Publicly available datasets on thallium (Tl) in the environment—a comment on <Emphasis Type="Italic">“Presence of thallium in the environment: sources of contaminations,distribution and monitoring methods”</Emphasis> by Bozena Karbowska,Environ Monit Assess (2016) 188:640 (DOI 10.1007/s10661-016-5647-y)

This comment highlights a whole series of datasets on thallium concentrations in the environment that were overlooked in the recent review by Karbowska, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188, 640, 2016 in this journal. Geochemical surveys carried out over the last few decades all over the world at various scales and using different sampling media have reported the concentration of thallium (and dozens more elements) in tens of thousands of samples. These datasets provide a ‘real-world’ foundation upon which source apportionment investigations can be based, monitoring programs devised and modelling studies designed. Furthermore, this comment also draws attention to two global geochemical mapping initiatives that should be of interest to environmental scientists.     

Exposure of juvenile Danio rerio to aged TiO2 nanomaterial from sunscreen

The toxicity of dietary exposure to artificially aged TiO₂ nanomaterial (T-Lite?) used in sunscreen cream was studied on Danio rerio. Embryolarval assays were conducted to assess the effects of TiO₂ residues of nanomaterial (RNM) on fish early life stages. Juvenile fishes were exposed by the trophic route in two experiments. During the first experiment, juvenile fishes were exposed to TiO₂ RNM for 14 days by adding RNM to commercial fish food. The second one consisted in producing a trophic food chain. Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata algae, previously contaminated with TiO₂ RNM in growth medium, was used to feed Daphnia magna neonates over a 48-h period. Daphnia were used next to feed juvenile fishes for 7 days. Accumulation of Ti, life traits (survival and growth) and biochemical parameters such as energy reserves, digestive (trypsin, esterase, cellulose and amylase) and antioxidant (superoxide dismutase and catalase) enzyme activity were measured at the end of exposures. As expected in the receiving aquatic system, TiO₂ RNM at low concentrations caused a low impact on juvenile zebrafish. A slight impact on the early life stage of zebrafish with premature hatching was observed, and this effect appeared mainly indirect, due to possible embryo hypoxia. When juvenile fish are exposed to contaminated food, digestive enzyme activity indicated a negative effect of TiO₂ RNM. Digestive physiology was altered after 14 days of exposure and seemed to be an indirect target of TiO₂ RNM when provided by food.     

Time‐based differences in the effects of positive and negative affectivity on perceived supervisor support and organizational commitment among newcomers

Building on the broaden‐and‐build theory and research on the negativity bias, this study examines how trait affectivity, as a stable predisposition predicting the pattern of emotional responding, shapes newcomers' perceptions of supervisor support and experience of organizational commitment. Using latent growth modeling and data collected at four points in time from newcomers (N = 158), we found the initial level of perceived supervisor support to mediate a negative relationship between negative affectivity and the level of commitment. Moreover, although newcomers experienced a general decrease in perceived supervisor support and a related decrease in commitment, those with high positive affectivity experienced a weaker decrease in perceived supervisor support, which led to a weaker decrease in commitment. Incidentally, positive affectivity was also positively related to the initial level of commitment. Two post hoc studies indicated that positive and negative affectivity exerted their effects controlling for state affect and replicated the relationship between change in perceived support and commitment. We discuss how these findings inform our understanding of trait affectivity's influence on newcomers' work attitudes.     

Contamination of Clams with Human Norovirus and a Novel Hepatitis A Virus in Cameroon

Food and Environmental Virology - Shellfish constitute an important protein source but may be contaminated by viruses from various origins. A study performed on clams collected in Cameroon showed a...     

Water reuse in tannery beamhouse process

In tanneries, the phases of conditioning and preparing the hide for tanning, as well as the transportation and fixation of tanning substances, are all carried out in aqueous media. Most of the steps of these processes are carried out with fresh water, which is used as a vehicle for the diffusion of chemical products and the extraction of undesirable materials from the hide. The objective of this study is to provide the minimization of water consumption at tanneries by applying the reuse of water at some stages of the process. Alternatives for water reuse were evaluated through analysis of the process wastewater to determine the concentration of some contaminant parameters. In tests with half-hides, the possibility of reusing the liquors from the 2nd bating washing in the 1st bating washing, and of reusing the liquors from the pre-deliming washing in the pre-deliming operation, was verified. In industrial scale the water reuse from a mixture of bating washings in the deliming and deliming bating was tested successfully. The quality of wet-blue leather analyzed in the systems with and without water reuse did not show any considerable differences and satisfies the tannery specifications. Finally, a mathematical program for mass integration was applied to solve the problem of water reuse in the beamhouse steps.     

