Relative Effects of Gamete Compatibility and Hydrodynamics on Fertilization in the Green Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis

Intraspecific variation in gamete compatibility among male/female pairs causes variation in the concentration of sperm required to achieve equivalent fertilization levels. Gamete compatibility is therefore potentially an important factor controlling mating success. Many broadcast-spawning marine invertebrates, however, also live in a dynamic environment where hydrodynamic conditions can affect the concentration of sperm reaching eggs during spawning. Thus flow conditions may moderate the effects of gamete compatibility on fertilization. Using the green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis as a model system, we assessed the relative effects of gamete compatibility (the concentration of sperm required to fertilize 50% of the eggs in specific male/female pairs; F50) and the root-mean-square of total velocity (urms; 0.01-0.11 m s(-1)) on fertilization in four locations near a spawning female (water column, wake eddy, substratum, and aboral surface) in both unidirectional and oscillatory flows. Percent fertilization decreased significantly with increasing urms at all locations and both flow regimes. However, although gamete compatibility varied by almost 1.5 orders of magnitude, it was not a significant predictor of fertilization for most combinations of position and flow. The notable exception was a significant effect of gamete compatibility on fertilization on the aboral surface under unidirectional flow. Our results suggest that selection on variation in gamete compatibility may be strongest in eggs fertilized on the aboral surface of sea urchins and that hydrodynamic conditions may add environmental noise to selection outcomes.

Statin Use and Risk of Delirium in the Critically Ill

Rationale: Delirium is common in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and is a predictor of worse outcomes and neuroinflammation is a possible mechanism. The antiinflammatory actions of statins may reduce delirium.

Objectives: To determine whether critically ill patients receiving statin therapy had a reduced risk of delirium than those not on statins.

Methods: A prospective cohort analysis of data from consecutive ICU patients admitted to a UK mixed medical and surgical critical care unit between August 2011 and February 2012; the Confusion Assessment Method for ICU was used to determine the days each patient was assessed as being free of delirium during ICU admission.

Measurements and Main Results: Delirium-free days, daily administration of statins, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) were recorded. Four hundred and seventy consecutive critical care patients were followed, of whom 151 patients received statins. Using randomeffects multivariable logistic regression, statin administration the previous evening was associated with the patient being assessed as free of delirium (odds ratio, 2.28; confidence interval, 1.01-5.13; P , 0.05) and with lower CRP (b = 20.52; P , 0.01) the following day. When the association between statin and being assessed as free of delirium was controlled for CRP, the effect size became nonsignificant (odds ratio, 1.56; confidence interval, 0.64-3.79; P = 0.32).

Conclusions: Ongoing statin therapy is associated with a lower daily risk of delirium in critically ill patients. An ongoing clinical trial, informed by this study, is investigating if statins are a potential therapy for delirium in the critically ill.Copyright © 2014 by the American Thoracic Society.

Source depletion and extent of melting in the Tongan sub-arc mantle

The fluid immobile High Field Strength Elements (HFSE) Nb and Ta can be used to distinguish between the effects of variable extents of melting and prior source depletion of the Tongan sub-arc mantle. Melting of spinel Iherzolite beneath the Lau Basin back-arc spreading centres has the ability to fractionate Nb from Ta due to the greater compatibility of the latter in clinopyroxene. The identified spatial variation in plate velocities and separation of melt extraction zones, combined with extremely depleted lavas make Tonga an ideal setting in which to test models for arc melt generation and the role of back-arc magmatism. We present new data acquired by laser ablation-ICPMS of fused sample glasses produced without the use of a melt fluxing agent. The results show an arc trend towards strongly sub-chondritic Nb/Ta (

Creating an eLearning Resource to Improve Knowledge and Understanding of Pregnancy in the Context of HIV Infection

Patient narratives have much to teach healthcare professionals about the experience of living with a chronic condition. While the biomedical narrative of HIV treatment is hugely encouraging, the narrative of living with HIV continues to be overshadowed by a persuasive perception of stigma. This paper presents how we sought to translate the evidence from a qualitative study of the perspectives of HIV affected pregnant women and expectant fathers on the care they received, from the pre conception to post natal period, into educational material for maternity care practice. Narrative scripts were written based on the original research interviews, with care taken to reflect the key themes from the research. We explore the way in which the qualitative findings bring to life patient and partner experiences and what it means for nurses, midwives and doctors to be prepared to care for couples affected by HIV. In so doing, we challenge the inequity between the dominance of biomedical knowledge over understanding the patient experience in the preparation of health professionals to care for HIV affected women and men who are having a baby or seeking to have a baby.

Accuracy of LightCycler SeptiFast for the detection and identification of pathogens in the blood of patients with suspected sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose: There is an urgent need to develop diagnostic tests to improve the detection of pathogens causing life-threatening infection (sepsis). SeptiFast is a CE-marked multi-pathogen real-time PCR system capable of detecting DNA sequences of bacteria and fungi present in blood samples within a few hours. We report here a systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy studies of SeptiFast in the setting of suspected sepsis.

