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Current guidelines for developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) evaluation are based on animal models. These have limitations so more relevant, efficient and robust approaches for DNT assessment are needed. We have used the human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell model to evaluate a panel of 93 mRNA markers that are frequent in Neuronal diseases and functional annotations and also differentially expressed during retinoic acid-induced differentiation in the cell model. Rotenone, valproic acid (VPA), acrylamide (ACR) and methylmercury chlo-ride (MeHg) were used as DNT positive compounds. Tolbutamide, D-mannitol and clofibrate were used as DNT negative compounds. To determine concentrations for exposure for gene expression analysis, we developed a pipeline for neurite outgrowth assessment by live-cell imaging. In addition, cell viability was measured by the resazurin assay. Gene expression was analyzed by RT-qPCR after 6 days of exposure during differentiation to concentrations of the DNT positive compounds that affected neurite outgrowth, but with no or minimal effect on cell viability. Methylmercury affected cell viability at lower concentrations than neurite outgrowth, hence the cells were exposed with the highest non-cytotoxic concentration. Rotenone (7.3 nM) induced 32 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), ACR (70 mu M) 8 DEGs, and VPA (75 mu M) 16 DEGs. No individual genes were significantly dysregulated by all 3 DNT positive compounds (p < 0.05), but 9 genes were differentially expressed by 2 of them. Methylmercury (0.8 nM) was used to validate the 9 DEGs. The expression of SEMA5A (encoding semaphorin 5A) and CHRNA7 (encoding nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha 7) was downregulated by all 4 DNT positive compounds. None of the DNT negative compounds dysregulated any of the 9 DEGs in common for the DNT positive compounds. We suggest that SEMA5A or CHRNA7 should be further evaluated as biomarkers for DNT studies in vitro since they also are involved in neurodevelopmental adverse outcomes in humans.

Increasing urbanization worldwide calls for more sustainable urban development. Simultaneously, the global biodiversity crisis accentuates the need of fostering biodi versity within cities. Policies supporting urban nature conservation need to understand people’s acceptance of biodiversity-friendly greenspace management. We surveyed more than 2,000 people in 19 European cities about their attitudes toward near-natural urban grassland management in public greenspaces, and related their responses to nine sociocultural parameters. Results reveal that people across Europe can support urban biodiversity, yet within the frames of a generally tidy appearance of public greenery. Younger people and those using greenspaces for a greater variety of activities were more likely to favor biodiversity-friendly greenspace management. Additionally, peo ple who were aware of the meaning of biodiversity and those stating responsibility for biodiversity conservation particularly supported biodiversity-friendly greenspace management. Our results point at explicit measures like environmental education to increase public acceptance of policies that facilitate nature conservation within cities.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-asw-10.1177_11786221211028185 for Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe: A Synthesis of National Perspectives by Nieves Fernandez-Anez, Andrey Krasovskiy, Mortimer Müller, Harald Vacik, Jan Baetens, Emira Hukić, Marijana Kapovic Solomun, Irena Atanassova, Maria Glushkova, Igor Bogunović, Hana Fajković, Hakan Djuma, George Boustras, Martin Adámek, Miloslav Devetter, Michaela Hrabalikova, Dalibor Huska, Petra Martínez Barroso, Magdalena Daria Vaverková, David Zumr, Kalev Jõgiste, Marek Metslaid, Kajar Koster, Egle Köster, Jukka Pumpanen, Caius Ribeiro-Kumara, Simone Di Prima, Amandine Pastor, Cornelia Rumpel, Manuel Seeger, Ioannis Daliakopoulos, Evangelia Daskalakou, Aristeidis Koutroulis, Maria P. Papadopoulou, Kosmas Stampoulidis, Gavriil Xanthopoulos, Réka Aszalós, Deák Balázs, Miklós Kertész, Orsolya Valkó, David C. Finger, Throstur Thorsteinsson, Jessica Till, Sofia Bajocco, Antonio Gelsomino, Antonio Minervino Amodio, Agata Novara, Luca Salvati, Luciano Telesca, Nadia Ursino, Aris Jansons, Mara Kitenberga, Normunds Stivrins, Gediminas Brazaitis, Vitas Marozas, Olesea Cojocaru, Iachim Gumeniuc, Victor Sfecla, Anton Imeson, Sander Veraverbeke, Ragni Fjellgaard Mikalsen, Eugeniusz Koda, Piotr Osinski, Ana C. Meira Castro, João Pedro Nunes, Duarte Oom, Diana Vieira, Teodor Rusu, Srđan Bojović, Dragana Djordjevic, Zorica Popovic, Milan Protic, Sanja Sakan, Jan Glasa, Danica Kacikova, Lubomir Lichner, Andrea Majlingova, Jaroslav Vido, Mateja Ferk, Jure Tičar, Matija Zorn, Vesna Zupanc, M. Belén Hinojosa, Heike Knicker, Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja, Juli Pausas, Nuria Prat-Guitart, Xavier Ubeda, Lara Vilar, Georgia Destouni, Navid Ghajarnia, Zahra Kalantari, Samaneh Seifollahi-Aghmiuni, Turgay Dindaroglu, Tugrul Yakupoglu, Thomas Smith, Stefan Doerr and Artemi Cerda in Air, Soil and Water Research