Combining modeling and monitoring to study fecal contamination in a small rural catchment

The present study sought to identify Escherichia coli sources in a small catchment and to use the agro-hydrological model soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) to estimate their impact on river water quality. The innovative aspects of this research are to assess the hourly variations of fecal contamination and to take these variations into account in the model to provide a better evaluation of river quality. Thus, water samples were taken weekly at the river outlet (n = 4) and 24-h monitoring sessions were performed during low and high-flow periods (n = 74). E. coli variations were found to be primarily linked to rainfall and not to resuspension mechanisms. Subdaily fluctuations and deviations were ±0.33 log₁₀ cfu/100 mL and ±0.70 log₁₀ cfu/100 mL for dry (<3 mm/day) and wet (>3 mm/day) weather, respectively. After river flow calibration, all known pollution sources (septic systems, manure spreading, farm discharges) were introduced into SWAT. The model reproduced the fecal contamination in the river and the use of subdaily deviations allowed us to evaluate the simulation quality and compare grab samplings with simulated daily E. coli concentration, thus confirming that the performance of the model is better when additional information on hourly concentration variations is used.     

Using Aggregate Temporal Variation in Ad Awareness to Assess the Effects of the truth® Campaign on Youth and Young Adult Smoking Behavior

Mass media campaigns are one of the most effective population-level interventions for the prevention of tobacco use. However, accurately evaluating the effectiveness of these campaigns presents several challenges, particularly as campaign delivery becomes increasingly fractured across media platforms. There are a number of weaknesses associated with traditional, individual-level measures of campaign exposure in an increasingly socially networked, digital media ecosystem. This study evaluated the national truth® campaign using a novel method to measure campaign exposure through an aggregate weekly exogenous measure of awareness. We generated this exogenous measure from a continuous, cross-sectional tracking survey to predict intentions to smoke and current tobacco use among youth in the United States. Results from multi-level models indicated that weeks with aggregate campaign awareness greater than 65% were associated with lower odds of current tobacco use. We conclude with a discussion of implications and practical considerations for using this method for media campaign evaluation.     

Single unit activity in frontal cortex and caudate nucleus of young and old rats

Spontaneous neuronal activity was recorded extracellularly from isolated single units in frontal neocortex and caudate nucleus of young and aged F344 rats anesthetized with urethane. Average firing rates, mean interspike intervals (ISI)±standard deviations, and ISI frequency histograms were computed and analyzed by microprocessor. For frontal cortex cells (N=226), there was a nonsignificant trend toward slower average discharge rates in the old group. However, a significantly longer mean ISI and proportionally more very slow firing cells (<I Hz) were observed in old rats. A laminar analysis of frontal cortex unit activity in young animals showed average discharge rates to be distributed somewhat evenly throughout the cortical mantle with the exception of the zone 1200–1400 μ beneath brain surface. This depth corresponds approximately to layer V where a 50% increase in mean firing rate in young animals was observed. In aged animals, this increased cell firing in layer V was absent, while mean discharge rates in other laminae remained essentially the same in the young and old rat groups. Caudate nucleus cells (n=70) showed a significant shift towards fewer fast discharging cells in old rats, with the average firing rate diminished by one-third. Although more brain regions need to be examined in a similar fashion, the consistency of the present results with those previously reported for the brainstem and cerebellum suggests that slower firing rates and longer ISIs are likely to be wide-spread throughout the brains of aged rats.     

Small-area distribution of multiple sclerosis incidence in western France: in search of environmental triggers

Background

Despite intensive research over several decades, the etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains poorly understood, although environmental factors are supposedly implicated. Our goal was to identify spatial clusters of MS incident cases at the small-area level to provide clues to local environmental risk factors that might cause or trigger the disease.

Methods

A population-based and multi-stage study was performed in the French Brittany region to accurately ascertain the clinical onset of disease during the 2000–2004 period. The municipality of residence at the time of clinical onset was geocoded. To test for the presence of MS incidence clusters and to identify their approximate locations, we used a spatial scan statistic. We adjusted for socioeconomic deprivation, known to be strongly associated with increased MS incident rates, and scanned simultaneously for areas with either high or low rates. Sensitivity analyses (focusing on relapsing-remitting forms and/or places of residence available within the year following clinical onset) were performed.

