Comparison of comet assay parameters for estimation of genotoxicity by sum of ranking differences

Genotoxic potential of waters in six rivers and reservoirs from Serbia was monitored in different tissues of chub (Squalius cephalus L. 1758) with the alkaline comet assay. The comet assay, or a single cell gel electrophoresis, has a wide application as a simple and sensitive method for evaluating DNA damage in fish exposed to various xenobiotics in the aquatic environment. Three types of cells, erythrocytes, gills and liver cells were used for assessing of DNA damage. Images of randomly selected cells were analyzed with a fluorescence microscope Leica and image analysis by software (Comet Assay IV Image analysis system, PI, UK). Three parameters (tail length - l, tail intensity - i and Olive tail moment – m) were analyzed on 1750 nuclei per cell type. The procedure for sum of ranking differences (SRD) was implemented to compare different types of cells and different parameters for estimation of DNA damage. Regarding our nine different estimations of genotoxicity: tail length, intensity and moment in erythrocytes (rel, rei, rem), liver cells (rll, rli, rlm) and gill cells (rgl, rgi, rgm) SRD procedure has shown that the Olive tail moment and tail intensity are (almost) equally good parameters; the SRD value was lower for the tail moment and tail intensity than for tail length in case of all types of cells. The least reliable parameter was rel; close to the borderline case were rei, rll, and rgl (~5% probability of random ranking)

Seasonal variations of microbiological parameters of water quality of the Velika Morava river Serbia

In this study, we investigated the level of sanitary pollution and organic contamination of the Velika Morava River, the largest river in central Serbia. Samples of water for microbiological analysis were collected at 5 sites, monthly, from April 2010 to February 2011. Sanitary analysis, i.e. enumeration of total and fecal coliforms and intestinal enterococci, indicated moderate to critical fecal contamination, while organic load assessment (oligotroph to heterotroph ratio, index of phosphatase activity) revealed the category of moderately polluted water. We also investigated seasonal variations of these groups of bacteria and the factors that could contribute to these differences. Our results showed that the micro- biological quality of the water in the Velika Morava River during different seasons is affected by numerous factors such as unequal loading of wastewaters, solar irradiation, and relations of flow/dilution and rainfall/runoff. [Acknowledgments. This study was financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia: projects No 173025, No 177045 and No 043002.

The anthropogenic impact on water quality of the river Danube in Serbia: Microbiological analysis and genotoxicity monitoring

The aim of this work was to examine the impact of urban wastewaters on the water quality of the Danube River in Serbia. Samples of water and sediments for microbiological analysis and genotoxicity monitoring were collected from 6 sites during spring and/or autumn 2010. Sanitary analysis, i.e. enumeration of total and fecal coliforms and intestinal enterococci, indicated moderate to critical fecal contamination, while organic load assessment (oligotroph to heterotroph ratio, index of phosphatase activity) revealed the category of moderately polluted water. Mercury-resistant bacteria were detected in all water samples, with high numbers at locations positioned downstream of Belgrade. There was no correlation of the microbiological parameters of the sediment and water samples. Genotoxicity monitoring, performed by the comet assay on hemocytes of mussels Sinanodonta woodiana, indicated a significant increase of DNA damage in mussels collected from the studied sites compared with the control group.Projekat ministarstva br. 173025 i br. 4300

Seasonal variations of microbiological parameters of water quality of the Velika Morava river Serbia

In this study, we investigated the level of sanitary pollution and organic contamination of the Velika Morava River, the largest river in central Serbia. Samples of water for microbiological analysis were collected at 5 sites, monthly, from April 2010 to February 2011. Sanitary analysis, i.e. enumeration of total and fecal coliforms and intestinal enterococci, indicated moderate to critical fecal contamination, while organic load assessment (oligotroph to heterotroph ratio, index of phosphatase activity) revealed the category of moderately polluted water. We also investigated seasonal variations of these groups of bacteria and the factors that could contribute to these differences. Our results showed that the micro- biological quality of the water in the Velika Morava River during different seasons is affected by numerous factors such as unequal loading of wastewaters, solar irradiation, and relations of flow/dilution and rainfall/runoff.Projekat ministarstva br. 173025, br. 177045 i br. 04300

The anthropogenic impact on water quality of the river Danube in Serbia: Microbiological analysis and genotoxicity monitoring

