The Role of Macrophytes in Constructed Surface-flow Wetlands for Mine Water Treatment : A Review

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Constructed wetlands are a standard sustainable technology in waste and mine water treatment. Whereas macrophytes actively contribute to decomposition and/or removal of wastewater’s organic pollutants, removal of hydrolysable metals from mine water is not attributable to direct metabolic, but rather various indirect macrophyte-related mechanisms. These mechanisms result in higher treatment efficiency of (vegetated) wetlands relative to (unvegetated) settling ponds. Contribution of macrophytes to treatment predominantly includes: enhanced biogeochemical oxidation and precipitation of hydrolysable metals due to catalytic reactions and bacterial activity, particularly on immersed macrophyte surfaces; physical filtration of suspended hydrous ferric oxides by dense wetland vegetation down to colloids that are unlikely to gravitationally settle efficiently; scavenging and heteroaggregation of dissolved and colloidal iron, respectively, by plant-derived natural organic matter; and improved hydrodynamics and hydraulic efficiency, considerably augmenting retention and exposure time. The review shows that constructed surface-flow wetlands have considerable advantages that are often underestimated. In addition to treatment enhancement, there are socio-environmental benefits such as aesthetic appearance, biotope/habitat value, and landscape diversity that need to be considered. However, there is currently no quantitative, transferrable approach to adequately describe the effect and magnitude of macrophyte-related benefits on mine water amelioration, let alone clearly assign optimal operational deployment of either settling ponds or wetlands. A better (quantitative) understanding of underlying processes and kinetics is needed to optimise assembly and sizing of settling ponds and wetlands in composite passive mine water treatment systems.</jats:p&gt

Antioxidant generation during coffee roasting : a comparison and interpretation from three complementary assays

Coffee is a major source of dietary antioxidants; some are present in the green bean, whereas others are generated during roasting. However, there is no single accepted analytical method for their routine determination. This paper describes the adaption of three complementary assays (Folin-Ciocalteu (FC), ABTS and ORAC) for the routine assessment of antioxidant capacity of beverages, their validation, and use for determining the antioxidant capacities of extracts from coffee beans at different stages in the roasting process. All assays showed a progressive increase in antioxidant capacity during roasting to a light roast state, consistent with the production of melanoidins having a higher antioxidant effect than the degradation of CGAs. However, the three assays gave different numbers for the total antioxidant capacity of green beans relative to gallic acid (GA), although the range of values was much smaller when chlorogenic acid (CGA) was used as reference. Therefore, although all three assays indicated that there was an increase in antioxidant activity during coffee roasting, and the large differences in responses to GA and CGA illustrate their different sensitivities to different types of antioxidant molecule

Ecosystem based modeling and indication of ecological integrity in the German North Sea - Case study offshore wind parks

Human exploitation and use of marine and coastal areas are apparent and growing in many regions of the world. For instance, fishery, shipping, military, raw material exploitation, nature protection and the rapidly expanding offshore wind power technology are competing for limited resources and space. The development and implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) strategies could help to solve these problems. Therefore, suitable spatial assessment, modeling, planning and management tools are urgently needed. These tools have to deal with data that include complex information on different spatial and temporal scales. A systematic approach based on the development of future scenarios which are assessed by combining different simulationmodels, GIS methods and an integrating set of ecological integrity indicators, was applied in a case study in the German North Sea. Here, the installation of huge offshore wind parks within the near future is planned. The aim was to model environmental effects of altered sea-use patterns on marine biota. Indicators of ecological integrity were used to assess altering conditions and possible ecosystem shifts ranging from systems' degradations to the development of highly productive and diverse artificial reef systems. The results showed that some ecosystem processes and properties and related indicators are sensitive to changes generated by offshore wind park installations while others did not react as hypothesized

Complexity and specificity of the maize (Zea mays L.) root hair transcriptome

Root hairs are tubular extensions of epidermis cells. Transcriptome profiling demonstrated that the single cell-type root hair transcriptome was less complex than the transcriptome of multiple cell-type primary roots without root hairs. In total, 831 genes were exclusively and 5585 genes were preferentially expressed in root hairs [false discovery rate (FDR) ≤1%]. Among those, the most significantly enriched Gene Ontology (GO) functional terms were related to energy metabolism, highlighting the high energy demand for the development and function of root hairs. Subsequently, the maize homologs for 138 Arabidopsis genes known to be involved in root hair development were identified and their phylogenetic relationship and expression in root hairs were determined. This study indicated that the genetic regulation of root hair development in Arabidopsis and maize is controlled by common genes, but also shows differences which need to be dissected in future genetic experiments. Finally, a maize root view of the eFP browser was implemented including the root hair transcriptome of the present study and several previously published maize root transcriptome data sets. The eFP browser provides color-coded expression levels for these root types and tissues for any gene of interest, thus providing a novel resource to study gene expression and function in maize roots

PKCα Deficiency in Mice Is Associated with Pulmonary Vascular Hyperresponsiveness to Thromboxane A2 and Increased Thromboxane Receptor Expression

Pulmonary vascular hyperresponsiveness is a main characteristic of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In PAH patients, elevated levels of the vasoconstrictors thromboxane A2 (TXA2), endothelin (ET)-1 and serotonin further contribute to pulmonary hypertension. Protein kinase C (PKC) isozyme alpha (PKCα) is a known modulator of smooth muscle cell contraction. However, the effects of PKCα deficiency on pulmonary vasoconstriction have not yet been investigated. Thus, the role of PKCα in pulmonary vascular responsiveness to the TXA2 analog U46619, ET-1, serotonin and acute hypoxia was investigated in isolated lungs of PKCα-/- mice and corresponding wild-type mice, with or without prior administration of the PKC inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide I or Gö6976. mRNA was quantified from microdissected intrapulmonary arteries. We found that broad-spectrum PKC inhibition reduced pulmonary vascular responsiveness to ET-1 and acute hypoxia and, by trend, to U46619. Analogously, selective inhibition of conventional PKC isozymes or PKCα deficiency reduced ET-1-evoked pulmonary vasoconstriction. The pulmonary vasopressor response to serotonin was unaffected by either broad PKC inhibition or PKCα deficiency. Surprisingly, PKCα-/- mice showed pulmonary vascular hyperresponsiveness to U46619 and increased TXA2 receptor (TP receptor) expression in the intrapulmonary arteries. To conclude, PKCα regulates ET-1-induced pulmonary vasoconstriction. However, PKCα deficiency leads to pulmonary vascular hyperresponsiveness to TXA2, possibly via increased pulmonary arterial TP receptor expression

Dissection of a Type I Interferon Pathway in Controlling Bacterial Intracellular Infection in Mice

Defense mechanisms against intracellular bacterial pathogens are incompletely understood. Our study characterizes a type I IFN-dependent cell-autonomous defense pathway directed against Legionella pneumophila, an intracellular model organism and frequent cause of pneumonia. We show that macrophages infected with L. pneumophila produced IFNβ in a STING- and IRF3- dependent manner. Paracrine type I IFNs stimulated up-regulation of IFN-stimulated genes and a cell-autonomous defense pathway acting on replicating and non-replicating Legionella within their specialized vacuole. Our infection experiments in mice lacking receptors for type I and/or II IFNs show that type I IFNs contribute to expression of IFN-stimulated genes and to bacterial clearance as well as resistance in L. pneumophila pneumonia in addition to type II IFN. Overall, our study shows that paracrine type I IFNs mediate defense against L. pneumophila, and demonstrates a protective role of type I IFNs in in vivo infections with intracellular bacteria

Developing a Nationwide Infrastructure for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Targeted Oral Anticancer Drugs: The ON-TARGET Study Protocol

Exposure-efficacy and/or exposure-toxicity relationships have been identified for up to 80% of oral anticancer drugs (OADs). Usually, OADs are administered at fixed doses despite their high interindividual pharmacokinetic variability resulting in large differences in drug exposure. Consequently, a substantial proportion of patients receive a suboptimal dose. Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM), i.e., dosing based on measured drug concentrations, may be used to improve treatment outcomes. The prospective, multicenter, non-interventional ON-TARGET study (DRKS00025325) aims to investigate the potential of routine TDM to reduce adverse drug reactions in renal cell carcinoma patients receiving axitinib or cabozantinib. Furthermore, the feasibility of using volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS), a minimally invasive and easy to handle blood sampling technique, for sample collection is examined. During routine visits, blood samples are collected and sent to bioanalytical laboratories. Venous and VAMS blood samples are collected in the first study phase to facilitate home-based capillary blood sampling in the second study phase. Within one week, the drug plasma concentrations are measured, interpreted, and reported back to the physician. Patients report their drug intake and toxicity using PRO-CTCAE-based questionnaires in dedicated diaries. Ultimately, the ON-TARGET study aims to develop a nationwide infrastructure for TDM for oral anticancer drugs