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Globally, the environmental impacts of microplastics (MPs) as emerging pollutants have drawn a lot of attention. This study aimed to assess the distribution and associated potential ecotoxic risk of MPs in the water and sediment of Nigeria's offshore waters. Water and sediment samples were collected from sixteen (16) stations in October 2023 and analysed using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and stereomicroscopy. For physical characterization, the composition of MPs in sediment and water was 73 particles/kg and 48 particles/L, respectively, while the ATR-FTIR composition at the Eastern Zone (EZ) was 705 particles/L and 1033 particles/kg, the Central Zone (CZ) was 212 particles/L and 338 particles/kg, and the Western Zone (WZ) was 223 particles/L and 218 particles/kg. The identified MPs shapes were filaments, plastic films, fibre, and microbeads. Polychloroprene (CR) (18.10% and 16.86%) at EZ and CZ and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (20.64%) at WZ were most abundant in sediment, respectively. In comparison, PVA (22.3%, 22.2%, and 21.08%) was most abundant across EZ, CZ, and WZ in water. The polymer-based plastic contamination factors (ppCf) and pollution load index (pPLI) showed low contamination and pollution load, and the polymer risk index (pRi) showed medium and low risk in water and sediment, respectively. The polymer ecological risks index (pERI) showed a high-risk level (pERI: 1,001-10,000) in water and sediment across the EZ, CZ, and WZ of the Nigerian offshore waters. In marine environments, an extensive environmental monitoring program and trend forecasting for microplastics are crucial. This study will provide theoretical and technical support for developing efficient legislation or policy on the prevention and control of plastic pollution., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Background & Aims: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a hospital-acquired infection with increasing incidence and severity. The most frequently used test to diagnose CDI is an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for toxins A and B in stool samples. It is common to test 2 or more stool samples, based on the assumption that this detects CDI with greater sensitivity than analysis of 1 sample. We investigated whether repeat stool testing significantly improves the diagnostic yield for CDI., Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of hospitalized patients who were tested for CDI using EIA. From year 2005 to 2008, 39,402 stool samples from 17,971 patients with 29,373 diarrhea episodes were tested. Transition probabilities were calculated based on results from repeated tests., Results: A total of 2692 diarrheal episodes (9.17%) were diagnosed with CDI. Based on results of 3 consecutive tests, 2675 (99.36%) were diagnosed with CDI. The first stool sample tested produced positive results for 90.7% of cases. When samples were tested consecutively, for the second and third time, an additional 6.6% and 2% patients had positive test results, respectively. If the first test result was negative, the probability of the second test result being positive was 2.7%. If the first 2 test results were negative, the probability of the third test result being positive was 2.3%., Conclusions: In patients who had multiple stool samples tested for CDI by EIA, almost 91% were accurately diagnosed based on the results of a single stool sample alone. Subsequent testing yielded a positive result in only 8.6% of patients. We therefore recommend that repeat testing not be done on a routine basis because it does not significantly improve diagnostic yield., (Copyright © 2011 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Technological innovations have increased the number of self-employed workers within the Union bringing changes to the labor market, especially in the last two decades, this has also been done at European level. Given the interest of the European institutions, this contribution aims to explore the role of European labor law in broadening the scope of application of protections and rights to self-employment. The contrast between subordinate work and self-employment is one of the topics of greatest interest to labor law doctrine. Many, both in the past and recently, have questioned the imbalance of protection that sees the employed worker as the privileged beneficiary of protective institutions, while the latter is excluded from most of them. Specifically, the research deals with the classification of self-employment, proposing the introduction of an intermediate category in European labor law. The latter is considered a privileged tool for raising the level of protection of these workers who are operationally and functionally integrated into the client company and increasingly frequent in the job market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Watson was not the first to delve into the transfers of law across legal systems' boundaries, his seminal contribution marked the beginning of a sophisticated research stream, reaching the status of a comparative law paradigm. The paper advocates for the wider adoption of the concept of legal transplants by scholars, lawmakers and practitioners as a valuable intellectual framework. To substantiate the claim that the transplant theory is indeed a paradigm of comparative law, the author undertakes its reconstruction based on six key components, providing a concise overview of the central tenets of the legal transplant scholarship. The sheer volume of this scholarship shows that what Watson projected back in 1974 in the subtitle of his book has indeed come true. This paper also argues for building connections between legal transplants and related research streams, including cultural diffusion, diffusion of innovations and policy transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

8-Methylquinoline is regarded as an ideal substrate to participate in diversely C(sp 3 )-H functionalization reactions. The presence of the chelating nitrogen atom enables 8-methylquinoline to easily form cyclometallated complexes with various transition metals, leading to the selective synthesis of functionalized quinolines. Considering the great importance of quinoline cores in medicinal chemistry, in this review article, we have covered the publications related to the C-H activation and functionalization of 8-methylquinoline under transition metal catalysis during the last decade., (© 2024 The Chemical Society of Japan and Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Law is a critical tool that humans have created to assist them in managing complex social interactions. Computational Law holds the potential to significantly enhance our capacity to express and manage legal complexity, and a number of advantages can result from restating public and private legal rules in computable form. Capturing that potential depends in part on the approaches taken to automation. One set of choices involves whether to translate directly into code from existing natural language statements of laws, regulations and contracts or whether to step back, envision the basic structure underlying those statements and build a software approach that reflects that structure in a code-native manner. We argue that many advantages can flow from the second approach, and we present a specific use case of a simplified insurance policy as an example of this approach. Large language models may assist in this process, but are not yet a replacement for a code-native utility. This article is part of the theme issue 'A complexity science approach to law and governance'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of biodegradable wastes into the coastal waters has altered the water and sediment qualities and constituted stressors to the aquatic biota. This research was carried out to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic inputs on the water, sediment, and benthic fauna of the Lagos lagoon. Six sampling locations were studied from July to December, 2023. Water as well as benthic samples were collected monthly at each study station using the Hydrobios water sampler and the Van-veen grab respectively, and analyzed in the laboratory following standard procedures. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was no significant difference (P> 0.05) in values of the pH, salinity, The sediment particle composition was dominated by mud. A total of 597 benthic macrofauna individuals comprising 3 Phyla, 4 Classes, 4 Orders, 8 Families, 8 Genera and 8 Species were sampled. The gastropods, Tympanotonus fuscatus dominated the benthic Macrofauna assemblage of the study area accounting for 56.0%. The Phylum Arthropoda was represented by one species Clibanarius africanus, recorded the least number of individuals, which contributed 0.05% of the total number of individuals collected during the Sampling period. The low abundance of the filter-feeding bivalves, the highly sensitive arthropod species as well as Pachymelania aurita in the study area may be indicative of stressed nature of the area. The existence of benthic macroinvertebrates must be guaranteed by ensuring healthy water bodies. This is possible through the implementation of environmental protective measures, which should be on the bases on the baseline condition of these pollution hotspots of the Lagos lagoon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]