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At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Predictors of sustained amenorrhea from pulsed intravenous cyclophosphamide in premenopausal women with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors of intravenous cyclophosphamide (IC) induced sustained amenorrhea, especially in young premenopausal women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: The cumulative dose resulting in sustained amenorrhea in 50 and 90% of the treated women (D50 and D90) and predictors of sustained amenorrhea at various ages were determined with Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox regressions in a consecutively enrolled cohort of 67 premenopausal women with SLE who received a pulsed IC regimen (monthly doses of 0.75-1.00 g/m2) for nephritis (n = 59) or other indications (n = 8). RESULTS: Twenty-one of 67 women developed sustained amenorrhea of > 12 months' duration. Age was the strongest determinant of this adverse event. For women in the upper age tertile (>or= 32 years old), D50 was 8 g/m2 and D90 was 12 g/m2, and no strong protective or predisposing factors were identified. Conversely, only 5 of 44 women <or= 31 years old at initiation of IC developed sustained amenorrhea. In these young women the risk was modulated by the prior SLE disease duration (risk increased 1.28-fold per year; p = 0.002), the presence of anti-U1RNP antibodies (relative risk 9.5; p = 0.016), and the presence of anti-Ro antibodies (relative risk 13.5; p = 0.021). In multivariate modeling, anti-U1RNP and disease duration were still significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Sustained amenorrhea is difficult to avoid in women 32 years or older, even with very short IC courses, and alternative regimens should be considered. In younger women treated with a monthly IC regimen, sustained amenorrhea may occur predominantly in those with the recognized adverse predictors of this complication.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Agricultural policy and sustainable livestock development.

Future agricultural and rural development is, to a large extent, influenced by the projected food needs of 2.5 billion people expected to swell the world population by 2020. This increase will require more food in general and, in view of recent experience in East Asia, more animal products. To achieve this increase will require judicious use of resources, and trade, especially in those countries where natural resources are insufficient to support food production. Achieving food sufficiency in a sustainable manner is a major challenge for farmers, agro-industries, researchers and governments. The latter play an important role as many of the farmers' choices are, to a large extent, directed by government or supra-government, often through macro- and micro-economic policy. In many countries the economic, environmental, trade and agricultural policies have not been conducive to an agricultural development that is risk-free with respect to the environment, animal welfare or public health. The recent decline of government support in agriculture forced farmers in Western countries to think about more risk adverse agricultural practices and more efficient production systems. On the other hand, many countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as other developing countries, are still going through a painful process of adjustment to new market conditions. International banks and development agencies have a mandate to help developing countries, but are somewhat restricted both by needing to work directly with governments and by their perceived dogmatic approach to development. Changing policies do, now and in the future, also affect the development of animal disease control programmes, including the control of parasitic diseases. On the one hand there is an increasing interest in risk-free control practices, and on the other hand a demand for greater regulatory control over the production process. As parasitic diseases of animals are closely linked to the environment (i.e. grazing and waste management) and public health (i.e. parasitic zoonoses), the new interest in sustainable agriculture provides a challenge for those concerned with the control and prevention of animal parasitism.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2005

The rising tide of fisheries instruments and the struggle to keep afloat.

Since agreement was reached in 1982 on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and particularly since the conclusion of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, the rate of development of global instruments impacting on fisheries has escalated considerably and is apparently continuing to do so. A flood of global and regional instruments relevant to fisheries has been generated, including, for example, the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora which pre-dates the UN Convention, the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development, the 1993 FAO Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas, the 1995 UN Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and its four international plans of action and strategy, and the 2001 FAO Reykjavik Declaration on Responsible Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystem reflecting the growing international interest in ecosystem approaches to fisheries. Most recent has been the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development's Plan of Implementation. These instruments have been motivated by real problems associated with environmental degradation and living resource depletion, in several cases specifically in connection with fisheries. They have attempted to address these problems, and each instrument is recognized as being a positive contribution towards the sustainable use of resources and ecosystems. However, taken collectively they form a large, often confusing and potentially overwhelming set of recommendations and requirements that is putting many fishery management agencies under severe pressure as they seek to implement them. This paper provides a brief overview of the range of recent instruments and their implications for sustainable fisheries management, considers the progress being made in implementing them, identifies general problems being encountered and how they might be ameliorated in the future. A key problem is a lack of political will, or political ability, to address effectively the problems facing fisheries and marine ecosystems. One consequence of this is that the agencies charged with fisheries management are not provided with adequate technical and financial capacity to implement the instruments in most, if not all, countries. The problem is especially acute in developing countries where they are strained by the full effects of "instrument implementation fatigue".

