Weed harmfulness is linked to the plant functional traits. The two widely dispersed weeds, Cirsium arvense and Artemisia vulgaris, are similar in taxonomic and ecological terms, but they differ by abundance in agroecosystems. We studied 25 leaf, mesophyll, cell and chloroplast traits of these species in two habitats: 'ruderal' (roadside meadow) and 'agricultural' (ploughed field). Independently of habitat, C. arvense had higher leaf thickness (LT) and leaf mass per area, but lower leaf density (LD) than A. vulgaris. The mesophyll cell volume (V cell) was threefold larger, with twice the chloroplast number per cell (Chl) in C. arvense compared to A. vulgaris. In the ruderal habitat, there was no difference between species in net assimilation rate (A max) and integrated mesophyll traits-the total mesophyll and chloroplast surface area per leaf area unit (A mes/A, A chl/A). In the agricultural habitat, C. arvense exhibited a threefold increase in A max, accompanied by a twofold rise in A mes/A and A chl/A, exceeding the common values reported for mesophytic perennial non-weeds. A. vulgaris showed no change in A mes/A and A chl/A, with A max increasing by only 30%. Common features of both weeds in agricultural conditions were an increased up to 60% contribution of spongy to mesophyll traits, enhanced photosynthetic activity of a chloroplast and elevated rate of CO2 transfer through cell and chloroplast surfaces. We conclude that large V cell related to high LT and low LD, as well as the high spongy proportion and plasticity in A mes/A and A chl/A contribute to the success of C. arvense in agricultural environments.

The treatment of mine wastewater is of great environmental importance. Treatment systems including sorption on activated carbon are widely used. The sorbents employed require periodic regeneration. That interrupts the wastewater flow. The solution is to use a battery of sorbent modules, which are regenerated in turn. Thus, the battery will always include a module that is being regenerated. The operating time of the sorbent modules without regeneration may be increased at no cost to treatment quality if the wastewater flow rate is decreased as the sorbent becomes saturated. However, this approach changes the overall productivity of the system. Accordingly, an automated system must be developed to monitor and regulate the distribution of the wastewater flow among the modules in the battery, taking account of the level of sorbent saturation in each one. The proposed automated system employs no less than five sorbent modules. The control algorithm ensures periodic shutdown of each of the modules for regeneration. The control system for each module adjusts the wastewater flow in accordance with its level of sorbent saturation.

A mineral with the composition Pd(Bi0.53Sb0.47), intermediate between sobolevskite, ideally PdBi, and sudburyite, PdSb, from the Chineiskii Deposit (Transbaikal region, Russia), was studied by the SEM and XRD methods. Its crystal structure was solved and refined (R = 3.02

Re-usability of wastewater from open pit coal mines and surface flows is discussed with regard to the adopted water circulation cycles. The analysis of process flow charts of open pit coal mining and water use made it possible to identify the main trends of wastewater application and volume reduction. A flowsheet of integrated treatment and distribution of wastewater in open pit mines is developed. It is shown that efficient management of intramine water consumption and expansion of cooperation with wastewater consumers can allow high-rate recycling of industrial wastewater. The proposed activities can help reduce environmental pressure in coal mining areas, and decrease amount of wastewater which need advanced treatment down to maximum allowable concentration of harmful agents in fishery water bodies.

The sources of the major pollutants in quarry wastewater are investigated for Kuznetsk Basin coal mines. Various methods of removing those pollutants are analyzed, identifying their advantages and disadvantages. A search of foreign patents permits recommendations regarding promising decontamination methods.

