Contribution of water and cooked rice to an estimation of the dietary intake of inorganic arsenic in a rural village of West Bengal, India

Arsenic contamination of rice plants by arsenic-polluted irrigation groundwater could result in high arsenic concentrations in cooked rice. The main objective of the study was to estimate the total and inorganic arsenic intakes in a rural population of West Bengal, India, through both drinking water and cooked rice. Simulated cooking of rice with different levels of arsenic species in the cooking water was carried out. The presence of arsenic in the cooking water was provided by four arsenic species (arsenite, arsenate, methylarsonate or dimethylarsinate) and at three total arsenic concentrations (50, 250 or 500 mu g l(-1)). The results show that the arsenic concentration in cooked rice is always higher than that in raw rice and range from 227 to 1642 mu g kg(-1). The cooking process did not change the arsenic speciation in rice. Cooked rice contributed a mean of 41% to the daily intake of inorganic arsenic. The daily inorganic arsenic intakes for water plus rice were 229, 1024 and 2000 mu g day(-1) for initial arsenic concentrations in the cooking water of 50, 250 and 500 g arsenic l(-1), respectively, compared with the tolerable daily intake which is 150 mu g day(-1).

Off-Centre Localisation Performance of Ambisonics and HOA For Large and Small Loudspeaker Array Radii

Ambisonics and Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) are scalable spatial audio techniques that attempt to present a sound scene to listeners over as large an area as possible. A localisation experiment was carried out to investigate the performance of a first and third order system at three listening positions - one in the centre and two off-centre - using a 5 m radius loudspeaker array. The results are briefly presented and compared to those of an earlier experiment on a 2.2 m loudspeaker array. In both experiments the off-centre listeners were placed such that the ratio of distance from the centre to the array radius was constant in both experiments. The test used a reverse target-pointer adjustment method to determine the error, both signed and absolute, for each combination of listening position and system. The results for both arrays were found to be very similar, suggesting that the relative amplitude of the loudspeakers, which were the same in both cases, was more dominant for localisation than the arrival time differences, which differed between array sizes.

The taphonomy of Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (LGIT) distal volcanic ash in small Scottish lakes

An extensive micro-tephrostratigraphic survey of three small lakes in the Scottish Inner Hebrides was conducted encompassing the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (LGIT). The lakes are highly contrasting in terms of lake area to catchment ratio, the presence or absence of stream inlets draining the catchment, and in the complexity of the catchment drainage network. A suite of distal Icelandic volcanic ashes was consistently detected in all three lakes, with three, namely Penifiler Tephra, Vedde Ash and Ashik Tephra, being common to all the lakes. These ashes were chosen to examine the taphonomic intercomparability of ash location and concentration among the lakes. Findings reveal that the part played by catchment inlets in determining ash concentration and within-basin location applies to microtephra layers as much as it does in studies of macrotephra layer thickness. The position of ash concentration maxima is also shown to vary significantly for different LGIT periods and may be a consequence of lake-level changes, especially during the early Holocene. High-resolution stratigraphic analysis through the Vedde Ash visible macrotephra at Loch Ashik reveals a high degree of complexity in taphonomic behaviour between the different geochemical components, with possible implications for the correct interpretation of the isochron position. The detection of multiple intact ash isochrons and the taphonomic processes responsible for their deposition should prove useful in future tephrostratigraphic surveys, as well as having applications within other palaeolimnological disciplines.

Identification of Small Signal Oscillation Mode Parameters from Simulated and Actual PMU Ringdown Data

This paper presents the practical use of Prony Analysis to identify small signal oscillation mode parameters from simulated and actual phasor measurement unit (PMU) ringdown data. A well-known two-area four-machine power system was considered as a study case while the latest PMU ringdown data were collected from a double circuit 275 kV main interconnector on the Irish power system. The eigenvalue analysis and power spectral density were also conducted for the purpose of comparison. The capability of Prony Analysis to identify the mode parameters from three different types of simulated PMU ringdown data has been shown successfully. Furthermore, the results indicate that the Irish power system has dominant frequency modes at different frequencies. However, each mode has good system damping.

Estimation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis load in raw bulk tank milk in Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy) by qPCR

Consumption of milk and dairy products is considered one of the main routes of human exposure to Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Quantitative data on MAP load in raw cows’ milk are essential starting point for exposure assessment. Our study provides this information on a regional scale, estimating the load of MAP in bulk tank milk (BTM) produced in Emilia-Romagna region (Italy). The survey was carried out on 2934 BTM samples (88.6% of the farms herein present) using two different target sequences for qPCR (f57 and IS900). Data about the performances of both qPCRs are also reported, highlighting the superior sensitivity of IS900-qPCR. Seven hundred and eighty-nine samples tested MAP-positive (apparent prevalence 26.9%) by IS900 qPCR. However, only 90 of these samples were quantifiable by qPCR. The quantifiable samples contained a median load of 32.4 MAP cells mL−1 (and maximum load of 1424 MAP cells mL−1). This study has shown that a small proportion (3.1%) of BTM samples from Emilia-Romagna region contained MAP in excess of the limit of detection (1.5 × 101 MAP cells mL−1), indicating low potential exposure for consumers if the milk subsequently undergoes pasteurization or if it is destined to typical hard cheese production.

Informal caregiving and mental ill health – differential relationships by workload, gender, age and area-remoteness in a UK region

Informal caregiving can be a demanding role which has been shown to impact on physical, psychological and social wellbeing. Methodological weaknesses including small sample sizes and subjective measures of mental health have led to inconclusive evidence about the relationship between informal caregiving and mental health. This paper reports on a study carried out in a UK region which investigated the relationship between informal caregiving and mental ill health. The analysis was conducted by linking three datasets, the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, the Northern Ireland Enhanced Prescribing Database and the Proximity to Service Index from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Our analysis used both a subjective measure of mental ill health, i.e. a question asked in the 2011 Census, and an objective measure, whether the respondents had been prescribed antidepressants by a General Practitioner between 2010 and 2012. We applied binary logistic multilevel modelling to these two responses to test whether, and for what sub-groups of the population, informal caregiving was related to mental ill health. The results showed that informal caregiving per se was not related to mental ill health although there was a strong relationship between the intensity of the caregiving role and mental ill health. Females under 50, who provided over 19 hours of care, were not employed or worked part-time and who provided care in both 2001 and 2011 were at a statistically significantly elevated risk of mental ill health. Caregivers in remote areas with limited access to shops and services were also at a significantly increased risk as evidenced by prescription rates for antidepressants. With community care policies aimed at supporting people to remain at home, the paper highlights the need for further research in order to target resources appropriately.