Diet analysis and the assessment of plastic and other indigestible anthropogenic litter in the white stork pellets.

Pollution by anthropogenic litter is a major threat to global ecosystems. Seabirds are frequently used as environmental monitors of litter ingestion, but similar research is rare for terrestrial birds. Here, we focused on pellet analysis from 117 nests of an iconic bird of the Western Palearctic, the white stork (Ciconia ciconia), breeding in southern and southwestern Poland in a farmland landscape, far away from large dumps and landfills. We found that most prey items in the diet of white storks were invertebrates (particularly from orders Coleoptera, Orthoptera, and Hymenoptera) but vertebrate prey comprised most of the biomass. Further analysis revealed that anthropogenic litter was found in 22.7% of pellets (34.2% of breeding pairs) with plastic (8.4%) and cigarette filters (6.9%) being most prevalent. This study represents the first assessment through pellet analysis of the ingestion of anthropogenic litter by live wild storks in Poland and also by a migratory population of white storks. Our study indicates a potentially significant transfer of plastic and other anthropogenic material through terrestrial food webs.

Infected Ixodes ricinus ticks are attracted by electromagnetic radiation of 900 MHz.

The electromagnetic field (EMF) is known to influence functions of the nervous, cardiovascular and reproductive systems of many animals, including ticks. The aim of this study was to test the behavior of ticks in the presence of radio-frequency EMF. For testing, 160 adult male and 140 adult female unfed Ixodes ricinus ticks were used. Individuals were exposed to 900 MHz EMF in the Radiation-Shielded Tube (RST). Ticks were attracted to the irradiated area. This effect was significantly stronger for ticks infected with Rickettsia spp., suggesting that pathogens can alter the ticks' response to environmental stimuli. These results lead to the question of whether man-made EMF may have an impact on I. ricinus activity and, as such, be a contributing factor to the ongoing changes in the distribution of the tick and its pathogens currently observed in Europe and elsewhere.

Determination of Rare Earth Elements in Human Sperm and Association with Semen Quality.

The aim of the present study was to measure lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), europium (Eu), and gadolinium (Gd) concentrations in human semen and correlate the results with sperm quality. The median semen content of La was 19.5 µg kg(-1) dry weight (dw) (range 2.27-269), of Ce was 41.9 µg kg(-1) dw (range 4.52 to 167), of Eu was 0.68 µg kg(-1) dw (range 0.06-1.95), of Gd was 3.19 µg kg(-1) dw (range 0.38-12.0), and of calcium (Ca) was 4063 mg kg(-1) dw (range 484-17,191). Concentrations of La, Ce, Eu, Gd, and Ca were significantly lower in nondrinkers' semen than in semen from drinkers. Significant differences were detected between La, Ce, Eu, Gd, and Ca concentrations in semen from nondrinkers and moderate drinkers. Concentrations of La, Ce, and Gd in semen of short-term smokers were significantly lower than those in extremely long-term smokers. Significant differences were also detected between La concentration in semen from a group of short-term smokers and that of a group of long-term smokers. Positive correlations were found between La, Ce, Eu, Gd, and Ca concentrations in semen. La, Ce, Gd, and Ca concentrations in semen were positively associated with progressive motility and percentage of normal spermatozoa. Positive correlations were found between Ca and sperm concentration. Concentrations of La, Ce, and Gd were negatively associated with sperm concentration, whilst Ca concentration was negatively associated with volume of ejaculate. At the examined level, La, Ce, Eu, and Gd did not affect sperm quality, whereas alcohol consumption and smoking might have increased the level of rare earth elements in semen.

Psychrobacter ciconiae sp. nov., isolated from white storks (Ciconia ciconia).

Five beige bacterial strains (176/10(T), 178/10, 182/10, 185/7 and 193/8) were isolated from white storks in Poland and found to share identical 16S rRNA gene sequences; they were also investigated in a polyphasic taxonomic study. The cells of all isolates were rod-shaped and Gram-stain-negative. A comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of these organisms with the sequences of the type strains of the most closely related species of the genus Psychrobacter showed highest sequence similarities to the type strains of Psychrobacter pulmonis and Psychrobacter faecalis (both 97.1 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to all other species of the genus Psychrobacter were below 96.3 %. All five isolates showed an identical profile of physiological reactions and almost identical fatty acid profiles consisting of mainly C18 : 1ω9c, but also C12 : 0 3-OH as a characteristic hydroxylated fatty acid. A quinone system with mainly ubiquinone Q-8 was detected and the polar lipid profile of the type strain, 176/10(T), was mainly composed of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine and diphosphatidylglycerol, plus some hitherto uncharacterized phospholipids and one aminolipid. The major polyamines were spermidine and putrescine. DNA-DNA hybridizations between 176/10(T) and the type strains of P. pulmonis and P. faecialis resulted in relatedness values below 70 %. These results indicate that the strains represent a novel species, for which the name Psychrobacter ciconiae sp. nov. (type strain 176/10(T) = CIP 110777(T) = LMG 28175(T) = CCM 8519(T)) is proposed.