Effect of municipal waste water effluent upon the expression of Glutathione S-transferase isoenzymes of brine shrimp Artemia

Multiple isoenzymes of the detoxification enzyme family Glutathione S-transferase are expressed in the brine shrimp Artemia. The number of the major ones detected in crude extract by means of chromatofocusing varied between three and four, depending on the age. Two isoenzymes, one alkaline and one neutral (with corresponding isoelectric points of 8.5 and 7.2) appear to be dominant in all three developmental stages studied, (24, 48, and 72 h after hatching). Culturing Artemia for 48 h after hatching, in artificial sea water prepared by municipal wastewater effluent resulted to significant alterations of the isoenzyme profile. In comparison to organisms cultured for the same period of time in artificial sea water prepared by filtered tap water, the expression of the alkaline isoenzyme decreased by 62% while that of the neutral isoenzyme increased by 58%. Furthermore, the enzyme activity of the major isoenzyme of the acidic area increased by more than two folds. It is worth mentioning that although the specific activity of the total enzyme in the whole body homogenate was elevated, no statistically significant alteration of the Km value was observed. These findings suggest that study of the isoenzyme profile of Glutathione S-transferase may offer high sensitivity in detecting environmental pollution and needs to be further investigated.     

Morphological changes at Vellar estuary, India--impact of the December 2004 tsunami

Coastal subsystems formed by interaction of various processes, impacted by natural hazards like tsunami and storms, pose irreversible morphological changes. Vellar estuary, located on the southeast coast of India, with huge sand dunes (of 3-6m height and spread to 560ha) and barrier islands, has undergone extensive morphological changes due to the giant Indian Ocean tsunami that occurred on 26th December 2004. The damage caused by the tsunami has been quantified using extensive field data collected during pre- and post-tsunami periods through Real Time Kinematic GPS (for mapping coastal features and beach profiles) and Geographic Information System (GIS) couple. The tsunami with a wave height as high as 4m not only inundated the entire coastal land up to a maximum of 2km but also eroded the sand dunes and deposited the eroded material at the inlet, which ultimately formed as a vast tidal flat spread over 31ha. The estuary has suffered immensely due to the tsunami especially in terms of (i) loss of natural protection barriers (sand dunes), which made this coastal area more vulnerable to storm attack, and (ii) shallowness of inlet creating hindrance to navigation of fishing vessels. Based on the observations made at Vellar coast and past recovery experiences of tsunami/hurricanes elsewhere in the world, we contend that the morphological loss might take at least two annual cycles to regain its original form and the rebuilding of sand dunes may even take a decade.     

含油污泥深度调剖技术研究与应用

大庆油田通过含油污泥深度调剖剂的室内配方研究,分析了各种影响因素,得出最佳含油污泥调剖剂配方,并选择杏10-1-W472井进行了现场应用。应用结果为:深度调剖后2个月,周围连通油井开始见效,平均日增液27m3,日增油1.6t,综合含水率下降0.5%,平均流压上升0.93MPa,说明低出液、低含水部位的出液比例得到了大幅提高,实现了对这部分剩余油的挖潜目标。该实验表明:含油污泥经过处理后复配成调剖剂,回注到地下,既可提高采收率,又可解决长期以来含油污泥外排造成的环境污染问题。     

Audiences for Science Communication in the United States

ABSTRACT

The US National Science Foundation collects biennial data on views about science and technology (S&T). Analyses have typically focused on the degree to which demographics, knowledge, and attitudes predict S&T support or views about specific technologies or issues. Published efforts do not appear to have focused on identifying latent classes within the data. Initial analyses using latent profile analysis suggests that Americans can be categorized into six substantive audience groups when it comes to views about S&T. These groups vary by demographics, including scientific background and ideology, as well as in views about S&T. Post hoc analyses explore how “class-focused” analyses may provide additional insight beyond what can be obtained from “variable-focused” analyses.     

Influence of long-term consumption of bitter apricot seeds on risk factors for cardiovascular diseases

The present study was designed to reveal whether long-term consumption of bitter apricot seeds causes changes in lipid profile and other risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. The study group consisted of 12 healthy adult volunteers (5 females and 7 males). The average age of women was 41.60 ± 11.28 years and the average age of men was 36.71 ± 13.70 years. Volunteers consumed 60 mg kg^?1 of body weight of bitter apricot seeds divided into 8–12 doses daily for 12 weeks. Volunteers were recruited from the general population of Slovak Republic. After 12 weeks, mean body weight of the participants increased from 77.34 to 78.22 kg (P > 0.05). The average total cholesterol levels decreased from 4.86 mmol L^?1 at the beginning of the study to 4.44 mmol L^?1 at the end of the study (P < 0.05). We did not observe any significant increase in high-density cholesterol (from 1.55 to 1.60 mmol L^?1). The average low-density cholesterol levels decreased from 2.93 mmol L^?1 at the beginning of the study to 2.31 mmol L^?1 at the end of the study (P < 0.001). Concentration of triglycerides increased significantly over the 12-week intervention period from 0.84 to 1.17 mmol L^?1. After the intervention, the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level decreased from 1.92 to 1.23 mg L^?1, but results were non-significant (P > 0.05). Creatine kinase serum levels increased from 2.31 to 2.77 mg L^?1 (P > 0.05) over the 12-week intervention period. The results suggest that regular intake of bitter apricot seeds may be considered potentially useful for prevention of cardiovascular diseases.     

