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NaCl-induced and -repressed cDNA clones had previously been isolated by differential screening of a cDNA library, prepared from poly(A(^+)) RNA isolated from Distichlis spicata (salt grass) cell cultures grown in the presence of 260 mM NaCl (Zhao, et al., 1989). Eight of these cDNA clones have now been subcloned and/or sequenced and the predicted polypeptides compared with owl sequence data base. Three clones pDZ6.2, pDZVIII 1.2.1 and pDZIX 3.1 encode proline rich proteins, containing an amino acid repeat [PPKKDH(H)Y(Y)]. They have similar amino acid usage to proline-rich cell wall proteins, being rich in P, K, H and Y. The first 20 amino acid residues encode a putative leader sequence, supporting the proposed extracellular role as a cell wall protein. This N-terminal sequence (MPLLVALLLVLAVVAAAGAD) shares some similarity with die leader sequence of a soyabean proline-rich cell wall protein precursor and other extracellular proteins (the conserved residues are underlined). There is an increase in abundance of transcripts hybridising to the inserts from pDZ6.2 and pDZVUI 1.2.1 in response to either 520 mM NaCl or 100 µM ABA, but a decrease in response to 5 mM exogenous proline. It is suggested that the corresponding gene(s) are regulated at the level of either transcription or transcript stability, in response to elevated NaCl, with ABA as a mediator of (or part of) tills response. pDZ6.2 and pDZXI 3.1 have identical nucleotide sequences, whilst pDZVni 1.2.1 differs in three base paks within the putative open reading frame, suggesting that there may be at least two members of a multi gene family. A 68 bp OA repeat has been found in the 5' untranslated region of pDZ6.2 and a corresponding transcript identified by northern analysis using this OA sequence as a probe. Such nucleotide repeats can form triplexes (DNA) or hakpin loops (RNA), which is dependent on pH and ionic conditions. Therefore this OA repeat may play a role in the regulation of the gene corresponding to pDZ6.2 at the level of transcription or translation, possibly by attenuation of these processes, either by the formation of triplexes or hah-pins, or the binding of a protein to this GA region, at low ionic strength. However initial in vitro ttanscription experiments, to compare the transcriptional activity of pDZ6.2 and pDZVin 5.1.1 at different ionic strengths, proved inconclusive. An attempt was also made to identify the corresponding genomic region from D. spicata by anchored PGR.A fourth clone pDZ2.8L encodes a histone 2B protein, having 97.9% similarity to a wheat histone 2B. Its transcript abundance decreased in response to either 520 mM NaCl, 5 mM proline or 100 µM ABA. The sequences of the remaining clones either revealed no significant similarity to any known sequences or were assigned as being cloning artefacts .D. spicata cells accumulate proline within eight hours of exposure to 260 mM NaCl (Heyser, et al., 1989b). An unsuccessful attempt was also made to isolate a pyrroline-5- carboxylate reductase gene homologue from D. spicata, by heterologous probing of Southern blots with a soyabean cDNA pProCl and PCR.

This study uses airborne data from multiple field campaigns off the California coast to determine the extent to which a size distribution parameter and a cloud water chemical measurement can capture the effect of giant cloud condensation nuclei (GCCN), specifically sea salt, on marine stratocumulus cloud properties. The two GCCN proxy variables, near-surface particle number concentration for diameters >5 mu m and cloud water chloride concentration, are significantly correlated (95% confidence) with each other, and both exhibit expected relationships with other parameters (e.g., surface wind) that typically coincide with sea salt emissions. Factors influencing the relationship between these two GCCN proxy measurements include precipitation rate (R) and the standard deviation of the subcloud vertical velocity owing likely to scavenging effects and improved mixing/transport of sea salt to cloud base, respectively. When comparing 12 pairs of high and low chloride cloud cases (at fixed liquid water path and cloud drop number concentration), the average drop spectra for high chloride cases exhibit enhanced drop number at diameters exceeding 20 mu m, especially above 30 mu m. In addition, high chloride cases coincide with enhanced mean columnar R and negative values of precipitation susceptibility. The difference in drop effective radius between high and low chloride conditions decreases with height in cloud, suggesting that some GCCN-produced raindrops precipitate before reaching cloud tops. The sign of cloud responses (i.e., R) to perturbations in giant sea salt particle concentration, as evaluated from Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 reanalysis data, is consistent with the aircraft data.

