Geochemical parameters influencing tungsten mobility in soils.

The biogeochemistry of tungsten and its effects on mobility have recently gained attention due to the existence of human cancer clusters, such as in Fallon, NV. Tungsten exists in many environmental matrices as the soluble and mobile tungstate anion. However, tungsten can polymerize with itself and other anions, creating poly- and heteropoly-tungstates with variable geochemical and toxicological properties. In the present work, geochemical parameters are determined for tungstate species in a model soil that describe the potential for tungsten mobility. Soluble tungsten leached from a metallic tungsten-spiked soil after six to twelve months aging reached an equilibrium concentration >150 mg/L within 4 h of extraction with deionized water. Partition coefficients determined for various tungstate and polytungstate compounds in the model soil suggest a dynamic system in which speciation changes over time affect tungsten geochemical behavior. Partition coefficients for tungstate and some poly-species have been observed to increase by a factor of 3 to 6 over a four month period, indicating decreased mobility with soil aging.

Partial characterization of bovine salivary proteins by electrophoretic methods.

Electrophoresis in 71/2% polyacrylamide gel separates bovine salivary proteins into 12 bands, and is used as the first step, followed by isoelectrofocusing or electrophoresis in polyacrylamide (15%) gels containing sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) or immunoelectrophoresis in two-dimensional separations. Molecular weights of native proteins are determined by electrophoresis on gels of polyacrylamide concentration 10 to 20%. Using these methods, information on native and subunit molecular weights, isoelectric pH values and immunological relationships for bovine salivary proteins has been determined. Enzymic functions for six of the proteins were established by histological methods.

Production and Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies against Aspartate Aminotransferase-P1 from Lupin Root Nodules.

Six hybridoma clones were obtained that secreted monoclonal antibodies against the aspartate aminotransferase-P1 (AAT-P1) isoenzyme from root nodules of Lupinus angustifolius [L.] cv Uniharvest. This enzyme is found constitutively in the plant cytosol fraction. The monoclonal antibodies produced were all of the immunoglobulin G1 class, recognized two distinct epitopes on the protein, and represented the major paratopes found in the immunoglobulin fraction of sera taken from mice and rabbits immunized with the pure AAT-P1 protein. One of these epitopes was unique to lupin nodule AAT-P1. The other epitope was shown to be present on enzyme from lupin bean, white clover and tobacco leaves, lupin roots and nodules, and potato tubers. Both epitopes were recognized by the appropriate monoclonal antibodies in both their native and denatured forms. None of the monoclonal antibodies produced reacted with Rhizobium lupini NZP2257, Escherichia coli extracts, or with the inducible aspartate aminotransferase-P2 (AAT-P2) isoform also found in root nodules. A sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay utilizing two monoclonal antibodies recognizing the two distinct epitopes was developed and was capable of quantitating AAT-P1 in plant extracts. The limit of detection of AAT-P1 was less than 15 pg/mL and AAT-P1 protein could be quantified in the range 80 to 1000 pg/mL. Using this assay, AAT-P1 protein was shown to remain relatively constant during nodule development. Use of an AAT-P2-specific monoclonal antibody that inhibits the enzyme activity of this isoform enabled the direct determination of AAT-P1 enzyme activity in nodule extracts. Using these assays, specific activities of the individual isoforms were calculated; that of the AAT-P1 isoform was shown to be 7.5-fold higher than that of the AAT-P2 isoform.

A dual-radioisotope technique for the evaluation of penile blood flow during tumescence.

A technique is described for concomitant study of both arterial and venous penile blood flow during tumescence. Dual-isotope acquisition is started after labeling red cells in vivo with 99mTc. Xenon-133 in saline is then injected into the corpus cavernosum followed with vasoactive drugs to induce an erection. The resulting xenon and technetium time-activity curves are inputs for a one-compartment model. In 14 subjects, the average peak arterial flow rate (PAF) for normal males was calculated as 13.0 +/- 1.28 ml/min (avg +/- s.d.) compared to 16.1 +/- 5.14 and 5.02 +/- 1.78 ml/min for patients with venous leak (VL) or arterial insufficiency (AI), respectively. Peak venous flows (PVF) were 4.25 +/- 1.17, 12.1 +/- 3.75, and 3.78 +/- 1.00 ml/min for normal, VL and AL respectively. Al patients have significantly lower PAF than normal (p = 0.002) or VL patients (p = 0.018), and VL patients had significantly higher PVF than normal (p = 0.012) or Al (p = 0.018). The technique may be helpful in the study of impotence.

