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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on participation, support, and barriers at home in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and without ADHD. Design and methods: This study included a total of 227 participants with a mean age of 11.93 ± 2.96 years, comprising 116 children and adolescents with ADHD and 111 without ADHD. The parents or primary caregivers of all the children completed the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY), which was used to assess participation and environmental factors in the home. The Student's t-test was used to compare numeric data and Chi-square test to categorical data between children and adolescents with ADHD and those without ADHD in all three settings. Results: The children with ADHD were determined to play computer and video games significantly more than children without ADHD (p < 0.001). The mean frequency of participation in arts, crafts, music, hobbies (p < 0.001), school preparation (

Lead (Pb) is one of the most paradoxical elements, both having diverse practical uses, as well as being extremely toxic to humans, and especially to children. The use of Pb records a steady growth with annual production currently exceeding 10 million metric tons. In spite of the environmental awareness of modern society, humans are still exposed to Pb through its emission by smelting and mining activities, and also by Pb-bearing mine wastes and soils. Here, we review the chemical and mineralogical forms of Pb generated from smelting and mining processes and subsequently altered in tailings, slag piles, and soils. In smelter plumes, Pb is emitted to the atmosphere either in the form of smaller nano-size particulate matter (PM) often associated with S, or larger micrometer Pb-bearing PM matter accompanied by oxide-silicate matrices. Pb-bearing phases in mine tailings and impacted soils depict a greater mineralogical and chemical complexity than those emitted from smelters and the larger particle size of this PM also leads to a lower Pb bioavailability. High resolution observations in aquatic system, soils and rock coatings impacted by smelting and mining activities show the presence of Pb-bearing phosphates, sulfides, sulfates, carbonates, and oxide nanoparticles. Larger micrometer size particles of Pb-bearing minerals form often through the aggregation of Pb-bearing nanoparticles, a process commonly referred to as crystallization through particle attachment. Mobilization of Pb within soil columns is strongly affected by the transport of colloids, especially those composed of organic matter and Fe-hydroxides because Pb is taken up efficiently by these two soil components. The extraordinary variability and complexities of all of these processes suggest that future reduction of Pb contamination in the environment and its impact on human health mainly depends on eliminating or greatly reducing Pb-release from smelting operations and tailings impoundments.

Sustainable sludge management has significance due to the great potential of recovering energy and resources, potentially achieving carbon neutrality and energy positivity in the process. However, whether the sludge reduction strategy really benefits the aim of a sustainable sludge management process requires a holistic analysis. In this study, nine scenarios involving different sludge management strategies with or without sludge reduction methods were environmentally and economically assessed to clarify the necessity of adopting a sludge reduction or not. Results reveal that direct sludge incineration without prior in-plant sludge reduction generates the least environmental impacts (less than 25-120 %), but it increases operation costs by 103-110 % compared to landfilling with prior in-plant sludge reduction. Chemical Oxygen Demand flows indicate that direct sludge incineration is superior in converting organic matter into energy compared to employing sludge reduction followed by landfilling or land application. This converted energy offsets environmental impacts from electricity consumption, but these electricity benefits are insignificant in the overall cost. Case studies suggest that direct sludge incineration could facilitate potential nutrient and energy recovery, especially for metropolis. While sludge reduction strategies are more suited for developing regions relying on landfills or land application, to lower the economic burdens. The findings of this study tend to shed light on the decision-making of adopting sludge reduction strategies and sustainable sludge management.

The current data on climate change and environmental degradation are dramatic. The consequences of these changes are already having a significant impact on people's health. Physicians - as advocates of the patients, but also as citizens - have an ethical obligation to be involved in efforts to stop these changes. The European Federation of Internal Medicine (EFIM) strongly encourages the Internal Medicine societies and internists across Europe to play an active role in matters related to climate change and environmental degradation. At a national level, this includes advocating the adoption of measures that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and environmental degradation and contributing to policy decisions related to these issues. At a hospital level and in clinical practice, supporting actions by the health sector to reduce its ecological footprint is vital. At the level of EFIM and its associated internal societies, promoting educational activities and developing a toolkit to prepare internists to better care for citizens who suffer from the consequences of climate change. In addition to advocating and implementing effective actions to reduce the ecological footprint of the health industry, recommending the introduction of these themes in scientific programs of Internal Medicine meetings and congresses and the pre- and postgraduate medical training. At a personal level, internists must be active agents in advocating sustainable practices for the environment, increasing the awareness of the community about the health risks of climate change and environmental degradation, and being role models in the adoption of environmentally friendly behaviour.

Background The beneficial effects of urban open green space on residential health had few investigations in Taiwan. Methods A total of 40,375 participants older than 30-year-old attended the health screening program during 2007–2009 in the Metropolitan area in the New Taipei City. We defined urban open green spaces (UOGS) if land use belongs to parks, green, plaza, public schools and sport venues. Small public urban open space (SPUOS) is defined as UOGS with area less than 1 hector and with at least three of the followings: vegetations, sport facilities and benches. Greenness is defined as the mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Air quality was accessed by land use regression model. Logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratios of diseases for proximity to UOGS or greenness. Results We found that CKD was significantly associated with proximity to SPUOS. No relationship was found between proximity to UOGS or NDVI and overweight or diabetes. The adjusted odds ratio of CKD comparing distance to SPUOS >200 m and ≤200 m was 1.144 (95% CI, 1.059–1.237). The effect of open space on CKD was similar if we incorporated public schools to SPUOS. Greenness was not associated with CKD. Subgroups analyses revealed the effect of SPUOS on CKD was more prominent in health residents, including in those who never smoke, no hypertension, no diabetes and no hypertriglyceridemia. Conclusion Proximity to SPUOS or schools is associated with lower risk of CKD for adults living in the Metropolitan area in New Taipei City.

