Halina Falfushynska

Hochschule Anhalt & ENERTRAG SE

Water pollution is a pressing global issue significantly affecting ecosystem health, biodiversity, and human well-being. While numerous studies have concentrated on toxic metals like cadmium, lead, and mercury, essential metals such as copper and zinc often receive less attention. This review focuses on the distribution and occurrence of copper and...

Microalgae represent a valuable renewable resource for biofuel production due to their high lipid content, rapid growth rates, and non-competition with food resources. Both freshwater species like Chlorella and marine species such as Dunaliella, Tetraselmis, and Nannochloropsis are among the most commonly utilized candidates. This review provides a...

In light of the growing plastic waste problem worldwide, including in agriculture, this study focuses on the usefulness of both conventional, non-degradable plastics and environmentally friendly bioplastics in the agricultural sector. Although conventional plastic products are still essential in modern, even ecological agriculture, the increasing c...

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 numero...

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. Ho...

Advanced data analysis tools and bioinformatics are essential for uncovering the nature of breast cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer death among women. The goal of this study is to identify potential genomic biomarkers that have a significant impact on four prognostic factors, including tumour size, lymph node involvement, metastasis, and...

Oxygen fluctuations are common in freshwater habitats and aquaculture and can impact ecologically and economically important species of fish like cyprinids. To gain insight into the physiological responses to oxygen fluctuations in two common cyprinid species, we evaluated the impact of short-term intermittent hypoxia on oxidative stress and metabo...

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women. As its development involves a multidimensional network of gene-environment interactions, advanced data analysis tools and bioinformatics are vital to uncover the nature of cancer. The initial database contained the expression values of 19737 genes in 1082 patients. Random Forest algori...

Our research sought to determine the molecular and biochemical effects of environmentally relevant exposure to commonly used chloro-s-triazine herbicide terbuthylazine and organophosphate insecticide malathion on zebrafish. To this aim, mature zebrafish were exposed to 2 and 30 µg L−1 terbuthylazine and 5 and 50 µg L−1 malathion alone and in combin...

Global warming and human-induced eutrophication drive the occurrence of various cyanotoxins in aquatic environments. These metabolites reveal diversified mechanisms of action, encompassing cyto-, neuro-, hepato-, nephro-, and neurotoxicity, and pose a threat to aquatic biota and human health. In the present paper, we review data on the occurrence o...

In the context of the global increase in pesticide applications, aquatic animals are constantly subjected to their action in natural reservoirs. Our research sought to determine the molecular and biochemical effects of an environmental exposure to commonly used chloro-s-triazine herbicide terbuthylazine and organophosphate insecticide malathion on...

Zinc oxide nanoparticles are released into marine environments from industrial, medical and consumer uses sparking concerns about their potential ecotoxicological effects. Ecological hazard assessment of nZnO in marine ecosystems is hindered by the lack of understanding of the potential interactive effects of nZnO toxicity with other common abiotic...

Organic UV filters have emerged as a new threat to marine organisms, but ecotoxicological studies have so far focused on only a few substances despite the chemical diversity of these synthetic sunscreen agents. Here we examined the responses of blue mussels Mytilus edulis to ensulizole, a non-lipophilic UV filter commonly found in the Baltic Sea. M...

Pharmaceutical pollution of water bodies is among the top-notch environmental health risks all over the world. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of two common pharmaceuticals namely ibuprofen and gemfibrozil on zebrafish at environmentally relevant concentrations. In zebrafish liver, gemfibrozil caused a decrease in glutat...

Pesticides are well known for their high levels of persistence and ubiquity in the environment, and because of their capacity to bioaccumulate and disrupt the food chain, they pose a risk to animals and humans. With a focus on organophosphate and triazine pesticides, the present review aims to describe the current state of knowledge regarding spati...

This study aimed to compare the occurrence and nuisance of adverse events following administration of each COVID-19 vaccine dose between two groups: individuals given three doses of mRNA vaccine (homologous group, 3 × mRNA, n = 252) and those given two doses of adenoviral vector vaccine further boosted with mRNA vaccine (heterologous group, 2 × AZ...

Adverse reactions after intravascular administration of iodine-based contrast media are well-known. Nevertheless the same type of contrast media is also used for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and systemic absorption of contrast media after mentioned procedure routinely occurs, not much is known about effects of widely used diatrizo...

The unprovoked aggression of Russian military forces on Ukraine in February 2022 has caused a high influx of refugees, including children, to neighboring countries, particularly Poland. This caused additional pressures on the healthcare system and the need to meet challenges for public health, such as those related to infectious diseases. Here, we...

