Biochemical indicators and biomarkers were analyzed in the liver and gills of chub caught in three localities along the Sava River exposed to different environmental impacts. Sampling sites were: ...downstream from Zagreb (Zgd), downstream Sremska Mitrovica (SM) and downstream from Belgrade (Bgd). We observed that the relative amounts and levels of activity of Cu, Zn containing superoxide dismutase and glutathione in both the liver and gills, and the relative amounts of heat shock protein (HSP90) and metallothioneins in the gills were highest in the Zgd locality, suggesting a higher impact of metal pollution. The Zgd locality had higher concentrations of trace metals in the water, especially iron. In the SM and Bgd localities, higher relative levels of glutathione peroxidase and catalase were recorded (especially in SM) as compared to the Zgd locality, pointing to the presence of hydrogen peroxide and different classes of organic peroxides. Low water oxygen and high temperature levels in the Bgd locality suggesting different metabolic activity between examined locations. Our results suggest that different presence and concentrations of individual environmental factors (total environment) influence the way how fish establish homeostasis.
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•Bioindicators and biomarkers were analyzed in chub liver and gills along Sava River.•CuZnSOD, GSH, HSP90 and MTs in the gills were highest in Zagreb.•Results suggest that Zagreb had higher concentrations of metals in water (iron).•Higher levels of GPx and CAT were found in Sremska Mitrovica and Belgrade.•Total environment influences metabolic profile and bioindicators level.
Biological assessment metrics and water chemistry measurements are used to quantify the link between stressors and their effects on lake ecosystems, for the Water Framework Directive. However, ...correlations between metrics and water chemistry are often poor. This is seen as major weaknesses of Water Framework Directive-related monitoring and assessment. We analyzed macrophytes, benthic algae, benthic macroinvertebrates, water chemistry and sediment total phosphorus content in the littoral of six lakes in the Western Balkans and used CORINE land use data to estimate nutrient enrichment via runoff from the adjacent land. Lakes with a higher estimated phosphorus runoff from the adjacent land did not have higher littoral water nutrient concentrations, but littoral diatom assemblages indicated more eutrophic conditions. These lakes also had higher abundances of littoral benthic primary producers, which in turn were associated with low concentrations of dissolved nutrients, but only in autumn, not in spring. This is consistent with primary producers taking up nutrients during the summer growth season. In lakes with high abundances of benthic primary producers, it is likely that the littoral vegetation plays a large role in the transfer of nutrients from the water to the benthos. This process impairs correlations between biological metrics and water nutrient concentrations. Our results suggest that CORINE land cover may be more useful to characterize littoral nutrient enrichment than lake water chemistry. Increased benthic primary producer biomasses and “eutrophic” diatom indices may indicate littoral nutrient enrichment even if water nutrient concentrations are low.
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•Stressor-response relationships for WFD lake assessment metrics are often poor.•We estimated phosphorus runoff from the adjacent land from CORINE land use.•Lakes with high P-runoff did not have higher water nutrient concentrations.•Diatom indices were correlated with P-runoff but not with water chemistry.•High primary producer biomass seemed to reduce dissolved nutrient concentrations.
Aims To report the outcomes of robot-assisted brain biopsies performed using a novel RONNA G4 system. The system was developed by a research group from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval ...Architecture and a team of neurosurgeons from Dubrava University Hospital, University of Zagreb School of Medicine. Methods This prospective study included 49 biopsies analyzed during one year: 23 robotic frameless and 26 frame-based Leksell stereotactic biopsies. We analyzed the presenting symptoms, tumor range and location, postoperative complications, pathohistological diagnosis, diagnostic yield, as well as operation and hospitalization duration. The target point error was calculated to assess the accuracy of the RONNA system. Results No postoperative mortality, morbidity, or infections were observed. In the frameless robotic biopsy group, only one pathohistological diagnosis was inconclusive. Therefore, the diagnostic yield was 95.6% (22/23), similar to that of the framebased Leksell stereotactic biopsy group (95.1% or 25/26). The average target point error in the frameless robotic biopsy group was 2.15 + or - 1.22 mm (range 0.39-5.85). Conclusion The RONNA G4 robotic system is a safe and accurate tool for brain biopsy, although further research warrants a larger patient sample, comparison with other robotic systems, and a systematic analysis of the entry and target point errors.
