Variation In Content Research Articles

Variations of glucose content in Massa Medicata Fermentata during processing based on quantitative proton nuclear magnetic resonance

A quantitative proton nuclear magnetic resonance(qHNMR) method was established to determine the glucose content in commercially available Massa Medicata Fermentata(MMF) products and explore the variations of glucose content in MMF products during processing. The qHNMR spectrum of MMF in deuterium oxide was obtained with 2,2,3,3-d_4-3-(trimethylsilyl) propionate sodium salt as the internal standard substance. With the doublet peaks of terminal hydrogen of glucose with chemical shift at δ 4.65 and δ 5.24 as quantitative peaks, the content of glucose in MMF samples was determined. The glucose content showed a good linear relationship within the range of 0.10-6.44 mg·mL~(-1). The relative standard deviations(RSDs) of precision, stability, repeatability, and recovery for determination were all less than 2.3%. The glucose content varied in different commercially available MMF samples, which were associated with the different fermentation days, wheat bran-to-flour ratios, and processing methods. The glucose content in MMF first increased and then decreased over the fermentation time. Compared with the MMF products fermented with wheat bran or flour alone, the products fermented with both wheat bran and flour had increased glucose. The glucose content of bran-fried MMF was slightly lower than that of raw MMF, while the glucose content in charred MMF was extremely low. In conclusion, the qHNMR method established in this study is simple, fast, and accurate, serving as a new method for determining the glucose content in MMF. Furthermore, this study clarifies the variations of glucose content in MMF during processing, which can not only indicate the processing degree but also provide a scientific basis for revealing the fermentation mechanism and improving the quality control of MMF.

Concrete with clinker‐efficient cements ‐ Robustness to variations in water content and temperature

AbstractThe use of multi‐component cements (CEM II‐CEM VI), which contain main constituents other than Portland cement clinker in significant quantities, can significantly help to reduce the CO2 footprint of the cement or concrete industry. Clinker‐efficient cements (CEM II/C‐M) have been standardized in the current version of DIN EN 197‐5. In a systematic experimental program, the influence of water content variations and temperature on the robustness of concrete with clinker‐efficient cements with high contents of granulated blast furnace slag or fly ash and limestone (CEM II/C‐M (S‐LL) and CEM II/C‐M (V‐LL)) was studied. As a reference, concretes representative for construction elements used indoor (XC1) or in protected outdoor environment (XC3) with standard Portland composite cement (CEM II/A‐M) and blast furnace slag cement (CEM III/A) were investigated. The influence of variations in water content and temperature on fresh (rheological properties, bleeding) and mechanical concrete properties (compressive strength, elastic modulus) were investigated. The results obtained show similar performance and robustness of such concretes with clinker‐efficient cements compared to the reference concretes.

Farklı Ülkelerdeki Loranthus europaeus'un Amino Asit Profili

In this study, the amounts of amino acids in Loranthus europaeus samples grown in different regions (Türkiye, Iran and Iraq) were analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).The results indicate that, aspartic acid, serine, alanine, proline and tyrosine were found to be highest in samples grown in Iran, glutamic acid, asparagine, glycine, and glutamine were found in Loranthus europaeus samples grown in Iraq, and cysteine was found to be highest in samples grown in Türkiye. It can be said that Loranthus europaeus growing in Turkey is poor in terms of asparagine, serine, glycine, glutamine, alanine, proline and tyrosine, on the other hand aspartic acid found to be lowest in samples from Iraq and glutamic acid is the lowest samples from Iran. It was obtained that while Loranthus europaeus samples grown in Iran is the richest in terms of total essential amino acids, on the other hand samples grown in Türkiye is the poorest. Total amino acids content was highest in Iraqi samples and the lowest in Turkish samples. It can be said that the variation of essential and non-essential amino acids contents between regions could be due to geographical, and ecological differences.

