Bracken and locust ecdysones: their effects on molting in the desert locust

Bracken contains ecdysone derivatives that are active when injected into locusts. However, when fed to the desert locust as its sole or chief diet, it does not affect molting, growth, or development. There is evidence that, in locusts, the active ecdysones are dehydroxylated to (alpha)-ecdysone and passed out through the gut in the feces. There is no evidence for any uptake of ecdysones from the gut.     

Neutron and gamma ray scattering measurements for subsurface geochemistry

Developed for the oil industry, well logging instrumentation based on electrical, acoustic, and nuclear measurements has been providing information about the localization and evaluation of hydrocarbon-bearing strata for petroleum geologists and engineers since 1927. This method of exploring properties of the earth's crust without taking physical samples is attracting a growing audience of geologists and geophysicists because of recent developments that permit nondestructive measurements of subsurface geochemistry. A combination of nuclear measurement techniques, which use gamma ray and neutron sources, can provide detailed information on rock composition of interest to both industry and academia.     

典型农林复合系统氮素平衡污染与管理研究

采用田间试验、定位监测和参与式农户调查等方法，研究了农林复合系统氮素平衡和非点源污染特征。结果表明，目前早地和整个农田子系统氮素略有盈余，水稻田和复合系统有少量亏缺，林地亏缺较大，而20世纪60年代农田氮素严重亏缺，水土流失是产生亏缺的主要原因，模型评价表明，旱地和水稻田目前的氮素平衡基本合理，但化肥施用的剧增已导致农田气态氮素释放以及地表水和地下非点源污染风险的增加，研究显示，林地极大地减轻了系统水土流失，促进了氮素在各系统间的合理分配，合理施肥，保护林地，实施水保耕作和完善养分管理政策体系是减少农业氮素非点源污染的重要途径。     

Global carbon sinks and their variability inferred from atmospheric O2 and delta13C

Recent time-series measurements of atmospheric O2 show that the land biosphere and world oceans annually sequestered 1.4 +/- 0.8 and 2.0 +/- 0.6 gigatons of carbon, respectively, between mid-1991 and mid-1997. The rapid storage of carbon by the land biosphere from 1991 to 1997 contrasts with the 1980s, when the land biosphere was approximately neutral. Comparison with measurements of delta13CO2 implies an isotopic flux of 89 +/- 21 gigatons of carbon per mil per year, in agreement with model- and inventory-based estimates of this flux. Both the delta13C and the O2 data show significant interannual variability in carbon storage over the period of record. The general agreement of the independent estimates from O2 and delta13C is a robust signal of variable carbon uptake by both the land biosphere and the oceans.     

Cell death localization in situ in laboratory reared honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) larvae treated with pesticides

In this study, cell death detected by DNA fragmentation labeling and phosphatidylserine (PS) localization was investigated in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) midgut, salivary glands and ovaries after treating larvae with different pesticides offered via an artificial diet. To do this, honey bee larvae reared in an incubator were exposed to one of nine pesticides: chlorpyrifos, imidacloprid, amitraz, fluvalinate, coumaphos, myclobutanil, chlorothalonil, glyphosate and simazine. Following this, larvae were fixed and prepared for immunohistologically detected cellular death using two TUNEL techniques for DNA fragmentation labeling and Annexin V to detect the localization of exposed PS specific in situ binding to apoptotic cells. Untreated larvae experienced ∼10% midgut apoptotic cell death under controlled conditions. All applied pesticides triggered an increase in apoptosis in treated compared to untreated larvae. The level of cell death in the midgut of simazine-treated larvae was highest at 77% mortality and statistically similar to the level of cell death for chlorpyrifos (65%), imidacloprid (61%), myclobutanil (69%), and glyphosate (69%) treated larvae. Larvae exposed to fluvalinate had the lowest midgut columnar apoptotic cell death (30%) of any pesticide-treated larvae. Indications of elevated apoptotic cell death in salivary glands and ovaries after pesticide application were detected. Annexin V localization, indicative of apoptotic cell deletion, had an extensive distribution in the midgut, salivary glands and ovaries of pesticide-treated larvae. The data suggest that the tested pesticides induced apoptosis in tissues of honey bee larvae at the tested concentrations. Cell death localization as a tool for a monitoring the subclinical and sub-lethal effects of external influences on honey bee larval tissues is discussed.     

Significant increases in pulping efficiency in C4H-F5H-transformed poplars: improved chemical savings and reduced environmental toxins

The gene encoding ferulate 5-hydroxylase (F5H) was overexpressed in poplar (Populus tremula x Populus alba) using the cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) promoter to drive expression specifically in cells involved in the lignin biosynthetic pathway and was shown to significantly alter the mole percentage of syringyl subunits in the lignin, as determined by thioacidolysis. Analysis of poplar transformed with a C4H-F5H construct demonstrated significant increases in chemical (kraft) pulping efficiency from greenhouse-grown trees. Compared to wild-type wood, decreases of 23 kappa units and increases of >20 ISO brightness units were observed in trees exhibiting high syringyl monomer concentrations. These changes were associated with no significant modification in total lignin content and no observed phenotypic differences. C4H-F5H-transformed trees could increase pulp throughputs at mills by >60% while concurrently decreasing chemicals employed during processing (chemical pulping and bleaching) and, consequently, the amount of deleterious byproducts released into the environment.     

Re-analysis of species associational data using bootstrap significance tests

Re-analysis with the bootstrap technique of species associational data obtained in 1973 at a waste discharge site showed that stations previously accepted as apparently similar could actually be significantly different. Two station pairs with almost identical similarities (Bray-Curtis Coefficients of 0.85 and 0.84) were found to be significantly different (P 0.040) in the first case, but not significantly different in the second (P 0.78). The significantly different pair reflected differences that can arise between sampling stations impacted by light deposits of mine tailings. The other clustered pair (not significantly different) comprised two depauperate stations that had received heavy tailings deposition. A similarity of 0.67 between samples obtained using two types of samplers (Van Veen and Ponar) at one station showed a significant difference (P 0.0002). This supported previous suspicion that the samplers were collecting differently, although this had not been demonstrated by the cluster analysis used in 1973. However the use of either sampler's data in the cluster analysis had only trivial effect on similarity levels, and no effect on the significance tests.     

Direct drilling,shallow tine-cultivation and ploughing on a silt loam soil, 1974–1980

Results are given for an experiment in which direct drilling, shallow tine-cultivation and ploughing were compared on a silt loam soil over 7 years. A rotation of cereal and oilseed rape crops was established to minimise a possible interaction between disease, particularly take-all (Gaeumannomyces graminis), and cultivation treatment. Over the six harvest years shallow tillage produced on average a 6 and 9% heavier yield than ploughing and direct drilling, respectively. The importance of surface soil conditions at the time of seedling establishment was clearly evident. In years when the passage of the direct drill caused little soil disturbance and seeds were placed in a smeared slot, and particularly when crop residues were pressed into the slot, plant populations were diminished and so were yields. The degree of soil shattering by the passage of the drill and the consequent friability of the tilth varied between the extremes of water content of the top soil (0–5 cm). Direct drilling produced larger yields relative to ploughing after the first three seasons and this may reflect the increased organic matter content and stability of the soil aggregates in the surface layer (0–2.5 cm) which have already been reported for this soil. These changes may have facilitated the greater friability of the soil and the creation of tilth by the passage of the drill which ensured uniform germination and rapid establishment of the seedlings.The site was characterised by variations in the depth of topsoil over gravel (< 50 to > 100 cm), and the deepest soil gave the heaviest yield. This effect was relatively greater in dry seasons but it never interacted with the effect of tillage method.