Intruding surface water can impact the physicochemical and microbiological quality of groundwater. Understanding these impacts is important because groundwater provides much of the world's potable water, and reduced quality is a potential public health risk. In this study, we monitored six shallow groundwater wells and three surface water bodies in the North Ostrobothnia region of Finland twice monthly for 12 months (October 2021-October 2022) via (i) on-site and off-site measurements of physicochemical water quality parameters, (ii) determination of stable water isotope compositions, and (iii) analysis of microbial communities (via amplicon sequencing of the V3-V4 16S rRNA gene sub-regions).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRenal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid differentiation (sRCC) is associated with poor survival and a heightened response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Two major barriers to improving outcomes for sRCC are the limited understanding of its gene regulatory programs and the low diagnostic yield of tumor biopsies due to spatial heterogeneity. Herein, we characterized the epigenomic landscape of sRCC by profiling 107 epigenomic libraries from tissue and plasma samples from 50 patients with RCC and healthy volunteers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFQuenching rate is an important parameter to include in fluorescence measurements that are aimed at quantifying the thermochemical field of a reacting flow. Traditionally, the quenching measurements were obtained at low pressures using the direct measurements of quenching times followed by a linear scaling to the desired pressure. This approach, however, cannot account for the possible deviation from the linear pressure scaling at elevated pressures due to three and multi-body collisions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGroundwater provides much of the world's potable water. Nevertheless, groundwater quality monitoring programmes often rely on a sporadic, slow, and narrowly focused combination of periodic manual sampling and laboratory analyses, such that some water quality deficiencies go undetected, or are detected too late to prevent adverse consequences. In an effort to address this shortcoming, we conducted enhanced monitoring of untreated groundwater quality over 12 months (February 2019-February 2020) in four shallow wells supplying potable water in Finland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTurbulent combustion of jet flames in a hot diluted coflow of combustion products is conducive to the transition from conventional flamelet combustion to a regime of moderate or intense low oxygen dilution (MILD) combustion, which is commonly characterized by a very low emission and noise. MILD combustion is also characterized by distributed combustion where the net heat release is positive across the entire combustion domain. The turbulence/chemistry interactions in this regime that determine the flame structure, local temperature, and species distribution critically depend on the mixture fraction and scalar dissipation fields.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present an integrated design to sensitively measure changes in optical frequency using weak value amplification with a multi-mode interferometer. The technique involves introducing a weak perturbation to the system and then post-selecting the data in such a way that the signal is amplified without amplifying the technical noise, as has previously been demonstrated in a free-space setup. We demonstrate the advantages of a Bragg grating with two band gaps for obtaining simultaneous, stable high transmission and high dispersion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRural communities often rely on groundwater for potable water supply. In this study, untreated groundwater samples from 28 shallow groundwater wells in Finland (<10 m deep and mostly supplying untreated groundwater to <200 users in rural areas) were assessed for physicochemical water quality, stable water isotopes, microbial water quality indicators, host-specific microbial source tracking (MST) markers, and bacterial community composition, activity, and diversity (using amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and 16S rRNA). Indications of surface water intrusion were identified in five wells, and these indications were found to be negatively correlated, overall, with bacterial alpha diversity (based on amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOptical interferometry plays an essential role in precision metrology such as in gravitational wave detection, gyroscopes, and environmental sensing. Weak value amplification enables reaching the shot-noise-limit of sensitivity, which is difficult for most optical sensors, by amplifying the interferometric signal without amplifying certain technical noises. We implement a generalized form of weak value amplification on an integrated photonic platform with a multi-mode interferometer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Escherichia coli marRAB operon is a paradigm for chromosomally encoded antibiotic resistance. The operon exerts its effect via an encoded transcription factor called MarA that modulates efflux pump and porin expression. In this work, we show that MarA is also a regulator of biofilm formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The purpose of this study is to report on attitudes of doctors of chiropractic (DCs) toward integrative medicine and their self-reported interdisciplinary practices for older adults with back pain.
Methods: This descriptive survey was conducted with licensed DCs in a Midwestern community in the United States. Respondents completed a 53-item postal survey of demographics, practice characteristics, referral and co-management patterns, attitudes toward interdisciplinary practice, and the Integrative Medicine-30 Questionnaire (IM-30).
Background: Low back pain is a debilitating condition for older adults, who may seek healthcare from multiple providers. Few studies have evaluated impacts of different healthcare delivery models on back pain outcomes in this population. The purpose of this study was to compare clinical outcomes of older adults receiving back pain treatment under 3 professional practice models that included primary medical care with or without chiropractic care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Older adults seek health care for low back pain from multiple providers who may not coordinate their treatments. This study evaluated the perceived feasibility of a patient-centered practice model for back pain, including facilitators for interprofessional collaboration between family medicine physicians and doctors of chiropractic.
