Terrestrial background gamma radiation in urban surroundings depends not only on the content of radionuclides in the soil and bedrock, but also on levels of radionuclides in building materials used for the construction of roads, pavements and buildings. The aim of this study was to characterize an outdoor absorbed dose rate in air in the city of Wroclaw and to indicate factors that affect the background gamma radiation in an urban space. Gamma spectrometric measurements of the radionuclide content and absorbed dose rate in air were performed by means of portable RS-230 gamma spectrometers and at sites with various density of buildings, in the city center and in more distant districts, over pavements and roads as well as in a park, a cemetery and on four bridges. Measurements were performed at a 1-meter height. The absorbed dose rate in air ranged from 19 to 145 nGy h-1, with the mean of 73 nGy h-1. This paper implicates that terrestrial background gamma radiation depends on the type of building material used for the construction of roads and pavements and on the density of buildings shaping the geometry of the radiation source. The highest background gamma radiation was observed in the center of the city, where buildings are situated close to each other (nearly enclosed geometry) and pavements are made of granite. The lowest background gamma radiation was noticed on bridges with nearly open field geometry. Additionally, three profiles at the heights of 0.0, 0.5 and 1.0 m were arranged between two opposite walls of the hall of the Main Railway Station in Wroclaw, where the floor is made of various stone slabs. The results indicated that the absorbed dose rate in air varied, depending on the type of building material, but became averaged along with the height.
P. lacustris sp. nov. (formerly known as Phytophthora taxon Salixsoil) was first isolated in 1972 in the UK and then in many other European countries, including Poland. The aim of this work was a morphological, physiological, and genetic characterization of the P. lacustris isolates by means of the daily growth rate, mycelium morphology, and generative and vegetative structures, depending on the temperature of incubation and growth media. In addition, the ability to colonize willow shoots and leaves was estimated. Out of 114 isolates of P. lacustris obtained from water habitats located near plant nurseries in central and southeastern Poland in 2007-10 that were identified on the basis of molecular tests which showed high diversity in colony growth patterns and daily growth rates, 10 groups were separated by means of Duncan’s test. Representatives of these 10 groups together with three reference isolates – P. lacustris P245 as the holotype, P. gonapodyides CBS 117380 as a specimen most closely related phenotypically to P. lacustris, and P. cactorum as a positive control of forest trees’ pathogen – were researched. Great heterogeneity in the growth rates and morphology of mycelium, as well as in the structure of zoosporangia and hyphal swellings, were observed. Moreover, the isolates differed in their ability to colonize the willow leaves and shoots in the in vitro tests. Some correlation may be found between the daily growth rates and colonizing abilities, and between the daily growth rate and the dimension of the sporangia. Also, a large genotypic variation between the isolates based on the fingerprint patterns generated by molecular techniques (RAPD and ISSR) was obtained.
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