Impact of Plastic Waste on the Human Health in Low-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Background: Plastic pollution is the accumulation of waste composed of plastic and its derivatives all over the environment. Whether in the form of visible garbage or microparticles, as it slowly degrades, plastic pollution poses significant threats to terrestrial and aquatic habitats and the wildlife that call them home, whether through ingestion, entanglement or exposure to the chemicals contained in the material. Unfortunately, there is a lack of documentation on the impact of plastic waste on human health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: We searched five electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Global Health, CINAHL and Web of Science) and gray literature, following the preferred reporting elements for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA), for the impact of plastic waste on human health in developing countries. We included quantitative and qualitative studies written in English and French. We assessed the quality of the included articles using the Mixed Methods Appraisal tool (MMAT). Results: A total of 3779 articles were initially identified by searching electronic databases. After eliminating duplicates, 3167 articles were reviewed based on title and abstract, and 26 were selected for full-text review. Only three articles were retained. The three articles dealt with practices likely to lead to oral exposure to plastic chemicals in human health, as well as the level of awareness of participants concerning the possible impact of plastic on human health, namely, the use of plastic baby bottles, the use of microwaves to cook food and reheat precooked food, the use of plastic bottles to store water in the refrigerator, water purifier containers with plastic bodies and plastic lunch boxes, the reuse of plastic bags and the inadequacy of treatment facilities. Conclusion: Plastic waste poses different risks to human health at every stage of its life cycle. Hence, strategies must be adopted to raise public awareness of the dangers of plastic waste to their health. Trial registration: The review protocol is registered in the PROSPERO international prospective register of systematic reviews (ID = CRD42023409087).

DISTRIBUTION OF ALPHA-1-ANTITRYPSIN VARIANT ETOKYO AND ITS IMPLICATION IN HUMAN POPULATION GENETICS

Ⅰ. INTRODUCTION Alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT; locus symbol, PI) is one of the main protease inhibitors in serum. Up to now there are at least 50 A1AT variants that have been found in human populations (Cox, D. W., private communication). The distribution of A1AT variants appears highly racial specificity and geographical variability. This

The Future Common Ancestry of All Present-Day Humans

At some future time, each person alive today will be either an ancestor of everyone or an ancestor of no one. If the global population were unstructured by geography, race, religion and other factors, the time to future common ancestry for present-day humans would be between 33 and 66 generations, or about 1000 - 2000 years. In a structured population, migration and intermarriage are the necessary conditions for global common ancestry. Simulation of random and hierarchical migration models, shows that time to future global ancestry is generally less than triple, and often less than twice, that required for an unstructured population. The models suggest that someone alive today will become a common ancestor of the entire world population by about 5000 CE, or sooner;and that all current humans who are destined to become global common ancestors will be so by about 8000 CE, or sooner. At which time, everybody then alive will have the exact same genealogical ancestors from the present day.

Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance： results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements

Background： Canopy structure, defined by leaf area index （LAI）, fractional vegetation cover （FCover） and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation （fAPAR）, regulates a wide range of forest functions and ecosystem services. Spatially consistent field-measurements of canopy structure are however lacking, particularly for the tropics. Methods： Here, we introduce the Global LAI database： a global dataset of field-based canopy structure measurements spanning tropical forests in four continents （Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas）. We use these measurements to test for climate dependencies within and across continents, and to test for the potential of anthropogenic disturbance and forest protection to modulate those dependences. Results： Using data collected from 887 tropical forest plots, we show that maximum water deficit, defined across the most arid months of the year, is an important predictor of canopy structure, with all three canopy attributes declining significantly with increasing water deficit. Canopy attributes also increase with minimum temperature, and with the protection of forests according to both active （within protected areas） and passive measures （through topography）. Once protection and continent effects are accounted for, other anthropogenic measures （e.g. human population） do not improve the model. Conclusions： We conclude that canopy structure in the tropics is primarily a consequence of forest adaptation to the maximum water deficits historically experienced within a given region. Climate change, and in particular changes in drought regimes may thus affect forest structure and function, but forest protection may offer some resilience against this effect.

