Pattern recognition of the movement tracks of medaka (Oryzias latipes) in response to sub-lethal treatments of an insecticide by using artificial neural networks

Specimens of medaka (Oryzias latipes) were observed continuously through an automatic image recognition system before and after treatments of an anti-cholinesterase insecticide, diazinon (0.1 mg/l), for 4 days in semi-natural conditions (2 days before treatment and 2 days after treatment). The "smooth" pattern was typically shown as a normal movement behavior, while the "shaking" pattern was frequently observed after treatments of diazinon. These smooth and shaking patterns were selected for training with an artificial neural network. Parameters characterizing the movement tracks, such as speed, degree of backward movements, stop duration, turning rate, meander, and maximum distance movements in the y-axis of 1-min duration, were given as input (six nodes) to a multi-layer perceptron with the back propagation algorithm. Binary information for the smooth and shaking patterns was separately given as the matching output (one node), while eight nodes were assigned to a single hidden layer. As new input data were given to the trained network, it was possible to recognize the smooth and shaking patterns of the new input data. Average recognition rates of the smooth pattern decreased significantly while those for the shaking pattern increased to a higher degree after treatments of diazinon. The trained network was able to reveal the difference in the shaking pattern in different light phases before treatments of diazinon. This study demonstrated that artificial neural networks could be useful for detecting the presence of toxic chemicals in the environment by serving as in-situ behavioral monitoring tools.     

Effects of in-situ ozonation on indigenous microorganisms in diesel contaminated soil: survival and regrowth

Soil column experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of chemical oxidation on the survival of indigenous microbes (i.e., heterotrophic microbes, phenanthrene-degrading microbes, and alkane-degrading microbes) for field soil contaminated with diesel fuel. Rapid decreases of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and aromatics of diesel fuel were observed within the first 60 min of ozone injection; after 60 min, TPH and aromatics decreased asymptotically with ozonation time. The three types of indigenous microbes treated were very sensitive to ozone in the soil column experiment, hence the microbial population decreased exponentially with ozonation time. The numbers of heterotrophic, alkane-degrading, and phenanthrene-degrading bacteria were reduced from 10(8) to 10(4), 10(7) to 10(3), and 10(6) CFU g soil(-1) to below detection limit after 900 min of ozonation, respectively. Except for the soil sample ozonated for 900 min, incubation of ozone-treated soil samples that were not limited by oxygen diffusion showed further removal of TPH. The soil samples that were ozonated for 180 min exhibited the lowest concentration of TPH and the highest regrowth rate of the heterotrophic and alkane-degrading populations after the 9 weeks of incubation.     

Specific accumulation of 20 trace elements in great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) from Japan

This study is to elucidate the specific accumulation of 20 trace elements in tissues/organs of great cormorants from two different colonies (Lake Biwa and Mie) in Japan. In the body distribution of trace elements, some elements revealed tissue-specific accumulation such as most of the burden of Mo, Ag and Cd in liver, Tl and Cd in kidney, Cu, Rb and Cs in muscle, and V, Sr and Ba in bone. Gender-related variation was not observed in both populations for most of the trace elements, except for higher hepatic Sr in males from Lake Biwa. Hepatic V, muscular Hg and Tl, and Cd in liver, kidney and muscle increased with growth. Comparison of trace element levels in tissues between the two colonies showed that Cr, Rb, Sr, Cd, Cs, Ba and Tl levels were higher in Lake Biwa than in Mie, whereas Zn, Co and Hg in Mie samples were greater than Lake Biwa. Variations of elemental levels in stomach contents also showed similar patterns, thus, showing that dietary sources tended to be the main factor for these regional variations. Toxic Hg and Cd concentrations in the liver of cormorants from the two colonies were lower than those from other areas, implying relatively low exposure to these metals in the present study sites. Concentrations of V, Co, Ag, Cd, Cs, Hg, Tl, Pb and Bi in liver remained more or less at the same level between 1993 and 2003, while hepatic Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr and Ba showed apparent decrease, which might be related to the biological factors.     

Evaluation of pliers’ grip spans in the maximum gripping task and sub-maximum cutting task

A total of 25 males participated to investigate the effects of the grip spans of pliers on the total grip force, individual finger forces and muscle activities in the maximum gripping task and wire-cutting tasks. In the maximum gripping task, results showed that the 50-mm grip span had significantly higher total grip strength than the other grip spans. In the cutting task, the 50-mm grip span also showed significantly higher grip strength than the 65-mm and 80-mm grip spans, whereas the muscle activities showed a higher value at 80-mm grip span. The ratios of cutting force to maximum grip strength were also investigated. Ratios of 30.3%, 31.3% and 41.3% were obtained by grip spans of 50-mm, 65-mm, and 80-mm, respectively. Thus, the 50-mm grip span for pliers might be recommended to provide maximum exertion in gripping tasks, as well as lower maximum-cutting force ratios in the cutting tasks.     

