Polarized Lidar Reflectance Measurements of Vegetation at Near-Infrared and Green Wavelengths

There is growing interest in the use of lidar for remote sensing of vegetation owing to the emergence of reliable and rugged lasers and highly sensitive detectors. Lidar remote sensing has a distinct advantage over conventional techniques in vegetation remote sensing due to its capability for three-dimensional characterization of vegetative targets. The Multiwavelength Airborne Polarimetric Lidar (MAPL) system was developed primarily for vegetation remote sensing applications from an airborne platform of up to 1,000 -m altitude. The lidar system has full waveform capture and polarimetric measurement capability at two wavelengths in the near-infrared (1064 nm) and the green (532 nm) spectral regions. This study presents preliminary ground-based lidar reflectance measurements on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees under fully foliated conditions with a view towards tree species discrimination. Variations in the reflectance characteristics of selected deciduous trees under unfoliated and fully foliated conditions were also investigated. Our study reveals distinct differences in the reflectance characteristics of various trees.     

Photon interaction studies using 241Am γ-rays

We have carried out some photon interaction measurements using 59.54 keV γ-rays from a ²⁴¹Am source. These include γ attenuation studies as well as photoelectric absorption studies in various samples. The attenuation studies have been made using leaf and wood samples, samples like sand, sugar etc., which contain particles of varying sizes as well as pellets and aqueous solutions of rare earth compounds. In the case of the leaf and wood samples, we have used the γ-ray attenuation technique for the determination of the water content in fresh and dried samples. The variation of the attenuation coefficient with particle size has been investigated for sand and sugar samples. The attenuation studies as well as the photoelectric studies in the case of rare earth elements have been carried out on samples containing such elements whose K-absorption edge energies lie below and close to the γ-energy used. Suitable compounds of the rare earth elements have been chosen as mixture absorbers in these investigations. A narrow beam good geometry set-up was used for the attenuation measurements. A well-shielded scattering geometry was used for the photoelectric measurements. The mixture rule was invoked to extract the values of the mass attenuation coefficients for the elements from those of the corresponding compounds. The results are consistent with theoretical values derived from the XCOM package.     

青海柴达木地区植物白刺叶中微量元素特征

青海柴达木地区分布有丰富的白刺植物资源。利用220FS原子吸收光谱仪分析了该地区三种白刺叶片的Cu,Zn,Fe,Mn,Cr,Ni,Cd等微量元素。结果表明，铬、 锰含量显著提高是青海柴达木地区植物白刺叶资源微量元素特征。这为柴达木地区白刺叶资源的开发利用提供科学依据。     

高效液相钴离子催化化学发光抑制法测定茶叶中的茶氨酸

 研究了用高效液相分离、抑制化学发光测定茶叶中茶氨酸的分析方法。该法采用YWG C18(10μm,250mm×5 0mmi d )柱,以0 01mol·L-1醋酸钠 醋酸缓冲液(pH5 5)为流动相,流速为0 8mL·min-1。对茶氨酸抑制Co2+催化鲁米诺(luminol)与过氧化氢(H2O2)化学发光反应的条件进行了优化:Co2+的质量浓度为2μg·L-1,鲁米诺浓度为0 25mmol·L-1,H2O2浓度为0 5mmol·L-1。在茶氨酸的质量浓度为0 2g·L-1～5 0g·L-1时,茶氨酸抑制化学发光产生负峰的相对峰面积Y(将实际峰面积缩小至万分之一)与其质量浓度X(kg·L-1)的线性回归方程为Y=33862X+1 0605(r=0 9983)。     

微量元素叶面肥料中硼的测定

研究了在 pH 6 .5乙酸铵缓冲溶液中 ,硼与 3 甲氧基 甲亚胺H的显色反应条件 ,最大吸收在 4 2 0nm处 ,摩尔吸光系数为 8.1× 10 3,硼含量在 0～ 10 μg/ 10ml范围内符合比耳定律。用于微量元素叶面肥料中硼的测定 ,获得了与国标法一致的结果     

