The influence of wetsuit thickness (≥ 7 mm) on lung volumes in scuba divers.

Introduction: We hypothesised that although thicker (≥ 7 mm) wetsuits delay hypothermia and allow divers to dive in cooler waters, they may hinder pulmonary function. The aim of this study was to investigate whether thicker wetsuits worn by Tasmanian divers affected lung volumes, primarily the forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume, one second (FEV1).

Methods: Sixty-two volunteer active divers were recruited from recreational dive clubs and Tasmania's occupational diving industry.

Hyperbaric Oxygen for Lower Limb Trauma (HOLLT): an international multi-centre randomised clinical trial.

Introduction: Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) is sometimes used in the management of open fractures and severe soft tissue crush injury, aiming to reduce complications and improve outcomes.

Methods: Patients with open tibial fractures were randomly assigned within 48 hours of injury to receive standard trauma care or standard care plus 12 sessions of HBOT. The primary outcome was the incidence of necrosis or infection or both occurring within 14 days of injury.

Nutrient Storage in the Perennial Organs of Deciduous Trees and Remobilization in Spring - A Study in Almond () (Mill.) D. A. Webb.

The annual dynamics of whole mature almond tree nutrient remobilization in spring and the accumulation of nutrients in perennial tissues during the year were determined by sequential coring, tissue sampling, nutrient analysis, whole tree excavation and biomass estimation for trees grown under four nitrogen rate treatments 140 kg ha N (N140), 224 kg ha N (N224), 309 kg ha N (N309), and 392 kg ha N (N392) over 2 years. Whole tree perennial organ N content was greatest in dormancy then declined through bud swell, flowering and fruit set, achieving the lowest total whole tree nutrient content of perennial organs by March 12 [12-14 days after full bloom (DAFB)] coincident with 60-70% leaf expansion. During this period no net increment in whole tree N content (annual plus perennial N) was observed indicating that tree demand for N for bud break, flowering, fruit set and leaf out was met by remobilized stored N and that there was no net N uptake from soil.

Intensive fertilizer use increases orchard N cycling and lowers net global warming potential.

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer use has simultaneously increased global food production and N losses, resulting in degradation of water quality and climate pollution. A better understanding of N application rates and crop and environmental response is needed to optimize management of agroecosystems. Here we show an orchard agroecosystem with high N use efficiency promoted substantial gains in carbon (C) storage, thereby lowering net global warming potential (GWP).

Floodplain soil and its bacterial composition are strongly affected by depth.

We studied bacterial abundance and community structure of five soil cores using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Shifts in the soil bacterial composition were more pronounced within a vertical profile than across the landscape. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) concentrations decreased exponentially with soil depth and revealed a buried carbon-rich horizon between 0.

Human-induced and natural carbon storage in floodplains of the Central Valley of California.

Active floodplains can putatively store large amounts of organic carbon (SOC) in subsoils originating from catchment erosion processes with subsequent floodplain deposition. Our study focussed on the assessment of SOC pools associated with alluvial floodplain soils that are affected by human-induced changes in floodplain deposition and in situ SOC mineralisation due to land use change and drainage. We evaluated depth-dependent SOC contents based on 23 soil cores down to 3 m and 10 drillings down to 7 m in a floodplain area of the lower Cosumnes River.

Safety of non-ablative fractional laser for acne scars within 1 month after treatment with oral isotretinoin: A randomized split-face controlled trial.

Background And Objective: Based on reports of poor wound healing and scarring, it is currently recommended that patients wait 6 months after completion of oral isotretinoin therapy before the safe initiation of laser treatment. Our aim was to evaluate the safety of non-ablative fractional laser (NAFL) treatment for acne scars within 1 month after isotretinoin therapy.

Study Design/methods: This was a randomized split-face controlled trial involving 10 patients with acne scars who had completed isotretinoin treatment.

Deep carbon storage potential of buried floodplain soils.

Soils account for the largest terrestrial pool of carbon and have the potential for even greater quantities of carbon sequestration. Typical soil carbon (C) stocks used in global carbon models only account for the upper 1 meter of soil. Previously unaccounted for deep carbon pools (>1 m) were generally considered to provide a negligible input to total C contents and represent less dynamic C pools.

Identifying and acting on potentially inappropriate care? Inadequacy of current hospital coding for this task.

Introduction: Recent Australian attempts to facilitate disinvestment in healthcare, by identifying instances of 'inappropriate' care from large Government datasets, are subject to significant methodological flaws. Amongst other criticisms has been the fact that the Government datasets utilized for this purpose correlate poorly with datasets collected by relevant professional bodies. Government data derive from official hospital coding, collected retrospectively by clerical personnel, whilst professional body data derive from unit-specific databases, collected contemporaneously with care by clinical personnel.

From berries to blocks: carbon stock quantification of a California vineyard.

Background: Quantifying terrestrial carbon (C) stocks in vineyards represents an important opportunity for estimating C sequestration in perennial cropping systems. Considering 7.2 M ha are dedicated to winegrape production globally, the potential for annual C capture and storage in this crop is of interest to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

Identifying and acting on inappropriate metadata: a critique of the Grattan Institute Report on questionable care in Australian hospitals.

Introduction: In an era of ever-increasing medical costs, the identification and prohibition of ineffective medical therapies is of considerable economic interest to healthcare funding bodies. Likewise, the avoidance of interventions with an unduly elevated clinical risk/benefit ratio would be similarly advantageous for patients. Regrettably, the identification of such therapies has proven problematic.

Limited linkages of aboveground and belowground phenology: A study in grape.

Premise Of The Study: Plant phenology influences resource utilization, carbon fluxes, and interspecific interactions. Although controls on aboveground phenology have been studied to some degree, controls on root phenology are exceptionally poorly understood.

Methods: We used minirhizotrons to examine the timing of grape root production over 5 yr in Fredonia, New York, USA, in a humid continental climate; and over 3 yr in Oakville, California, USA, in a Mediterranean climate.

Erratum.

In the paper: Smart DR, Van den Broek C, Nishi R, Cooper PD, Eastman D. Field validation of Tasmania's aquaculture industry bounce-diving schedules using Doppler analysis of decompression stress. Diving Hyperb Med.

The assessment and management of inner ear barotrauma in divers and recommendations for returning to diving.

Inner ear barotrauma (IEBt) constitutes a spectrum of pressure-related pathology in the inner ear, with antecedent middle ear barotrauma (MEBt) common. IEBt includes perilymph fistula, intralabyrinthine membrane tear, inner ear haemorrhage and other rarer pathologies. Following a literature search, the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of IEBt in divers and best-practice recommendations for returning to diving were reviewed.

Field validation of Tasmania's aquaculture industry bounce-diving schedules using Doppler analysis of decompression stress.

Introduction: Tasmania's aquaculture industry produces over 40,000 tonnes of fish annually, valued at over AUD500M. Aquaculture divers perform repetitive, short-duration bounce dives in fish pens to depths up to 21 metres' sea water (msw). Past high levels of decompression illness (DCI) may have resulted from these 'yo-yo' dives.

Two fatal cases of immersion pulmonary oedema - using dive accident investigation to assist the forensic pathologist.

Immersion pulmonary oedema (IPE) is being increasingly recognized in swimmers, snorkellers and scuba divers presenting with acute symptoms of respiratory distress following immersion, but fatal case reports are uncommon. We report two fatal cases of probable IPE in middle-aged women, one whilst snorkelling and the other associated with a scuba dive. In the snorkeller's case, an episode of exercise-related chest tightness and shortness of breath that occurred 10 months previously was investigated but this proved negative, and she was on no medications.

A perforating pilomatricomal horn on the arm of an 11-year-old girl.

Cutaneous horns are uncommon in adults and rare in the pediatric population. Although verruca vulgaris, solar keratosis, and squamous cell carcinoma are more common entities that can present as cutaneous horns in the general population, conditions such as molluscum contagiosum, juvenile xanthgranuloma, and pyogenic granuloma have been reported causes in the pediatric population. We present a case of a perforating pilomatricoma presenting as a cutaneous horn in an 11 year old girl.

Microcystic adnexal carcinoma: the first reported congenital case.

Microcystic adenexal carcinoma is a rare, locally aggressive, malignant appendage tumor also known as sclerosing sweat duct carcinoma. Since widespread recognition of microcystic adenexal carcinoma as a distinct clinicopathologic entity, approximately 300 total cases have been reported in the literature, with only eight previous cases reported in children under the age of 18, with no reported cases in patients younger than 6 years old. Our patient is unique in that the lesion was present at birth, making this the youngest case of microcystic adenexal carcinoma reported.

Seasonal changes of whole root system conductance by a drought-tolerant grape root system.

The role of root systems in drought tolerance is a subject of very limited information compared with above-ground responses. Adjustments to the ability of roots to supply water relative to shoot transpiration demand is proposed as a major means for woody perennial plants to tolerate drought, and is often expressed as changes in the ratios of leaf to root area (A(L):A(R)). Seasonal root proliferation in a directed manner could increase the water supply function of roots independent of total root area (A(R)) and represents a mechanism whereby water supply to demand could be increased.

The impact of performing spirometry on shunting across a patent foramen ovale.

Transient changes in intrathoracic pressure can alter left and right intra-atrial pressures, and may provoke shunting of blood across a patent foramen ovale (PFO). Spirometry causes a transient rise and subsequent fall in intrathoracic pressure that, if performed following a dive on compressed air, could raise the risk of decompression illness by arterialisation of venous bubbles across a PFO. To assess whether spirometry can provoke right-to-left shunting across a patent foramen ovale, a subject with a known PFO, previously identified by bubble contrast transthoracic echocardiography, where shunting was only evident on performing a Valsalva manoeuvre, underwent re-examination whilst performing spirometry.

Estimating nitrogen uptake of individual roots in container- and field-grown plants using a N-depletion approach.

We only have a limited understanding of the nutrient uptake physiology of individual roots as they age. Despite this shortcoming, the importance of nutrient uptake processes to our understanding of plant nutrition and nutrient cycling cannot be underestimated. In this study, we used a N depletion method that allowed for the measurement of nitrate-N uptake rates on intact, individual, fine roots of known age.