0 PSU. In other coastal waters of similar conditions like Abu Qir Bay and Dekhaila Harbour, tintinnids formed 27.8% and 65% of total zooplankton respectively, with the dominance of Favella markuzowskii, Stenosemella nivalis, in Abu Qir Bay ( Abdel-Aziz, 2001) and Favella serrata, Tintinnopsis lata in Dekhaila Harbour ( Abdel-Aziz, 2000). Rotifers attained their maximum abundance during summer, constituting 16.3% of the total zooplankton at water temperature of 28°C, salinity 37.0 PSU and pronounced high concentrations of nutrient salts. Zooplankton diversity was positively

correlated with both salinity and nutrient salt concentrations. These relationships suggest that low salinity and low nutrient concentrations decreases zooplankton. In conclusions, not only the discharged water from canals and drains make the harbour at risk, but also the ballast water not less dangerous, and so, we emphasize the need for ballast water E7080 order management to reduce the risk of future species invasions and further studies should be carried out frequently to monitor any change in species composition since ships arriving at the Western Harbour are increasing annually and also these concerns emphasize the need for activation of the ballast water management IMO Ballast Water Management Conventions to reduce the risk of future species invasions. The authors are indebted to National Institute

of Oceanography and Fisheries, Egypt on the financing of the project “Microbial Navitoclax and plankton estimation in the Western Harbour in relation to some environmental parameters”. They also thank Prof. Manal El Nagar, head of Marine Microbiology Department, for supporting the research project. “
“Spring phytoplankton blooms Cytidine deaminase represent the most important annual impulse in the pelagic food webs in temperate coastal environments (Legendre,

1990). The fate of the organic matter produced in the euphotic zone determines the role of the biological pump in the carbon cycle, and the sedimentation of phytoplankton blooms can strongly influence the benthic habitat in coastal shallow systems (Davoult and Gounin, 1995 and González et al., 2009). Sink deposition of particulate matter is affected by diverse physico-chemical and biological factors such as water column structure: stratified/mixed, temperature, turbidity, phytoplankton density, aggregate formation and zooplankton grazing (Cibic et al., 2007 and Kiørboe et al., 2001, Tamelander and Heiskanen, 2004). In oceans, most of the organic matter produced in the upper layers is consumed before reaching the bottom sediments (Legendre and Rassoulzadegan, 1996 and Wassmann, 1998), while in coastal shallow and well mixed systems, a tight interaction between the production in the water surface and the benthic habitat is commonly observed (Botto et al., 2006 and Dale and Prego, 2002).

As discussed in detail by Dagnelie (2008) and others

(Chen et al., 2009a), tools for prosthetic vision assessment should permit the quantification of implant performance across a variety of domains, ranging from simple light, direction and motion perception, to improvements in the ability of recipients to complete routine daily tasks such as obstacle avoidance, self-grooming and food preparation. As recently highlighted by Rizzo and Ayton (2014), a key concern in this context is the lack of standard tests and scoring systems, limiting the ability of researchers to compare results. Recipients of the early Brindley (Brindley and Rushton, 1974) and Dobelle (Dobelle et al., 1976) cortical implants were assessed in terms of their ability to read Braille characters Erastin and conventional letters. Later iterations of the Dobelle system were tested using more conventional tools such as Landolt rings and Snellen charts, with which the visual acuity of one implant recipient was estimated at 20/1200, achieved via head scanning

(Dobelle, 2000). Since Dobelle׳s last publication in the scientific literature, there have been no further reports of visual acuity or functional performance testing in cortical visual prosthesis recipients. Conversely, the development and subsequent implantation in humans CB-839 of retinal devices has enabled the application of newer testing paradigms to patients experiencing real-world prosthetic vision. For example, recipients of the Alpha IMS (Stingl et al., 2013) and Argus II (da Cruz et al., 2013 and Dorn et al., 2013) retinal implants have been assessed using a variety of visual acuity tests including the Basic Assessment of Light and ADP ribosylation factor Motion (BALM) (Bach et al., 2010 and Wilke

et al., 2007) and Basic Grating Acuity (BaGA) (Wilke et al., 2007) tests, Landolt rings, individual letters and words of 2–4 letters in length or motion of high-contrast rectangles on computer screens. Stingl et al. (2013) also reported on the recipients׳ experiences with activities of daily living (ADL), such as recognition and location of objects, and navigating the environment, with one recipient achieving poor ADL results, despite satisfactory tests of visual acuity. Notably, the authors report that recipients for whom positive results were obtained on the ADL tasks described the ADL improvements as the most rewarding benefit provided by the implant (Stingl et al., 2013). Direct translation of the applicability of these vision scoring techniques to cortical implant recipients may be complicated by differences in the nature of cortical vs. retinal prosthetic vision.

Tides increase mixing near the ice base (Makinson and Nicholls, 1999) and their omission is likely to lead to underestimated melt rates in our study. A test with residual tidal velocity of 5 cm s−1, obtained from spatially

averaged results of the tidal model of Padman et al. (2002) for the parameterization of the heat flux at the ice base, showed a total melting increase of less than 5 cm year−1 compared to the ANN-100 experiment. However, non-linear tidal effects at the ice/ocean boundary (Makinson et al., 2011) may cause larger impacts. Tides may also enhance the frontal exchange at the shelf break (Padman et al., 2009), but these effects are expected to add only little to the ANN-100 melting estimate,

because any additional inflow of warm water Obeticholic Acid at depth due to tides would be seen in the M1 temperature time series near the main sill. Another source of uncertainty relates to the idealized hydrographic forcing, which assumes a zonally uniform structure of the ASF with constant water masses below the thermocline and only low frequency (seasonal) variability of upper ocean properties. While this construction compromises the limited availability of observations and the insufficient representation of ASF-dynamics in large-scale ocean simulations, the results of Graham et al. (2013) highlight the importance of advection of upper-ocean hydrographic anomalies within the coastal current. Together with possible effects of deep ocean variability (Smedsrud, 2005), such transient

effects of IDH inhibitor clinical trial the coastal circulation will need to be included in more realistic simulations. Although dense water formation due to sea ice production is of minor importance in the Eastern Weddell Sea (Nicholls et al., 2009), also the effects of brine rejection and melt water release on the stratification of the coastal water column (Petty et al., 2013) are probably only partly captured by our approach of restoring surface properties to climatological values. However, including a dynamical sea ice component and parameterizations of the air/ice/sea interaction therein would further broaden the parameter space of our model, requiring additional validation (that would mainly rely on the seal data, which FER is now directly applied as a forcing), while the melt rate refinements would likely be small compared to the remaining uncertainties. While these omitted processes may further complicate the ASF-dynamics, none of them are likely to change our main finding that the observed water masses beneath the FIS yield substantially less basal mass loss than suggested by previous models. Despite its simplifications, the ANN-100 simulation convincingly reproduces the sub-ice shelf observations, suggesting that the semi-idealized setup captures the main mechanisms controlling the heat transport towards the FIS.

If target modality drives the difference between both studies, we should replicate enhanced posterior negativity for

stress match Androgen Receptor antagonist regardless of the target words stress pattern. If stress match might have evoked enhanced processing effort due to a stress clash, the formerly obtained enhanced negativity for stress match should be restricted to initially stressed target words. If the restriction to initially stressed targets in our former study might have elicited predictive prosodic coding that was violated in the stress match condition, we should not replicate enhanced negativity for stress match at all, because the stress pattern of the targets is balanced in the present experiment. Rather the ERP stress priming might be comparable to that obtained in our former cross-modal study. Eighteen volunteers (11 females, 7 males, mean age 28.8 years, range 20–51 years, mostly students from the University of Hamburg) participated in the study. They all were right-handed native speakers of German with no reported hearing or neurological problems. All gave informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. We selected 48 monomorphemic disyllabic German pairs of nouns (see Appendix A). Words Thiazovivin datasheet in each pair shared the phonemes of the first

syllable and the onset of the second syllable. One pair member was stressed on the first syllable, the other on the second syllable. All word onset syllables contained full vowels. For each initially stressed word and each initially unstressed

word a pseudoword was generated by changing the last one or two phonemes (e.g., ALter – ALtopp) following the phonotactic rules of German. Word and pseudoword targets were spoken by a male professional native speaker of German. Primes were the first syllables taken from the words produced by a female native ADP ribosylation factor speaker of German. Stimuli were edited with Adobe Audition software (sampling rate 44 kHz, volume equalized). The prime syllables and target words are characterized by pitch and intensity contours that are typical for their given stress (see Fig. 1). Amplitude and pitch measures were obtained by using the software package PRAAT 5.3.17 (Boersma & Weenink, 2014). We analyzed the whole time window of the prime syllables, of the first syllables of the targets and of the second syllables of the targets, respectively. The stressed prime syllables (mean duration 263 ms) were longer than the unstressed prime syllables (175 ms), t(47) = 15.67, p < .001. Similarly, vowels of the stressed prime syllables (mean duration 153 ms) were longer than vowels of the unstressed prime syllables (80 ms), t(47) = 10.80, p < .001. The maximum intensity as well as the maximum pitch was reached earlier for unstressed primes than for stressed primes, both t(47) > 3.74, p < .001, see Fig. 1). The first syllables of the initially stressed targets were longer (mean duration: 243 ms) than the first syllables of the initially unstressed words (159 ms), t(47) = 15.89, p < .

W razie kolizji obowiązków ustawodawca nakazuje stosowanie „odpowiednio” przepisów dotyczących stanu wyższej konieczności. W tego typu sytuacji lekarz może w nagłym przypadku celem udzielenia niezbędnej pomocy medycznej, mając do czynienia z małoletnim pacjentem z zaburzeniami psychicznymi o podłożu somatycznym, zastosować środek przymusu bezpośredniego. Uwzględniając powyższe, opowiadamy się za możliwością zastosowania środków przymusu bezpośredniego określonych w Ustawie o ochronie zdrowia psychicznego w stosunku do małoletniego pacjenta, który z powodu

zaburzeń psychicznych o podłożu somatycznym realizuje zamach na swoje życie lub zdrowie. Niewątpliwie bowiem stany pobudzenia towarzyszące niektórym chorobom Bioactive Compound Library manufacturer somatycznym wymagają zapewnienia pacjentowi bezpieczeństwa. Przy

czym stosujemy regulacje wynikające z tej ustawy ze wszystkimi konsekwencjami, w tym również obowiązkami wynikającymi z rozporządzenia w sprawie sposobu stosowania i dokumentowania zastosowania przymusu bezpośredniego oraz dokonywania oceny zasadności jego zastosowania. I tak, lekarz może zlecić zastosowanie środka przymusu bezpośredniego w postaci unieruchomienia na czas nie dłuży niż 4 godziny (który może być przedłużony). W określonych sytuacjach, o czym była już mowa wyżej, musi skonsultować jego przedłużenie z lekarzem psychiatrą. Przymus bezpośredni w postaci unieruchomienia stosowany jest w pomieszczeniu jednoosobowym. W przypadku braku możliwości umieszczenia pacjenta w takim pomieszczeniu przymus bezpośredni w formie unieruchomienia Thiazovivin in vitro jest stosowany w sposób umożliwiający oddzielenie tej osoby od innych pacjentów przebywających w

tym samym pomieszczeniu oraz zapewniający poszanowanie jej godności i intymności, w szczególności przez wykonywanie zabiegów pielęgnacyjnych bez obecności innych osób (§ 7 rozporządzenia). Pielęgniarka nie rzadziej niż raz na 15 minut kontroluje, także w czasie snu, stan fizyczny pacjenta. Adnotację o stanie fizycznym niezwłocznie odnotowuje w karcie unieruchomienia (§ 10 rozporządzenia). W czasie tej kontroli pielęgniarka m.in. zapewnia krótkotrwałe, nie rzadziej jednak niż co 4 godziny, częściowe albo całkowite uwolnienie pacjenta od unieruchomienia Methocarbamol w celu zmiany jego pozycji lub zaspokojenia potrzeb fizjologicznych i higienicznych (§ 11 rozporządzenia). Z całą stanowczością podkreślić należy, że jest to wykładnia, która może znaleźć przeciwników. I to nie tylko, gdy chodzi o małoletnich pacjentów. Ten temat bowiem zawsze będzie budził wątpliwości. Mówimy przecież o stosowaniu środków bez zgody pacjenta, a także wbrew jego woli. W przypadku małoletniego pacjenta chodzi o brak zgody czy sprzeciw przedstawicieli ustawowych. Ponadto kwestia stosowania przymusu bezpośredniego ma zbyt dużą rangę, aby można było pozostawić ją tylko dającej się podważyć wykładni. De lege ferenda w tej mierze postulować należy wprowadzenie, np.

