Dietary exposure and risk assessment to trace elements and iodine in seaweeds

IntroductionSeaweeds are a rich source of elements such as iodine, and are also able to accumulate contaminants such as trace elements.MethodsThe aim of this study was to assess the dietary exposure as well as the risk from iodine and trace elements in edible seaweeds for the French population using current consumption data. The contribution of seaweeds to overall dietary exposure to trace elements and iodine was evaluated, and for those substances with minimal contribution to overall dietary exposure, simulations were performed to propose increased maximal limits in seaweeds.ResultsCadmium, inorganic arsenic and mercury in seaweeds were very low contributors to total dietary exposure to these contaminants (0.7 % 1.1 % and 0.1 % on average, respectively). Dietary exposure to lead via seaweed may contribute up to 3.1 % of total dietary exposure. Dietary consumption of iodine via seaweed may contribute up to 33 % of total exposure to iodine, which makes seaweeds the strongest contributor to iodine in diet.DiscussionNew maximal values in seaweeds are proposed for the very low contributors to total dietary exposure: 1 mg/kg dw for cadmium, 10 mg/kg dw for inorganic arsenic and 0.3 mg/kg dw for mercury.     

Developing new hospital-at-home models based on Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment: Implementation recommendations by the Working Group on Hospital-at-Home and Community Geriatrics of the Catalan Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology

Last decade, the Government of Catalonia have urged an integrated care strategy for planning the care model to older populations living with frailty, multimorbidity and advanced illnesses. Based on international evidence that was reviewed by a group of experts from the Catalan Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, we summarised some recommendation to adapt hospital-at-home care to older populations in our system. We defined Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) hospital-at-home (HaH) as a specialised home hospitalisation service formed by interdisciplinary teams, characterised by using the clinical methodology of CGA, and by adapting geriatric units’ protocols for the provision of person-centred care at home. Main benefits of CGA-HaH in these populations are: response to heath crises according to individualised care plans based on the situational diagnosis carried out by Primary Care teams; provision of a comprehensive health and social approach tailored to the complexity of cases and situations; and adaptation of multipurpose hospitalisation, by working on different person-centred care, aspects, such as caregivers support on care provision, focusing on function or home adaptation.     

Mapping and monitoring tick (Acari,Ixodida) distribution,seasonality, and host associations in the United Kingdom between 2017 and 2020

Tick-borne disease risk is intrinsically linked to the distribution of tick vector species. To assess risk and anticipate disease emergence, an understanding of tick distribution, host associations, and seasonality is needed. This can be achieved, to some extent, using passive surveillance supported by engagement with the public, animal health, and public health experts. The Tick Surveillance Scheme (TSS) collects data and maps tick distribution across the United Kingdom (UK). Between 2017 and 2020, 3720 tick records were received and 39 tick species were detected. Most records were acquired in the UK, with a subset associated with recent overseas travel. The dominant UK acquired species was Ixodes ricinus (Ixodida: Ixodidae, Linnaeus), the main vector of Lyme borreliosis. Records peaked during May and June, highlighting a key risk period for tick bites. Other key UK species were detected, including Dermacentor reticulatus (Ixodida: Ixodidae, Fabricius) and Haemaphysalis punctata (Ixodida: Ixodidae, Canestrini & Fanzago) as well as several rarer species that may present novel tick-borne disease risk to humans and other animals. Updated tick distribution maps highlight areas in the UK where tick exposure has occurred. There is evidence of increasing human tick exposure over time, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, but seasonal patterns remain unchanged.     

仿脑组织体模研究进展

仿脑组织体模是指可以有效模拟人脑组织形状、性质的等效材料组织或数字模型,可以在实验中代表人脑组织的某些生理特性从而达到特定的研究目标,根据其物理形态,通常可分为固体、液体、数字体模3类。仿脑组织体模具有安全经济,配置简单并且可重复使用的优势,被广泛应用于脑部疾病诊断、系统安全性评估等研究。本文就仿脑组织体模的分类、物理特性和脑科学研究应用3方面进行论述,在阐述当前仿脑组织体模与真实脑组织存在一定性质差异的同时也说明其在替代真实脑组织实验上有良好的应用前景。     

The impact of health insurance affiliation and socioeconomic status on cervical cancer survival in Bucaramanga,Colombia

