Water relations in eggs of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, with experimental work on the capacity for water vapor absorption

This study shows that water stress is not countered in eggs of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), using water vapor, and suggests involvement of liquid water as a developmental cue. Eggs fail to maintain an equilibrium water content in subsaturated air, hence, gain not equal to loss, with net water losses occurring at relative humidities near saturation and these eggs exhibit a three-fold drop in viability, but not incubation period, as compared to eggs held in saturated air. Amblyomma americanum eggs are stenohydric and feature low 58% water content, slow water losses <1%/h, and an impermeable chorion wherein the Arrhenius activation energy, Ea = -66J/K, is suppressed. Thus, enhancement of water retention, not water vapor absorption, permits eggs to resist desiccation.     

Laboratory studies of air stripping of VOC‐contaminated soils

Bench‐scale laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of air stripping for in situ remediation of benzene‐contaminated soils. Several parametric studies were performed to evaluate the effect of soil grain size, air injection flow rate, and air inlet temperature on the benzene recovery efficiency.

An increase in soil grain size produced a significant increase in benzene recovery efficiency especially during the early stages of air injection. After 2 h of treatment, an increase in soil grain size from D₅₀ = 0.31 mm to D₅₀ = 1.20 mm resulted in an increase in benzene recovery efficiency from 49 to 65%. When the air‐flow rate was increased from 5 l/min to 10 l/min, the benzene recovery efficiency increased from 56 to 70% after 4 h of venting operation. Maximum recovery of benzene was reached after approximately 37 h of soil venting at a flow rate of 5 l/min and after approximately 24 h at a flow rate of 10 l/min. Preheating the air to 45°C at the inlet resulted in an increase in recovery efficiency from 70 to 90% after 5 h of air stripping.     

Water vapor uptake and photosynthesis of lichens: performance differences in species with green and blue-green algae as phycobionts

Summary Dry lichen thalli were enclosed in gas exchange chambers and treated with an air stream of high relative humidity (96.5 to near 100%) until water potential equilibrium was reached with the surrounding air (i.e., no further increase of weight through water vapor uptake). They were then sprayed with liquid water. The treatment took place in the dark and was interrupted by short periods of light. CO₂ exchange during light and dark respiration was monitored continuously. With no exception water uptake in all of the lichen species with green algae as phycobionts lead to reactivation of the photosynthetic metabolism. Further-more, high rates of CO₂ assimilation were attained without the application of liquid water. To date 73 species with different types of Chlorophyceae phycobionts have been tested in this and other studies. In contrast, hydration through high air humidity alone failed to stimulate positive net photosynthesis in any of the lichens with blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria). These required liquid water for CO₂ assimilation. So far 33 species have been investigated, and all have behaved similarly. These have included gelatinous as well as heteromerous species, most with Nostoc phycobionts but in addition some with three other Cyanophyceae phycobionts. The same phycobiont performance differences existed even within the same genus (e.g. Lobaria, Peltigera) between species pairs containing green or blue-green phycobionts respectively. Free living algae also seem to behave in a similar manner. Carbon isotope ratios of the lichen thalli suggest that a definite ecological difference exists in water status-dependent photosynthesis of species with green and blue-green phycobionts. The underlying biochemical or biophysical mechanisms are not yet understood. Apparently, a fundamental difference in the structure of the two groups of algae is involved.     

Bound Water and Cryptobiosis:Thermodynamic Properties of Water at Biopolymer Surfaces

The molecular mechanisms underlying the adaptations to water loss developed in several tardigrade species remain poorly understood. It seems, however, that the binding of the disaccharide trehalose to membranes and other cellular components at low water contents is important for the tolerance to extreme drought. Trehalose is thus thought to replace interfacial- or “bound” water and enhance the conformational stability of labile macromolecules. To gain further insight into this we investigate here thermodynamic properties of water bound to the protein lysozyme at low water content (<100 water molecules pr. protein). It appears that this surface water has a higher enthalpy and higher entropy than the bulk liquid. These observations call for re-evaluation of the term “bound water” since “bound” carries the connotation of a low-energy, ordered (i.e. low-entropy) state.

To rationalize these observations it is suggested that — in addition to the self-evident energetic contribution from biopolymer-water contacts — the properties of interfacial water are dominated by two effects. These are i) the ability of water to facilitate fast movements of individual parts of biopolymers and ii) the high molecular cohesion in the aqueous bulk. Thus, the hydration of a surface leads to enhanced flexibility in the biopolymer and breakage in the network of hydrogen bonding in the liquid bulk, and these effects collectively increase the enthalpy and entropy of the system. As a result, the thermodynamic parameters of hydration of lysozyme carry the thermodynamic hallmarks of an order → disorder process, even for the first hundred (i.e. most strongly associated) water molecules. We discuss these data for protein hydration together with some recent, very similar observations for the hydration of lipid bilayer membranes.     

Significance of organic chemical adsorption in soil and groundwater remediation

Adsorption of organic chemicals onto soils is affected by a number of factors related to the soil properties, chemical type, and environment. Organic chemical adsorption has significant impact on soil and groundwater cleanup criteria and on the time required for remediation using in situ vapor extraction, bioventing, and biosparging methods. Phase equilibrium relationships will permit specifying the contaminant concentration levels in soil that would prevent groundwater contamination beyond the limits prescribed by provincial regulations. Computer programs that neglect the adsorption effects will significantly underestimate the time required for soil remediation by vapor extraction.     