Changeability of Content and Storage of Soil Organic Matter: an Analytical Review

An aim of analytical review is to systematize information about quantitative characteristics of changeability in the content and storage of organic carbon (Corg) in soils. The review considers evaluations of validity and reproducibility of Corg determination, spatial variability and heterogeneity of Corg at different hierarchic levels of soil cover pattern and change them in time. The most powerful factor of Corg changeability in soils is spatial variability. Ascending trend of absolute standard deviation and coefficient of variation for Corg content and storage in soil with the increase in the logarithm of site area has been revealed. However, the values of the indicators of spatial variation of Corg have a wide spread in each narrow range of variation of the plot area, which leads to high uncertainty of the estimates as the area coverage increases. Direct dry combustion method is considered preferable among used methods for determination of Corg content. It allows obtaining valid (i.e. with the least systematic deviations) and well reproducible data. Indirect Turin’s and Walkley-Black’s methods systematically underestimate the Corg content and have reproducibility comparable with amplitude of seasonal dynamics and with minimal values of spatial variability indices within elementary soil area. Obtaining estimates of long-term trend of Corg content strict adherence to stringent monitoring conditions over time intervals of more than 15 years. Spatial variation of Corg storage is stronger than Corg content, which further increases the monitoring requirements.

Comprehensive evaluation of Pinellia ternata germplasm resources based on phenotypic trait classification

The evaluation of germplasm resources is the prerequisite for the development, utilization, and conservation of Chinese medicinal resources. The selection of excellent germplasm is the key to the breeding and orderly production of Pinellia ternata. In this study, 21 germplasm materials of P. ternata from major production areas in China were collected and analyzed for population diversity after phenotypic preliminary screening. The results have revealed that the P. ternata population has abundant phenotypic variation, and the phenotypic changes could be divided into five phenotypes in terms of organ trait variation. Further analysis of variation in 20 quantitative traits of the population revealed that the coefficient of variation for adenosine content(339.05%) was the largest, while the coefficient of variation for the underground plant height(16.35%) was the smallest. Correlation analysis showed that there was a strong correlation among various traits, with 52 pairs of traits showing highly significant correlation(P<0.01) and 19 pairs of traits showing a significant correlation(P<0.05). The 21 germplasms in the test could be classified into three major clusters by cluster analysis, with Cluster Ⅱ having the highest number and content of nucleosides, making it suitable for the selection and breeding of P. ternata varieties with high content of nucleosides. The yield in Cluster Ⅲ was higher than that in other groups, making it suitable for the selection and breeding of P. ternata varieties with a high yield. All trait indicators could be simplified into five principal component factors through principal component analysis, and the cumulative contribution rate was up to 86.04%. Further, comprehensive analysis using membership function and stepwise regression analysis identified nine traits, such as plant height, main leaf length, and underground plant height as characteristic indicators for the comprehensive evaluation of germplasm resources of P. ternata. BX007, BX008, and BX005 were identified as germplasms with both high yield and high uridine content, with BX007 having the highest uridine content of 479.51 μg·g~(-1). It belonged to the germplasm of P. ternata with double bulbils and could be cultivated as a potential good variety. Based on the phenotypic classification of P. ternata, systematic resource evaluation was carried out in this study, which could lay a foundation for the excavation of genetic resources and the breeding of new varieties of P. ternata.

A study of the Effect of Electric Power Plants on the Soil Content of some Heavy Elements (Ni, Pb, Cu, Cd, Zn, Mn, Fe)

