The impact of greeting personalization on prevalence estimates in a survey of sexual assault victimization

Although personalized invitations tend to increase response rates in web surveys, little is known about how personalization impacts data quality. To evaluate the impact of personalization on survey estimates of sensitive items, the effects of personalized and generic greetings in a survey (n = 9,673) on an extremely sensitive topic-sexual assault victimization-were experimentally compared. Personalization was found to have increased response rates with negligible impact on victimization reporting, and this impact was similar across most demographic groups. The findings suggest that future studies may benefit from the use of a personalized greeting when recruiting sample members to participate in a sensitive survey, but that further research is necessary to better understand how the impact of personalization on reporting may differ across some demographic groups

Particulate matter from both heavy fuel oil and diesel fuel shipping emissions show strong biological effects on human lung cells at realistic and comparable in vitro exposure conditions

Background: Ship engine emissions are important with regard to lung and cardiovascular diseases especially in coastal regions worldwide. Known cellular responses to combustion particles include oxidative stress and inflammatory signalling. Objectives: To provide a molecular link between the chemical and physical characteristics of ship emission particles and the cellular responses they elicit and to identify potentially harmful fractions in shipping emission aerosols. Methods: Through an air-liquid interface exposure system, we exposed human lung cells under realistic in vitro conditions to exhaust fumes from a ship engine running on either common heavy fuel oil (HFO) or cleaner-burning diesel fuel (DF). Advanced chemical analyses of the exhaust aerosols were combined with transcriptional, proteomic and metabolomic profiling including isotope labelling methods to characterise the lung cell responses. Results: The HFO emissions contained high concentrations of toxic compounds such as metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and were higher in particle mass. These compounds were lower in DF emissions, which in turn had higher concentrations of elemental carbon (“soot”). Common cellular reactions included cellular stress responses and endocytosis. Reactions to HFO emissions were dominated by oxidative stress and inflammatory responses, whereas DF emissions induced generally a broader biological response than HFO emissions and affected essential cellular pathways such as energy metabolism, protein synthesis, and chromatin modification. Conclusions: Despite a lower content of known toxic compounds, combustion particles from the clean shipping fuel DF influenced several essential pathways of lung cell metabolism more strongly than particles from the unrefined fuel HFO. This might be attributable to a higher soot content in DF. Thus the role of diesel soot, which is a known carcinogen in acute air pollution-induced health effects should be further investigated. For the use of HFO and DF we recommend a reduction of carbonaceous soot in the ship emissions by implementation of filtration devices

Estrutura da comunidade de Chlorococcales sensu lato (Chlorophyceae) em diferentes hábitats aquáticos e hidroperíodos Structure of the Chlorococcales sensu lato (Chlorophyceae) community in different aquatic habitats and hydroperiods

Este estudo visa avaliar a riqueza, a densidade, a diversidade específica e a distribuição da comunidade de Chlorococcales s.l. em zonas pelágicas e litorâneas de diferentes hábitats aquáticos (lagoas isoladas, lagoas interligadas, banhados, açudes e arroios) em dois hidroperíodos (águas altas e baixas) em região subtropical no sul do Brasil. As amostragens de fitoplâncton foram realizadas em duas áreas, situadas entre as coordenadas 30(0)40´ - 30(0)10´ S e 50(0)30´ - 51(0)31´W no ano de 2003, com a obtenção simultânea de dados de temperatura, condutividade, pH, transparência e profundidade da água. Os resultados revelaram que as médias de riqueza e de diversidade específica foram maiores na zona litorânea e significativamente maiores (p<0,02) nos banhados, em relação aos outros hábitats. As médias de densidade foram também significativamente maiores nos banhados (p<0,03), no período de águas baixas (p<0,04) e em mais altas temperaturas de água (>24°C). Dentre os táxons observados, Desmodesmus heteracanthus (Guerr.) Hentschke et Torgan, D. lunatus (W. et G. S. West) Hegew. e Monoraphidium griffithii (Berk.) Kom-Legn., mostraram-se indicadoras de hábitats e D. armatus (Chod.) Hegew., D. denticulatus (Lagerh.) An, Friedl et Hegew. e D. lunatus foram indicadoras de hidroperíodo. Este estudo demonstra a importância do hábitat e do hidroperíodo, na estrutura da comunidade de Chlorococcales s.l.<br>This study aims to evaluate richness, density specific diversity and distribution of the Chlorococcales s.l. community in pelagic and littoral zones of different aquatic habitats (isolated lagoons, interlinked lagoons, swamps, reservoirs and streams) during two hydroperiods (high and low water) in a subtropical region in Southern Brazil. Phytoplankton sampling was carried out in two areas, situated within the coordinates 30(0)40´ - 30(0)10´ S and 50(0)30´ - 51(0)31´ W, in 2003 with simultaneous information on temperature, conductivity, pH, transparency and depth of water. The results showed that richness and specific diversity averages were higher in the littoral zone and significantly higher (p<0.02) in swamps in contrast to other habitats. Density averages were also significantly higher in swamps (p<0.03), during low water periods (p<0.04) and at warmer water temperatures (>24°C). Among the observed taxa Desmodesmus heteracanthus (Guerr.) Hentschke & Torgan, D. lunatus (W. et G. S. West) Hegew. and Monoraphidium griffithii (Berk.) Kom-Legn. were habitat indicators and D. armatus (Chod.) Hegew., D. denticulatus (Lagerh.) An, Friedl et Hegew. and D. lunatus were hydroperiod indicators. This study shows the importance of habitats and hydroperiods for Chlorococcales s.l. community structure