Compost amendment in urban gardens: elemental and isotopic analysis of soils and vegetable tissues.

Urban horticulture poses a sustainable form of food production, fosters community engagement and mitigates the impacts of climate change on cities. Yet, it can also be tied to health challenges related to soil contamination. This work builds on a previous study conducted on eleven urban gardens in the city of Vienna, Austria.

Effects of Finding the Speech-Language Pathologist Likeable on Postlaryngectomy Speech Intelligibility Outcomes.

Introduction: Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work with patients after total laryngectomy (TL) to regain verbal communication. The influence of the quality of the therapeutic relationship on the success of TL voice rehabilitation in terms of speech intelligibility is not known. Finding each other likeable is an important factor in establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships in everyday life.

Exploring stimulation patterns for electrical stimulation of the larynx using surface electrodes.

Purpose: Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is considered an upcoming treatment modality for a number of laryngeal diseases. However, sound data are scarce when it comes to surface FES to treat voice disorders. Aim of the present study was to identify and differentiate suitable surface FES patterns to activate internal laryngeal muscles.

Segmenting and tracking cell instances with cosine embeddings and recurrent hourglass networks.

Differently to semantic segmentation, instance segmentation assigns unique labels to each individual instance of the same object class. In this work, we propose a novel recurrent fully convolutional network architecture for tracking such instance segmentations over time, which is highly relevant, e.g.

Miniature circulatory systems: A new exposure system for ecotoxicological effect assessments in riverine organisms.

Long-term effect assessments in ecotoxicological investigations are important, yet there is a lack of suitable exposure systems for these experiments that can be used for riverine species. A cost-efficient miniature circulatory system was developed that was evaluated for its applicability in long-term exposures in 2 stream-dwelling species: brown trout (Salmo trutta) and an amphipod (Gammarus roeseli). In an egg-to-fry exposure of S.

Increased RO concentrate toxicity following application of antiscalants - acute toxicity tests with the amphipods Gammarus pulex and Gammarus roeseli.

In reverse osmosis, a frequently used technology in water desalination processes, wastewater (RO concentrate) is generated containing the retained solutes as well as so-called antiscalants (AS), i.e. chemical substances that are commonly applied to prevent membrane-blocking.

Sublethal effects of the beta-blocker sotalol at environmentally relevant concentrations on the New Zealand mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum.

Monitoring sublethal effects of pharmaceuticals on nontarget species in aquatic environments has become an important topic in ecotoxicology, yet few studies have been conducted concerning the effects of beta-blockers on aquatic organisms. The present study investigated the effects of the beta-blocker sotalol (SOT) at 3 environmentally relevant concentrations on life-history traits of the New Zealand mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum. Based on the pharmacodynamic properties of SOT, the authors hypothesized reduced numbers of embryos in the brood pouches, decelerated growth of adult snails, and smaller size of neonates, but no effect on mortality rates of adults.

Macular infarction in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Purpose: To report a patient with transient acute generalized thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) who suffered severe permanent visual loss due to retinal vascular occlusions in both eyes.

Methods: Case report.

Results: Severe permanent visual loss occurred in a patient with acute transient TTP.

Progressive changes in the fluorescein and indocyanine green angiogram in acute idiopathic maculopathy.

Aims/background: To report progressive changes in the fluorescein and indocyanine green angiograms of a patient with acute idiopathic maculopathy (AIM).

Methods: Over a two-year period, the patient underwent repeated ophthalmoscopic examinations and fluorescein (FA) and indocyanine green (ICG) angiography.

Results: The patient presented with subretinal neovascularization in his right eye.

Cutaneous larva migrans, sacroileitis, and optic neuritis caused by an unidentified organism acquired in Thailand.

We report the case of a 32-year-old pregnant woman with an unidentified intraocular parasite. The parasite, which had been acquired in Thailand, caused cutaneous larva migrans, sacroileitis, and 2 years later optic neuritis and panuveitis. The patient was successfully treated with ivermectin and albendazole.

A simplified technique for extraction of subluxated lenses in young patients.

