An evaluation of the efficacy of 35% hydrogen peroxide vapour (HPV) against two strains of FMDV was conducted over a period of 6 months. FMDV biological indicators were produced on‐site using strains ...obtained from a commercial FMDV vaccine manufacturing process. FMDV biological indicators were distributed within a BSL4 laboratory and exposed to short duration hydrogen peroxide cycles. Variations in titre, support matrix (soiling), temperature and humidity were evaluated in a series of 16 exposures using over 200 individual FMDV indicators. Additional verification testing was performed in an operational material transfer lock to replicate real‐world use. HPV was found to be efficacious in inactivating FMDV strains; the inoculum titre influenced the level of reduction achieved with the specified cycle.
Significance and Impact of the Study
The classification of formaldehyde as a presumed human carcinogen has presented regulatory challenges for its continued use as a biocidal product. Institutions are actively seeking fumigants to replace formaldehyde and undertaking studies to validate biocidal efficacy, particularly in high‐level biosafety facilities where the consequences of pathogen release can be extremely severe. This study builds on the already substantial scientific efficacy base of 35% hydrogen peroxide vapour and provides a comprehensive evaluation of the applicability of hydrogen peroxide vapour as a replacement for formaldehyde within a Foot & Mouth Disease (FMDV) vaccine manufacturing facility.
Significance and Impact of the Study: The classification of formaldehyde as a presumed human carcinogen has presented regulatory challenges for its continued use as a biocidal product. Institutions are actively seeking fumigants to replace formaldehyde and undertaking studies to validate biocidal efficacy, particularly in high‐level biosafety facilities where the consequences of pathogen release can be extremely severe. This study builds on the already substantial scientific efficacy base of 35% hydrogen peroxide vapour and provides a comprehensive evaluation of the applicability of hydrogen peroxide vapour as a replacement for formaldehyde within a Foot & Mouth Disease (FMDV) vaccine manufacturing facility.
Euclid preparation Adam, R.; Vannier, M.; Maurogordato, S. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
07/2019, Volume:
627
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Galaxy cluster counts in bins of mass and redshift have been shown to be a competitive probe to test cosmological models. This method requires an efficient blind detection of clusters from surveys ...with a well-known selection function and robust mass estimates, which is particularly challenging at high redshift. The
Euclid
wide survey will cover 15 000 deg
2
of the sky, avoiding contamination by light from our Galaxy and our solar system in the optical and near-infrared bands, down to magnitude 24 in the
H
-band. The resulting data will make it possible to detect a large number of galaxy clusters spanning a wide-range of masses up to redshift ∼2 and possibly higher. This paper presents the final results of the
Euclid
Cluster Finder Challenge (CFC), fourth in a series of similar challenges. The objective of these challenges was to select the cluster detection algorithms that best meet the requirements of the
Euclid
mission. The final CFC included six independent detection algorithms, based on different techniques, such as photometric redshift tomography, optimal filtering, hierarchical approach, wavelet and friend-of-friends algorithms. These algorithms were blindly applied to a mock galaxy catalog with representative
Euclid
-like properties. The relative performance of the algorithms was assessed by matching the resulting detections to known clusters in the simulations down to masses of
M
200
∼ 10
13.25
M
⊙
. Several matching procedures were tested, thus making it possible to estimate the associated systematic effects on completeness to < 3%. All the tested algorithms are very competitive in terms of performance, with three of them reaching > 80% completeness for a mean purity of 80% down to masses of 10
14
M
⊙
and up to redshift
z
= 2. Based on these results, two algorithms were selected to be implemented in the
Euclid
pipeline, the Adaptive Matched Identifier of Clustered Objects (AMICO) code, based on matched filtering, and the PZWav code, based on an adaptive wavelet approach.
MRA assessment of parent artery patency after flow-diverter placement is complicated by imaging artifacts produced by these devices. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of liver ...acquisition with volume acceleration-flex technique (LAVA-Flex) MRA in combination with 3D-TOF with HyperSense MRA for the evaluation of parent vessel status after intracranial flow-diverter placement.
