Organochlorine pesticide residues in maternal blood,cord blood,placenta, and breastmilk and their relation to birth size

There is a growing concern that persistent organic pollutants like organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) can impair fetal growth and affect birth size. However, currently available epidemiological evidence is inconclusive. In this case-control study, we examined the association between exposure to hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and its isomers (α-HCH, β-HCH and γ-HCH), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and birth size. We recruited 60 infant-mother pairs, comprising of 30 term, small for gestational age babies with their mothers (Case group), and another 30 term, appropriate for gestational age babies with their mothers (Control group). This study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Delhi, India, between March, 2009 and February 2010. Organochlorine pesticides were estimated in maternal blood, cord blood, placenta and breastmilk samples, using gas–liquid chromatography. Transplacental and transmammary transfer of OCPs was assessed by correlating the maternal blood OCP levels with those in cord blood and breastmilk by simple linear regression. The birthweight, crown heel length, head circumference, mid-arm circumference and ponderal index of the neonates was correlated with OCP levels in the maternal blood, cord blood, placenta and breastmilk. The OCP estimates were compared between samples of the case and control group. There was a significant (P < 0.001) transplacental transfer of all OCPs, however the transmammary transfer was insignificant for most OCPs except α-HCH. The OCP levels in the case group were higher than the control group; these were significantly more for t-HCH in cord blood and breastmilk; β-HCH in maternal blood, cord blood and breastmilk; DDE in placenta and DDT in breastmilk. There was a significant negative correlation between birthweight and t-HCH levels in maternal blood (P = 0.022), cord blood (P < 0.001), placenta (P = 0.008) and breastmilk (P = 0.005); β-HCH in cord blood (P < 0.001) and placenta (P = 0.020); γ-HCH in placenta (P = 0.045); and DDT (P = 0.009). Length at birth had a significant negative correlation with t-HCH in cord blood (P = 0.014) and breastmilk (P < 0.001); β-HCH in cord blood (P = 0.016) and breastmilk (P = 0.012); DDE in placenta (P = 0.016); and DDT in breastmilk (P = 0.006). Similarly, OCP levels were also found to be negatively correlated with head circumference, ponderal index and chest circumference in neonates. We conclude that prenatal exposure to some OCPs could impair the anthropometric development of the fetus, reducing the birthweight, length, head circumference, chest circumference and ponderal index.     

Implications for biological invasion of non-native plants for sale in the world's largest online market

Internet trade is increasingly recognized as a dispersal pathway of non-native plant species that is difficult to monitor. We sought to identify non-native flora present in the Chinese online market, the largest e-commerce market globally, and to decipher the effect of existing trade regulations, among other variables, on e-trading patterns and to inform policy. We used a comprehensive list of 811 non-native plant species in China present in 1 of the 3 phases of the invasion continuum (i.e., introduced, naturalized, and invasive). The price, propagule types, and quantities of the species offered for sale were retrieved from 9 online stores, including 2 of the largest platforms. Over 30% of the non-native species were offered for sale in the online marketplaces; invasive non-native species dominated the list (45.53%). No significant price difference was observed across the non-native species of the 3 invasion categories. Among the 5 propagule types, a significantly higher number of non-native species were offered for sale as seeds. The regression models and path analyses consistently revealed a direct positive effect of the number of uses and species’ minimum residence time and an indirect effect of biogeography on the pattern of trade in non-native plant species when minimal phylogenetic signal was detected. A review of the existing phytosanitary regulations in China revealed their inadequacy in managing e-trading of non-native plant species. To address the problem, we propose integration of a standardized risk assessment framework that considers perceptions of stakeholders and is adaptable based on continuous surveillance of the trade network. If implemented successfully, the measures could provide a template for other countries to strengthen trading regulations for non-native plant species and take proactive management measures.     

Role of age and injury mechanism on cervical spine injury tolerance from head contact loading

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the influence of age and injury mechanism on cervical spine tolerance to injury from head contact loading using survival analysis.

