Prediction of Distribution and Intensity of Hydrocarbon Contamination using GIS

Contaminated industrial plots are commonplace in a modern society. Hydrocarbon contamination has a widespread effect on animals and plants depending on the urban ecosystems and their resources. Despite the history of petroleum use, the research band of the field has been relatively narrow and has concentrated on heavy metal contamination. The aim of the thesis is to create a simplified method to predict the distribution and intensity of hydrocarbon contaminations that could be utilised by people working in the related industry or by officials. The prediction of the distribution and intensity of hydrocarbon contamination in the soil using geographic information systems is studied using available public sector remediation reports. A total of 19 reports are inspected and information within them is transferred into a computer software. The major factor affecting hydrocarbon contamination values is the distance from a contamination point source. Results show there is a possibility to create a simplified prediction model based on a few available factors, such as the distance from the source and the field test results. The accuracy of such a model is sufficient for day-to-day based operations of the industry and officials. The study suggests that companies and officials working with hydrocarbon contaminated soil should implement in geographic information systems to the planning of contaminated environments. The study recommends greater emphasis on quality control to provide meaningful data for future studies.Pilaantuneet maa-alueet ovat yleinen ongelma nyky-yhteiskunnassa. Hiilivedyillä on haitallinen vaikutus kaupunkiekosysteemien luonnonvaroista riippuvaisiin eläimiin ja kasveihin. Polttonesteiden pitkään jatkuneesta käytöstä huolimatta pilaantuneiden maaalueiden tieteellinen tutkiminen on pääasiassa keskittynyt raskasmetallien haittavaikutusten tutkintaan. Tämän lopputyön tarkoitus on luoda yksinkertainen menetelmä hiilivedyillä pilaantuneiden maa-alueiden laajuuden sekä voimakkuuden ennustamiseen. Menetelmän tulee olla myös sellainen, että sitä voisivat käyttää sekä alalla toimivat yritykset että viranomaiset. Hiilivedyillä pilaantuneen maa-alueen laajuuden ja voimakkuuden ennustamista on tutkittu paikkatietojärjestelmän avulla. Aineistona käytettiin 19:ää julkisen sektorin tilaamaa kunnostusraporttia. Merkittävin hiilivetysaastumaan vaikuttava tekijä on etäisyys saastuman pistelähteestä. Tulokset osoittavat, että yksinkertaistettu ennustamismenetelmä on mahdollista luoda vain muutaman eri tekijän avulla. Menetelmän tarkkuus on tarpeeksi suuri, jotta sitä voidaan hyödyntää alan jokapäiväisessä työelämässä. Tutkimuksen perusteella suositellaan, että alalla toimivat yritykset sekä niitä valvovat viranomaiset käyttäisivät paikkatietojärjestelmiä suunnitellessaan hiilivedyillä pilaantuneiden maa-alueiden kunnostamista. Laadunvalvontaa tulisi kehittää enemmän siihen suuntaan,että syntyvä aineisto olisi käyttökelpoista tulevia tutkimuksia varten

Tissue-specific expression of the rtTA-IRES-EGFP bicistronic transgene is Cre-dependent and the rtTA -activation of --VEGF-A-164 is tightly regulated by doxycycline

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Conditional and inducible transgene expression in mice through the combinatorial use of Cre-mediated recombination and tetracycline induction"</p><p>Nucleic Acids Research 2005;33(5):e51-e51.</p><p>Published online 22 Mar 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1069131.</p><p>© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved</p> (–) Images of triple transgenic pCAGGS-Cre, ROSA26-rtTA-IRES-EGFP, --VEGF-A-164 E9.5 embryo and yolk sac in the absence of doxycycline: (A), Whole mount bright field microscopy; (B), GFP fluorescence microscopy; and (C), H&E histological section of the yolk sac. In the absence of doxycycline, triple transgenic embryos develop normally. Arrow in (A) shows normal yolk sac vessel with primitive hemoglobin-containing RBCs and normal blood island (BI) formation between the primitive endoderm (e) and mesoderm (m) layers of the yolk sac (C). (–) Triple transgenic embryo and yolk sac, the mother treated with doxycycline. (D), Whole mount bright field microscopy; (E), GFP fluorescence microscopy; and (F), H&E histological section of the yolk sac. (D) In the presence of doxycycline the triple transgenic embryos show a lethal phenotype with no proper vessel development in the yolk sac (ys) and embryo (e), no hemoglobin-containing RBC (D) and abnormal blood island (BI) structures that are filled with excessive nucleated erythroblasts (EB). (B and E) The overall EGFP signal marks the overall rtTA expression in the yolk sac and embryo of the triple transgenic embryos. () E10.5 triple transgenic Nestin-Cre, ROSA26-rtTA-IRES-EGFP, -VEGF-A-164 embryos develop normally in the absence of doxycycline and show nervous system specific expression of EGFP/rtTA. ( and ) E12.5 triple transgenic embryos when the mother was either non-treated (H) or treated (I) with doxycycline during the pregnancy. The VEGF-A-164 induced embryo (I) shows hemorrhages in the developing nervous system (arrows). () Immunostaining for EGFP shows the podocyte specificity of Podocin-Cre excision

