Turning the ship: a new direction for managing wood waste in the Salish Sea of Washington State

Wood waste has been a major driver in numerous large scale, nearshore cleanups in Washington State Its presence has contributed substantially to both the extent and volume of sediment requiring cleanup which is costly and time consuming. Success in dealing with wood waste must start with controlling sources and a reassessment of how timber-related uses of our waters are conducted. Recognizing its ecological impacts and the financial burden of cleanup prompts the change from practices that release wood waste to state waters. While it is tough to change from traditional use of waters for transport and storage of logs or chips, the minor investment in source control measures is necessary to avoid impacts. Activities that generate wood waste have received less attention than the regulation of typical industrial process discharges and solid waste streams. Also, the nature of wood waste is highly variable which makes its toxic effects difficult to predict. Unlike many traditional contaminants, there is not a simple metric like chemical concentration that accurately characterizes the effects of wood waste in the aquatic environment. The Washington State Sediment Management Standards address both of these challenges, 1) implementing practical source control measures under state and federal (Clean Water Act) laws, and 2) use of biological criteria (bioassays) for final assessment of wood waste impacted sediments. These are detailed in Ecology’s technical guidance document, Wood Waste Cleanup, Identifying, assessing, and remediating wood waste in marine and freshwater environments

Three-body interactions in colloidal systems

We present the first direct measurement of three-body interactions in a colloidal system comprised of three charged colloidal particles. Two of the particles have been confined by means of a scanned laser tweezers to a line-shaped optical trap where they diffused due to thermal fluctuations. Upon the approach of a third particle, attractive three-body interactions have been observed. The results are in qualitative agreement with additionally performed nonlinear Poissson-Boltzmann calculations, which also allow us to investigate the microionic density distributions in the neighborhood of the interacting colloidal particles

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

C9orf72-mediated ALS and FTD: multiple pathways to disease

The discovery that repeat expansions in the C9orf72 gene are a frequent cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) has revolutionized our understanding of these diseases. Substantial headway has been made in characterizing C9orf72-mediated disease and unravelling its underlying aetiopathogenesis. Three main disease mechanisms have been proposed: loss of function of the C9orf72 protein and toxic gain of function from C9orf72 repeat RNA or from dipeptide repeat proteins produced by repeat-associated non-ATG translation. Several downstream processes across a range of cellular functions have also been implicated. In this article, we review the pathological and mechanistic features of C9orf72-associated FTD and ALS (collectively termed C9FTD/ALS), the model systems used to study these conditions, and the probable initiators of downstream disease mechanisms. We suggest that a combination of upstream mechanisms involving both loss and gain of function and downstream cellular pathways involving both cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous effects contributes to disease progression

Wood waste remediation at sediment cleanup sites in Washington State: lessons learned after 20 years of cleanup

The timber industry in Washington State has played an important role in the state’s economic and industrial development, with mills producing pulp, paper, plywood and other timber products. The state’s waterways provided the most economical means to transport and store timber, resulting in the accumulation of harmful wood waste in or near productive littoral zones. The Washington State Department of Ecology has completed cleanup at a number of sites with significant recorded accumulations of wood waste. These include the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma, Port Gamble Bay on the Kitsap Peninsula and the Scott Paper Mill in Fidalgo Bay, Anacortes. Throughout this process Ecology has developed methodologies for evaluating wood waste impacts to the benthic community as well as compliance with the State’s Sediment Management Standards (SMS) rule. A successful evaluation of wood waste impacts is complex but key objectives that satisfy the SMS requirements include 1) identifying past and continuing sources of wood waste 2) describing the overall nature and extent (lateral and vertical extent, percent cover) 3) characterizing chemical and biological conditions of site sediments and 4) informing and selecting among the potential range of remedial alternatives. Through the cleanup of multiple sites Ecology has refined its technical understanding of remediating wood waste such as 1) the volume and types of wood waste that is harmful to the benthic environment 2) the tools and methods that best define nature and extent and environmental impacts depending on the age and origin of the wood waste 3) how to correlate conventional chemistry results with bioassay results and 4) how to best optimize the selection of cleanup alternatives

High resolution bathymetric and topographic survey to inform restoration efforts in Port Gamble Bay, WA.

Port Gamble Bay has a richly diverse and valuable set of natural resources, including shellfish, herring, and eelgrass. Its commercial history, namely the sawmill in Port Gamble which closed down in 1995, left the bay with a variety of environmental impacts, including contaminated sediments and numerous derelict vessels and structures. It was targeted by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program for cleanup and restoration efforts due to its potential for significant environmental return. In March 2014, the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Coastal Monitoring & Analysis Program (CMAP) conducted a high-resolution bathymetric and topographic survey of Port Gamble Bay to inform WDNR and Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program in their restoration efforts. The survey was conducted onboard the R/V George Davidson, utilizing an R2Sonic 2022 multibeam echosounder, an Optech ILRIS-HD-ER mobile laser scanner, and an Applanix POS MV 320 v5 receiving real-time kinematic positioning corrections. This survey provided the first high-resolution contiguous bathymetric and topographic dataset of Port Gamble Bay. Aside from its morphological, research, and navigational applications, the dataset was used to accurately determine the location and scope of debris for removal during restoration, down to a half-meter scale. The survey identified over 300 pilings, logs, wrecks, and other environmental and navigational hazards, and was merged with a contractor’s neighboring dataset to assist with removal of contaminated sediments. Precisely locating these hazards greatly increased the efficiency of restoration by freeing resources to focus on natural resource studies, including eelgrass restoration and Olympia oyster enhancement by state and tribal entities. High-resolution bathymetric surveys such as this provide the essential baseline for large cleanup and restoration projects throughout Puget Sound. The capability to now reliably survey across the land-sea interface is particularly valuable for performing nearshore assessments and restoration projects

Perioperative immune function and pain control may underlie early hospital readmission and 90 day mortality following lung cancer resection: A prospective cohort study of 932 patients.

BACKGROUND Mortality following lung cancer resection has been shown to double between 30 and 90 days and readmission following surgery is associated with an increased risk of mortality. The aim of this study was to describe the causes of readmission and mortality and enable the identification of potentially modifiable factors associated with these events. METHODS Prospective cohort study at a United Kingdom tertiary referral centre conducted over 55 months. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with death within 90 days of surgery. RESULTS The 30 day and 90 day mortality rates were 1.4% and 3.3% respectively. The most common causes of death were pneumonia, lung cancer and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome/Multi Organ Failure. Potentially modifiable risk factors for death identified were: Postoperative pulmonary complications (Odds ratio 6.1), preoperative lymphocyte count (OR 0.25), readmission within 30 days (OR 4.2) and type of postoperative analgesia (OR for intrathecal morphine 4.8). The most common causes of readmission were pneumonia, shortness of breath and pain. CONCLUSIONS Postoperative mortality is not simply due to fixed factors; the impacts of age, gender and surgical procedure on postoperative survival are reduced when the postoperative course of recovery is examined. Perioperative immune function, as portrayed by the occurrence of infection and lower lymphocyte count in the immediate perioperative period, and pain control method are strongly associated with 90 day mortality; further studies in these fields are indicated as are studies of psychological factors in recovery. CLINICAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ISRCTN00061628