Risk assessment of Cryptosporidium intake in drinking water treatment plant by a combination of predictive models and event-tree and fault-tree techniques.

Risk-informed decision making permits a more effective water safety management. In this framework, this article introduces the rationale and proposes a new approach to carry out a quantitative risk assessment along the water chain, from river source to tap water, by integrating predictive modelling combined with event-tree and fault-tree techniques. The model developed by this approach could not only account for normal but also for abnormal process conditions in the water treatment plant, as well as assess the real impact of the applied safety controls, such as turbidity control. A sensitivity study was conducted to determine the effect of considering a typical drinking water treatment plant (DWTP), i.e. coagulation, sedimentation and filtration with two turbidity controls (on intake and after filtration) on the risk of infection due to exposure to Cryptosporidium in tap water. The results showed that, with the current effectiveness of turbidity reduction in the DWTP, the first control did not minimise the annual risk of Cryptosporidium infection (3.6E-04) and only limiting turbidity after filtration to below 0.01NTU provided a clear reduction in risk (7.7E-05) at the cost of rejecting 60 % of the water after the control. The lowest risk was found when turbidity reduction was set at 4 logs (8.48E-06), although this means that the effectiveness of turbidity reduction should be greatly improved. It was therefore concluded that supplementing the current treatment with alternative barriers such as UV or ozone disinfection and/or implementing direct control of Cryptosporidium concentration should be considered.

Oral vaccination of dogs with a monovalent live-avirulent vaccine confers 1 year of immunity against Bordetella bronchiseptica challenge.

This experimental challenge study assessed immune protection 1 year after a single dose of live-attenuated oral Bordetella bronchiseptica (Bb) vaccine in dogs. Forty Bb-seronegative 7-9-week-old puppies were randomly assigned at Day 0 to receive a single oral dose of either Bb vaccine (n = 20; vaccinated group) or sterile water (n = 20; control group). Groups were housed separately until comingling 1 day pre-challenge (Day 365). Challenge with virulent aerosolized Bb occurred at Day 366. Clinical scores were obtained at Days 1-7, and 366-380. Bb microagglutination test (MAT) titers were obtained at Days -7, 0, monthly post-vaccination, and Days 358, 365, and 380. Nasal swabs were collected for microbiological assessment at Days -7, 0, 365, and 367-380. Oral Bb vaccination was not associated with side effects. Pre-challenge, vaccinated dogs developed persistent Bb MAT titers and control dogs remained seronegative. Post-challenge, duration of cough was longer in control dogs (least square means [LSM], 8.6 days) than vaccinated dogs (LSM, 1.5 days; P < 0.0001), with more control dogs having cough on 2 or more consecutive days (control group, n = 17/19, 89.5%; vaccinated group, n = 3/19, 15.8%; P = 0.0011). Post-challenge, Bb shedding occurred in all control dogs and 5/19 (26%) vaccinated dogs. Average duration of Bb shedding was longer in the control group (11.9 days vs. 0.6 days; P < 0.0001) and nasal Bb loads were higher in the control group (P < 0.00001). Orally administered Bb vaccine stimulated immunity that was still protective against virulent Bb challenge after 1 year.

A review of the anatomy of the middle cerebral artery for the era of thrombectomy: A radiologic tool based on CT angiography and perfusion CT.

The middle cerebral artery (MCA) is one of the principal intracranial vessels. It is also the one that is most often involved in ischemic cerebrovascular disease, which accounts for a significant volume of brain imaging tests. With recent updates in the management of ischemic stroke (including intravascular treatment in increasingly distal vessels and in an increasingly widening spectrum of patients), it is becoming more important to know the details of the cerebral vascular anatomy to reach accurate diagnoses quickly and thereby improve patients' prognoses. For these reasons, we present this anatomic review of the MCA, reviewing its segments and anatomic limits, its branching patterns, and its anatomic variants. We also provide a radiologic tool based on correlations between CT angiography and perfusion CT to facilitate the identification of the points of occlusion within the branches of the MCA, taking into account its different variants.

A review of the anatomy of the middle cerebral artery for the era of thrombectomy: a radiologic tool based on CT angiography and perfusion CT. / Repaso anatómico de la arteria cerebral media en la era de la trombectomía: una herramienta radiológica basada en la angio-TC y la TC perfusión.

The middle cerebral artery (MCA) is one of the principal intracranial vessels. It is also the one that is most often involved in ischemic cerebrovascular disease, which accounts for a significant volume of brain imaging tests. With recent updates in the management of ischemic stroke (including intravascular treatment in increasingly distal vessels and in an increasingly widening spectrum of patients), it is becoming more important to know the details of the cerebral vascular anatomy to reach accurate diagnoses quickly and thereby improve patients' prognoses. For these reasons, we present this anatomic review of the MCA, reviewing its segments and anatomic limits, its branching patterns, and its anatomic variants. We also provide a radiologic tool based on correlations between CT angiography and perfusion CT to facilitate the identification of the points of occlusion within the branches of the MCA, taking into account its different variants.

Inconsistent MHC class II association in Beagles experimentally infected with Leishmania infantum.

