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Objective Examine whether pre‐intervention physical activity (PA) level is associated with achieving a positive treatment response of pain and/or function improvement after a 12‐week exercise intervention in participants with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods We performed a secondary analysis of a randomized, single‐blind comparative effectiveness trial showing similar treatment effects between Tai Chi mind‐body exercise and standard physical therapy intervention for knee OA. Baseline PA was assessed by a Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) questionnaire and, in a subsample, by tri‐axial accelerometers. The Outcome Measures in Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trials–Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OMERACT‐OARSI) dichotomous responder criteria was used for clinically meaningful improvement at follow‐up. Associations between baseline self‐reported PA by the CHAMPS questionnaire and outcomes of responders vs. nonresponders (reference group) were assessed using logistic regressions, adjusting for demographic covariates. We compared objectively measured PA by accelerometry between responders vs. nonresponders using Wilcoxon tests. Results Our sample consisted of 166 participants with knee OA who completed both baseline and 12‐week postintervention evaluations: mean age 60.7 year (SD 10.5), body mass index 32.4 kg/m2 (6.9), 119 (72%) women, and 138 (83%) OMERACT‐OARSI responders. Neither time spent in total PA [odds ratio (OR) 1.00; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.96, 1.03] nor time in moderate‐to‐vigorous PA (OR 1.01; 95% CI 0.93, 1.09) at pre‐intervention were associated with being a responder. Similar findings were observed in 42 accelerometry sub‐cohort participants. Conclusion Pre‐intervention PA levels (subjective report or objective measurement) were not associated with individuals achieving favorable treatment outcomes after a 12‐week exercise intervention, which suggests that regardless of pre‐intervention PA level, individuals will likely benefit from structured exercise interventions.

Thirty patients who were suspected, on the basis of clinical evidence, of having deep infections were scanned after gallium-67 (67Ga) was administered intravenously. 67Ga normally concentrates in the spleen, liver, axial skeleton, and nasopharyngeal region. The rectilinear scanner provides the best images, especially in the abdomen where diagnosis is occasionally hampered by excretion of 67Ga into the gastrointestinal tract. 67Ga scans delineated infections in 21 of the 28 patients subsequently proven to have infections. Eleven of thirteen abdominal abscesses were detected, even when other radiographic contrast methods failed. Some of these latter patients were postoperative cases or had cancer. 67Ga scans directly contributed to an earlier diagnosis of these infections and aided medical and surgical therapeutic decisions. These results indicate that 67Ga scanning appears to be a safe, accurate, and noninvasive technique for detection of a variety of infectious processes.

The results of the clinical examination of 288 diphtheria carriers, 300 diphtheria patients, and 100 diphtheria convalescents ready for discharge are given. It is shown that the proportion of abnormal conditions in the nose and throat of the carriers (94·1 per cent.) is higher than in the diphtheria patient group (73 per cent.), and considerably higher than in the recovered convalescent cases (52 per cent.). This is particularly noticeable when the proportion of cases with nasal abnormalities is considered in the three groups, namely, in carriers 72·2 per cent.; in diphtheria patients 42·6 per cent.; while in negative convalescent cases the figure is only 7 per cent. Further, the departures from normal in the recovered convalescents are generally enlarged but healthy looking tonsils which do not appear to interfere with the natural elimination of diphtheria bacilli during convalescence. The greatest proportion of carriers is in the age group 1 to 5 years, and owing to the small size and anatomical complexities of the nasal passages, the pathological conditions tend to persist and make examination and treatment difficult. The figures indicate that the presence of pathological conditions in the nose and throat of diphtheria patients is conducive to the establishment of the carrier state. It has been shown during the investigation that the presence of diphtheria bacilli in carriers is intermittent, and that there may be failure to isolate the organisms over long periods of time although the patient may still be infective. It is emphasized that even three negative culture results are not sufficient to establish that a carrier is completely free from infection.

A study of 59 cases of acute coccidioidomycosis admitted to the 4510 USAF Hospital, Luke AFB, Arizona, between January 1, 1967 and December 31, 1968 was conducted to define the roentgen manifestations of acute coccidioidomycosis. A wide spectrum of roentgen abnormalities was experienced. The most common manifestation was found to be pneumonitis. Pleural effusion and hilar and mediastinal enlargement were the next most frequent modes of presentation. Combinations of roentgen abnormalities such as infiltrate and lymphadenopathy or infiltrate and effusion were common. A high incidence of skin lesions, comprised of toxic erythema, erythema nodosum, and erythema multiforme, were found in patients with acute disease.Recognizing the large transient military population and annual tourist exposure in the endemic southwestern United States, awareness of the varied forms of presentation of coccidioidomycosis seems increasingly appropriate for radiologists in non-endemic areas.Although the roentgen findings of this d...