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management.

Sustainable development is a term reflecting human, societal, and environmental values and in order to determine progress toward this goal; it is necessary to identify and define these values, and for governments or other institutions to establish the means to assess progress. Canada is directly involved in national and international processes to assess the sustainability of forest management processes using Criteria and Indicators. These consist of a group of broad core values (Criteria) and are supported by an number of measures (Indicators) to assess status or progress toward the realization of these values. Measuring and monitoring indicators is necessary to demonstrate progress toward sustainable development nationally and internationally. The criteria that have been identified include the traditional concepts of timber values, and include economics, environmental, social values, and national infrastructures. Each criterion is supported by a number of indicators to track progress. Countries in the international process also collaborate on defining terms, methods of reporting, and improving and enhancing indicators. C&I facilitate international reporting and provide a framework for international agreements while reflecting national differences in characteristics and descriptions of forests. The reporting process has stimulated the emergence of forest management issues that will influence forest science and forest ecosystem management in the future. For Canada, these include the development of a national system of forest ecosystem inventory, and ecological classification, the interpretation of the range of historic variation, and the adequacy and applicability of data sources.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed2001

Differences in electromechanical coupling between bradykinin and the nonpeptide kinin B2 receptor agonist, FR 190997, in the circular muscle of guinea-pig colon.

We have compared the effect of bradykinin (BK) and the nonpeptide kinin B2 receptor agonist, FR 190997, in producing changes in membrane potential and tension in the circular muscle of guinea-pig colon by the sucrose gap technique. In the presence of atropine (1 microM), S-ketoprofen (3 microM) and apamin (0.1 microM), BK (1 microM for 20 s) induced a transient depolarization of the membrane with superimposed action potentials (spikes) and transient contraction. Nifedipine (1 microM) eliminated the spikes and markedly inhibited the BK-induced contractions. FR 190997 (3-10 microM for 20 s) induced a slowly developing sustained small depolarization associated with a slowly developing and sustained contraction but, contrary to BK, FR 190997 was unable to trigger spikes. Nifedipine had no effect on depolarization and contraction induced by FR 190997. In the presence of 1 microM nifedipine, the combined application of a blocker of receptor-operated cation channels, SKF 96365 (50 microM for 30 min), and of an inhibitor of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump, cyclopiazonic acid (CPA 10 microM for 30 min), reduced the BK-induced depolarization and contraction by about 45%-60%. The same treatment induced about 40% reduction of the sustained contraction induced by FR 190997, whereas the concomitant depolarization was not significantly affected. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein (40 microM for 20 min) had no effect on the BK- and FR 190997-induced depolarization and contraction in the presence of nifedipine. In radioligand binding experiments performed in membranes of colonic smooth muscle cells, both agonists displaced the [3H]BK specific binding with a pIC50 of 9.6 and 8.5 for BK and FR 190997, respectively. These findings indicate a substantial qualitative difference in mechanisms of excitation contraction coupling activated by BK and FR 190997 via B2 receptors in guinea-pig colon.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Earth applications of closed ecological systems: relevance to the development of sustainability in our global biosphere.

