Multiple sclerosis with psychotic impairment

Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Nicolae Testemitsanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Chisinau, the Republic of MoldovaBackground: Although previously considered rare, nowadays there are a growing number of reports describing association of psychotic impairment and multiple sclerosis (MS). Still, this connection remains unclear. The etiology of psychosis in MS has also not been explained adequately. Material and methods: The authors report a case of multiple sclerosis evolution with psychotic impairment in a 62-year old male. The patient, who had previously been diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, complained of acute delusional disorder during his rehabilitation course. Magnetic resonance tomography was carried out and revealed progression of the focci of demyelination in fronto-basal lobes, paraventricular and perviventricular regions. Mental condition of the patient improved after steroid therapy. The patient was followed up after a period of 2 weeks wherein, improvement in psychotic symptoms was reported. Results: On the grounds of the clinical symptoms and magnetic resonance tomography findings a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis by Revised McDonald Criteria (2010) was made. Conclusions: The present case report describes a psychotic impairment as an isolated clinical manifestation of the second onset of multiple sclerosis. The case demonstrates the importance in considering multiple sclerosis as a cause of acute or progressive severe cognitive impairment even with relative sparing of other neurological deficits. We suggest that the acute psychosis that has been described in the case is associated with the lesions in frontobasal and periventricular area of temporoparietal region and pericallosal area

Ethanol Sensing Performances of Zinc-doped Copper Oxide Nano-crystallite Layers

The synthesis via chemical solutions (aqueous) (SCS) wet route is a low-temperature and cost-effective growth technique of high crystalline quality oxide semiconductors films. Here we report on morphology, chemical composition, structure and ethanol sensing performances of a device prototype based on zincdoped copper oxide nanocrystallite layer. By thermal annealing in electrical furnace for 30 min at temperatures higher than 550 ˚C, as-deposited zinc doped Cu2O samples are converted to tenorite, ZnxCu1-xOy, (x=1.3wt%) that demonstrate higher ethanol response than sensor structures based on samples treated at 450 ˚C. In case of the specimens after post-growth treatment at 650 ˚C was found an ethanol gas response of about 79 % and 91 % to concentrations of 100 ppm and 500 ppm, respectively, at operating temperature of 400 ˚C in air

Assessment of ecosystem services for climate regulation: case study of the Madu Ganga wetlands

The ecosystem services assessment plays one of the key role in the modern concept of sustainable development, including combat climate change and achievement carbon neutrality, since the value assessment of all benefits and risks from ecosystem services is the most visible for decision makers (business and government). Mangrove forests in developing countries, such as Sri Lanka, are important factor in achieving carbon neutrality. The purpose of present investigation was the economic assessment of climate regulation services on the example of the Madu Ganga wetlands (Sri Lanka). The carbon stock was calculated as the marginal cost of reducing carbon emissions, and the sequestration was assessed through the calculation of the carbon social cost or the marginal cost of damage. As a result, the high cost of carbon storage by the Madu Ganga wetlands was revealed - approximately, it amounted to $153,341,221. The cost of the ES for carbon sequestration was$2,153,424. The total cost of services to regulate the carbon cycle of the Madu Ganga wetlands was $155,494,645, or 0.18% of the nominal GDP of the island of Sri Lanka for 2021. The high value of the mangrove forests of Madu Ganga shows their crucial role in achieving carbon neutrality within the framework of the concept of sustainable development

Оценка экосистемных услуг по регулированию климата водно-болотными угодьями Маду-Ганга

The ecosystem services assessment plays one of the key role in the modern concept of sustainable development, including combat climate change and achievement carbon neutrality, since the value assessment of all benefits and risks from ecosystem services is the most visible for decision makers (business and government). Mangrove forests in developing countries, such as Sri Lanka, are important factor in achieving carbon neutrality. The purpose of present investigation was the economic assessment of climate regulation services on the example of the Madu Ganga wetlands (Sri Lanka). The carbon stock was calculated as the marginal cost of reducing carbon emissions, and the sequestration was assessed through the calculation of the carbon social cost or the marginal cost of damage. As a result, the high cost of carbon storage by the Madu Ganga wetlands was revealed - approximately, it amounted to $153,341,221. The cost of the ES for carbon sequestration was$2,153,424. The total cost of services to regulate the carbon cycle of the Madu Ganga wetlands was $155,494,645, or 0.18% of the nominal GDP of the island of Sri Lanka for 2021. The high value of the mangrove forests of Madu Ganga shows their crucial role in achieving carbon neutrality within the framework of the concept of sustainable development.Мангровые лесные массивы играют важную роль в достижении углеродной нейтральности. Однако для развивающихся стран, таких как Шри-Ланка, недостаточно представлены данные об экономической ценности способности мангровых экосистем накапливать и поглощать углерод. Целью данного исследования была экономическая оценка услуг по регулированию климата на примере водно-болотных угодий Маду-Ганга (Шри-Ланка). Данные по накоплению углерода были рассчитаны как предельные затраты на сокращение выбросов углерода, а данные по поглощению - через расчет социальной стоимости углерода или предельной стоимости ущерба. В результате исследования установлена общая стоимость услуг по регулированию углеродного цикла водно-болотных угодий Маду-Ганга, которая составила 0,18% от номинального ВВП острова Шри-Ланка на 2021 г. Высокая экономическая ценность мангровых лесных массивов Маду-Ганга отражает их приоритетную роль в достижении углеродной нейтральности в рамках концепции устойчивого развития

Geochemical, sedimentological and microbial diversity in two thermokarst lakes of far Eastern Siberia

