Inventory of ammonia emissions from UK agriculture 2009

The National Ammonia Reduction Strategy Evaluation System (NARSES) model (spreadsheet version) was used to estimate ammonia (NH3) emissions from UK agriculture for the year 2009. Year-specific livestock numbers and fertiliser N use were added for 2009 and revised for previous years. The estimate for 2009 was 231.8 kt NH3, representing a 2.3 kt increase from the previously submitted estimate for 2008. Backward and forward projections using the 2009 model structure gave estimates of 317, 245 and 244 kt NH3 for the years 1990, 2010 and 2020, respectively. This inventory reports emission from livestock agriculture and from nitrogen fertilisers applied to agricultural land. There are a number of other minor sources reported as ‘agriculture’ in the total UK emission inventory, including horses not kept on agricultural holdings, emissions from composting and domestic fertiliser use

Linking past cultural developments to palaeoenvironmental changes in Estonia

Connections between environmental and cultural changes are analysed in Estonia during the past c. 4,500 years. Records of cereal-type pollen as (agri)cultural indices are compared with high-resolution palaeohydrological and annual mean temperature reconstructions from a selection of Estonian bogs and lakes (and Lake Igelsjön in Sweden). A broad-scale comparison shows increases in the percentage of cereal-type pollen during a decreasing trend in annual mean temperatures over the past c. 4,300 years, suggesting a certain independence of agrarian activities from environmental conditions at the regional level. The first cereal-type pollen in the region is found from a period with a warm and dry climate. A slow increase in pollen of cultivated land is seen around the beginning of the late Bronze Age, a slight increase at the end of the Roman Iron Age and a significant increase at the beginning of the Middle Ages. In a few cases increases in agricultural pollen percentages occur in the periods of warming. Stagnation and regression occurs in the periods of cooling, but regression at individual sites may also be related to warmer climate episodes. The cooling at c. 400–300 cal b.p., during the ‘Little Ice Age’ coincides with declines in cereal-type and herb pollen curves. These may not, however, be directly related to the climate change, because they coincide with war activities in the region

Spatially-resolved magnetic resonance study of the dissolution interface between soaps and water

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The potential role of exercise in neuro-oncology

Patients with brain and other central nervous system cancers experience debilitating physical, cognitive, and emotional effects, which significantly compromise quality of life. Few efficacious pharmacological strategies or supportive care interventions exist to ameliorate these sequelae and patients report high levels of unmet needs in these areas. There is strong theoretical rationale to suggest exercise may be an effective intervention to aid in the management of neuro-oncological disorders. Clinical research has established the efficacy of appropriate exercise in counteracting physical impairments such as fatigue and functional decline, cognitive impairment, as well as psychological effects including depression and anxiety. While there is promise for exercise to enhance physical and psychosocial wellbeing of patients diagnosed with neurologic malignancies, these patients have unique needs and research is urgently required to explore optimal exercise prescription specific to these patients to maximize safety and efficacy. This perspective article is a discussion of potential rehabilitative effects of targeted exercise programs for patients with brain and other central nervous system cancers and highlights future research directions

Prostate cancer survivorship essentials framework: guidelines for practitioners

© 2020 The Authors BJU International © 2020 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Objective: To develop contemporary and inclusive prostate cancer survivorship guidelines for the Australian setting. Participants and Methods: A four-round iterative policy Delphi was used, with a 47-member expert panel that included leaders from key Australian and New Zealand clinical and community groups and consumers from diverse backgrounds, including LGBTQIA people and those from regional, rural and urban settings. The first three rounds were undertaken using an online survey (94–96% response) followed by a fourth final face-to-face panel meeting. Descriptors for men’s current prostate cancer survivorship experience were generated, along with survivorship elements that were assessed for importance and feasibility. From these, survivorship domains were generated for consideration. Results: Six key descriptors for men’s current prostate cancer survivorship experience that emerged were: dealing with side effects; challenging; medically focused; uncoordinated; unmet needs; and anxious. In all, 26 survivorship elements were identified within six domains: health promotion and advocacy; shared management; vigilance; personal agency; care coordination; and evidence-based survivorship interventions. Consensus was high for all domains as being essential. All elements were rated high on importance but consensus was mixed for feasibility. Seven priorities were derived for immediate action. Conclusion: The policy Delphi allowed a uniquely inclusive expert clinical and community group to develop prostate cancer survivorship domains that extend beyond traditional healthcare parameters. These domains provide guidance for policymakers, clinicians, community and consumers on what is essential for step change in prostate cancer survivorship outcomes

