Identifying Bacteria Responsible for Non-Sulphate-Based Hydrogen Sulphide Production in Aquaculture.

The unintended microbiological production of hydrogen sulphide (HS) poses a significant challenge in engineered systems, including sewage treatment plants, landfills and aquaculture systems. Although sulphur-rich amino acids and other substrates conducive to non-sulphate-based HS production are frequently present, the capacity and potential of various microorganisms to perform sulphate-free HS production remain unclear. In this study, we identify the identity, activity and genomic characteristics of bacteria that degrade cysteine to produce HS in anaerobic enrichment bioreactors seeded with material from aquaculture systems.

Cognitive, social, and mental health functions of refugee children - screening and supportive actions at school: a study protocol.

Background: Despite a world-leading educational system, an achievement gap in educational outcomes exists between children of refugee background and native-born peers in Finland. To offer targeted support for children at schools, we need to be able to reliably assess and understand the interplay of the aspects of children's cognitive, social, and mental health functions that may explain the underachievement of refugee children. This study tests a novel research-based, universally applicable screening battery for evaluating cognitive, social, and mental health functioning of children at schools and planning supportive actions.

Organic matter lability modifies the vertical structure of methane-related microbial communities in lake sediments.

Eutrophication increases the input of labile, algae-derived, organic matter (OM) into lake sediments. This potentially increases methane (CH) emissions from sediment to water through increased methane production rates and decreased methane oxidation efficiency in sediments. However, the effect of OM lability on the structure of methane oxidizing (methanotrophic) and methane producing (methanogenic) microbial communities in lake sediments is still understudied.

Extragalactic Science with the Orbiting Astronomical Satellite Investigating Stellar Systems (OASIS) Observatory.

The , a proposed Astrophysics MIDEX-class mission concept, has an innovative 14-meter diameter inflatable primary mirror that will provide the sensitivity to study far-infrared continuum and line emission from galaxies at all redshifts with high spectral resolution heterodyne receivers. will have the sensitivity to follow the water trail from galaxies to the comets that create oceans. It will bring an understanding of the role of water in galaxy evolution and its part of the oxygen budget, by measuring water emission from local to intermediate redshift galaxies, observations that have not been possible from the ground.

Effectiveness of Promotive and Preventive Psychosocial Interventions on Improving the Mental Health of Finnish-Born and Immigrant Adolescents.

Background: Schools are considered natural environments in which to enhance students' social-emotional skills and mental health in general, but they can be especially important for students with refugee and immigrant backgrounds. The current study tested the effectiveness of two school-based interventions in enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents of native, refugee, and immigrant backgrounds. It further analyzed the role of age, gender, daily stressors, and discrimination in affecting the interventions' effectiveness.

Effectiveness of psychosocial school interventions in Finnish schools for refugee and immigrant children, "Refugees Well School" in Finland (RWS-FI): a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Schools are natural environments in which to enhance young people's social and emotional skills, mental health, and contact between diverse groups, including students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. A layered or tiered provision of services is recommended as it can be effective to meet the needs of war-affected adolescents who variably show mental health problems (such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)). The current protocol describes the study design for a multi-layered intervention model.

Mental Health of Refugee and Non-refugee Migrant Young People in European Secondary Education: The Role of Family Separation, Daily Material Stress and Perceived Discrimination in Resettlement.

While scholarly literature indicates that both refugee and non-refugee migrant young people display increased levels of psychosocial vulnerability, studies comparing the mental health of the two groups remain scarce. This study aims to further the existing evidence by examining refugee and non-refugee migrants' mental health, in relation to their migration history and resettlement conditions. The mental health of 883 refugee and 483 non-refugee migrants (mean age 15.

Microbial communities in full-scale woodchip bioreactors treating aquaculture effluents.

Woodchip bioreactors are being successfully applied to remove nitrate from commercial land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) effluents. In order to understand and optimize the overall function of these bioreactors, knowledge on the microbial communities, especially on the microbes with potential for production or mitigation of harmful substances (e.g.

Hurricane Disturbance Stimulated Nitrification and Altered Ammonia Oxidizer Community Structure in Lake Okeechobee and St. Lucie Estuary (Florida).

Nitrification is an important biological link between oxidized and reduced forms of nitrogen (N). The efficiency of nitrification plays a key role in mitigating excess N in eutrophic systems, including those with cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs), since it can be closely coupled with denitrification and removal of excess N. Recent work suggests that competition for ammonium (NH ) between ammonia oxidizers and cyanoHABs can help determine microbial community structure.

CH oxidation in a boreal lake during the development of hypolimnetic hypoxia.

Freshwater ecosystems represent a significant natural source of methane (CH). CH produced through anaerobic decomposition of organic matter (OM) in lake sediment and water column can be either oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO) by methanotrophic microbes or emitted to the atmosphere. While the role of CH oxidation as a CH sink is widely accepted, neither the magnitude nor the drivers behind CH oxidation are well constrained.

Nitrate removal microbiology in woodchip bioreactors: A case-study with full-scale bioreactors treating aquaculture effluents.

Woodchip bioreactors are viable low-cost nitrate (NO) removal applications for treating agricultural and aquaculture discharges. The active microbial biofilms growing on woodchips are conducting nitrogen (N) removal, reducing NO while oxidizing the carbon (C) from woodchips. However, bioreactor age, and changes in the operating conditions or in the microbial community might affect the NO removal as well as potentially promote nitrous oxide (NO) production through either incomplete denitrification or dissimilatory NO reduction to ammonium (DNRA).

Consistency of Targeted Metatranscriptomics and Morphological Characterization of Phytoplankton Communities.

