Effects of dykes on plant species composition in a large lowland river floodplain

The effects of floodplain fragmentation by dykes on grassland vegetation were evaluated through field studies along the Middle Elbe River (federal states Saxony‐Anhalt and Brandenburg, Germany). Plant species composition was examined in 206 sites between 1996 and 1998 in the entire floodplain, which can be divided into the floodplain types ‘recent floodplain’, ‘older floodplain’ (which is separated from the recent one by dykes) and the ‘margin of the floodplain’ (which is the part of the older floodplain that forms the boundary and is furthest from the river). Dynamics in hydrology were examined weekly between November 1996 and February 1999 with the help of 40 water level wells which were installed near the studied sites. The hydrological parameters ‘average water level’, ‘average groundwater level’, ‘flooding duration’, ‘flooding depth higher 50 cm above soil surface’ and ‘standard deviation of the water level line’ were calculated to characterize the considered floodplain types and to relate species composition to hydrology. Furthermore several parameters of current management of the vegetation were recorded to evaluate the importance of land use versus hydrology for floodplain grasslands. Detrended and canonical correspondence analysis (DCA, CCA) were used to identify major environmental gradients governing the vegetation and to determine if there is a relationship between the different locations within the floodplain, variation in species composition, and gradients of measured environmental variables. The results indicate that the vegetation is closely related to a combination of water level fluctuations, which are different among the floodplain types, and soil moisture, while type and intensity of current management are not important in this context. The results of contingency tables underline the significance of dykes for the occurrence and absence of individual species among the floodplain types. The observed patterns can also be explained by the different hydrological properties of the recent and older floodplain as the results of logistic regression reveal. Furthermore, disturbance and dispersal processes and their alteration by dykes have to be taken into account to explain the pattern of species occurrence. Partial ordination detected residual differences in vegetation among the different floodplain types after accounting for the effects of the measured environmental variables. Grain size distribution is discussed as a further factor that might influence species composition. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of co-initiator structure on photoinitiating efficiency of photoredox couples composed of quinoline[2,3-b]-1H-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridinium bromide and phenoxyacetic acid or N,N-dimethylaniline derivatives.

Summary  Two groups of electron donors (phenoxyacetic acid derivatives, PAADs, and the family of N,N-dimethylaniline derivatives DMADs) in combination with quinoline[2,3-b]-1H-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridinium bromide (QIPB) were applied as photoinitiator for free radical polymerization induced with UV emission of an argon-ion laser (351 and 361 nm). Analysis of the data obtained for the initial time of photoinitiated polymerization indicates that both, the rate of electron transfer process between QIPB and tested co-initiators as well as the structure of obtained free radical can affect the overall photoinitiation ability of tested photoredox pairs.     

Thermodynamic properties of malonic, succinic, and glutaric acids: evaporation rates and saturation vapor pressures

This work provides thermodynamic data, in particular, liquid-state saturation vapor pressures of three common slightly water soluble secondary organic aerosol components, namely, malonic, succinic, and glutaric acids. A modified tandem differential mobility analyzer system was used to measure evaporation rates of nanometer sized aqueous malonic, succinic, and glutaric acid droplets at relative humidities and temperatures relevant in the lower troposphere. Liquid phase saturation vapor pressures and other thermodynamic properties were derived from the measurements using a binary condensation model. The obtained expressions for liquid phase saturation vapor pressures compare well with extrapolated literature data. The importance of the choice of method for calculating activity coefficients is discussed.     

Coupled Supercritical Fluid Extraction/Chromatography of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Correlation with Solubility Calculations

The solubility of: naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, pyrene, and chrysene in supercritical CO₂ at two temperatures and pressures up to 200 atm were calculated from fugacities derived via the Peng-Robinson equation of state. The calculated solubilities were correlated with the results of experiments in which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in fuel mixtures were extracted with supercritical CO₂ and analysed by supercritical fluid chromatography and by gas chromatography.     

Wall effects in smog chamber experiments: A model study

Wall losses of condensable organic vapors are a significant complication for smog-chamber experiments designed to constrain production of Secondary Organic Aerosols (SOA). Here we develop a dynamical mass-balance model based on the Volatility Basis Set (VBS) to explore various pathways for mass transfer between the bulk of a smog-chamber volume (the vapors and suspended particles) and reservoirs near the chamber walls (deposited and/or nucleated particles on the walls, adsorption to the walls, and sorption into Teflon walls). We consider various limiting cases and explore the sensitivity of inferred SOA yields to assumptions about the actual parameters in a given SOA experiment. We also present data suggesting that adsorptive uptake to Teflon for typical SOA is modest. Broadly, we find that walls become a sink for condensable vapors when those vapors interact with either deposited particles of the Teflon walls, with qualitatively similar effects on the suspended particles. Finally, we show that having a relatively high seed condensation sink is vital to reliable chamber mass balances.

Copyright © 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Proteomic analysis of serum of workers occupationally exposed to arsenic, cadmium, and lead for biomarker research: A preliminary study

The main factor of environmental contamination is the presence of the heavy metals lead, cadmium, and arsenic. The aim of serum protein profile analysis of people chronically exposed to heavy metals is to find protein markers of early pathological changes. The study was conducted in a group of 389 healthy men working in copper foundry and 45 age-matched non-exposed healthy men. Toxicological test samples included whole blood, serum, and urine. Thirty-seven clinical parameters were measured. Based on the parameters values of the healthy volunteers, the centroid in 37-dimensional space was calculated. The individuals in the metal-exposed and control groups were ordered based on the Euclidean distance from the centroid defined by the first component according to Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Serum samples of two individuals, one from the control and one from the metal-exposed group, were chosen for proteomic analysis. In optimized conditions of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), two protein maps were obtained representing both groups. Twenty-eight corresponding protein spots from both protein maps were chosen and identified based on PDQuest analysis and the SWISS-2DPAGE database. From a panel of six proteins with differences in expression greater than a factor of two, three potential markers with the highest differences were selected: hemoglobin-spot 26 (pI 7.05, Mw 10.53), unidentified protein-spot 27 (pI 6.73, Mw 10.17), and unidentified protein-spot 25 (pI 5.75, Mw 12.07). Further studies are required to prove so far obtained results. Identified proteins could serve as potential markers of preclinical changes and could be in the future included in biomonitoring of people exposed to heavy metals.