Iophenoxic acid derivatives as markers of oral baits to wildlife

The bait-marker iophenoxic acid (IPA) and its derivatives are increasingly used for evaluating and optimizing the cost-effectiveness of baiting campaigns on wildlife, particularly on game species such as the wild boar. We aimed to determine whether concentrations of the three main IPA derivatives ethyl, methyl and propyl-IPA measured on thoracic liquid extracts (TLE) of hunted wild boars may be representative of two exposure doses, 40 and 200 mg, from 20 to 217 days after ingestion. Then we developed a method of detection of the three IPA derivatives by LC/ESI-MS-MS in muscle and liver to evaluate the suitability of these two other tissues for monitoring the marked bait consumption and for measuring available residues in the meat of marked animals. Three semi-captive wild boars received 40 mg of each IPA derivative, three received 200 mg, and three, as controls, did not receive IPA. Blood serum was sampled 20, 197 or 217 days after IPA exposure according to animals and to the derivative. Wild boars were shot by gun after the different times of serum sampling times, and TLE, muscle and liver were sampled. Our results suggest that TLE is not a relevant tissue for quantitatively expressing IPA exposure. Due to interference, no analytical method was validated on TLE containing digestive material. On the other hand, quantifications in the muscle and particularly in the liver could discriminate wild boars that had ingested the two IPA doses from 20 days until 7 months after exposure, especially for the two long term markers ethyl and propyl-IPA. So IPA quantifications in the liver sampled on hunted animals appear to be a reliable tool for monitoring bait consumption in the field at a large scale. Nevertheless, whatever the ingested dose, ethyl- and propyl-IPA concentrations measured in the muscle and the liver of tested animals until 217 days after exposure, remained higher than 0.01 mg/kg, the Maximal Residue Limit (MRL) is recommended for molecules for which no toxicological data are available. Based on the range of IPA residues available in these two tissues, implications for humans consuming marked animals are discussed.     

Cyclodextrins: a new efficient absorbent to treat waste gas streams

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the air provoke health and environmental concerns. This paper focuses on the absorption method to treat industrial polluted air loaded with VOCs. The key variable of this treatment being the choice of a suitable liquid absorbent, the aim of this research work is to investigate the effectiveness and the regeneration of a new potential family of absorbent: cyclodextrins (CDs). All CDs derivatives tested are able to decrease the Henry's law constant of toluene: a reduction of volatility up to 95% may be obtained, depending on CD nature and concentration. Moreover, absorption experiments show that beta-CD, which presents the highest absorption ability, is 250 time more efficient than water. The absorption efficiency is not totally correlated with static experiments, suggesting that, in addition to Henry's law constants and inclusion compounds stability, toluene diffusion into such solutions has to be taken into account. It is also to be noted that salt and pH variations seem to have little influence on the absorption capacity of CDs, which may be of great interest for industrial applications. Finally, since production of solid compounds was not observed during these experiments and since temperature decreases the capture ability in a drastic way, regeneration of the washing solution can be achieved by heating the solution in combination with air stripping.     

Effect of long-term changes in soil chemistry induced by road salt applications on N-transformations in roadside soils

Of several impacts of road salting on roadside soils, the potential disruption of the nitrogen cycle has been largely ignored. Therefore the fates of low-level ammonium-N and nitrate-N inputs to roadside soils impacted by salting over an extended period (decades) in the field have been studied. The use of road salts disrupts the proportional contributions of nitrate-N and ammonium-N to the mineral inorganic fraction of roadside soils. It is highly probable that the degree of salt exposure of the soil, in the longer term, controls the rates of key microbial N transformation processes, primarily by increasing soil pH. Additional influxes of ammonium-N to salt-impacted soils are rapidly nitrified therefore and, thereafter, increased leaching of nitrate-N to the local waterways occurs, which has particular relevance to the Water Framework Directive. The results reported are important when assessing the fate of inputs of ammonia to soils from atmospheric pollution.     

Chromosomal evolution in Mugilidae: karyotype characterization of Liza saliens and comparative localization of major and minor ribosomal genes in the six Mediterranean mullets

This study continues a comparative cytogenetic analysis of the fish family Mugilidae, reporting the karyotype characterization of the leaping mullet, Liza saliens, by C-banding, Ag- and fluorochrome-staining, and completing the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)-mapping of the 18S and 5S rRNA genes (rDNA) to the chromosomes of the six Mediterranean mullets, namely L. saliens, L. ramada, L. aurata, Mugil cephalus, Chelon labrosus and Oedalechilus labeo. In all species, except M. cephalus, the 5S rDNA sites were localized on a medium-sized acrocentric chromosome pair, which was considered homeologous in all of them. In L. saliens, an additional 5S rDNA site was detected in a location close to the one shown by major ribosomal genes in M. cephalus, i.e. the subtelomeric region of chromosome pair 1. The 5S rDNA site in M. cephalus is located on the smallest chromosome pair of the complement, which, on the other hand, though on a different position, bears 18S rDNA in all the species of Liza and Chelon examined. The heterochromatin composition and the major and minor ribosomal gene locations suggest that the karyotype of L. saliens (subgenus Protomugil) can be considered intermediate between the karyotype of the more primitive M. cephalus and those of the other Liza (subgenus Liza) species and of the representatives of the more derived genera Chelon and Oedalechilus.     

