Health Information Needs of the Pregnant Adolescent

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73151/1/j.1745-7599.1994.tb00906.x.pd

Organic chemistry of NH₃ and HCN induced by an atmospheric abnormal glow discharge in N₂-CH₄ mixtures

The formation of the chemical products produced in an atmospheric glow discharge fed by a N2-CH4 gas mixture has been studied using Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) and Optical Emission Spectrometry (OES). The measurements were carried out in a flowing regime at ambient temperature and pressure with CH4 concentrations ranging from 0.5% to 2%. In the recorded emission spectra the lines of the second positive system CN system and the first negative system of N2 were found to be the most intensive but atomic Hα, Hβ, and C (247 nm) lines were also observed. FTIR-measurements revealed HCN and NH3 to be the major products of the plasma with traces of C2H2. These same molecules have been detected in Titan's atmosphere and the present experiments may provide some novel insights into the chemical and physical mechanisms prevalent in Titan's atmosphere with these smaller species believed to be the precursors of heavier organic species in Titan's atmosphere and on its surface

Impact of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Contamination on Estrogenic Activity in Human Male Serum

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are thought to cause numerous adverse health effects, but their impact on estrogen signaling is still not fully understood. In the present study, we used the ER-CALUX bioassay to determine estrogenic/antiestrogenic activities of the prevalent PCB congeners and PCB mixtures isolated from human male serum. The samples were collected from residents of an area with an extensive environmental contamination from a former PCB production site as well as from a neighboring background region in eastern Slovakia. We found that the lower-chlorinated PCBs were estrogenic, whereas the prevalent higher-chlorinated PCB congeners 138, 153, 170, 180, 187, 194, 199, and 203, as well as major PCB metabolites, behaved as anti-estrogens. Coplanar PCBs had no direct effect on estrogen receptor (ER) activation in this in vitro model. In human male serum samples, high levels of PCBs were associated with a decreased ER-mediated activity and an increased dioxin-like activity, as determined by the DR-CALUX assay. 17β-Estradiol (E(2)) was responsible for a major part of estrogenic activity identified in total serum extracts. Significant negative correlations were found between dioxin-like activity, as well as mRNA levels of cytochromes P450 1A1 and 1B1 in lymphocytes, and total estrogenic activity. For sample fractions containing only persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the increased frequency of anti-estrogenic samples was associated with a higher sum of PCBs. This suggests that the prevalent non-dioxin-like PCBs were responsible for the weak antiestrogenic activity of some POPs fractions. Our data also suggest that it might be important to pay attention to direct effects of PCBs on steroid hormone levels in heavily exposed subjects

Change in Magnetic Anisotropy at the Surface and in the Bulk of FINEMET Induced by Swift Heavy Ion Irradiation

57 Fe transmission and conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy as well as XRD were used to study the effect of swift heavy ion irradiation on stress-annealed FINEMET samples with a composition of Fe73.5 Si13.5 Nb3 B9 Cu1. The XRD of the samples indicated changes neither in the crystal structure nor in the texture of irradiated ribbons as compared to those of non-irradiated ones. However, changes in the magnetic anisotropy both in the bulk as well as at the surface of the FINEMET alloy ribbons irradiated by 160 MeV132 Xe ions with a fluence of 1013 ion cm−2 were revealed via the decrease in relative areas of the second and fifth lines of the magnetic sextets in the corresponding Mössbauer spectra. The irradiation-induced change in the magnetic anisotropy in the bulk was found to be similar or somewhat higher than that at the surface. The results are discussed in terms of the defects produced by irradiation and corresponding changes in the orientation of spins depending on the direction of the stress generated around these defects. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.CZ-11/2007, MEB040806; Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka: FEUZ-2020-0060; Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, OTKA: K100424, K115784, K115913, K43687, K68135; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR; Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci: CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_049/0008408, IGA_PrF_2022_003, IGA_PrF_2022_013; Ural Federal University, UrFU: 04-5-1131-2017/2021; Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal, NKFIHFunding: The research was supported by grants from the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (OTKA projects No K43687, K68135, K100424, K115913, K115784) and by the Czech-Hungarian Intergovernmental Fund, Grant No. CZ-11/2007 (MEB040806). M.I.O. was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, project No. FEUZ-2020-0060. Additionally, M.I.O. was supported in part by the Ural Federal University project within the Priority-2030 Program, funded from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. This work was also supported by the project “Swift heavy ions in research of iron-bearing nanomaterials”, No. of theme 04-5-1131-2017/2021, solved in cooperation with the Czech Republic and the JINR (3 + 3 projects), and also by internal IGA grant of Palacký University (IGA_PrF_2022_003). The authors from Palacký University Olomouc want to thank the facilitators of project CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_049/0008408 of the Ministry of Education, Youth & Sports of the Czech Republic for their support as well.Acknowledgments: We are grateful to Z. Klencsár (Centre for Energy Research, Budapest), M. Miglierini (Technical University, Bratislava), I. Dézsi (Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest), S. Kubuki, and K. Nomura (Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo) for their participation in discussions, and L. Krupa (Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic and Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna) for his help with the organization of project cooperation. The support by grants from the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office and by the Czech-Hungarian Intergovernmental Fund, Grant No. CZ-11/2007 (MEB040806) are acknowledged. M.I.O. is grateful for support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and from the Ural Federal University project within the Priority-2030 Program. This work was also carried out within the Agreement of Cooperation between the Ural Federal University (Ekaterinburg) and the Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest) and within the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ural Federal University (Ekaterinburg) and the Palacký University (Olomouc). Authors acknowledge the support of the project “Swift heavy ions in research of iron-bearing nanomaterials”, No. of theme 04-5-1131-2017/2021, solved in cooperation with the Czech Republic and the JINR (3 + 3 projects). Authors from Palacký University Olomouc appreciate the internal IGA grant of Palacký University (IGA_PrF_2022_013) and thank the facilitators of the project CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_049/0008408 of the Ministry of Education, Youth & Sports of the Czech Republic as well

