Journal articles on the topic 'Medical ozone generator'

Ozone therapy is known to be the current successful method of dialysis which is first taken up in Germany. Medical oxygen known to be an ataxic generator is used to generate medical ozone, ensuring the inert contact of all the materials related to ozone. Surprisingly this useful and effective therapy is not recognised in our country like India but is widely accepted and practised in the countries like South America, Europe, Russia, Thailand, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Cuba, etc.; since over 70 years it is used as a successful method of treating various illnesses; like used to halt the progression of diabetes, Kidney diseases, detoxification of the body, coronary artery disease, etc.; Ozone is prepared freshly "on-site" just before starting the session, as it should be administrated immediately after its generation. They should be accurate, reliable and should project the ozone concentration (1-80μg/ml) as reproducible measurements by using a suitable device. Ozone Therapy has learnt to be an effective therapy for ESRD patients irrespective of the stages of disease dealt. The importance and the applications of Ozone therapy in the current medical field are discussed and emphasised in the present review. This review may help the researchers in planning further research to improvise the therapy or to sophisticate the method of implementation, and it also helps in delivering details of the therapy for better understanding of the medical practitioners.

There is a constant concern about finding new or alternative therapeutical approaches for symptom control and quality of life that are essential in palliative care. Ozone therapy has been studied for over a century, since the development of the first medical ozone-generator able to ensure a correct titration of the ozone-oxygen mixture. When used in precise therapeutic doses O3 prove many consistent and safe therapeutic benefits, with minimal and preventable side actions. Our prospective exploratory study aimed to analyze the effects of ozone therapy administration on palliative care patients, by dynamically monitoring the antioxidant status (superoxide-dismutase and glutathione-peroxidase serum levels), pain perception, and quality of life. The results confirm ozone therapy as a promising alternative adjuvant therapy for increasing the quality of life in palliative care services.

The utilization of ozone is commonly applied in various fields, for instance, it is used as a disinfectant for water treatment, disinfecting, sterilizing medical devices and preserving foodstuffs. Ozone is a nearly colorless gas with a characteristic odor that can be detected by humans up to 0.01 ppm. It can be produced by the dielectric barrier discharge method,which is generally used as a method of generating ozone supplied by high voltage or also called high voltage plasma generators. High voltage plasma occurs in the dielectric barrier discharge air gap, as a result of the air failed in maintaining its insulator properties. The power supply used in this study is a parallel resonant pushpull inverter using a flyback transformer. Furthermore, this study did not use an additional magnetic loudspeaker and used ceramic dielectrics instead. 5 types of ceramics and 2 different types of granite and combined the range of air gap were used during examination and research. The research indicates that the best plasma was found in ceramics 3, 5, granite 1 and 2 with an air gap of 2mm. The current discharge in ceramic 1 with an air gap of 2 mm was higher than the others. The highest voltage discharge was on granite 2 with an air gap of 2 mm. Ceramics 3, 5, granite 1 and 2 with an air gap of 2mm had better ozone concentrations than ceramics 1, 2 and 4.

Abstract Postpartum endometritis is one of the leading causes of infertility in cattle. The study aims to investigate the possibility of using ozonized flaxseed oil (OFO) for treating postpartum purulent-catarrhal endometritis in cows. Ozone was synthesized by using medical ozone generator and chemically pure oxygen. Linseed oil (400.0 ml) was bubbled with an ozone-oxygen mixture for 4 hours through a ceramic sprayer. An ozone concentration at the outlet was 30 mg/l. The therapeutic efficacy of OFO was studied on cattle of the Kholmogory breed with a productivity of 4800 - 5800 kg of milk per year. Thirty animals with symptoms of postpartum purulent-catarrhal endometritis were divided into two groups (n = 15). All of the subjects were in the second and third lactation periods. Animals from both groups were injected with 2% sinestrol solution on days 1 and 3 of treatment. OFO was used in the experimental group (EG). The cattle of the control group (CG) received a 7.5% solution of benzethonium chloride. Drugs were administered intrauterine at a dose of 50–150 ml (depending on the uterus’s size) using a polystyrene pipette, with an interval of 48–72 hours. Cows were inseminated artificially by the cervical method. The pregnancy was determined on the 30-35th day after insemination by ultrasonography. After 5 months of observation, all animals of the CG were pregnant. The pregnancy rate in the EG was 93,3%. In the groups efficiency of the first insemination was 20% and 47%, respectively. In the EG, one impregnation required 1.8±0.2 inseminations, which is 0.5 less than in the CG (2.3±0.3). The duration from calving to impregnation in cows in the EG was 104.4±6.9, 21.2 days less (P < 0.05) than the control, where the period was 125.6±7.6. Thus, OFO can be effectively used for the treatment of endometritis in cattle.

Introduction. Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943) was a genius inventor and scientist, whose contribution to medicine is remarkable. Part I of this article reviewed special contributions of the world renowned scientist to the establishment of radiology as a new discipline in medicine. This paper deals with the use of Tesla currents in medicine. Tesla Currents in Medicine. Tesla?s greatest impact on medicine is his invention of a transformer (Tesla coil) for producing high frequency and high voltage currents (Tesla currents). Tesla currents are used in diathermy, as they, while passing through the body, transform electrical energy into a therapeutic heat. In 1891, Tesla passed currents through his own body and was the first to experience their beneficial effects. He kept correspondence on electrotherapy with J. Dugan and S. H. Monell. In 1896, he used high frequency currents and designed an ozone generator for producing ozone, with powerful antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Tesla is famous for his extensive experiments with mechanical vibrations and resonance, examining their effects on the organism and pioneering their use for medical purposes. Tesla also designed an oscillator to relieve fatigue of the leg muscles. It is less known that Tesla?s inventions (Tesla coil and wireless remote control) are widely used in modern medical equipment. Apart from this, wireless technology is nowadays widely applied in numerous diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Conclusion. Nikola Tesla was the last Renaissance figure of the modern era. Tesla bridged three centuries and two millennia by his inventions, and permanently indebted human-kind by his epochal discoveries.

Background.Nosocomial outbreaks of Legionnaires disease have been linked to contaminated water in hospitals. Immunocompromised patients are particularly vulnerable and, when infected, have a high mortality rate. We report the investigation of a cluster of cases of nosocomial pneumonia attributable toLegionella pneumophilaserogroup 1 that occurred among patients on our stem cell transplantation unit.Methods.We conducted a record review to identify common points of potential exposure, followed by environmental and water sampling forLegionellaspecies from those sources. We used an air sampler to in an attempt to detect aerosolizedLegionellaand pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to compare clinical and environmental isolates.Results.The most likely sources identified were the water supply in the patients' rooms and a decorative fountain in the radiation oncology suite. Samples from the patients' rooms did not growLegionellaspecies. Cultures of the fountain, which had been restarted 4 months earlier after being shut off for 5 months, yieldedL. pneumophilaserogroup 1. The isolates from both patients and the fountain were identical by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Both patients developed pneumonia within 10 days of completing radiation therapy, and each reported having observed the fountain at close range. Both patients' infections were identified early and treated promptly, and both recovered.Conclusions.This cluster was caused by contamination of a decorative fountain despite its being equipped with a filter and ozone generator. Fountains are a potential source of nosocomial Legionnaires disease despite standard maintenance and sanitizing measures. In our opinion, fountains present unacceptable risk in hospitals serving immunocompromised patients.

Ozone is one of the most powerful oxidizing equipment, so it is effectively used to kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Many industrial processes use ozone because ozone can run without forming a by-product in water. Nevertheless, the utilization of ozone in Indonesia has not been applied maximally, due to the large cost of commercial ozonator equipment and operational life that is relatively short. In addition, many still do not comprehensively comprehend the ozonation process that is relatively very fast in the presence of ozone conditions that can only last a few minutes before parsing back into oxygen. In this study, the DBD (Dielectric Barrier Discharge) plasma reactor model with parallel plates for ozone generation at room temperature was developed. Furthermore, this study is more focused on conducting performance tests and optimizing ozone productivity in parallel spacer corona discharge chambers. This designated ozonator was treated as a plasma reactor to perform various tests with varying feed flow rates, input voltages, and gas feeds (compressed air and medical oxygen). After the productivity of the ozonators were tested with iodometric titration method, the ozonator’s productivity in generating ozone and its optimum operating condition were obtained. It can produce up to 0.82 g ozone/h with compressed air feed and 6.45 g ozone/h with medical oxygen feed.

