Fate and Transport of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Upland Irish Headwater Lake Catchments

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a concern due to their carcinogenicity and propensity for transboundary atmospheric transport. Ireland is located on the western periphery of Europe and assumed to receive clean Atlantic air. As such, it has been used as an atmospheric reference for comparison to other regions. Nonetheless, few studies have evaluated concentrations of PAHs within the Irish environment. In the current study, PAHs were measured at five upland (500–800 masl) headwater lake catchments in coastal regions around Ireland, remote from industrial point source emissions. Semipermeable membrane devices were deployed in lakes for a 6-month period in July 2009, and topsoils were sampled from each catchment during October 2010. The concentrations of PAHs were low at most study sites with respect to other temperate regions. Homologue groups partitioned between lake and soil compartments based on their molecular weight were: “lighter” substances, such as Phenanthrene and Fluorene, were found in higher proportions in lakes, whereas “heavier” compounds, such as Chrysene and Benz[a]anthracene, were more prominent in soils. Concentrations of PAHs were highest at the east coast sites, potentially due to contributions from historical transboundary and regional combustion sources

Dynamic modeling and target loads of sulfur and nitrogen for surface waters in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom

The target load concept is an extension of the critical load concept of air pollution inputs to ecosystems. The advantage of target loads over critical loads is that one can define the deposition and the point in time (target year) when the critical (chemical) limit is no longer violated. This information on the timing of recovery requires dynamic modelling. Using a well-documented dynamic model, target loads for acidic deposition were determined for 848 surface waters across Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom for the target year 2050. In the majority of sites (n = 675), the critical ANC-limit was predicted to be achieved by 2050; however, for 127 sites target loads were determined. In addition, 46 sites were infeasible, i.e., even a deposition reduction to zero would not achieve the limit by 2050. The average maximum target load for sulphur was 38% lower than the respective critical load across the study lakes (n = 127). Target loads on a large regional scale can inform effects-based emission reduction policies; the current assessment suggests that reductions beyond the Gothenburg Protocol are required to ensure surface water recovery from acidification by 2050

Assessing recovery from acidification of European surface waters in the year 2010: evaluation of projections made with the MAGIC model in 1995

In 1999 we used the MAGIC (Model of Acidification of Groundwater In Catchments) model to project acidification of acid-sensitive European surface waters in the year 2010, given implementation of the Gothenburg Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). A total of 202 sites in 10 regions in Europe were studied. These forecasts can now be compared with measurements for the year 2010, to give a “ground truth” evaluation of the model. The prerequisite for this test is that the actual sulfur and nitrogen deposition decreased from 1995 to 2010 by the same amount as that used to drive the model forecasts; this was largely the case for sulfur, but less so for nitrogen, and the simulated surface water [NO3–] reflected this difference. For most of the sites, predicted surface water recovery from acidification for the year 2010 is very close to the actual recovery observed from measured data, as recovery is predominantly driven by reductions in sulfur deposition. Overall these results show that MAGIC successfully predicts future water chemistry given known changes in acid deposition

Evaluating the Current State of Findability and Accessibility of Microplastics Data