Leaf traits are known as indicative of species functional properties in angiosperms. Fern fronds are little studied in this concern, especially ex situ. We studied leaf mesophyll structure, pigments and gas exchange in four fern species grown in a glasshouse-Sphaeropteris cooperi (terrestrial tree fern), Phlebodium aureum (semi-epiphytic herbaceous), Asplenium australasicum (epiphytic shrubby) and Platycerium bifurcatum (epiphytic herbaceous). Saturated assimilation rate (Asat) decreased and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) increased from a terrestrial tree fern to epiphytic ferns. Asat positively correlated with chloroplast number (Nchl/A) and their surface area per leaf area (Achl/A). iWUE negatively related to Nchl/A and chlorophyll/carotenoid ratio. Most differences between species were found in the mesophyll thickness (MT) and mesophyll cell volume (Vcell) with the smallest values in S. cooperi and the largest ones in P. bifurcatum. We found that photosynthetic limitations in ferns were related to the chloroplast photosynthetic activity rather than to Nchl/A or pigment content which did not differ from most angiosperms. Epiphytic ferns showed larger values of Vcell per cell and per chloroplast compared to angiosperms and tree ferns. We concluded that an increase in MT and Vcell in the studied ferns was not associated with photosynthetic performance, but was related to volumetric cytoplasm-chloroplast ratio meaningful to light absorption and the water-storage function of fern fronds. We studied four fern species with different life-forms in a glasshouse. Ferns differed by mesophyll thickness and cell volume with the smallest values in a terrestrial tree and the largest ones in epiphytic herbs. Photosynthesis rate was positively related to chloroplast number per cell and per leaf area, which were higher in a terrestrial tree compared to epiphytes. Water use efficiency was higher in epiphytes and negatively linked to chloroplast number per leaf area. We concluded that increasing cell volume among the studied ferns was not associated with photosynthetic performance but related to volumetric cytoplasm-chloroplast ratio meaningful to the water-storage function of fronds. image

Suspended solids are the predominant pollutants in the wastewater of coal enterprises. The basic wastewater treatment system regulated in BAT No. 15 ITC-37–2017 does not ensure water quality meets the discharge standards for fishery water bodies. The gravitational sedimentation method used in this technology is effective for coarse particles. However, colloidal systems formed from fine insoluble fractions are challenging to separate in a gravitational field. As an effective method for removing suspended solids from wastewater, we recommend filtering through a stationary layer of granular filtering materials. The study investigates the kinetics and dynamics of filtering suspended particles from the wastewater of coal enterprises using various filtering materials. Sedimentation curves of suspended solids from quarry wastewater have been constructed. The dependence of wastewater treatment efficiency on the size of filtering material fractions has been identified. The study provides an evaluation of the effectiveness of using natural filtering materials for treating wastewater from coal enterprises. The experiments demonstrated that the most efficient and cost-effective granular filtering material is quartzite from the Bobrovskoye deposit, which we recommend using in a combination of fractions 20–50 and 0.7–12 mm (in a ratio of 1 : 2). The optimal flow rate of wash water during the regeneration of the granular filter is also determined.

Means of removing sulfate ions from mine wastewater are analyzed. Their advantages and disadvantages are weighed. A sound basis is proposed for selecting the best treatment technology. A system based on reverse osmosis is developed.

Structural and functional parameters of leaves were studied in 19 dominant and abundant species growing in shallows and wet riversides at the mouth of the Maksimikha River (Barguzinsky district, Republic of Buryatia). To evaluate the species ecological optimum Tsyganov’ scales were used (Tsyganov, 1983). To assess the resistance, the potential ecological valence of the species on the illumination scale, as well as the climatic and soil tolerance indices of the species were applied (Zhukova et al., 2010). It was shown that the index of climatic tolerance of the species was negatively correlated with the leaf mass per area (LMA) (r = -0,68) and positively with the chlorophyll photosynthetic activity of (r = 0,51). A tendency was revealed to decrease in LMA and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and increase in the chlorophyll photosynthetic activity in more thermophilic wetland plants. Leaf area positively correlated with the scores of the species optimum on the soil moisture and acidity scales (r = 0,59 and r = 0,72, respectively). LMA, the content and photosynthetic activity of chlorophyll correlated with the optimum scores on the soil nitrogen supply scale (r = -0,53, r = -0,50 and r = 0,72, respectively). The tolerance index of the species to soil factors was associated only with the content of chlorophylls (r = 0,68) and carotenoids (r = 0,55) per unit leaf area. The potential ecological valence of the species to illumination was positively correlated with leaf density and LDMC (r = 0,58 and r = 0,57, respectively). It was concluded that the thermoclimatic optimum of species of wetland plants, as well as their climate sustainability, are associated with changes in the LMA and chlorophyll photosynthetic activity. Edaphic factors had a greater influence on the structural and functional parameters of leaves than climatic ones, which manifested in a large number of relationships between soil scales and leaf traits. Wetland plant tolerance to a wider range of edaphic conditions was associated with a high content of chlorophylls and carotenoids.