The clinical outcome of Leishmania infantum infection in dogs varies from subclinical infection to severe disease. Researchers attribute this variability in clinical manifestations to the ability of the immune response to limit pathogen multiplication and dissemination, which is, in part, likely determined by the immune response genes. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that MHC class II genes are associated with disease outcome of experimental L. infantum infection in Beagles. Dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) class II haplotypes were characterised by sequence-based typing of Beagle dogs experimentally infected with L. infantum during vaccine challenge studies. Variability of response to infection was determined by clinical score, serology and quantification of L. infantum DNA in the bone marrow over the study period. Dogs showed limited DLA diversity and the DLA profiles of dogs recruited for the different vaccine challenge studies differed. There were variable responses to infection, despite the apparent restriction in genetic diversity. One haplotype DLA-DRB1*001:02-DQA1*001:01-DQB1*002:01 was associated with increased anti-Leishmania antibodies in one infection model, but no DLA associations were found in other groups or with parasite load or clinical score. Examination of this particular DLA haplotype in a larger number of dogs is required to confirm whether an association exists with the immune or clinical responses to L. infantum infection.

MRSI-based molecular imaging of therapy response to temozolomide in preclinical glioblastoma using source analysis.

Characterization of glioblastoma (GB) response to treatment is a key factor for improving patients' survival and prognosis. MRI and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) provide morphologic and metabolic profiles of GB but usually fail to produce unequivocal biomarkers of response. The purpose of this work is to provide proof of concept of the ability of a semi-supervised signal source extraction methodology to produce images with robust recognition of response to temozolomide (TMZ) in a preclinical GB model. A total of 38 female C57BL/6 mice were used in this study. The semi-supervised methodology extracted the required sources from a training set consisting of MRSI grids from eight GL261 GBs treated with TMZ, and six control untreated GBs. Three different sources (normal brain parenchyma, actively proliferating GB and GB responding to treatment) were extracted and used for calculating nosologic maps representing the spatial response to treatment. These results were validated with an independent test set (7 control and 17 treated cases) and correlated with histopathology. Major differences between the responder and non-responder sources were mainly related to the resonances of mobile lipids (MLs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids in MLs (0.9, 1.3 and 2.8 ppm). Responding tumors showed significantly lower mitotic (3.3 ± 2.9 versus 14.1 ± 4.2 mitoses/field) and proliferation rates (29.8 ± 10.3 versus 57.8 ± 5.4%) than control untreated cases. The methodology described in this work is able to produce nosological images of response to TMZ in GL261 preclinical GBs and suitably correlates with the histopathological analysis of tumors. A similar strategy could be devised for monitoring response to treatment in patients. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Calculation of Coincidence Summing Correction Factors for an HPGe detector using GEANT4.

The aim of this paper was to calculate the True Coincidence Summing Correction Factors (TSCFs) for an HPGe coaxial detector in order to correct the summing effect as a result of the presence of (88)Y and (60)Co in a multigamma source used to obtain a calibration efficiency curve. Results were obtained for three volumetric sources using the Monte Carlo toolkit, GEANT4. The first part of this paper deals with modeling the detector in order to obtain a simulated full energy peak efficiency curve. A quantitative comparison between the measured and simulated values was made across the entire energy range under study. The True Summing Correction Factors were calculated for (88)Y and (60)Co using the full peak efficiencies obtained with GEANT4. This methodology was subsequently applied to (134)Cs, and presented a complex decay scheme.

Air radon concentration decrease in a waste water treatment plant.

(222)Rn is a naturally occurring gas created from the decay of (226)Ra. The long-term health risk of breathing radon is lung cancer. One particular place where indoor radon concentrations can exceed national guidelines is in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) where treatment processes may contribute to ambient airborne concentrations. The aim of this paper was to study the radon concentration decrease after the application of corrective measures in a Spanish WWTP. According to first measures, air radon concentration exceeded International Commission Radiologica1 Protection (ICRP) normative (recommends intervention between 400 and 1000 Bq m(-3)). Therefore, the WWTP improved mechanical forced ventilation to lower occupational exposure. This measure allowed to increase the administrative controls, since the limitation of workers access to the plant changed from 2 h d(-1) (considering a maximum permissible dose of 20 mSv y(-1) averaged over 5 y) to 7 h d(-1).

[Capillary telangiectasia and developmental venous anomaly: a rare association]. / Telangiectasia capilar y anomalía del desarrollo venoso: una rara asociación.

We review the relevant literature for a case of capillary telangiectasia associated with a developmental venous anomaly in the pons discovered incidentally. The most common established associations among vascular malformations are capillary telangiectasias with cavernous malformations and developmental venous anomalies with cavernous malformations. The association of a capillary telangiectasia with a developmental venous anomaly is very rare and only two cases affecting the posterior fossa have been reported. An analysis of the associations among vascular malformations leads to a discussion of the role of obstructed flow in their pathogenesis and whether these malformations can be considered a spectrum of manifestations of a single disease.

