Remobilisation of Zn and Pb in a mountain stream contaminated by mining wastes during a moderate flood event (Ariège, France)

The Lez stream drains an orphan mining (Zn and Pb) district, whose tailings are sources of contamination. The evolution of the dissolved and particular Zn and Pb content was studied to evaluate the role of a moderate flood event on the downstream metal tranfert. Although Zn and Pb behave differently, floods appear for both elements as preferential periods for metal fluxes

L'exploitation des gisements non-ferreux des Pyrénées de l'Est aux trois derniers siècles avant notre ère : une ruée vers l'argent ? Le cas des Corbières

L'étude offre une perspective sur l'exploitation des gisements non ferreux dans les Pyrénées de l'Est au cours des trois derniers siècles avant notre ère. Le problème se pose quant à l'exploitation des gisements d'argent à partir de l'étude de plusieurs zones extractives situées au Massif des Corbières.L'estudi ofereix una perspectiva al voltant de l'explotació dels jaciments no fèrrics als Pirineus orientals en els tres darrers segles abans de la nostra era. Es planteja la problemàtica al voltant de l'explotació de jaciments de plata a partir de l'estudi de diverses zones extractives situades al Massís de les Corberes.The study offers a perspective on the exploitation of non-ferrous deposits in the eastern Pyrenees in the last three centuries BC. We discuss the problem regarding the exploitation of silver deposits from the study of several extracting zones located in the Massif of the Corberes

Stromal transcriptional profiles reveal hierarchies of anatomical site, serum response and disease and identify disease specific pathways

Synovial fibroblasts in persistent inflammatory arthritis have been suggested to have parallels with cancer growth and wound healing, both of which involve a stereotypical serum response programme. We tested the hypothesis that a serum response programme can be used to classify diseased tissues, and investigated the serum response programme in fibroblasts from multiple anatomical sites and two diseases. To test our hypothesis we utilized a bioinformatics approach to explore a publicly available microarray dataset including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA) and normal synovial tissue, then extended those findings in a new microarray dataset representing matched synovial, bone marrow and skin fibroblasts cultured from RA and OA patients undergoing arthroplasty. The classical fibroblast serum response programme discretely classified RA, OA and normal synovial tissues. Analysis of low and high serum treated fibroblast microarray data revealed a hierarchy of control, with anatomical site the most powerful classifier followed by response to serum and then disease. In contrast to skin and bone marrow fibroblasts, exposure of synovial fibroblasts to serum led to convergence of RA and OA expression profiles. Pathway analysis revealed three inter-linked gene networks characterising OA synovial fibroblasts: Cell remodelling through insulin-like growth factors, differentiation and angiogenesis through -3 integrin, and regulation of apoptosis through CD44. We have demonstrated that Fibroblast serum response signatures define disease at the tissue level, and that an OA specific, serum dependent repression of genes involved in cell adhesion, extracellular matrix remodelling and apoptosis is a critical discriminator between cultured OA and RA synovial fibroblasts

Identifying a Window of Vulnerability during Fetal Development in a Maternal Iron Restriction Model

It is well acknowledged from observations in humans that iron deficiency during pregnancy can be associated with a number of developmental problems in the newborn and developing child. Due to the obvious limitations of human studies, the stage during gestation at which maternal iron deficiency causes an apparent impairment in the offspring remains elusive. In order to begin to understand the time window(s) during pregnancy that is/are especially susceptible to suboptimal iron levels, which may result in negative effects on the development of the fetus, we developed a rat model in which we were able to manipulate and monitor the dietary iron intake during specific stages of pregnancy and analyzed the developing fetuses. We established four different dietary-feeding protocols that were designed to render the fetuses iron deficient at different gestational stages. Based on a functional analysis that employed Auditory Brainstem Response measurements, we found that maternal iron restriction initiated prior to conception and during the first trimester were associated with profound changes in the developing fetus compared to iron restriction initiated later in pregnancy. We also showed that the presence of iron deficiency anemia, low body weight, and changes in core body temperature were not defining factors in the establishment of neural impairment in the rodent offspring

The Human Phenotype Ontology in 2024: phenotypes around the world.

The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is a widely used resource that comprehensively organizes and defines the phenotypic features of human disease, enabling computational inference and supporting genomic and phenotypic analyses through semantic similarity and machine learning algorithms. The HPO has widespread applications in clinical diagnostics and translational research, including genomic diagnostics, gene-disease discovery, and cohort analytics. In recent years, groups around the world have developed translations of the HPO from English to other languages, and the HPO browser has been internationalized, allowing users to view HPO term labels and in many cases synonyms and definitions in ten languages in addition to English. Since our last report, a total of 2239 new HPO terms and 49235 new HPO annotations were developed, many in collaboration with external groups in the fields of psychiatry, arthrogryposis, immunology and cardiology. The Medical Action Ontology (MAxO) is a new effort to model treatments and other measures taken for clinical management. Finally, the HPO consortium is contributing to efforts to integrate the HPO and the GA4GH Phenopacket Schema into electronic health records (EHRs) with the goal of more standardized and computable integration of rare disease data in EHRs

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

L'exploitation des gisements non-ferreux des Pyrénées de l'Est aux trois derniers siècles avant notre ère : une ruée vers l'argent ? Le cas des Corbières

