A multi-tiered approach to assess fecal pollution in an urban watershed: Bacterial and viral indicators and sediment microbial communities.

Development of effective pollution mitigation strategies require an understanding of the pollution sources and factors influencing fecal pollution loading. Fecal contamination of Turkey Creek in Gulfport, Mississippi, one of the nation's most endangered creeks, was studied through a multi-tiered approach. Over a period of approximately two years, four stations across the watershed were analyzed for nutrients, enumeration of E.

Comparing the current short-term cancer incidence prediction models in Brazil with state-of-the-art time-series models.

The World Health Organization has highlighted that cancer was the second-highest cause of death in 2019. This research aims to present the current forecasting techniques found in the literature, applied to predict time-series cancer incidence and then, compare these results with the current methodology adopted by the Instituto Nacional do Câncer (INCA) in Brazil. A set of univariate time-series approaches is proposed to aid decision-makers in monitoring and organizing cancer prevention and control actions.

Comparing Short-Term Univariate and Multivariate Time-Series Forecasting Models in Infectious Disease Outbreak.

Predicting infectious disease outbreak impacts on population, healthcare resources and economics and has received a special academic focus during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Focus on human disease outbreak prediction techniques in current literature, Marques et al. (Predictive models for decision support in the COVID-19 crisis.

Physiological effects and subjective tolerability of prone positioning in COVID-19 and healthy hypoxic challenge.

Background: Prone positioning has a beneficial role in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients receiving ventilation but lacks evidence in awake non-ventilated patients, with most studies being retrospective, lacking control populations and information on subjective tolerability.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, single-centre study of prone positioning in awake non-ventilated patients with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 pneumonia. The primary outcome was change in peripheral oxygenation in prone supine position.

Assessment of electrooxidation as pre- and post-treatments for improving anaerobic digestion and stabilisation of waste activated sludge.

This study evaluates the effects of electro-oxidation as a means for enhancing sludge stabilisation. Boron-doped diamond electrodes were used to treat waste activated sludge and digestate under different operating parameters (current density, conductivity, pH, and time). Electro-oxidation runs affected the solubilisation of organic matter, which seemed to improve anaerobic digestion and dewaterability characteristics.

A Genome-Wide Pharmacogenetic Study of Growth Hormone Responsiveness.

Context: Individual patients vary in their response to growth hormone (GH). No large-scale genome-wide studies have looked for genetic predictors of GH responsiveness.

Objective: To identify genetic variants associated with GH responsiveness.

A Comparison between Several Response Surface Methodology Designs and a Neural Network Model to Optimise the Oxidation Conditions of a Lignocellulosic Blend.

In this paper, response surface methodology (RSM) designs and an artificial neural network (ANN) are used to obtain the optimal conditions for the oxy-combustion of a corn-rape blend. The ignition temperature () and burnout index () were selected as the responses to be optimised, while the CO/O molar ratio, the total flow, and the proportion of rape in the blend were chosen as the influencing factors. For the RSM designs, complete, Box-Behnken, and central composite designs were performed to assess the experimental results.

Successful Treatment of Multifactorial Chronic Daily Headaches at an Interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Program: A Case Study.

Unlabelled: Chronic daily headaches (CDHs) are common, disabling, and difficult to treat. We report a case of a patient with a complex medical history experiencing multifactorial CDH referred for and eventually enrolled in an interdisciplinary chronic pain program. Focusing on enhancing the patient's function while minimizing the use of medications and invasive procedures, this comprehensive rehabilitation intervention consists of diverse treatment approaches, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, physical and occupational therapy, and medical interventions.

The Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Fluoroscopy Time During Intraarticular Hip Injection: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: Higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with difficulty in obtaining imaging studies. While there is a small body of literature regarding the relationship between fluoroscopy time and BMI during injections for pain management, this has not been studied for intraarticular (IA) hip injections. Further, in academic training centers, trainee involvement may affect this relationship.

Treatment with high doses of pegvisomant in 56 patients with acromegaly: experience from ACROSTUDY.

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of patients who need more or less pegvisomant (PEGV) to normalize serum IGF-I.

Design: ACROSTUDY is a global noninterventional safety surveillance study of long-term treatment outcomes in patients treated with PEGV. As of June, 2014, ACROSTUDY included data on 2016 patients.

