Optimization of Stereotactic Radiotherapy Treatment Delivery Technique for Base-Of-Skull Meningiomas

This study compares static conformal field (CF), intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), and dynamic arcs (DA) for the stereotactic radiotherapy of base-of-skull meningiomas. Twenty-one cases of base-of-skull meningioma (median planning target volume [PTV] = 21.3 cm³) previously treated with stereotactic radiotherapy were replanned with each technique. The plans were compared for Radiation Therapy Oncology Group conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI), and doses to normal structures at 6 dose values from 50.4 Gy to 5.6 Gy. The mean CI was 1.75 (CF), 1.75 (DA), and 1.66 (IMRT) (p < 0.05 when comparing IMRT to either CF or DA plans). The CI (IMRT) was inversely proportional to the size of the PTV (Spearman's rho = −0.53, p = 0.01) and at PTV sizes above 25 cm³, the CI (IMRT) was always superior to CI (DA) and CI (CF). At PTV sizes below 25 cm³, there was no significant difference in CI between each technique. There was no significant difference in HI between plans. The total volume of normal tissue receiving 50.4, 44.8, and 5.6 Gy was significantly lower when comparing IMRT to CF and DA plans (p < 0.05). There was significantly improved dose sparing for the brain stem and ipsilateral temporal lobe with IMRT but no significant difference for the optic chiasm or pituitary gland. These results demonstrate that stereotactic IMRT should be considered to treat base-of-skull meningiomas with a PTV larger than 25 cm³, due to improved conformity and normal tissue sparing, in particular for the brain stem and ipsilateral temporal lobe.     

Investigating the Spatial Trends in the Level of Organic Contaminants in the Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes Using Semipermeable Membrane Devices

Organic pollutants in the Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes are the major factors that contribute to severe environmental problem. SPMDs were deployed for the analysis of selected organic pollutants for 1?month at 2 sites in Lakes Hawassa, Ziway and Koka, Ethiopia. From SPMDs placed in the three lakes, the predominant OCPs were DDT which comprise 67% and followed by endosulfan 23% of the total organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) retrieved. The highest level of OCPs, in general, was found in the SPMDs deployed in Lake Ziway with the mean concentration of 308.5 ng/SPMD. However, the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were the highest in the SPMDs deployed in Lake Hawassa with mean concentration of 50.2 ng/SPMD. Spatial variation on the accumulation of OCPs and PCBs among the lakes depends on the shoreline activities, distance of the lakes from point and non-point sources, and the biofouling factors.     

Anger and Hostility in Tension-Type Headache

A battery of standardized psychometric tests was administered to a group of 47 episodic tension-type headache sufferers and 47 headache-free controls. Compared to controls, headache subjects showed higher levels of anxiety, depression, and anger/hostility. The groups did not differ significantly on a measure of anger expressed toward persons or objects, but headache subjects showed significantly greater levels of suppressed anger. The results provide objective data that are in general agreement with predictions derived from psychosomatic theories about the interrelationships among anxiety,     

Full adoption of the most effective strategies to mitigate methane emissions by ruminants can help meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050

To meet the 1.5 °C target, methane (CH₄) from ruminants must be reduced by 11 to 30% by 2030 and 24 to 47% by 2050 compared to 2010 levels. A meta-analysis identified strategies to decrease product-based (PB; CH₄ per unit meat or milk) and absolute (ABS) enteric CH₄ emissions while maintaining or increasing animal productivity (AP; weight gain or milk yield). Next, the potential of different adoption rates of one PB or one ABS strategy to contribute to the 1.5 °C target was estimated. The database included findings from 430 peer-reviewed studies, which reported 98 mitigation strategies that can be classified into three categories: animal and feed management, diet formulation, and rumen manipulation. A random-effects meta-analysis weighted by inverse variance was carried out. Three PB strategies—namely, increasing feeding level, decreasing grass maturity, and decreasing dietary forage-to-concentrate ratio—decreased CH₄ per unit meat or milk by on average 12% and increased AP by a median of 17%. Five ABS strategies—namely CH₄ inhibitors, tanniferous forages, electron sinks, oils and fats, and oilseeds—decreased daily methane by on average 21%. Globally, only 100% adoption of the most effective PB and ABS strategies can meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050, because mitigation effects are offset by projected increases in CH₄ due to increasing milk and meat demand. Notably, by 2030 and 2050, low- and middle-income countries may not meet their contribution to the 1.5 °C target for this same reason, whereas high-income countries could meet their contributions due to only a minor projected increase in enteric CH₄ emissions.