The parallels between the challenges facing bioregenerative life support in artificial closed ecological systems and those in our global biosphere are striking. At the scale of the current global technosphere and expanding human population, it is increasingly obvious that the biosphere can no longer safely buffer and absorb technogenic and anthropogenic pollutants. The loss of biodiversity, reliance on non-renewable natural resources, and conversion of once wild ecosystems for human use with attendant desertification/soil erosion, has led to a shift of consciousness and the widespread call for sustainability of human activities. For researchers working on bioregenerative life support in closed systems, the small volumes and faster cycling times than in the Earth's biosphere make it starkly clear that systems must be designed to ensure renewal of water and atmosphere, nutrient recycling, production of healthy food, and safe environmental methods of maintaining technical systems. The development of technical systems that can be fully integrated and supportive of living systems is a harbinger of new perspectives as well as technologies in the global environment. In addition, closed system bioregenerative life support offers opportunities for public education and consciousness changing of how to live with our global biosphere.

Biodiversity↗
PubMed2004

Scenario simulation of water security in China.

Limited water resources, increasing demand, low use efficiency, and serious pollution result in severe water resource difficult in China. The evaluation of addressing water problems and the search for effective countermeasures that ensure sustainable water use are key to China's sustainable development. The "compound water security" consists of food security, life security, environmental security, and economic security. By establishing a conceptual model, the water security of China has been simulated in terms of four scenarios called BAU (the business-as-usual scenario), TEC (the technology and economics scenario), IVL (the institution, values, and lifestyles scenario) and TSD(toward sustainable development) in this paper. The results indicated that water crises, especially water shortages, are being experienced now and will continue to do so for a relatively long time in China and that it is possible to reach a basic balance between supply and demand of water and grain under the TSD developing pattern by a series of approaches including technological innovation, policy adjustments, and behaviour inducement.

China↗
PubMed1984

Low erythrocyte Na+/K+ ratio in children with mild blood pressure elevation and a positive family history of hypertension.

Thirty-seven children aged 6-16 years were studied. Their mothers had a history of previous pre-eclampsia or hypertension in pregnancy on average 10.4 years earlier and had later developed sustained hypertension. Blood pressure in these children was significantly higher than in an age-matched control group (125/71 versus 113/64 mmHg, P less than 0.001). Intracellular Na+ in erythrocytes were not elevated, on the contrary the Na+/K+ ratio was significantly lower than in an age- and sex-matched control group (0.095 versus 0.103, P less than 0.05). Thus women with hypertension in pregnancy who later developed sustained essential hypertension have children with elevated blood pressures at an early age. The observation that the erythrocyte Na+/K+ ratio is reduced in such children suggests that the rise in intracellular Na+ commonly described in essential hypertension is not a primary event.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Developing a sustainable energy strategy for a water utility. Part II: A review of potential technologies and approaches.

Environmental legislation is increasing the amounts of bought-in electricity required for sewage treatment, and generating larger volumes of sewage sludge to be treated and disposed of. Concurrently, concerns over global warming and food safety from sewage sludge recycling on agricultural land is augmenting the costs of conventional sewage and sludge treatment technologies and practices. This paper reviews some emerging technologies and practices that may assist in mitigating these problems in the future. In addition, a number of potential renewable energy technologies available to water companies are reviewed. Results suggest that through the take-up of new technologies, current and future water quality standards could be delivered in a more sustainable way. However, this series of papers also highlights that institutional and political conflicts may have inadvertently failed to recognise the wider effects of improving water quality and lessened the financial support necessary for their widespread take-up. It is also suggested that through the use of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) approach, stakeholders could gain a better understanding of the broader environmental effects of achieving certain water quality standards and develop policy and long-term investment strategies accordingly. However, to fulfill the information requirements of an SEA, an appropriate appraisal tool that considers many of these factors in unison is required, and a possible technique is suggested.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2006

