Natural lip function in wind instrument players

The lip strength, lip muscle activity, pressure from the lips on the teeth and the morphology of the face and the dentition were studied in professional wind instrument players. Twelve trumpeters and twelve clarinetists, aged 19-55 years, were compared with a control group of dental students. The lip strength was measured with a dynamometer. Electromyographic measurements of the lip muscle activity and recordings of the pressure from the lips on the front teeth were made in the rest position, during chewing and speech and during playing of the instrument. The morphology was studied with x-ray cephalometry and on dental casts. There were practically no differences between the two groups of musicians or in relation to the control group. Thus, the musicians had the same lip strength, the same muscle activity of the lips and the same pressure from the lips on the teeth during natural functions as did the control group. The pressure from the soft tissues on the teeth during playing of the instrument was considerably greater than during natural lip function but no effect on bite morphology was discernibl

Stakeholder-Management im Politiknetzwerk der Energiewende : Herausforderungen für die Führung öffentlicher Organisationen

Die Erfolgsvoraussetzungen für das strategische Management öffentlicher Organisationen haben sich grundlegend verändert. Im Gewährleistungsstaat der vernetzten Kommunikationsgesellschaft sind die Grenzen zwischen einer öffentlichen Organisation und ihrer Umwelt nicht mehr klar zu ziehen: Zahlreiche Akteure mit unterschiedlichsten Interessen bestimmen über die Handlungs- und Entscheidungsspielräume öffentlicher Organisationen massgeblich mit. Dies zeigt sich am Beispiel des dynamischen Politikfeldes der Energiewende: Gerade in Zeiten grundlegender Veränderungen wird für die Führung öffentlicher Organisationen das strategische Stakeholder-Management zu einem Schlüsselfaktor des Erfolgs. Allerdings ist dieses für Führungskräfte öffentlicher Organisationen mit grossen Herausforderungen verbunden: Wie können sie den langfristigen Erfolg ihrer Organisationen in einem Umfeld unzähliger heterogener Stakeholder, die miteinander vernetzt sowie in Interessen- und Zielkonflikten gefangen sind, auf strategischer Ebene sicherstellen? Wie können in einer komplexen und dynamischen Stakeholder-Umwelt, deren Akteure allgegenwärtig und permanent auf verschiedensten medialen Plattformen kommunizieren, die öffentlichen Aufgaben und Zielsetzungen im Spannungsfeld von unternehmerischen und gesellschaftlichen Interessen erfüllt werden? Und wie kann die dazu notwendige Legitimation in demokratischen Prozessen laufend sichergestellt werden? Dieses Working Paper erläutert die genannte Stakeholder-Problemstellung am Beispiel öffentlicher Organisationen im Politikfeld der Energiewende: Es reflektiert unterschiedliche Konzepte des Stakeholder-Managements, verortet diese in Theorien der Betriebswirtschaftslehre wie auch der Verwaltungs-, Politik- und Kommunikationswissenschaften und dokumentiert anhand einer explorativen, nicht repräsentativen Online-Umfrage die Herausforderungen des Stakeholder-Managements in der Energiewende aus Sicht von Führungskräften öffentlicher Organisationen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Umfrage deuten darauf hin, dass es in der Management-Praxis an angemessenen Modellen für die Bewältigung der Herausforderungen fehlt. Dieses Working Paper plädiert entsprechend für eine transdisziplinäre Forschung auf diesem Gebiet

Health risk assessment along wastewater recovery and reuse systems in Kampala, Uganda and Hanoi, Vietnam

