Unraveling the Roles of Crayfish Ectosymbionts

Undergraduate Basi

Microbial Assemblages in Association with Crayfish Ectosymbionts

Undergraduat

Bloomfield Road Stormwater Storage Tanks Grouting Works, Blackpool, UK

Bloomfield Road Stormwater Storage Tanks, owned by United Utilities PLC, were constructed in 1999 in Blackpool UK to provide 60,000m3 of storage to prevent overflow discharges during the summer bathing water season. The asset comprises two buried tanks (36m diameter and 40m deep) constructed as circular diaphragm walls. Significant groundwater inflows with minor fines content and turbidity up to 48l/s have been reported entering one of the tanks since 2001. From 2008 an increase of fines ingress has been observed indicating potential for progressive failure of the underlying formation strata. The site stratigraphy comprises predominantly glacial superficial soils overlying an interlaminated Mudstone/Gypsum and Halite sequence. Groundwater inflows were likely to have initiated failure mechanisms in the formation strata including fines loss, dissolution of both gypsum and halite and potentially significant voiding. An innovative event tree risk analysis tool was developed to identify and allow a focused remedial works design and a cost effective solution to be planned. The main works implemented comprised: sealing of the base slab joint by resin injection; contact grouting beneath the base; ground investigation works including cross hole tomography geophysics; and grouting within the Mudstone formation. This paper describes the implementation of the project which was completed ahead of programme ensuring continue

Oxford unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: medial pain and functional outcome in the medium term

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In our experience results of the Oxford unicompartmental knee replacement have not been as good as had been expected. A common post operative complaint is of persistent medial knee discomfort, it is not clear why this phenomenon occurs and we have attempted to address this in our study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>48 patients were retrospectively identified at a mean of 4.5 years (range = 3 to 6 years) following consecutive Oxford medial Unicompartmental Knee arthroplasties for varus anteromedial osteoarthritis. The mean age at implantation was 67 years (range 57-86). Of these 48 patients, 4 had died, 4 had undergone revision of their unicompartmental knee replacements and 2 had been lost to follow up leaving 38 patients with 40 replaced knees available for analysis using the 'new Oxford Knee Score' questionnaire. During assessment patients were asked specifically whether or not they still experienced medial knee discomfort or pain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean 'Oxford score' was only 32.7 (range = 16 to 48) and 22 of the 40 knees were uncomfortable or painful medially.</p> <p>The accuracy of component positioning was recorded, using standard post operative xrays, by summing the angulation or displacement of each component in two planes from the ideal position (according to the 'Oxford knee system radiographic criteria'). No correlation was demonstrated between the radiographic scores and the 'Oxford scores', or with the presence or absence of medial knee discomfort or pain.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In our hands the functional outcome following Oxford Unicompartmental knee replacement was variable, with a high incidence of medial knee discomfort which did not correlate with the postoperative radiographic scores, pre-op arthritis and positioning of the prosthesis.</p

Health Care Delivery Practices in Huntington's Disease Specialty Clinics : An International Survey

The CHDI Foundation, Inc. funds Enroll-HD and the activities of the Enroll-HD Care Improvement Committee, including the present survey. We would like to acknowledge the Enroll-HD and REGISTRY administrative staff that assisted in the recruitment of sites and sites that completed the survey.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Erratum:Association of dietary factors with presence and severity of tinnitus in a middle-aged UK population (PLoS ONE (2015) 9:12 (e114711) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114711)

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114711.]

Relationship between tinnitus pitch and edge of hearing loss in individuals with a narrow tinnitus bandwidth

Objective: Psychoacoustic measures of tinnitus, in particular dominant tinnitus pitch and its relationship to the shape of the audiogram, are important in determining and verifying pathophysiological mechanisms of the condition. Our previous study postulated that this relationship might vary between different groups of people with tinnitus. For a small subset of participants with narrow tinnitus bandwidth, pitch was associated with the audiometric edge, consistent with the tonotopic reorganization theory. The current study objective was to establish this relationship in an independent sample. Design: This was a retrospective design using data from five studies conducted between 2008 and 2013. Study sample: From a cohort of 380 participants, a subgroup group of 129 with narrow tinnitus bandwidth were selected. Results: Tinnitus pitch generally fell within the area of hearing loss. There was a statistically significant correlation between dominant tinnitus pitch and edge frequency; higher edge frequency being associated with higher dominant tinnitus pitch. However, similar to our previous study, for the majority of participants pitch was more than an octave above the edge frequency. Conclusions: The findings did not support our prediction and are therefore not consistent with the reorganization theory postulating tinnitus pitch to correspond to the audiometric edge

Microbial Assemblages in Association with Crayfish Ectosymbionts

Undergraduate Basi

Current posttraumatic stress disorder and exaggerated threat sensitivity associated with elevated inflammation in the Mind Your Heart Study

OBJECTIVE: Elevated inflammation has been repeatedly observed in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and it may drive the development of both psychiatric symptoms and physical comorbidities. However, it is not clear if elevated inflammation is a feature of both remitted and current PTSD, and little is known about relationships between specific clusters of PTSD symptoms and inflammation. Exaggerated threat sensitivity, as indexed by threat reactivity and avoidance of perceived threats, may be particularly closely associated with inflammation. METHODS: We assessed PTSD symptoms and threat sensitivity using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale in 735 Veterans Affairs patients (35% current PTSD; 16% remitted PTSD) who participated in the Mind Your Heart Study (mean age=59±11; 94% male). High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), white blood cell count (WBC), and fibrinogen were used as indices of inflammation. Analysis of covariance models with planned contrasts were used to examine differences in inflammation by PTSD status, adjusting for age, sex, race, kidney function and socioeconomic status

Cigarette smoking, passive smoking, alcohol consumption, and hearing loss

The objective of this large population-based cross-sectional study was to evaluate the association between smoking, passive smoking, alcohol consumption, and hearing loss. The study sample was a subset of the UK Biobank Resource, 164,770 adults aged between 40 and 69 years who completed a speech-in-noise hearing test (the Digit Triplet Test). Hearing loss was defined as speech recognition in noise in the better ear poorer than 2 standard deviations below the mean with reference to young normally hearing listeners. In multiple logistic regression controlling for potential confounders, current smokers were more likely to have a hearing loss than non-smokers (odds ratio (OR) 1.15, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.09–1.21). Among non-smokers, those who reported passive exposure to tobacco smoke were more likely to have a hearing loss (OR 1.28, 95 %CI 1.21–1.35). For both smoking and passive smoking, there was evidence of a dose-response effect. Those who consume alcohol were less likely to have a hearing loss than lifetime teetotalers. The association was similar across three levels of consumption by volume of alcohol (lightest 25 %, OR 0.61, 95 %CI 0.57–0.65; middle 50 % OR 0.62, 95 %CI 0.58–0.66; heaviest 25 % OR 0.65, 95 %CI 0.61–0.70). The results suggest that lifestyle factors may moderate the risk of hearing loss. Alcohol consumption was associated with a protective effect. Quitting or reducing smoking and avoiding passive exposure to tobacco smoke may also help prevent or moderate age-related hearing loss