Ultimate pH values in reindeer meat with particular regard to animal sex and age, muscle and transport distance

The distribution of ultimate pH values and the frequency of high pH values in three reindeer muscles (AL longissimus, M. biceps femoris and M. triceps brachii) from bulls, cows and calves after short and long distance transport were studied. About 3400 reindeer carcasses from 12 different herds were included in this study. The post mortem processes in reindeer meat seemed to develop very rapidly, and therefore an early measurement (approx. 15h post mortem) of ultimate pH can be done without electrical stimulation of the carcasses. In a comparison between muscles, M. triceps brachii had a higher ultimate pH value than M. longissimus and M. biceps femoris. Meat from reindeer calves had higher ultimate pH values than meat from adult animals, indicating that calves are more susceptible to stress than adult animals and hence deplete their energy stores more readily. Road transport by lorry did not cause any increase in ultimate pH values in bulls and calves. Reindeer cows, however, did have an increase in ultimate pH, while more borderline cases of DFD (5.80<pH<6.20) were observed when cows were transported over more than 500 km. The physical condition and energy balance of the animals before transport were suggested to determine their ability to tolerate transport stress

The scope of science for the International Polar Year, 2007-2008

The International Polar Year 2007““2008 will be the largest internationally coordinated research programme in 50 years. It will be an intensive period of interdisciplinary science focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic. IPY 2007““2008 research activities were assembled from the ideas of researchers in more than 60 countries. A total of 228 projects have been endorsed by the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for IPY 2007““2008. These projects have a strong interdisciplinary emphasis and address the six themes as well as education and outreach objectives. IPY projects will exploit new technological and logistical capabilities and strengthen international coordination of research. They aim to attract, engage and develop a new generation of researchers and raise the awareness, interest and understanding of polar residents, educators, students, the general public and decision makers worldwide. IPY projects will collect a broad-ranging set of samples, data and information which will be made available to an unprecedented degree. IPY 2007““2008 aims to leave a legacy of enhanced observational systems, facilities and infrastructure. The observational networks to be established during IPY include integrated ocean observing systems in both the Arctic and Southern Oceans, coordinated acquisition of satellite data products from multiple space agencies and observational systems for astronomy, sun““earth physics, atmospheric chemistry, meteorology, ecosystems, permafrost, glaciers and geophysics. Many observing systems within IPY will be developed within the framework of existing international global observing systems

Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?

Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance

Towards high-throughput metabolomics using ultrahigh-field Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

With unmatched mass resolution, mass accuracy, and exceptional detection sensitivity, Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FTICR-MS) has the potential to be a powerful new technique for high-throughput metabolomic analysis. In this study, we examine the properties of an ultrahigh-field 12-Tesla (12T) FTICR-MS for the identification and absolute quantitation of human plasma metabolites, and for the untargeted metabolic fingerprinting of inbred-strain mouse serum by direct infusion (DI). Using internal mass calibration (mass error ≤1 ppm), we determined the rational elemental compositions (incorporating unlimited C, H, N and O, and a maximum of two S, three P, two Na, and one K per formula) of approximately 250 out of 570 metabolite features detected in a 3-min infusion analysis of aqueous extract of human plasma, and were able to identify more than 100 metabolites. Using isotopically-labeled internal standards, we were able to obtain excellent calibration curves for the absolute quantitation of choline with sub-pmol sensitivity, using 500 times less sample than previous LC/MS analyses. Under optimized serum dilution conditions, chemical compounds spiked into mouse serum as metabolite mimics showed a linear response over a 600-fold concentration range. DI/FTICR-MS analysis of serum from 26 mice from 2 inbred strains, with and without acute trichloroethylene (TCE) treatment, gave a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 4.5%. Finally, we extended this method to the metabolomic fingerprinting of serum samples from 49 mice from 5 inbred strains involved in an acute alcohol toxicity study, using both positive and negative electrospray ionization (ESI). Using these samples, we demonstrated the utility of this method for high-throughput metabolomics, with more than 400 metabolites profiled in only 24 h. Our experiments demonstrate that DI/FTICR-MS is well-suited for high-throughput metabolomic analysis

Sex-Differential Herbivory in Androdioecious Mercurialis annua

Males of plants with separate sexes are often more prone to attack by herbivores than females. A common explanation for this pattern is that individuals with a greater male function suffer more from herbivory because they grow more quickly, drawing more heavily on resources for growth that might otherwise be allocated to defence. Here, we test this ‘faster-sex’ hypothesis in a species in which males in fact grow more slowly than hermaphrodites, the wind-pollinated annual herb Mercurialis annua. We expected greater herbivory in the faster-growing hermaphrodites. In contrast, we found that males, the slower sex, were significantly more heavily eaten by snails than hermaphrodites. Our results thus reject the faster-sex hypothesis and point to the importance of a trade-off between defence and reproduction rather than growth

Влияние интенсивности механической активации на структуру гексагонального нитрида бора

Изучено влияние интенсивности механической активации на микроструктуру и свойства гексагонального нитрида бора (hBN).Вивчено вплив інтенсивності механічної активації на мікроструктуру і властивості гексагонального нітриду бору (hBN).The mechanical activation intensity effect on the microstructure and properties of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has been studied

Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) Laser Desorption/Ionization Source Design and Performance Characterization

The Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA), a dual-source, ion trap-based instrument capable of both pyrolysis-gas chromatography mass spectrometry (pyr/GC-MS) and laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS), is the core astrobiology investigation on the ExoMars rover. The MOMA instrument will be the first spaceflight mass analyzer to exploit the LDI technique to detect refractory organic compounds and characterize host mineralogy; this mode of analysis will be conducted at Mars ambient conditions. In order to achieve high performance in the Martian environment while keeping the instrument compact and low power, a number of innovative designs and components have been implemented for MOMA. These include a miniaturized linear ion trap (LIT), a fast actuating aperture valve with ion inlet tube, and a Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) Pirani sensor. Advanced analytical capabilities like Stored Waveform Inverse Fourier Transform (SWIFT) for selected ion ejection and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) are realized in LDI-MS mode, and enable the isolation and enhancement of specific mass ranges and structural analysis, respectively. We report here the technical details of these instrument components as well as system-level analytical capabilities, and we review the applications of this technology to Mars and other high-priority targets of planetary exploration