Research on smart city public health detection system and improvement technology based on intelligent multi-objective.

Introduction: With the increase of urban population density, urban sanitation becomes more severe; urban sanitation has important influence on public health. Therefore, in order to realize the detection of public health in smart cities, the research will use cutting-edge scientific and technological methods to improve urban environmental health, so as to promote the realization of public health achievements. This study introduces public health detection and optimizationtechnologies for smart cities. Methods: Firstly, a data detection system for urban public health environment was established using sensors and intelligent multi-objective technology to evaluate the water quality, air quality, and noise level of the city. Then, an intelligent garbage management system based on Tensor-flow was constructed to achieve efficient garbage collection and treatment. Finally, an intelligent traffic management system was developed to monitor and regulate urban traffic flow. Results: The results of the simulation experiment demonstrated that the life data detection system was operationally stable, with a high success rate of 98%. Furthermore, its accuracy in detecting residents' living environment data was above 95%, the maximum relative error was only 0.0465, making it a reliable and efficient tool. The waste recycling system achieved a minimum accuracy of 83.6%, the highest accuracy rate was 95.3%, making it capable of sorting and recycling urban waste effectively. Additionally, the smart traffic management system led to a 20% reduction in traffic congestion rates, 20 tonnes less tailpipe emissions and an improvement in public health and well-being. Discussion: In summary, the plan proposed in this study aims to create a more comfortable, safe, and healthy urban public health environment, while providing theoretical support for environmental health management in smart cities.

On the elephant trails: habitat suitability and connectivity for Asian elephants in eastern Indian landscape.

Identifying suitable habitats and conserving corridors are crucial to the long-term conservation of large and conflict-prone animals. Being a flagship species, survival of Asian elephants is threatened by human-induced mortality and habitat modification. We aimed to assess the habitat suitability and connectivity of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 habitat in the state of Odisha in eastern India. We followed the ensemble of spatial prediction models using species presence data and five environmental variables. We used least-cost path and circuit theory approaches to identify the spatial connectivity between core habitats for Asian elephants. The results revealed that normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; variable importance 42%) and terrain ruggedness (19%) are the most influential variables for predicting habitat suitability of species within the study area. Our habitat suitability map estimated 14.6% of Odisha's geographical area (c. 22,442 km2) as highly suitable and 13.3% (c. 20,464 km2) as moderate highly suitable. We identified 58 potential linkages to maintain the habitat connectivity across study area. Furthermore, we identified pinch points, bottlenecks, and high centrality links between core habitats. Our study offers management implications for long-term landscape conservation for Asian elephants in Odisha and highlights priority zones that can help maintain spatial links between elephant habitats.

The Global Environmental Impacts of China's Accession to the WTO: A 20-Year Review.

Robust empirical assessments of the long-term cumulative global effects of free trade and economic globalization on the environment are limited. This account fills this gap by constructing a dynamic computable general equilibrium model to estimate the environmental effects of a milestone in the recent history of trade liberalization: China's 20-year World Trade Organization (WTO) accession. The modeling shows that China's accession could have resulted in an increase in the global cumulative greenhouse gases (GHGs), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by roughly 14,000 Mt CO2-eq, 64 Mt, and 46 Mt, respectively. The global production scale effect contributed to most of these estimated increases. The regional total output composition effect also caused higher emissions. Meanwhile, the sectoral output composition effect helped reduce total emissions to a limited extent. Fortunately, a package of emission abatement measures led to a decrease in emission factors and a drop in the global cumulative emissions of GHGs, SO2, and NOx. The findings suggest that to enjoy the free trade and economic globalization benefits and minimize the induced emission increases, it is vitally important to systemically reduce emissions across the entire economy and nurture a low-carbon trade regime.

Genetic confounding in the association of early motor development with childhood and adolescent exercise behavior.

