Fish recolonization of a lowland river with non-buffered storm water discharges but with abated pollution from a large municipality

Water pollution from industrial Metro Łódź (ML), Poland, made the Ner River almost fishless in its middle-lower course for most of the 19th and 20th century. The new sewage treatment plant of ML and reduction of industry have caused pollution abatement there since the 1990s. As a result, the Ner became repopulated, which was shown by fish samples collected along its course in 2000–2012. Multivariate statistical methods helped distinguish unpolluted (I and II, in the upper course), and recovered (III, IV and V, in the middle-lower course) sections of the river. Historical and present data indicated that section III (downstream of ML) recovered least, both before and during the study. Section V (outflow one) recovered most and its fish fauna (almost exclusively native) now displays high and stable biomass, abundance and species richness, including those of obligatory riverine species. Non-native Prussian carp's dominance followed the river degradation gradient, i.e. was highest in section III, and in section V declined to almost absence. This study shows that the revival of native fish fauna seems to be a method of restricting the dominance of this highly tolerant species. Despite the abatement, storm events are very harmful to fish (mostly in section III), because the Ner discharge may then increase manifold and all storm water is drained by the ML combined sewer system to the Ner in several hours. Other stressors are numerous dams and desorption of pollutants from sediment in the middle Ner, and perhaps pollutant inflow from agriculture or local urban areas. Some moderation of storm impact on water entering the Ner from ML by constructing buffer reservoirs would probably cause further fish recovery in section III.     

Advanced Electro-active Dry Adhesive Actuated by an Artificial Muscle Constructed from an Ionic Polymer Metal Composite Reinforced with Nitrogen-doped Carbon Nanocages

An advanced electro-active dry adhesive,which was composed of a mushroom-shaped fibrillar dry adhesive array actuated by an Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) artificial muscle reinforced with nitrogen-doped carbon nanocages (NCNCs),was developed to imitate the actuation of a gecko's toe.The properties of the NCNC-reinforced Nafion membrane,the electromechanical properties of the NCNC-reinforced IPMC,and the related electro-active adhesion ability were investigated.The NCNCs were uniformly dispersed in the 0.1 wt％ NCNC/Nafion membrane,and there was a seamless connection with no clear interface between the dry adhesive and the IPMC.Our 0.1 wt％ NCNC/Nafion-IPMC actuator shows a displacement and force that are 1.6-2 times higher than those of the recast Nafion-IPMC.This is due to the increased water uptake (25.39％) and tensile strength (24.5 MPa) of the specific 3D hollow NCNC-reinforced Nafion membrane,as well as interactions between the NCNCs and the sulfonated groups of the Nafion.The NCNC/Nafion-IPMC was used to effectively actuate the mushroom-shaped dry adhesive.The normal adhesion forces were 7.85 mN,12.1 mN,and 51.7 mN at sinusoidal voltages of 1.5 V,2.5 V,and 3.5 V,respectively,at 0.1 Hz.Under the bionic leg trail,the normal and shear forces were approximately 713.5 mN (159 mN·cm-2) and 1256.6 mN (279 mN·cm-2),respectively,which satisfy the required adhesion.This new electro-active dry adhesive can be applied for active,distributed actuation and flexible grip in robots.     

Biochemical Study on the Critical Period for Treatment of the Mottled Brindled Mouse

Hemizygous mottled brindled mice (Mobr/y mice) were treated by subcutaneous injection of copper and were decapitated on postnatal day 14. Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity of the brain mitochondria in the mice given 10 micrograms of copper/g on day 4 or 7 showed significant increases compared with that of untreated Mobr/y animals, and these mice had no neurological symptoms. Mice given 10 micrograms of copper/g on day 12 showed neither increases in COX activity nor clinical improvement. The brain levels of copper, noradrenaline, and dopamine in the mice treated on day 12 were the same as those in animals treated on day 4 or 7. The in vitro activities of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase of the brain were also the same among the treated mice, irrespective of the date of treatment. The results indicate that delays in copper treatment produce irreversible changes in COX activity of the brain and lead to clinical unresponsiveness to treatment.     

Olive oil history,production and by-product management

In this review paper, the history of the olive tree and the development of the main olive oil extraction systems employed in the past are presented. Furthermore, the management techniques employed from antiquity until today for the treatment of olive mill wastewater (OMW), which constitutes the most important by-product of olive oil production, are addressed and compared. Reference is also made to global olive oil production, the environmental impacts of the uncontrolled disposal of OMW, and to the legal framework concerning its management in the main olive oil producing countries. Other by-products of olive processing are also discussed.     

P277多肽融合热休克蛋白65提高抗1型糖尿病的作用

为了提高P277肽抗1型糖尿病的作用, 把P277肽融合在卡介苗热休克蛋白65的C端, 构建了pET28a- HSP65-P277高效表达载体, 在大肠杆菌中高效可溶性表达。利用硫酸铵分级沉淀、阴离子交换柱层析分离纯化了融合蛋白HSP65-P277。使用HSP65-P277在没有任何佐剂存在的情况下免疫非肥胖性糖尿病(NOD)小鼠, 通过三次腹腔注射, 每月收集被免疫动物的血清, 血糖浓度用自动生化分析仪测定。结果显示HSP65-P277免疫组小鼠血糖平均值及糖尿病的累积发病率和其余组相比均有显著差异(P<0.01), 融合蛋白HSP65-P277抗NOD小鼠糖尿病的作用显著高于单独的P277和HSP65。为进一步开发能用于临床的1型糖尿病疫苗提供了良好的设计思路, HSP65-P277极有可能进一步发展成为新的抗I型糖尿病的疫苗。     

Climate warming and heat waves affect reproductive strategies and interactions between submerged macrophytes

Extreme climatic events, such as heat waves, are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity during the next hundred years, which may accelerate shifts in hydrological regimes and submerged macrophyte composition in freshwater ecosystems. Since macrophytes are profound components of aquatic systems, predicting their response to extreme climatic events is crucial for implementation of climate change adaptation strategies. We therefore performed an experiment in 24 outdoor enclosures (400 L) separating the impact of a 4 °C increase in mean temperature with the same increase, that is the same total amount of energy input, but resembling a climate scenario with extreme variability, oscillating between 0 °C and 8 °C above present conditions. We show that at the moderate nutrient conditions provided in our study, neither an increase in mean temperature nor heat waves lead to a shift from a plant‐dominated to an algal‐dominated system. Instead, we show that species‐specific responses to climate change among submerged macrophytes may critically influence species composition and thereby ecosystem functioning. Our results also imply that more fluctuating temperatures affect the number of flowers produced per plant leading to less sexual reproduction. Our findings therefore suggest that predicted alterations in climate regimes may influence both plant interactions and reproductive strategies, which have the potential to inflict changes in biodiversity, community structure and ecosystem functioning.     

Design and Analysis of Field Experiments Incorporating Local and Remote Effects of Treatments

Design and analysis of field experiments in the presence of local and remote treatment effects are considered. The design criteria are optimality and balance for estimating local and remote effects. A nonlinear model, where remote effects are assumed to be proportional to the local effects, has been discussed.