The authors describe a simplified and safer technique for surgical removal of hereditary or idiopathic soft subluxated lenses. Five eyes of three patients underwent intercapsular aspiration of the lens material. A side-port cannula was introduced through the pars plicata while the eyes were pressurized by an anterior chamber maintainer.

Impact of managers' personal determinants in notifying workplace hazards.

Notification about work hazards is a legal requirement in advanced industrial countries, but workers have claimed, that in many cases, they do not receive enough information regarding risks, exposure, and medical problems. The recent professional literature on the subject has explored the ways in which notification is delivered without sufficiently considering the psychological incentives and barriers that may affect managers in transmitting risk information. The present study aimed at examining managers' personal determinants and notification of work hazards in a sample of 106 managers and 460 workers in 40 departments of three industrial plants in Israel.

Macular ischemia as a cause of decreased vision in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Purpose: To report macular ischemia as a cause of decreased vision in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Methods: A 50-year-old man with AIDS who had previously diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus retinopathy and peripheral cytomegalovirus retinitis was initially examined with decreased vision in both eyes. He underwent complete systemic and ocular evaluation, fundus photography, and fluorescein angiography.

Hostility and hearing protection behavior: the mediating role of personal beliefs and low frustration tolerance.

The authors examined whether hostility would negatively be associated with occupational health behavior, namely, the use of hearing protection devices (HPDs). Also examined as possible mediators were the protection motivation theory (PMT) components and low frustration tolerance (LFT). Participants were 226 male industrial workers, all exposed to potentially hearing-damaging noise.

Usefulness of the protection motivation theory in explaining hearing protection device use among male industrial workers.

The present study examined the usefulness of personal variables: noise annoyance, and components of the protection motivation theory (R. W. Rogers, 1983) along with social-organizational factors in explaining hearing protection device (HPD) use among Israeli manufacturing workers.

Postoperative abnormalities of the choriocapillaris in exudative age-related macular degeneration.

Aims: To study the incidence and possible cause of abnormalities of the subfoveal choriocapillaris after surgical excision of subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation in age-related macular degeneration (ARMD).

Methods: The postoperative fluorescein angiograms and colour photographs of 29 eyes of 29 patients were reviewed after surgical excision of subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation in exudative ARMD. Preoperative and postoperative fluorescein angiograms were examined for perfusion of the subfoveal choriocapillaris.

Teaching interpersonal skills to occupational and environmental health professionals.

An innovative course for teaching communication and interpersonal relationships was delivered to 29 environmental and occupational health professionals. This course aimed to highlight interpersonal and emotional aspects in the professional-client interaction and incumbent communication aspects when consulting team members, colleagues, and nonprofessionals in the occupational arena. Various experiential and other teaching techniques were used.

[Pneumatic-retinopexy scleral buckling for retinal detachment].

30 eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment due to retinal tear at the upper half of the circumference or due to a macular hole underwent SF6 gas injection into the vitreous. In 25 eyes (83%) the retina had re-attached 1-2 days following the injection and the tear was then photocoagulated. Final visual acuity was 6/12 or better in 13 eyes, 6/15-6/20 in 4 eyes, 6/30-6/60 in 8 eyes and less than 6/60 in 5 eyes, 3 of which had a macular hole.

Spiked natural matrix materials as quality assessment samples.

The Environmental Measurements Laboratory has conducted the Quality Assessment Program (QAP) since 1976 to evaluate the quality of the environmental radioactivity data, which is reported to the Department of Energy by as many as 42 commercial contractors involved in nuclear work. In this program, matrix materials of known radionuclide concentrations are distributed routinely to the contractors and the reported results are compared. The five matrices used are: soil, vegetation, animal tissue, water and filter paper.

Intracranial meningiomas following low-dose irradiation to the head.

Earlier reports have suggested that low-dose ionizing irradiation might be involved in induction of intracranial meningiomas. One of the problems in evaluating irradiation-induced neoplasms is the belief that these tumors have no distinguishing features to indicate their etiology. In an attempt to identify such features in meningiomas following irradiation, a group of 42 post-irradiation meningiomas (PIM's) has been compared with a group of 84 non-PIM control meningiomas.