INTRODUCTION: Early motor development has been found to be a predictor of exercise behavior in children and adolescents, but whether this reflects a causal effect or confounding by genetic or shared environmental factors remains to be established. METHODS: For 20,911 complete twin pairs from the Netherlands Twin Register a motor development score was obtained from maternal reports on the timing of five motor milestones. During a 12-year follow-up, subsamples of the mothers reported on the twins' ability to perform seven gross motor skills ability (N = 17,189 pairs), and weekly minutes of total metabolic equivalents of task (MET) spent on sports and exercise activities at age 7 (N = 3632 pairs), age 10 (N = 3735 pairs), age 12 (N = 7043 pairs), and age 14 (N = 3990 pairs). Multivariate phenotypic and genetic regression analyses were used to establish the predictive strength of the two motor development traits for future exercise behavior, the contribution of genetic and shared environmental factors to the variance in all traits, and the contribution of familial confounding to the phenotypic prediction. RESULTS: Significant heritability (h2) and shared environmental (c2) effects were found for early motor development in boys and girls (h2 = 43-65%; c2 = 16-48%). For exercise behavior, genetic influences increased with age (boys: h2age7 = 22% to h2age14 = 51%; girls: h2age7 = 3% to h2age14 = 18%) paired to a parallel decrease in the influence of the shared environment (boys: c2age7 = 68% to c2age14 = 19%; girls: c2age7 = 80% to c2age14 = 48%). Early motor development explained 4.3% (p < 0.001) of the variance in future exercise behavior in boys but only 1.9% (p < 0.001) in girls. If the effect in boys was due to a causal effect of motor development on exercise behavior, all of the factors influencing motor development would, through the causal chain, also influence future exercise behavior. Instead, only the genetic parts of the regression of exercise behavior on motor development were significant. Shared and unique environmental parts of the regression were largely non-significant, which is at odds with the causal hypothesis. CONCLUSION: No support was found for a direct causal effect in the association between rapid early motor development on future exercise behavior. In boys, early motor development appears to be an expression of the same genetic factors that underlie the heritability of childhood and early adolescent exercise behavior.

[Endometriosis, a participatory study in the Serchio Valley (Tuscany Region, Central Italy): state of the art and perspectives]. / Endometriosi, uno studio partecipato nella Valle del Serchio: stato dell'arte e prospettive.

BACKGROUND: endometriosis is a chronic condition with a significant impact on women's health, featured by endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. A limited number of studies have been conducted in the general population, and the true prevalence of endometriosis is unknown for many areas of the country. OBJECTIVES: to better estimate the prevalence of endometriosis in three Italian regions (Friuli Venezia Giulia, Tuscany, Apulia) and to assess the relationship between endometriosis and environmental factors in three participating areas (Trieste, Barga, and Taranto), with a focus on Tuscany Region. DESIGN: implementing a specific epidemiological registry for endometriosis, aimed at estimating the incidence and prevalence data. The registry collected information from hospital discharge records and anatomopathological reports of women residing in the three considered regions, aged 15 years or older. Additionally, the analysis includes the assessment of the spatial distribution of endometriosis at both regional and municipal levels in the three study areas. Further research investigations in these areas involve a multilevel screening of a sample of women of childbearing age. Women who test positive in the initial screening (through a self-administered questionnaire) will have the opportunity to undergo a second level of screening, consisting of a gynecological examination, transvaginal ultrasound, a swab for vaginal microbiome analysis, and the collection of blood and urine samples to assess the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or heavy metals. The adopted scientific approach is based on post-normal science (PNS) concerning the extended peer community. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: women aged 15 years or older residing in the three regions. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: estimating the incidence and prevalence of endometriosis based on data collected from the epidemiological registry. The analysis extends to assessing the spatial distribution of endometriosis at municipal levels in the three areas of interest. RESULTS: the preliminary results of the study allowed for the estimation of the spatial distribution of endometriosis incidence in Tuscany. In particular, it was found that there is variability within the region, with some coastal and North-Western areas showing values 20% higher than the regional average. Cities such as Pisa, Lucca, Livorno, Grosseto, Orbetello, and the Serchio Valley with Barga had a probability of excess risk of more than 90% compared to the regional average. CONCLUSIONS: the study is ongoing and requires the active participation of women living in the region to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the collected data. This research effort represents an important contribution to understanding endometriosis in Tuscany and its possible environmental causes.

Solid waste management practices and challenges in Besisahar municipality, Nepal.

This study is a comprehensive assessment of the waste management system in Besisahar municipality. Information and some data have been collected from the municipality of Besisahar, followed by interviews with municipal officials responsible for waste management, stakeholders, waste workers, and residents. A total of 230 households, 20 schools, 10 government and private offices, 10 financial institutions, 60 commercial hotels, restaurants, and shops, and 20 medical shops and healthcare institutions, were selected in this study by random sampling. An extensive field study was conducted within all municipal wards and at dump sites. The results indicated that 42.14% of solid waste was collected through door-to-door collection services, 5.87% was mismanaged in open public places, 11.21% was used as compost manure, and the rest was discarded on riverbanks, dug up, and burned. A large component of the characterization of household waste consisted of organic waste (68.03%), followed by paper/paper products (8.13%), agricultural waste (5.5%), plastic (5.21%), construction (3.81%), textile (2.72%), metals (0.54%), glass (1.01%), rubber (0.10%), electronic (0.05%), pharmaceutical (0.1%) and others (4.78%) in the Besishahar municipality. Solid waste generation was found to be at 197.604 g/capita/day, as revealed by cluster sampling in 230 households. Around 4.285 tons-solid waste/day were generated in urban areas, while 16.13 tons-solid waste/day was estimated for the whole municipality. An important correlation between the parameters of solid waste was found by statistical analysis. Currently, solid waste is dumped on riverbanks, open fields, and springs, creating environmental and health hazards. The findings of this study will be useful to Besisahar municipality and its stakeholders in forming policies that facilitate waste management practices in this region and promote sustainable waste management systems.

Harmony in nature: understanding the cultural and ecological aspects of plant use in Ladakh.

BACKGROUND: Traditional knowledge (TK) in Ladakh encapsulates a repository of experimental wisdom cultivated over millennia. Despite this cultural wealth, dwindling interest among the younger generations in the region's age-old practices underscores the urgency to document TK. The current study investigates the diverse usage of plants in Surru, Wakha and Lower Indus valleys of Western Ladakh exploring the influence of socioeconomic and ecological factors. METHODS: A stratified random sample approach was adopted to select 540 respondents for gathering information of useful plants through interviews and questionnaires. Participant observation, questionnaires, open-ended and semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. Free listing was done to create an extensive list of plants and their uses. Ethnobotanical metrics such as relative frequency of citation (RFC), relative importance index (RI), cultural value (CV) index and cultural importance (CI) index were computed to assess species applicability. Additionally, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to discern significant differences in knowledge levels based on valleys, gender, education and religion using TK as a response variable. RESULTS: Altogether, we recorded 246 plant species under various ethnobotanical uses from Western Ladakh. These include medicinal (126), fodder (124), wild ornamentals (86), food (81), fuel wood (54), dye (20), religious (31) and others (34). Novel plant reports include Berberis brandisiana Ahrendt and Dactylorhiza kafiriana Renz. The dominant plant family is Asteraceae with 35 species. Suru valley exhibits the highest number of cited plants followed by Wakha-chu and Lower Indus valleys (192, 168 and 152 species, respectively). CONCLUSION: Disparities in plant use understanding are evident among different groups, prompting further investigation through intercultural comparisons. Plants such as Arnebia euchroma, Juniperus semiglobosa, and Artemisia species emerge with cultural importance. Gender, valley affiliation, religious background and the remoteness of a village all influence local plant knowledge. These variations are linked to socioeconomic disparities among communities.

