Can reconstructed land surface temperature data from space predict a West Nile Virus outbreak?

Temperature is one of the main drivers of ecological processes. The availability of temporally and spatially continuous temperature time series is crucial in different research and application fields, such as epidemiology and control of zoonotic diseases. In 2010, several West Nile virus (WNV) outbreaks in humans were observed in Europe, with the largest number of cases recorded in Greece. Human cases continued to occur for four more years. The occurrence of the 2010's outbreak in Greece has been related to positive anomalies in temperature. Currently available remote sensing time series might provide the temporal and spatial coverage needed to assess this kind of hypothesis. However, the main problem with remotely sensed temperature are the gaps caused by cloud cover. With the objective of testing the former hypothesis, we reconstructed daily MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) data and derived several indices that are known or hypothesized to be related to mosquito populations, WNV transmission or risk of disease since they might constitute proxies for favoring or limiting conditions. We present the first results of the comparisons of time series of LST-derived indices among locations with WNV human cases and municipalities with and without reported WNV infection in Greece between 2010 and 2014

Potentially harmful effects of inspiratory synchronization during pressure preset ventilation

Purpose: Pressure preset ventilation (PPV) modes with set inspiratory time can be classified according to their ability to synchronize pressure delivery with patient's inspiratory efforts (i-synchronization). Non-i-synchronized (like airway pressure release ventilation, APRV), partially i-synchronized (like biphasic airway pressure), and fully i-synchronized modes (like assist-pressure control) can be distinguished. Under identical ventilatory settings across PPV modes, the degree of i-synchronization may affect tidal volume (V T), transpulmonary pressure (P TP), and their variability. We performed bench and clinical studies. Methods: In the bench study, all the PPV modes of five ventilators were tested with an active lung simulator. Spontaneous efforts of -10 cmH2O at rates of 20 and 30 breaths/min were simulated. Ventilator settings were high pressure 30 cmH2O, positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) 15 cmH2O, frequency 15 breaths/min, and inspiratory to expiratory ratios (I:E) 1:3 and 3:1. In the clinical studies, data from eight intubated patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and ventilated with APRV were compared to the bench tests. In four additional ARDS patients, each of the PPV modes was compared. Results: As the degree of i-synchronization among the different PPV modes increased, mean V T and P TP swings markedly increased while breathing variability decreased. This was consistent with clinical comparison in four ARDS patients. Observational results in eight ARDS patients show low V T and a high variability with APRV. Conclusion: Despite identical ventilator settings, the different PPV modes lead to substantial differences in V T, P TP, and breathing variability in the presence spontaneous efforts. Clinicians should be aware of the possible harmful effects of i-synchronization especially when high V T is undesirable