Thidiazuron-induced high-frequency direct shoot organogenesis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cannabis sativa</Emphasis> L.

Induction of high-frequency shoot regeneration using nodal segments containing axillary buds from a 1-yr-old mother plants of Cannabis sativa was achieved on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.05–5.0 μM thidiazuron. The quality and quantity of regenerants were better with thidiazuron (0.5 μM thidiazuron) than with benzyladenine or kinetin. Adding 7.0 μM of gibberellic acid into a medium containing 0.5 μM thidiazuron slightly increased shoot growth. Elongated shoots when transferred to half-strength MS medium supplemented with 500 mg l⁻¹ activated charcoal and 2.5 μM indole-3-butyric acid resulted in 95% rooting. The rooted plants were successfully acclimatized in soil. Following acclimatization, growth performance of 4-mo-old in vitro propagated plants was compared with ex vitro vegetatively grown plants of the same age. The photosynthesis and transpiration characteristics were studied under different light levels (0, 500, 1,000, 1,500, or 2,000 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹). An increase in photosynthesis was observed with increase in the light intensity up to 1,500 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ and then decreased subsequently at higher light levels in both types of plants. However, the increase was more pronounced at lower light intensities below 500 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹. Stomatal conductance and transpiration increased with light intensity up to highest level (2000 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹) tested. Intercellular CO₂ concentration (C _i) and the ratio of intercellular CO₂ concentration to ambient CO₂ (C _i/C _a) decreased with the increase in light intensity in both in vitro as well as ex vitro raised plants. The results show that in vitro propagated and hardened plants were functionally comparable to ex vitro plants of same age in terms of gas and water vapor exchange characteristics, within the limits of this study.     

First Principles Prediction of Gas-Phase Composition and Substrate Temperature for Diamond Film Growth

Abstract

A model consisting of ten hydrocarbon species and eight reactions is proposed to describe the gas-phase chemistry of diamond film growth. Based on the model, the gas-phase compositions of the chemical species were computed assuming thermodynamic equilibrium using molecular and transition-state data predicted by ab initio molecular orbital theory, and thermodynamic quantities calculated by statistical mechanics. Although the absolute compositions predicted by the model are in fair agreement with experimental data available in the literature, the model qualitatively accounts for experimentally observed changes in the concentrations of various gas-phase species with increasing addition of methane to the feed gas. The calculations also predict the pattern of temperature variance in the gas-phase close to the substrate with changes in methane concentration in the feed gas, leading to first-principles predictions of favorable conditions for diamond growth.     

植物功能群去除对内蒙古典型草原羊草群落土壤碳、氮库的影响

2005—2007年,通过野外植物功能群去除试验,研究了内蒙古典型草原羊草群落植物多样性变化对土壤表层碳、氮库的影响.结果表明：典型草原生态系统表层土壤全碳、全氮含量年际变化较小(＜15%),2005年的土壤全碳、全氮含量与2006、2007年无显著差异(P>0.05),但2006年的土壤全碳、全氮含量显著高于2007年(P<0.05);无机氮含量年际变化较大,2006年铵态氮含量比2007年高80%,差异显著(P<0.05),而硝态氮含量年变化不显著(P>0.05).去除植物功能群的数量和土壤硝态氮含量存在显著的线性正相关(P<0.05).说明植物物种多样性降低使土壤硝态氮含量增加,可能导致土壤氮的淋溶损失.     

Quantifying the Influence of Stack and Wind Effects on Vapor Intrusion

This article develops mathematical relationships for quantifying how the stack effect, wind effect, and effective leakage area influence the rates of subslab soil gas entry and outdoor air infiltration into residential buildings. The equations developed in the article are based on combining existing theory for air infiltration into buildings with existing vapor intrusion modeling methods. Use of the equations for estimating the subslab soil gas attenuation factor for assessing inhalation exposure via vapor intrusion into residential buildings is illustrated with example simulations using 1 year of hourly temperature and wind speed data from a Northeastern U.S. city and with several distributions of the effective leakage area from a U.S. residential air leakage database. The simulation results make clear that the soil gas entry rate and the building's ventilation rate are positively correlated, and this correlation mutes the influence of stack and wind effects on the subslab attenuation factor. The examples also suggest that the subslab attenuation factor for most residential buildings is likely to be less than 0.003 most of the time.     

The effect of vapor pressure deficit on maize transpiration response to a drying soil

A decline in plant transpiration has been widely observed to occur within a fairly stable range of threshold values of fraction transpirable soil water (FTSW), usually 0.3–0.4. However, the stability of this function has not been compared at various levels of atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Soil hydraulic conductivity is likely to be involved in determining the threshold where water supply is limiting. Thus, it was hypothesized that at a high VPD resulting in increased transpiration rates, the FTSW threshold for the decline of transpiration rates as a result of drying soil would be increased. This study was undertaken in controlled environment chambers with two maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids (Pioneer Brand Hybrids `3165' and `3737') so as to subject plants to four VPD levels (1.1, 2.0, 2.9 and 3.6 kPa) during a soil drying experiment. In contrast to the original hypothesis, there was little ( 0.05 FTSW) change in the threshold FTSW in response to increased VPD for either hybrid. In fact, over the narrow 0.31–0.38 FTSW range observed, the two hybrids showed opposite trends in FTSW threshold as VPD increased. These results supported the view that the FTSW threshold for the decline in transpiration with drying soil is stable, showing little sensitivity to changes in VPD.