A Food Pantry Nutrition Education Program RCT: Food Choices and Diet-Quality.

Purpose: Food pantries have provided nutrition education to promote healthy food choices with mixed outcomes. This study assessed the impact of Guided Stars food quality rating system to promote healthy food choices among food pantry clients.

Design: Randomized parallel-group study with balanced randomization.

Improving the design and conduct of aquatic toxicity studies with oils based on 20 years of CROSERF experience.

Laboratory toxicity testing is a key tool used in oil spill science, spill effects assessment, and mitigation strategy decisions to minimize environmental impacts. A major consideration in oil toxicity testing is how to replicate real-world spill conditions, oil types, weathering states, receptor organisms, and modifying environmental factors under laboratory conditions. Oils and petroleum-derived products are comprised of thousands of compounds with different physicochemical and toxicological properties, and this leads to challenges in conducting and interpreting oil toxicity studies.

Prehospital Tourniquet Usage and Diabetes Mellitus Associated with Increased Incidence, Odds, and Risk of Acute Kidney Injury: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Tourniquets are the standard of care for civilian and military prehospital treatment of massive extremity hemorrhages. Over the past 17 years, multiple military studies have demonstrated rare complications related to tourniquet usage. These studies may not translate well to civilian populations due to differences in baseline health.

Toxicity evaluation of Louisiana nearshore marsh sediments following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

A crucial step towards understanding potential impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to marsh ecosystems was to quantitatively determine the toxicity of oil remaining in the sediment. The objective of this study was to assess the potential injury to benthic species using standardized toxicity bioassays. Sediments were collected from locations with differing degrees of oiling based on previous assessments.

Hyperreflective Foci and Specks Are Associated with Delayed Rod-Mediated Dark Adaptation in Nonneovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: Hyperreflective foci (HRF) are OCT biomarkers for the progression of nonneovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) attributed to anteriorly migrated retinal pigment epithelial cells. We examined associations between rod- and cone-mediated vision and HRF plus smaller hyperreflective specks (HRS); we identified a histologic candidate for HRS.

Design: Cross-sectional study and histologic survey.

"Heal Thyself."—An Argument for Granting Asylum to Healthcare Workers Persecuted During the 2014 West African Ebola Crisis.

This article argues for a change in United States asylum policy at a time when change is needed most. Those seeking asylum must prove that they fear persecution in their home country based on one of five protected categories and that their government is the persecutor or is unable to control the actions of the persecutors. Multiple articles have recognized that the "particular social group" is the most difficult category of asylum seeker to analyze.

A Comparative Assessment of the Aquatic Toxicity of Corexit 9500 to Marine Organisms.

The use of chemical dispersants during oil spill responses has long been controversial. During the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, 1.8 million gallons of dispersant, mainly Corexit 9500, were applied in offshore waters to mitigate the human health and coastal environmental impact of surface oil contamination.

Chronic Toxicity of Unweathered and Weathered Macondo Oils to Mysid Shrimp (Americamysis bahia) and Inland Silversides (Menidia beryllina).

Chronic, 21-28-day toxicity tests of Macondo source (Massachusetts, or MASS) and weathered Slick A (CTC) and Slick B (Juniper) oils field collected during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Incident in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) were conducted using standardized procedures. Standard species, Americamysis bahia and Menidia beryllina, were evaluated for changes in survival and growth during daily static-renewal tests. Both species demonstrated an increased sensitivity to low-energy water accommodated fractions (WAFs) of un-weathered MASS oil, with growth and survival decreasing as oil loading rate increased from 0.

The use of ephyrae of a scyphozoan jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, in the aquatic toxicological assessment of Macondo oils from the Deepwater Horizon incident.

Ephyrae of the scyphozoan jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, were evaluated in 96-hr acute toxicity tests for lethal response to Macondo crude oils from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) incident in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Corexit 9500, and oil-dispersant mixtures. Water accommodated fractions (WAFs) of weathered and unweathered Macondo crude oils were not acutely toxic to ephyrae (LC50s > 100% WAF). The total PAHs (TPAHs), measured as the sum of 46 PAHs, averaged 21.

