Treatment technologies of fresh market wastewater

Fresh Market Wastewater (FMWW) is rich with high amounts of suspended solids, organic and inorganic compounds, nutrients, gases and some elements which come from fish entrails and seafood preparation sales, meat cutting, poultry slaughtering, fruits and vegetables sales. The excess of these parameters are harmful to the aquatic life since the FMWW is usually discharged into the drainage systems without any treatment or partial treatment. The FMWW technologies are developed due to some technical factors influencing the designation and construction. There are several projects of fresh market treatment technologies used on site area in small scale which could be replicated to other fresh market, and some case study have been tested in laboratory batch experiments. All the projects exhibited an efficiency to reduce critical parameters in FMWW and give positive impacts to the locals and responsible parties

A comparative analysis of the diet of the long-beaked common dolphin (<i>Delphinus capensis</i>) with three other small cetaceans from coastal Peru. Scientific Committee document SC/56/SM2, International Whaling Commission, July 2004, Sorrento, Italy

The diet of long-beaked common dolphin Delphinus capensis, dusky dolphin Lagenorhynchus obscurus, Burmeister’s porpoise Phocoena spinipinnis, and bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus, was determined based on 281 stomach contents collected along the Peruvian central coast and San Juan de Marcona in the period 1987-1993. Counts of otoliths, squid beaks and some other remains were used to estimate frequency of occurrence and prey percentage of composition (PC). Long-beaked common dolphins (n=117) fed mainly on fish (98.71% of preys), the remainder was composed of squids and crustaceans: Peruvian anchovies Engraulis ringens (PC= 71.14%), Vincigerria lucetia (7.89%), Lampanictus parvicauda (6.77%), Merluccius gayi (4.49%), Odontesthes regia (3.54%), Mictophum nitidulum (2.62%) and Trachurus picturatus (1.42%). Dusky dolphins (n=66) consumed E. ringens (49.8%, 16.9%), L. parvicauda (23.6%, 0.1%), T. picturatus (17.1%, 0%), Normachthys crockery (0%, 76.4%), V. lucetia (3.5%, 0.1%), and Sardinops sagax (2.8%, 0 %) off the central Peruvian coast and San Juan de Marcona, respectively. In the same areas, Burmeister’s porpoise (n=67) fed on anchovies (90.37%, 81.89%), O. regia (6.64%, 0%), Anchoa sp. (1.13%, 0%), N. crockery (0%, 8.53%) and M. gayi (0.65%, 8.4%). Bottlenose dolphins (n=22) consumed L. parvicauda (39.24%), Sphiraena sp. (13.48%), S. sagax (13.31%), Prionotus sp. (9.59%), M. gayi (7.43%), T. picturatus (4.41%) and E. ringens (4.06%). The use of the Shannon & Wiener, Levins and Czekanowski’s indexes in combination with the feeding patterns of the sampled species indicated an opportunistic feeding strategy with respect to their preys. The four cetacean species studied are predators of both pelagic and mesopelagic large schooling fish species, and demonstrate no selectivity towards prey species but towards social behaviour and habitat. An average linkage cluster analysis showed high levels of similarity in the diets of the studied cetaceans. This low diversification and a high degree of overlap in trophic niches is probably related to the high productivity of the Peruvian upwelling ecosystem

Time-restricted feeding and metabolic outcomes in a cohort of Italian adults

Background: research exploring the effects of food timing and frequency on health and disease is currently ongoing. While there is an increasing body of scientific literature showing the potential health benefits of intermittent fasting (IF) in laboratory settings and in animals, studies regarding IF on humans are limited. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the relationship between the feeding/fasting time window and metabolic outcomes among adult individuals. Methods: dietary and demographic data of 1936 adult subjects living in the south of Italy were examined. Food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) were administered to determine the period of time between the first and the last meal of a typical day. Subjects were then divided into those with a time feeding window lasting more than 10 h, within 8 h (TRF-8) and within 10 h. Results: after adjustment for potential confounding factors related to eating habits (such as adherence to the Mediterranean diet, having breakfast/dinner), TRF-10 was inversely associated with being overweight/obese (OR = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.07), hypertension (OR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.45), and dyslipidemias (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.63), while TRF-8 only with being overweight/obese (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.15) and hypertension (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.60). No associations were found with type-2 diabetes. Conclusions: individuals with a restricted feeding time window were less likely to be overweight, obese and hypertensive. Further studies are needed to clearly validate the results of the present study

Total nut, tree nut, and peanut consumption and metabolic status in southern Italian adults

Background: Nut consumption has been associated with cardio-metabolic health benefits. However, studies conducted in the Southern Italian population, where adherence to the Mediterranean diet has been reported being relatively high, are rather scarce. The aim of this study was to test the association between consumption of total and specific types of nuts and metabolic status among adults living in Sicily, Southern Italy. Methods: Demographic and dietary characteristics of 2044 adults living in Southern Italy were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the association between nut consumption and metabolic status adjusting for potential confounding factors. Results: The energy-adjusted model revealed that higher nut intake was inversely associated with occurrence of hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia. However, the association did not remain significant for the latter after adjusting for the main background characteristics, while an inverse association was stably confirmed for hypertension (OR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.46–0.80 and OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.26–0.74, respectively) even after adjusting for adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Among individual nut types, most of the associations were null except for higher almond intake, which was inversely associated with occurrence of hypertension (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.49–0.99). Conclusions: Higher nut consumption is associated with overall better metabolic status in individuals living in the Mediterranean area