The stability of Haynes 230 and Hastelloy C-276 nickel alloys exposed to high temperature molten salt with trace contaminants (i.e., water and oxygen) is found to be acceptable for using these metals to house anaerobic MgCl2-KCl and NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 molten salts at 800oC. The corrosion rate determined by gravimetric tests range from -98 µm/year to 20. 13 µm/year at 800˚C. The corrosion rate is estimated to be 16.14 µm/year for Haynes 230 and 10.03 µm/year for Hastelloy C-276 based on the weight loss and surface area of the coupons when the coupons of Haynes 230 and Hastelloy C-276 alloys are immersed in molten MgCl2-KCl salt in sealed quartz containers and left in an oven at a temperature of 800˚C up to 16 days. The corrosion rate is estimated to be -20.46 µm/year for Haynes 230 and -7.36 µm/year for Hastelloy C-276 based on the weight loss and surface area of the coupons when the alloys are immersed in molten NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 salt in sealed quartz containers and left in an oven at 800˚C up to 56 days. The corrosion rate of the alloys are well below the DOE requirement of 50 µm/year for the alloys in molten chloride salts to be considered acceptably stable. Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) after immersion of Haynes 230 and Hastelloy C-276 in molten salt ranged from 634 MPa to 860 MPa. The UTS of Haynes 230 is estimated to be 642 MPa after exposure to NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 for 4 weeks at 800˚c and 841 MPa after exposure to MgCl2-KCl for 4 weeks at 800˚c compared to an untreated sample which achieved a UTS of 851 MPa. Likewise, the UTS of Hastelloy C-276 is estimated to be 692 MPa after exposure to NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 for 4 weeks at 800˚c and 842 MPa after exposure to MgCl2-KCl for 4 weeks at 800˚c compared to an untreated sample which achieved a UTS of 830 MPa. Molten chloride salts, such as NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 and KCl-MgCl2, are pretreated by heating and bubbling dry Argon gas in the salt in order to remove oxygen and water and thereby reduce the corrosion of metal containers of molten salt. Monitoring the relative humidity and percent oxygen of the exhaust gas during the sparging of dry Argon at 240 sccm into 150 g of molten chloride salt at 500˚C for NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 and 700˚C for KCl-MgCl2 allows an estimation time to reach a low level of oxygen and water in the salt and to estimate the amount of oxygen and water removed. Results show water is more difficult to remove than oxygen from the salt. Ten minutes of sparging with dry argon brings oxygen content of exhuast gas to<0.1% O2. Approximately fifty minutes of sparging leaves the exhaust gas only containing<0.7% RH. The total moles of oxygen removed from the salts are estimated to be 0.0043 moles for molten NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 and 0.0076 moles for KCl-MgCl2. The total moles of water removed from the NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 salt is estimated to be 0.016108379 moles and 0.002321214 moles from molten KCl-MgCl2.

Objectives: To explore salt content in bread and to evaluate the feasibility of reducing salt contained in ‘pan francés’ bread. Design: The study had two phases. Phase 1, an exploratory phase, involved the estimation of salt contained in bread as well as a triangle taste test to establish the amount of salt to be reduced in ‘pan francés’ bread without detection by consumers. In Phase 2, a quasi-experimental, pre–post intervention study assessed the effects of the introduction of low-salt bread on bakery sales. Setting: A municipal bakery in Miraflores, Lima, Peru. Subjects: Sixty-five clients of the bakery in Phase 1 of the study; sales to usual costumers in Phase 2. Results: On average, there was 1·25 g of salt per 100 g of bread. Sixty-five consumers were enrolled in the triangle taste test: fifty-four (83·1 %) females, mean age 58·9 (SD 13·7) years. Based on taste, bread samples prepared with salt reductions of 10 % (P = 0·82) and 20 % (P =0·37) were not discernible from regular bread. The introduction of bread with 20 % of salt reduction, which contained 1 g of salt per 100 g of bread, did not change sales of ‘pan francés’ (P=0·70) or other types of bread (P =0·36). Results were consistent when using different statistical techniques. Conclusions: The introduction of bread with a 20 % reduction in salt is feasible without affecting taste or bakery sales. Results suggest that these interventions are easily implementable, with the potential to contribute to larger sodium reduction strategies impacting the population’s cardiovascular health.