The status of lazurite as a valid mineral species has been confirmed. The neotype specimen from the Malaya Bystraya gem lazurite deposit, Baikal Lake area has been studied using electron microprobe, wet chemical analysis, ESR, IR, Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-Vis-near IR absorption and luminescence spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction. The empirical formula of the neotype sample is (Na 6.97 Ca 0.88 K 0.10 ) 7.96 [Si 6.04 Al 5.96 ] 12 O 24 (SO 4 ) 1.09 ( S_3^∙ - ) 0.55 S_0.05^2 - Cl 0.04 ⋅0.72H 2 O, where S_3^∙ - is trisulfide radical anion, which is a blue chromophore. The idealized formula Na 7 Ca(Al 6 Si 6 O 24 )(SO 4 ) S_3^∙ - ⋅H 2 O has been approved by the IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, proposal #20-H. The crystal structure of lazurite is characterized by commensurate and incommensurate modulations; the a parameter of the cubic sub-cell is 9.087(3) Å. The neotype sample is slightly birefringent, with α' = 1.523(2) and γ' = 1.525(2).

Recent publications on gall formation induced on the leaves of dicotyledonous flowering plants by eriophyoid mites (Eriophyoidea) and representatives of four insect orders (Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera) are analyzed. Cellular and molecular level data on the stimuli that induce and sustain the development of both mite and insect galls, the expression of host plant genes during gallogenesis, and the effects of these galling arthropods on photosynthesis are considered. A hypothesis is proposed for the relationship between the size of galls and the volume of secretions injected by a parasite. Multistep, varying patterns of plant gene expression and accompanying histo-morphological changes in the transformed gall tissues are apparent. The main obstacle to better elucidating the nature of the induction of gallogenesis is the impossibility of collecting a sufficient amount of saliva for analysis, which is especially important in the case of microscopic eriophyoids. The use of modern omics technologies at the organismal level has revealed a spectrum of genetic mechanisms of gall formation at the molecular level but has not yet answered the questions regarding the nature of gall-inducing agents and the features of events occurring in plant cells at the very beginning of gall growth.

The state of Kuzbass water resources is attracting more and more attention, which is associated with increasing industrial use. The risk of reducing the sanitary reliability of water bodies is due to an increase in the amount of industrial wastewater and the multicomponent nature of their composition. For Kuzbass as a coal-mining region, wastewater treatment of coal mining and processing enterprises is relevant. The data of monitoring reporting, the characteristics of the applied cleaning methods are given in the paper. The most common system of treatment facilities in coal mines, the formation of runoff and problem areas are considered. The sewage receiver is small rivers, the layers are drained by natural drainage, the drainage water is collected in sumps, then it is pumped to the settling ponds by pumps. In the settling ponds, wastewater stays for several days, which leads to the release of suspended particles. After the dam, the treated wastewater is divided into two streams: one is discharged into a reservoir, the other is sent to a storage pond to use this water in the technological process. The possibility of using filtration through artificial filter arrays with a layer consisting of a carbon sorbent at the second stage of purification was studied. The filtering carbon material based on anthracite — Purolat-Standard and coconut charcoal, the raw material for which is a natural material, are analyzed. Adsorption isotherms were used as a criterion for evaluating the adsorption capacity of materials. The sorption capacity of coconut charcoal with respect to iron ions when extracted from individual model solutions, according to the experiment, was 0.54 mg/g. The content of manganese in the solution after adsorption on coconut charcoal decreased according to the experimental data, and the adsorption value was 147 mg/g.

The analysis of the qualitative composition of the waste water of the coal mining enterprise was carried out. As a result of monitoring studies, data on the composition of pollutants discharged into the water of small rivers were obtained. It is established that the feature of quarry waters is an increased content of suspended solids (inorganic dust) from drilling, blasting, overburden and mining operations; petroleum products from oil and fuel spills; nitrites and nitrates formed when using explosives; iron formed as a result of the oxidation of pyrite (often found in the host rocks), metal structures and parts of equipment and sulfates. The applied technology of wastewater treatment at a coal mine is considered, and its effectiveness is justified. It is shown that the main problem in the field of water resources protection is the lack of adapted technologies for deep wastewater treatment in relation to a specific enterprise. The ways of improving the technological level and quality of treatment of quarry wastewater are determined.

We studied the leaf traits of steppe species - Artemisia austriaca Jacq. (Asteraceae) and Stipa lessingiana Trin. et Rupr. (Poaceae) in two communities of true steppe and desert steppe in Kazakhstan. The whole-leaf traits changed differently within species, mesophyll traits had similar changes with aridity. The leaf thickness and the leaf mass area increased in desert steppe in Artemisia, while in grass species these leaf traits did not change. However, mesophyll cell sizes increased in desert steppe in both species. An increase in cell sizes, as well as in the chloroplast number per cell in A. austriaca and in the cell number per leaf area in S. lessingiana, led in both species to a rise of the total chloroplasts’ surface per leaf area unit being important to carbon dioxide diffusion. We concluded that despite the generally accepted stereotype about «small-cell mesophyll» in steppe xerophytes, namely in some species an increase in cell size, aimed at increasing the internal assimilation surface of the leaf, can be considered as a mechanism for adapting the photosynthetic apparatus of steppe plants to climate aridity.

The quantitative traits of the leaf mesophyll were studied for 31 steppe and forest plant species belonging to 21 families in the Altai Mountains at an altitude of 1600-2150 m above sea level. Herbaceous perennials predominated among the studied species. The studied species had an isopalisade, homogeneous and dorsoventral type of leaf meso-phyll structure. Among the species of the forest zone, the dorsoventral type of leaf structure prevailed, in the steppe zone the proportion of species with dorsoventral mesophyll is lower due to the appearance of succulents and species with an isopalisade structure of leaf mesophyll. The species of the forest belt were distinguished low leaf density by larger mesophyll cells and their low number per unit of leaf area compared to steppe plants. As a result the integral leaf mesophyll parameters of the steppe belt species - the number of chloroplasts and the total surface of chloroplasts per unit area of the leaf had higher values compared to the forest belt. It is concluded that the integral parameters of the mesophyll of the leaf strictly correspond to the conditions of species growth.

Сточные воды предприятий угольной промышленности продолжают оставаться одним из основных источников загрязнения водных объектов ресурсо-ориентированных регионов. Они содержат взвешенные вещества, нефтепродукты, минеральные соли, органические соединения, тяжёлые металлы и др. В статье приводится анализ мониторинговых исследований качестенного состава карьерных сточных вод, выявлены их приоритетные загрязнители. Описана применяемая технология очистки сточных вод на угольном разрезе «Калтанский» и определены ее ключевые недостатки. Представлены пути повышения технологического уровня и качества очистки карьерных сточных вод. Wastewater from coal industry enterprises continues to be one of the main sources of pollution of water bodies in resource-oriented regions. They contain suspended solids, petroleum products, mineral salts, organic compounds, heavy metals, etc. The article provides an analysis of monitoring studies of the qualitative composition of quarry wastewater, their priority pollutants are identified. The Kaltansky coal- mine wastewater treatment technology is described and its key drawbacks are identified. Presented are ways to improve the technological level and quality of treatment of quarry wastewater.

Structural and functional parameters of leaves were studied in 21 dominant and abundant species growing in shallow waters and excessively moistened banks at the mouth of the Maksimikha River (Barguzinsky district, Republic of Buryatia). The analysis of the variation coefficients revealed that in hydrophilic plants, the most variable were indicators associated with the size of the leaf blade - the area and thickness of the leaf (170 and 130 %, respectively). The parameters associated with the leaf structure, leaf density and dry matter content (DMC), depended on the degree of plant hydrophilicity. On average, the leaves of hygrophytes had denser leaves (by 41 %) with a higher DMC (by 38 %) compared to helophytes. The functional photosynthetic apparatus indicators of wetland plants, such as the content of chlorophylls per unit mass and leaf area, as well as the rate of CO2 uptake, were the most stable among the studied parameters (variation coefficients were 37, 33, and 29 %, respectively). On average, hygrophyte leaves had a 38 % lower transpiration rate and 29 % higher water use efficiency compared to helophytes. It was concluded that with a decrease in the degree of hydrophilicity of plants in the series helophytes - hygrophytes, the structural rearrangement of the leaf occurs in the direction of increasing its density and dry matter content, which is accompanied by a decrease in the transpiration rate and an increase in the water use efficiency.