Effects of seawater scrubbing on a microplanktonic community during a summer-bloom in the Baltic Sea

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has gradually applied stricter regulations on the maximum sulphur content permitted in marine fuels and from January 1, 2020, the global fuel sulphur limit was reduced from 3.5% to 0.5%. An attractive option for shipowners is to install exhaust gas cleaning systems, also known as scrubbers, and continue to use high sulphur fuel oil. In the scrubber, the exhausts are led through a fine spray of water, in which sulphur oxides are easily dissolved. The process results in large volumes of acidic discharge water, but while regulations are focused on sulphur oxides removal and acidification, other pollutants e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metals and nitrogen oxides can be transferred from the exhausts to the washwater and discharged to the marine environment. The aim of the current study was to investigate how different treatments of scrubber discharge water (1, 3 and 10%) affect a natural Baltic Sea summer microplanktonic community. To resolve potential contribution of acidification from the total effect of the scrubber discharge water, “pH controls” were included where the pH of natural sea water was reduced to match the scrubber treatments. Biological effects (e.g. microplankton species composition, biovolume and primary productivity) and chemical parameters (e.g. pH and alkalinity) were monitored and analysed during 14 days of exposure. Significant effects were observed in the 3% scrubber treatment, with more than 20% increase in total biovolume of microplankton compared to the control group, and an even greater effect in the 10% scrubber treatment. Group-specific impacts were recorded where diatoms, flagellates incertae sedis, chlorophytes and ciliates increased in biovolume with increasing concentrations of scrubber water while no effect was recorded for cyanobacteria. In contrast, these effects was not observed in the “pH controls”, a suggestion that other parameters/stressors in the scrubber water were responsible for the observed effects

Placental determinants of fetal growth: identification of key factors in the insulin-like growth factor and cytokine systems using artificial neural networks

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Changes and relationships of components of the cytokine and IGF systems have been shown in placenta and cord serum of fetal growth restricted (FGR) compared with normal newborns (AGA). This study aimed to analyse a data set of clinical and biochemical data in FGR and AGA newborns to assess if a mathematical model existed and was capable of identifying these two different conditions in order to identify the variables which had a mathematically consistent biological relevance to fetal growth.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Whole villous tissue was collected at birth from FGR (N = 20) and AGA neonates (N = 28). Total RNA was extracted, reverse transcribed and then real-time quantitative (TaqMan) RT-PCR was performed to quantify cDNA for IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2 and IL-6. The corresponding proteins with TNF-α in addition were assayed in placental lysates using specific kits. The data were analysed using Artificial Neural Networks (supervised networks), and principal component analysis and connectivity map.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The IGF system and IL-6 allowed to predict FGR in approximately 92% of the cases and AGA in 85% of the cases with a low number of errors. IGF-II, IGFBP-2, and IL-6 content in the placental lysates were the most important factors connected with FGR. The condition of being FGR was connected mainly with the IGF-II placental content, and the latter with IL-6 and IGFBP-2 concentrations in placental lysates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that further research in humans should focus on these biochemical data. Furthermore, this study offered a critical revision of previous studies. The understanding of this system biology is relevant to the development of future therapeutical interventions possibly aiming at reducing IL-6 and IGFBP-2 concentrations preserving IGF bioactivity in both placenta and fetus.</p

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

Measurement of the angular coefficients in Z-boson events using electron and muon pairs from data taken at √s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The angular distributions of Drell-Yan charged lepton pairs in the vicinity of the Z-boson mass peak probe the underlying QCD dynamics of Z-boson production. This paper presents a measurement of the complete set of angular coefficients A0−7 describing these distributions in the Z-boson Collins-Soper frame. The data analysed correspond to 20.3 fb−1 of pp collisions at s√=8s=8 TeV, collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC. The measurements are compared to the most precise fixed-order calculations currently available (O(α2s))(O(αs2)) and with theoretical predictions embedded in Monte Carlo generators. The measurements are precise enough to probe QCD corrections beyond the formal accuracy of these calculations and to provide discrimination between different parton-shower models. A significant deviation from the (O(α2s))(O(αs2)) predictions is observed for A0 − A2. Evidence is found for non-zero A5,6,7, consistent with expectations

