Applications of adenine nucleotide measurements in oceanography

The methodology involved in nucleotide measurements is outlined, along with data to support the premise that ATP concentrations in microbial cells can be extrapolated to biomass parameters. ATP concentrations in microorganisms and nucleotide analyses are studied

Optimising the Extraction and Quantification of Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol by Use of LLE, SPE and GC Orbitrap

Water is an incredibly valuable resource to humans. Concerns for distasteful contaminants in water sources emerged in the 70’s and has been observed to cause significant losses of water resources in recent years. Geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol are hydroxylated irregular sesquiterpenes and monoterpenes respectively and are widely recognised as two of the main compounds responsible for off-flavour and odour contamination in water. Humans possess incredibly low sensory thresholds for these compounds, ranging from a couple to around 50 ng/L. Because of these low sensory thresholds, these contaminants have gained worldwide attention, especially with regards to appropriate analytical methods to detect and quantify these contaminants. In this thesis, experiments were conducted in order to optimise aspects of extraction and quantification by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and solid-phase extraction (SPE), as well as GC Orbitrap. With respect to LLE, experiments involved an internal standard, solvent evaporation and microextractions. Factors including conditioning, optimisation of extraction, as well as quantification by use of internal standards and standard addition were investigated with regards to SPE. Temperature programming and split/splitless conditions were investigated with respect to GC Orbitrap. It was observed that these extraction methods in general did not perform well when compared to literature values, often including the use of other extraction techniques such as closed-loop stripping analysis and purge & trap, in addition to selected ion monitoring in mass spectrometry. Additionally, standard addition did not yield a reproducible method. However, novel improvements were made with the conditioning of SPE columns in order to extract and elute the analytes, increasing their quantification limits. A new internal standard candidate, 1-methylcyclohexanol, yet to be utilised in the literature, did exhibit promising response factors with geosmin in SPE analysis. Further research should include the application of more successful extraction methods from the literature with GC Orbitrap, as well as further investigations of 1-methylcyclohexanol as an internal standard candidate

Development of moored oceanographic spectroradiometer

Biospherical Instruments has successfully completed a NASA sponsored SBIR (Small Business Innovational Research Program) project to develop spectroradiometers capable of being deployed in the ocean for long periods of time. The completion of this project adds a valuable tool for the calibration of future spaceborne ocean color sensors and enables oceanographers to extend remote sensing optical techniques beyond the intermittent coverage of spaceborne sensors. Highlights of the project include two moorings totalling 8 months generating extensive sets of optical, biological, and physical data sets in the ocean off La Jolla, California, and a 70 day operational deployment of the resulting commercial product by the ONR and NASA sponsored BIOWATT program. Based on experience gained in these moorings, Biospherical Instruments has developed a new line of spectroradiometers designed to support the oceanographic remote sensing missions of NASA, the Navy, and various oceanographers

Understanding of and adherence to advice after telephone counselling by nurse: a survey among callers to a primary emergency out-of-hours service in Norway

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate how callers understand the information given by telephone by registered nurses in a casualty clinic, to what degree the advice was followed, and the final outcome of the condition for the patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was conducted at a large out-of-hours inter-municipality casualty clinic in Norway during April and May 2010. Telephone interviews were performed with 100 callers/patients who had received information and advice by a nurse as a sole response. Six topics from the interview guide were compared with the telephone record files to check whether the caller had understood the advice. In addition, questions were asked about how the caller followed the advice provided and the patient's outcome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>99 out of 100 interviewed callers stated that they had understood the nurse's advice, but interpreted from the telephone records, the total agreement for all six topics was 82.6%. 93 callers/patients stated that they followed the advice and 11 re-contacted the casualty clinic. 22 contacted their GP for the same complaints the same week, of whom five patients received medical treatment and one was hospitalised. There were significant difference between the native-Norwegian and the non-native Norwegian regarding whether they trusted the nurse (p = 0.017), and if they got relevant answers to their questions (p = 0.005).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Callers to the out-of-hours service seem to understand the advice given by the registered nurses, and a large majority of the patients did not contact their GP or other health services again with the same complaints.</p> <p>Practice Implication</p> <p>Medical and communicative training must be an important part of the continuous improvement strategy within the out-of-hour services.</p

Telephone triage by nurses in primary care out-of-hours services in Norway: an evaluation study based on written case scenarios

Background: The use of nurses for telephone-based triage in out-of-hours services is increasing in several countries. No investigations have been carried out in Norway into the quality of decisions made by nurses regarding our priority degree system. There are three levels: acute, urgent and non-urgent. Methods: Nurses working in seven casualty clinics in out-of-hours districts in Norway (The Watchtowers) were all invited to participate in a study to assess priority grade on 20 written medical scenarios validated by an expert group. 83 nurses (response rate 76%) participated in the study. A one-out-of-five sample of the nurses assessed the same written cases after 3 months (n¼18, response rate 90%) as a testeretest assessment. Results: Among the acute, urgent and non-urgent scenarios, 82%, 74% and 81% were correctly classified according to national guidelines. There were significant differences in the proportion of correct classifications among the casualty clinics, but neither employment percentage nor profession or work experience affected the triage decision. The mean intraobserver variability measured by the Cohen kappa was 0.61 (CI 0.52 to 0.70), and there were significant differences in kappa with employment percentage. Casualty clinics and work experience did not affect intrarater agreement. Conclusion: Correct classification of acute and nonurgent cases among nurses was quite high. Work experience and employment percentage did not affect triage decision. The intrarater agreement was good and about the same as in previous studies performed in other countries. Kappa increased significantly with increasing employment percentage