Report on the 2008 Guinness World record for the longest model of DNA.

In 2008 The University of Huddersfield built the worlds longest model of DNA. It was of the human insulin gene and was 1118 base pairs long. Over students from the university, schools and colleges took part. The actual model was built in 57 minutes

Methanogenesis from Mineral Carbonates, a Potential Indicator for Life on Mars

Priorities for the exploration of Mars involve the identification and observation of biosignatures that indicate the existence of life on the planet. The atmosphere and composition of the sediments on Mars suggest suitability for anaerobic chemolithotrophic metabolism. Carbonates are often considered as morphological biosignatures, such as stromatolites, but have not been considered as potential electron acceptors. Within the present study, hydrogenotrophic methanogen enrichments were generated from sediments that had received significant quantities of lime from industrial processes (lime kiln/steel production). These enrichments were then supplemented with calcium carbonate powder or marble chips as a sole source of carbon. These microcosms saw a release of inorganic carbon into the liquid phase, which was subsequently removed, resulting in the generation of methane, with 0.37 ± 0.09 mmoles of methane observed in the steel sediment enrichments supplemented with calcium carbonate powder. The steel sediment microcosms and lime sediments with carbonate powder enrichments were dominated by Methanobacterium sp., whilst the lime/marble enrichments were more diverse, containing varying proportions of Methanomassiliicoccus, Methanoculleus and Methanosarcina sp. In all microcosm experiments, acetic acid was detected in the liquid phase. Our results indicate that chemolithotrophic methanogenesis should be considered when determining biosignatures for life on Mars

The Identification and Synthesis of Lead Apatite Minerals Formed in Lead Water Pipes

Phosphate is added to drinking water in the UK to minimise the release of lead from lead water pipes. The phosphate encourages the formation of insoluble lead apatites on the walls of the pipe. Hydroxylpyromorphite Pb5(PO4)3OH is the lead apatite that is most often used to model lead levels in tap water; however, its presence has not been confirmed. Our aims were to identify the lead pipe apatite and synthesise it. The synthetic mineral would then be used in future solubility studies to produce better predictions of lead levels in tap water. XRD and FTIR were used to characterise the minerals on a range of lead pipes. Pyromorphite and hydroxylpyromorphite were absent and instead a range of mixed calcium lead apatites were present. For every five lead ions in the general formula Pb5(PO4)3X between one and two ions were replaced with calcium and there was evidence of substitution of by either or . Calcium lead apatites with similar unit cell dimensions to those found on lead water pipes were then synthesised. The calcium : lead ratio in these reaction mixtures was in excess of 500 : 1 and the resulting crystals were shown by TEM to be nanosized rods and flakes. The synthetic apatites that most closely resembled the unit cell dimensions of the apatites on lead water pipes were shown to be Pb3.4Ca1.3(PO4)3Cl0.03OH0.97, Pb3.6Ca1.2(PO4)3Cl0.07OH0.93, and Pb3.6Ca1.2(PO4)3Cl0.27OH0.73

The Herschel/SPIRE Spectrometer Phase Correction Data Processing Tasks

Asymmetries in the recorded interferograms of Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTS) can be caused by optical, electronic, and sampling effects. Left uncorrected, these asymmetries will result in a spectrum with both real and imaginary components and thus a non-zero phase. One or more phase correction steps are applied in FTS data processing pipelines to correct for these effects. In this paper we describe the causes of non-zero phase particular to the Herschel/SPIRE FTS and present the two phase correction processing steps employed. The evolution of the phase correction algorithms is also described

The Herschel/SPIRE Spectrometer Phase Correction Data Processing Tasks

Asymmetries in the recorded interferograms of Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTS) can be caused by optical, electronic, and sampling effects. Left uncorrected, these asymmetries will result in a spectrum with both real and imaginary components and thus a non-zero phase. One or more phase correction steps are applied in FTS data processing pipelines to correct for these effects. In this paper we describe the causes of non-zero phase particular to the Herschel/SPIRE FTS and present the two phase correction processing steps employed. The evolution of the phase correction algorithms is also described

Pathways to understanding the genomic aetiology of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a common, complex disease with no curative therapy. In this review, we summarize current knowledge on disease aetiopathogenesis and outline genetics and genomics approaches that are helping catalyse a much-needed improved understanding of the biological underpinning of disease development and progression

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care