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Soils contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are an important source for impacting drinking water delivery systems and surface water bodies world-wide, posing an urgent risk to human health and environmental quality. However, few treatment techniques have been tested for PFAS-contaminated soil hotspots. This study investigated the possibility of thermal desorption as a possible technique to remediate soils contaminated with multiple PFASs. Two fortified soils ([summation].sub.9 PFAS [almost equal to] 4 mg kg.sup.-1) and one field-contaminated soil ([summation].sub.9 PFAS [almost equal to] 0.025 mg kg.sup.-1) were subjected to a 75-min thermal treatment at temperatures ranging from 150 to 550°C. Soil concentrations of PFASs showed a significant decrease at 350°C, with the [summation].sub.9 PFAS concentration decreasing by, on average, 43% and 79% in the fortified and field contaminated soils, respectively. At 450°C, >99% of PFASs were removed from the fortified soils, while at 550°C the fraction removed ranged between 71 and 99% for the field contaminated soil. In the field contaminated soil, PFAS classes with functional groups of sulfonates (PFSAs) and sulfonamides (FOSAs) showed higher removal than the perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs). Thus thermal desorption has the potential to remove a wide variety of PFASs from soil, although more studies are needed to investigate the cost-effectiveness, creation of transformation products, and air-phase vacuum filtration techniques.

The urethral trauma after catheterization with intermittent catheters was studied histologically using unconscious rabbits. The study was performed at Astra Hässle, Mölndal, Sweden. Fifteen rabbits were randomized into five groups (three rabbits in each group), one control group and four groups catheterized with four different LoFric catheters (Astra Tech, Mölndal, Sweden): (1) control (not catheterized); (2) salt coated (i.e. high osmolality catheters) with drainage eyes; (3) without salt (i.e. low osmolality catheters) and with eyes; (4) with salt coating but without drainage eyes; and (5) without neither salt coating nor drainage eyes. The urethral injuries were evaluated using a four graded histological scale. The results showed that salt coated LoFric catheters gave less urethral trauma than LoFric catheters without salt. This was also supported by the significantly lower removal friction measured during withdrawal of the high osmolality catheters. No significant differences either in removal friction or in urethral trauma could be observed between LoFric catheters with or without drainage eyes. It may be concluded that osmolality is one important factor (there might be others, like e.g. water binding ability) when comparing different hydrophilic catheters, in regards to removal friction and urethral trauma. Furthermore it is suggested that there is no difference in urethral trauma between catheters with eyes or without eyes. To minimize the risk of urethral trauma, high osmolality catheters are recommended, especially when the catheterization times are a few minutes or more.

The urethral trauma after catheterization with intermittent catheters was studied histologically using unconscious rabbits. The study was performed at Astra Hässle, Mölndal, Sweden. Fifteen rabbits were randomized into five groups (three rabbits in each group), one control group and four groups catheterized with four different LoFric catheters (Astra Tech, Mölndal, Sweden): (1) control (not catheterized); (2) salt coated (i.e. high osmolality catheters) with drainage eyes; (3) without salt (i.e. low osmolality catheters) and with eyes; (4) with salt coating but without drainage eyes; and (5) without neither salt coating nor drainage eyes. The urethral injuries were evaluated using a four graded histological scale. The results showed that salt coated LoFric catheters gave less urethral trauma than LoFric catheters without salt. This was also supported by the significantly lower removal friction measured during withdrawal of the high osmolality catheters. No significant differences either in removal friction or in urethral trauma could be observed between LoFric catheters with or without drainage eyes. It may be concluded that osmolality is one important factor (there might be others, like e.g. water binding ability) when comparing different hydrophilic catheters, in regards to removal friction and urethral trauma. Furthermore it is suggested that there is no difference in urethral trauma between catheters with eyes or without eyes. To minimize the risk of urethral trauma, high osmolality catheters are recommended, especially when the catheterization times are a few minutes or more.

Physical inactivity and the onset of menopause increase the risk of cardiovascular disease amongst postmenopausal women. We aim to investigate the effect of resistance training (RT) on plasma levels of selected cytokines, adipokines, myokines, and sex hormones in postmenopausal women with vasomotor symptoms. This was a sub-study of a randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of RT on vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women. Women were randomised to join a 15-week RT program (n = 26) or remain sedentary as control (n = 29). Venous blood samples were taken at week-0 and week-15 for all participants. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and multiple bead assays were used to measure cytokines, adipokines, myokines, and sex hormones in plasma. Plasma measurements of 16 of 33 analytes were within detectable limits. After adjusting for good compliance in the RT group (58% of RT participants), after 15 weeks, significantly lower plasma levels of adiponectin (p < 0.001), lipocalin-2 (p < 0.01) and resistin (p = 0.04) were found. Comparing control and RT women, using change-over-time values, significant increases in median testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin levels were seen in RT women. RT intervention lowers the levels of adipokines, particularly adiponectin, in postmenopausal women with vasomotor symptoms. These results were secondary outcomes of a clinical trial, and further investigations in a larger cohort are essential with the additional control of diet control and body composition analyses. Nevertheless, our study shows RT may be a beneficial intervention in reducing inflammation amongst postmenopausal women.

