Comprehensive phytochemical profile of soy protein isolate

Although an FDA health claim for soy protein has been issued, the potential health benefits of soy foods remain controversial among scientists, especially with regard to soy infant formula. The UV detectable isoflavones have been the focus of the majority of studies concerning health-related effects of soy protein isolate (SPI). However, the chemical identities and health effects of other SPI phytochemicals without UV absorption properties are less well-studied. In the current study, we employed liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods to reveal a complicated phytochemical profile for SPI consisting of 136 phytochemicals. Also, we have quantitated many of these SPI phytochemicals so that dietary intakes can be estimated for foods containing SPI. On a weight/weight basis, fatty acids are the largest group of phytochemicals in the extract (64.13% total fat), followed by saponins (21.48%), and then isoflavones at 6.82%. Of the 56 lysophospholipids identified in SPI, 0.50% was lysophosphatidylcholines and 0.23% was lysophosphatidylethanolamines.     

Sources of data for rural health research: development of an inventory of Canadian databases

Secondary data sources can often be used to help address questions about the health status, health behavior, health resources allocation, and utilization of health services of rural Canadians. But the task of deciding which Canadian databases are amenable to rural health research remains a challenge. As part of a larger research project titled "Canada's Rural Communities: Understanding Rural Health and Its Determinants," an inventory of 51 Canadian databases that have the potential of being used for rural health research was compiled, and it continues to be maintained and updated. The websites maintained by two of Canada's leading statistical data centers were systematically searched, along with other published articles and national reports, to produce this inventory. The criteria used to determine which data sources to include in this inventory are: (1) databases containing data at the national level that can be accessed by researchers, (2) databases containing data that are relevant to a variety of rural health issues, and (3) databases containing data that could be partitioned into rural and non-rural geographies. Detailed information is available by searching the inventory of national rural health research-related databases through the internet (www.cranhr.ca) or by contacting the lead author of this article. This article examines some of the issues in developing this resource and demonstrates the usefulness of its contents to Canadian and other rural health researchers.     

The Representative Soil Sampling Scheme of England and Wales: a statistical analysis of topsoil nutrient status and pH between 1971 and 2001

The Representative Soil Sampling Scheme of England and Wales has recorded information on the soil of agricultural land in England and Wales since 1969. It is a valuable source of information about the soil in the context of monitoring for sustainable agricultural development. Changes in soil nutrient status and pH were examined over the period 1971–2001. Several methods of statistical analysis were applied to data from the surveys during this period. The main focus here is on the data for 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001. The results of examining change over time in general show that levels of potassium in the soil have increased, those of magnesium have remained fairly constant, those of phosphorus have declined and pH has changed little. Future sampling needs have been assessed in the context of monitoring, to determine the mean at a given level of confidence and tolerable error and to detect change in the mean over time at these same levels over periods of 5 and 10 years. The results of a non‐hierarchical multivariate classification suggest that England and Wales could be stratified to optimize future sampling and analysis. To monitor soil quality and health more generally than for agriculture, more of the country should be sampled and a wider range of properties recorded.     

Blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, red raspberry, and strawberry extracts inhibit growth and stimulate apoptosis of human cancer cells in vitro

Berry fruits are widely consumed in our diet and have attracted much attention due to their potential human health benefits. Berries contain a diverse range of phytochemicals with biological properties such as antioxidant, anticancer, anti-neurodegerative, and anti-inflammatory activities. In the current study, extracts of six popularly consumed berries--blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, red raspberry and strawberry--were evaluated for their phenolic constituents using high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) detection. The major classes of berry phenolics were anthocyanins, flavonols, flavanols, ellagitannins, gallotannins, proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acids. The berry extracts were evaluated for their ability to inhibit the growth of human oral (KB, CAL-27), breast (MCF-7), colon (HT-29, HCT116), and prostate (LNCaP) tumor cell lines at concentrations ranging from 25 to 200 micro g/mL. With increasing concentration of berry extract, increasing inhibition of cell proliferation in all of the cell lines were observed, with different degrees of potency between cell lines. The berry extracts were also evaluated for their ability to stimulate apoptosis of the COX-2 expressing colon cancer cell line, HT-29. Black raspberry and strawberry extracts showed the most significant pro-apoptotic effects against this cell line. The data provided by the current study and from other laboratories warrants further investigation into the chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects of berries using in vivo models.     

