Differentiation of Palaeogene sand by glauconitic and geochemical fingerprinting, Siri Canyon, Danish North Sea

The submarine Siri Canyon is NE–SW-oriented and located in the Danish North Sea (Fig. 1). It contains a number of oil reservoirs with glauconite-rich sand. The reservoirs of interest in the Nini oil field are the Late Paleocene Tyr Member of the Lista Formation and the Kolga Member of the Sele Formation (Schiøler et al. 2007), presumably of Early Eocene age. These members have previously been known as the Ty and Hermod members (Hamberg et al. 2005; Poulsen et al. 2007). The sand shows signs of injection, both in cores and in seismic data. The aim of this work is to chemically characterise and fingerprint the sand in order to reveal the origin of the sand found in three horizontal wells, which could have been injected from one or both of the Tyr and Kolga members. Core samples were collected from two vertical wells of known stratigraphy to make a basis of comparison, whereas samples of the cuttings were collected from the three horizontal wells with ages primarily corresponding to the Kolga Member. The purpose was moreover to evaluate whether cuttings samples can be used for fingerprinting as an alternative to core samples

Caregivers' active role in palliative home care – to encourage or to dissuade? A qualitative descriptive study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Spouses' involvement in palliative care is often a prerequisite for home death, but it is unclear whether active involvement of the spouse, e.g. administering and being in charge of oral or subcutaneous medication or taking care of the patient's personal hygiene, could be harmful or have negative effects on the spouse's experience of the palliative course of disease. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of bereaved spouses' active involvement in medical and physical care on their experience of the palliative course of disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was a qualitative, descriptive study based on semi-structured individual interviews with seven bereaved spouses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four main categories were found: Degree of involvement, Positive and Negative impact and Prerequisites. The prerequisites found for a positive outcome were Safety (24-hour back-up), Confidence (Professionals' confidence in the spouses' abilities) and Dialog (Spouses' influence on decision-making and being asked).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results from this study identified important issues whenever spouses take an active part in medical treatment and physical care of critically ill patients in palliative care. The results question the previous research that active involvement of family care givers could be harmful and add preconditions to a positive outcome. More research into these preconditions is needed.</p

Palliative care for cancer patients in a primary health care setting: Bereaved relatives' experience, a qualitative group interview study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Knowledge about the quality and organisation of care to terminally ill cancer patients with a relatives' view in a primary health care setting is limited.</p> <p>The aim of the study is to analyse experiences and preferences of bereaved relatives to terminally ill cancer patients in a primary care setting to explore barriers and facilitators for delivery of good palliative home care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three focus group interviews with fourteen bereaved relatives in Aarhus County, Denmark.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three main categories of experience were identified: 1) The health professionals' management, where a need to optimize was found. 2) Shared care, which was lacking. 3) The relatives' role, which needs an extra focus.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Relatives experience insufficient palliative care mainly due to organizational and cultural problems among professionals. Palliative care in primary care in general needs improvement and attention should be drawn to the "professionalization" of the relatives and the need to strike a balance between their needs, wishes and resources in end-of-life care and bereavement.</p

Body silhouette, menstrual function at adolescence and breast cancer risk in the E3N cohort study

We analysed the relation between adult breast cancer risk and adiposity in ages 8–25, and among 90 509 women included in the E3N cohort study, and investigated the potential modification effect of certain factors. Participants completed a questionnaire that included a set of eight silhouettes corresponding to body shape at different ages. During the follow-up (mean=11.4 years), 3491 breast cancer cases were identified. Negative trends in risk of breast cancer with increasing body silhouettes at age 8 and at menarche were observed, irrespective of menopausal status, with relative risks of 0.73 (0.53–0.99) and 0.82 (0.66–1.02) for women who reported a silhouette equal or greater than the fifth silhouette at age 8 and at menarche, respectively. We observed no clear effect modification by age at menarche, delay between age at menarche, regular cycling, regularity of cycles in adult life or body mass index at baseline

Characterization of a fluvial aquifer at a range of depths and scales: the Triassic St Bees Sandstone Formation, Cumbria, UK

Fluvial sedimentary successions represent porous media that host groundwater and geothermal resources. Additionally, they overlie crystalline rocks hosting nuclear waste repositories in rift settings. The permeability characteristics of an arenaceous fluvial succession, the Triassic St Bees Sandstone Formation in England (UK), are described, from core-plug to well-test scale up to ~1 km depth. Within such lithified successions, dissolution associated with the circulation of meteoric water results in increased permeability (K~10−1–100 m/day) to depths of at least 150 m below ground level (BGL) in aquifer systems that are subject to rapid groundwater circulation. Thus, contaminant transport is likely to occur at relatively high rates. In a deeper investigation (> 150 m depth), where the aquifer has not been subjected to rapid groundwater circulation, well-test-scale hydraulic conductivity is lower, decreasing from K~10−2 m/day at 150–400 m BGL to 10−3 m/day down-dip at ~1 km BGL, where the pore fluid is hypersaline. Here, pore-scale permeability becomes progressively dominant with increasing lithostatic load. Notably, this work investigates a sandstone aquifer of fluvial origin at investigation depths consistent with highly enthalpy geothermal reservoirs (~0.7–1.1 km). At such depths, intergranular flow dominates in unfaulted areas with only minor contribution by bedding plane fractures. However, extensional faults represent preferential flow pathways, due to presence of high connective open fractures. Therefore, such faults may (1) drive nuclear waste contaminants towards the highly permeable shallow (< 150 m BGL) zone of the aquifer, and (2) influence fluid recovery in geothermal fields

Cancer risk among users of neuroleptic medication: a population-based cohort study

It has been suggested that neuroleptic medication may decrease cancer risk. We compared cancer risks in a population-based cohort study of 25 264 users (⩾2 prescriptions) of neuroleptic medications in the county of North Jutland, Denmark, during 1989–2002, with that of county residents who did not receive such prescriptions. Statistical analyses were based on age-standardisation and Poisson regression analysis, adjusting for age, calendar period, COPD, liver cirrhosis or alcoholism, use of NSAID, and, for breast cancer, additionally for use of hormone therapy, age at first birth, and number of children. Use of neuroleptic medications was associated with a decreased risk for rectal cancer in both women and men (adjusted IRRs of 0.61 (95% confidence interval, 0.41–0.91) and 0.82 (0.56–1.19), respectively) and for colon cancer in female users (0.78; 0.62–0.98). Some risk reduction was seen for prostate cancer (0.87; 0.69–1.08), but breast cancer risk was close to unity (0.93; 0.74–1.17). Overall, treatment with neuroleptic medications was not related to a reduced risk of cancer, but for cancers of the rectum, colon and prostate there were suggestive decreases in risk