Settling distances of benthic invertebrates in a sediment mobilization simulation in semi-natural flumes

Drift time and distance depend on the ability of the drifting invertebrates to alter their body posture or by swimming, and these behaviors may change according to the local hydraulic environment, resulting in different distances travelled before exiting the drift. Such drift and settlement mediated invertebrate movement determine dispersal processes and ultimately generates distribution patterns within streams. We conducted an experiment in an open-air, artificial flume system directly fed by an Alpine stream, where we disturbed the sediment in the flumes, inducing catastrophic drift in the benthic community, and then assessed the settlement distances of benthic invertebrates. For each flume, we collected drift samples by disturbing the substrate at 1.5 m intervals, at increasing distance from the downstream end, for a total of 7 disturbances and a maximum settling distance of 10 m in each flume, with five replicates (i.e., five flumes) for each disturbance. The disturbances induced a massive catastrophic drift in Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera, always higher than the behaviorally-occurring basedrift. The Settling Index calculated over the total drift collected at each distance increased with increasing distance, and after 10 m, 90% of the drifting animals had settled. Evenness and taxa richness progressively decrease with increasing settling distance. All drifting taxa were represented mainly by young instars. We used the drift collected at 1 m from the disturbance to standardize the remaining samples, based on the assumption that 1 m is not a distance long enough to allow animals to settle at that water velocity. We calculated the percentage of possible drifters which settled by computing a Settling Index for each taxon. The drifting taxa listed by decreasing Settling Index scores were Epeorus sp., Rhithrogena semicolorata, Isoperla spp., Sericostoma spp., Ecdyonurus spp., Nemoura spp., Leuctra spp., Baetis spp., Hydropsyche spp., Rhyacophila spp. We have shown, in accordance with numerous other studies, that entrained EPT nymphs travel only short distances before returning to the substratum, and that the actual distance travelled while drifting and the total time spent in drift varies between species. The results of this study can provide suggestions to assess taxon-specific availability to colonization which generates distribution patterns within streams and, on a smaller scale (i.e., flume simulations), our results can be extrapolated to other studies conducted in artificial flumes, or to support evidences from field studies.</p

Obituary of Dr. Angelo Di George

[No abstract available

Ciclamato em adoçantes de mesa: risco de ultrapassar a dose diária admissível

O presente trabalho teve por objetivos a determinação do teor de ciclamato em diferentes adoçantes de mesa e a consequente avaliação do risco de ultrapassar a DDA pelo consumo destes produtos

Polyhydroxyalkanoates Production by Mixed Microbial Culture under High Salinity

PTDC/BTA-BTA/30902/2017 UIDP/04378/2020 UIDB/04378/2020 LA/P/0140/2020The fishing industry produces vast amounts of saline organic side streams that require adequate treatment and disposal. The bioconversion of saline resources into value-added products, such as biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), has not yet been fully explored. This study investigated PHA production by mixed microbial cultures under 30 gNaCl/L, the highest NaCl concentration reported for the acclimatization of a PHA-accumulating mixed microbial culture (MMC). The operational conditions used during the culture-selection stage resulted in an enriched PHA-accumulating culture dominated by the Rhodobacteraceae family (95.2%) and capable of storing PHAs up to 84.1% wt. (volatile suspended solids (VSS) basis) for the highest organic loading rate (OLR) applied (120 Cmmol/(L.d)). This culture presented a higher preference for the consumption of valeric acid (0.23 ± 0.03 CmolHVal/(CmolX.h)), and the 3HV monomer polymerization (0.33 ± 0.04 CmmolHV/(CmmolX.h) was higher as well. As result, a P(3HB-co-3HV)) with high HV content (63% wt.) was produced in the accumulation tests conducted at higher OLRs and with 30 gNaCl/L. A global volumetric PHA productivity of 0.77 gPHA/(L.h) and a specific PHA productivity of 0.21 gPHA/(gX.h) were achieved. These results suggested the significant potential of the bioconversion of saline resources into value-added products, such as PHAs.publishersversionpublishe

Trypanocidal activity of tioamide-sustituted imidazoisoquinolinones: Electrochemical properties and biological effects

Three thioamide-substituted imidazoisoquinolinones, which possess an heterocyclic center similar to tryptanthrin and are named C1, C2 and C3, were studied regarding: a) its in vitro anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity, b) its cytotoxicity and electrochemical behaviour and c) its effect on cell viability, redox state and mitochondrial function . The assayed compounds showed a significant activity against the proliferative forms, but only C1 showed activity on the trypomastigote form (for C1, IC50 epi = 1.49 µM; IC50 amas = 1.74 µM and IC50 try = 34.89 µM). The presence of an antioxidant compound such as ascorbic acid or dithiotreitol induced a three-fold increase in the antiparasitic activity, whereas glutathione had a dual effect depending on its concentration. Our results indicate that these compounds, which exhibited low toxicity to the host cells, can be reduced inside the parasite by means of the pool of low molecular weight thiols, causing oxidative stress and parasite death by apoptosis. The antiparasitic activity of the compounds studied could be explained by a loss of the capacity of the antioxidant defense system of the parasite to keep its intracellular redox state. C1 could be considered a good candidate for in vivo evaluation .Fil: Frank, Fernanda Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cienti­ficas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral "Profesor R. A. Margni"; ArgentinaFil: Ciccarelli, Allejandra Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Investigacion Sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias; ArgentinaFil: Bollini, Mariela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Bruno, Ana M.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Batlle, Alcira Maria del C.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Investigacion Sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias; ArgentinaFil: Lombardo, Maria Elisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Investigacion Sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentin