Occurrence of iodinated X-ray contrast media in indirect potable reuse systems

A lack of knowledge of the health and environmental risks associated with chemicals of concern (COCs) and also of their removal by advanced treatment processes, such as micro-filtration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO), have been major barriers preventing establishment of large water recycling schemes. As part of a larger project monitoring over 300 COCs, iodinated x-ray contrast media compounds (ICM) were analysed in treated secondary wastewater intended for drinking purposes. ICM are the most widely administered intravascular pharmaceuticals and are known to persist in the aquatic environment. A direct injection liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (DI-LC-MS/MS) method was used to monitor secondary treated wastewater from three major wastewater treatment plants in Perth, Western Australia. In addition, tertiary water treated with MF and RO was analysed from a pilot plant that has been built as a first step in trialling the aquifer recharge. Results collected during 2007 demonstrate that MF/RO treatment is capable of removing ICM to below the analytical limits of detection, with average RO rejection calculated to be greater than 92%. A screening health risk assessment indicated negligible human risk at the concentrations observed in wastewater

Organic haloamines in chlorine-based disinfected water systems: A critical review

This paper is a critical review of current knowledge of organic chloramines in water systems, including their formation, stability, toxicity, analytical methods for detection, and their impact on drinking water treatment and quality. The term organic chloramines may refer to any halogenated organic compounds measured as part of combined chlorine (the difference between the measured free and total chlorine concentrations), and may include N-chloramines, N-chloramino acids, N-chloraldimines and N-chloramides. Organic chloramines can form when dissolved organic nitrogen or dissolved organic carbon react with either free chlorine or inorganic chloramines. They are potentially harmful to humans and may exist as an intermediate for other disinfection by-products. However, little information is available on the formation or occurrence of organic chloramines in water due to a number of challenges. One of the biggest challenges for the identification and quantification of organic chloramines in water systems is the lack of appropriate analytical methods. In addition, many of the organic chloramines that form during disinfection are unstable, which results in difficulties in sampling and detection. To date research has focussed on the study of organic monochloramines. However, given that breakpoint chlorination is commonly undertaken in water treatment systems, the formation of organic dichloramines should also be considered. Organic chloramines can be formed from many different precursors and pathways. Therefore, studying the occurrence of their precursors in water systems would enable better prediction and management of their formation

FRUIT WEIGHT IN PEACH: ASSESSING THE GENETIC POTENTIAL THROUGH PHENOTYPIC AND GENOMIC TOLLS

The trait fruit weight is of great agronomic importance for the commercial production of peach. In view of conducting a study of association mapping, the genetic diversity of peach accessions from the germplasm bank of MAS.PES was evaluated using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeats (SSR). The results indicated that SSR markers were more informative and showed a high level of homozygosity in the accessions under evaluation. In studies meant for breeding of this species, the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) explaining the phenotypic differences of this trait is important, because they can be used as a genomic tool in marker-assisted selection (MAS). In the present study, QTLs were detected through two approaches: 1. Linkage analysis, starting from a F2 population of 123 individuals from NJ Weeping (small fruit) x Bounty (large fruit), in which the software JoinMap was used to establish the relationship of linkage between the segregating markers, while the software MapQTL was employed to associate the data with the obtained phenotypic linkage map. 2. Association mapping, carried out on 70 peach accessions from the MAS.PES germplasm collection, in which the software Structure was used to analyse population structure: associations between markers and phenotypic traits were identified with the software TASSEL. As a result of linkage analysis, 877 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were grouped into 8 linkage groups and 34 QTLs related to fruit weight and size were identified. The results of the association analysis, performed using the General Linear Model (GLM), suggested the existence of 39 markers associated with fruit weight and size

Magical attachment: Children in magical relations with hospital clowns

The aim of the present study was to achieve a theoretical understanding of several different-age children's experiences of magic relations with hospital clowns in the context of medical care, and to do so using psychological theory and a child perspective. The method used was qualitative and focused on nine children. The results showed that age was important to consider in better understanding how the children experienced the relation with the hospital clowns, how they described the magical aspects of the encounter and how they viewed the importance of clown encounters to their own well-being. The present theoretical interpretation characterized the encounter with hospital clowns as a magical safe area, an intermediate area between fantasy and reality. The discussion presented a line of reasoning concerning a magical attachment between the child and the hospital clowns, stating that this attachment: a) comprised a temporary relation; b) gave anonymity; c) entailed reversed roles; and d) created an emotional experience of boundary-transcending opportunities

Neutrophil Trafficking in Pulmonary Inflammation: Monitoring Migration and Blockade with 111In-Labeled Leukocytes

