Conservation of Edible Ectomycorrhizal Mushrooms: Understanding of the ECM Fungi Mediated Carbon and Nitrogen Movement within Forest Ecosystems

Most edible ectomycorrhizal (ECM) mushrooms are currently harvested from nature and many of them are high-priced. Demand for the wild mushrooms as a culinary delicacy has stimulated research that aims to understand (1) the puzzled role that the ECM fungi play in the forest ecosystem, and (2) nutritional and other requirements for fruiting, which is highly variable. In this review, we focus on understanding of the ECM fungi mediated carbon and nitrogen movement between the symbiotic partners and on the interactions with other fungi in forest ecosystems. Thereby, we better understand the diverse nitrogen requirements for edible ECM fungal growth and mushroom fruiting. We attempt to provide a theoretical basis for the future research of edible ECM mushrooms in wild and controlled conditions.Peer reviewe

Genetic Diversity Analysis of Sapindus in China and Extraction of a Core Germplasm Collection Using EST-SSR Markers

Sapindus is an important forest tree genus with utilization in biodiesel, biomedicine, and it harbors great potential for biochemical engineering applications. For advanced breeding of Sapindus, it is necessary to evaluate the genetic diversity and construct a rationally designed core germplasm collection. In this study, the genetic diversity and population structure of Sapindus were conducted with 18 expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers in order to establish a core germplasm collection from 161 Sapindus accessions. The population of Sapindus showed high genetic diversity and significant population structure. Interspecific genetic variation was significantly higher than intraspecific variation in the Sapindus mukorossi, Sapindus delavayi, and combined Sapindus rarak plus Sapindus rarak var. velutinus populations. S. mukorossi had abundant genetic variation and showed a specific pattern of geographical variation, whereas S. delavayi, S. rarak, and S. rarak var. velutinus showed less intraspecific variation. A core germplasm collection was created that contained 40% of genetic variation in the initial population, comprising 53 S. mukorossi and nine S. delavayi lineages, as well as single representatives of S. rarak and S. rarak var. velutinus. These results provide a germplasm basis and theoretical rationale for the efficient management, conservation, and utilization of Sapindus, as well as genetic resources for joint genomics research in the future.Peer reviewe

Electrospun nanofibers for efficient adsorption of heavy metals from water and wastewater

Heavy metals (HMs) are persistent and toxic environmental pollutants that pose critical risks toward human health and environmental safety. Their efficient elimination from water and wastewater is essential to protect public health, ensure environmental safety, and enhance sustainability. In the recent decade, nanomaterials have been developed extensively for rapid and effective removal of HMs from water and wastewater and to address the certain economical and operational challenges associated with conventional treatment practices, including chemical precipitation, ion exchange, adsorption, and membrane separation. However, the complicated and expensive manufacturing process of nanoparticles and nanotubes, their reduced adsorption capacity due to the aggregation, and challenging recovery from aqueous solutions limited their widespread applications for HM removal practices. Thus, the nanofibers have emerged as promising adsorbents due to their flexible and facile production process, large surface area, and simple recovery. A growing number of chemical modification methods have been devised to promote the nanofibers\u27 adsorption capacity and stability within the aqueous systems. This paper briefly discusses the challenges regarding the effective and economical application of conventional treatment practices for HM removal. It also identifies the practical challenges for widespread applications of nanomaterials such as nanoparticles and nanotubes as HMs adsorbents. This paper focuses on nanofibers as promising HMs adsorbents and reviews the most recent advances in terms of chemical grafting of nanofibers, using the polymers blend, and producing the composite nanofibers to create highly effective and stable HMs adsorbent materials. Furthermore, the parameters that influence the HM removal by electrospun nanofibers and the reusability of adsorbent nanofibers were discussed. Future research needs to address the gap between laboratory investigations and commercial applications of adsorbent nanofibers for water and wastewater treatment practices are also presented