A major challenge in drug delivery is to increase the efficiency by which a compound can deliver the maximum amount of a therapeutic agent to the tumor while minimizing any adverse effects to normal cells (Chakrabarti1 et al., 2012). To fully develop its treatment

potential, BNCT requires the combination of a suitable thermal neutron flux and a selective uptake of 10B in the target tissue. The latter condition is more critical because none Selleckchem Epigenetics Compound Library of the boron carriers used for experimental or clinical purposes so far have shown optimal selectivity for cancer cells compared to normal cells (Menichetti et al., 2009). The BNCT treatment induced moderate malondialdehyde production only at the highest concentration of BPA in melanocytes. The other concentrations, along with the irradiated control, did not manifest

an appreciable increase of malondialdehyde, demonstrating that this therapy did not influence free radical production in normal cells. In SKMEL-28, B16F10, IPC-298 and MEWO melanoma cells there were high malondialdehyde production (at least 10–30-fold increase) after BNCT treatment in the same conditions (Faião-Flores et al., 2011a). It should be emphasized that the main criterion for the development of successful boron-containing compounds in cells selleck products is a high selectivity of these compounds for cancer cells over normal cells (Gnewuch and Sosnovskym, 2002). There is a decrease in normal melanocytes viability only in the highest BPA concentrations followed by neutron irradiation. The IC50 found here was significantly high compared to SKMEL-28 melanoma cells: IC50 = 34.4 mg/mL and Decitabine mw 3.7 mg/mL in normal

melanocytes and melanoma cells SKMEL-28, respectively. These results confirm the most selectivity of BPA for tumor cells in vitro without inducing high cell death in normal cells, which has been reported elsewhere ( Faião-Flores et al., 2011a, Faião-Flores et al., 2012 and Menichetti et al., 2009). The increased BPA selectivity in vivo was studied in mice bearing melanoma tumors consisting of B16F10 cells, and the study found that the liver, heart and lungs do not take up boron from BPA, whereas other organs, such as the spleen and brain, captured minimal quantities of this compound ( Faião-Flores et al., 2011a and Faião-Flores et al., 2011b). Melanoma cells are strongly resistant to many chemotherapeutic drugs, as demonstrated by their ability to block apoptosis and stimulate tumor progression (Soengas and Lowe, 2003). The survival of adherent cells depends on an uninterrupted connection with the components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), such as laminin and fibronectin (Makino et al., 2000). The interactions between cells and ECM are crucial for cell behavior, growth and death (Wunrau et al., 2009). The detachment of adherent cells from the ECM can induce apoptosis almost immediately, a process known as Anoikis ( Grossman et al., 2001).

Our study on NSP (and

similar “anchor media”, Kuhn, 2010, Kuhn and Müller, 2005a, Kuhn and Müller, 2005b and Müller et al., 2010) was inspired by AI and an attempt to overcome the difficulties of the original approach described above. While preserving authenticity, Fluorouracil ‘story’-character (narrative contexts) and student centered activity as design principles, it aims at an improved applicability to and implementation in a wider range of realistic educational settings, as text-based anchors are much easier and less expensive to develop and to modify than multimedia based anchors. The advantage of combining the general theoretical framework of narrative contexts, explained above, with design principles inspired by AI is that the latter already is based on a considerable body of evidence (see above) and has specific design principles to offer. Beyond those Selleckchem Inhibitor Library already mentioned, AI (and to a large extent also the

present work) is also based on the following ones (CTGV, 1991)5: Embedded data: the data necessary to solve a problem are “embedded” in the story of the learning anchor, and not given explicitly (as in conventional textbook problems). The rationale behind this design principle is as follows: (i) it is true for problems encountered in the real world (daily life, workplace, genuine research; cf. problem authenticity); (ii) the “translation” feature (OECD, 2006) is extended by a feature of “selection” of what is relevant from what is not (for a given problem), both contributing to cognitive activation.

