Treatment of various pathological conditions in ophthalmology, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinopathy and endophthalmitis, requires a local drug intervention rather than a systemic approach. ...Accurate knowledge of intraocular drug concentration can permit the ophthalmologist to maintain drug levels within the therapeutic levels necessary for an optimal prognosis, while preventing or minimizing toxicity associated with drug overdose.
To develop a noninvasive/noncontact method for quantification of the local concentration of ganciclovir in the ocular media.
An integrated CCD-based Raman spectroscopic system designed specifically for ophthalmic applications was used to noninvasively detect the presence of ganciclovir in the ocular media. Various known concentrations of ganciclovir were injected into the aqueous humor of rabbit eyes in a pilot study, in vivo. Raman spectra were then acquired by focusing an argon laser beam within the anterior chamber of the eye. The specific Raman signature of ganciclovir was assessed at several concentrations.
Spectral features unique to ganciclovir were identified and distinguished from those of ocular tissue. The amplitudes of the spectral peaks corresponding to ganciclovir exhibited a linear dependence on the local concentration of the drug in the anterior chamber of the eye.
Raman spectroscopy may offer an effective tool for the noninvasive assessment of the local concentration of ganciclovir in the ocular media. This technique offers the potential to determine both the amount and the rate of the drug release from implants designed to deliver antiviral drugs locally within the eye. The availability of such data could enable the ophthalmologist to improve treatment efficacy by avoiding premature or late surgical replacement of the implants.
Improving OSPF dynamics on a broadcast LAN Goyal, M.; Xie, W.; Hosseini, S.H. ...
13th IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems,
2005
Conference Proceeding
In this paper, we analyze OSPF's interface state machine and propose modifications in order to reduce the time/processing requirements of the leader election process in a broadcast LAN environment. ...The proposed modifications are based on dynamic adjustment of wait time duration rather than using a static value.
Particle size distribution from biomass combustion is an important parameter as it affects air quality, climate modelling and health effects. To date particle size distributions reported from prior ...studies vary not only due to difference in fuels but also difference in experimental conditions. This study aims to report characteristics of particle size distribution in a well controlled repeatable lab scale biomass fires for southwestern US fuels. The combustion facility at the USDA Forest Service's Fire Science Laboratory (FSL), Missoula, MT provided repeatable combustion and dilution environment ideal for particle size distribution study. For a variety of fuels tested the major mode of particle size distribution was in the range of 29 to 52 nm, which was attributable to dilution of the fresh smoke. Comparing volume size distribution from Fast Mobility Particle Sizer (FMPS) and Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS) measurements, ~30% of particle volume was attributable to the particles ranging from 0.5 to 10 mu m for PM sub(10). Geometric mean diameter rapidly increased during flaming and gradually decreased during mixed and smoldering phase combustion. Most of fuels gave unimodal distribution during flaming phase and strong biomodal distribution during smoldering phase. The mode of combustion (flaming, mixed and smoldering) could be better distinguished using slopes in Modified Combustion Efficiency (MCE) vs. geometric mean diameter from each mode of combustion than only using MCE values.
P. Q. Eichacker, W. D. Hoffman, A. Farese, R. L. Danner, A. F. Suffredini, Y. Waisman, S. M. Banks, T. Mouginis, L. Wilson, R. Rothlein and al. et
Critical Care Medicine Department, National ...Institutes of Health, Bethesda 20892.
We investigated the effects of a murine monoclonal antibody directed
against the canine leukocyte CD11/18 adhesion complex (MAb R15.7) in a
canine model of septic shock. Awake 2-yr-old purpose-bred beagles were
studied 7 days before and 1, 2, 4, and 10 days after intraperitoneal
placement of an Escherichia coli-infected fibrin clot. Starting 12 h before
clot placement, animals received 0.5-1 mg/kg iv every 12 h (4 doses total)
of either MAb R15.7 (MAb group, n = 8) or, as controls, murine serum
protein (n = 8). After infected clot placement, all animals received
antibiotic (ceftriaxne, 100 mg.kg-1.day-1 for 4 days). Two of eight control
animals and four of eight MAb animals died (P = 0.4). During the first 8 h
after clot placement, MAb animals, compared with control animals, had
greater (P < 0.06) increases in serum endotoxin levels and higher (P
< 0.05) neutrophil counts. Day 1 after clot placement, MAb animals,
compared with control animals, had decreased (P < 0.05) central venous
pressure and arterial pH and increased (P < 0.05) arterial lactate. Day
2 after clot placement, MAb animals, compared with control animals, had
decreased (P < 0.05) cardiac index and mean arterial pressure. In
summary, MAb R15.7, although associated with increased neutrophil counts,
worsened serum endotoxemia, acidosis, and cardiovascular function in this
canine model of septic shock. These data suggest that in septic shock,
antibody directed against this leukocyte membrane protein complex may be
harmful, possibly via impairment of normal leukocyte function.
Adoption of optical vegetation indices for local, national, and global crop condition monitoring is wide spread. Given that cloud cover impedes acquisition of these data, this research examines ...whether Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), specifically a compact polarimetric (CP) configuration, could augment these operational initiatives. Encouraging statistical correlations are reported between several CP parameters and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). These early results suggest that further development is warranted to integrate a SAR-based index with optical-NDVI particularly considering the configuration of future Canadian satellite systems.
Comets are small bodies thought to contain the most pristine material in the solar system. However, since their formation 4.5 Gy ago, they have been altered by different processes. While not exposed ...to much electromagnetic radiation, they experience intense particle radiation. Galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles have a broad spectrum of energies and interact with the cometary surface and subsurface; they are the main source of space weathering for a comet in the Kuiper Belt or in the Oort cloud; and also affect the ice prior to the comet agglomeration. While low energy particles interact only with the cometary surface, the most energetic ones deposit a significant amount of energy down to tens of meters. This interaction can modify the isotopic ratios in cometary ices and create secondary compounds through radiolysis, such as O2 and H2O2 (paper II: Maggiolo et al., 2020). In this paper, we model the energy deposition of energetic particles as a function of depth using a Geant4 application modified to account for the isotope creation process. We quantify the energy deposited in cometary nucleus by galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles. The consequences of the energy deposition on the isotopic and chemical composition of cometary ices and their implication on the interpretation of cometary observations, notably of 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko by the ESA/Rosetta spacecraft, will be discussed in Paper II.
