This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, first published online on 11 January 2016. The version of record [Kathleen A Lewis, John Tzilivakis, Doublas J. Warner & Andrew Green, ???An international database for pesticide risk assessments and management???, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, Vol 22(4): 1050-1064 ] is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2015.1133242Despite a changing world in terms of data sharing, availability, and transparency there are still major resource issues associated with collating datasets that will satisfy the requirements of comprehensive pesticide risk assessments especially those undertaken at regional or national scale. In 1996 a long-term project was initiated to begin collating and formatting pesticide data to eventually create a free-to-all repository of data which would provide a comprehensive transparent, harmonised and managed extensive dataset for all types of pesticide risk assessments. Over the last 20 years this database has been keeping pace with improving risk assessments, their associated data requirements, and the needs and expectations of database end users. In 2007 the Pesticides Properties DataBase (PPDB) was launched as a free-to-access website. Currently, the PPDB holds data for almost 2300 pesticide active substances and over 700 metabolites. For each substance around 300 parameters are stored covering human health, environmental quality and biodiversity risk assessments. Approaching the twentieth anniversary of the database this paper seeks to elucidate the current data model, data sources, its validation and quality control processes and describes a number of existing risk assessment applications that depend upon it

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Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0308521X Copyright Elsevier Ltd. DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2004.07.015 [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]Reducing the energy derived from fossil fuels within agricultural systems has important implications for decreasing atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases, thus assisting the arrest of global warming. The identification of crop production methods that maximise energy efficiency and minimise greenhouse gas emissions is vital. Sugar beet is grown in a variety of locations and under a variety of agronomic conditions within the UK. This study identified thirteen production scenarios, representative of over 90% of the UK beet crop, which included five soil types, nine fertiliser regimes and nine crop protection strategies. The fossil energy input, the overall energy efficiency and the global warming potential (GWP) of each production scenario was assessed. This study did not consider the processing of the beet to extract sugar. The overall energy input of the UK beet crop ranges between 15.72 and 25.94 GJ/ha. It produces between 7.3 and 15.0 times as much energy in dry matter at the sugar factory gate as consumed in its production, with an average ratio of 9.7. It has an average GWP of 0.024 eq. t CO2 per tonne of clean beet harvested, equivalent to 0.0062 eq. t CO2 per GJ output. The energy input into each scenario was dictated largely by the energy associated with crop nutrition. The smallest energy inputs per hectare were to crops grown under organic conditions or conventional crops grown on fertile soils (clay loam, silt or peat) or sand soil with broiler manure applied. Those crops with the greatest energy input were grown on sand soil that was irrigated and had mineral fertiliser applied. Although the organic scenario grown on sandy loam soil had one of the smallest energy inputs per hectare, the low yield meant that the energy input was similar per tonne of beet harvested to the conventional crops grown on sandy loam soil. The extra distance travelled by organic beet from the farm to the factory increased the energy input per tonne above that of the conventional scenarios. The GWP was smallest for the conventional crops on the fertile peat and silt soils and greatest on the irrigated sand soils and the sandy loam soils. The organic scenario had a similar GWP to the conventional scenarios on sandy loam to the farm gate, although the greater diesel requirement for transport increased the GWP overall. The GWP per GJ of output for sugar beet in England is similar to published values for wheat

Objective: To evaluate the utility of a modified calculation of the alveolar dead space fraction (Vd/Vt), combined with plasma D-dimers, to aid in the exclusion of acute pulmonary embolism (PE). Methods: A prospective comparison of screening modalities was performed in a metropolitan teaching ED. Ambulatory patients evaluated for PE underwent simultaneous end-tidal CO, and arterial blood gas determinations, as well as venous latex-agglutination D-dimer quantification. The modified Bohr equation was used to calculate Vd/Vt as an index of alveolar dead space. Acute PE was diagnosed or excluded using appropriate combinations of clinical suspicion, ventilation-perfusion lung scanning, lower-extremity venous Doppler ultrasonography, pulmonary angiography, and comprehensive follow-up. Results: Of 170 subjects studied, PE was confirmed (PE+) in 26 (15%) and excluded (PE-) in 144 (85%). In the PE+ group, Vd/Vt was 0.31 & 0.13 (mean 2 SD), and in the PE-group, Vd/Vt was 0.06 t-0.10 (p c 0.05, t-test). Regarding false-negative rates, Vd/Vt was normal (i.e., c0.2) in 3/26 PE+ patients and D-dimer concentrations were normal (~0 . 5 pg/L) in 4/26 patients in the PE+ group. The combination of a normal Vd/Vt and D-dimer concentration was 100% sensitive (95% CI = 88-100%) in excluding PE. Falsepositive testing (either test positive) occurred in 49/14 subjects (specificity 65%, 95% CI = 52-73%). The age-adjusted alveolar-arterial O2 gradient was 33 5 38 torr in the PE+ group vs 13 2 37 torr in the PEgroup (p = 0.1 1). Conclusions: In ambulatory patients, the finding of Vd/Vt ~0 . 2 and D-dimers c0.5 pg/L lowers the probability of acute PE.

Trebananib plus sunitinib seemed to increase toxicity at the tested doses. Efficacy results suggest a potential benefit for the addition of trebananib to sunitinib.

Background:This phase 2 study evaluated trebananib (AMG 386), an investigational peptide-Fc fusion protein that neutralises the interaction between angiopoietins-1/2 and the Tie2 receptor, plus FOLFIRI as second-line treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.Methods:Patients had adenocarcinoma of the colon or rectum with progression within 6 months of receiving only one prior fluoropyrimidine/oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy regimen for metastatic disease. All patients received FOLFIRI and were randomised 2 : 1 to also receive intravenous trebananib 10 mg kg−1 once weekly (QW) (Arm A) or placebo QW (Arm B). The primary end point was investigator-assessed progression-free survival (PFS).Results:One hundred and forty-four patients were randomised (Arms A/B, n=95/49). Median PFS in Arms A and B was 3.5 and 5.2 months (hazard ratio (HR) 1.23; 95% CI, 0.81–1.86; P=0.33) and median overall survival (OS) was 11.9 and 8.8 months, respectively (HR 0.90; 95% CI; 0.53–1.54; P=0.70). Objective response rate (ORR) was 14% and 0% in Arms A and B, respectively. Incidence of grade ⩾3 adverse events was similar between treatment arms (Arm A, 61% Arm B, 65%) and included pulmonary embolism (1%/4%), deep vein thrombosis (5%/2%), and hypertension (1%/0%).Conclusion:Administration of trebananib plus FOLFIRI did not prolong PFS compared with placebo plus FOLFIRI. Toxicities were manageable and consistent with those known for FOLFIRI and trebananib.