Intrauterine environments and breast cancer risk: meta-analysis and systematic review

INTRODUCTION: Various perinatal factors, including birth weight, birth order, maternal age, gestational age, twin status, and parental smoking, have been postulated to affect breast cancer risk in daughters by altering the hormonal environment of the developing fetal mammary glands. Despite ample biologic plausibility, epidemiologic studies to date have yielded conflicting results. We investigated the associations between perinatal factors and subsequent breast cancer risk through meta-analyses. METHODS: We reviewed breast cancer studies published from January 1966 to February 2007 that included data on birth weight, birth order, maternal age, gestational age, twin status, and maternal or paternal smoking. Meta-analyses using random effect models were employed to summarize the results. RESULTS: We found that heavier birth weights were associated with increased breast cancer risk, with studies involving five categories of birth weight identifying odds ratios (ORs) of 1.24 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04 to 1.48) for 4,000 g or more and 1.15 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.26) for 3,500 g to 3,999 g, relative to a birth weight of 2,500 to 2,599 g. These studies provided no support for a J-shaped relationship of birthweight to risk. Support for an association with birthweight was also derived from studies based on three birth weight categories (OR 1.15 [95% CI 1.01 to 1.31] for > or =4,000 g relative to or =3,000 g relative to <3,000 g). Women born to older mothers and twins were also at some increased risk, but the results were heterogeneous across studies and publication years. Birth order, prematurity, and maternal smoking were unrelated to breast cancer risk. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide some support for the hypothesis that in utero exposures reflective of higher endogenous hormone levels could affect risk for development of breast cancer in adulthood

Environmental effects and individual body condition drive seasonal fecundity of rabbits: identifying acute and lagged processes

The reproduction of many species is determined by seasonally-driven resource supply. But it is difficult to quantify whether the fecundity is sensitive to short- or long-term exposure to environmental conditions such as rainfall that drive resource supply. Using 25 years of data on individual fecundity of European female rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, from semiarid Australia, we investigate the role of individual body condition, rainfall and temperature as drivers of seasonal and long-term and population-level changes in fecundity (breeding probability, ovulation rate, embryo survival). We built distributed lag models in a hierarchical Bayesian framework to account for both immediate and time-lagged effects of climate and other environmental drivers, and possible shifts in reproduction over consecutive seasons. We show that rainfall during summer, when rabbits typically breed only rarely, increased breeding probability immediately and with time lags of up to 10 weeks. However, an earlier onset of the yearly breeding period did not result in more overall reproductive output. Better body condition was associated with an earlier onset of breeding and higher embryo survival. Breeding probability in the main breeding season declined with increased breeding activity in the preceding season and only individuals in good body condition were able to breed late in the season. Higher temperatures reduce breeding success across seasons. We conclude that a better understanding of seasonal dynamics and plasticity (and their interplay) in reproduction will provide crucial insights into how lagomorphs are likely to respond and potentially adapt to the influence of future climate and other environmental change.Konstans Wells, Robert B. O’Hara, Brian D. Cooke, Greg J. Mutze, Thomas A.A. Prowse, Damien A. Fordha

Spatial SCBA Alblasserwaard-Vijfheerenlanden. Where is the application of pressure drainage profitable from a societal perspective?

