Greenhouse gas emissions from soils under organic management

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Land emissions of N2O, CO2 and NH3 have been subject to little study under organic systems, yet form important aspects of sustainability of such systems. We describe innovative methods developed at SAC to assess trace gas emission using both automatic closed chamber systems (intensive, short term monitoring) and manually-operated closed chamber systems (occasional, long term monitoring). Long-term data were collected from organic ley-arable rotation trials in North-east of Scotland. Short term data were collected to show the effect of timing and depth of ploughing-out of the ley phase on gas emissions. Ploughing gave a shortterm stimulation of CO2 and, more markedly, of N2O emission. Emissions of N2O from organic grass-clover leys were considerably lower than from conventional grass. However, some N2O emissions from organic arable are higher than from conventional systems, particularly in the first year after ploughing out ley. Ammonia emissions after spreading manure on grass were significant in the summer, though only short-lived

Molecular, isotopic and <i>in situ</i> analytical approaches to the study of meteoritic organic material

Organic materials isolated from carbonaceous meteorites provide us with a record of pre-biotic chemistry in the early Solar System. Molecular, isotopic and in situ studies of these materials suggest that a number of extraterrestrial environments have contributed to the inventory of organic matter in the early Solar System including interstellar space, the Solar nebula and meteorite parent bodies. There are several difficulties that have to be overcome in the study of the organic constituents of meteorites. Contamination by terrestrial biogenic organic matter is an ever-present concern and a wide variety of contaminant molecules have been isolated and identified including essential plant oils, derived from either biological sources or common cleaning products, and aliphatic hydrocarbons, most probably derived from petroleum-derived pollutants. Only 25% of the organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites is amenable to extraction with organic solvents; the remainder is present as a complex macromolecular aromatic network that has required the development of analytical approaches that can yield structural and isotopic information on this highly complex material. Stable isotopic studies have been of paramount importance in understanding the origins of meteoritic organic matter and have provided evidence for the incorporation of interstellar molecules within meteoritic material. Extending isotopic studies to the molecular level is yielding new insights into both the sources of meteoritic organic matter and the processes that have modified it. Organic matter in meteorites is intimately associated with silicate minerals and the in situ examination of the relationships between organic and inorganic components is crucial to our understanding of the role of asteroidal processes in the modification of organic matter and, in particular, the role of water as both a solvent and a reactant on meteorite parent bodies

Thermochemolysis of the Murchison meteorite: identification of oxygen bound and occluded units in the organic macromolecule

An organic macromolecular residue, prepared from the Murchison meteorite by treatment with hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acids, was subjected to online thermochemolysis with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). The most abundant compound released by thermochemolysis was benzoic acid. Other abundant compounds include methyl and dimethyl benzoic acids as well as methoxy benzoic acids. Short chain dicarboxylic acids (C4–8) were also released from the organic macromolecule. Within the C1 and C2 benzoic acids all possible structural isomers are present reflecting the abiotic origin of these units. The most abundant isomers include 3,4-dimethylbenzoic acid (DMBA), 3,5-DMBA, 2,6-DMBA and phenylacetic acid. Thermochemolysis also liberates hydrocarbons that are not observed during thermal desorption; these compounds include naphthalene, methylnaphthalenes, biphenyl, methylbiphenyls, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene and pyrene. The lack of oxygen containing functional groups in these hydrocarbons indicates that they represent non-covalently bound, occluded molecules within the organic framework. This data provides a valuable insight into oxygen bound and physically occluded moieties in the Murchison organic macromolecule and implies a relative order of synthesis or agglomeration for the detected organic constituents

Multiple cosmic sources for meteorite macromolecules?

The major organic component in carbonaceous meteorites is an organic macromolecular material. The Murchison macromolecular material comprises aromatic units connected by aliphatic and heteroatom-containing linkages or occluded within the wider structure. The macromolecular material source environment remains elusive. Traditionally, attempts to determine source have strived to identify a single environment. Here we apply a highly efficient hydrogenolysis method to liberate units from the macromolecular material and use mass spectrometric techniques to determine their chemical structures and individual stable carbon isotope ratios. We confirm that the macromolecular material comprises a labile fraction with small aromatic units enriched in 13C and a refractory fraction made up of large aromatic units depleted in 13C. Our findings suggest that the macromolecular material may be derived from at least two separate environments. Compound specific carbon isotope trends for aromatic compounds with carbon number may reflect mixing of the two sources. The story of the quantitatively dominant macromolecular material in meteorites appears to be made up of more than one chapter

Greenhouse gas emissions from soil under organic management

ABSTRACT Land emissions of N 2 O, CO 2 and NH 3 have been subject to little study under organic systems, yet form important aspects of sustainability of such systems. We describe innovative methods developed at SAC to assess trace gas emission using both automatic closed chamber systems (intensive, short term monitoring) and manually-operated closed chamber systems (occasional, long term monitoring). Long-term data were collected from organic ley-arable rotation trials in North-east of Scotland. Short term data were collected to show the effect of timing and depth of ploughing-out of the ley phase on gas emissions. Ploughing gave a shortterm stimulation of CO 2 and, more markedly, of N 2 O emission. Emissions of N 2 O from organic grass-clover leys were considerably lower than from conventional grass. However, some N 2 O emissions from organic arable are higher than from conventional systems, particularly in the first year after ploughing out ley. Ammonia emissions after spreading manure on grass were significant in the summer, though only short-lived

