Phytoplankton and nutrient analysis of a nuclear fuel-storage pond at Sellafield

Summary •The aim of the project was to identify and enumerate phytoplankton cells and analyse phosphate and nitrate concentrations in samples from a nuclear fuel-storage pond from Sellafield. The samples were taken in five different bays, at two depths and at two time points. •All samples contained large numbers of phytoplankton cells. •The dominant species in bays B1 to B4 was a filamentous cyanobacterium, Oscillatoria limnetica. Bay B5 was dominated by small single cells of the chlorophyte, Stichococcus bacillaris. Other species in significant numbers that were found in nearly all samples were Haematococcus pluvialis, Chlamydomonas sp. and Chlorella sp. (all Chlorophyceae) and the cyanobacterium Synechococcus. The numbers of other species that were identified were neglectable. •There was no clear difference in species composition and numbers between the samples taken at different depths. •There was no significant difference in the species composition between the samples taken in June and July 2007, even when the July samples showed a slightly higher diversity. The difference between the two sampling time points was more of a quantitative nature; the number of O. limnetica was reduced in July compared to June, but the number of small phytoplankton species, especially S. bacillaris, increased in July. •The chemical analysis revealed only low concentrations of phosphate and nitrate that were mainly below the detection limit of our detection method. Only the July sample contained detectable amounts of nitrogen

Development of Group Treatment Tasks for Adults with Neurological Disorders

Gateway Café and Wellness Center is a support program offered at the University of Rhode Island for individuals with Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI), such as Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Stroke. Individuals affected by ABI’s most commonly have difficulties with their cognitive, linguistic, and independence skills. Services provided to people living with ABI’s are very scarce in our community today, so allowing people to interact during Gateway Café allows these adults to receive treatment. This is achieved as URI students plan, organize, and execute activities that require the utilization of cognitive linguistic skills by the Gateway Café members. Furthermore, Gateway Café provides a structured environment to make the execution of cognitive linguistic skills successful for the participants and allows them to interact in a group setting with individuals who have similar shared experiences

Inherited Variation at MC1R and Histological Characteristics of Primary Melanoma

Variation in the melanocortin-1receptor (MC1R) gene is associated with pigmentary phenotypes and risk of malignant melanoma. Few studies have reported on MC1R variation with respect to tumor characteristics, especially clinically important prognostic features. We examined associations between MC1R variants and histopathological melanoma characteristics. Study participants were enrolled from nine geographic regions in Australia, Canada, Italy and the United States and were genotyped for MC1R variants classified as high-risk [R] (D84E, R142H, R151C, R160W, and D294H, all nonsense and insertion/deletion) or low-risk [r] (all other nonsynonymous) variants. Tissue was available for 2,160 white participants of the Genes, Environment and Melanoma (GEM) Study with a first incident primary melanoma diagnosis, and underwent centralized pathologic review. No statistically significant associations were observed between MC1R variants and AJCC established prognostic tumor characteristics: Breslow thickness, presence of mitoses or presence of ulceration. However, MC1R was significantly associated with anatomic site of melanoma (p = 0.002) and a positive association was observed between carriage of more than one [R] variant and melanomas arising on the arms (OR = 2.39; 95% CI: 1.40, 4.09). We also observed statistically significant differences between sun-sensitive and sun-resistant individuals with respect to associations between MC1R genotype and AJCC prognostic tumor characteristics. Our results suggest inherited variation in MC1R may play an influential role in anatomic site presentation of melanomas and may differ with respect to skin pigmentation phenotype

Inherited Genetic Variants Associated with Occurrence of Multiple Primary Melanoma

Recent studies including genome-wide association studies have identified several putative low-penetrance susceptibility loci for melanoma. We sought to determine their generalizability to genetic predisposition for multiple primary melanoma in the international population-based Genes, Environment, and Melanoma (GEM) Study. GEM is a case-control study of 1,206 incident cases of multiple primary melanoma and 2,469 incident first primary melanoma participants as the control group. We investigated the odds of developing multiple primary melanoma for 47 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) from 21 distinct genetic regions previously reported to be associated with melanoma. ORs and 95% CIs were determined using logistic regression models adjusted for baseline features (age, sex, age by sex interaction, and study center). We investigated univariable models and built multivariable models to assess independent effects of SNPs. Eleven SNPs in 6 gene neighborhoods (TERT/CLPTM1L, TYRP1, MTAP, TYR, NCOA6, and MX2) and a PARP1 haplotype were associated with multiple primary melanoma. In a multivariable model that included only the most statistically significant findings from univariable modeling and adjusted for pigmentary phenotype, back nevi, and baseline features, we found TERT/CLPTM1L rs401681 (P = 0.004), TYRP1 rs2733832 (P = 0.006), MTAP rs1335510 (P = 0.0005), TYR rs10830253 (P = 0.003), and MX2 rs45430 (P = 0.008) to be significantly associated with multiple primary melanoma while NCOA6 rs4911442 approached significance (P = 0.06). The GEM study provides additional evidence for the relevance of these genetic regions to melanoma risk and estimates the magnitude of the observed genetic effect on development of subsequent primary melanoma

Simple scoring system to predict in-hospital mortality after surgery for infective endocarditis

BACKGROUND: Aspecific scoring systems are used to predict the risk of death postsurgery in patients with infective endocarditis (IE). The purpose of the present study was both to analyze the risk factors for in-hospital death, which complicates surgery for IE, and to create a mortality risk score based on the results of this analysis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Outcomes of 361 consecutive patients (mean age, 59.1\ub115.4 years) who had undergone surgery for IE in 8 European centers of cardiac surgery were recorded prospectively, and a risk factor analysis (multivariable logistic regression) for in-hospital death was performed. The discriminatory power of a new predictive scoring system was assessed with the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Score validation procedures were carried out. Fifty-six (15.5%) patients died postsurgery. BMI >27 kg/m2 (odds ratio [OR], 1.79; P=0.049), estimated glomerular filtration rate 55 mm Hg (OR, 1.78; P=0.032), and critical state (OR, 2.37; P=0.017) were independent predictors of in-hospital death. A scoring system was devised to predict in-hospital death postsurgery for IE (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.780; 95% CI, 0.734-0.822). The score performed better than 5 of 6 scoring systems for in-hospital death after cardiac surgery that were considered. CONCLUSIONS: A simple scoring system based on risk factors for in-hospital death was specifically created to predict mortality risk postsurgery in patients with IE