National soil data in EU countries,where do we stand?

At the European scale, soil characteristics are needed to evaluate soil quality, soil health and soil-based ecosystem services in the context of the European Green Deal. While some soil databases exist at the European scale, a much larger wealth of data is present in individual European countries, allowing a more detailed soil assessment. There is thus an urgent and crucial need to combine these data at the European scale. In the frame of a large European Joint Programme on agricultural soils launched by the European Commission, a survey was conducted in the spring of 2020, in the 24 European participating countries to assess the existing soil data sources, focusing on agricultural soils. The survey will become a contribution to the European Soil Observatory, launched in December 2020, which aims to collect metadata of soil databases related to all kind of land uses, including forest and urban soils. Based upon a comprehensive questionnaire, 170 soil databases were identified at local, regional and national scales. Soil parameters were divided into five groups: (1) main soil parameters according to the Global Soil Map specifications; (2) other soil chemical parameters; (3) other physical parameters; (4) other pedological parameters; and (5) soil biological features. A classification based on the environmental zones of Europe was used to distinguish the climatic zones. This survey shows that while most of the main pedological and chemical parameters are included in more than 70% of the country soil databases, water content, contamination with organic pollutants, and biological parameters are the least frequently reported parameters. Such differences will have consequences when developing an EU policy on soil health as proposed under the EU soil strategy for 2023 and using the data to derive soil health indicators. Many differences in the methods used in collecting, preparing, and analysing the soils were found, thus requiring harmonization procedures and more cooperation among countries and with the EU to use the data at the European scale. In addition, choosing harmonized and useful interpretation and threshold values for EU soil indicators may be challenging due to the different methods used and the wide variety of soil land-use and climate combinations influencing possible thresholds. The temporal scale of the soil databases reported is also extremely wide, starting from the '20s of the 20th century.     

Application of biological indicators to assess recovery of hydrocarbon impacted soils

Remediation programmes are considered complete when human risk-based criteria are met. These targets are unrelated to the ecological parameters that may be important with regard to future soil uses. As a consequence, there has been a move towards the consideration of biological indicators for hazard assessment in conjunction with the remediation of contaminated soils. This study uses a range of biological assays to assess the ecological health of soils from a former gas works site undergoing various remediation treatments. The indicators that optimally differentiated the extent of soil remediation were biomass-C, respiration, dehydrogenase activity, earthworm toxicity and mustard seed germination. Although they had different end-points, once robust and sensitive biological indicators were incorporated into a quantitative soil quality index, they gave a clearer representation of ecological health than chemical data alone by their integration of contamination effects at a number of trophic levels.     

A qualitative risk-based assessment of impacts on marine habitats and harvested species for a data deficient wild capture fishery

Fisheries management in most areas of the world is concerned with the effects of resource exploitation on the broad marine environment that includes all major ecological components. However, all fisheries lack some information about many of these components particularly marine habitats and non-target species. Such data deficiencies make it difficult to identify priorities for management action. Qualitative ecological risk assessment is one tool that can be used by management to prioritise and evaluate management strategies. This paper demonstrates the mechanics of a qualitative ecological risk assessment applied to a currently operating data deficient commercial fishery. In particular, we demonstrate how the method applies to two distinct ecological components – marine habitats and harvested species – and shows how it contributed to the formation of management responses. The method combines biological and ecological information about each component with knowledge on the operations of the fishery. Using pre-defined decision rules and criteria the available information is used in a rigorous, transparent and repeatable manner. The paper demonstrates that the method can be used generally to apply to all ecological components of a marine fishery where data is deficient.     