Results

A total of 848 incident cases of MS were registered in Brittany, corresponding to a crude annual incidence rate of 5.8 per 100,000 inhabitants. The spatial scan statistic did not find a significant cluster of MS incidence in either the primary analysis (p value ≥ 0.56) or in the sensitivity analyses (p value ≥ 0.16).

Conclusion

The findings of this study indicate that MS incidence is not markedly affected across space, suggesting that in the years preceding the first clinical expression of the disease, no environmental trigger is operative at the small-area population level in the French Brittany region.

     

Effects of the anxiolytic benzodiazepine oxazepam on freshwater gastropod reproduction: a prospective study

Ecotoxicology - Psychoactive drugs have emerged as contaminants over the last few decades. These drugs are frequently prescribed and poorly eliminated by wastewater treatment plants, and many are...     

External Nasal Neuralgia: an Update

Purpose of Review

External nasal neuralgia is a rare syndrome of atypical facial pain for which there is limited reports in the scientific literature. We aim to review diagnosis and provide an update on treatments for this rare condition.

Recent Findings

Etiology has been documented as post-traumatic due to direct trauma to the nose area and in few case reports, idiopathic. Sensory innervation of the nose arises from the ophthalmic and maxillary divisions of the trigeminal nerve. Direct injury to the nerve appears to be the etiology of post-traumatic external nasal neuralgia. Pathophysiology for idiopathic nasal neuralgia is poorly understood but it appears to be of a central etiology given lack of response to intranasal anesthetics. Pain can be episodic with episodes of tingling sensation lasting up to 30 min, two to three times per day, but for some patients it can be constant bruised sensation of mild to moderate pain. Diagnostic workup including magnetic resonance imaging of brain and computerized tomography of the sinuses are usually negative, but there have been few cases of a nasal contact point. Routine blood work including erythrocyte sedimentation rate is negative.

Summary

Treatment for this rare condition is varied with very few patients responding to tricyclic antidepressants, specifically amitriptyline. Another medication used as prevention is pregabalin with good results as well. Most patients respond to nerve blockade with local anesthetic to the external nasal nerve and sphenopalatine ganglion block and radiofrequency ablation. More reports of this condition need to be published in the scientific literature to assist with proper diagnosis and treatment of this condition.

     

Effects of acute and chronic aripiprazole treatment on choice between cocaine self-administration and food under a concurrent schedule of reinforcement in rats

Rationale  Dopamine D2-like partial agonists such as aripiprazole have received some attention as potential pharmacotherapies for the treatment of psychostimulant addiction. However, the preclinical evaluations so far have focused on acute effects of aripiprazole. Objectives  We tested the hypothesis that aripiprazole, both as acute and as chronic treatment, would preferentially decrease cocaine self-administration while sparing behavior maintained by a natural reinforcer, resulting in a shift in the allocation of behavior from cocaine-taking towards the alternative reinforcer. Materials and methods  Rats were trained to self-administer intravenous cocaine in a concurrent choice procedure, with a palatable food as the competing reinforcer, under a fixed ratio (FR) 1 FR 5 chain schedule. Aripiprazole was then administered as continuous infusion by osmotic minipumps for 5 days, during which performance in the choice procedure was assessed daily. Results  An intermediate dose of aripiprazole decreased cocaine self-administration and shifted the cocaine choice curve to the right as an acute treatment. However, as a chronic treatment, aripiprazole failed to decrease cocaine self-administration or cocaine choice, despite a dose-dependent decrease in overall response rates and food-maintained behavior. Conclusions  Our results confirm and extend earlier findings and indicate that acute administration of aripiprazole can decrease cocaine self-administration. However, based on the present data, chronic treatment with aripiprazole does not show much promise as a potential pharmacotherapy for cocaine addiction. Both acute and chronic treatment data are in agreement with published clinical findings, suggesting that the concurrent choice procedure in rats has predictive validity of efficacy in humans.