Aquacultural Effluents: Directive Signals to the System Downstream?

Animals continuously release biogenic substances that vary in composition with physiological state. In aquatic systems, animals can gain insight about conditions or events upstream and alter their physiology and behavior to exploit this information. Here, we review observations on aquatic animals as diverse as snails, shrimp, fish, and frog tadpoles to probe the possibility that high-density aquaculture might generate chemical messages that cause conspecific or related individuals to reduce productive processes (growth, metamorphosis, ecdysis, reproduction) or even to sicken and die (loss of immunocompetence, anaphylaxis). The potential for ecological disruption logically is maximized under conditions that uncouple the parts of the system generating and receiving such signals—as would be the case when aquacultural effluents enter natural aquatic systems.     

环境内分泌干扰物对水生甲壳动物的影响

水生甲壳动物在水生态系统和环境安全评价中居于重要的地位,它们对存在于水中的外源化合物的影响非常敏感。在这些化合物中,环境内分泌干扰物是一类能够干扰动物正常生理过程的外源化合物,因此探讨环境内分泌干扰物对甲壳动物的性别分化、繁殖以及蜕皮的影响和相应的机理很有必要。     

Oral HPV Infection and Sexuality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Women

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the main risk factor for cervical cancers and is associated with close to 36% of oropharyngeal cancers. There is increasing evidence that oral HPV transmission is related to sexual behavior but to our knowledge studies that involve women who have sex with women have not been performed. We examined the prevalence of oral HPV according to sexual behavior among a population-based sample of 118 women and have made some inferences of possible predictors of oral HPV infection. Women were categorized as heterosexual (history of vaginal sex and/or oral sex with males only, n = 75), bisexual (history of vaginal sex and oral sex with females, n = 32) and other (no history of vaginal sex but oral sex with females [homosexuals], virgins and women with incomplete sexual exposure data, n = 11) The prevalence of oral HPV infection was 12/118 (10.2%) for the overall study population and was not significantly different between heterosexual and bisexual women (10.7% (8/75) vs. 12.5% (4/32), p = 0.784). There was no oral HPV detected among homosexual women, virgins or among women where sexual exposure was unknown. Never smokers were more likely to be oral HPV+ compared to former smokers (Adjusted Odds Ratio (Adj OR) = 0.1, 95% CI, 0.0-1.1) and there was no difference in risk between never smokers and current smokers (Adj OR = 0.7, 95% CI, 0.1-4.6). Twenty-five percent (3/12) of oral HPV+ women had a history of HPV and/or genital warts compared to 9% (10/106) of oral HPV-women (p = 0.104). For the women with a history of vaginal sex (n = 110), oral HPV status was statistically significantly different according to oral sex exposure (p = 0.039). A higher proportion of oral HPV-positive women reported that they had no history of oral sex exposure compared to oral HPV-negative women (4/12, 33% vs. 7/98, 8%). The prevalence of cervical HPV infection did not vary between heterosexuals and bisexuals (35.7% (25/70) vs. 35.5% (11/31), p-value 0.411) and for all other women the cervical HPV prevalence was significantly lower (11.1%, 1/9). Our study suggests that smoking and sexual behavior involving males rather than female partners may be possible predictors of oral HPV infection in women. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm these findings.     

Behavioral Effects of Exposure to Phthalates in Female Rodents: Evidence for Endocrine Disruption?

Phthalates have been widely studied for their reprotoxic effects in male rodents and in particular on testosterone production, for which reference doses were established. The female rodent brain can also represent a target for exposure to these environmental endocrine disruptors. Indeed, a large range of behaviors including reproductive behaviors, mood-related behaviors, and learning and memory are regulated by sex steroid hormones. Here we review the experimental studies addressing the effects and mechanisms of phthalate exposure on these behaviors in female rodents, paying particular attention to the experimental conditions (period of exposure, doses, estrous stage of analyses etc.). The objective of this review is to provide a clear picture of the consistent effects that can occur in female rodents and the gaps that still need to be filled in terms of effects and mode(s) of action for a better risk assessment for human health.     

水平式珠磨机破碎微生物细胞动力学

在实验和前人研究的基础上,对微生物细胞珠磨破碎动力学进行了分析,提出细胞破碎过程中存在胞内产物释放、溶解和失活机理,据此建立了新的动力学模型,并对实验数据进行了回归,计算出有关参数。新的动力学方程能较好地解释产物失活现象。     

典型EDCs在A~2/O-MBR组合工艺中的迁移行为

以环境水体中21种典型内分泌干扰物(EDCs)为目标物,对其在某城市污水处理厂厌氧-缺氧-好氧与MBR的组合工艺(A~2/O-MBR)中的迁移和归趋进行了长期研究。结果表明,该工艺对21种EDCs有很强的去除能力。EDCs在A~2/O-MBR工艺中泥水两相的迁移行为用泥水分配系数(Kd)来表示,得到的较高的泥水分配系数表明污泥对EDCs有一定的吸附作用,水相中大部分EDCs是通过污泥吸附来去除。