Nutrient additions to seagrass seed planting improve seedling emergence and growth.

To maximize the opportunities of seagrass as a nature-based solution requires restoration to occur on a large scale. New methods and knowledge are required that can solve ecological bottlenecks, improving its reliability and effectiveness. Although there is increasing interest in the use of seeds for seagrass restoration there exists a limited understanding of how best to plant them with the most knowledge on germination and seedling emergence coming from laboratory studies. Here we present the results of a novel field study on the emergence success of seeds of the seagrass Zostera marina when subjected to varied planting treatments. Seeds were planted into hessian bags according to a factorial design of three treatments (sediment type, detritus addition, and nutrient addition). By adding nutrients to natural sediment, the present study provides some evidence of seagrass shoot emergence and maximum shoot length doubling. The present study provides evidence that even in heavily nutrient-rich environments, seagrass sediments may require additional nutrients to improve seedling emergence and growth. It also highlights the highly variable nature of planting seagrass seeds in shallow coastal environments. Critically this study provides increasing levels of evidence that small subtleties in the method can have large consequences for seagrass restoration and that for restoration to scale to levels that are relevant for nature-based solutions there remain many unknowns that require consideration.

Cubital Tunnel Decompression: Equivalent Outcome Scores when Procedure Performed with Local versus General Anesthetic.

Background Ulnar nerve compression at the cubital tunnel is the second commonest upper limb neuropathy. Unlike carpal tunnel surgery, most of decompression procedures for this condition are undertaken using general anesthesia (GA). This has inherent economic and patient safety implications. We aimed to assess if there is a difference in early and medium-term outcome scores in patients who have cubital tunnel decompression under general versus local anesthesia (LA). Materials and Methods We undertook a patient outcome evaluation of patients who were under the care of two upper limb surgeons. Patients were evaluated postoperatively using the patient-related ulnar nerve evaluation (PRUNE) questionnaire. Patients were contacted by phone, mail, and face to face in clinics. Results A total of 34 patients were identified in the study. Eleven were excluded from the study. Thirteen patients underwent surgery under LA. The LA group had their procedures performed using local infiltration of the surgical site with 20 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine with adrenaline. Ten patients had their procedures using standard GA and tourniquet. The average PRUNE score in the LA group was 33.8, and that in the GA group was 34.1. This difference in PRUNE score was not statistically significant p > 0.05. Discussion Our data suggest that there is no significant difference in early and midterm outcomes between patients who undergo cubital tunnel decompression using either GA or LA. We advocate the use of LA as it does lead to decreased anesthetic risk and has obvious economic benefits such as lowering the demands on theater and anesthetic resources.

The discovery of deep-water seagrass meadows in a pristine Indian Ocean wilderness revealed by tracking green turtles.

Our understanding of global seagrass ecosystems comes largely from regions characterized by human impacts with limited data from habitats defined as notionally pristine. Seagrass assessments also largely focus on shallow-water coastal habitats with comparatively few studies on offshore deep-water seagrasses. We satellite tracked green turtles (Chelonia mydas), which are known to forage on seagrasses, to a remote, pristine deep-water environment in the Western Indian Ocean, the Great Chagos Bank, which lies in the heart of one of the world's largest marine protected areas (MPAs). Subsequently we used in-situ SCUBA and baited video surveys to survey the day-time sites occupied by turtles and discovered extensive monospecific seagrass meadows of Thalassodendron ciliatum. At three sites that extended over 128 km, mean seagrass cover was 74% (mean range 67-88% across the 3 sites at depths to 29 m. The mean species richness of fish in seagrass meadows was 11 species per site (mean range 8-14 across the 3 sites). High fish abundance (e.g. Siganus sutor: mean MaxN.site-1 = 38.0, SD = 53.7, n = 5) and large predatory shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) (mean MaxN.site-1 = 1.5, SD = 0.4, n = 5) were recorded at all sites. Such observations of seagrass meadows with large top predators, are limited in the literature. Given that the Great Chagos Bank extends over approximately 12,500 km2 and many other large deep submerged banks exist across the world's oceans, our results suggest that deep-water seagrass may be far more abundant than previously suspected.

