Landscape Development During a Glacial Cycle: Modeling Ecosystems from the Past into the Future

Understanding how long-term abiotic and biotic processes are linked at a landscape level is of major interest for analyzing future impact on humans and the environment from present-day societal planning. This article uses results derived from multidisciplinary work at a coastal site in Sweden, with the aim of describing future landscape development. First, based on current and historical data, we identified climate change, shoreline displacement, and accumulation/erosion processes as the main drivers of landscape development. Second, site-specific information was combined with data from the Scandinavian region to build models that describe how the identified processes may affect the site development through time. Finally, the process models were combined to describe a whole interglacial period. With this article, we show how the landscape and ecosystem boundaries are affected by changing permafrost conditions, peat formation, sedimentation, human land use, and shoreline displacement.     

Cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes in fish from the Baltic Sea

Laboratory studies suggest that the cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS) octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) will persist in the aquatic environment and bioaccumulate in fish. Here these cVMS were measured in herring collected in the Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea and in grey seals from the Baltic Proper. D4, D5, and D6 were present in herring muscle at concentrations around 10, 200, and 40 ng g⁻¹ lipid weight, respectively. The ratio of these concentrations was similar to the relative magnitude of estimated emissions to water, suggesting that the efficiency of overall transfer through the environment and food web was similar (within a factor 2–3) for the three chemicals. The concentrations of D5 and D6 were similar in herring caught in the highly populated Baltic Proper and in the less populated Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay. The D4 concentrations were lower at the most remote northern station, suggesting that D4 is less persistent than D5 and D6. Herring from the North Sea had lower levels of all three chemicals. The concentrations of D4, D5 and D6 in grey seal blubber were lower than the lipid normalized concentrations in herring, indicating that they do not biomagnify in grey seals.     

Degradability of aged aquatic suspensions of C60 nanoparticles

In this study, aged aqueous suspensions of C(60) (nC(60)) were investigated in the respirometric OECD test for ready biodegradability. Two suspensions of nC(60) were prepared by stirring and aged under indirect exposure to sunlight for 36 months. ATR-FTIR analyses confirmed the presence of C(60)-structures in the suspensions. Samples of the nC(60) suspensions (20mg/l) were inoculated with activated sludge (30 mgTSS/L) and incubated in a mineral medium under aerobic conditions. Since no mineralisation of nC(60) was observed after 28 days of incubation, 5mg/l sodium acetate was added to the media. After additional 20 days, no mineralisation of nC(60) was observed. However, within a few days sodium acetate was completely mineralised, showing that the biomass was not inhibited by the presence of nC(60). Based on results from this simple approach, aged nC(60) can be classified as not ready biodegradable according to the standard OECD test procedure.     

Mother really knows best: host choice of adult phytophagous insect females reflects a within-host variation in suitability as larval food

Non-random distribution patterns of specialized phytophagous insects on their hosts may depend on intraspecific differences in plant tissue quality, including nutrients and secondary compounds. Secondary compounds are involved in plant resistance, but are also important for the recognition and acceptability of plants as resources by specialized insects. If individuals within a plant species vary in their content of such secondary substances, there may also be qualitative differences between them. In such cases, natural selection will favor insects with the ability to distinguish and prefer the more suitable plants. In Sweden, the leaf beetle Gonioctena linnaeana Schrank (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) is highly specialized on one host, the native willow Salix triandra L (Salicaceae). Field observations reveal that some host plants in a population harbor many feeding larvae, causing severe defoliation, whereas neighboring plants may have few or no feeding larvae. Our hypothesis is that the distribution pattern of G. linnaeana larvae in this population results from qualitative differences between individual host plants in combination with the ability of G. linnaeana females to distinguish between plants that are suitable and not suitable for offspring performance. We examine whether larval survival differs depending on diet and whether the content of secondary chemical compounds explains female preference. Based on the higher survival rate of larvae reared on leaves from preferred hosts, we conclude that G. linnaeana females have evolved a behavior that maximizes offspring performance and thus positively affects female fitness. A chemical survey of the plants indicates that luteolin-7-glucoside and an unidentified flavonoid are important for separating the preferred from the non-preferred plants.     

Headspace and small-chamber studies of airborne diacetyl release from selected food flavoring mixtures: activity coefficients and air modeling implications

Laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate airborne release of diacetyl from selected mixtures simulating butter flavorings added to foods. The test materials included diacetyl (97% purity); 0.015%, 0.15%, 1.5%, and 3.0% diacetyl in a water/propylene glycol mixture; 1.5% diacetyl in deionized water or soybean oil; and 3% or 6% diacetyl in a commercial steam distillate from milk fermentation known as “butter starter distillate.” Diacetyl was quantified by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. Expected concentration-dependent emission patterns based on liquid diacetyl content were demonstrated, but were significantly altered by mixture composition. Soybean oil and deionized water more readily released diacetyl when compared with starter distillate, propylene glycol solutions, and pure diacetyl. Measured diacetyl concentrations under static headspace and dynamic flow-chamber conditions were compared to estimated concentrations utilizing Raoult's law with published and fitted activity coefficient corrections for each mixture, indicating that published coefficients often understated the measured concentrations. It is concluded that headspace (static) and small-chamber (dynamic) measurements of airborne diacetyl provide data to assist in validating model-estimated airborne diacetyl concentrations by using mixture-specific activity coefficients. Implications of these empirical data for validating exposure estimates for diacetyl based on near-field/far-field modeling in workplace settings are discussed.     

Noninvasive prenatal screening for cystic fibrosis using circulating trophoblasts: Detection of the 50 most common disease-causing variants

Objectives

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common severe autosomal recessive disorders. Prenatal or preconception CF screening is offered in some countries. A maternal blood sample in early pregnancy can provide circulating trophoblasts and offers a DNA source for genetic analysis of both the mother and the fetus. This study aimed to develop a cell-based noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) to screen for the 50 most common CF variants.

Methods

Blood samples were collected from 30 pregnancies undergoing invasive diagnostics and circulating trophoblasts were harvested in 27. Cystic fibrosis testing was conducted using two different methods: by fragment length analysis and by our newly developed NGS-based CF analysis.

Results

In all 27 cases, cell-based NIPT provided a result using both methods in agreement with the invasive test result.

Conclusion

This study shows that cell-based NIPT for CF screening provides a reliable result without the need for partner- and proband samples.