Beating heart coronary surgery and renal function: a prospective randomised study (Presented at 18th Spring Meeting of the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists: Selected abstracts, Cambridge, UK. 22 June 2001)

Introduction Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is widely regarded as an important contributor to renal failure, a well recognised complication, following coronary artery surgery (CABG). Off-pump coronary surgery (OPCAB) is intuitively considered renoprotective. We examine the extent of renal glomerular and tubular injury in low-risk patients undergoing either OPCAB or on-pump coronary artery bypass (ONCAB).Methods Forty patients awaiting elective CABG were prospectively randomized into those undergoing OPCAB (n = 20) and ONCAB (n = 20). Table 1 illustrates the exclusion criteria. Glomerular and tubular injury were assessed, respectively, by urinary excretion of microalbumin and retinol binding protein (RBP) indexed to urinary creatinine [1]. Daily measurements were made from admission to postoperative day 5. Fluid balance, serum creati-nine and blood urea were also monitored. Results No mortality or renal complication was observed. Both groups had similar demographic make-up. The OPCAB group received fewer coronary grafts than their counterparts (1.8 versus 2.8; P = 0.002). Serum creatinine and blood urea remained normal in both groups throughout the study. A dramatic and similar rise in mean ± 2SD urinary RBP:creatinine ratio occurred in both groups peaking on day 1 (3183 ± 2534 versus 4035 ± 4078; P = 0.43) before returning to baseline levels. These trends were also observed with the urinary microalbumin:creatinine ratio (5.05 ± 2.66 versus 6.77 ± 5.76; P = 0.22). ONCAB patients had a significantly more negative fluid balance on postoperative day 2 (-183 ± 1118 versus 637 ± 847 ml; P < 0.05). Conclusions Although renal dysfunction did not clinically occur in any patient, sensitive indicators revealed significant and similar injury to both renal tubules and glomeruli following either OPCAB or ONCAB. These suggest that avoidance of CPB per se does not offer additional renoprotection to patients at low risk of perioperative renal insult during CABG

A two-part seabed geomorphology classification scheme : (v.2). Part 1 : morphology features glossary

This report updates the ‘Two-part Seabed Geomorphology classification scheme’ of Dove et al. (2016) and presents a new glossary (Part 1) of Seabed Morphology features. This Morphology glossary is intended to provide marine scientists with a robust and consistent way to characterise the seabed. Each glossary entry includes a feature definition and a representative schematic diagram to support clear and accurate classification. Feature terms and definitions are primarily drawn from the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) guide for undersea feature names, which are herein modified and augmented with additional terms to ensure the final feature catalogue and glossary encompasses the diversity of morphologies observed at the seabed, while also minimising duplication and/or ambiguity. This updated classification system and new glossary are the result of a collaboration between marine geoscientists from marine mapping programmes/networks in Norway (MAREANO), Ireland (INFOMAR), UK (MAREMAP), and Australia (Geoscience Australia) (MIM-GA). A subsequent report will present the (Part 2) Geomorphology feature glossar

Continental aridification and the vanishing of Australia\u27s megalakes

The nature of the Australian climate at about the time of rapid megafaunal extinctions and humans arriving in Australia is poorly understood and is an important element in the contentious debate as to whether humans or climate caused the extinctions. Here we present a new paleoshoreline chronology that extends over the past 100 k.y. for Lake Mega-Frome, the coalescence of Lakes Frome, Blanche, Callabonna and Gregory, in the southern latitudes of central Australia. We show that Lake Mega-Frome was connected for the last time to adjacent Lake Eyre at 50-47 ka, forming the largest remaining interconnected system of paleolakes on the Australian continent. The final disconnection and a progressive drop in the level of Lake Mega-Frome represents a major climate shift to aridification that coincided with the arrival of humans and the demise of the megafauna. The supply of moisture to the Australian continent at various times in the Quaternary has commonly been ascribed to an enhanced monsoon. This study, in combination with other paleoclimate data, provides reliable evidence for periods of enhanced tropical and enhanced Southern Ocean sources of water filling these lakes at different times during the last full glacial cycle. © 2011 Geological Society of America

