Activity

Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;401132-1138. © 2020 SETAC.Routine whole effluent toxicity (WET) testing is commonly used to monitor effluent discharges for regulatory compliance in North America. However, the use of fish in WET testing raises ethical concerns and therefore an important question to be explored is whether invertebrates can be used to reduce and/or replace the need for vertebrate testing. The present study evaluated WET data collected for regulatory compliance between 2003 and 2019 (n = 2581 endpoints) from 20 different stationary onshore and offshore oil and gas facilities located across Canada and the United States. Our objective was to assess the relative sensitivity between vertebrates (i.e., fish) and invertebrates in paired samples and to evaluate trends in WET compliance. Despite the variability in testing endpoints, invertebrates displayed equal to or greater sensitivity to tested effluents than fish. For example, based on no-observed-effect concentrations for survival and growth, Americamysis bahia was found to be protective of Menidia beryllina in 90% of endpoint comparisons (n = 336). The results also indicated that regulatory compliance was high (94-100%), with most WET tests passing the established criteria by large margins (79-251%). The results of this comprehensive analysis of historical WET data can be used to improve future permit testing requirements and help answer the question of whether fish tests are needed for routine WET testing. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;401255-1265. © 2020 SETAC.The complex chemical composition of crude oils presents many challenges for rapid chemical characterization in the case of a spill. A number of approaches are currently used to “fingerprint” petroleum-derived samples. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the most common, albeit not very rapid, technique; however, with GC-MS alone, it is difficult to resolve the complex substances in crude oils. The present study examined the potential application of ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) coupled with chem-informatic analyses as an alternative high-throughput method for the chemical characterization of crude oils. We analyzed 19 crude oil samples from on- and offshore locations in the Gulf of Mexico region in the United States using both GC-MS (biomarkers, gasoline range hydrocarbons, and n-alkanes) and IMS-MS (untargeted analysis). Hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis, and nearest neighbor-based classification were used to examine sample similarity and geographical groupings. We found that direct-injection IMS-MS performed either equally or better than GC-MS in the classification of the origins of crude oils. In addition, IMS-MS greatly increased the sample analysis throughput (minutes vs hours per sample). Abivertinib concentration Finally, a tabletop science-to-practice exercise, utilizing both the GC-MS and IMS-MS data, was conducted with emergency response experts from regulatory agencies and the oil industry. link2 This activity showed that the stakeholders found the IMS-MS data to be highly informative for rapid chemical fingerprinting of complex substances in general and specifically advantageous for accurate and confident source-grouping of crude oils. Collectively, the present study shows the utility of IMS-MS as a technique for rapid fingerprinting of complex samples and demonstrates its advantages over traditional GC-MS-based analyses when used for decision-making in emergency situations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;401034-1049. © 2020 SETAC.Transition metal phosphide is regarded as one of the most promising candidates to replace noble-metal hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. Nevertheless, the controllable design and synthesis of transition metal phosphide electrocatalysts with efficient and stable electrochemical performance are still very challenging. Herein, a novel hierarchical HER electrocatalyst consisting of three-dimensional (3D) coral-like Mn-doped Co2 P@an intermediate layer of Ni2 P generated in situ by phosphorization on Ni foam (MnCoP/NiP/NF) is reported. Notably, both the incorporation of Mn and introduction of the Ni2 P interlayer promote Co atoms to carry more electrons, which is beneficial to reduce the force of the Co-H bond and optimize the adsorption energy of hydrogen intermediate (|ΔGH* |), thereby making MnCoP/NiP/NF exhibit outstanding HER performance with onset overpotential and Tafel slope as low as 31.2 mV and 61 mV dec-1 , respectively, in 1 m KOH electrolyte.The underlying mechanisms of bisphenol A (BPA)-induced metabolic disorder and the protective impact of Nigella sativa oil (NSO) and thymoquinone (TQ) against BPA-induced metabolic disorder were investigated. Rats were treated as follows Control, BPA (10 mg/kg), TQ (2 mg/kg), NSO (84 μL/kg), BPA + TQ (0.5, 1, 2 mg/kg), and BPA + NSO (21, 42, 84 μL/kg). BPA was administered by gavage, while, TQ and NSO were injected intraperitoneally (daily, 54 days). The weight, blood pressure, serum parameters , malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) and insulin signaling pathways were measured. BPA increased the blood pressure, MDA, lipid profile, hepatic enzymes, insulin, IL-6, TNF-α, and leptin, and decreased the GSH and phosphorylated forms of IRS, Akt, GS3K but did not alter weight, glucose, IRS, AKT, and GS3K in the liver. Administration of NSO or TQ with BPA reduced the blood pressure, liver level of MDA, lipid profile, hepatic enzymes, insulin, IL-6, TNF-α, leptin, and increased the liver level of GSH and p-IRS, p-AKT, p-GS3K. TQ and NSO are thought to be effective in controlling metabolic disorders induced by BPA.