Background: Reuse and recovery of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture has gained traction in the new millennium. In view of continued population growth, increasing scarcity of freshwater and other natural resources, the demand to boost food production and efforts to enhance wastewater reuse will increase in the years to come. Indeed, wastewater reuse and the recovery of water, nutrients and energy can generate promising business opportunities and support livelihoods in poor communities, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Contact with untreated wastewater is associated with microbial and chemical hazards and thus might negatively affect human health. Standardised, quality-controlled methods to assess and manage health risks are available, such as those described in the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater. However, the practicability and uptake of these methods have proved difficult in LMICs. There is a paucity of context-specific, quality-based environmental pollution data, epidemiological data and accurate disease burden estimates for highly dynamic environments along wastewater recovery and reuse systems in major urban settings, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Moreover, discharge thresholds and health-based targets need to be reviewed to match the realities of LMICs. Objectives: This PhD thesis aims to generate evidence of health risks among people living and working along wastewater and faecal sludge management and reuse systems in Kampala, Uganda, a low-income African city, and in Hanoi, Vietnam, a lower-middle-income Asian city. By comparing relevant conditions in these two systems, the thesis seeks to: (i) generate evidence on microbial and chemical contamination and treatment capacities along wastewater management systems; (ii) assess prevalence and risk factors of intestinal parasitic infections in different population groups exposed to wastewater and faecal sludge; (iii) estimate the burden of gastrointestinal infections due to the exposure to wastewater; and (iv) discuss and compare risk assessment approaches and their potential for application along wastewater recovery reuse systems in selected LMICs. Research partnership: This PhD thesis is embedded in the “Resource Recovery and Reuse” (RRR) project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Our main partner in this collaborating endeavour is WHO, while other international partners include the International Water Management Institute, the International Centre for Water Management Services, and the Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. In Uganda, we closely work with the Makerere School of Public Health, the Vector Control Division of the Ministry of Health and the National Water and Sewerage Corporation. In Hanoi, our main partner is the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research at Hanoi School of Public Health. Moreover, we closely work with the Department of Parasitology at the National Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and the National Institute of Veterinary Research. Methods: Two accordant case studies were carried out along the major wastewater recovery and reuse systems in Kampala (along the Nakivubo channel) between September and December 2013 and in Hanoi (along the To Lich River) between April and June 2014. A methodological triangulation was performed, including (i) an environmental assessment; (ii) a cross-sectional survey; and (iii) a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). In brief, the environmental assessment entailed different standard analyses to observe the variance of microbial contamination (thermotolerant coliforms (TTC), Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and helminths (e.g. Ascaris and hookworm eggs) in water at critical control points over a period of two months. In addition, in Kampala, a range of physico-chemical parameters and heavy metal contamination in sediment, soil and plants were measured. Cross-sectional parasitological surveys were conducted to assess intestinal parasitic infections in different population groups (aged ≥18 years) exposed to wastewater and faecal sludge such as sanitation workers, urban farmers and community members living in proximity to wastewater channels. Moreover, comparison groups without exposure to wastewater were included. Stool samples were subjected to the Kato-Katz and formalin-ether concentration methods for the diagnosis of helminth and intestinal protozoa infections. A questionnaire was administered to all participants to identify self-reported signs and symptoms and risk factors for intestinal parasite infections. The QMRA methodology was applied to different scenarios of exposure to wastewater (e.g. farming, flooding of living area, living in informal communities and swimming). Pathogenic strains of norovirus, rotavirus, Campylobacter spp., pathogenic E. coli, pathogenic Salmonella spp., Cryptosporidium spp. and Ascaris lumbricoides were used to estimate annual incidence of gastrointestinal illness and the resulting disease burden. Results: The environmental assessment revealed high concentrations of bacteria along the major wastewater channels in Kampala and Hanoi (e.g. between 105 and 107 colony forming unit (CFU) per 100 mL). In Kampala, along the Nakivubo channel, the concentration