Ozone is a triatomic allotrope of oxygen that can be produced in specially designed machines: ozone generators (ozonators). It breaks down to dioxygen (O2) and active atomic oxygen (O), which is a very strong oxidant. Due to the fact that its bactericidal, virucidal and fungicidal activities are 50 times more powerful than those of chlorine, ozone could be used in a wide range of applications, including disinfection, disinfestation and deodorization. Biochemical properties of ozone make it useful in both human and animal medicine. Ozone therapy has been applied in the treatment of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal tract diseases, many viral, bacterial and fungal infections, corneal diseases, skin disorders, as well as in inflammatory and degenerative joint diseases. Various forms of ozone are utilized for medical purposes, for example, ozone/oxygene mixture, dressing covered with ozonated water or oil, ozonated infusion fluids and ozonated autohemotherapy (AHT). Medical ozone appeared to be successful in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections, infected and nonhealing wounds. When properly conducted, ozone therapy is safe and non-toxic, and should therefore be widely used in veterinary and human medicine practice..

In this study we investigated the effects of antibiotic and intraperitoneal ozone administration on pro-inflammatory cytokine, antioxidant levels and tissue damage in the treatment of experimentally infectious peritonitis. Thirty-three adult male New Zealand White Rabbits were used. The study consisted of four groups including the non-treatment group (G₁), antibiotic group (G₂), ozone group (G₃) and ozone + antibiotic group (G₄). Trimethoprim sulfadimethylprymidine was administered at a dose of 50 mg/kg subcutaneously (s.c.) and amoxicillin sodium at a dose of 15 mg/kg intramuscularly (i.m.). Medical ozone was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) at a concentration of 30 µg O₃/ml and dose of 80 ml/kg. Once peritonitis was produced, blood samples were taken from the animals before treatment and at regular intervals following treatment. Blood samples were used for haemograms and to measure levels of antioxidant and oxidative enzymes and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. Tissue samples were examined histopathologically. There was no statistically significant difference between groups with respect to levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Antioxidant enzymes were found to be higher in groups G₂ and G₃. The granulocyte and lymphocyte values in group G₃ were determined to increase earlier than in the other groups. The peritonitis scores were similar in G₁ and G₃, which is higher compared to G₂ and G₄ groups. Minimal tissue damage was observed in the group G₂. It was concluded that antibiotic use for preventing peritoneum damage in experimental acute peritonitis was more effective than ozone therapy alone.

To determine whether thromboxane A2 may be involved in ozone (O3)-induced airway hyperresponsiveness, we studied the effect of a thromboxane synthase inhibitor (OKY-046, 100 micrograms X kg-1 X min-1 iv) in five dogs exposed to O3. Airway responsiveness was assessed by determining the provocative concentration of acetylcholine aerosol that increased total pulmonary resistance by 5 cmH2O X l-1 X s. O3 (3 ppm) increased airway responsiveness as demonstrated by a decrease in acetylcholine provocative concentration from 2.42 (geometric SEM = 1.64) to 0.14 mg/ml (geometric SEM = 1.30). OKY-046 significantly inhibited this effect without altering pre-O3 responsiveness or the O3-induced increase in neutrophils and airway epithelial cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. To further examine the role of thromboxane A2, we studied the effect of a thromboxane A2 mimetic, U-46619, on airway responsiveness in five additional dogs. U-46619 in subthreshold doses (i.e., insufficient to increase base-line pulmonary resistance) caused a fourfold increase in airway responsiveness to acetylcholine. Subthreshold doses of histamine had no effect. These results suggest that thromboxane A2 may be an important mediator of O3-induced airway hyperresponsiveness.

Exposure of human tracheal epithelial (TE) cells to ozone (0.1-0.5 ppm) leads to a transient increase followed by decreased production of prostaglandin (PG) E2 concomitant with dose-dependent loss and delayed recovery of cyclooxygenase (CO) activity [S.E. Alpert and R.W. Walenga. Am. J. Physiol. 269 (Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 13): L734-L743, 1995]. Formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cultured tracheobronchial epithelial cells during ozone exposure was recently demonstrated (L.C. Chen and Q.Qu. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 143: 96-101, 1997). In the present study, we investigated if ROS generated by ozone-exposed human TE cells contribute to PGE2 production and/or CO inactivation and whether the delay in recovery of CO activity after ozone reflects impaired gene transcription and/or protein synthesis. Rapid, dose-dependent ROS generation, assessed by fluorescence of dihydrorhodamine 123, was detected in human TE monolayers exposed to 0.21-0.63 ppm ozone. In a different system, TE cells were exposed to air or 0.5 ppm ozone for 1 h by serial renewal/collection of an adherent film of media. Ozone-induced ROS formation, the transient increase and decline in PGE2, and CO inactivation were attenuated by an intracellular hydroxyl radical scavenger, 1,3-dimethyl-2-thiourea. Ibuprofen, a reversible CO inhibitor, prevented PGE2 release during ozone exposure (and hence autocatalytic CO inactivation) but not loss of CO activity. Although CO activity remained depressed for hours after ozone exposure, compared with air-exposed cultures, no differences were detected in mRNA and protein levels of prostaglandin endoperoxide G/H synthase 2 (PGHS-2), the only CO isoform present in human TE cells, or in the rate of de novo PGHS-2 synthesis. Our findings suggest that ozone-induced PGE2 production and CO inactivation are primarily the result of formation of intracellular oxidant molecules and that delayed recovery of CO activity in human TE cells after short-term ozone exposure is due to persistent inactivation of PGHS-2, rather than to interference with its synthesis.

The use of ozone in dentistry was suggested because of its antimicrobial, disinfectant, biocompatibility and therapeutic properties. In the last decade, the number of therapeutic ozone fluids has been detected to present frequent dental infections associated with periodontal disease, endodontic treatments and cavities. Despite these advantages, ozone therapy in dentistry is limited due to possible side effects. Therefore, dentists should know about the proper use of ozone therapy that can provide better patient care and significantly reduce the time and costs of treatment. The ozone is successfully used in the field of medicine in developed countries and in our country. Its powerful anti-inflammatory properties, along with the favorable cellular and humoral immune response, makes the ozone effective in therapeutic purposes. Also, his ability to stop, or to make a reversion of the caries phases in a predictable way, opened a new chapter in minimal invasive dentistry.This study is based on searching information through valid textbooks, reviews, journals and medline / pubmed.Since its introduction in 1840, the use of ozone has proven to be a new therapeutic modality of great benefit to patients. The powerful antimicrobial efficacy of ozone, along with its capacity to stimulate the circulatory system and modulate the immune response, makes it a therapeutic agent of choice in the treatment of medical pathologies and infectious oral diseases. The use of ozone is an easy and painless modality of treatment. The effect of ozone is double and at the same time; it generates direct reactions at the molecular level in the medium in which it is released and indirectly destroys the bacteria by producing free radicals. It is generally accepted that ozone oxidation begins with the destruction of cell walls and cytoplasmic membranes of microorganisms; after damage to the membrane permeability increases and ozone molecules can easily enter the cells. In dentistry, most of the published articles are based on the antimicrobial effects of ozone present in the treatment of cavities.Ozone therapy is more favorable than the existing conventional therapeutic modalities that follow the minimally invasive application in dental treatment. Ozone is a promising modality for treating various teeth problems in the future. But at present, the ozone is addition to the already existing conventional modalities of dental treatment and should be used in combination until more research shows the benefit of its use alone.

The formation of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA) from salicylate was measured in the lungs and plasma to assay for the .OH in juvenile (2 mo), adult (9 mo), and senescent (24 mo) Fischer 344 male rats exposed to clean air, 1 part/million (ppm) ozone, or 2 ppm ozone for 2 h. Similar rates of distribution of salicylic acid in plasma and to the lungs were observed among air control animals of all age groups. Levels of 2,3-DHBA were about twice as high in the lungs of air control senescent rats compared with juvenile and adult rats (P < 0.05). Exposure to ozone resulted in 1.5- to 2-fold elevation of 2,3-DHBA in lungs and plasma of all age groups (P < 0.05), whereas levels of 2,5-DHBA were not changed significantly. There was no effect of age on the magnitude of 2,3-DHBA increase in the lungs or plasma after ozone exposure. The postulated source of .OH is chemical reduction of H2O2, which could be generated from increased age-dependent endogenous oxidant production or the age-independent reaction of ozone or macrophage-derived oxidants with the surfactant lining.

