Metals in small Norwegian lakes: Relation to atmospheric deposition of pollutants

Water chemistry data from 165 lakes in Norway are discussed in relation to contribution from long-range transported air pollutants. Concentrations of lead and antimony in terrestrial mosses are used to express the relative contribution from long range transport to each lake. The contents of Al and Zn in lake water and of ‘excess’ SO₄ in low Ca lakes show high correlations with the relative heavy metal deposition values from moss analysis. The ‘excess’ SO₄ in low Ca lakes correlates strongly with Al and too a lesser extent with Mn and Fe. It is suggested that the lake water levels of Al and Mn, and even to some extent Fe, are significantly affected by acidic precipitation enhancing the leaching of these metals from mineral matter in soils and sediments. In the case of Zn, airborne supply to the lakes and their catchments appears to strongly affect the water content.     

Predicting sediment metal concentrations in lakes without point sources 1

Surficial sediments (0 to 2 cm) from 189 sites in 52 Quebec and Ontario lakes were analyzed for Al, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn by atomic adsorption spectrometry after extraction in dilute aqua regia. Empirical models using sediment texture (water content), site morphometry (depth) and geology (categorical variables) as predictors explain 82 to 87% of the between-site and between lake variation in sediment concentrations of Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn, and 52 to 68% of the variation of Al, Co, Fe, and Mn. Over a broad geologic range, geologic variables are only significant in models predicting Co, Cr, and Ni. These three elements are low in concentration in lakes with catchments on the Grenville shield, while Cr and Ni are enriched in catchments containing ophiolite geology. These models explain both between-site and between-lake variation in sediment metal concentrations, and due to the lack of geologic influence on most metals, may be valid for other regions. The models appear promising as a means to identify point source contamination without assumptions about the relevant sediment fractions or inter-element relationships.     

Factors influencing pH in lake water

Using an improved titration technique, Lee and Brosset (1978) have established the presence in a number of lake waters of an acid withk _a = 3 × 10^?4. It is shown that higher concentrations of this acid, which seems to correspond to a functional group of humus, may under certain conditions drastically contribute to the lowering of pH of lake water.     

Enhanced growth of the macrophyte Juncus bulbosus in S Norwegian limed lakes. A regional survey

The effects of liming on the aquatic macrophyte vegetation have been investigated in S and SW Norway. In the western part of the study area, Juncus bulbosus was considerably more frequent in the limed than in the unlimed lakes, whilst in the eastern part there were no such differences, and the J. bulbosus populations were generally not so vital. In some southwestern areas a luxuriant and massiv nuisance growth of Juncus bulbosus in the depth zone 0–4 m was recorded. The most vital plants produced up to 1 m long annual shoots, and developed extensive, dense and vital surface mats in shallow areas (depth zone 0–3 m) after 4–5 years. The original isoetid vegetation had disappeared in the areas of dense J. bulbosus populations, and this development seems to be more or less irreversible. The massive J. bulbosus expansion is seen mainly in directly limed lakes with a sometimes visible layer of calcium carbonate on the sediment surface, but enhanched growth has been observed also in lakes downstream liming. The massive expansion is believed to be due to an increase of CO₂ and ammonium in the sediment pore water, combined with a mild climate with a very high precipitation. In many areas the liming has led to an increase in species diversity, and a (re-)establishment of some acid-intolerant species such as Myriophyllum alterniflorum and Potamogeton spp.     

Total concentrations of mercury in Wisconsin (USA) lakes and rivers

We analyzed surface waters from 30 Wisconsin lakes and rivers for total mercury ([Hg]_T) and total suspended particulates (TSP) on a state-wide basis with trace-metal ‘ultraclean’ techniques. Mercury concentrations ranged from 0.3 to 2.9 ng L^?1 in lakes and from 0.7 to 8.9 ng L^?1 in rivers. TSP concentrations ranged from 0.9 to 6.6 mg L^?1 in lakes and from 3.1 to 31.4 mg L^?1 in rivers. Spatial trends were weak; however, [Hg] _T was generally higher in the spring than in the autumn of 1991. Total mercury concentration was weakly dependent on TSP with the coefficient of determination (r ²) ranging 0.06 to 0.49 across seasonal and geophysical differences.     

Factors influencing degradation of pesticides in soil

Degradation and sorption of six acidic pesticides (2,4-D, dicamba, fluroxypyr, fluazifop-P, metsulfuron-methyl, and flupyrsulfuron-methyl) and four basic pesticides (metribuzin, terbutryn, pirimicarb, and fenpropimorph) were determined in nine temperate soils. Results were submitted to statistical analyses against a wide range of soil and pesticide properties to (i) identify any commonalities in factors influencing rate of degradation and (ii) determine whether there was any link between sorption and degradation processes for the compounds and soils studied. There were some marked differences between the soils in their ability to degrade the different pesticides. The parameters selected to explain variations in degradation rates depended on the soil-pesticide combination. The lack of consistent behavior renders a global approach to prediction of degradation unrealistic. The soil organic carbon content generally had a positive influence on degradation. The relationship between pH and degradation rates depended on the dominant mode of degradation for each pesticide. There were positive relationships between sorption and rate of degradation for metsulfuron-methyl, pirimicarb, and all acidic pesticides considered together (all P < 0.001) and for dicamba and all bases considered together (P < 0.05). No relationship between these processes was observed for the remaining seven individual pesticides.     

Trace element concentrations in fish from three Adirondack lakes with different pH values

Concentrations of 29 elements were detected in the axial muscle, and 44 elements were detected in the gut contents of white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) and yellow perch (Perca favescens) from three lakes located in the New York State Adirondack Preserve. The study lakes were acidic Darts Lake, variable pH Lake Rondaxe, and circumneutral Moss Lake. For the majority of the elements, there were no clear differences in the muscle concentrations among fish inhabiting the three types of lakes. Two notable exceptions were Hg and Pb. With some exceptions, the highest muscle tissue Pb concentrations were found in fish from the acidic lake. For both species, the Hg was higher in the muscle than in the gut regardless of lake acidity. Other elements potentially toxic to humans (As, Cd, Ga, Pb, Se, and TI) were not accumulated in the muscle relative to the gut.     

农村家庭能源消费的影响因素

为研究中国农村家庭能源消费的影响因素,对江苏省涟水县农村家庭进行了入户调查。数据统计分析表明,与人均能耗相关程度较高的是家庭人口,且呈负相关;而生猪饲养头数、人均粮食收获量以及人均收入与人均能耗没有明显的相关性;人均电力消费与人均收入具有很强的相关性,商品能比例和人均有效热与人均收入均没有明显的相关关系。该研究通过非线性回归建立了家庭人均能耗与家庭人口模型,并选择三次函数Cubic进行拟合建立了人均电力消耗与人均收入的模型。为研究中国农村地区家庭能源消费基本特征、农村可再生能源资源的开发利用水平提供了依据。     

花生根、茎中白藜芦醇含量影响因素

为了获得含白藜芦醇较多的花生根、茎作为提取白藜芦醇的原料。该文考察了华东不同地区、不同品种、不同采收时间以及采后存放、提取环境对花生根、茎中的白藜芦醇含量的影响。结果表明:白藜芦醇富集在花生根表皮,木质部含量较少;不同生长环境、不同品种对花生中白藜芦醇的含量影响较大;同一品种,采收时间越晚,白藜芦醇含量越高。采收后的花生根霉变会提高其中的白藜芦醇含量;花生中白藜芦醇在酸性条件下较为稳定,而碱性条件下易变性。采用合适品种的晚收花生根在酸性条件下提取可得到白藜芦醇含量较高的原料。     

Mercury in the surface water of Swedish forest lakes —concentrations,speciation and controlling factors

Concentrations of total Hg and five operationally defined Hg species were determined in the surface water of 25 Swedish forest lakes of different type. Regional and seasonal variations were studied during the ice-free season of 1986. The concentration of total Hg was usually in the range of 2 to 10 μg m-3. Hg concentrations were highly correlated to the concentration of humic matter measured as water color. Hg concentrations were about twice as high in acidic lakes (pH 5) than in circumneutral lakes, which is attributed basically to the acidity of humic compounds acting as Hg carriers in boreal waters. Significant seasonal variations were caused by hydrological processes. During periods of high water flow, Hg concentrations increased dramatically, especially in humic lakes. Between spring and autumn, chemically reactive Hg compounds were gradually replaced by more inert species. Hg/C ratios were higher than in surface runoff from forest watersheds, indicating a significant impact of direct deposition of Hg on lake surfaces during summer. Regional differences were small despite differences in Hg contamination.     

