Measurement and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals accumulated in sediment and water collected from Gomishan international wetland, Iran.

This study aimed to measure and ecologically assess heavy metals, including As, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Ni in water and sediment samples taken from Gomishan, an international wetland located in Golestan, Iran. Four sampling stations were selected to cover all parts of the wetland. The analyses of the heavy metals were performed by ICP-MS. Based on the content of the heavy metals in the sediments, the values of risks for individual heavy metals, as Er, and for total heavy metals, as IR, were estimated. Igeo and EF also presented the soil quality in terms of accumulated contamination. The average content of the heavy metals in water was 23.12, 4.14, 10.04, 6.71, and 94.48 µg/L for As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb, respectively. The heavy metal concentrations in sediments were decreased in the following order: Pb (2130 ppb) > As (655 ppb) > Cr (295 ppb) > Ni (148.8 ppb) > Cd (148.8 ppb). The potential risk values for individual heavy metals were in the low range, Er < 40, except for Cd, which mostly posed a moderate ecological risk. The values of EF and Igeo showed that the sediments sampled from the Gomishan wetland were minimally enriched and contaminated. As the Gomishan wetland has a moderate risk of heavy metal contamination, conservative and monitoring activities should be performed.

Pediatric melanoma: Characterizing 256 cases from the Colorado Central Cancer Registry.

BACKGROUND: Melanoma is a rare diagnosis in the pediatric population. Differences in incidence, presentation, and survival distinguish pediatric melanoma from adult melanoma. In order to improve our understanding of pediatric melanoma, our case series investigates differences in incidence, age of onset, and anatomic site between male and female pediatric melanoma patients in Colorado between 1988 and 2015. METHODS: All data were gathered from the Colorado Central Cancer Registry. A request for de-identified data on pediatric melanoma patients between 1988 and 2015 was made by the University of Colorado Department of Dermatology. Chi-square tests were used to compare the differences reported in melanoma between sex, age-groups, and site of lesion. RESULTS: A total of 256 cases of melanoma were reported in Colorado in patients < 20 years of age between 1988 and 2015. Overall incidence of pediatric melanoma in Colorado increased from 1988 to 1999 but declined from 2001 to 2011. There was a significant predominance of female cases in the 10-14 age-group (P = 0.0477) and 15-19 age-group (P = 0.0472). Both groups had increased incidence of melanoma with increasing age. The mean age of onset for both sexes was 16 years old. Boys were more likely to have melanoma of the scalp and neck (P = 0.0523) and less likely to have melanoma of the leg (P = 0.0049). CONCLUSION: Among the pediatric population, girls 10-14 and 15-19 years old are at a significantly increased risk of melanoma compared to boys in these age-groups. Our study found sex-specific differences in anatomic site consistent with prior literature. Further investigations should aim to identify causes for these sex-specific differences in order to better guide public health initiatives.

Cannabinoids in dermatology: a scoping review.

The therapeutic applications of cannabis and cannabinoids are an increasingly conspicuous topic as de-criminalization and legalization of these products continues to expand. A limited number of cannabinoid compounds have been approved for a specific set of conditions. However, the current role of cannabinoids for the treatment of dermatologic conditions remains to be defined. We conducted a review of the current literature to determine the applications of cannabinoids for the therapy of various skin diseases. After conducting our analysis, we found that cannabinoid products have the potential to treat a variety of skin conditions, including acne vulgaris, allergic contact dermatitis, asteatotic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, Kaposi sarcoma, pruritus, psoriasis, skin cancer, and the cutaneous manifestations of systemic sclerosis. However, the majority of available data on these compounds are pre-clinical and there is a corresponding lack of high-quality randomized, controlled trials that evaluate their effects. Cannabinoids have shown some initial promise as therapy for a variety of skin diseases. However, there is a requirement for thorough pre-clinical research and large-scale, randomized, controlled trials before cannabinoids can be considered safe and effective treatments for these conditions.