Methods: This study analyzed data from previously conducted experiments using post mortem human subjects (PMHS). Group A tests used the upright intact head–cervical column experimental model. The inferior end of the specimen was fixed, the head was balanced by a mechanical system, and natural lordosis was removed. Specimens were placed on a testing device via a load cell. The piston applied loading at the vertex region. Spinal injuries were identified using medical images. Group B tests used the inverted head–cervical column experimental model. In one study, head–T1 specimens were fixed distally, and C7–T1 joints were oriented anteriorly, preserving lordosis. Torso mass of 16 kg was added to the specimen. In another inverted head–cervical column study, occiput–T2 columns were obtained, an artificial head was attached, T1–T2 was fixed, C4–C5 disc was maintained horizontal in the lordosis posture, and C7–T1 was unconstrained. The specimens were attached to the drop test carriage carrying a torso mass of 15 kg. A load cell at the inferior end measured neck loads in both studies. Axial neck force and age were used as the primary response variable and covariate to derive injury probability curves using survival analysis.

Results: Group A tests showed that age is a significant (P < .05) and negative covariate; that is, increasing age resulted in decreasing force for the same risk. Injuries were mainly vertebral body fractures and concentrated at one level, mid-to-lower cervical spine, and were attributed to compression-related mechanisms. However, age was not a significant covariate for the combined data from group B tests. Both group B tests produced many soft tissue injuries, at all levels, from C1 to T1. The injury mechanism was attributed to mainly extension. Multiple and noncontiguous injuries occurred. Injury probability curves, ±95% confidence intervals, and normalized confidence interval sizes representing the quality of the mean curve are given for different data sets.

Conclusions: For compression-related injuries, specimen age should be used as a covariate or individual specimen data may be prescaled to derive risk curves. For distraction- or extension-related injuries, however, specimen age need not be used as a covariate in the statistical analysis. The findings from these tests and survival analysis indicate that the age factor modulates human cervical spine tolerance to impact injury.     

Mechanistic insights to lactic and formic acid toxicity on benthic oligochaete worm Tubifex tubifex

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Lactic and formic acid are two commonly found monocarboxylic organic acids. Lactic acid is discharged into the water bodies as acidic industrial...     

Performance assessment of the indigenous ceramic UF membrane in bioreactor process for highly polluted tannery wastewater treatment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study evaluates the performance of an indigenously developed ceramic ultrafiltration (UF) membrane in a lab-scale membrane bioreactor...     

Enhancement of nutritional value of fried fish using an artificial intelligence approach

Frying affects the nutritional quality of fish detrimentally. In this study, using Catla catla and mustard oil, experiments were carried out in varying temperatures (140–240 °C), times (5–20 min), and oil amounts (25–100 ml/kg of fish) which established drastic reduction of 44.97% and 99.40% for polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)/saturated fatty acids (SFA) and index of atherogenicity (IA) profile, respectively. Artificial neural network (ANN) was implemented successfully to provide an association between the independent inputs with dependent outputs (values of R² were 0.99 and 0.98; RMSE were 0.038 and 0.046; and performance were 0.038 and 0.067 for PUFA/SFA and IA, respectively) by exhaustive search of various algorithms and activation functions available in literature. ANN model–based meta-heuristic, stochastic optimization formalisms, genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO), were applied to optimize the combination of cooking parameters for improving the nutritional quality of food which improved the nutritional value by maximizing the PUFA/SFA profile up to 63.05% and minimizing the IA profile to 99.64%. Multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) was also employed to tune the inputs by maintaining a balance between the contrasting outputs and enhance the overall food value simultaneously with multi-objective (beneficial for health, economic, and environment-friendly) proposal. MOGA was able to improve the PUFA/SFA profile up to 44.76% and reduce the IA profile to 92.94% concurrently with the reduction of wastage of culinary media and energy consumption, following the optimized cooking condition (118.92 °C, 6.06 min, 40 ml oil/kg of fish).