The study expands the research on fitness facility accessibility by determining how compliant fitness facilities in rural western Wisconsin were with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ...(ADA). Comparisons were made with 4 other studies that were conducted in different geographical regions. The study also examined fitness professionals' disability knowledge and awareness.
An ADA fitness facility compliance instrument and a fitness professional disability awareness survey were used. Direct observation and physical measurements were taken during on-site visits to 16 of 36 eligible fitness facilities in rural western Wisconsin. Ten fitness professionals from participating facilities completed an online survey. Frequencies were used to analyze the results.
None of the participating facilities were in 100% compliance with ADA. Customer service desk (84%) and path of travel throughout the facility (72%) were the highest compliance areas. Telephone (6%) and locker rooms (32%) were the lowest compliance areas. No fitness professional was trained in wheelchair transfers and very few had received training in providing services to individuals with disabilities.
Fitness facility accessibility remains a concern nationally. Continued efforts need to be made to raise the awareness of ADA compliance among fitness professionals across the United States, especially in rural areas where fitness facility availability is limited.
Background: Guidelines published by the Food and Drug Administration and Center for Human Medicinal Products describe the need to assess immunotoxic effects in nonclinical studies that evaluate drug ...toxicity, including the use of immunophenotyping to measure immunotoxicity. We are not aware of previous studies, however, that have validated methods for immunophenotyping peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in whole blood samples from cynomolgus monkeys.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to optimize and validate a flow cytometric assay for immunophenotyping lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of cynomolgus monkeys.
Methods: A series of prevalidation experiments were done to determine optimal reagents, volumes, timing, and other procedural details of the flow cytometric assay. Using the optimized method, we then determined precision, interindividual variation, laboratory‐to‐laboratory variability, and sample stability. Stabilized human blood was used as a positive control for staining, processing, and analysis. The percentage and number of pan‐T cells (CD3+), T‐helper cells (CD3+4+), T cytotoxic/suppressor cells (CD3+8+), natural killer cells (CD3−16+), and B‐cells (CD3−20+) were determined in 146 male and 140 female, clinically healthy monkeys and reference intervals were calculated.
Results: By doing 4‐color staining with a lyse‐wash method, intra‐ and interassay precision were <5% for all lymphocyte subsets. Variability between technicians and laboratories was minimal (CVs<3%). Samples were stable for up to 24 hours after staining and fixing.
Conclusions: The validated method is extremely robust and can be performed under good laboratory practice conditions to support nonclinical studies. Reference intervals for lymphocyte subsets were similar to those previously reported.
Following the discovery of the Higgs boson with a mass of approximately 125 GeV at the LHC, many studies have been performed from both the theoretical and experimental viewpoints to search for a new ...Higgs Boson that is lighter than 125 GeV. We explore the possibility of constraining a lighter neutral scalar Higgs boson h1 and a lighter pseudo-scalar Higgs boson a1 in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model by restricting the next-to-lightest scalar Higgs boson h2 to be the one observed at the LHC after applying the phenomenological constraints and those from experimental measurements. Such lighter particles are not yet completely excluded by the latest results of the search for a lighter Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel from LHC data. Our results show that some new constraints on the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model could be obtained for a lighter scalar Higgs boson at the LHC if such a search is performed by experimental collaborations and more data. The potentials of discovery for other interesting decay channels of such a lighter neutral scalar or pseudo-scalar particle are also discussed.
The objective of this work was to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of antibodies against Pasteurella multocida toxin type D, that correlated to a mouse lethality ...test. Currently, the mouse lethality test is one of several tests used world-wide to evaluate serological responses in animals immunised with vaccines containing toxoids. The mouse lethality test involves injecting mice with a mixture of toxin and test serum sample (from animals that have been vaccinated with a toxoid), and then determining antibody titre of the test serum from the number of mice that survive. Thus, the titre calculated is based on the neutralising activity of the test serum. The mouse lethality test requires large numbers of animals and causes severe distress to the animals. Organisations world-wide are working towards alternatives to animals in the development and control of biological products for human and veterinary use. Additionally, the mouse lethality test is labour-intensive, costly and lacks robustness and may be difficult to reproduce between different technicians. We have developed a double sandwich ELISA to measure anti- P. multocida toxoid type D antibodies in swine serum. Sera from swine immunised with vaccines containing type D toxoid showed good correlation to the mouse lethality assay (Spearman analysis=0·94 and Pearson analysis=0·84). When compared to the mouse lethality test, titres obtained using the ELISA format had higher correlation with protective immunity (i.e., lower turbinate atrophy) following challenge with virulent P. multocida. The ELISA assay is more robust, reproducible and costs less than the mouse lethality assay; and it complements efforts to reduce the use of animals in testing.
After the discovery of the Higgs boson with mass at approximately 125 \(GeV\) at the LHC, many studies both from the theoretical and experimental sides have been performed to search for a new Higgs ...Boson lighter than the 125 \(GeV\) Higgs boson. We explore the possibility of constraining a lighter neutral scalar Higgs boson \(h_{1}\) and a lighter pseudo-scalar Higgs boson \(a_{1}\) in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model by restricting the next-to-lightest scalar Higgs boson \(h_{2}\) to be the LHC observed Higgs boson after the phenomenological constraints and the constraints from experimental measurements. Such lighter particles are not yet completely excluded by the latest results of the search for a lighter Higgs boson with the diphoton decay channel from LHC data. Our results show that for a lighter scalar Higgs boson some new constraints on the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model could be obtained at the LHC if such a search is performed by the experimental collaborations with more data. The discovery potential of other interesting decay channels of such a lighter neutral scalar and a pseudo-scalar particle are also discussed.
This document summarises the talks and discussions happened during the VBSCan Split17 workshop, the first general meeting of the VBSCan COST Action network. This collaboration is aiming at a ...consistent and coordinated study of vector-boson scattering from the phenomenological and experimental point of view, for the best exploitation of the data that will be delivered by existing and future particle colliders.
We present the activities of the `New Physics' working group for the `Physics at TeV Colliders' workshop (Les Houches, France, 5--23 June, 2017). Our report includes new physics studies connected ...with the Higgs boson and its properties, direct search strategies, reinterpretation of the LHC results in the building of viable models and new computational tool developments.
Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) significantly affect the lives of patients and increase the risk of hospital stays and amputation. We suggest a remote monitoring platform for better DFU care. This system ...uses digital health metrics (scaled from 0 to 10, where higher scores indicate a greater risk of slow healing) to provide a comprehensive overview through a visual interface. The platform features smart offloading devices that capture behavioral metrics such as offloading adherence, daily steps, and cadence. Coupled with remotely measurable frailty and phenotypic metrics, it offers an in-depth patient profile. Additional demographic data, characteristics of the wound, and clinical parameters, such as cognitive function, were integrated, contributing to a comprehensive risk factor profile. We evaluated the feasibility of this platform with 124 DFU patients over 12 weeks; 39% experienced unfavorable outcomes such as dropout, adverse events, or non-healing. Digital biomarkers were benchmarked (0-10); categorized as low, medium, and high risk for unfavorable outcomes; and visually represented using color-coded radar plots. The initial results of the case reports illustrate the value of this holistic visualization to pinpoint the underlying risk factors for unfavorable outcomes, including a high number of steps, poor adherence, and cognitive impairment. Although future studies are needed to validate the effectiveness of this visualization in personalizing care and improving wound outcomes, early results in identifying risk factors for unfavorable outcomes are promising.
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