Adiponectin is an adipose-derived hormone with anti-inflammatory activity. Following subacute ozone exposure (0.3 ppm for 24–72 h), neutrophilic inflammation and IL-6 are augmented in adiponectin-deficient ( Adipo−/−) mice. The IL-17/granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) axis is required for this increased neutrophilia. We hypothesized that elevated IL-6 in Adipo−/−mice contributes to their augmented responses to ozone via effects on IL-17A expression. Therefore, we generated mice deficient in both adiponectin and IL-6 ( Adipo−/−/IL-6−/−) and exposed them to ozone or air. In ozone-exposed mice, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) neutrophils, IL-6, and G-CSF, and pulmonary Il17a mRNA expression were greater in Adipo−/−vs. wild-type mice, but reduced in Adipo−/−/IL-6−/−vs. Adipo−/−mice. IL-17A+F4/80+cells and IL-17A+γδ T cells were also reduced in Adipo−/−/IL-6−/−vs. Adipo−/−mice exposed to ozone. Only BAL neutrophils were reduced in IL-6−/−vs. wild-type mice. In wild-type mice, IL-6 was expressed in Gr-1+F4/80−CD11c−cells, whereas in Adipo−/−mice F4/80+CD11c+cells also expressed IL-6, suggesting that IL-6 is regulated by adiponectin in these alveolar macrophages. Transcriptomic analysis identified serum amyloid A3 ( Saa3), which promotes IL-17A expression, as the gene most differentially augmented by ozone in Adipo−/−vs. wild-type mice. After ozone, Saa3 mRNA expression was markedly greater in Adipo−/−vs. wild-type mice but reduced in Adipo−/−/IL-6−/−vs. Adipo−/−mice. In conclusion, our data support a pivotal role of IL-6 in the hyperinflammatory condition observed in Adipo−/−mice after ozone exposure and suggest that this role of IL-6 involves its ability to induce Saa3, IL-17A, and G-CSF.

This study examined the microbicidal activity of ultraviolet (UV)-C185–256-nm irradiance (robot 1) and ozone generated at UV-C185-nm by low-pressure mercury vapor lamps (robot 2) adapted to mobile robotic devices for surface decontamination, which was achieved in less than 1 h. Depending on their wall structure and outer envelopes, many microorganisms display different levels of resistance to decontaminating agents. Thus, the need for novel disinfection approaches is further exacerbated by the increased prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, as well as the potential of novel microorganisms, with the ability to cause disease outbreaks. To set up a rapid and effective approach for microorganisms propagation prevention, we focused on the effects of UV-C and ozone on a distinct microorganism survival ratio. A set of microorganisms, including Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Trichoderma harzianum, and Bacillus subtilis, were used to evaluate the disinfection power of UV-C and UV-C plus ozone generating robots. UV-C disinfection can be suited to ad hoc tasks, is easy to operate, requires low maintenance, does not have the need for the storage of dangerous chemicals, and does not produce by-products that may affect human health and the environment. The robotic cumulative irradiation technology developed (fluence accumulated values of 2.28 and 3.62 mJ cm−2, for robot 1 and 2, respectively), together with the production of ozone (with a maximum peak of 0.43 ppm) capable of reaching UV-C shaded surfaces, and analyzed in the current study, despite being designed for the need to reduce the risk of epidemic outbreaks in real-life scenarios, represents a versatile tool that could be employed for air and surface disinfection within many circumstances that are faced daily.

Acute lung injury (or acute respiratory distress syndrome) is a devastating and often lethal condition. This complex disease (trait) may be associated with numerous candidate genes. To discern the major gene(s) controlling mortality from acute lung injury, two inbred mouse strains displaying contrasting survival times to 10 parts/million ozone were identified. A/J (A) mice were sensitive [6.6 ± 1 (SE) h] and C57BL/6J (B) were resistant (20.6 ± 1 h). The designation for these phenotypes was 13 h, a point that clearly separated their survival time distributions. Our prior segregation studies suggested that survival time to ozone-induced acute lung injury was a quantitative trait, and genetic analysis identified three linked loci [acute lung injury-1, -2, and -3 ( Ali1–3, respectively)]. In this report, acute lung injury in A or B mice was characterized histologically and by measuring lung wet-to-dry weight ratios at death. Ozone produced comparable effects in both strains. To further delineate genetic loci associated with reduced survival, a genomewide scan was performed with F2 mice generated from the A and B strains. The results strengthen and extend our initial findings and firmly establish that Ali1 on mouse chromosome 11 has significant linkage to this phenotype. Ali3 was suggestive of linkage, supporting previous recombinant inbred analysis, whereas Ali2 showed no linkage. Together, our findings support the fact that several genes, including Ali1 and Ali3, control susceptibility to death after acute lung injury. Identification of these loci should allow a more focused effort to determine the key events leading to mortality after oxidant-induced acute lung injury.

Background: Diabetes is a disease that affects people worldwide, including in Indonesia. The prevalence of diabetes in Indonesia is increasing from year to year. One of the most devastating complications of diabetes mellitus is diabetic ulcers, which is a limb-threatening complication. Over the past few decades, ozone generated using plasma medical technology has been investigated as an agent that helps wound healing. This study aims to evaluate the effects of topical ozonated virgin coconut oil (VCO) in a diabetic wound mouse model. Methods: This study was an experimental study with a post-test control design. An ulcer wound model was made in 50 diabetic male Wistar mice, divided into five groups, and a control group of 10 non-diabetic mice. The control groups were given conventional therapy only and the treatment groups were also given topical ozonated VCO with different flow durations (0 min, 90 min, 7 h, 14 h). Macroscopic appearance and wound contraction were observed. HSP90β, VEGF-A, EGF, bFGF and CD34 levels were measured from the immunostained slices of wound margins. Results: The reduction of wound length was proportionally related to the duration of ozone flow. Ozonated VCO with a longer duration of ozone flow healed the wound more quickly and had the shortest wound length. VCO with ozone flow for 14 hours (16837.10 µm) had the biggest reduction in wound length compared to other groups. The wounds treated with ozonated VCO showed an increase in HSP90β, VEGF-A, EGF, bFGF and CD34 levels that correlated to improved wound healing. A longer period of treatment resulted in higher levels of wound healing biomarkers compared to shorter therapeutic durations. Conclusions: Topical ozonated VCO improved the wound healing process in a diabetic ulcer mouse model by improving macroscopic wound appearance and increasing levels of wound healing biomarkers.

Background: Diabetes is a disease that affects people worldwide, including in Indonesia. The prevalence of diabetes in Indonesia is increasing from year to year. One of the most devastating complications of diabetes mellitus is diabetic ulcers, which is a limb-threatening complication. Over the past few decades, ozone generated using plasma medical technology has been investigated as an agent that helps wound healing. This study aims to evaluate the effects of topical ozonated virgin coconut oil (VCO) in a diabetic wound mouse model. Methods: This study was an experimental study with a post-test control design. An ulcer wound model was made in 50 diabetic male Wistar mice, divided into five groups, and a control group of 10 non-diabetic mice. The control groups were given conventional therapy only and the treatment groups were also given topical ozonated VCO with different flow durations (0 min, 90 min, 7 h, 14 h). Macroscopic appearance and wound contraction were observed. HSP90β, VEGF-A, EGF, bFGF and CD34 levels were measured from the immunostained slices of wound margins. Results: The reduction of wound length was proportionally related to the duration of ozone flow. Ozonated VCO with a longer duration of ozone flow healed the wound more quickly and had the shortest wound length. VCO with ozone flow for 14 hours (16837.10 µm) had the biggest reduction in wound length compared to other groups. The wounds treated with ozonated VCO showed an increase in HSP90β, VEGF-A, EGF, bFGF and CD34 levels that correlated to improved wound healing. A longer period of treatment resulted in higher levels of wound healing biomarkers compared to shorter therapeutic durations. Conclusions: Topical ozonated VCO improved the wound healing process in a diabetic ulcer mouse model by improving macroscopic wound appearance and increasing levels of wound healing biomarkers.

Background: Diabetes is a disease that affects people worldwide, including in Indonesia. The prevalence of diabetes in Indonesia is increasing from year to year. One of the most devastating complications of diabetes mellitus is diabetic ulcers, which is a limb-threatening complication. Over the past few decades, ozone generated using plasma medical technology has been investigated as an agent that helps wound healing. This study aims to evaluate the effects of topical ozonated virgin coconut oil (VCO) in a diabetic wound mouse model. Methods: This study was an experimental study with a post-test control design. An ulcer wound model was made in 50 diabetic male Wistar mice, divided into five groups, and a control group of 10 non-diabetic mice. The control groups were given conventional therapy only and the treatment groups were also given topical ozonated VCO with different flow durations (0 min, 90 min, 7 h, 14 h). Macroscopic appearance and wound contraction were observed. HSP90β, VEGF-A, EGF, bFGF, and CD34 levels were measured from the immunostained slices of wound margins. Results: The reduction of wound length was proportionally related to the duration of ozone flow. Ozonated VCO with a longer duration of ozone flow healed the wound more quickly and had the shortest wound length. VCO with ozone flow for 14 hours (16837.10 µm) had the biggest reduction in wound length compared to other groups. The wounds treated with ozonated VCO showed an increase in HSP90β, VEGF-A, EGF, bFGF, and CD34 levels that correlated to improved wound healing. A longer period of treatment resulted in higher levels of wound healing biomarkers compared to shorter therapeutic durations. Conclusions: Topical ozonated VCO improved the wound healing process in a diabetic ulcer mouse model by improving macroscopic wound appearance and increasing levels of wound healing biomarkers.

Soluble microbial products (SMPs) are an important group of components in wastewater effluents. In this study, the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), including trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), chlorinated solvents (CSs), haloketones (HKs), haloacetonitriles (HANs) and trichloronitromethane (TCNM) (chloropicrin), from SMPs during chlorination, chloramination and ozonation was investigated. More carbonaceous DBPs (C-DBPs: THMs, HAAs, CSs and HKs) and nitrogenous DBPs (N-DBPs: HANs and TCNM) were formed in chlorination than chloramination. More dichloroacetic and N-DBPs, and higher DBP formation potential were generated by SMPs than by natural organic matter. The results also show that disinfection factors, including temperature, pH, disinfectant dose, reaction time and bromide level significantly affected the formation of DBPs from SMPs. Additionally, the bromine incorporation factor indicates that chloramination may be a good alternative to chlorination in reducing the formation of Br-DBPs from SMPs. Bromide level and pH were the key factors affecting the formation of DBPs in both chlorination and chloramination.

In this paper, the disinfection of water is investigated using plasma spark treatment and the results are compared with conventional techniques. Inactivation of the Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli bacteria is considered in the treatment process of water by the plasma spark. For this purpose, many physical and chemical parameters of water are measured and the obtained results demonstrate a reduction of 8-log in colony forming units of E. coli and E. faecalis at 15 minutes and 12 minutes, respectively. The results of this research show that no ozone is produced during the plasma spark treatment. Moreover, inactivation of a large number of bacteria without any change of pH shows that pH is not the cause of the bacterial inactivation. It is concluded that the main causes of the inactivation of bacteria in the treated water are H2O2 molecules and the electrical fields generated by plasma.

Abstract. As a candidate for the next-generation National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NAQFC), the meteorological forecast from the Global Forecast System with the new Finite Volume Cube-Sphere dynamical core (GFS–FV3) will be applied to drive the chemical evolution of gases and particles described by the Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system. CMAQv5.0.2, a historical version of CMAQ, has been coupled with the North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM) model in the current operational NAQFC. An experimental version of the NAQFC based on the offline-coupled GFS–FV3 version 15 with CMAQv5.0.2 modeling system (GFSv15–CMAQv5.0.2) has been developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide real-time air quality forecasts over the contiguous United States (CONUS) since 2018. In this work, comprehensive region-specific, time-specific, and categorical evaluations are conducted for meteorological and chemical forecasts from the offline-coupled GFSv15–CMAQv5.0.2 for the year 2019. The forecast system shows good overall performance in forecasting meteorological variables with the annual mean biases of −0.2 ∘C for temperature at 2 m, 0.4 % for relative humidity at 2 m, and 0.4 m s−1 for wind speed at 10 m compared to the METeorological Aerodrome Reports (METAR) dataset. Larger biases occur in seasonal and monthly mean forecasts, particularly in spring. Although the monthly accumulated precipitation forecasts show generally consistent spatial distributions with those from the remote-sensing and ensemble datasets, moderate-to-large biases exist in hourly precipitation forecasts compared to the Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) and METAR. While the forecast system performs well in forecasting ozone (O3) throughout the year and fine particles with a diameter of 2.5 µm or less (PM2.5) for warm months (May–September), it significantly overpredicts annual mean concentrations of PM2.5. This is due mainly to the high predicted concentrations of fine fugitive and coarse-mode particle components. Underpredictions in the southeastern US and California during summer are attributed to missing sources and mechanisms of secondary organic aerosol formation from biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semivolatile or intermediate-volatility organic compounds. This work demonstrates the ability of FV3-based GFS in driving the air quality forecasting. It identifies possible underlying causes for systematic region- and time-specific model biases, which will provide a scientific basis for further development of the next-generation NAQFC.

Little is known about the molecular basis for differential pulmonary oxidant sensitivity observed between genetically disparate members of the same species. We have generated mice that are deficient in Clara cell secretory protein (CCSP −/−) and that exhibit an oxidant-sensitive phenotype. We characterized the kinetics and distribution of altered stress-response [interleukin-6 (IL-6) and metallothionein (MT)] and epithelial cell-specific [cytochrome P-450 2F2 (CYP2F2)] gene expression to further understand the cellular and molecular basis for altered oxidant sensitivity in 129 strain CCSP −/− mice. Increases in IL-6 and MT mRNA abundance were detected by 2 h of exposure to 1 part/million ozone and preceded reductions in Clara cell CYP2F2 mRNA expression. Despite being qualitatively similar, increases in IL-6 and MT mRNA expression were enhanced in CCSP −/− mice with respect to coexposed 129 strain wild-type mice. Increased MT mRNA expression, indicative of the stress response, localized to the airway epithelium, surrounding mesenchyme, and endothelium of blood vessels. These results demonstrate a protective role for Clara cells and their secretions and indicate potential genetic mechanisms that may influence susceptibility to oxidant stress.

An experimental study of ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) 8739 Escherichia coli bacteria inactivation in water by means of pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (PDBD) atmospheric pressure plasmas is presented. Plasma is generated by an adjustable power source capable of supplying high voltage 25 kV pulses, ∼30 μs long and at a 500 Hz frequency. The process was conducted in a ∼152 cm3 cylindrical stainless steel coaxial reactor, endowed with a straight central electrode and a gas inlet. The bacterial concentration in water was varied from 103 up to 108E. coli cells per millilitre. The inactivation was achieved without gas flow in the order of 82% at 108 colony-forming units per millilitre (CFU mL–1) concentrations in 600 s. In addition, oxygen was added to the gas supply in order to increase the ozone content in the process, raising the inactivation percentage to the order of 90% in the same treatment time. In order to reach a higher efficiency however, oxygen injection modulation is applied, leading to inactivation percentages above 99.99%. These results are similarly valid for lower bacterial concentrations.