Imágenes puntiformes hiperintensas en la sustancia blanca: una aproximación diagnóstica / Hyperintense punctiform images in the white matter: a diagnostic approach

La presencia de múltiples imágenes puntiformes hiperintensas en la sustancia blanca (IPHSB) en las secuencias de resonancia magnética (RM) ponderadas en T2 es un hallazgo muy frecuente y, en ocasiones, un reto diagnóstico para el radiólogo. Este artículo pretende, a través de una aproximación a la anatomía de la microcirculación cerebral, así como a estudios de correlación anatomopatológica, simplificar la tarea de interpretación de estas imágenes a partir de la descripción de tres principales patrones de presentación de IPHSB: patrón vascular (PV), que corresponde a lesiones microvasculares, patrón perivascular (PpV), que representa a la enfermedad inflamatoria cuyo paradigma es la esclerosis múltiple (EM), y patrón inespecífico (PI), que suele deberse a enfermedad microvascular. A partir de varios elementos semiológicos en las imágenes de RM se puede determinar un patrón predominante en cada caso y, de este modo, acotar el diagnóstico diferencial (AU)

The presence of hyperintense punctiform images in the white matter in T2 weighted magnetic resonance (MR) sequences is a very common finding and is occasionally a diagnostic challenge for the radiologist. The present article attempts, using an anatomical approach to the brain circulation, as well as from histopathology correlation studies, to simplify the task of interpreting these images from the description of the three main patterns of hyperintense punctiform images in the white matter: vascular pattern, which corresponds to microvascular lesions; perivascular pattern, which represents inflammatory disease of which the paradigm is multiple sclerosis; and a non-specific pattern, which has to be a microvascular disease. From the various semiological elements in the MR images, a predominant pattern can be determined in each case and, in this way, helps in the differential diagnosis (AU)

[Hyperintense punctiform images in the white matter: a diagnostic approach]. / Imágenes puntiformes hiperintensas en la sustancia blanca: una aproximación diagnóstica.

The presence of hyperintense punctiform images in the white matter in T2 weighted magnetic resonance (MR) sequences is a very common finding and is occasionally a diagnostic challenge for the radiologist. The present article attempts, using an anatomical approach to the brain circulation, as well as from histopathology correlation studies, to simplify the task of interpreting these images from the description of the three main patterns of hyperintense punctiform images in the white matter: vascular pattern, which corresponds to microvascular lesions; perivascular pattern, which represents inflammatory disease of which the paradigm is multiple sclerosis; and a non-specific pattern, which has to be a microvascular disease. From the various semiological elements in the MR images, a predominant pattern can be determined in each case and, in this way, helps in the differential diagnosis.

Calcificación en adenopatías cervicales metastásicas de carcinoma escamoso / Calcification in metastatic cervical adenopathies from squamous cell carcinoma

A propósito de un caso de carcinoma escamoso de hipofaringe con múltiples adenopatías cervicales metastásicas calcificadas, se realiza una revisión bibliográfica.El hallazgo de adenopatías calcificadas metastásicas de carcinoma escamoso de cabeza y cuello es muy poco frecuente. Hasta ahora sólo se ha descrito en 3 publicaciones (AU)

We report a case of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma with multiple calcified metastatic cervical adenopathies, and we review the relevant literature.The finding of calcified metastatic adenopathies from squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck is very uncommon; only three cases have been reported to date (AU)

[Calcification in metastatic cervical adenopathies from squamous cell carcinoma]. / Calcificación en adenopatías cervicales metastásicas de carcinoma escamoso.

We report a case of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma with multiple calcified metastatic cervical adenopathies, and we review the relevant literature. The finding of calcified metastatic adenopathies from squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck is very uncommon; only three cases have been reported to date.

Depresión: la importancia de los síntomas residuales / Depression: the importance of residual symptoms

La Depresión es una enfermedad que se ha ido transformando en un gran problema de salud pública. Para poder tratarla efectivamente se requiere de un acabado conocimiento de los factores etiológicos, de su evolución y de la efectividad de los diferentes tratamientos disponibles actualmente. Durante los últimos años se ha reconocido que la Depresión es una enfermedad crónica y que parte de dicha cronicidad se debe a una deficiente liberación de los síntomas con los tratamientos actuales. Esto último ha hecho que pongamos nuestra atención en los síntomas residuales de la depresión. El siguiente artículo tiene como objetivo mostrar la importancia de los síntomas residuales y su tratamiento .

Risk assessment and critical control points from the production perspective.

The implementation of a risk analysis program as risk assessment and critical control points (RACCP) is most necessary in order to accomplish the foodborne industries current objective of total quality. The novelty of this technique, when compared to actual hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) and its extension to incorporate elements of quantitative risk analysis (QRA), is that RACCP considers the risk of the consequences produced by the production process performance deviations, both inside and outside the company, and also identifies their causative factors. On the other hand, the techniques to be taken in order to prevent or mitigate the consequences of such deviations must be consistent with the former data, but the need for a cost-benefit assessment must not be ignored so that the chosen technique be most profitable for the company. An example developed in a mineral water bottling plant showed that RACCP application is feasible and useful. During this example case, RACCP demonstrated it could obtain a profitable production process that keeps quality and safety of the final product at its maximum, while providing protection to both company and consumer.