Satellite observations of fumarole activity at Aluto volcano, Ethiopia : implications for geothermal monitoring and volcanic hazard

J. Biggs, I.M.Watson, W. Hutchison, T.A. Mather and D.M. Pyle are members of the NERC Centre for the Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET). This work forms a contribution to the NERC Large Grant RiftVolc (NE/L01372X/1) awarded to J. Biggs. W. Hutchison was funded by NERC studentship NE/J500045/1. I.M. Watson is part of the NASA-ASTER science team and acknowledges NASA and JAXA for the provision of data.Fumaroles are the surface manifestation of hydrothermal circulation and can be influenced by magmatic, hydrothermal, hydrological and tectonic processes. This study investigates the temporal changes in fumarole temperatures and spatial extent on Aluto, a restless volcano in the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), in order to better understand the controls on fluid circulation and the interaction between the magmatic and hydrothermal systems. Thermal infrared (TIR) satellite images, acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection radiometer (ASTER) over the period of 2004 to 2016, are used to generate time series of the fumarole temperatures and areas. The thermal anomalies identified in the ASTER images coincide with known fumaroles with temperatures > 80 °C and are located on or close to fault structures, which provide a pathway for the rising fluids. Most of the fumaroles, including those along the major zone of hydrothermal upwelling, the Artu Jawe Fault Zone, have pixel-integrated temperature variations of only ~ 2 ± 1.5 °C. The exception are the Bobesa fumaroles located on a hypothesised caldera ring fault which show pixel-integrated temperature changes of up to 9 °C consistent with a delayed response of the hydrothermal system to precipitation. We conclude that fumaroles along major faults are strongly coupled to the magmatic-hydrothermal system and are relatively stable with time, whereas those along shallower structures close to the rift flank are more strongly influenced by seasonal variations in groundwater flow. The use of remote sensing data to monitor the thermal activity of Aluto provides an important contribution towards understanding the behaviour of this actively deforming volcano. This method could be used at other volcanoes around the world for monitoring and geothermal exploration.PostprintPeer reviewe

Identification of the factors associated with outcomes in a condition management programme

&lt;p&gt;Background: A requirement of the Government’s Pathways to Work (PtW) agenda was to introduce a Condition Management Programme (CMP). The aim of the present study was to identify the differences between those who engaged and made progress in this telephone-based biopsychosocial intervention, in terms of their health, and those who did not and to determine the client and practitioner characteristics and programme elements associated with success in a programme aimed at improving health.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods: Data were obtained from the CMP electronic spreadsheets and clients paper-based case records. CMP standard practice was that questionnaires were administered during the pre- and post-assessment phases over the telephone. Each client’s record contains their socio-demographic data, their primary health condition, as well as the pre- and post-intervention scores of the health assessment tool administered. Univariate and multivariate statistical analysis was used to investigate the relationships between the database variables. Clients were included in the study if their records were available for analysis from July 2006 to December 2007.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Results: On average there were 112 referrals per month, totalling 2016 referrals during the evaluation period. The majority (62.8%) of clients had a mental-health condition. Successful completion of the programme was 28.5% (575 “completers”; 144 “discharges”). Several factors, such as age, health condition, mode of contact, and practitioner characteristics, were significant determinants of participation and completion of the programme. The results showed that completion of the CMP was associated with a better mental-health status, by reducing the number of clients that were either anxious, depressed or both, before undertaking the programme, from 74% to 32.5%.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions: Our findings showed that an individual's characteristics are associated with success in the programme, defined as completing the intervention and demonstrating an improved health status. This study provides some evidence that the systematic evaluation of such programmes and interventions could identify ways in which they could be improved.&lt;/p&gt

Trivial Tasks that Consume a Lifetime: Kierkegaard on Immortality and Becoming Subjective

S. Kierkegaard argued that our highest task as humans is to realize an “intensified” or “developed” form of subjectivity—his name for self-responsible agency. A self-responsible agent is not only responsible for her actions. She also bears responsibility for the individual that she is. In this paper, I review Kierkegaard’s account of the role that our capacity for reflective self-evaluation plays in making us responsible for ourselves. It is in the exercise of this capacity that we can go from being subjective in a degraded sense—merely being an idiosyncratic jumble of accidental and arbitrary attitudes and affects—to being a subject in the ideal or eminent sense. The latter requires the exercise of my capacity for reflective self-evaluation, since it involves recognizing, identifying with, and reinforcing those aspects of my overall make-up that allow me to express successfully a coherent way of being in the world. Kierkegaard argues that taking immortality seriously is one way to achieve the right kind of reflective stance on one’s own character or personality. Thus, Kierkegaard argues that immortality as a theoretical posit can contribute to one’s effort to own or assume responsibility for being the person one is

The atypical 'hippocampal' glutamate receptor coupled to phospholipase D that controls stretch-sensitivity in primary mechanosensory nerve endings is homomeric purely metabotropic GluK2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank: Prof. Christophe Mulle, University of Bordeaux, France for the generous donation of the GluK2-Neo mice; Prof. Roberto Pellicciari and Prof. Maura Marinozzi, University of Perugia, Italy for the generous gift of PCCG-13; the Microscopy and Histology core facility at the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen for their support and assistance in some of the imaging in this work. We would also like to thank Prof. Gernot Riedel, University of Aberdeen UK and Prof. David Jane, University of Bristol UK for helpful comments during the work and discussion about drafts of this manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD