Historical Records and Relics from the North Greenland Coast

Reports recovery of nine records during geological reconnaissance by the Danish party of Operation Grant Land 1966, organized by the Geological Survey of Canada. The oldest is an 1876 copy of a record from 1871, the youngest dates from 1921. Records and relics from the US North Polar Expedition, 1871-73, British Arctic Expedition, 1875-76, US Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, 1881-84, Danish 2nd Thule Expedition, 1916-18, and Danish Bicentenary Jubilee Expedition, 1920-23, are included.Documents et historiques de la côte nord du Groënland. L'auteur rapporte la découverte récente, sur la côte peu fréquentée du nord du Groënland, de neuf documents historiques et de vestiges qui leur sont associés. Le matériel provient de cinq expéditions arctiques de la fin du 19e siècle et du début du 20e, dans la région du chenal de Robeson. On a reproduit en facsimilé des pages de deux de ces documents.&nbsp

Per Schei (1875-1905)

Per Schei, Norwegian geologist and explorer, died a young man. From 1898 to 1902, as a member of Captain Otto Sverdrup's second expedition in the Fram, Schei made his mark on the geological understanding of a vast region of the eastern Canadian High Arctic. Schei died before he could write a detailed report for publication, but by the time of his death, his status as a talented scientist and outstanding expedition man was established. ... In collaboration with Nansen, Sverdrup had decided to explore northernmost Greenland, and possibly to circumnavigate the subcontinent. Using the so-called Smith Sound route, Sverdrup was to direct Fram up the narrow channels separating Greenland and Ellesmere Island and winter in Greenland as far north as possible. These channels, now known as Nares Strait, had been explored by British and American expeditions since the 1850s. Sledge parties from Fram were to delimit the northern part of Greenland and to reach as far south down the east coast as possible. ... However, the Norwegian thrust north in the summer of 1898 was stopped by unfavourable ice conditions in Kane Basin. ... Another attempt the following summer to negotiate Kane Basin was thwarted by ice, and following this Sverdrup sailed Fram southward and westward into Jones Sound to spend the next three winters in southern Ellesmere Island. This was a fortunate decision: it led to the discovery and charting of "New Land" west of Ellesmere Island. Up north, it was left to Peary to prove the insularity of Greenland, in 1900. ... Schei took to expedition life quickly but not without mishap. After an episode of frostbite during early sledging on Bache Peninsula, which necessitated amputation of several toes on each foot, Schei developed into one of the most skillful dogsledge handlers and hunters on the expedition. His courage and dedication could not be overwhelmed by such small disabilities as a stiff leg, lost toes, and short-sightedness. ... Sverdrup's well-organized and coordinated team work produced results unsurpassed in arctic exploration; the group of islands now named the Sverdrup Islands - Axel Heiberg, Ellef and Amund Ringes, King Christian, and smaller islands - were discovered and mapped, and the entire western coast of Ellesmere Island and much of northern Devon Island were charted. Schei participated in some of the longest and most arduous sledge journeys, for example a trip with Sverdrup, during the final sledging campaign of 1902, northward up Nansen Sound to reach the Arctic Ocean and the northwestern tip of Ellesmere Island. ... The geographic and scientific advances achieved by Sverdrup's expedition rank it as one of the most successful in the history of arctic exploration, and Schei returned with a rich geological and paleontological collection from a hitherto unknown region. ... Schei's preliminary accounts appeared in 1903 in several languages, and these papers, although only a few pages each, were regarded by his contemporaries as forming some of the most important contributions ever made to arctic geology. Aware of the mammoth task of dealing with the extensive collection, Schei induced a number of specialists in Europe to identify and systematically describe the fossil assemblages. Only one treatise appeared in Schei's lifetime, but by 1917 ten geological reports had been completed, and Professor Olav Holtedahl concluded the four-volume work with a summary report based on Schei's diaries. One can only wonder how much greater Schei's contribution to arctic geology would have been had he lived. Professor W.C. Brogger noted Schei's decline in health early in 1905. ... Schei died of dropsy, a result of kidney malfunction that was thought at the time to be related to the four strenuous years in the far North. ... Schei can be credited with making the most impressive contribution by a single person to the geological understanding of the Arctic Islands prior to the advent of aircraft

Kennedy Channel and its geophysical lineaments: new evidence that the Wegener Fault is a myth

