Tissue distribution of perfluoroalkyl acids and health status in wild Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) from Loskop Dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa

This study examined concentrations of 15 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in tissues from male Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) collected at Loskop Dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa in 2014 and 2016. Nine of the 15 PFAAs were detected frequently and were included in statistical analysis and included two of the most commonly known PFAAs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (median, 41.6 ng/g) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (median, 0.0825 ng/g). Of the tissues measured, plasma (2016 and 2014 median, 22.2 ng/g) contained the highest PFAA burden followed by (in descending order): liver (median, 11.6 ng/g), kidney (median, 9.04 ng/g), spleen (median, 5.92 ng/g), adipose (median, 2.54 ng/g), and muscle (median, 1.11 ng/g). Loskop Dam tilapia have been affected by an inflammatory disease of the adipose tissue known as pansteatitis, so this study also aimed to investigate relationships between PFAA tissue concentrations and incidence of pansteatitis or fish health status. Results revealed that healthy tilapia exhibited an overall higher (p-value < 0.05) PFAA burden than pansteatitis-affected tilapia across all tissues. Further analysis showed that organs previously noted in the literature to contain the highest PFAA concentrations, such as kidney, liver, and plasma, were the organs driving the difference in PFAA burden between the two tilapia groups. Care must be taken in the interpretations we draw from not only the results of our study, but also other PFAA measurements made on populations (human and wildlife alike) under differing health status.     

Prompting safety-belt use in the context of a belt-use law: the flash-for life revisited

PROBLEM: Safety-belt use reduces motor vehicle crash-related morbidity and mortality, yet an estimated 18% of drivers do not consistently buckle up (NHTSA, 2005). In 1985, Geller and colleagues developed an interpersonal Flash-for-Life prompt that increased belt use among 22% of 1,087 unbuckled drivers (Geller, Bruff, & Nimmer, 1985). METHOD: The Flash-for-Life intervention was re-introduced at a large university with high safety-belt use (i.e., 80%). College students stood at parking-lot entrance/exits and "flashed" signs with the message, "Please Buckle Up, I Care" to unbuckled drivers. RESULTS: Of 427 unbuckled drivers observed, 30% of these complied with the prompt. Male drivers were significantly more likely to comply with prompts delivered by females. DISCUSSION: Compliance was higher than in the 1985 study, indicating a high baseline rate of safety-belt use does not negate potential beneficial influence of a prompting intervention. This intervention is particularly effective with college-aged males, a sub-group of the driving population least likely to buckle-up. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: A simple behavioral prompt could be used at most industrial complexes to increase safety-belt use among vehicle occupants who are not buckled-up.     

Nuptial coloration of red shiners (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyprinella lutrensis</Emphasis>) is more intense in turbid habitats

Communication is shaped and constrained by the signaling environment. In aquatic habitats, turbidity can reduce both the quantity and quality of ambient light and has been implicated in the breakdown of visual signaling. Here, we examined the relationship between turbidity (quantified with long-term data) and the expression of carotenoid-based nuptial coloration in the red shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis), a small-bodied cyprinid. Males in more turbid habitats displayed redder fins, and an experimental manipulation of adult diet suggested that carotenoid intake alone did not explain among-population color differences. These results run counter to similar studies where signal expression decreased in turbid conditions, and may be explained by the non-territorial red shiner mating system, interactions between the mechanism of coloration and the signaling environment, or reduced cost of color expression in turbid habitats (e.g., reduced predation risk). Our results highlight how the behavioral and ecological contexts in which signals function can shape evolutionary responses to the environment.     

贵阳市大气颗粒物(PM2.5)污染特征及气象参数的影响

运用连续颗粒物采样仪(URG Model 2000-01J)对贵阳市城区大气颗粒物PM2.5进行了连续3个月(9~11月)的采集与分析,探讨了PM2.5的浓度分布特征、气象条件的影响。结果显示,贵阳市大气颗粒物PM2.5的平均质量浓度为53±27μg/m3,变化范围为3.7~186μg/m3;初步推断大气颗粒物PM2.5的污染来源主要是燃料燃烧、生物质燃烧、汽车尾气等人为源;相对湿度、风速、风向、温度等气象条件是影响大气颗粒物浓度及分布的重要因素。     

Sexual selection on receptor organ traits: younger females attract males with longer antennae

Sexual selection theory predicts that female choice may favour the evolution of elaborate male signals. Darwin also suggested that sexual selection can favour elaborate receiver structures in order to better detect sexual signals, an idea that has been largely ignored. We evaluated this unorthodox perspective by documenting the antennal lengths of male Uraba lugens Walker (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) moths that were attracted to experimentally manipulated emissions of female sex pheromone. Either one or two females were placed in field traps for the duration of their adult lives in order to create differences in the quantity of pheromone emissions from the traps. The mean antennal length of males attracted to field traps baited with a single female was longer than that of males attracted to traps baited with two females, a pattern consistent with Darwin’s prediction assuming the latter emits higher pheromone concentrations. Furthermore, younger females attracted males with longer antennae, which may reflect age-specific changes in pheromone emission. These field experiments provide the first direct evidence of an unappreciated role for sexual selection in the evolution of sexual dimorphism in moth antennae and raise the intriguing possibility that females select males with longer antennae through strategic emission of pheromones.     