Fifty-six patients treated by flow diversion and followed with both DSA and 3T MRA between November 2020 and August 2021 were included. All patients were evaluated for parent artery patency using the same imaging protocol (DSA, noncontrast MRA including 3D-TOF with HyperSense and LAVA-Flex, and contrast-enhanced MRA, including time-resolved imaging of contrast kinetics MRA and delayed contrast-enhanced MRA).
With DSA as a criterion standard to evaluate the patency of the parent vessel, noncontrast MRA had a good specificity (0.83) and positive predictive value (0.65), better than contrast-enhanced MRA (0.55 and 0.41, respectively). Both had excellent sensitivity and negative predictive value: noncontrast MRA, 0.93 and 0.97, respectively; contrast-enhanced MRA, 0.93 and 0.96, respectively. Specificity and positive predictive value tended to be lower for patients treated with additional devices than for those treated with flow diverters exclusively and for patients treated with a specific type of flow diverter.
Noncontrast MRA can be used for noninvasive follow-up of intracranial aneurysms treated by flow diverters. The combined use of LAVA-Flex and 3D-TOF with HyperSense sequences allows monitoring the status of the parent artery and aneurysm occlusion.
Computed tomography is the cornerstone of modern radiology and arguably the most important modality in terms of clinical impact. CT is used extensively for emergencies, cardiovascular, pulmonary, ...gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological, orthopedic and other applications ‐ often as the first and only imaging procedure needed for diagnosis, characterization, staging, treatment planning, and follow‐up. CT is often the first and only modality needed. There is high likelihood that a patient will have a CT scan in the emergency department, as an outpatient, or as an inpatient for a multitude of indications ‐ trauma, suspected infection or malignancy, and frequently to investigate symptoms such as pain and fever, or to answer a question raised by another test, such as an EKG abnormality or ultrasound finding.
Many other modalities are available, including MRI, ultrasound, fluoroscopy and nuclear medicine PET and SPECT. Depending on the clinical question, more than one modality may be required, so questions raised in a CT exam could be resolved with PET or MRI. Each modality has strengths and limitations which are known and recognized relative to the clinical indication. Since pre‐certification may be required by payors prior to imaging, these indications are important for reimbursement. The principal drivers for clinical imaging, both single and multi‐modality today are reimbursement, radiation dose, workflow efficiency, and availability. Multimodality imaging is most frequently applied to solve complex or demanding clinical problems, and almost never used for screening.
A major advantage of CT in hospitals and clinics as well as free‐standing imaging centers, is its availability 24/7, while other modalities such as US and MRI may be limited to scheduled examinations in the majority of cases. Multimodality scanners based on CT incorporate PET/SPECT and MRI to combine morphologic and functional imaging. The most demanding imaging applications are cardiovascular, where complex motion and small morphologic features coexist, so imaging methods that are very satisfactory elsewhere in the body may not be successful. Clinical CT scanning consists of administering toxic materials, e.g., contrast media, while monitoring the EKG and illuminating the body with high brightness x‐rays. Larger area detectors and higher acquisition rates are welcome improvements, but don't solve all of the problems encountered with scan variability due to respiratory, whole body, and cardiac motion, especially in a spectrum of patients from infant to massively obese adult sizes (< 1 kg to 250 kg or more). The challenges and pitfalls in CT and multimodality imaging will be delineated and evaluated relative to current and future technology.
Learning Objectives:
1. The role of x‐ray computed tomography (CT) is central to multimodality imaging in diagnosis, staging, treatment planning and follow‐up.
2. The principal drivers for CT and complementary use of other modalities are availability, reimbursement, workflow, and radiation dose. The influence of these factors on clinical decision making will be outlined and illustrated.
3. The limitations of a single modality, such as CT, can be overcome by integrating complementary instrumentation, especially PET/SPECT, MRI and others (such as ultrasound and fluoroscopy) to provide simultaneous morphologic and functional imaging.
