Contamination of surface waters by mining wastes in the Milluni Valley (Cordillera Real, Bolivia): Mineralogical and hydrological influences

This study is one of very few dealing with mining waste contamination in high altitude, tropical-latitude areas exploited during the last century. Geochemical, mineralogical and hydrological characterizations of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in surface waters and sediments were performed in the Milluni Valley (main reservoir of water supply of La Paz, Bolivia, 4000 m a.s.l.), throughout different seasons during 2002-2004 to identify contamination sources and sinks, and contamination control parameters. PHE concentrations greatly exceeded the World Health Organization water guidelines for human consumption. The very acidic conditions, which resulted from the oxidation of sulfide minerals in mining waste, favoured the enrichment of dissolved PHEs (Cd > Zn » As >> Cu ∼ Ni > Pb > Sn) in surface waters downstream from the mine. Stream and lake sediments, mining waste and bedrock showed the highest PHE content in the mining area. With the exception of Fe, the PHEs were derived from specific minerals (Fe, pyrite; Zn, Cd, sphalerite, As, Fe, arsenopyrite, Cu, Fe, chalcopyrite, Pb, galena, Sn, cassiterite), but the mining was responsible for PHEs availability. Most of the PHEs were extremely mobile (As > Fe > Pb > Cd > Zn ∼ Cu > Sn) in the mining wastes and the sediments downstream from the mine. pH and oxyhydroxides mainly explained the contrasted availability of Zn (mostly in labile fractions) and As (associated with Fe-oxyhydroxides). Unexpectedly, Pb, Zn, As, and Fe were significantly attenuated by organic matter in acidic lake sediments. Hydrological conditions highly influenced the behaviours of major elements and PHEs. During wet seasons, major elements were diluted by meteoric waters, whereas PHEs increased due to the dissolution of sulfides and unstable tertiary minerals that formed during dry seasons. This is particularly obvious at the beginning of the wet season and contributes to flushes of element transport downstream. The high altitude of the study area compensates for the tropical latitude, rendering the geochemical behaviour of contaminants similar to that of temperate and cold regions. These results might be representative of geochemical processes in ore deposits located in the high Andes plateau, and of their influence on PHE concentrations within the upper Amazon basin. Although mining activities in this region stopped 10 years ago, the impact of mining waste on water quality remains a serious environmental problem

Essays on the Economic and Cultural Integration of Migrants

This thesis consists of three self-contained essays. The first, entitled "Integration of Humanitarian Migrants into the Host Country Labour Market: Evidence from Australia", aims at identifying the factors that influence the labour market integration of humanitarian migrants into the host country. A number of refugees' employment outcomes are examined including access to employment, access to stable employment, the wage/earnings level and the education-occupation mismatch. Using a recently collected panel survey data in Australia, the results show that pre-migration education, work experience, previous migration episodes, as well as English proficiency, English training, study/job training undertaken in Australia and social capital form important determinants of the labour market integration of refugees. Moreover, the essay highlights the differentiated impacts of these resources on the refugees' outcomes at six months, one year and two years after arrival in Australia. This essay provides a unique basis of knowledge for informed policy-making and helps identify the ways to facilitate the economic integration of refugees. The second essay, entitled "Ethnic Identity and the Employment Outcomes of Immigrants: Evidence from France", examines the relationship between economic and social integration. More specifically, it explores the influence that ethnic identity exerts on immigrants' labour market performance in the host country. The objective of this essay is twofold: first, to determine the immigrants' ethnic identity and second, to investigate the impact of ethnic identity on the immigrants' employment outcomes. Using a rich survey data from France and relying on a polychoric principal component analysis, this essay proposes two alternative measures of ethnic identity than the ones used in the literature, namely: i) the degree of commitment to the origin country culture and ii) the extent to which the individual holds multiple identities. The essay investigates the impact of the ethnic identity measures on the employment outcomes of immigrants in France. The results show that having multiple identities is associated with an improvement in the employment outcomes of the migrants. However, when addressing the endogenous nature of ethnic identity, there is no significant impact of ethnic identity on the employment outcomes of immigrants. The last essay, entitled "The Effect of 9/11 on Immigrants' Ethnic Identity and Employment: Evidence from Germany", aims at exploring the impact of terrorism on the economic and social integration of immigrants in the host country. Indeed, over the lifecourse of the migrants in the host country, there might be a number of identity shocks that would affect their social integration. This might as well have an effect on their labour market outcomes. This chapter investigates the effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the identity choice and the employment outcomes of Muslim immigrants in Germany. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, this essay relies on a difference-in-differences strategy to compare the outcomes of Muslims with non-Muslim immigrants before and after the attacks. One concern is the lack of an appropriate comparison group. In order to address this issue, the essay relies on a regression-adjusted difference-in-differences matching strategy. The results show that Muslim immigrants have decreased their degree of identification with Germany after 9/11 compared to non-Muslims. There is no significant impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Muslims' employment outcomes relative to non-Muslims. The results contribute to provide a better understanding of the process of social integration of immigrants