In het Klimaatakkoord zijn afspraken gemaakt om in 2030 de uitstoot van CO2 in de veenweidegebieden van Nederland te verlagen. In deze gebieden wordt het veen drooggelegd, zodat het geschikt is voor land-bouw. Door veengebieden droog te leggen, daalt de bodem en komt er CO2 vrij. Dat komt doordat het veen wordt blootgesteld aan zuurstof en langzaam verbrandt (oxidatie). Nieuwe drainagetechnieken kunnen ervoor zorgen dat er minder CO2 vrijkomt. Een voorbeeld is drukdrainage op landbouwpercelen aan te leggen. Met een ondergronds buizenstelsel kan de grondwaterstand van landbouwpercelen beter worden verhoogd en verlaagd. Door in droge perioden de grondwaterstand te verhogen, komt het veen minder in contact met zuurstof, daalt de bodem minder en komt er minder CO2 vrij. De Alblasserwaard-Vijfheerenlanden is een gebied met bijna 15.000 hec-tare veenweidegebied. In dit gebied zoekt de provincie Zuid-Holland naar een nieuwe balans tussen landbouw, bodemdaling en CO2-uitstoot. Het RIVM heeft uitgerekend of de voordelen van drukdrainage in dit ge-bied opwegen tegen de kosten. Dit blijkt op bijna 4.000 hectare van de Alblasserwaard-Vijfheerenlanden zo te zijn. De bodemdaling vermindert daar door drukdrainage met 50 tot 75 procent, net als de CO2-uitstoot. Ook maakt de maatregel het ge-bied aantrekkelijker voor weidevogels, zoals grutto's, kieviten en schol-eksters. Drukdrainage heeft meer voordelen, zoals minder kosten voor waterzuivering en waterbeheer. Een nadeel van de hogere grondwater-stand is dat er minder gras kan worden geproduceerd. Het RIVM heeft op basis van de analyse een kaart gemaakt die per land-bouwperceel aangeeft wat de voordelen van drukdrainage zijn. De pro-vincie wil als proef 250–500 hectare drukdrainage in het veenweidege-bied gaan aanleggen. Op basis van deze kaart kunnen percelen worden gekozen waar dat het beste kan. De grootste onzekerheden in de bere-keningen zijn de prijs die in de toekomst voor CO2 wordt berekend en de kosten om de drainage aan te leggen en te beheren.In the Netherlands, the Climate Agreement includes measures to reduce CO2 emissions in peat meadow areas by 2030. In these areas, the peat is drained to make it suitable for agriculture. When peatlands are drained the soil subsides while releasing CO2. This occurs because the peat is exposed to oxygen and oxidizes slowly. New drainage techniques can reduce CO2 emission. An example is the installation of pressure drainage on agricultural plots. An underground pipe system allows the groundwater level of agricultural land to be raised and lowered more effectively. Raising the groundwater level dur-ing dry periods will bring the peat into less contact with oxygen, reduce soil subsidence and CO2 emissions. The Alblasserwaard-Vijfheerenlanden is an area with almost 15.000 hec-tares peat meadows. In this area, the province of South Holland is look-ing for a new balance between agriculture, soil subsidence and CO2 emissions. To support this goal, RIVM has calculated whether the bene-fits of pressure drainage in this area outweigh the costs. This appears to be the case for almost 4,000 hectares in the Alblass-erwaard-Vijfheerenlanden region. The use of pressure drainage causes the soil here to subside 50 to 75 percent less, with a corresponding re-duction in CO2 emissions. The measure also makes the area more at-tractive for farmland birds such as black-tailed godwits, lapwings and oystercatchers. Pressure drainage also offers other advantages, such as lower costs for water purification and water management. One disad-vantage of the higher groundwater level is that less grass can be produced. Based on the analysis, RIVM has made a map that shows the ad-vantages of pressure drainage for each agricultural plot on peat soil. As a pilot project, the province wishes to install 250 – 500 hectares of pres-sure drainage in the peatland area. The most appropriate plots can be selected on the basis of this map. The greatest uncertainties in the cal-culations are the price for CO2 that will be calculated in the future and the costs of installing and managing the pressure drainage system

Moderate pollination limitation in some entomophilous crops of Europe (article)

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordThe dataset associated with this article is available in ORE at: https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.2463Pollination services to crops may be worsening because of declines in farmland pollinators, but the consequences for yields have been uncertain. We therefore investigated pollination limitation in four entomophilous crops (oilseed rape, sunflower, pears and pumpkin) by quantifying the difference in harvestable mass between open-pollinated and saturation-pollinated (hand-pollinated) flowers. We also examined whether pollination limitation in the four crops was associated with the number of flower visits by insects. Across 105 commercial fields in six European countries, the average decrease in harvestable mass due to pollination limitation was 2.8 % (SE = 1.15). Among crops, the highest decreases were in sunflowers (8%) and in one of three oilseed rape production regions (6%). We observed substantial variation among crops in the numbers of insect visits received by flowers, but it did not significantly correspond with the levels of pollination limitation. Our results suggest that yields in these crops were not severely pollination-limited in the regions studied and that other factors besides visitation by pollinators influenced the degree of pollination limitation.European Union FP

Moderate pollination limitation in some entomophilous crops of Europe: dataset of field-specific measurements

An Excel spreadsheet in which each worksheet contains the data from 18 focal fields in a particular countryThis spreadsheet displays field-to-field variation in flower density, insect visitation and pollination deficit.The article associated with this dataset is located in ORE at: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/121870This is the dataset used for the Holland et al. (2020) article "Moderate pollination limitation in some entomophilous crops of Europe" published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. European Commissio