Iron isotopic fractionation in industrial emissions and urban aerosols

A study on tropospheric aerosols involving Fe particles with an industrial origin is tackled here. Aerosols were collected at the largest exhausts of a major European steel metallurgy plant and around its near urban environment. A combination of bulk and individual particle analysis performed by SEM–EDX provides the chemical composition of Fe-bearing aerosols emitted within the factory process (hematite, magnetite and agglomerates of these oxides with sylvite (KCl), calcite (CaCO₃) and graphite carbon). Fe isotopic compositions of those emissions fall within the range (0.08‰ < δ⁵⁶Fe < +0.80‰) of enriched ores processed by the manufacturer (−0.16‰ < δ⁵⁶Fe < +1.19‰). No significant evolution of Fe fractionation during steelworks processes is observed. At the industrial source, Fe is mainly present as oxide particles, to some extent in 3–4 μm aggregates. In the close urban area, 5 km away from the steel plant, individual particle analysis of collected aerosols presents, in addition to the industrial particle type, aluminosilicates and related natural particles (gypsum, quartz, calcite and reacted sea salt). The Fe isotopic composition (δ⁵⁶Fe = 0.14 ± 0.11‰) measured in the close urban environment of the steel metallurgy plant appears coherent with an external mixing of industrial and continental Fe-containing tropospheric aerosols, as evidenced by individual particle chemical analysis. Our isotopic data provide a first estimation of an anthropogenic source term as part of the study of photochemically promoted dissolution processes and related Fe fractionations in tropospheric aerosols.     

Sustainable Exploitation of Borassus aethiopum, Elaeis guineensis and Raphia hookeri for the Extraction of Palm Wine in Côte d'Ivoire

In the rural areas of developing countries palms are major sources of many products. One of these is palm wine, which has an important role for nutrition, income and social life. In the Côte d'Ivoire (West Africa), palm wine is extracted from three different species: Borassus aethiopum Mart., Raphia hookeri Mann & Wendland and Elaeis guineensis Jacq. As the extraction methods are destructive, palm stands are locally threatened by extinction. This could have serious consequences not only for the nutritional situation of the population but also for their income. Field visits were conducted in order to assess the degree of sustainability of palm wine extraction in eight villages of Côte d'Ivoire's three major agro-ecozones. Based on the annual palm wine need for consumption and commercialisation and on the availability of palms, a sustainability index was calculated for each palm species in each village. The occurrence of palm trees depends on the vegetation type. B. aethiopum is a typical savanna tree (> 20 palms per hectare) and is almost absent in other vegetation types. In 75% of the villages the exploitation of B. aethiopum is not sustainable. The preferred vegetation type for R. hookeri is the forest along the rivers (> 33 palms per hectare) compared to the other vegetation types of the forest zone (< 5 palms per hectare). Due to the high preference for the palm wine of this species its exploitation is not sustainable in any of the selected villages. The distribution of E. guineensis depends mostly on human activities, the main vegetation types being plantations (34 palms per hectare), fallow land and cultivated fields (15 palms per hectare) and the forest along the rivers (31 palms per hectare). The exploitation of this species is in general sustainable throughout all ecozones with some rare exceptions.     

Shifting paths to conservation: policy change discourses and the 2008 US farm bill

From 2004 until 2006, reform of US agricultural subsidy programmes seemed a likely result of pressure from the World Trade Organization. Many groups saw this pressure as an opportunity to ‘green’ farm policy by crafting environmental service payments that could replace crop subsidies. Yet the 2008 US farm bill fell short of such drastic changes. This paper uses discourse analysis to trace the decline of prospects for reform of the farm bill, and a shift to incremental policy making between 2006 and 2008. It finds that, in addition to political and situational factors, striking discursive shifts altered policy debates and outcomes to create particular conservation impacts. It thus argues for broader use of rhetoric theory and discourse analysis to assess environmental policy. Implications for land conservation are presented in the context of interest group tactics.     

Convergence of stakeholders’ environmental threat perceptions following mass coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef

Managing human use of ecosystems in an era of rapid environmental change requires an understanding of diverse stakeholders’ behaviors and perceptions to enable effective prioritization of actions to mitigate multiple threats. Specifically, research examining how threat perceptions are shared or diverge among stakeholder groups and how these can evolve through time is increasingly important. We investigated environmental threat perceptions related to Australia's Great Barrier Reef and explored their associations before and after consecutive years of mass coral bleaching. We used data from surveys of commercial fishers, tourism operators, and coastal residents (n = 5254) conducted in 2013 and 2017. Threats perceived as most serious differed substantially among groups before bleaching but were strongly aligned after bleaching. Climate change became the most frequently reported threat by all stakeholder groups following the coral bleaching events, and perceptions of fishing and poor water quality as threats also ranked high. Within each of the 3 stakeholder groups, fishers, tourism operators, and coastal residents, the prioritization of these 3 threats tended to diverge in 2013, but convergence occurred after bleaching. These results indicate an emergence of areas of agreement both within and across stakeholder groups. Changes in perceptions were likely influenced by high-profile environmental-disturbance events and media representations of threats. Our results provide insights into the plasticity of environmental-threat perceptions and highlight how their convergence in response to major events may create new opportunities for strategic public engagement and increasing support for management.     

