Terra Preta : bioenergy, soil restoration, urban agriculture, art algorithm

The 2010 LAGI competition was held on three underutilized sites in the United Arab Emirates. By choosing Staten Island, New York in 2012 the competition organises have again brought into question new roles for public open space in the contemporary city. In the case of the UEA sites, the competition produced many entries which aimed to create a sculpture and by doing so, they attracted people to the selected empty spaces in an arid climate. In a way these proposals were the incubators and the new characters of these empty spaces. The competition was thus successful at advancing understandings of the expanded role of public open spaces in EAU and elsewhere. LAGI 2012 differs significantly to the UAE program because Fresh Kills Park has already been planned as a public open space for New Yorkers - with or without these clean energy sculptures. Furthermore, Fresh Kills Park is already an (gas) energy generating site in its own right. We believe Fresh Kills Park, as a site, presents a problem which somewhat transcends the aims of the competition brief. Advancing a sustainable urban design proposition for the site therefore requires a fundamental reconsideration of the established paradigms public open space. Hence our strategy is to not only create an energy generating, site specific art work, but to create synergy between the public and the site engagement while at the same time complement the idiosyncrasies of the pre-existing engineered landscape. Current PhD research about energy generation in public open spaces informs this work.

Performance evaluation of onsite sewage treatment : results of soil investigations

Background The onsite treatment of sewage and effluent disposal is widely prevalent in rural and urban fringe areas due to the general unavailability of reticulated wastewater collection systems. Despite the low technology of the systems, failure is common and in many cases leading to adverse public health and environmental consequences. It is important therefore that careful consideration is given to the design and location of onsite sewage treatment systems. This requires an understanding of the factors that influence treatment performance. The use of subsurface absorption systems is the most common form of effluent disposal for onsite sewage treatment, particularly for septic tanks. Also, in the case of septic tanks, a subsurface disposal system is generally an integral component of the sewage treatment process. Site specific factors play a key role in the onsite treatment of sewage. The project The primary aims of the research project were: • to relate treatment performance of onsite sewage treatment systems to soil conditions at site; • to evaluate current research relating to onsite sewage treatment; and, • to identify key issues where currently there is a lack of relevant research. These tasks were undertaken with the objective of facilitating the development of performance based planning and management strategies for onsite sewage treatment. The primary focus of this research project has been on septic tanks. By implication, the investigation has been confined to subsurface soil absorption systems. The design and treatment processes taking place within the septic tank chamber itself did not form a part of the investigation. Five broad categories of soil types prevalent in the Brisbane region have been considered in this project. The number of systems investigated was based on the proportionate area of urban development within the Brisbane region located on each of the different soil types. In the initial phase of the investigation, the majority of the systems evaluated were septic tanks. However, a small number of aerobic wastewater treatment systems (AWTS) were also included. The primary aim was to compare the effluent quality of systems employing different generic treatment processes. It is important to note that the number of each different type of system investigated was relatively small. Consequently, this does not permit a statistical analysis to be undertaken of the results obtained for comparing different systems. This is an important issue considering the large number of soil physico-chemical parameters and landscape factors that can influence treatment performance and their wide variability. The report This report is the last in a series of three reports focussing on the performance evaluation of onsite treatment of sewage. The research project was initiated at the request of the Brisbane City Council. The project component discussed in the current report outlines the detailed soil investigations undertaken at a selected number of sites. In the initial field sampling, a number of soil chemical properties were assessed as indicators to investigate the extent of effluent flow and to help understand what soil factors renovate the applied effluent. The soil profile attributes, especially texture, structure and moisture regime were examined more in an engineering sense to determine the effect of movement of water into and through the soil. It is important to note that it is not only the physical characteristics, but also the chemical characteristics of the soil as well as landscape factors play a key role in the effluent renovation process. In order to understand the complex processes taking place in a subsurface effluent disposal area, influential parameters were identified using soil chemical concepts. Accordingly, the primary focus of this final phase of the research project was to identify linkages between various soil chemical parameters and landscape patterns and their contribution to the effluent renovation process. The research outcomes will contribute to the development of robust criteria for evaluating the performance of subsurface effluent disposal systems. The outcomes The key findings from the soil investigations undertaken are: • Effluent renovation is primarily undertaken by a combination of various soil physico-chemical parameters and landscape factors, thereby making the effluent renovation processes strongly site dependent. • Decisions regarding site suitability for effluent disposal should not be based purely in terms of the soil type. A number of other factors such as the site location in the catena, the drainage characteristics and other physical and chemical characteristics, also exert a strong influence on site suitability. • Sites, which are difficult to characterise in terms of suitability for effluent disposal, will require a detailed soil physical and chemical analysis to be undertaken to a minimum depth of at least 1.2 m. • The Ca:Mg ratio and Exchangeable Sodium Percentage are important parameters in soil suitability assessment. A Ca:Mg ratio of less than 0.5 would generally indicate a high ESP. This in turn would mean that Na and possibly Mg are the dominant exchangeable cations, leading to probable clay dispersion. • A Ca:Mg ratio greater than 0.5 would generally indicate a low ESP in the profile, which in turn indicates increased soil stability. • In higher clay percentage soils, low ESP can have a significant effect. • The presence of high exchangeable Na can be counteracted by the presence of swelling clays, and an exchange complex co-dominated by exchangeable Ca and exchangeable Mg. This aids absorption of cations at depth, thereby reducing the likelihood of dispersion. • Salt is continually added to the soil by the effluent and problems may arise if the added salts accumulate to a concentration that is harmful to the soil structure. Under such conditions, good drainage is essential in order to allow continuous movement of water and salt through the profile. Therefore, for a site to be sustainable, it would have a maximum application rate of effluent. This would be dependent on subsurface characteristics and the surface area available for effluent disposal. • The dosing regime for effluent disposal can play a significant role in the prevention of salt accumulation in the case of poorly draining sites. Though intermittent dosing was not considered satisfactory for the removal of the clogging mat layer, it has positive attributes in the context of removal of accumulated salts in the soil.