2010, the year under review, marks the centennial of perhaps the most controversial structure in the Arctic: the Wegener Fault, the 1000-km long fracture that is supposed to underlie Nares Strait and define the north-western margin of an independent Greenland plate (Fig. 1). The seaway between Greenland and Ellesmere Island, Canada, was branded a megashear by Frank Taylor who, purely on physiographic expression, postulated massive Tertiary strike-slip (Taylor 1910). This revolutionary idea fittingly found a place in Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift and thereafter in plate-tectonic theory with Greenland drifting hundreds of kilometres from North America along what Tuzo Wilson subsequently dubbed the ‘Wegener Fault’ (Wilson 1963). Today, the concept lives on. In modern palaeogeography, Nares Strait is given a long multiphase dynamic history with collision of Greenland and Canada in the Palaeogene (Fig. 1). A freely drifting Greenland plate unconstrained by ties to North America is now part of conventional wisdom as related in textbooks, review articles and educational material available on the internet. Accordingly, the Wegener Fault is a standard feature in international compilations of world geology (e.g. UNESCO 2010; Fig. 2). Unfortunately, this 100-year acclamation from Taylor (1910) to UNESCO (2010) is fundamentally flawed: the rocks and their relationships at Nares Strait flatly contradict the existence of the structure

Changes in Lifeguards' Hazard Detection and Eye Movements with Experience: Is One Season Enough?

Surveillance is key to the lifesaving capability of lifeguards. Experienced personnel consistently display enhanced hazard detection capabilities compared to less experienced counterparts. However, the mechanisms which underpin this effect and the time it takes to develop these skills are not understood. We hypothesized that, after one season of experience, the number of hazards detected by, and eye movements of, less experienced lifeguards (LEL) would more closely approximate experienced lifeguards (EL). The LEL watched ‘beach scene’ videos at the beginning and end of their first season. The number of hazards detected and eye-movement data were collected and compared to the EL group. The LEL perceived fewer hazards than EL and did not increase over the season. There was no difference in eye-movements between groups. Findings suggest one season is not enough for lifeguards to develop enhanced hazard detection skills and skill level differences are not underpinned by differences in gaze behavior

Epigenome-wide profiling identifies significant differences in DNA methylation between matched-pairs of T- and B-lymphocytes from healthy individuals

Multiple reports now describe changes to the DNA methylome in rheumatoid arthritis and in many cases have analyzed methylation in mixed cell populations from whole blood. However, these approaches may preclude the identification of cell type-specific methylation, which may subsequently bias identification of disease-specific changes. To address this possibility, we conducted genome-wide DNA methylation profiling using HumanMethylation450 BeadChips to identify differences within matched pairs of T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes isolated from the peripheral blood of 10 healthy females. Array data were processed and differential methylation identified using NIMBL software. Validation of array data was performed by bisulfite Pyrosequencing. Genome-wide DNA methylation was initially determined by analysis of LINE-1 sequences and was higher in B-lymphocytes than matched T-lymphocytes (69.8 vs. 65.2%, p ≤ 0.01). Pairwise analysis identified 679 CpGs, representing 250 genes, which were differentially methylated between T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes. The majority of sites (76.6%) were hypermethylated in B-lymphocytes. Pyrosequencing of selected candidates confirmed the array data in all cases. Hierarchical clustering revealed perfect segregation of samples into two distinct clusters based on cell type. Differentially methylated genes showed enrichment for biological functions/pathways associated with leukocytes and T-lymphocytes. Our work for the first time shows that T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes possess intrinsic differences in DNA methylation within a restricted set of functionally-related genes. These data provide a foundation for investigating DNA methylation in diseases in which these cell types play important and distinct roles

SEND: a system for electronic notification and documentation of vital sign observations

Background: Recognising the limitations of a paper-based approach to documenting vital sign observations and responding to national clinical guidelines, we have explored the use of an electronic solution that could improve the quality and safety of patient care. We have developed a system for recording vital sign observations at the bedside, automatically calculating an Early Warning Score, and saving data such that it is accessible to all relevant clinicians within a hospital trust. We have studied current clinical practice of using paper observation charts, and attempted to streamline the process. We describe our user-focussed design process, and present the key design decisions prior to describing the system in greater detail. Results: The system has been deployed in three pilot clinical areas over a period of 9 months. During this time, vital sign observations were recorded electronically using our system. Analysis of the number of observations recorded (21,316 observations) and the number of active users (111 users) confirmed that the system is being used for routine clinical observations. Feedback from clinical end-users was collected to assess user acceptance of the system. This resulted in a System Usability Scale score of 77.8, indicating high user acceptability. Conclusions: Our system has been successfully piloted, and is in the process of full implementation throughout adult inpatient clinical areas in the Oxford University Hospitals. Whilst our results demonstrate qualitative acceptance of the system, its quantitative effect on clinical care is yet to be evaluated

