GA3 content in young and mature antheridia of Chara tomentosa estimated by capillary electrophoresis

The content of gibberellic acid (GA3) in male sex organs of Chara tomentosa L. was estimated using capillary electrophoresis. Young antheridia contained 0.25 μg GA3 while mature ones 0.48 μg per antheridium. Although there are significant differences in GA3 content in antheridia between C. vulgaris and C. tomentosa, these values calculated per one spermatid are 2.4 and 3.3 pg, respectively. The present results compiled with the previous knowledge about regulation of GA3-dependent development of Characeae species allow an implication that the mechanisms controlling antheridia differentiation in both species can be simila

Verification of the Stormwater Drainage System Overloads in Wrocław for an Assessment of Climate Change Effects

This paper presents a verification of the performance of the stormwater drainage system in Gaj and Tarnogaj residential developments in Wrocław with regard to climate changes, by means of a calibrated hydrodynamic model created within the SWMM software. The verification was carried out for two criterial rainfalls: the Euler model rainfall with occurrence frequency C = 3 years and an actual rainfall with C = 5 years. Two parameters: degree of flooding (DOF) and specific flood volume (SFV) were adopted to indicate potential system overloads. The simulations showed numerous outflows from the sewers, which means, that the investigated system needs adapting to climate changes. The causes of this should be sought in the too small diameters of the sewers and so in the insufficient hydraulic capacity of the sewerage system dimensioned in the past using methods which are inadequate today

Wpływ emisji energii dźwiękowej ze szlaków komunikacyjnych i innych miejsc konsumpcji energii na zdrowie ludzi

This article aims to draw attention to the hitherto unexplored and scarcely noticed the problem of the effects of the consumption of increasing amounts of energy to human health and ecosystems exposed to emissions processed in the phase of energy consumption. Ever-increasing amounts of energy are consumed in relatively small areas of highways. Reference is made to the results of pioneering research on the impact of emitted sound energy by transport routes and by industrial noise on human health (Borzyszkowski 2010). This was clearly found to increase in people exposed to prolonged acoustic wave energy. The results of the effect of noise on human health clearly indicate the need for further research in this field. It should be emphasized that although the research and evaluation conducted by the Institute for Environmental Protection and Proeko CDM Ltd., which have been presented in this article, are pioneering and include an analysis of the cause-and-effect phenomenon, they do not, however, indicate the mechanism of the effect of noise on human health. The category rating of disease symptoms caused by the noise indicates that the key to clarifying the influence of the energy supplied to the organisms of people on the way of acoustic waves on their health may be forced supplied energy changes of biochemical reactions occurring in humans

Kinetin induces microtubular breakdown, cell cycle arrest and programmed cell death in tobacco BY-2 cells

Plant cells can undergo regulated cell death in response to exogenous factors (often in a stress context), but also as regular element of development (often regulated by phytohormones). The cellular aspects of these death responses differ, which implies that the early signalling must be different. We use cytokinin-induced programmed cell death as paradigm to get insight into the role of the cytoskeleton for the regulation of developmentally induced cell death, using tobacco BY-2 cells as experimental model. We show that this PCD in response to kinetin correlates with an arrest of the cell cycle, a deregulation of DNA replication, a loss of plasma membrane integrity, a subsequent permeabilisation of the nuclear envelope, an increase of cytosolic calcium correlated with calcium depletion in the culture medium, an increase of callose deposition and the loss of microtubule and actin integrity. We discuss these findings in the context of a working model, where kinetin, mediated by calcium, causes the breakdown of the cytoskeleton, which, either by release of executing proteins or by mitotic catastrophe, will result in PCD

Ferulic acid is a putative surrender signal to stimulate programmed cell death in grapevines after infection with Neofusicoccum parvum