The aim of this work was to examine the impact of urban wastewaters on the water quality of the Danube River in Serbia. Samples of water and sediments for microbiological analysis and genotoxicity monitoring were collected from 6 sites during spring and/or autumn 2010. Sanitary analysis, i.e. enumeration of total and fecal coliforms and intestinal enterococci, indicated moderate to critical fecal contamination, while organic load assessment (oligotroph to heterotroph ratio, index of phosphatase activity) revealed the category of moderately polluted water. Mercury-resistant bacteria were detected in all water samples, with high numbers at locations positioned downstream of Belgrade. There was no correlation of the microbiological parameters of the sediment and water samples. Genotoxicity monitoring, performed by the comet assay on hemocytes of mussels Sinanodonta woodiana, indicated a significant increase of DNA damage in mussels collected from the studied sites compared with the control group.Projekat ministarstva br. 173025 i br. 4300

Seasonal variations of microbiological parameters of water quality of the Velika Morava river Serbia

In this study, we investigated the level of sanitary pollution and organic contamination of the Velika Morava River, the largest river in central Serbia. Samples of water for microbiological analysis were collected at 5 sites, monthly, from April 2010 to February 2011. Sanitary analysis, i.e. enumeration of total and fecal coliforms and intestinal enterococci, indicated moderate to critical fecal contamination, while organic load assessment (oligotroph to heterotroph ratio, index of phosphatase activity) revealed the category of moderately polluted water. We also investigated seasonal variations of these groups of bacteria and the factors that could contribute to these differences. Our results showed that the micro- biological quality of the water in the Velika Morava River during different seasons is affected by numerous factors such as unequal loading of wastewaters, solar irradiation, and relations of flow/dilution and rainfall/runoff.Projekat ministarstva br. 173025, br. 177045 i br. 04300

Reproducibility of age determination by scale and vertebra in pontic shad (Alosa pontica Eichwald, 1838), from the Danube

Specimens of Pontic shad (Alosa pontica Eichwald, 1838) were collected during April and May of 2006 in the Danube River (rkm 863) just downstream of the Iron Gate (Djerdap) II dam. Twenty-eight scales and 30 vertebrae were prepared and given to five interpreters with fish aging experience of from 3 to 30 years and with shad aging experience of from 0 to 12 years. Interpreters with experience in shad age determination showed lower values for the index of average percent error (IAPE) and an index of coefficient of variation (ICV). In regard to within-interpreter reproducibility, no significant differences were found between scale and vertebrae as structure for age determination. The most experienced reader showed the lowest value for IAPE, while the least experienced reader showed the highest value for IAPE. The results of this work indicate that experience in age determination by particular structure had more impact on age determination precision than specificity of structure, scale or vertebra. More work is needed on adopting standard protocols that must include some sort of common interaction between responsible age readers.U ovoj studiji analizirana je primenljivost starosne determinacije pomoću krljušti i pršljenova kod Alosa pontica Eichwald, 1838 iz Dunava. Neophodno je više studija o sačinjavanju standardnih protokola koji bi bili evaluirani od strane kompetentnih stručnjaka.Projekat ministarstva br. 14304

Klimatske promene i nacionalna odbrana

Climate change, as one of the greatest challenges facing the contemporary society, continues to attract the attention of both political and scientific community for a rather long time. The variability of climate change consequences, as well as their effects on the environment and humanity, are on the agenda of most international conferences, and discussions on possible strategies for reducing their impact have been held both at national and international levels. However, most of these discussions are restricted mainly to the effects of climate change caused in the environment and, in this framework, to the effects that such changes might have on people's lives in terms of availability of basic supplies and resources. It had been rather long before the consideration of the impact of climate change exceeded the scope of environmental study, and in recent years the awareness of the impacts of climate change on the organization and functioning of national defense, especially in developed countries, has significantly increased. The changed nature of threats poses high standards before systems of defense in terms of capacities and capabilities for providing an effective response. The fact that climate change is affecting different segments of human civilization, which ultimately has an impact on the fulfillment of the mission of defense, necessarily imposes the need to put more efforts in addressing this issue in the future. Therefore, this paper aims, by considering some of the dominant climate change tendencies, to explore their impact on the functioning of the defense in the changing environmental conditions.Klimatske promene, kao jedan od najvećih izazova sa kojim se suočava savremeno društvo, već duže vreme ne prestaju da zaokupljaju pažnju, kako političke, tako i naučne javnosti. Varijabilnost posledica klimatskih promena, kao i njihovi efekti na životnu sredinu i čovečanstvo, nalaze se na agendi većine međunarodnih skupova, a diskusije o mogućim strategijama za redukciju njihovog uticaja vode se, kako na nacionalnom, tako i na međunarodnom nivou. Ipak, većina ovakvih diskusija ograničavala se pretežno na efekte koje klimatske promene izazivaju u životnoj sredini i, u okviru toga, na efekte koje takve promene mogu imati na život ljudi u smislu dostupnosti osnovnih namirnica i resursa. Prošlo je dosta vremena dok razmatranje posledica klimatskih promena nije izašlo iz okvira studija zaštite životne sredine, a u poslednjih nekoliko godina posebno je evidentan porast svesti o uticaju klimatskih promena na organizovanje i funkcionisanje nacionalne odbrane, posebno u razvijenim zemljama. Promenjena priroda pretnji postavlja pred sistem odbrane visoke standarde u pogledu kapaciteta i sposobnosti za efikasan odgovor na njih, a činjenica da klimatske promene pogađaju različite segmente ljudske civilizacije, što u krajnjoj liniji ima uticaja na ispunjavanje misije odbrane, nužno nameće potrebu da se ovoj problematici ubuduće posveti više pažnje. Zato, ovaj rad ima za cilj da, razmatranjem nekih od dominantnih trendova u kretanju klimatskih promena, analizira njihov uticaj na funkcionisanje odbrane u promenjenim ambijentalnim uslovima

