Biochars reduce mine land soil bioavailable metals

Biochars are being proposed as an amendment to remediate mine land soils. Therefore, two different feedstocks (pine beetle-killed lodgepole pine [Pinus contorta] and tamarisk [Tamarix spp.]), within close proximity to mine land affected soils, were used to create biochars in order to determine if they have the potential to reduce metal bioaccessibility. Four different mine land soils, contaminated with various amounts of cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc, received increasing amounts of biochar (0, 5, 10, and 15% by weight). Soil pH and metal bioaccessibility were determined, and the European Community Bureau of Reference sequential extraction procedure was employed to identify pools responsible for potential shifts in bioaccessibility. Increasing biochar application rates caused increases in soil pH (initial: 3.97; final: 7.49) and 55 to 100% (no longer detectable) decreases in metal bioaccessibility. The sequential extraction procedure supported the association of cadmium with carbonates, copper and zinc with oxyhydroxides and carbonates, and lead with oxyhydroxides; these phases were likely responsible for the reduction in heavy metal bioaccessibility. This study proved that feedstocks local to abandoned mining operations could subsequently be used to create biochars and reduce heavy metal bioaccessibility in mine land soils

A 46,XY female DSD patient with bilateral gonadoblastoma, a novel SRY missense mutation combined with a WT1 KTS splice-site mutation

Patients with Disorders of Sex Development (DSD), especially those with gonadal dysgenesis and hypovirilization are at risk of developing malignant type II germ cell tumors/cancer (GCC) (seminoma/dysgerminoma and nonseminoma), with either carcinoma in situ (CIS) or gonadoblastoma (GB) as precursor lesion. In 10-15% of 46,XY g

Controlled release strategies for bone, cartilage, and osteochondral engineering: part I: recapitulation of native tissue healing and variables for the design of delivery systems

The potential of growth factors to stimulate tissue healing through the enhancement of cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation is undeniable. However, critical parameters on the design of adequate carriers, such as uncontrolled spatiotemporal presence of bioactive factors, inadequate release profiles, and supraphysiological dosages of growth factors, have impaired the translation of these systems onto clinical practice. This review describes the healing cascades for bone, cartilage, and osteochondral interface, highlighting the role of specific growth factors for triggering the reactions leading to tissue regeneration. Critical criteria on the design of carriersfor controlled release of bioactive factors are also reported, focusing on the need to provide a spatiotemporal control over the delivery and presentation of these molecules.The authors thank Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia for V.E.Santo's PhD grant (SFRH/BD/39486/2007). This work was carried out under the scope of the European FP7 Project Find and Bind (NMP4-SL-2009-229292) and Project MIT/ECE/0047/2009

A polygenic and phenotypic risk prediction for polycystic ovary syndrome evaluated by phenomewide association studies

Context: As many as 75% of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are estimated tobe unidentified in clinical practice. Objective: Utilizing polygenic risk prediction, we aim to identify the phenome-widecomorbidity patterns characteristic of PCOS to improve accurate diagnosis and preventivetreatment.Design, Patients, and Methods: Leveraging the electronic health records (EHRs) of 124 852individuals, we developed a PCOS risk prediction algorithm by combining polygenic risk scores(PRS) with PCOS component phenotypes into a polygenic and phenotypic risk score (PPRS). Weevaluated its predictive capability across different ancestries and perform a PRS-based phenomewide association study (PheWAS) to assess the phenomic expression of the heightened risk ofPCOS.Results: The integrated polygenic prediction improved the average performance (pseudo-R2)for PCOS detection by 0.228 (61.5-fold), 0.224 (58.8-fold), 0.211 (57.0-fold) over the null modelacross European, African, and multi-ancestry participants respectively. The subsequent PRSpowered PheWAS identified a high level of shared biology between PCOS and a range ofmetabolic and endocrine outcomes, especially with obesity and diabetes: "morbid obesity","type 2 diabetes", "hypercholesterolemia", "disorders of lipid metabolism", "hypertension",and "sleep apnea" reaching phenome-wide significance.Conclusions: Our study has expanded the methodological utility of PRS in patient stratificationand risk prediction, especially in a multifactorial condition like PCOS, across different geneticorigins. By utilizing the individual genome-phenome data available from the EHR, our approachalso demonstrates that polygenic prediction by PRS can provide valuable opportunities todiscover the pleiotropic phenomic network associated with PCOS pathogenesis.Abbreviations: AA, African ancestry; ANOVA, analysis of variance; BMI, body mass index; EA,European ancestry; EHR, electronic health records; eMERGE, electronic Medical Records andGenomics Network; GWAS, genome-wide association study; IBD, identity-by-descent; ICDCM, International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification; LD, linkage disequilibrium;MA, multi-ancestry; MAF, minor allele frequency; NIH, National Institutes of Health; PCA,principal component analysis; PheWAS, phenome-wide association study; PCOS, polycysticovary syndrome; PPRS, polygenic and phenotypic risk score; PRS, polygenic risk sc

