Role of soil health in maintaining environmental sustainability of surface coal mining

Mountaintop coal mining (MCM) in the Southern Appalachian forest region greatly impacts both soil and aquatic ecosystems. Policy and practice currently in place emphasize water quality and soil stability but do not consider upland soil health. Here we report soil organic carbon (SOC) measurements and other soil quality indicators for reclaimed soils in the Southern Appalachian forest region to quantify the health of the soil ecosystem. The SOC sequestration rate of the MCM soils was 1.3 MgC ha(-1) yr(-1) and stocks ranged from 1.3 ± 0.9 to 20.9 ± 5.9 Mg ha(-1) and contained only 11% of the SOC of surrounding forest soils. Comparable reclaimed mining soils reported in the literature that are supportive of soil ecosystem health had SOC stocks 2.5-5 times greater than the MCM soils and sequestration rates were also 1.6-3 times greater. The high compaction associated with reclamation in this region greatly reduces both the vegetative rooting depth and infiltration of the soil and increases surface runoff, thus bypassing the ability of soil to naturally filter groundwater. In the context of environmental sustainability of MCM, it is proposed that the entire watershed ecosystem be assessed and that a revision of current policy be conducted to reflect the health of both water and soil.     

BACTERIAL EXPRESSION OF THE BIFUNCTIONAL α-AMYLASE/SUBTILISIN INHIBITOR FROM BARLEY

The bifunctional α-amylase/subtilisin Inhibitor (BASI) is an endogenous inhibitor of the high pl cereal α-amylases encoded by the amyl genes. Evaluation of the potential role of this protein in malting and brewing would be greatly assisted by the availability of large quantities of the protein. We have produced the protein by expression of the barley gene in bacteria. The barley gene was cloned into a pMAL vector and expressed as a fusion protein. The purified fusion protein was successfully cleaved with a specific protease to release the native BASI protein. The BASI produced by bacterial expression will be a useful source of the protein for studies of interactions with barley α-amylases and studies of the influence of this protein on malting and brewing.     

Imitation milks from Cicer arietinum (L.), Vigna unguiculata (L.) walpers and Vigna radiata (L.) wilczek and other legumes

Vegetable milks were prepared in the laboratory from mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek], cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers] and chick-pea [Cicer arietinum (L.)] by homogenisation of a filtered aqueous extract of the ground legume with soya bean oil. Emulsions stable to pasteurisation were made from the first two. Pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan (L.)] and black gram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper)] were found to be unsuitable as bases for milks prepared by simple processing. The nitrogen, oil, sugar and ash contents of the first three legumes, and of milks prepared from them, were determined. Imitation milks are intended to resemble animal milks nutritionally, and whilst the contents of potassium and phosphorus were acceptable, these vegetable milks were low in sodium, calcium and zinc. The trypsin inhibitory activity, whilst low in comparison with soya milk, was partially stable to pasteurisation. The amino acid composition indicated that it would be desirable to complement legume proteins with cereal proteins to prepare vegetable milks.     

Factors influencing the soil-air partitioning and the strength of soils as a secondary source of polychlorinated biphenyls to the atmosphere

Soils are a major reservoir of persistent organic pollutants, and soil-air partitioning and exchange are key processes controlling the atmospheric concentrations and regional fate of pollutants. Here, we report and discuss the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soils, their measured fugacities in soil, the soil-air partition coefficients (K(SA)) and soil-air fugacity gradients in rural background areas of N-NE Spain and N-NW England. Four sampling campaigns were carried out to assess seasonal and daily variability and differences between sampling sites. K(SA) values were significantly dependent on soil temperature and soil organic matter quantity, and to a minor extent organic matter type. All the PCB congeners in the soil are close to equilibrium with the atmosphere at rural Ebro sites, but soil fugacities tend to be higher than ambient air fugacities in early and late summer, consistent with the influence of temperature on soil-air partitioning. Therefore, during warm periods, soils increment their strength as secondary sources to the atmosphere. The mixture of PCBs found in the atmosphere is clearly strongly influenced by the mixture of PCBs which escape from soil, with significant correlations between them (R(2) ranging between 0.35 and 0.74 and p-level <0.001 for the Ebro sampling sites). Conversely, the close-to-equilibrium to net sink status of rural UK sites, suggest a close coupling of air and soil concentrations, but it is not possible to elucidate the importance of these soils as secondary sources yet, and presumably there are still significant primary sources to the regional/global environment.     

