Detoxification of ferrocyanide in asoil–plant system

The detoxification of iron cyanide in a soil–plant system was investigated to assess the total cyanide extracted from contaminated soil and allocated in the leaf tissue of willow trees(Salix caprea). They were grown in soil containing up to 1000 mg/kg dry weight(dw) of cyanide(CN),added as ~(15)N-labeled potassium ferrocyanide and prepared with a new method for synthesis of labeled iron cyanides. CN content and ~(15)N enrichment were monitored weekly over the exposure in leaf tissue of different age. The ~(15)N enrichment in the young and old leaf tissue reached up to 15.197‰ and 9063‰, respectively; it increased significantly over the exposure and with increasing exposure concentrations(p 0.05). Although the CN accumulation in the old leaf tissue was higher, compared to the young leaf tissue(p 0.05), the ~(15)N enrichment in the two tissue types did not differ statistically. This indicates a non-uniform CN accumulation but a uniform ~(15)N allocation throughout the leaf mass. Significant differences were detected between the measured CN content and the C~(15)N content, calculated from the ~(15)N enrichment(p 0.05), revealing a significant CN fraction within the leaf tissue, which could not be detected as ionic CN. The application of labeled iron CN clearly shows that CN is detoxified during uptake by the willows. However, these results do not exclude other detoxification pathways, not related to the trees. Still, they are strongly indicative of the central role the trees played in CN removal and detoxification under the experimental conditions.     

Electrophysiological responses and field attraction of the grey corn weevil, Tanymecus (Episomecus) dilaticollis Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to synthetic plant volatiles

The grey corn weevil, Tanymecus (Episomecus) dilaticollis, is an economically important polyphagous pest in Eastern and Central Europe. The present research is the first published electrophysiological study of olfactory sensitivity of adult T. dilaticollis to plant volatiles. The electrophysiological responses of male and female antennae were recorded to 20 synthetic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), previously identified to be released from the preferred host plants, maize and sunflower. Antennae of both sexes responded to a wide range of volatiles from different chemical classes: fatty acid derivatives, aromatic compounds and terpenoids. Two green leaf volatiles, (E)-2-hexen-1-ol and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, and one terpenoid, (±)-linalool, elicited the strongest electrophysiological responses by male and female antennae. Relatively high electrophysiological activity by T. dilaticollis antennae was also recorded to benzaldehyde, eugenol and caryophyllene. In the field, (E)-2-hexen-1-ol and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, when presented individually, caught significantly more male and female T. dilaticollis than unbaited controls. These compounds could be developed into an attractive trap for the detection and monitoring of T. dilaticollis.     

Environmetric approaches for lake pollution assessment

The application of multivariate statistical methods to high mountain lake monitoring data has offered some important conclusions about the importance of environmetric approaches in lake water pollution assessment. Various methods like cluster analysis and principal components analysis were used for classification and projection of the data set from a large number of lakes from Rila Mountain in Bulgaria. Additionally, self-organizing maps of Kohonen were constructed in order to solve some classification tasks. An effort was made to relate the maps with the input data in order to detect classification patterns in the data set. Thus, discrimination chemical parameters for each pattern (cluster) identified were found, which enables better interpretation of the pollution situation. A methodology for application of a combination of different environmetric methods is suggested as a pathway to interpret high mountain lake water monitoring data.     

Health impact assessment of Roma housing policies in Central and Eastern Europe: A comparative analysis

Marginalised Roma communities in European countries live in substandard housing conditions the improvement of which has been one of the major issues of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, the ongoing intergovernmental European Roma programme. The paper presents EU-funded health impact assessments of national Roma housing policies and programmes in 3 Central and Eastern European countries in light of the evaluation of a completed local project in a fourth CEE country so as to compare predicted effects to observed ones. Housing was predicted to have beneficial health effects by improving indoor and outdoor conditions, access to services, and socioeconomic conditions. Negative impacts were predicted only in terms of maintenance expenses and housing tenure. However, observed impacts of the completed local project did not fully support predictions especially in terms of social networks, satisfaction with housing and neighbourhood, and inhabitant safety. In order to improve the predictive value of HIA, more evidence should be produced by the careful evaluation of locally implemented housing projects. In addition, current evidence is in favour of planning Roma housing projects at the local rather than at the national level in alignment with the principle of subsidiarity.     

The Danube Region—On Stream with Animal Welfare Assessment in the Last 35 Years: A Review of Research on Animal Welfare Assessment in a Multi-lingual Area in Europe

This review presents first ever literature survey on historical development of farm animal welfare indicators and assessment in the Danube region. This area, encompassing European Eastern countries and the Balkans, is to a large extent heterogeneous in terms of culture and language. However, international (English) publications were disproportionally small compared to the amount of research institutions and animal welfare activities present in the region. Therefore, the authors aimed at investigating the published literature, focusing on country level and on native languages. Data were collected for the 1980–2015 period referring to scientific papers published in international and national journals, papers and abstracts in proceedings of the international and national conferences, reviews, monographs, short communications, Ph.D., Master and Graduation theses. Welfare assessment of all farm animal species was observed including fish. Over 180 papers were in line with the preselected index. Data collected showed that publishing dynamics grew rapidly towards the last decade. Most of the studies were focused on animal welfare indicators such as stress, injuries and mutilations, behaviour, body condition and management practices. Cattle, chickens, pigs and sheep were the predominant species investigated. The study revealed that experts from the region were greatly involved in the studies of animal welfare indicators and assessment, contributing to development of the currently most widely used animal welfare assessment protocols, thus having an important role in animal welfare research and protection.