#Impact of temperature on belowground soil decompositionearth's soils store four times more carbon than the atmosphere
and small changes in soil carbon storage can have a big effect on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.
A new paper in the journal Nature Climate Change concludes that climate warming does not accelerate soil organic carbon decomposition or affect soil carbon storage despite increases in ecosystem productivity.
Creighton Litton and Susan Crow (University of Hawai`i at Manoa) and Dr. Greg Asner (Carnegie Institution for Science) shows that soil carbon storage was constant across a highly constrained 5 degrees
From these results they concluded that long-term warming in tropical montane forests will accelerate carbon cycling
but is unlikely to cause net losses of soil carbon. Given our findings we expect that warming alone that is in the absence of other changes such as drying
or increased fire will not accelerate the loss of carbon from mineral soils says Giardina. This means that tropical soils will not become a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere.
The effects of warming on soil carbon storage are quantified poorly because it is difficult to assess how temperature change impacts processes below the soil surface.
This allowed them to isolate the effects of changing temperature on ecosystem carbon storage and flux.
The scientists propose that where ecosystem carbon is unprotected such as at the surface in plant debris its decomposition
However when carbon is protected in the soil decomposer organisms have reduced access to that carbon and so decomposition or storage show little temperature sensitivity.
And while climate warming will continue with the addition of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere due to human activities (fossil fuel combustion land-use clearing) previous assumptions about a positive soil carbon cycling feedback to future warming
While soil carbon storage and turnover was insensitive to warming the decomposition of coarse wood
which means that the capacity of tropical ecosystems to retain carbon will depend on the balance of changes within each ecosystem.
many single polypeptide (protein) chains actually contained two enzymes one of which was embedded in the other.
Further analysis of the most important protein revealed that the embedded component was a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM)
This bending action may bring the fiber close to the other enzyme in the protein so it can get to work breaking the bonds between the sugars.
The groups had comparable scores on intakes of whole grains refined grain total dairy total protein fatty acid and sodium.
The external organ support system is designed to perform critical functions of a normal liver including protein synthesis and the processing and cleaning of a patient's blood.
The 3-pound organ that sits to the right of the stomach performs many functions including detoxification regulation of glucose levels and the making of vital proteins.
Patients with kidney disease can use dialysis and those with cardiac problems have ventricular assist devices
Liver failure patients and their doctors have long been frustrated by the critical need to provide the kind of lifesaving care kidney patients are afforded by dialysis.
but new research says the aroma also summons beneficial insects to the rescue. â#oewhen there is need for protection the plant signals the environment via the emission of volatile organic compounds which are recognized as a feeding queue for parasitic wasps to come to the plant that is being eaten
The research stems from a look at the function of a large family of lipid-derived molecular signals that regulate differential processes in humans animals and plants according to Kolomiets
The molecular signals are understood less in plants than in animals and humans he noted. â#oepeople take certain drugs such as aspirin to suppress the activity of these signals
because overproduction of these molecules may lead to headaches and pain and all sorts of disordersâ#Kolomiets said. â#oeitâ##s the same group of metabolites that are produced by the plants
#whether by blade of a mower or jaws of a predatory insect â#by producing defensive proteins
The best characterized molecule of the fatty acid-derived signals is called jasmonic acid because it was isolated first as a volatile produced by jasmine Kolomiets said.
Jasmonic acid one of perhaps 600 oxylipin molecules identified in plants is known to have diverse functions.
Then this molecule since it is a volatile attracts parasitic wasps. They come to the plant that is being chewed up by insect herbivores
We have provided genetic evidence that green leafy volatiles have this dual function â#in the plant they activate production of insecticidal compounds
#Graphene imperfections key to creating hypersensitive electronic noseresearchers have discovered a way to create a highly sensitive chemical sensor based on the crystalline flaws in graphene sheets.
The imperfections have unique electronic properties that the researchers were able to exploit to increase sensitivity to absorbed gas molecules by 300 times.
But Salehi-Khojin and his colleagues showed that these imperfections are important to the working of graphene-based gas sensors.
They created a micron-sized individual graphene grain boundary in order to probe its electronic properties and study its role in gas sensing.