Survivors of childhood leukaemia treated with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and total body irradiation should undergo screening for diabetes by oral glucose tolerance tests.

AIMS: Childhood cancer survivors treated with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and total body irradiation are at an increased risk of developing diabetes early in life due to insulin resistance and ß-cell dysfunction, but the optimal screening method is unknown. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for community diabetes screening recommend using fasting glucose ≥ 7 mmol/l and/or HbA1c ≥ 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) for diagnosis and, fasting glucose 5.5-6.9 mmol/l or HbA1c 42-47 mmol/mol (6-6.5%) to indicate high risk. This study aimed to evaluate the sensitivities of fasting glucose and HbA1c in the diagnosis of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in childhood HSCT survivors. METHOD: The patients were 35 (male = 19) HSCT survivors from a single UK centre under follow-up from 2006 to 2013. Patients had a median age (range) of 19.2 (13.1-26.2) years and had been treated for acute lymphoblastic (n = 31) or myeloid (n = 4) leukaemia when aged 7.8 (2.4-16.7) years. The outcome measures were oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), fasting glucose and HbA1c . RESULTS: OGTT identified 6 patients with diabetes (120-min glucose ≥ 11.1 mmol/l), 12 with impaired glucose tolerance (120-min glucose 7.8-11.0 mmol/l) and 2 with impaired fasting glucose (≥ 7 mmol/l). Fasting glucose ≥ 7 mmol/l or HbA1c ≥ 48 mmol/mol identified two of the six patients with diabetes diagnosed on OGTT. Fasting glucose ≥ 5.5 mmol/l and HbA1c ≥ 42 mmol/mol identified three and two patients, respectively, with diabetes. Only 1 of 12 patients with impaired glucose tolerance had a fasting glucose ≥ 5.5 mmol/l and none had HbA1c ≥ 42 mmol/mol (≥ 6%). CONCLUSIONS: The fasting glucose and HbA1c cut-offs used in UK population screening only identified one-third of HSCT survivors with diabetes and do not identify those at risk. Diabetes screening in HSCT survivors requires standard OGTTs.

Tissue-specific regulation of sialyltransferase activities in the rat by corticosteroids in vivo.

In this study we have examined the effects of corticosteroids on both the total sialyltransferase (sialyl-T) activity and on two individual isozymes in neural, hepatic, and renal tissues using an in vivo model system. Rats were adrenalectomised to deplete their endogenous stores of steroid hormones, and some subsequently received steroid replacement with dexamethasone or aldosterone. Adrenalectomy resulted in a significant decrease in total neural sialyl-T activity when compared with sham-operated animals in the four brain regions examined, indicating that total sialyl-T activity is normally under positive corticosteroid control. The subsequent effects of exogenous corticosteroids exhibited regional specificity with the enzyme activities in the cortex, cerebellum, and brainstem being stimulated by both dexamethasone and aldosterone and enzyme activity in the hippocampus being stimulated by aldosterone alone. In general, the changes in total enzyme activity could be attributed to the alpha 2,6 sialyl-T isozyme, although the changes in the cerebellum appeared to coincide with alpha 2,3 sialyl-T activity. In the liver, adrenalectomy resulted in an increase in enzyme activity which was not altered by administration of corticosteroids. There were no changes in total renal sialyl-T activity in any of the four experimental groups although certain changes were observed at the level of individual sialyl-T isozymes. These results demonstrate that sialyl-T activity in certain tissues is under the control of corticosteroids and that this is both a tissue-specific and region-specific effect.

Syrup of ipecacuanha as an emetic in adults.

The emetic actions of syrup of ipecacuanha have been evaluated in 105 adult patients presenting at the emergency department of the Royal Perth Hospital with a diagnosis of accidental or intentional poisoning. The australian Pharmaceutical Formulary (APF) and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) formulations of the syrup were compared and gave similar overall emetic responses of 88% and 89% respectively at a dose level of 15 ml. A 30 ml dose regimen of the APF formulation gave a slightly but not significantly increased overall emetic response of 96%. There were no differences between the three groups of patients in the time taken to vomit, the duration of vomiting or the volume of stomach contents recovered.