Non-Regulated Emissions and PN of Two Passenger Cars with Diesel-Butanol Blends

Biofuels represent one of the alternatives to obtain the CO2-neutral propulsion of IC-engines. Butanol, which can be produced from biomass, is considered and was investigated in the last years due to the very advantageous characteristics of this alternative fuel. Butanol can be easily and irreversibly blended both with light (gasoline) and heavier (Diesel) fuels. Comparing with ethanol it has the advantages of: higher calorific value, lower hygroscopicity and lower corrosivity. It can replace the aviation fuels. This paper presents the emission results obtained on two Diesel passenger cars with different technology (Euro2 and Euro6c) and with addition of Butanol to Diesel fuel, as a part of the research project DiBut (Diesel and Butanol). Interesting results are given about some non-legislated (non-regulated) components, Acetaldehyde (MeCHO) and Formaldehyde (HCHO) and about the PN-emissions with/without DPF

Sustainable SDI for EU noise mapping in NRW- best practice for INSPIRE

The Environmental Noise Directive of the European Union 2002/49/EG (END) obligates the EU member states to determine every 5 years the noise emission of major roads and railways, major airports, industrial activity sites and urban agglomerations and to document the results in noise maps. It poses high requirements, as a great number of statewide and ubiquitous geodata and thematic data in the third dimension is necessary (terrain, buildings, roads, railways). To provide these considerable amount of statewide 3D geodata, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) follows a modern implementation concept, the sustainable use and enlargement of the Spatial Data Infrastructure GDI NRW. NRW provides for the first time statewide 3D geodata as features in CityGML via OGC Web Feature Services (3D building models in LOD1, ATKIS 3D road and railway data) and the Digital Terrain Model 10m grid via an OGC Web Coverage Service. CityGML is used as sole common exchange format between web services and noise calculation software to solve syntactic and semantic interoperability problems. A CityGML data base is realised, which contains approx. 10 million buildings. This article demonstrates the architecture of geodata provision, the 3D modelling in CityGML, the geodata refinement and interoperability tasks as well as the noise calculation results

Body Mass Index Associations Between Mother and Offspring from Birth to Age 18: The Fels Longitudinal Study

Background: Parental obesity is a known determinant of childhood obesity. Previous research has shown a strong maternal influence on body mass index (BMI) during infancy and early childhood. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to investigate the BMI associations between mother and offspring from birth to age 18 years. Methods: Participants were selected from the Fels Longitudinal Study. The current study sample includes 427 (215 mother/son and 212 mother/daughter) mother/child pairs. These pairs are repeatedly measured at multiple age groups in children, resulting in a total of 6,263 (3,215 mother/son, 3,048 mother/daughter) observations for data analysis. Inclusion criteria were children with measured height and weight for BMI collected at ages 0 to 18 years and their mother with BMI data. Maternal influences of BMI on offspring BMI from birth to early adulthood were analyzed by Spearman correlations and linear regression analyses. Results: Mother/son BMI correlations became statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) at age 5–6 years and were significant through puberty and into early adulthood at age 18 years. Mother/daughter correlations became significant at age 1.5 years and also continued through adolescence, puberty and early adulthood at age 18 years. Associations persisted after the study sample was grouped into life stages and adjusted for decade of birth and parity. Conclusions: The mother/daughter relationship was more strongly correlated than the mother/son relationship and also became statistically significant at an earlier age than boys

Association of Perfluoroalkyl Substances, Bone Mineral Density, and Osteoporosis in the U.S. Population in NHANES 2009-2010