Vertical profile of PCDD/Fs, dioxin-like PCBs, other PCBs, PAHs, chlorobenzenes, DDX, HCHs, organotin compounds and chlorinated ethers in dated sediment/soil cores from flood-plains of the river Elbe, Germany

Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and other organic micropollutants were determined in dated sediment/soil cores collected from the flood-plain of the river Elbe near Pevestorf (PT), approximately 125 km upstream of Hamburg, and Heuckenlock (HL) in southeast of Hamburg. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs peaked sharply at PT in the 1950s and at HL at the end of the 1940s. Cluster analyses provide evidence that the region of Bitterfeld-Wolfen (about 350-400 km upstream of Hamburg) could be the source of the PCDD/F contamination existing in the cores PT and HL since the 1940s. Obviously it is caused by sediments of the river Elbe of a similar composition. Whereas the PCDD/Fs, HCHs (hexacyclohexane isomers), DDX (DDT, DDD, DDE), and tetrachlorinated ethers in PT and HL presumably originated predominantly from the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region, organotin compounds in HL and dichlorinated haloethers in HL during the 1940s and 1950s can probably largely be attributed to emissions from the Hamburg region. Although they are separated by a large distance, in both sediment cores PT and HL concentrations and composition patterns of most organic micropollutants analyzed widely match. Inductively it can be concluded that similar contaminations will be found in many of the river bank soils between the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region and Hamburg. Excavation of top soils may uncover highly contaminated materials. Since the dated sediment cores show the variation in contaminants in the Elbe sediments over a defined time period, it is possible to make an approximate assessment of the actual degree of contamination to be expected in areas where in previous decades contaminated dredged sediments from the Elbe and from the Port of Hamburg have been deposited on land and used for building plots or for agricultural purposes.     

Dehalogenation of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers using a hybrid bioinorganic catalyst

The environmentally prevalent polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) #47 and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) #28 and #118 were challenged for 24 hours with a novel biomass-supported Pd catalyst (Bio-Pd(0)). Analysis of the products via GC-MS revealed the Bio-Pd(0) to cause the challenged compounds to undergo stepwise dehalogenation with preferential loss of the least sterically hindered halogen atom. A mass balance for PCB #28 showed that it is degraded to three dichlorobiphenyls (33.9%), two monochlorobiphenyls (12%), and biphenyl (30.7%). The remaining mass was starting material. In contrast, while PCB #118 underwent degradation to yield five tetra- and five trichlorinated biphenyls, no less chlorinated products or biphenyl were detected, and the total mass of degraded products was 0.3%. Although the Bio-Pd(0) material was developed for treatment of PCBs, a mass balance for PBDE #47 showed that the biocatalyst could prove a potentially useful method for treatment of PBDEs. Specifically, 10% of PBDE #47 was converted to identifiable lower brominated congeners, predominantly the tribrominated PBDE #17 and the dibrominated PBDE #4, 75% remained intact, while 15% of the starting mass was unaccounted for.     

Cellular evaluation of the toxicity of combustion derived particulate matter: influence of particle grinding and washing on cellular response

There is increasing interest in continual monitoring of air for the presence of inhalation health hazards, such as particulate matter, produced through combustion of fossil fuels. Currently there are no means to rapidly evaluate the relative toxicity of materials or to reliably predict potential health impact due to the complexity of the composition, size, and physical properties of particulate matter. This research evaluates the feasibility of utilizing cell cultures as the biological recognition element of an inhalation health monitoring system. The response of rat lung type II epithelial (RLE-6TN) cells to a variety of combustion derived particulates and their components has been evaluated. The focus of the current work is an evaluation of how particles are delivered to a cellular sensing array and to what degree does washing or grinding of the particles impacts the cellular response. There were significant differences in the response of these lung cells to PM's of varying sources. Mechanical grinding or washing was found to alter the toxicity of some of these particulates; however these effects were strongly dependent on the fuel source. Washing reduced toxicity of oil PM's, but had little effect on those from diesel or coal. Mechanical grinding could significantly increase the toxicity of coal PM's, but not for oil or diesel.     

Aerobic degradation of di- and trichlorobenzenes by two bacteria isolated from polluted tropical soils

Two polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs)-degrading bacteria were isolated by traditional enrichment technique from electrical transformer fluid (Askarel)-contaminated soils in Lagos, Nigeria. They were classified and identified as Enterobacter sp. SA-2 and Pseudomonas sp. SA-6 on the basis of 16S rRNA gene analysis, in addition to standard cultural and biochemical techniques. The strains were able to grow extensively on dichloro- and trichlorobenzenes. Although they failed to grow on tetrachlorobenzenes, monochloro- and dichlorobenzoic acids, they were able to utilize all monochlorobiphenyls, and some dichlorobiphenyls as sole sources of carbon and energy. The effect of incubation with axenic cultures on the degradation of 0.9 mM 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 0.44 mM 1,2,3- and 0.43 mM 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene in mineral salts medium was studied. Approximately, 80-90% of these xenobiotics were degraded in 200 h, concomitant with cell increase of up to three orders of magnitude, while generation times ranged significantly (P<0.05) from 17-32 h. Catechol 1,2-dioxygenase and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activities were detected in crude cell-free extracts of cultures pre-grown with benzoate, with the latter enzyme exhibiting a slightly higher activity (0.15-0.17 micromolmin(-1) mg of protein(-1)) with catechol, suggesting that the meta-cleavage pathway is the most readily available catabolic route in the SA strains. The wider substrate specificity of these tropical isolates may help in assessing natural detoxification processes and in designing bioremediation and bioaugmentation methods.