The effect of deoxynivalenol on the secretion activity,proliferation and apoptosis of porcine ovarian granulosa cells in vitro

The aim of this in vitro study was to examine the secretion activity, markers of proliferation and apoptosis in porcine ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) after deoxynivalenol (DON) addition. Ovarian granulosa cells were incubated with DON for 24h: 10, 100 and 1000 ng/mL, while the control group received no DON. The secretion of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF–I) and progesterone was determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and expression of cyclin B1, PCNA and caspase-3 by immunocytochemistry. IGF–I release by GCs was inhibited by DON, while progesterone release and the expression of cyclin B1 was stimulated by DON (at 1000 ng/mL but not at 10 and 100 ng/mL). PCNA expression was stimulated by DON (at 100 and 1000 ng/mL but not at 10 ng/mL). Caspase-3 expression was not influenced by DON treatment (at all doses). In conclusion, our results indicate, (1) a direct effect of DON on secretion of growth factor IGF-I and steroid hormone progesterone, (2) expression of markers of proliferation (cyclin B1 and PCNA) but not on the (3) expression of marker of apoptosis (caspase-3) in porcine ovarian granulosa cells. This in vitro study suggests the dose-dependent association of DON on porcine ovarian functions.     

Dispersion of Traffic and Space Heating Emissions In Urban Settings

A long-term dispersion model is presented for traffic and space heating emissions in urban areas, allowing fast assessment of the spatial-averaged and center-maximum pollutant concentrations.

The assumption of study areas with circular shape and normal emissions density profiles is made for the purpose of streamlining model inputs with the inventory data normally available. In addition, the rather typical assumptions of Gaussian dispersion, narrow plume, flat or gently rolling terrain, homogeneous wind field and nonreactive pollutants are made. Values of σz from Briggs correlation are used with an initial value of 30 to account for building effects.

Meterological data inputs are reduced to six parameters, inventory data inputs to two, while computations are simplified to a degree that use of a digital computer is not required.

The model is well suited to yield separate assessments for individual types of sources and control measures, as well as to reveal sensitivities from parameters such as city size, or emission density levels and distribution patterns. Its predictions are virtually identical to those of the CDM-2 UNAPMAR model for study areas with circular shape and normal emissions density profiles, and as results do not appear overly sensitive to shape and distribution patterns, the model is believed to be valid for most urban areas.     

Improved SWAT Model Performance With Time-Dynamic Voronoi Tessellation of Climatic Input Data in Southern Africa1

Andersson, Jafet C.M., Alexander J.B. Zehnder, Bernhard Wehrli, and Hong Yang, 2012. Improved SWAT Model Performance with Time-Dynamic Voronoi Tessellation of Climatic Input Data in Southern Africa. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(3): 480-493. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00627.x Abstract: In this study, we compared two approaches to obtain climatic time series for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), namely the conventional centroid method and time-dynamic Voronoi tessellation, and assessed the performance of SWAT in simulating discharge and smallholder maize yields in Southern Africa. Climatic time series were estimated with each method. The Voronoi method utilized all available precipitation and temperature data, but the centroid method used only 14.5 and 82.5%, respectively. After centroid processing, sub-basin time series were on average 42 and 63% incomplete, respectively. After Voronoi processing, all time series were complete. SWAT was fed with each climate dataset. Each model setup was independently calibrated and validated against discharge and maize yield. Similar model performance was obtained with both methods for yield. The root mean squared error during calibration was 0.26 and 0.27 t ha⁻¹ for the centroid and Voronoi methods, respectively (p-value: 0.80). However, daily discharge simulations improved significantly with the Voronoi method. The coefficient of determination increased from 0.24 to 0.39 in the calibration period (p-value: 9.6 × 10⁻¹³) and from 0.41 to 0.48 in the validation period (p-value: 3.1 × 10⁻³). The Voronoi method improved the simulation of the river flow regime. The largest improvements were obtained in data scarce situations, at high spatial and temporal resolution, and where the centroid method performed the worst.     

