• Daniels Hawley posted an update 5 hours, 14 minutes ago

    The human dimension of wildlife is a subject of increasing interest, especially considering the potential impact of people’s perceptions on decision-making concerning wildlife management and thus on species’ distribution and abundance. This is particularly important for species that inhabit human-dominated landscapes, where conflicts are likely to arise. These conflicts typically emerge between different human collectives when their interests collide and thus an assessment of their perceptions is valuable. Throughout Europe, ungulates have expanded, and Portugal is no exception. The expansion of red deer (Cervus elaphus) comes with benefits (e.g. hunting opportunities), but also with costs (e.g. vehicle collision or damage to crops), that can shape people’s perceptions of these populations. To assess perceptions of red deer populations in continental Portugal, we developed a questionnaire survey with three interest groups general public, farmers and hunters (total n = 1532). Our results show that perceptions atural and social scientists, to ensure their success.Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) might induce the dysfunction of neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) and impair the function of brains. But to the best of our knowledge, this conclusion was made by using laboratory animals or conventional nerve cell cultures; however, these models might not reflect the complex conditions of human brains. Recently, the development of 3D brain organoids (also known as organotypic cultures) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provides a platform to investigate the behaviors of human brains in vitro. In this study, we investigated the toxicity of MWCNTs to 3D brain organoids which expressed the cortical layer markers. It was shown that MWCNTs induced cytotoxicity to 3D brain organoids but not in dose-dependent manner. Exposure to high level of MWCNTs (64 μg/mL) reduced the levels of intracellular NO but increased superoxide. As the mechanism, 64 μg/mL MWCNTs significantly reduced the protein level of nNOS. The nNOS regulators nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) proteins were significantly induced by MWCNTs, whereas Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) proteins were reduced particularly after exposure to low level of MWCNTs (16 μg/mL). The results from fluorescence micro-optical sectioning tomography (MOST) confirmed the decrease of nNOS proteins, not only at the out-layers that directly contacted MWCNTs, but also at the inner-layers. Combined, our results suggested that MWCNTs could decrease nNOS activity by inducing oxidative stress and modulating NF-κB-KLF4 pathway. This study also showed the potential of 3D brain organoids in mechanism-based toxicology studies.Methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) present in the water column mitigate methane (CH4) emissions from hydropower complexes to the atmosphere. By creating a discontinuity in rivers, dams cause large environmental variations, including in CH4 and oxygen concentrations, between upstream, reservoir, and downstream segments. Although highest freshwater methanotrophic activity is often detected at low oxygen concentrations, CH4 oxidation in well-oxygenated downstream rivers below dams has also been reported. Here we combined DNA and RNA high-throughput sequencing with microscopic enumeration (by CARD-FISH) and biogeochemical data to investigate the abundance, composition, and potential activity of MOB taxa from upstream to downstream waters in the tropical hydropower complex Batang Ai (Malaysia). High relative abundance of MOB (up to 61% in 16S rRNA sequences and 19% in cell counts) and enrichment of stable isotopic signatures of CH4 (up to 0‰) were detected in the hypoxic hypolimnion of the reservoir and in the outflowing downstream river. MOB community shifts along the river-reservoir system reflected environmental sorting of taxa and an interrupted hydrologic connectivity in which downstream MOB communities resembled reservoir’s hypolimnetic communities but differed from upstream and surface reservoir communities. In downstream waters, CH4 oxidation was accompanied by fast cell growth of particular MOB taxa. Our results suggest that rapid shifts in active MOB communities allow the mitigation of CH4 emissions from different zones of hydropower complexes, including in quickly re-oxygenated rivers downstream of dams.Time series of environmental tracers (groundwater stable isotope composition, electrical conductivity and temperature) and concentration breakthrough curves of artificial tracers (uranine, eosine, amino-G and naphtionate) have been analyzed to characterize fast preferential and slow matrix in-transit recharge flows in the Paleocene-Eocene limestone aquifer of the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park, an alpine karst system drained by a water table cave, a rare hydrological feature in high mountain karst systems with similar characteristics. Snowmelt favors the areal recharge of the system. This process is reflected in the large proportion of groundwater flowing through the connected porosity structure of the karst aquifer, which amounts the 75% of the total system water discharge. From the perspective of water resources recovery, the water capacity of the fissured-porous zone (matrix) represents 99% of the total karst system storage. Selleckchem SBE-β-CD The volume associated to the karst conduits is very small. The estimated mean travel times are 9 days for conduits and 475 days for connected porosity. These short travel times reveal high vulnerability of the karst system to pollutants in broad sense and a great impact of climate change on the associated water resources.COVID-19 pandemic is on a trajectory to cause catastrophic global upheaval with the potential to alter geopolitical and socio-economic norms. Many countries are frantically responding with staggering financial stimulus recovery initiatives. This opinion-paper reviews challenges, opportunities, and potential solutions for the post-COVID-19 era that focuses on intensive sustaining of agri-food supply chain in tandem with meeting the high demand for new green deal innovation. For example, the development of wet peatland innovation, known as Paludiculture, can intensively sustain and blend agri-food and green innovations that will help support COVID-19 pandemic transitioning. The future looks bright for the creation of new sustainability multi-actor innovation hubs that will support, connect, and enable businesses to recover and pivot beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The nexus between first ‘Green Deal’ initiative supporting 64 selected European Startups and SMEs (European Innovation Council) and 43 Irish Disruptive Technology projects are addressed in the context of cross-cutting developments and relevance to COVID-19.