Environmental Impacts of Chemicals for Snow and Ice Control: State of the Knowledge

As chemicals are widely used for snow and ice control of highway and airfield pavements or aircrafts, recent years have seen increased concerns over their potentially detrimental effects on the surrounding environment. The abrasives used for winter operations on pavements are also a cause of environmental concerns. After some background information, this paper presents a review of the environmental impacts of chemicals used for snow and ice control, including those on: surface, ground, and drinking waters; soil; flora; and fauna. The paper provides a state-of-the-art survey of published work (with a focus on those in the last two decades) and examines mainly the impacts of abrasives, chlorides, acetates and formates, urea, glycols, and agro-based deicers. Finally, we conclude with a brief discussion of public perception of such impacts and best management practices (BMPs) to mitigate them.     

Genetic diversity and species delimitation in the cultivated and wild Guinea yams (Dioscorea spp.) from Southwest Ethiopia as determined by AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) markers

Yams (Dioscorea spp.) rank as the fourth most important root and tuber crop after potatoes, cassava and sweet potatoes. They are an economic crop in most of the tropics especially in West Africa, which produces over 95 % of the world output. Despite their cultural and economic importance there is taxonomic confusion regarding Guinea yams. The currently used classification scheme, which relies on vegetative and inflorescence characters, does not consistently delimit species boundaries between members of Guinea yams (D. cayenensis Lam.–D. rotundata Poir. complex), their wild relatives (D. abyssinica Kunth and D. praehensilis Benth.,) and D. sagittifolia Pax. Establishing the taxonomic identity of the germplasm and understanding the systematic relationships among crops is vital to the management of genetic resources and the utilization of accessions. In this study, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) genetic fingerprinting was used to evaluate and characterize 43 individual plants, belonging to different populations of wild and cultivated Guinea yams. The three primer combinations used in the AFLP analyses generated 158 scorable bands, with an overall polymorphism of 78 %. Ordination and cluster analyses of AFLP data failed to produce any clear species boundary between either the Guinea yam accessions or between them and their wild relatives. The average genetic similarity between the study individuals of Guinea yams and their wild relatives ranged from 60 to 100 %. The first, second and third principal coordinates axes cumulatively account for 77.45 % of the total variation. AFLP analyses also revealed a higher genetic divergence among cultivated Guinea yam accessions of the Sheko cultivars. Ordination and cluster analysis using UPGMA revealed no clear species boundaries between members of the complex. Thus, the taxonomy of these “species” needs to be revisited using other markers.     

Synthesis of deuterated volatile lipid degradation products to be used as internal standards in isotope dilution assays. 1. Aldehydes.

The isotopically labeled compounds [5,6-(2)H(2)]hexanal (d-I), [2, 3-(2)H(2)]-(E)-2-nonenal (d-II), [3,4-(2)H(2)]-(E,E)-2,4-nonadienal (d-III), and [3,4-(2)H(2)]-(E,E)-2,4-decadienal (d-IV) were prepared in good yields using new or improved synthesis procedures. Labeling position, chemical purity, and isotopic distribution of the compounds were characterized by various MS and NMR techniques. These molecules are used as internal standards in quantification experiments based on isotope dilution assay. Synthesis of d-I, d-III, and d-IV has not yet been reported in the literature.     

The potential protective value of ants in Northern Australian coffee plantations

Abstract

Native ants are the oldest example of biological control agents used in tropical tree crops. Unfortunately, intensification of agricultural practices has led to a simplification of habitat and subsequent loss of native ant biodiversity. This article describes research that evaluated the native and introduced ants present in the canopies of two Australian sun coffee plantations, their distribution pattern and their potential to limit pests. The presence in coffee plantations of a range of beneficial insects and parasites, plus the effect of ants, most notably Iridomyrmex suchieri Forel, may maintain potential pests at low levels in coffee plantations. These effects may be important for future biological control programs of coffee pests in Australia, although the sun coffee grown here does not harbor a large variety of canopy ant species.     