Classification of river morphology and hydrology to support management and restoration

The work leading to this paper has received funding from the European Union’s FP7 programme under Grant Agreement No. 282656 (REFORM

Interaction of ENSO-driven Flood Variability and Anthropogenic Changes in Driving Channel Evolution: Corryong/ Nariel Creek, Australia

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Australian Geographer on 03/09/2015, available online: 10.1080/00049182.2015.1048595Understanding the relative contributions of climatic and anthropogenic drivers of channel change are important to inform river management, especially in the context of environmental change. This global debate is especially pertinent in Australia as catchments have been severely altered since recent European settlement, and there is also strong evidence of cyclical climate variability controlling environmental systems. Corryong/Nariel Creek is an ideal setting to further study the interaction between climate and anthropogenic changes on channel evolution as it has experienced both significant periods of flood and drought, controlled by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and extensive anthropogenic changes. Since European settlement the floodplain has been completely cleared, the riparian zone almost entirely invaded by willows, and every reach of the channel has experienced some form of direct channel modification. Through the combined analysis of channel evolution, climate changes and anthropogenic history of the river it was found that both the ENSO-driven climate and anthropogenic drivers are significant, although at different scales of channel change. Significant straightening in response to land clearing in the early twentieth century occurred before any records of direct channel modifications. Following this, most river management works were in response to instabilities created in the clearing period, or to instabilities created by flooding triggering a new phase of instability in reaches which had already undergone stabilisation works. Overall, human activities triggered channel instability via land clearing, and management works since then generally exacerbated erosion during high flows that are driven by climate fluctuations. This research raises the interesting question of whether rivers in Australia have become more responsive to the ENSO cycle since the clearing of catchment and riparian vegetation, or whether the past response to climate variability was different

Cyclic ADP ribose isomers: Production, chemical structures, and immune signaling

Cyclic adenosine diphosphate (ADP)–ribose (cADPR) isomers are signaling molecules produced by bacterial and plant Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domains via nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (oxidized form) (NAD+) hydrolysis. We show that v-cADPR (2′cADPR) and v2-cADPR (3′cADPR) isomers are cyclized by O-glycosidic bond formation between the ribose moieties in ADPR. Structures of 2′cADPR-producing TIR domains reveal conformational changes that lead to an active assembly that resembles those of Toll-like receptor adaptor TIR domains. Mutagenesis reveals a conserved tryptophan that is essential for cyclization. We show that 3′cADPR is an activator of ThsA effector proteins from the bacterial antiphage defense system termed Thoeris and a suppressor of plant immunity when produced by the effector HopAM1. Collectively, our results reveal the molecular basis of cADPR isomer production and establish 3′cADPR in bacteria as an antiviral and plant immunity–suppressing signaling molecule

MyD88 TIR domain higher-order assembly interactions revealed by microcrystal electron diffraction and serial femtosecond crystallography.

MyD88 and MAL are Toll-like receptor (TLR) adaptors that signal to induce pro-inflammatory cytokine production. We previously observed that the TIR domain of MAL (MALTIR) forms filaments in vitro and induces formation of crystalline higher-order assemblies of the MyD88 TIR domain (MyD88TIR). These crystals are too small for conventional X-ray crystallography, but are ideally suited to structure determination by microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) and serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX). Here, we present MicroED and SFX structures of the MyD88TIR assembly, which reveal a two-stranded higher-order assembly arrangement of TIR domains analogous to that seen previously for MALTIR. We demonstrate via mutagenesis that the MyD88TIR assembly interfaces are critical for TLR4 signaling in vivo, and we show that MAL promotes unidirectional assembly of MyD88TIR. Collectively, our studies provide structural and mechanistic insight into TLR signal transduction and allow a direct comparison of the MicroED and SFX techniques

MyD88 TIR domain higher-order assembly interactions revealed by microcrystal electron diffraction and serial femtosecond crystallography.