Methods: A comprehensive search strategy was developed to identify studies that compared SeptiFast with blood culture in suspected sepsis. Methodological quality was assessed using QUADAS. Heterogeneity of studies was investigated using a coupled forest plot of sensitivity and specificity and a scatter plot in receiver operator characteristic space. Bivariate model method was used to estimate summary sensitivity and specificity.

Results: From 41 phase III diagnostic accuracy studies, summary sensitivity and specificity for SeptiFast compared with blood culture were 0.68 (95 % CI 0.63–0.73) and 0.86 (95 % CI 0.84–0.89) respectively. Study quality was judged to be variable with important deficiencies overall in design and reporting that could impact on derived diagnostic accuracy metrics.

Conclusions: SeptiFast appears to have higher specificity than sensitivity, but deficiencies in study quality are likely to render this body of work unreliable. Based on the evidence presented here, it remains difficult to make firm recommendations about the likely clinical utility of SeptiFast in the setting of suspected sepsis.

Edaphic factors affecting the toxicity and accumulation of arsenate in the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris

The toxicity and accumulation of arsenate was determined in the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris in soil from different layers of a forest profile. Toxicity increased fourfold between 2 and 10 d. Edaphic factors (pH, soil organic matter, and depth in soil profile) also affected toxicity with a three fold decrease in the concentration that causes 50% mortality with increasing depth in soil (from 0-70 mm to 500-700 mm). In a 4-d exposure study, there was no evidence of arsenic bioconcentration in earthworm tissue, although bioaccumulation was occurring. There was a considerable difference in tissue residues between living and dead earthworms, with dead worms having higher concentrations. This difference was dependent on both soil arsenate concentration and on soil type. Over a wide range of soil arsenate concentrations, earthworm arsenic residues are homeostatically maintained in living worms, but this homeostasis breaks down during death. Alternatively, equilibration with soil residues may occur via accumulation after death. In long-term accumulation studies in soils dosed with a sublethal arsenate concentration (40 μg/g dry weight), bioconcentration of arsenate did not occur until day 12, after which earthworm concentrations rose steadily above the soil concentration, with residues in worms three fold higher than soil concentrations by the termination of the study (23 d). This bioconcentration only occurred in depurated worms over the time period of the study. Initially, depurated worms had lower arsenic concentrations than undepurated until tissue concentrations were equivalent to the soil concentration. Once tissue concentration was greater than soil concentration, depurated worms had higher arsenic residues than undepurated.

Effective Teaching and Learning of Science in the Outdoors: A Blended Model

This paper reports on an innovative Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme which addressed transition issues and issues with conducting outdoor work and attitudes towards science through ‘Shared Learning' days between elementary and middle school transition classes. Teachers supported each other to overcome issues with conducting outdoor work and contributed their expertise from their educational stage. The project utilised a blended CPD approach of workshops, coteaching and in-class support and was based upon a wealth earlier successful CPD programmes to result in a sound theoretical framework.
The outcomes were measured using a thorough mixed-methods approach. This paper will report on the achieved outcomes with effective outdoor learning as the vehicle to overcome identified issues and key challenges for policy development.

The epidemiology, healthcare and societal burden and costs of asthma in the UK and its member nations: analyses of standalone and linked national databases

Background: There are a lack of reliable data on the epidemiology and associated burden and costs of asthma. We sought to provide the first UK-wide estimates of the epidemiology, healthcare utilisation and costs of asthma. 

Methods: We obtained and analysed asthma-relevant data from 27 datasets: these comprised national health surveys for 2010-11, and routine administrative, health and social care datasets for 2011-12; 2011-12 costs were estimated in pounds sterling using economic modelling. 

Results: The prevalence of asthma depended on the definition and data source used. The UK lifetime prevalence of patient-reported symptoms suggestive of asthma was 29.5 % (95 % CI, 27.7-31.3; n = 18.5 million (m) people) and 15.6 % (14.3-16.9, n = 9.8 m) for patient-reported clinician-diagnosed asthma. The annual prevalence of patient-reported clinician-diagnosed-and-treated asthma was 9.6 % (8.9-10.3, n = 6.0 m) and of clinician-reported, diagnosed-and-treated asthma 5.7 % (5.7-5.7; n = 3.6 m). Asthma resulted in at least 6.3 m primary care consultations, 93,000 hospital in-patient episodes, 1800 intensive-care unit episodes and 36,800 disability living allowance claims. The costs of asthma were estimated at least £1.1 billion: 74 % of these costs were for provision of primary care services (60 % prescribing, 14 % consultations), 13 % for disability claims, and 12 % for hospital care. There were 1160 asthma deaths. 

Conclusions: Asthma is very common and is responsible for considerable morbidity, healthcare utilisation and financial costs to the UK public sector. Greater policy focus on primary care provision is needed to reduce the risk of asthma exacerbations, hospitalisations and deaths, and reduce costs.