C‐Glycosylflavone and Lignan Diglucoside Contents of Commercial,Regular, and Whole‐Wheat Spaghetti

Consumption of whole‐wheat products, including whole‐wheat spaghetti, is associated with beneficial health effects. Flavonoids and lignans are antioxidant phytochemicals that have received much attention from researchers. Investigations were conducted on the content of flavonoid glycosides, lignan diglucoside, and secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) as contributors to the health‐promoting properties of whole‐wheat spaghetti. Flavonoid glycosides present in regular and whole‐wheat spaghetti samples were identified as 6‐C‐glucosyl‐8‐C‐arabinosyl apigenin and the sinapic acid ester of apigenin‐C‐diglycoside while, in a previous study, the sinapic acid ester of apigenin‐C‐diglycoside was found only in wheat germ tissues. The content of these compounds was significantly higher in whole‐wheat spaghetti (17.0 and 15.1 μg of apigenin equivalent/g) compared to the regular brands (9.5 and 5.8 μg apigenin equivalent/g). SDG content was also significantly higher in whole‐wheat spaghetti (41.8 μg/g) compared to the regular brands (12.9 μg/g). These findings lend further support to the notion that phenolic compounds, along with dietary fiber, are concentrated in the bran layers of the wheat kernel; hence, consumption of whole grain products is strongly recommended to obtain significant levels of health‐promoting phytochemicals.     

Metabolomic analysis of phenolic compounds in buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum M.) sprouts treated with methyl jasmonate

The effects of exogenous methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on phytochemical production in buckwheat sprouts cultivated under dark conditions (0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 d) were investigated by metabolomic analysis, using ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight (UPLC-Q-TOF) mass spectroscopy (MS) and partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). MeJA-treated and control groups showed no differences in growth but were clearly discriminated from each other on PLS-DA score plots. The metabolites contributing to the discrimination were assigned as chlorogenic acid, catechin, isoorientin, orientin, rutin, vitexin, and quercitrin, which have various health effects. Moreover, isoorientin, orientin, rutin, and vitexin were assigned as the main phytochemicals of sprouts cultivated under dark conditions. The accumulation of these metabolites caused the phenolic compound content and antioxidant activity of the sprouts to increase. Further, this study revealed that their accumulation resulted from the stimulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway by MeJA treatment. Therefore, these metabolites may be useful for better understanding the effects of MeJA on buckwheat sprout phytochemicals and contribute to improving the functional quality of the sprouts.     

Characterization of isoflavones and their conjugates in female rat urine using LC/MS/MS

Isoflavone phytoestrogens found in soybeans are the most widely studied phytochemicals in human diets and soy infant formulas. The health benefits of the isoflavones daidzein and genistein have been reported, and concerns about potential adverse effects have also been raised. However, the results of direct analysis of isoflavones and their metabolites in biological fluids after consumption of soy-containing diets are scarce. This study describes an LC/MS/MS method for the analysis of isoflavones and their metabolites in the urine of female rats fed diets made with soy protein isolate. Five isoflavones (daidzein, genistein, glycitein, dihydrodaidzein, and O-desmethylangolensin) were identified by comparison with authentic standards. Seventeen conjugates of isoflavones were characterized in the urine, the most unusual being genistein 5-glucuronide and four glucuronide conjugates of reductive metabolites of daidzein. The application of LC/MS/MS to analyze isoflavone metabolites is simple and sensitive, and appears to be an excellent method for determining the bioavailability and metabolism of food phytochemistry.     

A risk analysis methodology for assessing natural resources degradation

Risk analysis has been employed, amongst other things, both to estimate the probability of future water demand emergencies in reservoir systems (using simulation modelling), and to estimate environmental and public health risks (using empirical data). We assert that this framework, when coupled with simulation modelling, can be applied to examine and compare the impacts of resource exploitation, land use and production strategies which may cause land degradation. Our representation of risk analysis relies on the assumption that each land use strategy is associated with a risk of the system (i.e., social system, production system, ecosystem) attaining a subjectively unacceptable environmental condition (e.g. poor human nutrition, crop failure, degradation of a natural resource) sometime during a management planning period. The research methodology entails: (1) the identification of critical variables in the social and biological environment that are affected by exploitation and management of resources; (2) the identification through interviews, surveys, and research of regions of unacceptability in these variables that determine the dynamics of local environmental degradation; (3) the translation of resource policy and practice into a computer model of impact on the resource system; (4) many iterations of simulation of the system to determine the ‘risk of failing’ in each of the critical variables. The presentation of risk probabilities to decision-makers represents a reduction of many simulations into an understandable estimate of environmental impact. More importantly, risk analysis is potentially a learning tool for human system studies, and an interface for applied social science and ecological research.     

