Meat has received little attention regarding human exposure to
Mycobacterium avium subsp.
paratuberculosis, a possible infectious trigger of Crohn's disease. Meat has less contamination with other ...organisms than gut tissues, facilitating modifications to existing decontamination protocols prior to BACTEC culture that could increase analytical sensitivity. Using spiked meat samples we trialled enzymatic and chemical digestion techniques to concentrate larger starting samples, and modifications to existing clinical mycobacteriological decontamination protocols. An acid-pepsin digestion method using a 20
g sample was considerably more sensitive (detection limit 0.88
log
10 viable organisms per gram) than previous techniques. However, it was cumbersome for routine use, and subject to frequent contamination. Modifications to an existing centrifugation protocol yielded a simple, robust technique with slightly improved sensitivity (detection limit 1.77
log
10 per gram). Use of these sensitive tests in parallel identified
M. a. paratuberculosis in the muscle of 59% and peripheral lymph nodes (PLN) of 85% of clinically infected sheep. The numbers of
M. a. paratuberculosis in these infected tissues were low (1.67
±
0.92
log
10 per gram in muscle and 2.06
±
0.69
log
10 per gram in PLN), such that many would not have been detected by routine methods. Fewer subclinically infected animals with gross lesions harboured
M. a. paratuberculosis in meat (4.5%) or PLN (32%), and the numbers of organisms in such infected animals were lower. Because most animals raised specifically for meat production are young and unlikely to be heavily infected, and because meat is usually consumed cooked, the risk of human exposure to viable
M. a. paratuberculosis via meat may be small. Measures to prevent heavily infected animals, especially those with clinical signs, from entering the human food chain would further reduce this risk.
•Long-term performance of silane coatings on reinforced concrete.•Hydrophobic effects of silanes following 10years of service.•Capillary absorption testing.
Silanes can act as hydrophobic pore liners ...for reinforced concrete (RC) structures. They can significantly reduce the depth of chloride penetration, a major cause of steel reinforcement corrosion. However, there is little published information on their long-term performance. Thirty-two concrete cores were extracted from eight full-scale RC bridge supporting cross-beams that were treated with silane 20years ago. Their water absorption by capillarity was measured and compared with sixteen control cores extracted from four non-silane treated RC cross-beams constructed at the same time. Results show that silanes may provide a residual protective effect against water even after 20years of service.
•Measurements of magnetic island and ECCD locations are essential for NTM suppression.•Many control systems rely on diagnostics which may not be robust to neutron radiation.•Magnetic island and ECCD ...locations are both found with a single ECE diagnostic.•The modified Rutherford equation is used to demonstrate the effect of ECCD alignment.
Accurate real-time measurements of magnetic island and electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) locations are essential for efficient suppression of the neoclassical tearing mode (NTM). To determine these locations, many control systems rely on motional Stark effect constrained equilibria reconstruction and real-time Thomson scattering with TORBEAM current drive evaluation and therefore require time-intensive cross-calibration of at least two different diagnostics. Here we present a simpler, proof-of-concept analysis that uses only a single diagnostic (a radial array electron cyclotron emission radiometer) for the simultaneous determination of both the radial position of a magnetic island and the deposition location of ECCD. Measurements are compared with the modified Rutherford equation to demonstrate the effect of ECCD alignment on NTM suppression.
THIN LIQUID WATER CLOUDS Turner, D. D.; Vogelmann, A. M.; Austin, R. T. ...
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society,
02/2007, Volume:
88, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Many of the clouds important to the Earth’s energy balance, from the Tropics to the Arctic, contain small amounts of liquid water. Longwave and shortwave radiative fluxes are very sensitive to small ...perturbations of the cloud liquid water path (LWP), when the LWP is small (i.e., < 100 g m−2; clouds with LWP less than this threshold will be referred to as “thin”). Thus, the radiative properties of these thin liquid water clouds must be well understood to capture them correctly in climate models. We review the importance of these thin clouds to the Earth’s energy balance, and explain the difficulties in observing them. In particular, because these clouds are thin, potentially mixed phase, and often broken (i.e., have large 3D variability), it is challenging to retrieve their microphysical properties accurately. We describe a retrieval algorithm intercomparison that was conducted to evaluate the issues involved. The intercomparison used data collected at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site and included 18 different algorithms to evaluate their retrieved LWP, optical depth, and effective radii. Surprisingly, evaluation of the simplest case, a single-layer overcast stratocumulus, revealed that huge discrepancies exist among the various techniques, even among different algorithms that are in the same general classification. This suggests that, despite considerable advances that have occurred in the field, much more work must be done, and we discuss potential avenues for future research.)
