A weight-of-evidence approach for deriving a level of concern for atrazine that is protective of aquatic plant communities.

Atrazine is a selective triazine herbicide widely used in the United States primarily for control of broadleaf weeds in corn and sorghum. In 2003, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) concluded that atrazine poses potential risks to sensitive aquatic species. Consequently, a surface water monitoring program was developed to assess whether measured levels of atrazine could impact aquatic plants in vulnerable watersheds.

Ecological risk assessment for Pacific salmon exposed to dimethoate in California.

A probabilistic risk assessment of the potential direct and indirect effects of acute dimethoate exposure to salmon populations of concern was conducted for 3 evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) of Pacific salmon in California. These ESUs were the Sacramento River winter-run chinook, the California Central Valley spring-run chinook, and the California Central Valley steelhead. Refined acute exposures were estimated using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, a river basin-scale model developed to quantify the impact of land-management practices in large, complex watersheds.

Improving referrals to the Liaison service at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Psychiatry liaison services provide the interface between mental and physical health in the acute medical hospital, however there can be logistical and operational difficulties to overcome. This quality improvement project aimed to improve the timeliness of referrals to a liaison service from an acute hospital through simple interventions of a newsletter, email to staff, and a pilot including attending post-take ward rounds on the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) of the hospital. This resulted in a faster referral process to liaison as well as improved staff satisfaction with the liaison service, both of which will have a positive benefit on the clinical management of patients and the patients experience in hospital.