Assessment of metals contamination of soils in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

The purpose of this survey is to investigate the current status of metal pollution of the soil in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. During the last decade, the city has been rapidly urbanized. Twenty-two soil samples were collected from different parts of the city and analyzed by aqua regia extraction. Generally, metal pollution was not a serious problem in the city and there was no significant evidence of infiltration of metal solutions into subsoil (at a depth of 30 cm). However, it was recently found that the arsenic(As) concentration in the soil was higher than the guideline value and the lead(Pb) content in some samples was higher than normal. The source of As pollution appears to be the coal combustion in three power plants in the city. The sources of the increase in Pb pollution might be the remarkable increase in the number of used vehicles and the increase in the use of leaded fuel in the last few years. To evaluate the leaching potential of heavy metals, sequential extraction was conducted. The quantity of the easily extractable fraction of metals was lower than that of the hardly extractable (residual) fraction. As a result, the leaching potential of heavy metals in Ulaanbaatar was found to be quite low.     

Antimicrobial activity and safety of use of Enterococcus faecium PC4.1 isolated from Mongol yogurt

Screening of lactic acid bacteria strains isolated from Mongolian yogurt (Tarag) led to the isolation of Enterococcus faecium PC4.1 with a bacteriocin-like activity against Listeria genus and fungi. The antimicrobial substances in cell free supernatant were sensitive to proteolytic enzymes, while neither acidic conditions nor high temperature affected their activities. These antimicrobial substances were active after storage at 4 °C, ?20 °C and ?80 °C for over one month. The mode of action was determined as bactericidal. In the aim of further use of E. faecium PC4.1 as a biopreservative, the isolate was tested for resistance against antibiotics and for harboring virulence determinants. E. faecium PC4.1 was characterized as free from virulence factors, has low resistance to gentamicin and ampicillin but is susceptible to vancomycin.     

Satellite‐derived estimates of evapotranspiration in the arid and semi –arid region of Mongolia

Estimating evapotranspiration (ET) is of the highest importance for understanding and eventually intervening in the water cycle of natural systems. ET is one of the major factors influencing climate change at local, regional and global levels. In this study, a surface energy balance method, which combines meteorological observations with spectral data derived from remote sensing measurements, was used to estimate the ET. The Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) has been applied to Landsat+ETM and NOAA‐AVHRR sensors for the estimation of ET in Mongolia, a large arid and semi‐arid region with homogeneous surface conditions, on 10 August 1999. Actual ET was computed during satellite overpass and integrated for 24‐h on pixel‐by‐pixel basis for daily ET distribution. As a result, a daily ET map over the arid and semi‐arid region of Mongolia was analysed some observation data, such as radiations and surface temperature, was compared with estimated data.     

不同解冻方式对伊拉兔肉品质特性的影响

比较自然空气解冻、低温解冻、流水解冻、微波解冻和超声波解冻5 种解冻方式对伊拉兔肉品质特性的影响,分析兔肉解冻过程中基本食用品质、全质构特性、总挥发性盐基氮（total volatile basic nitrogen,TVB-N）值和硫代巴比妥酸反应物（thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance,TBARS）值的变化。结果表明,伊拉兔肉的食用品质、质构特性、TVB-N值和TBARS值之间具有显著的相关性,不同解冻方式对兔肉品质变化有一定的影响,解冻后蒸煮损失率、剪切力、TVB-N值、TBARS值、a*值、b*值、硬度、胶着性和咀嚼性与对照组出现明显的差异（P＜0.05）,pH值、L*值、内聚性、弹性与对照组差异不显著（P＞0.05）。5 种解冻方式中,微波解冻能较好地保持兔肉的嫩度和色泽,且通过微波解冻后的兔肉其蒸煮损失率、pH值、TVB-N值和TBARS值最低,但解冻损失率较高,质构特性较差。与其他几种解冻方式相比,微波解冻能够较好地保持兔肉的品质,但解冻条件仍需要进一步的研究。     

Characterization of bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances (BLIS) from lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional Azerbaijani cheeses

The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of southern Caucasus region present a special interest due to the diversity of lactic flora used for fermentations by various local populations during thousands of years. Four LAB strains, not identified previously, isolated from Motal and Brunza typical Azerbaijani cheeses were subjected to phenotypic identification and three of them could be identified as Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei and one as Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Test strains such as Lactobacillus bulgaricus 340 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were inhibited by the four isolated strains. Antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli HB 101 was detected in Lactobacillus paracasei BN ATS 8w and L. rhamnosus FAZ 16m. L. paracasei BN ATS 5w and 8w, and L. rhamnosus FAZ 16m showed inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus Cip 9973. The inhibition of Candida pseudotropicalis was detected only when using L. paracasei species BN ATS 5w and 7w. Culture of Listeria innocua was insensitive to the antimicrobial substances of all the studied strains. Complete inactivation or significant reduction in antibacterial activity was observed after treatment of cell-free supernatants with pronase E and proteinase K, but not with trypsin (except for L. rhamnosus FAZ 16m), indicating the protein nature of the active agents. Amylase treatment totally inactivated the substances of L. paracasei, what implies the importance of glycosylation for the activity. The activities of all the bacteriocin-like substances from studied LABs were stable over a wide pH range from 3 to 11.