Lignin biomarkers as tracers of mercury sources in lakes water column

This study presents the role of specific terrigenous organic compounds as important vectors of mercury (Hg) transported from watersheds to lakes of the Canadian boreal forest. In order to differentiate the autochthonous from the allochthonous organic matter (OM), lignin derived biomarker signatures [Lambda, S/V, C/V, P/(V ? S), 3,5-Bd/V and (Ad/Al)v] were used. Since lignin is exclusively produced by terrigenous plants, this approach can give a non equivocal picture of the watershed inputs to the lakes. Moreover, it allows a characterization of the source of OM and its state of degradation. The water column of six lakes from the Canadian Shield was sampled monthly between June and September 2005. Lake total dissolved Hg concentrations and Lambda were positively correlated, meaning that Hg and ligneous inputs are linked (dissolved OM r2 = 0.62, p\0.0001; particulate OM r2 = 0.76, p\0.0001). Ratios of P/(V ? S) and 3,5-Bd/V from both dissolved OM and particulate OM of the water column suggest an inverse relationship between the progressive state of pedogenesis and maturation of the OM in soil before entering the lake, and the Hg concentrations in the water column. No relation was found between Hg levels in the lakes and the watershed flora composition—angiosperm versus gymnosperm or woody versus non-woody compounds. This study has significant implications for watershed management of ecosystems since limiting fresh terrestrial OM inputs should reduce Hg inputs to the aquatic systems. This is particularly the case for largescale land-use impacts, such as deforestation, agriculture and urbanization, associated to large quantities of soil OM being transferred to aquatic systems

Academic freedom: in justification of a universal ideal

This paper examines the justification for, and benefits of, academic freedom to academics, students, universities and the world at large. The paper surveys the development of the concept of academic freedom within Europe, more especially the impact of the reforms at the University of Berlin instigated by Wilhelm von Humboldt. Following from this, the paper examines the reasons why the various facets of academic freedom are important and why the principle should continue to be supported

Risk factors for delayed presentation and referral of symptomatic cancer: Evidence for common cancers

Background:It has been suggested that the known poorer survival from cancer in the United Kingdom, compared with other European countries, can be attributed to more advanced cancer stage at presentation. There is, therefore, a need to understand the diagnostic process, and to ascertain the risk factors for increased time to presentation.Methods:We report the results from two worldwide systematic reviews of the literature on patient-mediated and practitioner-mediated delays, identifying the factors that may influence these.Results:Across cancer sites, non-recognition of symptom seriousness is the main patient-mediated factor resulting in increased time to presentation. There is strong evidence of an association between older age and patient delay for breast cancer, between lower socio-economic status and delay for upper gastrointestinal and urological cancers and between lower education level and delay for breast and colorectal cancers. Fear of cancer is a contributor to delayed presentation, while sanctioning of help seeking by others can be a powerful mediator of reduced time to presentation. For practitioner delay, ‘misdiagnosis’ occurring either through treating patients symptomatically or relating symptoms to a health problem other than cancer, was an important theme across cancer sites. For some cancers, this could also be linked to inadequate patient examination, use of inappropriate tests or failing to follow-up negative or inconclusive test results.Conclusion:Having sought help for potential cancer symptoms, it is therefore important that practitioners recognise these symptoms, and examine, investigate and refer appropriately. © 2009 Cancer Research UK All rights reserved

National Government Responses to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Certification: Insights from Atlantic Canada

Over the last decade, the proliferation of social and environmental certification programmes has attracted the attention of a growing number of political scientists interested in new forms of ‘private’ transnational governance. However, we still lack analyses on the nature and extent of different state responses to and involvement in new private transnational governance arrangements in particular sectors and in different jurisdictions. This paper advances our understanding of the interactions between nation-state and private transnational modes of governance by analysing the role of national government authorities in Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fisheries certification in Atlantic Canada, known more for the disastrous collapse of Northern cod stocks than good marine stewardship. Focusing on the 2008 certification of Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) fisheries off the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the analysis finds that the implementation and maintenance of MSC certification in this case depended on significant support from government authorities. The delicate legitimacy of both authorities face a period of uncertainty in this case since some certified shrimp stocks appear to be in decline and perhaps also migrating northward off Newfoundland and Labrador

