Notes on the physiological action and pathological effects of ethylic alcohol on the human body

One of the most startling phenomena of our time is the indifference manifested by civilized races to the ravages wrought by the immoderate use of alcohol.Norman Kerr calculates that in the United Kingdom alone one hundred and twenty thousand deaths are caused, directly and indirectly, each year by the abuse of this beverage. Theme figures lead to the conclusion, that in the United Kingdom alcohol is responsible for more deaths than any single disease; a conclusion calculated to arrest the attention and excite the interest of any medical man. And when, as District Medical Officer, in a manufacturing town, one is brought into daily contact with the strikingly diminished mental power, the impairment of physique, the shattered constitutions, impoverished homes, and blighted human lives consequent upon excessive indulgence in alcohol, one is naturally led to enquire into the nature of a substance prone to work such direful effects and to seek definite information respecting its action upon the functions and tissues of the human body.The effects of alcohol,as commonly seen, are really the effects of the various alcoholic beverages - brandy, gin, beer, wines etc. And the question arises, is one justified in assuming that the physiological action and pathological effects of these beverages are due solely to the ethylic alcohol found in notable quantity in all of them? Or are they due, in considerable part to one or more of the many other substances contained therein?In favour of the latter view Dr William Ewart says:- " Pure ethylic alcohol intoxication is seldom witnessed; it is usually modified by the ethers of wine, by the higher alcohols of spirits, and by the special ingredients in other alcoholic drinks ". Or again : -" The convulsive element which sometimes complicates intoxication by spirits, is the most obvious instance of mixed intoxication ". Further, : -" The deleterious effects, both acute and chronic, of the malt liquors are also instances of a mixed intoxication varying with their constituents."In favour of the view that ethylic alcohol is almost solely responsible for the harmful effects produced by alcoholic beverages, Prof. J. J. Abel in a statement of the relative toxicity of the constituents of alcoholic beverages,mentions a number of experiments which seem to prove that the furfurol, higher alcohols,and ethers are found in such slight quantities in any, specimen say of rum, whisky, or wines, that they could not possibly produce any marked effect even though they are admittedly much more poisonous than ethylic alcohol

Evaluation of Geologic CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Sequestration Potential and CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Enhanced Oil Recovery in Kentucky

Kentucky gets approximately 95 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants, which produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). In 2005, Kentucky coal-fired plants vented 102.8 million short tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. The economic vitality of the state will be affected by its ability to develop and apply a portfolio of technologies that will mitigate input of CO2 into the atmosphere. One technology that has the potential to assist in this challenge is geologic carbon storage, which captures CO2 at point sources and injects it into deep rock strata that can store it for tens of thousands of years and longer. Previous studies suggest that Kentucky has the capacity to store up to 1 billion tons of CO2 in underground strata. By necessity, the capacity calculations are high-level estimates, and consequently, actual capacity remains unproved and even speculative. In addition, other factors such as infrastructure, engineering, and economic and regulatory policy will affect the viability of geologic carbon storage in the state. This report is divided into five chapters, each addressing specific technical aspects pertinent to geologic carbon storage, which is the overarching theme. Chapter 1 is an introduction and overview of geologic carbon storage and the data needed to evaluate its potential. Chapter 2 is a geologic evaluation of the potential to use CO2 for enhanced oil recovery. Chapter 3 is an evaluation of subsurface formation-water geochemistry and implications for CO2 sequestration. Chapter 4 is an evaluation of CO2 storage potential with an emphasis along some of the state\u27s major river corridors. Chapter 5 is a geologic evaluation of CO2 storage potential for nominated coal-to-liquids (gasification) sites

The early phase of a radiation accident: revisiting thinking on evacuation and exclusion zones

