Deep Impact observations by OSIRIS onboard the Rosetta spacecraft

The OSIRIS cameras (optical, spectroscopic, and infrared remote imaging system) onboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft observed comet 9P/Tempel 1 for 17 days continuously around the time of NASA's Deep Impact mission. The cyanide-to-water production ratio was slightly enhanced in the impact cloud, compared with that of normal comet activity. Dust particles were flowing outward in the coma at >160 meters per second, accelerated by the gas. The slope of the brightness increase showed a dip about 200 seconds after the impact. Dust Afrho values before and long after the impact confirm the slight decrease of cometary activity. The dust-to-water mass ratio was much larger than 1.     

Origin and evolution of prebiotic organic matter as inferred from the Tagish Lake meteorite

The complex suite of organic materials in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites probably originally formed in the interstellar medium and/or the solar protoplanetary disk, but was subsequently modified in the meteorites' asteroidal parent bodies. The mechanisms of formation and modification are still very poorly understood. We carried out a systematic study of variations in the mineralogy, petrology, and soluble and insoluble organic matter in distinct fragments of the Tagish Lake meteorite. The variations correlate with indicators of parent body aqueous alteration. At least some molecules of prebiotic importance formed during the alteration.     

Using BCG,MPT-51 and Ag85 as antigens in an indirect ELISA for the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis

This study evaluated the Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein antigen MPT-51, the trimeric antigen 85 (Ag85) complex, and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in an indirect ELISA to diagnose bovine tuberculosis (TB) from serum samples. Serum was collected from 208 intra-dermal tuberculin test (ITT)-positive and 54 ITT-negative animals from a region where bovine TB is endemic. Using the Ag85 and BCG antigens, the indirect ELISA was able to discriminate ITT-positive from ITT-negative animals. This level of discrimination was not achieved when using the MPT-51 antigen. The highest sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of the test was found when BCG was used (Se, 82%; Sp, 91%). Further work in different epidemiological settings and with larger numbers of animals will be required to validate these findings.     

Prevalence of Salmonella and Yersinia in free-living pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) in central Spain

Salmonella and Yersinia are important enteropathogens in poultry and can affect birds of all ages, including embryos. These food-borne zoonotic enteropathogens are of great economic and medical concern worldwide and are intensely studied in poultry. Information regarding the prevalence of these bacteria in wild birds is scarce and biased toward avian species ecologically linked to humans, which have often been incriminated as both reservoirs and disseminators of these enteropathogens. The prevalence of Salmonella and Yersinia recovered from both the feces and eggs in a population of female pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) breeding in nest-boxes in central Spain was evaluated. Salmonella arizonae was recovered from the feces of one female but was not recovered from eggs. Yersinia was not detected in either the feces or eggs. These results may suggest that Salmonella and Yersinia may be uncommon in this population studied and may indicate that these birds are unlikely reservoirs of Salmonella and Yersinia.     

Management, breeding, and health records from a captive colony of pekin robins (Leiothrix lutea), 2001 - 2010

Pekin robins (Leiothrix lutea) were once the most widely kept softbills in captivity. As a result of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES-1997), the worldwide trade of wild-caught pekin robins has been prohibited due to the depletion of native populations of this species. In Brazil, as in other countries, pekin robins imported prior to the enactment of the CITES have disappeared from aviaries because the end of the birds' natural life span has passed, and only very few captive-bred pekin robins now exist. While captive propagation fails to address the primary causes of wild bird population decline, it might help the recovery of populations of this species. This article presents records made over a 10-yr period of a captive colony of pekin robins. Emphasis is placed on the management of the flock, the ailments affecting the birds, and the findings associated with bird losses. The main causes of bird losses included rearing management failures and age-related disorders.     

