Since many micro-organisms are a biological hazard, they have been categorised into risk groups by many countries and organisations and classification lists have been developed. Current classification systems rely on criteria defined by the World Health Organization, which cover the severity of the disease the micro-organism might cause, its ability to spread and the availability of prophylaxis...

Assessments of long-term relationships between changes in nutrient inputs and wetland nutrient concentrations can be complicated by fluctuations in other environmental factors as well as by problems typical of long-term monitoring data. Consequently, statistical analysis of these types of data sets requires careful consideration of environmental covariates, potential biases in the monitoring de...

I have followed the discussion on the classification of coeliac disease (CD) published in the autumn issue of Gastroenterology and Hepatology from Bed to Bench with great interest. In my opinion, the ongoing debate on CD focuses around three issues: firstly, do we need a duodenal biopsy for the diagnosis of CD? Secondly, is it necessary to classify the mucosal pathology? Thirdly, which classifi...

Our study aims to enhance process understanding of the long-term (decadal and longer) cyclic marsh dynamics by identifying the mechanisms that translate large-scale physical forcing in the system into vegetation change, in particular (i) the initiation of lateral erosion on an expanding marsh, and (ii) the control of seedling establishment in front of an eroding marsh-cliff. Short-term sediment...

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between soil environmental factors and halophyte distribution in the west coast of South Korea. Soils of our study sites were categorized into two groups: salt marsh and estuary marsh. Results: Salinity was higher in the salt marsh group than that in the estuary marsh group. However, total nitrogen, silt, and clay content...

Habitat reconstruction is commonly employed to restore degraded estuarine habitats and lost ecological functions. In this study, we use a combination of stable isotope analyses and macrofauna community analysis to compare the ecological structure and function between a recently constructed Spartina alterniflora salt marsh and a natural reference habitat over a 2-year period. The restored marsh ...

Objective To determine clinical features and relevant laboratory investigations of patient with celiac disease (CD) and comparing classical celiac disease (CCD) with Non-diarrheal celiac disease (NDCD). Methods This is a five years retrospective study conducted at The Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi, Pakistan from January 2010 to December 2015, enrolling children from one year to 15 year...