Frequent Intervals Research Articles

Ocular side effects in tuberculosis patients receiving direct observed therapy containing ethambutol

Background: India is among the largest countries to implement the revised national tuberculosis (TB) control program (RNTCP). Ocular toxicity of ethambutol has been known since 1962. It can be halted with early detection and cessation of the contributing drug. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to detect early ocular toxicity of ethambutol in TB patients under directly observed treatment strategy (DOTS). Materials and Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study of 30 patients getting AKT including ethambutol along with isoniazid, rifampicin, and pyrazinamide under RNTCP‑DOTS center at a tertiary care hospital. The detailed history, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), color vision, fundus examination, visual field, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and central subfield macular thickness were carried out in all patients pretreatment and then at the 2nd month of treatment. Results: The mean age of patient was 44.87 years. Reduced visual acuity from the baseline was noted at the second in 23.33% of the right eyes (P = 0.01) and 30% of the left eyes (P < 0.01). Mean temporal RNFL thickness was significantly reduced from baseline after 2 months of treatment (P = 0.046). No significant difference was observed with color vision and visual fields pre- and post-treatment. Conclusion: The assessment of BCVA, color vision, visual field, RNFL, and macular thickness is essential at baseline and thereafter at frequent intervals to detect early ethambutol toxicity and probable reversible visual loss.

Evaluation of Physicians Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Violence Against Women

Giriş: Bu çalışmada aile hekimlerinin de dahil olduğu farklı branşlarda çalışan hekimlerin ; şiddete maruz kalmış kadınları tanıyabilmesi, tedavi ve korunmaları yönünde destek olabilmeleri için gerekli bilgi ve tutumlarını saptamak amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: 250 gönüllü hekim çalışma kapsamına alındı.Tüm katılımcılara ‘Sosyodemografik ve klinik özellikler değerlendirme formu’ ve ‘Hemşire, ebe ve hekimlerin kadına yönelik şiddetin belirtilerini tanımalarına yönelik ölçek(alt ölçekleri duygusal belirtiler alt boyut /fiziksel belirtiler alt boyut) uygulandı Bulgular: İş yaşamında kadına yönelik şiddet olgusu/şüphesi ile karşılaşma oranı aile hekimlerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı derecede yüksek bulundu. Aile hekimi ve acil tıp hekimlerinde fiziksel belirtler alt boyut, duygusal belirtiler alt boyut ve toplam puanlar istatistiksel olarak anlamlı derecede düşük saptandı.Mezuniyet öncesi alınan eğitimler ölçek puanlarını etkilemezken; mezuniyet sonrasında alınan eğitimlerle ölçek puanlarında anlamlı düşme olduğu saptandı Sonuç: Bu çalışma bize hekimler için sık aralıklarla, pratiğe yönelik, kolay ulaşılabilir standart eğitimlerin düzenlenmesi ile kadına yönelik şiddet belirtilerini tanıma ve sonraki süreci yönetme konusunda bilgi düzeyi ve farkındalığın artırılmasının sağlanabileceğini düşündürmüştür.

Food security outcomes in agricultural systems models: Case examples and priority information needs

Analyses of food security with agricultural systems models often focus on indicators of food availability, with limited treatment of the other three dimensions: food access, stability and utilization. We illustrate how three indicators of access (food consumption expenditures, a food insecurity scale and dietary diversity) and their stability can be incorporated into a dynamic household-level model of a maize-based production system in the Kenya highlands and a dynamic regional model of sheep production and marketing in Mexico. Although stylized due to limits on empirical evidence, the analyses suggest that inclusion of multiple access indicators can provide insights because the indicators respond differently to production shocks, demand growth and programs providing production subsidies. We also illustrate how to examine stability of food security outcomes in response to shocks using metrics of hardness (ability to withstand shocks) and elasticity (ability to return to previous conditions). The data required for more widespread empirical implementation of these methods include measurement—preferably at frequent intervals over time—of food access indicators, but also their determinants and linkages to outcomes in agricultural systems models. Analyses of food access and stability will be most valuable for assessments of food security impacts of climate change, when food systems are undergoing transformative change and to identify priority interventions and target audiences.

