Fucoidan Extracted from Fucus Evanescens Prevents Endotoxin-Induced Damage in a Mouse Model of Endotoxemia

An important problem of treating patients with endotoxemia is to find drugs to reduce the negative effects of endotoxin on the organism. We tested fucoidan (sulfated polysaccharide) from the brown alga Fucus evanescens as a potential drug in a mouse model of endotoxemia inducted by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The survival time of mice injected with LPS increased under fucoidan treatment compared with the group of mice injected with LPS only. The preventive administration of fucoidan to mice with endotoxemia resulted in inhibition of increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines (TNFα and IL-6), as well as decreasing of the processes of hypercoagulability. The parenteral or per os administration of fucoidan resulted in decreasing the degree of microcirculatory disorders and secondary dystrophic-destructive changes in parenchymal organs of mice with endotoxemia. Taken together, these results demonstrate that fucoidan prevents endotoxin-induced damage in a mouse model of endotoxemia and increases the mice’s resistance to LPS.     

Long-term dynamics of Collembola in two contrasting ecosystems

The dynamics of collembolan communities were investigated in a spruce forest and in a dry natural meadow (Moscow Region, Russia) from 1991 to 1998. The long-term dynamics of springtail communities were compared to understand the role of external and internal factors responsible for changes over time. The two springtail communities were similiar in species richness (54 and 52 species), species diversity, as well as their rank/dominance distribution patterns. There were two dominant species in the forest, Isotomiella minor (Schäff.) and Parisotoma notabilis (Schäff.), and three in the meadow, P. notabilis, Lepidocyrtus lignorum (Fabr.) and Protaphorura armata Gisin. Community organization was much more stable over time in the forest than in the meadow. Population densities of the two dominant species changed synchronously and correlated with mean monthly temperature in the forest. In the meadow, densities of only some dominant species (P. notabilis and L. lignorum) correlated with each other and with temperature. It is supposed that a constant organization of collembolan communities through time arises as a result of successional changes over long periods with relatively stable conditions allowing the gradual formation of complexes of dominant species.     

Transformation of carbonate pedofeatures in paleosols buried under kurgans in the North Caucasus region

Carbonate concentrations in a chronosequence of paleosols buried under kurgans in the North Caucasus region at the end of the 4th century and the first half of the 5th century AD have been studied with the use of a set of morphological and isotopic methods. It is demonstrated that morphologically different phases of calcite—the collomorphic phase and the crystalline phase—in carbonate pedofeatures (calcareous pseudomycelium) and in the calcareous horizon have different elemental compositions and different isotopic compositions of carbon. Hence, these forms of calcite should have different origins. An addition of colloidal carbonates migrating in colloidal solutions from the lower soil horizons to the surface horizons during the periods of climatic aridization to the acicular calcite may be responsible for a sharp and irregular increase in the radiocarbon age of the newly formed carbonate pseudomycelium.     

Carbon dioxide,methane, and nitrous oxide fluxes in soil catena across the right bank of the Oka River (Moscow oblast)

The flux rates of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the soils on autonomous, transitional, transitional-accumulative, and accumulative positions of a catena on the Oka River’s right bank (Moscow oblast) were assessed using the chamber method. The lowest rate of C-CO₂ emission (18.8–29.8 mg/m² per hour) was found for the gray forest soil in the autonomous position, and the highest rate (52.4–66.1 mg/m² per hour) was found for the alluvial meadow soil of the accumulative landscape. In the summer, the uptake of methane from the atmosphere exceeded its release from the soil at all the points of the catena (9–38 μg/m² per hour). The highest rate of the C-CH₄ uptake was observed for the soil in the transitional position. In the fall, the soils in the autonomous, transitional, and transitional-accumulative positions served as a sink of C-CH₄, and the soil of the accumulative position was a source of methane emission. The rate of the N-N₂O emission from the catena soils increased when going from the autonomous position to the accumulative one (0.41–11.2 μg/m² per hour). The spatial variation of the C-CO₂, C-CH₄, and N-N₂O fluxes within the catena was 33, 172, and 138%, respectively. The upper (0- to 10-cm) soil layer made the major contribution to the emission of carbon dioxide. This soil layer was characterized by its C-CH₄ uptake, and the emission of methane was typical for the deeper (0- to 20-cm) layer. The layers deeper than 10 and 20 cm emitted more N-N₂O than the surface layer.     

Suppression of atmospheric corrosion of brass using volatile inhibitors

It is known that brass is the construction material widely used when manufacturing agricultural equipment. An effective volatile inhibitor is offered to protect it from corrosion in the atmosphere of the livestock premises with 100% and close to it relative humidity of the air containing the stimulators of this process—CO₂, NH₃, H2S—in the concentrations that multiply exceed the background ones. A range of methods—weight corrosion tests and electrochemical measurements (potentiodynamic polarization, polarization resistance, fixed in the automatic mode)—define the conditions under which the inhibitors of the IFKHAN series multiply slow down the corrosion of brass. The general corrosion rate of L62 brass is decreased ten times in the presence of all studied inhibitors of this series in the atmosphere containing up to 20 mg/m³ of H₂S and 100% relative humidity. It is most reasonable to use the IFKHAN-112 inhibitor with the ammonia content up to 30 mg/m₃ in the maximum humid atmosphere.     

Biological Activity of Brown Semidesert Soils of the Baer Knolls

Eurasian Soil Science - We have evaluated the biological activity of brown semidesert soils (Eutric Cambisols (Loamic, Protocalcic)) of the Baer Knolls (Astrakhan oblast) formed under different...     

Change in polysaccharide content in grain raw material during preparation for producing whole grain bread under enzymatic hydrolysis conditions

Results of investigating the effect of enzymatic treatment during soaking of wheat and triticale grain on a change in its moisture and polysaccharide content in the grain mass are presented. The expediency of using the preparation Celloviridin G20x when preparing grain for producing whole grain bread is shown.     

Mineralization of organic matter and the carbon sequestration capacity of zonal soils

The susceptibility of soil organic matter (SOM) to mineralization decreases in the following sequence of zonal soils: tundra soil > soddy-podzolic soil > gray forest soil > chestnut soil > dark chestnut soil > chernozem. The content of potentially mineralizable organic matter in the plowed soils is 1.9–3.9 times lower than that in their virgin analogues. The highest soil carbon sequestration capacity (SCSC) is typical of the leached chernozems, and the lowest SCSC is typical of the tundra soil. Taking into account the real soil temperatures and the duration of the warm season, the SCSC values decrease in the following sequence: leached chernozem > dark chestnut soil > chestnut soil ≥ tundra soil > gray forest soil > soddy-podzolic soil. Arable soils are characterized by higher SCSC values in comparison with their virgin analogues.