The study was conducted to find out the effect of electric power generation stations on the soil content of heavy elements, where four stations were selected to generate electric power, which included (Al-Diwaniyah power station, Abu Gharq power station, Al-Haidariya power station and Al-Khairat power station) in the city of (Diwaniyah, Babil, Najaf and Karbala). Then four location were chosen within varying distances from the site of each station, which included (20, 50, 100, 200) m. The results showed a clear variation in the concentration of heavy metals in the soils of the sites within the distances between the stations. The results also showed an increase in the soil content of heavy elements in the sites close to each station, which decreased as we moved away from the station site. The results also showed that the soil content of iron and manganese elements fell within the natural limits of the permissible global determinants in all soil samples and their various distances, while the variation in the soil content of copper was within the natural limits except for the soil sites within the distances of 20 and 50 m that were higher than the permissible limit. with it, The lead content of the soil was higher than the permissible limits, except for the soil located within 200 m from the Al-Khairat power station in Karbala. As for the soil content of lead and nickel, all of them were within the permissible limits, except for the soil sites located within the distances of 100 m and 200 m for the two power stations of Al-Khairat and Abu Gharak in Karbala and Babylon, respectively. These increases are attributed to its proximity to pollution sources, which contain fuel combustion products and fly ash high concentrations of some of these heavy elements, in addition to the rocks that make up those soils, on which the soil content of heavy elements depends.

Differences in the biochemical content and radical scavenging activity of propolis from different parts of a Meliponula ferruginea hive.

Research on stingless bee products has increased in recent years, and of particular interest is propolis because of its biological activities such as antioxidant and antimicrobial. However, there is paucity of information regarding intra-hive variations in the biochemical composition and biofunctional properties of this propolis. In this study, we investigated the phytochemicals and radical scavenging activity (RSA) of Meliponula ferruginea propolis from 10 wooden hives (n = 49). The samples were collected from five different locations comprising the entrance, involucrum, pillars, pots and sealant. Principal component analysis showed that there is an intra-hive variation in phytochemical content and RSA. Phenolic content constituted the highest phytochemical content in all the locations. The sealant and entrance had the highest amounts of phytochemicals compared to the involucrum, pillars and pots. Further analysis of propolis extracts by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed occurrence of different compounds such as monoterpenoids, hydrocarbons, triterpenoids and alkaloids. Hydrocarbons were common in all parts while monoterpenes and triterpenes were present in the entrance. The findings of our study indicates that there is an intra-hive variation in propolis of M. ferruginea and hence this information will provide further insight into better understanding of stingless bee propolis.

3D Simulation of Semi-airborne Magnetometric Resistivity Data for the Monitoring of Water-rich Fracture Zones

Fracture zones, which are commonly saturated with water, pose significant risks during underground construction and the ongoing maintenance of infrastructure projects. Detecting such objects and monitoring their stability usually require surface geophysical methods over rough terrains that are slow and expensive, sometimes even impractical if the fracture zone is underwater. In this work, we propose using the semi-airborne magnetometric resistivity (SA-MMR) method to monitor the water content in the fracture zone rapidly. SA-MMR combines the advantages of efficiency from drone-borne geophysics and high data quality because of the measurements of a steady-state magnetic field by high-precision total-field magnetometers. We design our model based on an actual water gushing accident during the tunnel construction. The accident happened when the water from a reservoir above the route gushed into the tunnel through a weathered fault zone. In our synthetic survey, we utilize a set of electrodes that act as current sources, strategically placed along the strike of the fault; the total-field magnetometer, which is suspended 5 meters above the terrain using a drone that covers the entire survey area; two identical surveys are carried out before and after the fault’s water content increases. Our 3D forward modeling indicates that despite the low-resistivity water layer above the fracture zone, the SA-MMR data anomaly can be as large as 16 nT for a 10 A source current. The magnitude of the detected anomaly in question surpasses the noise level of contemporary airborne total-field magnetometers by multiple orders of magnitude, and our study has shown that SA-MMR has great potentials in quickly and economically mapping the variation of water content in water-rich fracture zones.

