RESUMO
The identification of unknown human remains is a significant and ongoing challenge in South Africa, worsened by the country's high murder rate. The rate of decomposition in South Africa is significantly influenced by vertebrate scavenging, which, if not considered, can impede the accurate estimation of the post-mortem interval. Scavenging patterns vary greatly depending on the environment and ecological region, and there is limited data for the Western Cape province. To address this gap, two clothed and uncaged pig carcasses weighing 60 kg each were placed in the field in July 2021 and January 2022, respectively. Motion-activated infrared-capable trail cameras were used to observe decomposition, scavenger species, and their activities. Additionally, a comparative sample of 16 unclothed carcasses deployed between 2014 and 2016 in the same habitat were analyzed to assess the impact of clothing and biomass load. The study found three main results: (1) Regardless of habitat or biomass load, it took significantly less time to reach decomposition milestones (25%, 50%, and 75%) during the summer season; (2) the presence of mongoose scavengers had a greater impact on the time required to reach milestones during winter compared to summer; and (3) single carcass deployments reached the milestones faster than multi-carcass deployments in both seasons. This research highlights the potential inaccuracy of current methods for estimating the post-mortem interval when scavenging activity is not considered or documented in the underlying experimental data, particularly for environments or ecological biomes where scavengers actively impact decomposition rates.
Assuntos
Biomassa , Vestuário , Comportamento Alimentar , Mudanças Depois da Morte , Estações do Ano , Animais , África do Sul , Suínos , Modelos Animais , Patologia Legal/métodosRESUMO
In 2022, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) updated piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP) breakpoints for Enterobacterales, based on substantial data suggesting that historical breakpoints did not predict treatment outcomes for TZP. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet adopted these breakpoints, meaning commercial manufacturers of antimicrobial susceptibility testing devices cannot obtain FDA clearance for the revised breakpoints. We evaluated the Phoenix (BD, Sparks, MD), MicroScan (Beckman Coulter, Sacramento, CA), and Vitek2 (bioMérieux, Durham, NC) TZP MICs compared to reference broth microdilution for a collection of 284 Enterobacterales isolates. Phoenix (n = 167 isolates) demonstrated 84.4% categorical agreement (CA), with 4.2% very major errors (VMEs) and 1.8% major errors (MEs) by CLSI breakpoints. In contrast, CA was 85.0% with 4.3% VMEs and 0.8% MEs for the Phoenix with FDA breakpoints. MicroScan (n = 55 isolates) demonstrated 80.0% CA, 36.4% VMEs, and 4.8% MEs by CLSI breakpoints and 81.8% CA, 44.4% VMEs, and 0.0% MEs by FDA breakpoints. Vitek2 (n = 62 isolates) demonstrated 95.2% CA, 6.3% VMEs, and 0.0% MEs by CLSI and 96.8% CA, 0.0% VMEs, and 2.2% MEs by FDA breakpoints. Overall, the performance of the test systems was not substantially different using CLSI breakpoints off-label than using on-label FDA breakpoints. However, limitations were noted with higher-than-desired VME rates (all three systems) and lower-than-desired CA (MicroScan and Phoenix). Laboratories should consider adoption of the revised CLSI breakpoints with automated test systems but be aware that some performance challenges exist for testing TZP on automated systems, regardless of breakpoints applied.
Assuntos
Antibacterianos , Humanos , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Combinação Piperacilina e TazobactamRESUMO
ABSTRACT: Snarr, RL, Adams, K, and Cook, J. Effect of bench press load knowledge on one repetition maximum strength. J Strength Cond Res 35(8): 2121-2126, 2021-Knowledge of a given load and visual feedback are crucial while performing a given task. Although previous literature has examined the consequences of lifting a submaximal weight, the removal of load knowledge has yet to be examined under maximal effort. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the differences in 1 repetition maximum (1RM) bench press values between a known and unknown external load. Twenty resistance-trained subjects (10 male subjects and 10 female subjects) completed 2 trials of a 1RM bench press protocol separated by 48-72 hours. The two 1RM trials consisted of (a) a traditional 1RM lift in which subjects could see the external load and (b) a 1RM lift in which the external load was blocked from view of the subject. Trials were randomized for all subjects. Results indicated that no differences were observed when the load was known vs. unknown within all subjects (p = 0.094; Cohen's d = 0.03; intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.99). In addition, 40% decreased and 15% increased their 1RM, despite the unknown condition. A statistical difference was found between the initial 1RM estimation vs. measured 1RM during the known load trial (p = 0.034, Cohen's d = 0.07). Practitioners should note that load knowledge before a maximal lift does not appear to present any significant detrimental effects on performance. Therefore, training during a "blinded" condition may present a unique modality and additional balance component that would not be presented during a traditional maximal lift. Further examination of attentional focus and muscle activation differences are warranted.
