Effect of packing on nasal mucosa of sheep

The effects of packing with ribbon gauze and neuropatties on the nasal mucosa was assessed using sheep as an animal model. Fourteen sheep either underwent ribbon gauze or neuropattie nasal packing. Trauma to nasal mucosa caused by ribbon gauze and neuropatties was compared to mucosa on the lateral aspect of the middle turbinate which was not in contact with any packing. This tissue was used as a control. Ribbon gauze packing resulted in significant loss of 68 per cent of the ciliated surface of the mucosa when compared with the control group with a 15 per cent loss of ciliated surface (p < 0.005). Neuropattie packing also resulted in significant loss of 50 per cent of the ciliated surface of the mucosa when compared with the control group (p < 0.005). There was no significant difference in loss of ciliated mucosa in the specimens packed with ribbon gauze or neuropatties (p = 0.25). Nasal packing results in a significant mucosal injury with loss of cilia. This may influence the mucociliary clearance of the nose in the post-operative healing phase. Pre-operative nasal packing should be used circumspectly and if possible avoided.Chi-kee Leslie Shaw, Robert B. Dymock, Allison Cowin and Peter-John Wormal

High-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of pleistocene tuffs and temporal anchoring of the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary

DFM thanks NERC for continued funding of the Argon Isotope Facility at SUERC and NERC Faciltiies grant IP/1626/0516. PRR thanks the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and the U.S. National Science Foundation (grant BCS-0715465) for support of his work. LM was funded by the Marie Curie FP7 Intra-European Fellowship Program for the duration of this project. VCS acknowledges support from the John Fell Fund, University of Oxford.High-precision 40Ar/39Ar ages for a series of proximal tuffs from the Toba super-volcano in Indonesia, and the Bishop Tuff and Lava Creek Tuff B in North America have been obtained. Core from Ocean Drilling Project Site 758 in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean contains discrete tephra layers that we have geochemically correlated to the Young Toba Tuff (73.7 ± 0.3 ka), Middle Toba Tuff (502 ± 0.7 ka) and two eruptions (OTTA and OTTB) related to the Old Toba Tuff (792.4 ± 0.5 and 785.6 ± 0.7 ka, respectively) (40Ar/39Ar data reported as full external precision, 1 sigma). Within ODP 758 Termination IX is coincident with OTTB and hence this age tightly constrains the transition from Marine Isotope Stage 19–20 for the Indian Ocean. The core also preserves the location of the Australasian tektites, and the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary with Bayesian age-depth models used to determine the ages of these events, c. 784 ka and c. 786 ka, respectively. In North America, the Bishop Tuff (766.6 ± 0.4 ka) and Lava Creek Tuff B (627.0 ± 1.5 ka) have quantifiable stratigraphic relationships to the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary. Linear age-depth extrapolation, allowing for uncertainties associated with potential hiatuses in five different terrestrial sections, defines a geomagnetic reversal age of 789 ± 6 ka. Considering our data with respect to the previously published age data for the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary of Sagnotti et al. (2014), we suggest at the level of temporal resolution currently attainable using radioisotopic dating the last reversal of Earths geomagnetic field was isochronous. An overall Matuyama-Brunhes reversal age of 783.4 ± 0.6 ka is calculated, which allowing for inherent uncertainties in the astronomical dating approach, is indistinguishable from the LR04 stack age (780 ± 5 ka) for the geomagnetic boundary. Our high-precision age is 10 ± 2 ka older than the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary age of 773 ± 1 ka, as reported previously by Channell et al. (2010) for Atlantic Ocean records. As ODP 758 features in the LR04 marine stack, the high-precision 40Ar/39Ar ages determined here, as well as the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary age, can be used as temporally accurate and precise anchors for the Pleistocene time scale.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Spin states of asteroids in the Eos collisional family

