EP-1245: Gated Rapidarc using KV intrafraction verification for liver stereotactic treatment

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PLoS One

The assessment of residential exposure to agricultural pesticides is a major issue for public health, regulatory and management purposes. In recent years, research into this field has developed considerably. The purpose of this scoping review is to provide an overview of scientific literature characterizing residential exposure to agricultural pesticides and to identify potential gaps in this research area. This work was conducted according to the JBI and PRISMA guidelines. Three databases were consulted. At least two experts selected the eligible studies. Our scoping review enabled us to identify 151 articles published between 1988 and 2019 dealing with the assessment of residential exposure to agricultural pesticides. Of these, 98 (64.9%) were epidemiological studies investigating possible links between pesticide exposure and the onset of adverse health effects, principally cancers and reproductive outcomes. They predominantly used Geographic Information Systems and sometimes surveys or interviews to calculate surrogate exposure metrics, the most common being the amounts of pesticides applied or the surface area of crops around the dwelling. Twenty-six (17.2%) were observational measurement studies conducted to quantify levels of pesticide exposure and identify their possible determinants. These studies assessed exposure by measuring pesticides in biological and environmental matrices, mostly in urines and house dust. Finally, we found only eight publications (5.3%) that quantified the risk to human health due to residential exposure for management purposes, in which exposure was mainly determined using probabilistic models. Pesticide exposure appears to be largely correlated with the spatial organization of agriculture activities in a territory. The determinants and routes of exposure remain to be explored to improve the conduct of epidemiological and risk assessment studies and to help prevent future exposures. Improvement could be expected from small-scale studies combining different methods of exposure assessment

How does exposure to pesticides vary in space and time for residents living near to treated orchards?

This study investigated changes over 25 years (1987-2012) in pesticide usage in orchards in England and Wales and associated changes to exposure and risk for resident pregnant women living 100 and 1000 m downwind of treated areas. A model was developed to estimate aggregated daily exposure to pesticides via inhaled vapour and indirect dermal contact with contaminated ground, whilst risk was expressed as a hazard quotient (HQ) for reproductive and/or developmental endpoints. Results show the largest changes occurred between 1987 and 1996 with total pesticide usage reduced by ca. 25%, exposure per unit of pesticide applied slightly increased, and a reduction in risk per unit exposure by factors of 1.4 to 5. Thereafter, there were no consistent changes in use between 1996 and 2012, with an increase in number of applications to each crop balanced by a decrease in average application rate. Exposure per unit of pesticide applied decreased consistently over this period such that values in 2012 for this metric were 48-65% of those in 1987, and there were further smaller decreases in risk per unit exposure. All aggregated hazard quotients were two to three orders of magnitude smaller than one, despite the inherent simplifications of assuming co-occurrence of exposure to all pesticides and additivity of effects. Hazard quotients at 1000 m were 5 to 30 times smaller than those at 100 m. There were clear signals of the impact of regulatory intervention in improving the fate and hazard profiles of pesticides over the period investigated

Cuticular Compounds Bring New Insight in the Post-Glacial Recolonization of a Pyrenean Area: Deutonura deficiens Deharveng, 1979 Complex, a Case Study

Background: In most Arthropod groups, the study of systematics and evolution rely mostly on neutral characters, in this context cuticular compounds, as non-neutral characters, represent an underexplored but potentially informative type of characters at the infraspecific level as they have been routinely proven to be involved in sexual attraction. Methods and Findings: The collembolan species complex Deutonura deficiens was chosen as a model in order to test the utility of these characters for delineating four infraspecific entities of this group. Specimens were collected for three subspecies (D. d. deficiens, D. d. meridionalis, D. d. sylvatica) and two morphotypes (D. d. sylvatica morphoype A and B) of the complex; an additional species D. monticola was added. Cuticular compounds were extracted and separated by gas chromatography for each individual. Our results demonstrate that cuticular compounds succeeded in separating the different elements of this complex. Those data allowed also the reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships among them. Conclusions: The discriminating power of cuticular compounds is directly related to their involvement in sexual attraction and mate recognition. These findings allowed a discussion on the potential involvement of intrinsic and paleoclimatic factors in the origin and the diversification of this complex in the Pyrenean zone. This character type brings the first advanc