We present new long-baseline spectro-interferometric observations of the Herbig Ae star HD 163296 (MWC 275) obtained in the H and K bands with the AMBER instrument at the VLTI. The observations cover ...a range of spatial resolutions between ~3 and ~12 milliarcseconds, with a spectral resolution of ~30. With a total of 1481 visibilities and 432 closure phases, they represent the most comprehensive (u,v) coverage achieved so far for a young star. The circumstellar material is resolved at the sub-AU spatial scale and closure phase measurements indicate a small but significant deviation from point-symmetry. We discuss the results assuming that the near-infrared excess in HD 163296 is dominated by the emission of a circumstellar disk. A successful fit to the spectral energy distribution, near-infrared visibilities and closure phases is found with a model in which a dominant contribution to the H and K band emission originates in an optically thin, smooth and point-symmetric region extending from about 0.1 to 0.45 AU. At a distance of 0.45 AU from the star, silicates condense, the disk becomes optically thick and develops a puffed-up rim, whose skewed emission can account for the non-zero closure phases. We discuss the source of the inner disk emission and tentatively exclude dense molecular gas as well as optically thin atomic or ionized gas as its possible origin. We propose instead that the smooth inner emission is produced by very refractory grains in a partially cleared region, extending to at least ~0.5 AU. If so, we may be observing the disk of HD 163296 just before it reaches the transition disk phase. However, we note that the nature of the refractory grains or, in fact, even the possibility of any grain surviving at the very high temperatures we require (~$2100{-}2300$ K at 0.1 AU from the star) is unclear and should be investigated further.
OBJECTIVESStatins have been associated with an increased risk of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), but without dedicated study in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). We aimed to evaluate the ...association between previous statin treatment and radiological hemorrhagic lesions in a CAA population during a first lobar ICH event.MATERIALS AND METHODSWe retrospectively included all patients meeting the modified Boston criteria for probable CAA and admitted for a first lobar ICH between 2010 and 2021 at Rouen University Hospital. Patients were classified as having previous statin treatment or not. We compared the ICH volume, the number of associated cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), and cortical superficial siderosis (CSS) according to previous statin treatment or not. We also compared functional outcomes and ICH recurrence during the follow-up period between the two groups.RESULTSWe included 99 patients, 27 of whom had statin treatment prior to their ICH. The ICH volume and the number of CMBs did not differ between groups. Disseminated CSS was initially more frequent in the statin group (88% versus 57%; P=0.019), but this was no longer significant after adjustment for antiplatelet treatment (P=0.13). The long-term outcome was similar between the two groups with no increased risk of ICH recurrence in the statin-treated group (29.63% versus 23.61%, P=0.54).CONCLUSIONSPrevious statin treatment was not associated with more severe hemorrhagic lesions in CAA in terms of ICH volume or number of microbleeds, but a trend for increased disseminated CSS was highlighted, which will require further larger studies.
Electron microscopy may be useful in chemotherapy studies at distinct levels, such as the identification of subcellular targets in the parasites and the elucidation of the ultimate drug mechanism of ...action, inferred by the alterations induced by antiparasitic compounds. In this review we present data obtained by electron microscopy approaches of different parasitic protozoa, such as Trypanosoma cruzi, Leishmania spp., Giardia lamblia and trichomonads, under the action of drugs, demonstrating that the cell architecture organization is only determined in detail at the ultrastructural level. The transmission electron microscopy may shed light (i.e. electrons) not only on the affected compartment, but also on the manner it is altered, which may indicate presumable target metabolic pathways as well as the actual toxic or lethal effects of a drug. Cytochemical and analytical techniques can provide valuable information on the composition of the altered cell compartment, permitting the bona fide identification of the drug target and a detailed understanding of the mechanism underneath its effect. Scanning electron microscopy permits the recognition of the drug-induced alterations on parasite surface and topography. Such observations may reveal cytokinetic dysfunctions or membrane lesions not detected by other approaches. In this context, electron microscopy techniques comprise valuable tools in chemotherapy studies.
Computed tomography is not the most frequent radiologic imaging procedure, but is arguably the most important in terms of clinical impact. CT is used extensively for emergencies, cardiovascular, ...pulmonary, gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological, orthopedic and other applications — often as the first and only imaging procedure needed for diagnosis. The chances are very high that a patient will have a CT scan in the emergency department, as an outpatient or as an inpatient for a multitude of indications — pain, trauma, suspected infection or malignancy, and frequently to investigate symptoms such as pain, or to answer a question raised by another abnormal test, such as an EKG abnormality or ultrasound finding.
