Critical care provision after colorectal cancer surgery

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the 2nd largest cause of cancer related mortality in the UK with 40 000 new patients being diagnosed each year. Complications of CRC surgery can occur in the perioperative period that leads to the requirement of organ support. The aim of this study was to identify pre-operative risk factors that increased the likelihood of this occurring. Methods: This is a retrospective observational study of all 6441 patients who underwent colorectal cancer surgery within the West of Scotland Region between 2005 and 2011. Logistic regression was employed to determine factors associated with receiving postoperative organ support. Results: A total of 610 (9 %) patients received organ support. Multivariate analysis identified age ≥65, male gender, emergency surgery, social deprivation, heart failure and type II diabetes as being independently associated with organ support postoperatively. After adjusting for demographic and clinical factors, patients with metastatic disease appeared less likely to receive organ support (p = 0.012). Conclusions: Nearly one in ten patients undergoing CRC surgery receive organ support in the post operative period. We identified several risk factors which increase the likelihood of receiving organ support post operatively. This is relevant when consenting patients about the risks of CRC surgery

First Measurement of the Helicity Asymmetry E in ƞ Photoproduction on the Proton

Results are presented for the first measurement of the double-polarization helicity asymmetry E for the ƞ photoproduction reaction ɣp -\u3e ηp. Data were obtained using the FROzen Spin Target (FROST) with the CLAS spectrometer in Hall B at Jefferson Lab, covering a range of center-of-mass energy W from threshold to 2.15 GeV and a large range in center-of-mass polar angle. As an initial application of these data, the results have been incorporated into the Jülich-Bonn model to examine the case for the existence of a narrow N* resonance between 1.66 and 1.70 GeV. The addition of these data to the world database results in marked changes in the predictions for the Eobservable from that model. Further comparison with several theoretical approaches indicates these data will significantly enhance our understanding of nucleon resonances

Responsible agriculture must adapt to the wetland character of mid‐latitude peatlands

Drained, lowland agricultural peatlands are greenhouse gas (GHG) emission hotspots and a large but vulnerable store of irrecoverable carbon. They exhibit soil loss rates of ~2.0 cm yr−1 and are estimated to account for 32% of global cropland emissions while producing only 1.1% of crop kilocalories. Carbon dioxide emissions account for >80% of their terrestrial GHG emissions and are largely controlled by water table depth. Reducing drainage depths is, therefore, essential for responsible peatland management. Peatland restoration can substantially reduce emissions. However, this may conflict with societal needs to maintain productive use, to protect food security and livelihoods. Wetland agriculture strategies will, therefore, be required to adapt agriculture to the wetland character of peatlands, and balance GHG mitigation against productivity, where halting emissions is not immediately possible. Paludiculture may substantially reduce GHG emissions but will not always be viable in the current economic landscape. Reduced drainage intensity systems may deliver partial reductions in the rate of emissions, with smaller modifications to existing systems. These compromise systems may face fewer hurdles to adoption and minimize environmental harm until societal conditions favour strategies that can halt emissions. Wetland agriculture will face agronomic, socio-economic and water management challenges, and careful implementation will be required. Diversity of values and priorities among stakeholders creates the potential for conflict. Successful implementation will require participatory research approaches and co-creation of workable solutions. Policymakers, private sector funders and researchers have key roles to play but adoption risks would fall predominantly on land managers. Development of a robust wetland agriculture paradigm is essential to deliver resilient production systems and wider environmental benefits. The challenge of responsible use presents an opportunity to rethink peatland management and create thriving, innovative and green wetland landscapes for everyone's future benefit, while making a vital contribution to global climate change mitigation

Maize grown for bioenergy on peat emits twice as much carbon as when grown on mineral soil

The area of land dedicated to growing maize for bioenergy in the United Kingdom is rapidly expanding. To understand how maize production influences soil carbon (C) dynamics, and whether this is influenced by soil type, we measured net ecosystem exchange (NEE) using the eddy covariance technique over the 2021 growing season. We combined the NEE data with C imports and exports to calculate the net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of two maize crops grown for bioenergy in the United Kingdom, one site on mineral soil and the other on lowland agricultural peat. Maize was similarly productive at both sites—gross primary productivity was 1107 g C m−2 at the site with mineral soil and 1407 g C m−2 at the peat site. However, total ecosystem respiration was considerably higher from the peat site (1198 g C m−2) compared with the mineral soil site (678 g C m−2). After accounting for the removal of C in harvested biomass, both sites were net C sources, but C losses were over two times greater from the peat site (NEP = 290 g C m−2) than the mineral site (NEP = 136 g C m−2). While annual crops may be needed to produce bioenergy in the short term, growing maize for bioenergy in the United Kingdom does not appear to be a viable option for C sequestration over the long term, as it leads to high carbon losses from agroecosystems, especially those on organic soils. Instead, growing perennial bioenergy crops on mineral soils with a low organic C content is a more appropriate option

