A Quantitative Comparison of Oil Sources on Shorelines of Prince William Sound, Alaska, 17 Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.

Environmental damage caused by accidental discharges of pollutants depends in part on the degree of prior contamination, in that increased pollution of an already heavily contaminated region will usually be considered less detrimental than equivalent pollution of a pristine region. Quantitative comparisons of specific pollution events with the extent and severity of prior contamination are rare, owing to difficulties in identifying and assessing contaminants remaining from prior pollution events, and in some cases contaminants from natural sources. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) presents an unusual opportunity to quantitatively evaluate residual contaminants from petroleum sources on shorelines of Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska. Here, we evaluate surface oil contamination from Monterey Formation petroleum-derived residues (released into PWS from ruptured storage tanks during the 1964 earthquake) on 200 shoreline segments selected at random within the EVOS spill path. We compare these results with previously estimated contamination from the EVOS and from other human activities. Our results indicate that residual shoreline contamination from the EVOS is more than ~ 50% greater than the sum total from human activity sites, that residual contamination by Monterey Formation sources is negligible in comparison to that from the EVOS, and that most of the shorelines in PWS were as close to pristine prior to the EVOS as is likely to be found anywhere else worldwide.

Long-lived marine species may be resilient to environmental variability through a temporal portfolio effect.

Maintenance of genetic variation may provide resilience of populations to natural environmental variability. We used Pacific ocean perch (POP; Sebastes alutus) to test for the maintenance of adaptive variation across overlapping generations. POP are a long-lived species characterized by widespread larval dispersal in their first year and a longevity of over 100 years. In order to understand how early marine dispersal affects POP survival and population structure, we used restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) to obtain 11,146 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 401 young-of-the-year (YOY) POP collected during surveys conducted in 2014 (19 stations) and 2015 (4 stations) in the eastern Gulf of Alaska. Population clustering analysis showed that the POP samples represented four distinct ancestral populations mixed throughout the sampling area. Based on prior work on larval dispersal of POP, these larvae are most likely from distinct parturition locations that are mixing during their pelagic dispersal life stage. Latent factor mixed models revealed that POP larvae face significant selection during their first year at sea, which is specific to the year of their birth. Thus each adult cohort's genetic composition is heavily influenced by the environmental conditions experienced during their first year at sea. Long-lived species relying on broadcast spawning strategies may therefore be uniquely resilient to environmental variability by maintaining a portfolio of cohort-specific adaptive genotypes, and age truncation due to overfishing of older cohorts may have detrimental effect on the population viability.

Semipermeable membrane devices link site-specific contaminants to effects: Part 1 - Induction of CYP1A in rainbow trout from contaminants in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Extracts from semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) deployed on beaches in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, were used to evaluate if complex contaminant mixtures from different sources can be distinguished by the resulting cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) activity in exposed test animals. Deployment sites included canneries, salmon hatcheries, and beaches where lingering oil remains from discharges during the 1964 earthquake or the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Other sites were selected at random to evaluate region-wide contaminant inputs or were located in salmon streams to evaluate contaminants carried and released by migrating salmon carcasses following reproduction. Following standard deployments of approximately 28 d, an aliquot of the accumulated contaminants was intraperitoneally injected without cleanup into juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). After 2 d and 7 d, the activity of CYP1A was measured by the ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD) assay. Exposure to extracts from the oiled sites and one hatchery site with numerous creosote pilings elicited strong EROD responses, whereas fish exposed to salmon stream extracts elicited weak but significant responses during late summer compared to late spring. Responses from the other sites were not significant, indicating contaminants from these sources are unlikely to cause CYP1A induction in resident biota. Rather than simply assessing extant contaminants, this method evaluates the potency of the different sites for bringing about aryl hydrocarbon receptor responses in resident biota.

Slightly weathered Exxon Valdez oil persists in Gulf of Alaska beach sediments after 16 years.

Oil stranded by the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill has persisted in subsurface sediments of exposed shores for 16 years. With annualized loss rates declining from approximately 68% yr(-1) prior to 1992 to approximately 4% yr(-1) after 2001, weathering processes are retarded in both sediments and residual emulsified oil ("oil mousse"), and retention of toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is prolonged. The n-alkanes, typically very readily oxidized by microbes, instead remain abundant in many stranded emulsified oil samplesfrom the Gulf of Alaska. They are less abundant in Prince William Sound samples, where stranded oil was less viscous. Our results indicate that, at some locations, remaining subsurface oil may persist for decades with little change.

Left ventricular apical rupture caused by takotsubo cardiomyopathy--comprehensive pathological heart investigation.

An 81-year-old woman with emotionally-induced takotsubo cardiomyopathy developed a fatal left ventricular (LV) apical rupture. During the hospitalization persistent ST-segment elevation with no electrocardiographic time evolution was observed on the ECG, characteristic for takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Histopathologically, transmural myocardial necrosis with hemorrhage was found at the rupture site, but there were foci of coagulation and contraction band necrosis with mononuclear lymphocyte infiltrations in other heart regions, and the intensity and distribution of these pathological changes corresponded to the distribution of the LV contraction abnormalities seen on ventriculography. The article concludes that: the LV functional disorder in takotsubo cardiomyopathy may be caused by distracted foci of coagulation and contraction band necrosis in the myocardium; contraction band necrosis (a sign of catecholamine cardiotoxicity) may reflect the sympathetic hyperactivity in this disease; persistent myocardial damage expressed by persistent ST-segment elevation without an electrocardiographic time evolution should be carefully observed with sequential echocardiographic examinations because of the possibility of cardiac rupture.

Vertical distribution and probability of encountering intertidal Exxon Valdez oil on shorelines of three embayments within Prince William Sound, Alaska.

We examined 32 shorelines selected at random in 2003 from shorelines in Herring Bay, Lower Pass, and Bay of Isles in Prince William Sound, Alaska, to examine the vertical distribution of oil remaining from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and to estimate the probability that sea otters and ducks would encounter oil while foraging there. On each shoreline, sampling was stratified by 1-m tide height intervals and randomly located 0.25 m2 sampling quadrats were examined for evidence of surface and subsurface oil. Oil from the T/V Exxon Valdezwasfound on 14 shorelines, mainly in Herring Bay and Lower Pass, with an estimated 0.43 ha covered by surface oil and 1.52 ha containing subsurface oil. Surface and subsurface oil were most prevalent near the middle of the intertidal and had nearly symmetrical distributions with respect to tide height. Hence, about half the oil is in the biologically rich lower intertidal, where predators may encounter it while disturbing sediments in search of prey. The overall probability of encountering surface or subsurface oil is estimated as 0.0048, which is only slightly greaterthan our estimated probability of encountering subsurface oil in the lower intertidal of Herring Bay or Lower Pass. These encounter probabilities are sufficient to ensure that sea otters and ducks that routinely excavate sediments while foraging within the intertidal would likely encounter subsurface oil repeatedly during the course of a year.

[Alveolar capillary dysplasia as a cause of failure in treatment of a neonate with pulmonary persistent hypertension of the newborn - case report]. / Dysplazja pecherzykowo-wlosniczkowa przyczyna niepowodzenia w leczeniu noworodka z zespolem przetrwalego nadcisnienia plucnego--opis przypadku.

A patient with severe persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) due to alveolar capillary dysplasia, congenital (ACD), is presented. In the treatment, apart from standard methods, high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV), inhaled nitric oxide and activated C protein have been applied. In spite of treatment the patient died and post-mortem diagnosis was based on lung histopathology examination. ACD occurs very rarely and is a congenital disease. Diagnosis is by pulmonary tissue histopathology examination. Pathological structure of the lungs leads to severe dysfunction of gas exchange as well as increasing pulmonary hypertension. No effective treatment is known and all so far described cases have ended up with death. The described case and literature data lead the authors to the following conclusions: 1. in case of PPHN resistant to treatment, ACD diagnosis should be taken into consideration, 2. histopathological examination determines the diagnosis, 3. limited capabilities of diagnosis are the reason for applying non-standard and expensive treatment methods which so far are doomed to failure, 4. in case of a patient with severe, persistent pulmonary hypertension and unclear aetiology, not reacting to nitrous oxide treatment, a diagnostic lung biopsy should be considered.

[Injuries to the skin and subcutaneous tissues of the chest wall and abdomen resulting from seat belt trauma in road accident victims]. / Obrazenia powlok klatki piersiowej i brzucha powstale w wyniku dzialania pasów bezpieczenstwa u ofiar wypadków drogowych.

A modification of the autopsy has been discussed. The modification concerns the dissection of the chest and abdomen integuments prior to opening the peritoneal cavity. This makes it easier to determine where and how the injuries to subcutaneous tissues and muscles resulting from the action of seat belts occurring in road accident victims are located. The mechanism whereby the injuries occur, factors which affect their extensiveness and location (what happened during an accident, the type of seat belts, victim's clothing, thickness of subcutaneous tissue) has been presented. Based on three-year experience the advantages and limitations of the suggested dissection as well as its usefulness in the practice of determining: if an accident victim was buckled up when the accident occurred and which car seat he/she occupied, have been discussed. In a case presented, thanks to the use of the proposed modification, the data obtained from an inquiry held by the Public Prosecutor's Office were quickly verified, as well as further examinations to explain the accident circumstances provoked and a person who was actually driving a car when the accident happened established.

Estimate of oil persisting on the beaches of Prince William Sound 12 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

We estimated the amount of oil remaining in Prince William Sound, Alaska, 12 yr after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill to assess its importance as a long-term reservoir of toxic hydrocarbons. We found oil on 78 of 91 beaches randomly selected according to their oiling history. Surface oiling was recorded for randomly placed quadrats, which were then excavated and examined for subsurface oil. The cumulative area of beach contaminated by surface or subsurface oil was estimated at 11.3 ha. Surface oil varied little with tide height, but subsurface oil was more prevalent at the middle tide heights. The mass of remaining subsurface oil is conservatively estimated at 55 600 kg. Analysis of terpanes indicated that over 90% of the surface oil and all of the subsurface oil was from the Exxon Valdez and that Monterey Formation oil deposited after the 1964 Alaska earthquake accounted for the remaining surface oil. These results indicate that oil from the Exxon Valdez remains by far the largest reservoir of biologically available polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on beaches impacted by the spill and that biota dependent on these beaches risk continued exposure.

[Significance of chromatographic methods coupled with mass spectrometry for identification of drugs for medico-legal purposes exemplified by chlorphenoxamine]. / Znaczenie metod chromatograficznych sprzezonych z spektrometria mas (LC/MS, GC/MS) w identyfikacji leków do celów orzecznictwa sadowo-lekarskiego na przykladzie chlorfenoksyaminy.

This work presented the death of the 17-year old women M.F. The direct cause of death was violent strangulation. Toxicological investigation made possible a wider explanation of the case, since M.F. was under influence of associative action of diphenhydramine and ethanol which could not avoid having an influence on the tragic events accompanying the death. Besides a comprehensive interpretation of the toxicological results in medico--legal aspect large methodic documentation has been presented which proves the usefulness of chromatographic methods coupled with spectrometry for identification of xenobiotics found.