The vascular flora of the Lake Thoreau Environmental Center, Forrest and Lamar counties, Mississippi, with comments on compositional change after a decade of prescribed fire

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystems exhibit high species diversity and are major contributors to the extraordinary levels of regional biodiversity and endemism found in the North American Coastal Plain Province. These forests require frequent fire return intervals (every 2–3 years) to maintain this rich diversity. In 2009, a floristic inventory was conducted at the Lake Thoreau Environmental Center owned by the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Center is located on 106 ha with approximately half covered by a 100+ year old longleaf pine forest. When the 2009 survey was conducted, fire had been excluded for over 20 years resulting in a dense understory dominated by woody species throughout most of the forest. The 2009 survey recorded 282 vascular plant species. Prescribed fire was reintroduced in 2009 and reapplied again in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. A new survey was conducted in 2019 to assess the effects of prescribed fire on floristic diversity. The new survey found an additional 268 species bringing the total number of plants species to 550. This study highlights the changes in species diversity that occurs when fire is reintroduced into a previously fire-suppressed system and the need to monitor sensitive areas for changes in species composition.

Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) and its Associated Risk Factors among Undergraduate Medical Students in Midst of COVID-19

Purpose: To determine the frequency of computer vision syndrome and its associated risk factors among under graduate medical students.&#x0D; Study Design: Descriptive Cross–sectional study.&#x0D; Place and Duration of Study: Gujranwala Medical College and Rawalpindi Medical University, Pakistan from 5th August to 28th August, 2020.&#x0D; Methods: A validated self-designed questionnaire was used for this study. The survey instrument was tailored from a published questionnaire which comprised of questions on demographics, frequency of symptoms of computer vision syndrome, pattern of computer usage and ergonomic practices.&#x0D; Results: Final analysis was run on 326 under graduate medical students. Females were 228 (69%) and 98 (30%) were males. Age of the participants ranged between 17 to 25 years. Overall frequency of CVS was found to be 98.7%. Twenty nine percent students experienced extra ocular complaints and 71% had ocular symptoms. Symptoms of CVS were more commonly observed among those using desktop/laptop at less than forearm length (p = 0.001). Distance of &lt; 12 inches from mobile phone was found to be associated with eye irritation and neck shoulder pain (p = 0.001). Frequency of break of more than 60 minutes was found to be significantly associated with eye irritation (p = 0.002) and excessive blinking and light sensitivity (p = 0.001). The students not using ergonomically comfortable chair were found to suffer more with symptoms of CVS as compared to those using ergonomically designed chair (p = 0.049).&#x0D; Conclusion: Health issues related to excessive use of digital devices has become alarmingly high during COVID-19 pandemic. Symptoms of CVS are significantly associated with distance from digital device and less frequent break intervals.&#x0D; Key Words: COVID-19, Computer Vision Syndrome, Digital eye syndrome, ergonomics, visual display terminals.

A study on occupational health hazards and morbidity profile of the bus drivers and conductors working in government bus depots of South Kolkata