Association rules and data mining in hospital infection control and public health surveillance.

OBJECTIVES: The authors consider the problem of identifying new, unexpected, and interesting patterns in hospital infection control and public health surveillance data and present a new data analysis process and system based on association rules to address this problem. DESIGN: The authors first illustrate the need for automated pattern discovery and data mining in hospital infection control and public health surveillance. Next, they define association rules, explain how those rules can be used in surveillance, and present a novel process and system--the Data Mining Surveillance System (DMSS)--that utilize association rules to identify new and interesting patterns in surveillance data. RESULTS: Experimental results were obtained using DMSS to analyze Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection control data collected over one year (1996) at University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Experiments using one-, three-, and six-month time partitions yielded 34, 57, and 28 statistically significant events, respectively. Although not all statistically significant events are clinically significant, a subset of events generated in each analysis indicated potentially significant shifts in the occurrence of infection or antimicrobial resistance patterns of P. aeruginosa. CONCLUSION: The new process and system are efficient and effective in identifying new, unexpected, and interesting patterns in surveillance data. The clinical relevance and utility of this process await the results of prospective studies currently in progress.

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty using polycentric and geometric hemicomponents.

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty was performed in 207 knees of 179 patients using either a polycentric (188) or a geometric (nineteen) hemicomponent. After an average follow-up of 2.6 years, the results in 184 (89 per cent) of the knees were satisfactory. Pain and the need for ambulatory aids were reduced, and the distance the patients could walk was increased. Twenty-three (11 per cent) of the 207 procedures were rated as failures. The major cause of failure was loosening of the components (tibial in twelve and femoral in one); there also were unexplained pain in five knees, problems with the opposite unreplaced compartment in three, technical error in one, and pain in the patellofemoral joint in one. Nine of 155 intraoperative specimens for bacterial culture obtained during unicompartmental arthroplasty were positive, and two specimens that were positive on culture were obtained during revision of twenty failed unicompartmental arthroplasties. No gross or histological evidence of infection was demonstrated at operation. Based on this study, we concluded that this procedure can provide satisfactory relief of pain, adequate knee motion, and increased levels of independence and activity for patients with unicompartmental disease who are not suitable candidates for proximal tibial osteotomy or total knee replacement.

Condensed tannins induce micronuclei in cultured V79 Chinese hamster cells.

The tannins, delphinidin and procyanidin were isolated from flowers of white clover (Trifolium repens) and the leaves of Arnot Bristly Locust (Robina fertilis) respectively, and tested for mutagenic properties in a range of systems. There was no evidence for either compound causing significant levels of frameshift or base-pair mutagenesis in bacterial mutagenicity assays, although both were weakly positive in a bacterial DNA-repair test. Both compounds very slightly increased the frequency of petite mutagenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain D5. In V79 Chinese hamster cells, both were efficient inducers of micronuclei. In each of these test systems, increasing the potential of the compound for metabolic activation by addition of 'S9' mix had little effect on toxicity or mutagenicity of either tannin. It would seem that potential chromosome-breaking activity of condensed tannins could represent a carcinogenic hazard for animals grazing on pastures of white clover in flower. It may also have wider implications for human carcinogenesis by some, if not all, condensed tannins.

A data mining system for infection control surveillance.

Nosocomial infections and antimicrobial resistance are problems of enormous magnitude that impact the morbidity and mortality of hospitalized patients as well as their cost of care. The Data Mining Surveillance System (DMSS) uses novel data mining techniques to discover unsuspected, useful patterns of nosocomial infections and antimicrobial resistance from the analysis of hospital laboratory data. This report details a mature version of DMSS as well as an experiment in which DMSS was used to analyze all inpatient culture data, collected over 15 months at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital.

Sieve element specific labeling with an anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody mimic of the phytotoxin dothistromin.

A monoclonal antibody, 12C9, an anti-idiotypic mimic of dothistromin, a toxin produced by Dothistroma pini, was found to label the cell wall of sieve elements in a number of different plant tissues and species. The antibody labeled apple leaf tissue, tobacco leaf mid vein, leaf and meristem, and Coprosma robusta leaf mid vein. Labeling was restricted to cell walls of sieve elements and did not label the companion cells or the lumen of the cells. The antibody labeled over a wide range of dilutions. This antibody could be used to differentiate sieve elements from other types of phloem. It could also be used to co-localize sieve elements and microorganisms such as phytoplasmas stained with DAPI.