An apoplectic breakdown from grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) has become a serious challenge to viticulture as a consequence of drought stress. We hypothesize that fungal aggressiveness is controlled by a chemical communication between the host and colonizing fungus. We introduce the new concept of a ‘plant surrender signal’ accumulating in host plants under stress and facilitating the aggressive behaviour of the strain Neofusicoccum parvum (Bt-67) causing Botryosphaeriaceae-related dieback in grapevines. Using a cell-based experimental system (Vitis cells) and bioactivity-guided fractionation, we identify trans-ferulic acid, a monolignol precursor, as a ‘surrender signal’. We show that this signal specifically activates the secretion of the fungal phytotoxin fusicoccin A aglycone. We show further that this phytotoxin, mediated by 14-3-3 proteins, activates programmed cell death in Vitis cells. We arrive at a model showing a chemical communication facilitating fusicoccin A secretion that drives necrotrophic behaviour during Botryosphaeriaceae–Vitis interaction through trans-ferulic acid. We thus hypothesize that channelling the phenylpropanoid pathway from this lignin precursor to the trans-resveratrol phytoalexin could be a target for future therapy

Pandemia COVID-19 a popyt na pieniądz gotówkowy i zmiany w zachowaniach płatniczych w Polsce w 2020 r.

COVID-19 pandemic has become the catalyst of rapid changes taking place in social behaviour and in modus operandi of contemporary economies. Immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic was declared, in Poland and in Europe demand for cash soared. However, the studies conducted so far suggest that the increase has not been reflected in the value of cash payments made by consumers. The paper explores reasons why demand for cash grew, as well as the scale of substitution of cash by cashless instruments. To achieve this goal, the authors deployed a broad spectrum of data and analytical methods which, to the best of their knowledge, had never been used before to examine the Polish market. The obtained results have led to the conclusion that the main reason why demand for cash increased was the wish to use it to store value while, at the same time, the usage of cash in transactions during the pandemic exhibited a downward trend.Pandemia COVID-19 stała się katalizatorem raptownych zmian w zachowaniach społecznych oraz funkcjonowaniu współczesnych gospodarek. Tuż po jej ogłoszeniu, zarówno w Polsce, jak i Europie, gwałtowanie wzrósł popyt na gotówkę. Jednak dotychczasowe badania sugerują, że wzrost ten nie znalazł odzwierciedlenia w wartości płatności gotówkowych realizowanych przez konsumentów. W artykule badane są przyczyny wzrostu zapotrzebowania na gotówkę, jak również skala substytucji gotówki przez instrumenty bezgotówkowe. Do realizacji tego celu zastosowano szeroki zakres danych oraz metod analitycznych, które zgodnie z wiedzą autorów nie były dotychczas wykorzystywane dla rynku polskiego. Na podstawie uzyskanych wyników należy stwierdzić, że głównym powodem wzrostu popytu na pieniądz gotówkowy była chęć jego tezauryzacji, przy jednoczesnym spadku wykorzystania gotówki do celów transakcyjnych w trakcie pandemii

Hodgkin lymphoma transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia: cases report and discussion

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) is the most common form of leukemia affecting adults in Europe and North America. Large B-cell lymphoma known as Richter’s syndrome (RS) may develop approximately in 3–15 % patients. Furthermore, other hematological malignancies may also occur as RS variants, among them—Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). CLL/SLL transformation into HL is observed in about 0.5 % of patients, and till now, fewer than 100 cases have been reported in the medical literature. We present two cases of HL transformation of CLL/SLL and review the previously published literature

Short‑term cell death in tissues of Pulsatilla vernalis seeds from natural and ex situ conserved populations

Pulsatilla vernalis is a IUCN listed species that occurs in mountain and lowland habitats. The seeds collected from different populations are remarkably diverse in their viability depending on locality or year of collection. We aim to analyse seed viability, among others, by investigation of the percentage of alive, dying, and dead cells in embryos and endosperm when comparing the seeds from a wild lowland population and ex situ cultivation of plants of lowland and Alpine origin. The cell death was detected by staining with two fluorescence probes, one penetrating only the changed nuclear membranes, the other penetrating also the unchanged cells. 54.5% of Alpine origin seeds were presumably capable of germination if they were sown after collection, however, four months later only 36.4% had healthy embryos. In the case of lowland wild plants it was 31.8% and 18.2%, and from ex situ, 27.3% and 13.6%, respectively. 27.3% of Alpine origin seeds had embryo in torpedo stage (9.1% in the case of lowland seeds). Mean weight of the former was 2.9 mg (2.0 mg in lowland ones). Our results confirm the significance of seed origin and seed weight on viability, and that Pulsatilla seeds have a short ‘germination time window’