Thermokarst lakes are important conduits for organic carbon sequestration, soil organic matter (soil-OM) decomposition and release of atmospheric greenhouse gases in the Arctic. They can be classified as either floating-ice lakes, which sustain a zone of unfrozen sediment (talik) at the lakebed year-round, or as bedfast-ice lakes, which freeze all the way to the lakebed in winter. Another key characteristic of thermokarst lakes are their eroding shorelines, depending on the surrounding landscape, they can play a major role in supplying the lakebeds with sediment and OM. These differences in winter ice regime and eroding shorelines are key factors which determine the quantity and quality of OM in thermokarst lake sediments. We used an array of physical, geochemical, and microbiological tools to identify the differences in the environmental conditions, sedimentary characteristics, carbon stocks and microbial community compositions in the sediments of a bedfast-ice and a floating-ice lake in Far East Siberia with different eroding shorelines. Our data show strong differences across most of the measured parameters between the two lakes. For example, the floating-ice lake contains considerably lower amounts of sediment organic matter and dissolved organic carbon, both of which also appear to be more degraded in comparison to the bedfast-ice lake, based on their stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C). We also document clear differences in the microbial community composition, for both archaea and bacteria. We identified the lake water depth (bedfast-ice vs. floating-ice) and shoreline erosion to be the two most likely main drivers of the sedimentary, microbial and biogeochemical diversity in thermokarst lakes. With ongoing climate warming, it is likely that an increasing number of lakes will shift from a bedfast- to a floating-ice state, and that increasing levels of shoreline erosion will supply the lakes with sediments. Yet, still little is known about the physical, biogeochemical and microbial differences in the sediments of these lake types and how different eroding shorelines impact these lake system

Selective Multiterminal Sensor On Individual Zno Nanotetrapod

This article presents a sensitive and selective sensor based on an individual zinc oxide nanotetrapod and on crossed ZnO nanorod for detection of UV light and hydrogen at low temperature. It is demonstrated that ZnO tetrapod has potential application as UV and as chemical sensor with multi-terminal construction. The chemisorbed gas molecules on a surface can extract or donate electrons to nano-material and this effect was used for monitoring the electrical resistance values change of the tetrapod sensor. We demonstrate that the ZnO tetrapod sensor demonstrate sensitivity and selectivity in resistance upon exposure to UV light, H2, O2, NH3 and LPG gas. The resistivity change is different for UV and for H2 gas sensing

Design of the tundra rainfall experiment (TRainEx) to simulate future summer precipitation scenarios

The majority of climate models predict severe increases in future temperature and precipitation in the Arctic. Increases in temperature and precipitation can lead to an intensification of the hydrologic cycle that strongly impacts Arctic environmental conditions. In order to investigate effects of future precipitation scenarios on ecosystems, precipitation manipulation experiments are being performed to simulate drought and extreme precipitation conditions. However, most of the existing research so far has been unevenly distributed, primarily focusing on temperate grasslands and woodlands. Despite large changes in the predicted precipitation and potentially high sensitivity of the Arctic tundra ecosystem to these changes, it is among the most understudied ecosystems for precipitation manipulation experiments

Aerodynamic scaling for estimating the mean height of dense canopies

We used an aerodynamic method to objectively determine the representative canopy height, using standard meteorological measurements. The canopy height may change if the tree height is used to represent the actual canopy, but little work to date has focused on creating a standard for determining the representative canopy height. Here we propose the ‘aerodynamic canopy height’ ha as the most effective means of resolving the representative canopy height for all forests. We determined ha by simple linear regression between zero-plane displacement d and roughness length z0, without the need for stand inventory data. The applicability of ha was confirmed in five different forests, including a forest with a complex canopy structure. Comparison with stand inventory data showed that ha was almost equivalent to the representative height of trees composing the crown surface if the forest had a simple structure, or to the representative height of taller trees composing the upper canopy in forests with a complex canopy structure. The linear relationship between d and z0 was explained by assuming that the logarithmic wind profile above the canopy and the exponential wind profile within the canopy were continuous and smooth at canopy height. This was supported by observations, which showed that ha was essentially the same as the height defined by the inflection point of the vertical profile of wind speed. The applicability of ha was also verified using data from several previous studies

The response of Arctic vegetation to the summer climate: relation between shrub cover, NDVI, surface albedo and temperature

Recently observed Arctic greening trends from normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data suggest that shrub growth is increasing in response to increasing summer temperature. An increase in shrub cover is expected to decrease summer albedo and thus positively feed back to climate warming. However, it is unknown how albedo and NDVI are affected by shrub cover and inter-annual variations in the summer climate. Here, we examine the relationship between deciduous shrub fractional cover, NDVI and albedo using field data collected at a tundra site in NE Siberia. Field data showed that NDVI increased and albedo decreased with increasing deciduous shrub cover. We then selected four Arctic tundra study areas and compiled annual growing season maximum NDVI and minimum albedo maps from MODIS satellite data (2000–10) and related these satellite products to tundra vegetation types (shrub, graminoid, barren and wetland tundra) and regional summer temperature. We observed that maximum NDVI was greatest in shrub tundra and that inter-annual variation was negatively related to summer minimum albedo but showed no consistent relationship with summer temperature. Shrub tundra showed higher albedo than wetland and barren tundra in all four study areas. These results suggest that a northwards shift of shrub tundra might not lead to a decrease in summer minimum albedo during the snow-free season when replacing wetland tundra. A fully integrative study is however needed to link results from satellite data with in situ observations across the Arctic to test the effect of increasing shrub cover on summer albedo in different tundra vegetation types