Cross-Comparison of Climate Change adaptation Strategies Across Large River Basins in Europe, Africa and Asia

A cross-comparison of climate change adaptation strategies across regions was performed, considering six large river basins as case study areas. Three of the basins, namely the Elbe, Guadiana, and Rhine, are located in Europe, the Nile Equatorial Lakes region and the Orange basin are in Africa, and the Amudarya basin is in Central Asia. The evaluation was based mainly on the opinions of policy makers and water management experts in the river basins. The adaptation strategies were evaluated considering the following issues: expected climate change, expected climate change impacts, drivers for development of adaptation strategy, barriers for adaptation, state of the implementation of a range of water management measures, and status of adaptation strategy implementation. The analysis of responses and cross-comparison were performed with rating the responses where possible. According to the expert opinions, there is an understanding in all six regions that climate change is happening. Different climate change impacts are expected in the basins, whereas decreasing annual water availability, and increasing frequency and intensity of droughts (and to a lesser extent floods) are expected in all of them. According to the responses, the two most important drivers for development of adaptation strategy are: climate-related disasters, and national and international policies. The following most important barriers for adaptation to climate change were identified by responders: spatial and temporal uncertainties in climate projections, lack of adequate financial resources, and lack of horizontal cooperation. The evaluated water resources management measures are on a relatively high level in the Elbe and Rhine basins, followed by the Orange and Guadiana. It is lower in the Amudarya basin, and the lowest in the NEL region, where many measures are only at the planning stage. Regarding the level of adaptation strategy implementation, it can be concluded that the adaptation to climate change has started in all basins, but progresses rather slowl

Immunomodulatory effects of tick saliva on dermal cells exposed to \u3cem\u3eBorrelia burgdorferi\u3c/em\u3e, the agent of Lyme disease

Background: The prolonged feeding process of ixodid ticks, in combination with bacterial transmission, should lead to a robust inflammatory response at the blood-feeding site. Yet, factors present in tick saliva may down-regulate such responses, which may be beneficial to spirochete transmission. The primary goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that tick saliva, in the context of Borrelia burgdorferi, can have widespread effects on the production of immune mediators in skin. Methods: A cross-section of tick feeding on skin was examined histologically. Human THP-1 cells stimulated with B. burgdorferi and grown in the presence or absence of tick saliva were examined by human DNA microarray, cytokine bead array, sandwich ELISA, and qRT-PCR. Similar experiments were also conducted using dermal fibroblasts. Results: Tick feeding on skin showed dermal infiltration of histiocytes and granulocytes at the bite location. Changes in monocytic transcript levels during co-culture with B. burgdorferi and saliva indicated that tick saliva had a suppressive effect on the expression of certain pro-inflammatory mediators, such as IL-8 (CXCL8) and TLR2, but had a stimulatory effect on specific molecules such as the Interleukin 10 receptor, alpha subunit (IL-10RA), a known mediator of the immunosuppressive signal of IL-10. Stimulated cell culture supernatants were analyzed via antigen-capture ELISA and cytokine bead array for inflammatory mediator production. Treatment of monocytes with saliva significantly reduced the expression of several key mediators including IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha. Tick saliva had an opposite effect on dermal fibroblasts. Rather than inhibiting, saliva enhanced production of pro-inflammatory mediators, including IL-8 and IL-6 from these sentinel skin cells. Conclusions: The effects of ixodid tick saliva on resident skin cells is cell type-dependent. The response to both tick and pathogen at the site of feeding favors pathogen transmission, but may not be wholly suppressed by tick saliva

Between but not within species variation in the distribution of fitness effects

New mutations provide the raw material for evolution and adaptation. The distribution of fitness effects (DFE) describes the spectrum of effects of new mutations that can occur along a genome, and is therefore of vital interest in evolutionary biology. Recent work has uncovered striking similarities in the DFE between closely related species, prompting us to ask whether there is variation in the DFE among populations of the same species, or among species with different degrees of divergence, i.e., whether there is variation in the DFE at different levels of evolution. Using exome capture data from six tree species sampled across Europe we characterised the DFE for multiple species, and for each species, multiple populations, and investigated the factors potentially influencing the DFE, such as demography, population divergence and genetic background. We find statistical support for there being variation in the DFE at the species level, even among relatively closely related species. However, we find very little difference at the population level, suggesting that differences in the DFE are primarily driven by deep features of species biology, and that evolutionarily recent events, such as demographic changes and local adaptation, have little impact

Scientific significance of visualisation methods for expression of selected attributes of landscape character of the High Tatra Mountains

The contribution deals with scientific interpretation of visual characteristics of the landscape, which was not very discussed theme until today. Our study concerns the landscape of the High Tatra Mountains. Emphasis is put on anthropogenically influenced settlement areas, with markedly displayed objects of travel movement with downhill courses. We assess visual characteristics of the landscape as landform configuration and land-cover structure composition, in order to express basic visual characteristics of the studied area. Research works in the field were important element of our research, being followed by a phase of data processing. We selected one of exposed localities with high anthropogenic influence in the High Tatras. It is a locality situated between settlement of Tatranská Lomnica and slopes below and above the Skalnaté pleso Lake. We identified visual fields (visual sectors and zones), from where are characteristic views on the mountains. We visualised landforms in their context to geological structure in a 3D model. The results obtained in this case study may be applied as a basis for environmental impact assessment (EIA) and can lead to eventual propositions of new design of downhill courses in visual exposed areas