Spectral analysis and kinetic modeling of radioluminescence in air and nitrogen.

In this article we present a quantitative analysis of the second positive system of molecular nitrogen and the first negative system of the molecular nitrogen cation excited in the presence of ionizing radiation. Optical emission spectra of atmospheric air and nitrogen surrounding 210Po sources were measured from 250 to 400 nm. Multi-Boltzmann and non-Boltzmann vibrational distribution spectral models were used to determine the vibrational temperature and vibrational distribution function of the emitting N2(C3Πu) and N2+(B2Σ+u) states. A zero-dimensional kinetic model, based on the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) and steady-state excitation and de-excitation of N2(X1Σ+g), N2+(B2Σ+u), N2+(X2Σ+g), N4+, O2+, and N2(C3Πu, v), was developed for the prediction of the relative spectral intensity of both the N2+(B2Σ+u → X2Σ+g) emission band and the vibrational bands of N2(C3Πu → B3Πg) for comparison with the experimental data.

Interleukin-10 receptor mutation presenting with severe nappy ulceration and infantile inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be divided into Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease unclassified (IBDU). In most patients, these disorders present in adolescence or early adulthood. Patients with infantile IBD can have an associated underlying immunodeficiency disorder caused by a mutation in interleukin (IL)-10 or its receptor. We describe a child presenting with intractable bloody diarrhoea since 2 weeks of age and with severe nappy ulceration, who was ultimately diagnosed as having inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) due to an immunodeficiency in the IL-10 receptor. This report highlights the importance of considering this rare immunodeficiency in patients with infantile IBD presenting with severe perianal disease to a dermatologist.

Improvements in the method of radiation anomaly detection by spectral comparison ratios.

We present a new procedure for configuring the Nuisance-rejection Spectral Comparison Ratio Anomaly Detection (N-SCRAD) method. The procedure minimizes detectable count rates of source spectra at a specified false positive rate using simulated annealing. We also present a new method for correcting the estimates of background variability used in N-SCRAD to current conditions of the total count rate. The correction lowers detection thresholds for a specified false positive rate, enabling greater sensitivity to targets.

Rituximab as a treatment for severe atopic eczema: failure to improve in three consecutive patients.

Biological therapies may provide the breakthrough in treating moderate to severe atopic eczema (AE) that is unresponsive to standard therapy. Rituximab has been shown to benefit some patients in published case series, and so we treated three consecutive patients with severe AE with rituximab. Despite achieving low/absent peripheral blood CD19 +  B-cell numbers following rituximab administration, this was not associated with clinical benefit as there was no major change in pre- and post-treatment Eczema Area and Severity Index (34, 64.4 and 42.2 compared with 33.2, 66 and 56.4, respectively). We would therefore recommend that that there is a compelling need for a formal, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to demonstrate efficacy of rituximab as a treatment of moderate to severe AE.

Multi-energy, single-isotope imaging using stacked detectors.

We investigated a scheme for concurrently detecting low- and high-energy emissions from (123)I with a stacked silicon double-sided strip detector (DSSD) and modular scintillation camera (Modcam) from the FastSPECT II design. We sequentially acquired both low- and high-energy emission images of an (123)I object with a prototype DSSD and a Modcam. A sandwich aperture increases spatial resolution in the low-magnification DSSD image via a smaller pinhole diameter and allows a higher magnification image on the Modcam. Molybdenum, the insert material, efficiently stops 20-30 keV photons due to its ∼20 keV K-edge. Theoretically, less than 10% of 159 keV photons interact in 0.035 cm thick sheet of molybdenum, while this thickness stops virtually all ∼30 keV photons. Thus, photons from both energy regions will be incident upon their respective detectors with little cross talk. With a multi-pinhole collimator, we can decode multiplexed images on the Modcam by making use of the lower-magnification DSSD image. This approach can provide an increase in system sensitivity compared to single-detector configurations. Using MCNP5 we examined the potential benefits and drawbacks of stacked detectors and the sandwich aperture for small-animal pinhole SPECT via the synthetic-collimator method. Simulation results encourage us to construct the novel aperture and use it with our new DSSDs designed for mounting in a transmission configuration.

Identification of interleukin-1 in equine osteoarthritic joint effusions.

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a protein secreted by stimulated cells of the monocyte-macrophage line, which has a number of important biologic activities. Interleukin-1 has been implicated in the induction and augmentation of the pathologic processes involved in arthritis and articular cartilage destruction. Horses develop osteoarthritis with a frequency and degree of severity similar to human beings. To further document the similarity of the osteoarthritic process in people and horses, the synovial fluid from 5 horses with clinical osteoarthritis was tested for IL-1 bioactivity. Interleukin-1 activity was found in all tested synovial fluids. Upon column chromatography, the synovial fluid-derived factor had a molecular weight consistent with that of IL-1 in other mammalian species. Ion exchange chromatography of osteoarthritic synovial fluid revealed the principal peaks of bioactivity to be in the fractions with isoelectric points of 7.2, 5.4, and 4.7, which are characteristic of IL-1. A considerable degree of homology between human and equine IL-1 was demonstrated by the cross hybridization of human IL-1 beta cDNA probe with RNA derived from IL-1-producing equine adherent monocytes. These results indicate that equine IL-1 is in all of the osteoarthritic equine joints tested and that equine IL-1 has many of the characteristics of IL-1 isolated from other species.