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This research evaluated the groundwater quality of Thiruthuraipoondi city in the southern part of Tamil Nadu, India during summer and monsoon seasons in 2011. Eighteen groundwater samples were collected throughout Thiruthuraipoondi city and its surroundings. This case study represented that the combined analysis of ordinary kriging and CCME WQI in GIS was effective to evaluate the groundwater pollution sources, as well as for the spatial interpolation and assessment of groundwater quality. Groundwater samples evaluated by CCME WQI values belonged to good quality sectors in summer and monsoon, but to poor quality sectors at small patches of south and southeast directions in both seasons. Moreover, the higher concentration of Na and Cl was designated as irrigation waste and also seawater incursion. Based on the Piper plot, most of groundwater samples belong to Ca–Mg–Cl2type and followed by Ca–Cl2and Na–Cl types in summer season. In case of monsoon season, most of the groundwater samples dropped in Na–Cl type and followed by Ca–Mg–Cl2and Ca–Cl2water types. In Wilcox diagram, most of groundwater samples in both seasons occupied S2 and C4 categories of medium sodium hazard and very high salinity hazard, respectively. This research represented that higher concentration Na and Cl resulted from anthropogenic activities and seawater incursion due to overpumping of groundwater. An effective groundwater management plan of artificial recharge is necessary to conserve valuable groundwater resources in Thiruthuraipoondi city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scientific basis for the evaluation of the risk to public health arising from excessive dietary intake of nitrate in Korea is provided. The nitrate ( ) and nitrite ( ) contents of various vegetables (Chinese cabbage, radish, lettuce, spinach, soybean sprouts, onion, pumpkin, green onion, cucumber, potato, carrot, garlic, green pepper, cabbage and Allium tuberosum Roth known as Crown daisy) are reported. Six hundred samples of 15 vegetables cultivated during different seasons were analysed for nitrate and nitrite by ion chromatography and ultraviolet spectrophotometry, respectively. No significant variance in nitrate levels was found for most vegetables cultivated during the summer and winter harvests. The mean nitrates level was higher in A. tuberosum Roth (5150 mg kg -1 ) and spinach (4259 mg kg -1 ), intermediate in radish (1878 mg kg -1 ) and Chinese cabbage (1740 mg kg -1 ), and lower in onion (23 mg kg -1 ), soybean sprouts (56 mg kg -1 ) and green pepper (76 mg kg -1 ) compared with those in other vegetables. The average nitrite contents in various vegetables were about 0.6 mg kg -1 , and the values were not significantly different among most vegetables. It was observed that nitrate contents in vegetables varied depending on the type of vegetables and were similar to those in vegetables grown in other countries. From the results of our studies and other information from foreign sources, it can be concluded that it is not necessary to establish limits of nitrates contents of vegetables cultivated in Korea due to the co-presence of beneficial elements such as ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol which are known to inhibit the formation of nitrosamine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics in Hong Kong of 37 cases of child battering and their families compared to a control group matched for age of child and social class of family revealed that the families of battered children had significantly more problems, with a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorder among the parents. The victims were usually the product of unwanted pregnancy and had been separated from their parents in the first year of life. In Hong Kong older children rather than infants were at risk of being battered. The cultural factors in operation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The compound 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly referred to as ecstasy, is the most widely abused psychoactive recreational drug among young people. The purpose of this study is to investigate the malemediated MDMA effect on reproductive and developmental toxicity. Materials/Methods: We investigated fertility, behaviour, development and genetic expression after exposure to MDMA (20 mg/kg) during the male germ cell developmental period (4 weeks) by using reproductive toxicity test protocol, microarray and bisulfite specific PCR and sequencing (BSP) as an epigenetic approach. Results: In reproductive and developmental toxicity study, MDMA neither induced any significant changes compared with F0 (parents) and F1 (offspring) in body weight, physical development, reflex, sperm motility, testis morphology or fertility. However, specific organs such as kidney, liver, and spleen showed reduced weight compared with control from F0. Paternal exposure to MDMA increased the incidence of the number of post-implantation losses in uterus. To investigate the epigenetic transgenerational effect of MDMA between F0 and F1, the authors performed microarray and DNA methylation pattern after acquiring pure germ cells from mouse testis. Of the 34,000 genes from microarray, 77 down-regulated genes overlapped between generations. Among these genes, the authors further investigated the methylation state of spata3 (spermatogenesis-associated protein 3) promoter CpG-islands, which are a relevant site with an epigenetic mark by using BSP (bisulfite specific PCR and sequencing). As a result, the authors confirmed that CpG islands were methylated on F0 gene. But the same site of F1 was not methylated. Conclusion: To understand the complicated germ cell's mechanism is difficult because the life of the germ cell itself is full of changes. Although, this study did not demonstrated the co-relationship MDMA effect on reproduction and development with DNA methylation in the germ cells at this point, genome-wide epigenetic study of germ cells may have an important role in studying male mediating epigenetic transgenerational inheritance effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]