Chronic Background Radiation Correlates With Sperm Swimming Endurance in Bank Voles From Chernobyl

Sperm quantity and quality are key features explaining intra- and interspecific variation in male reproductive success. Spermatogenesis is sensitive to ionizing radiation and laboratory studies investigating acute effects of ionizing radiation have indeed found negative effects of radiation on sperm quantity and quality. In nature, levels of natural background radiation vary dramatically, and chronic effects of low-level background radiation exposure on spermatogenesis are poorly understood. The Chernobyl region offers a unique research opportunity for investigating effects of chronic low-level ionizing radiation on reproductive properties of wild organisms. We captured male bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from 24 locations in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in 2011 and 2015 and collected information on sperm morphology and kinetics. The dataset is limited in size and there overall was a relatively weak correlation between background radiation and sperm quality. Still, some correlations are worth discussing. First, mid-piece segments of spermatozoa tended to be smaller in bank vole males from areas with elevated background radiation levels. Second, we demonstrated a significant positive relationship between background radiation dose rates and the proportion of static spermatozoa among males within and among study locations after 10 as well as 60 min of incubation. Our results provide novel evidence of damaging effects of low dose ionizing radiation on sperm performance in wild rodent populations, and highlight that this topic requires further study across the natural gradients of background radiation that exist in nature.

Effect of Humid Air Exposed to IR Radiation on Enzyme Activity

Water vapor absorbs well in the infra-red region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Absorption of radiant energy by water or water droplets leads to formation of exclusion zone water that possesses peculiar physico-chemical properties. In the course of this study, normally functioning and damaged alkaline phosphatase, horseradish peroxidase and catalase were treated with humid air irradiated with infrared light with a wavelength in the range of 1270 nm and referred to as coherent humidity (CoHu). One-minute long treatment with CoHu helped to partially protect enzymes from heat inactivation, mixed function oxidation, and loss of activity due to partial unfolding. Authors suggest that a possible mechanism underlying the observed effects involves altering the physicochemical properties of aqueous media while treatment of the objects with CoHu where CoHu acts as an intermediary.

Assessment of the Consequences of Forest Fires in 2020 on the Territory of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve

The article presents the consequences of fires that occurred on the territory Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve in April 2020. Research shows that the results of these events characterized as catastrophic. The condition of forests after fires was assessed using satellite data and field trips to review the condition of forests affected by wildfires. The total area affected by the fire in 4 foci was 51,806.5 hectares. The total area of fires in the exclusion zone is 66,222.5 hectares. About 25% of the territories affected by the fires have changed. To preserve the landscape diversity and mosaic of areas covered and not covered with forest vegetation, it is impractical to conduct afforestation (afforestation of fallows) on the territory of the reserve. Among the forests affected by fires, the majority has a high ecological and forestry potential and, accordingly, a high potential for natural recovery (81.6%). In dead forests, the share with a high potential for natural reforestation is slightly lower and amounts to 66.8%. The share of forests with low natural recovery potential is low and amounts to 1.9% and 4.8% in forests affected by fires and dead, respectively. Significantly damaged, and sometimes destroyed, were a number of rare settlements, which are not only important for nature conservation, but also classified by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention (Resolution 4) as particularly valuable settlements, as well as the “Green Book of Ukraine” (2009). 2 groups were marked as excessively damaged on the territory of the reserve. It should be noted that there is a slight general violation of the protected core of this object of the nature reserve fund, which will allow it to preserve its environmental potential and the functions of protecting and reproducing biodiversity. Most of the areas of the reserve affected by fires have a high forestry potential and are able to recover independently, so they do not require intervention in natural processes for reforestation. The degree of transformation of the ground cover in pine and oak-pine forests of the reserve under the influence of pyrogenic factor is determined by the intensity of the fire. Reforestation in areas with low forest potential should be carried out with clear planning

GEODESY, CARTOGRAPHY AND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Earth remote sensing and using the satellite images play an important role when monitoring the effects of forest fires and assessing damage. Applying different methods of multispectral space images processing, we can determine the risk of fire distribution, define hot spots and determine thermal parameters, mapping the damaged areas and assess the consequences of fire. The purpose of the work is the severity assessment connected with the post-fire period on the example of the forests in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. The tasks of the study are to define the area of burned zones using space images of different time which were obtained from the Sentinel-2 satellite applying the method of a normalized burn ratio (NBR) and method of supervised classification. Space images taken from the Sentinel-2 satellite before and after the fire were the input data for the study. Copernicus Open Access Hub service is a source of images and its spatial resolution is 10 m for visible and near infrared bands of images, and 20 m for medium infrared bands of images. We used method of Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) and automatically calculated the area damaged with fire. Using this index we were able to identify areas of zones after active combustion. This index uses near and middle infrared bands for the calculations. In addition, a supervised classification was performed on the study area, and signature files were created for each class. According to the results of the classification, the areas of the territories damaged by the fire were also calculated. The scientific novelty relies upon the application of a method of using the normalized combustion coefficient (NBR) and supervised classification for space images obtained before and after the fire in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The practical significance lies in the fact that the studied methods of GIS technologies can be used to identify territories and calculate the areas of vegetation damaged by fires. These results can be used by local organizations, local governments and the Ministry of Emergency Situations to monitor the condition and to plan reforestation. The normalized burned ratio (NBR) gives possibility efficiently and operatively to define and calculate the area which were damaged by fires, that gives possibility operatively assess the consequences of such fires and estimate the damage. The normalized burned ratio allows to calculate the area of burned forest almost 2 times more accurately than the supervised classification. The calculation process itself also takes less time and does not require additional procedures (set of signatures). Supervised classification in this case gives worse accuracy, the process itself is longer, but allows to determine the area of several different classes.

Reconstruction of the Long-Term Dynamics of Particulate Concentrations and Solid–Liquid Distribution of Radiocesium in Three Severely Contaminated Water Bodies of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Based on Current Depth Distribution in Bottom Sediments

Given the importance of understanding long-term dynamics of radionuclides in the environment in general, and major gaps in the knowledge of 137Cs particulate forms in Chernobyl exclusion zone water bodies, three heavily contaminated water bodies (Lakes Glubokoe, Azbuchin, and Chernobyl NPP Cooling Pond) were studied to reconstruct time changes in particulate concentrations of 137Cs and its apparent distribution coefficient Kd, based on 137Cs depth distributions in bottom sediments. Bottom sediment cores collected from deep-water sites of the above water bodies were sliced into 2 cm layers to obtain 137Cs vertical profile. Assuming negligible sediment mixing and allowing for 137Cs strong binding to sediment, each layer of the core was attributed to a specific year of profile formation. Using this method, temporal trends for particulate 137Cs concentrations in the studied water bodies were derived for the first time and they were generally consistent with the semiempirical diffusional model. Based on the back-calculated particulate 137Cs concentrations, and the available long-term monitoring data for dissolved 137Cs, the dynamics of 137Cs solid–liquid distribution were reconstructed. Importantly, just a single sediment core collected from a lake or pond many years after a nuclear accident seems to be sufficient to retrieve long-term dynamics of contamination.

Industrial park land capability assessment and post-evaluation in Markazi province

Markazi province in Central Iran is a highly attractive area for the development of industrial centers; however, over the last few decades, unregulated development has led to environmental and socioeconomic issues. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the existing industrial parks and identify potential areas for appropriate development. An industrial land capability assessment utilized 14 main criteria and 10 constraint parameters of socioeconomic, infrastructural, biological, and physical aspects using a geographic information system-based analytical network process model. Results show that Markazi province has 14.27% of highly suitable and 11.32% of extremely suitable area for industrial development; contrariwise, 60.14% of the province has no potential or is classified as an exclusion zone. Moreover, 44.4% (i.e., 8 parks) of the province’s industrial parks are located in unsuitable zones. According to the land capability of Markazi province, the need to organize existing industrial parks and integrate industrial units alongside existing centers and potential areas should be considered in the industrial development policies of the province. The results of the sensitivity analysis also support the research findings.

Establishment of optirmal culture media in corneal epithelial wound healing models

BACKGROUND: Wound healing needs to occur after injury to prevent vision loss. Models of wound healing need to be optimized to assure treatments for corneal wounds can be developed in vitro prior to investigating with in vivo studies. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to establish the optimum media to use as a control solution in wound healing models. METHODS: Immortalized human corneal epithelial cells were cultured in different growth media using a scratch and exclusion zone model. The effect of normoxic and hypoxic conditions on tight junctional integrity and metabolic activity of cells grown in different growth medium were also investigated. RESULTS: Wound healing with DMEMF12 media was significantly faster than both Keratinocyte serum-free media (p < 0.05) and EpiLife (p < 0.05) after 10 hours recovery under normoxic or hypoxic conditions using the scratch model and 9 days after wounding using the exclusion zone technique (p < 0.05). Using the culture media DMEMF12, cells stained for abundant ZO-1, Cx43 and had a high metabolic activity indicating significant epithelial barrier formation, gap junction formation and high cell viability. CONCLUSIONS: DMEMF12 led to superior wound healing under hypoxic and normoxic conditions and in two different wound healing models.