Fluoride bioavailability in saliva and plaque

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Different fluoride formulations may have different effects on caries prevention. It was the aim of this clinical study to assess the fluoride content, provided by NaF compared to amine fluoride, in saliva and plaque.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eight trained volunteers brushed their teeth in the morning for 3 minutes with either NaF or amine fluoride, and saliva and 3-day-plaque-regrowth was collected at 5 time intervals during 6 hours after tooth brushing. The amount of collected saliva and plaque was measured, and the fluoride content was analysed using a fluoride sensitive electrode. All subjects repeated all study cycles 5 times, and 3 cycles per subject underwent statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Immediately after brushing the fluoride concentration in saliva increased rapidly and dropped to the baseline level after 360 minutes. No difference was found between NaF and amine fluoride. All plaque fluoride levels were elevated after 30 minutes until 120 minutes after tooth brushing, and decreasing after 360 minutes to baseline. According to the highly individual profile of fluoride in saliva and plaque, both levels of bioavailability correlated for the first 30 minutes, and the fluoride content of saliva and plaque was back to baseline after 6 hours.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Fluoride levels in saliva and plaque are interindividually highly variable. However, no significant difference in bioavailability between NaF and amine fluoride, in saliva, or in plaque was found.</p

Gram Negative Wound Infection in Hospitalised Adult Burn Patients-Systematic Review and Metanalysis-

BACKGROUND: Gram negative infection is a major determinant of morbidity and survival. Traditional teaching suggests that burn wound infections in different centres are caused by differing sets of causative organisms. This study established whether Gram-negative burn wound isolates associated to clinical wound infection differ between burn centres. METHODS: Studies investigating adult hospitalised patients (2000-2010) were critically appraised and qualified to a levels of evidence hierarchy. The contribution of bacterial pathogen type, and burn centre to the variance in standardised incidence of Gram-negative burn wound infection was analysed using two-way analysis of variance. PRIMARY FINDINGS: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanni, Enterobacter spp., Proteus spp. and Escherichia coli emerged as the commonest Gram-negative burn wound pathogens. Individual pathogens' incidence did not differ significantly between burn centres (F (4, 20) = 1.1, p = 0.3797; r2 = 9.84). INTERPRETATION: Gram-negative infections predominate in burn surgery. This study is the first to establish that burn wound infections do not differ significantly between burn centres. It is the first study to report the pathogens responsible for the majority of Gram-negative infections in these patients. Whilst burn wound infection is not exclusive to these bacteria, it is hoped that reporting the presence of this group of common Gram-negative "target organisms" facilitate clinical practice and target research towards a defined clinical demand.peer-reviewe

Evaluating the impact of MEDLINE filters on evidence retrieval: study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rather than searching the entire MEDLINE database, clinicians can perform searches on a filtered set of articles where relevant information is more likely to be found. Members of our team previously developed two types of MEDLINE filters. The 'methods' filters help identify clinical research of high methodological merit. The 'content' filters help identify articles in the discipline of renal medicine. We will now test the utility of these filters for physician MEDLINE searching.</p> <p>Hypothesis</p> <p>When a physician searches MEDLINE, we hypothesize the use of filters will increase the number of relevant articles retrieved (increase 'recall,' also called sensitivity) and decrease the number of non-relevant articles retrieved (increase 'precision,' also called positive predictive value), compared to the performance of a physician's search unaided by filters.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We will survey a random sample of 100 nephrologists in Canada to obtain the MEDLINE search that they would first perform themselves for a focused clinical question. Each question we provide to a nephrologist will be based on the topic of a recently published, well-conducted systematic review. We will examine the performance of a physician's unaided MEDLINE search. We will then apply a total of eight filter combinations to the search (filters used in isolation or in combination). We will calculate the recall and precision of each search. The filter combinations that most improve on unaided physician searches will be identified and characterized.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>If these filters improve search performance, physicians will be able to search MEDLINE for renal evidence more effectively, in less time, and with less frustration. Additionally, our methodology can be used as a proof of concept for the evaluation of search filters in other disciplines.</p