Respiratory,hepatic, renal,and hematological disorders among adolescent females environmentally exposed to pesticides,Menoufia governorate,Egypt

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Adolescent females are often environmentally exposed to pesticides by living near agricultural fields, by using pesticides at home, or by having...     

Identification of a novel PCB source through analysis of 209 PCB congeners by US EPA modified method 1668

PCDD/Fs and PCBs in surface waters and effluent waste streams flowing into New York/New Jersey Harbor were sampled by large volume filtration and solid phase extraction (XAD-2). Passive hexane samplers were employed in sewer trackdown. Extraction media were analyzed for 2,3,7,8 substituted PCDD/Fs and all 209 PCB congeners. The non-Aroclor PCB congener, 3,3^′-DiCB, was ubiquitous in the harbor and was found to be associated with pigment manufacture. Knowledge of inadvertent synthesis of non-Aroclor PCBs is not new but its magnitude and the generation of congeners with dioxin-like properties from this process is novel.     

Prenatal diagnosis of multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency: association with elevated α-fetoprotein and cystic renal changes

We report the occurrence of multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD) in two consecutive pregnancies in a young, Caucasian, non-consanguineous couple. In the first pregnancy, the maternal serum α-fetoprotein was elevated. A sonogram showed growth delay, cystic renal disease, and oligohydramnios; the parents decided to terminate the pregnancy. Postmortem examination confirmed the cystic renal disease and showed hepatic steatosis, raising the suspicion of a metabolic disorder. The diagnosis of MADD was made by immunoblot studies on cultured fibroblasts. In the subsequent pregnancy, a sonogram at 15 weeks' gestation showed an early growth delay but normal kidneys. The maternal serum and amniotic fluid concentrations of α-fetoprotein were elevated, and the amniotic fluid acylcarnitine profile was consistent with MADD. In vitro metabolic studies on cultured amniocytes confirmed the diagnosis. A follow-up sonogram showed cystic renal changes. These cases provide additional information regarding the evolution of renal changes in affected fetuses and show a relationship with elevated α-fetoprotein, which may be useful in counseling the couple at risk. MADD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of elevated α-fetoprotein and cystic renal disease. Early growth delay may be an additional feature. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling fecundity in birds: Conceptual overview, current models, and considerations for future developments

Fecundity is fundamental to the fitness, population dynamics, conservation, and management of birds. For all the efforts made to measure fecundity or its surrogates over the past century of avian research, it is still mismeasured, misrepresented, and misunderstood. Fundamentally, these problems arise because of partial observability of underlying processes such as renesting, multiple brooding, and temporary emigration. Over the last several decades, various analytical approaches have been developed to estimate fecundity from incomplete and biased data. These, include scalar arithmetic formulae, partial differential equations, individual-based simulations, and Markov chain methodology. In this paper, we: (1) identify component processes of avian reproduction; (2) review existing methods for modeling fecundity; (3) place these diverse models under a common conceptual framework; (4) describe the parameterization, validation, and limitations of such models; and (5) point out future considerations and challenges in the application of fecundity models. We hope this synthesis of existing literature will help direct researchers toward the most appropriate methods to assess avian reproductive success for answering questions in evolutionary ecology, natural history, population dynamics, reproductive toxicology, and management.     

A synthesis of current knowledge on forests and carbon storage in the United States

Using forests to mitigate climate change has gained much interest in science and policy discussions. We examine the evidence for carbon benefits, environmental and monetary costs, risks and trade-offs for a variety of activities in three general strategies: (1) land use change to increase forest area (afforestation) and avoid deforestation; (2) carbon management in existing forests; and (3) the use of wood as biomass energy, in place of other building materials, or in wood products for carbon storage. We found that many strategies can increase forest sector carbon mitigation above the current 162-256 Tg C/yr, and that many strategies have co-benefits such as biodiversity, water, and economic opportunities. Each strategy also has trade-offs, risks, and uncertainties including possible leakage, permanence, disturbances, and climate change effects. Because approximately 60% of the carbon lost through deforestation and harvesting from 1700 to 1935 has not yet been recovered and because some strategies store carbon in forest products or use biomass energy, the biological potential for forest sector carbon mitigation is large. Several studies suggest that using these strategies could offset as much as 10-20% of current U.S. fossil fuel emissions. To obtain such large offsets in the United States would require a combination of afforesting up to one-third of cropland or pastureland, using the equivalent of about one-half of the gross annual forest growth for biomass energy, or implementing more intensive management to increase forest growth on one-third of forestland. Such large offsets would require substantial trade-offs, such as lower agricultural production and non-carbon ecosystem services from forests. The effectiveness of activities could be diluted by negative leakage effects and increasing disturbance regimes. Because forest carbon loss contributes to increasing climate risk and because climate change may impede regeneration following disturbance, avoiding deforestation and promoting regeneration after disturbance should receive high priority as policy considerations. Policies to encourage programs or projects that influence forest carbon sequestration and offset fossil fuel emissions should also consider major items such as leakage, the cyclical nature of forest growth and regrowth, and the extensive demand for and movement of forest products globally, and other greenhouse gas effects, such as methane and nitrous oxide emissions, and recognize other environmental benefits of forests, such as biodiversity, nutrient management, and watershed protection. Activities that contribute to helping forests adapt to the effects of climate change, and which also complement forest carbon storage strategies, would be prudent.     

