Phosphorus imbalance in the global ocean?

The phosphorus budget of the pre-human modern ocean is constrained applying the most recent estimates of the natural riverine, eolian, and ice-rafted input fluxes, the phosphorus burial in marine sediments, and the hydrothermal removal of dissolved phosphate from the deep ocean. This review of current flux estimates indicates that the phosphorus budget of the ocean is unbalanced since the accumulation of phosphorus in marine sediments and altered oceanic crust exceeds the continental input of particulate and dissolved phosphorus. The phosphorus mass balance is further tested considering the dissolved phosphate distribution in the deep water column, the marine export production of particulate organic matter, rain rates of phosphorus to the seafloor, benthic dissolved phosphate fluxes, and the organic carbon to phosphorus ratios in marine particles. These independent data confirm that the phosphate and phosphorus budgets were not at steadystate in the pre-human global ocean. The ocean is losing dissolved phosphate at a rate of ≥ 11.6 x 1010 mol yr-1 corresponding to a decline in the phosphate inventory of ≥ 4.5 % kyr-1. Benthic data show that phosphate is preferentially retained in pelagic deep-sea sediments where extended oxygen exposure times favor the degradation of particulate organic matter and the up-take of phosphate in manganese and iron oxides and hydroxides. Enhanced C : P regeneration ratios observed in the deep water column (>400 m water depth) probably reflect the preferential burial of phosphorus in pelagic sediments. Excess phosphate is released from continental margin sediments deposited in low-oxygen environments. The dissolved oxygen threshold value for the enhanced release of dissolved phosphate is ~20 μM. Benthic phosphate fluxes increase drastically when oxygen concentrations fall below this value

Biogeochemistry: Early phosphorus redigested

Atmospheric oxygen was maintained at low levels throughout huge swathes of Earth's early history. Estimates of phosphorus availability through time suggest that scavenging from anoxic, iron-rich oceans stabilized this low-oxygen world

Mode of action of antibiotics

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityAn antibiotic is an organic substance produced by a living organism which inhibits the growth of or kills some other living organism. Two of the more important antibiotics that have been studied are penicillin and streptomycin. Although three structural formulae for penicillin have been presented, this antibiotic is generally thought of as a ring condensation of two amino acids: alanine and betadimethylcysteine. The various penicillins differ in the substituent acid group coupled to the alanine amino group. Most investigators agree that penicillin produces striking and bizarre changes in the shape and size of various bacteria. The presence of elongated and swollen cells suggests the idea that growth takes place, but fission fails to follow. Other cultures contain cells which show a tendency to change from the normal three-dimensional colonies to the formation of "streptococcus-like" and "diplococcus-like" structures [TRUNCATED]

Polyphosphate dynamics at Station ALOHA, North Pacific subtropical gyre

Author Posting. © Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Limnology and Oceanography 61 (2016): 227–239, doi:10.1002/lno.10206.Polyphosphate (polyP) was examined within the upper water column (≤ 150 m) of Station ALOHA (22° 45′N, 158° 00′W) during two cruises conducted in May–June 2013 and September 2013. Phosphorus molar ratios of particulate polyP to total particulate phosphorus (TPP) were relatively low, similar to previously reported values from the temperate western North Atlantic, and did not exhibit strong vertical gradients, reflecting a lack of polyP recycling relative to other forms of TPP with depth. Furthermore, relationships among polyP:TPP, soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), and alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) were also consistent with previous observations from the Atlantic Ocean. To ascertain potential mechanisms of biological polyP production and utilization, surface seawater was incubated following nutrient additions. Results were consistent with polyP:TPP enrichment under opposite extremes of APA, suggesting diverse polyP accumulation/retention mechanisms. Addition of exogenous polyP (45 ± 5 P atoms) to field incubations did not increase chlorophyll content relative to controls, suggesting that polyP was not bioavailable to phytoplankton at Station ALOHA. To clarify this result, phytoplankton cultures were screened for the ability to utilize exogenous polyP. PolyP bioavailability was variable among model diatoms of the genus Thalassiosira, yet chain length did not influence polyP bioavailability. Thus, microbial community composition may influence polyP dynamics in the ocean, and vice versa.This work was supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Ford Foundation (JMD), the National Science Foundation under grants OCE 1225801 (JMD), OCE 1316036 (STD), EF 04-24599 (DMK), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Coastal Ocean Institute, the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (DMK). Additional support was provided by grants from the Simons Foundation to DMK and STD

PhD

dissertationCannabidiol (CBD) was administered both acutely and sub-acutely to mice, and the resulting effects on hexobarbital sleep time and on the hepatic microsomal drug-metabolizing system were assessed. Acutely administered CBD significantly prolonged hexobarbital sleep time, an effect that persisted for as long as 24 hr; but following subacute treatment, tolerance rapidly developed to the CBD effect. Brain hexobarbital concentration upon awakening v/as unchanged by either acute or subacute CBD treatment, which suggests that neither the acute effect of CBD on sleep time nor the tolerance that develops in subacutely treated animals is the result of a central interaction of the drug with the barbiturate. Acute CBD treatment increased the half-time of hexobarbital in the brain, evidence that the drug decreased the rate of hexobarbital metabolism. Tolerance was accompanied by a decrease in the elevated half-time of brain hexobarbital, suggesting that tolerance was a consequence of a return toward the normal rate of hexobarbital metabolism. Acutely administered CBD caused a 30 per cent depression in cytochrome P-450 concentration; the duration of the decline approxiniated the duration of CBD's prolongation effect on sleep time. Following subacute treatment, cytochrome P-450, total liver protein and microsomal protein concentrations were the same as the controls, but NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity and liver weight increased by about 20 per cent; the latter increases did not represent a functionally significant induction of hexobarbital metabolism. The evidence suggests that the CBD-caused prolongation of barbiturate sleep time is the result of a decrease in the rate of barbiturate metabolism related to a decrease in cytochrome P-450 concentration. Tolerance to the effect is associated with a return to a normal metabolic rate and to normal cytochrome P-450 values

