Assessment of microbial activity by CO2 production during heating oil storage

Microbial activity is the driving force of the carbon cycle, including the digestion of biomass in the soil, oceans, and oil deposits. This natural diversity of microbial carbon sources poses challenges for humans. Contamination monitoring can be difficult in oil tanks and similar settings. To assess microbial activity in such industrial settings, off‐gas analysis can be employed by considering growth and non‐growth‐associated metabolic activity. In this work, we describe the monitoring of CO₂ as a method for measuring microbial activity. We revealed that the CO₂ signal corresponds to classical growth curves, exemplified by Pseudomonas fluorescens, Yarrowia lipolytica, and Penicillium chrysogenum. Deviations of the CO₂ signal from the growth curves occurred when the yield of biomass on the substrate changed (i.e., the non‐growth‐associated metabolic activities). We monitored CO₂ to track the onset of microbial contamination in an oil tank. This experimental setup was applied to determine the susceptibility of heating oil and biodiesel to microbial contamination long before the formation of problematic biofilms. In summary, the measurement of CO₂ production by bacteria, yeasts, and molds allowed the permanent monitoring of microbial activity under oil storage conditions without invasive sampling.     

大庆油田石油开采对土壤线虫群落的影响

选择大庆油田环境一致的6口油井,研究石油开采干扰对土壤线虫的影响。共鉴定出土壤线虫18科15属。食细菌线虫最多,共15属占总数的49.2%,其次为植物寄生线虫共9属,占30.6%,食真菌线虫4属,占17.6%,杂食/捕食线虫2属,占2.6%。其中优势类群为丝尾垫刃属Filenchus和头叶属Cephalobus,占总数的42.5%。常见类群包括13个属,占总数的51.7%。稀有类群15个属占总数的6.34%。土壤的线虫生活史策略以c-p 2所占比例最大,其次是c-p3和c-p 1类群,受油井开采作业等影响,线虫通过大量繁殖来应对环境的干扰与压力。不同油井线虫总数差异不显著,但所有油井线虫总数比对照明显减少(p<0.001)。不同油井线虫群落结构差异不大,各油井线虫富集指数和结构指数表明所有油井线虫受干扰程度较高,土壤食物网趋于退化。随着采样距离增加,线虫总量差异不显著,但线虫群落的物种数量增加,优势度指数和多样性指数逐渐增加。结果表明油井开采对土壤线虫群落有一定的影响,开采距离对线虫群落结构影响较大。     

Shift in the marginal supply of vegetable oil

Background, Aims and Scope

The consequential approach to system delimitation in LCA requires that consideration of the technologies and suppliers included are ‘marginal’, i.e. that they are actually affected by a change in demand. Furthermore, coproduct allocation must be avoided by system expansion. Vegetable oils constitute a significant product group included in many LCAs that are intended for use in decision support. This article argues that the vegetable oil market has faced major changes around the turn of the century. The aim of this study is to study the marginal supply of vegetable oil as it has shifted to palm oil and describe the product system of the new supply.

Methods

The methods for identification of marginal technologies and suppliers and for avoiding co-product allocation are based on the work of Weidema (2003). The marginal vegetable oil is identified on the basis of agricultural statistics on production volumes and prices. A co-product from palm oil production is palm kernel meal, which is used for fodder purposes where it has two main properties: protein and energy. When carrying out system expansion, these properties are taken into account.

Results

The major vegetable oils are soy oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil and sun oil. These oils are substitutable within the most common applications. Based on market trends, a shift from rapeseed oil to palm oil as the marginal vegetable oil is identified around the year 2000, when palm oil turns out to be the most competitive oil. It is recommended to regard palm oil and its dependent co-product palm kernel oil as the marginal vegetable oil. The analysis of the product system shows that the demand for 1 kg palm oil requires 4.49 kg FFB (oil palm fruit) and the displacement of 0.035 kg soybeans (marginal source of fodder protein) and 0.066 kg barley (marginal source of fodder energy).

