Zooplankton grazing of microplastic can accelerate global loss of ocean oxygen.

Global warming has driven a loss of dissolved oxygen in the ocean in recent decades. We demonstrate the potential for an additional anthropogenic driver of deoxygenation, in which zooplankton consumption of microplastic reduces the grazing on primary producers. In regions where primary production is not limited by macronutrient availability, the reduction of grazing pressure on primary producers causes export production to increase. Consequently, organic particle remineralisation in these regions increases. Employing a comprehensive Earth system model of intermediate complexity, we estimate this additional remineralisation could decrease water column oxygen inventory by as much as 10% in the North Pacific and accelerate global oxygen inventory loss by an extra 0.2-0.5% relative to 1960 values by the year 2020. Although significant uncertainty accompanies these estimates, the potential for physical pollution to have a globally significant biogeochemical signal that exacerbates the consequences of climate warming is a novel feedback not yet considered in climate research.

The global biological microplastic particle sink.

Every year, about four percent of the plastic waste generated worldwide ends up in the ocean. What happens to the plastic there is poorly understood, though a growing body of evidence suggests it is rapidly spreading throughout the global ocean. The mechanisms of this spread are straightforward for buoyant larger plastics that can be accurately modelled using Lagrangian particle models. But the fate of the smallest size fractions (the microplastics) are less straightforward, in part because they can aggregate in sinking marine snow and faecal pellets. This biologically-mediated pathway is suspected to be a primary surface microplastic removal mechanism, but exactly how it might work in the real ocean is unknown. We search the parameter space of a new microplastic model embedded in an earth system model to show that biological uptake can significantly shape global microplastic inventory and distributions and even account for the budgetary "missing" fraction of surface microplastic, despite being an inefficient removal mechanism. While a lack of observational data hampers our ability to choose a set of "best" model parameters, our effort represents a first tool for quantitatively assessing hypotheses for microplastic interaction with ocean biology at the global scale.

Living with life-prolonging chemotherapy-control and meaning-making in the tension between life and death.

Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and immune therapy have made many cancers chronic, potential curable diseases rather than inevitably fatal, but the treatments are often both mentally and physically stressful even if the side effects varies. The right use of palliative chemotherapy is a complex issue and there are many aspects to take into consideration. The aim of the study was to gain insight into the illness narratives of cancer patients, from the day they suspected that something was wrong up to the present day where they are living with incurable cancer, undergoing life-prolonging chemotherapy. Thirteen narrators were included. They were all cancer patients on chemotherapy with the intention of prolonging life (informed by their oncologist) in an outpatient's clinic in Norway. Narrative analyse of their illness stories was applied. The main findings showed that the narrators considered their lives worth living in spite of the treatment. They seemed to take control and build a new life on "what was left after the storm," and described how they found meaning living in the tension between life and death.

Surfactant-triggered disassembly of electrostatic complexes probed at optical and quartz crystal microbalance length scales.

A critical advantage of electrostatic assemblies over covalent and crystalline bound materials is that associated structures can be disassembled into their original constituents. Nanoscale devices designed for the controlled release of functional molecules already exploit this property. To bring some insight into the mechanisms of disassembly and release, we study the disruption of molecular electrostatics-based interactions via competitive binding with ionic surfactants. To this aim, free-standing micrometer-size wires were synthesized using oppositely charged poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and poly(acrylic acid) coated iron oxide nanoparticles. The disassembly is induced by the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfates that complex preferentially the positive polymers. The process is investigated at two different length scales: the length scale of the particles (10 nm) through the quartz crystal microbalance technique and that of the wires (>1 µm) via optical microscopy. Upon surfactant addition, the disassembly is initiated at the surface of the wires by the release of nanoparticles and by the swelling of the structure. In a second step, erosion involving larger pieces takes over and culminates in the complete dissolution of the wires, confirming the hypothesis of a surface-type swelling and erosion process.