According to a classic result in evolutionary biodemography, selection on age-specific survival invariably declines with reproductive age. The result assumes proportional changes in survival and a constant environment. Here, we look at selection on age-specific survival when changes are still proportional but the environment fluctuates. We find that selection may or may not decline with reproductive age depending on how exactly survival is proportionally altered by mutations. However, interpreted in neutral terms, the mathematics behind the classic result capture a general property that the genetics of populations with age structure possess both in a constant and in a fluctuating environment.

The utilization of biomass energy is important from both an energetic and environmental point of view. Saudi Arabia has a considerable amount of biomass waste that can be converted to renewable energy using different technologies. This study evaluated and analyzed the quantity and energy potential of biomass waste, Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, and cost estimation of power generation using different conversion techniques. The results showed that the annual biomass waste in Saudi Arabia could reach approximately 31.50 million tons, which can generate 15 TWh of electricity. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is the largest contribution to the total waste and total power generation potential, which is approximately 70% and 74% of the total, respectively. Although incineration of MSW has the highest cost requirements, it has the highest power generation potential compared with the other studied techniques. However, the anaerobic digestion of other biomass types has the advantages of low costs and GHG emissions and generates considerable energy. The findings of this study can support decision-makers in developing sustainability strategies using eco-friendly and economical technologies for efficient power generation from biomass wastes.

Summary: Background & Aims: Child stunting (impaired height-for-age) is a marker of chronic undernutrition and results from insufficient energy and nutrient uptakes. Stunting has severe consequences for future physical and mental development. A WHO target is to reduce the prevalence of stunting by 40% within 2025. In contrast to other parts of the world, stunting has been a major public health problem in many African countries for a long time. Here we present a narrative review on stunting during the last 20 years among children ≤ 5 years in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where stunting is rampant. Methods: We identified 13 articles from 2000-2020 based on pre-defined criteria. Results: Children in SSA are highly affected by stunting, with an average prevalence of 41%. Stunting is significantly higher in children >1 year, in boys, in low birth weight, in shorter interpregnancy interval, in mothers with lower education, and in poor and food insecure households. Maternal education, feeding practices and environmental factors (e.g. climate change) are important risk factors. Conclusions: Although the prevalence of stunting has been reduced over the last two decades, great effort remains to reach the global target. Policies and interventions should target education for women, child feeding practices and environmental factors including climate change.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescence is a decisive stage in human development in which intense physical, psychological, emotional and social changes are experienced. There are many influential factors in health, highlighting among them the environment. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to analyse the lifestyle differences associated with the health of adolescents as a function of rural and urban environment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 761 students (14.51±1.63 years) from 25 educational centers in a region of northern Spain, distributed between 650 urban and 111 rural students. Life habits and different indicators of physical, psychological and social health were evaluated, assessing the level of physical activity, maximum oxygen consumption, hours of night sleep, quality of life related to health, self-esteem, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the environment and the socioeconomic level. RESULTS: Adolescents in rural areas reported a greater number of hours of night sleep and higher levels of HRQL, both as a whole, and specifically in psychological well-being, school environment and autonomy and parents. Adolescents in urban areas reported higher levels of physical activity between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., and a higher consumption of fast food. CONCLUSIONS: The results show the need for strategies aimed at counteracting the negative influence that physical and sociodemographic factors typical of urbanized areas exert on HRQL. On the other hand, in relation to lifestyle habits, a wider range of extracurricular physical activities in rural areas would be recommended.

Digestate is a nutrient-rich by-product from organic waste anaerobic digestion but can contribute to nutrient pollution without comprehensive management strategies. Some nutrient pollution impacts include harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, and eutrophication. This contribution explores current productive uses of digestate by analyzing its feedstocks, processing technologies, economics, product quality, impurities, incentive policies, and regulations. The analyzed studies found that feedstock, processing technology, and process operating conditions highly influence the digestate product characteristics. Also, incentive policies and regulations for managing organic waste by anaerobic digestion and producing digestate as a valuable product promote economic benefits. However, there are not many governmental and industry-led quality assurance certification systems for supporting commercializing digestate products. The sustainable and safe use of digestate in different applications needs further development of technologies and processes. Also, incentives for digestate use, quality regulation, and social awareness are essential to promote digestate product commercialization as part of the organic waste circular economy paradigm. Therefore, future studies about circular business models and standardized international regulations for digestate products are needed.

Overweight induced by high-fat diet (HFD) represents one of the major health concerns in modern societies, which can cause lasting peripheral and central metabolic disorders in all age groups. Specifically, childhood obesity could lead to life-long impact on brain development and functioning. On the other hand, environmental enrichment (EE) has been demonstrated to be beneficial for learning and memory. Here, we explored the impact of high-fat diet on olfaction and organization of olfactory bulb cells in adolescent mice, and the effect of EE intervention thereon. Puberty mice (3-week-old) fed with HFD for 10 weeks exhibited poorer odor sensitivity and olfactory memory relative to controls consuming standard chows. The behavioral deficits were rescued in the HFD group with EE intervention. Neuroanatomically, parvalbumin (PV) interneurons in the olfactory bulb (OB) were reduced in the HFD-fed animals relative to control, while EE intervention also normalized this alteration. In contrast, cells expressing calbindin (CB), doublecortin (DCX) in the OB were not altered. Our findings suggest that PV interneurons may play a crucial role in mediating the HFD-induced olfactory deficit in adolescent mice, and can also serve a protective effect of EE against the functional deficit.

International audience; Few studies have investigated the relationships between organic food consumption, dietary patterns, monetary diet cost, health, and the environment. To address these issues, a consortium of French epidemiologists, nutritionists, economists, and toxicologists launched the BioNutriNet project in 2013. In 2014, an FFQ documented the usual organic and nonorganic (conventional) food consumption of approximately 35,000 NutriNet-Santé participants. Then, individual organic and conventional food intakes were merged with price, environmental, and pesticide residue data sets, which distinguished between conventional and organic farming methods. Many studies were conducted to characterize organic consumers and their environmental impacts (i.e., greenhouse gas emissions, energy demand, and land use) and organic food consumption impacts on health. We observed that organic consumers had diets that were healthier and richer in plant-based food than nonorganic consumers. Their diets were associated with higher monetary costs, lower environmental impacts, and reduced exposure to certain pesticide residues. Regular consumption of organic food was associated with reduced risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, postmenopausal breast cancer, and lymphoma. Although several observations have been confirmed by several studies conducted in other countries, our results should be replicated in other cultural settings and coupled with experimental studies to be able to draw causal conclusions. Finally, the main finding of the BioNutriNet project is that while organic food consumption could be associated with positive externalities on human health and the environment, organic-based diets should be accompanied by dietary shifts toward plant-based diets to allow for better planetary and human health.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multiorgan autoimmune disorder with a prominent genetic component. Evidence has shown that individuals of non-European ancestry experience the disease more severely, exhibiting an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease, renal involvement, and tissue damage compared with European ancestry populations. Furthermore, there seems to be variability in the response of individuals within different ancestral groups to standard medications, including cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate, rituximab, and belimumab. Although the widespread application of candidate gene, Immunochip, and genome-wide association studies has contributed to our understanding of the link between genetic variation (typically single nucleotide polymorphisms) and SLE, despite decades of research it is still unclear why ancestry remains a key determinant of poorer outcome in non-European-ancestry patients with SLE. Here, we will discuss the impact of ancestry on SLE disease burden in patients from diverse backgrounds and highlight how research efforts using novel bioinformatic and pathway-based approaches have begun to disentangle the complex genetic architecture linking ancestry to SLE susceptibility. Finally, we will illustrate how genomic and gene expression analyses can be combined to help identify novel molecular pathways and drug candidates that might uniquely impact SLE among different ancestral populations.

The Safe by Design (SbD) concept aims to ensure the production, use and disposal of materials and products safely. While there is a growing interest in the potential of SbD to support policy commitments, such as the EU Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan in Europe, methodological approaches and practical guidelines on SbD are, however, largely missing. The combined use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Risk Assessment (RA) is considered suitable to operationalize SbD over the whole life-cycle of a product. Here, we explore the potential of the combined use of LCA and RA at Technological Readiness Level (TRL) 1–6. We perform a review of the literature presenting and/or developing approaches that combine LCA and RA at early stages of product design. We identify that basic early-on-evaluations of safety (e.g., apply lifecycle thinking to assess risk hotspots, avoid use of hazardous chemicals, minimize other environmental impacts from chemicals) are more common, while more complex assessments (e.g., ex-ante LCA, control banding, predictive (eco)toxicology) require specialized expertise. The application of these simplified approaches and guidelines aims to avoid some obvious sources of risks and impacts at early stages. Critical gaps need to be addressed for wider application of SbD, including more studies in the product design context, developing tools and databases containing collated information on risk, greater collaboration between RA/LCA researchers and companies, and policy discussion on the expansion from SbD to Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD).

Purpose: Acute appendicitis is a common abdominal emergency worldwide. This study aimed at characterizing environmental risk factors influencing the development and severity of acute appendicitis.Methods: Patients from a Belgian acute appendicitis cohort (n = 374) and healthy controls from the 500 functional genomics (500FG) cohort (n = 513) were compared. Individuals with a history of appendectomy (n = 1067) and without a history of appendectomy (n = 8656) were available from the Nijmegen Biomedical Study (NBS). Questionnaires on demographics, lifestyle and environment were available. Binary logistic regression was used for prediction models.Results: Fifteen risk factors for developing acute appendicitis were identified. Binary logistic regression showed that 7 were independent risk factors: family history of acute appendicitis, having grown up in a rural environment, having a lower education, probiotic use as well as antibiotic use increased the risk of developing appendicitis. Fruit and fiber-rich vegetable con-sumption decreased the risk. Findings on vegetable consumption, smoking and level of education were replicated in the NBS population. Independent risk factors for complicated appendicitis were being male, higher age, and a delay to diagnosis of more than 48 h.Conclusions: Environmental exposures influence the risk of developing appendicitis. Further research into these factors is needed. This study is part of the Limburg Clinical Research Program (LCRP) UHasselt-ZOL-Jessa, supported by the foundation Limburg Sterk Merk, province of Limburg, Flemish government, Hasselt University, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg and Jessa Hospital.

Obesity is a multifactorial disease that disproportionally affects diverse racial and ethnic groups. Structural racism influences racial inequities in obesity prevalence through environmental factors, such as racism and discrimination, socioeconomic status, increased levels of stress, and bias in the health care delivery system. Researchers, clinicians, and policy makers must work to address the environmental and systematic barriers that contribute to health inequities in the United States. Specifically, clinicians should quantitatively and qualitatively assess environmental and social factors and proactively engage in patient-centered care to tailor available treatments based on identified needs and experiences.

The paper presents the environmental sustainability of the Nigeria transport sector (NTPS) through the decomposition and decoupling analysis from 1988–2019. The study’s objective is to determine ways of saving energy in the NTPS and reduce carbon emission for a sustainable environment. The approach was based on the Logarithmic Mean Divisa Index (LMDI) and the Tapio approach, built on Kaya extended identity. Five decoupling indicators were considered based on the four energy carriers consumed in the NTPS. The indicators include economic activity, energy structure, economic structure, population and energy intensity. The results identified three decoupling states, weak negative decoupling, weak decoupling and strong decoupling. The energy intensity, economic activity, population and energy structure prevented decoupling during the study period, while the economic structure factor promoted decoupling. The overall impact of carbon emissions from NTPS was calculated at 44.45 million tonnes of CO2. The study suggests frameworks that will support policy makers to formulate broad base policies for environmental sustainability.

Objectives Increased tibial axial acceleration and reduced shock attenuation are associated with running injuries and are believed to be influenced by surface type. Trail running has increased in popularity and is thought to have softer surface properties than paved surface, but it is unclear if trail surfaces influence tibial acceleration and shock attenuation. The purpose of this study was to investigate peak triaxial and resultant tibial acceleration as well as axial and resultant shock attenuation among dirt, gravel, and paved surfaces. Design Fifteen recreational runners (12 females, 3 males, age = 27.7 ± 9.1 years) ran over dirt, gravel, and paved surfaces in a trail environment while instrumented with triaxial tibial and head accelerometers. Methods Differences between tri-planar peak tibial accelerations (braking, propulsion, axial, medial, lateral, and resultant) and shock attenuations (axial and resultant) among surface types were assessed with one-way ANOVAs with Bonferroni post-hoc tests. Results No significant differences were found for tibial accelerations or shock attenuations among surface types (p > 0.05). Conclusions Dirt and gravel trail running surfaces do not have lower tibial accelerations or greater shock attenuation than paved surfaces. While runners are encouraged to enjoy the psychological benefits of trail running, trail surfaces do not appear to reduce loading forces associated with running-related injuries.

Internal combustion engines have a very important place in biogas production facilities to convert biogas energy to electricity. Unfortunately, although intense studies on improving internal combustion engine efficiencies by operational optimisation methods, serious progress is not achieved yet. However, there are many ways to improve the performance of these engines apart from structural optimisation meth-ods. One of the most important ways is to utilize by integrating jacket water used to cool the biogas fuelled internal combustion engines into the new generation low-temperature heat recovery systems like organic Rankine cycles. In the present study, simple and regenerative organic Rankine cycles were optimised to improve the overall performance of an biogas fuelled internal combustion engine by using the jacket water which is released into the atmosphere after cooling the engine. Also, the energy, exergy and environmental aspect of these systems are evaluated. Finally, exergoeconomic analysis for both sys-tems are conducted, and then payback periods of both systems are determined. As a result of the study, the maximum net power, thermal and exergy efficiencies of the simple organic Rankine cycle was cal-culated as 42.14 kW, 11.47 % and 63.27 % respectively, while the maximum net power, thermal and exergy efficiencies of the regenerative organic Rankine cycle are found as 45.3 kW, 12.34 % and 68.02 %. In addition, it is observed that the maximum power production obtained from the regenerative organic Rankine cycle corresponded to nearly 630 kg CO2/h emission reduction. The best payback period value is also calculated as 7.37 years in the simple organic Rankine cycle. (C) 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increasing material circularity is high on the agenda of the European Union in order to decouple environmental impacts and economic growth. While life cycle assessment (LCA) is useful for quantifying the associated environmental impacts, consistent LCA modeling of the large-scale changes arising from policy targets addressing material circularity (i.e., recycled content and recycling rate) is challenging. In response to this, we propose an assessment framework addressing key steps in LCA, namely, goal definition, functional unit, baseline versus alternative scenario definition, and modeling of system responses. Regulatory and economic aspects (e.g., trends in consumption patterns, market responses, market saturation, and legislative side-policies affecting waste management) are emphasized as critical for the identification of potential system responses and for supporting regulatory interventions required to reach the intended environmental benefits. The framework is recommended for LCA studies focusing on system-wide consequences where allocation between product life cycles is not relevant; however, the framework can be adapted to include allocation. The application of the framework was illustrated by an example of implementing a policy target for 2025 of 70% recycled content in PET trays in EU27+1. It was demonstrated that neglecting large-scale market responses and saturation lead to an overestimation of the environmental benefits from the policy target and that supplementary initiatives are required to achieve the full benefits at system level.

