Prenatal detection of aortic coarctation in a well-organized screening setting: Are we there yet?

Objective

We aimed to assess current prenatal detection rate (DR) of aortic coarctation (CoA) and its impact on neonatal outcome in the Netherlands to evaluate the efficacy of the Dutch screening protocol in which the cardiac four-chamber view, outflow tracts and three-vessel view are compulsory.

Methods

All prenatally and postnatally diagnosed CoA cases between 2012 and 2021 were extracted from our PRECOR-registry. Annual DRs were calculated with a focus on the trend over time and attributing factors for detection. Postnatal outcome was compared between prenatally detected and undetected cases.

Results

49/116 cases (42.2%) were detected prenatally. A higher chance of detection was found for cases with extracardiac malformations (71.4%; p = 0.001) and the more severe cases with an aortic arch hypoplasia and/or ventricular septal defect (63.2%; p = 0.001). Time-trend analysis showed no improvement in DR over time (p = 0.33). Undetected cases presented with acute circulatory shock in 20.9% and were more likely to have severe lactic acidosis (p = 0.02) and impaired cardiac function (p < 0.001) before surgery.

Conclusion

Even in a well-organized screening program, the DR of CoA still requires improvement, especially in isolated cases. The increased risk of severe lactic acidosis in undetected cases stresses the need for urgent additions to the current screening program, such as implementation of the three-vessel trachea view and measurement of outflow tracts.     

Can we buy time? Evaluation of the Swedish government’s grant to remediation of contaminated sites

The major aim of this paper is to analyze how government funding affects the pace of progress in four states of the remediation process of contaminated sites, from basic risk classification to cleanup. We introduce a methodological framework that takes into account the unobserved site-heterogeneity and simultaneously models duration in the different states. The results show that although site-heterogeneity contributes to make remediation a slow process, the third state, from the elaborate risk classification to the cleanup start, is a particular bottleneck. Even if government funding can speed up the process at this state, the effect is minuscule compared to the amounts of funding required. Thus, there is a need for policy to also focus on other barriers to remediation.     

A comprehensive set of resource use indicators from the micro to the macro level

Many of today's most urgent environmental problems arise from increasing volumes of worldwide production and consumption and the associated use of natural resources, including renewable and non-renewable raw materials, energy, water and land. Solid indicators to measure different dimensions of anthropogenic resource use are essential for designing appropriate policy measures for a sustainable management of these resources. Based on a brief review of the current state of the art of resource use indicators, this paper suggests a new set of complementary resource use indicators, combining existing measures for resource use. The suggested indicator set covers the core resource input categories of materials, water and land area and includes the output category of greenhouse gas emissions. This set can be applied consistently from the micro level of products and companies up to the macro level of countries and world regions. All suggested indicators take a life-cycle wide perspective on production and consumption activities. This set of indicators deals with the issue of the overall scale of the human production and consumption system. It can be regarded as the general indicator framework, based on which more specific indicators, for example, on different environmental impacts related to natural resource use, can be calculated.     

Rapid one-step assays for on-site monitoring of mouse and rat urinary allergens

Allergy to rodent proteins is common among laboratory animal workers. Sensitive methods to measure exposure to these allergens have been developed. These assays are, however, expensive, time-consuming, and require a laboratory facility and methodological expertise. A simple method to screen for allergen spread, or to test whether hygiene standards are maintained, would be useful. Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) are especially suited for field settings; the tests are simple and results are visible within minutes. LFIAs were developed for detection of the rodent urinary allergens Mus m 1 and Rat n 1. Pilot studies were performed in animal facilities in three countries using both extracts from airborne dust samples and samples collected by wiping surfaces. For comparison and determination of sensitivity, the concentrations of rodent urinary allergens in the samples were also measured using enzyme immunoassays (EIAs). The LFIAs for rat and mouse urinary allergens had a detection limit of 31 pg allergen per mL in a buffer system with purified allergen standards. Results of environmental dust extracts tested in LFIAs correlated well with levels obtained using EIAs. Spread of rodent allergens, or non-adherence to hygiene around laboratory animal facilities, may aggravate rodent allergy. Using a simple, sensitive one-step assay, allergens can be detected to prevent allergen exposure. The results reveal that the rapid assays are suited for on-site demonstration of exposure to rodent allergens, and thus, useful in occupational hygiene practice.     

High-capacity adsorbents from stainless steel slag for the control of dye pollutants in water

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Adsorbent materials for the control of dye pollutants in water were synthetized from stainless steel slag (SSS) using different acid-base treatments....     

