Modelling concentrations of airborne primary and secondary PM10 and PM2.5 with the BelEUROS-model in Belgium

The Eulerian Chemistry-Transport Model BelEUROS was used to calculate the concentrations of airborne PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 over Europe. Both primary as well as secondary particulate matter in the respirable size-range was taken into account. Especially PM_2.5 aerosols are often formed in the atmosphere from gaseous precursor compounds. Comprehensive computer codes for the calculation of gas phase chemical reactions and thermodynamic equilibria between compounds in the gas-phase and the particulate phase had been implemented into the BelEUROS-model. Calculated concentrations of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 are compared to observations, including both the spatial and daily, temporal distribution of particulate matter in Belgium for certain monitoring locations and periods. The concentrations of the secondary compounds ammonium, nitrate and sulfate have also been compared to observed values. BelEUROS was found to reproduce the observed concentrations rather well. The model was applied to assess the contribution of emissions derived from the sector agriculture in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, to PM₁₀- and PM_2.5-concentrations. The results demonstrate the importance of ammonia emissions in the formation of secondary particulate matter. Hence, future European emission abatement policy should consider more the role of ammonia in the formation of secondary particles.     

Toenail cerium levels and risk of a first acute myocardial infarction: the EURAMIC and heavy metals study

The association between cerium status and risk of first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was examined in a case-control study in 10 centres from Europe and Israel. Cerium in toenails was assessed by neutron activation analysis in 684 cases and 724 controls aged 70 years or younger. Mean concentrations of cerium were 186 and 173 microg/kg in cases and controls, respectively. Cerium was positively associated with low socio-economic status, smoking, mercury, zinc and scandium (p0.001). Cases had significantly higher levels of cerium than controls after adjustment for age and centre (case-control ratio 1.074; 95% CI 1.002-1.151) and increased in further adjustment for other cardiovascular risk factors 1.085; 95% CI 1.025-1.149. The risk after adjustment for age and centre was higher with increasing cerium levels (p for trend=0.02). After adjustment for BMI, history of hypertension, smoking, alcohol intake, diabetes, family history of CHD, beta-carotene, lycopene, alpha-tocopherol, selenium, mercury and scandium, the OR for the highest quintile was 1.43 (95% CI 0.85-2.41; p-trend 0.08). When we applied this same model in non-smokers the odds ratios in the 4th and 5th quintiles of cerium as compared with the lowest were 2.09 (95% CI 1.05-4.16) and 2.81 (95% CI 1.21-6.52), respectively, p-trend 0.011. Our results suggest that toenail cerium levels may be associated with an increased risk of AMI, but more research is warranted to shed further light and fully understand the plausibility and public health implications of these findings.     

Not All Animals are Equal Differences In Moral Foundations For The Dutch Veterinary Policy On Livestock and Animals In Nature Reservations

The Netherlands is a small country with many people and much livestock. As a result, animals in nature reservations are often living near cattle farms. Therefore, people from the agricultural practices are afraid that wild animals will infect domestic livestock with diseases like Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease. To protect agriculture (considered as an important economic practice), very strict regulations have been made for minimizing this risk. In this way, the practice of animal farming has been dominating the practices of nature management completely. If, for instance, Foot and Mouth Disease strikes an agricultural area, all wild pigs and cattle living in the nearby nature reservations have to be killed, whether infected or not. This dominant position of one practice over the other has now become problematic. While the morality of the practice of nature management seems to be very different from the morality of agriculture and agriculture has become less important from an economic point of view, the public as well as those involved in nature management no longer seem to accept the dominant position of agriculture. Besides a literature study, we performed a field study with in-depth interviews with experts from both practices to analyze the dynamics of the internal moralities of both practices in the previous century, in order to clarify the contemporary situation. The conclusion was that the traditionally strong position of agriculture is not only weakening; it also appears that the internal values of agriculture are changing. The experts from both sides agreed that, in case of a disease outbreak, it is neither ethically justified nor necessary (because of the estimated low risk of disease transfer) to destroy the animals in nature reservations as a routine preventive measure. This is a major shift in morality.     

A chromosome 21-specific cosmid cocktail for the detection of chromosome 21 aberrations in interphase nuclei

Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with a 21q11-specific probe (CB21c1) consisting of three non-overlapping cosmids has been applied to interphase amniocytes of pregnancies at increased risk for fetal aneuploidy (N = 78) and to interphase lymphocytes, cultured and uncultured, of patients referred for Down syndrome (N = 19 and 28, respectively). In the uncultured amniocytes, six chromosome aberrations were detected: three cases of trisomy 21, a triploidy, a de novo 46,XX,t(21q21q), and a mosaic 46,XY/47,XY,+dic(21)(q11)/48,XY,+dic(21)(q11), +del(21)(q11). In 15 cultured and 20 uncultured blood samples, FISH correctly diagnosed trisomy 21 (full or mosaic) at the interphase level, which was confirmed in all cases by subsequent karyotyping. Because of specific and strong signals in interphase nuclei, CB21c1 appears to be a useful tool for the rapid detection of chromosome 21 abnormalities.     

Sustainability experiments in Asia: innovations shaping alternative development pathways?

Global sustainability is increasingly influenced by processes of industrialisation and urbanization in non-OECD countries, especially in Asia. Growth models suggest that developing economies and regions will become first relatively more resource- and pollution-intensive, before converging on more resource-efficient and low-pollution production and consumption patterns expressed in developed countries. Alternative less resource- and pollution-intensive growth models for latecomer countries promise social and economic benefits in the short- and long-term. Drawing on insights from system innovation research on long-run change in socio-technical systems, we discuss the potential role of ‘sustainability experiments’ to generate innovations that will constitute new ‘greener’ growth models. We observe a great number of technology-based initiatives that we characterize as sustainability experiments in East and South Asian countries. These experiments emerge in the context of the growth of new socio-technical regimes in key sectors, including energy, transport, manufacturing, food and the built environment. We set out a conceptual framework for assessing the role of experiments, and for evaluating how they link with and become anchored into alternative more sustainable regimes. In this paper we argue that sustainability experiments represent a significant new source of innovation and capability-formation, linked to global knowledge and technology flows, which could reshape emergent socio-technical regimes and so contribute to alternative development pathways in latecomer countries. We conclude by summarizing the six papers published in this Special Issue.