A method for rectifying thermograms in perspective captured at human height is proposed. It applies to the image pixel-by-pixel corrections that account for the surface emissivity, the reflected ...longwave infrared radiation flux, and the radiation emitted and attenuated by the atmosphere. The results are validated in two steps: first by comparison with contact temperature devices and then by comparison with finite element simulations. They give satisfactory results in both cases.
The method is illustrated on a canyon-type street located in a dense urban area during a winter period of 24 h.
Detailed observation of urban façade surface temperatures opens up new perspectives. Indeed, it allows conclusions to be drawn about the energy behavior of inhabitants by offering a non-intrusive alternative for identifying urban thermal bridges.
Furthermore, the combined use of measurement and simulation facilitates the exploration of the thermal and optical properties of the scene.
This work contributes significantly to the interpretation of urban metering at human height. It provides essential improvements in the evaluation of errors associated with urban surface temperatures retrieved from remote sensing observations.
•Observations of urban surface temperature over 24 h at human height.•Rectification of perspective thermography by raytracing.•Results match very well with contact temperature measurements.•Spatialized information shows good agreement with FEM urban thermal simulations.•The method is a non-intrusive solution for identifying urban thermal bridges.
•Escherichia coli (n=181) was the most frequent bacilli from bloodstream infections in each hospital.•31.5% (57/181) of the isolates were extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing E. coli ...(ESBL-Ec).•blaCTX-M-15 was the most common ESBL gene among ESBL-Ec.•B2-ST131 has emerged in ESBL-Ec bloodstream infections in Quito, Ecuador.
The purpose of this study was to describe the clonal relationships and phylogroups of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) isolated from patients with bacteraemia in three hospitals in Quito, Ecuador.
Between June 2013 and September 2014, a total of 4354 blood cultures were performed in three hospitals located in different areas of Quito. A BACTECTM system was used for blood culture, and the VITEK®2 system was used for species identification and in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The ESBL genotype, presence of the blaCTX-M, blaTEM and blaSHV genes, and the phylogenetic group of E. coli isolates was determined by PCR. Clonal groups were established by multilocus sequence typing (MLST).
Of 929 blood cultures positive for Gram-negative bacilli, 181 (19.5%) were positive for E. coli, representing the most frequent bacteraemia isolates in each hospital. Of the 181 E. coli isolates, 57 (31.5%) were ESBL-Ec. The main sources of ESBL-Ec bacteraemia were urinary tract infection (40; 70.2%), biliary tract infection (10; 17.5%) and other infections (7; 12.3%). The majority of ESBL-Ec isolates (39; 68.4%) from the three hospitals belonged to the virulent phylogenetic group B2, of which 36/39 (92.3%) were ST131 and 33/36 (91.7%) carried the blaCTX-M-15 gene.
These results provide knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships of E. coli from bacteraemia in Ecuadorian patients. ST131 has emerged in ESBL-Ec, representing an important public-health problem because this multiresistant clone is considered to be a vehicle for the propagation of antimicrobial resistance genes and is a highly virulent, well-adapted human pathogen.
Summary
What is known and Objective: A rapid derivatization and validated HPLC method for gabapentin in human plasma and urine is needed for clinical use. The objective of this study was to ...establish a rapid and validated analytical method for the determination of gabapentin in human plasma and urine using isocratic fluorometric HPLC for clinical application.
Methods: This analytical method is based on precolumn fluorescent derivatization using 4‐fluoro‐7‐nitro‐benzofurazan. The derivatization was coupled to fast HPLC separation using a 2·3 μm‐particle size ODS column (100 × 4·6 mm i.d.).
Results and Discussion: The derivatization of gabapentin was optimized and HPLC separation was achieved over an ODS column with a run time of 3·5 min. Calibration curves in human plasma and urine were linear over the concentration ranges of 0·05–10 and 10–1000 μg/mL, respectively. Intra‐ and inter‐assay precision and accuracy values of plasma were within 8·0% and 101–109% and within 8·3% and 94–108%, respectively. Those of urine were within 8·5% and 97–106% and within 9·5% and 97–105%, respectively. This validated method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study in healthy subjects. Interindividual variations in plasma disposition and urinary excretion of gabapentin were observed.
What is new and Conclusion: A rapid and validated isocratic fluorometric HPLC method for the determination of gabapentin in human plasma and urine for clinical application has been established. This method can be utilized to evaluate the pharmacokinetic disposition of gabapentin in humans.
Acinetobacter baumannii (ABA) is an important opportunistic pathogen associated with high mortality rates in intensive care units (ICUs). An outbreak in the ICU of a secondary-level hospital in ...Quito, Ecuador, occurred during April and May 2015 and was successfully controlled.
Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) and repetitive element palindromic (REP)-PCR was conducted on all isolates recovered from patients, as well as environmental samples, to confirm the presence of an outbreak. A case-control study was conducted by comparing the clinical histories of the affected patients and of control patients present in the ICU during the outbreak period who did not present a positive culture for ABA.
Five patients were infected and two were colonized with the same clonal strain of ABA, which was also identified on the stethoscope and a monitor associated with an isolation room. Statistical analysis of case histories did not identify any additional risk factors, but the outbreak was initiated by one patient in the isolation room of the ICU who was infected with the outbreak strain. All patients who ocupied that room after the index case tested positive for at least one culture of ABA. The outbreak strain was found on the stethoscope, and a subclone was found on the monitor of that room.
Having access to basic equipment will enable well-trained professionals to rapidly detect and initiate the control process of an outbreak, saving lives and money spent on nosocomial infection treatments.
The details of risky psychosocial job characteristics related to insomnia are unclear, although potential relationships between the two have been suggested. The study objective was to clarify these ...relationships by using the demand-control-support (DCS) model and the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model.