Along six transects in each of six lakes across the Western Balkans, we collected data for three groups of littoral biological water quality indicators: epilithic diatoms, macrophytes, and benthic ...invertebrates. We assessed the relationships between them and three environmental pressures: nutrient load (eutrophication), hydro-morphological alteration of the shoreline, and water level variation, separating the effect of individual lakes and continuous explanatory variables. Lake water total phosphorus concentration (TP) showed substantial variation but was not related to any of the tested biological indicators, nor to any of the tested pressures. We suggest that this may be due to feedback processes such as P removal in the lake littoral zone. Instead, we found that a gradient in surrounding land-use towards increasing urbanization, and a land-use-based estimate of P run-off, served as a better descriptor of eutrophication. Overall, eutrophication and water level fluctuation were most important for explaining variation in the assessed indicators, whereas shoreline hydro-morphological alteration was less important. Diatom indicators were most responsive to all three pressures, whereas macrophyte biomass and species number responded only to water level fluctuation. The Trophic Diatom Index for Lakes (TDIL) was negatively related to urbanization and wave exposure. This indicates that it is a suitable indicator for pressures related to urbanization, although a confounding effect of wave exposure is possible. Invertebrate abundance responded strongly to eutrophication, but the indicator based on taxonomic composition (Average Score Per Taxon) did not. Our results suggest that our metrics can be applied in Western Balkan lakes, despite the high number of endemic species present in some of these lakes. We argue that local water management should focus on abating the causes of eutrophication and water level fluctuation, whilst preserving sufficient lengths of undeveloped shoreline to ensure good water quality in the long run.
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•We assessed three pressures on littoral biological indicators in 6 Balkan lakes.•Six littoral transects in each lake varied in water quality and surrounding land use.•Abundance and diversity of macrophytes, diatoms and invertebrates were used.•Most important pressures were water level fluctuation and eutrophication due to urbanization.•Shoreline alteration was less important in explaining indicator variability.
Highlights • Confirmation of bilateral corticobulbar pathway projections for laryngeal muscles. • Domination of contralateral corticobulbar pathway projections for laryngeal muscles in healthy ...subjects and patients. • Use of preoperative brain mapping and monitoring of intraoperative corticobulbar motor evoked potentials (CoMEPs) for patients with lesions within the primary motor brain areas of laryngeal muscle representation.
European lowland rivers are extensively impacted by hydromorphological pressures, and the relationship between individual benthic macroinvertebrate groups and these degradations are insufficiently ...investigated. Therefore, we studied distribution and ecological traits of Odonata inhabiting a lotic system in the Pannonian lowland ecoregion (ER 11) in Croatia affected by degraded water quality and hydromorphological stressors. The study encompassed multihabitat sampling of 20 longitudinally distributed sampling sites, selected for their representativeness of disturbances. Only five species were recorded with
Platycnemis pennipes
(Pallas, 1771) and
Onychogomphus forcipatus
(Linnaeus, 1758) dominating. We found woody debris samples contained a disproportionately higher number of Odonata, especially Zygoptera, compared to all other sampled microhabitats. The downstream longitudinal increase in Odonata abundance was not followed by an expected increase in species richness. Only five (oxygen saturation, pH, ammonium, water temperature and total nitrogen) of the sixteen tested water quality parameters were significant variables in determining the variation of Odonata assemblages.
Calopteryx virgo
(Linnaeus, 1758) and juvenile
Gomphidae
were associated with sites of somewhat higher ammonium and total nitrogen concentrations while all other taxa showed a negative association to ammonium. Odonata abundances were affected by modification of the river channel where significant decrease in abundance was observed with increased modification. Our results suggest that even species with a broad ecological tolerance are sensitive to hydromorphological pressures and represent an important background for further research and conservation practices of lotic European Odonata.
Biofilm formation is generally recognized as a bacterial defense mechanism against environmental threats, including antibiotics, bacteriophages, and leukocytes of the human immune system. Here, we ...show that for the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae, biofilm formation is not only a protective trait but also an aggressive trait to collectively predate different immune cells. We find that V. cholerae forms biofilms on the eukaryotic cell surface using an extracellular matrix comprising primarily mannose-sensitive hemagglutinin pili, toxin-coregulated pili, and the secreted colonization factor TcpF, which differs from the matrix composition of biofilms on other surfaces. These biofilms encase immune cells and establish a high local concentration of a secreted hemolysin to kill the immune cells before the biofilms disperse in a c-di-GMP-dependent manner. Together, these results uncover how bacteria employ biofilm formation as a multicellular strategy to invert the typical relationship between human immune cells as the hunters and bacteria as the hunted.
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•Vibrio cholerae encases different types of immune cells by forming biofilms on them•The biofilm matrix on immune cells differs from the matrix on other surfaces•Biofilm formation enhances the delivery of the toxin hemolysin to kill immune cells•Biofilm formation on immune cells is an aggressive multicellular bacterial trait
For the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae, biofilm formation is not only a protective trait but also an aggressive trait where biofilms form on immune cells, encase and kill them, and then disperse.