Agrochemicals can adversely affect biodiversity, environment and human health, and commonly occur in mixtures with poorly characterized toxic mechanisms and health hazards. Here, we evaluated the individual and mixture toxicities of Roundup and chlorpyrifos in environmentally relevant concentrations to the zebrafish using molecular and biochemical...

Being popular world-wide, virtual laboratories enter into different fields of education and research and practitioners have to be responsible for choosing the most suitable and then adapt them to particular field. The aim of the present work was to assess the effectivity of the implementation of Praxilab, Labster, and LabXchange virtual laboratorie...

The use of glyphosate-based Roundup and triazine herbicide Atrazine has increased markedly in last decades. Thus, it is important to evaluate toxic effects of these herbicides to non-targeted organisms such as zooplankton to understand their safety toward aquatic ecosystems. In the current study, we performed Daphnia toxicity tests based on lethali...

The increasing production and use of nanoparticles (NPs) have raised concerns with regard to their environmental accumulation and toxicity in nontarget organisms. Aquatic ecosystems receive high inputs of nanopollutants from riverine and terrestrial sources, and thus aquatic organisms are potentially vulnerable to the off-target toxic effects of na...

The global occurrence of organic UV filters in the marine environment is of increasing ecotoxicological concern. Here we assessed the toxicity of UV filters ensulizole and octocrylene in the blue mussels Mytilus edulis exposed to 10 or 100 μg l⁻¹ of octocrylene and ensulizole for two weeks. An integrated battery of biochemical and molecular biomark...

ObjectNowadays, organophosphates appear to be among the most used pesticides all over the world. Their amounts and amounts of their metabolites in surface water are expected to increase in the near future. In the light of potential organelles impairment, this work aims to investigate the effects of chlorpyrifos and malathion in environmentally rele...

Distance education has become the mandatory component of higher education establishments all over the world including Ukraine regarding COVID-19 lockdown and intentions of Universities to render valuable knowledge and provide safe educational experience for students. The present study aimed to explore the student’s and academic staff’s attitude tow...

Engineered nanoparticles including ZnO nanoparticles (nZnO) are important emerging pollutants in aquatic ecosystems creating potential risks to coastal ecosystems and associated biota. The toxicity of nanoparticles and its interaction with the important environmental stressor (such as salinity variation) are not well understood in coastal organisms...

The global increase in cyanobacterial blooms poses environmental and health threats. Selected cyanobacterial strains reveal toxicities despite a lack of synthesis of known toxic metabolites, and the mechanisms of these toxicities are not well understood. Here we investigated the toxicity of non-cylindrospermopsin and non-microcystin producing Aphan...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy of the liver with a very poor prognosis and constantly growing incidence. Among other primary risks of HCC, metabolic disorders and obesity have been extensively investigated over recent decades. The latter can promote nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) leading to the inflam...

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...

Coastal environments commonly experience strong oxygen fluctuations. Resulting hypoxia/reoxygenation stress can negatively affect mitochondrial functions, since oxygen deficiency impairs ATP generation, whereas a surge of oxygen causes mitochondrial damage by oxidative stress. Marine intertidal bivalves are adapted to fluctuating oxygen conditions,...

The ecological potential of microalgae for purification of aquatic and soil ecosystems and natural restoration of their homeostatic functional state is considered to be high due to the rapid growth and development of algae, their labile and dynamic metabolism and simple growth conditions. The aim of present work was to study the effectiveness of Ch...

Gastropod mollusks have achieved an eminent importance as biological indicators of environmental quality. In the present study, we applied a multibiomarker approach to evaluate its applicability for the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, exposed to common industrial and agricultural pollutants at environmentally relevant concentrations. The snails were...

Fluctuations in the ambient oxygen concentrations represent a major stressor for aerobic organisms causing ATP deficiency during hypoxia and excessive production of reactive oxygen species during reoxygenation. Modulation of the mitochondrial electron transport system activity was proposed as a major mechanism involved in both the mitochondrial inj...

Toxicity of cyanobacteria is the subject of ongoing research, and a number of toxic metabolites have been described, their biosynthesis pathways have been elucidated, and the mechanism of their action has been established. However, several knowledge gaps still exist, e.g., some strains produce hitherto unknown toxic compounds, while the exact dynam...

Selected species of cyanobacteria and green algae have been reported to produce lipophilic polymethoxy-1-alkenes (PMAs) which were shown to exhibit in vivo teratogenicity. Considering that information on PMAs in Arthospira sp. (known commercially as Spirulina) and Chlorella sp. cultivated for food supplement production was essentially lacking, the...

