Spatial and temporal dynamics of Antarctic shallow soft-bottom benthic communities: ecological drivers under climate change

Background: Marine soft sediments are some of the most widespread habitats in the ocean, playing a vital role in global carbon cycling, but are amongst the least studied with regard to species composition and ecosystem functioning. This is particularly true of the Polar Regions, which are currently undergoing rapid climate change, the impacts of which are poorly understood. Compared to other latitudes, Polar sediment habitats also experience additional environmental drivers of strong seasonality and intense disturbance from iceberg scouring, which are major structural forces for hard substratum communities. This study compared sediment assemblages from two coves, near Rothera Point, Antarctic Peninsula, 67°S in order to understand the principal drivers of community structure, for the frst time, evaluating composition across all size classes from mega- to micro-fauna. Results: Morpho-taxonomy identifed 77 macrofaunal species with densities of 464–16,084 individuals m−2 . eDNA metabarcoding of microfauna, in summer only, identifed a higher diversity, 189 metazoan amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) using the 18S ribosomal RNA and 249 metazoan ASVs using the mitochondrial COI gene. Both techniques recorded a greater taxonomic diversity in South Cove than Hangar Cove, with diferences in communities between the coves, although the main taxonomic drivers varied between techniques. Morphotaxonomy identifed the main diferences between coves as the mollusc, Altenaeum charcoti, the cnidarian Edwardsia sp. and the polychaetes from the family cirratulidae. Metabarcoding identifed greater numbers of species of nematodes, crustaceans and Platyhelminthes in South Cove, but more bivalve species in Hangar Cove. There were no detectable diferences in community composition, measured through morphotaxonomy, between seasons, years or due to iceberg disturbance. Conclusions: This study found that unlike hard substratum communities the diversity of Antarctic soft sediment communities is correlated with the same factors as other latitudes. Diversity was signifcantly correlated with grain size and organic content, not iceberg scour. The increase in glacial sediment input as glaciers melt, may therefore be more important than increased iceberg disturbance

Boron and Gadolinium Loaded fe3o4 Nanocarriers for Potential Application in Neutron Cancer Therapy

In this article, a novel method of simultaneous carborane-and gadolinium-containing compounds as efficient agents for neutron capture therapy (NCT) delivery via magnetic nanocarriers is presented. The presence of both Gd and B increases the efficiency of NCT and using nanocarriers enhances selectivity. These factors make NCT not only efficient, but also safe. Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were treated with silane and then the polyelectrolytic layer was formed for fur-ther immobilization of NCT agents. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), ultraviolet–visible (UV-Vis) and Mössbauer spectroscopies, dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM) were applied for the characterization of the chemical and element composition, structure, mor-phology and magnetic properties of nanocarriers. The cytotoxicity effect was evaluated on different cell lines: BxPC-3, PC-3 MCF-7, HepG2 and L929, human skin fibroblasts as normal cells. average size of nanoparticles is 110 nm; magnetization at 1T and coercivity is 43.1 emu/g and 8.1, respectively; the amount of B is 0.077 mg/g and the amount of Gd is 0.632 mg/g. Successful immobilization of NCT agents, their low cytotoxicity against normal cells and selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells as well as the superparamagnetic properties of nanocarriers were confirmed by analyses above. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This study was funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (grant No. AP08051954 "Synthesis and modification of magnetic nanoparticles for targeted delivery of drugs"), Joint Institute for Nuclear Research-Republic of Kazakhstan cooperation program (Order No. 391, 20 July 2020) and grant №M20MC-024 of The Belarusian Republican Foundation for Fundamental Research

Phytosulfokine stimulates cell divisions in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) mesophyll protoplast cultures

The aim of this work was to improve plating efficiency of sugar beet mesophyll protoplast cultures. Preliminary experiments showed that cultures of good quality, viable protoplasts were obtained in rich media based on the Kao and Michayluk formulation and with the calcium alginate as an embedding matrix. Nevertheless, in these cultures cell divisions were either not observed or very seldom confirming earlier reported recalcitrance of sugar beet protoplasts. The recalcitrant status of these cultures was reversed upon application of exogenous phytosulfokine (PSK)—a peptidyl plant growth factor. The highest effectiveness of PSK was observed at 100 nM concentration. Plating efficiencies obtained in the presence of PSK reached approximately 20% of the total cultured cells. The stimulatory effect of phytosulfokine was observed for all tested breeding stocks of sugar beet. Our data indicate that PSK is a powerful agent able to overcome recalcitrance of plant protoplast cultures

Polymorphisms within autophagy-related genes as susceptibility biomarkers for multiple myeloma: a meta-analysis of three large cohorts and functional characterization

