title: Retention capacity of biochar-amended New Zealand dairy farm soil for an estrogenic steroid hormone and its primary metabolite

authors: Sarmah, Ajit K.

abstract: We examined the retention ability of a New Zealand dairy farm soil amended with 3 types of biochar produced from a variety of feedstocks for a steroid hormone (oestradiol, E2) and its primary transformation product (estrone, E1). Biochars produced from corn cob (CC), pine sawdust (PSD) and green waste (GW) were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Batch sorption studies were performed on soil amended with each biochar (0.5% and 1% by weight) using a complex solvent extraction scheme, and isotherms were fitted to the Freundlich model.
All isotherms were highly non-linear, with N values in the range 0.46–0.83 (E2) and 0.66–0.88 (E1) in soil amended with different percentages of biochars. Overall, addition of all 3 biochars was found to increase the soil sorption affinity for the hormones, with E2 sorption being the highest in the soil amended with 1% PSD biochar. There was no marked difference in hormone sorption ability in the other 2 treatments (soil treated with 1% CC biochar and 1% GW biochar). Overall, the effective distribution coefficient (Kdeff) values for E2 at the lowest equilibrium concentration (Cw 0.5 mg/L) ranged from 35 to 311 L/kg in soil amended with the 3 types of biochar. Addition of 0.5% of PSD biochar resulted in ~560% increase in the Kdeff value for E2, while at 1% addition of PSD biochar, uptake of E2 was nearly 1400% higher than the control. For E1, the percentage increase in Kdeff was comparatively smaller than E2; however, it still ranged from 40 to 280%, and 60 to >320% at addition of 0.5% and 1% PSD biochar, respectively, compared with the control soil. Highest treatment temperature and associated greater surface area, low ash content, higher carbon content, and the abundance of polar functional groups (e.g. –OH, C=O) may explain why the soil amended with PSD biochar exhibited high sorptive capacity for the hormones.

text: Retention capacity of biochar-amended New Zealand dairy farm soil for an estrogenic steroid hormone and its primary metabolite We examined the retention ability of a New Zealand dairy farm soil amended with 3 types of biochar produced from a variety of feedstocks for a steroid hormone (oestradiol, E2) and its primary transformation product (estrone, E1). Biochars produced from corn cob (CC), pine sawdust (PSD) and green waste (GW) were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Batch sorption studies were performed on soil amended with each biochar (0.5% and 1% by weight) using a complex solvent extraction scheme, and isotherms were fitted to the Freundlich model.
All isotherms were highly non-linear, with N values in the range 0.46–0.83 (E2) and 0.66–0.88 (E1) in soil amended with different percentages of biochars. Overall, addition of all 3 biochars was found to increase the soil sorption affinity for the hormones, with E2 sorption being the highest in the soil amended with 1% PSD biochar. There was no marked difference in hormone sorption ability in the other 2 treatments (soil treated with 1% CC biochar and 1% GW biochar). Overall, the effective distribution coefficient (Kdeff) values for E2 at the lowest equilibrium concentration (Cw 0.5 mg/L) ranged from 35 to 311 L/kg in soil amended with the 3 types of biochar. Addition of 0.5% of PSD biochar resulted in ~560% increase in the Kdeff value for E2, while at 1% addition of PSD biochar, uptake of E2 was nearly 1400% higher than the control. For E1, the percentage increase in Kdeff was comparatively smaller than E2; however, it still ranged from 40 to 280%, and 60 to >320% at addition of 0.5% and 1% PSD biochar, respectively, compared with the control soil. Highest treatment temperature and associated greater surface area, low ash content, higher carbon content, and the abundance of polar functional groups (e.g. –OH, C=O) may explain why the soil amended with PSD biochar exhibited high sorptive capacity for the hormones.

year: 2010

title: SQAB 2012:Timing

authors: Shahan, Timothy A.