Background: Health has always been closely linked with occupation. Occupational hazards have become more prominent in the post-industrial societies and includes a never-ending list of diseases. The current study was an attempt to explore the physical health hazards and their possible risk factors among the bus drivers and conductors employed in south Kolkata bus depots under the West Bengal transport corporation. Methods: A cross-sectional study had been conducted in two governmental bus depots under Calcutta state transport corporation (WBTC) of south Kolkata, West Bengal. All the bus drivers and conductors were interviewed after taking informed consent with a pretested predesigned semi-structured questionnaire. Results: The major physical health problems among the drivers were related to musculoskeletal system (37.8%) and followed by endocrinal system (26.66%), cardiovascular system (17.78%), anorectal system (10%), eye (7.78%), occupational injuries (7.78%), liver and biliary system (6.66%). Among the conductors, majority (42.02%) had musculoskeletal problem, followed by endocrinal (34.09%), cardiovascular (27.27%), respiratory (15.91%), dermatological (12.5%), gastro-intestinal (9.10%), eye (9.10%), orthopaedic (7.95%) and liver-biliary problem (6.82%). Multivariate analyses revealed that participants aged less than 44 years and who served their occupation for less than 6 years had higher odds of not suffering from musculoskeletal morbidities and those who were aged less than 44 years and who served their occupation for less than 6 years had higher odds of low morbidities.Conclusions: Preplacement and periodic health check-ups at frequent intervals with supportive health promotional activities can uplift the physical health of the study population.

Data-Driven State of Health Prognostic Model Using a Global Vehicle Data-Set

Data-driven prediction for battery state estimation provides a simple alternative to standard electrical and/or electrochemical models. Recent efforts have used cycling data from laboratory measurements to predict the state of health (SOH) of a cell over its lifetime [1-5]. Laboratory measurements attempt to capture the expected conditions during aging, however, due to the complex situations experienced by electric vehicles during aging, it is not possible to represent each aging path in a laboratory experiment. Additionally, due to resource and time limitations, measurements extending beyond one year are rare. In this work, a global data-set of over 15,000 readings from 300 vehicles driven under real-world conditions is used to provide context on vehicle aging and as a training set for a data-driven SOH prediction model. This data differs significantly from traditional laboratory data in that it does not contain the time-series sampling of, for example, current and voltage over time, as used in most models- rather averaged data over several days, and sometimes months. At relatively frequent intervals during the life of the vehicle, variables such as state of charge, temperature, kilometers driven and others, are compiled as an average over the measurement interval, resulting in one value per measurement period. These averaged readings offer a snapshot into the conditions the vehicle experienced during the measurement period, but do not offer the same detail as what would be recorded in laboratory settings. From this data, a novel data-driven SOH prediction model is developed. The SOH prediction is compared against the onboard SOH estimation performed in the vehicle, which itself has been validated by the vehicle manufacturers. With a large number of samples, a data-driven approach to predicting the capacity of a vehicle is applied. Using Keras, a neural network API written for Python, a two-layer neural network was cross-validated with 50 % training data and 50 % testing data, achieving a high prediction accuracy using six input parameters. This method has the advantage over traditional SOH prediction models, such as semi-empirical and equivalent circuit models, in that it is able to predict the SOH of vehicles in dynamic aging conditions over many years and does not require time-series values of voltage and current as inputs, or cell parameterization, which are often inaccurate and incur high costs to measure. Barré, F. Saurd, M. Gérard, M. Montaru, D. Riu, Statistical Analysis for understanding and prediction battery degradations in real-life electric vehicle use. Journal of Power Sources 245 (2014) 846-856.Zou, X. Hu, H. Ma, S. Li, Combined State of Charge and State of Health estimation over lithium-ion battery cell cycle lifespan for electrical vehicles. Journal of Power Sources 273 (2015) 793-803You, S. Park, D. Oh, Real-time state-of-health estimation for electric vehicle batteries: A data-driven approach. Applied Energy 176 (2016) 92-103.Li, C. Zou, M. Berecibar, E. Nanini-Maury, J. C.-W. Chan, P. van den Bossche, J. Van Mierlo, N. Omar, Random forest regression for online capacity estimation of lithium-ion batteries. Applied Energy 232 (2018) 197-210.Richardson, M. A. Osborne, D. A. Howey, Gaussian process regression for forecasting battery state of health. Journal of Power Sources 357 (2017) 208-219. Figure 1

Comparison of fentanyl, clonidine and nalbuphine for attenuation of pressor response during endotracheal intubation under general anaesthesia