Background Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), are detectable in the serum of 95% of the U.S. population. Objective Considering the role of PFASs as endocrine disruptors, we examined their relationships with bone health. Methods The association between serum PFAS concentration and bone mineral density at total femur (TFBMD), femoral neck (FNBMD), lumbar spine (LSBMD), and physician-diagnosed osteoporosis was assessed in 1,914 participants using data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2009–2010. Results The mean age of the participants was 43 years. Men had higher serum PFAS concentrations than women (p < 0.001) except for PFNA. In both sexes, serum PFOS concentrations were inversely associated with FNBMD (p < 0.05). In women, significant negative associations were observed for natural log (ln)–transformed PFOS exposure with TFBMD and FNBMD, and for ln-transformed PFOA exposure with TFBMD (p < 0.05). In postmenopausal women, serum PFOS was negatively associated with TFBMD and FNBMD, and PFNA was negatively associated with TFBMD, FNBMD, and LSBMD (all p < 0.05). With one log unit increase in serum PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA, osteoporosis prevalence in women increased as follows: [adjusted odds ratios (aORs)] 1.84 (95% CI: 1.17, 2.905), 1.64 (95% CI: 1.14, 2.38), and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.02, 2.05), respectively. In women, the prevalence of osteoporosis was significantly higher in the highest versus the lowest quartiles of PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA, with aORs of 2.59 (95% CI: 1.01, 6.67), 13.20 (95% CI: 2.72, 64.15), and 3.23 (95% CI: 1.44, 7.21), respectively, based on 77 cases in the study sample. Conclusion In a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, serum PFAS concentrations were associated with lower bone mineral density, which varied according to the specific PFAS and bone site assessed. Most associations were limited to women. Osteoporosis in women was also associated with PFAS exposure, based on a small number of cases

The positive association of infant weight gain with adulthood body mass index has strengthened over time in the Fels Longitudinal Study

Background Infant weight gain is positively related to adulthood body mass index (BMI), but it is unknown whether or not this association is stronger for individuals born during (compared to before) the obesity epidemic. Objectives To examine how the infant weight gain–adulthood BMI association might have changed across successive birth year cohorts spanning most of the 20th century. Methods The sample comprised 346 participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study. Confounder-adjusted regression models were used to test the associations of conditional weight-for-length Z-score (WLZ), capturing weight change between ages 0-2 years, with young adulthood BMI and blood pressure, including cohort (1933-1949 (N=137), 1950-1969 (N=108), 1970-1997 (N=101)) as an effect modifier. Results Conditional WLZ was positively related to adulthood BMI, but there was significant effect modification by birth year cohort such that the association was over two times stronger in the 1970-1997 cohort (β 2.31; 95% confidence interval 1.59, 3.03) compared to the 1933-1949 (0.98; 0.31, 1.65) and 1950-1969 (0.87; 0.21, 1.54) cohorts. A similar pattern was found for systolic blood pressure. Conclusions The infant weight gain–adulthood BMI association was over two times stronger among a cohort born during the obesity epidemic era compared to cohorts born earlier in the 20th century

Genome-wide analysis of BMI in adolescents and young adults reveals additional insight into the effects of genetic loci over the life course

Genetic loci for body mass index (BMI) in adolescence and young adulthood, a period of high risk for weight gain, are understudied, yet may yield important insight into the etiology of obesity and early intervention. To identify novel genetic loci and examine the influence of known loci on BMI during this critical time period in late adolescence and early adulthood, we performed a two-stage meta-analysis using 14 genome-wide association studies in populations of European ancestry with data on BMI between ages 16 and 25 in up to 29 880 individuals. We identified seven independent loci (P < 5.0 × 10−8) near FTO (P = 3.72 × 10−23), TMEM18 (P = 3.24 × 10−17), MC4R (P = 4.41 × 10−17), TNNI3K (P = 4.32 × 10−11), SEC16B (P = 6.24 × 10−9), GNPDA2 (P = 1.11 × 10−8) and POMC (P = 4.94 × 10−8) as well as a potential secondary signal at the POMC locus (rs2118404, P = 2.4 × 10−5 after conditioning on the established single-nucleotide polymorphism at this locus) in adolescents and young adults. To evaluate the impact of the established genetic loci on BMI at these young ages, we examined differences between the effect sizes of 32 published BMI loci in European adult populations (aged 18-90) and those observed in our adolescent and young adult meta-analysis. Four loci (near PRKD1, TNNI3K, SEC16B and CADM2) had larger effects and one locus (near SH2B1) had a smaller effect on BMI during adolescence and young adulthood compared with older adults (P < 0.05). These results suggest that genetic loci for BMI can vary in their effects across the life course, underlying the importance of evaluating BMI at different age

