Ayurvedic herbal medicine and lead poisoning

Although the majority of published cases of lead poisoning come from occupational exposures, some traditional remedies may also contain toxic amounts of lead. Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine that is native to India and is used in many parts of world as an alternative to standard treatment regimens. Here, we report the case of a 58-year-old woman who presented with abdominal pain, anemia, liver function abnormalities, and an elevated blood lead level. The patient was found to have been taking the Ayurvedic medicine Jambrulin prior to presentation. Chemical analysis of the medication showed high levels of lead. Following treatment with an oral chelating agent, the patient's symptoms resolved and laboratory abnormalities normalized. This case highlights the need for increased awareness that some Ayurvedic medicines may contain potentially harmful levels of heavy metals and people who use them are at risk of developing associated toxicities

Toward an understanding of transfusion-related acute lung injury: statement of a consensus panel

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73845/1/j.0041-1132.2004.04347.x.pd

A three-dimensional model of wave attenuation in the marginal ice zone

Extent: 17p.A three-dimensional model of wave scattering by a large array of floating thin elastic plates is used to predict the rate of ocean wave attenuation in the marginal ice zone in terms of the properties of the ice cover and the incoming wavefield. This is regarded as a small step toward assimilating interactions of ocean waves with areas of sea ice into oceanic general circulation models. Numerical results confirm previous findings that attenuation is predominantly affected by wave period and by the average thickness of the ice cover. It is found that the shape and distribution of the floes and the inclusion of an Archimedean draft has little impact on the attenuation produced. The model demonstrates a linear relationship between ice cover concentration and attenuation. An additional study is conducted into the directional evolvement of the wavefield, where collimation and spreading can both occur, depending on the physical circumstances. Finally, the attenuation predicted by the new three-dimensional model is compared with an existing two-dimensional model and with two sets of experimental data, with the latter producing convincing agreement.L. G. Bennetts, M. A. Peter, V. A. Squire, and M. H. Meyla

CONTROL OF ETHANOL DEHYDROGENASE LEVELS IN AEROBACTER AEROGENES

Aerobacter aerogenes strain 1033 grows on a number of polyhydric alcohols under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Among these com-pounds are glycerol, D-arabitol, D-sorbitol, and D-mannitol. Under anaerobic conditions the utilization of glycerol and D-arabitol seemed to depend on two diphosphopyridine nucleotide (DPN)-linked enzymes, glycerol dehydrogenase and D-arabitol dehydrogenase. The levels of these two enzymes could be greatly reduced in cells growing on their respective substrates if the cultures were vigorously aerated (Lin, Levin, and Magasanik, 1960; Lin, 1961). In the case of glycerol it was possible to show that the reduc-tion in glycerol dehydrogenase level was com-pensated by an increase in the level of glycerol kinase which mediated a separate pathway for the dissimilation of this polyhydric alcohol. The control of the levels of glycerol and D-arabitol dehydrogenases by oxygen tension in the growth media stimulated our interest in the possible regulatory role played by oxygen on another DPN-linked enzyme, ethanol dehydrogenase. It has been previously reported that anaerobic dis-similation of glycerol produced equimolar quanti-ties of ethanol and formate (Magasanik, Brooke, and Karibian, 1953). This observation suggests that ethanol dehydrogenase serves as a mediator for the terminal electron transfer during fer-mentation in this organism. The present studies showed that the level of ethanol dehydrogenase increased severalfold when aerobically grown cultures were adapted to anaerobiosis on a number of polyhydric alcohols. Data were also obtained which indicate that the level of this dehydrogenase was not repressed by molecular oxygen itself, but was regulated by hy-drogen acceptors within the cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bacteria. A. aerogenes strain P14 is a guanine auxotroph derived from strain 1033 (Brooke an