Reactivity of Pb(II) at the Mn(III,IV) (oxyhydr)oxide--water interface

In this study, the reactivity of lead (Pb(II)) on naturally occurring Mn(III,IV) (oxyhydr)oxide minerals was evaluated using kinetic, thermodynamic, and spectroscopic investigations. Aqueous Pb(II) was more strongly adsorbed to birnessite (delta-MnO1.7) than to manganite (gamma-MnOOH) under all experimental conditions. The isoteric heat of Pb adsorption (delta HT) or birnessite was 94 kJ mol-1 at a surface loading of 1.1 mmol g-1, and decreased with increasing adsorption density. This indicated that adsorption was an endothermic process and that birnessite possessed heterogeneous sites of reactivity for Pb. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectra revealed that Pb was adsorbed as inner-sphere complexes on both birnessite and manganite with no evidence to suggest oxidation as an operative sorption mechanism. Lead appeared to coordinate to vacancy sites in the birnessite layer structure with concurrent release of Mn to solution, which resulted in a greater number of second shell Mn scatterers in Pb-birnessite when compared to Pb-manganite samples. The difference in Pb coordination apparently explained the contrasting desorption behavior between the two Mn minerals. These results have significant implications for Pb partitioning in soil environments containing solid-phase Mn(III,IV) (oxyhydr)oxides.     

'Public health status and perspectives' 1997. I. Introduction

The 'Public health status and forecasts' 1997 presents a comprehensive and integrated overview of health, disease and health care in the Netherlands, to which more than 250 experts contributed. On the basis of the findings, policy recommendations are formulated regarding target groups, planning, prevention, health care, monitoring and research.     

Force and myosin content variation in isolated intact single muscle fibres from Rana temporaria

We studied the relation between force normalized by dry mass per unit length and the myosin fraction of muscle dry mass. The two tibialis anterior muscles were dissected from 12 frogs (Rana temporaria). Then, from one muscle, two single fast-twitch fibres were isolated. Each fibre was mounted isometrically in Ringer's solution, and electrically stimulated using a standardized protocol. Peak force production, normalized by the fibre's dry mass per unit length, varied by a factor of 1.4. Little variation in normalized force was measured between fibres from the same animal, whereas between animals a significant difference was found (P<0.05). The contralateral muscle was used to determine the myosin fraction of the dry mass. The relationship between the fraction myosin of the dry mass and force normalized by dry mass per unit length showed a high correlation (r = 0.81; n = 12). From this we conclude that variation in normalized tetanic force is determined greatly (65%) by variations in myosin content.     

Influence of phosphate and pH on myofibrillar ATPase activity and force in skinned cardiac trabeculae from rat

1. The effects of inorganic phosphate (Pi) and pH on maximal calcium-activated isometric force and MgATPase activity were studied in chemically skinned cardiac trabeculae from rat. ATP hydrolysis was coupled enzymatically to the breakdown of NADH, and its concentration was determined photometrically. Measurements were performed at 2.1 microns sarcomere length and 20 degrees C. ATPase activity and force were also determined when square-wave-shaped length changes were applied, with a frequency of 23 Hz and an amplitude of 2.5%. 2. At pH 7.0 without added Pi, the average isometric force (+/- S.E.M.) was 51 +/- 3 kN m-2 (n = 23). The average isometric ATPase activity was 0.43 +/- 0.02 mM s-1 (n = 23). During the changes in length ATPase activity increased to 152 +/- 3% of the isometric value, while the average force level decreased to 48 +/- 2%. 3. Isometric force gradually decreased to 31 +/- 2% of the control value when the Pi concentration was increased to 30 mM. Isometric ATPase activity, however, remained constant for Pi concentrations up to 5 mM and decreased to 87 +/- 3% at 30 mM Pi. When Pi accumulation inside the preparation due to ATP hydrolysis was taken into account, a linear relationship was found between isometric force and log [Pi]. The decrease in relative force was found to be 44 +/- 4% per decade. 4. During the length changes, ATPase activity and average force showed, apart from the increase in ATPase activity and decrease in average force, the same dependence on Pi as the isometric values. Stiffness, estimated from the amplitude of the force responses during the length changes, decreased in proportion to isometric force when the Pi concentration was increased. The changes in the shape of the force responses due to the repetitive changes in length as a function of the Pi concentration were relatively small. These results suggest that the effect of Pi on the transitions which influence ATP turnover is rather insensitive to changes in cross-bridge strain. 5. Isometric force, normalized to the control value at pH 7.0, increased gradually from 54 +/- 1% at pH 6.2 to 143 +/- 10% at pH 7.5. ATPase activity remained practically constant for pH values from 6.8 to 7.2 but decreased to 80 +/- 1% at pH 6.2 and to 83 +/- 5% at pH 7.5. ATPase activity during the length changes was reduced more than the isometric ATPase activity when pH was lowered.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Calcium modulates the influence of length changes on the myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase activity in rat skinned cardiac trabeculae