Assuntos
Treinamento Resistido , Atenção , Terapia por Exercício , Feminino , Humanos , Conhecimento , Masculino , Força Muscular , Músculo Esquelético , Levantamento de PesoRESUMO
This study investigates the desiccation process of soft-tissue in South Africa, analyzing its interaction with environmental parameters and its implications for estimating the post-mortem interval. Through the examination of four decomposing porcine bodies across two summer seasons and one winter season, the research quantifies desiccation patterns using custom-designed and constructed printed circuit boards to measure the moisture content of body tissue over time. Generalized additive models were used to determine the environmental forces driving desiccation. Tissue resistivity was tested against the environmental predictor variables to determine the amount of variation they account for, and predicted values of the region-specific tissue resistivity variables were measured for each decomposing body. Results reveal distinct desiccation trajectories between summer and winter, with summer conditions conducive to precocious natural mummification. Environmental factors, particularly temperature and solar radiation, emerge as significant drivers of desiccation. This study represents the first quantitative analysis of deep tissue desiccation internationally, but also the first quantitative assessment of desiccation and natural precocious mummification in the Western Cape, South Africa. The exploration of desiccation as a potential indicator for estimating PMI opens new avenues for research and the integration of innovative methodologies and technologies promises to revolutionize forensic taphonomy practices.
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Dessecação , Dessecação/métodos , Animais , África do Sul , Suínos , Múmias , Mudanças Depois da Morte , Estações do Ano , Humanos , Ciências Forenses/métodosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: On 20 September 2022, the Ugandan Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Sudan ebolavirus. METHODS: From 6 October 2022 to 10 January 2023, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff conducted public health assessments at five US ports of entry for travellers identified as having been in Uganda in the past 21 days. CDC also recommended that state, local and territorial health departments ('health departments') conduct post-arrival monitoring of these travellers. CDC provided traveller contact information, daily to 58 health departments, and collected health department data regarding monitoring outcomes. RESULTS: Among 11 583 travellers screened, 132 (1%) required additional assessment due to potential exposures or symptoms of concern. Fifty-three (91%) health departments reported receiving traveller data from CDC for 10 114 (87%) travellers, of whom 8499 (84%) were contacted for monitoring, 1547 (15%) could not be contacted and 68 (1%) had no reported outcomes. No travellers with high-risk exposures or Ebola disease were identified. CONCLUSION: Entry risk assessment and post-arrival monitoring of travellers are resource-intensive activities that had low demonstrated yield during this and previous outbreaks. The efficiency of future responses could be improved by incorporating an assessment of risk of importation of disease, accounting for individual travellers' potential for exposure, and expanded use of methods that reduce burden to federal agencies, health departments, and travellers.
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Surtos de Doenças , Doença pelo Vírus Ebola , Viagem , Humanos , Doença pelo Vírus Ebola/epidemiologia , Doença pelo Vírus Ebola/prevenção & controle , Uganda/epidemiologia , Surtos de Doenças/prevenção & controle , Medição de Risco/métodos , Estados Unidos/epidemiologia , Masculino , Feminino , Adulto , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. , Saúde Pública/métodos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Ebolavirus , Adolescente , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Although histamine functions as a punisher in vertebrate models, its potential aversive effects in invertebrates has gone largely unexamined. We investigated if planaria would develop conditioned place aversions to histamine. In the absence of any training, planaria readily move away from a light source. However, planaria will develop conditioned place preferences for lighted areas if those areas are paired with many of the same psychoactive drugs that produce conditioned place preferences in vertebrates. We confined planaria in the darkened side of a petri dish containing histamine, and they subsequently spent more time in the light than planaria confined initially to the darkened side of a petri dish containing fresh water only. This occurred whether we tested planaria individually or in groups. Pairing histamine with the light side of the petri dish had inconsistent effects, and histamine did not affect behavior under a motility assay. Although histamine altered the planaria behavior, it did not completely overcome the planaria's innate preference for darkened areas. Results add to a growing body of research showing continuity between planaria and vertebrates in the behavioral effects of psychoactive chemicals.
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Aprendizagem da Esquiva/efeitos dos fármacos , Condicionamento Psicológico/efeitos dos fármacos , Histamina/farmacologia , Planárias/efeitos dos fármacos , Planárias/fisiologia , Animais , Comportamento Animal/efeitos dos fármacosAssuntos
Reanimação Cardiopulmonar/educação , Competência Clínica/normas , Bacharelado em Enfermagem/organização & administração , Desempenho de Papéis , Baltimore , Reanimação Cardiopulmonar/enfermagem , Currículo , Humanos , Manequins , Pesquisa em Educação em Enfermagem , Teoria de Enfermagem , Desenvolvimento de Programas , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde , Desempenho Psicomotor , Estudantes de Enfermagem/psicologia , Ensino/métodosRESUMO
Hemodynamic monitoring has become an integral component of the assessment of the critically ill. Any technology used for monitoring is a diagnostic tool and only as good as the provider interpreting the data. The article focuses on providing the practitioner the physiologic basis of the hemodynamic profile to cross the chasm of turning data into clinically useful information. Decision-making models are described to facilitate data synthesis and clinical intervention.