Mercury contamination in the Brazilian Amazon. Environmental and occupational aspects

Mercury (Hg) contamination of miners, riparian and Indian populations and fish in the Amazon region, due to gold extracting activities, has been studied. Samples of hair, urine, and blood of Indians and prospectors, and hair from riparian fish-eating population and fishes from Madeira river, respectively, were collected and analyzed by Cold Vapor, Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (CV-AAS) techniques. The results obtained showed that the aquatic food chains in the Amazonian ecosystems are contaminated by methylmercury (MeHg), exposing Indians, prospectors and riverines to thr risk of severe health hazard. The highest levels of contamination, based upon hair analysis, were found in riparian of the Madeira river, followed by Cuniã Lake population, Indians (Fresco river) and prospectors, in that order. Blood analysis showed 59% of the samples from Indians and 33% from prospectors with Hg contents above 10 ng mL^?1. Analysis of urine, on the other hand, showed 44% of Indians with Hg levels below the detection limit (d.l.), and 30% above 20 ng mL^?1, whereas 38% of the prospectors presented Hg concentrations over 20 ng mL^?1, and 20% below the d.l. These results prove that prospectors, who hardly ever eat fish but are badly exposed to inorganic Hg vapor, are ocupationally contaminated, while the rest of the populations under survey are exposed to environmental contamination by Hg, through polluted fish ingestion.     

Adaptive strategies of Pontoscolex corethrurus (Glossoscolecidae,Oligochaeta), a peregrine geophagous earthworm of the humid tropics

Summary Pontoscolex corethrurus is a medium-sized geophagous earthworm species which has invaded most cultivated land in the humid tropics. It is generally found in gardens, cropland and fallowland, where it has been introduced accidentally by man. The species has quite narrow microclimatic requirements. Reproduction only occurs at 23°–27°C, and the worms are fully active only where soil moisture is well above field capacity (pF 2.5). This limitation is balanced by the ability to live in a great Variety of soils differing in pH, organic matter content and texture. The demographic profile is typically of the r type, which gives populations a colonization capacity greater than that of comparable native species. This can be explained by the limited size of individuals and the great efficiency of their mutualist digestion system, in association with the free soil microflora. As a result, growth is fast and a great amount of energy may be invested in reproduction, which is made even more efficient by parthenogenesis.     

Adsorption of pesticides from water by functionalized organobentonites

Replacement of natural inorganic cations of clay minerals with organic cations has been proposed as a strategy to improve the adsorptive capacity of clay minerals for organic compounds, including pesticides. The organic cations most commonly used for this purpose have been quaternary ammonium ions containing alkyl or aryl chains without specific functional groups. In this work, we evaluated the ability of two bentonites (SWy-2 and SAz-1) exchanged with four natural organic cations containing diverse functional groups (L-carnitine, L-cysteine ethyl ester, L-cystine dimethyl ester, and thiamine) as adsorbents of pesticides varying in their chemical structures (simazine, hexazinone, triadimefon, alachlor, carbaryl, and imazethapyr). For comparison purposes, the adsorptive properties of two "classical" organobentonites, hexadecyltrimethylammonium- and phenyltrimethylammonium-exchanged bentonites, were also determined. Most organobentonites displayed higher affinity for the pesticides than the untreated bentonites, but the improvement in adsorption capacity varied depending on the characteristics of the pesticide and the interlayer organic cation. Triadimefon, carbaryl, and imazethapyr displayed the highest affinity for carnitine (K(f) = 229-2377)-, thiamine (K(f) = 83-354)-, and cystine (K(f) = 96-100)-treated bentonites, respectively, whereas alachlor was adsorbed similarly by all organobentonites. In general, pesticide adsorption-desorption hysteresis was greater for adsorbents with the highest adsorption capacities. The results demonstrate that selective modification of smectitic clay minerals with natural organic cations containing appropriate functional groups can be a useful strategy to improve their performance for the removal of specific pesticides from the environment.     

Gas chromatographic quantification of major volatile compounds and polyols in wine by direct injection

Methanol, propanol, isobutanol, isoamyl alcohol, 2-phenylethanol, acetaldehyde, 1,1-diethoxyethane, acetoin, ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, and ethyl succinate and the polyols 2,3-butanediol (levo and meso forms) and glycerol were quantified by direct injection of wine samples. Linear responses over the usual concentration ranges for these compounds and r2 values from 0.9932 to 0.9998 were obtained. The confidence limits for the mean values ranged from 2.34% for diethyl succinate to 8.52% for 1,1-diethoxyethane, both at a probability level of 0.05. Relative errors ranged from 8 to 10% for the polyols and 1,1-diethoxyethane and were all less than 5% for alcohols and acetaldehyde. The proposed method is useful with a view to identifying relationships between alcoholic fermentation byproducts and controlling biological or chemical aging in wines.