We are just beginning a two year research project on the management of nuclear risk issues, paying particular attention to environmental, financial and safety issues. One aspect that concerns us is to avoid the assumption that any future accident will be similar to a past accident. In the cases of Chernobyl and Fukushima, it was possible both to evacuate the local population to impose a substantial exclusion zone, and we recognize that for many potential accidents this would be the case. But for some nuclear plant, it may not be so because of the large number of local inhabitants or because of some key industrial or societal infrastructure. We would like to take the opportunity of the ISCRAM conference to discuss this issue with a wide audience

Blip glitches in Advanced LIGO data

Blip glitches are short noise transients present in data from ground-based gravitational-wave observatories. These glitches resemble the gravitational-wave signature of massive binary black hole mergers. Hence, the sensitivity of transient gravitational-wave searches to such high-mass systems and other potential short duration sources is degraded by the presence of blip glitches. The origin and rate of occurrence of this type of glitch have been largely unknown. In this paper we explore the population of blip glitches in Advanced LIGO during its first and second observing runs. On average, we find that Advanced LIGO data contains approximately two blip glitches per hour of data. We identify four subsets of blip glitches correlated with detector auxiliary or environmental sensor channels, however the physical causes of the majority of blips remain unclear

Considerations in relation to off-site emergency procedures and response for nuclear accidents

The operation of nuclear facilities has, fortunately, not led to many accidents with off-site consequences. However, it is well-recognised that should a large release of radioactivity occur, the effects in the surrounding area and population will be significant. These effects can be mitigated by developing emergency preparedness and response plans prior to the operation of the nuclear facility that can be exercised regularly and implemented if an accident occurs. This review paper details the various stages of a nuclear accident and the corresponding aspects of an emergency preparedness plan that are relevant to these stages, both from a UK and international perspective. The paper also details how certain aspects of emergency preparedness have been affected by the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi and as a point of comparison how emergency management plans were implemented following the accidents at Three Mile Island 2 and Chernobyl. In addition, the UK’s economic costing model for nuclear accidents COCO-2, and the UK’s Level-3 Probabilistic Safety Assessment code “PACE” are introduced. Finally, the factors that affect the economic impact of a nuclear accident, especially from a UK standpoint, are described

2018 Establishing groundwater Nitrate / Nitrite levels In Hamilton, Montana & local areaMarch

We propose to collect emergent groundwater around Hamilton, using standardized collection methods that include quality and control samples with analysis performed at a certified drinking water testing laboratory (Energy Labs). Nitrate background in natural groundwater systems should contain less that\u27s 1 mg/L nitrates (U.S. Geological Survey) but in our aquifer, nitrates/nitrites should be less than 0.25 mg/L based on previous sampling. We will map the locations of the samples and use local hydrology data to help determine the source and flow direction of the groundwater. Routine testing and reporting of groundwater quality in our community will help protect our health and the economy of our river. Groundwater in sand and gravel aquifers from shallow wells supplies all the Hamilton area drinking water. The aquifers receive recharge from streams and ditches flowing in from he sides of the valley and the shallow aquifers discharge to the Bitterroot River and to ditches that flow past the West and north edge of Hamilton. we plan to collect about a dozen samples in an arc around the down gradient edge of Hamilton from these groundwater discharges. Nitrates are tasteless and odorless, and are often the first sign of deterioration of groundwater quality. Nitrates are a health threat because they can cause blue baby syndrome and may function as initiators of human carcinogenesis. Nitrates are also an environmental threat because they cause eutrophication damage to surface water aquatic environments in the Bitterroot River. High densities of private septic systems, and large acreages that receive fertilizer or that support farm animals are located up gradient to the south and eats of Hamilton. these are probable sources of pollution to shallow groundwater

Carriage of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli in dogs: prevalence, associated risk factors and molecular characteristics