Design And Methods: This qualitative evaluation was a component of a randomized controlled trial of 3 interdisciplinary models for back pain management: usual medical care; concurrent medical and chiropractic care; and collaborative medical and chiropractic care with interprofessional education, clinical record exchange, and team-based case management.
Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) need to be agile to adapt to new situations by using detailed, precise, and appropriate data for intelligent decision-making. The intricacy of the relationship of strategic goals to operational performance across the many levels of a manufacturing system inhibits the realization of SMS. This paper proposes a method for identifying what aspects of a manufacturing system should be addressed to respond to changing strategic goals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterprofessional education (IPE) is becoming an integral part of the education of health professions students. However, teaching students to become successful members of interprofessional teams is complex, and it is important for students to learn the combinations of skills necessary for teams to function effectively. There are many instruments available to measure many features related to IPE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmart manufacturing has the potential to address many of the challenges faced by industry. However, the manufacturing community often needs assistance to leverage available technologies to improve their systems. To assure the performance of these technologies, this paper proposes a shared knowledge base that collects problem areas, solutions, and best practices for manufacturing technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEfficiency of natural stone production processes in quarries directly affects the economic output and environmental performances, such as production lead times and energy consumptions. Knowledge on stone production processes is crucial in making responsible decisions in this business. Having a structured representation of information characterizing the stone production processes will support stakeholders in better assessing production resources in terms of sustainability and productivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc ASME Des Eng Tech Conf
January 2016
Smart manufacturing combines advanced manufacturing capabilities and digital technologies throughout the product lifecycle. These technologies can provide decision-making support to manufacturers through improved monitoring, analysis, modeling, and simulation that generate more and better intelligence about manufacturing systems. However, challenges and barriers have impeded the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScand J Work Environ Health
September 2015
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate if safety certification reduces the risk of work injury among experienced manual tree-fallers.
Methods: This study used a retrospective cohort study design. Experienced manual tree-fallers employed in the Canadian province of British Columbia (N=3251) between 2003-2008 were enumerated from a mandatory faller registry.
We improve the precision of the interferometric weak-value-based beam deflection measurement by introducing a power recycling mirror, creating a resonant cavity. This results in all the light exiting to the detector with a large deflection, thus eliminating the inefficiency of the rare postselection. The signal-to-noise ratio of the deflection is itself magnified by the weak value.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis in infancy is a major risk factor for recurrent wheezing and asthma. Because azithromycin attenuated neutrophilic airway inflammation in a murine viral bronchiolitis model, demonstration of similar effects in human subjects might provide a strategy for the prevention of postbronchiolitis recurrent wheezing.
Objectives: We sought to investigate whether azithromycin treatment during RSV bronchiolitis reduces serum and nasal lavage IL-8 levels and the occurrence of postbronchiolitis recurrent wheezing.
Increased emphasis on team care has accelerated interprofessional education (IPE) of health professionals. The health mentors program (HMP) is a required, longitudinal, interprofessional curriculum for all matriculating students from medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, and couple and family therapy. Volunteer lay health mentors serve as educators.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Res Natl Inst Stand Technol
November 2015
Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to create geometrically complex parts that require a high degree of customization, using less material and producing less waste. Recent studies have shown that AM can be an economically viable option for use by the industry, yet there are some inherent challenges associated with AM for wider acceptance. The lack of standards in AM impedes its use for parts production since industries primarily depend on established standards in processes and material selection to ensure the consistency and quality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bedside rounding is an historical clinical model that brings together care providers and the patient to discuss the plan of care. Interprofessional clinical rounding is an approach that uses this historical model to involve multiple health professions. This study was conducted to determine if a model of interprofessional clinical rounding could be implemented successfully in an acute care setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: While older adults may seek care for low back pain (LBP) from both medical doctors (MDs) and doctors of chiropractic (DCs), co-management between these providers is uncommon. The purposes of this study were to describe the preferences of older adults for LBP co-management by MDs and DCs and to identify their concerns for receiving care under such a treatment model.
Methods: We conducted 10 focus groups with 48 older adults who received LBP care in the past year.
Based on a growing body of literature documenting improved cost and quality outcomes related to good team care, interprofessional education (IPE) has been widely endorsed as critical to preparing the future healthcare workforce. This study evaluated the effect of a longitudinal team-based 2-year IPE curriculum on attitudes toward health care teams. Analyses included comparison of baseline measures to the end of the 2-year curriculum of each of the six participating disciplines (medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, and couple and family therapy).
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