Bilateral endogenous fungal endophthalmitis

Endogenous endophthalmitis is a rare and severe intraocular infection which can be vision-threatening. We describe a case of bilateral fungal endogenous endophthalmitis in a 64-year-old male which was successfully treated with systemic administration of fluconazole followed by pars plana vitrectomy with an intravitreous injection of amphotericin B

Determination of Parameters Describing the Risk Areas of Ships Chaotic Rolling on the Example of LNG Carrier and OSV Vessel

One of the significant problems in the safe operation of vessels is the behavior of the ship on the wave. Of all degrees of freedom, the greatest threat to the safety of a ship is associated with excessive rolling. One of the best methods to improve the safety of a ship in this field is to carry out experiments on the ship model, performed at her design stage. The problem is that the model tests are costly. An alternative is to conduct simulation tests based on numerical models. The primary goal of the article is to present the results of the simulation regarding the determination of parameters describing the risk areas of chaotic rolling for the ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG carrier) and offshore support vessel (OSV). The first discusses the state of knowledge on mathematical modeling of oscillations. Then, the theory of nonlinear differential equations is presented, and the mathematical model of ship rolling is described. This model is used to prepare and conduct a numerical simulation in the Mathematica package. The results of these studies and their discussion constitute the central part of the article. Finally, the conclusions are presented

The Effects of Hypoxia on Threshold Food Concentrations in Different Daphnia Species

Numerous studies have revealed a negative correlation between the body size and temperature among a variety of aquatic ectotherms. Many studies at individual and population levels indicated that this mechanism may be explained by the decrease of competitive abilities of larger- over smaller-bodied individuals, as the production of larger-bodied individuals is more limited due to greater susceptibility to decreased oxygen concentrations (i.e., environmental hypoxia) at elevated temperatures. However, this hypothesis is still not tested at the community level. To test this, we performed several experiments on the food thresholds (which is a proxy for competitive ability) of 6 zooplankton (Daphnia) species varying in body size, at high or low oxygen concentrations. Contrary to the hypothesis tested, hypoxia increased threshold food concentrations to a relatively greater extent in smaller species than in larger ones. This may be attributed to the better evolutionary adaptations of larger-bodied daphnids to oxygen-poor environments manifested in higher production of haemoglobin. The results obtained in this study cannot exclude the possibility that environmental hypoxia is responsible for the temperature-size pattern in aquatic ectotherms, as our experiments did not take into account the long-term energetic costs of expedited haemoglobin synthesis, which could shift size-dependent competitive power

The Effects of Hypoxia on Threshold Food Concentrations in Different <i>Daphnia</i> Species

Numerous studies have revealed a negative correlation between the body size and temperature among a variety of aquatic ectotherms. Many studies at individual and population levels indicated that this mechanism may be explained by the decrease of competitive abilities of larger- over smaller-bodied individuals, as the production of larger-bodied individuals is more limited due to greater susceptibility to decreased oxygen concentrations (i.e., environmental hypoxia) at elevated temperatures. However, this hypothesis is still not tested at the community level. To test this, we performed several experiments on the food thresholds (which is a proxy for competitive ability) of 6 zooplankton (Daphnia) species varying in body size, at high or low oxygen concentrations. Contrary to the hypothesis tested, hypoxia increased threshold food concentrations to a relatively greater extent in smaller species than in larger ones. This may be attributed to the better evolutionary adaptations of larger-bodied daphnids to oxygen-poor environments manifested in higher production of haemoglobin. The results obtained in this study cannot exclude the possibility that environmental hypoxia is responsible for the temperature-size pattern in aquatic ectotherms, as our experiments did not take into account the long-term energetic costs of expedited haemoglobin synthesis, which could shift size-dependent competitive power

Metagenomic Analysis of the Gastrointestinal Microbiota of <i>Gadus morhua callarias</i> L. Originating from a Chemical Munition Dump Site

Several hundred thousand tonnes of munitions containing chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are lying on the seafloor worldwide. CWAs have started leaking from corroded munitions, and their presence in the environment and in organisms inhabiting dump sites has been detected. The presence of CWAs in the water negatively affects fish, macrobenthos and free-living bacteria. It can be expected that the presence of CWAs would also affect the gut-associated bacteria in fish, which are vital for their condition. The main aim of this study was to test if the microbiota of cod collected in the Baltic Bornholm Deep (highly polluted with CWAs) is dysregulated. To investigate this, we conducted metagenomic studies based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We found that the microbiota of cod inhabiting the dump site was significantly less taxonomically diverse compared to those from a non-polluted reference site. Moreover, taxa associated with fish diseases (e.g., Vibrionaceae, Aeromonadaceae) were more prevalent, and probiotic taxa (e.g., Actinobacteriota, Rhodobacteraceae) were less frequent in the guts of individuals from the dump site, than those from the reference site. The differences in vulnerability of various bacterial taxa inhabiting cod gastrointestinal tracts to CWAs were hypothesised to be responsible for the observed microbiota dysregulation