Smoking during pregnancy in Wisconsin compared to the United States, 1997.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify disparities in maternal smoking between Wisconsin and United States women and to determine differences that explain the higher percentage of pregnant women who smoke in Wisconsin compared to the United States. METHODS: 1997 Wisconsin and US birth certificate data were compared and stratified by age, education, and race/ethnicity. The relative risks (the risk of Wisconsin women smoking during pregnancy compared to US women smoking during pregnancy) were calculated by direct standardization to the 1997 US distribution for these characteristics. RESULTS: In 1997, 17.9% of Wisconsin women smoked during pregnancy, compared with 13.2% nationally (relative risk [RR] = 1.4; Wisconsin women were 40% more likely to smoke than US women). Age and education adjusted RRs among Wisconsin women aged 20 and older were 2.3 (American Indian), 2.8 (Hispanic), and 2.2 (non-Hispanic black), while the RR was 1.2 for non-Hispanic white mothers. Among women 20 and older, the crude RR for Wisconsin was 1.5; adjusting for age, education, and race/ethnicity only slightly decreased the RR to 1.4. CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of women who smoke during pregnancy in Wisconsin continues to be above the national rate and the Healthy People 2000 goal of 10% or less. Disparities with the US average are particularly great for minority women in Wisconsin. Adjusting for age, education and ethnicity does not explain Wisconsin's higher prenatal smoking rate.

Racial disparities in African American and white infant mortality United States and Wisconsin, 1980 to 1998.

Infant mortality is a powerful indicator for assessing the health of a population, and the extent to which society invests in its children. This paper examines infant mortality trends in the United States and Wisconsin among the African American and white populations from 1980 to 1998. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics and Wisconsin Birth and Infant Death Reports were used to examine overall infant mortality trends from 1980 to 1998 for African American and white infants. The overall infant mortality rate in Wisconsin decreased steadily from 10.3 infant deaths per 1000 live births in 1980 to 7.2 in 1998. White infant mortality followed this trend, declining from 9.6 in 1980 to 5.6 in 1998. African American infant mortality has remained about the same since 1980 at 18 infant deaths per 1000 live births, even though the overall percentage of African American live births in Wisconsin increased from 6% in 1980 to 10% in 1998. The ratio of African American to white infant mortality rates in Wisconsin increased from 2 to 1 in 1980 to 3.2 to 1 in 1998. While the Wisconsin African American infant mortality rate remained even since 1980, the US rate declined from 22.2 in 1980 to 14.1 in 1998. The Wisconsin African American rate in 1998, 17.9, surpassed the national rate. The use of 5-year running averages to smooth out year-to-year fluctuations showed statistically significant declines in Wisconsin white infant mortality rates and no change in Wisconsin African American infant mortality rates. These trends show the importance for Wisconsin to sustain its current efforts to reduce black infant mortality. At the same time, Wisconsin-based research efforts to determine strategies and factors that work should continue and influence the future design of systems, programs, and policies to eliminate the disparity.

Trends in smoking during pregnancy, Wisconsin 1990 to 1996.

PURPOSE: Smoking during pregnancy can be harmful to the fetus. This paper examines trends in smoking during pregnancy in the United States and Wisconsin from 1990-1996. In addition, percentage change in smoking prevalence during pregnancy by selected maternal characteristics and in all Wisconsin counties is compared for the periods 1990-1992 and 1994-1996. METHODS: Data from the National Center for Health Statistics and Wisconsin resident birth certificates were compared to examine overall smoking trends for pregnant women from 1990-1996. For Wisconsin, 3-year averages (1990-1992 and 1994-1996) were calculated to provided more stable estimates. The percentage change in smoking prevalence was examined by selected maternal characteristics, such as age, marital status, race, prenatal care and education, and by county of residence. RESULTS: Smoking rates for pregnant women in the United States have gradually decreased, from 18.4% in 1990 to 13.6% in 1996. From 1990 to 1996, maternal smoking in Wisconsin declined from 22.9% to 18.2% (significant at P < .001). In Wisconsin, smoking rates during pregnancy were higher in both 1990-1992 and 1994-1996 among women who were younger, unmarried, American Indian, or African American; received late or no prenatal care and did not graduate from high school. Out of 72 Wisconsin counties, 63 showed a decrease in smoking rates for pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking prevalence during pregnancy in Wisconsin is above the Healthy People 2000 and Wisconsin Public Health Agenda for the Year 2000 goals of less than 10% of women smoking during pregnancy. Public health must continue its initiative to encourage healthy life styles for pregnant women.