Evaluating chemical signatures in a coastal upwelling region to reconstruct water mass associations of settlement-stage rockfishes

Characterizing the behavior of larvae prior to settlement is integral to understanding population dynamics because coastal oceanography may facilitate or limit settlement. Otolith microchemistry can be used to determine patterns of fish movement, although there is a limited understanding of how this tool can be applied in coastal marine systems. Our goal in this study was to evaluate the application of otolith microchemistry to characterize water mass associations of settlement-stage marine fish in a coastal upwelling region using a 3-step approach. First, we characterized seawater chemistry of coastal water mass types across multiple years, finding differences in the chemical signatures of strong upwelling, weak upwelling, and relaxation events. Second, we experimentally determined the effect of temperature on the partitioning of trace elements in otoliths for 2 rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) to find that the effect of temperature on otolith partition coefficients was element-and species-specific. Finally, we compared coeval changes in seawater and otolith chemistry of settlement-stage rockfishes that were exposed to naturally variable conditions over an upwelling-relaxation cycle. We subsequently evaluate whether laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry effectively measures otolith chemistry over ecologically relevant time scales. We discovered that elemental concentrations in otoliths respond rapidly to changes in seawater chemistry and reflect equivalent proportional changes. This study provides evidence that elemental signatures are valuable tools for reconstructing larval histories of marine fish in coastal upwelling regions

The correlation of dust and gas emission in star-forming environments

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.We present ammonia maps of portions of the W3 and Perseus molecular clouds in order to compare gas emission with submillimetre continuum thermal emission which are commonly used to trace the same mass component in star-forming regions, often under the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). The Perseus and W3 star-forming regions are found to have significantly different physical characteristics consistent with the difference in size scales traced by our observations. Accounting for the distance of theW3 region does not fully reconcile these differences, suggesting that there may be an underlying difference in the structure of the two regions. Peak positions of submillimetre and ammonia emission do not correlate strongly. Also, the extent of diffuse emission is only moderately matched between ammonia and thermal emission. Source sizes measured from our observations are consistent between regions, although there is a noticeable difference between the submillimetre source sizes with sources in Perseus being significantly smaller than those in W3. Fractional abundances of ammonia are determined for our sources which indicate a dip in the measured ammonia abundance at the positions of peak submillimetre column density. Virial ratios are determined which show that our sources are generally bound in both regions, although there is considerable scatter in both samples. We conclude that sources in Perseus are bound on smaller scales than in W3 in a way that may reflect their previous identification as low-and high-mass, respectively. Our results indicate that assumptions of local thermal equilibrium and/or the coupling of the dust and gas phases in star-forming regions may not be as robust as commonly assumed. © 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.The authors would like to thank Neal Evans and Erik Rosolowsky for insightful and thorough comments on this work which have considerably improved its quality. The authors acknowledge the data analysis facilities provided by the Starlink Project under continual development by the JAC. In addition, the following Starlink packages have been used: Kappa, Cupid, GAIA, Convert and Coco. We would like to thank the helpful staff of the GBT in the collection of data used in this paper related to the project GBT10C_024. LKM is supported by a STFC postdoctoral grant (ST/G001847/1) and DJE is supported by a STFC PhD studentship. This research would not have been possible without the SIMBAD astronomical data base service operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France and the NASA Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services

Proof of concept study of a novel pacemapping algorithm as a basis to guide ablation of ventricular arrhythmias.

Aims: To determine if a software algorithm can use an individualized distance-morphology difference model, built from three initial pacemaps, to prospectively locate the exit site (ES) of ventricular arrhythmias (VA). Methods and results: Consecutive patients undergoing ablation of VA from a single centre were recruited. During mapping, three initial pacing points were collected in the chamber of interest and the navigation algorithm applied to predict the ES, which was corroborated by conventional mapping techniques. Thirty-two patients underwent ES prediction over 35 procedures. Structural heart disease was present in 16 (7 ischaemic cardiomyopathy, 9 non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy), median ejection fraction 45% [Interquartile range (IQR) 26]. The remainder had normal hearts. The navigation algorithm was applied to 46 VA (24 left ventricle, 11 right ventricular outflow tract, 5 left ventricular outflow tract, 4 right ventricle, 2 epicardial) and successfully located the site of best pacemap match in 45 within a median area of 196.5 mm2 (IQR 161.3, range 46.6-1288.2 mm2). Conclusions: In a diverse population of patients with and without structural heart disease, the ES of VA can be accurately and reliably identified to within a clinically useful target area using a simple software navigation algorithm based on pacemapping

