Impact of Implanted Shrapnel-like Pellets on Bone Integrity in Rats after One and Three Months

Depleted uranium (DU) and heavy metal tungsten alloys (HTMA), composed of tungsten, nickel, and either cobalt or iron, are used as kinetic energy penetrators in military applications. Due to this use, thousands of military service members experience shrapnel-related injuries. Since surgical removal could cause excessive tissue damage, these fragments are often left in place; however, the long-term health implications of leaving these fragments in the warfighter’s body is poorly understood. Preliminary evidence has shown bone tissue is a primary reservoir for storage of uranium, where it takes the place of calcium in the bone mineral matrix. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of embedded DU and HTMA pellets on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC), key predictors of bone strength, in rat bone. Femurs from male Sprague Dawley rats (~ 20-24 weeks old) had either DU, Tungsten/Nickel/Iron (WNiFe), Tungsten/Nickel/Cobalt (WNiCo), or Tantalum (an inert metal serving as control) pellets inserted intramuscularly (2 pellets/hindlimb). Tissues were collected from 8-10 rats at both 1 month and 3 months following the insertion of the pellets. Distal femur metaphyseal and cortical shaft BMD and BMC were measured via peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). After one month, cancellous BMD and BMC were were slightly higher in WNiFe and DU compared to WNiCo embedded animals. After three months, there were significant increases in total metaphyseal BMD, cancellous BMD, and total metaphyseal area in DU and WNiCo (p ≤ .001). There were no changes seen in metaphyseal BMC and cortical bone at the midshaft of the femur. This is one of the first studies to examine the effects of shrapnel-like alloys on bone integrity. These data demonstrate that DU and WNiCo increased BMD in the metaphysis; however, if these metals are replacing calcium in the bone matrix, the increased BMD may not be beneficial to bone. As DU becomes more prevalent in the bone matrix, calcium levels may decline, which could cause an increased risk of fractures with age. Therefore, more research is required to determine the impact of these shrapnel metals on bone mechanical properties, fracture risk, and long-term health

Consolidated Edison Thorium Reactor-Reactor Vessel Internal Components Design

The design functions and fabrication details for internal components of the CETR are presented and pertinent analytical stress studies are summarized. Functions of the internal components include proper orientation and support for the fuel elements, proper distribution of primary coolant within the reactor vessel, and the establishment of guide channels for the control rods. (J.R.D.

Theoretical investigation of carbon defects and diffusion in α-quartz

The geometries, formation energies, and diffusion barriers of carbon point defects in silica (α-quartz) have been calculated using a charge-self-consistent density-functional based nonorthogonal tight-binding method. It is found that bonded interstitial carbon configurations have significantly lower formation energies (on the order of 5 eV) than substitutionals. The activation energy of atomic C diffusion via trapping and detrapping in interstitial positions is about 2.7 eV. Extraction of a CO molecule requires an activation energy <3.1 eV but the CO molecule can diffuse with an activation energy <0.4 eV. Retrapping in oxygen vacancies is hindered—unlike for O2—by a barrier of about 2 eV

Spatial and temporal dynamics at an actively silicifying hydrothermal system

Steep Cone Geyser is a unique geothermal feature in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), Wyoming, actively gushing silicon-rich fluids along outflow channels possessing living and actively silicifying microbial biomats. To assess the geomicrobial dynamics occurring temporally and spatially at Steep Cone, samples were collected at discrete locations along one of Steep Cone’s outflow channels for both microbial community composition and aqueous geochemistry analysis during field campaigns in 2010, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Geochemical analysis characterized Steep Cone as an oligotrophic, surface boiling, silicious, alkaline-chloride thermal feature with consistent dissolved inorganic carbon and total sulfur concentrations down the outflow channel ranging from 4.59 ± 0.11 to 4.26 ± 0.07 mM and 189.7 ± 7.2 to 204.7 ± 3.55 μM, respectively. Furthermore, geochemistry remained relatively stable temporally with consistently detectable analytes displaying a relative standard deviation &lt;32%. A thermal gradient decrease of ~55°C was observed from the sampled hydrothermal source to the end of the sampled outflow transect (90.34°C ± 3.38 to 35.06°C ± 7.24). The thermal gradient led to temperature-driven divergence and stratification of the microbial community along the outflow channel. The hyperthermophile Thermocrinis dominates the hydrothermal source biofilm community, and the thermophiles Meiothermus and Leptococcus dominate along the outflow before finally giving way to more diverse and even microbial communities at the end of the transect. Beyond the hydrothermal source, phototrophic taxa such as Leptococcus, Chloroflexus, and Chloracidobacterium act as primary producers for the system, supporting heterotrophic growth of taxa such as Raineya, Tepidimonas, and Meiothermus. Community dynamics illustrate large changes yearly driven by abundance shifts of the dominant taxa in the system. Results indicate Steep Cone possesses dynamic outflow microbial communities despite stable geochemistry. These findings improve our understanding of thermal geomicrobiological dynamics and inform how we can interpret the silicified rock record

The genetic insulator RiboJ increases expression of insulated genes

A primary objective of synthetic biology is the construction of genetic circuits with behaviors that can be predicted based on the properties of the constituent genetic parts from which they are built. However a significant issue in the construction of synthetic genetic circuits is a phenomenon known as context dependence in which the behavior of a given part changes depending on the choice of adjacent or nearby parts. Interactions between parts compromise the modularity of the circuit, impeding the implementation of predictable genetic constructs. To address this issue, investigators have devised genetic insulators that prevent these unintended context-dependent interactions between neighboring parts. One of the most commonly used insulators in bacterial systems is the self-cleaving ribozyme RiboJ. Despite its utility as an insulator, there has been no systematic quantitative assessment of the effect of RiboJ on the expression level of downstream genetic parts. Here, we characterized the impact of insulation with RiboJ on expression of a reporter gene driven by a promoter from a library of 24 frequently employed constitutive promoters in an Escherichia coli model system. We show that, depending on the strength of the promoter, insulation with RiboJ increased protein abundance between twofold and tenfold and increased transcript abundance by an average of twofold. This result demonstrates that genetic insulators in E. coli can impact the expression of downstream genes, information that is essential for the design of predictable genetic circuits and constructs

The genetic insulator RiboJ increases expression of insulated genes

A primary objective of synthetic biology is the construction of genetic circuits with behaviors that can be predicted based on the properties of the constituent genetic parts from which they are built. However a significant issue in the construction of synthetic genetic circuits is a phenomenon known as context dependence in which the behavior of a given part changes depending on the choice of adjacent or nearby parts. Interactions between parts compromise the modularity of the circuit, impeding the implementation of predictable genetic constructs. To address this issue, investigators have devised genetic insulators that prevent these unintended context-dependent interactions between neighboring parts. One of the most commonly used insulators in bacterial systems is the self-cleaving ribozyme RiboJ. Despite its utility as an insulator, there has been no systematic quantitative assessment of the effect of RiboJ on the expression level of downstream genetic parts. Here, we characterized the impact of insulation with RiboJ on expression of a reporter gene driven by a promoter from a library of 24 frequently employed constitutive promoters in an Escherichia coli model system. We show that, depending on the strength of the promoter, insulation with RiboJ increased protein abundance between twofold and tenfold and increased transcript abundance by an average of twofold. This result demonstrates that genetic insulators in E. coli can impact the expression of downstream genes, information that is essential for the design of predictable genetic circuits and constructs