Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observations and the Flux of Kilogram-sized Meteoroids

Lunar impact monitoring provides useful information about the flux of meteoroids in the tens of grams to kilograms size range. The large collecting area of the night side of the lunar disk, approximately 3.4x10(exp 6) sq km in our camera field-of-view, provides statistically significant counts of the meteoroids. Nearly 200 lunar impacts have been observed by our program in roughly 3.5 years. Photometric calibration of the flashes along with the luminous efficiency (determined using meteor showers1,2,3) and assumed velocities provide their sizes. The asymmetry in the flux on the evening and morning hemispheres of the Moon is compared with sporadic and shower sources to determine their most likely origin. The asymmetry between the two hemispheres seen in Figure 1 is due to the impact rate and not to observational bias. Comparison with other measurements of the large meteoroid fluxes is consistent with these measurements as shown in Figure 2. The flux of meteoroids in this size range has important implications for the near-Earth object population and for impact risk for lunar spacecraf

Phenotypic and Genome-Wide Analysis of an Antibiotic-Resistant Small Colony Variant (SCV) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Small colony variants (SCVs) are slow-growing bacteria, which often show increased resistance to antibiotics and cause latent or recurrent infections. It is therefore important to understand the mechanisms at the basis of this phenotypic switch.One SCV (termed PAO-SCV) was isolated, showing high resistance to gentamicin and to the cephalosporine cefotaxime. PAO-SCV was prone to reversion as evidenced by emergence of large colonies with a frequency of 10(-5) on media without antibiotics while it was stably maintained in presence of gentamicin. PAO-SCV showed a delayed growth, defective motility, and strongly reduced levels of the quorum sensing Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS). Whole genome expression analysis further suggested a multi-layered antibiotic resistance mechanism, including simultaneous over-expression of two drug efflux pumps (MexAB-OprM, MexXY-OprM), the LPS modification operon arnBCADTEF, and the PhoP-PhoQ two-component system. Conversely, the genes for the synthesis of PQS were strongly down-regulated in PAO-SCV. Finally, genomic analysis revealed the presence of mutations in phoP and phoQ genes as well as in the mexZ gene encoding a repressor of the mexXY and mexAB-oprM genes. Only one mutation occurred only in REV, at nucleotide 1020 of the tufA gene, a paralog of tufB, both encoding the elongation factor Tu, causing a change of the rarely used aspartic acid codon GAU to the more common GAC, possibly causing an increase of tufA mRNA translation. High expression of phoP and phoQ was confirmed for the SCV variant while the revertant showed expression levels reduced to wild-type levels.By combining data coming from phenotypic, gene expression and proteome analysis, we could demonstrate that resistance to aminoglycosides in one SCV mutant is multifactorial including overexpression of efflux mechanisms, LPS modification and is accompanied by a drastic down-regulation of the Pseudomonas quinolone signal quorum sensing system

Merging Outpatient Addiction and Opioid-maintenance Programs During a Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Sandy

OBJECTIVE: After Hurricane Sandy flooded Bellevue Hospital in New York City, its opiate maintenance patients were displaced and Bellevue\u27s outpatient program was temporarily merged with the program at Metropolitan Hospital for continuation of care. The merger forced Metropolitan to accommodate a program twice as large as its own and required special staff coordination and adjustments in clinical care. METHODS: Physicians, clinicians, and administrators from both institutions participated in interviews regarding the merger. RESULTS: Issues that emerged in the interviews fell into 4 major themes: (1) organization and meshing of professional cultures, (2) regulation, (3) communication, and (4) accommodations. CONCLUSIONS: Despite these barriers, data collected after the merger showed high retention rates and low rates of positive urine toxicology results. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;page 1 of 7)

Twentieth Symposium on COVID-19: COVID-19 as of July 14, 2022: What Have We Learned? How Can We Use What We Have Learned?

Opening Remarks and Moderator: Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A. Chancellor/CEO, New York Medical College, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Pediatrics, and History, Provost for Biomedical Affairs, Touro University, The Miriam Popack Chair in Biomedical Ethics After the Holocaust How Does COVID-19 Infection Affect the Eye? (About 10% of Infected Individuals Have Eye Symptoms.) Sankara Mahesh, M.D., FRCS Program Director, Ophthalmology, Westchester Medical Center, Advanced Eye Specialty Services, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, New York Medical College How Does COVID-19 Infection and Vaccination Affect Hearing? Katrina R. Stidham, M.D. Director, Balance Center, Cochlear Implant Center, Maria Fareri Children\u27s Hospital, Westchester Medical Center, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, New York Medical College Monkeypox: What is It? What Causes It? How Do We Manage It? Should I Be Worried About It? David Revelli, Ph.D. Research Scientist, Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute With the Evolving Data Coming In, Which of My Children Need the Vaccine and/or Booster Shots Now? Tami Hendriksz, DO, FACOP, FAAP Dean and Chief Academic Officer, Professor of Pediatrics, Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine Am I Just Sick and Tired of This Pandemic and the News on Television or Am I Depressed? I Don\u27t Feel Like Going Back to the Office or to Shows or Weddings Like I Used to. Ronnie Swift, M.D. Professor and Associate Chairman of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, New York Medical College, Chief of Psychiatry, Metropolitan Hospital and Medical Center Q & A Hosted by: Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A. Chancellor/CEO, New York Medical College, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Pediatrics, and History, Provost for Biomedical Affairs, Touro University, The Miriam Popack Chair in Biomedical Ethics After the Holocaus