Lifestyle, family history and progression of hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Unhealthy lifestyle practices are risk factors for future hypertension. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between lifestyle changes over a 6-year period and the risk of developing sustained hypertension in a cohort of young hypertensive individuals, and to identify the predictors of lifestyle impairment over time. METHODS: Seven-hundred and eighty never-treated hypertensive HARVEST participants, 18-45 years old, were studied. RESULTS: Only modest mean behavioral changes were observed during follow-up. This, however, was the net result of many participants improving and others worsening their lifestyle. Participants with a family history of hypertension (FH+, n = 459) had more undesirable lifestyles (P = 0.004) and higher clinic and ambulatory blood pressures (P = 0.03) at baseline than participants without a family history of hypertension (FH-). During the 6-year follow-up, FH- individuals strikingly worsened their lifestyle while FH+ participants exhibited impressive improvements (P < 0.00001). Other predictors of lifestyle impairment were male gender (P = 0.003) and age (P = 0.02). Adoption of an unfavorable lifestyle was accompanied by an increased risk of developing sustained hypertension (P = 0.04). Initiation of drug therapy for hypertension was significantly higher among FH- than FH+ individuals (53 versus 45%, respectively; P = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: 'Lower risk' FH- stage 1 hypertensive individuals may initially be at higher risk of developing more severe hypertension in comparison with their FH+ counterparts. This increased risk may be attributed to worsening of their lifestyle profiles over time. Healthy lifestyles should be emphasized to all hypertensive individuals including patients with favorable lifestyle profiles.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Precaution, prediction, proof, and policy assessment.

The challenge of sustainable development--the ultimate goal of precaution-- demands that we shift our focus away from individual environmental problems and toward long-term integration of environmental, social, and economic policy. It also elevates protection of ecosystem processes and biodiversity to the status of significant policy goals. In this article, the author argues for a new use of the precautionary principle, as a means to assess broad policy decisions to target indirect or systemic rather than direct threats to sustainability. He draws on a case study of two Australian policies: the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD), and the National Competition Policy (NCP).1 While the proposals are ambitious and may not be achievable in the near future, nonetheless, it is in the nature of institutional and policy systems that it is difficult to predict when opportunities for policy change will arise. It is crucial to develop and articulate strategies now, to be promoted during brief windows of opportunity for policy change.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Developing a sustainable energy strategy for a water utility. Part I: A review of the UK legislative framework.

Increasing political effort to improve water quality across the UK and Europe has led to water and sewerage companies investing heavily in high-tech wastewater treatment plants capable of producing high quality effluents. Consequently, amounts of bought-in electricity used for wastewater treatment has and will continue to increase significantly over coming years, while greater provision of enhanced sewage treatment also produces greater volumes of sewage sludge requiring treatment and disposal. Over the same period, tougher controls on the quality of biosolids applied to agricultural land have also been introduced, while there has been an international attempt to reduce the use of fossil-fuel derived power sources because of concerns over global warming. The latter has brought about the introduction of financial instruments, such as the Climate Change Levy, to curb energy use, promote energy efficiency and encourage the development of renewable energy technologies. These factors are set to drive-up the costs of providing adequate sewage treatment services, while at the same time, a tough regulatory line taken to control profits on regional monopolies held by the UK water companies will significantly reduce their revenues over the period 2000-05. The result is that, financially, UK water and sewerage companies face their most challenging period since privatisation in 1989. This paper briefly outlines the current regulations relating to water quality and energy use that will affect water company operations over coming years.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2003

Environmental certification: a scientific tool for sustainability. Evaluation of possible indicators for the environmental performance evaluation (EPE) of Ravenna province (Italy).

Environmental certification is becoming the main tool for application of sustainable development principles. The European Regulation Emas and the international standard ISO 14001 both require for certification, to perform an environmental management system to prevent environmental impacts and to continuously improve environmental performance. For a good environmental performance evaluation (EPE), certification needs to use scientific methodologies and to interface with scientific research; here we proposed emergy analysis as a valid method for EPE and emergetic environmental performance and condition indicators (EPIs, ECIs) to monitor a territorial system: Ravenna province (Italy). Together with emergy indicators were selected other indicators for a deeper EPE: emitted/adsorbed CO2, energy consumptions, air and water pollution measures. The paper showed that Ravenna system has a good environmental performance and demonstrated how different indicators from the most advanced chemical research (chemical-physical, analytical, etc.) contribute to a complete EPE of a complex territorial system and are useful for environmental certification and sustainable development.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2004

Bacterial degradation of aromatic pollutants: a paradigm of metabolic versatility.

