Economic Reform and Integration. Proceedings of 1-3 March 1990 Meeting

The general aim of the IIASA Project on "Economic Reform and Integration" (ERI) can be formulated as establishing bridges between eastern and western economic theory and practice, creating conditions for mutually assimilating successful managerial experience, and for possible rapprochement of economic systems. This volume contains major contributions by Soviet scientists, together with comments by western experts offered during the 1-3 March 1990 ERI Meeting. We believe that this material is of wide and timely interest and may also serve as a reference document for later studies once the time has come to penetrate scientifically the very fast changes we are witnessing today in central and eastern Europe

Hydrochemical composition, conditions and formation factors in the Pontian aquifer groundwater within the Odesa city territory

This study examines the hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater formation in the Pontian aquifer located beneath the city of Odesa, Ukraine, in the context of prolonged and intensive anthropogenic influence. Drawing on over 300 hydrochemical analyses conducted between 1971 and 2014, the research identifies significant changes in the chemical composition of groundwater over time. Key findings indicate a wide range of mineralization levels (0.7–10 g/dm³) and a consistent dominance of sulfate and sodium-magnesium ions. A noticeable upward trend in mineralization has been recorded in the majority of wells, suggesting increased anthropogenic stress caused by domestic wastewater infiltration, leakage from water supply systems, and inter-aquifer flow. Furthermore, the study highlights a strong correlation between elevated sulfate concentrations and the intensification of karst formation processes in limestone formations. These findings carry important implications for the management of underground infrastructure and the development of effective water resource protection strategies for the Odesa city

Sentinel-2 water indexes application for the underground water level analyses in Ovidiopol area of Odessa region

Studied area has a high level of agricultural development. There are different irrigation and drainage systems located there. Significant part of the supplied water losses from the irrigation network because of filtration and reaches the groundwater level, which begins to rise. Control and analyses of groundwater level changes with remote sensing methods for Ovidiopol area is the main goal of that work. The object of study is the groundwater level regime in the territory of Lower Dniester irrigation system in Ovidiopol district, Odessa region. The subject of research is water indexes application for analyses of groundwater level changes. The local system of groundwater observation includes 7 drillholes in Nadlimanskoe village and around. These drillholes located in different geomorphological, hydrogeological and technogenic conditions. The groundwater level was surveyed monthly in 2017.  Sentinel-2 2A images for each month from March 2017 to December 2017 were used for studied area. All satellite images has atmospheric correction. Three water indexes NDWI, MNDWI, NDPI were calculated for drillhole points for each month in 2017 year. Significant correlation coefficients obtained in comparison between groundwater level changes and water indexes in some drillholes points. The highest numbers of correlation connected with free of construction areas and for drillholes, which are located outside of villages

Monitoring of gene knockouts: genome-wide profiling of conditionally essential genes

Monitoring of gene knockouts is a new microarray-based genetic technique used for genome-wide identification of conditionally essential genes in bacteri

Biosynthesis of CdS Quantum Dots Mediated by Volatile Sulfur Compounds Released by Antarctic Pseudomonas fragi

Previously we reported the biosynthesis of intracellular cadmium sulfide quantum dots (CdS QDs) at low temperatures by the Antarctic strain Pseudomonas fragi GC01. Here we studied the role of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in the biosynthesis of CdS QDs by P. fragi GC01. The biosynthesis of nanoparticles was evaluated in the presence of sulfate, sulfite, thiosulfate, sulfide, cysteine and methionine as sole sulfur sources. Intracellular biosynthesis occurred with all sulfur sources tested. However, extracellular biosynthesis was observed only in cultures amended with cysteine (Cys) and methionine (Met). Extracellular nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering, absorption and emission spectra, energy dispersive X-ray, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Purified QDs correspond to cubic nanocrystals of CdS with sizes between 2 and 16 nm. The analysis of VSCs revealed that P. fragi GC01 produced hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methanethiol (MeSH) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in the presence of sulfate, Met or Cys. Dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) was only detected in the presence of Met. Interestingly, MeSH was the main VSC produced in this condition. In addition, MeSH was the only VSC for which the concentration decreased in the presence of cadmium (Cd) of all the sulfur sources tested, suggesting that this gas interacts with Cd to form nanoparticles. The role of MeSH and DMS on Cds QDs biosynthesis was evaluated in two mutants of the Antarctic strain Pseudomonas deceptionensis M1T: megL- (unable to produce MeSH from Met) and mddA- (unable to generate DMS from MeSH). No biosynthesis of QDs was observed in the megL- strain, confirming the importance of MeSH in QD biosynthesis. In addition, the production of QDs in the mddA- strain was not affected, indicating that DMS is not a substrate for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles. Here, we confirm a link between MeSH production and CdS QDs biosynthesis when Met is used as sole sulfur source. This work represents the first report that directly associates the production of MeSH with the bacterial synthesis of QDs, thus revealing the importance of different VSCs in the biological generation of metal sulfide nanostructures

H2S, a Bacterial Defense Mechanism against the Host Immune Response

The biological mediator hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is produced by bacteria and has been shown to be cytoprotective against oxidative stress and to increase the sensitivity of various bacteria to a range of antibiotic drugs. Here we evaluated whether bacterial H2S provides resistance against the immune response, using two bacterial species that are common sources of nosocomial infections, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Elevations in H2S levels increased the resistance of both species to immune-mediated killing. Clearances of infections with wild-type and genetically H2S-deficient E. coli and S. aureus were compared in vitro and in mouse models of abdominal sepsis and burn wound infection. Also, inhibitors of H2S- producing enzymes were used to assess bacterial killing by leukocytes. We found that inhibition of bacterial H2S production can increase the susceptibility of both bacterial species to rapid killing by immune cells and can improve bacterial clearance after severe burn, an injury that increases susceptibility to opportunistic infections. These findings support the role of H2S as a bacterial defense mechanism against the host response and implicate bacterial H2S inhibition as a potential therapeutic intervention in the prevention or treatment of infections

The Terminal Oxidase Cytochrome bd Promotes Sulfide-resistant Bacterial Respiration and Growth

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) impairs mitochondrial respiration by potently inhibiting the heme-copper cytochrome c oxidase. Since many prokaryotes, including Escherichia (E.) coli, generate H2S and encounter high H2S levels particularly in the human gut, herein we tested whether bacteria can sustain sulfide-resistant O2-dependent respiration. E. coli has three respiratory oxidases, the cyanide-sensitive heme-copper bo3 enzyme and two bd oxidases much less sensitive to cyanide. Working on the isolated enzymes, we found that, whereas the bo3 oxidase is inhibited by sulfide with half-maximal inhibitory concentration IC50=1.1±0.1μM, under identical experimental conditions both bd oxidases are insensitive to sulfide up to 58μM. In E. coli respiratory mutants, both O2-consumption and aerobic growth proved to be severely impaired by sulfide when respiration was sustained by the bo3 oxidase alone, but unaffected by ≤200μM sulfide when either bd enzyme acted as the only terminal oxidase. Accordingly, wild-type E. coli showed sulfide-insensitive respiration and growth under conditions favouring the expression of bd oxidases. In all tested conditions, cyanide mimicked the functional effect of sulfide on bacterial respiration. We conclude that bd oxidases promote sulfide-resistant O2- consumption and growth in E. coli and possibly other bacteria. The impact of this discovery is discussed