Perfluorinated alkyl acids and fecundity assessment in striped mullet (\u3ci\u3eMugil cephalus\u3c/i\u3e) at Merritt Island national wildlife refuge

This study investigated wild caught striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) for levels of 15 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA) in tandem with individual fecundity measurements (Oocyte sub-stage 2 late, n=42) and oocyte reproductive stages (Stages 1–5, n=128). PFAAmeasurementswere quantified in stripedmullet liver (n=128),muscle (n=49), and gonad (n=10). No significant negative impacts of liver PFAA burden on wild-caught,mullet fecundity endpoints were observed in this study; however, changes in PFAAwere observed in the liver asmullet progressed through different sub-stages of oocyte development. Of the PFAA with significant changes by sub-stage of oocyte development, the carboxylic acids (perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorononanoic acid, and perfluorotridecanoic acid) increased in the liver with increasing sub-stage while the sulfonic acid and its precursor (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide, respectively) decreased in the liver with increasing sub-stage of oocyte development. This is a unique find and suggests PFAA change location of compartmentalization as mullet progress towards spawning. Investigations also revealed higher than expected median muscle and gonad levels of PFOS in striped mullet collected at MINWR (9.01 ng/g and 80.2 ng/g, respectively)

Perfluorinated alkyl acids and fecundity assessment in striped mullet (\u3ci\u3eMugil cephalus\u3c/i\u3e) at Merritt Island national wildlife refuge

This study investigated wild caught striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) for levels of 15 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA) in tandem with individual fecundity measurements (Oocyte sub-stage 2 late, n=42) and oocyte reproductive stages (Stages 1–5, n=128). PFAAmeasurementswere quantified in stripedmullet liver (n=128),muscle (n=49), and gonad (n=10). No significant negative impacts of liver PFAA burden on wild-caught,mullet fecundity endpoints were observed in this study; however, changes in PFAAwere observed in the liver asmullet progressed through different sub-stages of oocyte development. Of the PFAA with significant changes by sub-stage of oocyte development, the carboxylic acids (perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorononanoic acid, and perfluorotridecanoic acid) increased in the liver with increasing sub-stage while the sulfonic acid and its precursor (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide, respectively) decreased in the liver with increasing sub-stage of oocyte development. This is a unique find and suggests PFAA change location of compartmentalization as mullet progress towards spawning. Investigations also revealed higher than expected median muscle and gonad levels of PFOS in striped mullet collected at MINWR (9.01 ng/g and 80.2 ng/g, respectively)

Examination of Metals from Aerospace-Related Activity in Surface Water Samples from Sites Surrounding the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida

Metal contamination from Space Shuttle launch activity was examined using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy in a two-tier study sampling surface water collected from several sites at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and associated Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in east central Florida. The primary study examined both temporal changes in baseline metal concentrations (19 metals) in surface water (1996 to 2009, 11 sites) samples collected at specific long-term monitoring sites and metal deposition directly associated with Space Shuttle launch activity at two Launch Complexes (LC39A and LC39B). A secondary study examined metal concentrations at additional sites and increased the amount of elements measured to 48 elements. Our examination places a heavy focus on those metals commonly associated with launch operations (e.g., Al, Fe, Mn, and Zn), but a brief discussion of other metals (As, Cu, Mo, Ni, and Pb) is also included. While no observable accumulation of metals occurred during the time period of the study, the data obtained postlaunch demonstrated a dramatic increase for Al, Fe, Mn, and Zn. Comparing overall trends between the primary and secondary baseline surface water concentrations, elevated concentrations were generally observed at sampling stations located near the launch complexes and from sites isolated from major water systems. While there could be several natural and anthropogenic sources for metal deposition at KSC, the data in this report indicate that shuttle launch events are a significant source

Communication of hearing impaired in context of information retrieval and acquiring

This bachelor thesis focuses on communication of hearing impaired in context of information retrieval and information acquiring. In general, theoretical part of the work is dealing with questions of hearing loss and characteristic of hearing impaired. The following chapters are concerned with learning of deaf and hard of hearing people, communication systems and information behavior in a wide perspective. Important area on which this work focuses is information and communication technology enabling information retrieval and information acquiring. This area describes differencies between communication "face to face" and virtual communication. Practical part of this work describes results of conducted questonnaire research. The research is concerned with main research question whether or not information retrieval and aqcuiring in Internet surrounding can in case of hearing impaired substitute common communication. In addition, this work tries to find advantages and disadvantages of the Internet as a communication media. For better understanding, all chapters and attachments are illustrated with graphs and tables. In last section of practical part, the work proves or rejects the defined hypotheses based on the survey. This work also contains a universal communication model and a communication model based on..

Visual examination of healthy (top) and pansteatitis-affected tilapia (bottom), enhanced images on the right.

<p>The examples shown are male tilapia. Note the lesions on the diseased tilapia (orange lesions, bottom right photo).</p

Sensitivities plot for assessing which variables were most important for classifying pansteatitis.

<p>Error values are shown as standard deviation of the mean.</p

Examination of blood chemistry parameters and morphometric traits using t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests.

<p>Examination of blood chemistry parameters and morphometric traits using t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests.</p

Mean and SEM values for healthy and diseased tilapia obtained using the blood chemistry analyzer.

<p>Mean and SEM values for healthy and diseased tilapia obtained using the blood chemistry analyzer.</p

Surface plots for the four predictive parameters.

<p>A) Ca²⁺ (mg/dL), B) Na⁺ (mmol/L), C) ALB (g/dL), and D) TP (g/dL), in relation to vet score and total length (while keeping the other three parameters clamped).</p