Solid State Reactions of Potato Starch with Urea and Biuret

Reaction of granular potato starch with urea and biuret resulted in the formation of products, which were soluble neither in cold nor boiling water. The net reaction was a monosubstitution of the hydrogen atom in one hydroxyl group in each D-glucose unit of starch with the either CO–NH₂ or CO–NH–CO–NH₂ moiety, respectively. Properties of the products, particularly these with urea, depended on the mode of reaction. Reactions were carried out in the microwave oven as well as with convection heating. The products retained the granular form of starch but a vast majority of granules were damaged. -Amylolysis of those materials revealed that their susceptibility to the enzyme increasing in the order: starch-amylolysis with simultaneous insolubility in water make these products suitable as ruminant fodder and, eventually, biodegradable material.     

IRRIGATION PLANNING BASED ON WATER DEFICITS1

ABSTRACT: The deliberate underwatering of a larger land area, as practiced in Southern Asia, has provided impetus for a systematic investigation into the effects of designing projects for crop water deficits on Benefit-Cost performance. The study began with the derivation, from published experimental results, of functions relating ultimate crop yield to the magnitude and timing of water deficits, i.e., of the productivity of irrigation water. To obtain the net benefit of the project, the relation between the harvested area and output and the on-farm production costs was then suggested. The cost of supplying the irrigation water to the proposed area and of distributing and applying it to the field was determined, thus completing the Benefit-Cost equation. A computer simulation model was then established to search for the irrigation project design capacity and area to maximize the net present value in the Benefit-Cost analysis for the development proposed.     

Identifying the sources and timing of ancient and medieval atmospheric lead pollution in England using a peat profile from Lindow bog, Manchester

A peat core from Lindow bog near Manchester, England, was precisely cut into 2 cm slices to provide a high-resolution reconstruction of atmospheric Pb deposition. Radiocarbon and (210)Pb age dates show that the peat core represents the period ca. 2000 BC to AD 1800. Eleven radiocarbon age dates of bulk peat samples reveal a linear age-depth relationship with an average temporal resolution of 18.5 years per cm, or 37 years per sample. Using the Pb/Ti ratio to calculate the rates of anthropogenic, atmospheric Pb deposition, the profile reveals Pb contamination first appearing in peat samples dating from ca. 900 BC which clearly pre-date Roman mining activities. Using TIMS, MC-ICP-MS, and SF-ICP-MS to measure the isotopic composition of Pb, the (208)Pb/(206)Pb and (206)Pb/(207)Pb data indicate that English ores were the predominant sources during the pre-Roman, Roman, and Medieval Periods. The study shows that detailed studies of peat profiles from ombrotrophic bogs, using appropriate preparatory and analytical methods, can provide new insight into the timing, intensity, and predominant sources of atmospheric Pb contamination, even in samples dating from ancient times.     

Structure elucidation of the three most important toxaphene congeners by X-ray analysis

Three of the most frequently detected toxaphene components in environmental samples are the chlorobornanes 2-exo,3-endo,5-exo,6-endo,8b,8c,10a,10b-octachlorobornane (Parlar No. 26); 2-exo,3-endo,5-exo,6-endo,8b,8c,9c,10a,10b-nonachlorobornane (Parlar No. 50), and 2,2,5,5,8b,8c,9c,10a,10b-nonachlorobornane (Parlar No. 62), whose structures could not be completely elucidated by spectroscopical methods. This paper now describes the X-ray structure analysis of the three compounds and presents their exact crystal structure.     

Sedimentary record of environmental pollution in the Western Baltic Sea

The chronological development of environmental pollution in the Western Baltic Sea for the past hundred years was investigated in dated sediment cores. An artificial radionuclide (¹³⁷Cs), nutrients, heavy metals, chlorinated hydrocarbons (PCB, DDT, Lindane) and plasticizers (phthalate esters) show characteristic distribution patterns within the various cores. They can be related to the production and use of specific chemicals and goods, to emissions associated with the increased combustion of coal parallel to industrialization and —in the case of ¹³⁷Cs — to emissions associated with atomic weapons tests in the high atmosphere. Characteristic trends in the general development of pollution may be superimposed by specific emissions from local sources.     