Estimation of daily intake of potentially toxic elements from urban street dust and the role of oral bioaccessibility testing

The pseudo-total and oral bioaccessible concentration of six potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in urban street dust was investigated. Typical pseudo-total concentrations across the sampling sites ranged from 4.4 to 8.6 mg kg⁻¹ for As, 0.2-3.6 mg kg⁻¹ for Cd, 25-217 mg kg⁻¹ for Cu, 14-46 mg kg⁻¹ for Ni, 70-4261 mg kg⁻¹ for Pb, and, 111-652 mg kg⁻¹ for Zn. This data compared favourably with other urban street dust samples collected and analysed in a variety of cities globally; the exception was the high level of Pb determined in a specific sample in this study. The oral bioaccessibility of PTEs in street dust is also assessed using in vitro gastrointestinal extraction (Unified Bioaccessibility Method, UBM). Based on a worst case scenario the oral bioaccessibility data estimated that Cd and Zn had the highest % bioaccessible fractions (median >45%) while the other PTEs i.e. As, Cu, Ni and Pb had lower % bioaccessible fractions (median <35%). The pseudo-total and bioaccessible concentrations of PTEs in the samples has been compared to estimated tolerable daily intake values based on unintentional soil/dust consumption. Cadmium, Cu and Ni are well within the oral tolerable daily intake rates. With respect to As and Pb, only the latter exceeds the TDI_oral if we model ingestion rate based on atmospheric ‘dustiness’ rather than the US EPA (2008) unintentional soil/dust consumption rate of 100 mg d⁻¹. We consider it unlikely that even a child with pica tendencies would ingest as much as 100 mg soil/dust during a daily visit to the city centre, and in particular to the sites with elevated Pb concentrations observed in this study.     

Bystander injury evaluation of children from midwestern agricultural operations

Background

With more than a million youth living on agricultural operations, it is important for parents to understand the consequences of bystander injuries that children experience in these environments. We identified the childhood injuries for bystander status and compared the severity of these injuries to the working children in the Regional Rural Injury Study-II (RRIS-II).

Methods

RRIS-II followed 16,546 children (∼ 85% of eligible) from rural communities in the Midwest for two six-month recall periods in 1999 and 2001. Demographic, injury, and exposure data were collected through comprehensive computer-assisted telephone interviews. Child injuries were cataloged using narrative scenarios into four categories: (a) directly work-related; (b) indirectly work-related; (c) non-working accomplice; and (d) non-working attendant; the latter three all being bystander categories. Poisson regression modeling was used to calculate rates of bystander injuries. Frequencies were used for comparison of severity measures.

Results

Among the 463 child injuries (aged < 20 yrs), 102 were bystander injuries. Of the bystander-related injuries, 14 were identified as indirectly work-related (working bystanders), 27 as non-working accomplice (passengers/tag-alongs), and 60 as non-working attendant (playing on the operation). The overall rate of bystander injuries was 6.4 per 1,000 people, 95% CI (5.0, 8.1). Males, compared with females, had more than twice the injury rate (8.7; 95% CI 6.4-11.8, and 3.9; 95% CI 2.7-5.7, per 1,000 people, respectively). Bystanders in this population had more severe injuries with 4% having life-threatening circumstances; of these, 4% of the accomplices and 2% of the attendants subsequently died.

Conclusions

Children who live or work on agricultural operations are vulnerable to many hazards. Therefore, this study examined child injuries and found a clear difference in the consequences of these injuries between working-related and bystanding-related injuries.

Impact on Industry

Unlike occupations such as construction and mining, where laws and organizations have been created for the protection of bystanders, agricultural bystanders have remained unprotected and have had to face the consequent injury and death outcomes. As public health professionals considering these risks, it is necessary that we work to develop more intervention studies and continue to propose suggestive guidelines for child safety in these environments so as to challenge family traditions and possibly spark public policies that will give further protection to this population.     

Establishment patterns in a secondary tree line ecotone

On semi-open pre-alpine fen pastures Alder encroachment creates a dynamic mosaic of grassland and woodland, which is rich in ecotones from fen to Carr. The structural diversity in colonisation patterns of Alder on fens suggests a dependency on multiple environmental drivers. Unidirectional progressive ecotone development provides an opportunity to address a current deficit in understanding successional patterns, i.e. process-pattern relationships in a multiple factor regime.We developed an individual-based model of Alder establishment on fen grassland to investigate the dependency of encroachment patterns upon seed production, dispersal distances and safe site availability. The purpose of the model is to provide a causal understanding of establishment patterns of Alder. In the model, all life processes of Alder individuals were parameterised with field data. This allowed us to strictly perform bottom-up simulations and successfully check plausibility by comparing simulated establishment patterns of cohorts with observed ecotone structures.Simulation results show that establishment patterns strongly depend on environmental drivers. Spatial progression of Alder encroachment and width of ecotones, respectively, mainly depend on wind speed during seed dispersal. Dense establishment of Alder leading to community change from fen grassland to Carr, requires windows of opportunity, which are defined by the rare coincidence of widespread dispersal, high seed production and favorable establishment conditions. Life-history traits of Alder (mast year cycle, high seed weight, weak establishment in fen) spatially and temporarily constrain the encroachment process. The structural diversity of long-term encroachment patterns is explained by the event-driven character of encroachment.Modelling individual establishment pathways of seedlings starting from germination revealed an endogenous stochasticity in establishment patterns emerging from low seed densities in the tail of the dispersal function. We conclude an inherent stochastic structure of dispersal-limited tree line ecotones, which limits reconstruction of processes from patterns.In order to describe long-term successional patterns of Alder encroachment at landscape scale, we propose the combination of two concepts: deterministic “patch-movement” of Alder woodland driven by continuous ecotone migration together with rare and stochastic “infiltration” of single Alder trees into open fen grasslands. Conservation management can control predictable “patch-movement” by cutting off maturing saplings around existing Alder woods. But the preservation of the actual large proportion of open grassland in fen pastures from infiltrating Alder seedlings and from the subsequent shift of the pasture to a densely wooded state would require mowing additionally to extensive grazing.     

