Radionuclide Determination In Surface Water Samples By Inductively Coupled Plasma With Sector Field Mass Spectrometry (ICP-SFMS)

The determination of naturally occurring radionuclides in the environment by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry of high resolution (ICP-SFMS) has gained recognition over the last fifteen years, relative to the radiometric techniques, as the result of improvement in instrumental performance, sample introduction equipment and sample preparation. With the increase in instrumental sensitivity, it is now possible to measure ultratrace levels of many radioisotopes.The aim of this work was to determined the natural radionuclides (232Th, 234U, 235U and 238U) in surface water using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Sector Field Mass Spectrometry (ICP-SFMS). The samples were sampling from Lerma river, State of Mexico at february to april 2015. The process of treatment of sample consisted in perform an acid digestion according to the 3015A USEPA method followed of the direct measurement in ICP-SFMS. Results obtained were: a) identify the presence of 232Th, 234U, 235U and 238U isotopes in water, b) isotopic ratios were for 234U/238U=1.133 ± 0.016. ICP-SFMS has gained popularity in the field of radiochemistry, particularly as a method of detection for long lived-actinides

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

SummaryBackground The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Standardizing data reporting in the research community to enhance the utility of open data for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance

SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in wastewater is being rapidly developed and adopted as a public health monitoring tool worldwide. With wastewater surveillance programs being implemented across many different scales and by many different stakeholders, it is critical that data collected and shared are accompanied by an appropriate minimal amount of meta-information to enable meaningful interpretation and use of this new information source and intercomparison across datasets. While some databases are being developed for specific surveillance programs locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, common globally-adopted data standards have not yet been established within the research community. Establishing such standards will require national and international consensus on what meta-information should accompany SARS-CoV-2 wastewater measurements. To establish a recommendation on minimum information to accompany reporting of SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in wastewater for the research community, the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Coordination Network on Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 hosted a workshop in February 2021 with participants from academia, government agencies, private companies, wastewater utilities, public health laboratories, and research institutes. This report presents the primary two outcomes of the workshop: (i) a recommendation on the set of minimum meta-information that is needed to confidently interpret wastewater SARS-CoV-2 data, and (ii) insights from workshop discussions on how to improve standardization of data reporting

Surface indicators are correlated with soil multifunctionality in global drylands

Multiple ecosystem functions need to be considered simultaneously to manage and protect the several ecosystem services that are essential to people and their environments. Despite this, cost effective, tangible, relatively simple and globally relevant methodologies to monitor in situ soil multifunctionality, that is, the provision of multiple ecosystem functions by soils, have not been tested at the global scale. We combined correlation analysis and structural equation modelling to explore whether we could find easily measured, field-based indicators of soil multifunctionality (measured using functions linked to the cycling and storage of soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus). To do this, we gathered soil data from 120 dryland ecosystems from five continents. Two soil surface attributes measured in situ (litter incorporation and surface aggregate stability) were the most strongly associated with soil multifunctionality, even after accounting for geographic location and other drivers such as climate, woody cover, soil pH and soil electric conductivity. The positive relationships between surface stability and litter incorporation on soil multifunctionality were greater beneath the canopy of perennial vegetation than in adjacent, open areas devoid of vascular plants. The positive associations between surface aggregate stability and soil functions increased with increasing mean annual temperature. Synthesis and applications. Our findings demonstrate that a reduced suite of easily measured in situ soil surface attributes can be used as potential indicators of soil multifunctionality in drylands world-wide. These attributes, which relate to plant litter (origin, incorporation, cover), and surface stability, are relatively cheap and easy to assess with minimal training, allowing operators to sample many sites across widely varying climatic areas and soil types. The correlations of these variables are comparable to the influence of climate or soil, and would allow cost-effective monitoring of soil multifunctionality under changing land-use and environmental conditions. This would provide important information for evaluating the ecological impacts of land degradation, desertification and climate change in drylands world-wide.Fil: Eldridge, David J.. University of New South Wales; AustraliaFil: Delgado Baquerizo, Manuel. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; EspañaFil: Quero, José L.. Universidad de Córdoba; EspañaFil: Ochoa, Victoria. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; España. Universidad de Alicante; EspañaFil: Gozalo, Beatriz. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; España. Universidad de Alicante; EspañaFil: García Palacios, Pablo. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; EspañaFil: Escolar, Cristina. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; EspañaFil: García Gómez, Miguel. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Prina, Aníbal. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Bowker, Mathew A.. Northern Arizona University; Estados UnidosFil: Bran, Donaldo Eduardo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Norte. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Carlos de Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Castro, Ignacio. Universidad Experimental Simón Rodríguez; VenezuelaFil: Cea, Alex. Universidad de La Serena; ChileFil: Derak, Mchich. No especifíca;Fil: Espinosa, Carlos I.. Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja; EcuadorFil: Florentino, Adriana. Universidad Central de Venezuela; VenezuelaFil: Gaitán, Juan José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales. Instituto de Suelos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Luján. Departamento de Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Gatica, Mario Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Gómez González, Susana. Universidad de Cádiz; EspañaFil: Ghiloufi, Wahida. Université de Sfax; TúnezFil: Gutierrez, Julio R.. Universidad de La Serena; ChileFil: Guzman, Elizabeth. Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja; EcuadorFil: Hernández, Rosa M.. Universidad Experimental Simón Rodríguez; VenezuelaFil: Hughes, Frederic M.. Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana; BrasilFil: Muiño, Walter. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Monerris, Jorge. No especifíca;Fil: Ospina, Abelardo. Universidad Central de Venezuela; VenezuelaFil: Ramírez, David A.. International Potato Centre; PerúFil: Ribas Fernandez, Yanina Antonia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Romão, Roberto L.. Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana; BrasilFil: Torres Díaz, Cristian. Universidad del Bio Bio; ChileFil: Koen, Terrance B.. No especifíca;Fil: Maestre, Fernando T.. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; España. Universidad de Alicante; Españ

