scholarly journals Occurrence, Profile, and Potential Risks of Novel and Legacy Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Bullfrogs: Pilot Study in an Intensive Aquaculture Region, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiongping Sun ◽  
Yonglong Xiong ◽  
Ran Bi ◽  
Xinyi Zhan ◽  
Yueyao Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Threshold Value ◽  
Distribution Profile ◽  
Aquatic Product ◽  
Hazard Ratios ◽  
Frequent Consumption ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Influent Water ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Polyfluoroalkyl Substances ◽  
Intensive Aquaculture

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have captured worldwide attention due to their persistent and bioaccumulative characteristics. The bullfrog is a highly nutritious and edible aquatic product, but the PFAS accumulation characteristics of bullfrogs had not been paid attention. The present study analyzed the PFAS concentrations in different tissues of cultured bullfrogs and relevant water and sediments collected from the aquaculture region in the coastal area of South China. Results showed that total PFAS concentrations were 50.26–364.25 ng/L in water, with a mean of 135.58 ng/L; concentrations in effluent water were significantly higher than those in influent water, which means bullfrog farming could increase contaminants into the surroundings. The total PFAS concentrations varied from 2.89 to 162.26 ng/g·dw in sediment. The distribution profile of PFASs in sediment was similar to that of water, with short chain playing a significant role. Total PFASs in bullfrog tissues were 3.36–84.07 ng/g·dw, with the highest values in the digestive system (intestines and stomach). As for one novel PFAS alternative, chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (F-53B) was found at high detectable levels in all habitat samples and had a higher value of logarithmic bioaccumulation factors. The estimated dietary intake (EDI) for residents in the study area was generally higher than that in other regions; however, the hazard ratios (HRs) for most detected PFASs were far below the safety threshold value “1.” These results suggest that frequent consumption of these bullfrogs would basically not cause severe health effects on local residents in terms of PFASs.

scholarly journals Reported fried food consumption and the incidence of hypertension in a Mediterranean cohort: the SUN (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) project

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 984-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Sayon-Orea ◽  
Maira Bes-Rastrollo ◽  
Alfredo Gea ◽  
Itziar Zazpe ◽  
Francisco J. Basterra-Gortari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Consumption ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Fried Food ◽  
Hazard Ratios ◽  
Fried Foods ◽  
Frequent Consumption ◽  
Incident Cases

Reported associations between the consumption of fried foods and the incidence of obesity or weight gain make it likely that fried food consumption might also be associated with the development of hypertension. However, evidence from long-term prospective studies is scarce. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to longitudinally evaluate this association in a prospective cohort. The SUN (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) project is a Mediterranean cohort study of university graduates conducted in Spain, which started in December 1999 and is still ongoing. In the present study, we included 13 679 participants (5059 men and 8620 women), free of hypertension at baseline with a mean age of 36·5 (sd 10·8) years. Total fried food consumption was estimated at baseline. The outcome was the incidence of a medical diagnosis of self-reported hypertension during the follow-up period. To assess the association between the consumption of fried foods and the subsequent risk of developing incident hypertension during the follow-up period, Cox regression models were used. During a median follow-up period of 6·3 years, 1232 incident cases of hypertension were identified. After adjusting for potential confounders, the adjusted hazard ratios for developing hypertension were 1·18 (95 % CI 1·03, 1·36) and 1·21 (95 % CI 1·04, 1·41) for those consuming fried foods 2–4 and >4 times/week, respectively, compared with those consuming fried foods < 2 times/week (P for trend = 0·009). In conclusion, frequent consumption of fried foods at baseline was found to be associated with a higher risk of hypertension during the follow-up period in a Mediterranean cohort of university graduates.

scholarly journals Performance of International Tourists’ Perception and Behavior toward Road Safety in Phuket, Thailand

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2S2) ◽  
pp. 96-103
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Country Road ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Beach Resort ◽  
And Behavior

When traveling in a foreign country, road transport is most frequently and conveniently used particularly, but road conditions and manners are stunningly different among countries, which increases potential risks to meet accidents. If tourists feel such risks, it may be that they will not be repeaters and their impressions will also be shared with others, leading to a potential decrease of tourists. Phuket, Thailand, a worldly wellknown beach resort, faces problems in road conditions and manners, with a high rate of traffic accidents and casualties, and governmental actions have to be taken. This paper reports a questionnaire survey result about how international tourists feel and understand road conditions in Phuket during their stay, which is expected to offer good evidence on which governmental actions should be based. The survey results revealed (mostly through the behaviors and recommendations) that the majority of international tourists to Phuket felt risks in terms of road conditions, regardless of whether they drove by themselves or not, and most of them wanted the basic information on road conditions as well as regulations, so that they could prepare themselves. Relations between demographic characteristics and questionnaire replies were also investigated, suggesting that there be a necessity of reducing risks particularly for elderly tourists, and that the driving manner of local residents including professional drivers should be improved.