Finding Food Security through Changing the Agricultural Model to Sustain Insect Biodiversity

Worldwide biodiversity is being threatened by human activities to a greater level wherein the natural ecosystems are reaching the verge of collapsing. We are faced with four major interrelated challenges namely a changing climate, biodiversity loss, human population growth and food production for this growing population. Agricultural intensification contributes significantly to biodiversity loss. The agricultural model for our current food production systems is mainly based on the Green Revolution, which promoted the cultivation of crops in extensive monoculture fields and intensified external inputs of agrochemicals. This model resulted in biodiversity loss, particularly in insect populations. A model based on ecological intensification as an alternative to agricultural intensification with minimized use of agro-inputs may slow the rate of biodiversity loss resulting in more sustainable agricultural ecosystems.

Population geography in China since the 1980s： Forging the links between population studies and human geography

This paper reviews the progress of population geography in China since the 1980 s. The review results suggest that contrary to the common perception of its invisibility and marginalized status in the field, tremendous progress has been made in population geography in China since the 1980 s. Population geographers have made significant contribution to the understanding of a wide range of population issues from geographical perspectives, including migration, urbanization, population distribution, the relationships between population, environment and resources, aging, marriage patterns, and migrants＇ crimes, although such contribution often did not appear in the geographical circle. Furthermore, population geographers have played an indispensable role in revitalizing population studies in China and forging its links to human geography, occupying an important position in this multi-disciplinary field. Population geographers＇ contribution to the areas of migration and urbanization research has been particularly significant, reflected in their leading roles in these areas＇ research. The paper demonstrates that as latecomers in the field after more than 20 years of isolation, population geographers in China have gone through a process of catching up and increasing engagement with developments in social sciences and increasing interaction with social scientists since the 1980 s, and have benefited greatly from it; however, there is a tendency for population geography to be increasingly alienated from the main stream human geography, a phenomenon similar to but not exactly the same as Anglo-American geography in the late 1990 s and early 2000 s. The paper argues that population geography is only half way in the course to forge the links between population studies and human geography, and it needs to return to geographical sciences to strike a healthy balance between the field of population studies and that of human geography, and promote its further development in a multi-disciplinary field.

Global spatio-temporally harmonised datasets for producing high-resolution gridded population distribution datasets

Multi-temporal,globally consistent,high-resolution human population datasets provide consistent and comparable population distributions in support of mapping sub-national heterogeneities in health,wealth,and resource access,and monitoring change in these over time.The production of more reliable and spatially detailed population datasets is increasingly necessary due to the importance of improving metrics at sub-national and multitemporal scales.This is in support of measurement and monitoring of UN Sustainable Development Goals and related agendas.In response to these agendas,a method has been developed to assemble and harmonise a unique,open access,archive of geospatial datasets.Datasets are provided as global,annual time series,where pertinent at the timescale of population analyses and where data is available,for use in the construction of population distribution layers.The archive includes sub-national census-based population estimates,matched to a geospatial layer denoting administrative unit boundaries,and a number of co-registered gridded geospatial factors that correlate strongly with population presence and density.Here,we describe these harmonised datasets and their limitations,along with the production workflow.Further,we demonstrate applications of the archive by producing multi-temporal gridded population outputs for Africa and using these to derive health and development metrics.The geospatial archive is available at https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00650.

Modelling changing population distributions:an example of the Kenyan Coast,1979–2009

Large-scale gridded population datasets are usually produced for the year of input census data using a top-down approach and projected backward and forward in time using national growth rates.Such temporal projections do not include any subnational variation in population distribution trends and ignore changes in geographical covariates such as urban land cover changes.Improved predictions of population distribution changes over time require the use of a limited number of covariates that are time-invariant or temporally explicit.Here we make use of recently released multi-temporal high-resolution global settlement layers,historical census data and latest developments in population distribution modelling methods to reconstruct population distribution changes over 30 years across the Kenyan Coast.We explore the methodological challenges associated with the production of gridded population distribution time-series in data-scarce countries and show that trade-offs have to be found between spatial and temporal resolutions when selecting the best modelling approach.Strategies used to fill data gaps may vary according to the local context and the objective of the study.This work will hopefully serve as a benchmark for future developments of population distribution time-series that are increasingly required for population-at-risk estimations and spatial modelling in various fields.

