Putting pharmaceuticals into the wider context of challenges to fish populations in rivers

The natural range of fish species in our rivers is related to flow, elevation, temperature, local habitat and connectivity. For over 2000 years, humans have altered to varying degrees the river habitat. In the past 200 years, we added to the environmental disruption by discharging poorly treated sewage, nutrients and industrial waste into our rivers. For many rivers, the low point arrived during the period of 1950s–1970s, when rapid economic development overrode environmental concerns and dissolved oxygen concentrations dropped to zero. In these more enlightened times, gross river pollution is a thing of the past in the Developed World. However, persistent legacy chemical contaminants can be found in fish long after their discharge ceased. Changes in habitat quality and morphology caused and continue to cause the disappearance of fish species. The range of fish stressors has now increased as temperatures rise, and non-native fish introductions bring new diseases. The threat from pharmaceuticals to fish populations remains hypothetical, and no studies have yet linked change in fish populations to exposure

Indicators for digitalization of sustainable development goals in peex program

cited By 0This article describes the Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) program and indicators for monitoring of implementation and digitalization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in Russia, especially environmental goals. The authors considered the possibility of integration and identification of the methodological approaches of the socio-economic research to environmental sciences. Paper gives insights into the international framework of the United nations, addreses several relevant indicators to be monitored in a Russian perspective and summarizes shortly the status of the monitoring activities and provide an overview on the main tasks for the upcoming years to reach the sustainable development goals established by the United Nations. The tasks to which the Goals divided are considered in detail. The indicators of Russian statistics that can be used to monitor the implementation of these tasks are determined. It is shown, that more detailed regional analysis and new data is needed in order to quantify the feedbackloops. © 2018, Lomonosov Moscow State University. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Nitrogen release in decomposition of boreal mor and peat as affected by enchytraeid worms

Peer reviewe

ソーシャルインクルージョンの醸成を目的とした障害に対する理解を深めるワークショップのあり方に関する研究 - チュニジアでの視覚障害を事例として

博士（芸術工学）神戸芸術工科大学201

Release of Carbon in Different Molecule Size Fractions from Decomposing Boreal Mor and Peat as Affected by Enchytraeid Worms

Terrestrial export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to watercourses has increased in boreal zone. Effect of decomposing material and soil food webs on the release rate and quality of DOC are poorly known. We quantified carbon (C) release in CO2, and DOC in different molecular weights from the most common organic soils in boreal zone; and explored the effect of soil type and enchytraeid worms on the release rates. Two types of mor and four types of peat were incubated in laboratory with and without enchytraeid worms for 154 days at + 15 A degrees C. Carbon was mostly released as CO2; DOC contributed to 2-9% of C release. The share of DOC was higher in peat than in mor. The release rate of CO2 was three times higher in mor than in highly decomposed peat. Enchytraeids enhanced the release of CO2 by 31-43% and of DOC by 46-77% in mor. High molecular weight fraction dominated the DOC release. Upscaling the laboratory results into catchment level allowed us to conclude that peatlands are the main source of DOC, low molecular weight DOC originates close to watercourse, and that enchytraeids substantially influence DOC leaching to watercourse and ultimately to aquatic CO2 emissions.Peer reviewe

Uniparental Genetic Heritage of Belarusians: Encounter of Rare Middle Eastern Matrilineages with a Central European Mitochondrial DNA Pool

Ethnic Belarusians make up more than 80% of the nine and half million people inhabiting the Republic of Belarus. Belarusians together with Ukrainians and Russians represent the East Slavic linguistic group, largest both in numbers and territory, inhabiting East Europe alongside Baltic-, Finno-Permic- and Turkic-speaking people. Till date, only a limited number of low resolution genetic studies have been performed on this population. Therefore, with the phylogeographic analysis of 565 Y-chromosomes and 267 mitochondrial DNAs from six well covered geographic sub-regions of Belarus we strove to complement the existing genetic profile of eastern Europeans. Our results reveal that around 80% of the paternal Belarusian gene pool is composed of R1a, I2a and N1c Y-chromosome haplogroups – a profile which is very similar to the two other eastern European populations – Ukrainians and Russians. The maternal Belarusian gene pool encompasses a full range of West Eurasian haplogroups and agrees well with the genetic structure of central-east European populations. Our data attest that latitudinal gradients characterize the variation of the uniparentally transmitted gene pools of modern Belarusians. In particular, the Y-chromosome reflects movements of people in central-east Europe, starting probably as early as the beginning of the Holocene. Furthermore, the matrilineal legacy of Belarusians retains two rare mitochondrial DNA haplogroups, N1a3 and N3, whose phylogeographies were explored in detail after de novo sequencing of 20 and 13 complete mitogenomes, respectively, from all over Eurasia. Our phylogeographic analyses reveal that two mitochondrial DNA lineages, N3 and N1a3, both of Middle Eastern origin, might mark distinct events of matrilineal gene flow to Europe: during the mid-Holocene period and around the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, respectively