Their first discovery was that gas molecules are attracted to the grain boundary and accumulate there rather than on the graphene crystal making it the ideal spot for sensing gas molecules.
A grain boundary's electrical properties attract molecules to its surface. A theoretical chemistry group at UIC led by Petr Kral was able to explain this attraction and additional electronic properties of the grain boundary.
The irregular nature of the grain boundary produces hundreds of electron-transport gaps with different sensitivities.
It's as though we have multiple switches in parallel said graduate student Poya Yasaei first author on the paper.
Gas molecules accumulate on the grain boundary; there is a charge transfer; and because these channels are paralleled all together all the channels abruptly open or close.
With the grain boundary's strong attraction for gas molecules and the extraordinarily sharp response to any charge transfer such an electronic nose might be able to detect even a single gas molecule Salehi-Khojin believes
He is working with molecular biologist Jai Rohila of the biology and microbiology department through a two-year project sponsored by the National Institute of Crop science in Suwaon South korea.
and proteins account for tolerance. When Kim returned in July for his second three-month stay he brought seeds from two Korean lines--Sukang
Looking at both lines he identified 33 proteins that are expressed differentially in the tolerant cultivar.
and compare those results with the list of differentially expressed proteins from the Korean cultivars.
If the same proteins are expressed differentially in Glover's varieties Kim will validate the genes he identified as important to tolerance in his Korean varieties.
#For legume plants, a new route from shoot to roota new study shows that legume plants regulate their symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria by using cytokinins--signaling molecules--that are transmitted through the plant structure from leaves
and that somehow the leaves transmit the information to the roots using an unknown chemical mechanism to signal that the plant should develop
and CLE-RS2 but the identity of the molecule doing the signaling downward has remained veiled in mystery.
In this research published in Nature Communications the group demonstrates using the model legume Lotus japonicus that the downward signaling is performed actually by a cytokinin--though the exact molecule remains to be identified
This study together with previous research results clearly shows that cytokinins are key signaling molecules in organ-to-organ communication allowing balanced plant growth
In particular a delay in when leaves change color could affect how much carbon an ecosystem removes from the atmosphere
and taking carbon out of the atmosphere Medvigy said. The longer you have green leaves the more carbon dioxide you can take out of the atmosphere.
instead for packaged snack foods like potato chips or fast-food style items like French fries high in sodium and saturated fat.
and recommended for a healthy diet are those that have a high amount of nutrients per serving including fruits and vegetables nonfat milk whole grains and fish and other lean proteins.
fats oils and dressings and; carbonated soft drinks. In a second study published in the same issue researchers tie the effort back to a decline in the calorie content of purchases by American families
The concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere have been rising steadily over the last century.
The growth trends at stand level are relevant for the forestry industry in terms of productivity carbon sequestration
Together with her colleague from GÃ rlitz Dr. John M. C. Hutchinson and a colleague from the United states Department of agriculture (USDA-APHIS) the scientist has studied the distribution of these mollusks
and whether its expansion is correlated to specific climate factors explains Hutchinson the paper's lead author.
and Eastern europe a wide berth says Hutchinson and he adds We assume that the cold winters in the eastern countries
In principle all areas with a temperate climate can serve as potential habitat for these animals says Hutchinson and offers the following recommendation:
The technology was introduced this month in the American Chemical Society journal Applied materials and Interfaces. The material is made of graphene nanoribbons atom-thick strips of carbon created by splitting nanotubes a process also invented by the Tour lab
. Whether sprayed painted or spin-coated the ribbons are transparent and conduct both heat and electricity.
and Vladimir Volman an engineer at Lockheed martin. Tour is the T. T. and W. F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor of materials science and nanoengineering and of computer science.
In other words how much carbon the plant had invested in the leaf. In addition the researchers measured the density of the leaves'vein networks a measure of the amount of water a plant can transpire and the rate at
which it can acquire carbon. There is a spectrum between fast-and slow-growing species said Blonder.
