Antioxidants in hot pepper: variation among accessions

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pepper (Capsicum spp.) germplasm collection contains several thousand members or accessions. Many of these species and cultivars have not been analyzed for their concentrations of ascorbic acid, capsaicin, and total phenolic compounds, which are important antioxidants having a number of benefits for human health. The objective of this investigation was to select candidate accessions of hot pepper having high concentrations of ascorbic acid, capsaicin, free sugars, and total phenols for use as parents in breeding for these compounds. Seventeen accessions of pepper from the core Capsicum germplasm collection (four accessions of Capsicum chinense; five accessions of C. baccatum; six accessions of C. annuum; and two of C. frutescens) were field grown and their mature fruits were analyzed for their antioxidant composition. Concentrations of these compounds tended to be higher in C. chinense and C. baccatum, than in C. annuum and C. frutescens. Across all accessions the concentration of total phenols was correlated with ascorbic acid (r = 0.97) and free sugars (r = 0.80). Concentrations of total phenols (1.4, 1.3, and 1.3 mg g-1 fruit) and ascorbic acid (1.6, 1.2, and 1.3 mg g-1 fruit) were significantly greater in PI-633757, PI-387833, and PI-633754, respectively, compared to other accessions analyzed. Total capsaicinoids concentrations were greatest (1.3 mg g-1 fruit) in PI-438622 and lowest (0.002 mg g-1 fruit) in Grif-9320. The great variability within and among Capsicum species for these phytochemicals suggests that these selected accessions may be useful as parents in hybridization programs to produce fruits with value-added traits.     

Air quality in cabin environment of different passenger cars: effect of car usage,fuel type and ventilation/infiltration conditions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Despite that commuters spend only 5.5% of their time in cabin vehicles, their exposure to harmful air pollutants, originated from the vehicle itself,...     

Minimizing irrigation water demand: An evaluation of shifting planting dates in Sri Lanka

Climate change coupled with increasing demands for water necessitates an improved understanding of the water–food nexus at a scale local enough to inform farmer adaptations. Such assessments are particularly important for nations with significant small-scale farming and high spatial variability in climate, such as Sri Lanka. By comparing historical patterns of irrigation water requirements (IWRs) to rice planting records, we estimate that shifting rice planting dates to earlier in the season could yield water savings of up to 6%. Our findings demonstrate the potential of low-cost adaptation strategies to help meet crop production demands in water-scarce environments. This local-scale assessment of IWRs in Sri Lanka highlights the value of using historical data to inform agricultural management of water resources when high-skilled forecasts are not available. Given national policies prioritizing in-country production and farmers’ sensitivities to water stress, decision-makers should consider local degrees of climate variability in institutional design of irrigation management structures.     

Examination of model predictions at different horizontal grid resolutions

While fluctuations in meteorological and air quality variables occur on a continuum of spatial scales, the horizontal grid spacing of coupled meteorological and photochemical models sets a lower limit on the spatial scales that they can resolve. However, both computational costs and data requirements increase significantly with increasing grid resolution. Therefore, it is important to examine, for any given application, whether the expected benefit of increased grid resolution justifies the extra costs. In this study, we examine temperature and ozone observations and model predictions for three high ozone episodes that occurred over the northeastern United States during the summer of 1995. In the first set of simulations, the meteorological model RAMS4a was run with three two-way nested grids of 108/36/12 km grid spacing covering the United States and the photochemical model UAM-V was run with two grids of 36/12 km grid spacing covering the eastern United States. In the second set of simulations, RAMS4a was run with four two-way nested grids of 108/36/12/4 km grid spacing and UAM-V was run with three grids of 36/12/4 km grid spacing with the finest resolution covering the northeastern United States. Our analysis focuses on the comparison of model predictions for the finest grid domain of the simulations, namely, the region overlapping the 12 km and 4 km domains. A comparison of 12 km versus 4 km fields shows that the increased grid resolution leads to finer texture in the model predictions; however, comparisons of model predictions with observations do not reveal the expected improvement in the predictions. While high-resolution modeling has scientific merit and potential uses, the currently available monitoring networks, in conjunction with the scarceness of highly resolved spatial input data and the limitations of model formulation, do not allow confirmation of the expected superiority of the high-resolution model predictions.The U.S. Governments right to retain a non-exclusive royalty-free licence in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

Subcellular localisation and identification of95mTc- and241Am-binding ligands in the hepatopancreas of the lobsterHomarus gammarus

Following uptake of technetium-95m and americium-241 by lobsters (Homarus gammarus) from food, the subcellular distribution and binding in the major organ of accumulation, the digestive gland, were analysed.^95mTc was predominantly bound to soluble proteins; approximately 40% was bound to two proteins displaying the same elution characteristics as Cdthioneins as indicated by gel permeation and ion-exchange chromatography, indicating reduction and sequestration by metallothionein in vivo. The identity of a third anionic low molecular weight Tc-binding component was not established. No evidence was found for binding of Tc to haemocyanin, ferritin or transferrin. Particulate Tc [probably TcO(OH)₂] was bound to plasma membranes and was also present in lysosomes, indicating reduction of pertechnetate and pinocytosis in the digestive gland. In contrast,²⁴¹Am was mainly sequestered by the lysosomal/vacuolar system, indicative of uptake by pinocytosis. Approximately 2 to 3% of the Am was bound to ferritin and 20% was bound to unidentified ligands of 10 and 20 kdaltons mol. wt. There was no evidence for sequestration of Am by metallothionein. These studies prove that waste radionuclides discharged by the nuclear industry are metabolically active and enter the normal metal metabolism and detoxication pathways of a marine shellfish.     

Forest Restoration on a Closed Landfill: Rapid Addition of New Species by Bird Dispersal

Urban areas often contain sizeable pockets of degraded land, such as inactive landfills, that could be reclaimed as wildlife habitat and as connecting links to enhance remnant natural areas. In the northeastern U.S., many such lands fail to undergo natural succession to woodland, instead retaining a weedy, herbaceous cover for many years. We hypothesize that seed dispersal is a limiting factor, and that a form of secondary succession could be stimulated by introducing clusters of trees and shrubs to attract avian seed dispersers. As a direct test, we censused a 1.5-ha experimental plantation on the Fresh Kills Landfill (Staten Island, New York) one year after installation, in search of evidence that the plantation was spreading or increasing in diversity. The 17 planted species, many from coastal scrub forests native to this region, were surviving well but contributed almost no seedlings to the area, in part because only 20% of the installed trees or shrubs were reproductive. Of the 1079 woody seedlings found, 95% came from sources outside the plantation; most (71%) were from fleshy-fruited, bird-dispersed plants from nearby woodland fringes. Although the restoration planting itself had not begun to produce seedlings, it did function as a site for attracting dispersers, who enriched the young community with 20 new species. One-fourth of all new recruits were from nine additional wind-dispersed species. Locations with a high ratio of trees to shrubs had proportionately more recruits, indicating that plant size contributed to disperser attraction. The density of new recruits of each species was dependent on distance from the nearest potential seed source. Introducing native species with the capacity to attract avian dispersers may be the key to success of many restoration programs.     

Play behavior and exercise in young ponies (Equus caballus L.)

Summary Play behavior of young ponies accounted for two-thirds of total running exercise and over 95% of all high-speed turns in ten animals from birth to age six weeks. The classical supposition, never previously demonstrated, that most exercise of young mammals occurs in play, is confirmed in these subjects.