AbstractAim: Although imaging of In vitro labeled leukocytes is commonly used for diagnosing inflammation and infection, data concerning the use of this technique to monitor neutrophil trafficking are scarce. Here we investigated thepotential of 111In-in vitro labeled leukocytes (InWBC) to monitor neutrophil trafficking in an animal model of pulmonary inflammation.Methods: F344 rats were divided into 3 groups: Controls (received only InWBC), Inflammation (intra-tracheally challenged with lipoteichoic acid (LTA)+peptidoglycan (PGN) two hours before InWBC injection), and Blockade(pulmonary challenge with receptor blockade [LTAPGN+Antileukinate, a CXC receptor 1 and 2 antagonist]). Leukocytes were obtained from donor rats and labeled with 111In-oxine using standard procedures. Labeling efficiencyand leukocyte integrity were determined. Animals were administered 3.7-4.6 MBq InWBC via the tail vein, and were imaged 18-30 hours later and then euthanized. Post mortem the lungs were lavaged and total and differential alveolar cell counts performed. Lung tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was determined. Lung, heart, liver, spleen, kidney, marrow, intestine, blood, and muscle were harvested and organ activity/gm tissue determined. Results: InWBC labeling efficiency and cell integrity were not significantly different among groups. InWBC pulmonary activity was significantly higher (p<0.0001) in the Inflammation group (17.10 ± 2.04%) than in the Controls (1.76 ± 0.60%) and the Blockade group (9.74 ± 1.14%). Hemocytometer assessment of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid revealed that the total number of neutrophils was significantly higher in the Inflammation group than in Controls and the Blockade group. Pulmonary MPO activity (pg/mg tissue) was significantly higher (p<0.01) in the Inflammation group (14.11 ± 5.56%) than in Controls (5.22 ± 4.77%) and the Blockade group (3.66 ± 3.77%). InWBC splenic activity was significantly higher (p<0.0001) in the Controls than in the Inflammation and Blockade groups. In the remaining organs, InWBC activity was significantly higher in the Blockade group than in the Control and the Inflammation groups.Conclusions: In a rat model of pulmonary inflammation using Antileukinate to block neutrophil chemokine receptors, InWBC accurately characterized both pulmonary and extrapulmonary neutrophil trafficking. These data indicate that InWBC may be useful to monitor both pulmonary and extrapulmonary neutrophil trafficking associated with lung inflammation and its regulation

Stable isotope records for the last 10 000 years from Okshola cave (Fauske, northern Norway) and regional comparisons

The sensitivity of terrestrial environments to past changes in heat transport is expected to be manifested in Holocene climate proxy records on millennial to seasonal timescales. Stalagmite formation in the Okshola cave near Fauske (northern Norway) began at about 10.4 ka, soon after the valley was deglaciated. Past monitoring of the cave and surface has revealed stable modern conditions with uniform drip rates, relative humidity and temperature. Stable isotope records from two stalagmites provide time-series spanning from c. 10 380 yr to AD 1997; a banded, multi-coloured stalagmite (Oks82) was formed between 10 380 yr and 5050 yr, whereas a pristine, white stalagmite (FM3) covers the period from ~7500 yr to the present. The stable oxygen isotope (&amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt;), stable carbon isotope (&amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt;), and growth rate records are interpreted as showing i) a negative correlation between cave/surface temperature and &amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt;, ii) a positive correlation between wetness and &amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt;, and iii) a positive correlation between temperature and growth rate. Following this, the data from Okshola show that the Holocene was characterised by high-variability climate in the early part, low-variability climate in the middle part, and high-variability climate and shifts between two distinct modes in the late part. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; A total of nine Scandinavian stalagmite &amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt; records of comparable dating precision are now available for parts or most of the Holocene. None of them show a clear Holocene thermal optimum, suggesting that they are influenced by annual mean temperature (cave temperature) rather than seasonal temperature. For the last 1000 years, &amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt; values display a depletion-enrichment-depletion pattern commonly interpreted as reflecting the conventional view on climate development for the last millennium. Although the &amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt; records show similar patterns and amplitudes of change, the main challenges for utilising high-latitude stalagmites as palaeoclimate archives are i) the accuracy of the age models, ii) the ambiguity of the proxy signals, and iii) calibration with monitoring data