Development of a fast moisture prediction model based on the moisture buffer value theory

Moisture transfer in buildings significantly affects indoor thermal comfort, energy consumption, and durability of construction materials. It is crucial to predict the moisture storage and transfer in building simulations accurately. However, moisture transfer was neglected in many simulation tools for building performance analysis. In those calculation tools, including a moisture model, moisture transfer has been either estimated by simple approximations or calculated by complex combined heat, air, and moisture transfer (HAMT) models that require orders of magnitude more computing time than simple calculations. In this study, a new moisture prediction model with fast solution time and reasonable accuracy was developed based on the moisture buffer value (MBV) theory. The moisture buffer value was initially designed to quantify the moisture buffering ability of porous building materials. Very little research has been conducted to use MBV for calculating building energy performance directly. This paper first studied the MBVs under different boundary conditions (i.e., square wave and harmonic wave variation of vapour content), and then a time-average MBV was proposed. Experiments were carried out to get the parameters for the new FMBM model. Finally, simulation tests were conducted to compare the FMBM model with other moisture prediction models (e.g. EC, EMPD and HAMT models). The results indicate that the FMBM can provide a fast and reasonably accurate solution for indoor moisture prediction.

Seasonal Variations in Heavy Metal Content of Periwinkle Samples obtained from Oil Producing Communities within Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The effects of seasonal variations on the heavy metal content of periwinkle (Littorina littorea) were investigated. Samples were obtained from five stations within the oil producing communities of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The standard digestion method was used to determine the levels of zinc, lead, nickel, copper, cadmium and chromium with the aid of the atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). (Cadmium (0.216 – 0.727 ppm) and chromium (0.003 – 0.110 ppm) were significantly higher. Zinc, lead, nickel and copper were below the minimum permissible limits. Results obtained for chromium was significant at p(0.05) for the Pearson correlation coefficient. Oil production increases the concentration of heavy metals in water causing harmful to living and non-living resources. Further studies within the study area will assist in effective monitoring of the environment for sustainable development.

The Systematics of Olivine CaO + Cr-Spinel in High-Mg# Arc Volcanic Rocks: Evidence for in-Situ Mantle Wedge Depletion at the Arc Volcanic Front

Abstract We investigated the state of the arc background mantle (i.e. mantle wedge without slab component) by means of olivine CaO and its Cr-spinel inclusions in a series of high-Mg# volcanic rocks from the Quaternary Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Olivine CaO was paired with the Cr# [molar Cr/(Cr + Al) *100] of Cr-spinel inclusions, and 337 olivine+Cr-spinel pairs were obtained from 33 calc-alkaline, high-K and OIB-type arc front volcanic rocks, and three monogenetic rear-arc basalts that lack subduction signatures. Olivine+Cr-spinels display coherent elemental and He–O isotopic systematics that contrast with the compositional diversity of the bulk rocks. All arc front olivines have low CaO (0.135 ± 0.029 wt %) relative to rear-arc olivines which have the higher CaO (0.248 ± 0.028 wt %) of olivines from mid-ocean ridge basalts. Olivine 3He/4He–δ18O isotope systematics confirm that the olivine+Cr-spinels are not, or negligibly, affected by crustal basement contamination, and thus preserve compositional characteristics of primary arc magmas. Variations in melt H2O contents in the arc front series and the decoupling of olivine CaO and Ni are inconsistent with controls on the olivine CaO by melt water and/or secondary mantle pyroxenites. Instead, we propose that low olivine CaO reflects the typical low melt CaO of high-Mg# arc magmas erupting through thick crust. We interpret the inverse correlation of olivine CaO and Cr-spinel Cr# over a broad range of Cr# (~10–70) as co-variations of CaO, Al and Cr of their (near) primary host melts, which derived from a mantle that has been variably depleted by slab-flux driven serial melt extraction. Our results obviate the need for advecting depleted residual mantle from rear- and back-arc region, but do not upset the larger underlying global variations of melt CaO high-Mg# arc magmas worldwide, despite leading to considerable regional variations of melt CaO at the arc front of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

