Using a UAV to assess air pollution and identify dominant emission sources

Central Europe is the region with the highest concentration of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 micrometers (PM10) in outdoor air. Weather conditions combined with a high industrialization of regions laying along the Czech Republic and Poland border influence the formation of long smog episodes with PM10 concentrations in the atmosphere at the value of several hundred micrograms in a cubic meter. However, it has been observed that the main source of particulates pollution in the area of the Polish-Czech border between the most populated areas of Ostrava and Katowice is the residential heating fired with solid fuels, participating at the level of not less than 21% in overall air contamination with dusts. It particularly concerns PM10, which is one of the major harmful air pollutants produced by the combustion of solid fuels such as biomass and coal. The measures leading to decrease the dust emission from coal burned individual heat sources include methods to eliminate old -type boilers not permitted by the law, as well as illegal incineration of fuels of bad quality or including admixture of wastes. It requires a new approach for effective identification of such sources, as well as for recognition of pollutants leaving household emitters and evaluation of their share in overall effect on human health. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with miniaturized sensors detecting gaseous and dust particles at the outlet of an individual emitter can compensate the lack of information unable to be obtain using traditional measurements. The use of UAVs to identify specific sources of air pollution is still at an early stage of development and there are not too many scientific publications on this topic so far. Despite it, this technology seems to be usable to cre-ate undemanding, low-cost and effective method of air pollution sources assessment. In the current article, some aspects of using UAVs for identification of especially troublesome emission sources located on residential areas are presented, including finding the dominant emission source, determining the optimal distance between a UAV and the emission source or the influence of the UAV altitude, movement and sampling time on measurement result.Web of Science231214413

In vitro and in vivo analyses of the biological activity of RGD peptides towards Ab Bomirski melanoma

The RGD sequence is present in many extracellular matrix proteins and intracellular proteins, including caspases. Synthetic RGD peptides may affect adhesion, migration and tumour metastasis, or directly induce apoptosis. Several RGD peptides were synthesised, and their anti-adhesive and cytotoxic properties were analysed in vitro. The most active peptide (poly RGD) was also tested in vivo to assess its modulatory activity on melanoma growth. Synthetic RGD peptides inhibit the adhesion of Ab melanoma cells to fibronectin. Poly RGD significantly inhibits primary tumour growth. There was no observed cytotoxicity of poly RGD towards Ab cells in a medium with 10% serum; however, under the same conditions, the anti-adhesive effect of poly RGD was still visible. Experiments on Jurkat cells indicated a weak cytotoxicity of poly RGD and a significant cytotoxicity of GRGDNP (the reference cytotoxic peptide), retained only under serum-free conditions. The anti-tumour effect of poly RGD observed in the Ab Bomirski melanoma model is probably due to an anti-adhesive mechanism. The proapoptotic activity of RGD peptides is dependent on the absence of serum

Periodic Inspections of Residential Heating Appliances for Solid Fuels: Review of Legal Regulations in Selected European Countries

The article presents the legal framework of periodic control systems of individual heating devices in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The scope of periodic inspections carried out in considered countries, the persons responsible for performing them, the method of data acquisition and administrative bodies responsible for supervising the fulfillment of the obligation, as well as the sanctions for law violations related to small heat sources operation in the residential sector were discussed

Antitumor activity of antimicrobial peptides against U937 histiocytic cell line

We investigated cytotoxic activity of antimicrobial peptides of different origin (both naturally occurring and synthetic), structure and known mechanisms of action against human histiocytic lymphoma cell line U937. The strongest cytotoxic activity against U937 cell line was shown by Pexiganan MSI-78, followed by Citropin 1.1, Protegrin 1 and a synthetic lipopeptide, N-α-palmitoyl-l-lysyl-l-lysine amide (Pal-Lys-Lys-NH2). The cytotoxic activity of the peptides was more dependent on the time of incubation than concentration. Only for the lipopeptide, whose mode of action was restricted to disruption of electric potential of the cell membrane, the correlation between cytotoxicity and concentration was almost linear. The high cytotoxicity of Pexiganan MSI-78, Protegrin 1 and the lipopeptide could be basically explained by their membranolytic activity leading to necrosis. However, in the case of Citropin 1.1, the cell membrane integrity was disrupted only slightly and independently of the peptide concentration. Therefore, some other mechanism of action might be responsible for its strong dose-dependent cytotoxic activity, e.g., membranolytic activity leading to apoptosis. Furthermore, TNF-α production due to LPS (lipopolysaccharide) stimulation was suppressed by the presence of Citropin 1.1, Pexiganan MSI-78 or Protegrin 1, but not by Buforin 2 or the lipopeptide. Our experiments have shown that cytotoxic activity is not limited to some specific molecular structure of a peptide, but rather to the length of the peptide chain as it is likely to affect the efficiency of the tumor cell membrane disruption and interaction with LPS

A novel mechanism of action of the fumagillin analog, TNP-470, in the B16F10 murine melanoma cell line

TNP-470, a semisynthetic derivative of fumagillin, is an acknowledged angiogenesis inhibitor, presently undergoing clinical trials. It exerts an anti-proliferative effect directed against endothelial cells. This effect is known to be based on cell cycle inhibition effected by the p53/p21 pathway. We observed short-term toxicity of TNP-470 in the B16F10 murine melanoma cell line in vitro and investigated the mechanism of action. Cell death occurred as soon as 2 h after the addition of TNP-470, without typical apoptotic features. The toxic effect could be modulated and it depended on the type of culture medium or supplementation with anti-oxidants. Addition of N-acetylcysteine protected B16F10 cells from TNP-470-induced death and inhibited an increase in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are detected by the 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate probe. We conclude that TNP-470 can induce intracellular generation of ROS, which act toxically inside B16F10 cells. One may suggest that this novel activity of TNP-470 might be beneficial in some cases, but it could also be responsible for some undesirable side-effects. The possibility of its modulation gives a prospect for controlling the action of this potential drug and probably its derivatives