A systematic review of the relationship between natural environments and physiological and mental health during different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has altered how individuals interact with natural environments. Numerous studies have investigated the effects of such environments on health. However, how natural environments influenced individuals' physiological and mental health during various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the effects of natural environments on individuals' physiological and mental health during different stages of the pandemic; we also identified factors that mediated these effects. Overall, we evaluated the importance of natural environments during challenging times. This study adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. The pandemic period was divided into three stages on the basis of severity: pandemic (March 2020 - February 2022), easing (February 2022-September 2022), and post-acute COVID pandemic (September 2022 - present). An initial pool of 3018 studies was narrowed down to a final sample of 73 studies. During the pandemic stage, individuals frequenting public green spaces exhibited improved well-being, reduced stress levels, and a sense of nature deprivation. Private green spaces played crucial roles in maintaining health during the pandemic stage. Highquality window views were associated with improved well-being and reduced depression. During the easing stage, the environmental quality of public green spaces influenced individuals' perceived safety and sense of belonging. And coastal areas were the preferred natural destinations in this stage. During the post-acute COVID pandemic stage, individuals acknowledged the importance of natural environments in maintaining physiological and mental health as they gradually returned to prepandemic normalcy. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted humanity's reliance on nature. Therefore, sufficient urban spaces should be dedicated to preservation of natural environments to mitigate negative emotions arising from prolonged indoor stays.

The relationship between childhood atopic dermatitis and asthma in an under resourced community.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease caused by allergen exposures and estimated to affect ∼20% of children. Children in urban areas have a higher prevalence of AD compared with those living outside of urban areas. AD is believed to lead to asthma development as part of the "atopic march." Objective: Our objective was to determine the sequential and chronological relationships between AD and asthma for children in an under-resourced community. Methods: The progression from AD to asthma in the under-resourced, urban community of Sun Valley, Colorado, was examined by assessing Medicaid data for the years 2016 to 2019 for a diagnosis of AD or asthma in children 6 and 7 years old. Results: Pearson correlations between AD and asthma diagnoses were significant only with respect to AD at age 6 years compared with asthma 1 year later, at age 7 years. Conclusion: By studying a susceptible community with a consistent but mixed genetic background, we found sequential and chronological links between AD and asthma.

The power of Posidonia oceanica meadows to retain microplastics and the consequences on associated macrofaunal benthic communities.

In the coastal environment, a large amount of microplastics (MPs) can accumulate in the sediments of seagrass beds. However, the potential impact these pollutants have on seagrasses and associated organisms is currently unknown. In this study, we investigated the differences in MPs abundance and composition (i.e., shape, colour and polymer type) in marine sediments collected at different depths (-5 m, -15 m, -20 m) at two sites characterized by the presence of Posidonia oceanica meadows and at one unvegetated site. In the vegetated sites, sediment samples were collected respectively above and below the upper and lower limits of the meadow (-5 m and -20 m), out of the P. oceanica meadow, and in the central portion of the meadow (-15 m). By focusing on the central part of the meadow, we investigated if the structural features (i.e. shoots density and leaf surface) can affect the amount of MPs retained within the underlying sediment and if these, in turn, can affect the associated benthic communities. Results showed that the number of MPs retained by P. oceanica meadows was higher than that found at the unvegetated site, showing also a different composition. In particular, at vegetated sites, we observed that MPs particles were more abundant within the meadow (at - 15 m), compared to the other depths, on unvegetated sediment, with a dominance of transparent fragments of polypropylene (PP). We observed that MPs entrapment by P. oceanica was accentuated by the higher shoots density, while the seagrass leaf surface did not appear to have any effect. Both the abundance and richness of macrofauna associated with P. oceanica rhizomes appear to be negatively influenced by the MPs abundance in the sediment. Overall, this study increases knowledge of the potential risks of MPs accumulation in important coastal habitats such as the Posidonia oceanica meadows.

Influence of anthropogenic activities on metals, sugars and PAHs in PM10 in the city of Fez, Morocco: Implications on air quality.

Particulate matter (PM) is an important component in the atmosphere, affecting air quality, health, radiation balance, and global climate. To assess regional air quality in the city of Fez, an intensive field campaign was carried out in the autumn of 2019 in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco. Aerosol sampling was performed simultaneously at two urban sites in the city of Fez: (1) Fez University (FU), a sub-urban site, and (2) Fez Parc (FP), an urban site located in the city center of Fez, using PM10 collectors. Various laboratory analyses were carried out, including PM mass, trace metals, inorganic ions, OC/EC, sugar compounds, and PAHs. The results indicate that the PM10 mass (61 ng m-3) was comparable at both sites, with a 37-107 ng m-3 range. Most of the 19 investigated PAHs at the FU site (10.2 ± 6.2 ng m-3) were low-molecular-weight PAHs, while the most abundant PAHs at the FP site (6.9 ± 3.8 ng m-3) were mainly higher-molecular-weight PAHs. A diagnostic ratio analysis at both sites indicated that PAHs originated from fossil fuel combustion and traffic emissions from diesel engines, with Ant/(Ant + Phe) and Flu/(Flu + Pyr) ratios averaging 0.22 and 0.84, respectively. PMF analysis identified traffic emissions as a major source (30%), with secondary inorganic aerosols (20%) and biomass burning (14%). Polar plots highlight the dominance of local anthropogenic activities in PM pollution, with vehicular emissions, industrial activities, and biomass burning. This study shows that local sources and combustion processes significantly contribute to PM10 sources in Morocco, providing insights into air pollution mitigation in North Africa.

Centurial deposition records of polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in sediment cores from a plateau deep-water lake of China: Significance of anthropogenic impacts, transformation signals and ecological risks revealed by full congener analysis.

Lake Fuxian, the largest deep freshwater lake in China, has been suffering from increasing ecological and environmental issues along with the rapid urbanization and industrialization in the past 40 years. To better understand the historical pollution of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Lake Fuxian, comprehensive analyses of 209 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and 20 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were conducted in two intact sediment cores (Core V1 and Core V2). The total mass concentrations of PCBs ranged from 7.60 to 31.47 ng/g (dry weight basis) and 5.55 to 28.90 ng/g during the period of 1908-2019 in Core V1 and 1924-2019 in Core V2, respectively. PCBs exhibited a consecutive increasing trend from 1940s to 2019 in Core V1. The temporal trend of PCBs in Core V2 basically matched to the history of PCB usage and prohibition in China (increasing from 1940s to mid-1960s, a remarkable drop in mid-1970s, and then increasing until 2019). Moreover, low-chlorinated PCBs were dominant among PCB homologues. Mono-CBs, di-CBs, tri-CBs and tetra-CBs accounted for 86.71 %-98.57 % in sediment segments. The PCB sources included unintentional emission and atmospheric deposition, as well as biological transformation. The total mass concentrations of OCPs ranged from 0.74 to 3.82 ng/g in Core V1 and 0.35 to 2.23 ng/g in Core V2, respectively. Similar trend was observed in the two sediment cores with peaks in the early 1990s. The predominant OCPs were γ-hexachlorohexane (γ-HCHs), dieldrin and p,p'-DDD. The ecological risks posed by PCBs and p-p'-DDD in Lake Fuxian were relatively low. In contrast, dieldrin might pose a potential threat to exposed organisms and apparently adverse ecological effects were caused by γ-HCH. This study will provide important baseline information on historical POPs contamination of Lake Fuxian.

The Environmental Impacts of Electronic Medical Records Versus Paper Records at a Large Eye Hospital in India: Life Cycle Assessment Study.

