Different phytoplankton analysis methods (pulse-amplitude modulated fluorometry (PAM) and microscopy) were compared in preparation for compliance monitoring and enforcement with ballast water discharge standards. The key objective was to evaluate the performance of different new methods and tools to identify indicatively living phytoplankton cells (10 - 50 μm in minimum dimension) as addressed by the BWM Convention. Four different PAM instruments were selected for the tests; the measurements of these were compared with epifluorescence microscope algae cell counts using FDA viability stain. It was concluded that PAM fluorometry is a suitable method for indicative phytoplankton analysis of ballast water and the most accurate PAM instruments were identified.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3618383
In the Mediterranean region Cymodocea nodosa is widely distributed throughout shallow sites. Therefore, a correct assessment of the status of its meadows is of great importance for the implementation of the Water Framework Direcitve (WFD), the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), and the Habitat Directive (HD). The previous methodology for the evaluation of the status of C. nodosa meadows was improved and a new index named MediSkew was developed. The index is a combination of two metrics, both based on C. nodosa leaf length. The MediSkew is meant to be a rapid screening method for seagrass meadows in wide Mediterranean coastal areas.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3558991
Currently, around 50 % of the world’s population lives in towns and cities within 100 km wide coastal belt. Monitoring of viruses that are frequently present in contaminated coastal environments, such as rotavirus (RoV) and norovirus (NoV), which are also the major cause of human viral gastroenteritis, is essential to ensure the safe use of these water bodies. Since exposure to as few as 10-100 particles of RoV or NoV may induce gastrointestinal disease, there is a need to develop a rapid and sensitive diagnostic method for their detection in coastal water samples. In this study we evaluate the application of methacrylate monolithic chromatographic columns, commercially available as convective interaction media (CIM®), to concentrate pathogenic enteric viruses from water samples of different salinities prior to virus quantification by one-step reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR).
COBISS.SI-ID: 4037967
With a rich spa and wellness heritage, Slovenia now boasts fifteen registered natural health resorts and spas. Certain locations feature the traditional use of the Sečovlje Salina mud, or “fango.” This study represents the first investigation of the mineralogical, geochemical and thermophysical characteristics of this mud. The healing saline mud samples were characterized by very fine, sandy, medium silt in which the mud fraction greatly dominated over the sand fraction. The mineral fraction was predominantly composed of an amorphous phase, followed by quartz, calcite, illite/muscovite, gypsum and halite, albite, and clinochlore and pyrite. The results of XRD analysis with oriented preparation identified smectite, chlorite, interstratified layers of smectite/illite, and kaolinite mineral components. The contents of the major and trace elements of saline muds were comparable to their mean concentrations in surface sediment from the Central Adriatic Sea. The concentrations of select trace metals were in the range of that found in other healing saline muds. Additionally, the physical properties of the mud (i.e., density, specific heat, thermal conductivity, and viscosity) were measured. This study contributes new knowledge about natural peloid characteristics and their quality criteria related to wellness and therapeutic purposes.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4052047
The article brings exact morphological description of newly described species of scyphozoan and neutral genetic markers used for phylogenetic placement in the family Pelagiidae. We discovered that species must be placement into new genus Mawia and all the available modern phylogenetic approaches used. Description of genus and species (Mawia benovici) is a new knowledge in taxonomy of scyphozoa (Scyphozoa (Cnidaria)), which have a few taxonomic features for discrimination. Knowledge of genetic markers (sequences) enables us to develop genetic tools for species identification. Exact discrimination of species and populations is an important due to migration and extinction of species, invasion of alien, invasive species, harvest and consequences of climate change and pollution, which all cause changes in gene pool and evolution.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3971407