Roles of regional hydrodynamic and trophic contamination in cadmium bioaccumulation by Pacific oysters in the Marennes-Oléron Bay (France)

International audienceThe Marennes-Oléron Bay, hosting the largest oyster production in France, is influenced by the historic polymetallic pollution of the Gironde Estuary. Despite management efforts and decreasing emissions in the Gironde watershed, cadmium levels in oysters from the bay are close to the consumption limit (5 lg g À1 dw, EC). From mid April to mid July 2009, we investigated the role of tidal resuspension and regional hydrodynamics on Cd speciation (seawater, SPM, phytoplankton, sediment, microphytobenthos) and bioaccumulation in 18 month-old oysters (gills, digestive glands, rests of tissues) reared under natural conditions (i) at $60 cm above the sediment and (ii) on the sediment surface. Dissolved and particulate Cd concentrations in surface and bottom waters were similar and constant over tidal cycle suggesting the absence of Cd release during sediment resuspension. Temporal dissolved and particulate Cd concentrations were closely related to Gironde Estuary water discharges, showing increasing concentrations during flood situations and decreasing concentrations afterwards. Cd depletion in the water column was associated with increasing Cd in the [20-100 lm] plankton fraction, suggesting Cd bioaccumulation. After 3 months, enrichment factors of Cd in tissues of oysters exposed in the water column and directly on the sediment were respectively 3.0 and 2.2 in gills, 4.7 and 3.2 in digestive glands and 4.9 and 3.4 in remaining tissues. Increasing Cd bioaccumulation in gills, digestive glands and remaining tissues can be related to elevated dissolved Cd in the bay, suggesting gill contamination via the direct pathway and subsequent internal redistribution of Cd to other organs and tissues. Elevated Cd contents in oysters reared on tables could be attributed to different trophic Cd transfer (phytoplankton versus micro-phytobenthos) or to different oyster metabolisms between the rearing conditions as suggested by metal-lothionein concentrations

First Evidence of a HIV-1 M/O Recombinant Form Circulating Outside Cameroon

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The Baltic Sea Tracer Release Experiment. Part I: Mixing rates

In this study, results from the Baltic Sea Tracer Release Experiment (BATRE) are described, in which deep water mixing rates and mixing processes in the central Baltic Sea were investigated. In September 2007, an inert tracer gas (CF3SF5) was injected at approximately 200 m depth in the Gotland Basin, and the subsequent spreading of the tracer was observed during six surveys until February 2009. These data describe the diapycnal and lateral mixing during a stagnation period without any significant deep water renewal due to inflow events. As one of the main results, vertical mixing rates were found to dramatically increase after the tracer had reached the lateral boundaries of the basin, suggesting boundary mixing as the key process for basin-scale vertical mixing. Basin-scale vertical diffusivities were of the order of 10−5 m2 s−1 (about 1 order of magnitude larger than interior diffusivities) with evidence for a seasonal and vertical variability. In contrast to tracer experiments in the open ocean, the basin geometry (hypsography) was found to have a crucial impact on the vertical tracer spreading. The e-folding time scale for deep water renewal due to mixing was slightly less than 2 years, the time scale for the lateral homogenization of the tracer patch was of the order of a few months. Key Points: Mixing rates in the Gotland Basin are dominated by boundary mixing processes; The time scale for Gotland Basin deep water renewal is approximately 2 years; Mixing rates determined from the tracer CF3SF

A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the Ocean

Land-based macroplastic is considered one of the major sources of marine plastic debris. However, estimations of plastic emission from rivers into the oceans remain scarce and uncertain, mainly due to a severe lack of standardized observations. To properly assess global plastic fluxes, detailed information on spatiotemporal variation in river plastic quantities and composition are urgently needed. In this paper, we present a new methodology to characterize riverine macroplastic dynamics. The proposed methodology was applied to estimate the plastic emission from the Saigon River, Vietnam. During a 2-week period, hourly cross-sectional profiles of plastic transport were made across the river width. Simultaneously, sub-hourly samples were taken to determine the weight, size and composition of riverine macroplastics (>5 cm). Finally, extrapolation of the observations based on available hydrological data yielded new estimates of daily, monthly and annual macroplastic emission into the ocean. Our results suggest that plastic emissions from the Saigon River are up to four times higher than previously estimated. Importantly, our flexible methodology can be adapted to local hydrological circumstances and data availability, thus enabling a consistent characterization of macroplastic dynamics in rivers worldwide. Such data will provide crucial knowledge for the optimization of future mediation and recycling efforts

Rabies-Specific Antibodies: Measuring Surrogates of Protection against a Fatal Disease

Antibodies play a central role in prophylaxis against many infectious agents. While neutralization is a primary function of antibodies, the Fc- and complement-dependent activities of these multifunctional proteins may also be critical in their ability to provide protection against most viruses. Protection against viral pathogens in vivo is complex, and while virus neutralization—the ability of antibody to inactivate virus infectivity, often measured in vitro—is important, it is often only a partial contributor in protection. The rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT) remains the “gold standard” assay to measure rabies virus–neutralizing antibodies. In addition to neutralization, the rabies-specific antigen-binding activity of antibodies may be measured through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), as well as other available methods. For any disease, in selecting the appropriate assay(s) to use to assess antibody titers, assay validation and how they are interpreted are important considerations—but for a fatal disease like rabies, they are of paramount importance. The innate limitations of a one-dimensional laboratory test for rabies antibody measurement, as well as the validation of the method of choice, must be carefully considered in the selection of an assay method and for the interpretation of results that might be construed as a surrogate of protection