New hydroxylated metabolites of 4-monochlorobiphenyl in whole poplar plants

Two new monohydroxy metabolites of 4-monochlorobiphenyl (CB3) were positively identified using three newly synthesized monohydroxy compounds of CB3: 2-hydroxy-4-chlorobiphenyl (2OH-CB3), 3-hydroxy-4-chlorobiphenyl (3OH-CB3) and 4-hydroxy-3-chlorobiphenyl (4OH-CB2). New metabolites of CB3, including 2OH-CB3 and 3OH-CB3, were confirmed in whole poplars (Populus deltoides × nigra, DN34), a model plant in the application of phytoremediation. Furthermore, the concentrations and masses of 2OH-CB3 and 3OH-CB3 formed in various tissues of whole poplar plants and controls were measured. Results showed that 2OH-CB3 was the major product in these two OH-CB3s with chlorine and hydroxyl moieties in the same phenyl ring of CB3. Masses of 2OH-CB3 and 3OH-CB3 in tissues of whole poplar plants were much higher than those in the hydroponic solution, strongly indicating that the poplar plant itself metabolizes CB3 to both 2OH-CB3 and 3OH-CB3. The total yield of 2OH-CB3 and 3OH-CB3, with chlorine and hydroxyl in the same phenyl ring of CB3, was less than that of three previously found OH-CB3s with chlorine and hydroxyl in the opposite phenyl rings of CB3 (2'OH-CB3, 3'OH-CB3, and 4'OH-CB3). Finally, these two newly detected OH-CB3s from CB3 in this work also suggests that the metabolic pathway was via epoxide intermediates. These five OH-CB3s clearly showed the complete metabolism profile from CB3 to monohydroxylated CB3. More importantly, it's the first report and confirmation of 2OH-CB3 and 3OH-CB3 (new metabolites of CB3) in a living organism

Epsilon iron oxide: origin of the high coercivity stable low Curie temperature magnetic phase found in heated archeological materials

The identification of epsilon iron oxide (ɛ-Fe2O3) as the low Curie temperature high coercivity stable phase (HCSLT) carrying the remanence in heated archeological samples has been achieved in samples from two archeological sites that exhibited the clearest evidence of the presence of the HCSLT. This uncommon iron oxide has been detected by Confocal Raman Spectroscopy (CRS) and characterized by rock magnetic measurements. Large numbers of ɛ-Fe2O3 microaggregates (in CO) or isolated clusters (in HEL) could be recognized, distributed over the whole sample, and embedded within the ceramic matrix, along with hematite and pseudobrookite and with minor amounts of anatase, rutile, and maghemite. Curie temperature estimates of around 170°C for CO and 190°C for HEL are lower than for pure, synthetic ɛ-Fe2O3 (227°C). This, together with structural differences between the Raman spectra of the archeologically derived and synthetic samples, is likely due to Ti substitution in the ɛ-Fe2O3 crystal lattice. The γ-Fe2O3-ɛ-Fe2O3-α-Fe2O3 transformation series has been recognized in heated archeological samples, which may have implications in terms of their thermal history and in the factors that govern the formation of ɛ-Fe2O3