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Effects of Solar Flares on human health. Quantum Physics ideates as the root causes of imbalances in the health of individuals arising from solar winds gushing into the surface of the Earth via the atmosphere. This concept leads to the analysis of the Dense Neutrinos' effects and derives solutions for its mitigation!

AbstractAcidification‐induced changes in neurological function have been documented in several tropical marine fishes. Here, we investigate whether similar patterns of neurological impacts are observed in a temperate Pacific fish that naturally experiences regular and often large shifts in environmental pH/pCO2. In two laboratory experiments, we tested the effect of acidification, as well as pH/pCO2 variability, on gene expression in the brain tissue of a common temperate kelp forest/estuarine fish, Embiotoca jacksoni. Experiment 1 employed static pH treatments (target pH = 7.85/7.30), while Experiment 2 incorporated two variable treatments that oscillated around corresponding static treatments with the same mean (target pH = 7.85/7.70) in an eight‐day cycle (amplitude ± 0.15). We found that patterns of global gene expression differed across pH level treatments. Additionally, we identified differential expression of specific genes and enrichment of specific gene sets (GSEA) in comparisons of static pH treatments and in comparisons of static and variable pH treatments of the same mean pH. Importantly, we found that pH/pCO2 variability decreased the number of differentially expressed genes detected between high and low pH treatments, and that interindividual variability in gene expression was greater in variable treatments than static treatments. These results provide important confirmation of neurological impacts of acidification in a temperate fish species and, critically, that natural environmental variability may mediate the impacts of ocean acidification.

Accumulating evidence suggests a deleterious role for urban air pollution in central nervous system (CNS) diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders. Microglia, the resident innate immune cells and sentinels in the brain, are a common source of neuroinflammation and are implicated in air pollution-induced CNS effects. While renewable energy, such as soy-based biofuel, is of increasing public interest, there is little information on how soy biofuel may affect the brain, especially in people with preexisting disease conditions. To address this, male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats were exposed to 100% Soy-based Biodiesel Exhaust (100SBDE; 0, 50, 150 and 500μg/m3) by inhalation, 4h/day for 4 weeks (5 days/week). Ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule-1 (IBA-1) staining of microglia in the substantia nigra revealed significant changes in morphology with 100SBDE exposure in rats from both genotypes, where SHR were less sensitive. Aconitase activity was inhibited in the frontal cortex and cerebellum of WKY rats exposed to 100SBDE. No consistent changes occurred in pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, nitrated protein, or arginase1 expression in brain regions from either rat strain exposed to 100SBDE. However, while IBA-1 mRNA expression was not modified, CX3CR1 mRNA expression was lower in the striatum of 100SBDE exposed rats regardless of genotype, suggesting a downregulation of the fractalkine receptor on microglia in this brain region. Together, these data indicate that while microglia are detecting and responding to 100SBDE exposure with changes in morphology, there is reduced expression of CX3CR1 regardless of genetic background and the activation response is atypical without traditional inflammatory markers of M1 or M2 activation in the brain.

Sustainability is inherently a complex problem that requires new ways of thinking. To solve grand challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation, and poverty, engineers cannot rely on the same models of thinking that were used to create these problems. Engineering education is therefore critical to advance sustainable engineering solutions. Improving education relies on understanding of cognition of thinking and designing for sustainability. In this thesis, a nascent neuroimaging technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure cognition among engineering students thinking about sustainability. fNIRS provides an opportunity to investigate how sustainability in design influences cognition, and how different concept generation techniques help students consider many aspects related to sustainability. The first manuscript provides evidence that engineering students perceive sustainability in design as a constraint, limiting the number of solutions for design and decreasing the cognitive efficiency to generate solutions. Senior engineering students generated fewer solutions than freshmen, however, seniors were better able to cognitively manage the sustainability parameter with higher cognitive efficiency. The second manuscript investigates the cognitive difference when generating concepts using concept listing or concept mapping. The results indicate that concept mapping (i.e. intentionally drawing relationships between concepts) leads to more concepts generated. An increase in concepts during concept mapping was also observed to shift cognitive load in the brain from regions associated with process sequencing to regions associated with cognitive flexibility. This research demonstrates the feasibility of fNIRS applied in engineering research and provides more understanding of the cognitive requirements for sustainability thinking. M. S. Sustainability brings new challenges to engineering design. To advance the practice of sustainable engineering, engineers are expected to be able to efficiently tackle socio-technical problems using a systems perspective. Engineering education is expected to help engineering students to achieve this goal. Improving education relies on understanding of mental process of thinking and designing for sustainability. In this research, a nascent neuroimaging technology-functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been used to measure the cognition of engineering students thinking for sustainability. fNIRS enables us to investigate how sustainability requirements in design influence the cognition of design process, and how different concept generation ways help students understand sustainability. The first manuscript provides evidence that sustainability in design constraint, limiting the number of solutions for design and decreasing the cognitive efficiency to generate solutions. Senior engineering students generated fewer solutions than freshmen, however, seniors showed advantage to handle sustainability requirements with higher cognitive efficiency. The second manuscript investigates the cognitive difference of two concept generation ways using concept listing or mapping. The results indicate that concept mapping leads to more concepts related to sustainability and enables the cognitive load shift from regions associated with sequencing processing to regions associated with cognitive flexibility. This research demonstrates the feasibility of fNIRS applied in engineering research for sustainability and provides more understanding of the cognitive requirements for sustainability thinking.

Intermittent or continuous exposure to a wide variety of chemically unrelated environmental pollutants might result in the development of multiple chemical intolerance and increased sensitivity to drugs of abuse. Interestingly, clinical evidence suggests that exposure to organophosphates might be linked to increased ethanol sensitivity and reduced voluntary consumption of ethanol-containing beverages in humans. The growing body of clinical and experimental evidence emerging in this new scientific field that bridges environmental health sciences, toxicology, and drug research calls for well-controlled studies aimed to analyze the nature of the neurobiological interactions of drugs and pollutants. Present study specifically evaluated neurobiological and behavioral responses to ethanol in Wistar rats that were previously exposed to the pesticide organophosphate chlorpyrifos (CPF). In agreement with clinical data, animals pretreated with a single injection of CPF showed long-lasting ethanol avoidance that was not secondary to altered gustatory processing or enhancement of the aversive properties of ethanol. Furthermore, CPF pretreatment increased ethanol-induced sedation without altering blood ethanol levels. An immunocytochemical assay revealed reduced c-fos expression in the Edinger-Westphal nucleus following CPF treatment, a critical brain area that has been implicated in ethanol intake and sedation. We hypothesize that CPF might modulate cellular mechanisms (decreased intracellular cAMP signaling, alpha-7-nicotinic receptors, and/or cerebral acetylcholinesterase inhibition) in neuronal pathways critically involved in neurobiological responses to ethanol.

Warming is an expected impact of climate change that will affect coastal areas in the future. These areas are also subjected to strong anthropogenic pressures leading to chemical contamination. Yet, the consequences of both factors for marine ecosystems, biota and consumers are still unknown. The present work aims to investigate, for the first time, the effect of temperature increase on bioaccumulation and elimination of mercury [(total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg)] in three tissues (muscle, liver, and brain) of a commercially important seafood species - European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Fish were exposed to the ambient temperature currently used in seabass rearing (18°C) and to the expected ocean warming (+4°C, i.e. 22°C), as well as dietary MeHg during 28 days, followed by a depuration period of 28 days fed with a control diet. In both temperature exposures, higher MeHg contents were observed in the brain, followed by the muscle and liver. Liver registered the highest elimination percentages (EF; up to 64% in the liver, 20% in the brain, and 3% in the muscle). Overall, the results clearly indicate that a warming environment promotes MeHg bioaccumulation in all tissues (e.g. highest levels in brain: 8.1mgkg(-1) ww at 22°C against 6.2mgkg(-1) ww at 18°C after 28 days of MeHg exposure) and hampers MeHg elimination (e.g. liver EF decreases after 28 days of depuration: from 64.2% at 18°C to 50.3% at 22°C). These findings suggest that seafood safety may be compromised in a warming context, particularly for seafood species with contaminant concentrations close to the current regulatory levels. Hence, results point out the need to strengthen research in this area and to revise and/or adapt the current recommendations regarding human exposure to chemical contaminants through seafood consumption, in order to integrate the expected effects of climate change.

Following a heat wave in January 2014 in Adelaide, state capital of South Australia, we asked the question whether extreme heat was associated with an increase in stroke incidence. We found in the literature that the association between stroke presentation to hospital and meteorological factors has long been a topic of debate and subject to numerous studies. The literature indicated that an association between heat waves and an increase in admissions for stroke was unlikely in Australia and the United States. We suggest that it may be inappropriate to generalize this conclusion to other countries and rural areas. In view of the global climate change debate, we suggest that prospective studies be focused in developing countries and rural areas to assess the real impact of extreme heat on respective populations to better inform stroke physicians and health policy makers.