scholarly journals Estimation of Maximum Potential Losses for Digital Banking Transaction Risks Using the Extreme Value-at-Risks Method

Risks ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Moch Panji Agung Saputra ◽  
Sukono ◽  
Diah Chaerani
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Operational Risk ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
System Failures ◽  
Operational Risks ◽  
Data Value ◽  
Kolmogorov Smirnov ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Potential Losses ◽  
Financial Transactions

The application of industry 4.0 in banking presents many challenges, with several operational risks related to downtime and timeout services due to system failures. One of the operational risk management steps is to estimate the value of the maximum potential losses. The purpose of this study is to estimate the maximum potential losses for digital banking transaction risks. The method used for estimating risks is the EVaR method. There are several steps in this study. The first step is to resample the data using MEBoot. This process is a simulation of the operational risk loss data of digital banking. Next, the threshold value is determined to obtain the extreme data value. Then, a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test is conducted to fit the data with the GPD. Afterward, the GPD parameter is estimated. Then, EVaR is calculated using a portfolio approach to obtain a combination of risk values as maximum potential losses. The analysis results show that the maximum potential loss is IDR144,357,528,750.94. The research results imply that the banks need to pay attention to the maximum potential losses of digital financial transactions as a reference for risk management. Therefore, banks can anticipate the adequacy of reserve funds for these potential risks.

scholarly journals Assessing the Risks of Potential Bacterial Pathogens Attaching to Different Microplastics during the Summer–Autumn Period in a Mariculture Cage

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1909
Author(s):  
Dandi Hou ◽  
Man Hong ◽  
Yanting Wang ◽  
Pengsheng Dong ◽  
Huangwei Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Autumn Period ◽  
Aquatic Product ◽  
In Situ Incubation ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Surrounding Seawater

As microplastic pollution continues to increase, an emerging threat is the potential for microplastics to act as novel substrates and/or carriers for pathogens. This is of particular concern for aquatic product safety given the growing evidence of microplastic ingestion by aquaculture species. However, the potential risks of pathogens associated with microplastics in mariculture remain poorly understood. Here, an in situ incubation experiment involving three typical microplastics including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP) was conducted during the summer–autumn period in a mariculture cage. The identification of potential pathogens based on the 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and a custom-made database for pathogenic bacteria involved in aquatic environments, was performed to assess the risks of different microplastics attaching potential pathogens. The enrichment of pathogens was not observed in microplastic-associated communities when compared with free-living and particle-attached communities in surrounding seawater. Despite the lower relative abundance, pathogens showed different preferences for three microplastic substrates, of which PET was the most favored by pathogens, especially potentially pathogenic members of Vibrio, Tenacibaculum, and Escherichia. Moreover, the colonization of these pathogens on microplastics was strongly affected by environmental factors (e.g., temperature, nitrite). Our results provide insights into the ecological risks of microplastics in mariculture industry.

scholarly journals Possibilities of Slovak municipalities to participate in regional development in context of globalization

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 05013
Author(s):  
Katarína Liptáková ◽  
Zuzana Rigová
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Regional Development ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activities ◽  
Almost All

Nowadays, globalization affects almost all aspects of social life. It is sensible to respond flexibly to these trends and to be prepared for their benefits or potential risks. The local self-government represented by municipalities has an increasingly important role in the economic development of individual regions of Slovakia. Are municipalities prepared for the process of globalization and its impacts? Do they have tools in their hands to respond to its trends? One of the most important tasks of the municipality is to serve as an activator of regional, social and economic development and to influence the conditions for entrepreneurship by attracting potential investors to start business activities in the municipality territories. The new entrepreneurial activities and investments are a potential source of new job opportunities resulting in increased living standards of the local residents. This paper deals with indicators that express the financial capacity of the municipality and thus the ability of the municipality to participate in the process of development of a particular region. The analysis evaluates data obtained from financial statements of Slovak municipalities for year 2017. Its results show that the available financial resources of municipalities are limited and therefore the municipalities are unable to support regional development from their own financial sources.

