Rozhovor Britských listů 467. Jak otrava Bečvy odhalila katastrofální stav zákona v ČR [Britské listy Interview 467. How the poisoning of the Bečva river revealed a catastrophic state of the law in the Czech Republic]

The poisoning of the Bečva river by an industrial pollutant in September 2020, when about 40 000 fish died there, will never be properly investigated and the culprit will never be found due to the absolute collapse of Czech law. This is a warning given by biologist Professor Jakub Hruška in an interview with Jan Čulík. This Britské listy Interview was broadcast by the Czech cable TV station Regionalnitelevize.cz on 11th February 2022

Proceedings of the 29th Task Force meeting of the ICP Waters Programme in Český Krumlov, Czech Republic 1st –3rd October, 2013 (ICP Waters report 117/2014)

The report contains Proceedings of the 29th Task Force meeting of the ICP Waters Programme in Český Krumlov, Czech Republic, October 1 – 3, 2013, including national contributions from Armenia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Norway and Russia and Switzerlan

Impacts of Air Pollution on Freshwater Acidification under Future Emission Reduction Scenarios; ICP Waters contribution to WGE report (ICP Waters report 108/2011)

The UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) is currently working on a revision of the Gothenburg protocol. ICP Waters has used the dynamic model MAGIC to evaluate the effects of future deposition scenarios (COB2020 (current legislation), Low*2020, Mid*2020, High*2020, and MFR2020 (maximum technically feasible reduction) on surface waters. These five deposition scenarios are very similar to one another and represent substantial decreases in deposition for the year 2020 relative to the base year 2000. At all sites the modelled results indicate that chemical recovery will continue into the future. At all but the most acid sensitive sites acid neutralising capacity (ANC) will increase to levels above the critical level for biological damage. Additional improvements in water quality can be obtained in the future with emission reductions beyond MFR2020.Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agenc

Nitrogen, organic carbon and sulfur cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: linking nitrogen saturation to carbon limitation of soil microbial processes

Elevated and chronic nitrogen (N) deposition to N-limited terrestrial ecosystems can lead to ‘N saturation’, with resultant ecosystem damage and leaching of nitrate (NO3 −) to surface waters. Present-day N deposition, however, is often a poor predictor of NO3 − leaching, and the pathway of the ecosystem transition from N-limited to N-saturated remains incompletely understood. The dynamics of N cycling are intimately linked to the associated carbon (C) and sulphur (S) cycles. We hypothesize that N saturation is associated with shifts in the microbial community, manifest by a decrease in the fungi-to-bacteria ratio and a transition from N to C limitation. Three mechanisms could lead to lower amount of bioavailable dissolved organic C (DOC) for the microbial community and to C limitation of N-rich systems: (1) Increased abundance of N for plant uptake, causing lower C allocation to plant roots; (2) chemical suppression of DOC solubility by soil acidification; and (3) enhanced mineralisation of DOC due to increased abundance of electron acceptors in the form of TeX and NO3 − in anoxic soil micro-sites. Here we consider each of these mechanisms, the extent to which their hypothesised impacts are consistent with observations from intensively-monitored sites, and the potential to improve biogeochemical models by incorporating mechanistic links to the C and S cycles

Data publication: Tailoring pulsed laser deposition fabricated copper oxide film by controlling plasma parameters

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy data from beamtime at ELB

Regional assessment of the current extent of acidification of surface waters in Europe and North America

Project manager Kari AustnesThe current status of surface water acidification related to air pollution in Europe and North America has been assessed using country reports, monitoring data, critical loads and exceedance data, acid sensitivity and deposition maps, and data reported under the European Commission’s Water Framework Directive (WFD). Acidification is still observed in many countries, but the extent and severity vary. Maps of acid sensitivity and deposition suggest that surface water acidification is present in regions and countries for which no data or reports were delivered for the current assessment. Existing national monitoring varies in the ability to assess the spatial extent of acidification and the recovery responses of acidified sites. The monitoring requirements under the European Union’s National Emission Ceilings Directive are expected to reverse the recent decline in the number of monitoring sites observed in some countries. The information reported under the WFD is currently of limited value in assessing the extent of acidification of surface waters in Europe. Chemical recovery in response to reductions in acid deposition can be slow, and biological recovery can lag severely behind. Despite large and effective efforts across Europe and North America to reduce surface water acidification, air pollution still constitutes a threat to freshwater ecosystems.Norwegian Environment Agency (Miljødirektoratet) United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)publishedVersio

Targeted mass spectrometry for monitoring of neural differentiation.

Human multipotent neural stem cells could effectively be used for the treatment of a variety of neurological disorders. However, a defining signature of neural stem cell lines that would be expandable, non-tumorigenic, and differentiate into desirable neuronal/glial phenotype after in vivo grafting is not yet defined. Employing a mass spectrometry approach, based on selected reaction monitoring, we tested a panel of well-described culture conditions, and measured levels of protein markers routinely used to probe neural differentiation, i.e. POU5F1 (OCT4), SOX2, NES, DCX, TUBB3, MAP2, S100B, GFAP, GALC, and OLIG1. Our multiplexed assay enabled us to simultaneously identify the presence of pluripotent, multipotent, and lineage-committed neural cells, thus representing a powerful tool to optimize novel and highly specific propagation and differentiation protocols. The multiplexing capacity of this method permits the addition of other newly identified cell type-specific markers to further increase the specificity and quantitative accuracy in detecting targeted cell populations. Such an expandable assay may gain the advantage over traditional antibody-based assays, and represents a method of choice for quality control of neural stem cell lines intended for clinical use