Disentangling stress and strain effects in ferroelectric HfO2

Ferroelectric HfO2 films are usually polycrystalline and contain a mixture of polar and nonpolar phases. This challenges the understanding and control of polar phase stabilization and ferroelectric properties. Several factors, such as dopants, oxygen vacancies, or stress, among others, have been investigated and shown to have a crucial role on optimizing the ferroelectric response. Stress generated during deposition or annealing of thin films is a main factor determining the formed crystal phases and influences the lattice strain of the polar orthorhombic phase. It is difficult to discriminate between stress and strain effects on polycrystalline ferroelectric HfO2 films, and the direct impact of orthorhombic lattice strain on ferroelectric polarization has yet to be determined experimentally. Here, we analyze the crystalline phases and lattice strain of several series of doped HfO2 epitaxial films. We conclude that stress has a critical influence on metastable orthorhombic phase stabilization and ferroelectric polarization. On the contrary, the lattice deformation effects are much smaller than those caused by variations in the orthorhombic phase content. The experimental results are confirmed by density functional theory calculations on HfO2 and Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 ferroelectric phases.

Impact of sulfur content on thermo-capillarity and melt pool dynamics in laser powder bed fusion of 316L powders

A three-dimensional numerical model is developed to investigate the influence of sulfur content on the transitions of thermo-capillarity and flow dynamics during laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of 316L powders. The impacts of variations in sulfur contents on thermal behaviors involving heat transfer and solidification characteristics, thermo-capillarity transition, as well as the spatial and directional transitions in flow dynamics, are analyzed through mechanistic modeling techniques. It is observed that transient thermal behaviors, including melt pool profile, track morphology, and solidification processes, are significantly influenced by the contained sulfur concentration. High sulfur concentrations tend to result in finer microstructures and equiaxed grains. Through simulations, it is noted that the transition in the sign of temperature coefficient of surface tension (TCST) is more easily observable in low-sulfur level but disappears as the sulfur concentration is extremely low (0.0001%) With sulfur content increasing, a more homogenized velocity distribution is observed, accompanied with heightened flow complexity denoted by the emergence of additional branch flows and vortices. These findings offer valuable insights into the underlying physics of melt pool dynamics in the LPBF process and present a potential approach for process optimization.

Multi‐Instrument Observations of Various Ionospheric Disturbances Caused by the 6 February 2023 Turkey Earthquake

AbstractIn this work, we investigate various types of ionospheric disturbances observed over Europe following the earthquake that occurred in Turkey on 6 February 2023. By combining observations from Doppler sounding systems, ionosondes, and GNSS receivers, we are able to discern different types of disturbances, propagating with different velocities and through different mechanisms. We can detect co‐seismic ionospheric disturbances close to the epicenter, as well as ionospheric signatures of acoustic waves propagating as a consequence of propagating seismic waves. Unlike the vast majority of past ionospheric co‐seismic disturbance studies that are primarily based on Total Electron Content variations, reflecting disturbances propagating around the F‐region peak, the focus of the present study is the manifestation of disturbances at different ionospheric altitudes by exploiting complementary ionospheric remote sensing techniques. This is particularly highlighted through ionospheric earthquake‐related signatures established as specific ionogram deformations known as multiple‐cusp signatures which appear as additional cusps at the base of the F‐region attributed to electron density irregularities generated by Rayleigh surface waves that generate acoustic waves propagating up to the ionosphere. Therefore this study underlines the advantage that multi‐instrument investigations offer in identifying the propagation of earthquake‐related ionospheric disturbances at different ionospheric altitudes and distances from the earthquake epicenter.

Chlorophyll Content Variation in Wheat Genotypes Planted in Semi-Arid Region

To achieve better productivity and fill the shortage caused by population increase and decrease of current wheat genotypes productivity. As a part of many studies, this study came to distinguish 21 wheat genotypes about their chlorophyll content in comparison with 3 local varieties eventually electing the superior genotypes in chlorophyll content and associated with high yield which are suitable for arid and semi-arid areas. Functioning chlorophyll enables crops to maintain photosynthesis capacity for a longer time after anthesis under the condition of water and heat stresses and this leads to longer grain filling periods and eventually higher yield. All wheat genotypes (24 genotypes) were planted according to RCBD in a research station of the College of Agriculture/ University of Anbar, western IRAQ. The findings of this study indicated genotypes with high yield and have considerable chlorophyll content, especially after flowering including “4, 6, 7, 9, 29, 31, 39, 41” and therefore can be nominated for plant breeding programs. In addition, those genotypes can be used for production in the region of western Iraq. Further studies and investigations are required to reach considerable stability in those genotypes.

Enhancing gastrointestinal submucosal tumor recognition in endoscopic ultrasonography: A novel multi-attribute guided contextual attention network

Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is a valuable imaging modality for diagnosing gastrointestinal submucosal tumors (SMTs). However, inherent content variations in EUS images due to gastrointestinal tract mobility and handheld ultrasound instability challenge the saliency of SMTs’ visual features. The presence of fine-grained inter-class and large intra-class differences further complicates EUS-based diagnosis. To address these issues, this paper presents a novel Multi-Attribute Guided Contextual Attention Network (MAG-CA-Net) for interpretable SMT recognition in EUS. Inspired by endoscopists’ clinical diagnosis expertise, our framework initially localizes abnormal areas based on echo attributes and subsequently determines tumor categories using contextual semantics. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of MAG-CA-Net, exhibiting improved recognition recall and precision rates for gastrointestinal stromal tumor, leiomyoma, and pancreatic rest. Specifically, the MAG network facilitates abnormal area localization, while the CA mechanism guides the model to focus on the most discriminative tumor-context-associated regions. The proposed method achieved an average classification accuracy of 93.16%, an average precision of 93.17%, a weighted recall of 93.16%, and an average F1-score of 93.15 % for the three disease categories. The proposed approach provides crucial guidelines for data collection standards and model development in the clinical diagnosis process of SMTs under EUS. Its interpretability analysis enhances the credibility of clinical physicians towards assisted diagnostic methods based on deep learning. The source code will be publicly available at https://gitee.com/HangbinZheng/mag-ca-net.

О возможности детектирования ионосферных возмущений, вызванных мощными подземными взрывами, методами GNSS-радиопросвечивания

Using dense networks of GNSS receivers, an analysis of the ionospheric responses to two underground explosions with a magnitude less than the existing threshold for detecting the ionospheric response to earthquakes was carried out. It is shown that when regestering these responses, it is necessary to take into account the possible anisotropy of the propagation of atmospheric disturbances at ionospheric altitudes due to both large-scale wind structures and the inclination of the geomagnetic field. Taking these factors into account makes it possible to reduce the magnitude threshold (compared to that established for earthquakes) of impulse lithospheric sources (explosions, volcanic explosions), the response to which can still be detected in the ionospheric total electron content variations.

고등교육 질 관리를 위한 수업컨설팅 프로그램 운영 현황과 과제

This study analyzes domestic university Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) instructional consulting programs to improve higher education quality. We explore avenues for enhancement, emphasizing a universal approach for overall quality management. The research includes a detailed examination of a 4-year university's CTL instructional consulting program. First, in our survey of university instructional consulting programs, we found that every university operates a similar program. Secondly, we found shortcomings in domestic university instructional consulting programs, including insufficient support for self-instructional and lesson plan consulting, as well as distinct variations in content for target-specific consulting and a lack of systematic management. Thirdly, for effective instructional consulting program operation, we suggest three tasks: streamline program designs, offer personalized promotional services for professors, and establish/utilize a robust consulting system.

Chemometrics monitoring and characterization of heavy metals and physicochemical status of Chanchaga River and Tagwai dam in Minna, Nigeria

The deleterious seasonal variation of waterbodies content leaves so much concern for safety of environment. In this study, heavy metals: Pb, Ni, Mn, Zn, Cd, Cu and Cr, as well as physiocochemical parameters: pH, temperature, turbidity, silica, nitrite, nitrate, nitrite as nitrogen and ammonia were determined in 80 samples of sediments and water samples from Chanchaga River and Tagwai Dam in Minna metropolis during dry and rainy seasons. The mean concentrations of the heavy metals in water and sediment samples were ranged as follows respectively: Pb (ND ; ND), Mn (ND - 0.01 mg/dm3;ND – 0.09 mg/dm3), Zn (0.00 – 0.02 mg/dm3 ; ND – 0.12 mg/dm3), Cd (ND ; ND-0.03 mg/dm3), Cu (ND – 0.01 mg/dm3 ;ND – 0.03 mg/dm3) and Cr (ND-0.02 mg/dm3 ; ND-0.02 mg/dm3) for rainy and dry seasons. The concentrations (mg/dm3) of the physicochemical parameters were as follows: pH (6.35 – 7.46 ; 4.41-7.75), temperature (27.64 - 30.570C ; 25.35 – 27.91), silica (ND – 6.09 mg/dm3 ; 1.97 -10.11 mg/dm3) ammonia (0.41- 7.54 ; 4.50 - 14.33 mg/dm3), turbidity (30.87 – 80.86 NTU ; 15.33-66.30 NTU), Conductivity (87.43-115.70 µS/cm ; 209.00 – 421.93 µS/cm), nitrite (ND – 0.12 mg/dm3; 0.05 - 0.41 mg/dm3), nitrite-nitrogen (0.01 – 0.03 mg/dm3 ; 0.03 - 0.13 mg/dm3) and nitrate (ND – 8.13 mg/dm3 ; 2.80 - 21.62mg/dm3). Cd, Zn, Mn, ammonia, turbidity, Cu, pH, and nitrite were above the WHO limit in water and sediment samples and in both seasons. The results of the analysis showed the pollution in Chanchaga River and Tagwai Dam to be above WHO permissible limit.. Principal Component Analysis of the datasets showed nitrite-nitrogen, turbidity and pH as the signature contaminants among the water samples, while nitrate, nitrite-nitrogen, Cd, silica and turbidity characterize the sediment samples. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) of the water and sediment samples characterizes the pollution source types. Correlation analysis showed strong positive relationship among conductivity-temperature (0.839), nitrate - nitrite nitrogen (0.806), nitrite – nitrite nitrogen (0.999) in the water samples and strong positive correlation between temperature and silica (0.763mg/dm3), conductivity (0.919µS/cm) and Zn (0.664mg/dm3) in the sediment samples.

Climate-based variability in the essential fatty acid composition of soybean oil

BackgroundSoybean oil is a major dietary source of the essential fatty acids linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA); however, high-daytime temperatures during seed development reduce desaturase activity in soybeans. The resultant reduction in LA and ALA levels is a phenomenon well-known to soybean breeders, although the impact of this interaction between plants and environment on human nutrition is poorly understood. ObjectivesUsing data from the literature, we developed a model for soybean essential fatty acid composition. Combining this model with contemporary agricultural and meteorological data sets, we determined whether insufficiency of essential fatty acids could result from geographic, intrayear, or interyear variability. MethodsWe modeled this change using 233 data points from 16 studies that provided fatty acid composition data from plants grown under daytime high temperatures ranging from 15°C to 40°C. ResultsAs temperature increased, LA and ALA concentrations decreased from 55% to 30% and 13% to 3.5%, respectively. Application of the model to daytime high temperatures from 2 growth periods over 6 y showed significant regional, interyear, and intrayear variation in essential fatty acid content (P < 0.05). Using county yield data, we developed oil fatty acid models for the 3 top-producing regions of the United States. From this work, it was determined that soybean oil manufactured from soybeans in the southern United States may contain insufficient ALA to meet human nutritional needs because of high-daytime temperatures. ConclusionsThis work suggests that climate-based variation may result in many human populations not achieving an adequate daily intake of ALA.