Detection of contamination by some trace elements in the muscles of Carassius auratus (Linnaeus) collected from the Euphrates River / Central Iraq

The study involved measuring the concentration of seven trace elements (Cd , Pb , Zn , Fe , Mn , Se and Ni) In edible tissues of three classes of different weight and height of Carassius auratus (Linnaeus) collected from three sites of the Euphrates River, which Al- Hindiya barrage (first site) and Touirij (second location) and the Kifil (third site), for the period from Spring 2015 to Winter 2016 , and included also The study also estimated the concentrations of the trace elements studied in river water, in both dissolved and particular form , as well as exiamining of some physio- chemical properties of water river , which variations depended on the different both sites and seasons The Findings of the present study indicated seasonal changes in the concentration of trace elements studied in both water forms (dissolved and particular form) and in fish muscle in the three locations of the current study. These were noticed that the level of trace elements in the third group, the contrast of the first and second categories was strong, and the finding found a clear link between the length and weight of the fish and the concentration of the fish as elements of concentration increases with increasing length and weight . The results founded that the concentrations of trace elements studied the particular form of higher compared to dissolved form as well as to the effective of certain physical and chemical properties of water such as Temperature, pH, Electrical conductivity and salinity on the concentration of these trace elements.

P-OGC12 Nasogastric tube drainage and pyloric intervention after oesophageal resection: UK practice variation and effect on outcomes

Background Over 1,500 patients with oesophageal cancer undergo a resection in the UK each year. At surgery, patients commonly have a nasogastric tube (NGT) placed and may undergo a pyloric intervention. There is conflicting evidence on the use of both NGTs and pyloric interventions during oesophageal resections. We performed a national survey of oesophageal centres and assessed practice variation. Methods An electronic survey was distributed to all resection centres in England, Wales and Scotland. Variations in practice regarding NGTs and pyloric intervention were assessed, and compared to nationally reported centre volumes and length-of-stay data Results Most centres (31/39, 79%) responded to the survey. All centres reported routine NGT use. The majority of centres (19/31, 61%) did not perform pyloric interventions. When used, surgical pyloroplasty was the most frequent strategy (8/31, 26%). Routine post-operative radiological assessment was utilised in 9/31 (29%) of centres. Criteria for NGT removal and dietary progression was highly variable, with every centre reporting different protocols. There were no significant differences in practice between high and low volume centres. There were also no trends seen when comparing centres above vs at-or-below the median length-of-stay. The majority (68%) of centres were willing to take part in a trial assessing NGT use and pyloric interventions. Conclusions Pyloric intervention use varies widely, with no clear link to outcomes. NGT use remains standard practice despite evidence for safe omission. Surgeons require and recognise the need for a trial to assess requirement for NGTs and pyloric intervention after oesophageal resection.

Response Burden and Data Quality in Business Surveys

Response burden has long been a concern for data producers. In this article, we investigate the relationship between some measures of actual and perceived burden and we provide empirical evidence of their association with data quality. We draw on two business surveys conducted by Banca d’Italia since 1970, which provide a very rich and unique source of information. We find evidence that the perceived burden is affected by actual burden but the latter is not the only driver. Our results also show a clear link between a respondent’s perceived effort and the probability of not answering some important questions (such as those relating to expectations of future investments and turnover) or of dropping out of the survey. On the contrary, we do not find significant effects on the quality of answers to quantitative questions such as business turnover and investments. Overall, these findings have implications for data producers that should target the perceived burden, besides the actual burden, to increase data quality.

Spatio-temporal variation in dry season determines the Amazonian fire calendar

Fire is one of the main anthropogenic drivers that threatens the Amazon. Despite the clear link between rainfall and fire, the spatial and temporal relationship between these variables is still poorly understood in the Amazon. Here, we stratified the Amazon basin according to the dry season onset/end and investigated its relationship with the spatio-temporal variation of fire. We used monthly time series of active fires from 2003 to 2019 to characterize the fire dynamics throughout the year and to identify the fire peak months. More than 50% (32,246) of the annual mean active fires occurred in the peak month. In 52% of the cells, the peaks occurred between August-September and in 48% between October-March, showing well-defined seasonal patterns related to spatio-temporal variation of the dry season. Fire peaks occurred in the last two months of the dry season in 67% of the cells and in 20% in the first month of the rainy season. The shorter the dry season, the more concentrated was the occurrence of active fires in the peak month, with a predominance above 70% in cells with a dry season between one and three months. We defined a Critical Fire Period by identifying the consecutive months that concentrated at least 80% of active fires in the year. This period included two to three months between January-March in the northwest, and in the far north it lasted up to seven months, ending in March-April. In the south, it varied between two and three months, starting in August. In the northeast, it was three to four months, between August-December. By quantifying the role of the dry season in driving fire seasonality across the Amazon basin, we provide recommendations to monitor fire dynamics that can support decision makers in management policies and measures to avoid environmentally or socially harmful fires.

Erythrocyte Deformability and Na,K-ATPase Activity in Various Pathophysiological Situations and Their Protection by Selected Nutritional Antioxidants in Humans

The physicochemical and functional properties of erythrocytes are worsened in a variety of diseases. Erythrocyte deformability refers to their ability to adjust their shape according to external forces exerted against them in the circulation. It is influenced by the functionality of the Na,K-ATPase enzyme, which is localized in their membranes. The proposed review is focused on knowledge regarding changes in erythrocyte Na,K-ATPase activity, and their impact on erythrocyte deformability in various pathophysiological situations observed exclusively in human studies, as well as on the potential erytroprotective effects of selected natural nutritional antioxidants. A clear link between the erythrocyte properties and the parameters of oxidative stress was observed. The undesirable consequences of oxidative stress on erythrocyte quality and hemorheology could be at least partially prevented by intake of diverse antioxidants occurring naturally in foodstuffs. Despite intensive research concerning the effect of antioxidants, only a small number of investigations on erythrocyte properties in humans is available in databases. It is worth shifting attention from animal and in vitro experiments and focusing more on antioxidant administration in human studies in order to establish what type of antioxidant, in what concentration, and in which individuals it may provide a beneficial effect on the human organism, by protecting erythrocyte properties.

