The Geology of the Castlebar Syncline, Co. Mayo

The Castlebar syncline of Carboniferous rocks lies in the southern half of County Mayo, Eire, and forms a variably pitching downfold between the Ox Mountains anticline and an echeloned extension of the Curlew Mountains anticline. The area mapped extends from the village of Strade in the north to an east-west line running a little south of the town of Mayo, and also includes the Carboniferous rocks of the upper valleys of the Aille and Derrycraff Rivers, west of the Partry Mountains, The area as a whole is low-lying, the greater part being less than 300 feet above sea level. The sandstones and shales of the highest beds form two north-and-south ridges in the east-oentral part of the area, the eastern ridge, which rises to over 800 feet above sea level, being the highest ground of the area. The Carboniferous strata rest unconformably on a basement of Dalradian schists, Silurian schists and schistose grits, and pebbly red sandstones and conglomerates of the Old Red Sandstone period. The following succession of Carboniferous rocks has been established: 14. Sandstone 200 to 0 feet. LOWER 13. Shale 0 to 350 feet. NAMU RIAN UPPER 12. Sandstone 300 to 0 feet. AND SERIES 11. Shale 0 to 350 feet. UPPER 10. Sandstone 240 to 0 feet. BOLLANDIAN 9. Shale 100 to 400 feet. DISCONFORMITY 8. Balla Limestone (including reef limestones) 200 feet. 7. Ballycarra Limestone 550 feet. 6. Ballyhean Oolite 80 feet. CARBONIFEROUS LOVER 5. Barney Limestone 300 feet. LIMESTONE SERIES 4. Aille Limestone 450 feet. (VISEAR) 3. Castlebar River Limestone 160 feet. 2. Lough Akeel Oolite 150 feet. 1. Basal Sandstone 80 to 150 feet. The fossils of the Basal Sandstone are confined to the uppermost beds. Fossils are scarce in the two Oolites and in the fine-grained, shaly Castlebar River Limestone. The Aille, Barney, and Ballycarra Limestones are crinoidal limestones having a rich coral-brachiopod fauna throughout, that of the Aille Limestone indicating a C2S1 age for that part of the succession. Typical S2 zone fossils are present in the upper levels of the Barney Limestone and in the lower beds of the Ballycarra Limestone. The uppermost 150 feet of Ballycarra Limestone, together with the Balla Limestone (a shallow-water deposit of calcite-mudstones, oolites, "mud-pellet" rooks and thin shales, contain a D zone fauna, as do the reef limestones. In the west of their outcrop, with the exception of the shales and mudstones of the lowest group, the whole thickness of the Upper Series is made up of unfossiliferous sandstones divisible into three groups. Each sandstone group thins eastwards, and the sandstones finally divide into three distinct beds with Intervening shales. Each sandstone group shows a gradual eastward diminution in grain-size. In the east of the outcrop the full thickness is made up of black shales, mudstones and rare siltstones. The shales and mudstones have a sparse fauna of goniatites and lamellibranchs. Goniatites collected from the lowermost 200 feet of shales, both in the east and west of the outcrop indicate an Upper Bollandian (P2) age for the containing beds. About 250 feet above the base of the shales low E1 zone goniatites were collected from an exposure in the north of the outcrop. No fossils were found at any higher horizons and the age of the upper beds remains uncertain. The rocks of the area are folded into a series of major and minor folds. The fold axes generally have an ENE. -WSW. or NE. -SW. trend, except in the south of the area, just east of the Partry Mountains, where the fold axes swing round to a N. -S. direction, paralleling the axis of the Partry Mountains. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)

Predicting risk of type 2 diabetes in England and Wales: prospective derivation and validation of QDScore

Objective To develop and validate a new diabetes risk algorithm (the QDScore) for estimating 10 year risk of acquiring diagnosed type 2 diabetes over a 10 year time period in an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population

Derivation, validation, and evaluation of a new QRISK model to estimate lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease: cohort study using QResearch database

Objective To develop, validate, and evaluate a new QRISK model to estimate lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease

Unsedated transnasal endoscopy:a safe, well-tolerated and accurate alternative to standard diagnostic peroral endoscopy

Diagnostic unsedated transnasal endoscopy (uTNE) has been proven to be a safe and well-tolerated procedure. Although its utilization in the United Kingdom (UK) is increasing, it is currently available in only a few centers. Through consideration of recent studies, we aimed to perform an updated review of the technological advances in uTNE, consider their impact on diagnostic accuracy, and to determine the role of uTNE in the COVID-19 era. Current literature has shown that the diagnostic accuracy of uTNE for identification of esophageal pathology is equivalent to conventional esophagogastroduodenoscopy (cEGD). Concerns regarding suction and biopsy size have been addressed by the introduction of TNE scopes with working channels of 2.4 mm. Advances in imaging have improved detection of early gastric cancers. The procedure is associated with less cardiac stress and reduced aerosol production; when combined with no need for sedation and improved rates of patient turnover, uTNE is an efficient and safe alternative to cEGD in the COVID-19 era. We conclude that advances in technology have improved the diagnostic accuracy of uTNE to the point where it could be considered the first line diagnostic endoscopic investigation in the majority of patients. It could also play a central role in the recovery of diagnostic endoscopic services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Gastrointestinal and liver disease in patients with schizophrenia:A narrative review