The purpose of the experiment was to investigate other paramagnetic salts to determine whether the W. B. perchlorate type peak was more common than previously suspected. An organic salt, picryl-n-amino-carbazyl, was chosen.

Thesis advisor: Rudolph Hon / The application of road de-icers has lead to increasing solute concentrations in surface and ground water across the northern US, Canada, and northern Europe. In a public water supply well field in southeastern Massachusetts, USA, chloride concentrations in ground water from an unconfined aquifer have steadily risen for the past twenty years. The objectives of this study are to understand spatial and temporal trends in road salt concentrations in order to identify contamination sources and fate. To this end, the methods of this project include field and lab work. Water samples were collected from surface, near-surface, and ground water from March 2012 to March 2013. The other major field data are specific conductance measurements from probes located in three piezometers. In the lab, all samples were analyzed for major ions with ion chromatography analysis. Additionally, trace elements were measured by inductively coupled plasma analysis on a subset of samples. The results of these hydrogeochemical procedures showed several important trends. First, the highest concentrations of sodium and chloride from near-surface samples were located near to roadways. Second, ground water samples taken from glacial sediments contained relatively high concentrations throughout the water column, whereas ground water samples from wetlands had high concentrations only near the surface. Third, there was no clear relationship between pH and cation concentrations. Finally, specific conductance data showed strong seasonal trends near to the surface, whereas values taken from deeper in the aquifer were steadily increasing. Based on these results, it is highly probable that road salt application is the dominate contamination source. The pathways of road salt in the watershed include runoff into surface water and infiltration into the vadose zone and ground water. Road salt appears to preferentially travel through glacial features rather than floodplain features. It is possible that sodium from road salt is sorbed to aquifer sediment and displaces other cations. However, the low values of trace metals suggest that cation exchange is not mobilizing heavy metals. Finally, the increasing specific conductance values deep in the aquifer suggest that road salt is retained within the aquifer and concentrations will likely increase in the future if the current road salt application procedures are continued. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Accelerating sea-level rise (SLR) poses an imminent threat to salt marshes, which sit within meters of mean sea level. In order to assess marsh vulnerability to SLR, we must first understand the fundamental processes governing marsh response to SLR. The objective of this dissertation work is to examine how marsh sedimentation and erosion affect the morphological development of marshes as sea level rises, over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. At the smallest scale, the effects of bioturbation by Sesarma reticulatum crabs on sediment erodibility are examined using a laboratory flume. Measurements of surface elevation, erosion, and turbidity show that S. reticulatum bioturbation repackages formerly compacted sediment and deposits it above the surface, decreasing the threshold velocity for erosion and increasing eroded volume. S. reticulatum-induced sediment erosion can have broader impacts on creek development and marsh morphology. S. reticulatum has facilitated drainage network expansion in salt marshes at Sapelo Island, GA and Cape Romain, SC in response to local SLR. Burrowing by this crab directly adjacent to tidal creeks at these locations leads to rapid headward growth. The effects of site-specific conditions on creek expansion are examined through comparison of sediment properties, surface elevations, and historical rates of creek growth at each site. Results suggest that while similar processes are occurring at both locations, the higher elevation of the marsh in GA leads to greater shear strength and a larger volume of material to be eroded by creeks. These combined effects have led to slower creek growth compared to SC. At the largest spatial scale, and projecting forward over a 100-year period, a model for marsh response to SLR at the Great Marsh in Massachusetts is developed. This model takes into account limitations imposed by both low sediment availability and steep topography in the surrounding uplands. Results indicate that while the marsh may persist for several decades, it undergoes a dramatic shift in ecology and hydrology. As the rate of SLR accelerates, marsh loss increases due to the lack of sediment available for accretion and the physical barriers to migration presented by surrounding topography.

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