Potential of water sediments in construction materials: Current approaches and critical consideration of future challenges.

Human activities result in sediment accumulation, so the reservoirs gradually lose their functionality, impacting their ability to manage large flood inflows, supply water, and generate hydroelectric power. Therefore, periodic removal of sediments from water reservoirs is essential to maintain functionality. Notwithstanding, the management of dredged sediments is a multifaceted process that involves careful consideration of environmental, regulatory, and economic factors to ensure their responsibility and sustainable handling.

Using three-dimensional geometric morphometry for facial analysis in patients with the oculo-auriculo-vertebral spectrum.

Aim: To utilize three-dimensional (3D) geometric morphometry for visualization of the level of facial asymmetry in patients with the oculo-auriculo-vertebral spectrum (OAVS).

Materials And Methods: Three-dimensional facial scans of 25 Czech patients with OAVS were processed. The patients were divided into subgroups according to Pruzansky classification.

Are there any limits to the dental treatment of children?

Aim: The objective of this paper is to describe and discuss the most commonly occurring limits in care provision between a dentist and a child, i.e. provider and recipient.

Assessment of two non-invasive techniques for measuring turbulent benthic fluxes in a shallow lake.

Benthic fluxes refer to the exchange rates of nutrients and other compounds between the water column and the sediment bed in aquatic ecosystems. Their quantification contributes to our understanding of aquatic ecosystem functioning. Near-bed hydrodynamics plays an important role at the sediment-water interface, especially in shallow lakes, but it is poorly considered by traditional measuring techniques of flux quantification, such as sediment incubations.

Bioaccumulation of chemical elements at post-industrial freshwater sites varies predictably between habitats, elements and taxa: A power law approach.

Elevated environmental levels of elements originating from anthropogenic activities threaten natural communities and public health, as these elements can persist and bioaccumulate in the environment. However, their environmental risks and bioaccumulation patterns are often habitat-, species- and element-specific. We studied the bioaccumulation patterns of 11 elements in seven freshwater taxa in post-mining habitats in the Czech Republic, ranging from less polluted mining ponds to highly polluted fly ash lagoons.

Muddying the unexplored post-industrial waters: Biodiversity and conservation potential of freshwater habitats in fly ash sedimentation lagoons.

Deposits of fly ash and other coal combustion wastes are common remnants of the energy industry. Despite their environmental risks from heavy metals and trace elements, they have been revealed as refuges for threatened terrestrial biodiversity. Surprisingly, freshwater biodiversity of fly ash sedimentation lagoons remains unknown despite such lack of knowledge strongly limits the efficient restoration of fly ash deposits.

Contrasting catchment soil pH and Fe concentrations influence DOM distribution and nutrient dynamics in freshwater systems.

Organic matter (OM) quantity, quality, and nutrient dynamics within twelve shallow lakes in the Czech Republic were assessed in the context of catchment soil pH and iron (Fe) concentration. The catchments of the lakes were classified into two categories: (i) slightly acidic (soil pH = 5.1-6.

ANHIR: Automatic Non-Rigid Histological Image Registration Challenge.

Automatic Non-rigid Histological Image Registration (ANHIR) challenge was organized to compare the performance of image registration algorithms on several kinds of microscopy histology images in a fair and independent manner. We have assembled 8 datasets, containing 355 images with 18 different stains, resulting in 481 image pairs to be registered. Registration accuracy was evaluated using manually placed landmarks.

Correction to: Hunters or farmers? Microbiome characteristics help elucidate the diet composition in an aquatic carnivorous plant.

AbstractFollowing publication of the original article [1], the author reported an error in Fig. 3.

Hunters or farmers? Microbiome characteristics help elucidate the diet composition in an aquatic carnivorous plant.

Background: Utricularia are rootless aquatic carnivorous plants which have recently attracted the attention of researchers due to the peculiarities of their miniaturized genomes. Here, we focus on a novel aspect of Utricularia ecophysiology-the interactions with and within the complex communities of microorganisms colonizing their traps and external surfaces.

Results: Bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa inhabit the miniature ecosystem of the Utricularia trap lumen and are involved in the regeneration of nutrients from complex organic matter.

Iron and nitrogen cycling, bacterioplankton community composition and mineral transformations involving phosphorus stabilisation in the ferruginous hypolimnion of a post-mining lake.

Lake Medard is an oligotrophic post-mining lake characterised by ferruginous bottom waters, with marked redox gradients resulting from iron (Fe) and nitrogen (N) speciation and accompanying depth-dependent variations in the abundance of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), pH and alkalinity. The lacustrine system is meromictic, featuring a dysoxic hypolimnion and an anoxic monimolimnion with relatively high concentrations of sulfate (SO42-, 19 ± 2 mM) and Fe(ii) (127 ± 17 μM). An increase in dissolved manganese is also observed with increasing depth, together with a general lack of sulfide, which can only be detected at the sediment-water interface at concentrations of ∼0.

Approach for predicting P sorption/desorption behaviour of potentially eroded topsoil in watercourses.

This study focuses on the quantification of the impact of potentially eroded topsoil particles on the available watercourse P concentration. We used 56 topsoil samples for determining the relation existing between the molar ratio of sorption-active Fe- and Al-(hydr)oxides to plant available P, as determined by the commonly used oxalate and Mehlich 3 extractions (P). Our sample set covers the most common combinations of non-calcareous soil types, land and agricultural uses.