Global food systems contribute up to 30% of the worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (1). The goal of the Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels, is unlikely to be achieved if food systems continue operating on a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario (1). Among food-related GHG emissions, methane (CH₄) from livestock contributes 30% of the global anthropogenic CH₄ emissions (2), 17% of the global food system GHG emissions, and 5% of global GHG emissions (2, 3). Of the global livestock CH₄ emissions, 88% is contributed by enteric fermentation (4).Methane is a short-lived climate pollutant. Given its perturbation lifetime in the atmosphere of around 12.5 y, CH₄ contributes significantly to near-term global warming (5). Its global warming potential is 84 or 28 for 20- or 100-y time horizons, respectively (5). When evaluating the contribution of global food systems to CH₄ emissions over a 20-y period instead of the commonly used 100-y time period for national GHG inventories, the contribution of CH₄ to food system GHG emissions more than doubles, from 17 to 36% (3, 5).The realization of nationally determined contributions and 2050 climate neutrality goals depends upon the reduction of CH₄ emissions. Within sectoral reductions of CH₄ emissions, technical solutions to decrease CH₄ from agricultural production—especially strategies to mitigate CH₄ from enteric fermentation by ruminant livestock—are integral to meeting these climate targets, but quantitative data on mitigation potentials are scarce (6). Based on 2010 GHG emission levels and different mitigation scenarios to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, agricultural CH₄ emissions need to be decreased by 11 to 30% by 2030 and by 24 to 47% by 2050 (7).The global population is projected to increase by 23% between 2010 and 2030, with most of the increase occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) (8). Ruminants contribute about half of the animal protein produced by livestock (4). In LMIC, ruminant livestock play a crucial role in food security (9). Ruminants can convert human-inedible feeds, like those from pastures and grain commodity by-products produced on marginal lands or from subsistence agricultural production systems, into nutritionally dense human-edible foods. Ruminants also provide other benefits, such as traction and manure for fuel and fertilizer (10). In addition, human population growth is generally high in LMIC, while consumption of animal-sourced food is often below recommended dietary levels or reliant upon ruminant meat and milk for livelihoods and nutrition security (10, 11). Thus, from a feed-food competition perspective, ruminant production increases in LMIC should rely on human inedible feeds (i.e., forage and by-products). In contrast, in high-income countries (HIC) population growth is much lower and the consumption of animal protein is often above recommended dietary levels (9, 11).Sustainable strategies for enteric CH₄ mitigation that align with the 1.5 °C target should preferably avoid socioeconomic and environmental tradeoffs (12) and, ideally, increase production yield per unit of input. Reductions in both CH₄ emissions intensity (i.e., emissions per unit of milk and gain [CH₄I_M and CH₄I_G, respectively]) and absolute CH₄ emissions are therefore needed. Strategies that reduce CH₄I and increase production per unit of input could be used to expand food production from the existing ruminant population without increasing total CH₄ emissions (13–15), and thus contribute to the 1.5 °C target as well as to sustainable development goals. Several reviews indicate that animal and feed management, diet formulation, and rumen manipulation strategies could significantly decrease enteric CH₄ emissions (12, 16, 17). However, previous studies consisted of qualitative reviews (12), examined the quantitative effects of a single mitigation strategy (18–20), or compared CH₄ yield (CH₄Y; CH₄ per unit of feed intake) between multiple mitigation strategies (17). Methane yield is only one relevant measure, and other major CH₄ emission and animal performance metrics must be considered to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of mitigation strategies. Only one recent publication examined the quantitative effects of multiple mitigation strategies on CH₄ emission and animal performance metrics, but the analysis was limited to Latin America (21). Important CH₄ emission metrics include daily CH₄ emissions, CH₄Y, or CH₄-energy conversion factor [Y_m; CH₄ energy as a proportion of gross energy intake; a component of the tier 2 calculation for national GHG inventories recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (22)], CH₄I_G, and CH₄I_M. Important animal performance metrics include feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and animal productivity (AP).The objective of this study was to conduct a comprehensive meta-analysis of enteric CH₄ mitigation strategies published in peer-reviewed journals by examining their quantitative effect on the aforementioned in vivo CH₄ emissions and animal performance metrics and to estimate their potential to contribute to the 1.5 °C target. As outlined above, there is an urgent need for strategies that can effectively mitigate enteric CH₄ emissions without negatively affecting AP by focusing exclusively on strategies that decouple CH₄ emissions from animal production (23). Mitigation effects were quantified on a global level as well as on a regional level. The African and European regions were selected to represent LMIC and HIC, respectively.     