神农架大九湖泥炭地孔隙水溶解有机碳特征及其影响因素

溶解性有机碳（Dissolved Organic Carbon, DOC）是泥炭地碳循环的重要组成部分。以往的研究大多集中在北方泥炭地,而对亚热带季风区泥炭地DOC动力学的认识十分有限。利用紫外可见光光谱（UV-Vis）和三维荧光光谱结合平行因子分析法（EEM-PARAFAC）研究了神农架大九湖泥炭地孔隙水的DOC浓度与化学组成及其影响因素。EEM-PARAFAC的结果表明：大九湖泥炭地孔隙水DOC主要包含3种类腐殖质组分。紫外可见光和荧光指标表明,泥炭孔隙水DOC表观分子较小,而芳香度较高。深度剖面数据表明,泥炭孔隙水DOC浓度随深度降低,0~10 cm深度浓度最高为24.16 mg/L,150~160 cm深度浓度最低为9.72 mg/L,并且深层DOC以微生物代谢产生的新鲜有机物为主,具有较低的腐殖化度。此外,氧化还原电位（ORP）与DOC浓度及化学性质关系密切。以上结果表明,在亚热带泥炭地中,微生物来源或受微生物改造的有机物是泥炭孔隙水DOC的重要组成部分;垂向输送或选择性保存是影响该亚热带亚高山泥炭地DOC动力学的重要因素。     

Effects of cold press operating conditions on vegetable oil fatty acid profiles

Although most of jet fuels are currently made from petroleum, nonfood oilseeds such as flax and canola seeds may be an alternative for renewable jet fuel production in the near future. Vegetable oils produced from those oilseeds can be upgraded to liquid hydrocarbons to produce renewable jet fuels. The production efficiency and cost are heavily relied on the vegetable oil fatty acid profile (FAP). Previous research indicated that vegetable oil FAP is affected by oilseed species and oil extraction conditions. Cold press oil extractions from flax and canola seeds were conducted. The effect of the frequency controlling the screw rotating speed on the oil extraction efficiency and quality was discussed. Characterization of the vegetable oils produced, including density, pH value, viscosity, moisture, element component, heating value and FAP, was carried out. The residual oil contents left in the cold press meals were also determined. The results show that the oil extraction efficiency of oilseeds increased when the frequency decreased. For flax and canola seeds, their highest oil extraction efficiency was the same (81.0%), which was both obtained at 15 Hz. The cold press frequency had a minor influence on the FAPs of flax oils. However, the FAPs of canola oils produced at 15 Hz were different from those produced at 20 Hz and 25 Hz to some extent. The main fatty acid in flax and canola oils was linolenic acid and erucic acid, respectively.     

Modeling of residential lighting load profile using adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS)

Most practices currently adopted in modeling the presence of people in residential houses do not reflect the complexity of the impact occupants have on lighting loads. Hence the needs to contribute a methodology, that will be able to look into such characteristics. This study entailed the use of adaptive Neuro Fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for estimation and prediction of lighting load usage profile for energy and demand side management initiatives. Results obtained showed a better correlation analysis and root mean square error (RMSE) in contrast to the regression method model. This shows that ANFIS model has good prediction accuracy capability.     

Effect of Fe-chelating complexes on a novel M2FC performance with ferric chloride and ferricyanide catholytes

As an effort to better utilize the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology, we previously proposed an innovative MFC system named M2FC consisting of ferric-based MFC part and ferrous-based fuel cell (FC) part. In this reactor, ferric ion, the catholyte in the MFC part, was efficiently regenerated by the FC part with the generation of additional electricity. When both units were operated separately, the ferric-based MFC part produced approximately 1360 mW m⁻² of power density with FeCl₃ as catholyte and Fe-citrate as anolyte. The ferrous-based FC part with FeCl₃ as catholyte and Fe-EDTA as anolyte displayed the highest power density (1500 mW m⁻²), while that with ferricyanide as catholyte and Fe-noligand as anolyte had the lowest power density (380 mW m⁻²). The types of catholytes and chelating complexes as anolyte were found to play important roles in the reduction of ferric ions and oxidation of ferrous ion. Linear sweep voltammetry results supported that the cathode electrolytes were electrically active and these agreed well with the M2FC reactor performance. These results clearly showed that ligands played critical role in the efficiency and rate for recycling iron ion and thus the M2FC performance.     

Levels of dioxins and furans in urban surface soil in Trondheim, Norway

A study was conducted on polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in surface soil in order to determine the concentration levels and possibly distinguishing between known and potential sources. The concentration levels are low (0.16-14 ng I-TEQ kg(-1)). The results show a clear pattern where the highest concentration levels were found in the oldest parts of the city. A number of sources were recognised in the soil samples through congener profiles, not all of them active, although similar congener profiles make it extremely difficult to distinguish between different sources. Estimations show that the municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) and domestic wood burning are the largest PCDD/F pollution sources within the area.