Vitamin D in liquid food supplements : are labels in line with RDA?

Poster presented at the 4th International Congress of CiiEM - Health, Well-being and Ageing in the XXI Century. 2-5 June 2019, Campus Egas Moniz, Monte de Caparica, PortugalN/

Vitamin D in liquid food supplements: are labels in line with RDA?

Abstract in proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of CiiEM: Health, Well-Being and Ageing in the 21st Century, held at Egas Moniz’ University Campus in Monte de Caparica, Almada, from 3–5 June 2019.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Vitamin D measurement, the debates continue, new analytes have emerged, developments have variable outcomes

The demand for measurement of vitamin D metabolites for clinical diagnosis and to advance our understanding of the role of vitamin D in human health has significantly increased in the last decade. New developments in technologies employed have enabled the separation and quantification of additional metabolites and interferences. Also, developments of immunoassays have changed the landscape. Programmes and materials for assay standardisation, harmonisation and the expansion of the vitamin D external quality assurance scheme (DEQAS) with the provision of target values as measured by a reference measurement procedure have improved standardisation, quality assurance and comparability of measurements. In this article, we describe developments in the measurement of the commonly analysed vitamin D metabolites in clinical and research practice. We describe current analytical approaches, discuss differences between assays, their origin, and how these may be influenced by physiological and experimental conditions. The value of measuring metabolites beyond 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), the marker of vitamin D status, in routine clinical practice is not yet confirmed. Here we provide an overview of the value and application of the measurement of 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D, 24,25 dihydroxyvitamin D and free 25OHD in the diagnosis of patients with abnormalities in vitamin D metabolism and for research purposes

Lead in Residential Water Heaters: An Analysis of Lead Dissolution Kinetics in Non-Ideal Aquatic Environments

Lead dioxide, a lead corrosion product, is an important contributor to residential drinking water contamination. A neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor, lead poses serious human health concerns. Despite previous research on water distribution pipes, lead in water heating and softening systems is unexplored. Standard tank water heaters and water softeners have significantly different aquatic environments compared to distribution pipes, due to increased temperature and ion concentration levels. This research verifies the iodometric method for lead dioxide detection and quantifies total lead and dissolved lead(IV) ions over time in simulated water heater and softener environments. Initial experiments confirmed the iodometric method for lead(IV) and measured absorbance with UV-spectrometry. Another set of experiments quantified the dissolved lead(IV) cation in a filtered lead-water mixture by applying the iodometric method to batch reactors, and varying water source (DI, synthetic tap water), temperature (25, 55°C), and NaCl concentration (0.175, 0.584 g/L). Furthermore, each sample was analyzed by ICP-OES to determine the concentration of elemental lead present. The iodometric method resulted in an 80% recovery of dosed lead over one hour. Dissolved lead(IV) ion, conversely, had very little recovery after a week in each batch reactor. Overall, the iodometric method is an accurate and rapid tool for quantifying and comparing dissolution kinetics of total lead dioxide. In contrast, at the temperatures and ionic strength levels investigated, lead(IV) cations may exist in such low concentrations that iodometry may not be an accurate detection method. Future research should consider additional lead species for complete lead dissolution models of water heating and softening systems

Determinants of Fertility among Women of Childbearing Age in North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

AIM: This study aims to determine the determinants associated with the productivity of women of childbearing age in North Sulawesi Province. METHODS: The research design used is an analytic study with a cross-sectional approach. This research uses the raw data of the North Sulawesi Province Program Performance and Accountability Survey (SKAP) of 2019. The sample of this study was all women of childbearing age (15–49 years), married and unmarried in North Sulawesi Province based on the SKAP raw data of 2019, totaling 1454 women of childbearing age. The variables in this study consisted of independent and dependent variables. The independent variables in this study were age, education, marital status, the ideal number of children, decision using contraception, age at first sexual intercourse, and contraceptive use in women of childbearing age. RESULTS: Fertility with >2 children is 349 people (24.01%). There is a significant relationship between age, education, marital status, ideal number of children, the decision to use contraception, age at first sexual intercourse, and use of contraception on fertility with p < 0.05. The multivariate test showed that ideal children (odds ratio [OR] 5.555), age (OR 5.619), age at first sexual intercourse (OR 9,486), and use of contraception (OR 0.450). CONCLUSION: The age of sexual intercourse had the most significant influence on the fertility of women of childbearing age with an OR of 9.486. This indicates that the age at sexual intercourse in women of childbearing age will affect fertility 10 times compared to other variables, namely, the ideal number of children, age, and use of family planning

