Accumulation and soluble binding of cadmium, copper, and zinc in the polychaete Hediste diversicolor from coastal sites with different trace metal bioavailabilities.

Bioaccumulation of cadmium, copper, and zinc was examined in common ragworms Hediste diversicolor from control (Bay of Somme, Blackwater) and metal-rich (Seine estuary, Boulogne harbor, Restronguet Creek) sites in France and the United Kingdom. The degree of exposure in the field was assessed by considering both total concentrations in superficial sediment and the quantities of metals which may be released in vitro at different pH levels. Among the three contaminated sites, release of the three metals was not detectable in Boulogne harbor, in correlation with limited enhancement of the metal concentrations in the common ragworms from this site. Even at those sites where zinc could be released in vitro from the sediment, zinc concentrations were not enhanced in common ragworms, in agreement with previous findings indicating that the body content of this metal is regulated in H. diversicolor. At all the studied sites, bioaccumulated zinc was mainly in cytosolic form. The distribution of cadmium and copper varied according to the origin of the common rag-worms, the insoluble fraction increasing with the degree of contamination (cadmium in the Restronguet Creek, copper in the Seine estuary, and even more in Restronguet Creek). In the cytosolic fraction, metals were partly linked to cytosolic heat-stable thiolic compounds (CHSTC) with molecular masses (5-6 kDa and about 12 kDa) consistent with metallothionein-like proteins (MTLP). Metal-binding to MTLP varied with the degree of contamination and with the metal studied. In contrast to many invertebrates, the presence of metal-binding CHSTC (MM about 2 kDa) other than MTLP seems to be a peculiar feature of H. diversicolor.

Determination of the complex Young and shear dynamic moduli of viscoelastic materials.

The Young and shear dynamic moduli of viscoelastic materials are determined from laser vibrometric measurements of the surface motion of a three-dimensional sample excited by a piezoelectric actuator inside a chamber with controllable temperature and static pressure. The moduli are estimated from an inversion code that minimizes the difference between the data and the predictions from a finite element model in which the elastic moduli are the adjustable parameters. The technique is first used to measure the dynamic properties of homogeneous samples and the results are compared with those obtained by the standard rod resonance technique. Results are then obtained with microvoided samples in the 0.5-3 kHz frequency range, at temperatures ranging from 7 to 40 degrees C, and static pressures ranging from ambient to 34 atm (3.45 MPa or 500 psi). The limitations of the technique are discussed.

Validity of linear acoustics for prediction of waveforms caused by sonically moving laser beams.

The question is raised as to whether the analysis of the generation of sound by a laser beam moving over a water surface at the sound speed c for an interminable time period requires consideration of nonlinear effects. A principal consideration in this regard is whether the linear acoustics theory predicts a pressure waveform that is bounded in the asymptotic limit when the laser irradiation time is arbitrarily large. It is shown that a bounded asymptotic limit exists when the upper boundary condition corresponds (as is more nearly appropriate) to that of a pressure release surface, but not when it corresponds to that of a rigid surface. The asymptotic solution to the appropriate inhomogeneous wave equation is given exactly for the former case, and it is shown that the highest asymptotic amplitudes, given specified laser power and beam radius a, occur in the limit of a very small light absorption coefficient mu. In this limit, the peak amplitude is independent of mu and occurs at a depth of 0.88/mu. An approximate solution for the pressure waveform at intermediate times establishes that the characteristic time for buildup to the asymptotic limit is of the order of 2.5/(c mu 2a). If this time is substantially shorter than the time that a plane-wave pulse with the asymptotic waveform would take to develop a shock wave, then accumulative nonlinear effects are of minor importance.