Religionskunskap och läroplan : En analys av skolans förändring genom tiderna

Allt eftersom samhället utvecklas, utvecklas även skolan eftersom skolan ska vara enhetlig med tiden vi lever i. Detta innebär stora förändringar inom skolväsendet och är mer eller mindre omöjliga att förutse. Dessutom innebär detta stora utmaningar för lärarkåren eftersom de bestämmande instanserna, det vill säga våra politiker, inte är insatta i utbildningen och således inte heller har den insyn som krävs för ett tillfredställande resultat.      Problem uppstår när uppmaningar i läroplanen motsäger varandra, exempelvis att den svenska skolan skall vara icke-konfessionell men samtidigt stämma överens med den etik som förvalts av kristen tradition och hur kristendomen i Religionskunskap 1 fortfarande har en särställning i förhållande till de övriga världsreligionerna. Det är därför centralt att människor med insyn i yrkets verksamhet har förståelse för dess syfte och mål samt besitter en analytisk förmåga och aktivt deltar i processen som är skolans utveckling.      Även om det är svårt att förutse framtida förändringar, kan man genom historien se hur skolan har reformerats parallellt med samhällets utveckling för att få en fingervisning om hur skolans utveckling kan komma att te sig. För att öka förståelsen för de förändringar som ligger i framtiden är det således nödvändigt att se tillbaka på historien och det är i denna historiska förändring som detta arbete har sitt fokus

Religionskunskap och läroplan : En analys av skolans förändring genom tiderna

Allt eftersom samhället utvecklas, utvecklas även skolan eftersom skolan ska vara enhetlig med tiden vi lever i. Detta innebär stora förändringar inom skolväsendet och är mer eller mindre omöjliga att förutse. Dessutom innebär detta stora utmaningar för lärarkåren eftersom de bestämmande instanserna, det vill säga våra politiker, inte är insatta i utbildningen och således inte heller har den insyn som krävs för ett tillfredställande resultat.      Problem uppstår när uppmaningar i läroplanen motsäger varandra, exempelvis att den svenska skolan skall vara icke-konfessionell men samtidigt stämma överens med den etik som förvalts av kristen tradition och hur kristendomen i Religionskunskap 1 fortfarande har en särställning i förhållande till de övriga världsreligionerna. Det är därför centralt att människor med insyn i yrkets verksamhet har förståelse för dess syfte och mål samt besitter en analytisk förmåga och aktivt deltar i processen som är skolans utveckling.      Även om det är svårt att förutse framtida förändringar, kan man genom historien se hur skolan har reformerats parallellt med samhällets utveckling för att få en fingervisning om hur skolans utveckling kan komma att te sig. För att öka förståelsen för de förändringar som ligger i framtiden är det således nödvändigt att se tillbaka på historien och det är i denna historiska förändring som detta arbete har sitt fokus

Synergistic interactions involving amphiphilic polymers in solution

The properties of hydrophobically modified cellulose derivatives in aqueous mixtures with various other molecules have been investigated. Mixtures of a hydrophobically modified polymer and alkali-sensitive, degradable surfactants gave rise to time-dependent viscosities. With time, the viscosity decreased continuously or went through a maximum, depending on the initial surfactant concentration. The rate of change could be controlled by pH. The alcohol formed by degradation acted as a cosurfactant, and varying the hydrophobic chain length gave rise to different viscosity profiles. Phase separation temperatures and viscosities of aqueous mixtures of the hydrophobically modified cellulose derivatives and block copolymers have been investigated. The block copolymers were hydrophobically modified at one or both ends. The results were consistent with hydrophobic association between the cellulose derivatives and the block copolymers. Moderate viscosity enhancements were found on addition of the block copolymers to the cellulose derivatives and the effects were larger with the block copolymer that was modified at both ends. Amylose can cross-link hydrophobically modified polymers by inclusion complexation, whereby strong, thixotropic, thermoreversible, cold-setting, gels are formed. The gel strength as a function of the architecture of the polymer hydrophobes has been investigated. The hydrophobes were based on linear alkyl chains and longer alkyl chains gave stronger gels. For similar alkyl chain lengths, stronger gels were obtained when a spacer consisting of ethylene oxide units was inserted between the alkyl chain and the polymer backbone. The competition between amylose and cyclodextrin for the formation of inclusion complexes with hydrophobically modified polymers has also been studied. The cyclodextrin molecules competed efficiently with the amylose molecules as seen by rheology, self-diffusion and NMR intensities of the polymer hydrophobes. A detailed study of the hydrophobically modified polymers and cyclodextrin has been performed where it was seen that 2:1 (cyclodextrin:polymer hydrophobe) complexes were formed. Stability, droplet diameter and viscosity of o/w macroemulsions stabilized with lecithin and different types of polymers have been examined. Emulsions without polymers showed essentially no stability against creaming. Unmodified polymers provided limited stability, while hydrophobically modified polymers improved the stability dramatically. The viscosity of emulsions stabilized by hydrophobically modified polymers was significantly increased compared with aqueous solutions of the polymers alone, suggesting network formation including both polymers and emulsion droplets