Involving young people in BRIGHTLIGHT from study inception to secondary data analysis: Insights from 10 years of user involvement

© The Author(s). Background Young people with cancer, broadly those aged 13–24 years at diagnosis, warrant special attention; physiological and psychological growth creates complex psychosocial needs which neither adult nor child systems are suitably designed to deal with. Resulting from these needs, they are often described as ‘vulnerable’, ‘hard to reach’ and ‘difficult to engage’, and consequently are often over looked for patient and public involvement/ engagement (PPIE) roles. In our study ‘BRIGHTLIGHT’, we set out to evaluate whether specialist care for young people adds value, ensuring young people were central to our PPIE activities. We believe that BRIGHTLIGHT is unique as a very large study of young people with cancer which has successfully overcome the challenges of including young people in the research process so we are confident that they have influenced every aspect of study design, conduct and dissemination. Methods We chronicle a period of 10 years, over which we describe our approach and our methods to involving young people in PPIE activities in BRIGHTLIGHT. We describe the feasibility work, study set up, conduct and dissemination of our findings, and weave through our story of PPIE to illustrate its benefits. Through the narration of our experience we highlight significant points that both influenced and changed our direction of travel. We reflect on our experiences and offer some practical advice for those looking to do the same. Results In the 10 years since the BRIGHTLIGHT feasibility work began we have involved more than 1200 young people. Their contributions have been isolated and mapped over a 10-year period. We begin at an early step of identifying what research questions to prioritize, we then plot PPIE activities for one of these research priorities, place of care, which evolved into BRIGHTLIGHT. We document steps along the way to evidence the impact of this involvement. Conclusions Young people can make a valuable contribution to healthcare research given adequate support from the research team. Although some challenges exist, we propose that the benefits to young people, researchers and the study considerably outweigh these challenges and PPIE with young people should be integrated in all similar research studies

Are lay people good at recognising the symptoms of schizophrenia?

©2013 Erritty, Wydell. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the general public’s perception of schizophrenia symptoms and the need to seekhelp for symptoms. The recognition (or ‘labelling’) of schizophrenia symptoms, help-seeking behaviours and public awareness of schizophrenia have been suggested as potentially important factors relating to untreated psychosis. Method: Participants were asked to rate to what extent they believe vignettes describing classic symptoms (positive and negative) of schizophrenia indicate mental illness. They were also asked if the individuals depicted in the vignettes required help or treatment and asked to suggest what kind of help or treatment. Results: Only three positive symptoms (i.e., Hallucinatory behaviour, Unusual thought content and Suspiciousness) of schizophrenia were reasonably well perceived (above 70%) as indicating mental illness more than the other positive or negative symptoms. Even when the participants recognised that the symptoms indicated mental illness, not everyone recommended professional help. Conclusion: There may be a need to improve public awareness of schizophrenia and psychosis symptoms, particularly regarding an awareness of the importance of early intervention for psychosis

Biomonitoring Data for 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid in the United States and Canada: Interpretation in a Public Health Risk Assessment Context Using Biomonitoring Equivalents