Factors influencing the stability of labelled microbial materials in soils

The effect of freshly added substrate on carbon turnover of a microbial population and the priming action on stabilized soil organic constituents were investigated in the laboratory. ¹³C-labelled glucose. NH₄NO₃, or both were added to samples of a Brown Chernozemic soil which had been initially amended with ¹⁴C-glucose and incubated 2 months under field conditions. At the end of 14 days laboratory incubation. 39 per cent and 33 per cent of the ¹³C had been respired as CO₂ from the glucose and glucose plus NH₄NO₃ treatments, respectively. These two treatments resulted in a marked priming of native ¹²C during the second and third days of incubation and a second priming peak during the fifth day. In contrast, there was only a small priming action of the ¹⁴C-labelled materials. Addition of NH₄NO₃ by itself had no effect on the amount of ¹²C or ¹²C respired.Appreciable amounts of ¹⁴C were mineralized following treatments known to partially sterilize soil. Freezing and thawing was more effective than wetting and drying, but less effective than CHCl₃ vapour in releasing stabilized ¹⁴C materials. The amount of labelled-¹⁴C mineralized during incubation after treatment with chloroform vapour was greater than could he accounted for by the decrease in soil biomass.     

Factors influencing the norharman and harman contents in espresso coffee

Espresso coffee (EC) brews were analyzed for beta-carboline [norharman (NH) and harman (H)] contents, by RP-HPLC with fluorescence detection. The influence of the coffee species (arabica or robusta), the roast degree, and the brew length was studied. The results show that the content of NH and H in EC is dependent primarily on the coffee species, followed by brew length. The roast degree has only a minor influence on the final content of NH and H in EC. When compared with other coffee brews, EC has an amount of these beta-carbolines (in micrograms per liter) similar to that of mocha coffee, both being more concentrated than filter and press-pot coffees. Therefore, the consumer's preferences will determine the amount of NH and H ingested daily. For the caffeinated 30 mL of EC, the arabica coffees contain about 4.08 microg of NH and 1.54 microg of H. Commercial blends (usually with a maximum of 30% robusta) range from the cited arabica values to 10.37 microg of NH and 4.35 microg of H.     

Factors influencing acrylamide content and color in rye crisp bread

An industrial baking procedure for yeast-leavened whole-grain rye crisp bread was adapted to local laboratory conditions to study the effect of time and temperature of baking and the addition of fructose, asparagine, and oat-bran concentrate on the acrylamide content and color of the bread. Baking time and temperature affected acrylamide content that increased from 10 to 30 mug/kg of bread at the combination of a long time and high temperature, with a significant interaction between the two factors (p < 0.008). Added asparagine had a significant effect (p < 0.001) on the formation of acrylamide, but fructose did not. There was a correlation between acrylamide content and color of the milled bread in the time-temperature experiment, but this correlation was not observed in the experiment with added precursors. Added oat-bran concentrate with high content of mixed-linkage beta-glucan did not influence the acrylamide content in the breads.     

影响蒜头果离体胚乳愈伤组织培养的几种因子

四种基本培养基（MS、B5、N6和SH）的试验结果表明，MS和N6两种基本培养基适宜蒜头果胚乳愈伤组织培养；在相同的2，4-D和6-BA激素配组中，附加低浓度的GAs（O．5mg／L）有利于胚乳愈伤组织的诱导；添加甘氨酸和椰乳（CM）对悬浮培养愈伤组织的诱导不适宜。愈伤组织继代增殖培养的适宜培养基为MS＋2，4-D2．0mg／L＋KT0．2mg／L＋GA30．2mg／L和N6＋2，4-D2．0mg／L＋6-BA0．2mg／L＋GA30．6mg／L。     

奶农采用精准奶业技术行为的影响因素分析

为掌握精准奶业技术在中国的应用现状及其关键影响因素，该研究调研了华北产区345个奶农对国际上水平较高的4种精准奶业技术的采用情况，结果表明自动脱杯、自动识别、产奶量自动记录和自动发情监测4种精准奶业技术的采用率分别为64.9%、57.7%、56.2%和37.7%。而未采用任何一种技术的88个奶农的调研结果显示，技术前期投资成本太高，无法承担费用（占比71.9%）是未采用这些技术的最重要的原因，但有26个奶农表示接下来打算使用。调研的11种因素中，有7种因素至少对1种技术的采用产生显著影响。其中3种因素即奶农受教育程度、养殖规模和日均产奶量对4种技术具有显著正向促进作用，其他4种因素至少对2种技术的采用产生显著正向影响。4种技术中，自动脱杯受养殖规模、政府补贴、技术培训的影响最小。自动识别受收入满意程度和教育程度的影响作用最大。产奶量自动记录受日均产奶量、政府补贴的影响最大，不受技术培训的影响。自动发情监测受教育程度、日均产奶量的影响最低，受养殖规模和技术培训的影响最高，不受政府补贴的影响。影响因素分析进一步为政府和企业针对4种技术制定推广应用措施提供依据，如针对自动脱杯技术，由于养殖规模对其影响最小，应将推广重点放在小规模养殖场上。而自动发情监测技术的推广重点应放在大规模养殖场上，并利用技术培训提高奶农认知水平和数据管理技能。     

