A study of the gaseous and particulate pollutants in the environment of a thermal power plant project area

Observations on gaseous and particulate pollutants were undertaken at four locations in the region of a thermal power plant (TPP), which is under construction at Tuticorin, south India. The predicted concentrations Of SO₂ due to the emissions from the TPP and its possible impact on the inhabitants and climate in the downwind region were evaluated. Also, the predicted concentrations downwind of a Petrochemical Industrial Complex (PIC) located in the vicinity of the TPP were computed and compared with the measured concentrations. The predicted maximum concentration of SO₂ at 6 km downwind of TPP is about 530 μg m^?3 under most favourable wind conditions. The anticipated increase in SO₂ due to the thermal power plant under construction may therefore be substantial. The predicted concentrations Of SO₂, at a distance of 1.8 km downwind of the PIC, varied between 34 and 216 μg m^?3 for wind directions ranging from 70 to 90° and for Pasquill stability category C. The plume would be over the observational site when the wind direction is 80°. The maximum measured concentration was 23 ug m^?3. The discrepancy was due to the rapid fluctuations in the wind direction during the observational period over a wide range from 20 to 90°.     

Biosynthesis of 14C-phytoene from tomato cell suspension cultures (Lycopersicon esculentum) for utilization in prostate cancer cell culture studies

This work describes the development and utilization of a plant cell culture production approach to biosynthesize and radiolabel phytoene and phytofluene for prostate cancer cell culture studies. The herbicide norflurazon was added to established cell suspension cultures of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. VFNT cherry), to induce the biosynthesis and accumulation of the lycopene precursors, phytoene and phytofluene, in their natural isomeric forms (15-cis-phytoene and two cis-phytofluene isomers). Norflurazon concentrations, solvent carrier type and concentration, and duration of culture exposure to norflurazon were screened to optimize phytoene and phytofluene synthesis. Maximum yields of both phytoene and phytofluene were achieved after 7 days of treatment with 0.03 mg norflurazon/40 mL fresh medium, provided in 0.07% solvent carrier. Introduction of 14C-sucrose to the tomato cell culture medium enabled the production of 14C-labeled phytoene for subsequent prostate tumor cell uptake studies. In DU 145 prostate tumor cells, it was determined that 15-cis-phytoene and an oxidized product of phytoene were taken up and partially metabolized by the cells. The ability to biosynthesize, radiolabel, and isolate these carotenoids from tomato cell cultures is a novel, valuable methodology for further in vitro and in vivo investigations into the roles of phytoene and phytofluene in cancer chemoprevention.     

Public health nutrition practice in Canada: a situational assessment

OBJECTIVE: Renewed focus on public health has brought about considerable interest in workforce development among public health nutrition professionals in Canada. The present article describes a situational assessment of public health nutrition practice in Canada that will be used to guide future workforce development efforts. METHODS: A situational assessment is a planning approach that considers strengths and opportunities as well as needs and challenges, and emphasizes stakeholder participation. This situational assessment consisted of four components: a systematic review of literature on public health nutrition workforce issues; key informant interviews; a PEEST (political, economic, environmental, social, technological) factor analysis; and a consensus meeting. FINDINGS:Information gathered from these sources identified key nutrition and health concerns of the population; the need to define public health nutrition practice, roles and functions; demand for increased training, education and leadership opportunities; inconsistent qualification requirements across the country; and the desire for a common vision among practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the situational assessment were used to create a three-year public health nutrition workforce development strategy. Specific objectives of the strategy are to define public health nutrition practice in Canada, develop competencies, collaborate with other disciplines, and begin to establish a new professional group or leadership structure to promote and enhance public health nutrition practice. The process of conducting the situational assessment not only provided valuable information for planning purposes, but also served as an effective mechanism for engaging stakeholders and building consensus.     

