Application of Silicon and Selenium in Rice for Reducing Cadmium Stress

Rice is an essential part of the human diet in most parts of the world; On the other hand, the industrialization of societies has led to pollution of the environment, including heavy metal contamination of soil and water, which negatively affects rice production and quality. Therefore, finding ways to increase the yield and quality of this strategic crop seems essential. Several studies have been conducted in recent decades to find effective and inexpensive solutions to reduce the adverse effects of heavy metals in rice fields. Due to the negative effect of cadmium pollution on rice quality and yield, the current study aimed to investigate cadmium absorption and transfer mechanisms in rice (from absorption by roots to loading in grains), and its effects on rice morphology, physiology, and biochemistry (such as biomass, nutrient absorption, antioxidant defenses). Also, rice’s natural mechanisms for detoxifying cadmium were discussed. This study also intended to identify the absorption and transfer pathways of silicon and selenium in rice, their roles in improving rice structures, and their antagonistic effects on reducing cadmium stress (absorption, transport, and toxicity of cadmium).     

Maternal Health Factors as Risks for Postnatal Depression: A Prospective Longitudinal Study

Purpose

While previous studies have identified a range of potential risk factors for postnatal depression (PND), none have examined a comprehensive set of risk factors at a population-level using data collected prospectively. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between a range of factors and PND and to construct a model of the predictors of PND.

Methods

Data came from 5219 women who completed Survey 5 of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health in 2009 and reported giving birth to a child.

Results

Over 15% of women reported experiencing PND with at least one of their children. The strongest positive associations were for postnatal anxiety (OR = 13.79,95%CI = 10.48,18.13) and antenatal depression (OR = 9.23,95%CI = 6.10,13.97). Positive associations were also found for history of depression and PND, low SF-36 Mental Health Index, emotional distress during labour, and breastfeeding for less than six months.

Conclusions

Results indicate that understanding a woman’s mental health history plays an important role in the detection of those who are most vulnerable to PND. Treatment and management of depression and anxiety earlier in life and during pregnancy may have a positive impact on the incidence of PND.     

An Innovative Lab-Based Training Program to Help Patient Groups Understand Their Disease and the Research Process

Genuine partnership between patient groups and medical experts is important but challenging. Our training program meets this challenge by organizing hands-on, lab-based training sessions for members of patient groups. These sessions allow “trainees” to better understand their disease and the biomedical research process, and strengthen links between patients and local researchers. Over the past decade, we and our partner institutes have received more than 900 French patients, with the participation of over 60 researchers and clinicians.

This Community Page is part of the "Public Engagement in Science" Series.

     

An Innovative Approach for Using the GRAI Methodology for Reengineering the New Product Introduction Process

This paper represents the culmination of a four-year ethnographic research project in a leading U.K. manufacturing company. A number of organizational deficiencies in the new product introduction (NPI) process are identified. Proposals subsequently are implemented that enhance the effectiveness of this process. The paper identifies the critical need for organizations to communicate effectively among different functional areas with respect to new products. A review of modeling techniques identifies the GRAI grid as an effective model for analyzing and improving cooperative business processes. The GRAI grid is set within the framework of a novel implementation methodology and subsequently is applied to the NPI process within the collaborating company. The paper concludes by reporting the substantial benefits gained.     

Community Programs for Obesity Prevention: The Minnesota Heart Health Program

Community intervention strategies for obesity that were developed and evaluated in the Minnesota Heart Health Pro-gram (MHHP) are described. The MHHP was a 13-year research and demonstration project involving 6 communities that was designed to evaluate whether a sustained multicomponent education campaign could reduce population-wide risk factors for cardiovascular disease. MHHP weight control activities included adult education classes for weight control, exercise, and cholesterol reduction, a worksite weight control program, a home correspondence course for weight loss and a weight gain prevention program. In separate component evaluation studies each of the programs was shown to facilitate favorable changes in weight among individuals choosing to participate in them. Compared to more intensive interventions, weight changes produced by these methods were modest in magnitude, but the number of individuals participating in some of them was quite large. The overall effects of the MHHP program on population levels of obesity were disappointing. Over 7 years of intervention there was a strong upward trend in weight in all communities, independent of age, demographics, smoking habits, or other potential confounding variables. This trend was not different in communities receiving education than in comparison communities. Possible reasons for these results are discussed.     

A Stress Management Program for Higher Risk Medical Students: Preliminary Findings

Approximately 10 % of first year medical students have clinically relevant anxiety or depression which may affect academic success and quality of life. This study tested the effects of a stress management intervention on indicators of anxiety, depression and self-efficacy in self-selected first year medical students. Forty two medical students volunteered to participate and provided informed consent. An eight session intervention was offered and focused on building relaxation skills, adaptive coping, and basic nutrition. Anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy were assessed pre and post intervention. This group of students had significantly higher baseline values of depression and anxiety but lower self-efficacy compared to a previous study of medical students at the same institution (p < 0.03). After the intervention, statistically significant improvements were observed in anxiety (p < 0.05), and self-efficacy (p < 0.05), but not in depression. The entering levels of anxiety and depression in this group suggested that these students were at risk for later clinical syndromes. Intervention directed to decreasing the effects of stress was associated with improvement in indicators of distress and may modify the longer term risk.     

Health Warnings on Alcoholic Beverages: Perceptions of the Health Risks and Intentions towards Alcohol Consumption

ObjectivesResearch has demonstrated that packaging which includes pictorial health warnings are more effective in altering smokers’ perceptions and intentions as well as changing smoking behaviours compared to text-only health warnings. However, very few studies have investigated the effectiveness of health warnings on alcoholic beveragesMethodsParticipants (N = 60) viewed alcoholic beverages presenting one of three health warnings (No health warning, Text-only, Pictorial) and then responded to questions relating to level of fear arousal and their perceptions toward alcohol use.ResultsWe found that pictorial health warnings were associated with significantly higher fear arousal, increased perceptions of the health risks of consuming alcohol as well as greater intentions to reduce and quit alcohol consumption compared to the control.ConclusionsThese novel findings suggest pictorial health warnings on alcoholic beverages may be an important way of making the public aware of the health risks of alcohol consumption.     

Comparison Between Radiological and Chemical Health Risks Assessments: The Nord-Cotentin Study

In 1997, the French Ministries of the Environment and Health commissioned a detailed radioecological analysis of the Nord-Cotentin region in response to public concern about radiological risks associated with local nuclear facilities. This work was entrusted to the Groupe Radioécologie Nord-Cotentin (GRNC), a working group of experts from various origins (industrial facilities operators, public institutions, monitoring agencies, public interest and citizens groups, foreign experts). An epidemiology investigation in 1995 had reported an excess of two radiation-induced leukemia cases in an area near a nuclear reprocessing plant, a finding that attracted great interest in France, and which stimulated the need for further investigation. After the publication of its report in 1999, the GRNC was again commissioned to perform, inter alia, a corresponding assessment on the chemical releases of the local nuclear facilities. This second stage is now achieved and has revealed important similarities as well as some important differences between radiological and chemical risk assessments when applied to the specific case of the Nord-Cotentin nuclear facilities. Due to the considerable amount of work and results of the GRNC, the purpose for this article is to briefly describe the main developments of the risk assessment methodology followed by the GRNC in both cases, to detail some of the main results and to identify and explain, at each step, the similarities and the differences. The whole technical documents that support these works are available on the Internet at ?http://www.irsn.fr/nord-cotentin/?.     

An Assessment of Health Risks and Mortality from Exposure to Secondhand Smoke in Chinese Restaurants and Bars

Introduction

Smoking is generally not regulated in restaurants or bars in China, or the restrictions are not fully implemented if there are any, while the related hazard health effects are not recognized by the majority of the Chinese population.

Objectives

This study aims to assess the excess health risks and mortality attributed to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in restaurants and bars for both servers and patrons to provide necessary evidence for advancing tobacco control in this microenvironment.

Methods

Two approaches were used for the assessment. One is a continuous approach based on existing field measurements and Repace and Lowrey’s dose-response model, and the other is a categorical approach based on exposure or not and epidemiological studies.

Results

Based on the continuous approach, servers were estimated to have a lifetime excess risk (LER) of lung cancer death (LCD) of 730 to 1,831×10⁻⁶ for working five days a week for 45 years in smoking restaurants and 1,862 to 8,136×10⁻⁶ in smoking bars, and patrons could have a LER of LCD of 47 to 117×10⁻⁶ due to visiting smoking restaurants for an average of 13 minutes a day for 60 years, and 119 to 522×10⁻⁶ due to visiting smoking bars. The categorical approach estimated that SHS exposure in restaurants and bars alone caused 84 LCD and 57 ischemic heart disease (IHD) deaths among nonsmoking servers and 1,2419 LCDs and 1,689 IHD deaths among the nonsmoking patron population.

Conclusions

SHS exposure in restaurants and bars alone can impose high lifetime excess risks of lung cancer death and ischemic heart disease deaths to both servers and patrons, and can cause a significant number of deaths each year in China. These health risks and deaths can be prevented by banning smoking in restaurants and bars and effectively implementing these smoking bans.     

Stress and Emotional Health: Applications of Clinical Anthropology

Stress and Emotional Health: Applications of Clinical Anthropology. John A. Rush. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 1999.219 pp.     

An Innovative Method for Exosome Quantification and Size Measurement

Although the biological importance of exosomes has recently gained an increasing amount of scientific and clinical attention, much is still unknown about their complex pathways, their bioavailability and their diverse functions in health and disease. Current work focuses on the presence and the behavior of exosomes (in vitro as well as in vivo) in the context of different human disorders, especially in the fields of oncology, gynecology and cardiology.Unfortunately, neither a consensus regarding a gold standard for exosome isolation exists, nor is there an agreement on such a method for their quantitative analysis. As there are many methods for the purification of exosomes and also many possibilities for their quantitative and qualitative analysis, it is difficult to determine a combination of methods for the ideal approach. Here, we demonstrate nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), a semi-automated method for the characterization of exosomes after isolation from human plasma by ultracentrifugation. The presented results show that this approach for isolation, as well as the determination of the average number and size of exosomes, delivers reproducible and valid data, as confirmed by other methods, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM).