The determinants of obesity rates: A municipal-level Empirical Analysis

The purpose of this study is to determine the determinants of obesity rates across metropolitan areas in the United States. Using Ordinary least squares analysis, this study examines the significance of 14 independent variables on the percentage of population overweight and /or obese for 127 metropolitan areas in the United States. Results suggest that income is a significant determinant of obesity rates. Obesity rates increase significantly for metropolitan areas with lower average median incomes. The study also finds that policy variables such as physical education requirements in schools and BMI information collected from children have a significant effect on the percentage of adults overweight in a given metropolitan area. These policy variables did not have a significant effect on obesity rates. With this, this paper suggests that the best way to fight obesity is by increasing median income

The road to net zero: the role of transition plans and forward-looking indicators in portfolio management

Rationale This article offers a general description of the road towards an economy with zero net emissions (net zero), stressing the importance of this process in portfolio management. To this end, it reviews several of the initiatives currently under way, and details the aspects needed to prepare a transition plan and how key metrics in this context are constructed. Takeaways •The transition towards climate neutrality or net-zero goals affects every sector of the economy, including, on the finance side, investment and asset management. Collectively, individual goals will enable the ultimate global goal to be met. This will call for detailed planning, as well as the implementation of strategies integrating climate and environmental risk management. •The process of setting goals and designing transition plans is currently at the stage of development and adoption by the investment and portfolio management sector, as well as by financial institutions and other firms. •The availability of reliable, comparable data is one of the main challenges in this area. This is the key ingredient for defining and setting goals, and also for designing forward-looking metrics to track the progress made in achieving them

The impact of molluscicides on enzyme activities in the hepatopancreas of Deroceras reticulatum (Müller)

The influence of three commercial molluscicide pellets, Cloethocarb, Mesurol, and Spiess Urania 2000, on the activities of six enzymes in the hepatopancreas of Deroceras reticulatum were investigated by light and electron microscope histochemisty as well as by photometric studies. In the digestive cells, enzymes catalyzing energy-producing digestive processes (non-specific esterases and acid phosphatases) are induced, while, in the crypt cells, enzymes related to energy-consuming metabolic pathways often involved in detoxification (alkaline phosphatase, and NADPH-neotetrazoliumreductase) are activated

Ultrastructural changes in the digestive tract of Deroceras reticulatum (Müller) induced by a carbamate molluscicides and by metaldehyde

Electron microscope investigations reveal different reactions of cells in the digestive tract of Deroceras reticulatum to intoxication with carbamate or metaldehyde molluscicides. All enterocytes are more strongly attacked by the carbamate compound Mesurol than by metaldehyde. The better efficiency of Mesurol is primarily attributed to its severe impact on nuclei, leading to other cell damage and finally to an increased macrophage reaction. Metaldehyde leaves the enterocyte functions more or less intact except for that of mucus cells. It activates mucus extrusion immediately after the onset of intoxication. This mucus serves to dilute the toxin, which passes through the digestive tract and is voided. The severe attack of metaldehyde on the immature mucus cells results in cessation of mucus production, leading to a fatal mucus deficiency in the digestive tract

The importance of mucus production in slugs' reaction to molluscicides and the impact of molluscicides on the mucus producing system

In Deroceras reticulatum, mucus cell ultrastructure and the histochemistry of the epidermis and the digestive tract epithelia were shown to be influenced by carbamate and metaldehyde, two molluscicides used as both contact and oral toxins. After carbamate poisoning mucus production is increased and the chemical composition of the slime is modified. Ultrastructural damage is less intense than after metaldehyde poisoning. After metaldehyde application mucus secretion is activated immediately and the production of mucus is prevented by the severe effect of this chemical, especially on undifferentiated mucus cells

Weitergehende Abwasserreinigung: Ein wirksames und bezahlbares Instrument zur Verminderung von Spurenstoffen und Keimen im Wasserkreislauf

Gemeinsamer Schlussbericht der vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung sowie vom Ministerium für Umwelt, Klima und Energiewirtschaft Baden-Württemberg geförderten Projekte SchussenAktiv, SchussenAktivplus und SchussenAktivplus