Cervical cancer is still an important cause of death in countries like Colombia. We aimed to determine whether socioeconomic status of residential address (SES) and type of health insurance affiliation (HIA) might be associated with cervical cancer survival among women in Bucaramanga, Colombia. All patients residing in the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer (ICD-0–3 codes C53.X) between 2008 and 2016 (n = 725) were identified through the population-based cancer registry, with 700 women having follow-up data for >5 years (date of study closure: Dec 31, 2021), yielding an overall 5-year survival estimate (95 % CI) of 56.4 % (52.7 – 60.0 %). KM estimates of 5-year overall survival were obtained to assess differences in cervical cancer survival by SES and HIA. Multivariable Cox-proportional hazards modeling was also conducted, including interaction effects between SES and HIA. Five-year overall survival was lower when comparing low vs. high SES (41.9 % vs 57.9 %, p < 0.0001) and subsidized vs. contributive HIA (45.1 % vs 63.0 %, p < 0.0001). Multivariable Cox modeling showed increased hazard ratios (HR) of death for low vs. high SES (HR = 1.78; 95 % CI = 1.18–2.70) and subsidized vs. contributive HIA (HR = 1.44; 95 % CI = 1.13–1.83). The greatest disparity in HR was among women of low SES affiliated to subsidized HIA (vs. contributive HIA and high SES) (HR=2.53; 95 % CI = 1.62–3.97). Despite Colombia’s universal healthcare system, important disparities in cervical cancer survival by health insurance affiliation and socioeconomic status remain.     

The effect of charcoal production on carbon cycling in African biomes

Using biomass for charcoal production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) may change carbon stock dynamics and lead to irreversible changes in the carbon balance, yet we have little understanding of whether these dynamics vary by biome in this region. Currently, charcoal production contributes up to 7% of yearly deforestation in tropical regions, with carbon emissions corresponding to 71.2 million tonnes of CO₂ and 1.3 million tonnes of CH₄. With a projected increased demand for charcoal in the coming decades, even low harvest rates may throw the carbon budget off-balance due to legacy effects. Here, we parameterized the dynamic global vegetation model LPJ-GUESS for six SSA biomes and examined the effect of charcoal production on net ecosystem exchange (NEE), carbon stock sizes and recovery time for tropical rain forest, montane forest, moist savanna, dry savanna, temperate grassland and semi-desert. Under historical charcoal regimes, tropical rain forests and montane forests transitioned from net carbon sinks to net sources, that is, mean cumulative NEE from −3.56 ± 2.59 kg C/m² to 2.46 ± 3.43 kg C/m² and −2.73 ± 2.80 kg C/m² to 1.87 ± 4.94 kg C/m² respectively. Varying charcoal production intensities resulted in tropical rain forests showing at least two times higher carbon losses than the other biomes. Biome recovery time varied by carbon stock, with tropical and montane forests taking about 10 times longer than the fast recovery observed for semi-desert and temperate grasslands. Our findings show that high biomass biomes are disproportionately affected by biomass harvesting for charcoal, and even low harvesting rates strongly affect vegetation and litter carbon and their contribution to the carbon budget. Therefore, the prolonged biome recoveries imply that current charcoal production practices in SSA are not sustainable, especially in tropical rain forests and montane forests, where we observe longer recovery for vegetation and litter carbon stocks.     

Substance use disorders: a comprehensive update of classification,epidemiology, neurobiology,clinical aspects,treatment and prevention

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are highly prevalent and exact a large toll on individuals’ health, well-being, and social functioning. Long-lasting changes in brain networks involved in reward, executive function, stress reactivity, mood, and self-awareness underlie the intense drive to consume substances and the inability to control this urge in a person who suffers from addiction (moderate or severe SUD). Biological (including genetics and developmental life stages) and social (including adverse childhood experiences) determinants of health are recognized factors that contribute to vulnerability for or resilience against developing a SUD. Consequently, prevention strategies that target social risk factors can improve outcomes and, when deployed in childhood and adolescence, can decrease the risk for these disorders. SUDs are treatable, and evidence of clinically significant benefit exists for medications (in opioid, nicotine and alcohol use disorders), behavioral therapies (in all SUDs), and neuromodulation (in nicotine use disorder). Treatment of SUDs should be considered within the context of a Chronic Care Model, with the intensity of intervention adjusted to the severity of the disorder and with the concomitant treatment of comorbid psychiatric and physical conditions. Involvement of health care providers in detection and management of SUDs, including referral of severe cases to specialized care, offers sustainable models of care that can be further expanded with the use of telehealth. Despite advances in our understanding and management of SUDs, individuals with these conditions continue to be stigmatized and, in some countries, incarcerated, highlighting the need to dismantle policies that perpetuate their criminalization and instead develop policies to ensure support and access to prevention and treatment.     

The importance of ecological research for ecosystem management: The case of browsing by swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor) in commercially harvested native forests

Summary Ecosystem management often proceeds within the context of sub‐optimal relationships between ecologists and ecosystem managers, and management outcomes could be improved with greater collaboration between members of these disciplines. This paper identifies an ecosystem management problem resulting from the interaction between timber harvesting and browsing wallabies, and this case study is used to exemplify how ecological data and expertise can contribute to the process of ecosystem management. It is argued that appropriate use of existing ecological data, establishment of strategic new research and the implementation of management actions as experimental hypothesis tests can facilitate achievement of management objectives, but greater collaboration between ecologists and managers is required before this can occur. Reasons for sub‐optimal relationships are outlined, and the potential for structural change within large State‐run ecosystem management agencies to improve interactions between managers and ecologists is discussed.     

Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on net ecosystem CO2 exchange of a scrub–oak ecosystem

We report the results of a 2‐year study of effects of the elevated (current ambient plus 350 μmol CO₂ mol^?1) atmospheric CO₂ concentration (C_a) on net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE) of a scrub–oak ecosystem. The measurements were made in open‐top chambers (OTCs) modified to function as open gas‐exchange systems. The OTCs enclosed samples of the ecosystem (ca. 10 m² surface area) that had regenerated after a fire, 5 years before, in either current ambient or elevated C_a. Throughout the study, elevated C_a increased maximum NEE (NEE_max) and the apparent quantum yield of the NEE (φ_NEE) during the photoperiod. The magnitude of the stimulation of NEE_max, expressed per unit ground area, was seasonal, rising from 50% in the winter to 180% in the summer. The key to this stimulation was effects of elevated C_a, and their interaction with the seasonal changes in the environment, on ecosystem leaf area index, photosynthesis and respiration. The separation of these factors was difficult. When expressed per unit leaf area the stimulation of the NEE_max ranged from 7% to 60%, with the increase being dependent on increasing soil water content (W_soil). At night, the CO₂ effluxes from the ecosystem (NEE_night) were on an average 39% higher in elevated C_a. However, the increase varied between 6% and 64%, and had no clear seasonality. The partitioning of NEE_night into its belowground (R_below) and aboveground (R_above) components was carried out in the winter only. A 35% and 27% stimulation of NEE_night in December 1999 and 2000, respectively, was largely due to a 26% and 28% stimulation of R_below in the respective periods, because R_below constituted ca. 87% of NEE_night. The 37% and 42% stimulation of R_above in December 1999 and 2000, respectively, was less than the 65% and 80% stimulation of the aboveground biomass by elevated C_a at these times. An increase in the relative amount of the aboveground biomass in woody tissue, combined with a decrease in the specific rate of stem respiration of the dominant species Quercus myrtifolia in elevated C_a, was responsible for this effect. Throughout this study, elevated C_a had a greater effect on carbon uptake than on carbon loss, in terms of both the absolute flux and relative stimulation. Consequently, for this scrub–oak ecosystem carbon sequestration was greater in the elevated C_a during this 2‐year study period.     

Non‐target habitat exploitation by Trichogramma brassicae (Hym. Trichogrammatidae): what are the risks for endemic butterflies?

Abstract 1 Trichogramma brassicae Bezdenko is inundatively released against the European corn borer in Switzerland. Because parasitoids dispersing from the release fields might pose a threat to native butterflies, the searching efficiency of T. brassicae was investigated in nontarget habitats. 2 In field studies, T. brassicae was released at rates of 120 000 females/ha. Parasitism of sentinel Ephestia kuehniella egg clusters was 1.6–3.6% in meadows and 2.0–4.0% in flower strips. The respective figures were 57.6–66.7% and 19.2–46.9% in maize, significantly higher than the parasitism rates in the nontarget habitats. Experiments carried out in small field cages confirmed these results: Again, significantly higher parasitism rates were found in maize compared to meadows and flower strips, and also compared to hedgerows (in sleeve cages). 3 To elucidate potential factors underlying the low searching efficiency in nontarget habitats, the behaviour of individual T. brassicae females was investigated on four meadow plants comparatively to maize and a filter paper control. Mean (±SE) walking speed on maize was 2.2 ± 0.2 mm/s, similar to three of the plants tested and filter paper but significantly higher than on Trifolium pratense (0.85 mm/s). A higher turning rate was found on T. pratense, Viola wittrockiana and Plantago lanceolata, in contrast to the longer leaved maize and Alopecurus pratensis. The number of wasps leaving the plant within the observation period differed significantly between plant species, and was twice as high for T. pratense (and the filter paper control) compared to the other plant species. 4 In a choice experiment carried out in a climate cabinet with all five host plant species in cages, we obtained the highest parasitism rates on maize and the lowest parasitism on T. pratense, thus confirming the behavioural observations. 5 In conclusion, there is evidence for a decreased searching efficiency on plants in nontarget habitats compared to maize. However, the data explain only part of the differences found between parasitism in maize compared to nontarget habitats. Other factors, such as the structural complexity of a habitat, may also play a role. We conclude that the risk for butterfly populations in the tested nontarget habitat due to mass released T. brassicae is low.