Concentration and bioaccumulation of dechlorane compounds in coastal environment of northern China

Dechloranes, including Dechlorane Plus (DP), Mirex (Dechlorane), Dechlorane 602 (Dec 602), Dechlorane 603 (Dec 603), and Dechlorane 604 (Dec 604), were determined using GC-MSD for water, sediment and oyster samples collected at 15 sampling sites near the Bohai and Huanghai Sea shore area of northern China in 2008. DP and Mirex were detected in most water, sediment, and oyster samples, which indicated widespread distribution of these two compounds. The mean concentrations in water, sediment and oyster samples, respectively, were 1.8 ng/L, 2.9 ng/g dry weight (dw) and 4.1 ng/g wet weight (ww) for total DP, and 0.29 ng/L, 0.90 ng/g dw, and 2.0 ng/g ww for Mirex. Dec 602 and Dec 603 were not detected in water but in small portions of the sediment and oyster samples, showing a low level of contamination by these two chemicals in the region. Strong and significant correlations were found between total DP and Mirex concentrations in water, sediment and oyster samples, probably suggesting similar local sources of these two chemicals. Dec 604 was not found in any samples. The biota-sediment accumulation factor (BSAF) of DP, Mirex, and Dec 602 declined along with the increase of their logarithm of octanol-water partition coefficients (log Kow), possibly indicating that compounds with lower log Kow (like Mirex and Dec 602) accumulated more readily in biota. The mean fractional abundance of syn-DP (fsyn) was 0.34 in water samples, a value lower than that in Chinese commercial mixture (0.41), while the mean fsyn for surface sediment (0.44) and oyster (0.45) samples were higher than technical values. Enrichment of syn-DP in oyster was in agreement with previously reported findings in Great Lakes fish. Enrichment of syn-DP in marine surface sediments, however, is contrary to data reported for fresh water sediments. To our knowledge this is the first report of Dec 602, Dec 603, and Dec 604 in a marine environment and also the first report of Dechloranes in marine biota.     

Improved Bladder Tumor RNA Isolation from Archived Tissues Using Methylene Blue for Normalization,Multiplex RNA Hybridization,Sequencing and Subtyping

Methylene blue (MB) is a dye used for histology with clinical importance and intercalates into nucleic acids. After MB staining of formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and normal urothelium, specific regions could be microdissected. It is not known if MB influences RNA used for gene expression studies. Therefore, we analyzed MIBC using five different RNA isolation methods comparing patient matched FFPE and fresh frozen (FF) tissues pre-stained with or without MB. We demonstrate a positive impact of MB on RNA integrity with FF tissues using real time PCR with no interference of its chemical properties. FFPE tissues showed no improvement of RNA integrity, which we propose is due to formalin induced nucleotide crosslinks. Using direct multiplex RNA hybridization the best genes for normalization of MIBC and control tissues were identified from 34 reference genes. In addition, 5SrRNA and 5.8SrRNA were distinctive reference genes detecting <200 bp fragments important for mRNA analyses. Using these normalized RNAs from MB stained MIBC and applying multiplex RNA hybridization and mRNA sequencing, a minimal gene expression panel precisely identified luminal and basal MIBC tumor subtypes, important for diagnosis, prognosis and chemotherapy response.     

Development of a model for the simulation of the transfer of surface structure in the temper-rolling process

In the temper rolling process the effect of transferring the roll-surface structure to the steel sheet is purposely used to adjust a defined sheet-surface structure required for further processing. At the moment four different texturing techniques (SBT, EDT, EBT, LT) are available for the production of specified roll-surface structures; these techniques are based on two fundamental mechanisms; plastic deformation and local melting. The objective of the investigation presented in this paper is to analyze the transfer behaviour specific to the texturing technique used and, in addition to that, to develop a model for the simulation of these transfer characteristics. For this purpose in the first part the results of a comparative study on the basis of rolling tests on an industrial temper mill are presented. These results do not only point out the basic transfer mechanisms – penetration processes and reverse extrusion phenomena – but beyond that also lead to an explanation of the transfer behaviour specific to the texturing systems by the application of similarity numbers (substitute profile model). Possible reasons for the different transfer behaviour are on the one hand wear effects and on the other hand process-induced characteristics of the structure itself (e.g. isolated lubrication pockets). On the basis of these results in the second part a model is developed to simulate the transfer characteristics by the application of the finite element method (FEM).     