Regulatory Off-Gas Analysis from the Evaporation of Hanford Simulated Waste Spiked with Organic Compounds

Abstract

After strontium/transuranics removal by precipitation followed by cesium/technetium removal by ion exchange, the remaining low-activity waste in the Hanford River Protection Project Waste Treatment Plant is to be concentrated by evaporation before being mixed with glass formers and vitrified. To provide a technical basis to permit the waste treatment facility, a relatively organic-rich Hanford Tank 241-AN-107 waste simulant was spiked with 14 target volatile, semi-volatile, and pesticide compounds and evaporated under vacuum in a bench-scale natural circulation evaporator fitted with an industrial stack off-gas sampler at the Savannah River National Laboratory. An evaporator material balance for the target organics was calculated by combining liquid stream mass and analytical data with off-gas emissions estimates obtained using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SW-846 Methods. Volatile and light semi-volatile organic compounds (<220 °C BP, >1 mm Hg vapor pressure) in the waste simulant were found to largely exit through the condenser vent, while heavier semi-volatiles and pesticides generally remain in the evaporator concentrate. An OLI Environmental Simulation Program (licensed by OLI Systems, Inc.) evaporator model successfully predicted operating conditions and the experimental distribution of the fed target organics exiting in the concentrate, condensate, and off-gas streams, with the exception of a few semi-volatile and pesticide compounds. Comparison with Henry's Law predictions suggests the OLI Environmental Simulation Program model is constrained by available literature data.     

Cocaine and metabolites in waste and surface water across Belgium

Cocaine abuse, a growing social problem, is currently estimated from population surveys, consumer interviews and crime statistics. A new approach based on the analysis of cocaine (COC) and metabolites, benzoylecgonine (BE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME), in water samples was applied to 28 rivers and 37 waste water treatment plants in Belgium using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. While EME was undetectable, COC and BE were detectable with concentrations ranging from <1 to 753 ng/L and <1 to 2258 ng/L, respectively. BE concentrations were employed to calculate the local amount of abused cocaine. The highest values (up to 1.8 g/day cocaine per 1000 inhabitants) were found in large cities and during weekends. The estimation of cocaine abuse through water analysis can be executed on regular basis without cooperation of patients. It also gives clear geographical information, while prevention campaigns can easily be implemented and evaluated.     

Ecological Success in Stream Restoration: Case Studies from the Midwestern United States

Despite rapid growth in river restoration, few projects receive the necessary evaluation and reporting to determine their success or failure and to learn from experience. As part of the National River Restoration Science Synthesis, we interviewed 39 project contacts from a database of 1,345 restoration projects in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio to (1) verify project information; (2) gather data on project design, implementation, and coordination; (3) assess the extent of monitoring; and (4) evaluate success and the factors that may influence it. Projects were selected randomly within the four most common project goals from a national database: in-stream habitat improvement, channel reconfiguration, riparian management, and water-quality improvement. Roughly half of the projects were implemented as part of a watershed management plan and had some advisory group. Monitoring occurred in 79% of projects but often was minimal and seldom documented biological improvements. Baseline data for evaluation often relied on previous data obtained under regional monitoring programs using state protocols. Although 89% of project contacts reported success, only 11% of the projects were considered successful because of the response of a specific ecological indicator, and monitoring data were underused in project assessment. Estimates of ecological success, using three criteria from Palmer and others (2005), indicated that half or fewer of the projects were ecologically successful, markedly below the success level that project contacts self-reported, and sent a strong signal of the need for well-designed evaluation programs that can document ecological success.