Herbicides in Water Sources: Communicating Potential Risks to the Population of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa

Pesticides are an important tool for maintaining and improving the global population's standard of living. However, their presence in water resources is concerning due to their potential consequences. Twelve water samples from rivers, dams/reservoirs, and treated drinking water were collected from Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa. The collected samples were analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography linked to a QTRAP hybrid triple quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. The ecological and human health risks were assessed by risk quotient and human health risk assessment methods, respectively. Herbicides, such as atrazine, metolachlor, simazine and terbuthylazine, were analysed in water sources. The average concentrations of simazine in rivers (1.82 mg/L), dams/reservoirs (0.12 mg/L), and treated drinking water (0.03 mg/L) were remarkable among all four herbicides detected. Simazine, atrazine, and terbuthylazine posed high ecological risks for both acute and chronic toxicity in all water sources. Moreover, simazine is the only contaminant in the river water that poses a medium carcinogenic risk to adult. It can be concluded that the level of herbicide detected in water sources may affect aquatic life and human beings negatively. This study may aid in the development of pesticide pollution management and risk reduction strategies within the municipality.

Promising Graphene-Based Nanomaterials and Their Biomedical Applications and Potential Risks: A Comprehensive Review

Graphene-based nanomaterials (GBNs) have been the subject of research focus in the scientific community because of their excellent physical, chemical, electrical, mechanical, thermal, and optical properties. Several studies have been conducted on GBNs, and they have provided a detailed review and summary of various applications. However, comprehensive comments on biomedical applications and potential risks and strategies to reduce toxicity are limited. In this review, we systematically summarized the following aspects of GBNs in order to fill the gaps: (1) the history, synthesis methods, structural characteristics, and surface modification; (2) the latest advances in biomedical applications (including drug/gene delivery, biosensors, bioimaging, tissue engineering, phototherapy, and antibacterial activity); and (3) biocompatibility, potential risks (toxicity in vivo/vitro and effects on human health and the environment), and strategies to reduce toxicity. Moreover, we have analyzed the challenges to be overcome in order to enhance application of GBNs in the biomedical field.

Is There a "Biological Desert" With the Discovery of New Plant Viruses? A Retrospective Analysis for New Fruit Tree Viruses

High throughput sequencing technologies accelerated the pace of discovery and identification of new viral species. Nevertheless, biological characterization of a new virus is a complex and long process, which can hardly follow the current pace of virus discovery. This review has analyzed 78 publications of new viruses and viroids discovered from 32 fruit tree species since 2011. The scientific biological information useful for a pest risk assessment and published together with the discovery of a new fruit tree virus or viroid has been analyzed. In addition, the 933 publications citing at least one of these original publications were reviewed, focusing on the biology-related information provided. In the original publications, the scientific information provided was the development of a detection test (94%), whole-genome sequence including UTRs (92%), local and large-scale epidemiological surveys (68%), infectivity and indicators experiments (50%), association with symptoms (25%), host range infection (23%), and natural vector identification (8%). The publication of a new virus is cited 2.8 times per year on average. Only 18% of the citations reported information on the biology or geographical repartition of the new viruses. These citing publications improved the new virus characterization by identifying the virus in a new country or continent, determining a new host, developing a new diagnostic test, studying genome or gene diversity, or by studying the transmission. Based on the gathered scientific information on the virus biology, the fulfillment of a recently proposed framework has been evaluated. A baseline prioritization approach for publishing a new plant virus is proposed for proper assessment of the potential risks caused by a newly identified fruit tree virus.

A revealing review of mesenchymal stem cells therapy, clinical perspectives and Modification strategies

Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been considerably inspected as effective tool for cell-based therapy of inflammatory, immune-mediated, and degenerative diseases, attributed to their immunomodulatory, immunosuppressive, and regenerative potentials. In the present review, we focus on recent research findings of the clinical applications and therapeutic potential of this cell type, MSCs' mechanisms of therapy, strategies to improve their therapeutic potentials such as manipulations and preconditioning, and potential/unexpected risks which should be considered as a prerequisite step before clinical use. The potential risks would probably include undesirable immune responses, tumor formation and the transmission of incidental agents. Then, we also review some of the milestones in the field, briefly discuss challenges and highlight the new guideline suggested for future directions and perspectives.

Review of pentosidine and pyrraline in food and chemical models: formation, potential risks and determination

Pyrraline and pentosidine are advanced Maillard reaction products derived from the reaction of glucose with the lysine amino group on proteins. They have been implicated in uremia, diabetes, and related complications, including inflammation, retinopathy, and nephropathy. This review focuses on the formation mechanism, human potential risks, and detections of pentosidine and pyrraline and lays the foundation for further study of pentosidine and pyrraline. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Awareness of hormone replacement therapy in medical care personnel in Jiaxing, China: a questionnaire survey

This study was aimed to investigate the attitudes and knowledge of medical personnel on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in treating perimenopausal syndrome. A total of 2580 self-administered questionnaire forms were sent to medical care professionals and the responses collected were anonymous. The questionnaire included information on levels of awareness, benefits, and potential risks of HRT. A total of 2158 questionnaire forms were filled and used for statistical analysis; 61.4% of gynecologists believed that it was necessary to conduct HRT in suitable patients, 89.1% would like to recommend the therapy to patients with perimenopausal syndrome, and 83.2% of the participants were willing to take training on HRT. The mean score of awareness of HRT among the respondents was 3.14 out of 10. The main reason for them to avoid HRT was fear of cancer (43.8%), weight gain (30.4%), addiction (21.9%), and thrombus (3.9%). These results indicated that a large proportion of gynecologists are willing to recommend HRT to a woman complaining of climacteric disorders. However, awareness of HRT among the health workers (including gynecologists) is relatively low. They are also worried about the risks. A more concerted effort should be made to better disseminate information on HRT.