Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE). Second-generation sampling strategy evaluation report

The author has identified the following significant results. The stratification procedure in the new sampling strategy for LACIE included: (1) correlation test results indicating that an agrophysical stratum may be homogeneous with respect to agricultural density, but not with respect to wheat density; and (2) agrophysical unit homogeneity test results indicating that with respect to agricultural density many agrophysical units are not homogeneous, but removal of one or more refined strata from any such current agrophysical unit can make the strata homogeneous. The apportioning procedure results indicated that the current procedure is not performing well and that the apportioned estimates of refined strata wheat area are often unreliable

Salmonella sepsis and miscarriage

We present a case of a miscarriage at 16 weeks of gestation due to infection and transplacental passage of Salmonella group C. This was identified as being Salmonella Virchow from genital tract swab culture, and placental Gram-staining revealed numerous colonies of Gram-negative bacilli within the fibrin between the placental villi, confirming a true villitis associated with a hematogenous infection. Based on the patient's history, it was suggested that she had contracted the salmonella infection from eating undercooked eggs. Treatment of salmonella infection in pregnancy is controversial, and antibiotic therapy should be reserved for cases of invasive disease, using amoxicillin or a cephalosporin

A Fast and Accessible Methodology for Micro-Patterning Cells on Standard Culture Substrates Using Parafilm™ Inserts

Micropatterning techniques provide direct control over the spatial organization of cells at the sub-mm scale. Regulation of these spatial parameters is important for controlling cell fate and cell function. While micropatterning has proved a powerful technique for understanding the impact of cell organization on cell behaviour, current methods for micropatterning cells require complex, specialized equipment that is not readily accessible in most biological and bioengineering laboratories. In addition, currently available methods require significant protocol optimization to ensure reliable and reproducible patterning. The inaccessibility of current methods has severely limited the widespread use of micropatterning as a tool in both biology and tissue engineering laboratories. Here we present a simple, cheap, and fast method to micropattern mammalian cells into stripes and circular patterns using Parafilm™, a common material found in most biology and bioengineering laboratories. Our method does not require any specialized equipment and does not require significant method optimization to ensure reproducible patterning. Although our method is limited to simple patterns, these geometries are sufficient for addressing a wide range of biological problems. Specifically, we demonstrate i) that using our Parafilm™ insert method we can pattern and co-pattern ARPE-19 and MDCK epithelial cells into circular and stripe micropatterns in tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) wells and on glass slides, ii) that we can contain cells in the desired patterns for more than one month and iii) that upon removal of the Parafilm™ insert we can release the cells from the containment pattern and allow cell migration outward from the original pattern. We also demonstrate that we can exploit this confinement release feature to conduct an epithelial cell wound healing assay. This novel micropatterning method provides a reliable and accessible tool with the flexibility to address a wide range of biological and engineering problems that require control over the spatial and temporal organization of cells

Can solar water-treatment really help in the fight against water shortages?

In the face of increasing global population, rising industrialization and the inescapable reality of climate change, the demand for access to clean, safe water has never been greater. Solar wastewater remediation technologies and solar water-treatment have the potential to contribute significantly towards affordable and sustainable solutions to this seemingly intractable problem. They do this by using solar energy to treat water from sources that previously would have been considered unsuitable for further use. In this article we reveal the basic principles surrounding the design and application of solar remediation reactors for urban wastewater treatment and reuse and then show how even simpler technologies are being used in low-income communities to provide affordable and safe potable water

Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE). Intensive test site assessment report

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Evaluation of Solar Disinfection of E. coli Under Sub-Saharan Field Conditions Using a 25 Litre Borosilicate Glass Batch Reactor Fitted with a Compound Parabolic Collector.

The bacterial inactivation efficacy of a solar water disinfection (SODIS) reactor consisting of a 25L borosilicate glass tube fitted with a compound parabolic collector (BGTR-CPC) was assessed under equatorial weather conditions in Uganda. The SODIS BGTR-CPC was tested over a 17-month period in Sub-Saharan conditions in Kampala, Uganda. The BGTR-CPC was filled with natural water from a nearby protected well. A wild strain of Escherichia coli isolated from local natural water was added to the reactor to give a starting population of between 105 and 107 CFU/100ml. This spiked water was exposed to natural sunlight. Satisfactory bacterial inactivation (log10 reduction values \u3e6 units or inactivation to below the limit of detection (/100ml.)) was observed for 11 of 13 experiments. Rainfall and overcast/cloudy conditions were factors on both of the occasions when incomplete inactivation was observed. In conclusion, the use of CPC SODIS technology is suitable for treating drinking water both at household level and institutional level in Sub-Saharan and other similar tropical climates if careful consideration of the cloud cover and rainfall is taken into account

Diclofenac Mouthwash as a potential therapy for reducing pain and discomfort in chemo-radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis

AIMS: Oral and/or oropharyngeal acute mucositis during and after chemo-radiotherapy (chemo-RT) for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) can be extremely painful, sometimes requiring nasogastric feeding to enable adequate nutrition. The MASCC/ISOO evidence- based guidelines recommend benzydamine mouthwash for mucositis prevention in RT (recently updated to include chemo-RT), and a Cochrane systematic review found other agents to be effective in prophylaxis. Diclofenac mouthwash is licenced for painful oral mucosal inflammatory conditions but to our knowledge has not been assessed in chemo-RT associated oral mucositis. METHOD: A clinical observation and service evaluation study in 10 patients undergoing chemo-RT for HNSCC to assess the potential value of diclofenac mouthwash (0.74mg/ml) in reducing symptoms. Patients used 20ml of mouthwash up to 4 times a day starting in week 3 (of a 6 week course of treatment), recording pain and discomfort scores using a visual analogue scale on days 0, 1,7 and 14 (until the end of week 4). As per our current clinical practice, oral mucositis was not clinically scored as an outcome. Statistical analysis was performed using a one-way ANOVA. RESULTS: Using diclofenac mouthwash, 9/10 patients experienced pain score reduction from day 0 (mean score 6.75 +/- SD 1.83) to day 2 (5.05 +/- SD 1.62) and day 14 (4.09 +/- SD 1.96). CONCLUSIONS: Diclofenac mouthwash may be beneficial for managing chemo-RT-induced oral mucositis. While a prospective randomised clinical trial is needed, it can be prescribed for this condition within its current licence

Instability of a two-dimensional extremal black hole

We consider the perturbation of tachyon about the extremal ground state of a two-dimensional (2D) electrically charged black hole. It is found that the presenting potential to on-coming tachyonic wave takes a double-humped barrier well. This allows an exponentially growing mode with respect to time. This extremal ground state is classically unstable. We conclude that the 2D extremal electrically charged black hole cannot be a candidate for the stable endpoint of the Hawking evaporation.Comment: 9 pages 2 figures, RevTeX, to be published in Phys. Rev D, to obtain gifures contact Author ([email protected]