Tuning Surface Chemistry of Polyetheretherketone by Gold Coating and Plasma Treatment.

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has good chemical and biomechanical properties that are excellent for biomedical applications. However, PEEK exhibits hydrophobic and other surface characteristics which cause limited cell adhesion. We have investigated the potential of Ar plasma treatment for the formation of a nanostructured PEEK surface in order to enhance cell adhesion.

Vegetation dynamics at the upper elevational limit of vascular plants in Himalaya.

A rapid warming in Himalayas is predicted to increase plant upper distributional limits, vegetation cover and abundance of species adapted to warmer climate. We explored these predictions in NW Himalayas, by revisiting uppermost plant populations after ten years (2003-2013), detailed monitoring of vegetation changes in permanent plots (2009-2012), and age analysis of plants growing from 5500 to 6150 m. Plant traits and microclimate variables were recorded to explain observed vegetation changes.

Cadmium toxicity investigated at the physiological and biophysical levels under environmentally relevant conditions using the aquatic model plant Ceratophyllum demersum.

Cadmium (Cd) is an important environmental pollutant and is poisonous to most organisms. We aimed to unravel the mechanisms of Cd toxicity in the model water plant Ceratophyllum demersum exposed to low (nM) concentrations of Cd as are present in nature. Experiments were conducted under environmentally relevant conditions, including nature-like light and temperature cycles, and a low biomass to water ratio.

Histopathological case report of high grade salivary duct carcinoma.

The case of a 39-year-old man with slowly growing mass in the superior part of left parotid region is described. Patient presented neurological symptoms including hypomobility of lower left eyelid and inability of complete closure of left side eyelids resulting in conjunctivitis and hyperlacrimation. Routine physical examination supported by image and laboratory tests was performed.

Dinitrogen fixation associated with shoots of aquatic carnivorous plants: is it ecologically important?

Background And Aims: Rootless carnivorous plants of the genus Utricularia are important components of many standing waters worldwide, as well as suitable model organisms for studying plant-microbe interactions. In this study, an investigation was made of the importance of microbial dinitrogen (N2) fixation in the N acquisition of four aquatic Utricularia species and another aquatic carnivorous plant, Aldrovanda vesiculosa.

Methods: 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used to assess the presence of micro-organisms with known ability to fix N2.

What do results of common sequential fractionation and single-step extractions tell us about P binding with Fe and Al compounds in non-calcareous sediments?

Correct identification of P forms together with their main Fe and Al binding partners in non-calcareous sediments is of crucial importance for evaluation of P cycling in water bodies. In this paper, we assess extraction methods frequently used for this purpose, i.e.

Ecological implications of organic carbon dynamics in the traps of aquatic carnivorous Utricularia plants.

Rootless aquatic carnivorous Utricularia exude up to 25% of their photosynthates into the trap lumen, which also harbours a complex microbial community thought to play a role in enhancing Utricularia nutrient acquisition. We investigated the composition of organic carbon in the trap fluid, its availability for microbial uptake, the influence of plant nutrient status and trap age on its biodegradability, and the composition of prokaryotic assemblages within the traps of three aquatic Utricularia species. Using ion chromatography and basal respiration rate measurements we confirmed that up to 30% of total dissolved organic carbon in Utricularia trap fluid in oligotrophic conditions was easily biodegradable compounds commonly found in plant root exudates (mainly glucose, fructose and lactate).

Utricularia carnivory revisited: plants supply photosynthetic carbon to traps.

The rootless, aquatic Utricularia species belong to the largest and most cosmopolitan carnivorous plant genus. Populations of Utricularia plants are an important component of many standing, nutrient-poor, and humic waters. Carbon (C) allocation is an aspect of Utricularia's ecophysiology that has not been studied previously and there is considerable uncertainty about the functional and ecological benefit of the trap-associated microbial community and the potential role played by C exudation in enhancing plant-microbe interactions.

Aluminum control of phosphorus sorption by lake sediments.

Release of reactive (phosphate-like) phosphorus (P) from freshwater sediments represents a significant internal P source for many lakes. Hypolimnetic P release occurs under reducing conditions that cause reductive dissolution of ferric hydroxide [Fe(OH)3]. This hypolimnetic P release may be naturally low or artificially reduced by sediment with naturally high or artificially elevated concentrations of aluminum hydroxide [Al(OH)3].

Natural inactivation of phosphorus by aluminum in atmospherically acidified water bodies.

Atmospheric acidification of catchment-lake ecosystems may provide natural conditions for the in-lake control of P cycling. This process is based on the elevated transport of aluminum from acidified soils and its subsequent precipitation in the water body and is described for strongly acidified forest lakes, acidified and circumneutral reservoirs, and a moderately acidified alpine lake. In water bodies with episodically or permanently acidified inflows a pH gradient develops between lake water and tributaries due to: (i) neutralization of acidic inflows after mixing with waters with undepleted carbonate buffering system, and/or (ii) the in-lake alkalinity generation dominated by biochemical removal of NO3- and SO4(2-).

Changes in incidence of carcinoma in situ after the Chernobyl disaster in central Europe.

The data files from an extensive cytological screening program for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia from a regional Czech hospital were analyzed. The data collection span is from 1985 to 1991 and shows highly significant maximum effects in the years 1988-1989, i.e.