Real-time measurement of F-Actin remodelling during exocytosis using lifeact-EGFP transgenic animals

F-actin remodelling is essential for a wide variety of cell processes. It is important in exocytosis, where F-actin coats fusing exocytic granules. The purpose of these F-actin coats is unknown. They may be important in stabilizing the fused granules, they may play a contractile role and promote expulsion of granule content and finally may be important in endocytosis. To elucidate these functions of F-actin remodelling requires a reliable method to visualize F-actin dynamics in living cells. The recent development of Lifeact-EGFP transgenic animals offers such an opportunity. Here, we studied the characteristics of exocytosis in pancreatic acinar cells obtained from the Lifeact-EGFP transgenic mice. We show that the time-course of agonist-evoked exocytic events and the kinetics of each single exocytic event are the same for wild type and Lifeact-EGFP transgenic animals. We conclude that Lifeact-EGFP animals are a good model to study of exocytosis and reveal that F-actin coating is dependent on the de novo synthesis of F-actin and that development of actin polymerization occurs simultaneously in all regions of the granule. Our insights using the Lifeact-EGFP mice demonstrate that F-actin coating occurs after granule fusion and is a granule-wide event.

Plant-made vaccines for humans and animals

Summary: The concept of using plants to produce high-value pharmaceuticals such as vaccines is 20 years old this year and is only now on the brink of realisation as an established technology. The original reliance on transgenic plants has largely given way to transient expression; proofs of concept for human and animal vaccines and of efficacy for animal vaccines have been established; several plant-produced vaccines have been through Phase I clinical trials in humans and more are scheduled; regulatory requirements are more clear than ever, and more facilities exist for manufacture of clinic-grade materials. The original concept of cheap edible vaccines has given way to a realisation that formulated products are required, which may well be injectable. The technology has proven its worth as a means of cheap, easily scalable production of materials: it now needs to find its niche in competition with established technologies. The realised achievements in the field as well as promising new developments will be reviewed, such as rapid-response vaccines for emerging viruses with pandemic potential and bioterror agents. © 2010 The Author. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Abundance of Natural Riparian Forests and Tree Plantations in the Amudarya Delta of Uzbekistan and their impact on emissions of soil-borne greenhouse gases