Tia Jenkins1, Bhaleka D. Persaud1, Win Cowger2, Kathy Szigeti3, Dominique G. Roche4,5, Erin Clary6, Stephanie Slowinski1, Benjamin Lei1, Amila Abeynayaka7, Ebenezer S. Nyadjro8,9, Thomas Maes10, Leah Thornton Hampton11, Melanie Bergmann12, Julian Aherne13, Sherri A. Mason14, John F. Honek15, Fereidoun Rezanezhad1, Amy L. Lusher16, Andy M. Booth17, Rodney D. L. Smith15 and Philippe Van Cappellen1. Affiliations: 1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 2 Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research, Long Beach, CA, United States 3 Davis Centre Library, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 4 Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada 5 Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 6 Digital Research Alliance of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada 7 Institute for Global Environment Strategies (IGES), Kanagawa, Japan 8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Stennis Space Center, Starkville, MS, United States 9 Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University, Stennis Space Center, Starkville, MS, United States 10 GRID-Arendal, Arendal, Norway 11 Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP), Costa Mesa, CA, United States 12 Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany 13 School of Environment, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada 14 The Behrend College, Pennsylvania State University, Erie, PA, United States 15 Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 16 Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Oslo, Norway 17 SINTEF Ocean, Trondheim, NorwayThe rapid growth in microplastic pollution research is influencing funding priorities, environmental policy, and public perceptions of risks to water quality and environmental and human health. Ensuring that environmental microplastics research data are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) is essential to inform policy and mitigation strategies. We present a bibliographic analysis of data sharing practices in the environmental microplastics research community, highlighting the state of openness of microplastics data. A stratified (by year) random subset of 785 of 6,608 microplastics articles indexed in Web of Science indicates that, since 2006, less than a third (28.5%) contained a data sharing statement. These statements further show that most often, the data were provided in the articles’ supplementary material (38.8%) and only 13.8% via a data repository. Of the 279 microplastics datasets found in online data repositories, 20.4% presented only metadata with access to the data requiring additional approval. Although increasing, the rate of microplastic data sharing still lags behind that of publication of peer-reviewed articles on environmental microplastics. About a quarter of the repository data originated from North America (12.8%) and Europe (13.4%). Marine and estuarine environments are the most frequently sampled systems (26.2%); sediments (18.8%) and water (15.3%) are the predominant media. Of the available datasets accessible, 15.4% and 18.2% do not have adequate metadata to determine the sampling location and media type, respectively. We discuss five recommendations to strengthen data sharing practices in the environmental microplastic research community. Read more at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.912107/fullNSERC/ECCC Alliance Grants - Plastics science for a cleaner future program, Grant ALLRP 558435-20 || The Canada First Research Excellence Fund Global Water Futures Programme || The McPike Zima Charitable || The PoF IV program “Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future” Topic 6.4 of the German Helmholtz Association || The Research Council of Norway projects REVEAL, Grant 301157 || ANDROMEDA, Grant 312262 || MicroLEACH, Grant 295174 || The Early-Career Research Fellowship from the Gulf Research Program of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Grant 2000012639 || European Union’s Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action programme, Grant 101003805 (EUROqCHARM) || The Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Grant 838237-OPTIMISE

Modelling study of soil C, N and pH response to air pollution and climate change using European LTER site observations

Current climate warming is expected to continue in coming decades, whereas high N deposition may stabilize, in contrast to the clear decrease in S deposition. These pressures have distinctive regional patterns and their resulting impact on soil conditions is modified by local site characteristics. We have applied the VSD+ soil dynamic model to study impacts of deposition and climate change on soil properties, using MetHyd and GrowUp as pre-processors to provide input to VSD+. The single-layer soil model VSD+ accounts for processes of organic C and N turnover, as well as charge and mass balances of elements, cation exchange and base cation weathering. We calibrated VSD+ at 26 ecosystem study sites throughout Europe using observed conditions, and simulated key soil properties: soil solution pH (pH), soil base saturation (BS) and soil organic carbon and nitrogen ratio (C:N) under projected deposition of N and S, and climate warming until 2100. The sites are forested, located in the Mediterranean, forested alpine, Atlantic, continental and boreal regions. They represent the long-term ecological research (LTER) Europe network, including sites of the ICP Forests and ICP Integrated Monitoring (IM) programmes under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP), providing high quality long-term data on ecosystem response. Simulated future soil conditions improved under projected decrease in deposition and current climate conditions: higher pH, BS and C:N at 21, 16 and 12 of the sites, respectively. When climate change was included in the scenario analysis, the variability of the results increased. Climate warming resulted in higher simulated pH in most cases, and higher BS and C:N in roughly half of the cases. Especially the increase in C:N was more marked with climate warming. The study illustrates the value of LTER sites for applying models to predict soil responses to multiple environmental changes