Population-based frequency of surfactant dysfunction mutations in a native Chinese cohort

Background: Rare mutations in surfactant-associatedgenes contribute to neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.The frequency of mutations in these genes in the Chinesepopulation is unknown.Methods: We obtained blood spots from the GuangxiNeonatal Screening Center in Nanning, China thatincluded Han (n=443) and Zhuang (n=313) ethnic groups.We resequenced all exons of the surfactant proteins-B(SFTPB), -C (SFTPC), and the ATP-binding cassettemember A3 (ABCA3) genes and compared the frequenciesof 5 common and all rare variants.Results: We found minor differences in thefrequencies of the common variants in the Han andZhuang cohorts. We did not find any rare mutations inSFTPB or SFTPC, but we found three ABCA3 mutationsin the Han [minor allele frequency (MAF)=0.003] and 7 inthe Zhuang (MAF=0.011) cohorts (P=0.10). The ABCA3mutations were unique to each cohort;five were novel.The collapsed carrier rate of rare ABCA3 mutations inthe Han and Zhuang populations combined was 1.3%,which is signifi cantly lower than that in the United States(P<0.001).Conclusions: The population-based frequency ofmutations in ABCA3 in south China newborns is signifi cantlylower than that in United States. The contribution of theserare ABCA3 mutations to disease burden in the south Chinapopulation is still unknown.

Exploring nationally and regionally defined models for large area population mapping

Interactions between humans,diseases,and the environment take place across a range of temporal and spatial scales,making accurate,contemporary data on human population distributions critical for a variety of disciplines.Methods for disaggregating census data to finer-scale,gridded population density estimates continue to be refined as computational power increases and more detailed census,input,and validation datasets become available.However,the availability of spatially detailed census data still varies widely by country.In this study,we develop quantitative guidelines for choosing regionally-parameterized census count disaggregation models over country-specific models.We examine underlying methodological considerations for improving gridded population datasets for countries with coarser scale census data by investigating regional versus country-specific models used to estimate density surfaces for redistributing census counts.Consideration is given to the spatial resolution of input census data using examples from East Africa and Southeast Asia.Results suggest that for many countries more accurate population maps can be produced by using regionally-parameterized models where more spatially refined data exists than that which is available for the focal country.This study highlights the advancement of statistical toolsets and considerations for underlying data used in generating widely used gridded population data.

Prevalence and gene frequency of color vision impairments among children of six populations from North Indian region

X-linked redegreen color blindness is the most widespread form of vision impairment.The study aimed to determine the prevalence and gene frequencies of redegreen color vision impairments among children of six different human populations of Jammu province.A total of 1028 healthy subjects(6e15 years of age)were selected from five Muslim populations and the color vision impairments were determined using the Ishihara’s test of color deficiency.The gene frequency was calculated using HardyeWeinberg equilibrium method.The prevalence of color vision deficiency(CVD)ranged from 5.26%to 11.36%among males and 0.00%e3.03%among females of six different populations.The gender based differences in the frequency of CVD was found to be statistically significant(p<0.0001),with a higher prevalence among male(7.52%)as compared to female(0.83%)children.We observed high frequency of deutan as compared to protan defects.The incidences of deuteranomaly(5.68%)and deuteranopia(2.27%)were higher among male children of Syed population while the frequencies of protanomaly(1.94%),protanopia(1.28%)and achromacy(2.27%)were the highest among male subjects of Khan,Malik and Syed populations,respectively.The allele and genotype frequencies showed cogent differences among six populations.The population based assessment of CVDs help patients to follow adaptive strategies that could minimize the risks of the disease.