Decrease of oil adhesion is important for accelerating the degradation of oil contaminants in soil. Microorganisms are able to act as desorbents of insoluble substrata from surfaces. The effectiveness of microorganism filtrates and CO2 – a product of polysaccharide fermentation – to decrease oil adhesion to soil was estimated. It ...

Content and composition of needle essential oils of young Scots pine stands (Pinus sylvestris L.) growing along an ammonia gradient (in the impact zone of a nitrogen fertilizer factory, JSC Achema, Jonava, Lithuania) have been studied. Eight young pine stands growing at a distance up to 22 km from the ...

The problems of rape seed methyl ester (RME) production process by-products utilization were analyzed, statistical data for the capacities of biodiesel production and by-products generation were presented, the prospects of biodiesel production expansion, properties and environmental impact, main production technologies, Lithuanian and foreign countries experience were described, the main aims ...

In 1996-2000 during expeditions were found and described 123 Carum carvi habitats. Mostly common caraway is found in pasture type habitats of Cynosurion cristati confederation communities. Plants of Carum carvi cenopopulations are characterized by wide diversity of phenotypic traits strongly influenced by ecological conditions and anthropogenic activity in natural habitats. ...

The Stroke Belt is a geographical region of the Southeastern United States where resident individuals suffer a disproportionately higher rate of strokes than the rest of the population. While the "buckle" of this Stroke Belt coincides with the Southeastern Coastal Plain region of North and South Carolina and Georgia, there ...

Camponotus schmitzi ants live in symbiosis with the Bornean pitcher plant Nepenthes bicalcarata. Unique among ants, the workers regularly dive and swim in the pitcher's digestive fluid to forage for food. High-speed motion analysis revealed that C. schmitzi ants swim at the surface with all legs submerged, with an alternating tripod ...

Activated carbon (AC) amendment is an innovative method for the in situ remediation of contaminated soils. A field-scale AC amendment of either 2% powder or granular AC (PAC and GAC) to a PAH contaminated soil was carried out in Norway. The PAH concentration in drainage water from the field plot ...

In plants, water flows from roots to leaves through a complex network of xylem conduits. The xylem architecture is characterized by the conduit enlargement towards the stem base and the multiplication of conduits near the apices of lateral branches. The xylem architecture of a small ash tree was analysed by ...

BACKGROUND: Chitosan (AC) and five hydroalcoholic extracts from Lithospermum erythrorhizon (SE), Rheum palmatum (RE), Thymus vulgaris (AT), Lippia citriodora (PLX) and a mixture of Rosmarinus officinalis, Salvia lavandulifolia and Thymus mastichina (LA) were tested for antimicrobial activity against bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi using two broth dilution methods. The effects ...

The authors examined effects of three common contaminants, caffeine (CF), acetaminophen (AC), and diclofenac (DF), and mixtures on the development, functioning, and biodiversity of river biofilm communities. Biofilms were cultivated in rotating annular reactors. Treatments included AC, CF, DF, AC + CF, AC + DF, CF + DF, AC + CF + DF at 5 µg/L, and their molar equivalent as ...

Five activated carbons (ACs) and two biochars were tested as amendments to reduce the availability of aged polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in two soils. All sorbents (ACs and biochars) tested substantially reduced the availability of PCDD/Fs measured by polyoxymethylene (POM) passive uptake and earthworm (E. fetida) biouptake. Seven sorbents amended at ...

Activated carbon (AC) amendment to polluted sediment or soil is an emerging in-situ treatment technique that reduces freely dissolved porewater concentrations and subsequently reduces the ecological and human health risk of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs). An important question is the capacity of the amended AC after prolonged exposure in the ...

In this study, the suitability of biochar and activated carbon (AC) for contaminated soil remediation is investigated by determining the sorption of pyrene to both materials in the presence and absence of soil and before as well as after aging. Biochar and AC were aged either alone or mixed with ...

The potential use of COS as tracer of CO2 flux into the land biosphere stimulated research on COS interactions with leaves during gas exchange. We carried out leaf gas exchange measurements of COS and CO2 in 22 plant species representing deciduous and evergreen trees, grasses, and shrubs, under a range ...

Contaminated sediments can be remediated by adding carbonaceous materials (CM), e.g. activated carbons (AC). Here, we analyze published datasets from AC amendment trials to identify variation in the effectiveness of AC in reducing porewater concentrations of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). The analysis uses a model that separates the contribution of ...

BACKGROUND: Cassava cultivars are classified following different criteria, such as cyanogenic glucoside content or starch content. Here, flours from the roots of 25 cassava varieties cultivated simultaneously in a single plantation, were characterized in terms of starch content (SC), amylose content (AC), α-amylolysis index (AI) and gel formation ability. Resistant ...

Amendment of contaminated sediment with activated carbon (AC) is a remediation technique that has demonstrated its ability to reduce aqueous concentrations of hydrophobic organic compounds. The application of AC, however, requires information on possible ecological effects, especially effects on benthic species. Here, we provide data on effects of AC addition ...

In this study we investigated the use of activated carbon (AC) as a soil amendment for reducing bioavailability of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to the earthworm Eisenia fetida. Artificial soil was contaminated with PCBs and used in bioaccumulation experiments fresh or after aging for 19 months. PCB bioaccumulation in earthworms was ...

The influence of different cooking regimes such as boiling, oven, microwave and hot-air drying on the retention of total phenolics (TP), total carotenoids (TC) and in vitro antioxidant capacity (AC) for three colored arracacha roots was studied. Continuous losses of TP, TC and AC during the course of the different ...

The chemical cross talk between rice and barnyardgrass which is one of the most noxious weeds in rice cultivation was investigated. Allelopathic activity of rice was increased by the presence of barnyardgrass seedlings or barnyardgrass root exudates. Rice allelochemical, mo-milactone B, concentration in rice seedlings and momilactone B secretion level ...

Activated charcoal (AC) amendment has been suggested as a promising method to immobilize organic contaminants in soil. We performed pot experiments with rice and soybean grown in agricultural soil polluted by aromatic arsenicals (AAs). The most abundant AA in rice grains and soybean seeds was methylphenylarsinic acid (MPAA). MPAA concentration ...

Large amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been released to the marine environment as a result of oil spills and from other sources including wastewaters, surface runoff, industrial processes, atmospheric deposition, biosynthesis, and natural events such as forest fires. PAHs have been known to affect a variety of biological ...

Activated carbon (AC) has recently been shown to be effective in sequestering persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from aquatic sediments. Most studies have demonstrated significant reductions of POP concentrations in water and in aquatic organisms; however, limited data exist on the possibility of using AC to immobilize remaining POPs at terrestrial ...

Carbonyl sulfide (COS) and C(18)OO exchange by leaves provide potentially powerful tracers of biosphere-atmosphere CO(2) exchange, and both are assumed to depend on carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity and conductance along the diffusive pathway in leaves. We investigated these links using C(3) and C(4) plants, hypothesizing that the rates of COS ...

In situ amendment of contaminated sediments using activated carbon (AC) is a recent remediation technique, where the strong sorption of contaminants to added AC reduces their release from sediments and uptake into organisms. The current study describes a marine underwater field pilot study in Trondheim harbor, Norway, in which powdered ...

Elevated atmospheric [CO(2)] (eC(a)) often decreases stomatal conductance, which may delay the start of drought, as well as alleviate the effect of dry soil on plant water use and carbon uptake. We studied the interaction between drought and eC(a) in a whole-tree chamber experiment with Eucalyptus saligna. Trees were grown ...

Effects of partial root-zone irrigation (PRI) on the hydraulic conductivity in the soil-root system (L(sr)) in different root zones were investigated using a pot experiment. Maize plants were raised in split-root containers and irrigated on both halves of the container (conventional irrigation, CI), on one side only (fixed PRI, FPRI), ...

Littoral (lake shore) macroinvertebrate communities were studied in eight natural lakes affected by fallout from the Chernobyl accident. The lakes spanned a range in (137)Cs contamination from 100 to 15500 kBq m(-2) and estimated external dose rates ranged from 0.13 to 30.7 μGy h(-1). General linear models were used to assess whether abundance of ...

Moisture inputs drive soil respiration (SR) dynamics in semi-arid and arid ecosystems. However, determining the contributions of root and microbial respiration to SR, and their separate temporal responses to periodic drought and water pulses, remains poorly understood. This study was conducted in a pine forest ecosystem with a Mediterranean-type climate ...

In North China, watermelon is grown in commercial greenhouses in a continuous monoculture and with high application rates of manure or compost. The aim of this study was to determine how the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in these soils changed over long periods (0 to 20 years) of monoculture. ...

A 6 year study of Scots pine populations inhabiting sites in the Bryansk region of Russia radioactively contaminated as a result of the Chernobyl accident is presented. In six study sites, (137)Cs activity concentrations and heavy metal content in soils, as well as (137)Cs, (90)Sr and heavy metal concentrations in cones ...

Large-scale ecosystem restoration efforts, such as those in the Florida Everglades, can be long-term and resource intensive. To gauge success, restoration efforts must have a means to evaluate positive or negative results of instituted activities. Edaphic properties across the Everglades landscape have been determined to be a valuable metric for ...