Prospects for stakeholder coordination by protected‐area managers in Europe

Growing resource demands by humans, invasive species, natural hazards, and a changing climate have created broad‐scale impacts and the need for broader‐extent conservation activities that span ownerships and even political borders. Implementing regional‐scale conservation brings great challenges, and learning how to overcome these challenges is essential for maintaining biodiversity (i.e., richness and evenness of biological communities) and ecosystem functions and services across scales and borders in the face of system change. We administered an online survey to examine factors potentially driving perspectives of protected‐area (PA) managers regarding coordination with neighboring PAs and other stakeholders (i.e., stakeholder coordination) for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services during the next decade within diverse regions across Europe. Although >70% (n = 58) of responding PA managers indicated that climate change and invasive species are relevant for their PAs, they gave <50% probability that these threats could be mitigated through stakeholder coordination. They thought there was a >60% probability (n = 85) that stakeholder coordination would take place with the aim to improve conservation outcomes. Consistent with the foundation on which many European PAs were established, managers viewed maintaining or enhancing biodiversity as the most important (>70%; n = 61) expected benefit. Other benefits included maintaining or enhancing human resources and environmental education (range of Bayesian credibility intervals [CIs] 57–93%). They thought the main barriers to stakeholder coordination were the lack of human and economic resources (CI 59–67% chance of hindering; n = 64) followed by communication and interstakeholder differences in political structures and laws (CI 51–64% probability of hindering). European policies and strategies that address these hindering factors could be particularly effective means of enabling implementation of green infrastructure networks in which PAs are the nodes.     

Flower color influences insect visitation in alpine New Zealand

Despite a long-standing belief that insect pollinators can select for certain flower colors, there are few experimental demonstrations that free-flying insects choose between natural flowers based on color. We investigated responses of insect visitors to experimental manipulations of flower color in the New Zealand alpine. Native syrphid flies (Allograpta and Platycheirus) and solitary bees (Hylaeus and Leioproctus) showed distinct preferences for visiting certain flower species. These responses were determined, in part, by flower color, as insects also responded to experimental manipulations of visible petal color in 7 out of 11 tests with different combinations of flower species and insect type. When preferences were detected, syrphid flies chose yellow over white petals regardless of flower species, whereas Hylaeus chose white over yellow Ourisia glandulosa. In some cases, the strength and direction of color preference depended on the context of other floral traits, in which case the response usually favored the familiar, normal combination of traits. Syrphid flies also visited in response to floral morphological traits but did not show preference based on UV reflectance. The unusually high preponderance of white flowers in the New Zealand alpine is not explained by complete generalization of flower color choice. Instead, the insect visitors show preferences based on color, including colors other than white, along with other floral traits. Furthermore, they can respond in complex ways to combinations of floral cues, suggesting that traits may act in nonadditive ways in determining pollinator visitation.     

Experimental evidence for the effects of chronic anthropogenic noise on abundance of Greater Sage-Grouse at leks

Increasing evidence suggests that chronic noise from human activities negatively affects wild animals, but most studies have failed to separate the effects of chronic noise from confounding factors, such as habitat fragmentation. We played back recorded continuous and intermittent anthropogenic sounds associated with natural gas drilling and roads at leks of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). For 3 breeding seasons, we monitored sage grouse abundance at leks with and without noise. Peak male attendance (i.e., abundance) at leks experimentally treated with noise from natural gas drilling and roads decreased 29% and 73%, respectively, relative to paired controls. Decreases in abundance at leks treated with noise occurred in the first year of the study and continued throughout the experiment. Noise playback did not have a cumulative effect over time on peak male attendance. There was limited evidence for an effect of noise playback on peak female attendance at leks or male attendance the year after the experiment ended. Our results suggest that sage-grouse avoid leks with anthropogenic noise and that intermittent noise has a greater effect on attendance than continuous noise. Our results highlight the threat of anthropogenic noise to population viability for this and other sensitive species.     

The job satisfaction of older workers

Older workers re-entering the workforce and those changing jobs are coming to play an increasingly important role in the labor force, especially as part-time workers. Yet the work orientation and job satisfaction of these workers has not been studied. Do ‘situational’ factors such as skill and pay matter for this subgroup of workers, and if so, which ones? If significant factors exist, can their effect be explained by the mediating influence of ‘dispositional’ factors like work values? This paper explores these questions in a study of 198 older workers who had begun new, mostly part-time jobs. Regression analysis shows that the intrinsic indicators for skill and autonomy have a positive effect on job satisfaction. No extrinsic factor was significantly related to satisfaction, indicating that these workers are more than ‘instrumentally’ oriented. This support for a ‘situational’ interpretation of the impact of work, especially intrinsic features, was sustained in analyses which incorporated work values. To the extent that the growing number of part-time jobs are relatively low-skilled, and to the extent that older workers in new jobs are influenced most by intrinsically rewarding work, there appears to be a growing mismatch between an occupational niche and those who are being sought to fill it.