Genetic Dissection of Complex Fruit Quantitative Traits in Peach Progen

Major research efforts in peach are dedicated to the discovery of genomic variants causing phenotypic effects in complex fruit traits such as: maturity date (MD), fruit size (FW), sugar (SSC) and acid content (TA), flesh texture (slow softening, SSf) and resistance to brown rot by Monilinia spp. (BRr). Five segregating progenies showing phenotypic variation for at least one of these traits are available in our experimental fields. For SSC and TA, an already validated approach based on Near-InfraRed spectroscopy (NIR), is being applied to phenotype some segregating progenies. For SSf and BRr instead, trait characterization has been performed, resulting in the identification of co-factor traits and definition of standardized phenotyping tools, which are currently applied in the characterization of segregating material (in the context of FruitBreedomics EU project). High-density linkage maps have been constructed with genotypic data obtained from IPSC Illumina 9K SNP chip (Italian Drupomics and FruitBreedomics frameworks) and Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS). Additionally, parents of these progenies have been re-sequenced (30-40x) and genetic variants present along their genomes have been identified. Multiple-QTL models (MQM) coupled with the use of co-factor traits is leading to the discovery of significant QTLs. Genomic variants are explored within QTL intervals on the genomes of progeny parents, in order to identify possible mutations causing phenotypic differences, and develop markers for marker-assisted selection approaches

Omgaan met digitale nationale beleidskaarten

In dit werkdocument worden de resultaten besproken van een casestudy die onderdeel is van het project GeO3 - Omgaan met onzekerheid binnen Ruimtelijke Ordening. De directie Platteland van het ministerie van LNV heeft bij het publiceren van het meerjarenprogramma van Agenda Vitaal Platteland geen digitale viewer gepubliceerd omdat men bang was voor verkeerde interpretatie van de digitale kaarten. In dit project is gekeken naar methoden en cartografische oplossingen om voortaan zonder angst voor misinterpretaties digitale nationale beleidskaarten te kunnen verspreiden. De oplossing is gezocht in het opstellen van een handreiking, zodat kaarten ook daadwerkelijk weergeven wat er bedoeld is door de maker

Solution structure of the inner DysF domain of myoferlin and implications for limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2b

Mutations in the protein dysferlin, a member of the ferlin family, lead to limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B and Myoshi myopathy. The ferlins are large proteins characterised by multiple C2 domains and a single C-terminal membrane-spanning helix. However, there is sequence conservation in some of the ferlin family in regions outside the C2 domains. In one annotation of the domain structure of these proteins, an unusual internal duplication event has been noted where a putative domain is inserted in between the N- and C-terminal parts of a homologous domain. This domain is known as the DysF domain. Here, we present the solution structure of the inner DysF domain of the dysferlin paralogue myoferlin, which has a unique fold held together by stacking of arginine and tryptophans, mutations that lead to clinical disease in dysferlin

Development and Evaluation of a 9K SNP Addition to the Peach Ipsc 9K SNP Array v1

The IPSC 9K peach SNP array released by the international community has been a valuable tool in research and application. Even though majority of SNPs (84%) were polymorphic in the evaluation panels there were many genomic regions with low coverage, including those important for breeding. The existing peach array has been updated with 9K additional SNPs covering previously identified gaps and including recently identified SNPs important for breeding. SNPs (1,808,996) identified by sequencing 49 genomes of additional peach accessions were used as the main source of additional SNPs. Focal point strategy was used to select 8,971 SNPs within 40kb window from the 2,821 focal points distributed across the genome. Additional 129 SNPs were chosen to saturate either regions important for breeding or close the gaps larger than 100kb. The array was validated with 1,770 peach and 26 Prunus accessions (almond, plum, apricot, wild relatives). The add-on contained 7,862 SNPs evenly spread across 8 peach pseudo-molecules with only one SNP positioned on scaffold 13 covering 224.99Mbp of peach genome. The 9K add-on improved the 9K peach array by increasing the total number of usable SNPs by 7,206. The number of SNPs per chromosome increased on average by 50% with only on average 0.18% increase in total physical coverage. Number of gaps larger than 0.3 Mbp was reduced to 2 one on each chromosome 3 and 8. Overall genotyping efficiency in all material was &gt;90% except in almond, 82%. Number of informative markers, assessed by ASSIsT software, were highest in peach 64% and lowest in almond 10%, with 61% of markers being informative in wild Prunus (12) and 35% in apricot (4) and 2 - 33% in Japanese and European plum, respectively. Among 36.2% discarded markers 33% were monomorphic and 30% shifted homozygous in material used. Those markers could be informative in different background raising total number of informative markers. Ann addition of new SNPs to array improved the density and usefulness of the array in Prunus species. The practical applications of new 16K Illumina SNP peach array will be discussed. Specified Source(s) of Funding: USDA-NIFA-SCRI-Ros- BREED (2014-51181-22378