Building Capacity in Small-Scale Mining Communities: Health,Ecosystem Sustainability,and the Global Mercury Project

The Global Mercury Project (GMP) is an initiative of the United Nations in collaboration with numerous government and nongovernment organizations to promote knowledge and capacity building on the links between small-scale gold mining practices and health, ecosystem, and social factors, and to implement interventions that reduce mercury pollution and exposure caused by mining activities in developing countries. Knowledge regarding the use of mercury and the dynamics of complex environmental, health, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions in and surrounding small-scale mining sites is particularly needed for the purpose of developing appropriate community-based measures to reduce mercury-related problems. GMP strategies aim to build upon local knowledge and practices to train miners on the use of cleaner and affordable technologies of mining and mineral processing in order to minimize negative impacts. The initiative is especially proactive in facilitating transdisciplinary and participatory models of community interaction, involving local, regional, and international stakeholders in each of the strategy design, community assessment, and community intervention phases. The six participating countries are Brazil, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. This article outlines GMP’s objectives and scope of activities and also highlights achievements, challenges, and opportunities for future development.     

Mesophilic and thermophilic biotreatment of BTEX-polluted air in reactors

This study compares the removal of a mixture of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and all three xylene isomers (BTEX) in mesophilic and thermophilic (50 degrees C) bioreactors. In the mesophilic reactor fungi became dominant after long-term operation, while bacteria dominated in the thermophilic unit. Microbial acclimation was achieved by exposing the biofilters to initial BTEX loads of 2-15 g m(-3) h(-1), at an empty bed residence time of 96 s. After adaptation, the elimination capacities ranged from 3 to 188 g m(-3) h(-1), depending on the inlet load, for the mesophilic biofilter with removal efficiencies reaching 96%. On the other hand, in the thermophilic reactor the average removal efficiency was 83% with a maximum elimination capacity of 218 g m(-3) h(-1). There was a clear positive relationship between temperature gradients as well as CO(2) production and elimination capacities across the biofilters. The gas phase was sampled at different depths along the reactors observing that the percentage pollutant removal in each section was strongly dependant on the load applied. The fate of individual alkylbenzene compounds was checked, showing the unusually high biodegradation rate of benzene at high loads under thermophilic conditions (100%) compared to its very low removal in the mesophilic reactor at such load (<10%). Such difference was less pronounced for the other pollutants. After 210 days of operation, the dry biomass content for the mesophilic and thermophilic reactors were 0.300 and 0.114 g g(-1) (support), respectively, reaching higher removals under thermophilic conditions with a lower biomass accumulation, that is, lower pressure drop.     

Scaled body‐mass index shows how habitat quality influences the condition of four fish taxa in north‐eastern Spain and provides a novel indicator of ecosystem health

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What tourists don’t see: housing,concentration of poverty and ethnic conflict in a Spanish migrant ghetto

This article is a critique of the myth of “concentrated poverty,” that blames urban ills on spatial morphology, presenting the city as a reified entity. Spatial fetishization neglects to consider the political economy that creates poverty and inequalities. Through the evolution of a ghetto in the Spanish Mediterranean coast, the article addresses spatial segregation, social isolation and territorial stigmatization of the urban poor. Three different contingents of residents—Spaniard, gypsies and Moroccan—are analyzed in their mutual relationships and in their dealings with local and regional governments that produce their neighborhood as a wasteland. Although these groups are strongly segregated among them, the space they inhabit carries a stigma that they share and sets them apart from the larger society. However, they are not isolated from but, on the contrary, fully embedded in the basic elements that constitute capitalism.     

Out-of-pocket health care expenditures due to excess of body weight in Portugal

The prevalence for excessive weight has also been increasing dramatically in Portugal over the last decades. The consequences for families as well as for the publicly funded Portuguese health care system are a matter of policy interest. This paper uses an econometric model to compute the fraction of the national out-of-pocket health care expenditures attributable to overweight and obesity among Portuguese adults. Given that public health care system pays for a substantial share of the national health care expenditures, the estimated the out-of-pocket expenditures is only a share of the total expenditures. Per-capita expenditures and the burden that obesity and overweight impose on families are also estimated. Two waves of the Portuguese National Health Survey (NHS), namely; 1995/1996 and 1998/1999 are considered. The results suggest that out-of-pocket expenditures due to excess weight have increased sharply during these 3 years. The two-part model estimates suggest that the obese and overweight are more likely to incur out-of-pocket health care expenditures but, in the restricted sample of those that incur expenditures, there is weak or no evidence that the obese or overweight spend, on average, more than those of normal weight. Overall, it is estimated that in 1995/1996, more than 1.8% out-of-pocket health care expenditures were attributable to obesity and 2% to overweight (although not statistically significant). The estimated percentages are over 2.9% for obesity and 4% for overweight in 1998/1999. Combined, the estimated attributable percentage of national out-of-pocket expenditures due to excess weight was 3.8% in 1995/1996 and 6.9% in 1998/1999. Per-capita expenditures due to obesity or overweight are small, on average, in absolute terms, but they can be a significant cost for low income families. With respect to public policy concerns, the results suggest that measures which only slightly increase the out-of-pocket health care expenditures of being obese (overweight) are likely to be inefficient.     