Resistance to antimicrobials, in particular that mediated by extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) and AmpC β-lactamases are frequently reported in bacteria causing canine disease as well as in commensal bacteria, which could be a potential health risk for humans they come into contact with. This cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence and investigate the molecular characteristics of ESBL and plasmid encoded AmpC (pAmpC)-producing E. coli in the mainland UK vet-visiting canine population and, using responses from detailed questionnaires identify factors associated with their carriage. Faecal samples were cultured for antimicrobial resistant (AMR), ESBL and pAmpC-producing E. coli. A subset of ESBL and pAmpC-producing isolates were subjected to multi-locus sequence typing and DNA microarray analyses. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to construct models to identify risk factors associated with multidrug resistant (MDR, resistance to three or more antimicrobial classes), fluoroquinolone resistant, ESBL and AmpC-producing E. coli. AMR E.coli were isolated from 44.8% (n = 260) of samples, with 1.9% and 7.1% of samples carrying ESBL and pAmpC-producing E. coli, respectively. MDR E. coli were identified in 18.3% of samples. Recent use of antimicrobials and being fed raw poultry were both identified as risk factors in the outcomes investigated. A number of virulence and resistance genes were identified, including genes associated with extra-intestinal and enteropathogenic E. coli genotypes. Considering the close contact that people have with dogs, the high levels of AMR E. coli in canine faeces may be a potential reservoir of AMR bacteria or resistance determinants

Repertoire-Specific Vocal Pitch Data Generation for Improved Melodic Analysis of Carnatic Music

Deep Learning methods achieve state-of-the-art in many tasks, including vocal pitch extraction. However, these methods rely on the availability of pitch track annotations without errors, which are scarce and expensive to obtain for Carnatic Music. Here we identify the tradition-related challenges and propose tailored solutions to generate a novel, large, and open dataset, the Saraga-Carnatic-Melody-Synth (SCMS), comprising audio mixtures and time-aligned vocal pitch annotations. Through a cross-cultural evaluation leveraging this novel dataset, we show improvements in the performance of Deep Learning vocal pitch extraction methods on Indian Art Music recordings. Additional experiments show that the trained models outperform the currently used heuristic-based pitch extraction solutions for the computational melodic analysis of Carnatic Music and that this improvement leads to better results in the musicologically relevant task of repeated melodic pattern discovery when evaluated using expert annotations. The code and annotations are made available for reproducibility. The novel dataset and trained models are also integrated into the Python package compIAM1 which allows them to be used out-of-the-box

Patterns of bruising in preschool children with inherited bleeding disorders: a longitudinal study

Objective The extent that inherited bleeding disorders affect; number, size and location of bruises in young children <6 years. Design Prospective, longitudinal, observational study. Setting Community. Patients 105 children with bleeding disorders, were compared with 328 without a bleeding disorder and classified by mobility: premobile (non-rolling/rolling over/ sitting), early mobile (crawling/cruising) and walking and by disease severity: severe bleeding disorder factor VIII/IX/XI <1 IU/dL or type 3 von Willebrand disease. Interventions Number, size and location of bruises recorded in each child weekly for up to 12 weeks. Outcomes The interventions were compared between children with severe and mild/moderate bleeding disorders and those without bleeding disorders. Multiple collections for individual children were analysed by multilevel modelling. Results Children with bleeding disorders had more and larger bruises, especially when premobile. Compared with premobile children without a bleeding disorder; the modelled ratio of means (95% CI) for number of bruises/ collection was 31.82 (8.39 to 65.42) for severe bleeding disorders and 5.15 (1.23 to 11.17) for mild/moderate, and was 1.81 (1.13 to 2.23) for size of bruises. Children with bleeding disorders rarely had bruises on the ears, neck, cheeks, eyes or genitalia. Conclusions Children with bleeding disorder have more and larger bruises at all developmental stages. The differences were greatest in premobile children. In this age group for children with unexplained bruising, it is essential that coagulation studies are done early to avoid the erroneous diagnosis of physical abuse when the child actually has a serious bleeding disorder, however a blood test compatible with a mild/moderate bleeding disorder cannot be assumed to be the cause of bruising