To determine precision of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based fat and muscle quantification in a group of postmenopausal women. Furthermore, to extend the method to individual muscles relevant to upper-body exercise. This was a sub-study to a randomized control trial investigating effects of resistance training to decrease hot flushes in postmenopausal women. Thirty-six women were included, mean age 56 ± 6 years. Each subject was scanned twice with a 3.0T MR-scanner using a whole-body Dixon protocol. Water and fat images were calculated using a 6-peak lipid model including R2*-correction. Body composition analyses were performed to measure visceral and subcutaneous fat volumes, lean volumes and muscle fat infiltration (MFI) of the muscle groups' thigh muscles, lower leg muscles, and abdominal muscles, as well as the three individual muscles pectoralis, latissimus, and rhomboideus. Analysis was performed using a multi-atlas, calibrated water-fat separated quantification method. Liver-fat was measured as average proton density fat-fraction (PDFF) of three regions-of-interest. Precision was determined with Bland-Altman analysis, repeatability, and coefficient of variation. All of the 36 included women were successfully scanned and analysed. The coefficient of variation was 1.1% to 1.5% for abdominal fat compartments (visceral and subcutaneous), 0.8% to 1.9% for volumes of muscle groups (thigh, lower leg, and abdomen), and 2.3% to 7.0% for individual muscle volumes (pectoralis, latissimus, and rhomboideus). Limits of agreement for MFI was within ± 2.06% for muscle groups and within ± 5.13% for individual muscles. The limits of agreement for liver PDFF was within ± 1.9%. Whole-body Dixon MRI could characterize a range of different fat and muscle compartments with high precision, including individual muscles, in the study-group of postmenopausal women. The inclusion of individual muscles, calculated from the same scan, enables analysis for specific intervention programs and studies.

The nucleotide at position 1858 of hepatitis B virus has importance in chronic hepatitis B (HB) because a cytosine at nt 1858 effectively prevents virus escape through the precore TAG stop codon mutation. The relatedness between nt 1858 and genotypes was analyzed using a new genotyping method based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of an S gene amplicon. Seventy-three gene bank sequences were analyzed by phylogenetic tree construction and RFLP prediction. A tree supporting the existence of 6 genotypes (A–F) was obtained, with C-1858 found in 9 of 9 A genotypes, 0 of 7 B, 0 of 19 C, 1 of 10 D, 0 of 2 E, and 3 of 3 F. Serum samples from 187 HB e antigen-positive chronic carriers were analyzed: Genotypes in northern Europeans were 60% A, 31% D; in southern Europeans and Middle Easterners 96% D; in Africans 53% A, 27% D, 20% E; and in East Asians 14% A, 43% B, 43% C. Cytosine at nt 1858 was found in 36 of 44 A, 0 of 32 B, 8 of 34 C, 0 of 59 D, 0 of 3 E, and 1 of 1 F genotype samples.

Despite the fact that a large proportion of children with fever in Africa present at primary health care facilities, few studies have been designed to specifically study the causes of uncomplicated childhood febrile illness at this level of care, especially in areas like Zanzibar that has recently undergone a dramatic change from high to low malaria transmission. We prospectively studied the aetiology of febrile illness in 677 children aged 2-59 months with acute uncomplicated fever managed by IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illness) guidelines in Zanzibar, using point-of-care tests, urine culture, blood-PCR, chest X-ray (CXR) of IMCI-pneumonia classified patients, and multiple quantitative (q)PCR investigations of nasopharyngeal (NPH) (all patients) and rectal (GE) swabs (diarrhoea patients). For comparison, we also performed NPH and GE qPCR analyses in 167 healthy community controls. Final fever diagnoses were retrospectively established based on all clinical and laboratory data. Clinical outcome was assessed during a 14-day follow-up. The utility of IMCI for identifying infections presumed to require antibiotics was evaluated. NPH-qPCR and GE-qPCR detected ≥1 pathogen in 657/672 (98%) and 153/164 (93%) of patients and 158/166 (95%) and 144/165 (87%) of controls, respectively. Overall, 57% (387/677) had IMCI-pneumonia, but only 12% (42/342) had CXR-confirmed pneumonia. Two patients were positive for Plasmodium falciparum. Respiratory syncytial virus (24.5%), influenza A/B (22.3%), rhinovirus (10.5%) and group-A streptococci (6.4%), CXR-confirmed pneumonia (6.2%), Shigella (4.3%) were the most common viral and bacterial fever diagnoses, respectively. Blood-PCR conducted in a sub-group of patients (n = 83) without defined fever diagnosis was negative for rickettsiae, chikungunya, dengue, Rift Valley fever and West Nile viruses. Antibiotics were prescribed to 500 (74%) patients, but only 152 (22%) had an infection retrospectively considered to require antibiotics. Clinical outcome was generally good. However, two children died. Only 68 (11%) patients remained febrile on day 3 and three of them had verified fever on day 14. An additional 29 (4.5%) children had fever relapse on day 14. Regression analysis determined C-reactive Protein (CRP) as the only independent variable significantly associated with CXR-confirmed pneumonia. This is the first study on uncomplicated febrile illness in African children that both applied a comprehensive laboratory panel and a healthy control group. A majority of patients had viral respiratory tract infection. Pathogens were frequently detected by qPCR also in asymptomatic children, demonstrating the importance of incorporating controls in fever aetiology studies. The precision of IMCI for identifying infections requiring antibiotics was low.