The forest on Blue Mountain, near Lehigh Gap, has been injured by emissions from two historical zinc (Zn) smelters in Palmerton, PA, located at the northern base of the mountain. The uppermost mineral soil and lower litter from sites along a transect, just south of the ridgetop, contained from 64 ...

allium sphaerocephalon is a wild-growing plant commonly used as an onion substitute. In this study the essential oil obtained from A. sphaerocephalon subsp. sphaerocephalon inflorescences was analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and also evaluated for in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The obtained results are reported for ...

the objective of this work was to evaluate the insecticidal and repellent effect of essential oils of Eucalyptus dunnii, E. saligna, E. benthamii, E. globulus and E. viminalis in the control of Sitophilus zeamais in maize grains. the essential oils chemical composition showed that the E. benthamii presents the cis-ocimene ...

Trace element concentrations, as indicators of micronutrient status of healthy centenarians, have not been widely analyzed. This study aimed to assess trace element concentrations in the hair of healthy centenarians. The effects of gender and age on element concentrations were also investigated. Eleven trace elements (Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, ...

The elemental profile of agricultural soil is important to study the various mechanisms of interaction among elements and their roles in plants growth. The chosen study site was the long term fertilization experiment (LTFE) field of the G.B. Pant University. The concentrations of 16 elements, namely Mg, Al, Si, Ca, ...

Adequate radioprotection of the environment requires the identification of biomonitors sensitive to the variation of its radionuclide content. Due to the chemical similarities between calcium and strontium, calcified tissues of mammals are considered to be good (90)Sr biomonitors. This work considered Cervus elaphus antlers which, being shed annually, can give ...

Macleaya microcarpa (Maxim.) Fedde belongs to the genus Macleaya, family Papaveraceae. Together with the better known and more frequently studied species M. cordata (Willd.) R. Br. it is a main source of quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids. Using HPLC we determined the content of eight isoquinoline alkaloids in the aerial and underground ...

The hydrocarbon utilizing haloarchaea, Haloferax (two strains), Halobacterium and Halococcus from a hypersaline coastal area of the Arabian Gulf, had the potential for resistance and volatilization of Hg(2+). Individual haloarchaea resisted up to between 100 and 200 ppm HgCl₂ in hydrocarbon free media with salinities between 1 and 4 M ...

Members of the SR (serine/arginine-rich) protein gene family are key players in the regulation of alternative splicing, an important means of generating proteome diversity and regulating gene expression. In plants, marked changes in alternative splicing are induced by a wide variety of abiotic stresses, suggesting a role for this highly ...

Bioconcentration potential of Ag, Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Sr, Pb, Rb and Zn by Pioson Pax (Paxillus involutus) fungus was investigated in field collections of mushrooms from 12 geographically distant sites in Poland. Caps, stipes and soil (0-15 cm layer) ...

Patterns of migration and habitat use in diadromous fishes can be highly variable among individuals. Most investigations into diadromous movement patterns have been restricted to populations in regulated rivers, and little information exists for those in unregulated catchments. We quantified movements of migratory barramundi Lates calcarifer (Bloch) in two large ...

Distinguishing animal fats from plant oils in archaeological residues is not straightforward. Characteristic plant sterols, such as β-sitosterol, are often missing in archaeological samples and specific biomarkers do not exist for most plant fats. Identification is usually based on a range of characteristics such as fatty acid ratios, all of ...

Plant essential oils are widely used as fragrances and flavours. Therefore, the essential oils from the leaves of Cinnamomum pubescens Kochummen (CP) and the whole plant of Etlingera elatior (EE) were investigated for their antioxidant, antibacterial and phytochemical properties. CP and EE were found to contain appreciable levels of total ...

Transgenic and non-transgenic soybean seeds were compared in terms of total element concentrations, behavior of elements during sequential extraction fractionation and element bioaccessibility using an in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion. The analysis were carried out by ICP-sector field-MS or size-exclusion ICP-MS (25 elements in concentrations varying from ng g⁻¹ to ...

Commercial virgin olive oils belonging to the cultivars (Bosana, Carolea, Coratina, Frantoio, Itrana, Leccino, Moraiolo, Peranzana, Piantone di Mogliano and Ravece) most represented at the Italian National Review of Monovarietal olive oils (Rassegna Nazionale Italiana degli oli Monovarietali) were considered. The evaluation of the influence of the cultivar and of ...

The study was undertaken in eight endemic districts of Orissa, India, to find the members of the species complexes of Anopheles culicifacies and Anopheles fluviatilis and their distribution patterns. The study area included six forested districts (Keonjhar, Angul, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Nayagarh and Khurda) and two non-forested coastal districts (Puri and ...

In this first ever study, particulate matter (PM) emitted from the lubrication system overboard breather vent for two different models of aircraft engines has been systematically characterized. Lubrication oil was confirmed as the predominant component of the emitted particulate matter based upon the characteristic mass spectrum of the pure oil. ...

Concentrations of dioxin-like compounds, primarily polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), in soils and sediments of the Tittabawassee River (TR) and associated floodplains downstream of Midland, Michigan (USA) were greater than upstream sites and prompted a site-specific risk assessment of great blue herons (GBH). Dietary exposure of GBH to PCDFs and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins ...