Naturally Occurring Arsenic and Boron in Geothermal Systems and Their Health Effects: A Case Study from Turkey

The evolution of salt tolerance is interesting for several reasons. First, since salt-tolerant plants (halophytes) employ several different mechanisms to deal with salt, the evolution of salt tolerance represents a fascinating case study in the evolution of a complex trait. Second, the diversity of mechanisms employed by halophytes, based on processes common to all plants, sheds light on the way that a plant’s physiology can become adapted to deal with extreme conditions. Third, as the amount of salt-affected land increases around the globe, understanding the origins of the diversity of halophytes should provide a basis for the use of novel species in bioremediation and conservation. In this review we pose the question, how many times has salt tolerance evolved since the emergence of the land plants some 450–470 million years ago? We summarise the physiological mechanisms underlying salt-tolerance and provide an overview of the number and diversity of salt-tolerant terrestrial angiosperms (defined as plants that survive to complete their life cycle in at least 200 mM salt). We consider the evolution of halophytes using information from fossils and phylogenies. Finally, we discuss the potential for halophytes to contribute to agriculture and land management and ask why, when there are naturally occurring halophytes, it is proving to be difficult to breed salt-tolerant crops.

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Communicating emotions in L2 Chinese: Talk in the dorm during study abroad

Global Chinese ◽

10.1515/glochi-2018-0016 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 337-359

Author(s):

Qian Wu

Keyword(s):

Study Abroad ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Human Interaction ◽

Emotional Expressions ◽

Genetic Method ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Expression Of Emotion ◽

History Of ◽

Oral Interaction

AbstractCommunication of emotion is at the heart of human interaction. For second language (L2) learners, the ability to communicate one’s emotion is crucial, especially in the context of study abroad when they are in frequent contact with native speakers. The aim of the case study is to investigate how an American sojourner Puppies and her Chinese roommate Kiki (both pseudonyms) participated in conversational narratives in the dormitory to construct emotions, and how the contextualized interaction facilitated Puppies’ development of a linguistic repertoire for the expression of emotion in Chinese. Informed by Vygotskian sociocultural theory, the study followed the genetic method in tracing the history of Puppies’ Chinese emotional repertoire across the semester, thereby elucidating the language developmental processes in the situated oral interaction. Audio-recorded everyday interaction in the dorm is triangulated by Puppies’ responses to the pre- and post-Mandarin Awareness Interview and interviews with Puppies and Kiki. Analysis revealed that the contextualized dorm talk provided abundant L2 resources for Puppies to develop a L2 emotional repertoire, especially fear-related emotion expressions. A discrepancy in the product of development as gleaned from the Mandarin Awareness Interview, and the process of development as seen in the naturally occurring dorm talk, suggests that Puppies’ use or non-use of local emotional expressions could be mediated by her partial understanding of the forms and the speech style and identity she wished to assume.

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Specific features of supramolecular organisation and hydrogen bonding in proline cocrystals: a case study of fenamates and diclofenac

CrystEngComm ◽

10.1039/c8ce01458b ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 (43) ◽

pp. 6970-6981 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Artem O. Surov ◽

Alexander P. Voronin ◽

Mikhail V. Vener ◽

Andrei V. Churakov ◽

German L. Perlovich

Keyword(s):

Hydrogen Bonding ◽

Amino Acid ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Supramolecular Organisation

New zwitterionic cocrystals of fenamate drugs and diclofenac with the naturally occurring amino acid l-proline have been obtained and thoroughly characterised by a variety of experimental and theoretical techniques.

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Assessing the optimal frequency of early parasitoid releases in an apple orchard to control Dysaphis plantaginea: a proof of concept study

10.1101/2021.09.20.461076 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Louise Ferrais ◽

Kevin Tougeron ◽

Pauline Gardin ◽

Thierry Hance

Keyword(s):

Apple Orchard ◽

Control Treatment ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Aphid Control ◽

Dysaphis Plantaginea ◽

Mass Release ◽

Alternative Measures ◽

Ephedrus Cerasicola ◽

Initial Infestation

Alternative measures to pesticides to control the rosy apple aphid Dysaphis plantaginea are being developed. Naturally occurring predators and parasitoids often fail to reduce aphid abundance below the economic threshold in orchards, because they are active too late after the aphid first infestation. We tested the efficiency of mass release of two parasitoid species, Aphidius matricariae and Ephedrus cerasicola, early in the season to match the presence of aphid fundatrix (sensitive stages). In this trial focusing on an organic apple orchard, three releases were done either every week or every two weeks to test the effect of the release frequency, during two consecutive years. The number of aphid colonies and aphid number per tree were monitored from late March to late May. Degree-days necessary for parasitoid emergence in the field after release were calculated. We show that a sufficient level of aphid control by parasitoids is reached during the first month of the survey, but control mostly fails during the second part of the monitoring session, for both release treatments, and compared to the neem oil control treatment. The relative effects of release frequencies were different between years probably because of interannual differences in aphid population dynamics and initial infestation in orchards. The field survey and the degree-day model suggest that parasitoid releases, at either frequency, are promising candidates for biological control of the rosy aphid, although the method still needs proper calibration. This conclusion needs to be reinforced by repeating the study in more orchards, but our case study lays the first empirical basis that will help to develop future control methods of aphids by parasitoid releases in apple orchards. We argue that releases should be done one to two weeks before first aphid detection to account for long development times of parasitoids at relatively low temperatures.

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