Publisher Correction: Carbon dioxide sink in the Arctic Ocean from cross-shelf transport of dense Barents Sea water

In the version of this article initially published, author Cora Hörstmann was wrongly listed with a second affiliation with the Department of Ecoscience–Applied Marine Ecology and Modelling, Aarhus University rather than the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), Marseille, France. Furthermore, references 83–97, now found in the Supplementary Tables caption, were wrongly cited in the Data Availability section. The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article

Some Characteristics of Free Cell Population in the Airways of Rats after Intratracheal Instillation of Copper-Containing Nano-Scale Particles

We used stable water suspensions of copper oxide particles with mean diameter 20 nm and of particles containing copper oxide and element copper with mean diameter 340 nm to assess the pulmonary phagocytosis response of rats to a single intratracheal instillation of these suspensions using optical, transmission electron, and semi-contact atomic force microscopy and biochemical indices measured in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Although both nano and submicron ultrafine particles were adversely bioactive, the former were found to be more toxic for lungs as compared with the latter while evoking more pronounced defense recruitment of alveolar macrophages and especially of neutrophil leukocytes and more active phagocytosis. Based on our results and literature data, we consider both copper solubilization and direct contact with cellular organelles (mainly, mitochondria) of persistent particles internalized by phagocytes as probable mechanisms of their cytotoxicity

Some inferences from in vivo experiments with metal and metal oxide nanoparticles: the pulmonary phagocytosis response, subchronic systemic toxicity and genotoxicity, regulatory proposals, searching for bioprotectors (a self-overview)

The purpose of this paper is to overview and summarize previously published results of our experiments on white rats exposed to either a single intratracheal instillation or repeated intraperitoneal injections of silver, gold, iron oxide, copper oxide, nickel oxide, and manganese oxide nanoparticles (NPs) in stable water suspensions without any chemical additives. Based on these results and some corroborating data of other researchers we maintain that these NPs are much more noxious on both cellular and systemic levels as compared with their 1 μm or even submicron counterparts. However, within the nanometer range the dependence of systemic toxicity on particle size is intricate and non-unique due to complex and often contra-directional relationships between the intrinsic biological aggressiveness of the specific NPs, on the one hand, and complex mechanisms that control their biokinetics, on the other. Our data testify to the high activity of the pulmonary phagocytosis of NPs deposited in airways. This fact suggests that safe levels of exposure to airborne NPs are possible in principle. However, there are no reliable foundations for establishing different permissible exposure levels for particles of different size within the nanometric range. For workroom air, such permissible exposure levels of metallic NP can be proposed at this stage, even if tentatively, based on a sufficiently conservative approach of decreasing approximately tenfold the exposure limits officially established for respective micro-scale industrial aerosols. It was shown that against the background of adequately composed combinations of some bioactive agents (comprising pectin, multivitamin-multimineral preparations, some amino acids, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid) the systemic toxicity and even genotoxicity of metallic NPs could be markedly attenuated. Therefore we believe that, along with decreasing NP-exposures, enhancing organisms’ resistance to their adverse action with the help of such bioprotectors can prove an efficient auxiliary tool of health risk management in occupations connected with them

Subchronic Toxicity of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles and Its Attenuation with the Help of a Combination of Bioprotectors

In the copper metallurgy workplace air is polluted with condensation aerosols, which a significant fraction of is presented by copper oxide particles <100 nm. In the scientific literature, there is a lack of their in vivo toxicity characterization and virtually no attempts of enhancing organism’s resistance to their impact. A stable suspension of copper oxide particles with mean (±SD) diameter 20 ± 10 nm was prepared by laser ablation of pure copper in water. It was being injected intraperitoneally to rats at a dose of 10 mg/kg (0.5 mg per mL of deionized water) three times a week up to 19 injections. In parallel, another group of rats was so injected with the same suspension against the background of oral administration of a “bio-protective complex” (BPC) comprising pectin, a multivitamin-multimineral preparation, some amino acids and fish oil rich in ω-3 PUFA. After the termination of injections, many functional and biochemical indices for the organism’s status, as well as pathological changes of liver, spleen, kidneys, and brain microscopic structure were evaluated for signs of toxicity. In the same organs we have measured accumulation of copper while their cells were used for performing the Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) test for DNA fragmentation. The same features were assessed in control rats infected intraperitoneally with water with or without administration of the BPC. The copper oxide nanoparticles proved adversely bio-active in all respects considered in this study, their active in vivo solubilization in biological fluids playing presumably an important role in both toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics. The BPC proposed and tested by us attenuated systemic and target organs toxicity, as well as genotoxicity of this substance. Judging by experimental data obtained in this investigation, occupational exposures to nano-scale copper oxide particles can present a significant health risk while the further search for its management with the help of innocuous bioprotectors seems to be justified

