Adding functions to marine infrastructure: Pollutant accumulation, physiological and microbiome changes in sponges attached to floating pontoons inside marinas

The use of marine sponge species as a bioindicator to monitor metal pollution in Red Sea, Saudi Arabia

The existing data on trace elements of benthic sea organisms is scarce. Yet, the pressing issue of environmental contamination has spurred a surge in the use of organisms as biomonitors. In this study, sediment cores were sampled with the sponges, and metal concentrations were determined in both samples using ICP-MS. The mean concentrations of metals in benthic sediments and sponge species analyzed in this study differed significantly (Sediment > Phorbas species > Negombata magnifica > Callyspongia species > Amphimedon chloros). This could be due to the varying capacity of each sponge species to accumulate a particular metal by different means. Negombata magnifica and Phorbas species appear to be indicators, accumulators, or hyper-accumulators of Cu and Mn, while Callyspongia species is an indicator, accumulator, or hyper-accumulator of Cu only due to bioconcentration factor > 1 for the aforementioned metals. Concentrations of Cu and As in sediment were below the Effects Range Median but above the Effects Range Low threshold, hence the need to give more attention to these metals. This research provides a baseline dataset for designing monitoring strategies on this ecosystem and using sponge species for biomonitoring.

"Floating Hip": Epidemiology and Quality of Care

INTRODUCTION

The "floating hip" is a rare and complex fracture involving the pelvis and the ipsilateral femur and is therefore difficult to treat. Data and studies on this topic are still scarce. The optimal strategy for surgical treatment and thus the resulting quality of treatment are still being debated; a femur-first strategy is often the preferred treatment.

METHODS

Retrospectively, patients with a pelvic fracture treated at the Level I Trauma Centre of the University of Tübingen between 2003 and 2017 were identified. Patients with an additional ipsilateral femur fracture were identified in this collective. We compared the quality of treatment of pelvic fractures between floating and non-floating hip injuries.

RESULTS

Proximal femur fractures were more common with pelvic ring fractures (n = 16) than with acetabular fractures (n = 1). Floating hip injuries occur more frequently in younger polytraumatised male patients. Pelvic fractures in floating hip injuries are operated more frequently (62.8% vs. 39.1%; p = 0.003) and the clinical course is significantly longer (27.8 ± 19.3 vs. 19.9 ± 23.1 days; p < 0.001). However, the quality of treatment of pelvic fracture, exemplified by morbidity (18.6% vs. 14.6%; p = 0.610) and mortality (7.0% vs. 2.6%; p = 0.108), shows no differences.

CONCLUSION

Injury severity and complexity of pelvic fracture is significantly higher in floating hip injuries, but without affecting the resulting quality of treatment. A "femur first" treatment strategy is preferable. Algorithms for emergency treatment and definitive care are proposed in a flowchart.