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Published in DiRROS: 22.11.2024; Views: 154; Downloads: 939
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Abstract: Dams and reservoirs are a common and globally widespread anthropogenic disturbance with documented negative effects on riverine and riparian habitats. The two most well-known impacts of river damming are longitudinal fragmentation of surface running waters and a shift from lotic habitats towards habitats with lentic characteristics that affect the benthic and pelagic communities. However, there is very little empirical evidence about the effects of damming on the aquatic fauna inhabiting interstitial habitats extending in and alongside the river-bed (i.e., hyporheic zone). In this study, we investigated the patterns in the interstitial community composition upstream, downstream and within the reservoir that was formed 80 years ago, when the river was dammed for the hydropower production. We used the rare opportunity to directly access the bottom of the reservoir drained due to dam maintenance in January 2018, to compare physical, chemical and faunistic data from the reservoir area, with those from downstream and upstream reaches of the two gravel bed rivers that are flowing into the reservoir. We sampled the interstitial invertebrate communities at seven locations, using a Bou-Rouch pump at two depths (30–60 cm and 60–90 cm within the river bed) and at three sampling points within each location. At the same sampling points we measured also physical and chemical parameters (temperature, conductivity, oxygen and pH). The interstitial water from the deepest point of the drained reservoir had substantially lower oxygen concentration, lower pH, and higher conductivity than water from the other sampling localities. This was also the site where taxa richness was lowest, and only one obligate groundwater species (i.e. stygobiont) was found. Most probably, the changes in morphology of the river channel and speed of water flow due to damming, which increased sedimentation rate and clogging of interstitial habitat, resulted in such large differences in environmental conditions and invertebrate community composition. This study provides rare empirical evidence of the effects of damming on the river interstitial habitats and fauna within the reservoir area. We recommend that environmental impact assessments conducted prior dam constructions should include also assessment of the effect of river damming on the interstitial communities. These organisms are playing important role in driving important ecosystem processes, such as organic matter degradation on one hand, and on the other hand, are composed of many rare and endangered species that need to be protected.
Keywords: damming, interstitial habitats, subterranean fauna, invertebrate communities, stygobionts, dam, hydropower, environmental impact
Published in DiRROS: 22.11.2024; Views: 144; Downloads: 82
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Abstract: Hypokinesia triggers oxidative stress and accelerates the turnover of the glutathione system via the γ-glutamyl cycle. Our study aimed to identify the regulatory checkpoints controlling intracellular glutathione levels. We measured the intermediate substrates of the γ-glutamyl cycle in erythrocytes from 19 healthy young male volunteers before and during a 10-day experimental bed rest. Additionally, we tracked changes in glutathione levels and specific metabolite ratios up to 21 days of bed rest. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and the internal standard technique, we observed a 9 ± 9% decrease in glutathione levels during the first 5 days of bed rest, followed by an 11 ± 9% increase from the 5th to the 10th day, nearly returning to baseline ambulatory levels. The cysteinyl-glycine-to-glutathione ratio, reflecting γ-glutamyl cyclotransferase activity (a key enzyme in glutathione breakdown), rose by 14 ± 22% in the first 5 days and then fell by 10 ± 14% over the subsequent 5 days, again approaching baseline levels. Additionally, the γ-glutamyl cysteine-to-cysteine ratio, indicative of γ-glutamyl cysteine synthetase activity (crucial for glutathione synthesis), increased by 12 ± 30% on day 5 and by 29 ± 41% on day 10 of bed rest. The results observed on day 21 of bed rest confirm those seen on day 10. By calculating the ratio of product concentration to precursor concentration, we assessed the efficiency of these key enzymes in glutathione turnover. These results were corroborated by directly measuring glutathione synthesis and degradation rates in vivo using stable isotope techniques. Our findings reveal significant changes in glutathione kinetics during the initial days of bed rest and identify potential therapeutic targets for maintaining glutathione levels.
Keywords: antioxidant, muscle unloading, glutathion turnover, γ-glutamyl cycle, gamma-glutamyl cycle
Published in DiRROS: 21.11.2024; Views: 164; Downloads: 1121
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Published in DiRROS: 21.11.2024; Views: 151; Downloads: 230
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Abstract: The Wiener index is defined as the sum of distances between all unordered pairs of vertices in a graph. It is one of the most recognized and well-researched topological indices, which is on the other hand still a very active area of research. This work presents a natural continuation of the paper Mathematical aspects of Wiener index (Ars Math. Contemp., 2016) in which several interesting open questions on the topic were outlined. Here we collect answers gathered so far, give further insights on the topic of extremal values of Wiener index in different settings, and present further intriguing problems and conjectures.
Keywords: graph distance, Wiener index, average distance, topological index, molecular descriptor, chemical graph theory
Published in DiRROS: 20.11.2024; Views: 123; Downloads: 53
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