conceptual content analysis for free text responses. Results: 132 survey responses were analysed. Only 67% (88/132) of respondents identified inflammatory pathologies as a possible cause of persistent back pain. Only 60% (79/132) recognised the axSpA vignette compared to non-specific low back pain (94%) and radicular syndrome (80%). Most suspecting axSpA would refer for specialist assessment (77/79; 92%). Awareness of national referral guidance was evident in only 50% of ‘clinical reasoning’ and 20% of ‘further subjective screening’ responses. There was misplaced confidence in recognising clinical features of axSpA (≥7/10) compared to knowledge levels shown, including high importance given to inflammatory markers and human leucocyte antigen B27 (median = 8/10). Conclusions: Musculoskeletal physiotherapists may not be giving adequate consideration to axSpA in back pain assessments. Awareness of national referral guidance was also limited. Professional education on screening and referral for suspected axSpA is needed to make axSpA screening and referral criteria core knowledge in musculoskeletal clinical practice, supporting earlier diagnosis and better outcomes.Peer reviewe

Geologic factors in the evaluation of water pollution potential at mountain dwelling sites

December, 1973.Bibliography: pages [133]-135.In order to establish the relationship between the geologic setting and the occurrence of water pollution in mountain home developments containing individual sewage disposal systems, three areas in Colorado's Front Range were studied. Two of the areas were known to have biological contamination as confirmed by microbiological tests. Also, each area had adequate rock exposures to allow for detailed geologic study, the absence of thick soil profiles above bedrock and current development for mountain home location. In addition, each of the selected study areas differed in geologic setting, age of development and home density in the development. The extent of water pollution was established by a program of well and surface water testing for total coliform. Fecal coliform and inorganic contaminants were tested in selected wells. Detailed geologic maps were made of each area to locate features such as dikes or shear zones which might act as either barriers or conduits to ground water movement. Slope maps were prepared for the area by computer plots of digitized data of elevations taken from U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps. Determination of the water table profile and extent of alluvial fill in valley bottoms was accomplished using driller's well logs for each well in the area. In addition, soils were tested to determine their effective grain size, a joint and foliation study was conducted to determine the direction of pollutant travel should effluent enter these openings, driller's well logs were used to establish depth of soils and depth of weathering in bedrock and data from county health records were used to establish soil percolation rates. Data were compiled in the form of overlays on base maps of the areas involved. A topographic map with the geologic overlay was used in conjunction with various combinations of the field derivative overlays to indicate the pollution potential for specific areas. The overlays used in this procedure were compiled from. the following parameters: 1) slope, 2) depth of soil, 3) depth of intensely weathered bedrock, 4) local water table profile, and 5) soil percolation rates. These overlays indicated that the Glen Haven area is unsuitable for soil absorption sewage systems because of steep slopes, soil depth and depth of the water table. Most of the Tall Timbers area was indicated as unsuitable for soil absorption systems because of slope, soil depth and local geology. The Crescent Park area was categorized as safe (in part) for soil absorption systems, however, local areas within the subdivision were categorized as hazardous. From the results it was suggested that a procedure such as the one used in this study could be used for each subdivision proposed in the mountainous regions of Colorado. Thus more effective use of mountainous areas might be passable while maintaining a low probability of ground water contamination. Areas within each proposed subdivision would be classified as safe, hazardous, or unsuitable for soil absorption sewage systems. Unsuitable areas could be used as parks or greenbelts, hazardous areas would have low population densities and safe areas would be allowed to have higher population densities as long as other factors were favorable. In addition, procedures such as the one used in this investigation could be used to indicate mountain areas which should require a municipal sewage disposal system before development to ensure that the ground water system was not polluted.Supported by the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission and the United States Department of Interior, Office of Water Resources Research, no.87-194-2. (s) 14-01-001-1882

Improving Lesion Segmentation in FDG-18 Whole-Body PET/CT scans using Multilabel approach: AutoPET II challenge

