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The aim of the present work is to demonstrate the expediency of using information technologies on the study of Brownian motion. The importance of using such software as VirtualDub, Tracker and Google Sheets for the study of Brownian motion has been substantiated. This made it possible to determine the values that cannot be measured directly (the displacement of the Brownian particle, the size of the Brownian particle and the Avogadro number). The advantage of this method is that all software are free.

The European Union's Green Deal concept prioritizes the installation of photovoltaic and wind turbine systems, with the aim of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and expanding the use of renewable energy. The inclusion of metals/metaloids such as Cd, Pb, Ni, and As to PV panels may be a matter of concern because they may provoke numerous negative environmental effects, especially after decommissioning. Although the release of Pb and Cd from solar panels is generally low, these releases may increase, posing long-term harm. Cd and Pb, if only released from solar panels, can enter the environment, including soil and water, posing a significant risk to human health and ecosystems. Cd, in particular, can have profound and lasting negative impacts on animals and humans, affecting cellular responses, enzyme operations, and immune system functionality. Pb exposure, in turn, can induce oxidative stress and neurotoxicity, disrupt ion regulatory pathways, and impair immune function. Despite efforts to reduce the release of toxic metals from PV panels, controlling their disposal and avoiding environmental contamination remains challenging. Discovering substitute materials for PV panel manufacture, implementing enhanced recycling procedures, performing bioremediation, and enforcing stronger restrictions are among the strategies to mitigate environmental concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations World Drug Report published in 2022 alarmed that the global market of illicit drugs is steadily expanding in space and scale. Substances of abuse are usually perceived in the light of threats to human health and public security, while the environmental aspects of their use and subsequent emissions usually remain less explored. However, as with other human activities, drug production, trade, and consumption of drugs may leave their environmental mark. Therefore, this paper aims to review the occurrence of illicit drugs in surface waters and their bioaccumulation and toxicity in fish. Illicit drugs of different groups, i.e., psychostimulants (methamphetamines/amphetamines, cocaine, and its metabolite benzoylecgonine) and depressants (opioids: morphine, heroin, methadone, fentanyl), can reach the aquatic environment through wastewater discharge as they are often not entirely removed during wastewater treatment processes, resulting in their subsequent circulation in nanomolar concentrations, potentially affecting aquatic biota, including fish. Exposure to such xenobiotics can induce oxidative stress and dysfunction to mitochondrial and lysosomal function, distort locomotion activity by regulating the dopaminergic and glutamatergic systems, increase the predation risk, instigate neurological disorders, disbalance neurotransmission, and produce histopathological alterations in the brain and liver tissues, similar to those described in mammals. Hence, this drugs-related multidimensional harm to fish should be thoroughly investigated in line with environmental protection policies before it is too late. At the same time, selected fish species (e.g., Danio rerio, zebrafish) can be employed as models to study toxic and binge-like effects of psychoactive, illicit compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow cytometry (FCM) is routinely used in medical and veterinary diagnostics although it is also widely applied in environmental studies, including phytoplankton investigations. Cyanobacteria are wide-spread photosynthetic microorganisms that attract attention due to their ecology and potential toxicity. Therefore, novel research tools are being applied in their investigation. This paper characterizes FCM as a technique that enables photopigments (chlorophylls and phycocyanin) expressed by cyanobacteria to be excited and their emission to be subsequently detected. This feature not only allows cells to be counted in a rapid manner but also enables a wide range of potential applications in ecological and biochemical studies. The main advantages of FCM, such as rapid, automatic and precise measurements requiring small sample volumes, are also discussed in this paper along with challenges including analyses of filamentous cyanobacteria and signal overlapping. It is expected that FCM will continue to be used in some fields of cyanobacterial studies.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the response of zebrafish to the effects of widely-used organophosphates roundup and chlorpyrifos and putative effectiveness of chlorella in terms of decreasing pesticides toxicity. Studied organophosphate pesticide roundup and chlorpyrifos in ecologically relevant concentrations, both individually and in a mixture, evoked the prominent suppression of catalase and total antioxidant capacity in the liver of Danio rerio which were consistent with higher levels of lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation, and DNA strand break. Also, both roundup and chlorpyrifos provoked endocrine disorders registered as induction of vitellogenin and depletion of triiodothyronine as well as neurotoxicity appeared as inhibition of acetylcholinesterase after individual action or activation after combined action. The rate of apoptosis observed by caspase 3 activity was decreased, but in different manner depends on the exposure. The potency of toxicity followed the order: roundup > chlorpyrifos > roundup + chlorpyrifos (due to some kind of antagonistic action between chlorpyrifos and roundup in the binary mixture). Based on the results of CART analysis triiodothyronine, TBARS and caspase 3 were determined as the most significant indices for discrimination of the studied groups. The introduction of Chlorella vulgaris in the amount of about 100 thousand cells L-1 into the environment did not show a significant bioremediation effect on the harmful effect of studied pesticides for Danio rerio, which does not exclude the positive impact of algae on the functioning of the ecosystem as a whole and requires further comprehensive research.