Although most organisms have detoxification abilities (i.e mineralization, transformation and/or immobilization of pollutants), microorganisms, particularly bacteria, play a crucial role in biogeochemical cycles and in sustainable development of the biosphere. Next to glucosyl residues, the benzene ring is the most widely distributed unit of chemical structure in nature, and many of the aromatic compounds are major environmental pollutants. Bacteria have developed strategies for obtaining energy from virtually every compound under oxic or anoxic conditions (using alternative final electron acceptors such as nitrate, sulfate, and ferric ions). Clusters of genes coding for the catabolism of aromatic compounds are usually found in mobile genetic elements, such as transposons and plasmids, which facilitate their horizontal gene transfer and, therefore, the rapid adaptation of microorganisms to new pollutants. A successful strategy for in situ bioremediation has been the combination, in a single bacterial strain or in a syntrophic bacterial consortium, of different degrading abilities with genetic traits that provide selective advantages in a given environment. The advent of high-throughput methods for DNA sequencing and analysis of gene expression (genomics) and function (proteomics), as well as advances in modelling microbial metabolism in silico, provide a global, rational approach to unravel the largely unexplored potentials of microorganisms in biotechnological processes thereby facilitating sustainable development.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1991

From development to sustained crisis: structural adjustment, equity and health.

We argue that the nature of the economic crises in sub-Saharan Africa cannot be understood outside the context of the legacy of colonialism and class formation. Structural adjustment programmes serve to exacerbate inequalities and threaten to reverse the social gains of the majority achieved through the struggle for independence, in the interest of the indigenous capitalist class. Under such circumstances social scientists have a social responsibility to take a stand against the current policies that have led to an unprecedented decline of the health status of the poor; their skills must be put at the disposal of the oppressed with a view to giving voice to the experiences and needs of the majority.

Africa↗
PubMed1999

Factors other than environmental issues influence resource allocation decisions of school foodservice directors.

OBJECTIVE: To identify resource allocation decisions and policies and procedures used by school foodservice directors that were based on the concepts of pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development. DESIGN: A questionnaire about operational characteristics (including equipment and production systems, menu selection and service style) and environmental issues was mailed to school foodservice directors. SUBJECTS/SETTING: Subjects were school foodservice directors in major cities who were members of the American School Food Service Association. Of the 389 questionnaires mailed, 168 (45.5%) were returned and used for data analysis. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS PERFORMED: Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and correlation were used to analyze data. RESULTS: Cost factors were rated more important (P < or = .05) than environmental factors when operational decisions were made. Labor was ranked as the most important future issue by 45.0% of respondents, but it was not the most important factor when current operational decisions were made. Less than 20.0% of the respondents indicated that their districts had specific water (3.3%), energy (14.2%), or solid waste management policies (16.0%). However, 62.6% of respondents stated that their district had a recycling program. APPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: With the exception of recycling programs, school foodservice departments have not adopted a framework of pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development practices. Recycling and energy conservation programs and use of locally grown food products would minimize the environmental impact of school foodservice operations while reducing operational costs.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2001

Indicators of sustainable production: a new tool for promoting business sustainability.

This paper proposes a new tool for promoting business sustainability--indicators of sustainable production. It discusses the business case for sustainable development and introduces the concept of sustainable production as a way to equally address different aspects of production (environmental and occupational, social and economic). Indicators are suggested as a tool for operationalizing this concept and their objectives, scope, and desirable qualities are outlined. The paper concludes with some recommendations for developing indicators of sustainable production.

Journal Article↗