Interactive effects of light, leaf temperature, CO 2 and O 2 on photosynthesis in soybean

A biochemical model of C 3 photosynthesis has been developed by G.D. Farquhar et al. (1980, Planta 149, 78–90) based on Michaelis-Menten kinetics of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase-oxygenase, with a potential RuBP limitation imposed via the Calvin cycle and rates of electron transport. The model presented here is slightly modified so that parameters may be estimated from whole-leaf gas-exchange measurements. Carbon-dioxide response curves of net photosynthesis obtained using soybean plants ( Glycine max (L.) Merr.) at four partial pressures of oxygen and five leaf temperatures are presented, and a method for estimating the kinetic parameters of RuBP carboxylase-oxygenase, as manifested in vivo, is discussed. The kinetic parameters so obtained compare well with kinetic parameters obtained in vitro, and the model fits to the measured data give r 2 values ranging from 0.87 to 0.98. In addition, equations developed by J.D. Tenhunen et al. (1976, Oecologia 26, 89–100, 101–109) to describe the light and temperature responses of measured CO 2 -saturated photosynthetic rates are applied to data collected on soybean. Combining these equations with those describing the kinetics of RuBP carboxylase-oxygenase allows one to model successfully the interactive effects of incident irradiance, leaf temperature, CO 2 and O 2 on whole-leaf photosynthesis. This analytical model may become a useful tool for plant ecologists interested in comparing photosynthetic responses of different C 3 plants or of a single species grown in contrasting environments.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47469/1/425_2004_Article_BF00395048.pd

Wave run-up on embayed beaches. Study case: Itapocorói Bay, Southern Brazil

This paper presents a new approach for estimating run-up on embayed beaches based on a study of the microtidal coast of Itapocorói Bay, Southern Brazil using the surf similarity parameter and wave height at break location. The four step methodology involved: 1) direct wave measurement (34 days), wave run-up measurement (19 days at 7 points within the bay), measurement of bathymetry and beach topography in the entire bay; 2) tests on available formulae to calculate wave run-up; 3) use of the SWAN spectral wave model to simulate wave parameters at breaking at each wave run-up measurement point and; 4) development of a new formula/approach to assess wave run-up on embayed beaches (in both exposed and protected areas). During the experiments the significant wave height varied from 0.5 m to 3.01 m, the mean wave period from 2.79 s to 7.76 s (the peak period varied between 2.95 s and 17.18 s), the mean wave direction from 72.5° to 141.9° (the peak direction varied from 39.2° to 169.8°) and the beach slope (tan β) from 0.041 to 0.201. The proposed formula is in good agreement with measured data for different wave conditions and varying degrees of protection. The analysis demonstrates that although R² varies from 0.52 to 0.75, the wave run-up distribution over the measurements agreed well with the proposed model, as shown by quantile-quantile analysis (R²=0.98 to 0.99). The errors observed in individual cases may be related to errors of measurements, modeling and to non-linear processes in the swash zone, such as infragavity waves.Griffith Sciences, Griffith Centre for Coastal ManagementFull Tex