Oxidant exposure of the airway mucosa may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of asthma and allergic rhinitis. Mast cells play an important role in asthma, and oxidant exposure has been reported to cause direct mast cell degranulation as well as augment immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated responses in vivo. H2O2 is an oxidant generated by inflammatory cells and by the interaction of ozone with lipids or aqueous solutions. In this study, the RBL-2H3 mast cell line was used to investigate the ability of H2O2 to induce mast cell responses as well as to effect mast cell responses to IgE and the calcium ionophore A23187. Although cytotoxicity of RBL-2H3 cells at the membrane level was not observed with any concentration of H2O2, DNA damage resulted from exposure to 0.2 and 2.0 mM H2O2, and cell proliferation was inhibited by 0.075-0.2 mM H2O2. RBL cell prostaglandin D2 generation was enhanced after 60- and 120-min exposure to 0.2-20 mM H2O2. Direct serotonin release required 120-min exposures to 2.0 mM and 60-min exposures to 20 mM H2O2. However, degranulation responses induced by either IgE or A23178 were diminished after exposure to 0.2-2.0 mM H2O2. Lesser amounts (0.005-0.02 mM) had no effect on mast cell function. In summary, H2O2-induced responses of RBL cells, as well as modification of responses to IgE and A23187, occurred only at high concentrations of H2O2, which also induced both intracellular damage and inhibition of cell proliferation. Concentrations of H2O2 more likely to be physiologically relevant had no effect on mast cell responses or cytotoxicity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abstract. A wide variety of observation data sets are used to assess long-term simulations provided by chemistry–climate models (CCMs) and chemistry-transport models (CTMs). However, the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere (UTLS) has hardly been assessed in these modelling exercises yet. Observations performed in the framework of IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System) combine the advantages of in situ airborne measurements in the UTLS with an almost-global-scale sampling, a ∼20-year monitoring period and a high frequency. Even though a few model assessments have been made using the IAGOS database, none of them took advantage of the dense and high-resolution cruise data in their whole ensemble yet. The present study proposes a method to compare this large IAGOS data set to long-term simulations used for chemistry–climate studies. As a first application, the REF-C1SD reference simulation generated by the MOCAGE (MOdèle de Chimie Atmosphérique à Grande Echelle) CTM in the framework of Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (CCMI) phase I has been evaluated during the 1994–2013 period for ozone (O3) and the 2002–2013 period for carbon monoxide (CO). The concept of the new comparison software proposed here (so-called Interpol-IAGOS) is to project all IAGOS data onto the 3-D grid of the model with a monthly resolution, since generally the 3-D outputs provided by chemistry–climate models for multi-model comparisons on multi-decadal timescales are archived as monthly means. This provides a new IAGOS data set (IAGOS-DM) mapped onto the model's grid and time resolution. To get a model data set consistent with IAGOS-DM for the comparison, a subset of the model's outputs is created (MOCAGE-M) by applying a mask that retains only the model data at the available IAGOS-DM grid points. Climatologies are derived from the IAGOS-DM product, and good correlations are reported between with the MOCAGE-M spatial distributions. As an attempt to analyse MOCAGE-M behaviour in the upper troposphere (UT) and the lower stratosphere (LS) separately, UT and LS data in IAGOS-DM were sorted according to potential vorticity. From this, we derived O3 and CO seasonal cycles in eight regions well sampled by IAGOS flights in the northern midlatitudes. They are remarkably well reproduced by the model for lower-stratospheric O3 and also good for upper-tropospheric CO. Along this model evaluation, we also assess the differences caused by the use of a weighting function in the method when projecting the IAGOS data onto the model grid compared to the scores derived in a simplified way. We conclude that the data projection onto the model's grid allows us to filter out biases arising from either spatial or temporal resolution, and the use of a weighting function yields different results, here by enhancing the assessment scores. Beyond the MOCAGE REF-C1SD evaluation presented in this paper, the method could be used by CCMI models for individual assessments in the UTLS and for model intercomparisons with respect to the IAGOS data set.

According to the definitions and the scope of both starting material and bulk pharmaceutical product, the achievement of Quality standards is an indispensable guarantee for the safety of use, stability and effectiveness of the medicinal products. Medicinal gases - among which the oxygen-ozone therapy is fully entitled - have to fulfil such a Quality objective. Moreover, the therapeutic use of ozone assumes the extemporaneous preparation of the gaseous mixture, demanding the overall responsibility to the healthcare professionals. As a result of scientific and technical progress, the ozone generators must be validated having passed all the qualification phases. The relevant EU and FDA Regulations will assure this aspect by the respective conformity marking. Given that the overall Quality level is given by the lowest stage of the whole process, the knowledge of the various aspects and the respect of well-defined standard operating procedures become fundamental. In detail, for the correct application of ozone therapy they will have to be known the medical and technical requirements relating to: i) the gaseous source for obtaining medical ozone; ii) the materials adopted for ozone generation as well as for its manipulation; iii) the device of reactors for the ozone production; iv) the modality of varying the ozone concentration; v) the control and measuring devices for medical ozone quantitative evaluation, also in terms of their precision and accuracy; vi) the warranty period and the local maintenance service, also in terms of validation plan. Based on this knowledge, it is possible to make an informed purchase of the equipment suitable for both the needs of the individual professional and the correct procedures for use.

Background: Ozone therapy has a long history. Some studies proved that ozone therapy was useful in treatment of virus hepatitis.Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of new medical ozone therapy system for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.Method One hundred eighty-nine patients with chronic hepatitis B were included in this open-label, phase 3 study, and randomly assigned to receive ozone autohemotherapy with experimental ozone generator TianYi (group 1) or with ozone generator Humares (group 2) or oral diammonium glycyrrhizinate capsules (group 3) in a 1:1:1 ratio for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy end point was sera HBV DNA level of less than 1×103 IU/ml or having a more than 2 log10 reduction in HBV DNA level at the end of 12 weeks treatment as compared to baseline HBV DNA level. Secondary end points included HBeAg seroconversion, biochemical response, and combined response.Results At the end of 12 weeks treatment, the proportion of patients reached the primary end point of virologic response in group 1, group 2, and group 3 were 22.4% (13/58, 95% CI, 12.5 to 35.3), 14.7 (9/61, 95% CI, 7.0 to 26.2) and 3.9% (2/51, 95% CI, 0.5 to 13.5), respectively (p=0.021) in the pre-protocol population. Virologic response occurred in more patients receiving ozone therapy with experimental device than patients receiving oral diammonium glycyrrhizinate capsules (mean difference 18.5%, 95% CI 6.3 to 31.5, p=0.005). However, there was no statistical difference in VR12 rates between the treatment of medical ozone therapy system with experimental device (group 1) and with Humares (group 2) (mean difference 7.7%, 95% CI -6.5 to 22.0, p=0.282). More HBeAg seroconversion in patients treated by Tianyi ozone therapy system than those treated by Humares ozone therapy device and oral diammonium glycyrrhizinate capsules (14.8%, 5.1% and 7.3%, respectively, P = 0.272). Higher biochemical response rate was observes in patients receiving ozone therapy than oral diammonium glycyrrhizinate capsules (31.6%, 36.7% and 24.0%, respectively, p = 0.359). The safety profile was similar for the three treatment groups and adverse events were .scare infrequent and mild.Conclusions: Ozone therapy had superior antiviral efficacy with a similar safety profile as compared with oral diammonium glycyrrhizinate capsules through week 12 treatment. Ozone therapy is also associated with normalized ALT and AST levels, demonstrating that ozone therapy could benefit the patients with chronic hepatitis B.

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the bactericide and regenerative capabilities of ozone through the execution of established protocols for infected wounds management. MATERIAL AND METHODS: - Ozone generator - Medical oxygen - Drinking water - Nelaton lead - Gauzes - Polyethylene bags of different sizes - 10 ml syringes - 30G needles Collect information of clinical cases of 5 patients with purulent wounds caused by bite of congener treated with ozone therapy (OP) with bagging technique (1) – injury washing with ozonized water and posterior bagged of affected area with polyethylene for 15 minutes with an ozone concentration of 56 mg/L and infiltration of wound edges with the gas in an anti-inflammatory concentration of 33 mg/L. It was possible to observe short recovery processes of disinfection and regeneration of infected wounds using in only OP as wound management protocol. DISCUSSION: Ozone bactericide property is probably the most studied topic because it was early used in the management of infected wounds (2,3). Later, with the invention of plastic materials, local treatment of septic limbs with gaseous ozone became possible. The regeneration helped with ozone has been intensively described, the acceleration of the process is related with cytokines release and the increase of tisular oxygenation (4). CONCLUSION: Based on that, it is possible to conclude that ozonetherapy could be used as another therapeutic option in the management of infected wounds with bagging technique due to bactericide and regenerative properties of this gas.