Karyotypic characterization of the great sturgeon, Huso huso, by multiple staining techniques and fluorescent in situ hybridization

A karyotype analysis by several staining techniques was carried out on the great sturgeon, Huso huso (Linnaeus, 1758). The karyotype (2n = 118 ± 2) was composed of 42 pairs of meta-/submetacentric chromosomes and 17 pairs of acrocentrics/microchromosomes. Constitutive heterochromatin was mainly located at the centromeric regions of the acrocentric chromosomes. The biarmed chromosomes showed weak C-bands. Fluorescent staining with GC-specific chromomycin A₃ showed clearly recognizable fluorescent regions, whereas a more uniform base composition was revealed by the AT-specific 4,6-diamidino-2 phenylindole. After Ag-staining, nucleolar organizer regions could be observed on the short arms of two medium-sized submetacentrics and on two acrocentrics. Digoxigenated 28S and 5S rDNA probes, prepared from Acipenser naccarii DNA and hybridized to metaphase chromosomes, showed signals on six and two chromosomes, respectively. The telomeric sequence (TTAGGG) _n detected by FISH was located at both ends of each chromosome. Results are discussed in relation to karyotype organization and evolution in sturgeons. Received: 1 April 1998 / Accepted: 21 July 1998     

Sharing Rules for Common-Pool Resources When Self-Insurance is Available

When a group of users who share a common-pool resource through a system of licenses is exposed to the risk of shortage, there is a need to establish a sharing rule. Such sharing rule is likely to impact the individual decisions to self-insure, i.e., to rely on a secure but costly resource instead of the free but uncertain common-pool resource. We determine the optimal sharing rule and the optimal diversification between the common-pool resource and the safe resource as a function of the agents’ individual characteristics, the distribution of the common-pool resource availability, and the cost of the safe resource. We find that, for a group of agents with heterogenous risk preferences, a perfectly informed regulator can obtain the optimal diversification level by imposing a rationing rule which shares the resource between agents proportionally to their relative risk tolerance. We illustrate and interpret our results in the context of water management in France.     

Validation of a dynamic model of hydrogen permeation through Pd-based membranes

Pd-based membranes have been studied for pure hydrogen separation from syngas: in particular, a mathematical model of a Pd membrane for hydrogen separation has been developed.This model can be used in process and assessment studies of the parameters which characterize the mass transfer phenomena (such as: hydrogen permeability, surface coverage and limiting step). By coupling the permeation and water gas shift reaction kinetics, it can also be used to evaluate the performances of the membrane reactor. Further, it can be helpful to evaluate the best assembly and sizing of a H₂/CO₂ separation system.The model takes into account the kinetics of H₂ adsorption/desorption on Pd surface, the H₂ permeation into the palladium bulk and in the porous layer, and the kinetics of CO, CO₂, H₂O, O₂, H₂S competitive adsorption/desorption on Pd surface. It is also comprehensive of flux equations and bulk mass, momentum and energy balance.The results released by the model were compared to the experimental data during both the transient phase and the steady state conditions. A satisfactory agreement between model and experimental data was found.     

International survey on the education of occupational health nurses

In 1990 the Scientific Committee on Occupational Health Nursing (SCOHN) of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) carried out a survey on the education of occupational health nurses (OHN) in various countries. A questionnaire with 23 questions was mailed to 50 countries.Replies were received form altogether 37 countries (74%). The length of the general nursing education varies from two to five years, being three years in 21 countries. In two European countries it is less than three years.Some special training in occupational health is included in the general nursing education in 14 countries. However, the length of this training varies considerably. The special training is the longest in Denmark, Finland and Norway.According to the answers, special postgraduate courses are organized in 21 countries. Training in occupational health is also included in the public health nursing education of 12 countries.University level programs on occupational health nursing are available in eight countries. Joint education on occupational health at university level has been organized for various professionals in 13 countries. The length of this education varies greatly from some months to several years. In four countries the length of this joint education is one academic year.General nursing education is the basic requirement for occupational health nurses in most of the countries surveyed. However, training in occupational health is not included in this education in most of the countries. Special postgraduate courses in occupational health are organized in 21 countries to OHNs who are employed in Occupational Health Services. There is an urgent need to develop the education of OHNs in most countries surveyed.     

Demographic factors and land-use planning in the small islands of Southern Europe

Since the end of the 1970s, the southern European countries have shown an exceptional reduction in fertility rate. From the highest levels among the developed nations, these countries dropped beneath the substitution rate level: in Greece there is an average of about 1.5 children per woman, and Italy (starting three to four years ago), with 1.3 children per woman, is now the country with the lowest fecundity rate in the world. Land-use planning in southern European small islands therefore requires substantial revision. In the areas where western civilization began, which are highly populated and have a long history, cultural and ethnic aspects of tradition are fundamental to environmental management and to the defense of historical heritage. They also place a strong value on sustaining tourism, the most relevant economic activity, that allows them to survive and maintain a high welfare level. For some decades they have had populations with a marked presence of young people and high emigration rates, but now they are fast becoming dominated by the elderly and must prepare for a period of fast reduction in youth of the workforce, while the peripheral areas of Asia and Africa are entering a sudden demographic growth phase. The demographic structure has also been deeply altered both by previous migrations and by random variations, as usually happens in all small communities. Social services for younger and older people have had to be adapted rapidly, reorganizing high-school management, hospital and health-care structures, in-house assistance, and so on. There is a need to rethink the job market and favor the immigration of highly specialized workers, which is a necessity for technical evolution. Sustainable development is constrained nowadays not only by the scarcity of natural resources, but also by the quality and quantity of human resources. Proper policies for population and land-use planning are highly correlated factors; they have to be considered with respect of these new, rapid demographic changes.