Assessment of the suitability of soil amendments to reduce 137Cs and 90Sr root uptake in meadows

In situ remediation strategies are an alternative approach in the management of radioactive contaminated areas, especially when based on modification of soil properties by the addition of amendments. Here, this strategy is applied to reduce 137Cs and 90Sr soil-plant transfer in meadows from areas of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine affected by the Chernobyl fallout. Meadows were established on podzolic and peaty soils. Amendments covered a wide range of materials, such as loamy and sandy soils, polygorskite clay, phosphorite, turf, and sapropel. Field experiments showed the poor efficiency of most of the materials: only the polygorskite clay provoked a notable reduction (1.5-2-fold) in 137Cs root uptake. Subsequent laboratory characterization showed the lack of significant changes in the radiocesium interception potential and soil solution composition in the amended soils, a fact that helped to explain the lack of effect on the reduction of transfer. Moreover, a laboratory methodology based on the quantification of the adsorption potential of the amendments and the reversibility of the adsorption process was applied. This methodology was first proposed for the correct selection of the suitable materials to be used to decrease radionuclide root uptake in future remediation actions and then validated with data of the previous field experiments.     

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.     

From game theory to real life: How social value orientation affects willingness to sacrifice in ongoing close relationships.

This research adopted an interdependence analysis of sacrifice, examining the link between commitment (i.e., the subjective experience of dependence and long-term orientation) and willingness to sacrifice in ongoing close relationships, and determining whether this link is moderated by preexisting individual differences in social value orientation (i.e., prosocial, individualistic, or competitive orientation). Consistent with hypotheses, results of 2 studies revealed both that willingness to sacrifice was associated with greater commitment and that this link was more pronounced among individualists than among prosocials. Results also revealed an association between one's own willingness to sacrifice and beliefs regarding the partner's willingness to sacrifice (this link was somewhat more pronounced among prosocials than among individualists) and one's own willingness to sacrifice and actual partner's willingness to sacrifice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life cycle assessment of MSF,MED and RO desalination technologies

In this work, a comparison of the commonly deployed commercial desalination technologies worldwide—multistage flash (MSF), multieffect evaporation and reverse osmosis (RO)—is assessed by applying life cycle analysis (LCA). LCA, a powerful, and internationally accepted tool used to examine environmental cradle-to-grave consequences of making and using products and services, identifies and quantifies energy and material usage and waste discharges. The International Standard Organization (ISO) 14000 impact factors, which are internationally accepted standard indicators for environmental impact assessment, have been evaluated, and different evaluation methods (Centre for Environmental Studies (CML) 2 baseline 2000, Eco-Points 97 and Eco-Indicator 99) have been applied to different scenarios. The assessment includes the entire life cycle of each desalination process, encompassing extraction and processing raw materials, manufacturing, transportation and distribution, plant operation and final reject disposal.     

Effect of a plated Fe-Cr-Ni alloy layer for rapid nitriding of invar

The nitriding rate in a plated invar with an Fe-Ni-Cr alloy (face-centred cubic) layer were compared by optical microscopy with the rate in an unplated invar. In the plated invar rapid nitrogen diffusion was discovered. The plated layer plays a role in enhancing the nitriding rate. The result gives a solution for an abnormal enhancement nitriding rate in austenitic stainless steels. The enhancement is explained from the viewpoint of non-equilibrium thermodynamics.     

The "Swedish" mutation of the amyloid precursor protein (APPswe) dissociates components of object-location memory in aged Tg2576 mice.

Aged Tg2576 mice show abnormalities in hippocampal morphology and physiology and display behavioral deficits in spatial navigation tasks consonant with a deficit in the functional properties of the hippocampus. However, the nature of the spatial representations disrupted by the "Swedish" mutation of the amyloid precursor protein (APPswe) is unclear. In an effort to characterize the memory deficits in Tg2576 mice, the spontaneous object exploration paradigm was used to interrogate spatial and object memory in mice. With object arrays of comparable size, 16-month-old Tg2576 mice showed a normal object familiarity/novelty effect but impaired memory for the location of objects when 2 objects exchanged locations (topological transformation; Experiment 1). In contrast, Tg2576 mice showed preferential exploration of familiar objects when they were moved to previously unoccupied locations (Experiment 2), irrespective of whether the transformation altered the metric properties of the object array (Experiments 3). These results suggest that Tg2576 mice are able to form representations of the identity of objects and a memory of the spatial organization of objects in an arena. In contrast, conjunctive memory for specific object-location associations is severely impaired in aged Tg2576 mice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Flexible use of recent information in causal and predictive judgments.

Associative and statistical theories of causal and predictive learning make opposite predictions for situations in which the most recent information contradicts the information provided by older trials (e.g., acquisition followed by extinction). Associative theories predict that people will rely on the most recent information to best adapt their behavior to the changing environment. Statistical theories predict that people will integrate what they have learned in the two phases. The results of this study showed one or the other effect as a function of response mode (trial by trial vs. global), type of question (contiguity, causality, or predictiveness), and postacquisition instructions. That is, participants are able to give either an integrative judgment, or a judgment that relies on recent information as a function of test demands. The authors concluded that any model must allow for flexible use of information once it has been acquired. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Altered Fatty Acid Metabolism-Related Gene Expression in Liver from Morbidly Obese Women with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Lipid accumulation in the human liver seems to be a crucial mechanism in the pathogenesis and the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to evaluate gene expression of different fatty acid (FA) metabolism-related genes in morbidly obese (MO) women with NAFLD. Liver expression of key genes related to de novo FA synthesis (LXRα, SREBP1c, ACC1, FAS), FA uptake and transport (PPARγ, CD36, FABP4), FA oxidation (PPARα), and inflammation (IL6, TNFα, CRP, PPARδ) were assessed by RT-qPCR in 127 MO women with normal liver histology (NL, n = 13), simple steatosis (SS, n = 47) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH, n = 67). Liver FAS mRNA expression was significantly higher in MO NAFLD women with both SS and NASH compared to those with NL (p = 0.003, p = 0.010, respectively). Hepatic IL6 and TNFα mRNA expression was higher in NASH than in SS subjects (p = 0.033, p = 0.050, respectively). Interestingly, LXRα, ACC1 and FAS expression had an inverse relation with the grade of steatosis. These results were confirmed by western blot analysis. In conclusion, our results indicate that lipogenesis seems to be downregulated in advanced stages of SS, suggesting that, in this type of extreme obesity, the deregulation of the lipogenic pathway might be associated with the severity of steatosis.