An evaluation of alcohol attendances to an inner city emergency department before and after the introduction of the UK Licensing Act 2003

Background: The Licensing Act 2003 (The Act) was implemented on the 24th November 2005 across England and Wales. The Act allowed more flexible and longer opening hours for licensed premises. We investigated the effect of The Act on alcohol related attendances to an inner city emergency department in Birmingham, UK. \ud \ud Methods: We compared the proportion and time of alcohol related emergency department attendances in one week periods in January 2005 and 2006, before and after the implementation of The Licensing Act 2003. An alcohol related attendance was defined as any attendance where there was any documentation of the patient having consumed alcohol before presenting to the emergency department, if they appeared intoxicated on examination, or if alcohol attributed to their final diagnosis. \ud \ud Results: The total weekly attendances increased slightly from 1,912 in 2005 to 2,146 in 2006. There was non-significant reduction in the proportion of alcohol related attendances between 2005 (3.6%) and 2006 (2.9%). A significantly greater proportion of attendances occurred at the weekend between 18.00 and 23.59 in 2005 (61.4%) than in 2006 (17.2%). There was a corresponding significant increase in the weekend proportion of attendances occurring between 03.00 to 05.59 in 2006. \ud \ud Conclusion: Our findings show that there was a change in the pattern of alcohol related attendances to the emergency department around the time of implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, which has implications for delivery of emergency department services

EEF2 Analysis Challenges the Monophyly of Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata

BACKGROUND: Classification of eukaryotes provides a fundamental phylogenetic framework for ecological, medical, and industrial research. In recent years eukaryotes have been classified into six major supergroups: Amoebozoa, Archaeplastida, Chromalveolata, Excavata, Opisthokonta, and Rhizaria. According to this supergroup classification, Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata each arose from a single plastid-generating endosymbiotic event involving a cyanobacterium (Archaeplastida) or red alga (Chromalveolata). Although the plastids within members of the Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata share some features, no nucleocytoplasmic synapomorphies supporting these supergroups are currently known. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study was designed to test the validity of the Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata through the analysis of nucleus-encoded eukaryotic translation elongation factor 2 (EEF2) and cytosolic heat-shock protein of 70 kDa (HSP70) sequences generated from the glaucophyte Cyanophora paradoxa, the cryptophytes Goniomonas truncata and Guillardia theta, the katablepharid Leucocryptos marina, the rhizarian Thaumatomonas sp. and the green alga Mesostigma viride. The HSP70 phylogeny was largely unresolved except for certain well-established groups. In contrast, EEF2 phylogeny recovered many well-established eukaryotic groups and, most interestingly, revealed a well-supported clade composed of cryptophytes, katablepharids, haptophytes, rhodophytes, and Viridiplantae (green algae and land plants). This clade is further supported by the presence of a two amino acid signature within EEF2, which appears to have arisen from amino acid replacement before the common origin of these eukaryotic groups. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our EEF2 analysis strongly refutes the monophyly of the Archaeplastida and the Chromalveolata, adding to a growing body of evidence that limits the utility of these supergroups. In view of EEF2 phylogeny and other morphological evidence, we discuss the possibility of an alternative eukaryotic supergroup

An external validation of the ETVSS for both short-term and long-term predictive adequacy in 104 pediatric patients

<p>This study aims to provide external validation of the "Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy Success Score (ETVSS)" for both short-term and long-term predictive adequacy.</p><p>Between 1998 and 2007, we collected clinical follow-up data (after 6 and 36 months) of all 104 hydrocephalic children (<18 years of age) treated by endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in our hospital. Predictive adequacy of ETVSS for 6- and 36-month periods was tested by means of an unpaired t test, Hosmer-Lemeshow "goodness-of- fit" test, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.</p><p>Mean follow-up was 73.4 months. For both the short-term (6 months) and the long-term (36 months) periods, the mean predicted probability of ETV for the patients with successful ETV treatment was significantly higher than in the patients with failed ETV treatment. The areas under the curve for the short- and long-term periods were, respectively, 0.82 (95 % CI 0.71-0.92) and 0.73 (95 % CI 0.62-0.84). For patients with moderate ETVSS (50-70), the median age at first ETV was significantly higher for patients with successful ETV for both short- and long-term periods.</p><p>In hydrocephalic children, the ETVSS is a useful tool for prediction of outcome after ETV treatment. The ETVSS is more adequate in predicting short-term than long-term success. In our population, it is suggested that success rate for patients with moderate ETVSS could be improved if more weight is attributed to age at first ETV.</p>

Riverine source of Arctic Ocean mercury inferred from atmospheric observations

Methylmercury is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in aquatic food webs. Human activities, including industry and mining, have increased inorganic mercury inputs to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Methylation of this mercury generates methylmercury, and is thus a public health concern. Marine methylmercury is a particular concern in the Arctic, where indigenous peoples rely heavily on marine-based diets. In the summer, atmospheric inorganic mercury concentrations peak in the Arctic, whereas they reach a minimum in the northern mid-latitudes. Here, we use a global three-dimensional ocean–atmosphere model to examine the cause of this Arctic summertime maximum. According to our simulations, circumpolar rivers deliver large quantities of mercury to the Arctic Ocean during summer; the subsequent evasion of this riverine mercury to the atmosphere can explain the summertime peak in atmospheric mercury levels. We infer that rivers are the dominant source of mercury to the Arctic Ocean on an annual basis. Our simulations suggest that Arctic Ocean mercury concentrations could be highly sensitive to climate-induced changes in river flow, and to increases in the mobility of mercury in soils, for example as a result of permafrost thaw and forest fires. Mercury is emitted from anthropogenic and natural sources primarily as elemental mercury (Hg0). The Hg0 atmospheric lifetime of 6–12 months allows transport of this emitted mercury on a hemispheric scale. Eventual oxidation to highly soluble HgII drives deposition in remote regions. Hg0 ha