scholarly journals Microplastics in Marine and Estuarine Species From the Coast of Portugal

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Pequeno ◽  
Joana Antunes ◽  
Viren Dhimmer ◽  
Filipa Bessa ◽  
Paula Sobral

Microplastics (MP) have been confirmed as emerging pollutants in the marine environment due to their ubiquity, bioavailability, persistence and potential toxicity. This study contributes with valuable data regarding the abundance and characteristics of the MP found in five species collected from Portugal. The mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (n = 140) was collected from the Tagus estuary and Porto Covo coastal area, the peppery furrow shell Scrobicularia plana (n = 140) and the polychaete Marphysa sanguinea (n = 30) both from the Sado estuary, and Trachurus trachurus (n = 82) and Scomber colias (n = 82) fished off Figueira da Foz and Sesimbra. Soft tissues of all individuals were digested using a KOH (10%) solution, which allowed the extraction of MP. All studied species presented MP. In a total of 502 MP observed from all samples, 80% were fibers and 20% were fragments, with a size range of 73 μm–4,680 μm and blue was the most common color recorded (46%). The frequency of occurrence of MP was higher in T. trachurus (70%) and lowest in M. sanguinea (17%). MP abundance ranged from 0.30 ± 0.63 MP. ind−1 in S. plana, to 2.46 ± 4.12 MP. ind−1 in S. colias. No significant correlation was found between the individual biometric parameters and total MP, fibers and fragments ingested by each species. The FTIR analysis revealed that polyester and polyethylene were the most common polymers present. These results can be used as a reference for future studies regarding the use of indicator species for monitoring MP pollution in the coast of Portugal.

Author(s):  
Dr. Minti Kumari ◽  
Dr. Madhuri Kumari ◽  
Dr Anurag Rai ◽  
Dr. Navin Kumar

It is evident that hyperdontia is more common in the permanent dentition than in the primary. There is a considerable difference between males and females in the prevalence of these teeth in permanent dentition; hyperdontia is twice as common in males as in females. However, this approximation varies in terms of location, other associating syndromes that may be present, and the ethnicity of the individual. In terms of ethnicity, it can be seen that hyperdontia is in fact less common in Caucasian than in Asian populations. There is evidence to show that an individual is more likely to have hyperdontia if other members of their family also have the condition. Hence the present study was planned for evaluation of occurrence of hyperdontia in non-syndromic  population from Bihar Region. The present study was planned in Public Health Dentistry, Patna Dental College and Hospital, Patna, Bihar. Total 195 patients referred to Department of Dentistry were evaluated in the present study. Panoramic radiographs and clinical records of patients above the age of 18 years and without any syndromic features were selected for the study.  All the radiographs were examined for the presence of supernumerary teeth, their location, morphology, and number. Morphologically, teeth were classified as conical, tuberculate, supplemental, and odontoma. Early diagnosis of dental anomalies can prevent some esthetic, orthodontic, and periodontal problems, and knowledge of the prevalence and distribution of the anomalies may help clinicians to the detection of these anomalies at early stages. Our study evaluated the prevalence of selected dental anomalies; future studies should investigate the prevalence of dental anomalies of all types. Keywords: Hyperdontia, non-syndromic, panoramic radiograph, supernumerary teeth, etc.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 547
Author(s):  
Marina Ramal-Sanchez ◽  
Antonella Fontana ◽  
Luca Valbonetti ◽  
Alessandra Ordinelli ◽  
Nicola Bernabò ◽  
...  

Since its discovery, graphene and its multiple derivatives have been extensively used in many fields and with different applications, even in biomedicine. Numerous efforts have been made to elucidate the potential toxicity derived from their use, giving rise to an adequate number of publications with varied results. On this basis, the study of the reproductive function constitutes a good tool to evaluate not only the toxic effects derived from the use of these materials directly on the individual, but also the potential toxicity passed on to the offspring. By providing a detailed scientometric analysis, the present review provides an updated overview gathering all the research studies focused on the use of graphene and graphene-based materials in the reproductive field, highlighting the consequences and effects reported to date from experiments performed in vivo and in vitro and in different animal species (from Archea to mammals). Special attention is given to the oxidized form of graphene, graphene oxide, which has been recently investigated for its ability to increase the in vitro fertilization outcomes. Thus, the potential use of graphene oxide against infertility is hypothesized here, probably by engineering the spermatozoa and thus manipulating them in a safer and more efficient way.


Assessment ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 107319112110392
Author(s):  
Lars Klintwall ◽  
Martin Bellander ◽  
Matti Cervin

Personalized case conceptualization is often regarded as a prerequisite for treatment success in psychotherapy for patients with comorbidity. This article presents Perceived Causal Networks, a novel method in which patients rate perceived causal relations among behavioral and emotional problems. First, 231 respondents screening positive for depression completed an online Perceived Causal Networks questionnaire. Median completion time (including repeat items to assess immediate test–retest reliability) was 22.7 minutes, and centrality measures showed excellent immediate test–retest reliability. Networks were highly idiosyncratic, but worrying and ruminating were the most central items for a third of respondents. Second, 50 psychotherapists rated the clinical utility of Perceived Causal Networks visualizations. Ninety-six percent rated the networks as clinically useful, and the information in the individual visualizations was judged to contain 47% of the information typically collected during a psychotherapy assessment phase. Future studies should individualize networks further and evaluate the validity of perceived causal relations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A136 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Vilenius ◽  
J. Stansberry ◽  
T. Müller ◽  
M. Mueller ◽  
C. Kiss ◽  
...  

Context. A group of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are dynamically related to the dwarf planet 136108 Haumea. Ten of them show strong indications of water ice on their surfaces, are assumed to have resulted from a collision, and are accepted as the only known TNO collisional family. Nineteen other dynamically similar objects lack water ice absorptions and are hypothesized to be dynamical interlopers. Aims. We have made observations to determine sizes and geometric albedos of six of the accepted Haumea family members and one dynamical interloper. Ten other dynamical interlopers have been measured by previous works. We compare the individual and statistical properties of the family members and interlopers, examining the size and albedo distributions of both groups. We also examine implications for the total mass of the family and their ejection velocities. Methods. We use far-infrared space-based telescopes to observe the target TNOs near their thermal peak and combine these data with optical magnitudes to derive sizes and albedos using radiometric techniques. Using measured and inferred sizes together with ejection velocities, we determine the power-law slope of ejection velocity as a function of effective diameter. Results. The detected Haumea family members have a diversity of geometric albedos ~0.3–0.8, which are higher than geometric albedos of dynamically similar objects without water ice. The median geometric albedo for accepted family members is pV = 0.48−0.18+0.28, compared to 0.08−0.05+0.07 for the dynamical interlopers. In the size range D = 175−300 km, the slope of the cumulative size distribution is q = 3.2−0.4+0.7 for accepted family members, steeper than the q = 2.0 ± 0.6 slope for the dynamical interlopers with D < 500 km. The total mass of Haumea’s moons and family members is 2.4% of Haumea’s mass. The ejection velocities required to emplace them on their current orbits show a dependence on diameter, with a power-law slope of 0.21–0.50.


Author(s):  
Ali Ekber Ün

The purpose of this review article is to collaborate on future studies about hippotherapy to horse and riding trainers, health professionals, veterinarians, individuals in need and individuals with disabilities and their relatives and to shed light on academic studies. It has been stated in studies that hippotherapy is beneficial for patients in the world. Therefore, as a result of new private hippotherapy centers in public institutions and in Turkey, studies on hippotherapy have been started. The studies carried out in hippotherapy are increasing and widespread and continuing to contribute to the treatment of the individuals in need and individuals with disabilities with hippotherapy sessions with expert teams. However, in the studies, the sessions of the hippotherapy team with two common creatures have great duties on the equestrian coaches in order to meet the needs of the horse and the individual in need or individual with disability. For this reason, since hippotherapy is a multidisciplinary team work consisting of specialist professionals, it has been researched to contribute to the horse and rider coaches on the field and to the expert team attending the sessions, to the new experts and the families of the individuals in need and disabled individuals. In the current review, the information about the history of hippotherapy and development, information about hippotherapy institutions in Turkey, individuals in need and individuals with disabilities, benefits of hippotherapy, characteristics of the hippotherapy horse, training of the hippotherapy horse are emphasized, and especially emphasis is placed on the use of work in the field of horse and equestrian coaching.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Razana Juhaida Johari ◽  
Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi ◽  
Arumega Zarefar

This study examined auditors’ ethical judgments using two theoretical perspectives; (1) Moral intensity constructs of Jones’ (1991) Model and (2) Forsyth’s (1980) framework of individual ethical orientation. The importance of the moral issues and how they affected the auditors’ ethical judgments together with the influence of individual’s ethical orientation and the client importance is discussed. A research instrument consisted of two scenarios with different level of moral intensity issues and utilized a 12-item of moral intensity measurement and a Forsyth’s (1980) scale to measure ethical orientation along two dimensions, idealism and relativism. The client importance is manipulated in this between-subjects study. The results of 152 auditors’ found that the effects of the moral intensity construct and the client importance on auditors’ ethical judgments is different based on the issues intensity level of the scenarios. Whereas, both dimensions of the individual ethical orientation (idealism and relativism) are found significant in both of the scenarios tested. The limitations of the study and recommendation for future studies are also discussed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 117-123
Author(s):  
Bruce M. Hood ◽  
Alia F. Ataya ◽  
Angela S. Attwood ◽  
Marcus R. Munafò