Effects of time and temperature during attachment of sections to microscope slides on immunohistochemical detection of antigens.

To study the effects of time and temperature on attachment of tissue sections to microscope slides, we examined the intensity of immunohistochemical staining of selected antigens in nine different neoplastic and normal tissues after attaching sections at different times and temperatures. Typically, both the temperature and time are minimized when tissue sections attached to slides; however, suboptimal times and temperatures during attachment may result in either loss of tissue due to poor attachment or the necessity for inconvenient staining regimens. Using standard immunohistochemical techniques, 5 microm tissue sections were attached at 58 degrees C for 1, 4 and 24 hr. In a separate study, 5 microm tissue sections were attached for 16 hr at 58, 68 and 80 degrees C. The intensity of staining decreased slightly when the tissue sections were heated at 80 degrees C for 16 hr, but there was little or no decrease when tissues were heated at 68 degrees C or lower for 16 hr, or at 58 degrees C for up to 24 hr.

Production of monoclonal antibodies recognising different epitopes present on insulin-like growth factor 1.

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were generated against recombinant human insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) by fusion of NS-1 myeloma cells with spleen cells from BALB/c X DBA mice immunised with recombinant IGF-1 and synthetic peptide sequences derived from the published amino acid sequence of IGF-1. MAbs were produced that recognised four distinct epitopes including two defined segments of the C and D domains. All MAbs were IgM mouse immunoglobulins. These results indicate the feasibility of producing MAbs to highly conserved proteins.

Compatibility of sulfadimethoxine and ormetoprim with lasalocid and monensin on performance of male broiler chickens.

We studied the effect of sulfadiomethoxine and ormetoprim (Rofenaid 40) in combination with lasalocid (Avatec) and monensin (Coban) on mortality, weight gain, and feed conversion of 2592 male broilers to 47 days of age. Four shuttle treatments were utilized: 1) monensin feeding for the entire trial; 2) sulfadimethoxine and ormetoprim feeding for the first 2 weeks, followed by lasalocid for the remainder of the trial; 3) sulfadimethoxine and ormetoprim feeding for the first 2 weeks, followed by monensin; and 4) sulfadimethoxine and ormetoprim feeding through week 3, then lasalocid for the remainder of the trial. No significant (P greater than .05) differences were observed in mortality among the four treatments. The combination of sulfadimethoxine and ormetoprim plus lasalocid significantly (P less than .01) improved weight gain and final body weight, but the length of time that sulfadimethoxine and ormetoprim were fed did not have any effect. Sulfadimethoxine and ormetoprim plus monensin treatment resulted in better feed conversion as compared with the other treatments.

Effects of the presence or absence of satellite chick-waterers in conjunction with nipple-drinkers on the mortality and productive performance of broiler chicks from young and old dams.

Two runs of one experiment were conducted to study the effects of the presence or absence of satellite (SAT) chick-waterers in conjunction with nipple-drinkers on the mortality and productive performance of mixed-sex, broiler chicks grown to 42 days of age. Data were combined for analysis. The chicks were obtained from dams 29, 31, 61 and 65 wk of age. The treatments were: 1) chicks from 61- and 65-wk-old dams, nipple-drinkers only; 2) chicks from 29- and 31-wk-old dams, nipple-drinkers only; 3) chicks from 61- and 65-wk-old dams, nipple-drinkers plus one SAT-waterer per replication; 4) chicks from 29- and 31-wk-old dams, nipple-drinkers plus one SAT-waterer. The SAT waterers were removed after 11 days. Routine management procedures were followed. The chicks from the older dams (61 and 65 wk of age) were heavier (1.60 versus 1.58 kg, P less than .05) tha those from the young dams (29 and 31 wk of age). Chicks from the young dams had better feed conversion (1.89 versus 1.93 g/g, P less than .01). The age of dam had no effect on the mortality of the broiler chicks. The presence or absence of SAT-waterers had no effect on body weight or feed conversion. A difference (P less than .05) occurred in mortality through 42 days of age; the chicks using the SAT waterers had a lower mortality level (3.23 versus 4.22%), than those using nipple-drinkers. The presence of ST-waterers in conjunction with nipple-drinkers appears to improve livability in broiler chicks.