Interaction between childbearing and partnership trajectories among immigrants and their descendants in France : an application of multichannel sequence analysis

This project is led by Hill Kulu and funded by the European Research Council under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme: H2020 Excellent Science (H2020 European Research Council, grant number 834103).While there is a large literature investigating migrant marriage or fertility, little research has examined how childbearing and partnerships are interrelated. In this paper, we investigate how childbearing and partnership trajectories evolve and interact over the life course for immigrants and their descendants and how the relationship varies by migrant origin. We apply multichannel sequence analysis to rich longitudinal survey data from France and find significant differences in family-related behaviour between immigrants, their descendants, and the native French. Immigrants’ family behaviour is characterized by stronger association between marriage and childbearing than in the native population. However, there are significant differences across migrant groups. Turkish immigrants exhibit the most conservative family pathways. By contrast, the family behaviour of European immigrants is similar to that of the native population. The study also demonstrates that the family behaviour of some descendant groups has gradually become indistinguishable from that of the native French, whereas for other groups significant differences in family behaviour persist.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A reflection on the story, current positioning, offerings and the darker side of the luxury gastronomy book, the Michelin Guide

This article gives some personal reflections on the luxury status of the most famous gastronomic bible — The Michelin Guide. The question being addressed — Is the Guide still considered a luxurious commodity? By using secondary data, the findings show that it is still recognised internationally as the symbol of “la haute cuisine” world and its epicurean experience. Importantly, being awarded stars has significant impacts on the pricing and visibility of restaurants. Besides, given the dualistic nature of the Guide, its offers become more present and accessible. However, many controversies are gravitating around Michelin: decrease in quality; unsuitable selection processes; secrecy and perceived unfairness in the evaluation system; restaurants and chefs refusing to be featured or awarded; the consumption of alcohol and drugs in Michelin-starred high-end kitchens; and chefs’ suicide due to strong pressure. Keywords: beverages, consumers, food, luxury, Micheli

How missense mutations in receptors tyrosine kinases impact constitutive activity and alternate drug sensitivity: insights from molecular dynamics simulations

The fundamental oncology-related research is required for a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with the normal and/or abnormal protein functions, which are closely related with structure and dynamics of the macromolecules involved in these process. The most common origin of oncogenic events is related to missense mutations. Mutation-induced structural effects promoted by oncogenic mutations in receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), are not yet fully characterized. Computational biology completes and enriches experimental data, producing a novel vision of molecular mechanisms governing RTKs activity. In series of our papers, we studied the structural and dynamical features of native and mutated RTKs from III family (KIT and CSF-1R), yielding a detailed description of their mechanisms of activation, ligand-depend for the native proteins and constitutive for the distinct mutants. The mechanisms of RTKs activation are described in terms of allosteric regulation between coupled regulating fragments of the protein, juxta-membrane region (JMR) and activation (A-) loop. As some mutations promote resistance to the clinically-used drugs, we analyzed the affinity of imatinib to these therapeutic targets. The computationally-obtained (in silico) data were correlated with in vivo and in vitro observations, thus validating our numerically-based accounts. Going forward, clinical validation of cancer-related models and simulations are cornerstones key of translation of in silico data into biomedical research, at clinical and pharmacological levels

The distributional consequences of social distancing on poverty and labour income inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper estimates the potential distributional consequences of the first phase of the COVID-19 lockdowns on poverty and labour income inequality in 20 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. We estimate the share of individuals that are potentially able to remain active under the lockdown by taking into account individuals’ teleworking capacity but also whether their occupation is affected by legal workplace closures or mobility restrictions. Furthermore, we compare the shares under the formal (de jure) lockdown policies assuming perfect compliance with the shares under de facto lockdowns where there is some degree of non-compliance. We then estimate individuals’ potential labour income losses and examine changes in poverty and labour income inequality. We find an increase in poverty and labour income inequality in most of the LAC countries due to social distancing; however, the observed changes are lower under de facto lockdowns, revealing the potential role of non-compliance as a coping strategy during the lockdowns. Social distancing measures have led to an increase in inequality both between and within countries. Lastly, we show that most of the dispersion in the labour income loss across countries is explained by the sectoral/occupational employment structure of the economies.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Du barbare à l’oppresseur décrépi : l’image du Louis XIV guerrier dans les satires anglaises et hollandaises