Increased sympathoadrenal activity invariably occurs during endotracheal intubation. Various drugs have been used to obtund this pressor response. This study was done to find out most favourable drug among fentanyl, nalbuphine and clonidine for prevention of this pressor response.This was a randomized, prospective study involving ninety patients of ASA grade 1, equally divided into three groups. Group F, C and N received fentanyl 2 mcg /kg, Clonidine 2 mcg/kg and nalbuphine 2mg/kg i.v respectively, 5 minutes prior to induction. Vitals parameters were noted at frequent intervals Chi square test and Anova test were used for statistical analysis. P value &amp;#60;0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Maximum increase in heart rate and blood pressure was seen at the time of intubation in F and N groups, whereas decrease in these parameters occured with clonIdine, difference was found to be stastistically significant. Haemodynamic stability was seen in F and N group after 5 minutes of intubation. Clonidine showed maximum decrease in heart rate and systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure at all time intervals from intubation as compared to other two groups.In this study it was found that Clonidine produced an earlier and more stable haemodynamics as compared to Fentanyl and Nalbuphine, and it can be concluded that Clonidine given intravenously in doses of 2 mcg/kg 5 minutes prior to intubation is superior to Fentanyl and Nalbuphine in preventing heamodynamic changes at the time of laryngoscopy and intubation.

Intravenous Iron Infusion Administration Schedule and Hematologic Response; A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Clinical trials studying the efficacy of intravenous (IV) iron replacement have used a variety of dosing schedules, even for the same iron formulations and there isn't a clear standard for how IV iron replacement should be scheduled. Differences in iron absorption efficiency have been observed with different oral iron supplementation schedules but it is not known if the same is true for IV iron. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between iron administration schedule and hemoglobin response in patients treated at a tertiary care center. Methods: Data was collected retrospectively using The Ottawa Hospital Data Warehouse (OHDW) capturing all iron infusions given at 3 local institutions between January 2007 and December 2018. Patients that received at least 2 intravenous iron infusions within 180 days of each other were included. A 'course' of iron replacement was defined as consecutive infusions with ≤180 days between doses. Patients transfused red blood cells within 90 days of the last iron infusion in each course were excluded. Patient age, sex, dose and formulation of administered, date of each iron infusion, and laboratory parameters from the period starting 3 months before the first infusion to 6 months after the last infusion were extracted for analysis. Patients were categorized into 4 groups based on the mean time between iron infusions in each course: 1-10 days, 11-20 days, 21-30 days, and &amp;gt;30 days. Achieving a maximum hemoglobin (Hb) 10 g/L or higher than the pre-infusion Hb was defined as a 'good' response. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association between interval between infusions and achieving a 'good' Hb response. The model was adjusted for sex, age, presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), dose of iron per course, number of infusions per course, and number of courses. CKD was defined as having a serum creatinine &amp;gt;177 µmol/L. Iron sucrose, iron gluconate, and iron dextran were available for administration during the study period. Results: A total of 4350 patients were included in the analysis. These patients received a total of 6409 courses of iron replacement, with a median of 2 courses (interquartile range [IQR] 1-3) per patient, and 4 infusions (IQR 3-6) per replacement course. Infusions were given a median of 21.9 days (IQR 12-34) apart in each course, with a range of 1-179 days. Iron sucrose was given in most courses (81.6%), followed by iron gluconate (18.2%) and iron dextran (0.1%). Patient characteristics are summarized in Table 1 and laboratory values prior to the first infusion of each course are summarized in Table 2. The interval between iron infusions was associated with Hb response. Results of the logistic regression are summarized Table 3. Compared with patients receiving infusions every 10-20 days, patients receiving infusions more frequently or less frequently were less likely to achieve a good Hb response. Male sex was associated with increased odds of response, while increasing age, having CKD, and receiving more courses of iron were associated with decreased odds of response. Conclusions: In this single-center retrospective cohort analysis, an association between interval of iron infusions and hematologic response was observed. Patients given iron every 10-20 days more likely to achieve a good response compared with more, or less frequent dosing intervals. Strengths of this study include the large sample size, adjustment for sex, age, presence of CKD, and number of iron infusions and courses given. Transfused patients were excluded, so the hemoglobin response is attributable to iron replacement. The study has several important limitations. The clinical decision-making for the infusion schedule was not known and factors that went into this decision are a possible source of confounding (for example, ongoing bleeding). The suspected cause of iron deficiency was not known. Additionally, concomitant oral iron supplementation and iron infusions or transfusions occurring outside the study institution are unknowns and may influence to outcome. The hypothesis-generating findings suggest that the schedule of iron administration may play an important role in hematologic response to iron infusions. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Ampicillin Dose for Early and Late-Onset Group B Streptococcal Disease in Neonates.