Weekly epirubicin in patients with hormone-resistant prostate cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the benefit of weekly epirubicin in the treatment of metastatic hormone-resistant prostate cancer. One hundred and forty-eight patients with metastatic hormone-resistant prostate cancer received weekly 30-min intravenous infusions of epirubicin 30 mg m2 of body surface area. The primary end-point was palliative response, defined as a reduction in pain intensity and an improvement in performance status. The secondary end-points were the duration of the palliative response, quality of life and survival. Fifty-seven (44%) of the 131 evaluable patients met the primary criterion of palliative response after six treatment cycles and 73 (56%) after 12 cycles; the median duration of the response was 9 months (range 1–11). The median global quality of life improved in 52% of the patients after six cycles and in 68% after 12 cycles. The 12- and 18-month survival rates were respectively 56 and 31%, with a median survival of 13+ months (range 1–36). The treatment was well tolerated: grade 3 neutropenia was observed in 8% of the patients, grade 3 anaemia in 7%, and grade 3 thrombocytopenia in 3%. None of the patients developed grade 4 toxicity or congestive heart failure. Weekly epirubicin chemotherapy can lead to a rapid and lasting palliative result in patients with metastatic HRPC, and have a positive effect on the quality of life and survival

Project management between will and representation

This article challenges some deep-rooted assumptions of project management. Inspired by the work of the German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, it calls for looking at projects through two complementary lenses: one that accounts for cognitive and representational aspects and one that accounts for material and volitional aspects. Understanding the many ways in which these aspects transpire and interact in projects sheds new light on project organizations, as imperfect and fragile representations that chase a shifting nexus of intractable human, social, technical, and material processes. This, in turn, can bring about a new grasp of notions such as value,\ud knowledge, complexity, and risk

Swabbing for respiratory viral infections in older patients: a comparison of rayon and nylon flocked swabs

The purpose of this study was to compare the sampling efficacy of rayon swabs and nylon flocked swabs, and of oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal specimens for the detection of respiratory viruses in elderly patients. Samples were obtained from patients 60 years of age or above who were newly admitted to Sorlandet Hospital Arendal, Norway. The patients were interviewed for current symptoms of a respiratory tract infection. Using rayon swabs and nylon flocked swabs, comparable sets of mucosal samples were harvested from the nasopharynx and the oropharynx. The samples were analysed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. A total of 223 patients (mean age 74.9 years, standard deviation [SD] 9.0 years) were swabbed and a virus was recovered from 11% of the symptomatic patients. Regardless of the sampling site, a calculated 4.8 times higher viral load (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3–17, p = 0.017) was obtained using the nylon flocked swabs as compared to the rayon swabs. Also, regardless of the type of swab, a calculated 19 times higher viral load was found in the samples from the nasopharynx as compared to the oropharynx (95% CI 5.4–67.4, p < 0.001). When swabbing for respiratory viruses in elderly patients, nasopharyngeal rather than oropharyngeal samples should be obtained. Nylon flocked swabs appear to be more efficient than rayon swabs

A hope to believe in: a transition programme to support mature students' access to Higher Education

This chapter discusses a case-study from a Higher Education institution in Surrey, where a project of pedagogical innovation, the ‘Transition Programme’, successfully solved the paradoxical status of selective procedures that are caught between the principle of inclusiveness within the widening participation agenda and the contrasting principle of recruiting with integrity. The chapter is motivated by four main aims. The first aim is to use hope to contextualise sociologically the motivations underpinning mature applicants’ choice to access Higher Education. The second aim is to approach such choice as a movement from the familiar world to a more complex social world, characterised by risky decision. A third, and probably central, aim is to criticise the implications of selective processes for mature applicants’ trust in the Higher Education system, as well as their well-being, self-esteem and happiness. Finally, a fourth aim is for the author to re-contextualise within a discourse centred on hope in the Transition Programme

Combined dynamics of mercury and terrigenous organic matter following impoundment of Churchill Falls Hydroelectric Reservoir, Labrador

Sediments from two recently (40 years) flooded lakes (Gabbro lake and Sandgirt lake) and an unflooded lake (Atikonak lake) were sampled to investigate the effects of reservoir impoundment on mercury (Hg) and terrigenous organic matter (TOM) loading in the Churchill Falls Hydroelectric complex in Labrador, Canada. Lignin biomarkers in TOM, which exclusively derive from terrestrial vegetation, were used as biomarkers for the presence and source origin of TOM—and for Hg due to their close associations—in sediments. In the two flooded Gabbro and Sandgirt lakes, we observed drastic increases in total mercury concentrations, T-[Hg], in sediments, which temporally coincided with the time of reservoir impoundment as assessed by 210Pb age dating. In the natural Atikonak lake sediments, on the other hand, T-[Hg] showed no such step-increase but gradually and slowly increased until present. T-[Hg] increases in lake sediments after flooding were also associated with a change in the nature of TOM: biomarker signatures changed to typical signatures of TOM from vegetated terrestrial landscape surrounding the lakes, and indicate a change to TOM that was much less degraded and typical of forest soil organic horizons. We conclude that T-[Hg] increase in the sediments of the two flooded reservoirs was the result of flooding of surrounding forests, whereby mainly surface organic horizons and upper soil horizons were prone to erosion and subsequent re-sedimentation in the reservoirs. The fact that T-[Hg] was still enriched 40 years after reservoir impoundment indicates prolonged response time of lake Hg and sediment loadings after reservoir impoundments