Hypoxia is a major stressor in estuarine and coastal habitats leading to adverse effects in aquatic organisms. Estuarine bivalves such as the blue mussels Mytilus edulis and the Pacific oysters Crassostrea gigas can survive periodic oxygen deficiency but the molecular mechanisms that underlie cellular injury during hypoxia-reoxygenation are not wel...

Marine benthic invertebrates are frequently exposed to fluctuating oxygen levels resulting in hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) stress in the intertidal, estuarine and shallow coastal habitats. H/R stress can strongly affect the organisms' physiological performance due to the negative shifts in bioenergetics and redox balance. H/R stress commonly leads t...

ZnO nanoparticles (nZnO) are released into the coastal environment from multiple sources, yet their toxicity to marine organisms is not well understood. We investigated the interactive effects of salinity (normal 15, low 5, and fluctuating 5-15) and nZnO (100 μg l-1) on innate immunity of the blue mussels Mytilus edulis from a brackish area of the...

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that enhances fracture risk and hinders bone formation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the parameters of oxidative stress, metallothioneins (MTs), metabolic changes and cytotoxicity signs in blood of young men with (DTF group) and without (TF group) type 2 diabetes (T2D) mellitus who had a tib...

Multiple interactions between different pollutants in the surface waters can cause unpredictable consequences. The aim of the study was to evaluate the combined effect of two widespread xenobiotics, titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2) and bisphenol A (BPA), on freshwater bivalve Unio tumidus. The specimens were exposed for 14 days to TiCl4 (Ti, 1.2...

Distance education and blended learning has been becoming a major alternative to traditional teaching all over the world. The paper discloses the benefits and disadvantages of e-learning at Ukrainian Universities in particular at Ternopil V. Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University as the representative when compare to European models of distance ed...

However the physiological stress in aquatic organisms associated with hydropower plants (HPP) ecosystems has been previously investigated, no studies have so far assessed it on biochemical level. Therefore this study evaluated an oxidative stress and toxicity in the gibel carp Carassius auratus gibelio associated with a small-scale HPP in the West...

Biofouling causes massive economical losses in the maritime sector creating an urgent need for effective and ecologically non-harmful antifouling materials. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod coatings show promise as an antifouling material; however, the toxicity of ZnO nanorods to marine organisms is not known.We compared the toxicity of suspended ZnO nanor...

Green synthesis of nanoparticles using environmental-friendly reducing agents is in the focus. We applied green technology for the synthesis of zinc nanoparticles (nZnO) using leaves extract of Catharanthus roseus and fruits extract of Momordica charantia (Karela). The development and advance of nZnO biosynthesis from leaves and fruits extracts of...

Background and objectives: toxic liver injury results in nitrooxidative stress. Melatonin is a potent free radical scavenger, an inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitor and an activator of antioxidant enzymes. The aim of this study was to investigate the hepatoprotective effect of exogenous melatonin on animals with acute toxic hepatitis....

Phytoextracts and natural antioxidants should provide promising results in therapeutic intervention for diabetes mellitus when they include into medical treatment scheme. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Momordica charantia phytoextract alone and in complex-form with nano zinc oxide as well as zinc compounds on rate of hemolysis...

The aim of the present study was to create a suitable model of the glucose toxicity and elucidate the ability of zinc-binding proteins metallothioneins in the crucian carp Carassius auratus to reflect it. For that, fish was loaded by three waterborne concentrations of glucose (low (5.55 mM, LC), middle (55.5 mM, MC) or high (111 mM, HC)) for 21 day...

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is an alkaloid biosynthesized by selected cyanobacteria, the cyto- and genotoxic properties of which have been studied extensively by in vitro and in vivo experimental models. Various studies have separately established the role of uracil, guanidine and hydroxyl groups in CYN-induced toxicity. In the present study, we have...

Cyanobacteria blooms are considered as a serious threat to humans and wildlife due to high risk of simultaneous occurrence of cyanotoxins. However, neurotoxic compounds are less frequently reported, their exposures can lead to acute and fatal outcomes. Moreover, human-driven eutrophication and climate changes accelerated expansion of some potential...

The article substantiates the technology of forming media literacy of senior preschool children in the establishments of preschool education of Ukraine. The features of preschool media education have been determined. Its relevance has been shown. The focus is on conducting the all-Ukrainian experiment on media education for 2017–2022. The problems...

The article substantiates the relevance of implementing the technology of formation of a successful personality of a primary school age pupil during media education implementation at primary school. A technology model is developed. The necessity of solving problems of success simultaneously with increasing the level of media culture of a pupil, the...

