The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer, MEDA. A Suite of Environmental Sensors for the Mars 2020 Mission.

NASA's Mars 2020 (M2020) rover mission includes a suite of sensors to monitor current environmental conditions near the surface of Mars and to constrain bulk aerosol properties from changes in atmospheric radiation at the surface. The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) consists of a set of meteorological sensors including wind sensor, a barometer, a relative humidity sensor, a set of 5 thermocouples to measure atmospheric temperature at ∼1.5 m and ∼0.5 m above the surface, a set of thermopiles to characterize the thermal IR brightness temperatures of the surface and the lower atmosphere. MEDA adds a radiation and dust sensor to monitor the optical atmospheric properties that can be used to infer bulk aerosol physical properties such as particle size distribution, non-sphericity, and concentration. The MEDA package and its scientific purpose are described in this document as well as how it responded to the calibration tests and how it helps prepare for the human exploration of Mars. A comparison is also presented to previous environmental monitoring payloads landed on Mars on the Viking, Pathfinder, Phoenix, MSL, and InSight spacecraft.

Strong opioids and non-cancer chronic pain in Catalonia. An analysis of the family physicians prescription patterns. / Opioides fuertes y dolor crónico no oncológico en Cataluña. Análisis del patrón de prescripción por parte de los médicos de familia.

OBJECTIVE: To identify family doctor prescription patterns for strong opioids for chronic, non-cancer-related pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Design A descriptive study based on a self-administered email questionnaire. LOCATION: All primary health care centres in Catalonia. PARTICIPANTS: 3,602 family doctors, all members of the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine. INTERVENTIONS: Email survey of Catalan family doctors. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Demographic data, number of patients treated with potent opioids for chronic non-cancer pain, type of opioid used and indications, prescribing patterns and relationship with the Pain Management Unit. RESULTS: A total of 551 answers were obtained from 3,602 questionnaires sent (response rate of 15.3%), in which 480 physicians (87%) prescribed strong opioids for musculoskeletal pain, 268 (48.6%) prescribed ultra-rapid fentanyl and 434 (78.7%) reduced benzodiazepines dosage when prescribing potent opioids. The most common adverse effects were constipation and nausea. The main problems related with opioid prescription were improper use (341, 71%) and patient and/or practitioner reluctance (87, 18.1%). The assessment of the relationship with Pain Management Units was 2±1 (on a 1 to 5 scale), with communication (271, 52.2%) and accessibility (141, 27.1%) being the areas most in need of improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Opioid prescribing patterns generally follow clinical guidelines (e.g. reduction of benzodiazepine use or dose titration). However, there are some areas of improvement, such as sparse use of laxatives or use of ultra-rapid opioids for unapproved indications and in patients with no background opioid therapy. Family doctors perceive patient reluctance to adhere to the prescribed treatment, and call for specific training and better relationships with Pain Management Units.

Mycobacterium africanum, an emerging disease in high-income countries?

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium africanum is a cause of tuberculosis (TB) that has mainly been described in Africa, but immigration and travel patterns have contributed to the spread of the disease to other countries. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed TB cases due to M. africanum during 2000-2010 in seven Spanish hospitals. Selected clinical charts were reviewed using a predefined protocol that included demographical, clinical and microbiological data and outcome. RESULTS: Although 57 cases were diagnosed, only 36 clinical charts were available for review: 82.8% were men and the mean age was 31.6 years (range 12-81). Forty-four cases were from Africa, 1 from the Philippines, 1 from India, and 4 from Spain, while the country of origin was unknown in 7 cases. The most frequent site of infection was the lung (58.3%). Four cases (6.9%) were resistant to at least one first-line anti-tuberculosis drug. CONCLUSIONS: Disease due to M. africanum in industrialised countries is mainly associated with immigration from endemic areas, although some cases also occur among native-born populations.

[Nontuberculous bacterial infection in immunocompetent children]. / Infección por micobacterias no tuberculosas en inmunocompetentes.

Nontuberculous or environmental mycobacterial disease in children has been increasingly recognized over the last decade. We present four patients who were diagnosed in the year 2000. The children were aged between 2 and 8 years. Three patients presented involvement of the cervical lymph nodes and one presented involvement of the inguinal nodes. Three of the children were treated with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy and one was treated with chemotherapy alone. We describe the clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, therapeutic management and complications of nontuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis in children.

Preventing adolescent pregnancy: in hot pursuit.

PIP: Many children and teenagers are raised in unstable and unsupportive family and community environments ridden with poverty, institutionalized racism, poor housing, substandard health care, inadequate education, and limited career opportunities. Under such conditions, they see no hope for the future. Having sexual intercourse helps these young people to cope with their otherwise harsh realities. Taking precautions against unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) is of secondary importance to the immediate need for emotional and physical bonding through intimate sexual relations. Simply providing adolescents and youths in this context with information on family planning and STD avoidance will not convince them to delay the onset of sexual intercourse or modify their sexual behavior once begun. The desire to live a long, successful, and productive life is what encourages youths to delay the onset of intercourse and to use contraception consistently once they begin to have sex. Youth workers, teachers, and counselors must therefore provide relevant prevention information while also attempting to replace sexual intercourse as a coping mechanism with concrete and hopeful alternatives. Patricia Dempsey and the author launched a program in 1985 at the Children's Aid Society to develop a long-term, holistic, multidimensional adolescent sexuality and pregnancy prevention pilot program for young people, parents, and adults in Harlem. The program would address teen pregnancy and childbearing as well as the underlying causes. This paper presents an overview of the participants and program components.^ieng

[Trophic effect of testosterone on erythropoiesis in the mouse]. / Acción trófica de la testosterona sobre la eritropoyesis del ratón.

Some differences between erythropoietin biogenesis under the action of natural stimuli and that resulting from testosterone administration are commented. Evidences are presented suggesting that androgens, apart from amplifying erythropoietin production, might exert some action on the stroma as specific erythrocytic tissue. This action could be anabolic or trophic and not erythropoietin dependent, at least to some extent, its effect being applied on the quantitative erythropoietic homeostasis.

Systemic oxygen transport and erythropoiesis in the mouse.

Removal of 15% of blood volume in the mouse increases erythropoiesis by a factor of 2.2 when measured 12 h after bleeding. Exposure of normal mice to 40% reduced barometric pressure for the same period of time increases erythropoiesis only by a factor of 1.6. The response to hypoxia takes place in the presence of a 40% reduction of oxygen consumption and tissue-venous PO2, changes which are concomitant with a 5-fold increase in plasma erythropoietin activity. The larger response in anemic animals on the other hand occurs without any detectable change in these parameters. These results cast serious doubts about the interpretation of the quantitative homeostatic control of erythropoiesis based solely on the action of erythropoietin.

Acute hypocalcemia and erythropoiesis in the mouse.

Mice were made acutely hypocalcemic by injection of sodium oxalate. After the transient drop of plasma calcium marked changes in erythroblastic proliferation, number of erythroblasts and 59Fe kinetics were observed. The probable mechanism of this response that may reflect increased erythropoiesis is discussed.

A sex education program that worked.

PIP: A sex education program was conducted at a treatment center serving boys aged 6-14 in New York City. 1 of the purposes of the program was to scientifically measure and evaluate the program itself, in order to find a replicable structure to be used for subsequent programs. 24 staff members volunteered to participate in a 1-year training program, and regular meetings were held between the agency executives and the personnel involved in the program. The results showed significant changes in knowledge of birth control technology, in understanding of sexual responsibility, and in the consideration of parenthood as a choice.^ieng

[Erythropoiesis in the mouse following chronic administration of small doses of busulphan (author's transl)]. / Hematopoiesis en el ratón después de la administración de busulfán.

After both splenectomized and non-splenectomized mice had received a total amount of five doses of Busulfan at a rate of 0.14 mg/48 h, the recovery of their erythropoietic organs through the addition of 59Fe was investigated, after the cytostatic treatment had been cut off. In the non-splenectomized animals recovery was clear, keeping high 59Fe uptake values, significantly above normal, throughout the 21 days of the experiment. In the splenectomized mice, 59Fe uptake reached a peak of 38 per cent three days after the supply had been cut off, and from then on it descended to subnormal values.