An Evaluation of Select Test Variables Potentially Affecting Acute Oil Toxicity.

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon incident (2010) in the Gulf of Mexico, an abundance of research studies have been performed, but the methodologies used have varied making comparisons and replication difficult. In this study, acute toxicity tests with mysids and inland silversides were performed to examine the effect of different variables on test results. The toxicity test variables evaluated in this study included (1) open versus closed static test chambers, (2) natural versus artificial diluent, (3) aerated versus nonaerated test solution, and (4) low versus medium energy water-accommodated (WAF) mixing energies.

Factors affecting toxicity test endpoints in sensitive life stages of native Gulf of Mexico species.

Indigenous species are less commonly used in laboratory aquatic toxicity tests compared with standard test species due to (1) limited availability lack of requisite information necessary for their acclimation and maintenance under laboratory conditions and (2) lack of information on their sensitivity and the reproducibility of toxicity test results. As part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment aquatic toxicity program in response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil incident (2010), sensitive life stages of native Gulf of Mexico species were evaluated in laboratory toxicity tests to determine the potential effects of the spill. Fish (n = 5) and invertebrates (n = 2) selected for this program include the following: the Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus), red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), spotted sea trout (Cynoscion nebulosus), cobia (Rachycentron canadum), red porgy (Pagrus pagrus), blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), and the common moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita).

Acute aquatic toxicity studies of Gulf of Mexico water samples collected following the Deepwater Horizon incident (May 12, 2010 to December 11, 2010).

The potential for the Deepwater Horizon MC-252 oil incident to affect ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) was evaluated using Americamysis bahia, Menidia beryllina and Vibrio fischeri (Microtox® assay). Organisms were exposed to GOM water samples collected in May-December 2010. Samples were collected where oil was visibly present on the water surface or the presence of hydrocarbons at depth was indicated by fluorescence data or reduced dissolved oxygen.

Seasonal availability and sensitivity of two field-collected mayflies for the development of a standardized toxicity test.

Ecologically relevant toxicity tests may provide the best protection of sensitive aquatic fauna, but without established culturing or test methodology for such organisms, results may be unreliable and difficult to repeat. Further, field-collected organisms may not be feasible for routine testing purposes, as often required for permitted discharges. This study examined the feasibility of testing two field-collected mayflies, Isonychia bicolor and Maccaffertium spp.

Preliminary results of laboratory toxicity tests with the mayfly, Isonychia bicolor (Ephemeroptera: Isonychiidae) for development as a standard test organism for evaluating streams in the Appalachian coalfields of Virginia and West Virginia.

Selecting the most appropriate test species for sediment and water column assays has been a primary goal for ecotoxicologists. Standard test organisms and established test guidelines exist, but the USEPA-recommended species may not be the most sensitive organisms to anthropogenic inputs. This paper describes preliminary results of toxicity tests with the mayfly, Isonychia bicolor (Ephemeroptera).

Evaluation of the efficacy provided by a Recombinant Canarypox-Vectored Equine West Nile Virus vaccine against an experimental West Nile Virus intrathecal challenge in horses.

Efficacy of the Recombitek Equine West Nile Virus (WNV) vaccine was evaluated against a WNV intrathecal challenge model that results in WNV-induced clinical disease. Ten vaccinated (twice at days 0 and 35) and 10 control horses were challenged 2 weeks after administration of the second vaccine with a virulent WNV by intrathecal administration. After the challenge, eight of 10 controls developed clinical signs of encephalomyelitis whereas one vaccinate exhibited muscle fasciculation only once.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia: improved clinical outcomes.

Nosocomial pneumonia is the second most costly infection occurring in US hospitals. It is associated with high mortality and morbidity and is considered one of the most difficult infections to diagnose and prevent. In 1999, St Joseph Hospital formed a multidisciplinary Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Performance Improvement Team to tackle the myriad of issues involved in the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia and the care of this high-risk patient population.