The association between total urinary arsenic concentration and renal dysfunction in a community-based population from central Taiwan

Arsenic (As) is an important environmental toxicant that can cause cancer and cardiovascular disease, but the relationship between As exposure and renal dysfunction is not clear. The aim of this study is to examine the association between As exposure and renal dysfunction in a community-based population in central Taiwan. One thousand and forty-three subjects were recruited between 2002 and 2005. The risk for type 2 diabetes was increased by 2-fold (p < 0.05) in subjects with total urinary As (U-As) > 75 μg g⁻¹ creatinine as compared with subjects whose U-As was ?35 μg g⁻¹ creatinine after the adjustment for potential confounders. The adjusted odds ratio for an abnormal β2 microglobulin (B2MG > 0.154 mg L⁻¹) was significantly higher in subjects with U-As > 35 μg g⁻¹ creatinine as compared with the reference group adjusted for age, sex, living area, cigarette smoking, diabetes, and hypertension. The risk for abnormal B2MG and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR < 90 mL min⁻¹ (1.73 m²)⁻¹) was both increased around 2-fold (p < 0.05) in subjects with U-As > 75 μg g⁻¹ creatinine as compared with those with U-As ? 35 μg g⁻¹ creatinine adjusted for all the risk factors plus lead (Pb), cadmium and nickel. The prevalence of abnormal B2MG was 4.82 times higher in subjects with both over the median levels of U-As (85.1 μg L⁻¹) and urinary Pb (18.9 μg L⁻¹) as compared to both lower than the median (p < 0.001). These results indicate that U-As might relate to renal dysfunction even other important risk factors were taken into account. Follow-up studies for causal inference are warranted.     

成都地区人工湖富营养化现状与防治措施

根据2011年对成都地区5个典型人工湖水体进行监测,采用综合营养状态指数法,对人工湖富营养化现状进行了评价,并分析富营养化的成因。利用一种生物操控手段防治湖泊富营养化的新技术——清水型水生态系统构建技术防治人工湖的富营养化,通过两个案例展现该技术的工程效果,为防治人工湖富营养化提供一种新方法。     

福州市区酸性降水现状分析

通过对1999年—2002年福州市区降水常规监测数据分析，初步探讨了福州市酸雨的时空分布特征、酸雨类型及产生原因。     

Amylo-1,6-glucosidase activity in cultured cells: A deficiency in type III glycogenosis with prenatal studies

Deficiency of amylo-1,6–glucosidase activity was expressed in parallel in liver and skin fibroblasts from a patient with type III glycogenosis. In crude extracts of control liver and muscle, amylo-1, 6–glucosidase (M.W. 164000) was identified by immunoprecipitation; no cross-reacting material was found in the patient's liver. Assay of amylo-1,6–glucosidase activity in cultured skin fibroblasts from the affected family revealed less than 10 per cent of control value in mutant homozygous cells whereas in cells from the parents, activity was reduced to 40–60 per cent of the control value. Activity in cultured amniotic fluid cells was similar to that of control fibroblasts. In cultured amniotic fluid cells obtained during the mother's subsequent pregnancy, the normal amylo–1,6–glucosidase activity measured, predicted correctly the outcome of this pregnancy prior to the 20th week of gestation.     

REGIONALIZATION OF LOW-FLOW FREQUENCY ESTIMATES: AN ALABAMA CASE STUI)Y1

ABSTRACT: Low-flow estimates, as determined by probabilistic modeling of observed data sequences, are commonly used to describe certain streamflow characteristics. Unfortunately, however, reliable low-flow estimates can be difficult to come by, particularly for gaging sites with short record lengths. The shortness of records leads to uncertainties not only in the selection of a distribution for modeling purposes but also in the estimates of the parameters of a chosen model. In flood frequency analysis, the common approach to mitigation of some of these problems is through the regionalization of frequency behavior. The same general approach is applied here to the case of low-flow estimation, with the general intent of not only improving low-flow estimates but also illustrating the gains that might be attained in so doing. Data used for this study is that which has been systematically observed at 128 streamflow gaging sites across the State of Alabama. Our conclusions are that the log Pearson Type 3 distribution is a suitable candidate for modeling of Alabama low-flows, and that the shape parameter of that distribution can be estimated on a regional basis. Low-flow estimates based on the regional estimator are compared with estimates based on the use of only at-site estimation techniques.     

The Johannesburg Conference

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg during 26 August and 4 September 2002, was the biggest event of its kind organised by the United Nations to date. A major objective of the WSSD was to set out strategies for greater and more effective implementation of Agenda 21, negotiated in Rio ten years ago, than hitherto. An overview of the WSSD is presented in this chapter, including a scrutiny of its major outcomes.Discussion begins with a detailed account of major UN environmental conferences and related events, such as Doha and Monterrey conferences, that led to the WSSD, followed by a brief discussion of the deliberations that took place at the preparatory meetings (PrepComs) of the WSSD. A detailed account and scrutiny of the following, that are the main outcomes of the WSSD, is then given.The "Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development", which is a political declaration mirroring the will of the international community to move towards sustainable development.The "Johannesburg Plan of Implementation", which is the core document of the WSSD containing an impressive list of recommendations for accelerating the implementation of Agenda 21."Type II partnerships", which are projects that allow civil society to contribute to the implementation of sustainable development.The increasingly important post-Rio issue of globalisation, which has serious implications for a number of issues directly or indirectly impinging on global sustainability, was an important element in the contextual background to the WSSD. Reference is made to some of these implications.Type II partnerships are an innovation of the WSSD. Although a good deal of confusion persists over their precise nature and modus operandi, they were nevertheless presented at the WSSD as powerful and more democratic instruments for the realisation of Agenda 21 objectives.The analysis shows that the Summit contributed at defining sustainable development more precisely. The Plan of Implementation is most instrumental in showing how to make resource use and the generation of pollution less unsustainable. In this way implementing the recommendations of the Johannesburg Summit offers an important defeat, worldwide.     

PM10短期暴露对人群空腹血糖和血脂的影响

为探析PM₁₀短期暴露对不同糖代谢水平人群空腹血糖和血脂的影响,以“金昌队列”为研究平台,收集金昌市2011~2017年污染物数据及气象数据.采用近邻模型完成个体PM₁₀暴露评估.运用广义估计方程分析PM₁₀对血糖和血脂指标的影响.采用广义相加混合模型绘制暴露-反应关系曲线.结果表明,PM₁₀浓度每增加一个四分位数间距,空腹血糖(FPG)、总胆固醇(TC)、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇(LDL-C)和高密度脂蛋白胆固醇(HDL-C)分别升高0.58mg/dL (95% CI:0.35,0.82)、0.38mg/dL (95% CI:0.25,0.52)、0.44mg/dL (95% CI:0.31,0.57)和0.34mg/dL (95% CI:0.29,0.40),甘油三酯(TG)降低0.67mg/dl (95% CI:-0.86,-0.47).随着PM₁₀浓度升高,FPG、TC、LDL-C和HDL-C均呈上升趋势,TG呈下降趋势.PM₁₀对男性、年龄≥60岁者血糖和血脂指标影响更显著.因此,PM₁₀与不同糖代谢状态人群血糖和血脂水平异常密切相关,男性和老年人应加强自身防护.