Concentration of fluorine in the urine of cattle and sheep

The potential problem of fluorosis in cattle and sheep tends to become increasingly important as certain industries using fluorine bearing materials at high temperature locate in farm areas. Several factors adding to the hazard of fluorosis in livestock areas. (1) the use of mineral supplements with a high fluorine¹ content; (2) water supplies with a high fluorine content, and (3) pastures contaminated by upsplash of fluorine-bearing soil. The rather large number of sources of fluorine, each capable of causing variable degrees of fluorosis in cattle and sheep make it desirable to constantly improve the present methods of diagnosis. Present diagnostic measures include a study of teeth changes, determinations of fluorine content of bones and feeds and general clinical observation. Gross appearance of the teeth of cattle and sheep, supported by a study of fluorine content of feeds and bones for the period concerned, give an excellent history of an animal’s incisor teeth. However, these diagnostic measures do not constitute a definite quantitative measure of acute or chronic fluorine intoxication in cattle and sheep, especially if the animal has developed its permanent incisors prior to the ingestion of increased amounts of fluorine. The fluorine concentration of urine from cattle and sheep has also been used as an aid in diagnosing fluorosis by several investigators; however, more data are needed to demonstrate whether urinary fluorine concentration can be used as a quantitative measure in cases of acute, or chronic fluorosis. Investigations reported herein were designed primarily to study several aspects of reliability of urinary fluorine concentrations as a diagnostic measure of fluorosis in cattle and sheep. Specific objectives of the study were: 1. To determine the validity of using the specific gravity as a method of standardizing urinary fluorine concentrations in cattle and sheep; 2. To determine the correlation between urinary fluorine concentrations and dietary fluorine intake in cattle and sheep; 3. To establish, for cattle, the excretion pattern of urinary fluorine concentration at various periods after fluorine ingestion; 4. To study the relationship between the rib fluorine content and the urinary fluorine concentration in cattle; 5. To study the effects of aluminum sulfate and aluminum chloride fluorine alleviators, upon the fluorine concentration of urine in cattle and sheep

The importance of increasing the forensic relevance of oral health records for improved human identification outcomes

First published online 4 April 2017Dental comparison can confirm human identity to a high degree of certainty. Research examining Australian-made records demonstrated suboptimal recording of dental traits important for forensic dental identification and compliance with Dental Board of Australia (DBA) record keeping guidelines. This is a significant issue for human identification by dental comparison; lack of adequate antemortem information can hinder or obstruct outcomes. Reported identification opinions from the Forensic Odontology Unit of South Australia (FOUSA) during 2011-2015 were assessed to determine whether the quantitative and qualitative value of antemortem records affected the ultimate identification outcome. Identity was established in 79% (n=197) of the 249 cases presented to the FOU-SA; odontology was unable to categorically confirm an individual's identity for the remaining 21%. Dental records of almost all cases demonstrated a lack of antemortem data for comparison. Inadequate antemortem information within dental records may preclude identity determination; at minimum, an outcome is hindered by a greater number of issues requiring reconciliation. Given previous results regarding adherence to DBA guidelines, practitioners should reasonably be expected to make small recording changes to improve the continuity of clinical patient care. This antemortem recording improvement will potentially improve the rate at which a forensic identification is reconciled.Lauren Stow and Denice Higgin

LANDSAT D local user terminal study

The effect of the changes incorporated in the LANDSAT D system on the ability of a local user terminal to receive, record and process data in real time was studied. Alternate solutions to the problems raised by these changes were evaluated. A loading analysis was performed in order to determine the quantities of data that a local user terminal (LUT) would be interested in receiving and processing. The number of bits in an MSS and a TM scene were calculated along with the number of scenes per day that an LUT might require for processing. These then combined to a total number of processed bits/day for an LUT as a function of sensor and coverage circle radius

Distinctive populations of basement membrane and cell membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans are produced by cultured cell lines

Abstract. We have investigated the nature and distribution of different populations of heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) in several cell lines in culture. Clone 9 hepatocytes and NRK and CHO cells were biosynthetically labeled with 35SO4, and proteoglycans were isolated by DEAE-Sephacel chromatography. Heterogeneous populations of HSPGs and chondroitin/dermatan proteoglycans (CSPGs) were found in the media and cell layer extracts of all cultures. HSPGs were further purified from the media and cell layers and separated from CSPGs by ion exchange chromatography after chondroitinase ABC digestion. In all cell types, HSPGs were found both in the cell layers (20-70 % of the total) as well as the medium. When the purified HSPG fractions were further separated b

Web-based Remote Sensing Applications and Java Tools for Environmental Monitoring

This paper introduces a web-based remote sensing application which can provide advanced image comparison and processing functions for natural habitat conservation and environmental monitoring. This project is one of several NASA Affiliated Research Center (ARC) projects being developed at San Diego State University in response to NASA\u27s Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) Focus Area program. This project utilized Java programming and commercial Internet Map Server technology to provide integrated web-based analytical capabilities to regional government agencies and park services. A prototype website (http://map.sdsu.edu/arc) was established to demonstrate the on-line analytical functions and potential operational applications for environmental monitoring and habitat managers. The web-based prototype was tested and evaluated by several user groups, including park rangers, graduate students, and GIS professionals. Users\u27 feedback indicated that the Java-based tools and Internet Map Servers can provide a flexible way to access both remote sensing data and geospatial analytical tools for environmental monitoring tasks