of TTC, biological oxygen demand5 (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) were 2- to 3-fold higher, when compared with data reported in 2008. Moreover, contamination of bacteria measured in water of the Nakivubo wetland, where urban farming takes place, was above national discharge standards and WHO’s tolerable safety limits for unrestricted irrigation. In Hanoi, the To Lich River water used in wastewater-fed agriculture fields in peri-urban areas showed (beside applied treatment in retention ponds) mean contamination with total coliforms (TC), E. coli and Salmonella spp. of 1.3 × 107, 1.1 × 106 CFU/100 mL and 108 most probable number (MPN)/100 mL, respectively. These values are 110-fold above the Vietnam discharge limits for agriculture reuse and even 260-fold above WHO’s tolerable safety limits for unrestricted irrigation. In both cities, the issue of faecal sludge collection is challenged by the provision of formal and adequate collection services, disposal and reuse solutions. Moreover, industrial pollution is a major issue, while registration and the source control of industries and effluents is lacking, leading to elevated concentration of various heavy metals in the environment. The cross-sectional survey in Kampala included 915 individuals and revealed that the highest point-prevalence of intestinal parasite infections was found among urban farmers (75.9%), whereas the lowest point-prevalence was found among workers collecting faecal sludge (35.8%). Hookworm was the predominant helminth species (27.8%). Trichuris trichiura, Schistosoma mansoni, A. lumbricoides, and Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar showed prevalence rates of 15% and above among urban farmers. For all investigated parasite infections, we found significantly higher odds for urban farmers than for the other groups (adjusted odds ratios ranging between 1.6 and 12.9). In Hanoi, the cross-sectional survey included 681 individuals and showed lower point-prevalence rates of intestinal parasite infections than in Kampala. The highest point-prevalence rate of parasitic infection was found among rural farmers (30.2%), with hookworm and T. trichiura being the predominant helminth species (24.8% and 5.4%, respectively). For intestinal parasite infections, we found significantly higher odds for rural farmers than for other groups (adjusted odds ratios 5.8, 95% confidence interval 2.5 to 13.7). For Kampala, the QMRA estimated an annual disease burden across all 18,204 exposed people of 304,3 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Disease burden per person per year (pppy) was highest among urban farmers, sanitation workers and children in slum communities (0.073, 0.040 and 0.017 DALYs, respectively). For Hanoi, QMRA estimated an annual disease burden across 7,125 exposed people of 62.7 DALYs. Disease burden pppy was highest in urban farmers (0.0122 DALYs pppy), followed by sanitation workers (0.006 DALYs pppy) and rural farmers (0.0004 DALYs pppy). Conclusions: The findings from this 3-year PhD thesis make an important contribution for a deeper understanding of the nexus of urban wastewater recovery and reuse systems, wastewater pollution and their implications for public health in the context of a major East African and Southeast Asian city. In both cities, and besides considerable differences in applied infrastructures, wastewater treatment capacities are insufficient for reducing the levels of microbial and chemical contamination to tolerable levels that would allow for safe reuse in agriculture. Major health risks were observed along both wastewater recovery and reuse systems. Children living in informal communities in Kampala are at very high risk of gastrointestinal diseases, especially due to rotavirus, and pathogenic E. coli and Salmonella spp. Epidemiological survey estimates revealed that urban farmers using wastewater were especially vulnerable for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis in Kampala, whereas the high risk for urban farmers in Hanoi was only evident by means of QMRA. Indeed, for urban farmers, QMRA estimates were as high as 0.073 and 0.011 DALYs pppy in Kampala and Hanoi, respectively. These estimates are several thousand-fold above the revised WHO health-based targets and 7 and 6 times higher than the estimates made by the Global Burden of Disease study 2010 for an average Ugandan and Vietnamese, respectively. It is argued that the current health-based targets should be set according to local reference levels (e.g. to estimates made by the Global Burden of Disease study 2010). Promoting sanitation safety planning while combining evidence generated from environmental surveys, epidemiological surveys and QMRA can contribute to the understanding of existing systems and hazards along critical control points to better evaluate further investments in infrastructure and coordinate actions to protect public health. Considering the increasing attention to wastewater in the framework of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), more integrated studies using sanitation safety planning approaches are needed to generate sufficient understanding of reuse situations in rapidly changing urban contexts to minimise detrimental health effects and maximise gains from the recovered water, nutrients and energy in urban areas of LMICs