Research note: effect of tetracycline hydrochloride and oxytetracycline hydrochloride given via drinking water on early mortality of broiler chicks from twenty-eight-week-old dams.

The effect of tetracycline HCl and oxytetracycline HCl on early mortality in straight-run Peterson x Hubbard cross broiler chicks from 28-wk-old dams was studied. Treatments consisted of a sham-treated control, and groups treated with a tetracycline either HCl (25 mg/454 g of BW per day) or an oxytetracycline HCl (14.6 mg/454 g of BW per day). Each group was treated via the drinking water for the first 5 days after hatching. There were 24 replications per treatment with 54 chicks each. Birds were maintained at a density of 622.5 cm2 per chick. Chicks treated with tetracycline HCl and oxytetracycline HCl had significantly (P less than .05) improved livability when compared with the sham-treated controls both at 2 and 6 wk of age (1.00 and .83 versus 1.79 at 2 wk, and 2.79 and 3.29 versus 4.29% mortality at 6 wk, respectively). No significant differences in mortality were observed between tetracycline HCl-treated chicks and oxytetracycline HCl-treated chicks. At the end of the 6-wk trial, no differences between treatments were seen in the productive performance of the broilers. The observed differences in livability at 6 wk of age could increase the number of saleable broilers by 10 to 15 thousand per million chicks placed.

Effects of population size, floor space, and feeder space upon productive performance, external appearance, and plasma corticosterone concentration of laying hens.

Effects were studied of population size, floor area, and feeder space per hen on variables associated with egg production and corticosterone level. A total of 408 White Leghorn-type laying hens was used in this study. Three treatments were observed: 5 hens per cage with 8.6 cm feeder space per hen, 5 hens per cage with 12 cm feeder space per hen, and 7 hens per cage with 8.6 cm feeder space per hen. Both 5-hen treatments had 420 cm2 of cage area per hen, while the 7-hen treatment had 300 cm2. Increased population size, reduced feeder space, and reduced floor area per hen resulted in a significant (P less than .01) decline in percent egg production. Restriction of feeder space was correlated with reduced feed consumption and mortality but not feed conversion, weight gain, and egg size. As cage space allowance increased, feed consumption and weight gain were higher, whereas mortality, feed conversion, and egg weight were lower. No significant (P greater than .05) differences in shell thickness, specific gravity, Haugh unit, throat skin ateromata, claw length, and corticosterone level were observed. Plumage condition and foot health were improved only when floor area allowances increased.

Effects of two nipple drinker types with different flow rates on the productive performance of broiler chickens during summerlike growing conditions.

Three trials were conducted to study the effects of a high flow volume (2.3 mL/s) nipple waterer (HFN) versus a low flow volume (.4 mL/s) nipple waterer (LFN) on the productive performance of broiler chickens as measured by average body weight (kilograms), average feed conversion (kilograms:kilogram), and percentage mortality rate. Equal numbers of male and female birds were used during Trial 1; only male birds were used during Trials 2 and 3. All trials were conducted during the summer months. An attempt was made during Trial 2 to expose the birds to artificial heat stress. No differences were seen during any of the trials in feed conversion between the two treatments. In Trial 1 the only significant difference (P less than or equal to .05) exhibited was in average male body weight (1.87 kg HFN; 1.84 kg LFN). A highly significant difference (P less than or equal to .01) was seen in average body weight (1.75 kg HFN; 1.64 kg LFN) during Trial 2. Average body weight difference during Trial 3 was highly significant at 42 days of age but not at Day 49. Mortality rate figures during Trial 2 indicate a highly significant difference during the 38-day period prior to heat stress (2.2% LFN; .4% HFN), and significant difference during the heat stress period (38 to 44 days; 2.9% LFN; 1.5% HFN). During Trial 3 mortality rate differences were significant by 49 days (20.6% LFN; 11.4% HFN) although there was no difference at 42 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Growth rates are related to production efficiencies in juveniles of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus.

Growth rates of newly-metamorphosed urchins from a single spawning event (three males and three females) were highly variable, despite being held en masse under identical environmental and nutritional conditions. As individuals reached ~5 mm diameter (0.07-0.10 g wet weight), they were placed in growth trials (23 dietary treatments containing various nutrient profiles). Elapsed time from the first individual entering the growth trials to the last individual entering was 121 days (N = 170 individuals). During the five-week growth trials, urchins were held individually and proffered a limiting ration to evaluate growth rate and production efficiency. Growth rates among individuals within each dietary treatment remained highly variable. Across all dietary treatments, individuals with an initially high growth rate (entering the study first) continued to grow at a faster rate than those with an initially low growth rate (entering the study at a later date), regardless of feed intake. Wet weight gain (ranging from 0.13 -3.19 g, P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.5801) and dry matter production efficiency (ranging from 25.2-180.5%, P = 0.0003, R2 = 0.6162) were negatively correlated with stocking date, regardless of dietary treatment. Although canalization of growth rate during en masse early post-metamorphic growth is possible, we hypothesize that intrinsic differences in growth rates are, in part, the result of differences (possibly genetic) in production efficiencies of individual Lytechinus variegatus. That is, some sea urchins are more efficient in converting feed to biomass. We further hypothesize that this variation may have evolved as an adaptive response to selective pressure related to food availability.

Characterization of metals released from coal fly ash during dredging at the Kingston ash recovery project.

A storage-pond dike failure occurred on December 22, 2008 at the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston Fossil Plant resulting in the release of over 4million cubic meters (5million cubic yards) of fly ash. Approximately half of the released ash was deposited in the main channel of the Emory River, Tennessee, USA. Remediation efforts of the Emory River focused on hydraulic dredging, as well as mechanical excavation in targeted areas. However, agitation of the submerged fly ash during hydraulic dredging introduces river water into the fly ash material, which could promote dissolution and desorption of metals from the solid fly ash material. Furthermore, aeration of the dredge slurry could alter the redox state of metals in the fly ash material and thereby change their sorption, mobility, and toxicity properties. The research presented here focuses on the concentrations and speciation of metals during the fly ash recovery from the Emory River. Our results indicate that arsenite [As(III)] released from the fly ash material during dredging was slowly oxidized to arsenate [As(V)] in the slurry recovery system with subsequent removal through precipitation or sorption reactions with suspended fly ash material. Concentrations of other dissolved metals, including iron and manganese, also generally decreased in the ash recovery system prior to water discharge back to the river.

Analysis of munitions constituents in groundwater using a field-portable GC-MS.

The use of munitions constituents (MCs) at military installations can produce soil and groundwater contamination that requires periodic monitoring even after training or manufacturing activities have ceased. Traditional groundwater monitoring methods require large volumes of aqueous samples (e.g., 2-4 L) to be shipped under chain of custody, to fixed laboratories for analysis. The samples must also be packed on ice and shielded from light to minimize degradation that may occur during transport and storage. The laboratory's turn-around time for sample analysis and reporting can be as long as 45 d. This process hinders the reporting of data to customers in a timely manner; yields data that are not necessarily representative of current site conditions owing to the lag time between sample collection and reporting; and incurs significant shipping costs for samples. The current work compares a field portable Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) for analysis of MCs on-site with traditional laboratory-based analysis using High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV absorption detection. The field method provides near real-time (within ~1 h of sampling) concentrations of MCs in groundwater samples. Mass spectrometry provides reliable confirmation of MCs and a means to identify unknown compounds that are potential false positives for methods with UV and other non-selective detectors.

A modified acid digestion procedure for extraction of tungsten from soil.

Interest in tungsten occurrence and geochemistry is increasing due to increased use of tungsten compounds and its unknown biochemical effects. Tungsten has a complex geochemistry, existing in most environmental matrices as the soluble and mobile tungstate anion, as well as poly- and heteropolytungstates. Because the geochemistry of tungsten is substantially different than most trace metals, including the formation of insoluble species under acidic conditions, it is not extracted from soil matrices using standard acid digestion procedures. Therefore, the current work describes a modification to a commonly used acid digestion procedure to facilitate quantification of tungsten in soil matrices. Traditional soil digestion procedures, using nitric and hydrochloric acids with hydrogen peroxide yield <1 up to 50% recovery on soil matrix spike samples, whereas the modified method reported here, which includes the addition of phosphoric acid, yields spike recoveries in the 76-98% range. Comparison of the standard and modified digestion procedures on National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Materials yielded significantly improved tungsten recoveries for the phosphoric acid modified method. The modified method also produces comparable results for other acid extractable metals as the standard methods, and therefore can be used simultaneously for tungsten and other metals of interest.