Fluoride removal and its impact on oral health in Sri Lanka's dry zone: Discussion and recommendation

Fifty percent of the dry zone areas in Sri Lanka have fluoride levels above 1 ppm. This paper discusses the ground conditions and recommends an appropriate range of fluoride in drinking water which can support preventive practices for improving the oral health of children 8-years old and younger. In efforts to address the Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown etiology (CKDU), water treatment to reduce contaminant level in potable water has been implemented. Such treatment would also remove fluoride and has resulted in potable water with various fluoride levels, depending on concentrations in the raw water. While it is important to reduce fluoride levels, it is important to have appropriate residual levels for prevention of dental caries. It needs, however, to be noted fluoride in excess can cause dental fluorosis. In Sri Lanka's dry zone areas increasing prevalence of dental fluorosis with decreasing prevalence of dental caries has been noted. Consumption of tea and powdered milk could increase total intake of fluoride. Fluoridated toothpaste, when used properly, may, however, result in negligible intake of fluoride. Sri Lanka's hot tropical climate which results in substantial intake of fluids reinforces the need to consider reduction in water fluoride. Consideration of local studies and international standards indicate fluoride levels should be in the range of 0.225–0.500 ppm. In the range of 0.225–0.500 ppm, the prevalence of dental fluorosis and caries was only 14% and 8%, respectively, in an endemic district. When fluoride levels are above 0.500 ppm, the issue of dental fluorosis shall need to be addressed. When levels are below 0.225 ppm, oral health care services shall need to be directed at preventing dental caries.     

贵州西南地区慢性铊中毒途径研究

铊中毒区土壤、植物中铊含量均很高，铊中毒途径主要是食用高铊蔬菜，进入人体长期积累，导致慢性铊中毒。     

Conservation implications of physiological carry‐over effects in bats recovering from white‐nose syndrome

Although it is well documented that infectious diseases can pose threats to biodiversity, the potential long‐term consequences of pathogen exposure on individual fitness and its effects on population viability have rarely been studied. We tested the hypothesis that pathogen exposure causes physiological carry‐over effects with a pathogen that is uniquely suited to this question because the infection period is specific and time limited. The fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans causes white‐nose syndrome (WNS) in hibernating bats, which either die due to the infection while hibernating or recover following emergence from hibernation. The fungus infects all exposed individuals in an overwintering site simultaneously, and bats that survive infection during hibernation clear the pathogen within a few weeks following emergence. We quantified chronic stress during the active season, when bats are not infected, by measuring cortisol in bat claws. Free‐ranging Myotis lucifugus who survived previous exposure to P. destructans had significantly higher levels of claw cortisol than naïve individuals. Thus, cryptic physiological carry‐over effects of pathogen exposure may persist in asymptomatic, recovered individuals. If these effects result in reduced survival or reproductive success, they could also affect population viability and even act as a third stream in the extinction vortex. For example, significant increases in chronic stress, such as those indicated here, are correlated with reduced reproductive success in a number of species. Future research should directly explore the link between pathogen exposure and the viability of apparently recovered populations to improve understanding of the true impacts of infectious diseases on threatened populations.     

锑对土壤跳虫(Folsomia candida)的毒性效应

为了解Sb（锑）对土壤无脊椎动物的毒性效应及对比不同类型土壤中Sb毒性的差异,选取死亡率、逃避率、繁殖数三组个体水平的评价指标研究了3种典型土壤（海伦黑土、祁阳红壤、北京潮土）中外源添加Sb对模式生物——跳虫（Folsomia candida）的急性毒性和慢性毒性效应.结果表明,基于实测w（Sb_总）求得的上述3种土壤中Sb影响跳虫逃避的2 d-EC₅₀（EC₅₀为半数效应浓度）分别为298、>431[高于土壤中最高w（Sb_总）]和132 mg/kg;影响跳虫死亡的7 d-LC₅₀（LC₅₀为半数致死浓度）分别为3 352、4 007、2 105 mg/kg;影响跳虫死亡的28 d-LC₅₀分别为2 271、1 865、703 mg/kg,影响跳虫繁殖的28 d-EC₅₀分别为1 799、1 323、307 mg/kg.由上述毒性阈值大小可知,跳虫逃避率的敏感性高于死亡率和繁殖数的敏感性,不同土壤中Sb对跳虫的毒性大小具有显著差异,北京潮土中Sb对跳虫的毒性与海伦黑土、祁阳红壤相比最大差别接近6倍,表明不同土壤理化性质对Sb生态毒性效应具有显著影响.但基于w（Sb_水提）求得的上述3种土壤中Sb的毒性阈值差异减小,说明水提态Sb与其毒性具有显著相关性,可以较好地解释不同土壤间Sb毒性的差异.该研究结果可为建立我国土壤中Sb的毒性预测模型及制订Sb的质量标准值提供依据.      

