Characterization and role of carbonic anhydrase in the calcification process of the azooxanthellate coral <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tubastrea aurea</Emphasis>

In zooxanthellate corals, the photosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide and the precipitation of CaCO₃ are intimately linked both spatially and temporally making it difficult to study carbon transport mechanisms involved in each pathway. When studying Tubastrea aurea, a coral devoid of zooxanthellae, we can focus on carbon transport mechanisms involved only in the calcification process. We performed this study to characterize T. aurea carbonic anhydrase and to determine its role in the calcification process. We have shown that inhibition of tissular carbonic anhydrase activity affects the calcification rate. We have measured the activity of this enzyme both in the tissues and in the organix matrix extracted from the skeleton. Our results indicate that organic matrix proteins, which are synthesized by the calcifying tissues, are not only structural proteins, but they also play a crucial catalytic role by eliminating the kinetic barrier to interconversion of inorganic carbon at the calcification site. By immunochemistry we have demonstrated the presence of a protein both in the tissues and in the organic matrix, which shares common features with prokaryotic carbonic anhydrases.     

Improving the health and safety of 911 emergency call centre agents: an evaluability assessment of a knowledge transfer strategy

A knowledge transfer (KT) strategy was implemented by the IRSST, an occupational health and safety research institute established in Québec (Canada), to improve the prevention of psychological and musculoskeletal problems among 911 emergency call centre agents. An evaluability assessment was conducted in which each aspect of the KT approach was documented systematically to determine whether the strategy had the potential to be evaluated in terms of its impact on the targeted population. A review of the literature on KT in occupational health and safety and on the evaluation of such KT programmes, along with the development of a logic model based on documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, indicated that the KT strategy was likely to have had a positive impact in the 911 emergency call centre sector. Implications for future research are discussed.     

New ternary water-soluble support from self-assembly of β-cyclodextrin-ionic liquid and an anionic polymer for a dialysis device

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We developed a new hybrid material resulting from an innovative supramolecular tripartite association between an ionic liquid covalently immobilized...     

Factors affecting the detection distances of reef fish: implications for visual counts

Detection patterns of coral reef fish were assessed from the meta-analysis of distance sampling surveys performed by visual census in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, from 1986 to 1999. From approximately 100,000 observations relating to 593 species, the frequency distributions of fish detection distances perpendicular to the transect line were compared according to species characteristics and sampling conditions. The shape and extension of these detection profiles varied markedly with fish size, shyness, and crypticity, indicating strong differences of detectability across species. Detection of very small and cryptic fish decreased strongly 1 m away from the line. Conversely, sightings of shy and large species were excessively low in the first meters due to diver avoidance prior to detection. The larger the fish, the greater the fleeing distance. Distance data underscore how inconsistent detectability biases across species and sites can affect the accuracy of visual censuses when assessing coral reef fish populations.     

Supporting evidences for vegetation-enhanced stormwater infiltration in bioretention systems: a comprehensive review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Stormwater mitigation efficiency of bioretention systems relies for a large part on their capacity to infiltrate rapidly received runoff. Within this...     

Status of feral oilseed rape in Europe: its minor role as a GM impurity and its potential as a reservoir of transgene persistence

Purpose  

Feral oilseed rape has become widespread in Europe on waysides and waste ground. Its potential as a source of GM impurity in oilseed rape harvests is quantified, for the first time, by a consistent analysis applied over a wide range of study areas in Europe.     

Analysis of a population of magnetotactic bacteria of the Gulf of Gabès,Tunisia

The occurrence of magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) on a Tunisian marine coast exposed to heavy metals pollution (Sfax, Gulf of Gabès, Mediterranean Sea) was investigated. The MTB population of this Southern Mediterranean coast was compared to the MTB populations previously investigated on the French Northern Mediterranean coast. A dominant MTB coccus morphotype was observed by microscopy analysis. By pyrosequencing technology, the analysis of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rDNA) revealed as much as 33 operational taxonomic sequence units (OTUs) close to sequences of MTB accessible in the databases. The majority were close to MTB sequences of the “Med group” of α-Proteobacteria. Among them, a dominant OTU_001 (99 % of the MTB sequences) affiliated within the Magnetococcales order was highlighted. Investigating the capacities of this novel bacterium to be used in bioremediation and/or depollution processes could be envisaged.