Frequency of hepatocellular fibrillar inclusions in European flounder (Platichthys flesus) from the Douro River estuary,Portugal

Liver lesions in wild fish have been associated with xenobiotic exposure. Facing reports of pollution in the Douro River estuary (north of Portugal), we have been making field surveys using fishes and targeting histopathological biomarkers of exposure and effect. Herein, we intended to better characterize and report the rate of one poorly understood lesion—hepatocellular fibrillar inclusions (HFI)—found in European flounder (Platichthys flesus). With this report, we aimed to establish sound baseline data that could be viewed as a starting point for future biomonitoring, while offering the world's second only pool of field data on such a liver toxicopathic lesion, which could be compared with data available from the UK estuaries. Sampling was done in the Douro River estuary over 1 year. A total of 72 animals were fished with nets, in spring–summer (SS) and autumn–winter (AW) campaigns. Livers were processed for histopathology and both routine and special staining procedures (alcian blue, periodic acid Schiff (PAS), tetrazonium coupling reaction). Immunohistochemistry targeted AE1/AE3 (pan cytokeratins). The severity of the HFI extent was graded using a system with four levels, varying from 0 (absence of HFI) to 3 (high relative density of cells with HFI). Cells (isolated/groups) with HFI appeared in 35 % or more of the fish, in the total samples of each season, and over 40 % in more homogeneous sub-samples. There were no significant differences when comparing samples versus sub-samples or SS versus AW. When merging the data sets from the two seasons, the frequency of fish with HFI was ≈36 % for the total sample and ≈49 % for the sub-sample. The extreme group (biggest and smallest fish) revealed a HFI frequency of only 16 %, which differed significantly from the total and sub-sampled groups. Immunostaining and PAS were negative for the HFI, and alcian blue could, at times, faintly stain the inclusions. These were positive with the tetrazonium reaction. We showed the presence of HFI in European flounder from the Douro River estuary, proving that they are essentially protein in nature, that no seasonal changes existed in the HFI frequency, and that it was rarer in the smallest and biggest fish groups. Within the ranges of weight/size of our total sample, we estimate that the frequency of HFI in the local flounder is ≈35 %. That rate stands as a baseline value for future assessments, namely for biomonitoring purposes targeting correlations with the estuary pollution status.     

Climatic risks and impacts in South Asia: extremes of water scarcity and excess

Regional Environmental Change - This paper reviews the current knowledge of climatic risks and impacts in South Asia associated with anthropogenic warming levels of 1.5–4 °C...     

SMARCC1 is a susceptibility gene for congenital hydrocephalus with an autosomal dominant inheritance mode and incomplete penetrance

A Jewish couple of mixed origin was referred for genetic counseling following termination of pregnancy at 18 weeks of gestation due to severe ventriculomegaly with aqueduct stenosis. Trio exome sequencing revealed a loss-of-function heterozygous variant in the SMARCC1 gene inherited from an unaffected mother. The SMARCC1 gene is associated with embryonic neurodevelopmental processes. Recent studies have linked perturbations of the gene with autosomal dominant congenital hydrocephalus, albeit with reduced penetrance. However, these studies were not referenced in the SMARCC1 OMIM record (*601732) and the gene was not considered, at the time, an OMIM morbid gene. Following our case and appeal, SMARCC1 is now considered a susceptibility gene for hydrocephalus. This allowed us to reclassify the variant as likely pathogenic and empowered the couple to make informed reproductive choices.     

Interrogating Social Sustainability in the Biofuels Sector in Latin America: Tensions Between Global Standards and Local Experiences in Mexico,Brazil, and Colombia

Across the Americas, biofuels production systems are diverse due to geographic conditions, historical patterns of land tenure, different land use patterns, government policy frameworks, and relations between the national state and civil society, all of which shape the role that biofuels play in individual nations. Although many national governments throughout the Americas continue to incentivize growth of the biofuels industry, one key challenge for biofuels sustainability has been concern about its social impacts. In this article, we discuss some of the key social issues and tensions related to the recent expansion of biofuels production in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. We argue that a process of “simplification” of ecological and cultural diversity has aided the expansion of the biofuels frontier in these countries, but is also undermining their viability. We consider the ability of governments and non-state actors in multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI) to address social and environmental concerns that affect rural livelihoods as a result of biofuels expansion. We analyze the tensions between global sustainability standards, national level policies for biofuels development, and local level impacts and visions of sustainability. We find that both government and MSI efforts to address sustainability concerns have limited impact, and recommend greater incorporation of local needs and expertise to improve governance.     

Decision support tools for collaborative marine spatial planning: identifying potential sites for tidal energy devices around the Mull of Kintyre,Scotland

The expansion of offshore renewable energy production, such as wind, wave and tidal energy, is likely to lead to conflict between different users of the sea. Two types of spatial decision support tools were developed to support stakeholder workshops. A value mapping tool combines regional attributes with local knowledge. A negotiation support tool uses these value maps to support stakeholders in finding acceptable locations for tidal energy devices. Interactive value mapping proved useful to address deficiencies in data and to create credibility for these maps. The negotiation tool helped stakeholders in balancing objectives of the various stakeholders.     

Ceramic processing of incinerator bottom ash

The <8 mm fraction of aged incinerator bottom ash from a commercial incinerator (energy from waste) plant has been collected at regular intervals, characterised and processed to form ceramic materials. Ashes were sieved, wet ball milled, dried, compacted and sintered at temperatures between 1080 and 1115 degrees C. Variations in the chemical composition and mineralogy of the milled ash, and the mineralogy, physical properties and leaching of sintered products have been assessed. Milling produces a raw material with consistent chemical and mineralogical composition with quartz (SiO(2)), calcite (CaCO(3)), gehlenite (Ca(2)Al(AlSi)O(7)) and hematite (Fe(2)O(3)) being the major crystalline phases present. Different batches also milled to give consistent particle size distributions. Sintering milled incinerator bottom ash at 1110 degrees C produced ceramics with densities between 2.43 and 2.64 g/cm(-3) and major crystalline phases of wollastonite (CaSiO(3)) and diopside (CaMgSi(2)O(6)). The sintered ceramics had reduced acid neutralisation capacity compared to the as-received ash and exhibited reduced leaching of Ca, Mg, Na and K under all pH conditions. The leaching of heavy metals was also significantly reduced due to encapsulation and incorporation into glassy and crystalline phases, with Cu and Al showing greatly reduced leaching under alkali conditions.     

Spatial Distribution of Soil Attributes in the Concórdia River Watershed in Southern Brazil

Using geographic information system, soil sampling, and statistical analysis to map anthropogenic effects on soil     

Determination of seventeen endocrine disruptor compounds and their spatial and seasonal distribution in Ria Formosa Lagoon (Portugal)

In spite of its outstanding ecological and touristic importance the Ria Formosa Lagoon shows signs of anthropogenic pollution. Nonetheless, until the present survey no studies had ever documented the measurement of natural and pharmaceutical estrogens (17β-estradiol, estrone, and 17α-ethynylestradiol), xenoestrogenic industrial pollutants (4-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, and their mono and diethoxylates and bisphenol A), phytoestrogens (formononetin, biochanin A, daidzein, genistein), and sitosterol in this area. The 17 compounds measured herein are known as endocrine disrupters (EDCs) and act over the endocrine system even in few amounts (ng L^?1–μg L^?1). Thus to conclude about the influx of EDCs in the lagoon, water samples were taken every 2 months, during 1 year (2010), in low tide at nine sites distributed along the coastline. Water samples (1 L) were preconcentrated in the Oasis HLB cartridges and cleaned in silica cartridges before their analysis by GC-MS. Data showed the ubiquitous presence of potentially hazardous amounts of estrogens (particularly of ethynylestradiol, up to 24.3 ng L^?1), nonylphenol (up to 547 ng L^?1), and sitosterol (up to 12,300 ng L^?1), mainly in summer, suggesting that the increase of the local number of inhabitants (tourists), the rise of the water temperature (up to 26 °C), and the blooming of local flora may interfere with the water quality parameters. This makes the lagoon a potential model to study. Taking into account the data, it was concluded that there are conditions for the occurrence of endocrine disruption in aquatic animals, even in areas included in the natural park of the Formosa. Besides, both the high amounts of un-ionized ammonia (up to 0.3 mg L^?1) and phosphates (up to 1.6 mg L^?1) my pose risks for local fauna and humans.     

Sorption of imazaquin in soils with positive balance of charges

The herbicide imazaquin has both an acid and a basic ionizable groups, and its sorption depends upon the pH, the electric potential (psi0), and the oxide and the organic carbon (OC) contents of the soil. Sorption and extraction experiments using 14C-imazaquin were performed in surface and subsurface samples of two acric oxisols (an anionic "rhodic" acrudox and an anionic "xanthic" acrudox) and one non-acric alfisol (a rhodic kandiudalf), treated at four different pH values. Imazaquin showed low to moderate sorption to the soils. Sorption decreased and aqueous extraction increased as pH increased. Up to pH 5.8, sorption was higher in subsurface than in surface layers of the acric soils, due to the positive balance of charges resulted from the high Fe and Al oxide and the low OC contents. It favored electrostatic interactions with anionic molecules of imazaquin. For the subsurface samples of these highly weathered soils, where psi0 was positive and OC was low, it was not possible to predict sorption just by considering imazaquin speciation and its hydrophobic partition to the organic domains of the soil. Moreover, if Koc measured for thesurface samples were assumed to represent the whole profile in predictive models for leaching potential, then it would result in underestimation of sorption potential in subsurface, and consequently result in overestimation of the leaching potential.