Case Report: Synucleinopathy Associated With Phalaris Neurotoxicity in Sheep

Chronic intoxication with tryptamine-alkaloid-rich Phalaris species (spp.) pasture plants is known colloquially as Phalaris staggers syndrome, a widely occurring neurological disorder of sheep, cattle, horses, and kangaroos. Of comparative interest, structurally analogous tryptamine-alkaloids cause experimental parkinsonism in primates. This study aimed to investigate the neuropathological changes associated with spontaneous cases of Phalaris staggers in sheep with respect to those encountered in human synucleinopathy. In sheep affected with Phalaris staggers, histological, immunohistochemical, and immunofluorescence analysis revealed significant accumulation of neuromelanin and aggregated α-synuclein in the perikaryon of neurons in the cerebral cortex, thalamus, brainstem, and spinal cord. Neuronal intracytoplasmic Lewy bodies inclusions were not observed in these cases of ovine Phalaris staggers. These important findings established a clear link between synucleinopathy and the neurologic form of Phalaris plant poisoning in sheep, demonstrated in six of six affected sheep. Synucleinopathy is a feature of a number of progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorders of man and may be a common endpoint of such disorders, which in a variety of ways perturb neuronal function. However, whether primary to the degenerative process or a consequence of it awaits clarification in an appropriate model system.

Are physical activity and nutrition linked to personality disorders?

Individuals with personality disorders have a decreased life expectancy compared to the general population in part due to physical illnesses. Many hypothesis have been suggested to explain those physical illnesses such as hormone disbalance, medication, lack of physical activity, and unhealthy diet. Moreover, physical activity and nutrition (lifestyle) intervention have shown great results in improving quality of life and decreasing symptoms of individuals with affective and anxiety disorders. However, little is known about the relation between lifestyle, and personality disorders. The purpose of this review is to regroup the available information on this topic. In February 2021, we searched the literature using four databases and found twenty-one articles analyzing the relation between lifestyle and personality disorders. We found few studies analyzing the relation between lifestyle and personality disorders. Most studies used measures of lifestyle as control variables or did not use lifestyle variables at all. Moreover, the instruments used to measure lifestyle variables lacked precision at best. Two studies demonstrated a relation between early malnutrition and further development of personality disorders, but those results may be influenced by confounding variables and cannot indicate a clear link between nutrition and personality disorder. The lack of solid evidence we observed is surprising considering the multiple benefits individuals with personality disorders could get from a healthy lifestyle. More studies are needed to thoroughly analyze the impact of lifestyle on personality disorders and vice versa. Those studies need to use validated instruments to provide strong and valid results about this relation.

7. School’s out!

‘School's out’ reviews criticism of schools. There are first of all those who say that school does not pay. There has been an accumulating body of evidence to show that there is no clear link between economic growth and spending on education. Then there are those who see school as a rights-free zone, quashing the originality and creativity of youth. A reaction to the regimentation of school has been in the home-schooling movement. Finally, there are those who condemn schools as counterproductive, arguing that people learn best outside school. What is the future of education and schooling?

Temporal structures in Occitan and French oral narrative

This article explores the temporal structuring of Occitan and French oral narratives. Using contemporary linguistic theory and through a corpus-based analysis, it aims to explore the relationship between language and orality, with a specific focus on two key temporal features of oral narrative, i.e. frames and connectives. The authors create a digitised corpus involving three sub-corpora demonstrating different degrees of orality in Occitan and these are also compared with a French oral corpus. The analysis shows that there is quantitative evidence to support the idea that frames and connectives have complementary roles in narrative, with inverse proportions of frames and connectives in the four sub-corpora. In terms of degrees of orality, the results suggest that not only is the use of particular connectives strongly associated with oral as opposed to written narratives but also that factors relating to sources, transmission and storytelling practice are highly influential and interact with each other in complex ways. Frames are generally ‘primarily structural’ in function rather than ‘temporal and structural’ and certain frame introducers recur in all the sub-corpora but there are complex differences between the different sub-corpora and a clear link with story-type. Questions of sources, transmission and narrative practice are central to our argumentation throughout and are particularly striking in the case of the contemporary Occitan sub-corpus.

COVID-19 and Alimentary Tract: Current Evidence and Recent Recommendations

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), first reported in China, in December 2019 and since then the digestive tract involvement of COVID-19 has been progressively described. In this review, I summed recent studies, which have addressed the pathophysiology of COVID-19-induced gastrointestinal symptoms, their prevalence, and bowel pathological and radiological findings of infected patients. The effects of gut microbiota on SARS-CoV-2 and the challenges of nutritional therapy of the infected patients are depicted. Moreover, I provide a concise summary of the recommendations on the management of inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, and performing endoscopy in the COVID era. Finally, the COVID pancreatic relation was explored. Conclusions: digestive symptoms in COVID-19 patients can be the only manifestation and they may be correlated with worse clinical outcomes. The likelihood of fecal-oral transmission of COVID-19 has significant consequences and requires further research. A clear link may exist between the gut microbiome and COVID-19 progression and it may have a therapeutic and prognostic value. No evidence for an increased frequency of covid-19 cases in IBD and stopping immunosuppressive medications is not advised. Triage and risk assessment of patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 before endoscopy is essential; deferral of elective endoscopies should be considered.