Life cycle inventory analysis of biological hydrogen production by thermophilic and photo fermentation of potato steam peels (PSP)

The environmental impact of hydrogen production in a 2-step fermentation process from potato steam peels was identified. Based on the ISO 14040, ISO 14044, ecoinvent data base and SimaPro 7.1 software, a life cycle inventory analysis was performed. Reflecting the current state of process development, the LCA shows an impact of 4.3 points (pts) which is at least 5.7 times higher than the selected reference technologies regarded as state-of-the-art. Over half (53.5%) of the environmental impact is generated by the use of phosphate in the fermentation processes. A sensitivity analysis shows a potential impact reduction of 65.8% due to recirculation of sewage or reduction of buffer concentration. The analysis also demonstrates that the production of the process ingredients cause 98.3% of the environmental impact. The impact of the process itself is 0.07 pts which is up to 10 times lower than the reference technologies.     

Multidecadal climate variability and climate interactions affect subalpine fire occurrence, western Colorado (USA)

This study investigates the influence of climatic variability on subalpine forest fire occurrence in western Colorado during the AD 1600-2003 period. Interannual and multidecadal relationships between fire occurrence and the El Ni?o Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) were examined, in addition to the effects of phase interactions among these oscillations. Fires occurred during short-term periods of significant drought and extreme cool (negative) phases of ENSO and PDO and during positive departures from mean AMO index. At longer time scales, fires exhibited 20-year periods of synchrony with the cool phase of the PDO, and 80-year periods of synchrony with extreme warm (positive) phases of the AMO. Years of combined positive AMO and negative ENSO and PDO phases represent "triple whammies" that significantly increased the occurrence of drought-induced fires. Fires were synchronous with this phase combination over 0-30 year periods and distinctly asynchronous with the opposite phase combination. Overall, because fires are synchronous at supra-annual to multidecadal time scales with warm AMO events, particularly when combined with cool ENSO and PDO phases, this suggests that we may be entering a qualitatively different fire regime in the next few decades due to the recent shift in 1998 to a likely long-term warm AMO phase. Although uncertainty remains regarding the effects of CO2-induced warming at regional scales, given the multidecadal persistence of the AMO there is mounting evidence that the recent shift to the positive phase of the AMO will promote higher fire frequencies in the region.     

Solid-Phase Microextraction As A Tool for Studying Volatile Compounds in Frog Skin

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is an effective technique for studying frog volatile secretions. Its primary advantage is in its application to sampling live animals. the ability to sample an organism over an extended period allows changes in an individual's chemical signature to be determined. the presence of eucalyptol in the skin secretion of Ewing's tree frog, Litoria ewingi, was used to assess the effectiveness of SPME in sampling frog volatiles. Rapid sample times coupled with the polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fibre provided the best signal/noise ratio for the majority of frog volatiles analysed, and importantly resulted in the least amount of stress to the animals involved.     

Mercury human exposure through fish consumption in a reservoir contaminated by a chlor-alkali plant: Babeni reservoir (Romania)

Purpose  

Chlor-alkali plants are one of the most important point sources of mercury to aquatic environment. The problem of Hg contamination has been studied in a region, Rm Valcea (Romania), impacted by the wastewater discharge of a chlor-alkali plant. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the current status of mercury pollution in the Babeni reservoir (Olt River) and the exposure of local population via fish consumption to mercury originating from the chlor-alkali plant.     

An analysis of the dust deposition on solar photovoltaic modules

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Solid particles impair the performance of the photovoltaic (PV) modules. This results in power losses which lower the efficiency of the system as well...