Mercury in the Colombian Caribbean: The Bay of Cartagena, A Model in Resilience

The Caribbean Sea in Colombia maybe being subjected to discharges of terrigenous solid waste and with these probably, the natural metallic constituents of the sediments, through the discharges of the Magdalena River since the time of the conquest. With the opening of the Dique canal in the mid-seventeenth century, which linked pipes, swamps, and branches from the Magdalena River to its mouth at the southwestern end of the bay, great changes could be caused from the point of view of mixing the fresh and turbid water of the channel with the clear and marine waters of the bay, which led to the beginning of the deterioration of the coral ecosystems present in the bay. Mercury contamination in the Colombian Caribbean has different origins. Artisanal gold mining has the greatest impact and has generated mercury contamination in many ecosystems, particularly in Bolívar and the Mojana region (department of Sucre and Cordoba). In this study, published information on mercury contamination along the Colombian Caribbean coast is compiled. The concentrations present differences between different areas of the coast. The bay of Cartagena is one of the areas most impacted by this pollutant, mainly due to the discharge of waste from a salt processing plant. Other areas are impacted by mercury, the product of the artisanal exploitation of gold, the discharges as a result of this activity are transported mainly to the Magdalena River, and through the different arms that form the delta, they are deposited in the Colombian Caribbean

Evaluation of seed yield and oil contents in four materials of ricinus communis l.

Four castor materials were evaluated in 2009 in the middle region of Valle del Sinu, Colombia. The variables were phonological development, plant height, seed production and oil yield, in order to determine the best material for commercial purposes. All materials reported high yields of oil seeds and highlighting the commercial genotype Nordestina BRS149, 2.2 t ha-1 seed and 47% oil content. Planting distances were 1.5 x 1.5 m and 2.0 x 2.0 m, with densities of 6,666 and 3,906 plants ha-1, respectively. The plant height, seed productivity and oil yield showed significant differences for the interaction density × material; while comparing each material density, seed production only showed differences. These variables were significantly different between population densities, which shows that the higher the plant height, lower productivity. The planting distance of 2.0 x 2.0 m, provides higher productivity per plant values but seed oil yields were not different between densities. The oil quality parameters were assessed using free fatty acid value, iodine, acidity index, saponification, refraction and specific gravity, found that planting distance does not affect the quality of oil

Evaluation of seed yield and oil contents in four materials of Ricinus communis L.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-family: ";MinionPro-Regular";,";serif";; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">Four castor materials were evaluated in 2009 in the middle region of Valle del Sinu, Colombia. The variables were phonological development, plant height, seed production and oil yield, in order to determine the best material for commercial purposes. All materials reported high yields of oil seeds and highlighting the commercial genotype Nordestina BRS149, 2.2 t ha</span><span style="font-family: ";MinionPro-Regular";,";serif";; font-size: 5.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">-1 </span><span style="font-family: ";MinionPro-Regular";,";serif";; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">seed and 47% oil content. Planting distances were 1.5 x 1.5 m and 2.0 x 2.0 m, with densities of 6,666 and 3,906 plants ha</span><span style="font-family: ";MinionPro-Regular";,";serif";; font-size: 5.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">-1</span><span style="font-family: ";MinionPro-Regular";,";serif";; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: MinionPro-Regular; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">, respectively. The plant height, seed productivity and oil yield showed significant differences for the interaction density × material; while comparing each material density, seed production only showed differences. These variables were significantly different between population densities, which shows that the higher the plant height, lower productivity. The planting distance of 2.0 x 2.0 m, provides higher productivity per plant values but seed oil yields were not different between densities. The oil quality parameters were assessed using free fatty acid value, iodine, acidity index, saponification, refraction and specific gravity, found that planting distance does not affect the quality of oil.</span></p&gt

Primer congreso científico UNACHI 2015.

La Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí (UNACHI), a través de la Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado (VIP), en cumplimiento de su misión, visión y objetivos estratégicos, realiza el Primer Congreso Científico del 5 al 9 de octubre de 2015, con el lema: “Impulsando la cultura, la ciencia y la humanidad”. En atención al Plan Estratégico del Gobierno de la República de Panamá 2015-2019; al Plan Estratégico Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (PENCYT) 2015-2019 de la Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENACYT); al Plan Estratégico Institucional 2013-2018 de la Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí y a las Políticas de Investigación e Innovación de la Universidad, se presenta a la consideración de la comunidad científica universitaria y a la sociedad panameña, los resultados de las investigaciones correspondientes al período académico 2014-2015. Las investigaciones que hoy se presentan, corresponden a trabajos realizados por investigadores procedentes de nuestra institución, de universidades y centros de investigación del país y de investigadores procedentes de países hermanos, quienes comparten con nosotros los productos de sus muchas horas de trabajo realizadas en sus laboratorios, redes temáticas y giras de campo. El Congreso tiene sus antecedentes en los seis encuentros científicos realizados, anualmente en la universidad, desde el año 2009 hasta el año 2014. No obstante, dado el impulso y decidido respaldo de la Magnífica Rectora, Etelvina Medianero de Bonagas, al eje de investigación e innovación y al trabajo realizado por nuestros investigadores, se presentó ante el Consejo Académico N° 11-2015, del 16 de junio de 2015, la propuesta para elevar los encuentros a congreso científico, y que fue aprobada por unanimidad. Se convierte este evento académico, en un reto para la institución y a la vez en una gran oportunidad para el fortalecimiento de la investigación e innovación, al servicio de la sociedad y de los grandes temas de interés nacional. Con mucho agrado se puede señalar que en el Congreso se exponen conferencias magistrales, conferencias cortas, ponencias, mesas redondas, videoconferencias y dos exposiciones fotográficas tituladas: “Nuestros ríos, nuestro futuro” y “La luz en las ciencias”. Por segundo año consecutivo se realiza el reconocimiento al investigador del año; en esta oportunidad se honrará al connotado ambientalista Demetrio Miranda Miranda. Se presentan investigadores nacionales de la Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación; de la Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá; del Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología; de la Universidad de Panamá; del Ministerio de Salud y de la Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí. También se cuenta con investigadores internacionales procedentes de Estados Unidos, Honduras, Costa Rica y de República Dominicana. Los registros de los participantes, en la página web de la universidad, nos indican que durante el congreso se tendrá la participación de investigadores procedentes de las áreas de las ciencias económicas administrativas, de las ciencias de la salud, de las ciencias sociales y humanidades y de las ciencias naturales y exactas, estos últimos en un mayor porcentaje. Atendiendo a sus políticas institucionales, la UNACHI está cimentando las bases de un sistema de investigación e innovación, a través de acciones muy puntuales, las cuales aspiran a convertir a la Institución, en un centro de educación superior de excelencia y a disponer de un conjunto de investigadores de alto nivel. Con este propósito, se ha aprobado en el Consejo Académico, el Reglamento de Investigación e Innovación, donde se establece por primera vez, la figura del investigador a tiempo completo, a fin de impulsar la investigación en todas las áreas del conocimiento humano; se ha firmado un convenio con SENACYT para la reinserción de talentos en el nivel doctoral, a partir del año 2015, con miras a fortalecer la investigación científica y se han incrementado, significativamente, los fondos destinados a los subsidios de las investigaciones de las tesis de licenciatura, de las tesis de maestrías, de las tesis de doctorados y de los docentes investigadores, con proyectos que se encuentran en este momento en revisión por los evaluadores externos

Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundEstimates of demographic metrics are crucial to assess levels and trends of population health outcomes. The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations worldwide has underscored the need for timely estimates to understand this unprecedented event within the context of long-term population health trends. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 provides new demographic estimates for 204 countries and territories and 811 additional subnational locations from 1950 to 2021, with a particular emphasis on changes in mortality and life expectancy that occurred during the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic period.Methods22 223 data sources from vital registration, sample registration, surveys, censuses, and other sources were used to estimate mortality, with a subset of these sources used exclusively to estimate excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2026 data sources were used for population estimation. Additional sources were used to estimate migration; the effects of the HIV epidemic; and demographic discontinuities due to conflicts, famines, natural disasters, and pandemics, which are used as inputs for estimating mortality and population. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate under-5 mortality rates, which synthesised 30 763 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 1365 surveys and censuses, and 80 other sources. ST-GPR was also used to estimate adult mortality (between ages 15 and 59 years) based on information from 31 642 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 355 surveys and censuses, and 24 other sources. Estimates of child and adult mortality rates were then used to generate life tables with a relational model life table system. For countries with large HIV epidemics, life tables were adjusted using independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated via an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys, antenatal clinic serosurveillance, and other data sources. Excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 was determined by subtracting observed all-cause mortality (adjusted for late registration and mortality anomalies) from the mortality expected in the absence of the pandemic. Expected mortality was calculated based on historical trends using an ensemble of models. In location-years where all-cause mortality data were unavailable, we estimated excess mortality rates using a regression model with covariates pertaining to the pandemic. Population size was computed using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model. Life expectancy was calculated using age-specific mortality rates and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were calculated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered values from a 1000-draw posterior distribution.FindingsGlobal all-cause mortality followed two distinct patterns over the study period: age-standardised mortality rates declined between 1950 and 2019 (a 62·8% [95% UI 60·5–65·1] decline), and increased during the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020–21; 5·1% [0·9–9·6] increase). In contrast with the overall reverse in mortality trends during the pandemic period, child mortality continued to decline, with 4·66 million (3·98–5·50) global deaths in children younger than 5 years in 2021 compared with 5·21 million (4·50–6·01) in 2019. An estimated 131 million (126–137) people died globally from all causes in 2020 and 2021 combined, of which 15·9 million (14·7–17·2) were due to the COVID-19 pandemic (measured by excess mortality, which includes deaths directly due to SARS-CoV-2 infection and those indirectly due to other social, economic, or behavioural changes associated with the pandemic). Excess mortality rates exceeded 150 deaths per 100 000 population during at least one year of the pandemic in 80 countries and territories, whereas 20 nations had a negative excess mortality rate in 2020 or 2021, indicating that all-cause mortality in these countries was lower during the pandemic than expected based on historical trends. Between 1950 and 2021, global life expectancy at birth increased by 22·7 years (20·8–24·8), from 49·0 years (46·7–51·3) to 71·7 years (70·9–72·5). Global life expectancy at birth declined by 1·6 years (1·0–2·2) between 2019 and 2021, reversing historical trends. An increase in life expectancy was only observed in 32 (15·7%) of 204 countries and territories between 2019 and 2021. The global population reached 7·89 billion (7·67–8·13) people in 2021, by which time 56 of 204 countries and territories had peaked and subsequently populations have declined. The largest proportion of population growth between 2020 and 2021 was in sub-Saharan Africa (39·5% [28·4–52·7]) and south Asia (26·3% [9·0–44·7]). From 2000 to 2021, the ratio of the population aged 65 years and older to the population aged younger than 15 years increased in 188 (92·2%) of 204 nations.InterpretationGlobal adult mortality rates markedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, reversing past decreasing trends, while child mortality rates continued to decline, albeit more slowly than in earlier years. Although COVID-19 had a substantial impact on many demographic indicators during the first 2 years of the pandemic, overall global health progress over the 72 years evaluated has been profound, with considerable improvements in mortality and life expectancy. Additionally, we observed a deceleration of global population growth since 2017, despite steady or increasing growth in lower-income countries, combined with a continued global shift of population age structures towards older ages. These demographic changes will likely present future challenges to health systems, economies, and societies. The comprehensive demographic estimates reported here will enable researchers, policy makers, health practitioners, and other key stakeholders to better understand and address the profound changes that have occurred in the global health landscape following the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and longer-term trends beyond the pandemic

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundFuture trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050.MethodsUsing forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline.FindingsIn the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]).InterpretationGlobally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions.FundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.</p