BACKGROUND: Health care providers worldwide are rapidly adopting electronic medical record (EMR) systems, replacing paper record-keeping systems. Despite numerous benefits to EMRs, the environmental emissions associated with medical record-keeping are unknown. Given the need for urgent climate action, understanding the carbon footprint of EMRs will assist in decarbonizing their adoption and use. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to estimate and compare the environmental emissions associated with paper medical record-keeping and its replacement EMR system at a high-volume eye care facility in southern India. METHODS: We conducted the life cycle assessment methodology per the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 14040 standard, with primary data supplied by the eye care facility. Data on the paper record-keeping system include the production, use, and disposal of paper and writing utensils in 2016. The EMR system was adopted at this location in 2018. Data on the EMR system include the allocated production and disposal of capital equipment (such as computers and routers); the production, use, and disposal of consumable goods like paper and writing utensils; and the electricity required to run the EMR system. We excluded built infrastructure and cooling loads (eg. buildings and ventilation) from both systems. We used sensitivity analyses to model the effects of practice variation and data uncertainty and Monte Carlo assessments to statistically compare the 2 systems, with and without renewable electricity sources. RESULTS: This location's EMR system was found to emit substantially more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than their paper medical record system (195,000 kg carbon dioxide equivalents [CO2e] per year or 0.361 kg CO2e per patient visit compared with 20,800 kg CO2e per year or 0.037 kg CO2e per patient). However, sensitivity analyses show that the effect of electricity sources is a major factor in determining which record-keeping system emits fewer GHGs. If the study hospital sourced all electricity from renewable sources such as solar or wind power rather than the Indian electric grid, their EMR emissions would drop to 24,900 kg CO2e (0.046 kg CO2e per patient), a level comparable to the paper record-keeping system. Energy-efficient EMR equipment (such as computers and monitors) is the next largest factor impacting emissions, followed by equipment life spans. Multimedia Appendix 1 includes other emissions impact categories. CONCLUSIONS: The climate-changing emissions associated with an EMR system are heavily dependent on the sources of electricity. With a decarbonized electricity source, the EMR system's GHG emissions are on par with paper medical record-keeping, and decarbonized grids would likely have a much broader benefit to society. Though we found that the EMR system produced more emissions than a paper record-keeping system, this study does not account for potential expanded environmental gains from EMRs, including expanding access to care while reducing patient travel and operational efficiencies that can reduce unnecessary or redundant care.

High-level aftereffects reveal the role of statistical features in visual shape encoding.

Visual shape perception is central to many everyday tasks, from object recognition to grasping and handling tools.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 Yet how shape is encoded in the visual system remains poorly understood. Here, we probed shape representations using visual aftereffects-perceptual distortions that occur following extended exposure to a stimulus.11,12,13,14,15,16,17 Such effects are thought to be caused by adaptation in neural populations that encode both simple, low-level stimulus characteristics17,18,19,20 and more abstract, high-level object features.21,22,23 To tease these two contributions apart, we used machine-learning methods to synthesize novel shapes in a multidimensional shape space, derived from a large database of natural shapes.24 Stimuli were carefully selected such that low-level and high-level adaptation models made distinct predictions about the shapes that observers would perceive following adaptation. We found that adaptation along vector trajectories in the high-level shape space predicted shape aftereffects better than simple low-level processes. Our findings reveal the central role of high-level statistical features in the visual representation of shape. The findings also hint that human vision is attuned to the distribution of shapes experienced in the natural environment.

Sustainability benefits of transitioning from current diets to plant-based alternatives or whole-food diets in Sweden.

Plant-based alternatives (PBAs) are increasingly becoming part of diets. Here, we investigate the environmental, nutritional, and economic implications of replacing animal-source foods (ASFs) with PBAs or whole foods (WFs) in the Swedish diet. Utilising two functional units (mass and energy), we model vegan, vegetarian, and flexitarian scenarios, each based on PBAs or WFs. Our results demonstrate that PBA-rich diets substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions (30-52%), land use (20-45%), and freshwater use (14-27%), with the vegan diet showing the highest reduction potential. We observe comparable environmental benefits when ASFs are replaced with WFs, underscoring the need to reduce ASF consumption. PBA scenarios meet most Nordic Nutrition Recommendations, except for vitamin B12, vitamin D and selenium, while enhancing iron, magnesium, folate, and fibre supply and decreasing saturated fat. Daily food expenditure slightly increases in the PBA scenarios (3-5%) and decreases in the WF scenarios (4-17%), with PBA diets being 10-20% more expensive than WF diets. Here we show, that replacing ASFs with PBAs can reduce the environmental impact of current Swedish diets while meeting most nutritional recommendations, but slightly increases food expenditure. We recommend prioritising ASF reduction and diversifying WFs and healthier PBAs to accommodate diverse consumer preferences during dietary transitions.

Global food loss and waste estimates show increasing nutritional and environmental pressures.

Accurate global food losses and waste (FLW) quantification remains challenging owing to limited harmonized global estimates, a lack of comprehensive quantification approaches and an absence of frameworks for addressing FLW challenges. Here we compile a country-level database that assesses FLW across global value chains and quantifies the nutritional and environmental impact of FLW for 121 countries and 20 composite regions. Between 2004 and 2014, FLW increased by a quarter, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, where increasing nutritional losses of ~550 cal per capita per day impact food security. Growing food imports in high-income countries and fast-growing economies worsened FLW and related environmental footprints in exporting low-income regions. Reducing overconsumption and FLW in high-income countries may have positive effects in middle- and low-income countries, where food exports largely drive farm-level losses. Policies should focus on promoting the profitable reuse of unavoidable FLW while enhancing agricultural production efficiency to improve water use and nutritional security.

Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in companion animals from owners who tested positive for COVID-19 in the Valley of Mexico.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the companion animals which tested positive in Mexico for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Due to this, it is that we have documented the infection of companion animals, via an exploratory approach in two localities of the Valley of Mexico, in which the companion animal owners tested positive for COVID-19. METHODS: Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 21 companion animals. Also, a Reverse-Transcription Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction was used to test five probes in three SARS-CoV-2 genes. More than one-third (5/14) of these samples were positive for SARS CoV-2 corresponding to dogs. RESULTS: This research translates into the first available report on companion animals with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the most populated area of Mexico. Samples were added chronologically to previous reports prepared in other areas of the country, from February through November 2022. CONCLUSION: Although SARS-CoV-2 infection in dogs is not as common as in other animals, our results suggest that it can be transmitted to dogs by their owners to a greater extent than previously reported.

High-altitude adaptation is accompanied by strong signatures of purifying selection in the mitochondrial genomes of three Andean waterfowl.

Evidence from a variety of organisms points to convergent evolution on the mitochondria associated with a physiological response to oxygen deprivation or temperature stress, including mechanisms for high-altitude adaptation. Here, we examine whether demography and/or selection explains standing mitogenome nucleotide diversity in high-altitude adapted populations of three Andean waterfowl species: yellow-billed pintail (Anas georgica), speckled teal (Anas flavirostris), and cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera). We compared a total of 60 mitogenomes from each of these three duck species (n = 20 per species) across low and high altitudes and tested whether part(s) or all of the mitogenome exhibited expected signatures of purifying selection within the high-altitude populations of these species. Historical effective population sizes (Ne) were inferred to be similar between high- and low-altitude populations of each species, suggesting that selection rather than genetic drift best explains the reduced genetic variation found in mitochondrial genes of high-altitude populations compared to low-altitude populations of the same species. Specifically, we provide evidence that establishment of these three Andean waterfowl species in the high-altitude environment, coincided at least in part with a persistent pattern of negative purifying selection acting on oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) function of the mitochondria. Our results further reveal that the extent of gene-specific purifying selection has been greatest in the speckled teal, the species with the longest history of high-altitude occupancy.

Fate of nitrogen in French human excreta: Current waste and agronomic opportunities for the future.

Nitrogen (N) is essential for plant growth and protein synthesis but global reactive N losses, mainly from food systems, induce strong environmental impacts. N losses after human excretion are often overlooked because, in Western societies, they partly occur as inert N2, following denitrification in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), and losses in waters are often small compared to diffuse agricultural emissions. Yet N from human excretions could be used for crop fertilization, potentially with very high recycling rates via source separation. In this study we use unique operational data from the ∼20,000 French WWTPs to produce a N mass-balance of excretions in the French sanitation system. Even though 75 % of WWTPs' sludge is spread on crops, only 10 % of the excreted N is recycled and 50 % of N is lost to the atmosphere, mainly through WWTP nitrification-denitrification. The remaining 40 % ends up in water or in diffuse losses in the ground, of which about half is lost outside of the WWTPs' discharge system, through sewers storm water and individual autonomous systems. While WWTPs removal efficiency increased in the 2000s, it has been followed by a decade of stagnation, reaching 70 % at the national level. This national average hides regional discrepancies, from 60 to 85 % in the 6 French water agencies basins. These differences closely correlate with the classification as "N sensitive areas" and is mainly due to large WWTPs which handle most of the N load. Recycling all N in excretions could supply 10 % of domestic protein consumption in the current French food system, and up to 30 % if it is prioritized towards crop production for human consumption. Redesigning the food system (decrease of nutrient losses, more plant-based diets) could further increase this contribution.