Mutagenic and carcinogenic potency of extracts from diesel related environmental emissions: Simultaneous morphological transformation and mutagenesis in BALB/c 3t3 cells

Particulate extracts from six different environmental emission sources were assayed for genotoxic activity in mouse BALB/c 3T3 clone A31-1 cells. All compounds were tested simultaneously for both transforming and mutagenic (induction of ouabain-resistance) potential with and without exogenous metabolic activation in the form of a 9000 × g postmitochondrial hepatic supernatant fraction from Aroclor-1254 induced Fischer 344 rats. Dichloromethane particulate extracts from the exhaust of two light duty diesel engines (Oldsmobile and Nissan), one heavy duty diesel engine (Caterpillar) and one late model gasoline engine (Mustang II) were assayed in an identical manner to particulate extracts from the emissions of a roofing tar pot and a coke oven. No clear dose-dependent responses were observed, but several of the samples showed significant transforming and mutagenic activity. A qualitative ranking system showed the activity of these particulate extracts for either mutagenesis or transformation was: coke oven = Mustang II gasoline engine > Nissan diesel engine > roofing tar. Particulate extracts from the Oldsmobile diesel engine and the Caterpillar diesel engine showed essentially no activity.     

Health risk assessment and source apportionment of PM2.5-bound toxic elements in the industrial city of Siheung,Korea

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The emission sources and their health risks of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Siheung, Republic of Korea, were investigated as a middle-sized...     

Risk assessment of particulate matter by considering time-activity-pattern and major microenvironments for preschool children living in Seoul,South Korea

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Preschool children aged 3–6 years are vulnerable to exposed to particulate matter (“PM10” and “PM2.5”). It is required...     

Pesticide toxicity towards microalgae increases with environmental mixture complexity

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Effect-directed analysis (EDA) aims at identifying the compound(s) responsible for toxicity in a complex environmental sample where several dozens of...     

Prediction of the vertical profile of ozone based on ground-level ozone observations and cloud cover

A number of statistical techniques have been used to develop models to predict high-elevation ozone (O3) concentrations for each discrete hour of day as a function of elevation based on ground-level O3 observations. The analyses evaluated the effect of exclusion/inclusion of cloud cover as a variable. It was found that a simple model, using the current maximum ground-level O3 concentration and no effect of cloud cover provided a reasonable prediction of the vertical profile of O3, based on data analyzed from O3 sites located in North Carolina and Tennessee. The simple model provided an approach that estimates the concentration of O3 as a function of elevation (up to 1800 m) based on the statistical results with a +/- 13.5 ppb prediction error, an R2 of 0.56, and an index of agreement, d1, of 0.66. The inclusion of cloud cover resulted in a slight improvement in the model over the simple regression model. The developed models, which consist of two matrices of 24 equations (one for each hour of day for clear to partly cloudy conditions and one for cloudy conditions), can be used to estimate the vertical O3 profile based on the inputs of the current day's 1-hr maximum ground-level O3 concentration and the level of cloud cover.     

Cadmium accumulation and elimination in tissues of juvenile olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus after sub-chronic cadmium exposure

Experiments were carried out to investigate the accumulation and elimination of cadmium (Cd) in tissues (gill, intestine, kidney, liver and muscle) of juvenile olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus, exposed to sub-chronic concentrations (0, 10, 50, 100 microg l(-1)) of Cd. Cd exposure resulted in an increased Cd accumulation in tissues of flounder with exposure periods and concentration, and Cd accumulation in gill and liver increased linearly with the exposure time. At 20 days of Cd exposure, the order of Cd accumulation in organs was gill > intestine > liver > kidney > muscle and after 30 days of exposure, those were intestine > gill > liver > kidney > muscle. An inverse relationship was observed between the accumulation factor (AF) and the exposure level, but AF showed an increase with exposure time. During the depuration periods, Cd concentration in the gill, intestine and liver decreased immediately following the end of the exposure periods. No significant difference was found Cd in concentration in the kidney and muscle during depuration periods. The order of Cd elimination rate in organs were decreased intestine > liver > gill during depuration periods.