Identification of hepatozon spp. In the population of target rods of the Chernobyl radiation and ecological biosphere reserve

The ecosystems that have developed in the exclusion zone after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 have a number of features. Parasites, as part of an ecosystem, can act as indicators of the processes taking place in it. Mouse rodents play an important role in the preservation and transmission of pathogens of some, including zoonotic, diseases in the wild. Therefore, the study of parasites in murine rodents, especially those transmitted transmissively, makes it possible to understand the characteristics of the distribution and the level of threat of their transmission to other susceptible animals, including agricultural, small domestic animals and humans. We carried out a study of blood smears taken from murine rodents for the presence of pathogens of transmissible parasitic diseases. According to the results of the studies, the pathogen Hepatozoon spp. Was detected for the first time in Ukraine. in the population of murine rodents. Creating an exclusion zone is one of the most obvious and long-lasting consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPS) accident. Because of 90-95% of this territory lacks systematic human activity and regime equal to the reserve. Ecosystems formed in the exclusion zone are affected a number of key factors as radioactive contamination, succession, wills and climate change. Spatial heterogeneity of density, radionuclide composition and physical chemical forms of precipitation are a characteristic feature of radioactive pollution in the Chernobyl Zone. Much of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in the Chernobyl Zone as of 1986 was an artificial or semi-artificial systems that were under the regulatory control of man. The removal of regulatory control has led to the inclusion of natural influences mechanisms. That is, a significant part of ecosystems is in a state far from equilibrium, where the processes of succession are active. The testamentary effect is the result of a radical economic contraction activities and the creation of a strict security regime. Given this dynamics ecosystems in the Exclusion Zone has a unique character. Parasites are part of the ecosystem, so they can act as indicators of the processes occurring in it. Mouse-like rodents play an important role in the preservation of agents some infectious diseases in the wild. It is known that rodents are reservoirs hosts at least 60 zoonotic diseases, playing an important role in their transmission and distribution. Not the last role in it is played by features biology and way of life of these animals. Study of parasites in murine rodents, especially those that transmitted transmissively, will make it possible to understand the peculiarities of distribution and the level of threat of their transmission to other susceptible animals, including agricultural, small pets and humans. The object of our study was blood smears taken from murine rodents: Apodemus agrarius, Apodemus flavicollis, Myodes glareolus and Apodemus spp. Catching mice for further sampling conducted at 3 three landfills. Mouse-like rodents are significantly affected by pathogens of infectious diseases, including those transmitted through blood-sucking arthropods. Therefore, the study of the presence and prevalence of transmissible agents in murine rodents is important in order to prevent the disease in other species of animals or humans. The purpose of the study was to study the role of rodents Chornobyl Excusion Zone as a reservoir of blood-borne diseases. The study was conducted during 2020-2021. Blood smears from rodents Apodemus agrarius, Apodemus flavicollis, Myodes glareolus and Apodemus spp, which were selected during the expedition from three landfills and transferred to the Department of Pharmacology, Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine of NULES of Ukraine, where they conducted further research. Blood smears were stained by the method of Romanowski-Gimza, Leuko-Diff and examined under an immersion microscope system. A total of 117 blood smears were collected from 117 murine rodents from three landfills. According to the results of microscopic examination in blood smears revealed parasites, which morphologically we attributed to Hepatozoon spp. This agent was detected in Ukraine for the first time. Agents had an oval body shape with a large nucleus and were located in the cytoplasm of leukocytes (mostly neutrophils, rarely lymphocytes). In total, hepatozoan agents were detected in blood smears from 13 studied animals, which was 11.11%. And the invasion of Hepatozoon spp. was found in murine rodents of the first landfill, in 7 rodents. The smallest of the murine rodents of the second landfill was found only in blood smears from 2 animals. In addition to hepatozoons in murine rodents, we also found agents of other diseases, such as Babesia spp., Rickettsia spp., Borrelia spp. and Trypanosoma spp.