Mycoplasma genitalium: an efficient strategy to generate genetic variation from a minimal genome

Mycoplasma genitalium, a human pathogen associated with sexually transmitted diseases, is unique in that it has smallest genome of any known free-living organism. The goal of this study was to investigate if and how M. genitalium uses a minimal genome to generate genetic variations. We analysed the sequence variability of the third gene (MG192 or mgpC) of the M. genitalium MgPa adhesion operon, demonstrated that the MG192 gene is highly variable among and within M. genitalium strains in vitro and in vivo, and identified MG192 sequence shifts in the course of in vitro passage of the G37 type strain and in sequential specimens from an M. genitalium-infected patient. In order to establish the origin of the MG192 variants, we examined nine genomic loci containing partial copies of the MgPa operon, known as MgPar sequences. Our analysis suggests that the MG192 sequence variation is achieved by recombination between the MG192 expression site and MgPar sequences via gene cross-over and, possibly, also by gene conversion. It appears plausible that M. genitalium has the ability to generate unlimited variants from its minimized genome, which presumably allows the organism to adapt to diverse environments and/or to evade host defences by antigenic variation

Overriding water table control on managed peatland greenhouse gas emissions

Global peatlands store more carbon than is naturally present in the atmosphere1,2. However, many peatlands are under pressure from drainage-based agriculture, plantation development and fire, with the equivalent of around 3% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gases emitted from drained peatland3–5. Efforts to curb such emissions are intensifying through the conservation of undrained peatlands and rewetting of drained systems6. Here we report CO2 eddy covariance data from 16 locations and CH4 data from 41 locations in the British Isles, and combine them with published data from sites across all major peatland biomes. We find that the mean annual effective water-table depth (WTDe; that is, the average depth of the aerated peat layer) overrides all other ecosystem- and management-related controls on greenhouse gas fluxes. We estimate that every 10 cm of reduction in WTDe could reduce the net warming impact of CO2 and CH4 emissions (100-year Global Warming Potentials) by at least 3 t CO2e ha-1 yr-1, until WTDe is < 30 cm. Raising water levels further would continue to have a net cooling effect until WTDe is < 10 cm. Our results suggest that greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands drained for agriculture could be greatly reduced without necessarily halting their productive use. Halving WTDe in all drained agricultural peatlands, for example, could reduce emissions by the equivalent of over 1% of global anthropogenic emissions

New cytochrome P450 1B1, 1C2 and 1D1 genes in the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus : Basal expression and response of five killifish CYP1s to the AHR agonist PCB126

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Aquatic Toxicology 93 (2009): 234-243, doi:10.1016/j.aquatox.2009.05.008.Knowledge of the complement of cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes is essential to understanding detoxification and bioactivation mechanisms for organic contaminants.We cloned three new CYP1 genes, CYP1B1, CYP1C2 and CYP1D1, from the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus, an important model in environmental toxicology. Expression of the new CYP1s along with previously known CYP1A and CYP1C1 was measured by qPCR in eight different organs. Organ distribution was similar for the two CYP1Cs, but otherwise patterns and extent of expression differed among the genes. The AHR agonist 3,3_,4,4_,5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) (31 pmol/g fish) induced expression of CYP1A and CYP1B1 in all organs examined, while CYP1C1 was induced in all organs except testis. The largest changes in response to PCB126 were induction of CYP1A in testis (~700-fold) and induction of CYP1C1 in liver (~500-fold). CYP1B1 in liver and gut, CYP1A in brain and CYP1C1 in gill also were induced strongly by PCB126 (>100-fold). CYP1C1 expression levels were higher than CYP1C2 in almost all tissues and CYP1C2 was much less responsive to PCB126. In contrast to the other genes, CYP1D1 was not induced by PCB126 in any of the organs. The organ-specific response of CYP1s to PCB126 implies differential involvement in effects of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons in different organs. The suite of inducible CYP1s could enhance the use of F. heteroclitus in assessing aquatic contamination by AHR agonists. Determining basal and induced levels of protein and the substrate specificity for all five CYP1s will be necessary to better understand their roles in chemical effects and physiology.This study was supported in part by NIH grants JJS (the Superfund Basic Research Program 5P42ES007381 and R01ES015912) and MJJ (K99ES017044-01)