Sex Differences in the Broad Autism Phenotype: Insights from the Australian Biobank.

Examining sub-threshold autistic traits in non-autistic first-degree relatives of individuals on the autism spectrum, known as the Broad Autism Phenotype (BAP), could provide new insights into the associations and familial aggregation of autistic traits. This study was a retrospective cross-sectional study of parents (n = 1008), probands with autism (n = 613), and unaffected siblings (n = 221) of probands with autism. BAP traits were examined by the BAP Questionnaire and Communication Checklist-Adult in parents, Autism Developmental Observation Scale-Second edition in probands, and Social Responsiveness Scale in siblings. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to investigate the associations of parental BAP traits on autistic traits in probands and unaffected sibling BAP traits. Fathers showed significantly increased aloofness, pragmatic language difficulties, and social engagement problems compared to mothers. Female siblings showed increased difficulties with social cognition compared to male siblings. Adjusted models of the regression analyses showed that all BAP traits in fathers were significantly associated with BAP trait expression in probands with autism. Additionally, all of mother's BAP traits were significantly associated with unaffected siblings' BAP trait expression while only fathers' aloofness and rigidity traits were inversely associated with siblings' BAP trait expression. Finally, there were significant inverse interactions noted between parent's BAP traits and their children's BAP trait expression. This study demonstrated differences in how males and females express BAP traits and also identified differences in parent-child associations by sex, with fathers having a greater effect on their proband children's expression of BAP traits than mothers

USE OF CAGED MUSSEL MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS IN AN ECOTOXICOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ASSESS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN OFF-SHORE ACTIVITIES

Abstract Mediterranean mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, are well recognized bioindicator organisms which can be easily caged in investigated areas to assess the impact of anthropogenic activities. In this work a monitoring protocol was developed for off-shore installations in the Adriatic sea. Integration of chemical analyses with a wide range of biomarkers analysed in mussels caged at 2 platforms, allowed to evaluate the biological disturbance and confirmed the utility of the ecotoxicological approach for monitoring off-shore activities. Keywords : Bio-indicators, Adriatic Sea. Several environmental issues are associated with the off-shore oil and gas industry, from the impact caused during installation to various form of disturbance related to daily ship traffic, extraction activities, maintenance of structures and, finally, decommissioning of old platforms. During the last year a monitoring protocol with caged mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, has been developed, to evaluate the potential ecotoxicological effects caused from the off-shore platform "Giovanna" in the Adriatic sea. Obtained results allowed to exclude marked biological disturbance and demonstrated the suitability of this approach. In this respect considering "Giovanna" as model platform, the monitoring protocol with caged mussel has been extended including also another off-shore installation, the "Emilio" platform. In this work native mussels were collected on a seasonal basis from a reference site on the Adriatic coast (Portonovo, Ancona) and transplanted for 4-6 weeks in both the sampling area and to the investigated platform "Giovanna" (42 • 46' 060N, 14 • 27' 750E) and Emilio (42 • 56' 305 N; 14 • 13' 915 E). After the translocation period, mussels were recovered dissected tissues frozen in liquid nitrogen and maintained at -80 • C until analyses. Chemical analyses on trace metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, mercury, manganese, nickel, lead, zinc) in mussels tissues An overall evaluation of results confirmed the absence of marked biological effects caused by the activities of "Giovanna" platform, as already demonstrated during the previous monitoring project. More variations were observed in mussels translocated to "Emilio", i.e. higher activities of glutathione S-transferases, catalase and peroxisomal proliferation decrease of oxyradical scavenging capacity toward hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals and lysosomal destabilization (inhibition of neutral red retention time), indicating an onset of impairment condition in the organisms. Compared to mussels transplanted at the reference site, those from "Emilio" platform did not exhibit more elevated concentrations for the various metals and only for zinc and cadmium an higher bioavailability was detected close to the platform, suggesting the influence of galvanic anodes for cathodic protection. The overall results of this work confirmed the utility of using caged mussels as an additional contribution for monitoring off-shore activities and provided an ecotoxicological protocol based on cellular biomarkers for the early detection of biological disturbance

The Century Freeway/Transitway I-105: Nucleation, Land Use Changes and Transportation Behavior

The Glenn M. Anderson Freeway/Transitway project includes six lanes for general traffic, two HOV lanes, and the Green Line, a light rail project with ten transit stations and park and ride lots. The 17.2 mile facility traverses eleven jurisdictions and serves these and other neighboring communities. The study analyzes transportation attitudes and behavior before and after the opening of both the freeway and before the transitway opening. We measure travel behavior impacts of the new transportation system using a panel study. The attitudes and intended use of the facility as well as a 24 hour travel diary. Also investigated land use around transit nodes and local freeway interchanges by measuring zoning changes, reviewing general plans and other documents, and interviewing local planning officials

Proposal for a deconvolution procedure for the gas chromatographic estimation of pristane and phytane in marine sediments

In this paper, a deconvolution procedure for improving the quantitative estimation of specific hydrocarbons by chromatographic techniques is reported. The proposed technique has been applied to the gas chromatographic determination of the pristane to phytane (pri/phy) ratio, an important parameter for the evaluation of biogenic and anthropogenic contributions present in the hydrocarbon content of marine sediments. The determinations of pri/phy can be hardly performed because in the complex mixture of hydrocarbons extracted from marine sediments, their peaks are strongly overlapped with other hydrocarbon peaks. The proposed procedure allows the reconstruction of the two peaks of the considered hydrocarbons, so reducing the uncertainty depending on the peak area estimation of overlapped peaks and allowing an assessment of biogenic and anthropogenic hydrocarbon contributions in marine sediments. Copyright © 2009, Inderscience Publishers

Disposal of Produced Formation Water from offshore gas platforms in the Mediterranean Sea: a parametric study on discharge conditions aimed at mitigating risks for the marine environment

The offshore oil and gas production in the Mediterranean Sea has considerably grown over the last 20 years, introducing a wide range of potential risk factors for the health of marine ecosystems. Crucial impacts may derive from discharges of produced formation water (PFW), a by-product of gas extraction, which to date represents approximately 80% of the waste and residual yield from natural gas production activities. The disposal of PFW may be carried out through the reinjection into the reservoir, the transport onshore or the discharge into sea water. We focused our attention on PFW discharged by submerged outfalls in the Adriatic Sea (a shallow Mediterranean subbasin characterised by an intense extraction and production activity). The effects of PFW discharge on the marine environment depend on the characteristics of the effluent as well as on the dispersion processes occurring in the receiving ambient fluid. In order to assess these potential environmental impacts we here apply a numerical dispersion model integrated with a monitoring plan developed for the Adriatic Sea. We simulated the initial mixing of PFW discharged from a selected offshore gas platform during the summer season, and used field data (samples of ambient sea water, current intensity and direction measurements, temperature and conductivity profiles) collected in the vicinity of the platforms from 2008 to 2010 during monitoring surveys. We evaluated several different discharge scenarios (in terms of environmental conditions and effluent characteristics) and three working hypotheses for the discharge operations. The results of this parametric study allowed us to identify a sort of “optimal discharge practices” for PFW in the Adriatic Sea which should promote the rapid dilution of the effluent and mitigate the impacts of the PFW on marine ecosystems