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license Background: High emotional demands at work can affect employees’ health and there is a need to understand whether such an association might be modified by other working conditions. We aimed to examine emotional demands at work as a risk factor for long-term sickness absence and analyse whether influence, possibilities for development, role conflicts, and physical demands at work might modify this risk. Methods: We did a nationwide, population-based, prospective cohort study in Denmark and included employed individuals who were residing in Denmark in 2000, aged 30–59 years, who had complete data on age, sex, and migration background, with information on emotional demands and possible effect modifiers from job exposure matrices, and covariates and outcome (sickness absence) from population registers. Individuals with long-term sickness absence (≥6 weeks of consecutive sickness absence) between Jan 1, 1998, and Dec 31, 2000, and self-employed individuals were excluded. We assessed long-term sickness absence during a 10-year period from Jan 1, 2001, to Dec 31, 2010. Using Cox regression, we estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs and tested interaction as departure from additivity, estimating relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI). Multivariable adjusted models included sex, age, cohabitation, migration background, and income. Findings: 1 521 352 employed individuals were included and contributed data between Jan 1, 2000, and Dec 31, 2010. During 11 919 021 person-years (mean follow-up 7·8 years), we identified 480 685 new cases of long-term sickness absence. High emotional demands were associated with increased risk of long-term sickness absence compared with low emotional demands, after adjusting for age, sex, cohabitation, migration background, income, and the four possible effect modifiers (adjusted HR 1·55 [95% CI 1·53–1·56]). The association between high emotional demands and risk of long-term sickness absence was stronger in a synergistic way when individuals were also exposed to low possibilities for development (RERI 0·35 [95% CI 0·22–0·47]; 28·9 additional cases per 1000 person-years) and high role conflicts (0·13 [0·11–0·15]; 22·0 additional cases per 1000 person-years). No synergy was observed for influence and physical demands at work. Interpretation: People in occupations with high emotional demands were at increased risk of long-term sickness absence. Our findings on synergistic interactions suggest that, in emotionally demanding occupations, increasing possibilities for development and reducing work-related role conflicts might reduce long-term sickness absence. Further interventional studies are needed to confirm or refute this hypothesis. Funding: Danish Work Environment Research Fund, NordForsk.

Salt marshes form along coastlines and are very interesting ecosystems due to their function and services. In the future, salt marsh plants might provide food and medicine as crops irrigated via seawater in hyper-arid regions. In the Arabian Gulf, little is known about salt marsh vegetation. Therefore, a targeted search on scientific literature was performed to provide a comprehensive assessment. Hence, current knowledge of the extent and status of salt marsh in the Arabian Gulf region was reviewed, based on literature-based analysis. Then, historic trends of salt marsh publications were carefully inspected. This study provides a list of salt marsh families and their genera and species, with a total of 51 family 179 genera 316 species in the Arabian Gulf. The largest family was Chenopodiaceae followed by Poaceae, Asteraceae. Moreover, this study identified some of the gaps that could help future directions for scientific research, and help making decisions of conservation, management policies and procedures.

The proximate and ultimate mechanisms behind individual behavioural phenotypes are still only partially understood, with studies often focusing on a single or a few factor(s) that affect behaviour in a controlled environment. To understand the development and consequences of individual behavioural phenotypes in their complexity, a comprehensive approach is needed that analyses the effects of a broad spectrum of factors and their interactions on behaviour within the natural environment. We used focal observations to quantify four key behavioural components of Gala = pagos sea lion, Zalophus wollebaeki, pups under natural conditions: general social interactions, swimming, resting and social play behaviour. We then investigated the influence and interplay of age, sex, body condition, basal cortisol and testosterone levels, personality scores and the social environment on the observed behaviour. We identified significant correlations between all measured factors and behaviour. Complex interactions between testosterone, boldness and social play especially stand out, with the effect of boldness on social play being dependent on testosterone levels. We also demonstrate the importance of the early social environment, defined as local population density, for social play and, interestingly, time spent swimming. This could have consequences for the development of social and hunting skills, crucial for later stages of ontogeny. For this endangered pinniped, a decline in the diversity of social environments due to dwindling population numbers could lead to a decline in behavioural diversity and lower coping abilities towards future changes in their environment. Our study reveals important factors for the development of individual behavioural phenotypes of young Gala = pagos sea lions and elucidates some aspects of the architecture behind this individual variation in behaviour. (c) 2021 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interventions are urgently needed to transform the food system and shift population eating patterns toward those consistent with human health and environmental sustainability. Postsecondary campuses offer a naturalistic setting to trial interventions to improve the health of students and provide insight into interventions that could be scaled up in other settings. However, the current state of the evidence on interventions to support healthy and environmentally sustainable eating within postsecondary settings is not well understood. A scoping review of food- and nutrition-related interventions implemented and evaluated on postsecondary campuses was conducted to determine the extent to which they integrate considerations related to human health and/or environmental sustainability, as well as to synthesize the nature and effectiveness of interventions and to identify knowledge gaps in the literature. MEDLINE (via PubMed), CINAHL, Scopus, and ERIC were searched to identify articles describing naturalistic campus food interventions published in English from January 2015 to December 2019. Data were extracted from 38 peer-reviewed articles, representing 37 unique interventions, and synthesized according to policy domains within the World Cancer Research Foundation's NOURISHING framework. Most interventions were focused on supporting human health, whereas considerations related to environmental sustainability were minimal. Interventions to support human health primarily sought to increase nutrition knowledge or to make complementary shifts in food environments, such as through nutrition labeling at point of purchase. Interventions to support environmental sustainability often focused on reducing food waste and few emphasized consumption patterns with lower environmental impacts. The implementation of integrated approaches considering the complexity and interconnectivity of human and planetary health is needed. Such approaches must go beyond the individual to alter the structural determinants that shape our food system and eating patterns.