The relationship between adenosine triphosphate (ATP) turnover and muscle performance was investigated in skinned cardiac trabeculae of the rat at different [Ca2+] and two different sarcomere lengths (1.8 microns and 2.2 microns) at 20 degrees C. ATP turnover was measured photometrically by enzymatic coupling of the regeneration of ATP to the oxidation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. The trabeculae were studied under isometric conditions and when the length was altered repetitively at a frequency of 23 Hz, with a square wave, by 5% of the initial length. The isometric ATPase activity amounted to 0.48 mM/s. Isometric ATP turnover and force were proportional at different [Ca2+]. During length changes at maximal activation (pCa 4.27) and 2.2 microns sarcomere length, ATPase activity increased to up to 162% whereas at low [Ca2+], ATPase activity decreased with respect to the isometric value at that pCa. At pCa 5.5, ATPase activity was reduced to 33%. These results indicate that during the length changes the apparent cross-bridge detachment rate is increased and the apparent attachment rate is decreased. The findings suggest that the Fenn effect, i.e. the increase in energy turnover above the isometric value during shortening, is present in cardiac trabeculae at high levels of activation, but is absent or reversed at lower levels of activity.     

The effect of aging and pH on Pb(II) sorption processes at the calcite-water interface

The effect of aging on Pb(II) retention in 1 microM Pb, calcite suspensions at pH 7.3, 8.2, and 9.4, under room-temperature conditions, was explored via a combination of batch sorption-desorption experiments and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Short-term experiments, up to 12 days, reveal the predominance of an adsorption mechanism at pH 8.2, as confirmed by XAS analysis. Linear-combination fitting of XANES spectra indicates a dual sorption mechanism, with approximately 95% adsorbed and appromicately 5% coprecipitated, and approcimately 75% adsorbed and approsimately 25% coprecipitated Pb at pH 7.3 and 9.4, respectively. For long-term sorption, 60-270 days, slow continuous uptake occurs at pH 7.3 and 8.2, determined by EXAFS to be due to an adsorption mechanism. At pH 9.4, no further uptake occurs with aging, and the solid-phase distribution of Pb is commensurate with that for short-term experiments, suggesting that coprecipitated metal may alterthe calcite surface precluding further Pb sorption. Desorption experiments indicate that at pH 7.3 and 8.2 long-term sorption products-constituted primarily of Pb inner-sphere adsorption complexes-are reversibly bound. For aged pH 9.4 samples, significant sorption irreversibility indicates that the coprecipitated component is not readily exchangeable with the aqueous phase, and thus coprecipitation may be effective for long-term metal sequestration.     

Business process management: survey and methodology

Due to the growing concern about the competitiveness of US industry in the international marketplace, several initiatives are now underway to enhance the competitive posture of the nation's firms. Many companies are engaged in assessing ways in which their productivity, product quality, and operations can be improved. A relatively new area of such improvements is business process management (BPM). BPM can be any structured approach used to analyze and continually improve fundamental activities, such as manufacturing, marketing, communications, and other major elements of a company's operation. This paper describes a generic step-by-step method for BPM which encompasses methods employed in industry from incremental improvements to reengineering. To better understand BPM, the authors have conducted a survey of major US companies on their approaches to process quality assessment. This report summarizes the findings of the survey and work with a number of leading companies, and may be useful to quality managers and others involved in total quality management, continuous improvement, or reengineering efforts. Due to the interest in BPM, a number of methods and tools, including software, have been used or developed to aid in its implementation. The authors relate some of these methods and tools to the individual steps of the generic BPM method     

Microwave-assisted in-situ regeneration of a perovskite coated diesel soot filter

Dielectric heating may be used as an in situ technique for the periodic regeneration of soot filters, as those used in Diesel engines. As generally the Diesel exhaust temperatures are below the soot light-off temperature, passive regeneration is not possible. Presently, we have investigated the dielectric heating of a monolithic soot filter, coated with a La_0.8Ce_0.2MnO₃ perovskite. This type of perovskite has suitable dielectric properties, i.e., a high dielectric loss factor, and simultaneously acts as an oxidation catalyst. It is shown that a perovskite coated cordierite filter, covered with synthetic carbon, can be fully regenerated with selectivity towards CO₂ close to 100%. In contrast, the same filter without such a coating can only be partially regenerated. Moreover, considerable amounts of CO are formed. The La_0.8Ce_0.2MnO₃ coating is shown to have excellent temperature shock resistance and thermo-chemical stability. It is shown that the microwave cavity design is crucial to obtain a uniform filter heating. Following the development of such a design, microwave assisted soot filter regeneration becomes feasible.     

Formally analysing the concepts of domestic violence

The types of police inquiries performed these days are incredibly diverse. Often data processing architectures are not suited to cope with this diversity since most of the case data is still stored as unstructured text. In this paper Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) is showcased for its exploratory data analysis capabilities in discovering domestic violence intelligence from a dataset of unstructured police reports filed with the Amsterdam-Amstelland police in the Netherlands. From this data analysis it is shown that FCA can be a powerful instrument to operationally improve policing practice. For one, it is shown that the definition of domestic violence employed by the police is not always as clear as it should be, making it hard to use it effectively for classification purposes. In addition, this paper presents newly discovered knowledge for automatically classifying certain cases as either domestic or non-domestic violence. Moreover, it provides practical advice for detecting incorrect classifications performed by police officers. A final aspect to be discussed is the problems encountered because of the sometimes unstructured way of working of police officers. The added value of this paper resides in both using FCA for exploratory data analysis, as well as with the application of FCA for the detection of domestic violence.