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness which can have a devastating impact on an individual’s quality of life. Comorbidities are high amongst patients and life expectancy is approximately 15 years less than the general population. Despite the well-known increased mortality, little is known about the impact of gastrointestinal and liver disease on patients with schizophrenia. We aimed to review the literature and to make recommendations regarding future care. Literature searches were performed on PubMed to identify studies related to gastrointestinal and liver disease in patients with schizophrenia. High rates of chronic liver disease were reported, with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease being of particular concern; antipsychotics and metabolic syndrome were contributing factors. Rates of acute liver failure were low but have been associated with antipsychotic use and paracetamol overdose. Coeliac disease has historically been linked to schizophrenia; however, recent research suggests that a causal link is yet to be proven. Evidence is emerging regarding the relationships between schizophrenia and peptic ulcer disease, inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome; clinical vigilance regarding these conditions should be high. Patients with schizophrenia poorly engage with bowel cancer screening programmes, leading to late diagnosis and increased mortality. Clozapine induced constipation is a significant issue for many patients and requires close monitoring. There is a significant burden of gastrointestinal and liver disease amongst patients with schizophrenia. Better levels of support from all members of the medical team are essential to ensure that appropriate, timely care is provided

Spring–summer net community production, new production, particle export and related water column biogeochemical processes in the marginal sea ice zone of the Western Antarctic Peninsula 2012–2014

New production (New P, the rate of net primary production (NPP) supported by exogenously supplied limiting nutrients) and net community production (NCP, gross primary production not consumed by community respiration) are closely related but mechanistically distinct processes. They set the carbon balance in the upper ocean and define an upper limit for export from the system. The relationships, relative magnitudes and variability of New P (from 15NO3– uptake), O2 : argon-based NCP and sinking particle export (based on the 238U : 234Th disequilibrium) are increasingly well documented but still not clearly understood. This is especially true in remote regions such as polar marginal ice zones. Here we present a 3-year dataset of simultaneous measurements made at approximately 50 stations along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) continental shelf in midsummer (January) 2012–2014. Net seasonal-scale changes in water column inventories (0–150 m) of nitrate and iodide were also estimated at the same stations. The average daily rates based on inventory changes exceeded the shorter-term rate measurements. A major uncertainty in the relative magnitude of the inventory estimates is specifying the start of the growing season following sea-ice retreat. New P and NCP(O2) did not differ significantly. New P and NCP(O2) were significantly greater than sinking particle export from thorium-234. We suggest this is a persistent and systematic imbalance and that other processes such as vertical mixing and advection of suspended particles are important export pathways

Low-field thermal mixing in [1-13C] pyruvic acid for brute-force hyperpolarization

We detail the process of low-field thermal mixing (LFTM) between 1H and 13C nuclei in neat [1-13C] pyruvic acid at cryogenic temperatures (4–15 K). Using fast-field-cycling NMR, 1H nuclei in the molecule were polarized at modest high field (2 T) and then equilibrated with 13C nuclei by fast cycling (∼300–400 ms) to a low field (0–300 G) that activates thermal mixing. The 13C NMR spectrum was recorded after fast cycling back to 2 T. The 13C signal derives from 1H polarization via LFTM, in which the polarized (‘cold’) proton bath contacts the unpolarised (‘hot’) 13C bath at a field so low that Zeeman and dipolar interactions are similar-sized and fluctuations in the latter drive 1H–13C equilibration. By varying mixing time (tmix) and field (Bmix), we determined field-dependent rates of polarization transfer (1/τ) and decay (1/T1m) during mixing. This defines conditions for effective mixing, as utilized in ‘brute-force’ hyperpolarization of low-γ nuclei like 13C using Boltzmann polarization from nearby protons. For neat pyruvic acid, near-optimum mixing occurs for tmix ∼ 100–300 ms and Bmix ∼ 30–60 G. Three forms of frozen neat pyruvic acid were tested: two glassy samples, (one well-deoxygenated, the other O2-exposed) and one sample pre-treated by annealing (also well-deoxygenated). Both annealing and the presence of O2 are known to dramatically alter high-field longitudinal relaxation (T1) of 1H and 13C (up to 102–103-fold effects). Here, we found smaller, but still critical factors of ∼(2–5)× on both τ and T1m. Annealed, well-deoxygenated samples exhibit the longest time constants, e.g., τ ∼ 30–70 ms and T1m ∼ 1–20 s, each growing vs. Bmix. Mixing ‘turns off’ for Bmix > ∼100 G. That T1m ≫ τ is consistent with earlier success with polarization transfer from 1H to 13C by LFTM

Homeward bound or bound for a home? Assessing the capacity of dementia patients to make decisions about hospital discharge: Comparing practice with legal standards

Background This article stems from a larger project which considers ways of improving assessments of capacity and judgements about best interests in connection with people with dementia admitted to acute hospitals with respect to decisions about place of residence. Aims Our aim is to comment on how assessments of residence capacity are actually performed on general hospital wards compared with legal standards for the assessment of capacity set out in the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA). Method Our findings are grounded in ethnographic ward-based observations and in-depth interviews conducted in three hospital wards, in two hospitals (acute and rehabilitation), within two NHS healthcare trusts in the North of England over a period of nine months between 2008 and 2009. Twenty-nine patient cases were recruited to the study. We also draw from broader conceptions of capacity found in domestic and international legal, medical, ethical and social science literature. Results Our findings suggest that whilst professionals profess to be familiar with broad legal standards governing the assessment of capacity under the MCA, these standards are not routinely applied in practice in general hospital settings when assessing capacity to decide place of residence on discharge from hospital. We discuss whether the criteria set out in the MCA and the guidance in its Code of Practice are sufficient when assessing residence capacity, given the particular ambiguities and complexities of this capacity. Conclusions We conclude by suggesting that more specific legal standards are required when assessing capacity in this particular context