Post-acute COVID-19 neuropsychiatric symptoms are not associated with ongoing nervous system injury

A proportion of patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 experience a range of neuropsychiatric symptoms months after infection, including cognitive deficits, depression and anxiety. The mechanisms underpinning such symptoms remain elusive. Recent research has demonstrated that nervous system injury can occur during COVID-19. Whether ongoing neural injury in the months after COVID-19 accounts for the ongoing or emergent neuropsychiatric symptoms is unclear. Within a large prospective cohort study of adult survivors who were hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, we analysed plasma markers of nervous system injury and astrocytic activation, measured 6 months post-infection: neurofilament light, glial fibrillary acidic protein and total tau protein. We assessed whether these markers were associated with the severity of the acute COVID-19 illness and with post-acute neuropsychiatric symptoms (as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression, the General Anxiety Disorder assessment for anxiety, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment for objective cognitive deficit and the cognitive items of the Patient Symptom Questionnaire for subjective cognitive deficit) at 6 months and 1 year post-hospital discharge from COVID-19. No robust associations were found between markers of nervous system injury and severity of acute COVID-19 (except for an association of small effect size between duration of admission and neurofilament light) nor with post-acute neuropsychiatric symptoms. These results suggest that ongoing neuropsychiatric symptoms are not due to ongoing neural injury

Numerical Modelling of Oil Spill Transport in Tide-Dominated Estuaries: A Case Study of Humber Estuary, UK

Oil spills in estuaries are less studied and less understood than their oceanic counterparts. To address this gap, we present a detailed analysis of estuarine oil spill transport. We develop and analyse a range of simulations for the Humber Estuary, using a coupled hydrodynamic and oil spill model. The models were driven by river discharge at the river boundaries and tidal height data at the offshore boundary. Satisfactory model performance was obtained for both model calibration and validation. Some novel findings were made: (a) there is a statistically significant (p < 0.05) difference in the influence of hydrodynamic conditions (tidal range, stage and river discharge) on oil slick transport; and (b) because of seasonal variation in river discharge, winter slicks released at high water did not exhibit any upstream displacement over repeated tidal cycles, while summer slicks travelled upstream into the estuary over repeated tidal cycles. The implications of these findings for operational oil spill response are: (i) the need to take cognisance of time of oil release within a tidal cycle; and (ii) the need to understand how the interaction of river discharge and tidal range influences oil slick dynamics, as this will aid responders in assessing the likely oil trajectories

Hydrogeochemical Characterization and Vulnerability Assessment of Shallow Groundwater in Basement Complex Area, Southwest Nigeria

Thirty-five (35) groundwater samples from Owo area were analyzed for physicochemical parameters. Results show that the mean value of pH is 6.32, TDS is 208.92 mg/l, temperature is 28.77oC, EC is 545.16 μs/cm; TH is 111.09 mg/l, SO4 is 71.73 mg/l, Cl is 0.07 mg/l, HCO3 is 14.09 mg/l, Na is 25.06 mg/l, Ca is 37.07 mg/l, K is 24.36 mg/l and Mg is 4.41 mg/l. The results were compared to the WHO and NDSQW standards. All parameters were within the permissible limit except EC in well OW6 and K is above the stipulated standards in 69% of the total samples. The high concentration of K is linked to the use of NPK fertilizer in the area for agricultural purposes. The groundwater belongs to Ca-Na-K-SO4 and Na-Ca-SO4 water type respectively. The ionic concentration in the groundwater is due to the dissolution of the rock that makes up the aquifer. Plagioclase and silicate-bearing rocks are the sources of major ions in the water. SAR, PI, RSBC and KR reveals that groundwater in the area is good for irrigation purpose. DRASTIC model further revealed that groundwater in the area is less vulnerable to contamination under the current environmental conditions