‘Management Standards’ and work-related stress in Great Britain: Progress on their implementation

The aim of this paper is to identify what constituted barriers to progress in the implementation of the Management Standards for preventing and reducing work-related stress nationally, an approach advocated by the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain. Data were collected from more than 100 public sector organisations through inspector visits and research interviews. Findings show that under supportive contexts, organisations were able to follow the process of a stepwise method for assessing psychosocial risks and implementing interventions using HSE assessment tools and guidance. Main enabling factors included the active and visible support from senior management, human resource departments, and line managers; regular communications on progress, sufficient organisational capability in terms of resources and expertise; departmental/team level assessment as opposed to an overall corporate wide assessment, and involvement of key stakeholders (e.g. Trade Union, employees). Some of the critical barriers across many public sector organisations included in this study were: major or on-going organisational changes; lack of organisational capability; and the resource intensive aspect of the method requiring focus groups in addition to stress survey data. Implications of the findings for policy development are discussed.     

Evaluation of the in vitro anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic potential of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Origanum syriacum and Salvia lanigera leaves

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, the chemical compositions of the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the leaves of Origanum syriacum and Salvia lanigera were identified...     

Prenatal diagnosis of respiratory chain deficiency by direct mutation screening

Respiratory chain deficiency (RCD) is responsible for a clinically heterogeneous group of early-onset untreatable disorders. Enzymological prenatal diagnosis (PD) can only be offered to a fraction of families. Moreover, due to the two-fold genetic origin of the respiratory chain (nuclear and mitochondrial DNA) and owing to the large number of nuclear genes involved in the respiratory chain assembly, maintenance and functioning, the identification of the disease causing gene in a given family remains challenging. Here, we report on PD of RCD by direct screening of NDUFV1, SDH-Fp, SCO1 and SURF1 mutations in five unrelated families with complex I, II and IV deficiency, respectively. The identification of the disease-causing gene in a given family with RCD is a major issue to provide both adequate genetic counselling and early, reliable PD. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of physico-chemical properties and microbial community during poultry manure cocomposting process

Co-composting of poultry manure and rubber wood sawdust was performed with the ratio of 2:1 (V/V) for a period of 60 days. An investigation was carried out to study the extracellular enzymatic activities and structural degradation utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The microbial succession was also determined by using denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis (DGGE). The compost was able to reach its highest temperature of 71 ℃ at day 3 and stabilized between 30 and 40 ℃ for 8 weeks. CMCase, FPase and β-glucosidase acted synergistically in order to degrade the cellulosic substrate. The xylanase activities increased gradually during the composting and reached the peak value of 11.637 U/g on day 35, followed by a sharp decline. Both LiP and MnP activities reached their peak values on day 35 with 0.431 and 0.132 U/g respectively. The FT-IR spectra revealed an increase in aromaticity and a decrease in aliphatic compounds such as carbohydrates as decomposition proceeded. TGA/DTG data exhibited significant changes in weight loss in compost samples, indicating degradation of organic matter. SEM micrographs showed higher amounts of parenchyma exposed on the surface of rubber wood sawdust at day 60, showing significant degradation. DGGE and 16S rDNA analyses showed that Burkholderia sp., Pandoraea sp., and Pseudomonas sp. were present throughout the composting process. Ornithinibacillus sp. and Castellaniella ginsengisoli were only found in the initial stage of the composting, while different strains of Burkholderia sp. also occurred in the later stage of composting.     

Effect of diflubenzuron on the development of Pinus pinaster seedlings inoculated with the ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus tinctorius

Diflubenzuron (DFB) is an insecticide commonly used to control forest pests. The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of diflubenzuron on the development of Pinus pinaster seedlings and Pisolithus tinctorius under laboratory conditions and to study the possible protective role of this ectomycorrhizal fungus against the effects of diflubenzuron. In vitro experiments revealed that diflubenzuron inhibited fungal growth at all tested concentrations (0.01, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 mg L^?1). Root growth was inhibited at the two highest diflubenzuron concentrations. The activity of the antioxidant defence system of non-inoculated P. pinaster increased at 1 and 10 mg DFB kg^?1 substrate, and inoculation increased the threshold to the highest concentration. The protective role of the ectomycorrhizal fungus was seen in the increase of CAT activity. This study revealed that despite causing no mortality, diflubenzuron has the ability to cause sub-lethal damage to P. pinaster. The disproportionate use of this insecticide may lead to higher amounts of its residues in soil and the biosphere, endangering trees, fungi and their symbiosis.