MyD88 and MAL are Toll-like receptor (TLR) adaptors that signal to induce pro-inflammatory cytokine production. We previously observed that the TIR domain of MAL (MALTIR) forms filaments in vitro and induces formation of crystalline higher-order assemblies of the MyD88 TIR domain (MyD88TIR). These crystals are too small for conventional X-ray crystallography, but are ideally suited to structure determination by microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) and serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX). Here, we present MicroED and SFX structures of the MyD88TIR assembly, which reveal a two-stranded higher-order assembly arrangement of TIR domains analogous to that seen previously for MALTIR. We demonstrate via mutagenesis that the MyD88TIR assembly interfaces are critical for TLR4 signaling in vivo, and we show that MAL promotes unidirectional assembly of MyD88TIR. Collectively, our studies provide structural and mechanistic insight into TLR signal transduction and allow a direct comparison of the MicroED and SFX techniques

Modeling the interactions between river morphodynamics and riparian vegetation

The study of river-riparian vegetation interactions is an important and intriguing research field in geophysics. Vegetation is an active element of the ecological dynamics of a floodplain which interacts with the fluvial processes and affects the flow field, sediment transport, and the morphology of the river. In turn, the river provides water, sediments, nutrients, and seeds to the nearby riparian vegetation, depending on the hydrological, hydraulic, and geomorphological characteristic of the stream. In the past, the study of this complex theme was approached in two different ways. On the one hand, the subject was faced from a mainly qualitative point of view by ecologists and biogeographers. Riparian vegetation dynamics and its spatial patterns have been described and demonstrated in detail, and the key role of several fluvial processes has been shown, but no mathematical models have been proposed. On the other hand, the quantitative approach to fluvial processes, which is typical of engineers, has led to the development of several morphodynamic models. However, the biological aspect has usually been neglected, and vegetation has only been considered as a static element. In recent years, different scientific communities (ranging from ecologists to biogeographers and from geomorphologists to hydrologists and fluvial engineers) have begun to collaborate and have proposed both semiquantitative and quantitative models of river-vegetation interconnections. These models demonstrate the importance of linking fluvial morphodynamics and riparian vegetation dynamics to understand the key processes that regulate a riparian environment in order to foresee the impact of anthropogenic actions and to carefully manage and rehabilitate riparian areas. In the first part of this work, we review the main interactions between rivers and riparian vegetation, and their possible modeling. In the second part, we discuss the semiquantitative and quantitative models which have been proposed to date, considering both multi- and single-thread river

Chronology of the sedimentary processes during the postglacial sea level rise in two estuaries of the Algarve coast, Southern Portugal

Four profiles of estuarine sediments obtained from boreholes drilled in the Algarve, Southern Portugal were studied in order to reconstruct the process of sediment accumulation driven by the postglacial sea level rise. In addition to the sedimentological analysis, the Foraminifera Index of Marine Influence (FIMI) permitted assessment of the nature and organization of sedimentary facies in the BelicheeGuadiana and Gilão-Almargem estuaries. The Beliche- Guadiana CM5 and Almargem G2 profiles accumulated in a sheltered environment, with the former presenting an almost continuous record of the sea level rise since ca 13 000 cal yr BP. The G1 and G3 profiles from the Gilão-Almargem area represent a more discontinuous record of the last 8000 years, which accumulated in the more dynamic environment of an outer estuary. The integration of all radiocarbon ages of dated levels, led to an estimate of sediment accumulation rates. Assuming a constant position of the sediment surface with respect to the tidal range and a negligible compaction of sediment, the sea level rose at the rate of 7 mm yr ^-1 in the period from 13 000 to 7500 cal yr BP. This process slowed down to ca 0.9 mm yr 1 from 7500 cal yr BP until the present. The marked historical change in the rate of sediment accumulation in these estuaries also occurred with the accumulation of organic matter and is, therefore, important data for global biogeochemical models of carbon. The main obstacle to obtain higher temporal resolution of the sedimentary processes was the intense anaerobic respiration of organic matter via sulphate reduction, which did not allow any accumulation of peat and, furthermore, led to erasure of the palaeontological record by acid formed from the subsequent oxidation of sulphides.FORMOSE- Sources and Retention of Organic Matter in the Estuarine Zones, PRAXIS XXI program of Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation and project MEGASIG, INTERREG IIIa program of the European Union