Ampicillin is frequently used in neonates for early- and late-onset group B streptococcal (GBS) disease. In 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published guidelines for GBS which included updated dosing recommendations for ampicillin for bacteremia and provided specific dosing recommendations for meningitis. The dosing recommendations in the guidelines were based off the 2018 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases (i.e., Red Book), which differed from the 2015 Red Book. For bacteremia, no dosing changes were recommended for ampicillin dosing in neonates ≤ 7 days of postnatal age (PNA), but less frequent dosing intervals were recommended for neonates > 7 days PNA. For meningitis, increased dosing recommendations were provided in the update. However, the rationale and supporting evidence for these changes were not provided. A literature search was performed to review articles pertaining to the pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD) and safety of ampicillin in neonates. The ampicillin dosing recommendations in the AAP guidelines were mainly supported by a 2014 publication that evaluated the PK and PD of ampicillin in neonates with gestational age (GA) of 24 to 41 weeks and PNA of 0 to 25 days. The proposed dosing from this study for bacteremia is included in the 2018 Red Book and 2019 guidelines. For meningitis, no supporting evidence was identified for the dosing recommendations in the 2018 Red Book and 2019 guidelines. Only one study has evaluated ampicillin concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid, but proposed dosing from this study was much lower than that included in the guidelines. The high ampicillin doses for GBS meningitis should be used with caution, as high ampicillin concentrations have been associated with seizures and no studies have evaluated efficacy of this dosing strategy. The purpose of this review is to identify key pieces of literature regarding dosing recommendations and safety of ampicillin in neonates. KEY POINTS: · Recent guidelines provide dosing recommendations for ampicillin, but the supporting evidence is not included.. · Literature supporting evidence for ampicillin dosing for bacteremia is available, but not for dosing for meningitis.. · Recommended meningitis dose may result in supratherapeutic concentrations and increase seizure risk..

High, not low-dose of stanozolol (Anabolic – androgenic steroid) impedes embryo implantation by attenuating endometrial receptivity in the mouse, Mus musculus

The present investigation is aimed at evaluating the efficacy of one of the anabolic –androgenic steroids, stanozolol (ST), on establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in mice. A total of 40 female mice were assigned to three experimental groups. Stanozolol was dosed subcutaneously (low-dose, 0.5 mg/kg bwt; high-dose, 5.0 mg/kg bwt or 1% alcohol-baseline control) for 30 consecutive days. On the 31st day, treatment was withdrawn. The estrous cycle was disrupted in both treatment groups and its resumption was dose dependent. Following estrous resumption, mice were allowed to mate. Results reveal that the low-dose ST-treated mice maintained gestation until term with reduced litter size, while high-dose-treated mice divulged vaginal plug at frequent intervals, indicating conception failure. Because pregnancy failure was noticed in high-dose-treated mice, they were autopsied on GD1.5 and 4.5. Interestingly, neither dose of stanozolol affected early embryonic development or blastocyst hatching. A decrease in the number of corpora lutea in both treated groups suggests it affects either ovulation or recruitment of follicles that occurs in each cycle for maturation.In high-dose-treated mice, decreased serum levels of estradiol, progesterone and increased testosterone along with downregulated endometrial expression of ERα and PR suggest the deficiency of steroid hormones and their respective receptors. Decreased ovarian expression of ERα, hyperexpression of PRLR, AR and abated progesterone secretion led to luteal dysfunction, consequently attenuating endometrial receptivity. Therefore, in high-dose-treated mice, decreased maternal estradiol and progesterone levels and their receptors during implantation hindered signaling to LIF and Hoxa-10, resulting in pragmatic implantation failure.