Understanding and Integrating Local Perceptions of Trees and Forests into Incentives for Sustainable Landscape Management

We examine five forested landscapes in Africa (Cameroon, Madagascar, and Tanzania) and Asia (Indonesia and Laos) at different stages of landscape change. In all five areas, forest cover (outside of protected areas) continues to decrease despite local people's recognition of the importance of forest products and services. After forest conversion, agroforestry systems and fallows provide multiple functions and valued products, and retain significant biodiversity. But there are indications that such land use is transitory, with gradual simplification and loss of complex agroforests and fallows as land use becomes increasingly individualistic and profit driven. In Indonesia and Tanzania, farmers favor monocultures (rubber and oil palm, and sugarcane, respectively) for their high financial returns, with these systems replacing existing complex agroforests. In the study sites in Madagascar and Laos, investments in agroforests and new crops remain rare, despite government attempts to eradicate swidden systems and their multifunctional fallows. We discuss approaches to assessing local values related to landscape cover and associated goods and services. We highlight discrepancies between individual and collective responses in characterizing land use tendencies, and discuss the effects of accessibility on land management. We conclude that a combination of social, economic, and spatially explicit assessment methods is necessary to inform land use planning. Furthermore, any efforts to modify current trends will require clear incentives, such as through carbon finance. We speculate on the nature of such incentive schemes and the possibility of rewarding the provision of ecosystem services at a landscape scale and in a socially equitable manner.     

Does need matter? Needs assessments and decision‐making among major humanitarian health agencies

Disasters of physical origin, including earthquakes, floods, landslides, tidal waves, tropical storms, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, have affected millions of people globally over the past 100 years. Proportionately, there is far greater likelihood of being affected by such disasters in low‐income countries than in high‐income countries. Furthermore, low‐income countries are in need of international assistance following disasters more often than high‐income countries. The funding of international humanitarian assistance has increased from USD 12.9 billion in 2006 to an estimated USD 16.7 billion in 2010. The majority of this funding is channelled through humanitarian agencies and is supposed to be distributed based on the need of those affected, as assessed using needs assessments. Such needs assessments may be used to inform decisions internally, to influence others, to justify response decisions, and to obtain funding. Little is known about the quality of needs assessments in practical applications. Consequently, this paper reports on and analyses the views of operational decision‐makers in major health‐related humanitarian agencies on needs assessments.     

A study of the relationships between compensation package,work motivation and job satisfaction

This study applied the theoretical framework based on expectancy and discrepancy theories to examine how the elements of total compensation might influence work motivation and job satisfaction. The principal dimensions of total compensation that give rise to distinct reactions among employees were examined. Two samples of employees, 269 exempt employees and 297 nonexempt employees, were studied separately in order to identify the differences of reaction between these two groups. The relationships between the elements of total compensation, work motivation and job satisfaction were analysed by a structural equations model with LISREL VII. Proposals were developed to predict the conditions of compensation efficiency on work motivation and job satisfaction in the cultural context of employment in France. The three principal conclusions of the study were: (1) under certain conditions, individualized compensation of exempt employees can be a factor of work motivation; (2) flexible pay of nonexempt employees neither motivates nor increases job satisfaction; (3) benefits of exempt and nonexempt employees neither motivate nor increase job satisfaction. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Immunocompetence analysis of the aquatic snail Lymnaea stagnalis exposed to urban wastewaters

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Wastewater treatment plant effluents from urban area are a well-known source of chronic multiple micropollution to the downstream living organisms. In...     

Emissions from the copper–nickel industry on the Kola Peninsula and at Noril'sk,Russia

Published estimates for base metal emissions from the copper–nickel industry on the Kola Peninsula are re-examined in the light of (a) chemical data on the composition of the ores; (b) official emission figures for 1994; and (c) modelled emissions based on dry and wet deposition estimates derived from data for snow and rain samples collected in 1994. The modelled emissions, official emission figures and chemical data are mutually compatible for Ni, Cu and Co and show that previously published figures underestimated the emissions of the major elements, Ni and Cu (though within the same order of magnitude) and overestimated the emissions of As, Pb, Sb and Zn by up to several orders of magnitude, in some cases exceeding the calculated total input to the plants. Published estimates have neglected information on the nature and chemistry of the ores processed in metallurgical industries in the Noril'sk area of Siberia and the Urals. Revised emission estimates for 1994, using knowledge of the chemistry of the ores, are proposed: taken with published information on total emissions up to 2000 these data give an indication of emission levels in more recent years.