The aim of this longitudinal study was to report on the clinical characteristics and treatment course of acute Charcot's arthropathy at a tertiary care diabetic foot clinic. Fifty-five diabetic subjects, with a mean age of 58.6 +/- 8.5 years, were studied. All patients were treated with serial total contact casting until quiescence. Following casting and before transfer to prescription footwear, patients were eased into unprotected weightbearing via a removable cast walker. This cohort was followed for their entire treatment course and for a mean 92.6 +/- 33.7 weeks following return to shoes. Pain was the most frequent presenting complaint in these otherwise insensate patients (76%). The mean duration of casting was 18.5 +/- 10.6 weeks. Patients returned to footwear in a mean 28.3 +/- 14.5 weeks. Nine per cent of the population had bilateral arthropathy. These subjects were casted significantly longer than the unilateral group (p < 0.02). Surgery was performed on 25% of patients, with approximately two-thirds of these procedures involving plantar exostectomies and one-third fusions of affected joints. Patients receiving surgery remained casted significantly longer than non-surgical patients (p < 0.05). Additionally, men were casted longer than women (p < 0.008). Acute Charcot's arthropathy requires prompt, uncompromising reduction in weightbearing stress. Our data show that the ambulatory total contact cast is very effective for this. Regardless of the specific treatment method instituted, it is imperative that appropriate and aggressive treatment be undertaken immediately following diagnosis to help prevent progression to a profoundly debilitating, limb-threatening deformity.

The data suggest that monitoring of the corresponding contralateral foot site may provide clinical information before other clinical signs of injury can be identified.

The need to quantify airborne microorganisms in the commercial microbiology industry (biotechnology) and during evaluations of indoor air quality, infectious disease outbreaks, and agriculture health investigations has shown there is a major technological void in bioaerosol sampling techniques to measure and identify viable and nonviable aerosols. As commercialization of microbiology increases and diversifies, it is increasingly necessary to assess occupational exposure to bioaerosols. Meaningful exposure estimates, by using area or environmental samplers, can only be ensured by the generation of data that are both precise and accurate. The Andersen six-stage viable (microbial) particle sizing sampler (6-STG) and the Ace Glass all-glass impinger-30 (AGI-30) have been suggested as the samplers of choice for the collection of viable microorganisms by the International Aerobiology Symposium and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Some researchers consider these samplers inconvenient for evaluating industrial bioprocesses and indoor or outdoor environments. Alternative samplers for the collection of bioaerosols are available; however, limited information has been reported on their collection efficiencies. A study of the relative sampling efficiencies of eight bioaerosol samplers has been completed. Eight samplers were individually challenged with a bioaerosol, created with a Collison nebulizer, of either Bacillus subtilis or Escherichia coli. The samplers were evaluated under controlled conditions in a horizontal bioaerosol chamber. During each experimental run, simultaneous samples were collected with a reference AGI-30 to verify the concentration of microorganisms in the chamber from run to run and day to day.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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