Influence of dietary constituents on intestinal absorption of aluminum

Orally-ingested aluminum compounds have been implicated in the development of dialysis encephalopathy, osteomalacic dialysis osteodystrophy and other disorders in both hemodialyzed and nonhemodialyzed patients suffering from chronic renal failure [1–10]. Both dialysate aluminum content [7, 11, 12] and aluminum-containing phosphate binding agents [12–15] have been identified as contributing to hyperaluminemia in uremic patients. The health threat from dialysate fluids has been reduced by the recommendation that the dialysate contains less than 10 µg/liter of aluminum [16]. Alternative phosphate-binding agents which do not contain aluminum are available but these agents are not free of problems [17], and uremic patients continue to ingest significant doses of aluminum-containing phosphate binding agents.Aluminum is the most common metal in the biosphere of humans but, aside from uremic patients, causes no widespread toxicity. This may be as a result of the extremely limited solubility of aluminum at the pH range of the small intestine and blood [18]. Advances in analytical chemistry have made it possible to measure picogram quantities of aluminum in body fluids, thus enabling accurate determination of plasma aluminum levels in the part per billion (µg/liter) range. These analytical techniques have shown that orally ingested aluminum-containing antacids elevate plasma aluminum levels in man [13]. Balance studies monitoring aluminum absorption and elimination revealed an average positive balance from 23 to 313mg of aluminum per day when diets were supplemented with 1 to 3g of aluminum per day [15]. These studies show that a small fraction of the ingested aluminum is absorbed. This absorption presents potential toxic effects to uremic patients whose ability to eliminate aluminum is impaired.In addition, Slanina et al [19] have shown that addition of citric acid to aluminum-supplemented dietary regimens results in blood aluminum levels that are significantly higher than those found in subjects treated with aluminum-supplemented dietary regimens alone. This result suggests that dietary factors may contribute to aluminum absorption.This study was undertaken to determine if the form of aluminum present in the intestinal lumen significantly affects the absorption of aluminum following oral ingestion

Effects of an Unusual Poison Identify a Lifespan Role for Topoisomerase 2 in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

A progressive loss of genome maintenance has been implicated as both a cause and consequence of aging. Here we present evidence supporting the hypothesis that an age-associated decay in genome maintenance promotes aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) due to an inability to sense or repair DNA damage by topoisomerase 2 (yTop2). We describe the characterization of LS1, identified in a high throughput screen for small molecules that shorten the replicative lifespan of yeast. LS1 accelerates aging without affecting proliferative growth or viability. Genetic and biochemical criteria reveal LS1 to be a weak Top2 poison. Top2 poisons induce the accumulation of covalent Top2-linked DNA double strand breaks that, if left unrepaired, lead to genome instability and death. LS1 is toxic to cells deficient in homologous recombination, suggesting that the damage it induces is normally mitigated by genome maintenance systems. The essential roles of yTop2 in proliferating cells may come with a fitness trade-off in older cells that are less able to sense or repair yTop2-mediated DNA damage. Consistent with this idea, cells live longer when yTop2 expression levels are reduced. These results identify intrinsic yTop2-mediated DNA damage as a potentially manageable cause of aging

Marvel analysis of the measured high-resolution rovibrational spectra of H2S

44325 measured and assigned transitions of H$_2^{32}$S, the parent isotopologue of the hydrogen sulfide molecule, are collated from 33 publications into a single database and reviewed critically. Based on this information, rotation-vibration energy levels are determined for the ground electronic state using the Measured Active Rotational-Vibrational Energy Levels (MARVEL) technique. The ortho and para principal components of the measured spectroscopic network of H$_2^{32}$S are considered separately. The verified set of 25293 ortho- and 18778 para- H$_2^{32}$S transitions determine 3969 ortho and 3467 para energy levels. The Marvel results are compared with alternative data compilations, including a theoretical variational linelist.Comment: 39 pages, 3 figures, JQSRT, 201

1952: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

Delivered in the Auditorium of Abilene Christian College, February, 1952 ABILENE, TEXAS PRICE, $3.00 firm foundation publishing house Box 77 Austin Cl, Texa

Report from the conference, ‘identifying obstacles to applying big data in agriculture’

Data-centric technology has not undergone widespread adoption in production agriculture but could address global needs for food security and farm profitability. Participants in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funded conference, “Identifying Obstacles to Applying Big Data in Agriculture,” held in Houston, TX, in August 2018, defined detailed scenarios in which on-farm decisions could benefit from the application of Big Data. The participants came from multiple academic fields, agricultural industries and government organizations and, in addition to defining the scenarios, they identified obstacles to implementing Big Data in these scenarios as well as potential solutions. This communication is a report on the conference and its outcomes. Two scenarios are included to represent the overall key findings in commonly identified obstacles and solutions: “In-season yield prediction for real-time decision-making”, and “Sow lameness.” Common obstacles identified at the conference included error in the data, inaccessibility of the data, unusability of the data, incompatibility of data generation and processing systems, the inconvenience of handling the data, the lack of a clear return on investment (ROI) and unclear ownership. Less common but valuable solutions to common obstacles are also noted

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of SDSS-III

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is designed to measure the scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys of large scale structure. BOSS uses 1.5 million luminous galaxies as faint as i=19.9 over 10,000 square degrees to measure BAO to redshifts z<0.7. Observations of neutral hydrogen in the Lyman alpha forest in more than 150,000 quasar spectra (g<22) will constrain BAO over the redshift range 2.15<z<3.5. Early results from BOSS include the first detection of the large-scale three-dimensional clustering of the Lyman alpha forest and a strong detection from the Data Release 9 data set of the BAO in the clustering of massive galaxies at an effective redshift z = 0.57. We project that BOSS will yield measurements of the angular diameter distance D_A to an accuracy of 1.0% at redshifts z=0.3 and z=0.57 and measurements of H(z) to 1.8% and 1.7% at the same redshifts. Forecasts for Lyman alpha forest constraints predict a measurement of an overall dilation factor that scales the highly degenerate D_A(z) and H^{-1}(z) parameters to an accuracy of 1.9% at z~2.5 when the survey is complete. Here, we provide an overview of the selection of spectroscopic targets, planning of observations, and analysis of data and data quality of BOSS.Comment: 49 pages, 16 figures, accepted by A