Automatic segmentation of lesions in FDG-18 Whole Body (WB) PET/CT scans using deep learning models is instrumental for determining treatment response, optimizing dosimetry, and advancing theranostic applications in oncology. However, the presence of organs with elevated radiotracer uptake, such as the liver, spleen, brain, and bladder, often leads to challenges, as these regions are often misidentified as lesions by deep learning models. To address this issue, we propose a novel approach of segmenting both organs and lesions, aiming to enhance the performance of automatic lesion segmentation methods. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of our proposed method using the AutoPET II challenge dataset, which comprises 1014 subjects. We evaluated the impact of inclusion of additional labels and data in the segmentation performance of the model. In addition to the expert-annotated lesion labels, we introduced eight additional labels for organs, including the liver, kidneys, urinary bladder, spleen, lung, brain, heart, and stomach. These labels were integrated into the dataset, and a 3D UNET model was trained within the nnUNet framework. Our results demonstrate that our method achieved the top ranking in the held-out test dataset, underscoring the potential of this approach to significantly improve lesion segmentation accuracy in FDG-18 Whole-Body PET/CT scans, ultimately benefiting cancer patients and advancing clinical practice.Comment: AutoPET II challenge pape

Pneumonic Plague Cluster, Uganda, 2004

In a case cluster, pneumonic plague transmission was compatible with respiratory droplet rather than aerosol transmission

Pneumonic Tularemia in Rabbits Resembles the Human Disease as Illustrated by Radiographic and Hematological Changes after Infection

Background: Pneumonic tularemia is caused by inhalation of the gram negative bacterium, Francisella tularensis. Because of concerns that tularemia could be used as a bioterrorism agent, vaccines and therapeutics are urgently needed. Animal models of pneumonic tularemia with a pathophysiology similar to the human disease are needed to evaluate the efficacy of these potential medical countermeasures. Principal Findings: Rabbits exposed to aerosols containing Francisella tularensis strain SCHU S4 developed a rapidly progressive fatal pneumonic disease. Clinical signs became evident on the third day after exposure with development of a fever (>40.5°C) and a sharp decline in both food and water intake. Blood samples collected on day 4 found lymphopenia and a decrease in platelet counts coupled with elevations in erythrocyte sedimentation rate, alanine aminotransferase, cholesterol, granulocytes and monocytes. Radiographs demonstrated the development of pneumonia and abnormalities of intestinal gas consistent with ileus. On average, rabbits were moribund 5.1 days after exposure; no rabbits survived exposure at any dose (190-54,000 cfu). Gross evaluation of tissues taken at necropsy showed evidence of pathology in the lungs, spleen, liver, kidney and intestines. Bacterial counts confirmed bacterial dissemination from the lungs to the liver and spleen. Conclusions/Significance: The pathophysiology of pneumonic tularemia in rabbits resembles what has been reported for humans. Rabbits therefore are a relevant model of the human disease caused by type A strains of F. tularensis. © 2011 Reed et al

Generation of a Convalescent Model of Virulent Francisella tularensis Infection for Assessment of Host Requirements for Survival of Tularemia

Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium and the causative agent of tularemia. Development of novel vaccines and therapeutics for tularemia has been hampered by the lack of understanding of which immune components are required to survive infection. Defining these requirements for protection against virulent F. tularensis, such as strain SchuS4, has been difficult since experimentally infected animals typically die within 5 days after exposure to as few as 10 bacteria. Such a short mean time to death typically precludes development, and therefore assessment, of immune responses directed against virulent F. tularensis. To enable identification of the components of the immune system that are required for survival of virulent F. tularensis, we developed a convalescent model of tularemia in C57Bl/6 mice using low dose antibiotic therapy in which the host immune response is ultimately responsible for clearance of the bacterium. Using this model we demonstrate αβTCR+ cells, γδTCR+ cells, and B cells are necessary to survive primary SchuS4 infection. Analysis of mice deficient in specific soluble mediators shows that IL-12p40 and IL-12p35 are essential for survival of SchuS4 infection. We also show that IFN-γ is required for survival of SchuS4 infection since mice lacking IFN-γR succumb to disease during the course of antibiotic therapy. Finally, we found that both CD4+ and CD8+ cells are the primary producers of IFN-γand that γδTCR+ cells and NK cells make a minimal contribution toward production of this cytokine throughout infection. Together these data provide a novel model that identifies key cells and cytokines required for survival or exacerbation of infection with virulent F. tularensis and provides evidence that this model will be a useful tool for better understanding the dynamics of tularemia infection