Pre‐Columbian fisheries catch reconstruction for a subtropical estuary in South America

Small‐scale fisheries provide food and livelihoods for thousands of people along the Brazilian coastline. However, considerable uncertainties still surround the extent to which artisanal and subsistence fisheries contribute to the total of national landings and their historical ecological significance. Fisheries monitoring is deficient in Brazil, and historical records are limited to irregular accounts spanning the last few decades, while this coastline has supported human populations for at least 6,000 years. Here, we estimate pre‐Columbian subsistence catches for a large subtropical estuary in southern Brazil. Our results suggest that prehistoric populations may have extracted volumes of fish biomass higher than or comparable with historical subsistence fisheries in the region, and that the latter is likely underestimated. If a long‐term perspective is required to evaluate the current economic value and status of fisheries in subtropical and tropical South America, this should go beyond the historical time interval and integrate the contribution of pre‐Columbian archaeology.     

Biofortification of common bean as a complementary approach to addressing zinc deficiency in South Africans

Deficiencies of vitamin A, iodine, iron and zinc (Zn) in humans are caused partly by the consumption of food that has insufficient quantities of these. Their deficiency has a negative impact on the health, wellbeing, social and economic status of human beings. A national survey conducted in 2012 identified deficiencies of vitamin A, Fe, and Zn among other nutrients in South Africans and regarded the deficiencies of vitamin A and Fe as a moderate but not Zn. This review discusses causes of Zn prevalence in low-income South Africans and that it is largely caused by the low content of Zn in their diets. Initiatives to reduce Zn deficiency include fortification of wheat products and maize meal which has failed to address it successfully. Weaknesses of fortification include high cost of fortified food products to low-income populations, poor regulation in ensuring compliance in fortification, non-fortification of sorghum meal, and leaching of fortified nutrients during processing. This review suggests Zn-biofortification of locally-preferred common bean cultivars as an alternative strategy to compliment fortification. The review also discusses advantages of adopting biofortified Nutritional Andean common beans. Furthermore, the review suggests initiatives including evaluation of the common bean genotypes’ adaptation to different agro-ecologies.     

Development of a Benchtop Baking Method for Chemically Leavened Crackers. I. Identification of a Diagnostic Formula and Procedure

A benchtop baking method has been developed to predict the contribution of gluten functionality to overall flour performance for chemically leavened crackers. To identify a diagnostic cracker formula, the effects of leavening system (sodium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate, and ammonium bicarbonate), sugar concentration (%S), and total solvent (TS) on cracker‐baking performance were explored. From preliminary experiments to establish a production procedure, 10 min of dough‐mixing time, a cord‐weave baking mesh, and a 500°F oven temperature were selected. For the leavening system, increasing ammonium bicarbonate (ABC) level at constant sodium bicarbonate (soda) and monocalcium phosphate (MCP) levels resulted in increased cracker height. For the diagnostic formula, 1.25 g of soda, 1.25 g of MCP, and 1.25 g of ABC were selected, based on 100 g of flour. As the sugar concentration in the cracker formula, at constant total solvent (38 TS), decreased to <20%, the resulting cracker dough became softer, and the baked cracker exhibited an increased blistering tendency because of a too‐high formula water level. In contrast, a cracker dough formulated with >40% sugar concentration was too crumbly to handle and sheet. As the total solvent in the cracker formula increased at constant sugar concentration (≈23.7%S), the resulting dough became softer. A dough with 34 TS was too crumbly to handle, while doughs with 42 and 46 TS were too soft to handle and resulted in blistering. Therefore, 38 TS and 23.7%S were identified for the diagnostic formula. Crackers baked with a hard wheat flour, a soft wheat flour, and blends validated the utility of the developed method.     

Organic‐carbon fractions in an agricultural topsoil assessed by the determination of the soil mineral surface area

According to recent conceptual models, the organic carbon (OC) of soils can be divided into OC fractions of increasing stability from labile free OC to resistant OC associated with the soil mineral phase. In this study, we present a method for quantifying two OC fractions based on soil aggregate–size fractionation and the N₂ gas–adsorption method. For this purpose, we analyzed soil material of the plow layer of a Haplic Chernozem subjected to different fertilizer treatments (no fertilizer, mineral fertilizer, mineral and organic fertilizer). The total organic‐C concentration (TOC) and the clay content of the different size fractions were determined as well as the specific surface area (SSA_mineral) and the sample pore volume after thermal oxidation (OC‐free). The TOC of the different soil‐aggregate fractions was linearly related to SSA_mineral. Clay‐associated OC and nonassociated OC fractions of the different soil samples were quantified using two methods based on the OC surface loading at the clay fraction. The application of organic fertilizer increased the amount of nonassociated OC but hardly affected the concentration of clay‐associated OC. This finding agrees with previous studies on C dynamics in soils and indicates a finite capacity of soil materials to sequester OC. Even without any addition of organic fertilizer, the mineral phase of the analyzed soil material appears to be C‐saturated.     

Quantitative disease resistance assessment by real-time PCR using the Stagonospora nodorum-wheat pathosystem as a model

Measuring disease resistance accurately and reproducibly is a key requirement for the introgression of partial resistance genes into breeding lines. Here, a qPCR protocol is used to measure fungal biomass, using the wheat- Stagonospora nodorum pathosystem as a model. Seven cultivars of differing reported resistance levels were used. Fungal biomass taken at 220°C thermal days after inoculation accurately predicts the final grain weight loss. It is concluded that a test based on qPCR methods is specific, quantitative, rapid and objective. Such tests could provide useful and economic tools in the development of robustly resistant crop cultivars.     