L'étude offre une perspective sur l'exploitation des gisements non ferreux dans les Pyrénées de l'Est au cours des trois derniers siècles avant notre ère. Le problème se pose quant à l'exploitation des gisements d'argent à partir de l'étude de plusieurs zones extractives situées au Massif des Corbières.L'estudi ofereix una perspectiva al voltant de l'explotació dels jaciments no fèrrics als Pirineus orientals en els tres darrers segles abans de la nostra era. Es planteja la problemàtica al voltant de l'explotació de jaciments de plata a partir de l'estudi de diverses zones extractives situades al Massís de les Corberes.The study offers a perspective on the exploitation of non-ferrous deposits in the eastern Pyrenees in the last three centuries BC. We discuss the problem regarding the exploitation of silver deposits from the study of several extracting zones located in the Massif of the Corberes

L'exploitation antique du cuivre dans le Séronais (Pyrénées centrales, France) : mine, métallurgie et habitat

National audienceNew surveys on the Séronais copper mining district have provided a better understanding of the organization of space related to mines for the Late Republican era, with the location of ore processing workshops and habitats. But dating showed that this phase was preceded by a first exploitation in the fourth and third century BC unknown until then. The medieval recovery of the 14th century has also been confirmed. On the other hand, analyzes on ore and slag confirm the copper production on this district during Antiquity (1st century BC), but not the one related to the silver identified in the ore.Las nuevas prospecciones en el distrito minero cuprífero del Séronais han llevado a un mejor entendimiento de la organización del espacio en relación con la minas del periodo tardo-republicano, con la localización de talleres de tratamiento del mineral y de asentamientos. Pero las dataciones, realizadas sobre carbones procedentes de las labores mineras, han mostrado que ésta fase había sido precedida por una primera explotación ya durante los siglos IV y III aC, desconocida hasta ahora. La reactivación medieval del siglo XIV también se ha confirmado. Por otra parte, los análisis del mineral y de las escorias permiten confirmar la producción de cobre en este distrito para la Antigüedad (s. I aC) pero no de la plata identificada en el mineral.Les nouvelles prospections sur le district minier cuprifère du Séronais ont permis de mieux comprendre l'organisation de l'espace en relation avec les mines pour l'époque tardo-républicaine, avec la localisation d'ateliers de traitement du minerai et d'habitats. Mais les datations, réalisées sur des charbons issus des chantiers, ont montré que cette phase avait été précédée par une première exploitation dès les IVe et IIIe s. av. n. è. , inconnue jusqu'alors. La reprise médiévale du XIVe s. a également été confirmée. D'autre part, les analyses sur le minerai et les scories permettent de confirmer la production de cuivre de ce district pour l'Antiquité (Ier s. av. n. è. ), mais pas de l'argent identifié dans le minerai

Un témoin de l’activité minière à l’âge du Bronze dans les Pyrénées centrales : la mine de cuivre de Saint-Lary (Ariège)

International audienceLes études récentes menées dans des mines de cuivre du sud-ouest de la France, entre le sud du Massif central et la partie est des Pyrénées, ont montré un fort dynamisme de l’activité dans la période qui précède la conquête romaine. Parmi les minerais exploités, les plus riches sont souvent des cuivres gris, qui comportent aussi de l’argent. Une prospection, destinée à voir si cette activité précoce touchait aussi les Pyrénées centrales, a démarré en 2019. Les premiers résultats indiquent une phase d’exploitation du cuivre à l’âge du Bronze, un type d’exploitation peu documenté dans le secteur pour cette période.Disponible en ligne: https://una-editions.fr/la-mine-de-cuivre-de-saint-lary

L'exploitation antique du cuivre dans le Séronais (Pyrénées centrales, France) : mine, métallurgie et habitat

Les nouvelles prospections sur le district minier cuprifère du Séronais ont permis de mieux comprendre l'organisation de l'espace en relation avec les mines pour l'époque tardo-républicaine, avec la localisation d'ateliers de traitement du minerai et d'habitats. Mais les datations, réalisées sur des charbons issus des chantiers, ont montré que cette phase avait été précédée par une première exploitation dès les IVe et IIIe s. av. n. è., inconnue jusqu'alors. La reprise médiévale du XIVe s. a également été confirmée. D'autre part, les analyses sur le minerai et les scories permettent de confirmer la production de cuivre de ce district pour l'Antiquité (Ier s. av. n. è.), mais pas de l'argent identifié dans le minerai.New surveys on the Séronais copper mining district have provided a better understanding of the organization of space related to mines for the Late Republican era, with the location of ore processing workshops and habitats. But dating showed that this phase was preceded by a first exploitation in the fourth and third century BC unknown until then. The medieval recovery of the 14th century has also been confirmed. On the other hand, analyzes on ore and slag confirm the copper production on this district during Antiquity (1st century BC), but not the one related to the silver identified in the ore.Las nuevas prospecciones en el distrito minero cuprífero del Séronais han llevado a un mejor entendimiento de la organización del espacio en relación con la minas del periodo tardo-republicano, con la localización de talleres de tratamiento del mineral y de asentamientos. Pero las dataciones, realizadas sobre carbones procedentes de las labores mineras, han mostrado que ésta fase había sido precedida por una primera explotación ya durante los siglos IV y III aC, desconocida hasta ahora. La reactivación medieval del siglo XIV también se ha confirmado. Por otra parte, los análisis del mineral y de las escorias permiten confirmar la producción de cobre en este distrito para la Antigüedad (s. I aC) pero no de la plata identificada en el mineral