Terapi merupakan antara teknik perubatan tertua dalam mengekalkan kesihatan badan terutama daripada aliran darah yang tidak baik, strok dan beberapa penyakit yang lain. Teknik ini termasuklah akupuntur, guasa dan juga urutan. Terdapat juga teknik terapi moden seperti terapi warna, terapi ozon, terapi dadah dan banyak lagi. Kertas kajian ini akan mengetengahkan penjana terapi elektromagnet, satu alat yang mempunyai potensi aplikasi terapi dalam bidang perubatan. Alat ini menghasilkan medan magnet berfrekuensi sederhana sebagai sumber terapi. Perkakasan yang berskala kecil berfrekuensi sederhana dan berkos rendah ini telah dibangunkan dan telah diuji pada tisu biologi bagi mengukur tahap ketembusan medan magnet. Ujian ini telah membuktikan bahawa medan magnet yang telah dihasilkan mampu menembusi tisu lembut bersaiz sehingga 2 cm dengan jarak 7 cm daripada sumber. Kebolehan penembusan sistem ini terhadap tisu lembut memberikan peluang yang cerah kepada kajian ini memandangkan medan magnet telah menunjukkan potensi sebagai sebahagian daripada terapi untuk memulihkan migraine, strok, kekejangan dan beberapa yang lain selain boleh diaplikasikan dalam pengimejan tomografi induksi magnet. Kata kunci: Terapi elektromagnet, medan magnet, penembusan, tisu lembut, aplikasi perubatan Therapy is among the oldest medication technique in maintaining the health of the body especially from bad blood circulation, stroke and several others. This technique includes acupuncture, guasa and also massage. There are also modern therapy techniques like colour therapy, water therapy, ozone therapy, drug therapy and others. This paper will highlight electromagnetic therapy generator, a device which has the potential of therapy application in medical field. This device produce medium frequency magnetic field as a therapy source. This small scale medium frequency and low cost hardware that has been developed was tested on the biological tissue for the purpose of measuring the magnetic field penetration. The testing has proven that the generated magnetic field is able to penetrate the soft tissue up to 2 cm with distance from the source up to 7 cm. The capability of the system penetrations through the soft tissues provide the bright future of this research since magnetic field have shown the potential as being part of the therapy for curing migraine, stroke, cramp and several others besides the application in the magnetic induction tomography imaging. Key words: Electromagnetic therapy, magnetic field, penetration, soft tissue; medical applications

Abstract Background Some patients have noted a foul odor during radiation therapy sessions, but the cause of the odor remains unknown. Since we suspected that this phenomenon is due to ozone generated by ionizing radiation, this experimental study measured ozone concentrations in the treatment room and in a coiled polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube placed within the radiation field. Methods We measured ozone concentrations using an ultraviolet absorption method and an ozone monitor. A PVC tube (inner diameter 7 mm, outer diameter 10 mm) was used to mimic the environment of the nasal cavity. The tube (790 cm) was coiled and set between two 4-cm-thick (for X-rays) or 2-cm-thick (for electron beams) water-equivalent solid phantoms. The sampling tube of the ozone monitor was inserted into the PVC tube, and the joint was sealed to prevent environmental air contamination. To measure ozone concentrations in the atmosphere, the sampling tube supplied with the unit was used. A linac was used on a full-sized treatment field (40 cm × 40 cm at a source-to-axis distance of 100 cm). The effect of an electron beam on ozone concentrations was also evaluated with a full-sized treatment field (40 cm × 40 cm at a source-to-surface distance of 100 cm). Results Ozone levels in the treatment room were undetectable before the start of daily treatment but reached 0.008 parts per million (ppm) or more at 1 h after the start of treatment. Concentrations then remained nearly constant at 0.010–0.015 ppm throughout the day. The maximum ozone concentration in the PVC tube was only 0.006 ppm, even when it was irradiated at 2400 monitor units/min. Depending on the X-ray dose rate, the concentration increased to a maximum of 0.010 ppm with oxygen flowing into the other end of the tube at 1.5 L/min. Ozone concentrations in the PVC tube did not differ significantly between X-ray and electron-beam irradiation. Conclusions Only traces of ozone were found in the PVC tube that was used to mimic the nasal passages during radiation, these concentrations were too low for human perception. However, ozone concentrations did reach potentially detectable levels in the treatment room.

Abstract Background With the current COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare facilities have been lacking a steady supply of filtering facepiece respirators. To better address this challenge, the decontamination and reuse of these respirators is a strategy that has been studied by an increasing number of institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a systematic literature review in PubMed, PubMed Central, Embase, and Google Scholar. Studies were eligible when (electronically or in print) up to 17 June 2020, and published in English, French, German, or Spanish. The primary outcome was reduction of test viruses or test bacteria by log3 for disinfection and log6 for sterilization. Secondary outcome was physical integrity (fit/filtration/degradation) of the respirators after reprocessing. Materials from the grey literature, including an unpublished study were added to the findings. Findings Of 938 retrieved studies, 35 studies were included in the analysis with 70 individual tests conducted. 17 methods of decontamination were found, included the use of liquids (detergent, benzalkonium chloride, hypochlorite, or ethanol), gases (hydrogen peroxide, ozone, peracetic acid or ethylene oxide), heat (either moist with or without pressure or dry heat), or ultra violet radiation (UVA and UVGI); either alone or in combination. Ethylene oxide, gaseous hydrogen peroxide (with or without peracetic acid), peracetic acid dry fogging system, microwave-generated moist heat, and steam seem to be the most promising methods on decontamination efficacy, physical integrity and filtration capacity. Interpretation A number of methods can be used for N95/FFP2 mask reprocessing in case of shortage, helping to keep healthcare workers and patients safe. However, the selection of disinfection or sterilization methods must take into account local availability and turnover capacity as well as the manufacturer; meaning that some methods work better on specific models from specific manufacturers. Systematic registration number CRD42020193309.

ObjectiveTo inform asthmatic, health plan patients of air quality conditions in their specific geographic location and to assess if the communication is successful in reducing the number of emergency department visits for asthmatic/respiratory flare ups.IntroductionSouthwest states are prone to wildfires, dust storms, and high winds especially during the monsoon season (June – September). Wildfire smoke is a complex mixture of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor, hydrocarbons, nitrogen, oxides, metals, and particulate matter (PM). Dust storms are made up of aerosols and dust particles varying in size; particles bigger than 10 µm are not breathable, but can damage external organs such as causing skin and eye irritations. Particles smaller than 10 µm are inhalable and often are trapped in the nose, mouth, and upper respiratory tracts, and can cause respiratory disorders such as asthma and pneumonia. Numerous studies have characterized the epidemiological and toxicological impact of exposure to PM in dust or smoke form on human health.1All of these environmental conditions can have impacts on cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension and cause respiratory flare ups, especially asthma. Previous studies have shown a relationship between PM exposure and increases in respiratory-related hospital admissions.1-4 In an analysis of the health effects of a large wildfire in California in 2008, Reid, et. al, observed a linear increase in risk for asthma hospitalizations (RR=1.07, 95% CI= (1.05, 1.10) per 5 µg/m3 increase) and asthma emergency department visits (RR=1.06, 95% CI=(1.05, 1.07) per 5 µg/m3 increase) with increasing PM2.5 during wildfires.5 In a study specific to New Mexico, Resnick, et. al, found that smoke from the Wallow fire in Arizona in 2011 impacted the health of New Mexicans, observing increases in emergency department visits for asthma flare-ups in Santa Fe, Espanola, and Albuquerque residents.6This current study will evaluate the effectiveness of outreach to asthmatic members during times of poor air quality; informing them of the air quality, instructing them to limit their outdoor activity, and to remind them to carry or access their inhalers or other medical necessities if/when needed.MethodsA recent 12-month eligible member list was generated including member ID, street address, zip code, and a count of the number of emergency department (ED) visits for the specified time period. The member list was then geocoded using the tool Quest. Any records that did not map to a latitude and longitude within the state boundary of New Mexico were excluded. The geocoded list was then joined to a list of members who had an indicator for asthma (a hospital admission or ED visit with a primary diagnosis for asthma). This list of asthmatic, eligible members was then mapped using QGIS 3.2.The New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) air quality bureau operates a network of ambient air monitors across the state. Monitors range in size from neighborhood level to regional and pollutants measured include ozone, PM2.5, PM10, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Sulfur Dioxide. Each individual air monitor was mapped to a point location with individual buffer zones (dependent on the monitor’s collection size).Asthmatic members were mapped to air monitor buffers using a spatial overlap program in QGIS. Each air monitor then had a list of asthmatic members who were tied to the air monitor and would be contacted if the air quality index (AQI) value for that air monitor was less than good (>50).ResultsIn a given 12-month period, there were 38,364 asthmatic members mapped to a geographic point within the state boundary of New Mexico. Of the 14 air monitors across the state, 9,965 (26%) asthmatic members mapped to an air monitor. NMED posts air monitor readings on their website daily. During the upcoming 2019 monsoon season, air monitors with a daily AQI reading of >50 will trigger the emailing of a scripted letter to asthmatic members (connected to that specific monitor) informing them of poor air quality in their area and alerting them to limit their outdoor time and to ensure that their medications are up-to-date and easily available. In order to construct this letter in a non-intrusive, succinct manner, collaboration with business partners (who have experience with working with members on a 1:1 basis) within the organization will assist with ensuring a targeted message.After the 2019 monsoon season, this project will be evaluated to determine if the intervention was beneficial in reducing the number of ED visits for the members who were contacted. ED visit rates specific to asthma (inclusion of asthma specific diagnosis code) will be compared for the pre and post intervention monsoon seasons.ConclusionsCombining external, state-level data with internal member-level data can have powerful results. Due to protected health information (PHI), state level data sometimes is unavailable at a person-level basis, and thus pointed, individual interventions are not possible. By combining internal and external data sources on different health related topics, it is possible to create a more cohesive, person-level, health-impactful view of a person and their environment.References1. Fann N, Alman B, Broome RA, et al. The health impacts and economic value of wildland fire episodes in the U.S.: 2008-2012. Sci Total Environ. 2018;610-611:802-809.2. Delfino RJ, Brummel S, Wu J, et al. The relationship of respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions to the southern california wildfires of 2003. Occup Environ Med. 2009;66(3):189-197.3. Gan RW, Ford B, Lassman W, et al. Comparison of wildfire smoke estimation methods and associations with cardiopulmonary-related hospital admissions. Geohealth. 2017;1(3):122-136.4. Kanatani KT, Ito I, Al-Delaimy WK, et al. Desert dust exposure is associated with increased risk of asthma hospitalization in children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010;182(12):1475-1481.5. Reid CE, Jerrett M, Tager IB, Petersen ML, Mann JK, Balmes JR. Differential respiratory health effects from the 2008 northern california wildfires: A spatiotemporal approach. Environ Res. 2016;150:227-235.6. Resnick A, Woods B, Krapfl H, Toth B. Health outcomes associated with smoke exposure in albuquerque, new mexico, during the 2011 wallow fire. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2015;21 Suppl 2:S55-61.