Early selection for resistance to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Heterobasidion parviporum</Emphasis> in Norway spruce is not likely to adversely affect growth and wood quality traits in late-age performance

Infections with Heterobasidion parviporum devalue the Norway spruce timber as the decayed wood does not meet the necessary quality requirements for sawing. To evaluate the incorporation of disease resistance in the Norway spruce breeding strategy, an inoculation experiment with H. parviporum on 2-year-old progenies of 466 open-pollinated families was conducted under greenhouse (nursery) conditions. Lesion length in the phloem (LL), fungal growth in sapwood (FG) and growth (D) were measured on an average of 10 seedlings for each family. The genetic variation and genetic correlations between both LL, FG and growth in the nursery trial and wood quality traits measured previously from 21-year old trees in two progeny trials, including solid-wood quality traits (wood density, and modulus of elasticity) and fiber properties traits (radial fiber width, tangential fiber width, fiber wall thickness, fiber coarseness, microfibril angle and fiber length). For both LL and FG, large coefficients of phenotypic variation (>?26%) and genetic variation (>?46%) were detected. Heritabilities of LL and FG were 0.33 and 0.42, respectively. We found no significant correlations between wood quality traits and growth in the field progeny trials with neither LL nor FG in the nursery trial. Our data suggest that the genetic gains may reach 41 and 52% from mass selection by LL and FG, respectively. Early selection for resistance to H. parviporum based on assessments of fungal spread in the sapwood in nursery material, FG, will not adversely affect growth and wood quality traits in late-age performance.     

Bioindication and modelling of atmospheric deposition in forests enable exposure and effect monitoring at high spatial density across scales

Key message

Moss surveys provide spatially dense data on environmental concentrations of heavy metals and nitrogen which, together with other biomonitoring and modelling data, can be used for indicating deposition to terrestrial ecosystems and related effects across time and areas of different spatial extension.

Context

For enhancing the spatial resolution of measuring and mapping atmospheric deposition by technical devices and by modelling, moss is used complementarily as bio-monitor.

Aims

This paper investigated whether nitrogen and heavy metal concentrations derived by biomonitoring of atmospheric deposition are statistically meaningful in terms of compliance with minimum sample size across several spatial levels (objective 1), whether this is also true in terms of geostatistical criteria such as spatial auto-correlation and, by this, estimated values for unsampled locations (objective 2) and whether moss indicates atmospheric deposition in a similar way as modelled deposition, tree foliage and natural surface soil at the European and country level, and whether they indicate site-specific variance due to canopy drip (objective 3).

Methods

Data from modelling and biomonitoring atmospheric deposition were statistically analysed by means of minimum sample size calculation, by geostatistics as well as by bivariate correlation analyses and by multivariate correlation analyses using the Classification and Regression Tree approach and the Random Forests method.

Results

It was found that the compliance of measurements with the minimum sample size varies by spatial scale and element measured. For unsampled locations, estimation could be derived. Statistically significant correlations between concentrations of heavy metals and nitrogen in moss and modelled atmospheric deposition, and concentrations in leaves, needles and soil were found. Significant influence of canopy drip on nitrogen concentration in moss was proven.

Conclusion

Moss surveys should complement modelled atmospheric deposition data as well as other biomonitoring approaches and offer a great potential for various terrestrial monitoring programmes dealing with exposure and effects.

     

Transglutaminase catalyzed cross-linking of sodium caseinate improves oxidative stability of flaxseed oil emulsion

Sodium caseinate was modified by transglutaminase catalyzed cross-linking reaction prior to the emulsification process in order to study the effect of cross-linking on the oxidative stability of protein stabilized emulsions. The extent of the cross-linking catalyzed by different dosages of transglutaminase was investigated by following the ammonia production during the reaction and using SDS-PAGE gel. O/W emulsions prepared with the cross-linked and non-cross-linked sodium caseinates were stored for 30 days under the same conditions. Peroxide value measurement, oxygen consumption measurement, and headspace gas chromatography analysis were used to study the oxidative stability of the emulsions. The emulsion made of the cross-linked sodium caseinate showed an improved oxidative stability with reduced formation of fatty acid hydroperoxides and volatiles and a longer period of low rate oxygen consumption. The improving effect of transglutaminase catalyzed cross-linking could be most likely attributed to the enhanced physical stability of the interfacial protein layer against competitive adsorption by oil oxidation products.     

Mapping Atmospheric Corrosion on Materials of Archaeological Importance in Athens

Atmospheric pollution is known to induce corrosion effects on various materials. For Greece, stone deterioration could emerge severe costs in the case of damaging cultural monuments. This work aims to investigate the corrosion process on materials of archaeological importance (marble, limestone, and sandstone) in the Greater Athens Area (GAA) by using sophisticated geoanalytical methods together with dose?Cresponse functions for selected materials, in order to derive corrosion maps for GAA in the period 2000?C2009. Also, a corrosion trend analysis is performed, which can be a very helpful tool for the prediction of potential risks to monuments of cultural heritage due to atmospheric pollution. The corrosion effects on the selected materials are generally weak. Nevertheless, increasing corrosion trends are found in the eastern regions of GAA for all sheltered materials and in the northern parts of GAA for unsheltered marble. The technique is finally applied to 12 locations in GAA, which include some of the most important archaeological monuments of Athens, and provides comprehensive results for the estimation of the impact of atmospheric corrosion on the structural materials of these archaeological sites.