Ovariectomy predisposes female rats to fine particulate matter exposure’s effects by altering metabolic,oxidative, pro-inflammatory,and heat-shock protein levels

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The reduction of estrogen levels, as a result of menopause, is associated with the development of metabolic diseases caused by alterations in...     

Fish assemblages in seagrass beds are influenced by the proximity of mangrove forests

Mangrove forests and seagrass beds frequently occur as adjacent habitats in the temperate waters of southeastern Australia. At low tide when fish cannot occupy mangroves they might utilise adjacent habitats, including seagrass. We first sampled small fish from seagrass beds close to and far from mangroves in the Pittwater estuary, NSW, Australia. Seagrass beds close to mangroves had a greater density of fish species than beds far from mangroves (close: mean 16.0 species net⁻¹, SE 1.0; far: 13.2, 1.3; P < 0.05). In particular, juvenile fish were in greater densities near to than far from mangroves (close: 5.3, 0.4; far: 3.1, 0.4; P < 0.05). We then sampled the mangrove forests during the high tide and seagrass beds during the low tide, in beds along a continuum of distances from mangroves. Multivariate analysis showed that fish assemblages differed with distance from mangroves, and the differences were attributed to the composition of the fish assemblage (i.e. presence/absence of fish species), not the abundances of individual species. In particular, fish that utilise mangrove forests at high tide were found in greater species densities and species richness in seagrass nearer to mangroves. A negative relationship was found between the density of mangrove-utilising fish species and the distance of the bed from mangroves (R ² = 0.37, P < 0.05). This confirms the important connectivity between mangroves and seagrass for fish in temperate Australian waters.     

Mobilization of arsenic and other trace elements of health concern in groundwater from the Salí River Basin, Tucumán Province, Argentina

The Salí River Basin in north-west Argentina (7,000 km²) is composed of a sequence of Tertiary and Quaternary loess deposits, which have been substantially reworked by fluvial and aeolian processes. As with other areas of the Chaco-Pampean Plain, groundwater in the basin suffers a range of chemical quality problems, including arsenic (concentrations in the range of 12.2–1,660 μg L⁻¹), fluoride (50–8,740 μg L⁻¹), boron (34.0–9,550 μg L⁻¹), vanadium (30.7–300 μg L⁻¹) and uranium (0.03–125 μg L⁻¹). Shallow groundwater (depths up to 15 m) has particularly high concentrations of these elements. Exceedances above WHO (2011) guideline values are 100% for As, 35% for B, 21% for U and 17% for F. Concentrations in deep (>200 m) and artesian groundwater in the basin are also often high, though less extreme than at shallow depths. The waters are oxidizing, with often high bicarbonate concentrations (50.0–1,260 mg L⁻¹) and pH (6.28–9.24). The ultimate sources of these trace elements are the volcanic components of the loess deposits, although sorption reactions involving secondary Al and Fe oxides also regulate the distribution and mobility of trace elements in the aquifers. In addition, concentrations of chromium lie in range of 79.4–232 μg L⁻¹ in shallow groundwater, 129–250 μg L⁻¹ in deep groundwater and 110–218 μg L⁻¹ in artesian groundwater. All exceed the WHO guideline value of 50 μg L⁻¹. Their origin is likely to be predominantly geogenic, present as chromate in the ambient oxic and alkaline aquifer conditions.     

Optimal Timing to Adopt an Environmental Policy in a Strategic Framework

In this paper, the problem of optimal timing, when to adopt an environmental policy in a strategic framework is considered. Using real options theory and some basic tools of game theory, we show that, under certain assumptions, a country behaving strategically should wait longer before adopting such a policy than if it behaves unstrategically or within a larger entity. Such a postponed decision is sub-optimal as regards to the environment protection.     

Using game theory to describe strategy selection for environmental risk and carbon emissions reduction in the green supply chain

This paper provides an approach in the context of green supply chain management, using game theory to analyze the strategies selected by manufacturers to reduce life cycle environmental risk of materials and carbon emissions. Through the application of the ‘tolerability of risk’ concept, a basis for determining the extent of environmental risk and carbon emissions reduction has been established. Currently, scant attention is given to holistic supervision of the supply chain with respect to carbon emissions by governments, and thus the starting hypothesis here is that the default strategy that manufacturers will adopt is only to reduce carbon emissions, and thereby environmental risk, in so far as this is compatible with the aim of increasing revenue. Moreover, we further hypothesize that, once necessary governmental policy has been established in the supply chain management, the strategic choices of the manufacturers would be influenced by government penalties or incentives. A case example is provided to demonstrate the insight that indicates the application of game theory. The limitations of the game model and analysis are discussed, laying a foundation for further work.     

Maternal serum alfa-fetoprotein levels in the pregnancy complicated by hypertension

Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) was determined in patients 33 to 40 weeks pregnant, and the results were analysed with consideration of the presence and quality of hypertensive disease that complicated many of the pregnancies. Patients with incompletely controlled hypertension had significantly higher MSAFP levels than control patients with pregnancies uncomplicated by any risk factor. MSAFP elevation was greatest in pre-eclampsia (301·6 ± 147·6 kU/L, n = 35) > chronic hypertension with superimposed pre-eclampsia (240·4±74.7 kU/L, n = 30) > chronic hypertension (204·1± 105·3 kU/L, n=141). Each was significantly increased (P< 0·0001) over control pregnant patients' levels (104·3 ± 38·8, n= 187). At each gestational week from 33 weeks to term, MSAFP of combined hypertensive women was significantly greater than corresponding control levels (P< 0·003 to < 0·000l). The magnitude and time of onset of MSAFP increase may indicate severe fetal distress.     

Climate pioneership and leadership in structurally disadvantaged maritime port cities

ABSTRACT

Innovative climate governance in small-to-medium-sized structurally disadvantaged cities (SDCs) are assessed. Considering their deeply ingrained severe economic and social problems it would be reasonable to assume that SDCs act primarily as climate laggards or at best as followers. However, novel empirical findings show that SDCs are capable of acting as climate pioneers. Different types and styles of climate leadership and pioneership and how they operate within multi-level and polycentric governance structures are identified and assessed. SDCs seem relatively readily willing to adopt transformational climate pioneership styles to create ‘green’ jobs, for example, in the offshore wind energy sector and with the aim of improving their poor external image. However, in order to sustain transformational climate pioneership they often have to rely on support from ‘higher’ levels of governance. For SDCs, there is a tension between learning from each other’s best practice and fierce economic competition in climate innovation.     

Deriving state-and-transition models from an image series of grassland pattern dynamics

We present how state-and-transition models (STMs) may be derived from image data, providing a graphical means of understanding how ecological dynamics are driven by complex interactions among ecosystem events. A temporal sequence of imagery of fine scale vegetation patterning was acquired from close range photogrammetry (CRP) of 1 m quadrats, in a long term monitoring project of Themeda triandra (Forsskal) grasslands in north western Australia. A principal components scaling of image metrics calculated on the imagery defined the state space of the STM, and thereby characterised the different patterns found in the imagery. Using the state space, we were able to relate key events (i.e. fire and rainfall) to both the image data and aboveground biomass, and identified distinct ecological ‘phases’ and ‘transitions’ of the system. The methodology objectively constructs a STM from imagery and, in principle, may be applied to any temporal sequence of imagery captured in any event-driven system. Our approach, by integrating image data, addresses the labour constraint limiting the extensive use of STMs in managing vegetation change in arid and semiarid rangelands.