Biologically active compounds from pharmaceuticals cause concern due to their common occurrence in water and sediments of urbanized coasts and potential threat to marine organisms. Atorvastatin (ATO), a globally prescribed drug, is environmentally stable and bioavailable to marine organisms; however, the physiological and toxic effects of this drug...

TIBIA FRACTURE-INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS IN MEN IS ABLE TO UP-REGULATE METALLOTHIONEINS AND TRIGGER CASPASE-3-MEDIATED APOPTOSIS

METALLOTHIONEINS PROTECT AGAINST OBESE-INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS IN YOUNG WOMEN

As yet European strains of Raphidiopsis raciborskii (previously Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii) have not been found to produce known cyanotoxins although their extracts have caused adverse effects in mammals, as shown using in vitro and in vivo experimental models. The present study investigated whether R. raciborskii isolated from Western Poland a...

Obesity is rapidly increasing all over the world and pretends to be the global medical and social problem. Thus, the understanding of early signs of obesity and suitable biomarkers is urgently needed for developing an adequate strategy of the obesity prevention and a decrease in its growth rate. The parameters of the lipids’ metabolism and oxidativ...

Bivalves from the cooling reservoirs of electrical power plants (PP) are exposed to the chronic heating and chemical pollution making them a suitable model to study the combined effects of these stressors. We investigated the effect of in situ exposures to chemical and thermal pollution in the PP cooling ponds on the metabolic responses of unionid...

The occurrence of cyanobacteria in freshwaters attracts much attention due to its associated health threats and ecological implications. Yet data on the composition of cyanobacteria taxa and toxigenicity in some regions is still scarce. Here, we explored the occurrence of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in three locations in Ukraine (reservoir for Ka...

The effluents of cardboard-paper mill (CPM) industry belong to most abundant pollutants of surface water. The aim of this study was to elucidate the toxicity of effluents downstream the CPM by the bioindication. The specimens of fish Carassius auratus (Cyprinidae) and mollusk Unio tumidus (Unionidae) from the suspected polluted area (SP) and pristi...

Bivalve mollusks from the cooling reservoirs of fuel power plants (PP) are acclimated to the chronic heating and chemical pollution. We investigated stress responses of the mussels from these ponds to determine their tolerance to novel environmental pollutant, zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO). Male Unio tumidus from the reservoirs of Dobrotvir and B...

Мета роботи – з’ясувати особливості організації науково-дослідної роботи студентів-першокурсників медичного профілю у взаємозв’язку з навчальним процесом.Основна частина. Об’єктом даного дослідження є студентський науковий гурток (СНГ) як основна початкова позааудиторна форма організації наукової роботи. У статті розглянуто особливості організації...

Global decline of amphibian populations causes particular concern about their vulnerability to novel environmental pollutants, including engineering nanomaterials and pharmaceutical products. We evaluated the bioavailability of nanoform of zinc oxide (n-ZnO) in frog Pelophylax ridibundus and determined whether co-exposure to a common pharmaceutical...

The pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) became the most typical pollutants of the surface waters. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the combine exposure to the common compounds of the municipal effluents, constituent of plastics bisphenol A (BPA) and popular medicine nifedipine (Nfd), on the model orga­nism, a musse...

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) are the environmental pollutants of growing concern. The aim of this study was to indicate the effects of typical PPCPs on the march frog Pelophylax ridibundus. We treated male frogs with waterborne ibuprofen (IBU, 250 ng L − 1), triclosan (TCS, 500 ng L − 1), or estrone (E1, 100 ng L − 1) for 14 da...

Molluscan exoskeleton (shell) plays multiple important roles including structural support, protection from predators and stressors, and physiological homeostasis. Shell formation is a tightly regulated biological process that allows mollusks to build their shells even in environments unfavorable for mineral precipitation. Outer mantle edge epitheli...

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 widespread photosynthetic microorganisms that attract attention due to their ecology and potential toxicity. Therefore, novel research tools are being app...

Stress biomarkers, which can outline impacts of contaminants in aquatic biota at the biochemical level, are increasingly used as early warning tools in environmental monitoring. Reliable biomarker based assessment schemes, however, request appropriate knowledge of baseline levels of selected endpoints, and the potential influence of a range of natu...

Indigenous bivalve mollusks from the cooling reservoirs of thermoelectric power plants (TPPs) are subjected to constantly elevated temperature and industrial pollution. Therefore, they could be regarded as a suitable model organisms adapted to the combination of typical novel environmental challengers in their habitats. The aim of this study was to...