The adverse effects of injected functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube (f-MWCNT) on in vivo neurosecretory brain cells of Jamaican field cricket,Gryllus assimilis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been increasingly more prevalent due to their use in product technology owing to their exceptional electrical and thermal...     

Cocky and climate smart? Climate change mitigation and place-branding in three Swedish towns

Sustainable development has emerged as a distinctive marker of place identity in addition to traditional markers such as buildings and spectacles. Climate change mitigation as a potential place brand, indicating sustainable development, is in focus of this article, comparing such efforts in three Swedish towns. Based on documentary studies and interviews, it demonstrates how one town has been successful in branding itself as “the Greenest City in Europe”, whereas mitigation efforts in two other towns are barely known outside the town halls. In the first case, a combination of material, symbolic, and institutional components has been decisive in establishing a brand with internal and external legitimacy. This case highlights the importance of a dedicated network of influential actors and a potent governance structure visualising the will of a town to make its climate mitigation efforts known. Despite similar material conditions, the two others come short on the symbolic and the institutional dimensions, although they may still have a potential for future success in terms of mitigation both in practice and as a marker of identity.     

Achieving sustainable lifestyles? Socio-cultural dispositions,collective action and material culture as problems and possibilities

This article focuses on the everyday life of ordinary households, their behaviour and responsibility with regard to environmental and sustainability issues. Previous research has shown that there is a gap between what households perceive as ideologically correct behaviour and what they actually do. It is argued here that socio-cultural dispositions, material culture and collective action need to be included in future strategies for creating more sustainable lifestyles. The investigation is based on a study of families participating in a year-long project in which the families learned to live in a more environmentally friendly way. In the study of the families, material culture interacted with routines, family relations and citizenship in a reproducing manner. The lifestyle changes were gender-biased, with the women as driving forces but also bearing most of the extra workload. From early life experiences, garbage sorting stood out as an especially powerful tool for a change towards more sustainable lifestyles.     

Human–forest relationships: ancient values in modern perspectives

The relationship between human beings and forests has been important for the development of society. It is based on various productive, ecological, social and cultural functions of forests. The cultural functions, including the spiritual and symbolic role of forests, are often not addressed with the same attention as the other functions. The aim of this paper is to put a stronger emphasis on the fact that the acknowledgement of cultural bonds is needed in the discussion of sustainable development. Forest should not only be considered as a technical means to solve environmental and economic problems. To achieve a deeper understanding of the dependency of society on forests, it is necessary to recognise the role of forests in our consciousness of being human. Giving a historical overview about the cultural bonds between people and forests, the first part of the paper puts focus on non-productive aspects in human–forest relationships. Through history, forest values have changed and new functions have emerged. Industrialisation and urbanisation have contributed to an alienation from nature and weakened the connection of humans to forests. The consequences of these changes for the development of society and its environment are discussed in the second part of the paper. Finally, it is elaborated how the awareness of the cultural bonds can be strengthened in the population and especially in forest management; a management which should relate to cultural, emotional and aesthetical aspects, in addition to economic, ecological and social functions, and lead towards a sustainable relationship between forests and society.     

Does the mechanism of sex determination constrain the potential for sex manipulation? A test in geckos with contrasting sex-determining systems

The concentration of yolk steroids was suggested to influence offspring gender in oviparous animals subject to both temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) and genotypic sex determination (GSD). However, the proposed mechanisms of steroid effects are thought to differ between TSD and GSD: a direct effect of oestrogens on gonad feminisation in TSD species vs a differential induction of male-producing or female-producing gametes in GSD species. Geckos offer an ideal opportunity for testing these suggested mechanisms. Closely related gecko species differ in their modes of sex determination. They lay clutches of two synchronously formed eggs; both eggs share equal steroid levels. If identical hormonal composition and environment during vitellogenesis, gravidity and incubation determine the sex of the progeny, siblings should share the same gender in both TSD and GSD geckos. We found strong support for this prediction in a TSD gecko species. Among clutches that were incubated at the temperature that produced both sexes, there were no clutches with siblings of the opposite sex. On the other hand, about half of the clutches yielded siblings of the opposite sex in four GSD species. These results suggest that sex-determining systems constrain the ability of the female to produce single-sex siblings and, hence, it seems that the GSD mechanism constrains the opportunities for sex ratio manipulation in geckos via yolk steroid manipulation.