大型溞母溞暴露于氨氮所产子代对氨氮毒性的耐受性

采用大型溞(Daphnia magna)作为受试生物,在测定了氨氮对大型溞的急慢性毒性效应的基础上,进一步研究了在慢性毒性试验中暴露于氨氮环境下的母溞所产子代对氨氮的毒性响应.急性毒性试验结果表明,氨氮对大型溞的24 h和48 h的LC50分别为165.97和69.54 mg/L.21 d慢性试验结果表明:大型溞的生长指标——脱皮数是对氨氮最为敏感的毒性参数;其慢性毒性下限值(LCL)和慢性毒性上限值(UCL)分别为1.88和3.75 mg/L;据此计算出的慢性毒性值(CHV)为2.66 mg/L,急慢性比(ACR)为26.14.在慢性试验中,暴露于毒物的母体所产的子代幼溞,与对照组相比,其48 h LC50都有所增大(增幅为13.7%～56.2%),说明对毒物的适应性有所增强.     

Urbanisation and flood vulnerability in the peri-urban interface of Mexico City

Chronic flooding in the Chalco valley, state of Mexico, Mexico, is the outcome of past and present socio‐environmental changes which have taken place in Mexico City's south‐eastern peri‐urban interface. This flooding is the result of a complex interaction between urbanisation in an ex‐lacustrine area, permanent ecological deterioration and ground subsidence, poor sanitation and inadequate policy responses. Far from solving the flooding problem, short‐term policy responses have created increasingly unsafe conditions for current residents. A socio‐historical analysis of disasters reveals the importance of taking into consideration particular social actors and institutions in hazard generation and flood vulnerability over time. This paper analyses three aspects of this flooding: first, the importance of approaching floods from a socio‐historical perspective; second, the relation between urbanisation, former policies and flood risk generation; and third, current policy responses to and the failure in the risk management of La Compañía Canal.     

土壤Cd污染对跳虫Folsomia candida的生态毒性

采矿及冶炼等行为造成了严重的土壤重金属污染,其中Cd污染及其带来的健康风险近年来引起人们的高度重视。利用弹尾目跳虫开展土壤Cd污染的生态毒理研究,对Cd污染土壤的生态风险评价具有重要意义。本研究将跳虫Folsomia candida(F.candida)暴露在不同Cd浓度污染的人工土壤中,利用跳虫存活数量、繁殖数量及回避行为实验来评价重金属Cd污染对跳虫的生态毒性。结果表明,Cd对F.candida的急性毒性LC50值为2 086.93 mg·kg~(-1),慢性毒性的繁殖抑制(28 d)EC50值为224.95 mg·kg~(-1)。此外,Cd对跳虫回避行为影响的EC50(48 h)为721.26 mg·kg~(-1)。可以看出,慢性毒性的EC50值与Cd对回避行为影响的EC50值近似,但远低于急性毒性LC50值。因此,跳虫F.candida的回避行为和繁殖率对Cd污染土壤有较高的灵敏度,可用来表征土壤中Cd的生态毒性。     

Combined effect of diuron and simazine on photosystem II photochemistry in a sandy soil and soil amended with solid olive-mill waste

Diuron (3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)- = 1,1-dimethylurea) and simazine (6-chloro-N ², N ⁴-diethyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) are soil-applied herbicides used in olive crops. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of these herbicides on Photosystem II photochemistry of Olea europaea L., and whether the amendment of soil with an organic waste (OW) from olive oil production industry modifies this effect. For this purpose, herbicide soil adsorption studies, with unamended and OW-amended soil, and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements in adult olive leaves, after one, two and three weeks of soil herbicide treatment and/or OW amendment, were performed. Soil application of these herbicides reduced the efficiency of Photosystem II photochemistry of olive trees due to chronic photoinhibition, and this effect is counterbalanced by the addition of OW to the soil. OW reduces herbicide uptake by the plant due to an increase in herbicide adsorption.     

Study on Fish and Amphibian Embryo-Larval Toxicity Test

In China, it is necessary to establish short-term biomonitoring methods for evaluating the chronic toxicity of industrial wastewater. In this paper, the aquatic toxicity of four important pollutants in petrochemical wastewater, including acrylonitrile, acetonitrile, sulphocyanic sodium and dimethyl formamide, was studied with fish and amphibian embryo-larval toxicity tests using Cyprinus carpio and Rana nigromaculata as test organisms. The objective is to present some useful data for establishing short-term chronic toxicity test methods used to perform biomonitoring in China. The results indicate that the chronic toxicity of acrylonitrile to fish and amphibians was the highest of the four test pollutants, followed by NaSCN, acetonitrile and DMF. The sensitivity of the carp embryo- larval test to chemicals was greater than that of the R. nigromaculata embryo-larval test.     

Emergency seed aid in Kenya: some case study insights on lessons learned during the 1990s

This article reviews the effectiveness of seed-aid distributions in Kenya during the 1990s. It analyses the internal process and effects, i.e. the performance of the aid itself as well as the external process and effects, i.e. how seed-aid intervention affected farmers' broader agricultural management strategies. During the drought emergency of 1997, Kenyan farmers favourably judged many of the immediate seed-aid features such as crop and variety appropriateness and seed quality--even through the overarching goals of the seed assistance were muddled, ranging from assistance to the poor, to generalised gift-giving to stimulating progressive farming practice. However, the longer term analyses, drawn from recollections of a decade of relief activity, showed no concrete evidence that seed aid, per se, had strengthened their farming systems, nor that those who have received it once were less likely to receive it again. Thus, while seed aid has been promoted to lessen the effects of an 'acute' stress, drought, Kenyan farmers, in practice, have been experiencing much wider, 'chronic' seed system problems. This article ends by exploring this distinction between acute and chronic seed system stress and suggests a range of interventions appropriate to each.