BACKGROUND: Food prepared out-of-home is typically energy dense and nutrient poor. Online food delivery services such as Just Eat and Deliveroo facilitate access to this food. The number of outlets accessible through these services reportedly increased in England during the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly exacerbating inequalities in access to unhealthy food. We investigated changes in online food outlet access, and the extent to which they were socioeconomically patterned throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: In November, 2019, and monthly between June, 2020, and March, 2022, we used automated methods to construct a dataset containing information about all outlets in England registered to accept orders through the company Just Eat. Across 2118 postcode districts, we identified the number of accessible outlets. We used a negative binomial generalised estimating equation to investigate changes in the number of accessible outlets over time, adjusting for population density, the number of food outlets in the physical food environment, and rural urban classifications. We stratified analyses by deprivation quintile (Q). All data were publicly available. FINDINGS: Across England, the median number of outlets accessible online decreased from 63·5 (IQR 16·0-156·0) in November, 2019, to 57·0 (11·0-163·0) in March, 2022. However, we observed variation across deprivation quintiles. In March 2022, the median number of outlets accessible online was 175·0 (104·0-292·0) in the most deprived areas (Q5) compared to 27·0 (8·5-60·5) in the least deprived (Q1). In adjusted analyses, we estimated that the number of outlets accessible online in the most deprived areas was 10% higher in March, 2022, compared to November, 2019 (incidence rate ratio [IRR)] 1·10 [1·07-1·13]). By contrast, in the least deprived areas, we estimated a 19% decrease (IRR 0·81 [0·79-0·83]) in food outlets. INTERPRETATION: During the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of food outlets accessible online increased only in the most deprived areas. We could not determine the extent to which the changes we observed were already underway. Nevertheless, increased online food outlet access might prompt unhealthy food consumption and undermine public health interventions implemented in the physical food environment. Further research could examine changes in the type of food outlets accessible online and through our dataset, seek to understand the extent to which changes in access are associated with changes to food practices, diet quality, and health. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Care Research School for Public Health Research, Medical Research Council.

The challenges for sustainable cities to protect the environment, ensure economic growth, and maintain social justice have been widely recognized. Along with the digitization, availability of large datasets, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are promising to revolutionize the way we analyze and plan urban areas, opening new opportunities for the sustainable city agenda. Especially urban spatial planning problems can benefit from ML approaches, leading to an increasing number of ML publications across different domains. What is missing is an overview of the most prominent domains in spatial urban ML along with a mapping of specific applied approaches. This paper aims to address this gap and guide researchers in the field of urban science and spatial data analysis to the most used methods and unexplored research gaps. We present a scoping review of ML studies that used geospatial data to analyze urban areas. Our review focuses on revealing the most prominent topics, data sources, ML methods and approaches to parameter selection. Furthermore, we determine the most prominent patterns and challenges in the use of ML. Through our analysis, we identify knowledge gaps in ML methods for spatial data science and data specifications to guide future research.

The free (soluble, non-protein) asparagine content of wheat grain can vary massively due to environmental factors and agronomic differences in how the crop is grown. This is concerning because free asparagine concentration is the key determinant of acrylamide formation in wheat-based food products, yet it is not clear how different environmental conditions and some agronomic practices impact grain asparagine content. Here, we argue that a key aspect of keeping free asparagine levels low in wheat grain in the future lies in improving our understanding of the many environmental and crop management components that impact free asparagine accumulation during cultivation. We also consider the emerging technology of monitoring free asparagine accumulation through crop imaging.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:40:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-07-01 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco The rectal gland (RG) is a specialized organ that performs a major role in salt excretion of marine elasmobranch species. We aimed to describe the rectal gland ecomorphology in three stingray species (Hypanus marianae, Hypanus guttatus, and Aetobatus narinari) from benthic and pelagic habitats. The gland is lobulated and has two distinct forms: small compact S-shaped for H. marianae (mean width: RG length ± SD = 1.06 ± 0.23 cm), elongated S-shaped for H. guttatus (2.15 ± 0.06 cm), and pod-shaped for A. narinari (3.14 ± 0.57 cm). Rectal gland lengths were different between species (Kruskal–Wallis; X2 = 39.27; df = 2; P < 0.05). The capsule's dense connective tissue was three times thicker in A. narinari than in the Hypanus species (K–W; df = 2, p = 0.014). The secretory parenchyma of H. marianae was simpler, differing from other species that showed a well-defined lobule arrangement around the central duct. Indeed, the central duct of A. narinari and H. guttatus exhibited branches that invaginated into lobes and originated the lobular ducts, while the central duct lacks branches and opened directly into the secretory tubule in H. marianae. Furthermore, central duct cells in the stratified epithelium of A. narinari showed a higher number (average 7.4 ± 1.51/cells) and cell layer thickness (0.09 mm) than the other species analyzed (ANOVA; F = 6.90, p = 0.01). The morphological differences between the rectal gland of Myliobatiformes analyzed showed that their phylogenetic history could be a better explanation to the changes between basal (H. marianae) and derived (H. guttatus and A. narinari) species. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biociência Animal Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, CEP Laboratório de Histologia Departamento de Morfologia e Fisiologia Animal Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, CEP Laboratório de Pesquisas de Elasmobrânquios Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, CEP Laboratório de Oftalmologia Exprimental Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, CEP Laboratório de Pesquisas de Elasmobrânquios Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, CEP CNPq: 139336/2017–6 CNPq: 459866/2014–1 CAPES: 88881.190640/2018–01 Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco: IBPG-1696-5.05/15

