The accumulation of copper in cocoa plantations due to the application of copper-based fungicides in the control of black pod disease is of environmental concern. It is well known that, heavy metals have affinity for different compartment in soil. The risk associated with the presence of metals in soil is their potential ecotoxicity and ability to enter the food chain. Total metal content of a ...

Plant lignin is one of the major wall components that greatly contribute to biomass recalcitrance for biofuel production. In this study, total 79 representative Miscanthus germplasms were determined with wide biomass digestibility and diverse monolignol composition. Integrative analyses indicated that three major monolignols (S, G, H) and S/G ratio could account for lignin negative influence on...

1. An PHJoestradiol-exchange methodwas developed for the determination ofoestradiolreceptor complexes in the nuclear fraction of immatur rat testicular tissue. This method permits the determination of nuclear oestradiol-receptot sites in the presence of a relatively large amount of non-specific oestradiol binding present in testicular nuclei. After incubation of nuclei for 60min at 200C in the ...

Biological treatment of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in soil rarely results in complete mineralization of the parent compound. More often, the largest proportion of the TNT carbon is incorporated into the soil organic matrix. Therefore, we evaluated the stability of nonextractable residues from various bioremediation processes of 14C-TNT in soils. The extractable amounts of the residual radioact...

Certain organic C moieties of soil origin in drinking source waters of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) can react with chlorine to form trihalomethanes (THMs) during the disinfection process. Isolation and characterization of them and quantitation of their THM formation potential (THMFP) is necessary for developing effective strategies to reduce their influxes in Delta waters and for removi...

Soy-based beverages are a source of high quality proteins and balanced nutrients; they thus represent an alternative to milk in case of allergy to cow milk proteins or intolerance to lactose. In this research, antioxidant properties of soy-based beverages and UHT cow milk were studied. In addition, color parameters, by a quick and non-destructive methodology, were studied in order to verify a p...

Use of saline water for irrigation has shown considerable promise. However, its effect on the solubility and bioavailability of native soil nutrients is not well understood. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of salinity on the behavior of zinc(Zn) in calcareous soils. The soil samples with different physiochemical properties were collected from four locations in Khorasan province...

Using the methods of soil analysis and geostatistics combined with GIS, this paper determined and mapped the spatial distribution of soil DTPA-extractable copper (Cu) in cultivated fields of Shenyang suburbs of China, aimed to assess the roles of industries and agricultural managements in affecting the spatial heterogeneity of soil Cu in this region. The results showed that the soil DTPA-extrac...

A salt-extractable low-molecular-weight fraction has been held responsible for the resistance of cartilage to invasion by malignant cells. To test this hypothesis, we have confronted in vitro fragments from bovine articular cartilage, from bovine nasal septum, from chick embryonic tibia, or from human knee meniscus with cells from the following malignant lines: LICR-HN-4 human squamous cell car...

A laboratory investigation was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of four phosphate fertilizers, including diammonium phosphate (DAP), potassium phosphate monobasic (MPP), calcium superphosphateon (SSP), and calcium phosphate tribasic (TCP), in terms of the toxicity and bioavailability of Cd in contaminated soils. The efficiency of immobilization was evaluated on the basis of two criteria: (a...