Abstract The belief that damaging an object may harm the individual to which the object relates is common among adults. We explored whether arousal following the destruction of a photograph of a loved partner is greater than that following the destruction of a photograph of a stranger, and whether this response is greater than when a photograph representing a non-person sentimental attachment is destroyed, using a measure of skin conductance response. Long-term supporters of a football team, who were also in a long-term relationship, showed increased arousal when asked to destroy a photograph of their partner, but not a photograph of their team, even though both elicited equivalent ratings of emotional attachment. This may be because football teams are conceptualized differently from individuals. Future studies should address whether destruction of symbols that represent the enduring nature of the team elicit more emotional distress than photograph.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Azira Abdul Adzis ◽  
Hock Eam Lim ◽  
Siew Goh Yeok ◽  
Asish Saha

PurposeThis study investigates factors contributing to residential mortgage loans default by utilizing a unique dataset of borrowers' default data from one of the pioneer lending institutions in Malaysia that provides home financing to the public. Studies on mortgage loan default have been extensively examined, but limited studies utilize the individual borrower's data, as financial institutions generally hesitant to reveal their customers' data due to confidentiality issue.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses logistic regression model to analyze 47,158 housing loan borrowers' data for the year 2016.FindingsThe findings suggest that male borrowers, Malay and other type of ethnicity, guarantor availability, loan original balance, loan tenure, loan interest rate and loan-to-value (LTV) ratio are the significant factors that influence mortgage loans default in Malaysia.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies may expand the sample by employing data from other types of financial institutions that would give greater insights as findings might vary due to differences in objectives, functions and regulations. In addition, the findings are subjected to the censoring bias where future studies could perform the survival analysis to control for censoring bias and re-validating the findings of the present study.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valuable insights for lending institutions and the government to formulate housing loan policy in Malaysia.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study in the context of emerging economies that uses financial institution's internal data to investigate factors of mortgage loan default.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 796-796
Author(s):  
G. A. Fuller ◽  
N. Peretto

AbstractTo better characterise infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), and the star formation within them, a comprehensive catalogue of IRDCs has been constructed from the Spitzer GLIMPSE and MIPSGAL archival data. Mosaicing the individual survey blocks together, we have used a new extraction method to identify dark clouds up to 30′ in size, and produce a column density image of each cloud. In total the catalogue contains over 11,000 clouds, defined as connected regions with 8 micron optical depth > 0.35 (corresponding to column densities < 1022 cm−2). The extraction algorithm also identifies sub-structures (fragments) within each cloud. These Spitzer dark clouds (SDCs) range in mass from 10M⊙ to 104M⊙. About 80% of the SDCs were previously unidentified. Only ~ 30% of the SDCs are associated with 24μm point-like sources, leaving the majority of these clouds with no apparent sign of star formation activity. This new catalogue provides an important new resource for future studies of the initial conditions of star formation in the Galaxy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Bezuidenhout ◽  
Nicole Dames ◽  
Alfred Botha ◽  
Marina V. Frontasyeva ◽  
Zoya I. Goryainova ◽  
...  

Abstract Invasive bivalve molluscs, Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were used as sentinel biomonitors of pollution by inorganic contaminants in Saldanha Bay and the Langebaan Lagoon area of South Africa. Two complementary analytical techniques, ICP-MS and NAA, allowed for determination of concentrations of 31 major and trace elements including heavy metals and arsenic in the soft tissues of the mussels. Distinct seasonal patterns were found in the dynamics of these concentrations, with the mussels accumulating much more trace elements in winter than in the summer. In general, the mussels that grew naturally also demonstrated higher concentrations of As, Cd, Fe, Hg and Zn than those that were farmed. Fe showed the highest levels with a maximum concentration of 444 mg/kg followed by Zn with a maximum of 228 mg/kg. The concentrations of Mn and Pb were significantly higher in the Port of Saldanha close to the jetty where ores containing these metals are loaded in comparison with the other sampling sites. It was concluded that bivalve molluscs present themselves as effective biomonitors when assessing marine aquatic pollution by inorganic contaminants in the Saldanha Bay region.


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