The composition of phytoplankton community is the basis for environmental monitoring and assessment of the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. Community composition studies of phytoplankton have been based on time-consuming and expertise-demanding light microscopy analyses. Molecular methods have the potential to replace microscopy, but the high copy number variation of ribosomal genes and the lack of universal primers for simultaneous amplification of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes complicate data interpretation.

Association between regular exercise and asthma control among adults: The population-based Northern Finnish Asthma Study.

Previously those with asthma were often advised to avoid strenuous exercise because of fear for exercise-induced asthmatic reactions, but recent findings suggest many beneficial effects on health related to exercise. We elaborated on the relation between regular exercise and asthma control among adults. This was a population-based cross-sectional Northern Finnish Asthma Study (NoFAS), in which altogether 1922 adult subjects 17-73 years old living in Northern Finland answered the NoFAS questionnaire.

Eutrophication reduces the nutritional value of phytoplankton in boreal lakes.

Eutrophication (as an increase in total phosphorus [TP]) increases harmful algal blooms and reduces the proportion of high-quality phytoplankton in seston and the content of ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]) in fish. However, it is not well-known how eutrophication affects the overall nutritional value of phytoplankton. Therefore, we studied the impact of eutrophication on the production (as concentration; μg L) and content (μg mg C) of amino acids, EPA, DHA, and sterols, i.

Regular exercise improves asthma control in adults: A randomized controlled trial.

We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the hypothesis that a 24-week exercise intervention improves asthma control in adults. Adults with mild or moderate asthma were randomly assigned to either the exercise intervention group (IG) or the reference group (RG). Participants in IG received an individualized exercising program, including aerobic exercise at least three times a week for ≥30 minutes, muscle training, and stretching.

High Nitrogen Removal in a Constructed Wetland Receiving Treated Wastewater in a Cold Climate.

Constructed wetlands provide cost-efficient nutrient removal, with minimal input of human labor and energy, and their number is globally increasing. However, in northern latitudes, wetlands are rarely utilized, because their nutrient removal efficiency has been questioned due to the cold climate. Here, we studied nutrient retention and nitrogen removal in a boreal constructed wetland (4-ha) receiving treated nitrogen-rich wastewater.

Novel Autotrophic Organisms Contribute Significantly to the Internal Carbon Cycling Potential of a Boreal Lake.

Oxygen-stratified lakes are typical for the boreal zone and also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in the region. Due to shallow light penetration, restricting the growth of phototrophic organisms, and large allochthonous organic carbon inputs from the catchment area, the lake metabolism is expected to be dominated by heterotrophic organisms. In this study, we test this assumption and show that the potential for autotrophic carbon fixation and internal carbon cycling is high throughout the water column.

Resistant ammonia-oxidizing archaea endure, but adapting ammonia-oxidizing bacteria thrive in boreal lake sediments receiving nutrient-rich effluents.

Climate change along with anthropogenic activities changes biogeochemical conditions in lake ecosystems, modifying the sediment microbial communities. Wastewater effluents introduce nutrients and organic material but also novel microbes to lake ecosystems, simulating forthcoming increases in catchment loadings. In this work, we first used 16s rRNA gene sequencing to study how the overall sediment microbial community responds to wastewater in six boreal lakes.

The influence of oxygen and methane on nitrogen fixation in subarctic Sphagnum mosses.

Biological nitrogen fixation is an important source of bioavailable nitrogen in Sphagnum dominated peatlands. Sphagnum mosses harbor a diverse microbiome including nitrogen-fixing and methane (CH) oxidizing bacteria. The inhibitory effect of oxygen on microbial nitrogen fixation is documented for many bacteria.

Sediment diffusion method improves wastewater nitrogen removal in the receiving lake sediments.

Sediment microbes have a great potential to transform reactive N to harmless N, thus decreasing wastewater nitrogen load into aquatic ecosystems. Here, we examined if spatial allocation of the wastewater discharge by a specially constructed sediment diffuser pipe system enhanced the microbial nitrate reduction processes. Full-scale experiments were set on two Finnish lake sites, Keuruu and Petäjävesi, and effects on the nitrate removal processes were studied using the stable isotope pairing technique.

Sub-arcsecond imaging of the water emission in Arp 220.

Aims: Extragalactic observations of water emission can provide valuable insights into the excitation of the interstellar medium. In particular they allow us to investigate the excitation mechanisms in obscured nuclei, i.e.

Microbial Community Response on Wastewater Discharge in Boreal Lake Sediments.

Despite high performance, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) still discharge significant amounts of organic material and nitrogen and even microbes into the receiving water bodies, altering physico-chemical conditions and microbial functions. In this study, we examined how nitrified wastewater affects the microbiology of boreal lake sediments. Microbial community compositions were assessed with next generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, and a more detailed view on nitrogen transformation processes was gained with qPCR targeting on functional genes (, , , and ).

Terrestrial carbohydrates support freshwater zooplankton during phytoplankton deficiency.

Freshwater food webs can be partly supported by terrestrial primary production, often deriving from plant litter of surrounding catchment vegetation. Although consisting mainly of poorly bioavailable lignin, with low protein and lipid content, the carbohydrates from fallen tree leaves and shoreline vegetation may be utilized by aquatic consumers. Here we show that during phytoplankton deficiency, zooplankton (Daphnia magna) can benefit from terrestrial particulate organic matter by using terrestrial-origin carbohydrates for energy and sparing essential fatty acids and amino acids for somatic growth and reproduction.

Bacterial community response to changes in a tri-trophic cascade during a whole-lake fish manipulation.

Microbial communities play a key role in biogeochemical processes by degrading organic material and recycling nutrients, but can also be important food sources for upper trophic levels. Trophic cascades might modify microbial communities either directly via grazing or indirectly by inducing changes.in other biotic or in abiotic factors (e.