Through a forest inventory in parts of the Amudarya river delta, Central Asia, we assessed the impact of ongoing forest degradation on the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from soils. Interpretation of aerial photographs from 2001, combined with data on forest inventory in 1990 and field survey in 2003 provided comprehensive information about the extent and changes of the natural tugai riparian forests and tree plantations in the delta. The findings show an average annual deforestation rate of almost 1.3% and an even higher rate of land use change from tugai forests to land with only sparse tree cover. These annual rates of deforestation and forest degradation are higher than the global annual forest loss. By 2003, the tugai forest area had drastically decreased to about 60% compared to an inventory in 1990. Significant differences in soil GHG emissions between forest and agricultural land use underscore the impact of the ongoing land use change on the emission of soil-borne GHGs. The conversion of tugai forests into irrigated croplands will release 2.5 t CO2 equivalents per hectare per year due to elevated emissions of N2O and CH4. This demonstrates that the ongoing transformation of tugai forests into agricultural land-use systems did not only lead to a loss of biodiversity and of a unique ecosystem, but substantially impacts the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of GHG and soil C and N turnover processes.

Soil N2O and CO2 emissions from cotton in Australia under varying irrigation management

Irrigation is known to stimulate soil microbial carbon and nitrogen turnover and potentially the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). We conducted a study to evaluate the effect of three different irrigation intensities on soil N2O and CO2 fluxes and to determine if irrigation management can be used to mitigate N2O emissions from irrigated cotton on black vertisols in South-Eastern Queensland, Australia. Fluxes were measured over the entire 2009/2010 cotton growing season with a fully automated chamber system that measured emissions on a sub-daily basis. Irrigation intensity had a significant effect on CO2 emission. More frequent irrigation stimulated soil respiration and seasonal CO2 fluxes ranged from 2.7 to 4.1 Mg-C ha−1 for the treatments with the lowest and highest irrigation frequency, respectively. N2O emission happened episodic with highest emissions when heavy rainfall or irrigation coincided with elevated soil mineral N levels and seasonal emissions ranged from 0.80 to 1.07 kg N2O-N ha−1 for the different treatments. Emission factors (EF = proportion of N fertilizer emitted as N2O) over the cotton cropping season, uncorrected for background emissions, ranged from 0.40 to 0.53 % of total N applied for the different treatments. There was no significant effect of the different irrigation treatments on soil N2O fluxes because highest emission happened in all treatments following heavy rainfall caused by a series of summer thunderstorms which overrode the effect of the irrigation treatment. However, higher irrigation intensity increased the cotton yield and therefore reduced the N2O intensity (N2O emission per lint yield) of this cropping system. Our data suggest that there is only limited scope to reduce absolute N2O emissions by different irrigation intensities in irrigated cotton systems with summer dominated rainfall. However, the significant impact of the irrigation treatments on the N2O intensity clearly shows that irrigation can easily be used to optimize the N2O intensity of such a system.

Assessing eco-environmental performance of agricultural production in OECD countries : combination of soil surface, soil system and farm gate methods of nutrient auditing

Nitrogen balance is increasingly used as an indicator of the environmental performance of agricultural sector in national, international, and global contexts. There are three main methods of accounting the national nitrogen balance: farm gate, soil surface, and soil system. OECD (2008) recently reported the nitrogen and phosphorus balances for member countries for the 1985 - 2004 period using the soil surface method. The farm gate and soil system methods were also used in some international projects. Some studies have provided the comparison among these methods and the conclusion is mixed. The motivation of this present paper was to combine these three methods to provide a more detailed auditing of the nitrogen balance and flows for national agricultural production. In addition, the present paper also provided a new strategy of using reliable international and national data sources to calculate nitrogen balance using the farm gate method. The empirical study focused on the nitrogen balance of OECD countries for the period from 1985 to 2003. The N surplus sent to the total environment of OECD surged dramatically in early 1980s, gradually decreased during 1990s but exhibited an increasing trends in early 2000s. The overall N efficiency however fluctuated without a clear increasing trend. The eco-environmental ranking shows that Australia and Ireland were the worst while Korea and Greece were the best.

Survival, sublethal injury and recovery of environmental Burkholderia pseudomallei in soil subjected to desiccation

Environmental Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated from sandy soil at Castle Hill, Townsville, in the dry tropic region of Queensland, Australia, was inoculated into sterile-soil laboratory microcosms subjected to variable soil moisture. Survival and sublethal injury of the B. pseudomallei strain were monitored by recovery using culture-based methods. Soil extraction buffer yielded higher recoveries as an extraction agent than sterile distilled water. B. pseudomallei was not recoverable when inoculated into desiccated soil but remained recoverable from moist soil subjected to 91 days desiccation and showed a growth response to increased soil moisture over at least 113 days. Results indicate that endemic dry tropic soil may act as a reservoir during the dry season, with an increase in cell number and potential for mobilization from soil into water in the wet season.

Soil-pile interaction in deep layered marine sediment under seismic excitation

Under seismic loads neither the response of the pile nor the response of ground are independent of each other, contrary what is normally assumed. In seismic design of buildings, dynamic response of a structure is determined by assuming a fixed base on sub-grade and neglecting the physical interaction between foundation and soil profile in which it is embedded. However, the seismic response of pile foundations in vibration sensitive soil profiles is significantly affected by the behaviour of supporting soil. This research uses validated Finite Element techniques to simulate the seismic behaviour of pile foundations embedded in multilayered vibration sensitive soils.

Electron microscopy of micron-sized lunar soil

We have performed electron-microscopic analysis on 0.5-1.0µm grains in order to study radiation damage by the solar-wind. We are reporting some interesting results we have found in monomineralic grains from core sample 15010,1130. This is a submature soil which has been studied for rare gas abundance and ferromagnetic resonance by (1) and modal petrology by (2).

ICT to enhance the triangle of life : the soil, the seed, and the life-giver farmer

This paper reports on the outcomes of an ICT enabled social sustainability project “Green Lanka1” trialled in the Wilgamuwa village, which is situated in the Dambulla district of Sri Lanka. The main goals of the project were focused towards the provision of information about market prices, transportation options, agricultural decision support and modern agriculture practices of the farmer communities to improve their livelihood with the effective use of technologies. The project used Web and Mobile (SMS) enabled systems. The Green Lanka project was sponsored by the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka under the Institutional Capacity Building Programme (ICBP) grant scheme which was sponsored by the World Bank. Six hundred families in Wilgamuwa village participated in the project activities. The project was designed, executed and studied through an Action Research approach. The lessons learned through the project activities provide an important understanding of the complex interaction between different stakeholders in the process of implementation of ICT enabled solutions within digitally divided societies. The paper analyses the processes used to reduce the resistance to change and improved involvement of farmer communities in ICT enabled projects. It also analyses the interaction between stakeholders involved in design and implementation of the project activities to improve the chances of project success.

Residual Soil Properties of South East Queensland

This project sought to investigate parameters of residual soil materials located in South East Queensland (SEQ), as determined from a large number of historical site investigation records. This was undertaken to quantify material parameter variability and to assess the validity of using commonly adopted correlations to estimate "typical" soil parameters for this region. A dataset of in situ and laboratory derived residual soil parameters was constructed and analysed to identify potential correlations that related either to the entire area considered, or to specific residual soils that were derived from a common parent material. The variability of SEQ soil parameters were generally found to be greater than the results of equivalent studies that analysed transported soil dominant datasets. Noteworthy differences in material properties also became evident when residual soils weathered from different parent materials were considered independently. Large variation between the correlations developed for specific soil types was found, which highligted both heterogeneity of the studied materials and the incompatibility of generic correlations to residual soils present in SEQ. Region and parent material specific correlations that estimate shear strength from in situ penetration tests have been proposed for the various residual soil types considered.

Computer simulation of underground blast response of pile in saturated soil

This paper treats the blast response of a pile foundation in saturated sand using explicit nonlinear finite element analysis, considering complex material behavior of soil and soil–pile interaction. Blast wave propagation in the soil is studied and the horizontal deformation of pile and effective stresses in the pile are presented. Results indicate that the upper part of the pile to be vulnerable and the pile response decays with distance from the explosive. The findings of this research provide valuable information on the effects of underground explosions on pile foundation and will guide future development, validation and application of computer models.