Przyrodnicze i antropogeniczne uwarunkowania funkcjonowania krajobrazu równiny łowicko-błońskiej na przykładzie fragmentu Gongolina-Pawłowice

The Łowicz-Błonie Plain is a flat and monotonous part of the late-glacial landscape. The parent material is dominated by loam, silt and clay covered with sand of various thickness. The main aim of the study was to indicate the natural and anthropogenic determinants of the fertile plain landscape’s functions, which has been intensively used for agriculture. Natural environmental conditions are determined by the vicinity of contrasting in humidity and trophism areas. The current state of the natural environment is the result of both the natural basis and anthropogenic transformations. The biggest changes in expanding the possibilities of using the trophic potential are related to artificial water drainage system.

Pottery from the well and its context. Searching for differences and similarities

In this article the pottery obtained from three wells from the settlement in Kwiatków was analyzed. Compared to other sites associated with the Przeworsk culture, this site deserves a special attention due to the presence of over a hundred of artificial water intakes within excavated area. The method of the vessels production, macro and micromorphology characteristics, the degree of their preservation and the level of deposition inside the features were examined in detail. Most of the pottery fragments should be associated with the Przeworsk culture from the Roman Iron Age, however there was also a small percentage of pottery with Jastorf culture elements. The information obtained allowed to define the context of their discovery and to explain its presence inside the well.

Seasonal variation of dry and wet islands in Beijing considering urban artificial water dissipation

Urbanization has resulted in dry/wet island effects in built-up areas. Compared to the limited number of observational datasets, simulations can provide data with richer spatial distribution, thereby proving to be more helpful for revealing the spatial distribution of dry/wet islands. This study simulated dry/wet island effects during typical summer and winter conditions in Beijing by coupling the Artificial Water Dissipation Urban Canopy Model with the Weather Research and Forecasting model. Observations of relative humidity, absolute humidity, and temperature from weather stations in Beijing were used to verify the model. The results showed that in 2020, Beijing was prone to be a dry island during summer, with the relative humidity approximately 5–10% lower than the surrounding suburbs. The dry island effect was not obvious in winter, and Beijing tended to be a wet island. The influence of artificial water dissipation on dry/wet islands is higher in winter than in summer. By considering the water vapor from artificial water dissipation, humidity in urban areas can be simulated more accurately.

Legionella pneumophila Risk from Cooling Tower Systems in China

Legionella pneumophila (LP) widely exists in natural and artificial water environments, which facilitates LP to infect people. LP infection causes Legionnaires’ disease (LD), which is an important but relatively uncommon respiratory infection. Approximately 90% of LD is caused by L. pneumophila serogroup 1 (Lp1). Meteorological conditions may affect the infectivity and virulence of Lp1, but the exact relationship between them is still unclear. In this study, we evaluated the virulence of Lp1 by screening of total 156 Lp1 strains isolated from cooling tower water in different region of China by detecting their abilities to activate NF-κB signaling pathway in vitro. In addition, we screened the distribution of some selected virulence genes in these strains. The virulence, virulence gene distribution and the meteorological factors were analyzed. We found that both the virulence and the distribution of virulence genes had a certain regional and meteorological correlation. Although loss of several virulence genes showed significant effects on the virulence of Lp1 strains, the distribution of virulence genes had very limited effects on the virulence of Lp1. IMPORTANCE LD is likely to be under-recognized in many countries. Due to the widespread existence of LP in natural and artificial water environments, and to the lack of cross-protection against different strains, LP is a potentially serious threat to human health. Therefore, effective monitoring of the virulence of LP in the water environment is very important to prevent and control the prevalence of LD. Understanding the virulence of LP can not only help us to predict the risk of possible outbreaks in advance, but can also enable more targeted clinical treatment. This study highlights the importance of understanding the epidemiology and ecology of LP isolated from public facilities in terms of public health and biology. Due to the potential for water sources to harbor and disseminate LP, and to the fact that geographical conditions influence the virulence of LP, timely and accurate LP virulence surveillance is urgently needed.