Background Nutrition interventions promoting healthy food choices aim to address health challenges of residents in low-income environments. Research about the effectiveness of nutrition interventions in low-income populations is limited, particularly for those in rural areas. Behavioral economics (BE) strategies demonstrate effectiveness for improving eating behaviors in some settings. However, the efficacy of BE interventions in retail food stores serving low-income populations residing in rural and urban geographies is nascent. Objective This systematic literature review aims to identify and compare nutrition interventions implemented in rural and urban low-income retail food stores, including BE strategies when applied. Methods This review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Reviewers searched five databases for peer-reviewed publications from October 2010 to October 2019. Included studies implemented a nutrition intervention in low-income retail food stores and provided a quantitative outcome evaluation with results separated by rural and urban geography. BE interventions were analyzed based on the MINDSPACE framework for behavior change. Results Forty-six separate publications (n = 20 rural, n = 26 urban) in the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia were included. Researchers independently rated publications as low risk of bias (n = 4), moderate (n = 18), or high risk of bias (n = 24) using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. Studies (n = 18) demonstrated positive outcomes for customer purchases, store sales, or participant intake of targeted healthy foods. Overall, most effective interventions included point-of-purchase signage (n = 16) and product placement strategies (n = 4 urban). Rural studies included financial incentives combined with participant education (n = 2) and incorporated culturally appropriate messengers and/or symbols (n = 5) to improve healthy food purchases and intake. Conclusions Improved research quality and tailored evidence-based interventions, including BE strategies, are necessary in retail food environments to promote healthy eating behaviors in low-income populations.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of environmental enrichment (EE) in Wistar rats subjected to maternal deprivation (MD). MD was performed in the first post-natal days (PND) ten for 3 h/day. The groups were: control; deprived without EE; and deprived with EE. The EE was applied for 3 h/day. Forced swimming test (FST) and open field test were performed, and histone deacetylase (HDAC) and DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) activities in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus were evaluated on 31, 41, and 61 PND. MD altered spontaneous locomotor activity and immobility time in FST, but the effects were sex- and developmental period dependent. In deprived females at PND 31, 41, and 61, HDAC and DNMT increased in the PFC and hippocampus. In females exposed to EE for 20 days, there was a decrease of HDAC in the hippocampus and DNMT in the PFC and hippocampus. Exposure of females to EE for 40 days can reverse HDAC and DNMT increase in all brain areas. In deprived males at PND 31, 41, and 61, HDAC and DNMT increased in the hippocampus, and in the group exposed to EE for 40 days, there was a decrease in hippocampal activity. In PFC of male deprived rats at PND 61 and EE for 40 days, there was a reduction of HDAC and DNMT. MD induced lifelong persistent behavioral and epigenetic changes, and such effects were more evident in female than male rats. EE can be considered an essential non-pharmacological strategy to treat long-term trauma-induced early life changes.

Since late 2019, COVID-19 has devastated the global economy, with indirect implications for the environment. As governments’ prioritized health and implemented measures such as the closure of non-essential businesses and social distancing, many workers have lost their jobs, been furloughed, or started working from home. Consequently, the world of work has drastically transformed and this period is likely to have major implications for mobility, transportation and the environment. This paper estimates the potential for people to engage in remote work and social distancing using O*NET data and Irish Census data and calculates the potential emission savings, by commuter type from a switch to remote working and occupational social distancing. The results show that while those who commute by car have a relatively high potential for remote work, they are less likely to be able to engage in social distancing in their workplace. While this may be negative for employment prospects in the short run, our analysis indicates that this pattern has the potential for positive environmental implications in the short and long run.

The Coase Theorem has a central place in the theory of environmental economics and regulation. Its applicability for solving real-world externality problems remains debated. We first place this seminal contribution in its historical context. We then survey the experimental literature that has tested the importance of the many, often tacit assumptions in the Coase Theorem. We discuss a selection of applications of the Coase Theorem to actual environmental problems, distinguishing between situations in which the polluter or the pollutee pays. Most substantive examples of Coase-like bargaining involve more than two parties. It is not clear whether the outcomes of these bargains were Pareto optimal rather than merely Pareto improving. While limited in scope, Coasian bargaining over externalities offers a pragmatic solution to problems that are difficult to solve in any other way.