Impact of a Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade on Amphipods and Other Macroinvertebrates: Individual and Community Responses

In the present study, we investigated the efficiency of additional wastewater treatment based on powdered activated carbon and its benefit for the ecosystem of a connected river system in the catchment area of Lake Constance, Southern Germany. We focused on the overall health status of gammarids and the integrity of the macrozoobenthic community. Samples were taken up- and down-stream of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), as well as before and after its upgrading. The investigations showed that both sex ratio and fecundity of gammarids, as well as the macrozoobenthic community were affected by the effluent prior to the WWTP upgrade. After the upgrade, gammarids from the downstream site did not differ any longer from those collected upstream of the WWTP with respect to the investigated health parameters. Furthermore, the overall number of taxa and, particularly, the number of sensitive taxa within the macrozoobenthic community downstream of the WWTP increased considerably. Therefore, we conclude that the additional treatment with powdered activated carbon was highly efficient to improve invertebrate health and community integrity

Impact of the Antidiabetic Drug Metformin and Its Transformation Product Guanylurea on the Health of the Big Ramshorn Snail (Planorbarius corneus)

Pharmaceuticals can enter surface waters via sewage treatment plants. In the environment, the substances and their transformation products, formed by the degradation of the parent compounds, can affect aquatic wildlife, including freshwater invertebrates. However, research on pharmaceutical-induced effects in wild freshwater organisms other than fish is still scarce. In our study, we investigated the impact of the highly consumed antidiabetic drug metformin and its main transformation product, guanylurea, on the health of a freshwater gastropod—the big ramshorn snail (Planorbarius corneus) by analysing its biochemical and cellular stress responses and apical parameters. The snails were exposed to different concentrations of the drug (0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/L) and its transformation product (0, 0.1, 10, and 100 mg/L). The examined parameters were mortality, weight, tissue integrity of the hepatopancreas, and the levels of stress proteins and lipid peroxides. Mortality and the levels of stress proteins and lipid peroxides were not influenced by the two substances. In response to the highest concentrations of both chemicals, the weight of the snails was slightly but not significantly reduced. The histopathological investigation of the hepatopancreas revealed a significant effect of guanylurea at a concentration of 100 mg/L with an increased number of symptoms of cellular responses in the tissue (e.g., dilated lumen, disturbed compartmentation of the digestive cells, nucleus deformation, hyperplasia, and hypertrophy of crypt cells). For the parent compound, a similar trend was also observed for the highest concentration. Overall, the observed effects did not occur at environmentally relevant concentrations, but at concentrations which were 10,000 times higher than these. Thus, the results did not give rise to a major concern that metformin and guanylurea could pose a risk to the big ramshorn snail in the environment

Toxicological and ecotoxicological risk‐based prioritization of pharmaceuticals in the natural environment

Approximately 1500 active pharmaceutical ingredients are currently in use; however, the environmental occurrence and impacts of only a small proportion of these have been investigated. Recognizing that it would be impractical to monitor and assess all pharmaceuticals that are in use, several previous studies have proposed the use of prioritization approaches to identify substances of most concern so that resources can be focused on these. All of these previous approaches suffer from limitations. In the present study, the authors draw on experience from previous prioritization exercises and present a holistic approach for prioritizing pharmaceuticals in the environment in terms of risks to aquatic and soil organisms, avian and mammalian wildlife, and humans. The approach considers both apical ecotoxicological endpoints as well as potential nonapical effects related to the therapeutic mode of action. Application of the approach is illustrated for 146 active pharmaceuticals that are used either in the community or in hospital settings in the United Kingdom. Using the approach, 16 compounds were identified as a potential priority. These substances include compounds belonging to the antibiotic, antidepressant, anti‐inflammatory, antidiabetic, antiobesity, and estrogen classes as well as associated metabolites. In the future, the prioritization approach should be applied more broadly around the different regions of the world. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;9999:1–10. © 2016 SETA