Discussion

The identification of the marginal vegetable oil and the avoidance of co-product allocation by system expansion showed that several commodities may be affected when using the consequential approach. Hence, the product system for vegetable oils is relatively complex compared to traditional LCAs in which average technologies and suppliers are applied and in which co-product allocation is carried out by applying an allocation factor.

Conclusions

This article presents how the marginal vegetable oil can be identified and that co-product allocation between oils and meal can be avoided by system expansion, by considering the energy and protein content in the meal, which displaces a mix of the marginal sources of energy and protein for animal fodder (barley and soy meal, respectively).

Recommendations and Perspectives

The implication of a shift in the marginal vegetable oil is significant. Many LCAs on rapeseed oil have been conducted and are being used as decision support in the bio energy field. Thus, based on consequential LCA methodology, it is argued that these LCAs need to be revised, since they no longer focus on the oil actually affected.

     

Transformation of normal diploid cells by isolated metaphase chromosomes of virus-transformed or spontaneous tumor cells.

Normal diploid human cells with a limited life-span in culture, as well as primary or secondary cell cultures of mouse or rat embryos, can be transformed in vitro (i.e. grow in soft-agar or low-serum medium) after a single exposure to metaphase chromosomes from SV40-transformed human or rat cells, Ad5-transformed human cells and several spontaneous human or mouse tumor cells. Chromosomes from normal diploid cells do not show any such transforming activity. As judged from the number of colonies formed in selective medium, the efficiency of transformation is, with some exceptions, of the order of 10(-5)--10(-6) and is generally higher for homologous than for heterologous transfers. A fraction of the colonies demonstrate abortive transformation. Nevertheless, using chromosomes from all but one donor cell population, at least one transferent cell line expressing a stable transformed phenotype has been established. Our results demonstrate that transformation of normal diploid cells by a presumptive chromosome-mediated gene transfer can be obtained with a variety of donor and recipient cells.     

Effect of the triacontanol formulation ‘Miraculan’ on photosynthesis,growth, nutrient uptake,and essential oil yield of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) Steud. Watts

The influence of different foliar applications of the triacontanol (Tria.) based plant grow regulator-Miraculan, on growth, CO₂ exchange and essential oil accumulation in Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus L.) Steud. Watts. was studied in glass-house conditions. The yield components, viz., plant height, tillers per plant, biomass yield, accumulation of essential oil, net CO₂ exchange and transpiration rates increased with Miraculan treatment of 0.4 g/ml compared to the untreated control, but the number of leaves per tiller remained unaffected. Application of Miraculan at 0.4 g/ml increased micronutrient uptake, total chlorophyll and citral content but decreased chlorophyll a/b ratio and stomatal resistance. Increase in shoot biomass, photosynthesis and chlorophyll were significantly correlated with essential oil content.     

利用回交导入系群体定位大豆蛋白质含量与脂肪含量QTL

对大豆的蛋白质含量和脂肪含量进行QTL定位,可为其分子标记辅助育种提供依据。以回交导入系群体中黄13×中黄20的BC2F5的100个家系为材料,分析群体的SSR标记多态性,采用近红外光谱分析技术测定群体蛋白质含量和脂肪含量。构建了一张涵盖大豆20个连锁群、总长为948.01 c M、平均遗传距离为8.78 c M、包含108个SSR标记的大豆遗传连锁图谱。共检测到与蛋白质含量相关的QTL 5个,与脂肪含量相关的QTL 9个,其中Satt445~Sat_303连续2年被检测到与脂肪含量相关,Satt445~Sat_303与Satt543~Satt574均被检测到与蛋白质含量和脂肪含量相关,Sat_389~Satt590、Satt238~Satt388及Satt685~Sat_381均与脂肪含量相关。     

Interactions between age,sex, and hormones in experimental ischemic stroke

Age, sex, and gonadal hormones have profound effects on ischemic stroke outcomes, although how these factors impact basic stroke pathophysiology remains unclear. There is a plethora of inconsistent data reported throughout the literature, primarily due to differences in the species examined, the timing and methods used to evaluate injury, the models used, and confusion regarding differences in stroke incidence as seen in clinical populations vs. effects on acute neuroprotection or neurorepair in experimental stroke models. Sex and gonadal hormone exposure have considerable independent impact on stroke outcome, but these factors also interact with each other, and the contribution of each differs throughout the lifespan. The contribution of sex and hormones to experimental stroke will be the focus of this review. Recent advances and our current understanding of age, sex, and hormone interactions in ischemic stroke with a focus on inflammation will be discussed.     

