Activities of alkaline phosphatase in first trimester chorion biopsy tissue

We have determined the activity of alkaline phosphatase in chorionic villous tissue obtained in the first trimester of pregnancy, in order to obtain the normal range of values as a prerequisite for application to the prenatal diagnosis of the rare bone disease hypophosphatasia. The activities found were a combination of intestinal and liver/bone/kidney types; traces of placental type were present in only one sample.     

Using land use/land cover trajectories to uncover ecosystem service patterns across the Alps

Regional Environmental Change - Managing multiple ecosystem services (ES) in agricultural landscapes is a challenging task, especially in regions with complex topographical and agro-ecological...     

GROUND WATER NITRATE REDUCTION IN GIANT CANE AND FOREST RIPARIAN BUFFER ZONES1

ABSTRACT: Ground water contamination by excess nitrate leaching in row‐crop fields is an important issue in intensive agricultural areas of the United States and abroad. Giant cane and forest riparian buffer zones were monitored to determine each cover type's ability to reduce ground water nitrate concentrations. Ground water was sampled at varying distances from the field edge to determine an effective width for maximum nitrate attenuation. Ground water samples were analyzed for nitrate concentrations as well as chloride concentrations, which were used as a conservative ion to assess dilution or concentration effects within the riparian zone. Significant nitrate reductions occurred in both the cane and the forest riparian buffer zones within the first 3.3 m, a relatively narrow width. In this first 3.3 m, the cane and forest buffer reduced ground water nitrate levels by 90 percent and 61 percent, respectively. Approximately 40 percent of the observed 99 percent nitrate reduction over the 10 m cane buffer could be attributed to dilution by upwelling ground water. Neither ground water dilution nor concentration was observed in the forest buffer. The ground water nitrate attenuation capabilities of the cane and forest riparian zones were not statistically different. During the spring, both plant assimilation and denitrification were probably important nitrate loss mechanisms, while in the summer nitrate was more likely lost via denitrification since the water table dropped below the rooting zone.     

The influence of odour on the oviposition behaviour of the cabbage root fly

Summary. Host plant odours are known to be important in long-range host location by the cabbage root fly, whereas at short distances orientation is mainly visual. We show that olfaction also plays a significant role after a fly lands on a plant and before it moves down onto the soil to oviposit. Host plant acceptance by the cabbage root fly seems to result from a synergistic response to simultaneously perceived olfactory and contact chemostimulation. Received 12 May 1999; accepted 24 July 1999     

Exploring socio-cultural values of ecosystem service categories in the Central Alps: the influence of socio-demographic factors and landscape type

The socio-cultural assessment of ecosystem services has been proposed as a promising tool for eliciting people’s preferences towards ecosystem services. Despite an increasing integration of the socio-cultural perspective in ecosystem service research, little knowledge exists about linkages between landscape and the socio-cultural values people assign to ecosystem services. This paper combines a socio-cultural valuation approach with the use of landscape pictures to analyse and compare people’s perceived importance of the provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem service categories across three landscape types (i.e. larch meadows, spruce forests, and hay meadow). A survey with 470 tourists visiting the region of South Tyrol (Italy) was conducted to link people’s perceived importance to their socio-demographic background and to the landscape types explored. The results show that regulating ecosystem services are preferred over provisioning and cultural services, whereby environmental awareness is found to be more influential than formal education levels regarding the perceived importance of regulating services. The results further demonstrate that cultural background is an important driver in determining people’s perceived importance of cultural services. The underlying landscape types, however, exert an even stronger influence on people’s socio-cultural valuation of ecosystem service categories. This finding suggests that the focus of most ecosystem services assessments on the study area as a whole risks mistakenly attributing differences in people’s socio-cultural values to socio-demographic characteristics only. A better knowledge of the spatial integration of socio-cultural values, however, could help with anticipating the consequences of changes in the landscape and provide better guidance for future landscape planning.