An Examination of Classification Accuracy in the Continuous Testing Framework

AbstractThe continuous testing framework, where both successful and unsuccessful examinees have to demonstrate continued proficiency at frequent prespecified intervals, is a framework that is used in noncognitive assessment and is gaining in popularity in cognitive assessment. Despite the rigorous advantages of this framework, this paper demonstrates that there is significant inflation in false negatives as both passers and failers continually take a test, especially for examinees closer to the passing score. Several passing policies are investigated to control the inflation of false negatives while maintaining low false‐positive rates for fixed‐length tests. Lastly, recommendations are made for testing professionals who wish to utilize the rigorous nature of the continuous testing framework while also avoiding the inflation of qualified examinees failing.

Would patients undergo postoperative follow-up by using a smartphone application?

BackgroundeHealth applications have been proposed as an alternative to monitor patients in frequent intervals or over long distances. The aim of this study was to assess whether patients would accept an application on their smartphone to be monitored by their physicians.MethodsDuring September 2017 and December 2017 a survey amongst smartphone users was conducted via paper and web-based questionnaires.ResultsMore than half of the 962 participants (54%) were older than 55 years of age. The majority of the participants (68.7%) would accept a follow-up by a smartphone application obtaining personal healthcare data. 72.6% of all patients older than 55 years of age would use the application. The most prevalent reason against installing the application was data protection. Patients being currently treated in an orthopaedic practice and pedestrians were more eager to accept a follow-up by a mobile app than participants from social media.ConclusionThe majority of participants would accept a mobile application, collecting personal health-related data for postoperative follow-up, and saw a direct benefit for the patient in such an application.

Patient Preferences Associated with Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapies for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Macular Edema.

PurposeTo evaluate treatment-related preferences among patients receiving intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) or diabetic macular edema (DME).Patients and MethodsWe conducted a prospective survey of patients with nAMD or DME treated at one of three US-based retina clinics. Prior to survey development, small focus groups with anti-VEGF-treated patients identified five treatment-related “attributes” considered important to those with nAMD or DME: vision outcomes, cost to the insurance provider, cost to the patient, frequency of treatment, and drug label status. Attributes were described using two to three “levels”, and hypothetical treatment profiles were generated by assigning one level to each attribute. Surveyed patients were asked to indicate their preference between two given treatment profiles for a total of eight pairwise comparisons. Discrete choice conjoint analysis was performed to estimate the relative importance of each attribute for the overall patient cohort, and for subgroups stratified by age and highest education level.ResultsAmong 300 respondents, 54% were female, 78% were aged ≥65 years, and 67% indicated that high school was their highest level of education. Achieving good vision was the most important factor associated with anti-VEGF therapy for nAMD or DME (relative importance, 40.4%), followed by low cost to the patient, on-label drug status, less frequent treatment intervals, and low cost to the insurance provider (23.1%, 21.3%, 12.2%, and 3.0%, respectively). When patients were stratified by age group or highest education level, preference trends across subgroups were generally comparable with the overall cohort.ConclusionOur data suggest that treatment decisions regarding anti-VEGF therapies for nAMD or DME are most likely driven by their efficacy, and that patients may be willing to accept less desirable treatment attributes, such as increased cost and/or injection frequency, in order to achieve superior vision outcomes.

