Different litter types accumulate in all marine environments. Plastics are of special interest because of their high abundance and possible threats to marine organisms. Polymer type is crucial for their distribution and fate in marine environments. Seafloor litter abundance and composition in the Baltic and North Sea were analysed based on three sampling campaigns according to the protocol of ICES International Bottom Trawl Survey. Polymers were identified via attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. General litter abundances differed significantly between the Baltic and North Sea with 9.6 items/km and 70.7 items/km, respectively. Plastic built the dominating litter group in both seas (62.2% and 91.3%, respectively). Polymer identification revealed clear dominance of polyethylene, polypropylene and polyamide. Most polymers were positively buoyant in seawater (89.5%), thereby excluding polymer density as the main driver of vertical plastic litter transportation. Plastics at the seafloor basically reflected the entirety of polymers entering marine environments.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112876 | DOI Listing |
J Hazard Mater
January 2025
CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266404, China; Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266404, China.
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are emerging environmental pollutants, posing an escalating threat to public health and environmental security worldwide. However, the relationship between ARGs and microbial communities in the environment, as well as their ecological effects on the microbe-mediated materials cycle remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution pattern, influence mechanism, relationship with microorganisms, and their effects on the elemental cycling of ARGs in East China Sea sediments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Neurol Neurosurg
January 2025
Department of Neurosurgery, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra, Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital, Northwell Health, Manhasset, NY, United States.
Background: Malnutrition is a predictor of poor surgical outcomes, but its specific effects in spinal epidural abscess (SEA) are understudied. This study aims to assess the association between nutritional status and post-operative outcomes.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the 2011-2022 American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to identify adult SEA patients who underwent spinal surgery.
Sci Total Environ
January 2025
Center for Marine Sensors, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26382 Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Microplastics (MP) are known to be ubiquitous. The pathways and fate of these contaminants in the marine environment are receiving increasing attention, but still knowledge gaps exist. In particular, the link between mass-based MP quantification and oceanographic parameters is often lacking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecular surveillance of FMD epidemiology is a fundamental tool for advancing our understanding of virus biology, monitoring virus evolution, and guiding vaccine design. The accessibility of genetic data will facilitate a more comprehensive delineation of FMDV phylogeny on a global scale. In this study, we investigated the FMDV strains circulating in Russia during the 2013-2014 period in geographically distant regions utilizing whole genome sequencing followed by maximum-likelihood phylogenetic reconstruction of whole genome and VP1 gene sequences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymers (Basel)
January 2025
Danish Polymer Centre, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
Plug and abandonment of offshore oil wells is a costly and time-consuming process, yet it is necessary for the ever-increasing number of mature fields in the region of the Danish North Sea, as well as globally. Current practices ensuring durable solutions for the complete zonal isolation of oil wells have a large environmental impact. This paper proposes a novel resin that could be mixed on the platform and pumped into the tubing in a liquid state.
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