Everyone thinks I named my cat Mango because of his orange eyes but that’s not the case. I named him Mango because the sounds of his purrs and his wheezes and his meows are all various shades of yellow-orange. (Mass 3) Synaesthesia, a condition where stimulus in one sense is perceived in that sense as well as in another, is thought to be a neurological fluke, marked by cross-sensory reactions. Mia, a character in the children’s book A Mango-Shaped Space, has audition colorée or coloured hearing, the most common form of synaesthesia where sounds create dynamic coloured photisms in the visual field. Others with the condition may taste shapes (Cytowic 5), feel colours (Duffy 52), taste sounds (Cytowic 118) or experience a myriad of other sensory combinations. Most non-synaesthetes have never heard of synaesthesia and many treat the condition with disbelief upon learning of it, while synaesthetes are often surprised to hear that others don’t have it. Although there has been a resurgence of interest in synaesthesia recently in psychology, neuroscience and philosophy (Ward and Mattingley 129), there is no widely accepted explanation for how or why synaesthetic perception occurs. However, if we investigate what meaning this particular condition may offer for rethinking not only what constitutes sensory normalcy, but also the ocular-centric bias in cultural studies, especially media studies, synaesthesia may present us with very productive coalitions indeed.Some theorists posit the ultimate role of media of all forms “to transfer sense experiences from one person to another” (Bolter and Grusin 3). Alongside this claim, many “have also maintained that the ultimate function of literature and the arts is to manifest this fusion of the senses” found in synaesthesia (Dann ix). If the most primary of media aims are to fuse and transfer sensory experiences, manifesting these goals would be akin to transferring synaesthetic experience to non-synaesthetes. In some cases, this synaesthetic transfer has been the explicit goal of media forms, from the invention of kaleidoscopes as colour symphonies in 1818 (Dann 66) to the 2002 launch of the video game Rez, the packaging for which reads “Discover a new world. A world of sound, visuals and vibrations. Release your instincts, open your senses and experience synaesthesia” (Rez). Recent innovations such as touch screen devices, advances in 3D film and television technologies and a range of motion-sensing video gaming consoles extend media experience far beyond the audio-visual and as such, present both serious challenges and important opportunities for media and culture scholars to reinvigorate ways of thinking about media experience, sensory embodiment and what might be learned from engaging with synaesthesia. Fleshing out the Field While acknowledging synaesthesia as a specific condition that enhances and complicates the lives of many individuals, I also suggest that synaesthesia is a useful mode of interference into our current ocular-centric notions of culture. Vision and visual phenomena hold a particularly powerful role in producing and negotiating meanings, values and relationships in the contemporary cultural arena and as a result, the eye has become privileged as the “master sense of the modern era” (Jay Scopic 3). Proponents of visual culture claim that the majority of modern life takes place through sight and that “human experience is now more visual and visualized than ever before ... in this swirl of imagery, seeing is much more than believing. It is not just a part of everyday life, it is everyday life” (Mirzoeff 1). In order to enjoy this privilege as the master sense, vision has been disentangled from the muscles and nerves of the eyeball and relocated to the “mind’s eye”, a metaphor that equates a kind of disembodied vision with knowledge. Vision becomes the most non-sensual of the senses, and made to appear “as a negative reference point for the other senses...on the side of detachment, separation” (Connor) or even “as the absence of sensuality” (Haraway). This creates a paradoxical “visual culture” in which the embodied eye is, along with the ear, skin, tongue and nose, strangely absent. If visual culture has been based on the separation of the senses, and in fact, a refutation of embodied senses altogether, what about that which we might encounter and know in the world that is not encompassed by the mind’s eye? By silencing the larger sensory context, what are we missing? What ocular-centric assumptions have we been making? What responsibilities have we ignored?This critique does not wish to do away with the eye, but instead to re-embrace and extend the field of vision to include an understanding of the eye and what it sees within the context of its embodied abilities and limitations. Although the mechanics of the eye make it an important and powerful sensory organ, able to perceive at a distance and provide a wealth of information about our surroundings, it is also prone to failures. Equipped as it is with eyelids and blind spots, reliant upon light and gullible to optical illusions (Jay, Downcast 4), the eye has its weaknesses and these must be addressed along with its abilities. Moreover, by focusing only on what is visual in culture, we are missing plenty of import. The study of visual culture is not unlike studying an electrical storm from afar. The visually impressive jagged flash seems the principal aspect of the storm and quite separate from the rumbling sound that rolls after it. We perceive them and name them as two distinct phenomena; thunder and lightning. However, this separation is a feature only of the distance between where we stand and the storm. Those who have found themselves in the eye of an electrical storm know that the sight of the bolt, the sound of the crash, the static tingling and vibration of the crack and the smell of ozone are mingled. At a remove, the bolt appears separate from the noise only artificially because of the safe distance. The closer we are to the phenomenon, the more completely it envelops us. Although getting up close and personal with an electrical storm may not be as comfortable as viewing it from afar, it does offer the opportunity to better understand the total experience and the thrill of intensities it can engage across the sensory palette. Similarly, the false separation of the visual from the rest of embodied experience may be convenient, but in order to flesh out this field, other embodied senses and sensory coalitions must be reclaimed for theorising practices. The senses as they are traditionally separated are simply put, false categories. Towards SynaestheoryAny inquiry inspired by synaesthesia must hold at its core the idea that the senses cannot be responsibly separated. This notion applies firstly to the separation of senses from one another. Synaesthetic experience and experiment both insist that there is rich cross-fertility between senses in synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes alike. The French verb sentir is instructive here, as it can mean “to smell”, “to taste” or “to feel”, depending on the context it is used in. It can also mean simply “to sense” or “to be aware of”. In fact, the origin of the phrase “common sense” meant exactly that, the point at which the senses meet. There also must be recognition that the senses cannot be separated from cognition or, in the Cartesian sense, that body and mind cannot be divided. An extensive and well-respected study of synaesthesia conducted in the 1920s by Raymond Wheeler and Thomas Cutsforth, non-synaesthetic and synaesthetic researchers respectively, revealed that the condition was not only a quirk of perception, but of conception. Synaesthetic activity, the team deduced “is an essential mechanism in the construction of meaning that functions in the same way as certain unattended processes in non-synaesthetes” (Dann 82). With their synaesthetic imagery impaired, synaesthetes are unable to do even a basic level of thinking or recalling (Dann, Cytowic). In fact, synaesthesia may be a universal process, but in synaesthetes, “a brain process that is normally unconscious becomes bared to consciousness so that synaesthetes know they are synaesthetic while the rest of us do not” (166). Maurice Merleau-Ponty agrees, claiming:Synaesthetic perception is the rule, and we are unaware of it only because scientific knowledge shifts the centre of gravity of experience, so that we unlearn how to see, hear, and generally speaking, feel in order to deduce, from our bodily organisation and the world as the physicist conceives it, what we are to see, hear and feel. (229) With this in mind, neither the mind’s role nor the body’s role in synaesthesia can be isolated, since the condition itself maintains unequivocally that the two are one.The rich and rewarding correlations between senses in synaesthesia prompt us to consider sensory coalitions in other experiences and contexts as well. We are urged to consider flows of sensation seriously as experiences in and of themselves, with or without interpretation and explanation. As well, the debates around synaesthetic experience remind us that in order to speak to phenomena perceived and conceived it is necessary to recognise the specificities, ironies and responsibilities of any embodied experience. Ultimately, synaesthesia helps to highlight the importance of relationships and the complexity of concepts necessary in order to practice a more embodied and articulate theorising. We might call this more inclusive approach “synaestheory”.Synaestheorising