Emergence of the COVID-19 crisis has catalyzed rapid paradigm shifts throughout medicine. Even after the initial wave of the virus subsides, a wholesale return to the prior status quo is not prudent. ...As a specialty that values the proper application of new technology, radiation oncology should strive to be at the forefront of harnessing telehealth as an important tool to further optimize patient care. We remain cognizant that telehealth cannot and should not be a comprehensive replacement for in-person patient visits because it is not a one for one replacement, dependent on the intention of the visit and patient preference. However, we envision the opportunity for the virtual patient “room” where multidisciplinary care may take place from every specialty. How we adapt is not an inevitability, but instead, an opportunity to shape the ideal image of our new normal through the choices that we make. We have made great strides toward genuine multidisciplinary patient-centered care, but the continued use of telehealth and virtual visits can bring us closer to optimally arranging the spokes of the provider team members around the central hub of the patient as we progress down the road through treatment.
Summary
Autoantibodies to ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin‐like and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type I motif, member 13) play an important role in the development of microthrombosis in thrombotic ...thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). In severe cases of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), microthrombosis can occur similar to that seen in TTP, suggesting possible mutual pathogenic factors. However, the role of ADAMTS13 in APS is unknown. We hypothesised that aberrations in ADAMTS13 may occur in APS and evaluated ADAMTS13 and von Willebrand factor (VWF) in 68 patients with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPA) including 52 with APS. Thirty‐three (49%) had IgG anti‐ADAMTS13 with 12 of these patients having reduced ADAMTS13 activity, suggesting neutralising antibodies. Low ADAMTS13 activity (median 34%) was demonstrated in 22/68 (33%), all with normal ADAMTS13 antigen levels consistent with dysfunctional ADAMTS13. Reduced ADAMTS13 activity was not secondary to elevated von Willebrand factor (VWF), or increased VWF secretion (normal VWF propeptide), although a reduced VWF clearance was noted in APS. Analysis found no associations between the ADAMTS13 abnormalities and any aPA profile or thrombotic/obstetric complications, although this study was not adequately powered to address clinical associations. Nevertheless, these findings highlight that ADAMTS13 autoantibodies and ADAMTS13 dysfunction can occur in APS, and although the clinical significance remains undetermined, ADAMTS13 dysfunction may be contributory to thrombogenesis in autoimmune conditions other than TTP.
Minimally invasive neurological surgeries are increasingly being sought after for treatment in neurological pathologies and oncology. A critical limitation in these minimally invasive procedures is ...lack of specialized tools that allow for space-time controlled delivery of sufficient energy for coagulation and cutting of tissue. Advent of fiber-lasers provide high average power with improved beam quality (lower M
), biocompatible silica fiber delivery, reduced cost of manufacturing, and radiant output stability over long operating periods. Despite these advancements, no fiber-laser based surgical tools are currently available for tissue resection
. Here we demonstrate a first to our knowledge, fiber-laser platform for performing precise brain surgery in a murine brain model. In this study, our primary aims were to first demonstrate efficacy of fiber-lasers in performing precise blood-less surgery in a murine brain with limited non-specific thermal damage. Second, fiber-lasers' ability to deliver radiant energy through biocompatible silica fibers was explored in a murine brain model for blood less resection. A bench-top optical coherence tomography (OCT) guided fiber-laser platform was constructed with a stereotactic stage for performing precision brain surgery. A pulsed quasi-continuous wave ytterbium (Yb) fiber-laser (1.07 µm) was used to perform vascular specific coagulation while a pulsed nanosecond thulium fiber-laser (1.94 µm) was used to conduct bloodless cutting, all under the guidance of a swept-source OCT system centered at 1310 +/- 70 nm. Specialty linear and circular cuts were made in an
murine brain for bloodless brain tissue resection. The two fiber-lasers were combined into a single biocompatible silica fiber to conduct brain surgery resection under the bench-top OCT system's imaging microscope. Vascular specific coagulation was demonstrated in all five mice studied. Bloodless linear cuts and point cuts were demonstrated
. Histologically, thermal injury was measured to be less than 100 µm while a removal rate of close to 5 mm
/s was achieved with an average Tm fiber-laser power of 15 W. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a fiber-laser platform for conducting
bloodless brain tissue resection with a pulsed thulium (Tm) fiber-laser and a quasi-continuous wave (QCW) Yb fiber-laser. The demonstrated fiber-laser platform, if successfully configured for use in the operating room (OR), can provide surgeons a tool for rapid removal of tissue while making surgical resections of brain regions more precise, and can be basis for a flexible cutting tool capable of reaching hard-to-operate regions.
PDF