Valley formation and methane precipitation rates on Titan

Branching valley networks near the landing site of the Huygens probe on Titan imply that fluid has eroded the surface. The fluid was most likely methane, which forms several percent of Titan's atmosphere and can exist as a liquid at the surface. The morphology of the valley networks and the nature of Titan's surface environment are inconsistent with a primary valley formation process involving thermal, chemical, or seepage erosion. The valleys were more likely eroded mechanically by surface runoff associated with methane precipitation. If mechanical erosion did occur, the flows must first have been able to mobilize any sediment accumulated in the valleys. We develop a model that links precipitation, open-channel flow, and sediment transport to calculate the minimum precipitation rate required to mobilize sediment and initiate erosion. Using data from two monitored watersheds in the Alps, we show that the model is able to predict precipitation rates in small drainage basins on Earth. The calculated precipitation rate is most sensitive to the sediment grain size. For a grain diameter of 1–10 cm, a range that brackets the median size observed at the Huygens landing site, the minimum precipitation rate required to mobilize sediment in the nearby branching networks is 0.5–15 mm hr^(−1). We show that this range is reasonable given the abundance of methane in Titan's atmosphere. These minimum precipitation rates can be compared with observations of tropospheric cloud activity and estimates of long-term methane precipitation rates to further test the hypothesis that runoff eroded the valleys

Perkembangan Pradewasa Dan Kemampuan Hidup Predator Verania Lineata Thurnberg (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Pada Tanaman Padi Varietas Rojolele Transgenik

The use of transgenic varieties on the agricultural production system may provide some agronomical benefits. However, uses of transgenic variety have raised some debates about their potential negative impact on the environment, such as on the decreasing of natural enemies. To study the impact of transgenic variety to the natural enemies, study was conducted on larvae development, and the survival of predatoral insect (V. lineata) on the transgenic Rojolele rice variety. Test was conducted at the laboratory of Molecular Biology, Research Centre for Biotechnology of Indonesian Institute of Science, from January to October 2009. Completely randomized design with 8 treatments and 30 replications were employed. The treatments were transgenic Rojolele rice as follow: 4.2.3-28-15-2-7 and 4.2.4-21-8-16-4 lines contained fusion of two cry genes (cryIB-cryIAa). The 3R9-8-28-26-2 and 3R7-8-15-2-7 lines contained mpi::cryIB gene, the T9-6.11-420 line contained cryIAb gene obtained by particle bombardment, DTcry (azygous) is a segregate and does not contain cry gene (null), DTcry-13 line contained cryIAb gene by Agrobacterium, and non transgenic rice (Rojolele variety). Results showed that there were differences of larvae development and survival of insect predator V. lineata fed on the among transgenic rice lines. On transgenic line T9-6.11-420 and on DTcry-13 line the life time, developmental stages, the number eclosion of adult female, adult insect weight, and survival of the preimaginal and the adult of insect predator were consistently low. On the transgenic line 4.2.3-28-15-2-7; 3R9-8-28-26-2; and 3R7-8-15-2-7 each had no consistent effect on the larvae development and the survival of insect predator. DTcry (azygous) line had no effect on the larvae development and the survival of insect predator. Whereas transgenic line 4.2.4-21-8-16-4 had an effect on the adult weight of insect predator

Characterization of Microbial Populations in Landfill Leachate

In the United States, municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills remain a potential mining source of recoverable materials, including but not limited to critical, precious, and rare earth metals found in electronic waste. This is possible due to collectible leachate that filters through MSW landfills, carrying metals, nutrients of value, and microbes—some of which may hold key metal bioleaching properties—within. The purpose of this study is to begin analyzing leachate from MSW landfills in the American Midwest to understand the composition of microbial communities within these landfills. Landfill leachate samples sourced in northern Indiana, representing the landfill process during unique times of operation, were used in this study. Culture-independent studies, utilizing both DNA extraction and PCR for communities of archaea, bacteria, and fungi, were performed on leachate samples. Current results indicate that in 6 of 11 samples, both bacterial and archaeal DNA were likely present, while 1 additional sample yielded only amplified archaeal DNA, and 1 more yielded only amplified bacterial DNA. This implies the presence of both archaea and bacteria which may hold metal bioleaching capabilities. Follow-up research will involve analyzing other Midwestern leachate samples, identifying landfill microbes with metal bioleaching properties, and developing a way to integrate these microbes with membrane filtration and other physico-chemical processes to improve recovery of important metals from leachate