玉米叶片残体腐解过程的傅里叶变换红外光谱研究

采用傅里叶变换红外光谱对玉米植株叶片残体腐解过程进行了研究。结果表明，随着玉米叶片残体腐解的进行，羟基，酮碳基，甲基，在和次甲基的含量逐渐降收据 的含量增加。     

Determination of the insecticide fenoxycarb in apple leaf samples by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used for the determination of fenoxycarb in apple leaf samples. Single step extraction procedures with phosphate-citrate buffered solution containing different amounts of methanol were tested showing that a solvent percentage of 20% (v/v) was the best condition, with recoveries between 85 and 100% in the working range of 25-500 μg kg⁻¹ and a negligible matrix effect. The low detection limit reached, 1 μg kg⁻¹ against 50 μg kg⁻¹ for the recommended liquid chromatographic method, makes the ELISA more suitable for determinations of the fenoxycarb residues in apple leaf samples. The reliability of the ELISA was evaluated by assaying the insecticide in spiked and contaminated samples by three different approaches: direct determination, standard addition method with a calibration graph, and the dilution test. The corresponding coefficients of variation were, respectively, 11, 22 and 27%. The direct determination on the (1+1) diluted apple leaf extract was used to measure the insecticide residues in samples collected in the north-eastern Italian regions of Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige.     

Static headspace analysis of volatile organic compounds in soil and vegetation samples for site characterization

Traditional methodologies for the characterization of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in subsurface soil are expensive, time-consuming processes that are often conducted on samples collected at random. The determination of VOCs in near-surface soils and vegetation is the foundation for a more efficient sampling strategy to characterize subsurface soil and improve understanding of environmental problems.In the absence of a standard methodology for the determination of VOCs in vegetation and in view of the high detection limits of the method for soils, we developed a methodology using headspace gas chromatography with an electron capture detector for the determination of low levels (parts-per-billion to parts-per-trillion) of VOCs in soils and vegetation. The technique demonstrates good sensitivity, good recoveries of internal standards and surrogate compounds, good performance, and minimal waste. A case study involving application of this technique as a first-step vadose-zone characterization methodology is presented.     

Green synthesis,characterization, and biological activities of saffron leaf extract-mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles: A sustainable approach to reuse an agricultural waste

To increase the profitability and sustainability of agricultural waste, a facile green approach was established to synthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using saffron leaf extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Structural characteristics of NPs were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and UV–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy. Characterization results revealed that ZnO NPs is highly crystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and spherical particles with diameter less than 50 nm, as confirmed by XRD and FESEM techniques. UV–Vis absorption spectra depicted an absorption peak at 370 nm, which confirms the formation of ZnO NPs. FTIR spectral analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups and metal oxygen groups. The biological activities of ZnO NPs were also investigated. The antibacterial effect of ZnO NPs was investigated against selected food pathogens (Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, and Enterococcus faecalis). The study results prove that the green synthesized ZnO NPs show enhanced antibacterial activity against S. Typhimurium when compared with other strains. A dose-dependent free radical scavenging activity was observed for ZnO NPs in both 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) assays. The ZnO NPs were evaluated for their photocatalytic activity during the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous solutions. The maximum removal of MB achieved was 64% with an initial ZnO NP concentration of 12 mg/mL under UV light. The present study revealed that the agricultural waste (saffron leaf) provides a simple and eco-friendly option to sustainably synthesize ZnO NPs for use as a photocatalyst. In addition, this is the first report on saffron leaf-mediated synthesis of ZnO NPs.     

Straightforward Preparation of (2E,4Z)-2,4-Heptadien-1-ol and (2E,4Z)-2,4-Heptadienal

Abstract

A concise synthesis of (2E,4Z)-2,4-heptadien-1-ol and (2E,4Z)-2,4-heptadienal is presented. Commercially available (Z)-2-penten-1-ol was converted to ethyl-(2E,4Z)-2,4-heptadienoate by reaction with activated MnO₂ and (carboethoxymethylene)triphenylphosphorane in the presence of benzoic acid as a catalyst. Ethyl-(2E,4Z)-2,4-heptadienoate was converted to (2E,4Z)-2,4-heptadien-1-ol with LiAlH₄. The alcohol was partially oxidized to (2E,4Z)-2,4-heptadienal with MnO₂. The title compounds are male-specific, antennally active volatile compounds from the Saltcedar leaf beetle, Diorhabda elongata Brulle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and have potential use in the biological control of the invasive weed saltcedar (Tamarix spp).