Stakeholder-Management im Netzwerk politischer Kommunikation : Forschung für ein integriertes Führungsmodell im öffentlichen Sektor

Die Voraussetzungen für das Management der Beziehungen zwischen öffentlichen Organisationen und ihren Stakeholdern haben sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten tiefgreifend verändert. In der «Welt-Kommunikationsgesellschaft» und ihrer Public Governance ist vernetzte Kommunikation zum Schlüssel des Erfolgs im Stakeholder-Management geworden. Praktische Verfahrensweisen halten mit den Herausforderungen aber nicht Schritt. Zugänge der transdisziplinären Forschung könnten genutzt werden, um ein integriertes Führungsmodell in diesem Bereich zu entwickeln.The conditions for the management of relations between public organizations and their stakeholders have changed profoundly in recent decades. Within the framework of the communicatively constituted "world society" and its public governance, network communication has become a key factor for future success in stakeholder management. However, practical procedures do not keep up with these challenges. Features of transdisciplinary research could be used to develop an integrated management model for the field

Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) and male reproductive health: challenging the future with a double-edged sword

Approximately 9% of couples are infertile, with half of these cases relating to male factors. While many cases of male infertility are associated with genetic and lifestyle factors, approximately 30% of cases are still idiopathic. Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) denote substances identified in the environment for the first time or detected at low concentrations during water quality analysis. Since CEC production and use have increased in recent decades, CECs are now ubiquitous in surface and groundwater. CECs are increasingly observed in human tissues, and parallel reports indicate that semen quality is continuously declining, supporting the notion that CECs may play a role in infertility. This narrative review focuses on several CECs (including pesticides and pharmaceuticals) detected in the nearshore marine environment of False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, and deliberates their potential effects on male fertility and the offspring of exposed parents, as well as the use of spermatozoa in toxicological studies. Collective findings report that chronic in vivo exposure to pesticides, including atrazine, simazine, and chlorpyrifos, is likely to be detrimental to the reproduction of many organisms, as well as to sperm performance in vitro. Similarly, exposure to pharmaceuticals such as diclofenac and naproxen impairs sperm motility both in vivo and in vitro. These contaminants are also likely to play a key role in health and disease in offspring sired by parents exposed to CECs. On the other side of the double-edged sword, we propose that due to its sensitivity to environmental conditions, spermatozoa could be used as a bioindicator in eco- and repro-toxicology studies

Current use pesticides in soil and air from two agricultural sites in South Africa: implications for environmental fate and human exposure

Concerns about the possible negative impacts of current use pesticides (CUPs) for both the environment and human health have increased worldwide. However, the knowledge on the occurrence of CUPs in soil and air and the related human exposure in Africa is limited. This study investigated the presence of 30 CUPs in soil and air at two distinct agricultural sites in South Africa and estimated the human exposure and related risks to rural residents via soil ingestion and inhalation (using hazard quotients, hazard index and relative potency factors). We collected 12 soil and 14 air samples over seven days during the main pesticide application season in 2018. All samples were extracted, purified and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. In soils, nine CUPs were found, with chlorpyrifos, carbaryl and tebuconazole having the highest concentrations (up to 63.6, 1.10 and 0.212 ng g(-1), respectively). In air, 16 CUPs were found, with carbaryl, tebuconazole and terbuthylazine having the highest levels (up to 25.0, 22.2 and 1.94 pg m(-3), respectively). Spatial differences were observed between the two sites for seven CUPs in air and two in soils. A large dominance towards the particulate phase was found for almost all CUPs, which could be related to mass transport kinetics limitations (non-equilibrium) following pesticide application. The estimated daily intake via soil ingestion and inhalation of individual pesticides ranged from 0.126 fg kg(-1) day(-1) (isoproturon) to 14.7 ng kg(-1) day(-1) (chlorpyrifos). Except for chlorpyrifos, soil ingestion generally represented a minor exposure pathway compared to inhalation (i.e. <5%). The pesticide environmental exposure largely differed between the residents of the two distinct agricultural sites in terms of levels and composition. The estimated human health risks due to soil ingestion and inhalation of pesticides were negligible although future studies should explore other relevant pathways

Temporal variation of pesticide mixtures in rivers of three agricultural watersheds during a major drought in the Western Cape, South Africa

South Africa is the leading pesticide user in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about the occurrence of pesticide mixtures in surface water and potential environmental risks in Africa. This study investigated the occurrence of pesticides mixtures in three watersheds during a drought year in South Africa. The study was conducted in the Krom River, Berg River and Hex River watersheds within larger agriculture systems in the Western Cape. Pesticide spray records were collected from 38 farms. A total of 21 passive water samplers (styrenedivinylbenzene disks (SDB)) were deployed, each for two weeks per month, over seven sampling rounds during the main pesticide application period between July 2017 and January 2018. Samples were analyzed for 248 pesticide compounds using LC-HR-MS/MS. Pesticide occurrence was analyzed for temporal agreement with pesticide spraying events (Cohen's kappa) and correlation with rainfall patterns and river discharge (Pearson correlation (r p )). Pesticide time-weighted average concentrations were estimated and compared to environmental quality standards (EQS). According to the farm spray records, 96 different pesticides were sprayed during the sampling period and differed considerably between the three study areas, seasons and crops grown. In total, 53 compounds were detected in river water. We detected 39% of compounds from the spraying records and demonstrated close temporal correlations of seasonal patterns for 11 pesticide compounds between reported on spraying records and observations in the streams (kappa = 0.90). However, 23 detected pesticides were not found on spray records, many of them being herbicides. Most of the estimated two-week average pesticide concentrations were below 40 ng/L. The insecticides imidacloprid, thiacloprid, chlorpyrifos and acetamiprid and the herbicide terbuthylazine exceeded at least once their EQS 58-fold (EQS 13 ng/L), 12-fold (EQS 10 ng/L), 9-fold (EQS 0.46 ng/L), 5-fold (EQS 24 ng/L) and 3-fold (EQS 220 ng/L), respectively. Our study substantially widens the view on pesticide pollution in surface water compared to previous studies in Sub-Saharan Africa by targeting more than 200 pesticides using passive sampling systems. This broad assessment revealed the presence of 53 compounds, some of them in high concentrations, indicating possible adverse effects on biota and the quality of the ecosystem. Whether the observed concentration levels in the year 2017 were exceptional due to the lowest ever recorded rainfall and river discharge needs to be tested with additional data to better understand how pesticide pollution levels manifest under average rainfall and river discharge conditions

