High Seroprevalence of CMV Among Women of Childbearing Age Implicates High Burden of Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection in Poland

Cytomegaloviruses are common worldwide, with variable frequency of infections. The infection in pregnancy may lead to pregnancy loss or serious sequelae for the child. To understand the risk posed by CMV in Poland we conducted cross-sectional study on women aged 15–49 basing on existing serum bank. Age dependent CMV incidence, the rates of congenital infection and sequelae were modelled from sero-prevalence, literature and demographic data. The overall anti-CMV IgG prevalence was 81.9% increasing from 74.3% in < 30 years old to 94.3% in subjects 45+ years old. The lowest incidence was estimated at the age of 15 and the highest at the age 34 (3.8 and 8.95 respec­tively/100 women/year). The estimated rate of cCMV varies from 22.4 to 37.2 per 1000 live birth depending on the assumptions made. The proportion of cases due to secondary infection ranged from 34.8% to 49.9% accordingly

Temperature Effects Explain Continental Scale Distribution of Cyanobacterial Toxins

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their potency. Most studies examine the relationship between individual toxin variants and environmental factors, such as nutrients, temperature and light. In summer 2015, we collected samples across Europe to investigate the effect of nutrient and temperature gradients on the variability of toxin production at a continental scale. Direct and indirect effects of temperature were the main drivers of the spatial distribution in the toxins produced by the cyanobacterial community, the toxin concentrations and toxin quota. Generalized linear models showed that a Toxin Diversity Index (TDI) increased with latitude, while it decreased with water stability. Increases in TDI were explained through a significant increase in toxin variants such as MC-YR, anatoxin and cylindrospermopsin, accompanied by a decreasing presence of MC-LR. While global warming continues, the direct and indirect effects of increased lake temperatures will drive changes in the distribution of cyanobacterial toxins in Europe, potentially promoting selection of a few highly toxic species or strains.Peer reviewe

The response of water ecosystem to the restoration treatments – Swarzędzkie Lake case study

Wydział BiologiiPrzyspieszona eutrofizacja i pogarszająca się jakość wód jeziora powoduje, że konieczne jest poszukiwanie skutecznych sposobów rekultywacji. Mimo wieloletnich badań, funkcjonowanie ekosystemów wodnych w trakcie procesu rekultywacji jest jeszcze niewystarczająco poznane. Poniższa praca uzupełnia stan wiedzy dotyczący zmian parametrów fizycznych i chemicznych wody, reakcji fitoplanktonu oraz makrofitów w płytkim, miejskim jeziorze na zrównoważoną rekultywację opartą na stosowaniu kilku metod równocześnie: inaktywacji fosforu, natlenianiu wód naddennych i biomanipulacji. W trakcie trzyletnich badań wód Jeziora Swarzędzkiego zaobserwowano przebudowę składu fitoplanktonu (wzrost liczebności złotowiciowców i zielenic, eliminacja bądź ograniczenie sinicowych zakwitów wody), zmniejszenie powierzchni zajmowanej przez fitocenozy charakterystyczne dla wysokiej trofii – Ceratophylletum demersi, Hydrocharitetum morsus-ranae i Typhetum angustifoliae oraz powrót elodeidów występujących przed degradacją zbiornika – Potametum lucentis. Zmiany te wynikały ze zwiększenia zasięgu promieniowania słonecznego oraz zmniejszenia stężeń nutrientów. Stwierdzono też skrócenie okresu beztlenowego w warstwie naddennej oraz obniżenie koncentracji azotu oraz fosforanów przy dnie jeziora. W ciągu trzech lat prowadzenia zrównoważonej rekultywacji nastąpiła poprawa jakości wód w Jeziorze Swarzędzkim, jednakże stan ten nie jest jeszcze na tyle stabilny, aby móc zaprzestać prowadzenia dalszych działań ochronnych i rekultywacyjnych.Accelerated eutrophication and deterioration of lake water quality require effective restoration methods. Despite many years of research, the functioning of aquatic ecosystems during the restoration process is still insufficiently understood. The following work complements the state of the art of changes of physical and chemical parameters and phytoplankton as well as macrophytes responses in shallow, urban lake to sustainable restoration based on several methods, applied simultaneously (phosphorus inactivation, oxygenation and biomanipulation). During the three-year study of Swarzędzkie Lake, the reconstruction of the phytoplankton composition (increase the abundance of chrysophytes and green algae, elimination or limitation of cyanobacterial water blooms), reduction of the area occupied by hypereutrophic phytocenoses – Ceratophylletum demersi, Hydrocharitetum morsus-ranae and Typhetum angustifoliae and return of elodeids, i.e. Potametum lucentis, were observed. These changes resulted from improved water quality, mainly from increased solar radiation and decrease of nutrient concentration. The anaerobic period in the deep water layer was also shortened and nitrogen and phosphate concentrations at the bottom were reduced. Within three years of sustainable restoration the water quality of Swarzędzkie Lake has improved, however, its state is not yet stable enough to be able to stop further protection and restoration activities

Response of vegetation to growing recreational pressure in the shallow Raczyńskie Lake

