Recent environmental change and trace metal pollution in World Heritage Bathurst Harbour, southwest Tasmania, Australia

Bathurst Harbour in World Heritage southwest Tasmania, Australia, is one of the world’s most pristine estuarine systems. At present there is a lack of data on pollution impacts or long-term natural variability in the harbor. A ca. 350-year-old 210Pb-dated sediment core was analysed for trace metals to track pollution impacts from local and long-range sources. Lead and antimony increased from AD 1870 onwards, which likely reflects remote (i.e. mainland Australian and global) atmospheric pollution sources. Variability in the concentrations of copper and zinc closely followed the history of mining activities in western Tasmania, which began in the AD 1880s. Tin was generally low throughout the core, except for a large peak in AD 1989 ± 0.5 years, which may be a consequence of input from a local small-scale alluvial tin mine. Changes in diatom assemblages were also investigated. The diatom flora was composed mostly of planktonic freshwater and benthic brackish-marine species, consistent with stratified estuarine conditions. Since mining began, however, an overall decrease in the proportion of planktonic to benthic taxa occurred, with the exception of two distinct peaks in the twentieth century that coincided with periods of high rainfall. Despite the region’s remoteness, trace metal analyses revealed evidence of atmospheric pollution from Tasmanian and possibly longer-range mining activities. This, together with recent low rainfall, appears to have contributed to altering the diatom assemblages in one of the most pristine temperate estuaries in the world.

Stochastic search for semiparametric linear regression models

This paper introduces and analyzes a stochastic search method for parameter estimation in linear regression models in the spirit of Beran and Millar [Ann. Statist. 15(3) (1987) 1131–1154]. The idea is to generate a random finite subset of a parameter space which will automatically contain points which are very close to an unknown true parameter. The motivation for this procedure comes from recent work of Dümbgen et al. [Ann. Statist. 39(2) (2011) 702–730] on regression models with log-concave error distributions.

Besteht zahnärztlicher Behandlungsbedarf im akutgeriatrischen Krankenhaus?

Aufgrund der großen Präventionserfolge in der Zahnmedizin treten immer mehr Senioren mit Zähnen und Zahnersatz in den Ruhestand ein. Zwischen der Dritten (1997) und Vierten (2005) Deutschen Mundgesundheitsstudie (DMS IV)13 reduzierte sich für die jungen, Zuhause lebenden Senioren (65-74 Jahre) die Zahnlosigkeit auf 22,6 %, die Anzahl der fehlenden Zähne sank von 17,1 auf 14,7 Zähne, aber viele der verbleibenden Zähne wiesen ein hohes parodontales Risiko auf. 72 % suchen den Zahnarzt kontrollorientiert auf. Für die gleiche Altersgruppe konnte mit einer bevölkerungsrepräsentativen Studie aus Pommern (SHIP) gezeigt werden, dass die Kontaktraten zum Zahnarzt im Alter zurückgehen.

The severity of neural invasion is associated with shortened survival in colon cancer

PURPOSE Neural invasion (NI) is a histopathologic feature of colon cancer that receives little consideration. Therefore, we conducted a morphologic and functional characterization of NI in colon cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN NI was investigated in 673 patients with colon cancer. Localization and severity of NI was determined and related to patient's prognosis and survival. The neuro-affinity of colon cancer cells (HT29, HCT-116, SW620, and DLD-1) was compared with pancreatic cancer (T3M4 and SU86.86) and rectal cancer cells (CMT-93) in the in vitro three-dimensional (3D)-neural-migration assay and analyzed via live-cell imaging. Immunoreactivity of the neuroplasticity marker GAP-43, and the neurotrophic-chemoattractant factors Artemin and nerve growth factor (NGF), was quantified in colon cancer and pancreatic cancer nerves. Dorsal root ganglia of newborn rats were exposed to supernatants of colon cancer, rectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer cells and neurite density was determined. RESULTS NI was detected in 210 of 673 patients (31.2%). Although increasing NI severity scores were associated with a significantly poorer survival, presence of NI was not an independent prognostic factor in colon cancer. In the 3D migration assay, colon cancer and rectal cancer cells showed much less neurite-targeted migration when compared with pancreatic cancer cells. Supernatants of pancreatic cancer and rectal cancer cells induced a much higher neurite density than those of colon cancer cells. Accordingly, NGF, Artemin, and GAP-43 were much more pronounced in nerves in pancreatic cancer than in colon cancer. CONCLUSION NI is not an independent prognostic factor in colon cancer. The lack of a considerable biologic affinity between colon cancer cells and neurons, the low expression profile of colonic nerves for chemoattractant molecules, and the absence of a major neuroplasticity in colon cancer may explain the low prevalence and impact of NI in colon cancer.

Glucose transporter expression in eutopic endometrial tissue and ectopic endometriotic lesions

Endometriosis is an extremely prevalent disorder characterized by the growth of endometrial tissue at ectopic locations. Glycolysis is an energy-producing mechanism that occurs in almost all cells and requires an adequate uptake of glucose mediated by glucose transporter (GLUT) proteins. At present, however, very little is known about their expression in either the endometrium or the endometriotic lesions. The objective of this study was to examine the expression of SLC2A genes in the endometrium of women with and without endometriosis and in the matching ectopic tissue, and to confirm the presence of the GLUT proteins in ectopic lesions. There was a significantly higher expression of SLC2A3 and a significantly lower expression of SLC2A4 in women with endometriosis compared with those without. In women with endometriosis, the ectopic expression of SLC2A3, SLC2A4 and SLC2A5 was significantly higher than that observed in the matching eutopic tissue. GLUT1 protein expression was present in both epithelial and stromal cells and GLUT3 was confined to CD45-positive leukocytes. GLUT4 expression was strong in both ectopic epithelial and stromal cells and localized to the cellular membrane in epithelial cells. These results show that GLUT expression is altered between eutopic and ectopic tissue and between women with and without endometriosis, and that GLUT4 may represent a significant entry route for glucose into the endometriotic epithelial cells. The inducible nature of GLUT4 and its limited cellular expression may make GLUT4 an attractive target for non-hormone-based treatments of endometriosis.

Hormonal Contraceptive Use and the Prevalence of Endometriotic Lesions at Different Regions within the Peritoneal Cavity.

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease that can lead to chronic pain and subfertility. Endometriotic lesions found in different locations are heterogeneous and may represent a collection of related but distinct conditions. Whether there is a relationship between hormonal contraceptive (HC) use and endometriosis is still controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine whether HC use affected the prevalence of endometriotic lesions differently based on lesion location. Data was retrospectively collected from 161 patients presenting to the Berne University Women's Hospital between 2008 and 2012 for laparoscopic investigation. Women with histologically proven endometriosis were included in the study and patients were grouped according to lesion location and HC use. The results of the study indicate that HC users are significantly less likely to have endometriotic lesions on the ovaries, although in contrast, no difference was observed in the incidence of lesions in the rectovaginal septum (RVS) or peritoneal region. In addition, women using HC who were diagnosed with endometriotic lesions on the peritoneum were significantly younger than women with lesions in other locations. In conclusion, women with endometriosis who are currently using HC are less likely to have ovarian endometriotic lesions than in alternate locations.

Pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapy for arrhythmias in the pediatric population: EHRA and AEPC-Arrhythmia Working Group joint consensus statement

In children with structurally normal hearts, the mechanisms of arrhythmias are usually the same as in the adult patient. Some arrhythmias are particularly associated with young age and very rarely seen in adult patients. Arrhythmias in structural heart disease may be associated either with the underlying abnormality or result from surgical intervention. Chronic haemodynamic stress of congenital heart disease (CHD) might create an electrophysiological and anatomic substrate highly favourable for re-entrant arrhythmias. As a general rule, prescription of antiarrhythmic drugs requires a clear diagnosis with electrocardiographic documentation of a given arrhythmia. Risk-benefit analysis of drug therapy should be considered when facing an arrhythmia in a child. Prophylactic antiarrhythmic drug therapy is given only to protect the child from recurrent supraventricular tachycardia during this time span until the disease will eventually cease spontaneously. In the last decades, radiofrequency catheter ablation is progressively used as curative therapy for tachyarrhythmias in children and patients with or without CHD. Even in young children, procedures can be performed with high success rates and low complication rates as shown by several retrospective and prospective paediatric multi-centre studies. Three-dimensional mapping and non-fluoroscopic navigation techniques and enhanced catheter technology have further improved safety and efficacy even in CHD patients with complex arrhythmias. During last decades, cardiac devices (pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillator) have developed rapidly. The pacing generator size has diminished and the pacing leads have become progressively thinner. These developments have made application of cardiac pacing in children easier although no dedicated paediatric pacing systems exist.

Bounds for the probability generating functional of a Gibbs point process

We derive explicit lower and upper bounds for the probability generating functional of a stationary locally stable Gibbs point process, which can be applied to summary statistics such as the F function. For pairwise interaction processes we obtain further estimates for the G and K functions, the intensity, and higher-order correlation functions. The proof of the main result is based on Stein's method for Poisson point process approximation.

Pitfalls in post-mortem CT-angiography--intravascular contrast induces post-mortem pericardial effusion

We present a case where multi-phase post-mortem computed tomography angiography (PMCTA) induced a hemorrhagic pericardial effusion during the venous phase of angiography. Post-mortem non-contrast CT (PMCT) suggested the presence of a ruptured aortic dissection. This diagnosis was confirmed by PMCTA after pressure controlled arterial injection of contrast. During the second phase of multi-phase PMCTA the presence of contrast leakage from the inferior cava vein into the pericardial sac was noted. Autopsy confirmed the post-mortem nature of this vascular tear. This case teaches us an important lesson: it underlines the necessity to critically analyze PMCT and PMCTA images in order to distinguish between artifacts, true pathologies and iatrogenic findings. In cases with ambiguous findings such as the case reported here, correlation of imaging findings with autopsy is elementary.