Despite the universality of CT in hospitals and clinics as well as free‐standing imaging centers, the technology continues to evolve with greater coverage, faster acquisition and multienergy sources or detectors. Multimodality scanners based on CT incorporate PET/SPECT and in the future, MRI to combine morphologic and functional imaging.
The most demanding imaging applications are cardiovascular, where complex motion and small morphologic features coexist, so imaging methods that are very satisfactory elsewhere in the body may not be successful. Clinical CT scanning consists of administering toxic materials, e.g., contrast media, often monitoring the EKG and illuminating the body with high brightness x‐rays. Larger area detectors and higher acquisition rates are welcome improvements, but don't solve all of the problems encountered with scan variability due to respiratory, random body, and cardiac motion, especially in a spectrum of patients from infant to massively obese adult sizes (< 1 kg to 250 kg or more). The challenges and pitfalls in CT and multimodality imaging will be delineated and evaluated relative to current and future technology.
Learning Objectives:
1. The role of x‐ray computed tomography (CT) in clinical medicine is central to diagnostic radiology and its functions as a hospital‐based department and service to outpatients.
2. CT technology developments, including wide area coverage multirow detector scanners, dual energy acquisition systems, visualization and post‐processing introduce changes in CT applications and utilization.
3. The limitations of a single modality, such as CT, can be overcome by integrating complementary instrumentation, especially PET/SPECT, MRI and others (such as ultrasound and fluoroscopy) to provide simultaneous morphologic and functional imaging capabilities.
Context. The putative tori surrounding the accretion disks of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) play a fundamental role in the unification scheme of AGNs. Infrared long-baseline interferometry allows us ...to study the inner dust distribution in AGNs with unprecedented spatial resolution over a wide infrared wavelength range. Aims. Near- and mid-infrared interferometry is used to investigate the milli-arcsecond-scale dust distribution in the type 1.5 Seyfert nucleus of NGC 3783. Methods. We observed NGC 3783 with the VLTI/AMBER instrument in the K-band and compared our observations with models. Results. From the K-band observations, we derive a ring-fit torus radius of 0.74 ± 0.23 mas or 0.16 ± 0.05 pc. We compare this size with infrared interferometric observations of other AGNs and UV/optical-infrared reverberation measurements. For the interpretation of our observations, we simultaneously model our near- and mid-infrared visibilities and the spectral energy distribution (SED) with a temperature/density-gradient model including an additional inner hot 1400 K ring component.
Super-potent topical corticosteroids (CS) are the mainstay of treatment for bullous pemphigoid. Since super-potent topical CS have systemic effects due to their transcutaneous absorption, we assessed ...whether super-potent CS were responsible for hydro-saline retention (HSR) in bullous pemphigoid patients.
From 2015 to 2017, patients with newly-diagnosed bullous pemphigoid treated using clobetasol propionate cream at a starting daily dose of 20 to 40 g were subsequently included in a prospective study. HSR was assessed by longitudinally measuring extracellular water (ECW) volume using bioimpedance analysis (BodyStat QuadScan 4000®) from Day 0 to Day 30 after the initiation of topical CS. Other parameters related to HSR such as weight, blood pressure, natriuresis and proteinuria, were also recorded.
Twenty-nine patients (14 men and 15 women) of mean age 81.8 ± 9.3 years were included and analysed. The mean ECW volume decreased from Day 0 to Day 7 (18.1 ± 4.2 vs 16.7 ± 2.7, p = 0.0094) and was maintained from Day 7 to Day 30 (16.8 ± 2.8 vs 17.0 ± 3.4 L; p = 0.8040). Patient weight loss at Day 30 (69.9 ± 13.6 vs 72.5 ± 14.2 kg, p = 0.0085) was closely correlated with the decrease in ECW volume (r = 0.6740, p < 0.0001). No significant changes in natriuresis, 24-hour proteinuria or blood pressure were observed from Day 0 to Day 30.
We found no evidence of HSR in bullous pemphigoid patients treated with super-potent topical CS. Conversely, ECW volume decreased from Day 0 to Day 30, which was correlated with patient weight loss.
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