Travelers With Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Cured Without Systemic Therapy

Guidelines recommend wound care and/or local therapy as first-line treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis. An analysis of a referral treatment program in 135 travelers showed that this approach was feasible in 62% of patients, with positive outcome in 83% of evaluable patient

Simple scoring system to predict in-hospital mortality after surgery for infective endocarditis

BACKGROUND: Aspecific scoring systems are used to predict the risk of death postsurgery in patients with infective endocarditis (IE). The purpose of the present study was both to analyze the risk factors for in-hospital death, which complicates surgery for IE, and to create a mortality risk score based on the results of this analysis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Outcomes of 361 consecutive patients (mean age, 59.1\ub115.4 years) who had undergone surgery for IE in 8 European centers of cardiac surgery were recorded prospectively, and a risk factor analysis (multivariable logistic regression) for in-hospital death was performed. The discriminatory power of a new predictive scoring system was assessed with the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Score validation procedures were carried out. Fifty-six (15.5%) patients died postsurgery. BMI >27 kg/m2 (odds ratio [OR], 1.79; P=0.049), estimated glomerular filtration rate 55 mm Hg (OR, 1.78; P=0.032), and critical state (OR, 2.37; P=0.017) were independent predictors of in-hospital death. A scoring system was devised to predict in-hospital death postsurgery for IE (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.780; 95% CI, 0.734-0.822). The score performed better than 5 of 6 scoring systems for in-hospital death after cardiac surgery that were considered. CONCLUSIONS: A simple scoring system based on risk factors for in-hospital death was specifically created to predict mortality risk postsurgery in patients with IE

Mécanismes biogéochimiques de la contamination des huîtres Crassostrea gigas en Cadmium en baie de Marennes Oléron

La baie de Marennes Oléron, premier site ostréicole français, est influencée par la pollution polymétallique historique de l’estuaire de la Gironde avec des concentrations en cadmium dans les huîtres proches de la limite de consommation européenne (RNO 2006; 5 μg.g-1 ps, ECNo.466/2001). Ces travaux de recherche pluridisciplinaires ont pour objectif de caractériser le comportement des ETM en zone côtière et les mécanismes de contamination en ETM des huîtres, spécifiquement en Cd, dans la baie de Marennes Oléron. Pour cela, sept missions océanographiques en période contrastée ont permis de caractériser la spéciation des ETM à l’embouchure des estuaires de la Charente et de la Gironde ainsi qu’au Pertuis de Maumusson.Une étude spatio-temporelle complémentaire des sédiments de surface de la baie de Marennes Oléron a montré un enrichissement des sédiments de surface en Cd dans la zone sud baie,confirmant la connexion des eaux girondines et l’apport en Cd particulaire à la baie par le Pertuis de Maumusson. Cette zone sud a ainsi été choisie pour mener une transplantation d’huîtres pendant trois mois. L’hydrodynamique régionale, observée par imagerie satellite, a présenté unrôle important dans la distribution et la variation temporelle des concentrations en Cd dissous et particulaires minérales de la baie. La bioaccumulation en Cd des différents organes d’huîtres cultivées sur table a été plus importante que celle des huîtres cultivées directement sur le sol,suggérant le faible rôle de la diffusion de Cd par la remise en suspension des sédiments de surface et du microphytobenthos sur la bioaccumulation. De plus, le temps d’immersion étant relativement proche entre les deux conditions, nous suggérons que la voie trophique via le plankton pélagique participe à la contamination des huîtres en plus de la voie directe. Cette contribution de la voie trophique a été confirmée lors d’expérimentations en conditions contrôlées en laboratoire par le développement d’une méthode de traçage simultané des voies de contamination directe et trophique par ajouts d’isotopes stables de Cd, conduites pour des concentrations 10 fois supérieures à l’environnement et des concentrations réalistes observées en baie de Marennes Oléron (40 ng.l-1 et ~0.7 mg.kg-1).The Marennes-Oléron Bay, hosting the largest oyster production in France, is influenced by thehistoric polymetallic pollution of the Gironde Estuary, with cadmium levels in oysters close tothe consumption limit level (5 μg.g-1 dw, EC No.466/2001). The aim of this pluridisciplinarywork was to characterize the behaviour of trace metals in the coastal zone and the mechanisms ofCd contamination in oysters in the Marennes Oléron Bay. Seven oceanographic cruises wereconducted during contrasting season to characterize trace metals behaviour and speciation in theGironde and Charente estuaries and the coastal zone. Then, a spatial and temporal study of tracemetals in the surface sediments of the Marennes-Oléron Bay showed punctual Cd-enrichedsediments in the southern part, reflecting the connexion with the Gironde waters and theparticulate Cd inputs via the Maumusson inlet. Thus, this area was chosen to study Cdbioaccumulation in oysters over a three months transplantation. The regional hydrodynamic,observed by satellite images, played an important role on Cd speciation and the temporalvariability of dissolved and particulate Cd concentrations. Cadmium bioaccumulation in organsof oysters reared on tables at 60 cm height was more important than in oysters reared near thesediment, suggesting the absence of Cd released during tidal suspension from sediment andmicrophytobenthos. Furthermore, as the immersion time was closed between the two rearingconditions, we suggested Cd bioaccumulation via the direct pathway and also via trophicpathway of contamination by pelagic plankton ingestion. This trophic pathway of Cdcontamination was validated during laboratory experiments using a simultaneous tracing of Cddirect and trophic pathways in oysters by stable isotope spikes at concencentrations 10-foldhigher than the Gironde Estuary and at realistic concentrations observed in the Marennes-OléronBay