Nordic Seas polynyas and their role in preconditioning marine productivity during the Last Glacial Maximum.

Arctic and Antarctic polynyas are crucial sites for deep-water formation, which helps sustain global ocean circulation. During glacial times, the occurrence of polynyas proximal to expansive ice sheets in both hemispheres has been proposed to explain limited ocean ventilation and a habitat requirement for marine and higher-trophic terrestrial fauna. Nonetheless, their existence remains equivocal, not least due to the hitherto paucity of sufficiently characteristic proxy data. Here we demonstrate polynya formation in front of the NW Eurasian ice sheets during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which resulted from katabatic winds blowing seaward of the ice shelves and upwelling of warm, sub-surface Atlantic water. These polynyas sustained ice-sheet build-up, ocean ventilation, and marine productivity in an otherwise glacial Arctic desert. Following the catastrophic meltwater discharge from the collapsing ice sheets at ~17.5 ka BP, polynya formation ceased, marine productivity declined dramatically, and sea ice expanded rapidly to cover the entire Nordic Seas

OMAE2008-57309 FULL SCALE FATIGUE TESTING OF FATIGUE ENHANCED GIRTH WELDS IN CLAD PIPE FOR SCR'S INSTALLED BY REELING

ABSTRACT H 2 S is reported to degrade the fatigue properties of C-Mn steels with a factor of 10-20 in life, while clad pipes are reported to have a performance close to or as good as in air. Clad pipes could therefore be used in highly fatigue loaded parts of the riser to facilitate design of steel catenary risers (SCRs) that are connected to floaters in deep waters. A literature survey of high quality girth welds intended for SCR is included in this paper and compared with fatigue test data obtained in this project. The first nine full scale 15" clad pipe girth welds out of a program of 24 specimens are fatigue tested in a high frequency resonance test rig and reported. The pipes were tested as welded, hammer-peened and reeled. The 15" OD steel pipes with 316 cladding tested in this work were surplus pipes from the Norne pipeline project. The fatigue test pipes were fabricated using the same welding procedure and welding facilities at Technip's spool base in Orkanger, Norway, as the Norne pipeline project. The Norne pipeline is the world's first reeled clad pipeline. The objective of this work was to test premium quality girth welds with best possible fatigue performance in actual pipes under realistic conditions was. The effect of hammer-peening of the OD was therefore investigated. Post failure examination was performed to determine the type and size of defects at the fatigue crack initiation site

Phospholipid and LC-PUFA metabolism in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) testes during sexual maturation

The importance of dietary lipids in male reproduction are not as well understood as in females, in which dietary lipids, such as phospholipids (PL) and associated fatty acids (FA), are important structural components of the eggs and provide energy for their offspring. In mammals, lipids are suggested to be important for spermatogenesis and to structural components of the spermatozoa that could improve fertilization rates. New knowledge of how lipids affect sexual maturation in male Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), an important global aquaculture species, could provide tools to delay maturation and/or improve reproductive success. Therefore, changes in testicular composition of lipids and gene transcripts associated with spermatogenesis and lipid metabolism were studied in sexually maturing male salmon compared to immature males and females. An increase in total testis content of FA and PL, and a shift to higher PL composition was observed in maturing males, concomitant with increases in mRNA levels for genes involved in spermatogenesis, FA uptake and synthesis, and production of long chain-polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) and PL. A particularly interesting finding was elevated testis expression of acyl-CoA synthetase 4 (acsl4), and acyl-CoA thioesterase 2 (acot2), critical enzymes that regulate intra-mitochondrial levels of 20:4n-6 FA (arachidonic acid), which have been associated with improved cholesterol transport during steroidogenesis. This suggested that FA may have direct effects on sex steroid production in salmon. Furthermore, we observed increased testis expression of genes for endogenous synthesis of 16:0 and elongation/desaturation to 22:6n-3 (docosahexaenoic acid) in sexually maturing males relative to immature fish. Both of these FA are important structural components of the PL, phosphatidylcholine (PC), and were elevated concomitant with increases in the content of phosphatidic acid, an important precursor for PC, in maturing males compared to immature fish. Overall, this study suggests that, similar to mammals, lipids are important to spermatogenesis and serve as structural components during testicular growth and maturation in Atlantic salmon.publishedVersio

Genetic Variation among Staphylococcus aureus Strains from Norwegian Bulk Milk

Strains of Staphylococcus aureus obtained from bovine (n = 117) and caprine (n = 114) bulk milk were characterized and compared with S. aureus strains from raw-milk products (n = 27), bovine mastitis specimens (n = 9), and human blood cultures (n = 39). All isolates were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). In addition, subsets of isolates were characterized using multilocus sequence typing (MLST), multiplex PCR (m-PCR) for genes encoding nine of the staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE), and the cloverleaf method for penicillin resistance. A variety of genotypes were observed, and greater genetic diversity was found among bovine than caprine bulk milk isolates. Certain genotypes, with a wide geographic distribution, were common to bovine and caprine bulk milk and may represent ruminant-specialized S. aureus. Isolates with genotypes indistinguishable from those of strains from ruminant mastitis were frequently found in bulk milk, and strains with genotypes indistinguishable from those from bulk milk were observed in raw-milk products. This indicates that S. aureus from infected udders may contaminate bulk milk and, subsequently, raw-milk products. Human blood culture isolates were diverse and differed from isolates from other sources. Genotyping by PFGE, MLST, and m-PCR for SE genes largely corresponded. In general, isolates with indistinguishable PFGE banding patterns had the same SE gene profile and isolates with identical SE gene profiles were placed together in PFGE clusters. Phylogenetic analyses agreed with the division of MLST sequence types into clonal complexes, and isolates within the same clonal complex had the same SE gene profile. Furthermore, isolates within PFGE clusters generally belonged to the same clonal complex

Rubber band ligation versus haemorrhoidectomy for the treatment of grade II–III haemorrhoids: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Background: The aim of this study was to review clinical outcome of haemorrhoidectomy and rubber band ligation in grade II–III haemorrhoids. Methods: A systematic review was conducted. Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, Clinicaltrials.gov, and the WHO International Trial Registry Platform were searched, from inception until May 2018, to identify randomised clinical trials comparing rubber band ligation with haemorrhoidectomy for grade II–III haemorrhoids. The primary outcome was control of symptoms. Secondary outcomes included postoperative pain, postoperative complications, anal continence, patient satisfaction, quality of life and healthcare costs were assessed. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Results: Three hundred and twenty-four studies were identified. Eight trials met the inclusion criteria. All trials were of moderate methodological quality. Outcome measures were diverse and not clearly defined. Control of symptoms was better following haemorrhoidectomy. Patients had less pain after rubber band ligation. There were more complications (bleeding, urinary retention, anal incontinence/stenosis) in the haemorrhoidectomy group. Patient satisfaction was equal in both groups. There were no data on quality of life and healthcare costs except that in one study patients resumed work more early after rubber band ligation. Conclusions: Haemorrhoidectomy seems to provide better symptom control but at the cost of more pain and complications. However, due to the poor quality of the studies analysed/it is not possible to determine which of the two procedures provides the best treatment for grade II–III haemorrhoids. Further studies focusing on clearly defined outcome measurements taking patients perspective and economic impact into consideration are required