The risks and microbiology for peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are less well described than those for traditional central catheters, particularly as they pertain to duration of catheterization. We compared patients with early- and late-onset PICC bloodstream infections at our institution and found significant differences in microbiologic etiologies.

Pluvial lake deposits are found throughout western North America and are frequently used to reconstruct regional paleoclimate. In Death Valley, California, USA, we apply the beach particle technique (BPT) of Adams (2003), Sedimentology, 50, 565–577 and Adams (2004), Sedimentology, 51, 671–673 to Lake Manly deposits at the Beatty Junction Bar Complex (BJBC), Desolation Canyon, and Manly Terraces and calculate paleowind velocities of 14–27 m/s. These wind velocities are within the range of present-day wind velocities recorded in the surrounding area. Sedimentary structures and clast provenance at Desolation Canyon and the Manly Terraces indicate sediment transport from north to south. Lake level, based on the elevation of constructional features, indicates that the hill west of the BJBC was an island and that the BJBC spits formed during simple lake regression. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the present wind regime (velocity and direction) formed the pluvial Lake Manly features.

A survey is presented of our works on orientability of poly(p-phenylene-benzbisthiazole) (PBT) as a model for rigid rods. It starts with the solid state with specific reference to diffraction by the individual molecule. It is followed by behaviour in semidilute solutions, demonstrating increase of orientability with increasing rod alignment, with vastly higher absolute values (as expressed by rotational diffusion coefficient) than anticipated from existing theory. The origin of the discrepancy, as identified by simulations, lies in the inappropriateness of the application of mean constraints, a recognition which should have wider implications. The relaxation from the highly oriented state, also in solution, has been followed and the elementary rotational jump of rods identified, with a new method relying on in situ (synchrotron) X-ray diffraction. As a separate line, we are announcing a new model system, ellipsoidal latices of predesigned axial ratios, with wide ranging potential for the study of rigid rod behaviour in polymer and colloid science.