Characterization of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in patients with acute Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria infections at Wonji Sugar Estate, Ethiopia

We investigated the absolute counts of CD4+, CD8+, B, NK, and CD3+ cells and total lymphocytes in patients with acute Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria. Three-color flow cytometry was used for enumerating the immune cells. After slide smears were stained with 3% Giemsa stain, parasite species were detected using light microscopy. Data were analyzed using STATA and SPSS software. A total of 204 adults of both sexes (age, >15 years) were included in the study. One hundred fifty-eight were acute malaria patients, of whom 79 (50%) were infected with P. falciparum, 76 (48.1%) were infected with P. vivax, and 3 (1.9%) were infected with both malaria parasites. The remaining 46 subjects were healthy controls. The leukocyte count in P. falciparum patients was lower than that in controls (P=0.015). Absolute counts of CD4+, CD8+, B, and CD3+ cells and total lymphocytes were decreased very significantly during both P. falciparum (P<0.0001) and P. vivax (P<0.0001) infections. However, the NK cell count was an exception in that it was not affected by either P. falciparum or P. vivax malaria. No difference was found in the percentages of CD4, CD8, and CD3 cells in P. falciparum or P. vivax patients compared to controls. In summary, acute malaria infection causes a depletion of lymphocyte populations in the peripheral blood. Thus, special steps should be taken in dealing with malaria patients, including enumeration of peripheral lymphocyte cells for diagnostic purposes and research on peripheral blood to evaluate the immune status of patients.     

Serologic evidence of H1 swine Influenza virus infection in swine farm residents and employees

We evaluated seropositivity to swine and human H1 influenza viruses in 74 swine farm owners, employees, their family members, and veterinarians in rural south-central Wisconsin, compared with 114 urban Milwaukee, Wisconsin, residents. The number of swine farm participants with positive serum hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibody titers > or = 40 to swine influenza viruses (17/74) was significantly higher (p<0.001) than the number of seropositive urban control samples (1/114). The geometric mean serum HI antibody titers to swine influenza viruses were also significantly higher (p<0.001) among the farm participants. Swine virus seropositivity was significantly (p<0.05) associated with being a farm owner or a farm family member, living on a farm, or entering the swine barn > or = 4 days/week. Because pigs can play a role in generating genetically novel influenza viruses, swine farmers may represent an important sentinel population to evaluate the emergence of new pandemic influenza viruses.     

Travel history, hunting, and venison consumption related to prion disease exposure, 2006-2007 FoodNet Population Survey

The transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to human beings and the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among cervids have prompted concerns about zoonotic transmission of prion diseases. Travel to the United Kingdom and other European countries, hunting for deer or elk, and venison consumption could result in the exposure of US residents to the agents that cause BSE and CWD. The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network 2006-2007 population survey was used to assess the prevalence of these behaviors among residents of 10 catchment areas across the United States. Of 17,372 survey respondents, 19.4% reported travel to the United Kingdom since 1980, and 29.5% reported travel to any of the nine European countries considered to be BSE-endemic since 1980. The proportion of respondents who had ever hunted deer or elk was 18.5%, and 1.2% had hunted deer or elk in a CWD–endemic area. More than two thirds (67.4%) reported having ever eaten deer or elk meat. Respondents who traveled spent more time in the United Kingdom (median 14 days) than in any other BSE-endemic country. Of the 11,635 respondents who had consumed venison, 59.8% ate venison at most one to two times during their year of highest consumption, and 88.6% had obtained all of their meat from the wild. The survey results were useful in determining the prevalence and frequency of behaviors that could be important factors for foodborne prion transmission.