Liver peliosis-like phenotype and thymus degeneration are associated with the doxycycline-induced overall VEGF-A-164 expression in adult pCAGGS-Cre, ROSA26-rtTA-IRES-EGFP, --VEGF-A-164 mice

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Conditional and inducible transgene expression in mice through the combinatorial use of Cre-mediated recombination and tetracycline induction"</p><p>Nucleic Acids Research 2005;33(5):e51-e51.</p><p>Published online 22 Mar 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1069131.</p><p>© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved</p> H&E histological analysis of livers of triple transgenic adult mice of (–): VEGF-A-164 non-induced (−DOX) and (–): VEGF-A-164 induced (+DOX) by doxycycline treatment. Without doxycyclin treatment, livers have a normal hepatic architecture with well-defined vasculature and normal hepatic venules (V) and hepatic sinusoids (HS) (C). The doxycycline-treated mutant livers show major disruptions of normal hepatic architecture with a severe dilation of hepatic sinusoids (HS) (F) and evidence of blood engorgement and pooling [arrows in (E)]. Arrow in (F) shows evidence of sinusoidal endothelial sloughing and detachment. (–): H&E histological analysis of VEGF-A-164 non-induced (−DOX) and (–): VEGF-A-164 induced (+DOX) thymus of triple transgenic adult mice. Without doxycycline treatment the thymus shows normal thymic architecture with a well-defined cortex layer (cx) that is packed with basophilic lymphocytes and a normal medullary layer (m) that contains fewer lymphocytes but an extensive epithelial framework. Doxycycline-treated mutant thymus shows massive degeneration with all three thymic lobes fitting into a single optical field (J) compared with one thymic lobe fitting into the optic field at the same magnification (G) from control mice. In addition, the mutant thymus lacks a well-defined cortical layer owing to a dramatically decreased number of basophilic thymocytes seen at higher magnifications (L) compared with (I). (A, D, G and J), 50× magnification; (B and E), 125× magnification; (H and K), 250× magnification; and (C, F, I and L), 500× magnification

Additional file 13: Figure S6. of Optimisation of 16S rRNA gut microbiota profiling of extremely low birth weight infants

Primer alignment study of the most common bacterial taxa found in ELBW (P29F). a Representation of primers used in this study along the 16S bacterial rRNA gene. b Primer alignment study using 16S rRNA gene from Bifidobacterium bifidum CP 010412 (isolated from Infloran) and the most common bacterial taxa found in an ELBW infant (P29F) with supplementation (Staphylococcus epidermis NR_074995, Enterobacter cloacae CP012165 and Enterococcus faecalis CP014949). We also included two strains of Bifidobacterium as control samples (B.infantis M58738.1 and B.longum ATCC 156697) All sequences are represented in 5′-3’orientation using UPAC nucleotide code, where Y = C or T, R = A or G, K = G or T, M = A or C (PDF 299 kb

Operation of the Cre/loxP-dependent, tetracycline inducible transgenic system

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Conditional and inducible transgene expression in mice through the combinatorial use of Cre-mediated recombination and tetracycline induction"</p><p>Nucleic Acids Research 2005;33(5):e51-e51.</p><p>Published online 22 Mar 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1069131.</p><p>© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved</p> () Mice that are homozygous for the targeted insertion of the conditional rtTA-IRES-EGFP bicistronic transgene at ROSA26 can be bred with double transgenic mice that carry a tissue-specific Cre transgene and a doxycycline-inducible rtTA-dependent --GENE responder line. A total of 25% of the pups will be triple transgenic (SpecPromoterCre, ROSA26-STOP-rtTA-IRES-EGFP, --GENE). () In cells that do not express Cre, neither rtTA nor EGFP protein is generated; therefore, the --GENE is silent. () In Cre-expressing cells, rtTA and EGFP expression is turned on. However, in the absence of an inducer (e.g. doxycycline), rtTA cannot activate the expression of the --GENE target. Addition of doxycycline results in the formation of an active transactivator and expression of the target gene. In the present study, VEGF-A-164 was induced either ubiquitously or nervous system or podocyte specifically in the presence of doxycycline

Additional file 12: Figure S3. of Optimisation of 16S rRNA gut microbiota profiling of extremely low birth weight infants

Shannon diversity index calculation of 16S rRNA gene sequencing data. Shannon diversity index was calculated using 16S rRNA bacterial community profiles for the three different 16S rRNA libraries tested in this study (27F-519R (region V1 + V2 + V3), 530F-926R (region V4 + V5) and 926F-1394R (region V6 + V7 + V8)). Sequencing data was analysed using the PE protocol. (PDF 16 kb