Altered circadian rhythm in rest and activity (CircAct): Independent prognostic value for survival in patients (pts) with metastatic colorectal cancer (MCC)

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 14573-14573
Author(s):  
P. F. Innominato ◽  
G. A. Bjarnason ◽  
C. Garufi ◽  
C. Focan ◽  
T. Moreau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prognostic Value ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Clock Genes ◽  
Ambulatory Monitoring ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Kaplan Meier ◽  
Hazard Ratios ◽  
Prognostic Stratification ◽  
Circadian Physiology

14573 Background: Altered CircAct accelerated tumor growth in experimental models (JNCI 2002, 2005; Cancer Res 2004). CircAct was found to be related to survival in two studies (St) in MCC pts (St 1, Clin Cancer Res 2000; St 2, ASCO 2005 #3553). The current study attempted to provide an independent prognostic stratification criteria for survival according to baseline CircAct as a first step toward the development of a comprehensive prognostic model based on circadian physiology. Methods: CircAct was continuously and non- invasively assessed over 72h with a wrist accelerometer (Ambulatory Monitoring, USA), before chemotherapy in two independent datasets of 169 MCC pts (60% pretreated) at Paul Brousse Hospital (St 1) and 130 chemo-naïve MCC pts registered in the international EORTC 05963 trial (St 2). Activity distribution during rest and wakefulness was objectively quantified by I<O (50=no rhythm; 100=marked rhythm). Kaplan-Meier survival curves with logrank tests and Cox regression models were used for analyses. Results: In both St, pts with I<O = 92 (21% in St 1 and 22% in St 2) displayed a significantly poorer survival as compared to those pts with I<O > 92 (Table). The hazard ratios (HR) were 0.37 [95%CI: 0.25 to 0.55] (p<0.0001) in St 1 and 0.56 [0.36 to 0.87] (p=0.01) in St 2. The prognostic value of altered CircAct persisted after adjusting for PS (HR=0.46 [0.30 to 0.69], p=0.0002 in St 1; HR=0.61 [0.38 to 0.97], p=0.04 in St 2). Conclusions: The independent stratification of MCC pts for survival according to baseline altered CircAct occurred using a threshold value of 92 for I<O in both separate datasets. Subsequent studies will involve additional biomarkers of circadian physiology (cortisol, melatonin, clock genes) in order to further improve this prognostic stratification as a step toward tailored treatment of MCC pts. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.

scholarly journals Estimating the Threshold Value of Disaster-Causing Snowfall by Region and Its Application to Regional Classification

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
Hyunuk Kim ◽  
Baek-Jo Kim ◽  
Hae-Min Kim ◽  
Jin-Hwa Lee ◽  
Jae-Kwan Shim
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Region ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Probability Of Detection ◽  
Critical Success ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Damage Data ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Heavy Snow ◽  
Disaster Protection ◽  
Critical Success Index

In this study, the estimation of damage-causing thresholds and their application to regional classification were examined using logistic regression, critical success index, probability of detection, and a false-alarm ratio. For 10 stations where damage caused by heavy snow occurred frequently, the fresh snow depth data provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration and heavy snow-related damage data obtained by the Ministry of Interior and Safety were used. Results show that the estimated thresholds differed by region. These results are attributed to many factors such as analysis methods, regional disaster protection, the response of local residents, vulnerability of structures, and meteorological characteristics. Additionally, based on estimated thresholds, the area with the highest threshold-sensitivity and the areas with the most internal differences and similarities between calculated thresholds corresponded to the coastal region, the Gangwon region, and the inland region, respectively. Gangwon region, where heavy snow was often observed, had a long duration of snowfall, whereas inland regions faced snowfalls that were relatively weaker in intensity and shorter in duration.

In situ irradiation effects studies in medium- and high-voltage TEM

1995 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 234-235
Author(s):  
Charles W. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Particle Flux ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Irradiation Damage ◽  
Defect Complexes ◽  
Lattice Position ◽  
Electrons And Ions ◽  
The Masses

With respect to structural consequences within a material, energetic electrons, above a threshold value of energy characteristic of a particular material, produce vacancy-interstial pairs (Frenkel pairs) by displacement of individual atoms, as illustrated for several materials in Table 1. Ion projectiles produce cascades of Frenkel pairs. Such displacement cascades result from high energy primary knock-on atoms which produce many secondary defects. These defects rearrange to form a variety of defect complexes on the time scale of tens of picoseconds following the primary displacement. A convenient measure of the extent of irradiation damage, both for electrons and ions, is the number of displacements per atom (dpa). 1 dpa means, on average, each atom in the irradiated region of material has been displaced once from its original lattice position. Displacement rate (dpa/s) is proportional to particle flux (cm-2s-1), the proportionality factor being the “displacement cross-section” σD (cm2). The cross-section σD depends mainly on the masses of target and projectile and on the kinetic energy of the projectile particle.

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