Propolypeptide of von Willebrand factor circulates in blood and is identical to von Willebrand antigen II

The generally mild bleeding disorder of von Willebrand disease is associated with abnormalities of two distinct plasma proteins, the large multimeric von Willebrand factor (vWF), which mediates platelet adhesion, and von Willebrand antigen II (vW AgII), which is of unknown function. The two proteins were found to have a common biosynthetic origin in endothelial cells and megakaryocytes, which explains their simultaneous absence in the severe form of this hereditary disease. Shared amino acid sequences from a 100-kilodalton plasma glycoprotein and from vW AgII are identical to amino acid sequences predicted from a complementary DNA clone encoding the 5' end of vWF. In addition, these proteins have identical molecular weights and immunologic cross reactivities. Monoclonal antibodies prepared against both proteins recognize epitopes on the pro-vWF subunit and on a 100-kilodalton protein that are not present on the mature vWF subunit in endothelial cell lysates. In contrast, polyclonal antibodies against vWF recognize both pro-vWF and vWF subunits. Thus, the 100-kilodalton plasma glycoprotein and vW AgII are identical proteins and represent an extremely large propolypeptide that is first cleaved from pro-vWF during intracellular processing and then released into plasma.     

The goldfish ear codes the axis of acoustic particle motion in three dimensions

Auditory and vestibular nerve fibers of the goldfish are strongly directionally sensitive to whole-body acceleration at audio frequencies. The three-dimensional pattern of sensitivity shows that input from a receptor ensemble (hair cells) is essentially equivalent to that expected from a single hair cell having a given three-dimensional orientation of best sensitivity. Fibers from the sacculus, lagena, and utriculus differ with respect to distributions of directional orientation, but are similar in best threshold (less than 1 nanometer, root mean square, at 140 hertz). In combination with other mechanisms for detection of sound pressure, this directionality is a likely basis for directional hearing in fishes, and it could allow the determination of underwater acoustic intensity.     

Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness

For more than 30 years, the relationship between net primary productivity and species richness has generated intense debate in ecology about the processes regulating local diversity. The original view, which is still widely accepted, holds that the relationship is hump-shaped, with richness first rising and then declining with increasing productivity. Although recent meta-analyses questioned the generality of hump-shaped patterns, these syntheses have been criticized for failing to account for methodological differences among studies. We addressed such concerns by conducting standardized sampling in 48 herbaceous-dominated plant communities on five continents. We found no clear relationship between productivity and fine-scale (meters(-2)) richness within sites, within regions, or across the globe. Ecologists should focus on fresh, mechanistic approaches to understanding the multivariate links between productivity and richness.     

Generation of roasted notes based on 2-acetyl-2-thiazoline and its precursor, 2-(1-hydroxyethyl)-4,5-dihydrothiazole, by combined bio and thermal approaches

Roasted notes contribute to the flavor of thermally processed foods such as meat and bread. 2-Acetyl-2-thiazoline is one of the key volatile compounds responsible for the roasted and popcorn-like aroma character. We report here on the biogeneration of flavoring preparations with intense roasted notes, which are characterized by a high content of 2-acetyl-2-thiazoline. These flavoring preparations were obtained by fermentation of cysteamine, ethyl-L-lactate, and D-glucose with baker's yeast. The precursor of 2-acetyl-2-thiazoline, 2-(1-hydroxyethyl)-4,5-dihydrothiazole, was prepared under mild conditions by microbial reduction of the carbonyl group of 2-acetyl-2-thiazoline using baker's yeast as biocatalyst. The addition of 2-(1-hydroxyethyl)-4,5-dihydrothiazole as aroma precursor to pizza dough resulted in an increase of the roasted note.     

Degradation of the coffee flavor compound furfuryl mercaptan in model Fenton-type reaction systems

The stability of the coffee flavor compound furfuryl mercaptan has been investigated in aqueous solutions under Fenton-type reaction conditions. The impact of hydrogen peroxide, iron, ascorbic acid, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid was studied in various combinations of reagents and temperature. Furfuryl mercaptan reacts readily under Fenton-type reaction conditions, leading to up to 90% degradation within 1 h at 37 degrees C. The losses were lower when one or more of the reagents was omitted or the temperature decreased to 22 degrees C. Volatile reaction products identified were mainly dimers of furfuryl mercaptan, difurfuryl disulfide being the major compound. In addition, a large number of nonvolatile compounds was observed with molecular masses in the range of 92-510 Da. The formation of hydroxyl and carbon-centered radicals was indicated by electron paramagnetic resonance spectra using alpha-(4-pyridyl-1-oxide)-N-tert-butylnitrone or 5-(diethoxyphosphoryl)-5-methyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide as spin traps. Whereas *OH was generated by Fenton-type reactions, the C-centered radical is probably a secondary product of the reaction of *OH with various organic molecules, the reaction with furfuryl mercaptan appearing to be the most important. No evidence for S-centered radicals was seen in the spin-trapping experiments, but a sulfur-containing radical was detected when measurements were made at 77 K in the absence of spin traps.