Lung Function in Royal Naval Firefighting Instructors

AbstractA four phase investigation into the effects of Royal Naval firefighting training on pulmonary function was carried out between 1979 and 1984. Phases I and II, reported elsewhere, failed to demonstrate changes in the lung function either in instructors, as measured by forced spirometry and transfer factor, over a one month period, or trainees, as measured by forced spirometry, during a one day fire-fighting course.This paper describes the results of phase III in which further lung function data was gathered from the instructors, at six monthly intervals, over two years. Multiple regression analysis of the data indicated that smoke exposure had a significant effect on the transfer factor (T1), flow at 75% of the forced vital capacity (FEF75), and the ratio of the forced expiratory volume in one second to the forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC%). The decrements observed were many times those predicted for normal ageing.Analysis of data collected on instructors who had left the school in the previous twelve months failed to reveal any significant improvement in these three measurements. A later follow up study conducted 3 to 5 years after instructors had left the school (Phase IV) showed significant improvements in T1 and FEF75 when related to the first readings after leaving the school.The changes observed are confounded by the high incidence of cigarette smokers amongst the instructors.</jats:p

A transit timing variation observed for the long-period extremely low-density exoplanet HIP 41378 f

ABSTRACT HIP 41378 f is a temperate 9.2 ± 0.1 R⊕ planet with period of 542.08 d and an extremely low density of 0.09 ± 0.02 g cm−3. It transits the bright star HIP 41378 (V = 8.93), making it an exciting target for atmospheric characterization including transmission spectroscopy. HIP 41378 was monitored photometrically between the dates of 2019 November 19 and 28. We detected a transit of HIP 41378 f with NGTS, just the third transit ever detected for this planet, which confirms the orbital period. This is also the first ground-based detection of a transit of HIP 41378 f. Additional ground-based photometry was also obtained and used to constrain the time of the transit. The transit was measured to occur 1.50 h earlier than predicted. We use an analytic transit timing variation (TTV) model to show the observed TTV can be explained by interactions between HIP 41378 e and HIP 41378 f. Using our TTV model, we predict the epochs of future transits of HIP 41378 f, with derived transit centres of TC, 4 = $2459\,355.087^{+0.031}_{-0.022}$ (2021 May) and TC, 5 = $2459\,897.078^{+0.114}_{-0.060}$ (2022 November).</jats:p

Successful Treatment of Canine Sporotrichosis with Terbinafine: Case Reports and Literature Review

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Micologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Sporotrichosis occurs worldwide, and the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is a main endemic area, with a large number of human and animal cases in the last 19 years. This mycosis is more frequently described in cats rather than in dogs. There are a limited number of oral antifungal agents for the treatment of sporotrichosis in animals. In this context, the effectiveness of terbinafine in the treatment of sporotrichosis in humans, as well as the promising results of in vitro susceptibility tests, inspired us to use this drug in the therapy of this mycosis in dogs. We reported for the first time the use of terbinafine in the treatment of two dogs with sporotrichosis caused by Sporothrix brasiliensis. Moreover, we provided an overview of therapeutic features of canine sporotrichosis cases reported since the 1960s. One of the dogs presented the fixed cutaneous form of the disease, while the other patient presented hyperemia of the nasal mucosa and respiratory signs only. Terbinafine showed high antifungal activity in vitro against the canine Sporothrix isolates. The dogs were successfully treated with terbinafine, with remission of all clinical signs initially presented. The current reports indicate that this drug can emerge as a therapeutic option for canine sporotrichosis

A transit timing variation observed for the long-period extremely low density exoplanet HIP 41378f

HIP 41378 f is a temperate 9.2 ± 0.1 R⊕ planet with period of 542.08 d and an extremely low density of 0.09 ± 0.02 g cm−3. It transits the bright star HIP 41378 (V = 8.93), making it an exciting target for atmospheric characterization including transmission spectroscopy. HIP 41378 was monitored photometrically between the dates of 2019 November 19 and 28. We detected a transit of HIP 41378 f with NGTS, just the third transit ever detected for this planet, which confirms the orbital period. This is also the first ground-based detection of a transit of HIP 41378 f. Additional ground-based photometry was also obtained and used to constrain the time of the transit. The transit was measured to occur 1.50 h earlier than predicted. We use an analytic transit timing variation (TTV) model to show the observed TTV can be explained by interactions between HIP 41378 e and HIP 41378 f. Using our TTV model, we predict the epochs of future transits of HIP 41378 f, with derived transit centres of TC, 4 = 2459355.087+0.031−0.022 (2021 May) and TC, 5 = 2459897.078+0.114−0.060 (2022 November)

A remnant planetary core in the hot Neptunian desert

The interiors of giant planets remain poorly understood. Even for the planets in the Solar System, difficulties in observation lead to major uncertainties in the properties of planetary cores. Exoplanets that have undergone rare evolutionary pathways provide a new route to understanding planetary interiors. We present the discovery of TOI-849b, the remnant core of a giant planet, with a radius smaller than Neptune but an anomalously high mass $M_p=40.8^{+2.4}_{-2.5}M_{\oplus}$ and density of $5.5\pm0.8$gcm$^{-3}$, similar to the Earth. Interior structure models suggest that any gaseous envelope of pure hydrogen and helium consists of no more than $3.9^{+0.8}_{-0.9}$% of the total mass of the planet. TOI-849b transits a late G type star (T$_{\rm mag}=11.5$) with an orbital period of 18.4 hours, leading to an equilibrium temperature of 1800K. The planet's mass is larger than the theoretical threshold mass for runaway gas accretion. As such, the planet could have been a gas giant before undergoing extreme mass loss via thermal self-disruption or giant planet collisions, or it avoided substantial gas accretion, perhaps through gap opening or late formation. Photoevaporation rates cannot provide the mass loss required to reduce a Jupiter-like gas giant, but can remove a few $M_\oplus$ hydrogen and helium envelope on timescales of several Gyr, implying that any remaining atmosphere is likely to be enriched by water or other volatiles from the planetary interior. TOI-849b represents a unique case where material from the primordial core is left over from formation and available to study

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

© 2017 British Journal of Anaesthesia Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32–0.77); P\u3c0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88–1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62–0.92); P\u3c0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61–0.88); P\u3c0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine