Twitter data analysis to assess the interest of citizens on the impact of marine plastic pollution.

Few studies have mined social media platforms to assess environmental concerns. In this study, Twitter was scraped to obtain a ~140,000 tweet dataset related specifically to marine plastic pollution. The goal is to understand what kind of users profiles are tweeting and how and when they do it. In addition, topic modelling and graph theory techniques have allowed us to identify main concerns on this topic: i) impact on wildlife, ii) microplastics/water pollution, iii) estimates/reports, iv) legislation/protection, and v) recycling/cleaning initiatives. Results reveal a scarce influence of organizations involved in research and marine environmental awareness, so some guidelines are depicted that could help to adjust their communication plans. This is relevant to engage society through reliable information, change habits and reinforce sustainable behaviour. A visualization tool has been created to analyze the results over time.

Chiral x achiral multidimensional liquid chromatography. Application to the enantioseparation of dintitrophenyl amino acids in honey samples and their fingerprint classification.

Most HPLC enantiomer separations are performed with columns packed with a chiral stationary phase (CSP) operated with an achiral mobile phase. The intrinsically limited chemical selectivity of most CSPs to the simultaneous resolution of several pairs of enantiomers means that complex mixtures of diverse pairs of enantiomers cannot be resolved in a single run due to peak overlapping. Moreover, some drawbacks remain when the analyte is present in very complex samples containing other achiral compounds which can co-elute with the enantiomer peaks. Multidimensional chromatography becomes an option to increase peak capacity and resolve these samples. The aim of this work was to study an online fully comprehensive 2D-LC mode utilizing a combination of a chiral column in the first dimension and an achiral column in the second dimension. The 2D-LC system was built with an active flow splitter pump in order to easily adjust the volume of sample transferred into the second dimension and to independently optimize the flow rate in the first dimension. The present LCxLC method was optimized for the separation of amino acids present in honey samples, taking into account key parameters that influence the bidimensional peak capacity (orthogonality, sampling frequency, etc.). The amino acids have been preconcentrated on a cation-exchange column followed by derivatization. Several amino acids present in different honey samples have been identified and the data generated has been analyzed by principal component analysis.

Factors associated with complete endoscopic resection of an invasive adenocarcinoma in a colorectal adenoma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: endoscopic polypectomy may allow curative resection of invasive adenocarcinoma on colorectal adenoma. Our goal was to determine the factors associated with complete endoscopic resection of invasive adenocarcinoma. METHODS: retrospective observational study. We included 151 patients with invasive adenocarcinoma on adenomas endoscopically resected between 1999 and 2009. We determined those variables independently related to incomplete resection by a logistic regression. Relation was expressed as Odds Ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI). RESULTS: patients were predominantly male (66.2%) and their mean age was 68.03 ± 10.65 years. Colonoscopy was completein 84% of the patients and 60.3% had synchronous adenomas. Invasive adenocarcinoma was mainly located in distal colon (90.7%) and morphology was pedunculated in 75.5%. The endoscopic averagesize was 22.61 ± 10.86 mm. Submucosal injection was required in 32.5%. Finally, the resection was in one piece in 73.5% and incomplete in 8.6% of the adenocarcinomas. Factors independently associated with incomplete endoscopic resection were size (mm) (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.03-1.14, p = 0.002), sessile or flat morphology (OR 8.78, 95% CI 2.24-34.38, p = 0.002) and incomplete colonoscopy (OR 4.73, 95% CI 1.15-19.34, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: endoscopic polypectomy allows complete resection of 91.4% of invasive adenocarcinomas on colorrectal adenoma in our series. Factors associated with incomplete resection were the size of the lesion, sessile or flat morphology and incomplete colonoscopy.

Immunohistochemical alterations in invasive adenocarcinoma in endoscopically resected adenoma and factors associated with risk of residual or recurrent disease.

AIM: We determined the pattern of immunohistochemical expression in invasive adenocarcinoma in endoscopically resected adenoma, its relationship with the risk of residual or recurrent disease and the related factors. METHOD: We included individuals with malignant polyps resected endoscopically in the period 1999-2009. Clinical and endoscopic data were collected. All histological specimens were re-analysed. CD44, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), vascular endothelial growth factor-ß (VEGF-ß), ß-catenin, laminin and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expression were determined by immunohistochemistry. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine variables independently associated with the risk of residual or recurrent disease. RESULTS: One-hundred and fifty-one malignant polyps (114 pedunculated; mean size ± SD=22.61 ± 10.86 mm) were resected endoscopically. Resection was fragmented and incomplete in 26.5% and 8.6% of patients, respectively. Surgical resection was performed on 71 (47%) patients. After a median follow-up of 44 months, residual (n=12) or recurrent (n=6) disease was detected in 17 patients. Conventional histology showed that 32.1% met high-risk histological criteria. Immunohistochemical expression was positive for CD44, MMP-9, VEGF-ß, ß-catenin, laminin and COX-2 in 63.3%, 25.3%, 45%, 38.8%, 79% and 34.5% of specimens, respectively, with no differences between both groups. Variables associated with residual or recurrent disease in the univariate analysis were: nonpedunculated morphology (P=0.07); fragmented (P<0.001) or incomplete resection (P<0.001); margin infiltration (P=0.04); and histological high-risk lesion (P=0.003). Finally, incomplete resection (OR=12.16, 95% CI=3.15-46.98; P<0.001) and histological high risk (OR=4.73, 95% CI=1.33-16.74; P=0.002) were independently associated with the risk of residual or recurrent disease. CONCLUSION: Immunohistochemistry could not predict residual or recurrent disease. Only incomplete excision and histological high risk did so. The factors independently associated were histological high-risk lesion and incomplete resection.

Female maturation, egg characteristics and fatty acids profile in the seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus.

Knowledge of the biology and ecology of seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) is scarce, but has been increasing in recent years due to their conservation status. Captivity breeding programmes can be a valuable source of information on the reproductive biology of seahorses. A captive broodstock of Hippocampus guttulatus Cuvier 1829 was established in 2006 and kept under natural-like photoperiod and temperature. Female maturation was studied during the whole reproductive season in 2007. Most egg clutches were released from May (17°C; 15L:9D) to October (18°C; 13L:11D), with peak releases occurring in June-August (20°C; 16L:8D-14L:10D). Throughout the study, four egg morphotypes were found; two regression equations were proposed for estimating egg/yolk volume based on measurements of egg and yolk biometrics. Female weight was positively correlated with yolk volume/egg volume ratio (Y(v)/E(v)) (r(s)=0.523, n=21, P<0.05) but not with E(v) or Y(v). Egg dry weight (567±141µg) was correlated with Y(v) (r(s)=0.384, n=31, P<0.05). Mean clutch size and clutch biomass were 242±142 eggs and 137±87mg dry weight, respectively. Clutch size was positively correlated to female weight (r(s)=0.479, n=25, P<0.05). Inter-clutch intervals (days) were affected by temperature (°C) as described by the following equation: Interval=357.55e(-0.1283 Temp). Estimated inter-clutch intervals at 16, 18 and 20°C were 45.9, 35.5 and 27.5 days, respectively. Egg total lipids accounted for 31.9±3.1% dry weight. Absolute lipid content in eggs was correlated with egg dry weight (r(s)=0.907, n=41, P<0.001) and Y(v) (r(s)=0.384, n=41, P<0.5). In decreasing order of relative percentage, the most important fatty acids, were 18:1n9, 16:0, 18:2n6, 20:5n3, 18:0 and 22:6n-3. The level of n-3 HUFA was 18.5±0.7% (38.4±3.3mg/g dry weight). The profile of fatty acids in eggs resembled that displayed by the broodstock diet (enriched adult Artemia).