Spatial autocorrelation in the response of soft-bottom marine benthos to gas extraction activities: The case of amphipods in the Ionian Sea

The spatial distributions of marine fauna and of pollution are both highly structured, and thus the resulting high levels of autocorrelation may invalidate conclusions based on classical statistical approaches. Here we analyse the close correlation observed between proxies for the disturbance associated with gas extraction activities and amphipod distribution patterns around four hydrocarbon platforms. We quantified the amount of variation independently accounted for by natural environmental variables, proxies for the disturbance caused by platforms, and spatial autocorrelation. This allowed us to demonstrate how each of these three factors significantly affects the community structure of amphipods. Sophisticated statistical techniques are required when taking into account spatial autocorrelation: nevertheless our data demonstrate that this approach not only enables the formulation of robust statistical inferences but also provides a much deeper understanding of the subtle interactions between human disturbance and natural factors affecting the structure of marine invertebrates communities. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Presbyterians and science in the north of Ireland before 1874

In his presidential address to the Belfast meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874, John Tyndall launched what David Livingstone has called a ‘frontal assault on teleology and Christian theism’. Using Tyndall's intervention as a starting point, this paper seeks to understand the attitudes of Presbyterians in the north of Ireland to science in the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century. The first section outlines some background, including the attitude of Presbyterians to science in the eighteenth century, the development of educational facilities in Ireland for the training of Presbyterian ministers, and the specific cultural and political circumstances in Ireland that influenced Presbyterian responses to science more generally. The next two sections examine two specific applications by Irish Presbyterians of the term ‘science’: first, the emergence of a distinctive Presbyterian theology of nature and the application of inductive scientific methodology to the study of theology, and second, the Presbyterian conviction that mind had ascendancy over matter which underpinned their commitment to the development of a science of the mind. The final two sections examine, in turn, the relationship between science and an eschatological reading of the signs of the times, and attitudes to Darwinian evolution in the fifteen years between the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859 and Tyndall's speech in 1874.

The uptake of silica during the spring bloom in the North East Atlantic Ocean

A full understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of silica in the North Atlantic is hampered by a lack of estimates of silica uptake by phytoplankton. We applied the ${}^{32}\text{Si}$ radiotracer incubation technique to determine silica uptake rates at 10 sites during the UK-(Natural Environment Research Council) Faroes-Iceland-Scotland hydrographic and environmental survey (FISHES) cruise in the Northeast Atlantic, May 2001. Column silica uptake rates ranged between 6 and 166 mmol Si $\text{m}^{-2}\ \text{d}^{-1}$; this data set was integrated with concurrent hydrographic, chemical, and primary productivity data to explain these changes in silica uptake in terms of the progress of the spring bloom. In order to interpret data covering a relatively large spatial and temporal scale, we used mean photic zone silica concentration as a proxy time-series measure of diatom bloom progression. Both absolute and specific silica uptake rates were highest at dissolved silica concentrations >2 mmol $\text{L}^{-1}$. Si and C uptake were vertically decoupled at those stations where surface silica was strongly depleted. Absolute primary productivity was not strongly correlated with dissolved silica concentrations, owing to either exhaustion of silica at diatom-dominated stations or to dominance of the community by other phytoplankton. Silica uptake as a function of increased substrate concentration was linear up to 25 $\mu \text{mol}\ \text{L}^{-1}$; we consider some possible reasons for the nonhyperbolic response.

Phase I and II biotransformation enzymes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis, Lamarck, 1819) collected in front of an oil refinery

The aim of the present study was to investigate the responses of phase I and II biotransformation enzymes and levels of PAHs in the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis, Lamarck, 1819) collected from three sites at different distance from an oil refinery. Phase I enzyme activities as NAD(P)H-cyt c red, NADH ferry red, B(a)PMO and phase II as UDPGT. GST were measured in digestive gland while 16 PAHs (US-EPA) in whole soft tissue. An added value to the data obtained in the present study rely on the RDA analysis which showed close correlations between PAHs levels and phase I enzyme activities in mussels collected in front of the refinery. And again a significant spatial correlation between B(a)P levels and NADPH-cyt c red activities was observed using linear models. No differences among sites for B(a) PMO and phase II GST activities were observed, while the application of UDPGT as biomarkers requires further investigation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Review of Meditation in the Irish Construction Industry: Critical Success Factors in Competencies and Processes

The construction industry notoriously excels at dispute creation – both in Ireland and world wide. This paper exams mediation in the Irish construction industry based around critical success factors in the competencies and processes required by mediators operating in the construction industry. Through conducting the relevant analysis, it was possible to extract and outline the resulting critical success factors in process and competencies of mediators in the Irish construction industry. This was achieved through a review of the literature, followed by detailed interviews from industry experts to elicit and highlight the core competencies required. To aid in the study, qualitative analysis using mind mapping software was adopted, thus assisting the identification of the key factors. Following analysis, facilitative mediation was identified as best suited for the industry in question; recommendations and experience were key for mediator selection and five and six factors were identified for mediator skills and mediation critical success factors respectively. The results returned are similar to those determined by authors in other countries and provide a good reference point for the development the industry. By following the findings of this report mediators and parties in dispute can improve processes and be more successful in outcomes. In this study the author shows that mediation is an effective and appropriate method of resolving disputes within the Irish construction industry.