Strong human impact accelerates eutrophication which deteriorates water quality and consequently prevents recreational use. Increasing trophy and low transparency induce macrophyte rebuilding. A gradual transformation of the land use of the direct catchment area of Raczyńskie Lake from agricultural to recreational has been observed over the last 45 years. In built-up areas sewage facilities were inadequate and septic tanks did not work properly and as a consequence most wastewater was able to infiltrate through the ground into the lake. The lake ecosystem became unstable and water blooms intensified. The aim of the study was to assess the changes in the composition of the lake vegetation over the last 45 years, during which the use of the direct catchment has changed and recreational pressure increased. A reduction of the number of plant communities from 24 to 15 and the disappearance of almost all the submerged vegetation was observed. The dominant reed beds (Phragmitetum communis, Typhetum angustifoliae) were unable to provide a sufficient barrier to the flow of pollution from the catchment because of the numerous gaps made for angling piers, bathing sites, jetties, etc. The macrophyte index indicated a bad ecological status. To improve the ecological status of Raczyńskie Lake it is necessary to introduce intensive protection and restoration treatments

Response of vegetation to growing recreational pressure in the shallow Raczyńskie Lake

Strong human impact accelerates eutrophication which deteriorates water quality and consequently prevents recreational use. Increasing trophy and low transparency induce macrophyte rebuilding. A gradual transformation of the land use of the direct catchment area of Raczyńskie Lake from agricultural to recreational has been observed over the last 45 years. In built-up areas sewage facilities were inadequate and septic tanks did not work properly and as a consequence most wastewater was able to infiltrate through the ground into the lake. The lake ecosystem became unstable and water blooms intensified. The aim of the study was to assess the changes in the composition of the lake vegetation over the last 45 years, during which the use of the direct catchment has changed and recreational pressure increased. A reduction of the number of plant communities from 24 to 15 and the disappearance of almost all the submerged vegetation was observed. The dominant reed beds (Phragmitetum communis, Typhetum angustifoliae) were unable to provide a sufficient barrier to the flow of pollution from the catchment because of the numerous gaps made for angling piers, bathing sites, jetties, etc. The macrophyte index indicated a bad ecological status. To improve the ecological status of Raczyńskie Lake it is necessary to introduce intensive protection and restoration treatments

Modern technologies in archaeology with the example of grave complex no. 55 from Tell el-Farkha, Egypt

Burial enclosure no. 55 from Tell el-Farkha belongs to the most interesting sepulchral structures discovered at the site. Despite its monumental architectural form and rich offerings the actual state, in which the construction was found, makes that typical archaeological methods of its presentation do not render its full magnificence. Modern digital technologies, with the possibility of computer generated 3D reconstructions of such structures, permit to supplement 2D plans and photographs. As an effect, thanks to combination of classic documentation and virtual reconstruction, a possibly complete picture of an ancient structure, which has lost its original form long ago, may be regained

Food and Drink in the Early Egyptian Funeral Tradition : the Case of Tell el‑Farkha

The site of Tell el‑Farkha is located in the Eastern Nile Delta. The Polish Archaeological Expedition to the Eastern Nile Delta’s excavation project conducted there revealed over 150 graves with various remains of food offerings dated to the 4th millennium BC. Some of the goods were found in the form of actual ready-to-eat dishes; the presence of others is only suggested by particular types of pottery packaging, and some seem to be substituted by symbolic items. The popularity and diversity of food and drink (for example wine, beer, bread, cereals, meat, or fish) deposited in tombs evolved over time reflecting deeper changes within early Egyptian society. The picture is complemented by comparative data from settlement layers, which proves that edibles offered to the dead were local products. In order to illustrate this kind of activity, examples of brewing and bread baking facilities are briefly discussed. Finally, some reconstructed food production processes, believed to have been practiced at the site, are presented

Gifts of the Nile : materials that shaped the early Egyptian burial tradition

We are used to thinking about ancient Egypt as "the gift of the Nile."However, in the light of recent field research the famous sentence by Herodotus finds a more profound explanation. The idea of the "gift" may be easily extended from abundance of water in the land surrounded by desert and fertile river mud turning Egypt into the granary of the ancient world to a variety of materials, which were used with the typical ancient Egyptian creativity to build monuments of their civilization, houses but also tombs. The cemetery of Tell el-Farkha serves as an example since it preserved numerous graves of the Proto- and Early Dynastic date, each of them constructed of locally available sources. The abundant materials such as mud, straw, and reed were the base for construction of all typical burial elements of differentiated value, varying according to the amount of work engaged and the level of technological innovation applied. In fact, the materials became the basic factor that shaped Egyptian burial tradition, influencing the form of canonical graves. A closer analysis of all materials used for an early Egyptian burial shows that the idea of value was much more complex than was previously accepted. Foreign resources were highly valued, but technology was also important for the Egyptians and the final effect mattered at least equally, if not even more than the price and rarity of applied materials. Our excavation project was supported by experimental archaeological undertakings, as well as ethnographic studies, which gave us more data to better interpret the economic and social meaning of the ancient materials used as structural elements and furnishing for early Egyptian tombs

“Another brick in the wall” or how to build an Ancient Egyptian house

In an attempt to answer many practical questions related to mudbrick production, this paper sets forth an experimental approach relevant to the technique used in Late Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt. The paper surveys possible sources of information on the ancient technique and previous experimental approaches. Then, it presents the experiment methodology and the resulting observations and calculations, which were later used as a standard for simulations of time and workload needed to construct particular types of structures excavated in Tell el-Farkha. Our most important observations are the widely underestimated stage of seasoning, the problem of accessibility of space for brick drying, transportation of ready-to-use bricks to the construction site and calculations we made based on numbers obtained during the experimental brick production. Our simulations show that building monumental structures needed communal effort, while household structures could have been built by the people who intended to use them for their own needs