Profiles of four women. Health and human rights activists

This article briefly profiles four women physicians working for health and human rights around the world. Dr. Ruchama Marton, an Israeli psychiatrist and activist for peace in the Middle East, is a founder of Physicians for Human Rights/Israel. Dr. Jane Green Schaller is a US pediatrician whose 1985 trip to South Africa initiated her human rights involvement, which includes the founding of Physicians for Human Rights. Dr. Judith van Heerden, a primary care physician in South Africa, has worked for reform of prison health care, to establish hospice care, and, most recently, for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) education for medical students. Dr. Ma Thida, the only physician not interviewed for this article, is currently held in a Burmese prison because of her work on behalf of the National League for Democracy. The profiles suggest the breadth of human rights work worldwide and are a testament to what physicians can do.     

Distributions of GABAA, GABAB, and benzodiazepine receptors in the forebrain and midbrain of pigeons

The single-stranded DNA parvoviruses occur in humans and many species of animals. In general, they are species-specific and capable of producing disease at any stage of life. Parvoviruses have a requirement to replicate in cells in a permissive S-phase of DNA mitosis. The infections may be cytolytic to select cell groups resulting in specific developmental defects or may produce more generalized effects such as anemia, pancytopenia, or hemorrhage. The fetus is at particular risk for damage because of the vast number of cells in active mitosis. The teratogenic effects may be severe, often resulting in fetal death. Infections in childhood and adulthood are more frequently mild to subclinical. Some of the teratogenic effects recognized in animal species have been identified in humans. With increased knowledge of parvovirus effects in animals, more pathogenic effects may be related to human parvoviral disease. The need for vaccination, currently used annually in many domestic animal species, continues to be evaluated for humans.     

Activation of natural killer cells in arthritis-susceptible but not arthritis-resistant mouse strains following Borrelia burgdorferi infection

Infection of susceptible mouse strains with Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, results in the development of arthritis. Components of the innate immune system may be important mediators of this pathology. To investigate the potential role of NK cells in development of experimental Lyme arthritis, we examined their activation in vivo in both resistant and susceptible mouse strains. Following inoculation of B. burgdorferi into the footpad, lymph node NK cells from susceptible C3H/HeJ (C3H) mice produced more gamma interferon than NK cells from resistant DBA/2J mice. Lymph node cells from susceptible C3H and AKR mice also had increased ability to lyse YAC-1 target cells 2 days following infection. Antibody depletion of NK cells from susceptible mice, however, did not alter the development of arthritis following B. burgdorferi challenge. In addition, NK cell depletion had little effect on spirochete burden. Thus, there is a marked activation of NK cells in susceptible mouse strains following infection. Although NK cells are not absolutely required for arthritis, events occurring prior to NK cell activation might be important in mediating pathology in experimental Lyme disease.     

Doped silicon under uniaxial tensile strain investigated by PAC

The recent application of strained silicon into transistor design has led to significant progress in increasing the performance of devices. However, up to now little is known about the mechanical behaviour of the strained Si layers and the elastic properties of the deformed semiconductor lattice. The perturbed angular correlation method is ideally suited to study strain related local phenomena in silicon using the acceptor ¹¹¹In as probe. In the past, the influence of external uniaxial strain on In acceptors in pure Si and on donor-acceptor pairs in silicon has been investigated intensively (G. Marx, R. Vianden, Phys. Lett. A210, 364 1996; G. Tessema, PhD thesis, University of Bonn, 2003). In the course of these studies it was found that the unpaired indium probes on regular lattice sites showed an unexpected reaction to uniaxial strain, which depended on the dopant species. Our current experiments reveal that the tension induced local deformation around the In probe atoms also depends on the concentration of the co-implanted donors suggesting a local change of the elastic properties of silicon. In addition, the reaction of the silicon lattice to tensile strain applied along different crystal axes showed strong differences.     

High Rate Aluminum Sputtering in Compact Disc Production

An aluminum layer of about 55 nm thickness has been awarding Compact Discs the well-known shiney appearance. The layer serves as a reflector for the pick-up laser system reading out the digital information. In state of the art single disc coaters, deposition could be done within 1.1 s by means of DC magnetron sputtering although polycarbonate, from which CDs are made, withstands only very limited temperatures. Industrial demands on productivity, reliability, low energy consumption, high target utilisation and a constant layer quality require special design considerations on sputtering sources.