Optimization of lycopene extraction from tomato cell suspension culture by response surface methodology

Radioisotope-labeled lycopene is an important tool for biomedical research but currently is not commercially available. A tomato cell suspension culture system for the production of radioisotope-labeled lycopene was previously developed in our laboratory. In the current study, the goal was to optimize the lycopene extraction efficiency from tomato cell cultures for preparatory high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation. We employed response surface methodology (RSM), which combines fractional factorial design and a second-degree polynomial model. Tomato cells were homogenized with ethanol, saponified by KOH, and extracted with hexane, and the lycopene content was analyzed by HPLC-PDA. We varied five factors at five levels: ethanol volume (1.33-4 mL/g); homogenization period (0-40 s/g); saturated KOH solution volume (0-0.67 mL/g); hexane volume (1.67-3 mL/g); and vortex period (5-25 s/g). Ridge analysis by SAS suggested that the optimal extraction procedure to extract 1 g of tomato cells was at 1.56 mL of ethanol, 28 s homogenization, 0.29 mL of KOH, 2.49 mL of hexane, and 17.5 s vortex. These optimal conditions predicted by RSM were confirmed to enhance lycopene yield from standardized tomato cell cultures by more than 3-fold.     

Textural Stability of Intermediate‐Moisture Extrudates: Effects of Formulation

Effects of formulation on the textural stability of intermediate‐moisture, flour‐based, “jerky”‐type extrudates were assessed. Potato‐based extrudates containing various particulate‐meat concentrations and different plasticizers (sucrose, fructose, glycerol, and glucose) were produced and subjected to accelerated storage for three weeks. The elastic modulus of the samples was measured before storage and then weekly. The relative fluidity and moisture mobility of the specimens were assessed by dynamic mechanical spectrometry (DMS), electron spin resonance (ESR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Samples were also evaluated by fluorometry and X‐ray diffraction to determine the extent of browning reaction and degree of molecular ordering, respectively. While elastic modulus increased appreciably during storage, firming was progressively reduced by entrained meat content and also by plasticizers, especially glycerol; plasticized and meat‐containing samples had correspondingly lower tan δ peak temperatures as measured by DMS. Textural results were also in keeping with fluidity and local viscosity as assessed by ESR measurements. NMR T1 relaxation values, reflecting moisture mobility, increased during storage. Diffraction spectra were consistent with published observations of hydrated starch, suggesting that water may have been released due to increased association of proteinaceous constituents. Fluorescence measurements confirmed moderate Maillard browning in all samples and significant chlorogenic browning in glucose‐containing samples, although these effects were unrelated to degree of firming. It was concluded that textural stability was optimized by interruption of the matrix by dispersed meat or by plasticization by low molecular weight constituents.     

Legume residue influence arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation and P uptake by wheat

Legumes have been shown to increase growth and P uptake of the following cereal. This could, in part, be due to nutrients released by the decomposing legume residues. To investigate the effect of P added with legume residues on wheat growth, P uptake and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonisation, a number of experiments were conducted with different legume residues added to a soil with low P availability under conditions in which N was not limiting. Young and mature faba bean shoots (FYS, FMS) and mature chickpea shoots (CP) were added to soil at different rates (0.5–2%, w/w) with the P concentration being the greatest in the young faba bean shoots and least in the mature chickpea residues. Other treatments included addition of inorganic P at different rates (0–80 mg P kg⁻¹). Available P, growth and P uptake and AM colonisation of wheat were measured after 6 weeks. As expected, inorganic P addition increased growth and P uptake but decreased AM colonisation. The effect of the residues was more complex. AM colonisation was not correlated with available P in the soil amended with residues, whereas there was significant negative correlation between available P and AM colonisation in the treatments with inorganic P. Addition of FYS increased wheat shoot growth and P uptake and decreased AM colonisation. However, FMS and CP addition not only decreased wheat growth and P uptake but also AM colonisation despite low soil P availability. It is concluded that addition of some legume residues can improve the growth of subsequent cereals, but others have a negative effect on wheat growth and AM colonisation which cannot be explained solely by soil P availability.