Membrane-Sculpting BAR Domains Generate Stable Lipid Microdomains

Bin-Amphiphysin-Rvs (BAR) domain proteins are central regulators of many cellular processes involving membrane dynamics. BAR domains sculpt phosphoinositide-rich membranes to generate membrane protrusions or invaginations. Here, we report that, in addition to regulating membrane geometry, BAR domains can generate extremely stable lipid microdomains by “freezing” phosphoinositide dynamics. This is a general feature of BAR domains, because the yeast endocytic BAR and Fes/CIP4 homology BAR (F-BAR) domains, the inverse BAR domain of Pinkbar, and the eisosomal BAR protein Lsp1 induced phosphoinositide clustering and halted lipid diffusion, despite differences in mechanisms of membrane interactions. Lsp1 displays comparable low diffusion rates in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that BAR domain proteins also generate stable phosphoinositide microdomains in cells. These results uncover a conserved role for BAR superfamily proteins in regulating lipid dynamics within membranes. Stable microdomains induced by BAR domain scaffolds and specific lipids can generate phase boundaries and diffusion barriers, which may have profound impacts on diverse cellular processes.Peer reviewe

Homozygosity for a missense mutation in the 67 kDa isoform of glutamate decarboxylase in a family with autosomal recessive spastic cerebral palsy: parallels with Stiff-Person Syndrome and other movement disorders

Background Cerebral palsy (CP) is an heterogeneous group of neurological disorders of movement and/or posture, with an estimated incidence of 1 in 1000 live births. Non-progressive forms of symmetrical, spastic CP have been identified, which show a Mendelian autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. We recently described the mapping of a recessive spastic CP locus to a 5 cM chromosomal region located at 2q24-31.1, in rare consanguineous families. Methods Here we present data that refine this locus to a 0.5 cM region, flanked by the microsatellite markers D2S2345 and D2S326. The minimal region contains the candidate gene GAD1, which encodes a glutamate decarboxylase isoform (GAD67), involved in conversion of the amino acid and excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate to the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Results A novel amino acid mis-sense mutation in GAD67 was detected, which segregated with CP in affected individuals. Conclusions This result is interesting because auto-antibodies to GAD67 and the more widely studied GAD65 homologue encoded by the GAD2 gene, are described in patients with Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS), epilepsy, cerebellar ataxia and Batten disease. Further investigation seems merited of the possibility that variation in the GAD1 sequence, potentially affecting glutamate/GABA ratios, may underlie this form of spastic CP, given the presence of anti-GAD antibodies in SPS and the recognised excitotoxicity of glutamate in various contexts

Towards an advanced observation system for the marine Arctic in the framework of the Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX)

The Arctic marine climate system is changing rapidly, which is seen in the warming of the ocean and atmosphere, decline of sea ice cover, increase in river discharge, acidification of the ocean, and changes in marine ecosystems. Socio-economic activities in the coastal and marine Arctic are simultaneously changing. This calls for the establishment of a marine Arctic component of the Pan-Eurasian Experiment (MA-PEEX). There is a need for more in situ observations on the marine atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean, but increasing the amount of such observations is a pronounced technological and logistical challenge. The SMEAR (Station for Measuring Ecosystem–Atmosphere Relations) concept can be applied in coastal and archipelago stations, but in the Arctic Ocean it will probably be more cost-effective to further develop a strongly distributed marine observation network based on autonomous buoys, moorings, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These have to be supported by research vessel and aircraft campaigns, as well as various coastal observations, including community-based ones. Major manned drifting stations may occasionally be comparable to terrestrial SMEAR flagship stations. To best utilize the observations, atmosphere–ocean reanalyses need to be further developed. To well integrate MA-PEEX with the existing terrestrial–atmospheric PEEX, focus is needed on the river discharge and associated fluxes, coastal processes, and atmospheric transports in and out of the marine Arctic. More observations and research are also needed on the specific socio-economic challenges and opportunities in the marine and coastal Arctic, and on their interaction with changes in the climate and environmental system. MA-PEEX will promote international collaboration; sustainable marine meteorological, sea ice, and oceanographic observations; advanced data management; and multidisciplinary research on the marine Arctic and its interaction with the Eurasian continent.</p