Oil content and lipid composition of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) irrigated with saline water under greenhouse and field conditions

An intensive process of land deterioration of some regions in Uzbekistan including the Aral Sea basin has led to a significant increase in soil salinity levels and consequently to a considerable reduction of total fertile soil area, as these lands are of little use for plant growth. The area is estimated to be more than 1.4 million ha of seabed. As a result, there was an immediate need to cultivate new crops capable of stopping the movement of sands and the enlargement of saline soils. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is considered to be a moderately salt‐tolerant crop and, as such, one of a few crops well suited to the cropping systems of salt‐affected soils. It is used in Uzbekistan as a reserve crop when the culture of the main crop fails. In spite of the great economic importance of this oil, there is almost no available information in the literature on the effect of salinity on oil quality and its chemical ingredients. The purpose of the present study was to determine, in greenhouse and field experiments, how irrigation with saline water would influence content of oil, lipids and other lipophylic components in safflower. We found that irrigation of safflower with moderate concentrations of saline water seems feasible, as far as oil and lipid composition is concerned. Consequently, safflower might be a potential crop for lands of little use for plant growth in Uzbekistan or other similar sites in the world.     

Vanadium as a tracer of oil pollution in the sediments of Kuwait

Vanadium is important as an indicator of oil pollution since oil is one of the main contributors of vanadium to the environment and because most crude oils contain relatively high concentrations of vanadium (30.6 ± 14.3 mg kg^–1 were measured in nine different Kuwait crudes). If oil has settled to the bottom and biodegradation has taken place, it is obvious that enrichment of vanadium in the sediment may be observed.More than 200 sampling sites were selected in the coastal zone of Kuwait and sediment samples were analyzed for grain size distribution, CaC0₃ content, heavy metals and TOC. The analytical results were normalized by taking into account the natural background levels of vanadium in different sediment fractions.After evaluation of the results, vanadium enrichments of as much as 10 to 77 mg kg^–1 were found at 15 sampling locations and of 1 to 10 mg kg^–1 at many others. The areas of vanadium enrichment in the sediments were located 3–5 km from the shoreline in the areas of wastewater discharges, near oil loading piers and in the shipping channels. There was no correlation between vanadium and TOC indicating that biodegradation of oils had taken place. However, high TOC values in the sediments were determined in the near shore sediments around the outlets.     

Toxic and essential elements in children's blood (<6 years) from Kinshasa,DRC (the Democratic Republic of Congo)

In this study we determined the concentration of 9 trace elements (As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Mn, Mo, Pb, Se and Zn) in whole blood of children (n = 100, 64 girls, 36 boys and median age: 36 months) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The proportion of children potentially deficient in essential elements or poisoned by toxic elements was evaluated. The aging effects on the concentration of these elements were also investigated. The median values were 3.17 μg/L (As), 0.15 μg/L (Cd), 1.1 mg/L (Cu), 2.1 μg/L (Hg), 10.4 μg/L (Mn), 17.7 μg/L (Mo), 8.7 μg/dL (Pb), 10.7 μg/L (Se) and 5.0 mg/L (Zn). The concentration of many elements (As, Cd, Hg, Mn, Pb and Zn) showed significant age variations but not sex influence. Regarding levels of the essential elements (Cu, Mn, Mo, Se and Zn), B-Cu, B-Mn, B-Se and B-Zn were in the normal range, whereas exceeded levels were observed for B-Mo. None of these children was deficient in essential elements. Except B-Cd, all toxic elements showed exceeded blood levels. The proportion of children potentially poisoned by toxic elements varies from 10% (n = 10) to 95% (n = 95) and depends on toxic element: 95% for As, 10% for Hg and 35% for Pb. The main health concerns emerging from this study are the high As, Hg and Pb exposures of the Kinshasan children requiring further documentation, corrective actions and the implementation of appropriate regulations.