The Use of the Adaptation Potential Reduction Model for Reproductive Toxicity Research In Vivo

The modeling of adaptation potential decrease in rats due to modification of the diet’s vitamin–mineral composition allows to increase animals’ sensitivity to toxic load in reprotoxicological experiments. The threshold values of vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B6 and mineral substances Fe3+ and Mg2+ in the diet, which lead to a considerable reduction of laboratory animals’ adaptation potential, have been determined as 19% (from the basic level in the diet) for males and 18% for females. The efficiency of this model has been confirmed in a reprotoxicological experiment with glyphosate as a toxic factor: the action of the toxic factor against the background of reduced availability of B vitamins and salts Fe3+ and Mg2+ led to significant changes in such indicators of reproductive function as mating efficiency, postimplantation loss, and the total number of alive pups, while the toxic effect of glyphosate was not so pronounced against the normal level of essential substances. The obtained results prove that this adaptation potential reduction model can be recommended for the research of the low-toxicity objects reproductive toxicity in rats and for the safety assessment of novel food, in particular

Carbon dioxide sink in the Arctic Ocean from cross-shelf transport of dense Barents Sea water

Large amounts of atmospheric carbon can be exported and retained in the deep sea on millennial time scales, buffering global warming. However, while the Barents Sea is one of the most biologically productive areas of the Arctic Ocean, carbon retention times were thought to be short. Here we present observations, complemented by numerical model simulations, that revealed a deep and widespread lateral injection of approximately 2.33 kt C d−1 from the Barents Sea shelf to some 1,200 m of the Nansen Basin, driven by Barents Sea Bottom Water transport. With increasing distance from the outflow region, the plume expanded and penetrated into even deeper waters and the sediment. The seasonally fluctuating but continuous injection increases the carbon sequestration of the Barents Sea by 1/3 and feeds the deep sea community of the Nansen Basin. Our findings combined with those from other outflow regions of carbon-rich polar dense waters highlight the importance of lateral injection as a global carbon sink. Resolving uncertainties around negative feedbacks of global warming due to sea ice decline will necessitate observation of changes in bottom water formation and biological productivity at a resolution high enough to quantify future deep carbon injection

DataSheet_1_Estimation of anti-orthopoxvirus immunity in Moscow residents and potential risks of spreading Monkeypox virus.docx

WHO has declared the outbreak of monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern. In less than three months, monkeypox was detected in more than 30 000 people and spread to more than 80 countries around the world. It is believed that the immunity formed to smallpox vaccine can protect from monkeypox infection with high efficiency. The widespread use of Vaccinia virus has not been carried out since the 1980s, which raises the question of the level of residual immunity among the population and the identification of groups requiring priority vaccination. We conducted a cross-sectional serological study of remaining immunity among Moscow residents. To do this, a collection of blood serum samples of age group over 30 years old was formed, an in-house ELISA test system was developed, and a virus neutralization protocol was set up. Serum samples were examined for the presence of IgG antibodies against Vaccinia virus (n=2908), as well as for the ability to neutralize plaque formation with a Vaccinia virus MNIIVP-10 strain (n=299). The results indicate the presence of neutralizing antibody titer of 1/20 or more in 33.3 to 53.2% of people older than 45 years. Among people 30-45 years old who probably have not been vaccinated, the proportion with virus neutralizing antibodies ranged from 3.2 to 6.7%. Despite the higher level of antibodies in age group older than 66 years, the proportion of positive samples in this group was slightly lower than in people aged 46-65 years. The results indicate the priority of vaccination in groups younger than 45, and possibly older than 66 years to ensure the protection of the population in case of spread of monkeypox among Moscow residents. The herd immunity level needed to stop the circulation of the virus should be at least 50.25 – 65.28%.</p