Factors influencing optimization of diffusion assays for antibiotics

Agar nutrient content, cylinder charge volume, thickness (volume) of the agar layer, and incubation temperature were 4 factors varied to determine their effect(s) on the optimization of the cylinder-plate diffusion assay. Chlortetracycline was the pilot antibiotic and Bacillus cereus was used as the assay organism. Zones of inhibition were larger when the incubation temperature was lower than that which was commonly used and/or when the nutrient level was decreased; the zones were smaller when the incubation temperature was raised and/or when an increased nutrient level was used. The thickness (volume) of the assay layer played the most important role; the thinner the layer the less the effect the cylinder charge volume had on the zone diameter. The slopes of the response lines were minimally affected by cylinder charge volume. For a 7 mL assay layer per standard Petri plate, cylinder charge volumes ranging from 150 to 250 microL had little effect on zone diameter. The linearity of the response line was unaffected by assay layer thickness (volume), nutrient level, temperature of incubation, or cylinder charge volume. As long as the conditions for the assay were standardized, there were no discernible effects on recoveries or potencies.     

Factors influencing variability of proteolytic genes and activities in arable soils

Microorganisms, capable of proteolysis, are widely distributed in soil but almost nothing is known about the abundance of genes related to protein degradation and the regulation of their activity in terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, the aim of this study was: (1) to quantify two bacterial genes involved in protein degradation, (2) to investigate factors affecting the abundance of these genes, and (3) to relate this data to potential proteolytic activities. For this purpose, an arable field in southern Germany under integrated management was studied. The uniformly managed field showed pronounced soil heterogeneity with four different soil types. In April, July and October 2003, soil samples were taken from the four soil types at three different depths. We applied a real-time PCR assay for quantification of subtilisin (sub) and neutral metalloprotease (npr) genes, both encoding for extracellular proteases, as well as the 16S rRNA gene representing a rough estimate of the size of the bacterial populations. Potential proteolytic activity was measured using casein as a substrate. Both soil type and time of sampling influenced the size and activity of the bacterial protease genes under investigation. Total nitrogen and carbon availability was, beside soil texture, the main factor responsible for the observed changes in the abundance of proteolytic genes and potential proteolytic activity. Whereas a positive relationship was found between sub and npr gene copy numbers and the number of 16S rRNA gene copies in all cases, a positive relationship between sub and npr coding genes and potential proteolytic activity was only found for sandy soils. This indicates that sandy soils cannot stabilize proteolytic enzymes and the activity of npr and sub genes is strictly dependent on the presence of the corresponding genes. In contrast, in clay soils proteolytic activity was not correlated with the abundance of the genes analyzed, probably due to the stabilization of the proteolytic enzymes.     

Factors influencing phenolic compounds in table olives (Olea europaea)

The Mediterranean diet appears to be associated with a reduced risk of several chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular and Alzheimer's diseases. Olive products (mainly olive oil and table olives) are important components of the Mediterranean diet. Olives contain a range of phenolic compounds; these natural antioxidants may contribute to the prevention of these chronic conditions. Consequently, the consumption of table olives and olive oil continues to increase worldwide by health-conscious consumers. There are numerous factors that can affect the phenolics in table olives including the cultivar, degree of ripening, and, importantly, the methods used for curing and processing table olives. The predominant phenolic compound found in fresh olive is the bitter secoiridoid oleuropein. Table olive processing decreases levels of oleuropein with concomitant increases in the hydrolysis products hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol. Many of the health benefits reported for olives are thought to be associated with the levels of hydroxytyrosol. Herein the pre- and post-harvest factors influencing the phenolics in olives, debittering methods, and health benefits of phenolics in table olives are reviewed.     

Factors influencing nitrogen inputs and outputs in two Scottish upland catchments

Abstract. The factors influencing inorganic nitrogen inputs in wet deposition in two upland catchments in northeast Scotland are discussed. Seasonal trends in nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in water draining from the catchments, and in monthly nitrate-nitrogen outputs, are reported and explained. The inputs in rain exceeded the output in the rivers in the two catchments by 3.9–9.4 kg ha⁻¹a⁻¹. Retention by vegetation probably plays a crucial role in nitrogen cycling in the uplands.