Environmentally acquired lead in the laughing gull, Larus atricilla

In the serum of a young normal male, never transfused, a cold cytotoxic IgM antibody was found reacting exclusively with A2 homozygous cells on a French panel, as shown by population and family studies. This antibody needs about two to five times more lymphocytes or platelets to be absorbed than an immune anti-A2 of the same titre. The antigen recognized by this antibody seems to be covered by the same molecule as HLA-A2, according to redistribution experiments.     

Multielementary (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni) Stable Isotopic Exchange Kinetic (SIEK) method to characterize polymetallic contaminations

A new method is proposed to precisely and simultaneously quantify the exchangeable pool of metals in soils and to describe its reactivity at short- and long-term. It is based on multielementary Stable Isotopic Exchange Kinetics (multi-SIEK), first validated by a comparison between two monoelementary radioactive ((109)Cd*, (65)Zn*) IEK experiments, a mono- ((106)Cd) and multi- ((62)Ni, (65)Cu, (67)Zn, (106)Cd, (204)Pb) SIEK. These experiments were performed on a polluted soil located near the Zn smelter plant of Viviez (Lot watershed, France). The IEK results obtained for Cd and Zn were consistent across the experiments. (109)Cd*, (65)Zn* IEK, and multi-SIEK were then applied on 3 non- and moderate impacted soils that also provided consistent results for Cd and Zn. Within these experimental conditions, it can be concluded that no competition occurs between Cd, Zn, and the other metals during SIEK. Multi-SIEK results indicate that the isotopically exchangeable pool of Ni, Zn, and Cu are small (E(Ni), E(Zn), and E(Cu) values up to 17%) whatever the pollution degree of the soils considered in this study and whatever the duration of the interaction. On the contrary, Cd displays the highest E values (from 35% to 61% after 1 week), and E(Pb) displays a maximum value of 26% after 1 week. The multi-SIEK provides useful information on metal sources and reactivity relationship. Ni would be located in stable pedogenic phases according to its very low enrichment factor. The low E(Zn) and E(Cu) are consistent with location of Zn and Cu in stable phases coming from tailings erosion. Though Pb enrichments in soils may also be attributed to tailings particles, its larger exchangeable pool suggests that the Pb-bearing phases are more labile than those containing Zn and Cu. The high mobility of Cd in upstream soils indicates that it has been mostly emitted as reactive atmospheric particles during high temperature ore-treatment.     

Ethics applied to technologies - Is all well?

Today, the con?uence of new technologies has a transformative potential never seen before. Technology's power over nature, life, and humans carries with it both an opening of astonishing possibilities, and a challenge to our wisdom. In this dynamic context, the field of applied ethics has difficulty keeping pace. Some have already concluded that applied ethics has nothing really useful to say about emerging moral con?icts related to technology. Some causes of this disappointment will be referred to in this article, together with a proposal to revise the ideas, beliefs, and practices that have contributed to strengthening this dangerous misunderstanding.     

Subjective Well-being Across the Lifespan in Europe and Central Asia

Using data from the Integrated Values Survey (IVS), the Life in Transition Survey (LiTS), and the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS), we analyse the relation between age and subjective well-being in the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and compare it to that in Western Europe. Although our results generally confirm previous studies’ findings of a U-shaped relation between subjective well-being and age for most of the lifecycle, we also find that well-being in ECA declines again after the 70s, giving rise to an S-shape relation across the entire lifespan. When controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, this pattern generally remains robust for most of our cross-sectional and panel analyses. Hence, despite significant heterogeneity in the pattern of well-being across the lifespan within the ECA region, we do not observe high levels of cross-country or cross-cohort variation.     

Tracing the Origin and Evolution of Geochemical Characteristics of Waters from the Candiota Coal Mine Area (Southern Brazil): Part I

This work correlates surface and ground water composition to the substrata, and traces how water chemistry evolves at Brazil’s largest coal mine, the Candiota Mine. The water is dominated by SO₄, Fe, Ca, and Mg. A pH range of 2.7–3 in the pit lakes is attributed through chemical models to concomitant pyrite oxidation and carbonate dissolution along with slow hydrolysis of aluminosilicate minerals and buffering provided by several iron oxy-hydroxide species. The Fe deficit of the surface water relative to the expected values is mainly due to precipitation of Fe sulfate salts, hydroxysulfates, and oxyhydroxides in the waste piles and their runoff. A progressive decrease in oxygen partial pressure with increased lake depth leads to destabilization of the iron oxyhydroxides/hydroxysulfates formed near the surface, which explains their absence from the lake sediment. Although interacting with similar rock types, the groundwater has a significantly different composition than the surface water, with less salinity and a pH of 5–6.5, due to limited oxygen and its evolution in a nearly closed system that stabilizes at higher pH values, which is controlled by carbonate/bicarbonate buffering.