The 2022 drought needs to be a turning point for European drought risk management

The 2022 European drought has underscored critical deficiencies in European water management. This paper explores these shortcomings and suggests a way forward for European drought risk management. Data for this study was gathered through a continent-wide survey of water managers involved in this event. The survey collected 481 responses from 30 European countries and is comprised of 19 questions concerning sectorial impact in the 55 regions of the responders and drought risk management practices of their organizations. Information from the survey is enriched with climate-related information to offer a comprehensive overview of drought risk management in Europe. Our research focuses on four key aspects: the increasing risk of drought, its spatial and temporal impacts, current drought risk management approaches, and the evolution of drought risk management across the continent. Our findings reveal a consensus on the growing risk of drought, which is confounded by the rising frequency and intensity of droughts. While the 2022 event affected most of the continent, our findings show significant regional disparities in drought risk management capacity among the various countries. Our analysis indicates that current drought risk management measures often rely on short-term operational concerns, particularly in agriculture-dominated economies, leading to potentially maladaptive practices. An overall positive trend in drought risk management, with organizations showing increased awareness and preparedness, indicates how this crisis can be the ideal moment to mainstream European-wide drought risk management. Consequently, we advocate for a European Drought Directive, to harmonize and enforce drought risk management policies across the continent. This directive should promote a systemic, integrated, and long-term risk management perspective. The directive should also set clear guidelines for drought risk management at the national level and for cross-boundary drought collaboration. This study and its companion paper "The 2022 Drought Shows the Importance of Preparedness in European Drought Risk Management " are the result of a study carried out by the Drought in the Anthropocene (DitA) network

Faster evapotranspiration recovery compared to canopy development post clearcutting in a floodplain forest

© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is a key component of the water balance, and its accurate quantification of spatiotemporal variation is essential to improve the understanding of soil–plant-atmosphere-hydrosphere interactions. While in situ point measurements allow for the determination of the ETa of a particular ecosystem or land cover type, remote sensing methods make it possible to divide and evaluate the rate of ETa of different ecosystems in the landscape and would allow better management of the water resource system, especially if those are partly or permanently limited. The goal of this paper was to analyze the impact of clearcutting during standard forest management practices in floodplain forests and its effect on the water regime of the area. We selected the Lanžhot floodplain forest area (48.681°N 16.950°E, 155 m a.s.l.) that represents a biologically and hydrologically unique area of remnant floodplain forest within the upper Danube River basin. Since clearcutting represents a drastic intervention into the ecosystem including changes in canopy structure and local microclimate, we hypothesized that the impact of the clearcut on the overall water balance is long-term in the order of decades as a result consequence of logging of the mature forest and changes in local microclimatic conditions in disturbed areas. To analyze the impacts of clearcutting on ETa, we applied the METRIC (Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration) remote sensing model. METRIC was validated in the Central European climatic conditions using two ground eddy covariance measurements systems over grassland and floodplain forest. The evaluated model METRIC was then applied to quantify ETa in three areas of interest in the floodplain forest, where in 2015–2021, mature vegetation was targeted for removal, modification of the soil surface, and subsequent planting of a new generation of English oak trees (Quercus robur L.). Immediately after the removal of vegetation cover, METRIC detected an annual decrease in ETa by 35–40%, while leaf area index (LAI) decreased by 70–80%. This was followed by a quick recovery of the ETa/ETo (where ETo represents FAO-56 reference evapotranspiration), reaching similar values as uncut surrounding vegetation during the third year, while LAI recovery was detected in the fifth year after the removal of vegetation cover. The rapid recovery of the ETa/ETo rejected the initial hypothesis, and studies showed that the newly formed stand replaced the ETa/ETo rate of the mature stand in the floodplain forest conditions of Central Europe in the fourth year, suggesting that the impacts of clearcutting on the hydrology may be temporally relatively limited.The research infrastructure and CzechGlobe team was financially supported by the project SustES - Adaptation strategies for sustainable ecosystem services and food security under adverse environmental conditions (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000797). M.F. was supported by project SS01010207 of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic entitled “The development of tool for identification of the main water management risks at the Thaya river basin and the methodology addressing their systematic solution in the conditions of climate change”. M.T. was supported by project SS02030040 of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic PERUN – “Prediction, Evaluation and Research for Understanding National sensitivity and impacts of drought and climate change for Czechia”. Work of T.G. was also financially supported by the CzechGlobe grant agency (CzeGGA) – ” Validation of actual evapotranspiration by model METRIC in the Czech landscape”.Peer reviewe