Eos family was created during a catastrophic impact about 1.3 Gyr ago. Rotation states of individual family members contain information about the history of the whole population. We aim to increase the number of asteroid shape models and rotation states within the Eos collision family, as well as to revise previously published shape models from the literature. Such results can be used to constrain theoretical collisional and evolution models of the family, or to estimate other physical parameters by a thermophysical modeling of the thermal infrared data. We use all available disk-integrated optical data (i.e., classical dense-in-time photometry obtained from public databases and through a large collaboration network as well as sparse-in-time individual measurements from a few sky surveys) as input for the convex inversion method, and derive 3D shape models of asteroids together with their rotation periods and orientations of rotation axes. We present updated shape models for 15 asteroids and new shape model determinations for 16 asteroids. Together with the already published models from the publicly available DAMIT database, we compiled a sample of 56 Eos family members with known shape models that we used in our analysis of physical properties within the family. Rotation states of asteroids smaller than ~20 km are heavily influenced by the YORP effect, whilst the large objects more or less retained their rotation state properties since the family creation. Moreover, we also present a shape model and bulk density of asteroid (423) Diotima, an interloper in the Eos family, based on the disk-resolved data obtained by the Near InfraRed Camera (Nirc2) mounted on the W.M. Keck II telescope.Comment: Accepted for publication in ICARUS Special Issue - Asteroids: Origin, Evolution & Characterizatio

Quality assurance, benchmarking, assessment and mutual international recognition of qualifications

publishersversionPeer reviewe

<i>Fusobacterium </i>spp. target human CEACAM1 via the trimeric autotransporter adhesin CbpF

Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis are pathogenic bacteria adapted to reside on human respiratory mucosal epithelia. One common feature of these species is their ability to target members of the carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule (CEACAM) family, especially CEACAM1, which is achieved via structurally distinct ligands expressed by each species. Beside respiratory epithelial cells, cells at the dentogingival junction express high levels of CEACAM1. It is possible that bacterial species resident within the oral cavity also utilise CEACAM1 for colonisation and invasion of gingival tissues. From a screen of 59 isolates from the human oral cavity representing 49 bacterial species, we identified strains from Fusobacterium bound to CEACAM1. Of the Fusobacterium species tested, the CEACAM1-binding property was exhibited by F. nucleatum (Fn) and F. vincentii (Fv) but not F. polymorphum (Fp) or F. animalis (Fa) strains tested. These studies identified that CEACAM adhesion was mediated using a trimeric autotransporter adhesin (TAA) for which no function has thus far been defined. We therefore propose the name CEACAM binding protein of Fusobacterium (CbpF). CbpF was identified to be present in the majority of unspeciated Fusobacterium isolates confirming a subset of Fusobacterium spp. are able to target human CEACAM1

Conducting sexualities research: An outline of emergent issues and case studies from ten wellcome-funded projects [version 1; peer review: 3 approved]

© 2019 Kneale D et al. This letter seeks to synthesise methodological challenges encountered in a cohort of Wellcome Trust-funded research projects focusing on sexualities and health. The ten Wellcome Trust projects span a diversity of gender and sexual orientations and identities, settings; institutional and non-institutional contexts, lifecourse stages, and explore a range of health-related interventions. As researchers, we originate from a breadth of disciplinary traditions, use a variety of research methods and data sources. Despite this breadth, four common themes are found across the projects: (i) inclusivity representations and representativeness, (ii) lumping together of diverse groups, (iii) institutions and closed settings (iv) ethical and governance barriers

Conducting sexualities research: an outline of emergent issues and case studies from ten Wellcome-funded projects [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

This letter seeks to synthesise methodological challenges encountered in a cohort of Wellcome Trust-funded research projects focusing on sexualities and health. The ten Wellcome Trust projects span a diversity of gender and sexual orientations and identities, settings; institutional and non-institutional contexts, lifecourse stages, and explore a range of health-related interventions.  As researchers, we originate from a breadth of disciplinary traditions, use a variety of research methods and data sources. Despite this breadth, four common themes are found across the projects: (i) inclusivity, representations and representativeness, (ii) lumping together of diverse groups, (iii) institutions and closed settings (iv) ethical and governance barriers

‘Radical interpretations’ preclude the use of climatic wiggle matching for resolution of event timings at the highest levels of attainable precision

An age model (Mark et al., 2017) for ODP 758 and the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary transition and Termination IX in the equatorial Indian Ocean is robust and accurate. No significant magnetic lock-in delay is evident at the depth of the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary and the study highlights that 40Ar/39Ar geochronology is critical for dissection of the Pleistocene at the highest levels of temporal precision and minimal model-dependence. Testing of leads and lags in global-scale climate response requires independently dated timescales to reveal the fine-detail recorded by the various climate archives.PostprintPeer reviewe