Prevention of inhalational anthrax after Bacillus anthracis spore exposure requires a prolonged course of antibiotic prophylaxis. In response to the 2001 anthrax attack in the United States, Ϸ10,000 people were offered 60 days of antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent inhalational anthrax, but adherence to this regimen was poor. We sought to determine whether a short course of antibiotic prophylaxis after exposure could protect non-human primates from a high-dose spore challenge if vaccination was combined with antibiotics. Two groups of 10 rhesus macaques were exposed to Ϸ1,600 LD 50 of spores by aerosol. Both groups were given ciprofloxacin by orogastric tube twice daily for 14 days, beginning 1-2 h after exposure. One group also received three doses of the licensed human anthrax vaccine (anthrax vaccine adsorbed) after exposure. In the ciprofloxacin-only group, four of nine monkeys (44%) survived the challenge. In contrast, all 10 monkeys that received 14 days of antibiotic plus anthrax vaccine adsorbed survived (P ‫؍‬ 0.011). Thus postexposure vaccination enhanced the protection afforded by 14 days of antibiotic prophylaxis alone and completely protected animals against inhalational anthrax. These data provide evidence that postexposure vaccination can shorten the duration of antibiotic prophylaxis required to protect against inhalational anthrax and may impact public health management of a bioterrorism event.Bacillus anthracis ͉ treatment ͉ vaccine B acillus anthracis infection in humans occurs as cutaneous, gastrointestinal, or inhalational anthrax depending upon the route of exposure. Cutaneous anthrax is rarely fatal and can be effectively treated with antibiotics. Inhalational anthrax, the form likely to occur after a bioterrorist attack, on the other hand, is difficult to diagnose early, and despite antibiotic therapy, has a high fatality rate. Anthrax is rare in industrialized countries, and vaccination with anthrax vaccine adsorbed (AVA) is confined to those who could be potentially exposed to anthrax, such as veterinary workers, woolen mill employees, and laboratory workers (1). Military personnel in the United States are also vaccinated due to the potential threat of B. anthracis being used as a bioweapon.Past experiments have shown that the rhesus macaque is the animal model that most closely mimics inhalational anthrax in humans (2). In both humans and macaques, inhalational anthrax begins with the deposition of 1-to 5-m spores in the alveolar spaces, where spores are thought to be ingested by alveolar phagocytic cells. Some spores survive inside the phagocyte and are transported to the draining pulmonary and mediastinal lymph nodes where germination occurs. Although most spores probably germinate within a few days after inhalation, germination is not synchronous (3). Some spores remain dormant and do not germinate for prolonged periods (4, 5). It is the delayed germination of retained spores into vegetative bacilli that necessitates the prolonged use of prophylactic antibiotics after an inhalational ...

The results of our study suggest a cumulative effect of serial anesthesia and should be an important consideration when interpreting hematology and serum biochemistry in rhesus macaques.

These findings demonstrate repeated anesthesia with ketamine can initiate changes suggesting a tolerance effect.

Despite the fact that underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) systems are able to provide high-data rate links with high security, the performance of these systems presents several limitations related to the maximum achievable distance due to attenuation, and scattering effects. Hence, quantifying the signal attenuation, and the time-dispersion produced by such effects represents a crucial work in channel modeling. Motivated by this, we present, for the first time, a novel, and unified impulse response modeling of underwater optical scattering channels based on the superposition of one impulsive component, and one dispersive component with two degrees of freedom. We provide analytical results for channel path loss, and channel impulse response (CIR) which are validated through Monte-Carlo simulations based on photon-tracing for clear ocean, coastal, and harbor waters. In order to provide a physical insight, the developed CIR is used to compute the root-mean-square (RMS) delay spread as a function of distance, and type of water, as well as to analyze in greater detail the impact of inter-symbol interference (ISI) on the data rate. These outcomes can be used for high-speed systems design, and optimization.

The military and industry are using 1540 nm laser systems for which current consensus safety standards are misleading.Threshold, ED50, exposure data, along with mechanisms oflaser-tissue interaction need to be more accurately determined.Recent studies within our group indicate the Yucatan mini-pig is a more applicable animal model for laser induced skin injury investigators. Laser delivery is accomplished using an Er:Glass system producing 1540 nm oflight at millisecond exposure times and in the range of 17 to 77 J/cm2. Dermal lesion development is evaluated for acute, 1 hour, and 24 hour post exposure presentation. Preliminary data obtained from dermal exposures indicate a difference in ED50 for Yorkshire and Yucatan pigs. In the Yucatan mini-pig erythematous lesions are formed acutely while in the Yorkshire, lesions are seen at 24 hrs. Preliminary data indicates that lesion development occurs at or near the basal layer of the epidermis causing nuclear pyknosis, cellular swelling and loss ofcellular detail. Contrary to the theory that water absorption is the primary mechanism ofdermal tissue damage observed from 1540 nm laser exposures, skin chromophores appears to play a role in lesion development.