Gender differences in response to a school-based mindfulness training intervention for early adolescents.

Mindfulness training has been used to improve emotional wellbeing in early adolescents. However, little is known about treatment outcome moderators, or individual differences that may differentially impact responses to treatment. The current study focused on gender as a potential moderator for affective outcomes in response to school-based mindfulness training.

Compensatory growth following transient intraguild predation risk in predatory mites.

Compensatory or catch-up growth following growth impairment caused by transient environmental stress, due to adverse abiotic factors or food, is widespread in animals. Such growth strategies commonly balance retarded development and reduced growth. They depend on the type of stressor but are unknown for predation risk, a prime selective force shaping life history.

A randomized controlled pilot trial of classroom-based mindfulness meditation compared to an active control condition in sixth-grade children.

The current study is a pilot trial to examine the effects of a nonelective, classroom-based, teacher-implemented, mindfulness meditation intervention on standard clinical measures of mental health and affect in middle school children. A total of 101 healthy sixth-grade students (55 boys, 46 girls) were randomized to either an Asian history course with daily mindfulness meditation practice (intervention group) or an African history course with a matched experiential activity (active control group). Self-reported measures included the Youth Self Report (YSR), a modified Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Measure -Revised.

HIV-related research in correctional populations: now is the time.

The incarcerated population has increased to unprecedented levels following the 1970 US declaration of war on illicit drug use. A substantial proportion of people with or at risk for HIV infection, including those with substance use and mental health disorders, have become incarcerated. The overlapping epidemics of incarceration and HIV present a need for academic medical centers to collaborate with the criminal justice system to improve the health of incarcerated populations.

Efficiency of green waste compost and biochar soil amendments for reducing lead and copper mobility and uptake to ryegrass.

Green waste compost and biochar amendments were assessed for their assistance in regulating the mobility of copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) and the resultant uptake of these metals into vegetation. The amendments were mixed with a heavily Cu and Pb contaminated soil (600 and 21,000 mg kg(-1), respectively) from a former copper mine in Cheshire (UK), on a volume basis both singly and in combination in greenhouse pot trials. Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.

Phytostabilization of semiarid soils residually contaminated with trace elements using by-products: sustainability and risks.

We investigated the efficiency of various by-products (sugarbeet lime, biosolid compost and leonardite), based on single or repeated applications to field plots, on the establishment of a vegetation cover compatible with a stabilization strategy on a multi-element (As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) contaminated soil 4-6 years after initial amendment applications. Results indicate that the need for re-treatment is amendment- and element-dependent; in some cases, a single application may reduce trace element concentrations in above-ground biomass and enhance the establishment of a healthy vegetation cover. Amendment performance as evaluated by % cover, biomass and number of colonizing taxa differs; however, changes in plant community composition are not necessarily amendment-specific.

Traditional agricultural practices enable sustainable remediation of highly polluted soils in Southern Spain for cultivation of food crops.

This study relates elemental content of a range of edible crops grown in soils severely polluted by metals and metalloids as affected by traditional smallholder management practices. Five agricultural plots close to a sulfidic waste dump were monitored. Soil analysis demonstrated elevated concentrations of As, Cu, Pb and Zn that were greatly in excess of maximum statutory limits for agricultural soils in the studied region.

Arsenic mobility and speciation in a contaminated urban soil are affected by different methods of green waste compost application.

Application of green waste compost (GWC) to brownfield land is now common practice in soil restoration. However, previous studies have demonstrated both beneficial and detrimental effects on arsenic and metal mobility. In this paper, trace element behaviour was investigated following GWC application, either as surface mulch to, or mixed into soil from a previously described brownfield site in the U.

Mobility of arsenic, cadmium and zinc in a multi-element contaminated soil profile assessed by in-situ soil pore water sampling, column leaching and sequential extraction.

Three methods for predicting element mobility in soils have been applied to an iron-rich soil, contaminated with arsenic, cadmium and zinc. Soils were collected from 0 to 30 cm, 30 to 70 cm and 70 to 100 cm depths in the field and soil pore water was collected at different depths from an adjacent 100 cm deep trench. Sequential extraction and a column leaching test in the laboratory were compared to element concentrations in pore water sampled directly from the field.

Arsenic mobility in brownfield soils amended with green waste compost or biochar and planted with Miscanthus.

Degraded land that is historically contaminated from different sources of industrial waste provides an opportunity for conversion to bioenergy fuel production and also to increase sequestration of carbon in soil through organic amendments. In pot experiments, As mobility was investigated in three different brownfield soils amended with green waste compost (GWC, 30% v/v) or biochar (BC, 20% v/v), planted with Miscanthus. Using GWC improved crop yield but had little effect on foliar As uptake, although the proportion of As transferred from roots to foliage differed considerably between the three soils.

Source-pathway-receptor investigation of the fate of trace elements derived from shotgun pellets discharged in terrestrial ecosystems managed for game shooting.

Spent shotgun pellets may contaminate terrestrial ecosystems. We examined the fate of elements originating from shotgun pellets in pasture and woodland ecosystems. Two source-receptor pathways: i) soil-soil pore water-plant and ii) whole earthworm/worm gut contents--washed and unwashed small mammal hair were investigated.

