Ecological Stoichiometry of Bumblebee Castes, Sexes, and Age Groups

Ecological stoichiometry is important for revealing how the composition of chemical elements of organisms is influenced by their physiological functions and ecology. In this study, we investigated the elemental body composition of queens, workers, and males of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, an important pollinator throughout Eurasia, North America, and northern Africa. Our results showed that body elemental content differs among B. terrestris castes. Young queens and workers had higher body nitrogen concentration than ovipositing queens and males, while castes did not differ significantly in their body carbon concentration. Furthermore, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio was higher in ovipositi…

Spider odors induce stoichiometric changes in fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Immobilised Humic Substances as Low-Cost Sorbents for Emerging Contaminants

Environmental pollution with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) is a worldwide problem that is receiving increasing attention. Although these substances have been released in the aquatic environment for a long time, wastewater treatment plants are still incapable of removing emerging contaminants completely. Consequently, trace metals, metalloids and pharmaceuticals, as well as surfactant leftovers, are often found in environmental samples. Environmentally friendly and cost-effective sorbents such as humic substances can be used for purification if their sorption properties are increased by immobilization. To our knowledge, immobilized humic substances have not been widely studied as s…

Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) Containing Adsorbents for Carbon Capture

This research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund project “Innovation of the waste‐to‐energy concept for the low carbon economy: development of novel carbon capture technology for thermochemical processing of municipal solid waste (carbon capture and storage from waste—CCSW)”, grant number 1.1.1.1/19/A/013.

EXTRACTION OF BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE COMPONENTS FROM FRESHWATER SAPROPEL

Sapropel has been used for different purposes - in agriculture as fertilizer, in construction as building material, in cosmetic products, in balneology also in medicine and pharmaceuticals as bioactive component. Previously sapropel has been commonly used in raw form and there is no general accepted method or standard method for obtaining sapropel extract. However, most extraction methods follow the same path. Currently, there are few extraction methods using several extractants for obtaining bioactive components from raw sapropel. The most commonly used extractant is alkaline solution. When sapropel is subjected to alkaline environment, the humic and fulvic acids, together with some lipids…