Оценивание устойчивого развития окружающей среды на субнациональном уровне в Украине

Рассмотрены существующие методы оценивания устойчивого развития окружающей среды (самостоятельные индикаторы, а также их системы и индексы). Предложен индекс устойчивого развития окружающей среды для оценивания взаимоотношений с окружающей средой на уровне регионов Украины, учитывающий национальные приоритеты в экологической политике. По предложенному региональному индексу получены экологические профили и рейтинг областей Украины.Розглянуто існуючі методи оцінювання сталого розвитку довкілля (самостійні індикатори, а також їх системи та індекси). Запропоновано індекс сталого розвитку довкілля для оцінювання взаємовідносин із навколишнім середовищем на рівні регіонів України, який враховує національні пріоритети в екологічній політиці. За запропонованим регіональним індексом отримано екологічні профілі і рейтинг областей України.The existing methods for assessment of the environment sustainable development (independent indicators, their systems and indices) are considered. The environment sustainability index for assessment of relations with the environment at a regional level for Ukraine is proposed, which takes into account the national priorities in ecological policy. Ecological profiles and rating of the Ukrainian regions are obtained according to the proposed regional index

Characterization of soluble bromide measurements and a case study of BrO observations during ARCTAS

A focus of the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) mission was examination of bromine photochemistry in the spring time high latitude troposphere based on aircraft and satellite measurements of bromine oxide (BrO) and related species. The NASA DC-8 aircraft utilized a chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS) to measure BrO and a mist chamber (MC) to measure soluble bromide. We have determined that the MC detection efficiency to molecular bromine (Br2), hypobromous acid (HOBr), bromine oxide (BrO), and hydrogen bromide (HBr) as soluble bromide (Br−) was 0.9±0.1, 1.06+0.30/−0.35, 0.4±0.1, and 0.95±0.1, respectively. These efficiency factors were used to estimate soluble bromide levels along the DC-8 flight track of 17 April 2008 from photochemical calculations constrained to in situ BrO measured by CIMS. During this flight, the highest levels of soluble bromide and BrO were observed and atmospheric conditions were ideal for the space-borne observation of BrO. The good agreement (R2 = 0.76; slope = 0.95; intercept = −3.4 pmol mol−1) between modeled and observed soluble bromide, when BrO was above detection limit (\u3e2 pmol mol−1) under unpolluted conditions (NOmol−1), indicates that the CIMS BrO measurements were consistent with the MC soluble bromide and that a well characterized MC can be used to derive mixing ratios of some reactive bromine compounds. Tropospheric BrO vertical column densities (BrOVCD) derived from CIMS BrO observations compare well with BrOTROPVCD from OMI on 17 April 2008

Chemical and spectroscopic characterization of marine dissolved organic matter isolated using coupled reverse osmosis-electrodialysis

The coupled reverse osmosis-electrodialysis (RO/ED) method was used to isolate dissolved organic matter (DOM) from 16 seawater samples. The average yield of organic carbon was 75 ± 12%, which is consistently greater than the yields of organic carbon that have been commonly achieved using XAD resins, C18 adsorbents, and cross-flow ultrafiltration. UV-visible absorbance spectra and molar C/N ratios of isolated samples were consistent with the corresponding properties of DOM in the original seawater samples, indicating that DOM samples can be isolated using the coupled RO/ED method without any bias for/against these two properties. Five of the samples were desalted sufficiently that reliable measurements of their 13C and 1HNMR spectra and their Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectra could be obtained. The 13C and 1HNMR spectra of RO/ED samples differed distinctly from those of samples that have been isolated in much lower yields by other methods. In particular, RO/ED samples contained a relatively lower proportion of carbohydrate carbon and a relatively greater proportion of alkyl carbon than samples that have been isolated using cross-flow ultrafiltration. From the FTICR mass spectra of RO/ED samples, samples from the open ocean contained a much lower proportion of unsaturated compounds and a much higher proportion of fatty acids than coastal samples.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grants No. 0425624 and 0425603.Peer Reviewe

Denitrification pathways and rates in the sandy sediments of the Georgia continental shelf, USA

Denitrification in continental shelf sediments has been estimated to be a significant sink of oceanic fixed nitrogen (N). The significance and mechanisms of denitrification in organic-poor sands, which comprise 70% of continental shelf sediments, are not well known. Core incubations and isotope tracer techniques were employed to determine processes and rates of denitrification in the coarse-grained, sandy sediments of the Georgia continental shelf. In these sediments, heterotrophic denitrification was the dominant process for fixed N removal. Processes such as coupled nitrification-denitrification, anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation), and oxygen-limited autotrophic nitrification-denitrification were not evident over the 24 and 48 h time scale of the incubation experiments. Heterotrophic denitrification processes produce 22.8–34.1 μmole N m(-2 )d(-1 )of N(2 )in these coarse-grained sediments. These denitrification rates are approximately two orders of magnitude lower than rates determined in fine-grained shelf sediments. These lower rates may help reconcile unbalanced marine N budgets which calculate global N losses exceeding N inputs

Forest Conditions in Illinois

Now that the country is beginning to give belated attention to the conservation of all natural resources, the questions naturally arise, what is the extent and condition of our forest lands, and how can they be treated so that they will continue to be productive? The object of this report is to answer these questions for Illinois