Mechanism-Based Screen for G1/S Checkpoint Activators Identifies a Selective Activator of EIF2AK3/PERK Signalling

Human cancers often contain genetic alterations that disable G1/S checkpoint control and loss of this checkpoint is thought to critically contribute to cancer generation by permitting inappropriate proliferation and distorting fate-driven cell cycle exit. The identification of cell permeable small molecules that activate the G1/S checkpoint may therefore represent a broadly applicable and clinically effective strategy for the treatment of cancer. Here we describe the identification of several novel small molecules that trigger G1/S checkpoint activation and characterise the mechanism of action for one, CCT020312, in detail. Transcriptional profiling by cDNA microarray combined with reverse genetics revealed phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor 2-alpha (EIF2A) through the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2-alpha kinase 3 (EIF2AK3/PERK) as the mechanism of action of this compound. While EIF2AK3/PERK activation classically follows endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signalling that sets off a range of different cellular responses, CCT020312 does not trigger these other cellular responses but instead selectively elicits EIF2AK3/PERK signalling. Phosphorylation of EIF2A by EIF2A kinases is a known means to block protein translation and hence restriction point transit in G1, but further supports apoptosis in specific contexts. Significantly, EIF2AK3/PERK signalling has previously been linked to the resistance of cancer cells to multiple anticancer chemotherapeutic agents, including drugs that target the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway and taxanes. Consistent with such findings CCT020312 sensitizes cancer cells with defective taxane-induced EIF2A phosphorylation to paclitaxel treatment. Our work therefore identifies CCT020312 as a novel small molecule chemical tool for the selective activation of EIF2A-mediated translation control with utility for proof-of-concept applications in EIF2A-centered therapeutic approaches, and as a chemical starting point for pathway selective agent development. We demonstrate that consistent with its mode of action CCT020312 is capable of delivering potent, and EIF2AK3 selective, proliferation control and can act as a sensitizer to chemotherapy-associated stresses as elicited by taxanes

Slaughter weight rather than sex affects carcass cuts and tissue composition of Bisaro pigs

Carcass cuts and tissue composition were assessed in Bisaro pigs (n=64) from two sexes (31 gilts and 33 entire males) reared until three target slaughter body-weights (BW) means: 17 kg, 32 kg, and 79 kg. Dressing percentage and backfat thickness increased whereas carcass shrinkage decreased with increasing BW. Slaughter weight affected most of the carcass cut proportions, except shoulder and thoracic regions. Bone proportion decreased linearly with increasing slaughter BW, while intermuscular and subcutaneous adipose tissue depots increased concomitantly. Slaughter weight increased the subcutaneous adipose tissue proportion but this impaired intramuscular and intermuscular adipose tissues in the loin primal. The sex of the pigs minimally affected the carcass composition, as only the belly weight and the subcutaneous adipose tissue proportions were greater in gilts than in entire males. Light pigs regardless of sex are recommended to balance the trade-offs between carcass cuts and their non-edible compositional outcomes.Work included in the Portuguese PRODER research Project BISOPORC – Pork extensive production of Bísara breed, in two alternative systems: fattening on concentrate vs chesnut, Project PRODER SI I&DT Medida 4.1 “Cooperação para a Inovação”. The authors are grateful to Laboratory of Carcass and Meat Quality of Agriculture School of Polytechnic Institute of Bragança ‘Cantinho do Alfredo’. The authors are members of the MARCARNE network, funded by CYTED (ref. 116RT0503).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mechanism-based screen for G1/S checkpoint activators identifies a selective activator of EIF2AK3/PERK signalling.

Human cancers often contain genetic alterations that disable G1/S checkpoint control and loss of this checkpoint is thought to critically contribute to cancer generation by permitting inappropriate proliferation and distorting fate-driven cell cycle exit. The identification of cell permeable small molecules that activate the G1/S checkpoint may therefore represent a broadly applicable and clinically effective strategy for the treatment of cancer. Here we describe the identification of several novel small molecules that trigger G1/S checkpoint activation and characterise the mechanism of action for one, CCT020312, in detail. Transcriptional profiling by cDNA microarray combined with reverse genetics revealed phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor 2-alpha (EIF2A) through the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2-alpha kinase 3 (EIF2AK3/PERK) as the mechanism of action of this compound. While EIF2AK3/PERK activation classically follows endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signalling that sets off a range of different cellular responses, CCT020312 does not trigger these other cellular responses but instead selectively elicits EIF2AK3/PERK signalling. Phosphorylation of EIF2A by EIF2A kinases is a known means to block protein translation and hence restriction point transit in G1, but further supports apoptosis in specific contexts. Significantly, EIF2AK3/PERK signalling has previously been linked to the resistance of cancer cells to multiple anticancer chemotherapeutic agents, including drugs that target the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway and taxanes. Consistent with such findings CCT020312 sensitizes cancer cells with defective taxane-induced EIF2A phosphorylation to paclitaxel treatment. Our work therefore identifies CCT020312 as a novel small molecule chemical tool for the selective activation of EIF2A-mediated translation control with utility for proof-of-concept applications in EIF2A-centered therapeutic approaches, and as a chemical starting point for pathway selective agent development. We demonstrate that consistent with its mode of action CCT020312 is capable of delivering potent, and EIF2AK3 selective, proliferation control and can act as a sensitizer to chemotherapy-associated stresses as elicited by taxanes

Accumulation of airborne microplastics in lichens from a landfill dumping site (Italy)

The aim of this study was to assess if lichens (Flavoparmelia caperata) surrounding a landfll dumping site in Italy accumulated higher amounts of microplastics compared with lichens at more distant sites. Lichen samples were collected at three sites along a transect from the landfll: close (directly facing the landfll), intermediate (200 m), and remote (1500 m). Anthropogenic microparticles (fbres and fragments) were determined visually after wet peroxide digestion of the samples, and microplastics were identifed based on a hot needle test; the type of plastic was identifed by micro-Raman analysis. The results showed that lichens collected in the vicinity of the landfll accumulated the highest number of anthropogenic microfbres and fragments (147 mp/g dw), and consequently microplastics (79 mp/g dw), suggesting that the impact of landfll emissions is spatially limited. The proportion of fbres and fragments identifed as microplastics was 40% across all sites and the most abundant polymer type was polyester or polyethylene terephthalate (68%). These results clearly indicated that lichens can efectively be used to monitor the deposition of microplastics

Potential Influence of Climate Change on the Acid-Sensitivity of High-Elevation Lakes in the Georgia Basin, British Columbia

Global climate models predict increased temperature and precipitation in the Georgia Basin, British Colmbia; however, little is known about the impacts on high-elevation regions. In the current study, fifty-four high-elevation lakes (754–2005 m a.s.l.) were studied to investigate the potential influence of climate change on surface water acid-sensitivity. Redundancy analysis indicated that the concentration of nitrate, dissolved organic carbon, and associated metals was significantly influenced by climate parameters. Furthermore, these components differed significantly between biogeoclimatic zones. Modelled soil base cation weathering for a subset of the study lakes (n=11) was predicted to increase by 9% per 1°C increase in temperature. Changes in temperature and precipitation may potentially decrease the pH of surface waters owing to changes in anthropogenic deposition and organic acid production. In contrast, increased soil base cation weathering may increase the critical load (of acidity) of high-elevation lakes. Ultimately, the determining factor will be whether enhanced base cation weathering is sufficient to buffer changes in natural and anthropogenic acidity. Mountain and high-elevation regions are considered early warning systems to climate change; as such, future monitoring is imperative to assess the potential ramifications of climate change on the hydrochemistry and acid-sensitivity of these surface waters