Ultrasound to guide American shad toward a spillway

To minimize mortality, Hydro-Québec’s power station located on the Des Prairies River (Montréal, Canada), used to stop its operation for one hour every day during the post spawning migration of American shad (Alosa sapidissima). The corresponding water volume was then spilled (via the spillway) to produce a preferential flow for the fish. It was shown that during this period, up to 95% of the shads located in front of the power station swam away from it, toward the spillway. However, during the remaining hours of operation there was a high probability that shad would go through the turbines to complete their journey back to the ocean. To reduce this potential mortality, Hydro-Québec has been experimenting since 2006, with an ultrasound barrier operating at a minimum noise level of 168 dB ref 1µPa at 125 kHz to prevent shads from approaching the power station. From our experimental and bibliographical data, these values have to be met to ensure the success of the American shad guidance. Consequently, since 2010 the power station did not have to stop its operation during the American shad downstream migration. A final prototype developed with Hydro-Quebec’s Research Institute is now in use. Plans are made to guide American shad to an alternative route where no power station is present

Migration of juvenile American eels through 2 power generating stations in the St-Lawrence system

During their upstream migration from the Sargasso Sea, the first anthropogenic obstacle encountered by juvenile American eel (Anguilla rostrata) in the St.-Lawrence River (Canada) is a large run-of-the-river hydroelectric power dam. The facility is located at Beauharnois, downstream of Lake Ontario, the largest and richest growth habitat of this river system. The second and last anthropogenic obstacle is another large run-of-the-river hydro dam, the Moses-Saunders power Dam, located 82km upstream of the Beauharnois generating station. Both facilities are equipped with eel ladders. From 2011 to 2015, 15,500 juvenile eels were Pit-tagged at the exit from the Beauharnois eel ladder and more than 40% were observed on the Pit tag detectors at the Moses-Saunders eel ladders within 7 years of the first tagging. Details on the upstream migration parameters of the St.-Lawrence juvenile American eel will be presented

Intercellular Transfer of Oncogenic H-Ras at the Immunological Synapse

Immune cells establish dynamic adhesive cell–cell interactions at a specific contact region, termed the immunological synapse (IS). Intriguing features of the IS are the formation of regions of plasma membrane fusion and the intercellular exchange of membrane fragments between the conjugated cells. It is not known whether upon IS formation, intact intracellular proteins can transfer from target cells to lymphocytes to allow the transmission of signals across cell boundaries. Here we show by both FACS and confocal microscopy that human lymphocytes acquire from the cells they scan the inner-membrane protein H-Ras, a G-protein vital for common lymphocyte functions and a prominent participant in human cancer. The transfer was cell contact-dependent and occurred in the context of cell-conjugate formation. Moreover, the acquisition of oncogenic H-RasG12V by natural killer (NK) and T lymphocytes had important biological functions in the adopting lymphocytes: the transferred H-RasG12V induced ERK phosphorylation, increased interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α secretion, enhanced lymphocyte proliferation, and augmented NK-mediated target cell killing. Our findings reveal a novel mode of cell-to-cell communication—allowing lymphocytes to extend the confines of their own proteome—which may moreover play an important role in natural tumor immunity

Session C6: The Eel Ladders at Beauharnois Power Station, Canada

Abstract: The first anthropogenic obstacle encountered by juvenile American eel (Anguilla rostrata) in the St. Lawrence River (Canada) during their upstream migration from the Sargasso Sea, is a large hydro dam. The facility is located at Beauharnois, downstream of Lake Ontario, the largest and final growth habitat of this river system. Following preliminary tests from 1994 to 2001, the dam was equipped with a first eel ladder in 2002 on the left bank followed by a second on the right bank in 2004. Eel counts dropped from 1994 to 1998, and then increased from 1998 to 2011. In 2012 and 2013 a sharp decline of numbers was observed while 2014 presents some hope for a return to higher numbers. A strong inverse relationship (r²= 0.83) was observed between annual counts and mean annual length. In addition, an annual age-length key developed using otolith readings from 2004, 2009, 2011 and 2013 allows us to assign an age to every length-class recorded during these years. In 2004, we observed an age structure distributed from age-1 to age-21, where 83.9 % of specimens were within age-3 and age-6, and a mean age of 5.2 years (s.e. = 2.2). In 2009, the mean age had decreased to 4.1 years (s.e. = 1.8) while the age distribution had narrowed to between age-2 and age-11, with 80.0% of the specimens between 2 and 5 years old, in 2011 the mean age was 4, 4 (age-2 to age 13) and 4,8 in 2013 (age-2 to age-10). This later result reflects the decline of arrival of young eels at the Beauharnois ladders in 2012 and 2013

Session C6: The Eel Passage Research Centre - A Bi-National Collaborative

Abstract: American eel is among the many diadromous species that must contend with hydropower projects during migration between freshwater and marine habitats. Provision of upstream passage for juveniles is relatively straightforward and effective for this species; however, downstream passage of pre-reproductive adults presents a significant challenge, especially at large facilities on rivers with heavy debris loads. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) organized and leads the Eel Passage Research Center (EPRC), a binational, long-term, collaboratively-funded research program to address this challenge. The research focus is on identifying and developing behavioral stimulus technologies to guide downstream migrating adult eels to collection points for capture and transfer around operating hydropower projects Research is guided by a 15-member technical committee comprising eel experts from hydropower companies and federal (US and Canadian), state, and provincial resource management agencies. The Center was formed in 2013, with initial funding through 2017. This presentation describes the scope and structure of the EPRC, our collaborative process for research funding and management, and our activities to date

Lettre de Jérôme Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain (secrétaire d'Etat de la Marine et de la Maison du roi) à l'abbé Jean-François-Paul Lefèvre de Caumartin datée du 09 juillet 1703

Lettre de Jérôme Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain (secrétaire d'Etat de la Marine et de la Maison du roi) à l'abbé Jean-François-Paul Lefèvre de Caumartin datée du 09 juillet 1703. In: Correspondance administrative sous le règne de Louis XIV, recueillie et mise en ordre par G. B. Depping. Tome IV et dernier. Travaux publics – Affaires religieuses – Protestants – Sciences, lettres et arts – Pièces diverses. Paris : Imprimerie nationale, 1855. pp. 634-635

Derivation of environmental soil quality guidelines for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene using the CCME approach

NRC publication: Ye