Extrinsic forcing of plant ecosystems in a large igneous province : The Columbia River flood basalt province, Washington State, USA

Peer reviewed

Woman arrested during the anti-nuclear plant demonstration in Shoreham

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Can we cook away veterinary drug residues in food?

When most people think of food safety they think of food poisoning and bacteria. They also, one hopes, generally follow the well-understood public advice on bacterial risks and store their food properly and cook it thoroughly. But what about chemical risks in food? Do many consumers ask the question “if drug residues are in my food, does cooking make it safe?” Or do they assume that following the good advice on bacterial risks also affords some protection against the health risks of chemical contaminants? In this short report we highlight some difficulties in assessing the stability of veterinary drug residues during cooking and summarise our cooking studies on anthelmintics, nitroimidazoles and nitrofuran residues in various foods. safefood Knowledge Networks http://safefood.ning.com/

Utilization of coal combustion residues in glass manufacturing process

The focus of paper is to asses and evaluate new utilisation method of coals combustion resides in glass manufacturing process. Mathematical model of glass manufacturing material balance was used to find favourable proportion of normally used batch materials and coal ash. It was found that possible to substitute up to 20 % of batch with coal ash. On the world glass production scale there is a potential to save 8,4 million tons of silica sand, 6 million tons of dolomite, 3 million tons of clay and 0,2 million tons of lime borate. Furthermore, potential to utilize 2 % of coal combustion products with suggested method.

Dynamics of a large submersed plant bed in upper Chesapeake Bay

A large SAV bed in upper Chesapeake Bay has experienced several abrupt shifts over the past half-century, beginning with near-complete loss after a record-breaking flood in 1972, followed by an unexpected, rapid resurgence in the early 2000’s, then partial decline in 2011 following another major flood event. Together, these trends and events provide a unique opportunity to study a recovering SAV ecosystem from several different perspectives. First, I analyzed and synthesized existing time series datasets to make inferences about what factors prompted the recovery. Next, I analyzed existing datasets, together with field samples and a simple hydrodynamic model to investigate mechanisms of SAV bed loss and resilience to storm events. Finally, I conducted field deployments and experiments to explore how the bed affects internal physical and biogeochemical processes and what implications those effects have for the dynamics of the system. I found that modest reductions in nutrient loading, coupled with several consecutive dry years likely facilitated the SAV resurgence. Furthermore, positive feedback processes may have played a role in the sudden nature of the recovery because they could have reinforced the state of the bed before and after the abrupt shift. I also found that scour and poor water clarity associated with sediment deposition during the 2011 flood event were mechanisms of plant loss. However, interactions between the bed, water flow, and waves served as mechanisms of resilience because these processes created favorable growing conditions (i.e., clear water, low flow velocities) in the inner core of the bed. Finally, I found that that interactions between physical and biogeochemical processes led to low nutrient concentrations inside the bed relative to outside the bed, which created conditions that precluded algal growth and reinforced vascular plant dominance. This work demonstrates that positive feedbacks play a central role in SAV resilience to both chronic eutrophication as well as acute storm events. Furthermore, I show that analysis of long-term ecological monitoring data, together with field measurements and experiments, can be an effective approach for understanding the mechanisms underlying ecosystem dynamics.

Papaya seedlings irrigation with saline water in soil with bovine biofertilizer

Water used for irrigation in semiarid regions of the world is not always of good quality, and may contain salts levels that inhibit plants growth. This study was conducted to evaluate the growth of papaya ( Carica papaya L.) ‘Golden’ seedlings irrigated with saline water in soil with and without bovine biofertilizer produced by anaerobic fermentation of a mixture of fresh bovine manure and water. The experiment was carried out in Areia County, Paraiba State, Brazil. Treatments were distributed in randomized blocks using a factorial design 5 × 2 relative to five salinity levels in irrigation water of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 dS m-1 in soil with and without bovine biofertilizer, corresponding to 10% of the substrate volume. At 90 d after emergence (DAE), both the electrical conductivity (EC) in soil saturation extract, biometric growth and DM production of papaya seedlings were evaluated. Increased salinity from 0.5 to 4.0 dS m-1 raised, within 90 DAE, soil EC of saturation extract (ECse) from 1.19 to 3.95 dS m-1 and from 1.23 to 3.63 dS m-1 in treatments with and without bovine biofertilizer, respectively. Also, the increase in water salinity from 0.5 dS m-1 to the estimated maximum values ranging from 1.46 to 2.13 dS m-1 stimulated seedling height to 11.42 and 18.72 cm in soil with and without bovine biofertilizer, respectively. Higher salinity levels in irrigation water increased soil salinity levels to values that inhibited both growth and quality of papaya seedlings, but with less severity when treated with bovine biofertilizer.

Dual layer solid phase extraction based on molecular imprinting technology: Seeking a route to enhance selectivity for trace analysis of pesticide residues in olive oil.