Engaging Media with Medical Institutions: Experience from Tertiary Hospital in Eastern India

Behaviour change is an important aspect of the successful implementation of any national health program. Social behaviour change among end-user can be possible by imparting the right information in the right quantity to the right audience, at frequent intervals through the proper medium. Mass media, both electronic and print are considered useful modes to deliver all public health-related messages to the people. However, the key is to provide correct information to the media for dissemination. On the other hand, medical colleges have a depth of knowledge on technical know-how but reaching a larger population is quite challenging. Therefore, a team approach should be planned by establishing a partnership between media and medical colleges and then the social behaviour change can be achieved in the desired direction. In lieu of this novel partnership, the Department of Community Medicine and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Bhubaneswar had taken the initiative to bring together media personnel and faculty of medical colleges to chalk and roll out the behaviour change communication for nutrition interventions. This program was highly successful as the liaison helped disseminate the right information to the people. Also, the faculty and residents gained insight into dealing with media and thereby serving the community.

Joint Use of Spaceborne Microwave Sensor Data and CYGNSS Data to Observe Tropical Cyclones

The joint use of spaceborne microwave sensor data and Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) data to observe tropical cyclones (TCs) is presented in this paper. The Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) radiometer was taken as an example of a spaceborne microwave sensor, and its data and the CYGNSS data were fused to fix the center of a TC and to measure the maximum wind speed around the TC inner core. This process included data preprocessing, image fusion, determination of the TC center position, and the estimation of the TC’s intensity. For all of the observed hurricanes, the experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method obtains a more complete structure of the TC and can measure the surface wind speed around the TC inner core at more frequent intervals compared to the case where the SMAP radiometer data or the CYGNSS data are employed alone. Furthermore, when comparing the TC tracks obtained by the proposed method with the best tracks provided by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), we found that the mean absolute error values ranged between 18.4 and 46 km, the standard deviation varied between 15.1 and 28.2 km, and both of these were smaller than the values obtained by only using the CYGNSS data. In addition, when comparing the maximum wind speed around the TC inner core obtained by the proposed method with the best track peak winds estimated by the NHC, we found that the mean absolute error values ranged between 7.7 and 15.7 m/s, the root-mean-square difference values varied between 8.6 and 18 m/s, the correlation coefficients varied between 0.1782 and 0.9877, the bias values varied between −8.5 and 4.5 m/s, and all of these values were smaller in most cases, than those obtained by only using the CYGNSS data.

Measurement of antibiotic consumption in surgical ward of a tertiary care hospital

Background: Antibiotic resistance is a global health problem. Improper use of antibiotics leads to development of antibiotic resistance, side effects, superinfections and increase in treatment costs. There are few publications on antibiotic consumption. Serious morbidity and mortality are associated with postoperative wound infections. The use of peri or pre-operative antibiotics has resulted in a reduced risk of postoperative infection when appropriate principles of prophylaxis are applied.Methods: An observational study during a 2-month period was carried out in the department of surgery of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Science and Research, Burla. We utilized the administrative data for expression of antibiotic consumption using anatomical therapeutic classification (ATC) / defined daily dose (DDDs) methodology. The information included were drug names, strength, pharmaceutical form, quantity dispensed, total number of patients admitted during the study period and average length of stay. Each drug was then given a code according to the ATC classification. The number of DDDs and DDDs/100 bed days was calculated.Results: The most frequent antibiotic used was cephalosporin group with DDDs 62.70 DDDs/100 bed days (44.34%) followed by metronidazole with 23.10 DDDs/100 bed days (16.34%). Among cephalosporin group most common antibiotic used was ceftriaxone with 24.46 DDDs/100 bed days. The mean duration of stay was 7.2 days.Conclusions: The results of this study are similar to previous studies and it showed that there is irrational use of antibiotics as there is no antibiotic policy in our hospital. Drug utilization research should be carried out at frequent intervals to improve rational use of antibiotics.

