Attainment and Maintenance of Particulate Standards in an Industrialized Region

The problems and priorities of air quality maintenance planning will depend in large part on the specific characteristics of a given region. For highly industrialized areas, maintenance planning for total suspended particulate matter (TSP) will pose an especially difficult challenge because of limitations in emissions inventories, modeling capabilities, air quality data, control technology assessments, and current regulatory policy.     

Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 4p: a new locus for holoprosencephaly?

Trisomy of the short arm of chromosome 4 is a well-known syndrome, and several observations have been made in the last 30 years. Herein, we report a new observation of trisomy 4p in a fetus with a semi-lobar holoprosencephaly (HPE), dysmorphic features and multiple malformations. The diagnosis of HPE was made, at 33 weeks' gestation, on the fetus of a healthy G1P0 woman. Amniocentesis was performed for chromosome analysis and additional material was found on a chromosome 22. The couple elected to terminate the pregnancy and fetal examination was realized. Conventional and molecular cytogenetic studies were performed on the fetus and the parents, which showed that the additional material found on one chromosome 22 corresponded to the short arm of chromosome 4 and therefore led us to establish a diagnosis of trisomy 4p inherited from the malsegregation of a paternal translocation t(4;22)(q12;q11.1). The etiology of HPE is very heterogeneous; it includes non-genetic factors such as maternal diabetes and genetic causes. HPE cases have been described in association with many chromosomal anomalies, trisomy 13 being the most frequent. However, to our knowledge, HPE has never been previously reported in association with a trisomy involving solely the short arm of chromosome 4. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Life cycle assessment of spray dried soluble coffee and comparison with alternatives (drip filter and capsule espresso)

This paper aims to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with spray dried soluble coffee over its entire life cycle and compare it with drip filter coffee and capsule espresso coffee. It particularly aims to identify critical environmental issues and responsibilities along the whole life cycle chain of spray dried coffee. This life cycle assessment (LCA) specifically uses foreground data obtained directly from coffee manufacturers and suppliers. Aside from energy consumption and greenhouse gases emissions, water footprint is also studied in detail, including regionalization of water impacts based on the ecological scarcity method 2006. Other impact categories are screened using the IMPACT 2002+ impact assessment method.The overall LCA results for a 1 dl cup of spray dried soluble coffee amounts approximately to 1 MJ of primary non-renewable energy consumption, to emissions of 0.07 kg of CO_2-eq, and between 3 and 10 l of non-turbined water use, depending on whether or not the coffee cultivation is irrigated and wet treated. When considering turbined water, use can be up to 400 l of water per cup. Pouch – and to a lesser extent metal can packaging alternatives – show lower environmental burdens than glass or sticks.On average, about one half of the environmental footprint occurs at a life cycle stage under the control of the coffee producer or its suppliers (i.e., during cultivation, treatment, processing, packaging up to distribution, along with advertising) and the other half at a stage controlled by the user (shopping, appliances manufacturing, use and waste disposal). Key environmental parameters of spray dried soluble coffee are the amount of extra water boiled and the efficiency of cup cleaning during use phase, whether the coffee is irrigated or not, as well as the type and amount of fertilizer used in the coffee field. The packaging contributes to 10% of the overall life cycle impacts.Compared to other coffee alternatives, spray dried soluble coffee uses less energy and has a lower environmental footprint than capsule espresso coffee or drip filter coffee, the latter having the highest environmental impacts on a per cup basis. This study shows that a broad LCA approach is needed to help industry to minimize the environmental burdens directly related to their products. Including all processes of the entire system is necessary i) to get a comprehensive environmental footprint of the product system with respect to sustainable production and consumption, ii) to share stakeholders responsibility along the entire product life cycle, and iii) to avoid problem shifting between different life cycle stages.     

Unexpected bias of freeze-drying on the performance assessment of chemical oxidation of soils contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Processes based on chemical oxidation are widely used for environmental remediation. Analysis of environmental samples such as soils often requires a freeze-drying...     

The political dynamics of voter retrospection and disaster responses

Natural hazards not only have socioeconomic ramifications, they also have political repercussions. This paper takes stock of the fast-growing area of research linking disasters triggered by natural hazards to voting behaviour. It is based on the central tenet of voter retrospection: voters place emphasis on past events when making their selection. The study uncovers a great disparity in analysis of electoral outcomes in the wake of disasters, part of which can be explained by the different methodological choices of authors. However, the unpredictability of voting behaviour in the aftermath of disasters also points to the relevance of introducing an intermediate variable when elucidating voter movements. This variable should capture the prevailing political discourses that surround disasters, as these are likely to shape the dynamics of voter retrospection. The paper demonstrates the analytical relevance of such political discourses by contrasting political dynamics in Denmark and Sweden following the Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004.     

Nesting habits shape feeding preferences and predatory behavior in an ant genus

We tested if nesting habits influence ant feeding preferences and predatory behavior in the monophyletic genus Pseudomyrmex (Pseudomyrmecinae) which comprises terrestrial and arboreal species, and, among the latter, plant-ants which are obligate inhabitants of myrmecophytes (i.e., plants sheltering so-called plant-ants in hollow structures). A cafeteria experiment revealed that the diet of ground-nesting Pseudomyrmex consists mostly of prey and that of arboreal species consists mostly of sugary substances, whereas the plant-ants discarded all the food we provided. Workers forage solitarily, detecting prey from a distance thanks to their hypertrophied eyes. Approach is followed by antennal contact, seizure, and the manipulation of the prey to sting it under its thorax (next to the ventral nerve cord). Arboreal species were not more efficient at capturing prey than were ground-nesting species. A large worker size favors prey capture. Workers from ground- and arboreal-nesting species show several uncommon behavioral traits, each known in different ant genera from different subfamilies: leaping abilities, the use of surface tension strengths to transport liquids, short-range recruitment followed by conflicts between nestmates, the consumption of the prey’s hemolymph, and the retrieval of entire prey or pieces of prey after having cut it up. Yet, we never noted group ambushing. We also confirmed that Pseudomyrmex plant-ants live in a kind of food autarky as they feed only on rewards produced by their host myrmecophyte, or on honeydew produced by the hemipterans they attend and possibly on the fungi they cultivate.     

Solvent toxicity to amphibian embryos and larvae

Organic micropollutants are often damaging for aquatic organisms. Being usually hydrophobic compounds, they are often dissolved in an organic co-solvent which increases their solubility in water. The aim of this study was to study the toxicity of various solvents on embryos (protected or not by jelly coat) and on tadpoles of the common frog (Rana temporaria). Tested solvents were methanol (MeOH), methylene chloride (CH(2)Cl(2)), dimethyl sulfoxyde (DMSO), acetone (Ac) and ethanol (EtOH). Embryos exhibited higher mortality rates than tadpoles. Embryos with jelly were more sensitive to high concentration of solvents than embryos without jelly (except for acetone). According to these results, Ac, DMSO and CH(2)Cl(2) can be used as co-solvents in water to help the dissolution of micropollutants at concentration equal to or lower than 0.001 ml/l for frog embryos, and EtOH, Ac and CH(2)Cl(2) at concentration equal to or lower than 0.01 ml/l for Rana temporaria tadpoles.