The fastest unbound star in our Galaxy ejected by a thermonuclear supernova

Hypervelocity stars (HVS) travel with velocities so high, that they exceed the escape velocity of the Galaxy. Several acceleration mechanisms have been discussed. Only one HVS (US 708, HVS 2) is a compact helium star. Here we present a spectroscopic and kinematic analysis of US\,708. Travelling with a velocity of $\sim1200\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$, it is the fastest unbound star in our Galaxy. In reconstructing its trajectory, the Galactic center becomes very unlikely as an origin, which is hardly consistent with the most favored ejection mechanism for the other HVS. Furthermore, we discovered US\,708 to be a fast rotator. According to our binary evolution model it was spun-up by tidal interaction in a close binary and is likely to be the ejected donor remnant of a thermonuclear supernova.Comment: 16 pages report, 20 pages supplementary material

Planar Drawings of Fixed-Mobile Bigraphs

A fixed-mobile bigraph G is a bipartite graph such that the vertices of one partition set are given with fixed positions in the plane and the mobile vertices of the other part, together with the edges, must be added to the drawing. We assume that G is planar and study the problem of finding, for a given k >= 0, a planar poly-line drawing of G with at most k bends per edge. In the most general case, we show NP-hardness. For k=0 and under additional constraints on the positions of the fixed or mobile vertices, we either prove that the problem is polynomial-time solvable or prove that it belongs to NP. Finally, we present a polynomial-time testing algorithm for a certain type of "layered" 1-bend drawings

Clinical outcomes at 12 months and risk of inflammatory bowel disease in patients with an intermediate raised fecal calprotectin : a ‘real-world’ view

Objectives: A recent systematic review confirmed the usefulness of fecal calprotectin (FC) in distinguishing organic (inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)) from non-organic gastrointestinal disease (irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)). FC levels 92% to exclude organic gastrointestinal (GI) disease. Levels >250 μg/g correlate with endoscopic IBD disease activity; sensitivity 90%. We aimed to determine clinical outcomes in intermediate raised FC results (50–250 μg/g). Setting: Primary care general practices in Coventry and Warwickshire, and 3 secondary care hospitals. Participants: 443 FC results in adults (>16 years old) were reviewed from July 2012 to October 2013. Clinical data was collected from hospital databases and general practitioners. Long-term clinical data was available in 41 patients (out of 48). Primary and secondary outcome measures: The number of new diagnoses of IBD, IBS and other diagnoses for the intermediate group. The number referred and discharged from secondary care. Results: A new IBD diagnosis was made in 19% (n=8) of intermediate results (1% of normal and 38% of raised results). 5% (n=2) of intermediate results had known IBD in remission. A new IBS diagnosis was made in 27% (n=11) of intermediate results, while 34% (n=14) remained undiagnosed, although 8 of these were not referred to secondary care. Conclusions: FC testing remains useful in aiding diagnosis of organic GI conditions. However, unlike negative and strongly positive FC results, intermediate FC results lead to a mixture of diagnoses. The OR of a new diagnosis of IBD for an intermediate result compared to normal FC result was 26.6, while an intermediate FC result gave an OR of 0.54 for a new IBS diagnosis compared to normal FC. For intermediate FC results, 1 in 3 patients remained in secondary care after 12 months with an OR of 3.6 compared to a normal FC result

Evidence of Spatially Extensive Resistance to PCBs in an Anadromous Fish of the Hudson River

Populations of organisms that are chronically exposed to high levels of chemical contaminants may not suffer the same sublethal or lethal effects as naive populations, a phenomenon called resistance. Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) from the Hudson River, New York, are exposed to high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and bioaccumulate polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). They have developed resistance to PCBs and PCDDs but not to PAHs. Resistance is largely heritable and manifests at early-life-stage toxic end points and in inducibility of cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) mRNA expression. Because CYP1A induction is activated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) pathway, as are most toxic responses to these compounds, we sought to determine the geographic extent of resistance to CYP1A mRNA induction by PCBs in the Hudson River tomcod population. Samples of young-of-the-year tomcod were collected from seven locales in the Hudson River, extending from the Battery at river mile 1 (RM 1) to RM 90, and from the Miramichi River, New Brunswick, Canada. Laboratory-reared offspring of tomcod adults from Newark Bay, in the western portion of the Hudson River estuary, were also used in this study. Fish were partially depurated in clean water and intraperitoneally injected with 10 ppm coplanar PCB-77, 10 ppm benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), or corn oil vehicle, and levels of CYP1A mRNA were determined. CYP1A was significantly inducible by treatment with BaP in tomcod from the Miramichi River, from laboratory-spawned offspring of Newark Bay origin, and from all Hudson River sites spanning 90 miles of river. In contrast, only tomcod from the Miramichi River displayed significantly induced CYP1A mRNA expression when treated with PCB-77. Our results suggest that the population of tomcod from throughout the Hudson River estuary has developed resistance to CYP1A inducibility and probably other toxicities mediated by the AHR pathway. Tomcod from the Hudson River may represent the most geographically expansive population of vertebrates with resistance to chemical pollutants that has been characterized