Background: Several extensive studies of exposure to 2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) using urinary concentrations in samples from the general population, farm applicators, and farm family members are now available. Reference doses (RfDs) exist for 2,4-D, and Biomonitoring Equivalents (BEs; concentrations in urine or plasma that are consistent with those RfDs) for 2,4-D have recently been derived and published. Objective: We reviewed the available biomonitoring data for 2,4-D from the United States and Canada and compared them with BE values to draw conclusions regarding the margin of safety for 2,4-D exposures within each population group. Data sources: Data on urinary 2,4-D excretion in general and target populations from recent published studies are tabulated and the derivation of BE values for 2,4-D summarized. Data synthesis: The biomonitoring data indicate margins of safety (ratio of BE value to biomarker concentration) of approximately 200 at the central tendency and 50 at the extremes in the general population. Median exposures for applicators and their family members during periods of use appear to be well within acute exposure guidance values. Conclusions: Biomonitoring data from these studies indicate that current exposures to 2,4-D are below applicable exposure guidance values. This review demonstrates the value of biomonitoring data in assessing population exposures in the context of existing risk assessments using the BE approach. Risk managers can use this approach to integrate the available biomonitoring data into an overall assessment of current risk management practices for 2,4-D

Tilted frames of reference have similar effects on perception of the gravitational vertical and the planning of vertical saccadic eye movements

We investigated the effects of a tilted reference frame (i.e., allocentric visual context) on perception of the gravitational vertical and saccadic eye movements along a planned egocentric vertical path. Participants (n=5) in a darkened room fixated a point in the center of a circle on an LCD display, and decided which of two sequentially presented dots was closer to the unmarked ‘6 o’clock’ position on that circle (i.e., straight down towards their feet). The slope of their perceptual psychometric functions showed that participants were able to locate which dot was nearer the vertical with a precision of 1-2°. For three of the participants, a square frame centered at fixation and tilted (in the roll direction) 5.6° from the vertical caused a strong perceptual bias, manifest as a shift in the psychometric function, in the direction of the traditional ‘rod and frame’ effect, without affecting precision. The other two participants showed negligible or no equivalent biases. The same subjects participated in the saccade version of the task, in which they were instructed to shift their gaze to the 6 o’clock position as soon as the central fixation point disappeared. The participants who showed perceptual biases showed biases of similar magnitude in their saccadic end points, with a strong correlation between perceptual and saccadic biases across all subjects. Tilting of the head 5.6° reduced both perceptual and saccadic biases in all but one observer, who developed a strong saccadic bias. Otherwise, the overall pattern and significant correlations between results remained the same. We conclude that our observers' saccades-to-the-vertical were dominated by perceptual input, which outweighed any gravitational or head-centered input

Spontaneous regression of metastatic renal cell carcinoma: case report

Spontaneous regression of metastatic renal cell carcinoma is rarely observed. A case of suspected spontaneous regression of pulmonary metastases following nephrectomy for histologically proven renal cell carcinoma without systemic treatment is presented along with a brief review of the literature

A survey of medical students to assess their exposure to and knowledge of renal transplantation

BACKGROUND: Within the field of renal transplantation there is a lack of qualified and trainee surgeons and a shortage of donated organs. Any steps to tackle these issues should, in part, be aimed at future doctors. METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed to final year students at a single medical school in the UK to assess their exposure to and knowledge of renal transplantation. RESULTS: Although 46% of responding students had examined a transplant recipient, only 14% had ever witnessed the surgery. Worryingly, 9% of students believed that xenotransplantation commonly occurs in the UK and 35% were unable to name a single drug that a recipient may need to take. CONCLUSIONS: This survey demonstrates a lack of exposure to, and knowledge of, the field of renal transplantation. Recommendations to address the problems with the recruitment of surgeons and donation of organs, by targeting medical students are made

Seeing the baby, doing family: commercial ultrasound as family practice?

Medical sociologists and anthropologists have studied the social significance of obstetric ultrasound for families but little is known about how women and families make use of commercially available ultrasound scans. This article draws on interviews with women who booked a scan with a commercial company in the UK. For some women, commercial ultrasound can be understood as a family practice. We investigate this theme by examining who accompanies women to commercial scan appointments, how scan images are shared and how sonograms are used as prompts to resemblance talk. We argue that commercial scans are more than an additional opportunity to acquire ‘baby’s first picture’ and offer a flexible resource to do family, creating and affirming family relationships and rehearsing roles as parents, siblings and grandparents. Our findings confirm the importance of imagination in doing family and raise questions about the role of technology and commercial interests in shaping family practices