N4WBP5A (Ndfip2), a Nedd4-interacting protein, localizes to multivesicular bodies and the Golgi, and has a potential role in protein trafficking

N4WBP5A (Ndfip2) belongs to an evolutionarily conserved group of Nedd4-interacting proteins with two homologues in mammalian species. We have previously shown that N4WBP5A expression in Xenopus oocytes results in increased cell-surface expression of the epithelial sodium channel. N4WBPs are characterized by one or two amino terminal PPxY motifs and three transmembrane domains. Here we show that both PPxY motifs of N4WBP5A mediate interaction with WW domains of Nedd4 and that N4WBP5A can physically interact with the WW domains of several Nedd4-family proteins. N4WBP5A is ubiquitinated and ubiquitination does not significantly affect the turnover of N4WBP5A protein. Ubiquitination of N4WBP5A is enhanced by Nedd4 and Nedd4-2 expression. N4WBP5A localizes to the Golgi, vesicles associated with the Golgi complex and to multivesicular bodies. We show that the ectopic expression of N4WBP5A inhibits receptor-mediated endocytosis of labelled epidermal growth factor. N4WBP5A overexpression inhibits accumulation of EGF in large endocytic/lysosomal vesicles suggestive of a role for N4WBP5A in protein trafficking. We propose that N4WBP5A acts as an adaptor to recruit Nedd4 family ubiquitin-protein ligases to the protein trafficking machinery.Linda M. Shearwin-Whyatt, Darren L. Brown, Fiona G. Wylie, Jennifer L. Stow and Sharad Kuma

Drop Splashing on a Dry Smooth Surface

The corona splash due to the impact of a liquid drop on a smooth dry substrate is investigated with high speed photography. A striking phenomenon is observed: splashing can be completely suppressed by decreasing the pressure of the surrounding gas. The threshold pressure where a splash first occurs is measured as a function of the impact velocity and found to scale with the molecular weight of the gas and the viscosity of the liquid. Both experimental scaling relations support a model in which compressible effects in the gas are responsible for splashing in liquid solid impacts.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

A heterotrimeric G protein, G alpha i-3, on Golgi membranes regulates the secretion of a heparan sulfate proteoglycan in LLC-PK1 epithelial cells

A heterotrimeric G-alpha-i subunit, alpha-i-3, is localized on Golgi membranes in LLC-PK1 and NRK epithelial cells where it colocalizes with mannosidase II by immunofluorescence. The alpha-i-3 was found to be localized on the cytoplasmic face of Golgi cisternae and it was distributed across the whole Golgi stack. The alpha-i-3 subunit is found on isolated rat liver Golgi membranes by Western blotting and G-alpha-i-3 on the Golgi apparatus is ADP ribosylated by pertussis toxin. LLC-PK1 cells were stably transfected with G-alpha-i-3 on an MT-1, inducible promoter in order to overexpress alpha-i-3 on Golgi membranes. The intracellular processing and constitutive secretion of the basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) was measured in LLC-PK1 cells. Overexpression of alpha-i-3 on Golgi membranes in transfected cells retarded the secretion of HSPG and accumulated precursors in the medial-trans-Golgi. This effect was reversed by treatment of cells with pertussis toxin which results in ADP-ribosylation and functional uncoupling of G-alpha-i-3 on Golgi membranes. These results provide evidence for a novel role for the pertussis toxin sensitive G-alpha-i-3 protein in Golgi trafficking of a constitutively secreted protein in epithelial cells

Subcompartments of the macrophage recycling endosome direct the differential secretion of IL-6 and TNFα

Activated macrophages secrete an array of proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), that are temporally secreted for sequential roles in inflammation. We have previously characterized aspects of the intracellular trafficking of membrane-bound TNFα and its delivery to the cell surface at the site of phagocytic cups for secretion (Murray, R.Z., J.G. Kay, D.G. Sangermani, and J.L. Stow. 2005. Science. 310:1492–1495). The trafficking pathway and surface delivery of IL-6, a soluble cytokine, were studied here using approaches such as live cell imaging of fluorescently tagged IL-6 and immunoelectron microscopy. Newly synthesized IL-6 accumulates in the Golgi complex and exits in tubulovesicular carriers either as the sole labeled cargo or together with TNFα, utilizing specific soluble NSF attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins to fuse with the recycling endosome. Within recycling endosomes, we demonstrate the compartmentalization of cargo proteins, wherein IL-6 is dynamically segregated from TNFα and from surface recycling transferrin. Thereafter, these cytokines are independently secreted, with TNFα delivered to phagocytic cups but not IL-6. Therefore, the recycling endosome has a central role in orchestrating the differential secretion of cytokines during inflammation