abstract: This special issue of Behavioral Processes reports the proceedings of the 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior (SQAB) held in Seattle, Washington May 24–26, 2012. The special issue focuses on research that examines the subjective experience of the passage of time. All papers make use of models and theories to frame their research and explanations. Internal clock models of various flavors help frame those discussions. Information processing based models such as Scalar Expectancy Theory (SET; Gibbon, 1977) rely on assumptions about sources of error in a pacemaker-accumulator model of an internal clock. Others such as the Behavioral Theory of Timing (BeT; Killeen and Fetterman, 1988) and Learning to Time (LeT; Machado, 1997) place special emphasis on the role of behavior and associative processes in mediating timing. Other models do not posit pacemaker counter systems, such as the Attentional Allocation Model (e.g., Zakay, 1993) which builds its explanations on assumptions about the competition for attentional resources between temporal and non-temporal tasks. Relative-Coding Hypothesis holds that responding is controlled by the relative value of temporal samples (Molet and Zentall, 2008). The Striatal Beat Frequency Model (e.g., Matell and Meck, 2000) offers a very different sort of model based on cortical activity. One thing in common between these models is that they are called on to help to explain timing behavior by providing a mechanism for action. The collection of papers in this special issue is noteworthy because of the diversity of models, methods, and species that have been used.

text: SQAB 2012:Timing This special issue of Behavioral Processes reports the proceedings of the 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior (SQAB) held in Seattle, Washington May 24–26, 2012. The special issue focuses on research that examines the subjective experience of the passage of time. All papers make use of models and theories to frame their research and explanations. Internal clock models of various flavors help frame those discussions. Information processing based models such as Scalar Expectancy Theory (SET; Gibbon, 1977) rely on assumptions about sources of error in a pacemaker-accumulator model of an internal clock. Others such as the Behavioral Theory of Timing (BeT; Killeen and Fetterman, 1988) and Learning to Time (LeT; Machado, 1997) place special emphasis on the role of behavior and associative processes in mediating timing. Other models do not posit pacemaker counter systems, such as the Attentional Allocation Model (e.g., Zakay, 1993) which builds its explanations on assumptions about the competition for attentional resources between temporal and non-temporal tasks. Relative-Coding Hypothesis holds that responding is controlled by the relative value of temporal samples (Molet and Zentall, 2008). The Striatal Beat Frequency Model (e.g., Matell and Meck, 2000) offers a very different sort of model based on cortical activity. One thing in common between these models is that they are called on to help to explain timing behavior by providing a mechanism for action. The collection of papers in this special issue is noteworthy because of the diversity of models, methods, and species that have been used.

year: 2013

title: Representations of te reo Māori and te ao Māori in a translingual picturebook: How my Koro became a Star

authors: Barbour, Julie Renee

subjects: Indigenous language and culture

abstract: While English is the most commonly used language in Aotearoa New Zealand, it is a multilingual nation with two languages recognised as official: te reo Māori (the Māori language) and New Zealand Sign Language. The English language is dominant in children’s literature published in Aotearoa New Zealand, but since the 1980s there has been an increase in the number of picturebooks featuring two languages, te reo Māori and English. Previous work has explored how representations of te reo Māori and English in pukapuka pikitia reorua (dual language picturebooks) in Aotearoa reflect changing attitudes towards the two languages. In this article, we focus particularly on Brianne Te Paa and Story Hemi-Morehouse’s picturebook How my Koro became a Star. Originally written in te reo Māori, this multi-award winning picturebook is located at the beginning of Matariki, the Māori New Year celebration. In a move away from the linguistic analysis of te reo Māori being ‘borrowed’ by English, we consider how storytellers like Te Paa weave Māori language together with English in a translingual publication, supporting reader comprehension of Māori vocabulary and cultural meanings through embedded illustrations and explanations, inviting the curious reader to learn beyond the story.

text: Representations of te reo Māori and te ao Māori in a translingual picturebook: How my Koro became a Star While English is the most commonly used language in Aotearoa New Zealand, it is a multilingual nation with two languages recognised as official: te reo Māori (the Māori language) and New Zealand Sign Language. The English language is dominant in children’s literature published in Aotearoa New Zealand, but since the 1980s there has been an increase in the number of picturebooks featuring two languages, te reo Māori and English. Previous work has explored how representations of te reo Māori and English in pukapuka pikitia reorua (dual language picturebooks) in Aotearoa reflect changing attitudes towards the two languages. In this article, we focus particularly on Brianne Te Paa and Story Hemi-Morehouse’s picturebook How my Koro became a Star. Originally written in te reo Māori, this multi-award winning picturebook is located at the beginning of Matariki, the Māori New Year celebration. In a move away from the linguistic analysis of te reo Māori being ‘borrowed’ by English, we consider how storytellers like Te Paa weave Māori language together with English in a translingual publication, supporting reader comprehension of Māori vocabulary and cultural meanings through embedded illustrations and explanations, inviting the curious reader to learn beyond the story.

year: 2025