Aiming to introduce a multiresidue analysis for the trace detection of pesticide residues belonging to organophosphorus and triazine classes from olive oil samples, a new sample preparation methodology comprising the use of a dual layer of “tailor-made” molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) SPE for the simultaneous extraction of both pesticides in a single procedure has been attempted. This work has focused on the implementation of a dual MIP-layer SPE procedure (DL-MISPE) encompassing the use of two MIP layers as specific sorbents. In order to achieve higher recovery rates, the amount of MIP layers has been optimized as well as the influence of MIP packaging order. The optimized DL-MISPE approach has been used in the preconcentration of spiked organic olive oil samples with concentrations of dimethoate and terbuthylazine similar to the maximum residue limits and further quantification by HPLC. High recovery rates for dimethoate (95%) and terbuthylazine (94%) have been achieved with good accuracy and precision. Overall, this work constitutes the first attempt on the development of a dual pesticide residue methodology for the trace analysis of pesticide residues based on molecular imprinting technology. Thus, DL-MISPE constitutes a reliable, robust, and sensitive sample preparation methodology that enables preconcentration of the target pesticides in complex olive oil samples, even at levels similar to the maximum residue limits enforced by the legislation.

An innovative rapid method for analysis of 10 organophosphorus pesticide residues in wheat by HS-SPME-GC-FPD/MSD

Utilization of nitrogen (15N) from urea and green manures by rice as affected by nitrogen fertilizer rate.

The use of green manures (GMs) in combination with nitrogen (N) fertilizer application is a promising practice to improve N fertilizer management in agricultural production systems. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the N use efficiency (NUE) of rice plant, derived from GMs including sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.), millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) and urea in the greenhouse. The experimental treatments included two GMs (sunn hemp-15N and millet-15N), absence of N organic source (without GM residues in soil) and four N rates, as urea-15N (0, 28.6, 57.2 and 85.8 mg N kg-1). The results showed that both rice grain and straw biomass yields under sunn hemp were greater than that of millet or without the application of GM. The NUE of rice under sunn hemp was greater than that under millet (18.9 and 7.8% under sunn hemp and millet, respectively). The urea N application rates did not affect the fertilizer NUE by rice (53.7%) with or without GMs. The NUE of GMs by rice plants ranged from 14.1% and 16.8% for root and shoot, respectively. The study showed that green manures can play an important role in enhancing soil fertility and N supply to subsequent crops.

Role of the Tryptophan Residues in the Specific interaction of the Sea Anemone Stichodacty la helianthus’s Actinoporin Sticholysin II with Biological Membranes

Actinoporins are pore-forming toxins from sea anemones. Upon interaction with sphingomyelin-containing bilayers, they become integral oligomeric membrane structures that form a pore. Sticholysin II from Stichodactyla helianthus contains five tryptophans located at strategic positions; its role has now been studied using different mutants. Results show that W43 and W115 play a eterminant role in maintaining the high thermostability of the protein, while W146 provides specific interactions for protomer−protomer assembly. W110 and W114 sustain the hydrophobic effect, which is one of the major driving forces for membrane binding in the presence of Chol. However, in its absence, additional interactions with sphingomyelin are required. These conclusions were confirmed with two sphingomyelin analogues, one of which had impaired hydrogen bonding properties. The results obtained support actinoporins’ Trp residues playing a major role in membrane recognition and binding, but their residues have an only minor influence on the diffusion and oligomerization steps needed to assemble a functional pore.

Sugarcane trash levels in soil affects the fungi but not bacteria in a short-term field experiment.

The sugarcane in Brazil is passing through a management transition that is leading to the abolition of pre-harvest burning. Without burning, large amounts of sugarcane trash is generated, and there is a discussion regarding the utilization of this biomass in the industry versus keeping it in the field to improve soil quality. To study the effects of the trash removal on soil quality, we established an experimental sugarcane plantation with different levels of trash over the soil (0%, 50% and 100% of the original trash deposition) and analyzed the structure of the bacterial and fungal community as the bioindicators of impacts. The soil DNA was extracted, and the microbial community was screened by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis in two different seasons. Our results suggest that there are no effects from the different levels of trash on the soil chemistry and soil bacterial community. However, the fungal community was significantly impacted, and after twelve months, the community presented different structures among the treatments.

Monitoring of glyphosate residues in herbicide tolerant soybeans from eight production areas of Brazil - 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 harvest seasons.

2008

Controle biológico de doenças de plantas no Brasil: história, pesquisa, comercialização e perspectivas=Biological control of plant diseases in Brazil: history, research, commercialization and perspectives.

2008

Atrazine sorption in soil treated with biochar.

Biochar has been used worldwide as soil amendment. Due to the high sorption capacity of organic compounds by charcoal in general, the use of biochar can change the soil sorptive properties, that could result in a environmental protective strategy in one hand and/or in need of higher pesticides doses in another hand. However no data in the literature is available about the long term effect of biochar application in the sorptive properties of the soil, even studies about the sorptive properties of soil treated with biochar are scarce, the few available papers are with pure biochar. This unprecedented work, evaluating the sorption of atrazine in a clayed soil treated with biochar, under experimental field conditions, evaluated the sorption isotherms one and three years after the single biochar application (16 Mg ha-1 of biochar). One year after the biochar application the Kf was two times higher for the biochar amended soil than for the control one (without biochar). This effect decreases after three years from the application, but it is even significantly higher (50% higher) than the control treatment.