Suppression of cortisol by a progestational steroid, melengestrol.

Melengestrol, a steroid with progestational activity but with a structure that does not resemble that of cortisol, suppresses plasma cortisol in humans with a potency 1/40th that of dexamethasone. The 6alpha-methyl and 17alpha-acetoxy substituents and the 6,7 double bond of melengestrol acetate are known to slow the metabolism of similar steroids. Insertion of a 6alpha-methyl group markedly increases the glucocorticoid activity of 17alpha-OH-progesterone. The glucocorticoid activity of melengestrol is presumably attributable to the large dose administered in our study, its slow metabolism and limitations of the specificity of glucocorticoid tissue receptors.

Low temperature biodegradation of airport de-icing fluids.

The biodegradabilities of glycol- and acetate-based aircraft de-icing fluids on airport surfaces have been investigated at three temperatures between 0 degrees C and 10 degrees C. The aqueous solubilities of these substances can result in high BOD loadings in runoff and pose serious toxicity problems in receiving waters. The measured surface biodegradation rates for de-icing products based on ethylene/diethylene glycol (Konsin), propylene glycol (Kilfrost) and potassium acetate (Clearway) at 4 degrees C were 0.082, 0.073 and 0.033 day(-1). The resulting reductions in the potential BOD loadings, of a single application of a typical mixture of these products, over a 5 day biodegradation period are predicted to be 32.9%, 30.2% and 21.4%, respectively at 8 degrees C, 4 degrees C and 1 degrees C. For consecutive daily applications, the comparable cumulative reductions over 5 days are 20.8%, 18.9% and 13.3%. The subsequent savings in the amount of treatment required for airport runoff prior to safe discharge to receiving waters are discussed and hence the relevance of surface biodegradation processes to the design of stormwater treatment systems involving the wash-off of biodegradable pollutants following retention on urban surfaces.

Baseline hydraulic performance of the Heathrow constructed wetlands subsurface flow system.

A constructed wetland treatment system has been commissioned by BAA (formerly the British Airports Authority) in order to attenuate airfield runoff contaminated with de-icant and other potentially polluting materials from Heathrow Airport. Airfield runoff containing de-icants has the potential to impose significant oxygen demands on water bodies. The site consists of a number of integrated treatment systems, including a 1 ha rafted reed bed canal system and a 2 ha sub-surface flow gravel reed bed. This research project is concerned with the performance of the subsurface flow reed beds, though attention will be paid in this paper to the operation of the whole system. Prior to the planting of the subsurface flow reed beds, flow-tracing experiments were carried out on the three different types of subsurface flow beds, so that the baseline performance of the system could be quantified. In association, data regarding the soil organic matter content was also collected prior to the planting of the beds. As expected, soil organic matter content is observed to be negligible within the bed, though a small amount of build up was observed in localised areas on the surface of the beds. This was attributed to the growth of algae in depressions where standing water persisted during the construction phase. Few studies exist which provide detailed measurements into the cause and effect of variations in hydraulic conductivity within an operational reed bed system. The data presented here form the baseline results for an ongoing study into the investigation of the change in hydraulic conductivity of an operational reed bed system.