Determination of genetic predisposition to patent ductus arteriosus in preterm infants.

Objective: Patent ductus arteriosus is a common morbidity associated with preterm birth. The incidence of patent ductus arteriosus increases with decreasing gestational age to approximately 70% in infants born at 25 weeks' gestation. Our major goal was to determine if genetic risk factors play a role in patent ductus arteriosus seen in preterm infants.

Arsenic stability and mobilization in soil at an amenity grassland overlying chemical waste (St. Helens, UK).

A 6.6 ha grassland, established on a former chemical waste site adjacent to a residential area, contains arsenic (As) in surface soil at concentrations 200 times higher than UK Soil Guideline Values. The site is not recognized as statutory contaminated land, partly on the assumption that mobility of the metalloid presents a negligible threat to human health, groundwater and ecological receptors.

Effect of in situ soil amendments on arsenic uptake in successive harvests of ryegrass (Lolium perenne cv Elka) grown in amended As-polluted soils.

Several iron-bearing additives, selected for their potential ability to adsorb anions, were evaluated for their effectiveness in attenuation of arsenic (As) in three soils with different sources of contamination. Amendments used were lime, goethite (alpha-FeOOH) (crystallised iron oxide) and three iron-bearing additives, iron grit, Fe(II) and Fe(III) sulphates plus lime, applied at 1% w/w. Sequential extraction schemes conducted on amended soils determined As, Cu, Zn and Ni fractionation.

Mobility of metals and metalloids in a multi-element contaminated soil 20 years after cessation of the pollution source activity.

Knowledge of trace element concentrations and mobility is important in the ecotoxicological assessment of contaminated soils. We analysed soil pore water under field conditions to provide new insights into the mobility of residual contaminants in the surface 50 cm of a highly contaminated woodland soil. Cadmium and Zn were highly mobile in the acidic soil, concentrations increasing with depth in soil pore water, showing considerable downward mobility.

Remediation of arsenic contaminated soils by iron-oxide application, evaluated in terms of plant productivity, arsenic and phytotoxic metal uptake.

Four iron-bearing additives, selected for known or potential ability to adsorb anions, were evaluated for their effectiveness in attenuation of arsenic (As) in three soils with different sources of contamination (canal dredgings, coal fly ash deposits, and low-level alkali waste). Amendments used were lime, goethite (alpha-FeOOH) (crystallised iron oxide) and three iron-bearing additives, iron grit and iron (II) and (III) sulphates plus lime, which result in 'de novo' iron oxide formation in soils. Each was applied to the test soils at a rate of 1% w/w.

Cadmium and zinc in vegetation and litter of a voluntary woodland that has developed on contaminated sediment-derived soil.

Vegetation that develops spontaneously on metal-contaminated soils presents an opportunity to evaluate both metal bioavailability and the risks posed to biota. The behavior of Cd and Zn in the species of a spontaneously developed woodland, colonizing a canal embankment, has been investigated. Nitric-acid-extractable metal concentrations in the sediment-derived substrate ranged between 5.

Factors affecting accumulation of thallium and other trace elements in two wild Brassicaceae spontaneously growing on soils contaminated by tailings dam waste.

Thallium is a scarce, highly toxic element. There are several investigations that report Tl accumulation in plants of the family Brassicaceae. These plants could pose a risk in areas where Tl is present at higher concentrations than normal soils.

Arsenic in soils and plants of woodland regenerated on an arsenic-contaminated substrate: a sustainable natural remediation?

Plant As accumulation at three As-polluted sites where spontaneous re-vegetation has taken place is examined. Each site had a different source of soil As (coal fly ash, LeBlanc process waste, canal dredging). Plant analysis indicates that soil-plant As transfer is poor at each site.

Arsenic and heavy metal mobility in iron oxide-amended contaminated soils as evaluated by short- and long-term leaching tests.

Several iron-bearing additives were evaluated for their effectiveness in the attenuation of arsenic (As) in various contaminated soils. These were selected for their known or potential ability to adsorb As anions, thus changing the speciation of As in a soil system. Three soils with different sources of As contamination were investigated (canal dredgings, coal fly ash deposits, and low-level alkali waste).

A field study of the ecotoxicology of copper to bryophytes.

The impact of particulate copper, emitted from a copper rod-rolling plant, on the distribution of common grassland bryophytes has been investigated. Several areas of managed grassland, differing in total and water-extractable soil copper content, surrounding the factory were surveyed to establish species composition and distribution of the bryophyte flora. Clear differences emerged in the distribution patterns of the main acrocarpous (upright/tufted growth form) and pleurocarpous (horizontal/spreading growth form) species present, with some species being more or less confined to soils with elevated copper (Pohlia nutans), whilst others were absent from such sites.

Field trials to assess the uptake of arsenic by vegetables from contaminated soils and soil remediation with iron oxides.

The uptake of arsenic (As) by plants from contaminated soils presents a health hazard that may affect the use of agricultural and former industrial land. Methods for limiting the hazard are desirable. A proposed remediation treatment comprises the precipitation of iron (Fe) oxides in the contaminated soil by adding ferrous sulfate and lime.