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The metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) provides a general framework of allometric and thermal dependence that may be useful for predicting how climate change will affect disease spread. Using Daphnia magna and a microsporidian gut parasite, we conducted two experiments across a wide thermal range and fitted transmission models that utilize MTE submodels for transmission parameters. We decomposed transmission into contact rate and probability of infection and further decomposed probability of infection into a product of gut residence time (GRT) and per-parasite infection rate of gut cells. Contact rate generally increased with temperature and scaled positively with body size, whereas infection rate had a narrow hump-shaped thermal response and scaled negatively with body size. GRT increased with host size and was longest at extreme temperatures. GRT and infection rate inside the gut combined to create a 3.5 times higher probability of infection for the smallest relative to the largest individuals. Small temperature changes caused large differences in transmission. We also fit several alternative transmission models to data at individual temperatures. The more complex models—parasite antagonism or synergism and host heterogeneity—did not substantially improve the fit to the data. Our results show that transmission rate is the product of several distinct thermal and allometric functions that can be predicted continuously across temperature and host size using the MTE.

A leading hypothesis for the evolutionary maintenance of sexual reproduction proposes that sex is advantageous because it facilitates adaptation. Changes in the environment stimulate adaptation but not all changes are equivalent; a change may occur along one or multiple environmental dimensions. In two evolution experiments with the facultatively sexual rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, we test how environmental complexity affects the evolution of sex by adapting replicate populations to various environments that differ from the original along one, two, or three environmental dimensions. Three different estimates of fitness (growth, lifetime reproduction, and population density) confirmed that populations adapted to their new environment. Growth measures revealed an intriguing cost of complex adaptations: populations that adapted to more complex environments lost greater amounts of fitness in the original environment. Furthermore, both experiments showed that B. calyciflorus became more sexual when adapting to a greater number of environmental dimensions. Common garden experiments confirmed that observed changes in sex were heritable. As environments in nature are inherently complex these findings help explain why sex is maintained in natural populations.

Biological denitrification is a generally economically viable and reliable technology for nitrate (NO3−-N) and nitrite (NO2−-N) removal from wastewater. Nitrate/nitrite reduction requires an electron donor, which can be supplied from influent wastewater organic compounds, added as an external carbon source, or by endogenous respiration. Decisions regarding the selection of an external carbon source should take into consideration its cost, sludge generation quantity, the rate and efficiency of denitrification, and chemical storage safety. The expense of waste management and external carbon sources accounts for up to 50% of the overall cost of wastewater treatment. The carbon source characteristics required for biological denitrification affect the microbial community structure, denitrification rate, and intermediate products. This review is based on a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review providing information and insight into the topic of the denitrification process using different carbon sources. In this review, the main focus was on discussing alternative carbon sources vs. traditional carbon sources in terms of the carbon source price, C/N ratio, denitrification efficiency and rate, operational parameters, and advantages and disadvantages, as well as the limitations in the denitrification process. Future perspectives may include the operating parameters influencing the stability of the removal performance; the maintenance and improvement of nitrate removal; a study of the diversity of the microbial community; research on the application of new alternative carbon sources in denitrification; and N2O emission detection and minimisation.

Notwithstanding recent advances in hydrological modelling, flood simulations remain challenging since many processes must be simulated with high computational efficiency. This paper presents a novel geographic information system (GIS)-oriented platform 3DNet and the associated hydrologic model, with focus on the platform and model features that are relevant for flood simulations. The platform enables hydraulic structures to be incorporated in the hydrologic model, as well as water retention. A limiting capacity can be imposed on every river reach enabling estimation of flooding volume. Runoff is simulated within irregularly shaped units that can be aggregated providing spatial flexibility, i.e. model setup can vary from lumped to semi- and fully-distributed. The model contains many parameters with a physical connotation that can be inferred from catchment characteristics, and it enables simulations with minimum data requirements. All algorithms are implemented in C++ warranting fast computations, while the spatial flexibility can provide additional speed-up. The model is used for a reconstruction of a devastating flood in the Kolubara catchment in May 2014. Despite incomplete and uncertain observations, reasonable results across the catchment are obtained with the plausible parameter estimates. The results suggest that enclosure of the presented features in flood simulation tools would improve simulation accuracy and efficiency.

Background/Objectives: As adults spend about 30% of each day asleep, having a sleep disorder can negatively affect their functioning. The study objective was to determine the factors that influence sleep quality among patients and healthcare providers in the primary healthcare setting. Methods: This study included respondents of both sexes aged 18–90 years, comprising outpatients and the healthcare providers working in the General Medicine Service at the “Liman” Department of the “Novi Sad” Health Center in Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia. Demographic data along with factors related to lifestyle and sleep habits were collected using a demographic questionnaire specifically designed for this research. The standardized Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire, Serbian version (PSQI), was used to assess sleep quality. Results: The study sample comprised 92 respondents (42 healthcare providers and 50 patients), 73.9% of whom were female, with an average age of 50.0 years. Although 50% of healthcare providers reported sleeping only 3–6 h the previous night, according to the PSQI results, patients had lower overall sleep quality (54.0% vs. 33.3%; p = 0.046) and achieved lower scores in the DISTB (sleep disturbances, p = 0.001), SLPQUAL (subjective sleep quality, p = 0.013) and MEDS (use of sleeping medication, p = 0.003) PSQI domains. Conclusions: Sleep quality is impaired in more than half of patients and more than a third of healthcare providers. By detecting and acting on the factors in the home and work environment that affect quality of sleep, and by changing lifestyle habits, sleep quality in adults can be improved.