For these reasons, “embedded data” are considered as an especially important characteristic of AI. Related problems (multiple contexts): learning should provide repeated opportunity and multiple contexts to acquire new concepts, not merely for the sake of repetition, but in order to avoid inert knowledge (cf. above); for single contexts, there is the danger of having the involved Etomidate concepts “welded” to them (CTGV, 1991). The number of related problem stories (anchors) for the acquisition of new conceptual (and procedural) knowledge thus should be at least two (for the AI anchors) or more (for the shorter NSP anchors). Collaborative learning: small group work, complemented by whole-class phases, ensures communication and social embedding considered necessary for active learning (social context or situatedness); this is also natural and easy to realize for the NSP approach (and actually a common element of contemporary science teaching in the authors׳ country). Horizontal (cross-disciplinary) and vertical (cross-grade, cumulative learning) connections, which again help to strengthen the perception of relevant contexts and to overcome inert knowledge: these features also hold for newspaper story problems: horizontal links are included by construction, NSP involving links to many other issues, such as societal, technological, biological, etc.

Osteosarcoma is the most common type of human primary malignant bone tumor characterized by an aggressive clinical course [5]. It usually develops in children and young adults. The mechanisms that orchestrate the multiple oncogenic

insults required for osteosarcoma carcinogenesis and progression are still largely unclear. To date, deregulated miRNAs and their roles in osteosarcoma development have attracted much attention. Some of them, including miR-31, miR-34, miR-20a, miR-140 and miR-143, have been reported to participate in the initiation and progression of osteosarcoma and modulate the biological properties BIRB 796 nmr of cancer cells [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14] and [15]. However, GSK J4 mw the detailed roles of miRNAs in cancer biology, especially in osteosarcoma,

still need to be further investigated. miR-133a has been recognized as a muscle specific miRNA which may regulate myoblast differentiation and participate in myogenic and heart diseases [16], [17] and [18]. And recently, miR-133a is also reported to be an important regulator in osteogenesis, as its expression is downregulated in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-induced osteogenesis and it can target and suppress RunX2 expression to inhibit osteoblast differentiation [19]. But whether miR-133a is deregulated in osteosarcoma and its potential roles in osteosarcoma carcinogenesis and progression are still unknown. In this study, we have taken efforts to explore the potential roles of miR-133a in osteosarcoma development. The expression of miR-133a in clinically resected human osteosarcoma tissues was evaluated, and the correlation between miR-133a deregulation and osteosarcoma progression was analyzed. Furthermore, the roles of miR-133a in osteosarcoma development and the underlying mechanisms were investigated. Our data indicate the roles of miR-133a in the control of Inositol monophosphatase 1 cell growth

and apoptosis in osteosarcoma, and suggest the potential therapeutic application of miR-133a for osteosarcoma patients. Surgically resected paired osteosarcoma tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues used in qRT-PCR and Western blot were collected from 92 primary osteosarcoma patients who received operations between 2006 and 2009 at Changhai Hospital (Shanghai, China), and the detailed information of these patients were shown in Supplementary Table 1. Surgically removed tissues were quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen until analysis. All samples were collected with the informed consents of the patients and the experiments were approved by the ethics committee of Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. The investigations were conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki principles. Total RNA, including miRNA, was extracted using miRNeasy kit (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

e., they may have asbestos-like properties). Takagi et al. (2008) reported that most p53+/− transgenic mice died owing mesothelioma up to 180 days after intraperitoneal injection of MWCNTs at a dose of 3 mg/mouse

(approximately 100 mg/kg body weight). Poland et al. GSK-3 phosphorylation (2008) reported that inflammatory responses were observed in mice exposed to fibers longer than 15 μm, but not in those exposed to shorter fibers, at 1 and 7 days after intraperitoneal injection of MWCNTs, asbestos, or carbon black particles at 50 μg/mouse. In a more recent intraperitoneal injection study with MWCNTs, however, there was no significant increase in the incidence of mesothelioma at doses of 2 and 20 mg/rat, even 2 years after injection, although the incidence of mesothelioma was significantly increased after administration of crocidolite (Muller et al., 2009). In most CNT toxicity studies, CNT agglomerates were used as the test samples. However, some studies indicate that dispersed CNTs are more toxic than agglomerated CNTs when inhaled or instilled into the lungs of experimental animals. Muller et al. (2005) reported that MWCNT samples ground by a ball mill induced greater inflammation

than non-ground bulk MWCNT samples after intratracheal instillation in rats. In their reports, BKM120 nmr the average length of the MWCNT samples was greatly decreased from 5.9 to 0.7 μm because of the ball mill grounding; but major characteristics such as the diameter or surface new area did not change. Mercer et al. (2008) reported that after pharyngeal aspiration exposure of mice to dispersed SWCNTs (average particle size, 0.69 μm) and non-dispersed SWCNTs (average particle size,