Preselection of pilot candidates in the military is critical and determines the quality of subsequent selection. The Aero Medical Institute in Belgrade uses the following centrifuge endpoints: ...peripheral vision loss, heart rate above 180 bpm, cardiac arrhythmias, and G-induced loss of consciousness to assess relaxed +G
tolerance. The aim of this study was to evaluate heart rate variability (HRV) associated with cardiovascular adaptability to different types of stress as a predictor of +G
tolerance.
Thirty-six candidates were exposed to centrifuge runs, consisting of the following +G
-acceleration phases: a 2-G plateau followed by an increase to 5.5 G, a decrease to 2 G, and ending with a plateau. Time-domain HRV indices were calculated for candidates, for a 60-s 2-G plateau, and for the entire test. The correlation was made between the groups that did (Group 1) and did not meet the criteria (Group 2).
The results show significantly lower values in all time domain HRV indices, namely standard deviation of the normal-to-normal interval (SDNN) and root mean square of successive differences, in Group 2. Mean SDNN values were 45.98 ± 24.80 ms (2-G plateau) and 109.99 ± 39.64 ms (entire test) in Group 1, while the SDNN were 22.99 ± 12.04 ms and 69.70 ± 33.45 ms in Group 2. Root mean square of successive differences was higher in Group 1 for the 2-G plateau and for the entire test.
The results suggest that HRV is positively correlated with +G
-tolerance and can be used as an additional selection tool for military aircrew.
INTRODUCTION: Preselection of pilot candidates in the military is critical and determines the quality of subsequent selection. The Aero Medical Institute in Belgrade uses the following centrifuge ...endpoints: peripheral vision loss, heart rate above 180 bpm, cardiac arrhythmias,
and G-induced loss of consciousness to assess relaxed +Gz tolerance. The aim of this study was to evaluate heart rate variability (HRV) associated with cardiovascular adaptability to different types of stress as a predictor of +Gz tolerance.METHODS: Thirty-six
candidates were exposed to centrifuge runs, consisting of the following +Gz-acceleration phases: a 2-G plateau followed by an increase to 5.5 G, a decrease to 2 G, and ending with a plateau. Time-domain HRV indices were calculated for candidates, for a 60-s 2-G plateau,
and for the entire test. The correlation was made between the groups that did (Group 1) and did not meet the criteria (Group 2).RESULTS: The results show significantly lower values in all time domain HRV indices, namely standard deviation of the normal-to-normal interval (SDNN)
and root mean square of successive differences, in Group 2. Mean SDNN values were 45.98 ± 24.80 ms (2-G plateau) and 109.99 ± 39.64 ms (entire test) in Group 1, while the SDNN were 22.99 ± 12.04 ms and 69.70 ± 33.45 ms
in Group 2. Root mean square of successive differences was higher in Group 1 for the 2-G plateau and for the entire test.DISCUSSION: The results suggest that HRV is positively correlated with +Gz-tolerance and can be used as an additional selection tool for military aircrew.Bacevic
N, Ninkovic M, Drvendzija M, Vidakovic J, Bacevic M, Stepanic P. Heart rate variability as a predictor of +Gz tolerance during the high-G selective test. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2024; 95(2):93-100.
Mayflies of the Bednja River, Croatia Vilenica, Marina; Vidaković Maoduš, Iva; Mihaljević, Zlatko
Natura Croatica,
12/2022, Letnik:
31, Številka:
2
Journal Article, Paper
Odprti dostop
Here we present the results of a mayfly study conducted on a hydromorphologically altered lowland river in Croatia, the Bednja River. Twenty-two mayfly species were recorded, Baetis fuscatus ...(Linnaeus, 1761) and Serratella ignita (Poda, 1761) being the most widespread and Paraleptophlebia submarginata (Stephens, 1836) and Cloeon dipterum (Linnaeus, 1761) the rarest species. A significant increase in mayfly species richness was observed along the river course. Nevertheless, cluster analysis showed that their assemblages were not grouped according to the study position along the Bednja River. The lowest species richness and diversity were recorded for the spring area. Surprisingly, the highest species richness was found at a site with moderate hydromorphological alterations, and the highest diversity at a site with severe hydromorphological alterations. This could be because the river is connected to numerous lateral streams and a variety of microhabitats are available. New distribution records in Croatia are presented for some rare species in Croatian freshwater habitats, such as Heptagenia longicauda (Stephens, 1836). Ephemera lineata Eaton, 1870 was recorded for the first time in the Pannonian lowland ecoregion (ER 11) in Croatia. Caenis cf. pseudorivulorum Keffermüller, 1960 has not yet been recorded in Croatian freshwater habitats, but since our identifications are based on juvenile specimens, its occurrence is still to be confirmed.
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