中国岩质边坡植被护坡技术研究进展

高速公路建设等活动产生了大量的裸露岩质边坡。随着环保观念的逐渐普及和增强,人们对生态环境保护的要求越来越高,岩质边坡植被护坡技术已成为了工程建设技术的一个重要组成部分,并已取得了很多研究成果。首先分析了岩质边坡植被恢复的特点,然后从植被护坡技术应用、植物的选择和配置、生态基材的配比和特性、植被护坡机制和植被恢复效果评价5个方面对中国岩质边坡植被护坡技术的研究进行总结和概述,在此基础上,从特殊生境条件下的高陡岩质边坡植被护坡技术研发、岩质坡面-基材-根系的相互作用机理及整体力学稳定性、植被恢复效果评价长效机制和基于气候、地理环境等因子的岩质边坡植被护坡技术标准的编制4个方面,提出了该领域有待深入研究的问题及未来的发展趋势。     

Soil and Sediment Geochemistry of the Iron Quadrangle, Brazil

Soils and sediments around gold ore deposit and mining sites in the Iron Quadrangle present positive As anomalies (median concentrations > 100 mg kg^-1) and wide ranges (< 20 to > 2000 mg kg^-1) even in densely populated areas. These anomalies can be related to geological structures, to hydrothermal ore deposits and to their continuous exploitation over the past three centuries. The paper presents new data on both As geochemistry and soil and sediment geochemistry in general, and discusses consequences of the encountered anomalies, their reasons and potential effects and how they compare with current screening and threshold values. While surface soil As-val-ues are reproducible at a given site, sediment anomalies show a strong seasonal variation that can be explained by tropical hydrologicai variances. Suggestions are presented on how to minimize the As-load in densely populated areas that might otherwise pose a potential health risk.     

Soil and sediment geochemistry of the iron quadrangle,Brazil the case of arsenic

Soils and sediments around gold ore deposit and mining sites in the Iron Quadrangle present positive As anomalies (median concentrations > 100 mg kg^-1) and wide ranges (< 20 to > 2000 mg kg^-1) even in densely populated areas. These anomalies can be related to geological structures, to hydrothermal ore deposits and to their continuous exploitation over the past three centuries. The paper presents new data on both As geochemistry and soil and sediment geochemistry in general, and discusses consequences of the encountered anomalies, their reasons and potential effects and how they compare with current screening and threshold values. While surface soil As-values are reproducible at a given site, sediment anomalies show a strong seasonal variation that can be explained by tropical hydrological variances. Suggestions are presented on how to minimize the As-load in densely populated areas that might otherwise pose a potential health risk.     

福建省开发生产建设项目水土保持监管情况调查与思考

开展开发生产建设项目水土保持监督管理情况调查,掌握水土保持监督执法对象的基本情况,为各地开展水土保持监督执法和水土保持信息化管理工作提供必要的基础信息,提高水保监督执法工作的针对性和有效性。本文就福建省开发生产建设项目水土保持监管情况调查的基本情况和存在问题,做进一步分析和评价,提出了今后如何提高开发生产建设项目水土保持监督管理的工作思路。     

Soil and Sediment Geochemistry of the Iron Quadrangle, Brazil The Case of Arsenic

Soils and sediments around gold ore deposit and mining sites in the Iron Quadrangle present positive As anomalies (median concentrations > 100 mg kg^-1) and wide ranges (< 20 to > 2000 mg kg^-1) even in densely populated areas. These anomalies can be related to geological structures, to hydrothermal ore deposits and to their continuous exploitation over the past three centuries. The paper presents new data on both As geochemistry and soil and sediment geochemistry in general, and discusses consequences of the encountered anomalies, their reasons and potential effects and how they compare with current screening and threshold values. While surface soil As-val-ues are reproducible at a given site, sediment anomalies show a strong seasonal variation that can be explained by tropical hydrologicai variances. Suggestions are presented on how to minimize the As-load in densely populated areas that might otherwise pose a potential health risk.     