Helminths in the gastrointestinal tract 1 as modulators of immunity and pathology

Helminth parasites are highly prevalent in many low- and middle-income countries, in which inflammatory bowel disease and other immunopathologies are less frequent than in the developed world. Many of the most common helminths establish in the gastrointestinal tract, and can exert counter-inflammatory influences on the host immune system. For these reasons, interest has arisen in how parasites may ameliorate intestinal inflammation and whether these organisms, or products they release, could offer future therapies for immune disorders. In this review, we discuss interactions between helminth parasites and the mucosal immune system, and progress made towards identifying mechanisms and molecular mediators through which it may be possible to attenuate pathology in the intestinal tract

TSUNAMI INFORMATION SOURCES PART 2

Tsunami Information Sources (Robert L. Wiegel, University of California, Berkeley, CA, UCB/HEL 2005-1, 14 December 2005, 115 pages), is available in printed format, and on a diskette. It is also available in electronic format at the Water Resources Center Archives, University of California, Berkeley, CA http:www.lib.berkeley.edu/WRCA/tsunamis.htmland in the International Journal of The Tsunami Society, Science of Tsunami Hazards (Vol. 24, No. 2, 2006, pp 58-171) at http://www.sthjournal.org/sth6.htm.This is Part 2 of the report. It has two components. They are: 1.(Sections A and B). Sources added since the first report, and corrections to a few listed in the first report. 2.(Sections C and D). References from both the first report and this report, listed in two categories:Section C. Planning and engineering design for tsunami mitigation/protection; adjustments to the hazard; damage to structures and infrastructureSection D. Tsunami propagation nearshore; induced oscillations; runup/inundation (flooding) and drawdown

Aerosols, Clusters, Greenhouse Gases, Trace Gases and Boundary-Layer Dynamics : on Feedbacks and Interactions

Turbulence is the key process transporting material and energy in the atmosphere. Furthermore, turbulence causes concentration fluctuations, influencing different atmospheric processes such as deposition, chemical reactions, formation of low-volatile vapours, formation of new aerosol particles and their growth in the atmosphere, and the effect of aerosol particles on boundary-layer meteorology. In order to analyse the connections, interactions and feedbacks relating those different processes require a deep understanding of atmospheric turbulence mechanisms, atmospheric chemistry and aerosol dynamics. All these processes will further influence air pollution and climate. The better we understand these processes and their interactions and associated feedback, the more effectively we can mitigate air pollution as well as mitigate climate forcers and adapt to climate change. We present several aspects on the importance of turbulence including how turbulence is crucial for atmospheric phenomena and feedbacks in different environments. Furthermore, we discuss how boundary-layer dynamics links to aerosols and air pollution. Here, we present also a roadmap from deep understanding to practical solutions.Peer reviewe

Production and Role of Molecular Hydrogen in Plants

Molecular hydrogen (hydrogen gas; H2) is gaining prominence in the scientific literature as well as the popular media. Early studies suggest the use of H2 treatment for a wide range of human diseases, from COVID-19 to various neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, its biological activity also appears to have therapeutic and regulatory effects in plants. Accordingly, it has been suggested to be useful in agricultural settings. H2 has effects on a range of physiological events in plants. It has been shown to have effects on seed germination, plant growth, and development. It has also been found to be involved in plant stress responses and to be protective against abiotic stress. It also has beneficial effects during the post-harvest storage of crops. Therefore, its use in the agricultural setting has great potential as it appears to be safe, with no toxicity or harm to the environment. One of the conundrums of the use of H2 is how it induces these effects in plants and plant cells. It is difficult to envisage how it works based on a classical receptor mechanism. There is evidence that it may act as a direct antioxidant, by scavenging hydroxyl radicals, or via enhancing the plant’s innate antioxidant system as a signaling molecule. It has also been reported to exert effects through action on heme oxygenase, cross-talk with other signaling molecules, and regulating the expression of various genes. However, how H2 fits into, and integrates with, other signaling pathways is not clearly understood. Future work is needed to elucidate the mechanism and significance of the interaction of H2 with these and other cellular systems

