Heavy Metals Concentration in Sediments of South Brittany Waters, France: An Ecological Risk Assessment Approach

Distribution patterns of selected heavy metals content in sediments from the Bay of Quiberon and Gulf of Morbihan were studied to understand the current heavy metals contamination due to urbanization and mariculture activities in the coastal area. Therefore, a survey was conducted and 196 sediments collected were characterized for heavy metals content using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) after mix acid digestion process. The distribution maps of the concentrations of the heavy metals studied were produced as an isopleth map based on data interpolation by the ArcGIS software application. The association with the adverse effects on aquatic organisms was determined by the classification of the sediment according to the sediment quality guidelines. Therefore, two approaches were employed namely: direct comparison with Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs) by USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and comparison with other numerical SQGs, threshold effect level/probable effect level, and effect range low/effect range medium. In order to estimate the effect of multiple contaminations of heavy metals, the mean-ERM-quotient was calculated at each sampling point.

Safety and effectiveness of electromyography-induced rehabilitation treatment after epidural electrical stimulation for spinal cord injury:study protocol for a prospective,randomized,controlled trial

Epidural electrical stimulation is a new treatment method for spinal cord injury(SCI).Its efficacy and safety have previously been reported.Rehabilitation treatment after epidural electrical stimulation is important to ensure and improve the postoperative efficacy of epidural electrical stimulation in patients with SCI.Considering that electromyography(EMG)-induced rehabilitation treatment can accurately match the muscle contraction of patients with SCI,we designed a study protocol for a prospective,randomized controlled trial.In this trial,on the premise of adjusting the spinal cord electrical stimulator to obtain the maximum EMG signal of the target muscle,patients with SCI receiving epidural electrical stimulation will undergo EMG-induced rehabilitation treatment.Recovery of muscle strength of key muscles,quality of life,safety and therapeutic effects will be monitored.Twenty patients with SCI who are scheduled to undergo epidural electrical stimulation in Shanghai Ruijin Rehabilitation Hospital will be randomly divided into two groups with 10 patients per group.The control group will receive conventional rehabilitation treatment.The EMG-induced rehabilitation group will receive EMG-induced rehabilitation treatment of the target muscles of the upper and lower limbs based on conventional rehabilitation treatment.After rehabilitation treatment,follow up for all patients will occur at 2 weeks and 1,3 and 6 months.The primary outcome measure of this trial will be evaluation of target muscle recovery using the Manual Muscle Testing grading scale.Secondary outcome measures will include modified Barthel Index scores,integrated EMG values,the visual analogue scale,Spinal Cord Independence Measure scores,and modified Ashworth scale scores.The safety indicator will be the incidence of adverse events.This trial will collect data regarding the therapeutic effects of EMG-induced rehabilitation in patients with SCI receiving epidural electrical stimulation for 6 months after rehabilitation treatment.Findings from this trial will help develop rehabilitation methods in patients with SCI after epidural electrical stimulation.This study protocol was approved by Ethics Committee of Shanghai Ruijin Rehabilitation Hospital(Approval No.RKIRB2022-12)on February 15,2022 and was registered with Chinese Clinical Trial Registry(registration number:ChiCTR2200061674;date:June 30,2022).Study protocol version:1.0.

Unique characteristics of gut microbiota in black snub-nosed monkeys(Rhinopithecus strykeri) reveal an enzymatic mechanism of adaptation to dietary vegetation

DEAR EDITOR,The Myanmar or black snub-nosed monkey(Rhinopithecus strykeri) is a recently discovered and critically endangered colobus primate with an unknown gut microbiota. Here, we characterized and compared the gut microbiota of R. strykeri with those of two closely related snub-nosed monkey species.

Lower risk of male infanticide in multilevel primate societies

DEAR EDITOR,Male infanticide is considered a severe manifestation of sexual conflict in non-human primates during male takeover or male dominance changes. Males engaging in infanticide may obtain fitness benefits, but at the cost of female reproductive outcomes. Consequently, females have developed various anti-infanticide counterstrategies, such as coalitions, dispersal.