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Introduction: Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a common problem. Rates of survival are low and a proportion of survivors are left with an unfavourable neurological outcome. Four models have been developed to predict risk of unfavourable outcome at the time of critical care admission – the Cardiac Arrest Hospital Prognosis (CAHP), MIRACLE2, Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA), and Targeted Temperature Management (TTM) models. This evaluation evaluates the performance of these four models in a United Kingdom population and provides comparison to performance of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE-II) score.Methods: A retrospective evaluation of the performance of the models was conducted over a 43-month period in 414 adult, non-pregnant patients presenting consecutively following non-traumatic OHCA to the five units in our regional critical care network. Scores were generated for each model for where patients had complete data (CAHP = 347, MIRACLE2= 375, OHCA = 356, TTM = 385). Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) outcome was calculated for each patient at last documented follow up and an unfavourable outcome defined as CPC ⩾ 3. Performance for discrimination of unfavourable outcome was tested by generating receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for each model and comparing the area under the curve (AUC).Results: Best performance for discrimination of unfavourable outcome was demonstrated by the high risk group of the CAHP score with an AUC of 0.87 [95% CI 0.83–0.91], specificity of 97.1% [95% CI 93.8–100] and positive predictive value (PPV) of 96.3% [95% CI 92.2–100]. The high risk group of the MIRACLE2model, which is significantly easier to calculate, had an AUC of 0.81 [95% CI 0.76–0.86], specificity of 92.3% [95% CI 87.2–97.4] and PPV of 95.2% [95% CI 91.9–98.4].Conclusion: The CAHP, MIRACLE2, OHCA and TTM scores all perform comparably in a UK population to the original development and validation cohorts. All four scores outperform APACHE-II in a population of patients resuscitated from OHCA. CAHP and TTM perform best but are more complex to calculate than MIRACLE2, which displays inferior performance.

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates.

Digital literacies abound in playing a foundational role in the rhythm and pattern of our lives, yet debates continue about how to harness them to teach and learn literacy. In an effort to humanize digital literacies, this department column offers a vast array of topics, from participatory work that pushes educators and researchers to communicate in local and global spaces to ways of redefining core reading and literacy skills through a screen‐based, multimodal logic. This column also provides a venue for research and practical applications that depict technology use as a part of the fabric of being human. The column helps educators reconceptualize the ways that children learn with technology, media, and new communication systems; honors educator success stories and burning questions and issues; and reimagines literacy futures.

The article offers information about the art exhibition "Camberwell Art Show 2016" held at Rotary Club of Camberwell in Victoria as of November 2016 and features work of several artists Rhondda Grey and Lee Machelak.

The article announces several recipients of the 2016 Archibald Prize in the field of art including Louise Hearman, Betina Fauvel-Ogden and Peter Wegner.

Tropical forests are a critical component of the global carbon cycle and their response to environmental change will play a key role in determining future concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Increasing primary productivity in tropical forests over recent decades has been attributed to CO2fertilization, and greater biomass in tropical forests could represent a substantial sink for carbon in the future. However, the carbon sequestration capacity of tropical forest soils is uncertain and feedbacks between increased plant productivity and soil carbon dynamics remain unexplored. Here, we show that experimentally increasing litterfall in a lowland tropical forest enhanced carbon release from the soil. Using a large-scale litter manipulation experiment combined with carbon isotope measurements, we found that the efflux of CO2derived from soil organic carbon was significantly increased by litter addition. Furthermore, this effect was sustained over several years. We predict that a future increase in litterfall of 30% with an increase in atmospheric CO2concentrations of 150 ppm could release about 0.6 t C ha−1yr−1from the soil, partially offsetting predicted net gains in carbon storage. Thus, it is essential that plant–soil feedbacks are taken into account in predictions of the carbon sequestration potential of tropical forests.

For the past 50 years there has been rapid warming in the maritime Antarctic, with concurrent, and probably temperature-mediated, proliferation of the two native plants, Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis) and especially Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica). In many terrestrial ecosystems at high latitudes, nitrogen (N) supply regulates primary productivity. Although the predominant view is that only inorganic and amino acid N are important sources of N for angiosperms, most N enters soil as protein. Maritime Antarctic soils have large stocks of proteinaceous N, which is released slowly as decomposition is limited by low temperatures. Consequently, an ability to acquire N at an early stage of availability is key to the success of photosynthetic organisms. Here we show that D. antarctica can acquire N through its roots as short peptides, produced at an early stage of protein decomposition, acquiring N over three times faster than as amino acid, nitrate or ammonium, and more than 160 times faster than the mosses with which it competes. Efficient acquisition of the N released in faster decomposition of soil organic matter as temperatures rise may give D. antarctica an advantage over competing mosses that has facilitated its recent proliferation in the maritime Antarctic.

Grassland ecosystems are important global sinks and sources of atmospheric carbon (C). In this study, we used an in-situ13CO2 tracer approach to quantify differences in short-term C exudation from defoliated and non-defoliated Agrostis capillaris (L.) plants subjected to natural diurnal light and temperature regimes and rainfall events. Results showed: 1. There was no significant difference in overall carbon exudation from the plants as a result of defoliation; 2. defoliation significantly increased exudation of recent photosynthate (i.e.,13C labeled); 3. there was a distinct and statistically significant diurnal trend in C exudation with root C exudation increasing during the day and early evening and decreasing during the night and early morning. The importance of light/temperature and defoliation as drivers of patterns of root C exudation and the contribution of recent assimilate C to atmosphere-plant-soil carbon flow are discussed.

We describe the development of a novel mobile field laboratory, purposely designed for the automated capture and subsequent stable isotopic analyses of multiple gas samples. The multiple capture system is integrated into a mobile laboratory that is fully capable of measuring the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide trace gases in a flow‐through system connected to a gas chromatograph fitted with both electron capture and flame ionisation detectors. The capture of gases is achieved by routing samples through a series of 135 mL gas flasks that are sealed by micro‐solenoid valves triggered by a timing system. Trace gas light stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry can then be carried out on gas samples collected by the system (NERC 15N Stable Isotope Facility). The excitingly unique potential of the system to the ecological research field is that it will allow the collection of cyclical data for three different trace gases both in real‐time and in situ. We present data arising from the validation of this mobile system as well as a preliminary experimental assessment of this technique. This technique was used to measure δ13C in CO2and CH4in soil gases released from waterlogged cores and δ13C‐CH4values were significantly depleted in wet cores compared with dry ones (p< 0.001). Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractTwo radiocarbon ages are reported: 4610 ± 60 yr BP (Wk‐5874) for wood in lake sediments which were later buried by till during a glacier advance; and 1800 ± 50 yr BP (Wk‐5875) for wood in glacio‐fluvial outwash. Each of these ages is assumed to record events which had already been dated, although in both cases the new samples come from different locations. The stratigraphic and geomorphic evidence from the dated sedimentary strata provides new perspectives on events in the lower Waiho River valley associated with glacial advance and recession, and fluvial deposition and erosion, during the mid‐ and late‐Aranui Interglacial. These include the presence of a lake at least 300 m long c. 4600 yr BP; a clear indication that an extensive glacial advance occurred soon after that time; and the occurrence of a substantial glacial event associated with the deposition of a thick sheet of outwash which filled the width of the valley, c. 1800 yr BP.

Immortalized hepatocytes are an attractive cell source for hepatocyte transplantation and gene transfer. We compared the phenotype and immunogenicity of freshly isolated (FIH) and immortalized (IMH) rat hepatocytes. Effect of culture and proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ) was studied on phenotype. FIH were isolated by collagenase digestion. Two SV40 immortalized hepatocyte cell lines were tested (RH1 and P9). Immunophenotyping was performed by FACS analysis using anti-rat-specific antibodies. Immunogenicity was evaluated by a mixed lymphocyte hepatocyte reaction (MLHR). FIH suspension was an almost homogeneous parenchymal cell population with few (1–2%) CD8+ cells. FIH showed a positive staining for ICAM-1 (20–35%) and for Class I (RT1A, 30–60%) but no staining for Class II (RT1B). After 48 h of culture, the already ICAM-1-positive cells were more strongly stained and additionally 3.6% of the cells (possibly endothelial cells) were Class II positive. IMH showed a consistent expression of Class I (93–97%) and ICAM-1 (95–97%) but no expression of Class II. Culture of IMH for 48 h had no effect on Class II expression but increased ICAM-1 expression. Addition of TNF-α at 1000 UI/ml to cultures of FIH or IMH increased Class I and ICAM-1 expression whereas IFN-γ (50 or 1000 UI/ml) had no evident effect. Hepatocyte immunogenicity, assessed in MLHR and appreciated by the stimulation index (SI) test/SI syngeneic control, was similar for IMH (RH1: 2.68 ± 0.89; P9: 2.37 ± 0.78) and FIH (2.52 ± 0.18). In conclusion, despite some quantitative immunophenotypic differences, FIH and IMH induced the same proliferation rate of allogeneic T lymphocytes. Thus, immortalized hepatocytes may constitute an appropriate cellular model to study the prevention of hepatocyte rejection by gene transfer.

Spermatozoa are produced by males of the fish-parasitic copepod, Lernaeocera branchialis, on the flounder (Platichthys flesus) host and packaged into spermatophores. Mature spermatozoa from spermatophores have been investigated with light microscopy and t.e.m. and s.e.m. techniques. Each is a filiform cell up to 30 µm long and 1 µm in diameter, being symmetrically tapered at each end to produce a ‘javelin-shaped’ configuration. Surface s.e.m. appearances suggest that the cell is helically twisted. The spermatozoon possesses no flagellum, no nuclear envelope, no mitochondria and no orthodox acrosome. For most of its length the cell has a four-lobed appearance in transverse section and contains little more than a cylindrical sleeve of pseudomembranous material with which is associated finely filamentous or granular material which is assumed to be nuclear chromatin. The spermatozoon is immobile in seawater.

The differentiated hepatic function of two rat liver cell lines, P9 and SV40RH1, immortalised by transfection with SV40 DNA has been investigated in terms of the glutathione synthesis, and the activities of γ-glutamyltransferase, glutathione-S-transferase and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase. SV40RH1 is a highly differentiated cell line at early passage, but the expression of some aspects of its differentiated phenotype is unstable and some functions are lost by passage 12-13. P9 is a less-well differentiated cell line, with relatively stable expression of functions between passages 4 and 13. In terms of differentiated function both cell lines represent a marked improvement over primary cultures of rat hepatocytes which de-differentiate rapidly within 24-48 h in culture. This retention of liver function in proliferating cell lines offers the opportunity to use such cells in in vitro toxicological studies.

The in-vitro cellular response of 3T3, L929 mouse and RMF primary human fibroblasts to novel collagen laminated sponge dressings was evaluated in a direct contact cell culture model using the adhesive film test. Direct microscopical examination of test plates was followed by measurement of cell attachment areas, migration distances and zones of inhibition using a micrometer grid. Normal cell growth of each cell type was seen in the presence of a collagen sponge and a 4 layer film multilaminate. A cytotoxic response to a 6 film multilaminate was observed with RMF cells only; normal cell activity was observed with 3T3 and L929 fibroblasts.

Observed variations in the δ13C and δ15N content of amphetamines are shown to be attributable to kinetic isotope effects during synthesis; chemical degradation and isotopic characterisation provides a means to identify the synthetic origins of illicit MDMA and other amphetamines.

The article offers the author's view on the impact of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration on the Title IX Education Amendments in the U.S. She states that there is uncertainty on Obama's policy regarding the Title IX. She cites that there are evidences that Obama is supporting compliance of the Title IX, including the creation of a White House Council on Women and Girls. He quotes that the cutting of more than 20 sports programs is a sign of compliance with the Title IX.