Effect of Carbonate Chemistry Alteration on the Early Embryonic Development of the Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas)

Ocean acidification, due to anthropogenic CO2 absorption by the ocean, may have profound impacts on marine biota. Calcareous organisms are expected to be particularly sensitive due to the decreasing availability of carbonate ions driven by decreasing pH levels. Recently, some studies focused on the early life stages of mollusks that are supposedly more sensitive to environmental disturbances than adult stages. Although these studies have shown decreased growth rates and increased proportions of abnormal development under low pH conditions, they did not allow attribution to pH induced changes in physiology or changes due to a decrease in aragonite saturation state. This study aims to assess the impact of several carbonate-system perturbations on the growth of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) larvae during the first 3 days of development (until shelled D-veliger larvae). Seawater with five different chemistries was obtained by separately manipulating pH, total alkalinity and aragonite saturation state (calcium addition). Results showed that the developmental success and growth rates were not directly affected by changes in pH or aragonite saturation state but were highly correlated with the availability of carbonate ions. In contrast to previous studies, both developmental success into viable D-shaped larvae and growth rates were not significantly altered as long as carbonate ion concentrations were above aragonite saturation levels, but they strongly decreased below saturation levels. These results suggest that the mechanisms used by these organisms to regulate calcification rates are not efficient enough to compensate for the low availability of carbonate ions under corrosive conditions

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Imposex in Hexaplex trunculus at some sites of the north Mediterranean coast as a baseline for future evaluation of the effectiveness of the total ban of organotin based antifouling paints.

Imposex \u2013 the superimposition of male sexual organs (penis and vas deferens) onto female Neogastropods such as Hexaplex trunculus (Linne\ub4 , 1758) \u2013 is used world-wide as a biomarker of ecological impact of organotin based antifouling biocides (TBT and TPhT). To limit the impact of organotin pollution, since January 1, 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has enacted a global ban on the use of organotin compounds in antifouling systems. It is important to record imposex levels and organotin contamination before the implementation of the ban, in order to assess the current situation and be able, in the future, to verify the effects of the International Protocol. In this paper, recent imposex data measured in populations of Hexaplex trunculus from three different Mediterranean regions are compared: the Ligurian Sea (Italy), the Lagoon of Venice (Italy) and the western coast of Istria (Croatia). In the two former locations, a partial ban on TBT has been in force for vessels less than 25 m since 1982, while in the latter region no restrictions on organotin antifouling paints have been applied yet. Gastropod samples collected from the Venice lagoon were analysed with an acid extraction followed by Grignard derivatisation, clean up and GC-MS determination, in order to relate the levels of TBT, TPhT and their metabolites with the imposex degree detected. Biological data show that the levels of imposex were very high (VDS from 4.3 to 5) in all the sampling sites considered, particularly in the Croatian coast stations. The concentrations of organotin compounds \u2013 butyltins and phenyltins \u2013 measured in the samples from the lagoon of Venice were found to partition differently in the visceral coil and in the rest of the soft body of the analysed organisms.Imposex - the superimposition of male sexual organs (penis and vas deferens) onto female Neogastropods such as Hexaplex trunculus (Linne, 1758) - is used world-wide as a biomarker of ecological impact of organotin based antifouling biocides (TBT and TPhT). To limit the impact of organotin pollution, since January 1, 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has enacted a global ban on the use of organotin compounds in antifouling systems. It is important to record imposex levels and organotin contamination before the implementation of the ban, in order to assess the current situation and be able, in the future, to verify the effects of the International Protocol. In this paper, recent imposex data measured in populations of Hexaplex trunculus from three different Mediterranean regions are compared: the Ligurian Sea (Italy), the Lagoon of Venice (Italy) and the western coast of Istria (Croatia). In the two former locations, a partial ban on TBT has been in force for vessels less than 25 m since 1982, while in the latter region no restrictions on organotin antifouling paints have been applied yet. Gastropod samples collected from the Venice lagoon were analysed with an acid extraction followed by Grignard derivatisation, clean up and GC-MS determination, in order to relate the levels of TBT, TPhT and their metabolites with the imposex degree detected. Biological data show that the levels of imposex were very high (VDS from 4.3 to 5) in all the sampling sites considered, particularly in the Croatian coast stations. The concentrations of organotin compounds - butyltins and phenyltins - measured in the samples from the lagoon of Venice were found to partition differently in the visceral coil and in the rest of the soft body of the analysed organisms

Imposex in Hexaplex trunculus at some sites of the north Mediterranean coast as a baseline for future evaluation of the effectiveness of the total ban of organotin based antifouling paints.

Imposex - the superimposition of male sexual organs (penis and vas deferens) onto female Neogastropods such as Hexaplex trunculus (Linne, 1758) - is used world-wide as a biomarker of ecological impact of organotin based antifouling biocides (TBT and TPhT). To limit the impact of organotin pollution, since January 1, 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has enacted a global ban on the use of organotin compounds in antifouling systems. It is important to record imposex levels and organotin contamination before the implementation of the ban, in order to assess the current situation and be able, in the future, to verify the effects of the International Protocol. In this paper, recent imposex data measured in populations of Hexaplex trunculus from three different Mediterranean regions are compared: the Ligurian Sea (Italy), the Lagoon of Venice (Italy) and the western coast of Istria (Croatia). In the two former locations, a partial ban on TBT has been in force for vessels less than 25 m since 1982, while in the latter region no restrictions on organotin antifouling paints have been applied yet. Gastropod samples collected from the Venice lagoon were analysed with an acid extraction followed by Grignard derivatisation, clean up and GC-MS determination, in order to relate the levels of TBT, TPhT and their metabolites with the imposex degree detected. Biological data show that the levels of imposex were very high (VDS from 4.3 to 5) in all the sampling sites considered, particularly in the Croatian coast stations. The concentrations of organotin compounds - butyltins and phenyltins - measured in the samples from the lagoon of Venice were found to partition differently in the visceral coil and in the rest of the soft body of the analysed organisms

Sulphur-Containing Compounds as a Response in Sea Urchins Exposed to Alkylated Silicon Nanocrystals and SiO2-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

We report the effects of exposure to alkylated silicon nanocrystals (‘alkyl-SiNCs’ at concentration ~ 7.2 mg/L) and -Fe2O3 nanoparticles coated with ultra-thin silica (‘SiO2-coated IONPs’ at concentration ~ 150 mg/L) on sea urchins Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula, respectively, studied with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscpoies using excitation from a synchrotron light source. A remarkably low mortality and low incidence of skeletal deformation is observed for exposure to both types of nanoparticles studied, despite the high concentrations employed in this work. XRF mapping demonstrates that both types of nanoparticle are found to agglomerate in the body of the sea urchins. FTIR spectra indicates that alkyl-SiNCs remain intact after ingestion and corresponding XRF maps show increased an oxygen throughout the organisms, possibly related to oxidation products arising from reactive oxygen species generated in the presence of the nanoparticles. Exposure to SiO2-coated IONPs is found to produce sulphur-containing species, which may be the result of a biological response in order to reduce the toxicity of the nanomaterial