Influence of Kernel Maturity,Milling Degree,and Milling Quality on Rice Bran Phytochemical Concentrations

Rice bran is a rich source of phytochemicals including tocopherols (T), tocotrienols (T3), and γ‐oryzanol that have purported positive effects on human health. The screening of germplasm to determine the genetic diversity influencing contents of these compounds requires knowledge of how sample preparation influences concentrations of the phytochemicals in rice bran. Obtaining this knowledge was the objective of this study. Cultivars with different milling qualities were all milled to different degrees. The differences in bran removal among cultivars decreased as the milling time increased. Samples that were milled for 30 and 40 sec (milled to the degree of 0.23–0.44% surface lipid content [SLC]) showed no significant differences in T and T3 concentrations in the bran within cultivars. Bran starch concentration affected the rankings of cultivars based on phytochemical contents. Expression of the γ‐oryanol concentration in bran after subtracting starch reduced the concentration differences resulting from differences in degree of milling (DOM). Bran from the mature thin kernels had phytochemical contents similar to that of the mature thick kernels milled for 30 sec. The immature thin kernels had significantly lower contents of most of the bran phytochemicals than did the mature kernel fractions.     

人工林对土壤地力的影响过程及其调控研究进展

土壤是支撑人工林健康生长的基础资源,是营养物质转化和生物多样性保护的主要场所。目前,我国人工林经营中土壤地力衰退问题突出,是制约我国林业生产可持续经营、增大生态安全屏障脆弱性的重要因素。因此,有必要深入认识和理解人工林对土壤地力的影响过程,同时开发保障人工林健康和初级生产力的关键调控技术。本文从土壤物理化学环境、土壤生物群落特性及功能等方面,系统论述了人工林土壤地力的维持机制,重点探讨了林龄结构、林分密度、树种类型等影响人工林地力的地下生态学过程。未来需要关注环境变化下人工林土壤理化性质与生物学性质的耦合机制。现阶段大面积人工林土壤病原菌积累特征不清,土壤病害影响人工林健康的障碍机理也亟待揭示。因此,今后需进一步量化林木健康、土壤生物以及环境之间的互作关系模型,形成从造林配置、过程经营、症状诊断及土壤地力调控等全方位的人工林健康定向调控体系,保障人工林可持续、多目标经营。     

Flavanol content and antioxidant activity in winery byproducts

Proanthocyanidins, particularly those coming from wine and grape products, have became of interest to nutritionists. Particular attention is currently being paid to the exploitation of this kind of grape byproducts for obtaining bio-active phenolic compounds with potential application as food antioxidants and preventive agents against cancer and other diseases. In this work, the flavanol composition of various winery byproducts submitted to different degrees of industrial exploitation has been studied and their antioxidant activity determined using two different methods (TBARS and TEAC) to evaluate their interest as suitable sources for the preparation of flavanol-rich antioxidant extracts. All the byproducts studied were still good flavanol sources no matter their exploitation degree. An important conclusion was that dried grape seeds, obtained as an end byproduct after the color extraction and alcohol distillation of the wine pomace, still kept important flavanol concentrations and significant antioxidant activity, even if they were submitted to high temperatures. These byproducts can be considered a cheap source for the extraction of antioxidant flavanols, which can be used as dietary supplements or in the production of phytochemicals.     

Unearthing the role of biological diversity in soil health

The soil provides a great variety of microhabitats for myriad organisms of different size, physiological activity, behavior and ecosystem function. Besides abundance of participating soil organisms, their species diversity facilitates maximum exploitation of the resources available in the different habitats. At various levels of resolution, species can be categorized into classes performing ecosystem functions and, within each functional class, into guilds of species with similar life course characteristics. Measurement of the diversity and abundance of species within a functional class provides insights into the nature of ecosystem functions and services and to the health of the soil. At higher resolution, species diversity within guilds of a functional class may infer the degree of exploitation of available resources and the complementarity of an ecosystem service; diversity among the guilds of a functional class may indicate successional complementarity of the services. A diversity of guilds within a functional class expands the range of conditions over which ecosystem services are performed while species diversity within a functional class and its guilds contributes to the magnitude of the services. Consequently, diversity of species within functional classes is a key element of the biological component of soil health. In the context of ecosystem services and soil health, the biomass or metabolic activity of species are more useful measures of their abundance than numbers of individuals. Thus, understanding of soil health and ecosystem function requires, besides knowledge of species diversity within functional classes, assessment of the range of functions currently performed in the system and the abundances of organisms by which they are performed. We propose a diversity-weighted abundance product for comparison of the functional magnitude of different assemblages of like organisms.