Geomechanics for Energy and a Sustainable Environment

This book describes recent advances in geomechanics for energy and the sustainable environment. Four research articles, related to high-level radioactive nuclear waste disposal stability, geological effect and wellbore stability considerations for methane gas hydrate production, and artificial soil freezing, are presented in this book. In addition, a comprehensive state-of-the-art review verifies the strong correlation between global climate change and the occurrence of geotechnical engineering hazards. The review also summarizes recent attempts to reduce CO2 emissions from civil and geotechnical engineering practices. Readers will gain ideas as to how we can deal with conventional and renewable energy sources and environment-related geotechnical engineering issues

Book Reviews

Jerald T. Milanich, Florida\u27s Indians from Ancient Times to the Present, by Amy Turner Bushnell; Mark F. Lloyd, Hale G. Smith, and John W. Griffin, eds., Here They Once Stood: The Tragic End of the Apalachee Missions, by Greg O\u27Brien; Jay Barnes, Florida\u27s Hurricane History, by Raymond Arsenault; Woody Holton, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, & the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia, by Todd Estes; Mary Kemp Davis. Nat Turner Before the Bar of Judgement: Fictional Treatments of the Southampton Slave Insurrection, by Larry E. Rivers; Julie Roy Jeffrey, The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement, by Julie Winch; Christopher Schmidt-Nowara, Empire and Antislavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833-1874, by Durwood Long; Ruth C. Carter, ed., For Honor, Glory, & Union: The Mexican and Civil War Letters of Brig. Gen. William Haines Lytle, by Michael D. Pierce; Philip J. Reyburn and Terry L. Wilson, eds., Jottings from Dixie : The Civil War Dispatches of Sergeant Major Stephen F. Fleharty, U.S.A., by Glenna R. Schroeder-Lein; Richard W. Iobst, Civil War Macon, by Daniel E. Sutherland; Steven H. Newton, Joseph E. Johnston and the Defense of Richmond, by Dale Harter; Jeffrey C. Lowe and Sam Hodges, Letters to Amanda: The Civil War Letters of Marion Hill Fitzpatrick, Army of Northern Virginia, by Robert A. Taylor; Ella Forbes, African Americam Women During the Civil War, by Alicestyne Turley-Adams; Ira A. Berlin and Leslie S. Rowland, eds., Families & Freedom: A Documentary of African American Kinship in the Civil War Era, by Larry E. Rivers; Ira A. Berlin, Joseph P. Reidy, and Leslie S. Rowland, eds., Freedom\u27s Soldiers: The Black Military Experience in the Civil War, by Alicestyne Turley-Adams; Brooks D. Simpson and Jean V. Berlin, eds., Sheerman\u27s Civil War: Selected Correspondence of William T. Sherman, l860-1865, by Robert E. May; Eugene D. Genovese, A Consuming Fire: The Fall of the Confederacy in the Mind of the White Christian South, by Wayne Flynt; Edmund L. Drago, Hurrah for Hampton! Black Red Shirts in South Carolina During Reconstruction, by Eldred E. Prince Jr.; Scott Reynolds Nelson, Iron Confederacies: Southern Railways, Klan Violence, and Reconstruction, by H. Roger Grant; Sidney Philip Johnston, Paper, Presses, and Profits: A History of the E.0. Painter Printing Company, by William S. Coker; Elna C. Green, ed., Before the New Deal: Social Welfare in the South, 1830-1930, by Steven Noll; Eric Anderson and Alfred A. Moss Jr., Dangerous Donations: Northern Philanthropy and Southern Black Education, 1902-1930, by Fon Louise Gordo

1880-07-15

The Old Commonwealth was a weekly newspaper published in Harrisonburg, Va., between 1865 and 1884