Functional data used in this project have been meticulously catalogued and archived in the BBMRI-NL data infrastructure (https://hfgp.bbmri.nl/, accessed on 12 February 2020) using the MOLGENIS open-source platform for scientific data.Multiple myeloma (MM) arises following malignant proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow, that secrete high amounts of specific monoclonal immunoglobulins or light chains, resulting in the massive production of unfolded or misfolded proteins. Autophagy can have a dual role in tumorigenesis, by eliminating these abnormal proteins to avoid cancer development, but also ensuring MM cell survival and promoting resistance to treatments. To date no studies have determined the impact of genetic variation in autophagy-related genes on MM risk. We performed meta-analysis of germline genetic data on 234 autophagy-related genes from three independent study populations including 13,387 subjects of European ancestry (6863 MM patients and 6524 controls) and examined correlations of statistically significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; p < 1 × 10−9) with immune responses in whole blood, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) from a large population of healthy donors from the Human Functional Genomic Project (HFGP). We identified SNPs in six loci, CD46, IKBKE, PARK2, ULK4, ATG5, and CDKN2A associated with MM risk (p = 4.47 × 10−4−5.79 × 10−14). Mechanistically, we found that the ULK4rs6599175 SNP correlated with circulating concentrations of vitamin D3 (p = 4.0 × 10−4), whereas the IKBKErs17433804 SNP correlated with the number of transitional CD24+CD38+ B cells (p = 4.8 × 10−4) and circulating serum concentrations of Monocyte hemoattractant Protein (MCP)-2 (p = 3.6 × 10−4). We also found that the CD46rs1142469 SNP corre lated with numbers of CD19+ B cells, CD19+CD3− B cells, CD5+ IgD− cells, IgM− cells, IgD−IgM− cells, and CD4−CD8− PBMCs (p = 4.9 × 10−4−8.6 × 10−4 ) and circulating concentrations of interleukin (IL)-20 (p = 0.00082). Finally, we observed that the CDKN2Ars2811710 SNP correlated with levels of CD4+EMCD45RO+CD27− cells (p = 9.3 × 10−4 ). These results suggest that genetic variants within these six loci influence MM risk through the modulation of specific subsets of immune cells, as well as vitamin D3−, MCP-2−, and IL20-dependent pathways.This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, N° 856620 and by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and FEDER (Madrid, Spain; PI17/02256 and PI20/01845), Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades and FEDER (PY20/01282), from the CRIS foundation against cancer, from the Cancer Network of Excellence (RD12/10 Red de Cáncer), from the Dietmar Hopp Foundation and the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF: CLIOMMICS [01ZX1309]), and from National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers: R01CA186646, U01CA249955 (EEB).This work was also funded d by Portuguese National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)—project UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020 and by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000055, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Research on Organic Coatings Designed for Underwater Applications

Underwater steel structures require periodic maintenance. In the case of vessels, anti-corrosion works are carried out in the shipyard, where very good conditions for applying organic protective coatings can be provided. Very good surface preparation can be obtained by the use of abrasive blasting. The well-prepared metal surface is free from impurities (particularly inorganic salts). Suitable conditions for the application and renovation of coatings are also ensured (creating appropriate climatic conditions, drying the air, setting the appropriate air temperature). However, there are underwater constructions that cannot be transferred above the water level and, therefore, their conservation against corrosion can take place only under the surface of the water, which significantly hinders the execution of renovation works. In this work, protective coatings for underwater application were tested. The application of coatings on selected steel surfaces over and under the water was carried out. Physico-mechanical and electrochemical tests were carried out in order to assess the quality of the obtained corrosion protection. The possible difficulties faced when applying coatings in marine conditions were discussed

Effects of the preheating laser treatment on microstructure and corrosion resistance of Ti6Al4V bioalloy

The laser remelting of the Ti6Al4V alloy was made on specimens pre-heated at elevated temperatures. The laser treatment effected in change of microstructures of surface layers and an appearance of blisters and numerous cracks. The corrosion tests demonstrated the decrease in corrosion resistance for each preheating temperature. The observed effects were attributed to negative influence of excessive compressive stresses with no substantial relation of cracking phenomenon on pre-heating and its temperature

Ultrasonic Investigations of Inclusion Complexation of α-Cyclodextrin by DMSO in Pseudo-Binary Aqueous System

The paper reports the study of the complexation processes in aqueous solution of α-CD and DMSO. Cyclodextrins (CDs) (sometimes called cycloamyloses) are cyclic oligosaccharides formed by glucose units interconnected by α-(1,4) linkages; α-CD is one of three the most common CDs. It consists of six glucopyranose units. The speed of ultrasonic waves has been measured by the resonance method on ResoscanTM System apparatus. Some collateral data, such as density and heat capacity of the system, have also been measured. On the basis of the experimental data the excess adiabatic compressibility was determined. The extremes of the excess adiabatic compressibility function for different mixture compositions allowed us to establish the composition of molecular complexes formed in the solution. The obtained results suggest the formation of the α-CD with DMSO inclusion complexes with chemical stoichiometric ratio value of 1:1

Determination of the Effect of Environmental Factors on the Corrosion of Water Distribution System Based on Analysis of On-line Corrosion Monitoring Results

Corrosion of water distribution system is a significant issue causing problems with quality, safety and continuity of distribution. The changes of corrosion rates of the water distribution systems in Cracow made of carbon steel were investigated by analysis of online corrosion monitoring system results. Corrosion rates were determined using the linear polarization method. The impactof rain, temperatures, conductivity, dissolved oxygen content on corrosion rate were characterized. The corrosivity of different water sources like mountain water, underground water or river water were indicated. The possible actions for reducing corrosion losses were characterized. Results show that pollution of the environment in the form of acid rain and runoff from agriculture as well as the type of the source water has significant influence on corrosion of water distribution system. Corrosion monitoring system gives possibility of controlling corrosion rate by mixing waters from different sources in the way to obtain less corrosive mixture. (see Fig 8)