A simplified Barbervax® vaccination regimen in lambs to evoke immunological protection to Haemonchus contortus

This study assessed the feasibility of altering the pre-weaning vaccination schedule of the commercially available Barbervax® vaccine directed against Haemonchus contortus, to avoid the 2nd priming vaccination which typically falls between lamb marking and weaning. Merino lambs (n = 175) born to maiden ewes, located in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, were randomly allocated to treatment groups (n = 35) and subjected to five different vaccination regimes. One group remained as unvaccinated controls and another had the full set of three priming doses. The other three groups were vaccinated only at marking and weaning receiving a double dose of vaccine at marking and/or weaning. The hypothesis tested was that reducing the interval between lamb marking and weaning to 6 weeks, and providing a double dose of vaccine at marking, weaning or both would remove the need for the second priming vaccination between lamb marking and weaning. This priming vaccination in the vaccination protocol necessitates an additional mustering of ewes with young lambs at foot and is a time consuming and costly exercise which increases the risk of mis-mothering. Blood and faecal samples were collected at frequent intervals for worm egg count (WEC), larval differentiation and H. contortus vaccine specific ELISA antibody analysis. Overall, the results supported the hypothesis, and it was found that antibody titres and WEC reductions equivalent to the registered vaccine regimen were achieved by the alternative regimens. This finding requires further investigation under a wider range of conditions. Deviation from the registered vaccination protocol would constitute off-label usage, and at this time and until further evaluations are done these deviations are not recommended.

Flood dynamics dictate distributions of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. (Russian olive) on a riverine floodplain

North American invasions of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. (Russian olive) are still expanding, and hydrochory could be increasing invasion impacts along rivers. Spatial association between riverine flood-inundation patterns and E. angustifolia distributions suggests a link between seed movement potential and invasion patterns in time and space. Using output from hydraulic inundation models, we mapped inundation zones associated with successive flood return intervals within 10.81 km2 of the estimated 500-year floodplain of the Yellowstone River, Montana, USA. We then evaluated spatial relationships among inundation zones and E. angustifolia distribution. Elaeagnus angustifolia was highly spatially associated with frequent flood return intervals: 80% of E. angustifolia exists within a subset of the floodplain predicted to flood every 10 years or less, with the highest occupancy in the 1.5- to 5-year return zones. Within frequently inundated areas, floodplain occupancy of E. angustifolia was distributed in patterns consistent with likely areas of sediment deposition. Thus, existing predictions of invasion timelines are likely to improve with explicit consideration of dispersal opportunities associated with hydrochory during flooding. In particular, if hydrochory is a significant secondary dispersal mechanism, then seed immigration at flood intervals of 5 years or less could lead to substantially shorter invasion lags than currently predicted.

Dynamics of euphotic zone depth in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea

Euphotic zone depth (Zeu) plays an important role in studies of marine biogeochemical processes and ecosystems. Remote sensing techniques are ideal tools to investigate Zeu distributions because of their advanced observation ability with broad spatial coverage and frequent observation intervals. This study aims to develop a new approach that derives Zeu directly from remote sensing reflectance (Rrs(λ)) values rather than by using other intermediate variables and then reveals the dynamic characteristics of Zeu in the Bohai Sea (BS) and Yellow Sea (YS). To do this, in situ data collected from various seasons were first used to assess the ability of several spectral indicators of Rrs(λ) for deriving Zeu and the optimal spectral indicator was determined to build a Zeu retrieval model. This model was further applied to Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) data to study the spatial and temporal variations in Zeu. The results showed that the new Zeu retrieval model performed well with R2, RMSE and MAPE values of 0.843, 4.42 m and 17.9%, respectively. High Zeu levels were generally observed during summer for both coastal and offshore waters while the lowest Zeu values were observed during winter. Changing concentrations of total suspended matter, which are often modulated by sediment resuspension and transportation, are probably the main factor responsible for the spatial and temporal variability of Zeu. These findings provide crucial information for modeling primary production, carbon flux, and heat transfer, etc., in the BS and YS, as well as contribute a useful alternative approach that will be easily implemented to study Zeu from satellite data for other water environments.