When selection is imposed by both social and ecological environments, the costs and benefits of social relationships can depend on life-history strategy. We argue that the formation and maintenance of differentiated social relationships will prevail in species and individuals with slow life histories. Social behaviours that benefit survival can promote slower life histories. Meanwhile, longer lifespan promotes the development of strong and stable social bonds by allowing fitness payoffs to be postponed. Differentiated social behaviours should be favoured for fast life histories only when they promote the rate of reproduction. Finally, associations between life-history strategies and other traits (e.g., personality) provide a mechanism to drive inter-individual variation in social relationships, making life-history important for sociality across taxonomic scales.

Introduction: This study performed a path analysis to uncover the behavioral pathways (from contributing factors, pre-crash actions to injury severities) in bicycle-motor vehicle crashes. Method: The analysis investigated more than 7,000 bicycle-motor vehicle crashes in North Carolina between 2007 and 2014. Pre-crash actions discussed in this study are actions of cyclists and motorists prior to the event of a crash, including “bicyclist failed to yield,” “motorist failed to yield,” “bicyclist overtaking motorist,” and “motorist overtaking bicyclist.” Results: Model results show significant correlates of pre-crash actions and bicyclist injury severity. For example, young bicyclists (18 years old or younger) are 23.5% more likely to fail to yield to motor traffic prior to the event of a crash than elder bicyclists. The “bicyclist failed to yield” action is associated with increased bicyclist injury severity than other actions, as this behavior is associated with an increase of 5.88 percentage points in probability of a bicyclist being at least evidently injured. The path analysis can highlight contributing factors related to risky pre-crash actions that lead to severe injuries. For example, bicyclists traveling on regular vehicle travel lanes are found to be more likely to involve the “bicyclist failed to yield” action, which resulted in a total 44.38% (7.04% direct effect + 37.34% indirect effect) higher likelihood of evident or severe injuries. The path analysis can also identify factors (e.g., intersection) that are not directly but indirectly correlated with injury severity through pre-crash actions. Practical Applications: This study offers a methodological framework to quantify the behavioral pathways in bicycle-motor vehicle crashes. The findings are useful for cycling safety improvements from the perspective of bicyclist behavior, such as the educational program for cyclists.

Ubiquitination, a post-translational modification, plays a crucial role in various aspects of plant development and stress responses. Protein degradation by ubiquitination is well established and ubiquitin is the main underlying component directing the turnover of proteins. Recent reports have also revealed the non-proteolytic roles of ubiquitination in plants. In the past decade, ubiquitination has emerged to be one of the most important players in modulating plant's responses to abiotic stresses, which led to identification of specific E3 ligases and their targets involved in the process. Most of the E3 ligases play regulatory roles by modifying the stability and accumulation of stress responsive regulatory proteins, such as transcription factors, thus, modifying the downstream responses, or by degrading the proteins involved in the downstream cascade itself. In this review, we summarize and highlight the recent advances in the field of ubiquitination-mediated regulation of plant's responses to various abiotic stresses including limited nutrient availability and metal toxicity. The non-proteolytic role of ubiquitination in epigenetic regulation of abiotic stress induced response has also been discussed.

How does human cognition adapt to idiosyncratic features of our real-world experiences across our lifetimes? The dynamic interaction between individuals and their natural environments is rarely the focus of study within cognitive science, but I argue that a more ecological approach will be critical for advancing developmental science and revealing the adaptive nature of cognition.

The demand for eye care-the most common medical speciality in some countries-is increasing globally due to both demographic change and the development of eye health-care services in low-income and middle-income countries. This expansion of service provision needs to be environmentally sustainable. We conducted a scoping review to establish the nature and extent of the literature describing the environmental costs of delivering eye-care services, identify interventions to diminish the environmental impact of eye care, and identify key sustainability themes that are not yet being addressed. We identified 16 peer-reviewed articles for analysis, all published since 2009. Despite a paucity of research evidence, there is a need for the measurement of environmental impacts associated with eye care to be standardised along with the methodological tools to assess these impacts. The vastly different environmental costs of delivering clinical services with similar clinical outcomes in different regulatory settings is striking; in one example, a phacoemulsification cataract extraction in a UK hospital produced more than 20 times the greenhouse gas emission of the same procedure in an Indian hospital. The environmental costs must be systematically included when evaluating the risks and benefits of new interventions or policies aimed at promoting safety in high-income countries.

This paper presents a multi-objective optimization (MOO) of waste-to-energy (WtE) to investigate optimized solutions for thermal, economic, and environmental objectives. These objectives are represented by net efficiency, total cost in treating waste, and environmental impact. Integration of the environmental objective is conducted using life cycle assessment (LCA) with endpoint single score method covering direct combustion, reagent production and infrastructure, ash management, and energy recovery. Initial net efficiency of the plant was 16.27% whereas the cost and environmental impacts were 75.63 €/ton-waste and −1.21 × 108 Pt/ton-waste, respectively. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is applied to maximize efficiency, minimize cost, and minimize environmental impact. Highest improvement for single objective is about 13.4%, 10.3%, and 14.8% for thermal, economic, and environmental, respectively. These improvements cannot be made at once since the objectives are conflicting. These findings highlight the significance role of decision makers in assigning weight to each objective function to obtain the optimal solution. The study also reveals different influence among decision variable, waste input, and marginal energy sources. Finally, this paper underlines the versatility of using MOO to improve WtE performance regarding the thermal, economic, and environmental aspects without requiring additional investment.