Meta-Analysis of Genomewide Association Studies Reveals Genetic Variants for Hip Bone Geometry

Hip geometry is an important predictor of fracture. We performed a meta-analysis of GWAS studies in adults to identify genetic variants that are associated with proximal femur geometry phenotypes. We analyzed four phenotypes: (i) femoral neck length; (ii) neck-shaft angle; (iii) femoral neck width, and (iv) femoral neck section modulus, estimated from DXA scans using algorithms of hip structure analysis. In the Discovery stage, 10 cohort studies were included in the fixed-effect meta-analysis, with up to 18,719 men and women ages 16 to 93 years. Association analyses were performed with ∼2.5 million polymorphisms under an additive model adjusted for age, body mass index, and height. Replication analyses of meta-GWAS significant loci (at adjusted genomewide significance [GWS], threshold p ≤ 2.6 × 10 –8 ) were performed in seven additional cohorts in silico. We looked up SNPs associated in our analysis, for association with height, bone mineral density (BMD), and fracture. In meta-analysis (combined Discovery and Replication stages), GWS associations were found at 5p15 (IRX1 and ADAMTS16); 5q35 near FGFR4; at 12p11 (in CCDC91); 11q13 (near LRP5 and PPP6R3 (rs7102273)). Several hip geometry signals overlapped with BMD, including LRP5 (chr. 11). Chr. 11 SNP rs7102273 was associated with any-type fracture (p = 7.5 × 10 –5 ). We used bone transcriptome data and discovered several significant eQTLs, including rs7102273 and PPP6R3 expression (p = 0.0007), and rs6556301 (intergenic, chr.5 near FGFR4) and PDLIM7 expression (p = 0.005). In conclusion, we found associations between several genes and hip geometry measures that explained 12% to 22% of heritability at different sites. The results provide a defined set of genes related to biological pathways relevant to BMD and etiology of bone fragility

Genome-wide analysis of BMI in adolescents and young adults reveals additional insight into the effects of genetic loci over the life course

Genetic loci for body mass index (BMI) in adolescence and young adulthood, a period of high risk for weight gain, are understudied, yet may yield important insight into the etiology of obesity and early intervention. To identify novel genetic loci and examine the influence of known loci on BMI during this critical time period in late adolescence and early adulthood, we performed a two-stage meta-analysis using 14 genome-wide association studies in populations of European ancestry with data on BMI between ages 16 and 25 in up to 29 880 individuals. We identified seven independent loci (P < 5.0 × 10−8) near FTO (P = 3.72 × 10−23), TMEM18 (P = 3.24 × 10−17), MC4R (P = 4.41 × 10−17), TNNI3K (P = 4.32 × 10−11), SEC16B (P = 6.24 × 10−9), GNPDA2 (P = 1.11 × 10−8) and POMC (P = 4.94 × 10−8) as well as a potential secondary signal at the POMC locus (rs2118404, P = 2.4 × 10−5 after conditioning on the established single-nucleotide polymorphism at this locus) in adolescents and young adults. To evaluate the impact of the established genetic loci on BMI at these young ages, we examined differences between the effect sizes of 32 published BMI loci in European adult populations (aged 18–90) and those observed in our adolescent and young adult meta-analysis. Four loci (near PRKD1, TNNI3K, SEC16B and CADM2) had larger effects and one locus (near SH2B1) had a smaller effect on BMI during adolescence and young adulthood compared with older adults (P < 0.05). These results suggest that genetic loci for BMI can vary in their effects across the life course, underlying the importance of evaluating BMI at different ages