Background: There is a need to better distinguish viral infections from antibiotic-requiring bacterial infections in children presenting with clinical community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) to assist health care workers in decision making and to improve the rational use of antibiotics. Objective: The overall aim of the Trial of Respiratory infections in children for ENhanced Diagnostics (TREND) study is to improve the differential diagnosis of bacterial and viral etiologies in children aged below 5 years with clinical CAP, by evaluating myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) as a biomarker for viral CAP and by evaluating an existing (multianalyte point-of-care antigen detection test system [mariPOC respi] ArcDia International Oy Ltd.) and a potential future point-of-care test for respiratory pathogens. Methods: Children aged 1 to 59 months with clinical CAP as well as healthy, hospital-based, asymptomatic controls will be included at a pediatric emergency hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Blood (analyzed for MxA and C-reactive protein) and nasopharyngeal samples (analyzed with real-time polymerase chain reaction as the gold standard and antigen-based mariPOC respi test as well as saved for future analyses of a novel recombinase polymerase amplification-based point-of-care test for respiratory pathogens) will be collected. A newly developed algorithm for the classification of CAP etiology will be used as the reference standard. Results: A pilot study was performed from June to August 2017. The enrollment of study subjects started in November 2017. Results are expected by the end of 2019.Conclusions: The findings from the TREND study can be an important step to improve the management of children with clinical.

There is a need to better distinguish viral infections from antibiotic-requiring bacterial infections in children presenting with clinical community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) to assist health care workers in decision making and to improve the rational use of antibiotics. The overall aim of the Trial of Respiratory infections in children for ENhanced Diagnostics (TREND) study is to improve the differential diagnosis of bacterial and viral etiologies in children aged below 5 years with clinical CAP, by evaluating myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) as a biomarker for viral CAP and by evaluating an existing (multianalyte point-of-care antigen detection test system [mariPOC respi] ArcDia International Oy Ltd.) and a potential future point-of-care test for respiratory pathogens. Children aged 1 to 59 months with clinical CAP as well as healthy, hospital-based, asymptomatic controls will be included at a pediatric emergency hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Blood (analyzed for MxA and C-reactive protein) and nasopharyngeal samples (analyzed with real-time polymerase chain reaction as the gold standard and antigen-based mariPOC respi test as well as saved for future analyses of a novel recombinase polymerase amplification-based point-of-care test for respiratory pathogens) will be collected. A newly developed algorithm for the classification of CAP etiology will be used as the reference standard. A pilot study was performed from June to August 2017. The enrollment of study subjects started in November 2017. Results are expected by the end of 2019. The findings from the TREND study can be an important step to improve the management of children with clinical CAP. DERR1-10.2196/12705.

In a large case-control study of Swedish incident type I diabetes patients and controls, 0–34 years of age, we tested the hypothesis that the GIMAP5 gene, a key genetic factor for lymphopenia in spontaneous BioBreeding rat diabetes, is associated with type I diabetes; with islet autoantibodies in incident type I diabetes patients or with age at clinical onset in incident type I diabetes patients. Initial scans of allelic association were followed by more detailed logistic regression modeling that adjusted for known type I diabetes risk factors and potential confounding variables. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs6598 , located in a polyadenylation signal of GIMAP5 , was associated with the presence of significant levels of IA-2 autoantibodies in the type I diabetes patients. Patients with the minor allele A of rs6598 had an increased prevalence of IA-2 autoantibody levels compared to patients without the minor allele (OR=2.2; Bonferroni-corrected P =0.003), after adjusting for age at clinical onset ( P =8.0 × 10 −13 ) and the numbers of HLA-DQ A1 * 0501-B1 * 0201 haplotypes ( P =2.4 × 10 −5 ) and DQ A1 * 0301-B1 * 0302 haplotypes ( P =0.002). GIMAP5 polymorphism was not associated with type I diabetes or with GAD65 or insulin autoantibodies, ICA, or age at clinical onset in patients. These data suggest that the GIMAP5 gene is associated with islet autoimmunity in type I diabetes and add to recent findings implicating the same SNP in another autoimmune disease.