And their studies suggest that these methods could be as efficient in protecting crops as using chemical based pesticides.
and reduce the usage of chemicals at the same time. Watch video: http://www. youris. com/Bioeconomy/BIOECONOMY-TV/Reducing-Pesticides-And-Boosting-Harvests. kl#ixzz3dugjrct2story Source:
One serving is the equivalent to eight grams of protein: a cup of milk or 45 grams of cheese.
and specific metabolic risk factors including anthropometric status plasma glucose plasma lipid profile inflammatory markers and blood pressure in a healthy population.
and meat fat but cannot be synthetized by the body. This fatty acid has been shown recently to have health-promoting effects.
Dietary fats could affect glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity and may therefore have a crucial role in the development of type 2 diabetes (T2d).
Studies have indicated that replacing saturated fat with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats might be favourable in the prevention of T2d.
In line with this plant sources of fat have been suggested to be a better choice compared with animal sources.
Indeed high intakes of red meat and meat products have been shown to increase the risk of T2d.
Subsequently the importance of dietary fat content and food sources of fat remains to be clarified.
High-fat fermented milk*consumption also reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 20 %when comparing the highest consumers (180ml/day the top 10%of consumers) with the non-consumers (60%of participants).
In contrast to these findings there was no association found between intakes of low-fat dairy products and risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
but the increased risk was higher for lower fat meats (increased risk of type 2 diabetes for high fat meats 9%for low fat 24%)both referring to the risk
Our observations may contribute to clarifying previous findings regarding dietary fats and their food sources in relation to T2d.
The decreased risk at high intakes of high-fat dairy products but not of low-fat dairy products indicate that dairy fat at least partly explains observed protective associations between dairy intake and T2d.
Meat intake was associated with increased risk of developing diabetes regardless of fat content. She adds:
Our findings suggest that in contrast to animal fats in general fats specific to dairy products may have a role in prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Our ability to use molecular techniques like 16s RIBOSOMAL RNA gene sequencing to characterize nearly all of the bacteria on a leaf is going to make it possible to see how very different members of forest communities interact said Wright.
Like a watchful sentry JA takes action at the first sign of plant distress producing proteins that prepare the plant to combat excess heat lack of water or attack by disease organisms.
The research is based on probable sequences of events indicated by radiocarbon and Bayesian dating which suggest that Vuoksi was created a few decades before the culture in the area changed.
Acid-free approach leads to strong conductive carbon threadsthe very idea of fibers made of carbon nanotubes is neat
The single-walled carbon nanotubes in new fibers created at Rice line up like a fistful of uncooked spaghetti through a process designed by chemist Angel Martã and his colleagues.
Left to their own devices carbon nanotubes form clumps that are perfectly wrong for turning into the kind of strong conductive fibers needed for projects ranging from nanoscale electronics to macro-scale power grids Earlier research at Rice by chemist
and chemical engineer Matteo Pasquali a co-author on the new paper used an acid dissolution process to keep the nanotubes separated until they could be spun into fibers.
A process revealed last year by Martã and lead authors Chengmin Jiang a graduate student and Avishek Saha a Rice alumnus starts with negatively charging carbon nanotubes by infusing them with potassium a metal and turning
They then employ cage-like crown ethers to capture the potassium ions that would otherwise dampen the nanotubes'ability to repel one another.
but gave the process a spin with a different preparation so now we're the first to make neat fibers of pure carbon nanotube electrolytes.
Professor in Mechanical engineering and Materials Science and of chemistry and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering.
Pasquali is chair of the Department of chemistry and a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering of materials science and nanoengineering and of chemistry.
Martã is an assistant professor of chemistry and bioengineering and of materials science and nanoengineering. The Welch Foundation supported the research.
Advances in hydraulic fracturing put trillions of dollars'worth of previously unreachable oil and natural gas within humanity's grasp.
and chemicals deep into underground rock formations are the subject of new research that synthesizes 165 academic studies and government databases.
Society is certain to extract more gas and oil due to fracking said Stanford environmental scientist Robert Jackson who led the new study.
but extracting natural gas with hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling compares well with conventional energy sources the study finds.
Fracking requires more water than conventional gas drilling; but when natural gas is used in place of coal
or nuclear fuel to generate electricity it saves water. From mining to generation coal power consumes more than twice the water per megawatt-hour generated than unconventional gas does.
