Legacy and alternative halogenated flame retardants in Lake Geneva fish

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Legacy (i.e., polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD)) and alternative halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) were...     

A modular approach to Integrated Assessment modeling

In this paper, we present a new approach to model coupling that probably forms the methodological basis of a new generation of Integrated Assessment models. This approach respects the knowledge and expertise that is embodied in existing models and encourages their gradual evolution. Modularity is the guiding principle. Our approach is distinguished by the way modules are coupled which is based on an interplay of a job control module, a numerical coupling module, and a couple of stand-alone functional modules. The numerical coupling module - the core component - serves to treat the feedbacks between the functional modules. A first implemented example that couples an economic and a climate module by means of a two-phase meta-optimization is presented here. The algorithm and mathematical structure behind are discussed as well as important features such as convergence behavior and reliability.     

Seasonal variations in nickel and vanadium in Mont Blanc snow and ice dated from the 1960s and 1990s

Ni and V have been determined in snow and ice collected at a high altitude location (Col du D?me) near the summit of Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border; dated from the 1960s and 1990s. Ni and V were simultaneously determined by inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry. Measured concentrations range from 6 to 700 pg g(-1) and 4 to 1,100 pg g(-1) for Ni and V, respectively. The results show pronounced seasonal variations in the concentrations of both metals, with high concentration values in summer layers and much lower values for winter layers. These seasonal variations are linked especially with the existence of inversion layers during winter months. Ni and V concentrations in excess of the contributions from rock and soil dust (Ni(excess), V(excess)) appear to be mainly associated with anthropogenic inputs, with pronounced seasonal variations. Large variations in the V(excess)/Ni(excess) ratio are observed, with a higher ratio in summer than in winter. This shows differences in anthropogenic inputs at Col du D?me during the different parts of the year. The above ratio was compared with the corresponding ratios for oil combustion from stationary sources and the exhaust from gasoline and diesel engines. It appears that Ni and V concentrations at Col du D?me are probably the result of changing combinations of contributions from oil combustion for power generation, industrial and residential uses, on one side, and automobile and truck traffic, on the other side, with possibly a significant contribution from Ni smelters in Russia during winter months.     

新农药环境化学行为研究(V)-—三氟羧草醚(Acifluorfen)在土壤和水环境中的滞留、转化

从如下几方面研究了三氟羧草醚在土壤－水环境中的化学行为：一是土壤对该药的吸附，结果表明，吸附强度与土壤理化特性密切相关，Ｆｒｅｕｎｄｌｉｃｈ常数ｋｆ＝０．９４Ｗｏｍ＋０．６５Ｗｃｌａｙ－９．５９ｐＨ（ｒ＾２＝０．９４）；二是吸附机理研究，发现三氟羧草醚能与碱金属以外的许多金属离子形成配合物，并证实了与ＣＵ＾２＋形成的双核桥联合物的可能性；三是实验指出它在水中避光有一定的稳定性，不易水解；四是它在〈     

Ultrasonography in pregnancy and fetal abnormalities: Screening or diagnostic test? IPIMC 1986–1990 register data

The aim of the present study was to assess the sensitivity of ultrasound diagnosis used as a screening test in detecting major congenital anomalies in the prenatal period in a large nation-based multicentre setting. Data from the IPIMC register were collected in the period 1986–1990. One hundred and thirty-five hospitals, located in 17 out of the 20 regions in Italy, participated in the register. Study cases were 3479 infants with major congenital anomalies diagnosed at birth or in the first week of life. Subjects with chromosomal anomalies or multiple defects were excluded. The sensitivity of ultrasound prenatal diagnosis was 49.5 per cent for central nervous system anomalies, 3.8 per cent for congenital heart diseases, 17.1 per cent for gastrointestinal tract defects, 46.6 per cent for abdominal wall defects, 74.8 per cent for urinary tract anomalies, and 22.9 per cent for skeletal abnormalities. The detection rate for diaphragmatic hernia was 24.2 per cent. Overall, only 18 per cent of the defects diagnosed in utero were detected before 24 weeks' gestation. The sensitivity of prenatal diagnosis was 30.1 and 19.0 per cent in the northern, central, and southern regions, respectively. In light of its low sensitivity, ultrasonography as a screening test in the general population should be abandoned, although some improvement in its performance should be expected following adequate training of the ultrasound staff and the use of good technical equipment.     