Weight gain in Turner Syndrome: association to puberty induction? - longitudinal analysis of KIGS data.

Context: Girls with Turner Syndrome (TS) treated or not treated with growth hormone (GH) are prone to overweight. Therefore, we hypothesize that puberty induction in TS is associated with weight gain.

Methods: We analyzed weight changes (BMI-SDS) between onset of GH treatment and near adult height (NAH) in 887 girls with TS enrolled in KIGS (Pfizer International Growth Database).

Overall and cause-specific mortality in GH-deficient adults on GH replacement.

Objective: Hypopituitarism is associated with an increased mortality rate but the reasons underlying this have not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate mortality and associated factors within a large GH-replaced population of hypopituitary patients.

Design: In KIMS (Pfizer International Metabolic Database) 13,983 GH-deficient patients with 69,056 patient-years of follow-up were available.

Ease of use and preference for a new disposable self-injection pen compared with a reusable pen for administering recombinant human growth hormone: A multicenter, 2-month, single-arm, open-label clinical trial in patient-caregiver dyads.

Background: Improved ease of use of drug-delivery devices may enhance compliance. Development of an easier-to-use device for administration of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) may thus be beneficial for patients and their caregivers.

Objective: This study compared ease of use and preference for a new disposable rhGH injection pen relative to previous experience with the currently available reusable pen in standard practice.

Glimepiride versus metformin as monotherapy in pediatric patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized, single-blind comparative study.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of glimepiride versus metformin in pediatric subjects with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with diet and exercise alone or oral monotherapy.

Research Design And Methods: This 26-week, single-blind, active-controlled, multinational study randomized 285 subjects to receive glimepiride (1-8 mg once daily) or metformin (500-1000 mg twice daily) for 24 weeks. The primary end point was mean change in A1C from baseline to week 24.

Type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents.

The prevalence rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes in children are increasing at an alarming rate. The potential impact of these conditions on the individual, the family, and society, especially in regard to the costs and utilization of health care resources, are very serious. Strategies aimed at reducing caloric intake, increasing caloric expenditure through regular exercise, and treating cardiovascular risk factors and type 2 diabetes early and aggressively are necessary to meet the challenges they impose.

Food-deprivation induces HSP70 and HSP90 protein expression in larval gilthead sea bream and rainbow trout.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) expression is commonly used as indicators of cellular stress in animals. However, very little is known about either the expression patterns of HSPs or their role in the stress-tolerance phenomenon in early life stages of fish. To this end, we examined the impact of food-deprivation (12 h), reduced oxygen levels (3.

Pyrolysis of tyres. Influence of the final temperature of the process on emissions and the calorific value of the products recovered.

A study was made of the pyrolysis of tyre particles, with the aim of determining the possibilities of using the products resulting from the process as fuel. Three final temperatures were used, determined from thermogravimetric data. The design of the experiment was a horizontal oven containing a reactor into which particles of the original tyre were placed.

Evidence of increased risk for leishmania infantum infection among HIV-seronegative intravenous drug users from southern Spain.

To assess the prevalence of markers of Leishmania infection, 93 intravenous drug users and 77 nonusers of intravenous drugs underwent a Leishmania skin test and a serum Leishmania antibody search. All participants were human immunodeficiency virus seronegative. The Leishmania skin test was positive in 24 intravenous drug users and in 10 non-users of intravenous drugs (P=0.

Idle time in the washing and iron concentration in leachate removed: two basic parameters in the desulphurization of coal in a packed column.

Column biodesulphurization of coal is at the experimental stage and is influenced by many variables including temperature, pH, particle size, concentration of iron in solution, among others. Idle time in the washing process and the concentration of dissolved iron in the purged leachate are two variables with a definite effect on the yield of the desulphurization system. In the laboratory, several trials were run with columns packed with coal for different idle times: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 days, and for different concentrations of iron in the purged leachate: 500 to 4,000 mg/l.

Growth hormone therapy of Turner syndrome: the impact of age of estrogen replacement on final height. Genentech, Inc., Collaborative Study Group.

Clinical trials of recombinant human GH therapy in Turner syndrome that began more than a decade ago show that GH accelerates the linear growth rate. Several studies indicate that final height is also improved, although the magnitude of the increase has been debated. The age at which feminization is induced could be an important factor in determining the patient's ultimate growth response.