Unconventional drilling's water demand can be better or worse than alternative energy sources the study finds.
but cheap abundant natural gas may limit their deployment as new sources of electricity. On the other hand fracked gas requires less than a hundredth the water of corn ethanol per unit of energy.
and gas drilling with potential health threats arising from increases in volatile organic compounds and air toxics.
But when natural gas replaces coal as a fuel for generating electricity the benefits to air quality include lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal and almost none of the mercury sulfur dioxide or ash.
While the increased gas supply reduces air pollution in U s. cities downwind from coal-fired power plants we still don't know
whether methane losses from well pads and pipelines outweigh the lower carbon dioxide emissions said Jackson.
Gas and chemicals from humanmade fractures thousands of meters underground very rarely seep upward to drinking-water aquifers the study says.
and gas--shows the importance of state policies. Wastewater disposal is one of the biggest issues associated with fracking said co-author Avner Vengosh a professor of geochemistry at Duke university.
Most fracking wastewater in the United states is injected deep underground and an increasing amount is recycled for subsequent drilling
or sent to municipal water-treatment plants not equipped to handle the chemicals involved. All bad ideas according to the authors of the new survey who work at Duke university MIT Ohio State university Newcastle University Los alamos National Laboratory the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration and Stanford.
Just four days after infection the researchers found increased expression of certain pathogen receptors (TLR-2 and NOD2) and signalling molecules involved in inflammatory reactions (TNF-Î) in the intestine of the infected animals.
#15 years of carbon dioxide emissions On earth mappedworld leaders face multiple barriers in their efforts to reach agreement on greenhouse gas emission policies.
These maps provide a scientific independent assessment of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions--something policy-makers can use
With this system we are taking a big step toward creating a global monitoring system for greenhouse gases something that is needed as the world considers how best to meet greenhouse gas reductions said Kevin Robert Gurney lead investigator and associate professor
and show that independent scientific monitoring of greenhouse gases is possible. The research team combined information from space-based nighttime lights a new population database national statistics on fuel use
whether strategies to reduce greenhouse gases are said effective Jennifer Morgan Director of the Climate and Energy Program at World Resources Institute.
the only options for control of the pest farmers have had are highly toxic chemicals many of them severely restricted.
therefore a biological pest control was achieved the use of chemicals ceased and agriculture on the region improved.
in addition that the compounds went into the groundwater through runoff or stayed in the tubers making the damages greater relates the scientist at INECOL.
and to perform research focused on the generation of biological pesticides which is a very important issue for agriculture due to the increasing restriction on the use of chemical pesticides emphasizes the scientist at INECOL.
#Breast milk reveals a correlation between dietary fats and academic successyou are what you eat the saying goes
Their findings show that the amount of omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in a mother's milk--fats found primarily in certain fish nuts
On the other hand the amount of omega-6 fat in mother's milk--fats that come from vegetable oils such as corn
When the amount of DHA and linoleic acid (LA)--the most common omega-6 fat--were considered together they explained nearly half of the differences in test scores.
Omega-6 fats however undermine the effects of DHA and seem to be bad for brains.
Both kinds of omega fat must be obtained through diet. But because diets vary from place to place for their study Gaulin
and LA content--the good fat and the bad fat--in diets in 50 countries by examining published studies of the fatty acid profiles of women's breast milk.
The profiles are a useful measure for two reasons according to Gaulin. First because various kinds of fats interfere with one another in the body breast milk DHA shows how much of this brain-essential fat survives competition with omega-6. Second children receive their brain-building fats from their mothers.
Breast milk profiles indicate the amount of DHA children in each region receive in the womb through breastfeeding
Now the researchers are looking at diet as the key to brain-building fat since mothers need to acquire these fats in the first place.
Their results are particularly interesting in 21st-century North america Gaulin noted because our current agribusiness-based diets provide very low levels of DHA--among the lowest in the world.
Back in the 1960s in the middle of the cardiovascular disease epidemic people got the idea that saturated fats were bad
and polyunsaturated fats were explained good he. That's one reason margarine became so popular. But the polyunsaturated fats that were increased were the ones with omega-6 not omega-3.