To systematically review evidence for the association between trauma experienced in childhood or adolescence, and the subsequent experience of affective or psychotic mental disorders in adulthood.

Electronic databases (Scopus, Medline (for Ovid), EMBASE and PsychINFO) were searched for peer-reviewed, longitudinal cohort studies in the English language examining child or adolescent exposure to trauma, and adult-diagnosed depression, anxiety, psychotic disorder or bipolar disorder. A total of 23 manuscripts were retained.

Results revealed a significant association between the following childhood exposures and adult mental disorder bullying (victimhood, perpetration and frequency); emotional abuse; physical neglect; parental loss; and general maltreatment (unspecified and/or multiple trauma exposure). There was some evidence of a dose-response relationship with those exposed to multiple forms of maltreatment having more than three times the odds of developing a mental disorder (Odds ratio = 3.11, 95% CI = 1.36-7.14). There was no significant association found between physical or sexual abuse and adult mental disorder; however, this is likely an artefact of how these adversities were assessed.

There is strong evidence of an association between childhood trauma and later mental illness. This association is particularly evident for exposure to bullying, emotional abuse, maltreatment and parental loss. The evidence suggests that childhood and adolescence are an important time for risk for later mental illness, and an important period in which to focus intervention strategies.

There is strong evidence of an association between childhood trauma and later mental illness. This association is particularly evident for exposure to bullying, emotional abuse, maltreatment and parental loss. The evidence suggests that childhood and adolescence are an important time for risk for later mental illness, and an important period in which to focus intervention strategies.DNA profiles generated by different STR kits may show different alleles for identical amplified loci. This well-known phenomenon affects the smooth transition of data generated by new STR kits to a database or casework laboratory or cross-laboratory comparison of STR profiles. As in other DNA databases throughout the world, it has become clear that the number of the analyzed loci should be expanded for a variety of reasons, such as partial profiles resulting from low copy-number DNA template or degraded samples, working with mixtures or when prevalence of familial inbreeding. In the course of introducing a new STR kit, VeriFiler™ Express (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), we compared genotyping data of 1568 samples amplified by the VeriFiler™ Express with the data generated on the same samples by the Powerplex™ ESI FAST (Promega, Madison WI, USA) kit. Discordance was noted in 20 samples (1.27%), 14 (0.89%) of them showing allele dropout mismatch and six (0.38%) showing an additional fixed-size third allele. These rates are well above the reported rates of 0.4% for this kit. Since correct genotyping and accurate consistent allele assignment is of paramount importance, it seems timely to recommend for DNA laboratories and genetic-match search systems to take these possible inconsistencies into account.

Over 90,000 rescue and recovery responders to the September 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) attacks were exposed to toxic materials that can impair cardiac function and increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. link3 We examined WTC-related exposures association with annual and cumulative CVD incidence and risk over 17 years in the WTC Health Program (HP) General Responder Cohort (GRC).

Post 9/11 first occurrence of CVD was assessed in 37,725 responders from self-reported physician diagnosis of, or current treatment for, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, stroke and/or congestive heart failure from WTCHP GRC monitoring visits. Kaplan-Meier estimates of CVD incidence used the generalized Wilcoxon test statistic to account for censored data. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses estimated the CVD hazard ratio associated with 9/11/2001 arrival in responders with and without dust cloud exposure, compared with arrival on or after 9/12/2001. Additional analyses adjusted for comorbidities.

To date, 6.3% reported new CVD. In covariate-adjusted analyses, men’s CVD 9/11/2001 arrival risks were 1.40 (95% confidence interval  = 1.26, 1.56) and 1.43 (95% CI = 1.29, 1.58) and women’s were 2.16 (95% CI = 1.49, 3.11) and 1.59 (95% CI = 1.11, 2.27) with and without dust cloud exposure, respectively. Protective service employment on 9/11 had higher CVD risk.

WTCHP GRC members with 9/11/2001 exposures had substantially higher CVD risk than those initiating work afterward, consistent with observations among WTC-exposed New York City firefighters. Women’s risk was greater than that ofmen’s. GRC-elevated CVD risk may also be occurring at a younger age than in the general population.

WTCHP GRC members with 9/11/2001 exposures had substantially higher CVD risk than those initiating work afterward, consistent with observations among WTC-exposed New York City firefighters. Women’s risk was greater than that of men’s. GRC-elevated CVD risk may also be occurring at a younger age than in the general population.