Age-related decline in metabolic competence of small and medium-sized synaptic mitochondria

A computer-assisted morphometric investigation of cytochrome oxidase (COX) activity, selectively evidenced by preferential diaminobenzidine cytochemistry, has been carried out on synaptic mitochondria in the cerebellar cortex of adult and old rats. The ratio (R) of the area of the cytochemical precipitate (CPA) to the overall area of each mitochondrion (MA) was calculated. R refers to the fraction of the inner mitochondrial membrane actively involved in cellular respiration, thus its quantitative estimation constitutes a reliable index of the mitochondrial metabolic competence (MMC). In adult rats a significant negative correlation between MA and R values was found, while in old animals there was just a positive trend. Paired-quartile comparisons of R values showed a significant age-related decrease in small and medium-sized mitochondria, whereas the lowest and not significant age-related reduction was found in oversized organelles. A paired decrease in number and increase in size is reported to be a general trend for mitochondria during aging, but oversized organelles, according to their low R value, constitute a scanty, though functional, compensating reaction. Thus, the present findings support the argument that the currently reported age-related cellular metabolic decay appears to rely both on the decline in MMC of the small and medium-sized mitochondria, and on their specific reduction in number. This novel result is of biological relevance since it is largely the small and medium-sized mitochondria that are required for the provision of adequate amounts of ATP for actual cellular performance, while the significantly enlarged organelles are thought to represent an intermediate ultrastructural feature in mitochondrial genesis and/or remodelling.     

Development and implementation of eco-genomic tools for aquatic ecosystem biomonitoring: the SYNAQUA French-Swiss program

The effectiveness of environmental protection measures is based on the early identification and diagnosis of anthropogenic pressures. Similarly, restoration actions require precise monitoring of changes in the ecological quality of ecosystems, in order to highlight their effectiveness. Monitoring the ecological quality relies on bioindicators, which are organisms revealing the pressures exerted on the environment through the composition of their communities. Their implementation, based on the morphological identification of species, is expensive because it requires time and experts in taxonomy. Recent genomic tools should provide access to reliable and high-throughput environmental monitoring by directly inferring the composition of bioindicators’ communities from their DNA (metabarcoding). The French-Swiss program SYNAQUA (INTERREG France-Switzerland 2017–2019) proposes to use and validate the tools of environmental genomic for biomonitoring and aims ultimately at their implementation in the regulatory bio-surveillance. SYNAQUA will test the metabarcoding approach focusing on two bioindicators, diatoms, and aquatic oligochaetes, which are used in freshwater biomonitoring in France and Switzerland. To go towards the renewal of current biomonitoring practices, SYNAQUA will (1) bring together different actors: scientists, environmental managers, consulting firms, and biotechnological companies, (2) apply this approach on a large scale to demonstrate its relevance, (3) propose robust and reliable tools, and (4) raise public awareness and train the various actors likely to use these new tools. Biomonitoring approaches based on such environmental genomic tools should address the European need for reliable, higher-throughput monitoring to improve the protection of aquatic environments under multiple pressures, guide their restoration, and follow their evolution.     

Indication of PCDD/F formation through precursor condensation in a full-scale hazardous waste incinerator

This paper gives the PCDD/F fingerprint of boiler and fly ash of a full scale hazardous waste incinerator and demonstrates that, when the waste to be incinerated contains high concentrations of PCBs and chlorinated pesticides, heterogeneous precursor condensation is the dominant PCDD/F formation mechanism rather than de novo synthesis. This is in contrast to full-scale municipal solid waste incinerators, where de novo synthesis has been shown to be the dominant PCDD/F formation mechanism. This paper agrees with earlier predictions based on numerous lab scale experiments.     

Ethical Veganism,Virtue, and Greatness of the Soul

Many moral philosophers have criticized intensive animal farming because it can be harmful to the environment, it causes pain and misery to a large number of animals, and furthermore eating meat and animal-based products can be unhealthful. The issue of industrially farmed animals has become one of the most pressing ethical questions of our time. On the one hand, utilitarians have argued that we should become vegetarians or vegans because the practices of raising animals for food are immoral since they minimize the overall happiness. Deontologists, on the other hand, have argued that the practices of raising animals for food are immoral because animals have certain rights and we have duties toward them. Some virtue ethicists remain unconvinced of deontic and consequentialist arguments against the exploitation of animals and suggest that a virtue-based approach is better equipped to show what is immoral about raising and using animals for food, and what is virtuous about ethical veganism.     

Pollutants and sperm quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Male fertility and semen quality have declined over recent decades. Among other causes, exposure to environmental and occupational pollution has been...