So our message is that not only is it advisable to increase omega 3 intake it's highly advisable to decrease omega-6--the very fats that in the 1960s
and'70s we were told we should be eating more of. Gaulin added that mayonnaise is in general the most omega-6-laden food in the average person's refrigerator.
#New superfoods could help key protein keep bodies healthya new generation of new superfoods that tackle heart disease
and diabetes could be developed following research into a protein that helps keep cells in our bodies healthy.
Researchers at the University of Warwick found that the protein called Nrf2 continually moves in
which compounds in fruit and vegetables keep humans healthy. The research team are the first to record the continual movement cycle of Nrf2 which sees the protein oscillate in and out of the cell nucleus once every 129 minutes.
When stimulated by a health beneficial vegetable-derived substance Nrf2's cycle sped up to 80 minutes.
In addition to devastating impacts on forest-dependent people and biodiversity the illegal conversion of tropical forests for commercial agriculture is estimated to produce 1. 47 gigatonnes of carbon each year--equivalent to 25%of the EU's annual fossil fuel
This bacterium produces an aromatic compound also found in human foot odor and that is what attracted the mosquitoes.
The source of the aromatic compounds that produce body odor are bacterial colonies that exist on human skin particularly in dark moist areas such as the arm pits and between the toes.
While they have identified dozens of aromatic compounds that trigger the mosquito's antennae the researchers haven't discovered one that acts as a super-attractant.
Individual compounds on the other hand can act as powerful repellants. Natural repellants such as clove oil citronella lemon grass eucalyptus castor oil peppermint lavender and cedar oil all work to a limited extent Pitts said
The mosquitoes do so in part by sensing the carbon dioxide in human breath. When we exhale our breath contains four to five percent more carbon dioxide than the surrounding air
In an attempt to target healing stem cells to the site of the injury researchers coated iron nanoparticles with two kinds of antibodies proteins that recognize
The result is a kind of molecular matchmaking Marbã¡n said. Through magnetic resonance imaging we were able to see the iron-tagged cells traveling to the site of injury where the healing could begin.
Record greenhouse gas levels impact atmosphere and oceans, WMO report findsthe amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2013 propelled by a surge in levels
This is according to the World meteorological organization's annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin which injected even greater urgency into the need for concerted international action against accelerating and potentially devastating climate change.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin showed that between 1990 and 2013 there was a 34%increase in radiative forcing--the warming effect on our climate--because of long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) methane and nitrous oxide.
The WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reports on atmospheric concentrations--and not emissions--of greenhouse gases.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows that far from falling the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually increased last year at the fastest rate for nearly 30 years.
and other greenhouse gases across the board he said. We are running out of time.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin provides a scientific base for decision-making. We have the knowledge and we have the tools for action to try keep temperature increases within 2â°C to give our planet a chance
The inclusion of a section on ocean acidification in this issue of WMO's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin is needed appropriate
Atmospheric Concentrationscarbon dioxide accounted for 80%of the 34%increase in radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases from 1990 to 2013 according to the U s National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration (NOAA) Annual Greenhouse Gas Index.
Methane is the second most important long-lived greenhouse gas. Approximately 40%of methane is emitted into the atmosphere by natural sources (e g. wetlands
which protects us from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. Ocean Acidificationfor the first time this Bulletin contains a section on ocean acidification prepared in collaboration with the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC
or skeletal material (via calcification) depends on the abundance of carbonate ion. For many organisms calcification declines with increased acidification.
Other impacts of acidification include reduced survival development and growth rates as well as changes in physiological functions and reduced biodiversity.
The WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Programme (www. wmo. int/gaw) coordinates systematic observations and analysis of greenhouse gases and other trace species. Fifty countries
contributed data for the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. Measurement data are reported by participating countries and archived and distributed by the World Data centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG) at the Japan Meteorological Agency.
http://ds. data. jma. go. jp/gmd/wdcgg) The summary on ocean acidification was produced jointly by the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO
(IOC-UNESCO) the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) of the International atomic energy agency (IAEA.
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