Human Health Risk Assessment For Arsenic: A Critical Review

Millions of people are exposed to arsenic resulting in a range of health implications.This paper provides an up-to-date review of the different sources of arsenic (water, soil and food), indicators of human exposure (biomarker assessment of hair, nail, urine and blood), epidemiological and toxicological studies on carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health outcomes, and risk assessment approaches. The review demonstrates a need for more work evaluating the risks of different arsenic species such as; arsenate, arsenite monomethylarsonic acid, monomethylarsonous acid, dimethylarsinic acid and dimethylarsinous acid as well as a need to better integrate the different exposure sources in risk assessments

Comparing lumbo-pelvic kinematics in people with and without back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Clinicians commonly examine posture and movement in people with the belief that correcting dysfunctional movement may reduce pain. If dysfunctional movement is to be accurately identified, clinicians should know what constitutes normal movement and how this differs in people with low back pain (LBP). This systematic review examined studies that compared biomechanical aspects of lumbo-pelvic movement in people with and without LBP. Methods. MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, AMI, CINAHL, Scopus, AMED, ISI Web of Science were searched from inception until January 2014 for relevant studies. Studies had to compare adults with and without LBP using skin surface measurement techniques to measure lumbo-pelvic posture or movement. Two reviewers independently applied inclusion and exclusion criteria, and identified and extracted data. Standardised mean differences and 95% confidence intervals were estimated for group differences between people with and without LBP, and where possible, meta-analyses were performed. Within-group variability in all measurements was also compared. Results: The search identified 43 eligible studies. Compared to people without LBP, on average, people with LBP display: (i) no difference in lordosis angle (8 studies), (ii) reduced lumbar ROM (19 studies), (iii) no difference in lumbar relative to hip contribution to end-range flexion (4 studies), (iv) no difference in standing pelvic tilt angle (3 studies), (v) slower movement (8 studies), and (vi) reduced proprioception (17 studies). Movement variability appeared greater for people with LBP for flexion, lateral flexion and rotation ROM, and movement speed, but not for other movement characteristics. Considerable heterogeneity exists between studies, including a lack of detail or standardization between studies on the criteria used to define participants as people with LBP (cases) or without LBP (controls). Conclusions: On average, people with LBP have reduced lumbar ROM and proprioception, and move more slowly compared to people without LBP. Whether these deficits exist prior to LBP onset is unknown

Internal marketing systems for basic foodstuffs and Government Involvement in the Central Region of Ghana (1970-1973)

In the past decade or so there has been emphasis on increase in agriculture production in Ghana while ignoring the fact that the extra production may not reach the consumer because of marketing and distribution problems the alleged inefficient way in which intermediaries (private) tend to handle produce. To overcome this problem, corporations like the Ghana Food Distribution and the Grains Board were set up as corporations under the Ministry of Agriculture. The principle objectives of the above-named corporations to keep down the prices of basic foodstuffs and ensuring their regular supply are far from realisation. We cannot simply argue that even though agricultural output has increased the drastic cut in imports of agricultural produce and products from abroad causes prices of commodities to increase. We can only say that if total production of produce has in fact increased by 30% as is maintained in certain circles, this should offset the cut in imports since the relative increase in domestic production is higher than the relative decrease in imports. Ceteris paribus the relative prices of produce should be on the downward trend. The inefficient way in which the main government food distribution organisation goes about its marketing has much to do with this. For one thing, there has not been adequate preparation for marketing the relative increase in food production. Suggested improvements in the organisational set-up of the corporation have so far ended up in the lockers of some officials without any follow-up. This is partly due to over-centralisation at the national headquarters of the corporation and the constant counter-measures of the Ministry of Agriculture under rwhich this corporation falls. A relative-increase in produce which-may not actually benefit-agroallied processing industries or final consumerscl-early calls for a systematic study of human and non-human factors which influence the smooth flow of commodities. There is often total confusion (due to lack of basic marketing information) among government or non-government agencies as to what really constitutes the marketing problem. All the information which is systematically available on marketing are the wholesale and retail price information given by the Ministry of Agriculture's Economic and Marketing-Divisions. Further, systematic information on the basic structure or types of intermediaries who operate within the market is not available. As has been recently pointed out - while some maintain that transportation is the main bottleneck, others believe that the main impediment is the system of private intermediaries. This assertion lends support to our statement that marketing problems have not yet been idelntified, let alone studied

Effect of Late Season Precipitation on Cotton Yield Distributions

Understanding the impact of late season precipitation on the distribution of cotton yields provides insight into managing yield risks. This research combines Linear Moment Models with historical weather data to assess the impact of late season precipitation extremes on cotton production and revenue. The empirical analysis suggests that late season drought reduces both mean yield and variance. The shift in variance is coupled with an exchange of upside risk for downside risk implying that the variance reduction alone masks an important effect on producer’s risk. Revenue impacts suggest high revenue for irrigated acreage as compared to dryland acreage, and the late season drought impact on revenue shows that the use of irrigation causes increases in revenue as compared to dryland acreage

Effect of Late Season Precipitation on Cotton Yield

Recent changing climate causes reduction in yield. We estimate impact of drought and wet climate on mean, variance, upside and downside risk of Mississippi county level cotton yield data using Moment Based Maximum Entropy framework of Tack et al. (2012). Results suggest that mean effects are rather small, but there is a considerable reallocation of risk across the tails of the distribution. Results will inform producers risk management