Environmental Legislation and Enforcement: A Voting Model under Asymmetric Information

This paper examines the effects of asymmetric voter information on the environmental policies of democratic governments. The model builds on the electoral signaling model of Rogoff to illustrate the possibility that democratic governments may systematically overlegislate-and yet underenforce-environmental standards in a rational expectations equilibrium. The model also offers insights into the welfare implications of "right to know" legislation, proposals to depoliticize environmental policy, and private voluntary institutions.     

Neanderthal medics? Evidence for food, cooking, and medicinal plants entrapped in dental calculus

Neanderthals disappeared sometime between 30,000 and 24,000?years ago. Until recently, Neanderthals were understood to have been predominantly meat-eaters; however, a growing body of evidence suggests their diet also included plants. We present the results of a study, in which sequential thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) were combined with morphological analysis of plant microfossils, to identify material entrapped in dental calculus from five Neanderthal individuals from the north Spanish site of El Sidrón. Our results provide the first molecular evidence for inhalation of wood-fire smoke and bitumen or oil shale and ingestion of a range of cooked plant foods. We also offer the first evidence for the use of medicinal plants by a Neanderthal individual. The varied use of plants that we have identified suggests that the Neanderthal occupants of El Sidrón had a sophisticated knowledge of their natural surroundings which included the ability to select and use certain plants.     

Prenatal exclusion of Leigh syndrome due to T8993C mutation in the mitochondrial DNA

Leigh syndrome (LS) is a mitochondrial encephalopathy that is caused by a mutation either in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or in the nuclear encoded genes of the mitochondrial proteins. Prenatal diagnosis of defects in the mtDNA is usually problematic because of mtDNA heteroplasmy and tissue specificity. However, the mutations T8993 G/C in the ATP synthase subunit 6 gene of the mtDNA show a more even tissue distribution and do not appear to change significantly over time. There are only few reports of prenatal diagnosis of the T8993G mutation in Leigh disease. Here we describe the first prenatal genetic testing of T8993C in a fetus of a mother whose previous child had died of Leigh syndrome due to the T8993C mutation. Mutant load in the chorionic villus sample (CVS) as well as in amniocytes was undetectable, thus predicting a very high likelihood of an unaffected outcome, indicative of a healthy baby. The diagnosis was confirmed after birth. Gathering data on the prenatal diagnosis of mtDNA mutations is of great importance so that prenatal diagnosis of both T8993G and T8993C mutations can be offered routinely. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Epiphytic Lichens and Tree Leaves As Biomonitors of Trace Elements Released By Geothermal Power Plants

Leaves of the oak, Quercus cerris, and thalli of the epiphytic lichen, Parmelia caperata, from the Travale-Radicondoli geothermal area (central Italy) were analyzed for their trace elements (As, B, Cd, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb, Zn). the results showed that concentrations of arsenic and boron in leaf and lichen samples were higher than in remote areas. the mean concentrations of many trace elements were higher in lichens than in oak leaves, suggesting that these organisms can be used in similar biomonitoring studies. the levels of boron and manganese were higher in tree leaves, so that for these two elements, the higher plant foliage could constitute a better biomonitor than lichens. the correlations found between the concentrations of cadmium and manganese in leaves and lichens suggests foliar leaching and washing of the elements down the tree trunk, where lichens may intercept them.     

Dynamics of skeleton formation in the Lake Baikal sponge Lubomirskia baicalensis. Part II. Molecular biological studies

In a preceding study it has been reported that the freshwater sponge Lubomirskia baicalensis, living in Lake Baikal (East Siberia), is composed of spicules forming a characteristic pattern which follows radiate accretive growth. Here we report that the spicules are synthesized by the enzyme silicatein, a protein which is related to cathepsin L. The cDNAs for silicatein and the related cathepsin L were isolated and used as probes to show that the mRNA levels of silicatein in the bases of the spicule skeleton of the animals are low, while the mRNA level of cathepsin L in this region exceeds that of the growing zone. This is the first comprehensive study on the importance of the axial filament/silicatein as an essential structural and functional component determining the growth and stability of demosponge spicules.Note: Sequences from Lubomirskia baicalensis have been deposited in the EMBL/GenBank; cDNAs for the putative silicatein (LBSILICA) are deposited under the accession no. AJ786771 and for cathepsin L (LBCATL) under the accession no. AJ786770.     

Comparisons of genotype-tolerance responses in populations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hediste diversicolor</Emphasis> (Polychaeta: Nereididae) exposed to copper stress

The analysis of genotypic shifts in field-exposed populations has been proposed as a tool for monitoring the environmental impacts of contaminants. Previous laboratory experiments showed the occurrence of genotypic shifts induced by copper exposure in samples of Hediste diversicolor from the Pialassa estuary (North Adriatic Sea, Italy). In order to test if genotype-tolerance responses observed were consistent at larger spatial scales, populations of H. diversicolor were sampled in three haphazardly chosen estuaries along the Italian coast (Comacchio, Pialassa, Serchio) and exposed to 0.48 mg l⁻¹ Cu²⁺ under laboratory conditions. Survival analysis procedures were used to test for possible relationships between time-to-death and genotypes at three allozyme loci (ALD, FH, PGI). Genotype-tolerance responses observed at locus ALD were consistent among populations up to 2500 km distant, with genotype ALD ^102/102 associated with the shortest survival times. Comparisons with previous laboratory experiments showed that responses to copper stress at locus ALD were also consistent in time, with genotypes ALD ^102/102 and ALD ^100/102 associated with higher 96 h mortality ratios. Results suggested the occurrence of stable relationships between genotypes at locus ALD and tolerance responses of H. diversicolor to copper stress. Conversely, genotype-tolerance responses at loci PGI and FH were not consistent either in space (among populations from the three estuaries) or in time (between laboratory experiments), being possibly affected by site-specific features of populations or stochastic factors. Results show that genotype-tolerance responses should be carefully verified at different spatial and temporal scales, before considering genotypic shifts among the possible tools for monitoring the effects of environmental stressors.