NON-IMPLICATION OF HOP α- AND β- ACIDS AS SOURCES OF SULPHUR COMPOUNDS IN BEER

Whereas hop oil terpenoids can give rise to organoleptically undesirable sulphur compounds in beer brewed using hops dressed on the bine with sulphur, the hop resin α- and β-acids and their transformation products appear incapable of reactions with sulphur under analogous conditions. The evidence indicates that the hop resins are not potential sources of sulphur compounds in beer     

Hydrolysis of an organophosphate ester by manganese dioxide

Amorphous manganese dioxide facilitates the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl phosphate to p-nitrophenol and orthophosphate despite insignificant adsorption of p-nitrophenyl phosphate or p-nitrophenol to the manganese dioxide. At pH 8, the orthophosphate product is released into solution; at pH 4 and pH 6, some remains adsorbed. The rate of hydrolysis is an order of magnitude more rapid than the same reaction facilitated by iron oxides. Because manganese dioxides are ubiquitous components of soils and sediments, this suggests the possibility of significant abiotic pathways for the formation of bioavailable orthophosphate from phosphate ester precursors.     

Application of amine-tethered solid sorbents for direct CO2 capture from the ambient air

While current carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies for large point sources can help address the impact of CO(2) buildup on global climate change, these technologies can at best slow the rate of increase of the atmospheric CO(2) concentration. In contrast, the direct CO(2) capture from ambient air offers the potential to be a truly carbon negative technology. We propose here that amine-based solid adsorbents have significant promise as key components of a hypothetical air capture process. Specifically, the CO(2) capture characteristics of hyperbranched aminosilica (HAS) materials are evaluated here using CO(2) mixtures that simulate ambient atmospheric concentrations (400 ppm CO(2) = "air capture") as well as more traditional conditions simulating flue gas (10% CO(2)). The air capture experiments demonstrate that the adsorption capacity of HAS adsorbents are only marginally influenced even with a significant dilution of the CO(2) concentration by a factor of 250, while capturing CO(2) reversibly without significant degradation of performance in multicyclic operation. These results suggest that solid amine-based air capture processes have the potential to be an effective approach to extracting CO(2) from the ambient air.     

Chain reactions linking acorns to gypsy moth outbreaks and Lyme disease risk

In eastern U.S. oak forests, defoliation by gypsy moths and the risk of Lyme disease are determined by interactions among acorns, white-footed mice, moths, deer, and ticks. Experimental removal of mice, which eat moth pupae, demonstrated that moth outbreaks are caused by reductions in mouse density that occur when there are no acorns. Experimental acorn addition increased mouse density. Acorn addition also increased densities of black-legged ticks, evidently by attracting deer, which are key tick hosts. Mice are primarily responsible for infecting ticks with the Lyme disease agent. The results have important implications for predicting and managing forest health and human health.     

56—THE WRINKLING BEHAVIOUR OF WOOL FABRICS: THE EFFECT OF THE STRUCTURE OF FORMALDEHYDE CONDENSATION POLYMERS ON THE STABILIZATION OF ANNEALED WOOL

An investigation is reported of the use of formaldehyde condensation polymers of aromatic amines, heterocyclic amines, and phenols to stabilize the improved wrinkle-recovery of annealed wool. These polymers were formed in situ during the annealing process.

The most effective polymer networks were those obtained from the reaction of formaldehyde with multifunctional compounds such as (i) 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine, (ii) 2,6-diaminopyridine, (iii) 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole, (iv) 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene, (v) 1,3-dihydroxybenzene, and (vi) 2,4,6-triamino-s-triazine.