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Plastic is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant, resulting in widespread exposure across terrestrial and marine spaces. In the environment, plastics can degrade into microparticles where exposure has been documented in a variety of fauna at all trophic levels. Human epidemiological studies have found relationships between inhaled microplastics and oxidative stress and inflammation. Previous studies of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have reported prevalent exposure to plasticizing chemicals (e.g., phthalates) as well as particle loads in gastrointestinal tracts, but exposure from inhalation has not yet been studied. The objective of this study was to determine if inhalation is a viable route of microplastic exposure for free-ranging dolphins. Exhalation samples were opportunistically collected from dolphins residing in Sarasota Bay, Florida (n = 5) and Barataria Bay, Louisiana (n = 6) during catch-and-release health assessments to screen for microplastic particles. All dolphin samples contained at least one suspected microplastic particle, and polymer composition was determined for 100% of a subset (n = 17) of samples. Additional studies are warranted to better understand the extent of inhaled microplastics, as well as to explore impacts, given potential risks to lung function and health., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Dziobak et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Objectives:  Farmworkers who harvest and weed field crops are at increased risk for heat exposure and heat-related illness (HRI). The study objectives were to: (1) train crew leaders to use the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) heat safety tool app and evaluate the utility of the app from a crew leader perspective; and (2) characterize heat safety knowledge, preventive practices, and perceptions of HRI risk among Hispanic farmworkers. Methods:  Before harvest season, six crew leaders completed a 2-hour OSHA heat illness prevention training, including evaluation of a heat safety mobile app. Between August and October 2018, 101 Hispanic farmworkers participated in cross-sectional surveys about heat safety. Survey participants responded to questions about HRI prevention, HRI knowledge, and sociodemographics. Results:  Crew leaders using the heat safety app rated the app very highly on relevance, functionality, value and privacy. Farmworkers did not report being overly concerned about HRI based on their survey responses. Nevertheless, 19% of farmworkers had experienced nonspecific symptoms from working in the heat, such as headache, dizziness, and nausea. In the multivariate linear regression model, farmworkers had lower heat safety knowledge scores if they were H-2A visa holders, female, and only "a little bit concerned," compared to others who were "very concerned" about working in the heat. Conclusion:  The results of this study indicate the need for continued heat safety training for both crew leaders and farmworkers to reduce the risk of HRI, especially among less experienced farmworkers.

During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, vast quantities of a chemical dispersant Corexit 9500 were applied in remediation efforts. In addition to the acute toxicity, it is essential to evaluate Corexit further with a broader scope of long-term sublethal endocrine endpoints. The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is an excellent organism for such an endeavor. It exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination, in which egg incubation temperatures during a thermosensitive period (TSP) in embryonic development determine the sex of embryos. Estrogen signals play a critical role in this process. For example, a single exposure to exogenous estrogen during the TSP overrides the effects of temperature and leads to skewed sex ratios. At a concentration of 100 ppm, Corexit significantly induced transcriptional activity of both alligator nuclear estrogen receptors 1 and 2 in vitro in reporter gene assays. To investigate the estrogenic effects of Corexit on gonadal development, alligator eggs were exposed to Corexit at environmentally relevant concentrations (0.25, 2.5 and 25 ppm) before the TSP in ovo. Exposure to Corexit at 0.25 and 25 ppm significantly delayed hatching and growth. Corexit exposure at any treatment level did not affect sex ratios or testicular mRNA abundance as measured at 1-week post-hatching, suggesting that the combination of Corexit components did not synergize enough to induce ovarian development in ovo. These results point to a need for further investigations on individual and combined components of Corexit to understand better their long-term effects on the development and reproductive health of alligators and other coastal aquatic wildlife., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous, synthetic anthropogenic chemicals known to infiltrate and persist in biological systems as a result of their stability and bioaccumulation potential. This study investigated 15 PFAS, including short-chain carboxylic and sulfonic acids, and their presence in a threatened herbivore, the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus). Seven of the 15 PFAS examined were detected in manatee plasma. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (ranging from 0.13 to 166 ng/g ww) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) (ranging from 0.038 to 3.52 ng/g ww) were detected in every manatee plasma sample examined (n = 69), with differing medians across sampling sites in Florida, Crystal River (n = 39), Brevard County (n = 18), Everglades National Park (n = 8), and four samples (n = 4) from Puerto Rico. With an herbivorous diet and long life-span, the manatee provides a new perspective to monitoring PFAS contamination., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Membership in a particular strategic group, where a strategic group can be defined as groups of firms in an industry following similar competitive approaches and having similar market positions, defines the essentials of a firm's strategy. This study longitudinally examines the relationship between strategic group membership and performance in the hospital industry.