Successive post-translational modifications of E-cadherin are required for InlA-mediated internalization of Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes surface proteins internalin (Inl)A and InlB interact with the junctional protein E-cadherin and the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor Met, respectively, on the surface of epithelial cells to mediate bacterial entry. Here we show that InlA triggers two successive E-cadherin post-translational modifications, i.e. the Src-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of E-cadherin followed by its ubiquitination by the ubiquitin-ligase Hakai. E-cadherin ubiquitination induces the recruitment of clathrin that is required for optimal bacterial internalization. We also show that the initial clustering of E-cadherin at the bacterial entry site requires caveolin, a protein normally involved in clathrin-independent endocytosis. Strikingly clathrin and caveolin are also recruited at the site of entry of E-cadherin-coated sepharose beads and functional experiments demonstrate that these two proteins are required for bead entry. Together these results not only document how the endocytosis machinery is recruited and involved in the internalization of a zippering bacterium, but also strongly suggest a functional link between E-cadherin endocytosis and the formation of adherens junctions in epithelial cells.     

Parental genetic characteristics and hatching success in the spotless starling, Sturnus unicolor

Several studies have shown that inbreeding causes low hatching success. However, it is not always clear under which parental genetic characteristics hatching failure occurs. We examined the effects of parental homozygosity and parental genetic similarity on egg hatchability in the spotless starling. We evaluated whether low hatchability was a consequence of genetic similarity of the parents producing a zygote or because the parents themselves had reduced fertility because of their own genetic characteristics. We found a significant detrimental effect of both highest and lowest female homozygosity on hatchability. Parental genetic similarity was negatively related to egg hatchability. In contrast, we found no significant effect of male homozygosity on hatching success. Our results suggest that effects of homozygosity on hatching success may be relevant even in populations of abundant and colonial wild bird species without geographical barriers that could limit immigration or dispersal. We also highlight the importance of the analyses of male and female homozygosity and parental genetic similarity when investigating related fitness consequences of inbreeding.     

Instantaneously measured traits may detect non-plastic ecophysiological performances in response to drought, explaining distributions of Styrax species in the Cerrado

We analyzed the differences between irrigated and non-irrigated plants of three congeneric Styrax species that present distinct distribution patterns in the physiognomies of the Cerrado vegetation in Brazil. Styrax ferrugineus showed a stomatal conductance (g _s) unresponsive to soil water deficit in potted plants. This may explain the high gas exchange and photochemical efficiency found in this species, which is well adapted to the Cerrado sensu stricto (s. str.), a savanna-type vegetation. S. camporum, which is widely distributed in the Cerrado sensu lato (s. l.) areas, was the only species that exhibited increased intrinsic water use efficiency on the days of maximum water deficit. This result distinguishes S. camporum from S. pohlii, which is a forest species, since the g _s of both species decreased during the days of maximum water stress. In contrast to other studies, we propose that instantaneously measured traits, such as leaf gas exchange rates and chlorophyll fluorescence, may be used to detect non-plastic performances in response to environmental stress, helping explain distinct geographical distributions of congeneric species in the Cerrado vegetation.     

Development and reproduction of a predatory stinkbug, Podisus nigrispinus in relation to two different prey types and environmental conditions

Abiotic factors, prey availability, prey type, and plant host actsimultaneously under field conditions. Their combined effects werepartially investigated for the predatory stinkbugPodisus nigrispinus(Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) preying on tomato leafminer (TLM)caterpillars Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)(Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) (a preyfeeding on a plant host), and compared to yellow mealworm (YMW)Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)pupae (a prey not feeding ona plant host). These experiments were carried out in the laboratory and inan open-sided greenhouse. In general, the environmental variationsbetween laboratory and open-sided greenhouse did not induce differencesin life history characteristics forP. nigrispinus feeding on the sameprey type. However, development and reproductionof P. nigrispinuswas greatly affected by prey type. Nymphal developmental times weresimilar between prey types under laboratory conditions; but were longer(and produced adults of lower body weight) when predators in theopen-sided greenhouse were fed on TLM compared with YMW. Mean mortalityduring the second instar was higher on both prey types in the open-sidedgreenhouse than in the laboratory. Adult emergencewas 38.5 and 50% inthe laboratory, and 32.5 and 48.6%in the open-sided greenhouse for bugsfed on TLM and YMW, respectively. Reproductive characteristics weresimilar for the different environmental conditions when the predator fed onthe same prey, but offspring production was greater for females fed on YMWcompared to females fed on TLM. These results suggest thatP. nigrispinus can adjust its performance accordingto the type of prey available, independently from environmentalvariations. It has the ability to survive on alternative prey,enabling it to maintain a presence in thetomato ecosystem until a primary pest species arrives.