Biocompatible glyconanomaterials based on HPMA-copolymer for specific targeting of galectin-3

Abstract Background Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a promising target in cancer therapy with a high therapeutic potential due to its abundant localization within the tumor tissue and its involvement in tumor development and proliferation. Potential clinical application of Gal-3-targeted inhibitors is often complicated by their insufficient selectivity or low biocompatibility. Nanomaterials based on N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) nanocarrier are attractive for in vivo application due to their good water solubility and lack of toxicity and immunogenicity. Their conjugation with tailored carbohydrate ligands can yield specific glyconanomaterials applicable for targeting biomedicinally relevant lectins like Gal-3. Results In the present study we describe the synthesis and the structure-affinity relationship study of novel Gal-3-targeted glyconanomaterials, based on hydrophilic HPMA nanocarriers. HPMA nanocarriers decorated with varying amounts of Gal-3 specific epitope GalNAcβ1,4GlcNAc (LacdiNAc) were analyzed in a competitive ELISA-type assay and their binding kinetics was described by surface plasmon resonance. We showed the impact of various linker types and epitope distribution on the binding affinity to Gal-3. The synthesis of specific functionalized LacdiNAc epitopes was accomplished under the catalysis by mutant β-N-acetylhexosaminidases. The glycans were conjugated to statistic HPMA copolymer precursors through diverse linkers in a defined pattern and density using Cu(I)-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition. The resulting water-soluble and structurally flexible synthetic glyconanomaterials exhibited affinity to Gal-3 in low μM range. Conclusions The results of this study reveal the relation between the linker structure, glycan distribution and the affinity of the glycopolymer nanomaterial to Gal-3. They pave the way to specific biomedicinal glyconanomaterials that target Gal-3 as a therapeutic goal in cancerogenesis and other disorders

Impact of acute and subchronic inhalation exposure to PbO nanoparticles on mice

<p>Lead nanoparticles (NPs) are released into air from metal processing, road transport or combustion processes. Inhalation exposure is therefore very likely to occur. However, even though the effects of bulk lead are well known, there is limited knowledge regarding impact of Pb NPs inhalation. This study focused on acute and subchronic exposures to lead oxide nanoparticles (PbO NPs). Mice were exposed to PbO NPs in whole body inhalation chambers for 4–72 h in acute experiment (4.05 × 10⁶ PbO NPs/cm³), and for 1–11 weeks in subchronic experiment (3.83 × 10⁵ particles/cm³ in lower and 1.93 × 10⁶ particles/cm³ in higher exposure group). Presence of NPs was confirmed in all studied organs, including brain, which is very important considering lead neurotoxicity. Lead concentration gradually increased in all tissues depending on the exposure concentration and duration. The most burdened organs were lung and kidney, however liver and brain also showed significant increase of lead concentration during exposure. Histological analysis documented numerous morphological alterations and tissue damage, mainly in lung, but also in liver. Mild pathological changes were observed also in kidney and brain. Levels of glutathione (reduced and oxidized) were modulated mainly in lung in both, acute and subchronic exposures. Increase of lipid peroxidation was observed in kidney after acute exposure. This study characterized impacts of short to longer-term inhalation exposure, proved transport of PbO NPs to secondary organs, documented time and concentration dependent gradual increase of Pb concentration and histopathological damage in tissues.</p