15.2 μm), thickening of the alveolar walls was observed only in the group exposed to dispersed SWCNTs. Mercer et al. (2008) concluded that the dispersed SWCNTs were rapidly incorporated into the alveolar interstitium. Porter et al. (2010) suggested that the dispersed MWCNTs could reach the pleura after pharyngeal aspiration exposure in mice. These findings indicate that toxicity studies using agglomerated CNTs are inadequate to evaluate the hazards and risks of CNTs. However, there are few toxicity studies with dispersed CNTs. Further, there is little information regarding the behavior of MWCNTs after deposition in the lungs. There are many potential applications of MWNCTs (e.g., in electrically conducting ceramics, anti-static clothing, and heat-exchange materials, etc.). To explore these applications, MWCNT dispersion is a key factor. Extensive research on MWCNT dispersion is underway in several organizations. Therefore, it is possible that exposures to dispersed MWCNTs might occur in the near future, necessitating the evaluation of the hazards of exposure to dispersed MWCNTs. In this study, individually dispersed MWCNTs were intratracheally instilled in rats, and the biological responses (e.g., pulmonary inflammation) were assessed.

Equations for the minimal-fitted models were generated in terms of the explanatory variables with significant contribution to the [THg] in hair. [THg] was measured in hair segments of 75 women. Participant age ranged from 17 to 44 years (mean = 26.3 ± 8.1 Selleckchem Ipilimumab years). Of the total, 27 women were in their first pregnancy (gestation) (GI) (average age 22.5 ± 4.3 years), 23 in the 2nd pregnancy (GII) (26.5 ± 10.9 years), and 25 in their 3rd or more pregnancy (GIII) (30.3 ± 6.2 years) (Table 1). Most of the women (n = 42, 56%) work at home. The maternal age was significantly correlated with the number of pregnancies: R = 0.54, p ≤ 0.01. There

was no significant difference in BMI between GI (mean 23.2) and GII

(mean 28.6) (sum of squares = 0.42, df = 1, F = 0.002 p = 0.96); neither between GI and GIII (mean 31.6) (sum of squares = 118.76, df = 1, F = 3.46, p = 0.07), nor between GII (mean 28.6) and GIII (mean 31.6) (sum of squares = 105.44, df = 1, F = 2.43, p = 0.12). Participants were asked about tobacco exposure; 12% (9/75) responded that they smoked more than one cigarette per day. Most of those who smoke were mothers in their first pregnancy 14.8% (4/27); or 5.3% of the 75 total participants. If they did not smoke, respondents were asked if someone else smokes in the household, at the office, or in some other enclosed space; 20% (15/75) answered affirmatively. A total of 68% (51/75) were not regularly exposed to tobacco Cediranib (AZD2171) smoke. Respondents were asked about their fish and shellfish eating habits: a) Fish Intake; 7.6% click here never eat fish, 33.9% eat fish once a month, 41.3% eat fish once every two weeks, and 15.9% eat fish more than twice a week; b) Shellfish Intake; 30.7% (23/75) never eat shellfish, 49.3% (37/75) eat shellfish once a month, 17.3% (13/75) eat shellfish once every two weeks, and 2.7% (2/75) eat shellfish two or more times a week. For the total number of samples (75) a median [THg] in hair of 1.52 μg g−1, ranging from 0.12 to 24.19 μg g−1

was found. Seventy two percent of the women (54/75) exceeded the U.S. EPA recommended limit of 1 μg g−1 hair [THg]. For 77.8% (21/27) of GI women [THg] was greater than 1 μg g−1 hair. Total Hg concentrations were significantly lower in the proximal hair segment than in the middle segment (-0.50, t = -3.35, p ≤ 0.01). [THg] did not differ between the middle and distal segments (0.30, t = 1.15, p = 0.25), or between the proximal and distal segments (-0.17, t = -0.98, p = 0.33). Frequency of fish intake significantly contributed to the [THg] in the three hair segments (Table 2) (p < 0.01). In the middle segment, the median [THg] for those who never eat fish was 0.51 μg g−1, and those who eat fish 2 or more times a week was 2.13 μg g−1 (p < 0.01).