scholarly journals Impacts of Psychopharmaceuticals on the Neurodevelopment of Aquatic Wildlife: A Call for Increased Knowledge Exchange across Disciplines to Highlight Implications for Human Health

Author(s):  
Stephanie J. Chan ◽  
Veronica I. Nutting ◽  
Talia A. Natterson ◽  
Barbara N. Horowitz

The global use of psychopharmaceuticals such as antidepressants has been steadily increasing. However, the environmental consequences of increased use are rarely considered by medical professionals. Worldwide monitoring efforts have shown that pharmaceuticals are amongst the multitude of anthropogenic pollutants found in our waterways, where excretion via urine and feces is thought to be the primary mode of pharmaceutical contamination. Despite the lack of clarity surrounding the effects of the unintentional exposure to these chemicals, most notably in babies and in developing fetuses, the US Environmental Protection Agency does not currently regulate any psychopharmaceuticals in drinking water. As the underlying reasons for the increased incidence of mental illness—particularly in young children and adolescents—are poorly understood, the potential effects of unintentional exposure warrant more attention. Thus, although links between environmental contamination and physiological and behavioral changes in wildlife species—most notably in fish—have been used by ecologists and wildlife biologists to drive conservation policy and management practices, we hypothesize that this knowledge may be underutilized by medical professionals. In order to test this hypothesis, we created a hierarchically-organized citation network built around a highly-cited “parent” article to explore connections between aquatic toxicology and medical fields related to neurodevelopment. As suspected, we observed that studies in medical fields such as developmental neuroscience, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and psychiatry cite very few to no papers in the aquatic sciences. Our results underscore the need for increased transdisciplinary communication and information exchange between the aquatic sciences and medical fields.

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (03) ◽  
pp. 247-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ohe ◽  
S. Kaihara ◽  
T. Kiuchi

AbstractWWW-based user interface is presented for secure electronic mail service for healthcare users. Using this method, communications between an electronic mail (WWW) server and users (WWW browsers) can be performed securely using Secure Socket Layer protocol-based Hypertext Transfer Protocol (SSL-HTIP). The mail can be encrypted, signed, and sent to the recipients and vice versa on the remote WWW server. The merit of this method is that many healthcare users can use a secure electronic mail system easily and immediately, because SSL-compatible WWW browsers are widely used and this system can be made available simply by installing a WWW-based mail user agent on a mail server. We implemented a WWWbased mail user agent which is compatible with PEM-based secure mail and made it available to about 16,000 healthcare users. We believe this approach is effective in facilitating secure network-based information exchange among medical professionals.


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 451
Author(s):  
Van Hung Do ◽  
Nguyen La ◽  
Rachmat Mulia ◽  
Göran Bergkvist ◽  
A. Sigrun Dahlin ◽  
...  

Rapid expansion of unsustainable farming practices in upland areas of Southeast Asia threatens food security and the environment. This study assessed alternative agroforestry systems for sustainable land management and livelihood improvement in northwest Vietnam. The performance of fruit tree-based agroforestry was compared with that of sole cropping, and farmers’ perspectives on agroforestry were documented. After seven years, longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.)-maize-forage grass and son tra (Docynia indica (Wall.) Decne)-forage grass systems had generated 2.4- and 3.5-fold higher average annual income than sole maize and sole son tra, respectively. Sole longan gave no net profit, due to high investment costs. After some years, competition developed between the crop, grass, and tree components, e.g., for nitrogen, and the farmers interviewed reported a need to adapt management practices to optimise spacing and pruning. They also reported that agroforestry enhanced ecosystem services by controlling surface runoff and erosion, increasing soil fertility and improving resilience to extreme weather. Thus, agroforestry practices with fruit trees can be more profitable than sole-crop cultivation within a few years. Integration of seasonal and fast-growing perennial plants (e.g., grass) is essential to ensure quick returns. Wider adoption needs initial incentives or loans, knowledge exchange, and market links.


1977 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Harry W. Ayer ◽  
David W. Hogan

Solid waste disposal is a significant problem. It has been estimated that almost a ton of solid waste is collected per year per capita in the United States. Solid waste disposal, especially in rural areas, is frequently done in an unsanitary, potentially dangerous and often unslightly manner. To cope with these solid waste problems, both state legislatures and the Environmental Protection Agency are now in the process of requiring communities which presently utilize unsanitary disposal practices to upgrade their facilities and management practices. A sanitary landfill operation1 is usually the least-cost method of accomplishing these requirements, especially in rural areas.2 Quality facilities and management practices are not costless, however. It is estimated that the U.S. spends more than $4.5 billion each year on solid waste management, and more than 80 percent of this amount is for collection.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.R. Pertierra ◽  
K.A. Hughes

AbstractAntarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) represent the highest level of area protection within the Antarctic Treaty area. To reduce environmental impacts, ASPA visitors must comply with the Area's management plan and receive an entry permit from an appropriate national authority. Parties to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty are obliged to exchange information on: i) the number of permits allocated for the forthcoming season, and ii) the number of visits to ASPAs during the previous season. We assessed the effectiveness of current permitting and information exchange practices by examining ASPA visitation data supplied to the Antarctic Treaty System's Electronic Information Exchange System during 2008/09–2010/11. We found that Parties have interpreted and implemented the protected area legislation inconsistently. Furthermore, some Parties did not fulfil their obligations under the Protocol by failing to provide full information on ASPA visitation. Estimations suggested that the level of ASPA visitation varied with ASPA location and the main value being protected. However, without full disclosure by Parties, ASPA visitation data is of limited use for informing general and ASPA-specific environmental management practices. Improved provision and formal interpretation of ASPA visitation data are recommended to enable more co-ordinated and effective management of activities within ASPAs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 691-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy Olabisi ◽  
Kyle Lewis

In this article, we suggest that the transactive memory system (TMS) and boundary-spanning literatures are useful for understanding how individuals in team-based collectives can be structured to improve within- and between-team coordination. We argue that such coordination can be facilitated—or thwarted—by boundary-spanning behaviors and patterns of knowledge exchange within and between teams. Our theorizing explains how an existing team TMS can offset the within-team coordination burdens typically associated with boundary spanning and we offer predictions about how these factors interrelate to affect TMS and coordination over time. Finally, our theory underscores significant implications and provides insights for how management practices might improve coordination within and between teams.


Author(s):  
A. Wahl ◽  
S. Gedell ◽  
H. Johannesson

Collaborative product platform development in the supply chain faces problems not only with inefficient knowledge management and information exchange between collaborating partners, but also with configuration and carryover strategies — both of which result in large amounts of system variants to maintain, and restrained reuse. To address these problems, this article proposes a new, more system-oriented and abstract, knowledge-based approach to define and describe configurable product platforms. A new platform model concept with a new modeling procedure, consisting of linked, fully configurable generic and autonomous sub-systems, has been devised. The model has been implemented as a separate platform configuration (PFC) system within an envisioned product lifecycle management (PLM) system architecture. The PFC system is the common base for system configuration as well as for information and knowledge exchange between collaborating partners. The proposed platform model and collaborative modeling procedure have been partly verified and validated, in cooperation with the industrial partners participating in a joint research project.


1999 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Mitchell ◽  
C. Lee

The Canadian Forest Service (CFS) has organized a National Forest Ecosystem Research Network of Sites (FERNS). These sites are focussed on the study of sustainable forest management practices and ecosystem processes at the stand level. Network objectives are to promote this research nationally and internationally, provide linkages among sites, preserve the long-term research investments already made on these sites and provide a forum for information exchange and data sharing. The 17 individual sites are representative of six ecozones across Canada and address the common issue of silvicultural solutions to problems of sustainable forest management. While the CFS coordinates and promotes FERNS, the network consists of local autonomous partners nationwide who benefit from the FERNS affiliation through increased publicity for their sites. Key words: long-term, silviculture, network, interdisciplinary, ecozone, ecosystem processes


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mélanie Surchat ◽  
Alexander Wezel ◽  
Vincent Tolon ◽  
Tor Arvid Breland ◽  
Philippe Couraud ◽  
...  

In the context of climate change, French Polynesia is committed to increasing qualitatively and quantitatively local food production. In this regard, agroecology is perceived as a sustainable pathway to improve farming practices. This article proposes first a theoretical framework to analyze the proximity of farmers' management to agroecological principles. Second, it describes the current use of agroecological pest and soil management practices by French Polynesian farmers. And third, it explains which agronomic and socio-economic factors drive the implementation of agroecological practices. For this, qualitative interviews were conducted with 32 farmers on three islands, and statistical analyses were carried for correlation between the use of practices and socio-economic variables. Results show that French Polynesian farmers implement different soil and pest management practices that are in line with agroecological principles. Farmers scored better in terms of pest management with high plant diversity, implementation of crop rotations, and mechanical weed management. There is a significant influence of the “cropping system” and the “production system” (organic, integrated, and conventional) on the use of practices as well as proximity to agroecological principles. Identified pathways for an agroecological transition are implementing farmer to farmer knowledge exchange, farmer networks, and farm demonstrations as well as training of extension services staff.


10.28945/2820 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Gartshore

This paper presents findings of a recent study which explores rural women’s use of an agricultural decision support system, CottonLOGIC, within the Australian cotton industry. Meta-analysis is applied through the theoretical framework of structuration theory while diffusion theory is used for lower level analysis. The concept of communication is applicable to both theories. The significance of CottonLOGIC as a communication medium for technology transfer of industry research to cotton farms is evaluated in this paper. The findings suggest that CottonLOGIC is a recognised means of information exchange but even more valuable is the cooperation of stakeholders to influence effective reconstruction of farm management practices and technology usage.


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