INFLUENCE OF HIGH SUMMER TEMPERATURES ON REDUCED FISH PRODUCTION IN FISH PONDS OF EASTERN CROATIA

Problem nedovoljnih količina vode i visoke temperature vode u ljetnim mjesecima u ribnjacima istočne Hrvatske (od 1. 7. do 1. 9. 1998.), utjecao je na smanjenu proizvodnju (prirast) riba u ribnjačarstvima. Temperature zraka od preko 30°C, te povećano zagrijavanje vode bili su uzrokom povećanog potroška hrane, a manjeg prirasta, kao i povećanih troškova crpnih postaja, troškova vezanih za oplemenjivanje vodenih površina s kisikom, te uzrokom manjeg ili većeg pomora ribe, kao i pogoršana zdravstvenog stanja nasada. Sve je ovo uzrokovalo smanjeni prirast kod riba u ribnjacima. Na 825 ha površina pod jednogodišnjim mlađem u ribnjačarstvima u istočnoj Hrvatskoj, kao i na 1.208 ha dvogodišnjeg mlađa i 2.637 ha ribnjaka s konzumnom ribom, smanjena je prosječno proizvodnja, i to: za jednogodišnji mlađ 36,0%, za dvogodišnji mlađ 30,0% i za konzumnu ribu 27,50%. Na osnovi ukupne procjene smanjenja prirasta i manjega broja kilograma proizvedene ribe, a na temelju prosječnih prodajnih vrijednosti ribe, ribnjačarstva su imala smanjenu realizaciju pretvorenu u kune za 24.230.079,00 kuna. Na osnovi ovih pokazatelja zaključuje se da je utjecaj visokih ljetnih temperatura prouzročio elementarnu nepogodu za proizvođače ribe istočne Hrvatske, te se može postaviti opravdani zahtjev za nadoknadu učinjene štete.The problem of insufficient quantities and high temperature of water during the summer months (1st July to 1st September 1998) in the fish ponds of Eastern Croatia had as a consequence a reduced production (growth) of fish in the fish ponds. Air temperatures higher than 30 °C and warming up of water were the causes of a larger food consumption and smaller growth, as well as of an increase in expenses connected with pump stations and with aeration of the water, and they have also caused a higher or lower death-rate of fish and a deterioration of the health condition of the fry setting. All this has resulted in a smaller growth of fish in fishponds. On the 825 ha of fish ponds with one year old fingerlings in Eastern Croatia, as well as on the 1,208 ha of fish ponds with two year old fingerlings and 2,637 ha of fish ponds with fish for the market the production was on the average reduced as follows: in one year old fingerlings it was reduced by 36,0%, in two year old fish by 30,0% and in the fish for the market by 27,5%. On the basis of the total assessment of the reduction of growth and of a smaller number of kilograms of produced fish founded on the average sale value of fish the fish ponds recorded a drop in realization which - converted into money - was reduced by 24,230.079,00 kn. These indicators lead to the conclusion that the influence of high summer temperatures had the effect of natural disaster for fish producers in Eastern Croatia and therefore they have a justified right to demand compensation for the damage they have suffered