A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with 1081 middle-aged (39 years and older) workers in a corporate group of electric products in Osaka, Japan. The study variables included insomnia symptoms (non-refreshing sleep, difficulty falling asleep, frequent sleep disruption, and early morning arousal) and psychosocial job characteristics which were evaluated using the DCS and ERI models, gender, age, disease, sleep-related factors, occupational status, and health practices.
ERI odds ratio (95% confidence interval): 2.27 (1.43, 3.60), overcommitment 1.86 (1.40, 2.47), and high job strain 1.55 (1.12, 2.15) were independently associated with insomnia. The odds ratio of insomnia for individuals with high job strain was increased by adding ERI or overcommitment.
The ERI and DCS models describe the adverse psychosocial job characteristics related to insomnia. Simultaneously employing these two models is more useful than employing a single model to identify workers at risk of insomnia. The conceptual framework derived from the job stress models assists in defining preventive measures for insomnia in workers.
A lower trophic ecosystem model coupled with a one‐dimensional physical turbulence closure model was applied to study phytoplankton dynamics and spring bloom initiation in mesoscale anticyclonic ...eddies (AEs) and cyclonic eddies (CEs). The model simulated ecosystem dynamics between nutrient‐phytoplankton‐zooplankton‐detritus in AEs and CEs, while the physical model provided the seasonal cycle of convective turbulent mixing. The study was motivated by earlier work based on satellite and ship observations, which showed earlier initiation of the spring blooms in CEs with shallow mixed‐layer depths than in AEs with deeper mixed‐layer depths. The model results supported the hypothesis that mixed‐layer depths in eddies play an important role in the dynamics of the spring bloom initiation. Model results revealed that in AEs convective mixing causes light limitation for phytoplankton growth due to deep winter mixing, and the bloom initiation is delayed until relaxation of turbulent convective mixing. Conversely, in the shallow mixed‐layer CEs, blooms initiate before the end of convective mixing due to early improvement in light conditions following the increase in solar radiation. Furthermore, the model showed that the relaxation in zooplankton grazing for the deep mixing contributed to weak winter phytoplankton accumulation in AE, while winter phytoplankton accumulation was faster in the shallow mixed‐layer CE. Overall, the initiation mechanism and the dynamics of the spring phytoplankton blooms are different for AEs and CEs. Therefore, we suggest that, in many parts of the global ocean, eddies play an important role regulating the dynamics of phytoplankton blooms.
Plain Language Summary
Mesoscale eddies are energetic swirling features, on the order of 100 km and lifespans of weeks to months, found almost everywhere in the ocean with strong impact on biogeochemical processes and ecosystems dynamics. This study employed a physical‐biological coupled model to understand the influence of mesoscale anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies on the initiation of spring phytoplankton blooms. The results showed distinct bloom initiation timings and grazing rates within the interior of the eddies. In the case of anticyclonic eddies with deeper mixed layers, blooms are triggered by suppression of turbulent mixing, which allows for increased phytoplankton light exposure. In contrast, cyclonic eddies with shallower mixed layers, blooms are triggered by increase in surface light that improves phytoplankton light exposure prior to the end of convective mixing. These findings are pertinent to understanding physical‐biological interactions and their consequent role in ecosystem dynamics and the biological carbon pump in the ocean under climate change.
Key Points
A 1‐D model applied to study the spring bloom initiation in eddies shows earlier blooms in CEs as compared to AEs
The model confirms that bloom trigger is suppressed convection in deep mixing AEs and increasing solar radiation in shallow mixing CEs
The results also showed relaxation of zooplankton grazing for deep mixing AEs, while winter phytoplankton accumulation was faster in CEs
Ready‐to‐eat food contamination with ESBL‐producing Escherichia coli is a growing health concern. Some of these strains also are epidemic clones and can cause community‐associated infections that are ...difficult to treat. In this study, the occurrence of ESBL‐producing E. coli contaminated ready‐to‐eat street food in Quito, Ecuador was evaluated. In total, 150 samples were collected randomly in the most crowded sites of the city. In all, 34 samples (34/150; 22·6%) were positive for total thermotolerant (44·5°C) coliforms resistant to cefotaxime. MALDI‐TOF analysis identified that the E. coli was found in 20 food samples (20/34; 59%). ESBL gene blaCTX‐M‐55 was identified in nine isolates, blaCTX‐M‐15 in six isolates, blaCTX‐M‐14 in two isolates, and one isolate each harboured blaCTX‐M‐24, blaCTX‐M‐65, blaCTX‐M‐55 and blaCTX‐M‐8. Phylogenetic groups like A and B1 were the most common, followed by groups D and B2. MLST analysis identified 12 different sequence types (STs), the most common was ST162. Recognized epidemic clonal groups ST410, ST131 and ST744 were encountered. Ready‐to‐eat street food is a potential way of spreading ESBL‐producing E. coli epidemic clones in Quito, Ecuador.
Significance and Impact of the Study
This study identified ESBL‐producing Escherichia coli epidemic clones: ST131, ST410 and ST744 in ready‐to‐eat street food samples. Street food is a possible way to spread harm multidrug‐resistant (MDR) E. coli strains in the community. Studies to identify the contamination sources of this kind of food are needed to tackle MDR E. coli dissemination.
Significance and Impact of the Study: This study identified ESBL‐producing Escherichia coli epidemic clones: ST131, ST410 and ST744 in ready‐to‐eat street food samples. Street food is a possible way to spread harm multidrug‐resistant (MDR) E. coli strains in the community. Studies to identify the contamination sources of this kind of food are needed to tackle MDR E. coli dissemination.
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