Chromium in Austrian foods

The chromium content in foods is relatively low and the most foods have a content below 0.1 ppm. Only spices, cacao, cacao products, poppy and whole meal products contain higher contents. The often published high chromium content of corn germ oil could not be verified. We did not find any chromium enrichment in the entrails of a cow. In addition the chromium contents of each food are strong deviated. The analysed values were sometimes lower than in literature. We expect that the elder values are higher because of different contaminations in some cases.     

Windenergieausbau als Teil der Ökostromentwicklung

The new law for the support of electricity produced by renewable sources in Austria (Ökostromgesetz) which came into force with the beginning of 2003, shows its impacts already after the first months. Investments into wind power have increased considerably. These will be accompanied by activities for electricity production by biomass and biogas. The 4%-target quota will probably be reached earlier than the 2008 target period of the law.     

Ionic conductivity in dehydrated zeolites

The ionic conductivity of pressed pellets of dehydrated synthetic offretite, cancrinite and zeolite A, with various alkali metal ions, was determined by low-frequency impedance spectroscopy. Experiments were carried out in the frequency range 10 Hz–10 MHz at temperatures from 100–600°C. The conduction activation energies range between 55 kJ mol^?1 (Na-zeolite A) and 108 kJ mol^?1 (Li-cancrinite). The best conductivity value obtained was that of Na-zeolite A with 2.9×10^?3Ω^?1cm^?1 at 600°C.     

Metabolism of anabolic androgenic steroids

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are misused to a high extent in sports by athletes to improve their physical performance. Sports federations consider the use of these drugs in sports as doping. The misuse of AAS is controlled by detection of the parent AAS (when excreted into urine) and (or) their metabolites in urine of athletes. I present a review of the metabolism of AAS. Testosterone is the principal androgenic steroid and its metabolism is compared with that of AAS. The review is divided into two parts: the general metabolism of AAS, which is separated into phase I and phase II metabolism and includes a systematic discussion of metabolic changes in the steroid molecule according to the regions (A-D rings), and the specific metabolism of AAS, which presents the metabolism of 26 AAS in humans.