MediaDystopia, a series of photographs by artists Anthony Aziz and Sammy Cucher suggests a contemporary take on Decartes’s declaration that “I will now close my eyes, I will stop my ears, I will turn away my senses from their objects” (86). These photographs consist of digitally altered faces where the subject’s skin has been stretched over the openings of eyes, nose, mouth and ears, creating an interesting image both in process and in product. The product of a media mix that incorporates photography and computer modification, this image suggests the effects of the separation from our senses that these media may imply. The popular notion that media allow us to surpass our bodies and meet without our “meat” tagging along is a trope that Aziz and Cucher expose here with their computer-generated cover-up. By sealing off the senses, they show us how little we now seem to value them in a seemingly virtual, post-embodied world. If “hybrid media require hybrid analyses” (Lunenfeld in Graham 158), in our multimedia, mixed media, “mongrel media” (Dovey 114) environment, we need mongrel theory, synaestheory, to begin to discuss the complexities at hand. The goal here is producing an understanding of both media and sensory intelligences as hybrid. Symptomatic of our simple sense of media is our tendency to refer to media experiences as “audio-visual”: stimuli for the ear, eye or both. However, even if media are engineered to be predominately audio and/or visual, we are not. Synaestheory examines embodied media use, including the sensory information that the media does not claim to concentrate on, but that is still engaged and present in every mediated experience. It also examines embodied media use by paying attention to the pops and clicks of the material human-media interface. It does not assume simple sensory engagement or smooth engagement with media. These bumps, blisters, misfirings and errors are just as crucial a part of embodied media practice as smooth and successful interactions. Most significantly, synaesthesia insists simply that sensation matters. Sensory experiences are material, rich, emotional, memorable and important to the one sensing them, synaesthete or not. This declaration contradicts a legacy of distrust of the sensory in academic discourse that privileges the more intellectual and abstract, usually in the form of the detached text. However, academic texts are sensory too, of course. Sound, feeling, movement and sight are all inseparable from reading and writing, speaking and listening. We might do well to remember these as root sensory situations and by extension, recognise the importance of other sensual forms.Indeed, we have witnessed a rise of media genres that appeal to our senses first with brilliant and detailed visual and audio information, and story or narrative second, if at all. These media are “direct and one-dimensional, about little, other than their ability to commandeer the sight and the senses” (Darley 76). Whereas any attention to the construction of the media product is a disastrous distraction in narrative-centred forms, spectacular media reveals and revels in artifice and encourages the spectator to enjoy the simulation as part of the work’s allure. It is “a pleasure of control, but also of being controlled” (MacTavish 46). Like viewing abstract art, the impact of the piece will be missed if we are obsessed with what the artwork “is about”. Instead, we can reflect on spectacular media’s ability, like that of an abstract artwork, to impact our senses and as such, “renew the present” (Cubitt 32).In this framework, participation in any medium can be enjoyed not only as an interpretative opportunity, but also as an experience of sensory dexterity and relevance with its own pleasures and intelligences; a “being-present”. By focusing our attention on sensory flows, we may be able to perceive aspects of the world or ourselves that we had previously missed. Every one of us–synaesthete or nonsynaesthete–has a unique blueprint of reality, a unique way of coding knowledge that is different from any other on earth [...] By quieting down the habitually louder parts of our mind and turning the dial of our attention to its darker, quieter places, we may hear our personal code’s unique and usually unheard “song”, needing the touch of our attention to turn up its volume. (Duffy 123)This type of presence to oneself has been termed a kind of “perfect immediacy” and is believed to be cultivated through meditation or other sensory-focused experiences such as sex (Bolter and Grusin 260), art (Cubitt 32), drugs (Dann 184) or even physical pain (Gromala 233). Immersive media could also be added to this list, if as Bolter and Grusin suggest, we now “define immediacy as being in the presence of media” (236). In this case, immediacy has become effectively “media-cy.”A related point is the recognition of sensation’s transitory nature. Synaesthetic experiences and sensory experiences are vivid and dynamic. They do not persist. Instead, they flow through us and disappear, despite any attempts to capture them. You cannot stop or relive pure sound, for example (Gross). If you stop it, you silence it. If you relive it, you are experiencing another rendition, different even if almost imperceptibly from the last time you heard it. Media themselves are increasingly transitory and shifting phenomena. As media forms emerge and fall into obsolescence, spawning hybrid forms and spinoffs, the stories and memories safely fixed into any given media become outmoded and ultimately inaccessible very quickly. This trend towards flow over fixation is also informed by an embodied understanding of our own existence. Our sensations flow through us as we flow through the world. Synaesthesia reminds us that all sensation and indeed all sensory beings are dynamic. Despite our rampant lust for statis (Haraway), it is important to theorise with the recognition that bodies, media and sensations all flow through time and space, emerging and disintegrating. Finally, synaesthesia also encourages an always-embodied understanding of ourselves and our interactions with our environment. In media experiences that traditionally rely on vision the body is generally not only denied, but repressed (Balsamo 126). Claims to disembodiment flood the rhetoric around new media as an emancipatory element of mediated experience and somehow, seeing is superimposed on embodied being to negate it. However phenomena such as migraines, sensory release hallucinations, photo-memory, after-images, optical illusions and most importantly here, the “crosstalk” of synaesthesia (Cohen Kadosh et al. 489) all attest to the co-involvement of the body and brain in visual experience. Perhaps useful here for understanding media involvement in light of synaestheory is a philosophy of “mingled bodies” (Connor), where the world and its embodied agents intermingle. There are no discrete divisions, but plenty of translation and transfer. As Sean Cubitt puts it, “the world, after all, touches us at the same moment that we touch it” (37). We need to employ non-particulate metaphors that do away with the dichotomies of mind/body, interior/exterior and real/virtual. A complex embodied entity is not an object or even a series of objects, but embodiment work. “Each sense is in fact a nodal cluster, a clump, confection or bouquet of all the other senses, a mingling of the modalities of mingling [...] the skin encompasses, implies, pockets up all the other sense organs: but in doing so, it stands as a model for the way in which all the senses in their turn also invaginate all the others” (Connor). The danger here is of delving into a nostalgic discussion of a sort of “sensory unity before the fall” (Dann 94). The theory that we are all synaesthetes in some ways can lead to wistfulness for a perfect fusion of our senses, a kind of synaesthetic sublime that we had at one point, but lost. This loss occurs in childhood in some theories, (Maurer and Mondloch) and in our aboriginal histories in others (Dann 101). This longing for “original syn” is often done within a narrative that equates perfect sensory union with a kind of transcendence from the physical world. Dann explains that “during the modern upsurge in interest that has spanned the decades from McLuhan to McKenna, synaesthesia has continued to fulfil a popular longing for metaphors of transcendence” (180). This is problematic, since elevating the sensory to the sublime does no more service to understanding our engagements with the world than ignoring or degrading the sensory. Synaestheory does not tolerate a simplification of synaesthesia or any condition as a ticket to transcendence beyond the body and world that it is necessarily grounded in and responsible to. At the same time, it operates with a scheme of senses that are not a collection of separate parts, but blended; a field of intensities, a corporeal coalition of senses. It likewise refuses to participate in the false separation of body and mind, perception and cognition. More useful and interesting is to begin with metaphors that assume complexity without breaking phenomena into discrete pieces. This is the essence of a new anti-separatist synaestheory, a way of thinking through embodied humans in relationships with media and culture that promises to yield more creative, relevant and ethical theorising than the false isolation of one sense or the irresponsible disregard of the sensorium altogether.ReferencesAziz, Anthony, and Sammy Cucher. 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