Crk and CrkL adaptor proteins: networks for physiological and pathological signaling

The Crk adaptor proteins (Crk and CrkL) constitute an integral part of a network of essential signal transduction pathways in humans and other organisms that act as major convergence points in tyrosine kinase signaling. Crk proteins integrate signals from a wide variety of sources, including growth factors, extracellular matrix molecules, bacterial pathogens, and apoptotic cells. Mounting evidence indicates that dysregulation of Crk proteins is associated with human diseases, including cancer and susceptibility to pathogen infections. Recent structural work has identified new and unusual insights into the regulation of Crk proteins, providing a rationale for how Crk can sense diverse signals and produce a myriad of biological responses

Mapping development and health effects of cooking with solid fuels in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–18: a geospatial modelling study

Background: More than 3 billion people do not have access to clean energy and primarily use solid fuels to cook. Use of solid fuels generates household air pollution, which was associated with more than 2 million deaths in 2019. Although local patterns in cooking vary systematically, subnational trends in use of solid fuels have yet to be comprehensively analysed. We estimated the prevalence of solid-fuel use with high spatial resolution to explore subnational inequalities, assess local progress, and assess the effects on health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) without universal access to clean fuels. Methods: We did a geospatial modelling study to map the prevalence of solid-fuel use for cooking at a 5 km × 5 km resolution in 98 LMICs based on 2·1 million household observations of the primary cooking fuel used from 663 population-based household surveys over the years 2000 to 2018. We use observed temporal patterns to forecast household air pollution in 2030 and to assess the probability of attaining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target indicator for clean cooking. We aligned our estimates of household air pollution to geospatial estimates of ambient air pollution to establish the risk transition occurring in LMICs. Finally, we quantified the effect of residual primary solid-fuel use for cooking on child health by doing a counterfactual risk assessment to estimate the proportion of deaths from lower respiratory tract infections in children younger than 5 years that could be associated with household air pollution. Findings: Although primary reliance on solid-fuel use for cooking has declined globally, it remains widespread. 593 million people live in districts where the prevalence of solid-fuel use for cooking exceeds 95%. 66% of people in LMICs live in districts that are not on track to meet the SDG target for universal access to clean energy by 2030. Household air pollution continues to be a major contributor to particulate exposure in LMICs, and rising ambient air pollution is undermining potential gains from reductions in the prevalence of solid-fuel use for cooking in many countries. We estimated that, in 2018, 205 000 (95% uncertainty interval 147 000–257 000) children younger than 5 years died from lower respiratory tract infections that could be attributed to household air pollution. Interpretation: Efforts to accelerate the adoption of clean cooking fuels need to be substantially increased and recalibrated to account for subnational inequalities, because there are substantial opportunities to improve air quality and avert child mortality associated with household air pollution. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Estimates, trends, and drivers of the global burden of type 2 diabetes attributable to PM2·5 air pollution, 1990–2019: an analysis of data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Experimental and epidemiological studies indicate an association between exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution and increased risk of type 2 diabetes. In view of the high and increasing prevalence of diabetes, we aimed to quantify the burden of type 2 diabetes attributable to PM2·5 originating from ambient and household air pollution. Methods: We systematically compiled all relevant cohort and case-control studies assessing the effect of exposure to household and ambient fine particulate matter (PM2·5) air pollution on type 2 diabetes incidence and mortality. We derived an exposure–response curve from the extracted relative risk estimates using the MR-BRT (meta-regression—Bayesian, regularised, trimmed) tool. The estimated curve was linked to ambient and household PM2·5 exposures from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019, and estimates of the attributable burden (population attributable fractions and rates per 100 000 population of deaths and disability-adjusted life-years) for 204 countries from 1990 to 2019 were calculated. We also assessed the role of changes in exposure, population size, age, and type 2 diabetes incidence in the observed trend in PM2·5-attributable type 2 diabetes burden. All estimates are presented with 95% uncertainty intervals. Findings: In 2019, approximately a fifth of the global burden of type 2 diabetes was attributable to PM2·5 exposure, with an estimated 3·78 (95% uncertainty interval 2·68–4·83) deaths per 100 000 population and 167 (117–223) disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) per 100 000 population. Approximately 13·4% (9·49–17·5) of deaths and 13·6% (9·73–17·9) of DALYs due to type 2 diabetes were contributed by ambient PM2·5, and 6·50% (4·22–9·53) of deaths and 5·92% (3·81–8·64) of DALYs by household air pollution. High burdens, in terms of numbers as well as rates, were estimated in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. Since 1990, the attributable burden has increased by 50%, driven largely by population growth and ageing. Globally, the impact of reductions in household air pollution was largely offset by increased ambient PM2·5. Interpretation: Air pollution is a major risk factor for diabetes. We estimated that about a fifth of the global burden of type 2 diabetes is attributable PM2·5 pollution. Air pollution mitigation therefore might have an essential role in reducing the global disease burden resulting from type 2 diabetes. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations