Photo Art Project ‘Female Multi-Component Associative Image ‘Fern Blossom’. Part 1

The author’s idea. What the phenomenon of ‘Fern blossom’ is, whereas according to scientific data, the fern does not bloom and does not form inflorescences. Fern flower in the East Slavic mythology has the character of a magical plant that gives a person magical power. With the help of the fern flower, the owner of it could understand the language of animals and trees, see hidden precious treasures under the ground, heal people from various diseases, predict the future and more. It is believed that the fern blossom can be found only on Ivan Kupala night. This holiday is traditional in Ukraine and is named after the Christian Saint John the Baptist, but originates in the distant past from the pagan faith.

The Novelty of Bohuslav Balbín’s Biographies about Saint John of Nepomuk and their Role in Proving His Veneration

I am focusing on the attributes of three biographies written about Saint John of Nepomuk by Bohuslav Balbín (1621–1688) Czech Jesuit monk and historian. I am searching for the answer for the question that how can the features of ecclesiastic discipline of cult of saints after the council of Trient and the question of public respect before the canonization be caught out in these texts.This biographies of Saint John of Nepomuk has been written to be more than simple hagiographies. Due to their complexity and structural features they have become suitable to enter into a contoversy with Pope Urban VIII’s Coelestis Hierusalem decree, in which he firmly forbid the veneration of individuals not approved by the Holy See. Balbín wanted to prove it that the veneration to Saint John of Nepomuk has been existing continuously since his death, and its manifestations characterize the contemporary communities as well, finally, this devotion becomes ever more intensive therefore it is not inconsistent with the Pope Urban VIII’s restrictionary arrangements.

Pattern of fibrin stabilizing factor (FXIII) expression in placentas of women suffering with gestational diabetes mellitus in Saint John, New Brunswick

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) affects 2-5% of all pregnancies and is known to place the fetus at risk for adverse fetal outcomes. Previous studies have reported the increased presence of villous immaturity in the placentas of women with gestational diabetes. Villous immaturity poses a great risk of restricted diffusion capacity across the placenta and may be a marker for some of the placental insufficiency associated with diabetes mellitus. The present study looks at the possibility of using fibrin stabilizing factor, or Factor XIII (FXIII), as a biomarker of villous immaturity. The aim of the present study is to establish a baseline pattern of FXIII expression in placentas of women in Saint John, NB with GDM, without villous immaturity using a scoring formula adapted from surgical pathology. While the small sample size precludes definitive conclusions regarding the expression of FXIII in normal placentas in women with GDM, there appears to a baseline of strong FXIII expression in normal placental tissues from the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Further study using a larger sample size is required to determine if a correlation exists between level of FXIII expression and degree of villous maturity in patients with GDM, which could improve the histologic assessment of placental development.

Microlitter in the water, sediments, and mussels of the Saint John River (Wolastoq) watershed, Atlantic Canada

Microlitter is a widespread contaminant with implications for aquatic health; however, knowledge of its distribution in freshwaters is limited. We examined microlitter in surface water, sediment, and mussels within the Saint John River and four major tributaries. Microlitter was present at all 89 sites, with concentrations in water equivalent to other Canadian watersheds. Microlitter concentrations likely reflected differences in land use and development. Comparisons between rivers generally revealed distinct water microlitter particle compositions, suggesting that input sources were specific to each river, while microlitter in sediments and mussels was largely homogenous among rivers. There was little similarity in concentration and composition of microlitter between the three matrices sampled. Microlitter in sediments and mussels may not reliably track concentration and composition in aquatic environments. Microlitter concentration was not significantly greater downstream of wastewater treatment plants. Airborne microlitter transportation was evident, as remote sites in two tributary rivers demonstrated the highest concentrations of microlitter. Our data highlights the prevalence of microlitter in rural rivers, underscoring the ubiquity of this emerging contaminant and its integration into food webs.

A Stochastic Modelling Approach to Forecast Real-time Ice Jam Flood Severity Along the Transborder (New Brunswick/Maine) Saint John River of North America

Ice jam floods (IJF) are a major concern for many riverine communities, government and non-government authorities and companies in the higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Ice jam related flooding can result in millions of dollars of property damages, loss of human life and adverse impacts on ecology. Ice jam flood forecasting is challenging as its formation mechanism is chaotic and depends on numerous unpredictable hydraulic and river ice factors. In this study, Modélisation environnementale communautaire – surface hydrology (MESH), a semi-distributed physically-based land-surface hydrological modelling system was used to acquire a 10-day flow forecast, an important boundary condition for any modelling of river ice-jam flood forecasting. A stochastic modelling approach was then applied to simulate hundreds of possible ice-jam scenarios using the hydrodynamic river ice model RIVICE within a Monte-Carlo Analysis (MOCA) framework for the Saint John River from Fort Kent to Grand Falls. First, a 10-day outlook was simulated to provide insight on the severity of ice jam flooding during spring breakup. Then, 3-day forecasts were modelled to provide longitudinal profiles of exceedance probabilities of ice jam flood staging along the river during the ice-cover breakup. Overall, results show that the stochastic approach performed well to estimate maximum probable ice-jam backwater level elevations for the spring 2021 breakup season.