Smokejumper Magazine, October 2012

This issue of the National Smokejumper Association (NSA) Smokejumper Magazine contains the following articles: The Longest Walk—Almost (Ross Parry), Land At the Nearest Airport-911 (Tommy Albert), 2012 NSA Scholarship Winners. Smokejumper Magazine continues Static Line, which was the original title of the NSA quarterly magazine.https://dc.ewu.edu/smokejumper_mag/1080/thumbnail.jp

Feasibility and acceptability of an acceptance and commitment therapy intervention for caregivers of adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Background: Caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia (ADRD) report high levels of distress, including symptoms of anxiety and depression, caregiving burden, and existential suffering; however, those with support and healthy coping strategies have less stress and burden. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) aims to foster greater acceptance of internal events while promoting actions aligned with personal values to increase psychological flexibility in the face of challenges. The objective of this single-arm pilot, Telephone Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention for Caregivers (TACTICs), was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of an ACT intervention on ADRD caregiver anxiety, depressive symptoms, burden, caregiver suffering, and psychological flexibility. Methods: ADRD caregivers ≥21 years of age with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) score ≥ 10 indicative of moderate or higher symptoms of anxiety were enrolled (N = 15). Participants received a telephone-based ACT intervention delivered by a non-licensed, bachelor's-prepared trained interventionist over 6 weekly 1-h sessions that included engaging experiential exercises and metaphors designed to increase psychological flexibility. The following outcome measures were administered at baseline (T1), immediately post-intervention (T2), 3 months post-intervention (T3), and 6 months post-intervention (T4): anxiety symptoms (GAD-7; primary outcome); secondary outcomes of depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), burden (Zarit Burden Interview), suffering (The Experience of Suffering measure), psychological flexibility/experiential avoidance (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II), and coping skills (Brief COPE). Results: All 15 participants completed the study and 93.3% rated their overall satisfaction with their TACTICs experience as "completely satisfied." At T2, caregivers showed large reduction in anxiety symptoms (SRM 1.42, 95% CI [0.87, 1.97], p < 0.001) that were maintained at T3 and T4. At T4, psychological suffering (SRM 0.99, 95% CI [0.41, 1.56], p = 0.0027) and caregiver burden (SRM 0.79, 95% CI [0.21, 1.37], p = 0.0113) also decreased. Conclusions: Despite a small sample size, the 6-session manualized TACTICs program was effective in reducing anxiety, suggesting that non-clinically trained staff may be able to provide an effective therapeutic intervention by phone to maximize intervention scalability and reach

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Ultrasound Measurement of the Fetal Adrenal Gland as a Predictor of Spontaneous Preterm Birth

OBJECTIVE: To estimate whether ultrasound measurement of the fetal adrenal gland remote from delivery in asymptomatic women can accurately predict spontaneous preterm birth. METHODS: We conducted a prospective multicenter observational nested cohort study of asymptomatic nulliparous women with a singleton pregnancy to study adverse pregnancy outcomes. Between 22 0/7 and 30 6/7 weeks of gestation, credentialed ultrasonographers measured the width (w), length (l), and when able, depth (d) of the “fetal zone” of the fetal adrenal gland as well as the width (W), length (L) and depth (D) of the total gland. We used the ratios of each measurement (w/W, l/L and d/D) to control for variation in adrenal size by gestational age. The accuracy of each ratio measurement in predicting spontaneous preterm birth <37 0/7 weeks (“SPTB37”) and spontaneous preterm birth <34 0/7 weeks (“SPTB34”) was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, using area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Pregnancy outcomes were available for 1,697 women with one or more fetal adrenal gland measurements. SPTB37 and SPTB34 occurred in 82 (4.8%) and 6 women (0.4%), respectively. None of the fetal adrenal gland measurements distinguished spontaneous preterm birth from term birth. The AUCs (95% CIs) for SPTB37 were 0.51 (0.45, 0.58), 0.50 (0.44, 0.56), and 0.52 (0.41, 0.63) for w/W, l/L and d/D ratios, respectively. The AUCs for SPTB34 were 0.52 (0.25, 0.79) and 0.55 (0.31, 0.79) for w/W and l/L ratios. Additionally, none of the means of the gland measurements were statistically different between those delivering at term and spontaneous at preterm (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Fetal adrenal size, as measured by ultrasound between 22 0/7 and 30 6/7 weeks, is not predictive of spontaneous preterm birth in asymptomatic nulliparous women

Ultrasound Measurement of the Fetal Adrenal Gland as a Predictor of Spontaneous Preterm Birth

OBJECTIVE: To estimate whether ultrasound measurement of the fetal adrenal gland remote from delivery in asymptomatic women can accurately predict spontaneous preterm birth. METHODS: We conducted a prospective multicenter observational nested cohort study of asymptomatic nulliparous women with a singleton pregnancy to study adverse pregnancy outcomes. Between 22 0/7 and 30 6/7 weeks of gestation, credentialed ultrasonographers measured the width (w), length (l), and when able, depth (d) of the “fetal zone” of the fetal adrenal gland as well as the width (W), length (L) and depth (D) of the total gland. We used the ratios of each measurement (w/W, l/L and d/D) to control for variation in adrenal size by gestational age. The accuracy of each ratio measurement in predicting spontaneous preterm birth <37 0/7 weeks (“SPTB37”) and spontaneous preterm birth <34 0/7 weeks (“SPTB34”) was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, using area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Pregnancy outcomes were available for 1,697 women with one or more fetal adrenal gland measurements. SPTB37 and SPTB34 occurred in 82 (4.8%) and 6 women (0.4%), respectively. None of the fetal adrenal gland measurements distinguished spontaneous preterm birth from term birth. The AUCs (95% CIs) for SPTB37 were 0.51 (0.45, 0.58), 0.50 (0.44, 0.56), and 0.52 (0.41, 0.63) for w/W, l/L and d/D ratios, respectively. The AUCs for SPTB34 were 0.52 (0.25, 0.79) and 0.55 (0.31, 0.79) for w/W and l/L ratios. Additionally, none of the means of the gland measurements were statistically different between those delivering at term and spontaneous at preterm (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Fetal adrenal size, as measured by ultrasound between 22 0/7 and 30 6/7 weeks, is not predictive of spontaneous preterm birth in asymptomatic nulliparous women