A new certified reference material IAEA-465 for radionuclides in Baltic Sea sediment.

Certified reference material (CRM) for natural (K,Pb,Po,Ra,Ra,Th,Th,Th,U,U, andU) and anthropogenic (Cs,Pu, andAm) radionuclides in marine sediment from the Baltic Sea (IAEA-465) has been developed. Information values are given for Pu,Pu andPu. Altogether 27 laboratories participated in this exercise.

Subjective score and outcomes after discharge from the intensive care unit: a prospective observational study.

Objective: Intensive care unit (ICU) discharge is a decision process that is usually performed subjectively. We evaluated whether a subjective score (Sabadell score) is associated with hospital outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study from August 2014 to May 2015 at a tertiary-care private hospital in Brazil.

Main results of the 2012 joint Norwegian-Russian expedition to the dumping sites of the nuclear submarine K-27 and solid radioactive waste in Stepovogo Fjord, Novaya Zemlya.

This paper reports the main results of the 2012 joint Norwegian-Russian expedition to investigate the radioecological situation of the Stepovogo Fjord on the eastern coast of Novaya Zemlya, where the nuclear submarine K-27 and solid radioactive waste was dumped. Based on in situ gamma measurements and the analysis of seawater and sediment samples taken around the submarine, there was no indication of any leakage from the reactor units of K-27. With regard to the radioecological status of Stepovogo Fjord, activity concentrations of all radionuclides in seawater, sediment and biota in 2012 were in general lower than reported from the previous investigations in the 1990s.

Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in marine biota and coastal sediments from the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The composition and spatial distribution of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in biota and coastal sediments from four countries surrounding the Gulf (Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman). The levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), aliphatic unresolved mixture and PAHs in sediments and biota were relatively low compared to world-wide locations reported to be chronically contaminated by oil. Only in the case of the sediments collected near the BAPCO oil refinery in Bahrain, having concentrations of 779 microg g(-1) total petroleum hydrocarbon equivalents and 6.

The use of steroid markers to assess sewage contamination of the Black Sea.

Analyses of faecal steroids in coastal sediments taken from throughout the Black Sea indicate chronic sewage contamination at some locations. These include Sochi, where concentrations of coprostanol up to 5400 ng g(-1) (dry wt) were recorded, and in the coastal areas adjacent to the Danube delta (2600 ng g(-1) dry wt). Comparatively high values of 5beta/(5beta+5alpha) isomeric ratios of cholestan-3-ol and cholestan-3-one are reported at these locations and are characteristic of sediments contaminated with sewage.