Roi de guerre par excellence, Louis XIV cherchait à incarner l’idéal du héros victorieux en orchestrant une large propagande concourant à sa gloire. Mais cette image fut fortement entachée par des satires étrangères produites à partir des années 1670. L’attitude belliqueuse de ce monarque fut largement dénoncée par ses voisins qui usèrent, entre autres, de l’estampe et des médailles pour mettre à mal les représentations royales françaises. Cependant entre la figure du guerrier prétentieux, celle du barbare assoiffé de sang et celle du vieil oppresseur prenant la fuite, il existe plusieurs facettes qui se répondent mais aussi s’opposent. Cet article cherche donc à étudier la destruction de l’image guerrière du roi Soleil et s’interroge sur les ambitions d’une telle contre-propagande.“Warrior king” par excellence, Louis XIV orchestrated a wide propaganda in order to embody the ideal of the victorious hero and, hence, to increase his glory. But this public image had been strongly eroded by foreign satires produced since the 1670s. The warlike behavior of this monarch was widely criticized by his neighbors, who used, among others, prints and medals to damage the French representations of the king.However, between the appearance of the conceited warrior, that of the bloodthirsty barbarian and that of the old fleeing oppressor, there are several facets which are complementary but also opposed. The purpose of this paper is to study the destruction of the Sun King’s image of warrior and to wonder about the ambitions of such a counter-propaganda

Manifestations of Cultural Change: Alsatian Identity between 1871 and the Interwar Period. Three Case Studies.

From 1871 up to the 1920s, Alsace, a region on the border between France and Germany, was forced to change its national affiliation several times. How, in this context, did the cultural identity of Alsace evolve? With what, and with whom, did Alsatians identify with, and why? In my exploration I will focus on three case studies. Their selection is determined by three criteria: one is that it is of importance to consider issues a vast majority of the population could relate to. Secondly, these case studies will mostly focus on Strasbourg. This is the capital of the region, its cultural centre and the location that France and Germany engaged with most. Finally, the selection is aided by the consideration that cultural identity is closely linked with the appropriation of particular spaces that are reconfigured according to changing socio-political contexts. I will therefore first examine the historical development between 1871 and the 1920s, and embed into this the debate that surrounded the new imperial architecture in Strasbourg. This will be followed by an analysis of the promotional devices found in selected travel guides about Alsace that span several decades. Finally, I shall consider the more particular vision of Alsace promoted in caricatures by Hansi and Zislin, which draw upon regional attachments and national stereotypes and prejudices, but also determine clear and recognisable settings that Alsatians could easily engage with. These case studies will show how Alsatian identity was promoted and challenged in daily life (and in specific spaces), which included, at times, propagandistic discourses, in order to make an assessment of the extent to which Alsatian identity evolved during a period of conflicting loyalties for the population.University of Exeter, Department of Modern Language

Ethnic Identity and the Employment Outcomes of Immigrants: Evidence from France

The objective of this paper is twofold: first, to determine the immigrants’ ethnic identity, i.e. the degree of identification to the culture and society of the country of origin and the host country and second, to investigate the impact of ethnic identity on the immigrants’ employment outcomes. Using rich survey data from France and relying on a polychoric principal component analysis, this paper proposes two richer measures of ethnic identity than the ones used in the literature, namely: i) the degree of commitment to the origin country culture and ii) the extent to which the individual holds multiple identities. The paper investigates the impact of the ethnic identity measures on the employment outcomes of immigrants in France. The results show that having multiple identities improves the employment outcomes of the migrants and contribute to help design effective post-immigration policies

The Effect of 9/11 on Immigrants’ Ethnic Identity and Employment: Evidence from Germany

A growing concern in Western countries is the fact that immigrants might adopt oppositional identities. Although identity is expected to affect the economic outcomes of immigrants, little is known about the factors that influence the identity choice of the migrants and thus, their employment outcomes. This study investigates the effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the process of identity formation and the employment outcomes of Turkish immigrants in Germany. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, this study relies on a difference-in-differences strategy to compare the outcomes of Turks with non-Turks before and after the attacks. The results show that Turks have adopted more extreme identities after 9/11 compared to non-Turks: they are more likely to feel completely German; they are less likely to feel in some respects Turkish whereas they are more likely to feel mostly Turkish. There is no significant impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Turks’ employment outcomes relative to non-Turks