Common bottlenose dolphins <i>Tursiops truncatus</i> of Pacific South America, asynoptic review of population identification data. Report of the IWC Scientific Committee Meeting SC/67A/SM/10, Bled, Slovenia, May 2017

We succinctly summarize population ID information for common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus of the Pacific coast of South America, covering four coastal range states. Phylogenetic uncertainties relate primarily to offshore vs. coastal (inshore) ecotypes and biogeographic borders between the five proposed populations (2 offshore, 3 coastal): Colombia-Ecuador Offshore stock (probably = ETP Offshore), Peru-Chile Offshore, Ecuador Coastal, Peru Coastal and an unique community (Pod-R) on the north-central coast of Chile. Main questions concern the extent of gene flow between the offshore stocks at one hand, and with -and between- the three coastal populations at the other hand. Seven cranial characters, four non-metric (separation of occipital condyles, pterygoid bone development, exostosis of periotic) and three metric (tooth width, antorbital process length, maximum width palatines), dorsal fin shape, body stockiness, mt-DNA (control region), habitat, prey composition, parasite load, behaviour and prevalence of some infectious diseases differentiate coastal from offshore forms. 'Pod-R' is the southernmost (29°15'S) and only confirmed coastal form community in Chilean waters, albeit with an offshore (falcate) dorsal fin. Bottlenose dolphins which regularly transit nearshore in the Lagos and Aysén regions (Chilean Patagonia) and occasionally enter deep fjords, present an offshore morphotype. We suggest that two other coastal areas in Chile where bottlenose dolphins have been documented over decades, one a ca. 60 km stretch of coastline centered at Valparaiso/Laguna Verde (33°10'S) in central Chile, and a 190 km coastline around the Mejillones Peninsula (23°10'S) in northern Chile, may not host coastal but offshore form animals. The continental border of the Atacama Trench off northern and northcentral Chile leaves an extremely narrow, steep shelf with nearshore deep water, locally with strong coastal upwelling and increased productivity. This habitat seems to attract oceanic cetaceans, including offshore T. truncatus, sperm whales, large balaenopterids, and other species. The southern distribution range of true coastal morphotype bottlenose dolphins in Pacific South America remains unknown but off Chile distance-to-shore may not be the reliable indicator of ecotype as it is further north in the study region

Dietary Inflammatory Index and Sleep Quality in Southern Italian Adults

Background: Current evidence supports the central role of a subclinical, low-grade inflammation in a number of chronic illnesses and mental disorders; however, studies on sleep quality are scarce. The aim of this study was to test the association between the inflammatory potential of the diet and sleep quality in a cohort of Italian adults. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data of the Mediterranean healthy Eating, Aging, and Lifestyle (MEAL) study was conducted on 1936 individuals recruited in the urban area of Catania during 2014-2015 through random sampling. A food frequency questionnaire and other validated instruments were used to calculate the dietary inflammatory index (DII (R)) and assess sleep quality (Pittsburg sleep quality index). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between exposure and outcome. Results: Individuals in the highest quartile of the DII were less likely to have adequate sleep quality (odds ratio (OR) = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.78). Among individual domains of sleep quality, an association with the highest exposure category was found only for sleep latency (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.93). Conclusions: The inflammatory potential of the diet appears to be associated with sleep quality in adults. Interventions to improve diet quality might consider including a dietary component that aims to lower chronic systemic inflammation to prevent cognitive decline and improve sleep quality

Clinical and neurocognitive predictors of functional outcome in depressed patients with partial response to treatment: one year follow-up study

Background: Cognitive dysfunction represents a distinct biological and clinical dimension in major depression disorders (MDD) and cognitive performance strongly affects psychosocial functioning in patients diagnosed with MDD. Objective: To assess which neurocognitive variables at baseline predict the functional outcome of MDD patients in a 1-year follow-up study as assessed by Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST) and whether the improvement observed on affective and cognitive symptoms in our 12 week-prospective observational study after treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and selective noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) can affect the following long-term psychosocial functional outcome at 1 year in the same MDD patients. Methods: We recruited a total of 31 patients (8 males; 23 females) with MDD who had previously completed a pharmacological treatment with SSRIs (n = 22) or SNRIs (n = 9) for 12 weeks, and then continued the same pharmacological treatment for 1 year. After an average 1-year follow-up, they were interviewed with the FAST to assess functional outcome. Multivariate analyses were applied to identify clinical and neurocognitive predictors of functional outcome. Results: Total Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Digit Span forward (Span F) and backward (Span B), and 15 Rey words immediate recall (Rey I) scores significantly correlated with FAST. However, after performing regression models only Rey immediate recall score was useful to predict long-term functional outcome (Pearson correlation coefficient R= -0.68, p < 0.001) in four specific subdomains of FAST. When considering changes in affective and cognitive symptoms at the end of the 12 weeks of pharmacological treatment with SSRI or SNRIs (T1-T0) by multiple regression analysis, we found that Span F-test predicted scores in the FAST leisure domain, whereas, changes in Span F, Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) and Rey I predicted psychosocial functioning in the specific 'cognitive' subdomains of FAST. Conclusion: Our data suggest that long-term psychosocial functioning can be influenced by neurocognitive performance at baseline, with verbal memory playing a key role in overall functioning. Furthermore, improvement in verbal memory can predict functional outcome at one year in MDD patients with a recent history of partial response to antidepressants