Interventions to reduce pesticide exposure from the agricultural sector in Africa: A workshop report

Despite the fact that several cases of unsafe pesticide use among farmers in different parts of Africa have been documented, there is limited evidence regarding which specific interventions are effective in reducing pesticide exposure and associated risks to human health and ecology. The overall goal of the African Pesticide Intervention Project (APsent) study is to better understand ongoing research and public health activities related to interventions in Africa through the implementation of suitable target-specific situations or use contexts. A systematic review of the scientific literature on pesticide intervention studies with a focus on Africa was conducted. This was followed by a qualitative survey among stakeholders involved in pesticide research or management in the African region to learn about barriers to and promoters of successful interventions

Association of activities related to pesticide exposure on headache severity and neurodevelopment of school-children in the rural agricultural farmlands of the Western Cape of South Africa

OBJECTIVE: Children and adolescents living in agricultural areas are likely to be exposed to mixtures of pesticides during their daily activities, which may impair their neurodevelopment. We investigated various such activities in relation to headache severity and neurodevelopment of school-children living in rural agricultural areas in the Western Cape of South Africa. METHOD: We used baseline date from 1001 school-children of the Child Health Agricultural Pesticide Cohort Study in South Africa (CapSA) aged 9-16 from seven schools and three agriculture areas in the Western Cape. Questionnaires were administrated to assess activities related to pesticide exposure and health symptoms addressing four types of activities: 1) child farm activities related to pesticide handling, 2) eating crops directly from the field, 3) contact with surface water around the field, and 4) seen and smelt pesticide spraying activities. Neurocognitive performance across three domains of attention, memory and processing speed were assessed by means of an iPad-based cognitive assessment tool, Cambridge Automated NeuroPsychological Battery (CANTAB). Headache severity was enquired using a standard Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) tool. Cross-sectional regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: About 50% of the cohort report to have ever been engaged in activities related to pesticide exposure including farm activities, eating crops directly from the field and leisure activities. Headache severity score was consistently increased in relation to pesticide-related farm activities (score increase of 1.99; 95% CI: 0.86, 3.12), eating crops (1.52; 0.41, 2.67) and leisure activities of playing, swimming or bathing in nearby water (1.25; 0.18, 2.33). For neurocognitive outcomes, an overall negative trend with pesticide exposure-related activities was observed. Among others, involvement in pesticide-related farm activities was associated with a lower multi-tasking accuracy score (-2.74; -5.19, -0.29), while lower strategy in spatial working memory (-0.29; -0.56; -0.03) and lower paired associated learning (-0.88; -1.60, -0.17) was observed for those who pick crops off the field compared to those who do not pick crops off the field. Eating fruits directly from the vineyard or orchard was associated with a lower motor screening speed (-0.06; -0.11, -0.01) and lower rapid visual processing accuracy score (-0.02; -0.03, 0.00). CONCLUSIONS: Children who indicate activities related to pesticide exposure may be at higher risk for developing headaches and lower cognitive performance in the domains of attention, memory and processing speed. However, self-reported data and cross-sectional design are a limitation. Future research in CapSA will consider pesticide exposure estimations via urinary biomarkers and longitudinal assessment of cognitive functions