Racial Disparities in the Relationship between Parental Incarceration and Childhood Obesity.

Despite a developing literature on the consequences of parental incarceration, its effects on childhood obesity are not evident. Our research project fills this knowledge gap by describing the relationship between parental incarceration and childhood obesity among children aged 3 to 15 and determining if and how this association differs across race. We use four consecutive waves of data on 3,302 children from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study.

Fauna - Microplastics interactions: Empirical insights from benthos community exposure to marine plastic waste.

Microplastic deposition in soft marine sediments raises concerns on their role in sediment habitats and unknown effects on resident macrobenthic communities. To assess the reciprocal influence that MPs and macrobenthos might have on each other, we performed a mesocosm experiment with ambient concentrations of environmental Polyethylene (PE) and a non-manipulated, natural macrobenthic community from the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS). Our results show that PE fragments increase mortality of abundant bivalves (specifically Abra alba) after 30 days of exposure but not for the most abundant polychaete Owenia fusiformis, possibly due to its predominant suspension feeding behavior.

Regulating greenhouse gas dynamics in tidal wetlands: Impacts of salinity gradients and water pollution.

Tidal wetlands play a critical role in emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere; our understanding of the intricate interplay between natural processes and human activities shaping their biogeochemistry and GHG emissions remains lacking. In this study, we delve into the spatiotemporal dynamics and key drivers of the GHG emissions from five tidal wetlands in the Scheldt Estuary by focusing on the interactive impacts of salinity and water pollution, two factors exhibiting contrasting gradients in this estuarine system: pollution escalates as salinity declines. Our findings reveal a marked escalation in GHG emissions when moving upstream, primarily attributed to increased concentrations of organic matter and nutrients, coupled with reduced levels of dissolved oxygen and pH.

Structurally stable but functionally disrupted marine microbial communities under a future climate change scenario: Potential importance for nitrous oxide emissions.

The blue mussel Mytilus edulis is a widespread and abundant bivalve species along the North Sea with high economic and ecological importance as an engineer species. The shell of mussels is intensively colonized by microbial organisms that can produce significant quantities of nitrous oxide (NO), a potent greenhouse gas. To characterize the impacts of climate change on the composition, structure and functioning of microbial biofilms on the shell surface of M.