Fractionation and transport of nutrients among coal ash residues and in soil covered with fly ash-amended organic compost

Coal-fired power plants generate different types of ash residues and discharge small particles and vapors to the atmosphere. The ash residues which account for the major part of the byproducts are collected and stored as bottom ash, boiler ash, and fly ash, weathered ash and ash in lagoon. Analysis of water extracts of these residues will reveal how the nutrients are distributed in these residues and transported to aquatic systems. Equally interesting is the study of the downward movement of nutrients in soil treated with fly ash-amended organic compost when used as a manure for agricultural crops. In this work water extracts of different types of ash residues and eluates from descending ports of an experimental column of soil at different depths were also analyzed. Our results showed that there is considerable difference in the efficiency of removal and deposition of nutrients on different residues collected from the power plant and stored outside. Bottom ash was found to accumulate K, N, and S while Ca is enriched in ash from lagoon. Transition metals such as Zn, Mn, and Cu are concentrated in weathered ash. The concentration of most of the nutrients was found to decrease, in column experiments, as a function of depth and level to a depth of 80 cm.     

Fate of fumonisins during the production of fried tortilla chips.

The fate of fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)), a mycotoxin found in corn, during the commercial manufacture of fried tortilla chips was studied. FB(1) and hydrolyzed FB(1) (HFB(1)) concentrations in four lots of corn and in the masa, other intermediates, liquid and waste byproducts, and fried chips were determined by HPLC. FB(1) concentrations in the masa and chips were reduced significantly, up to 80% in the fried chips, compared to that in the raw corn. HFB(1) was also found in the masa and chips, but at low concentrations compared to FB(1). LC-MS analyses corroborated HPLC findings and further showed the presence of partially hydrolyzed FB(1) (PHFB(1)), which, like HFB(1), was formed during the nixtamalization (cooking/steeping the corn in alkaline water to make masa) step and found predominantly in the cooking/steeping liquid and solid waste. No significant amounts of N-(carboxymethyl)-FB(1) or N-(1-deoxy-D-fructos-1-yl)-FB(1), indicative of fumonisin-sugar adduct formation, were found. Thus, FB(1) is removed from corn and diverted into liquid and waste byproducts during the commercial production of fried tortilla chips. Nixtamalization and rinsing are the critical steps, whereas grinding, sheeting, baking, and frying the masa had little effect.     

Angioinvasive lymphoma (lymphomatoid granulomatosis) in a cat,with cutaneous and ocular metastasis

Lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LYG) is a rare variant of an angioinvasive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder that primarily affects the lungs, with common sites of metastasis including the skin and subcutis. In humans, it is a B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection. Our case is a 7-y-old, spayed female, domestic longhair cat that decompensated and was euthanized following an initial diagnosis of angioinvasive lymphoma from a skin biopsy. Autopsy revealed nodules in the lungs and subcutis, and corneal thickening and cloudiness. Histologic examination of cutaneous nodules, lungs, and eye showed similar angioinvasive cellular infiltrates and pattern to that of the original skin biopsy, consistent with a diagnosis of LYG. The neoplastic cells displayed CD3-positive immunoreactivity in the skin, eye, and lung, and PCR for antigen receptor rearrangement (PARR) showed T-cell clonality in all tissues tested. This is the third case of LYG to be reported in cats and is the only case in which PARR analysis and immunophenotyping immunohistochemical staining was performed. LYG with ocular involvement has not been reported previously in cats, to our knowledge. Our case demonstrates the necessity for considering LYG when presented with a cat with respiratory signs in conjunction with subcutaneous nodules and ocular lesions.     

Relation between the major histocompatibility (B) locus and autoimmune thyroiditis in obese chickens

Obese strain chickens develop circulating autoantibodies to thyroglobulin and lymphocytic infiltration of their thyroids during aging. Two alleles, B(1) and B(4), are found with high gene frequency at the major histocompatibility (B) locus. Greater pathology and higher antibody titers are observed in B(1)B(1) and B(1)B(4) birds than in their B(4)B(4) siblings.     

Vaginal Absorption of Penicillin

Except during the last two months of pregnancy, penicillin is easily absorbed from cocoa butter suppositories in the vagina, ordinarily to give therapeutic blood levels for from 4 to 6 hours. Penicillin in the dosage used seems to have a good effect on vaginal infections. In nonpregnant women, during the ovulation phase, considered as including days 14 +/- 2 in the ordinary menstrual cycle of about 28 days, absorption seemed to be somewhat diminished. Higher levels were found in patients who were near the end of their menstrual cycles and in two patients who were menopausal. Patients who were very near term absorbed little or no penicillin, whereas patients 10 days post partum showed excellent absorption.     

Variations in terrigenous input into the deep equatorial atlantic during the past 24,000 years

Estimates of terrigenous fluxes at three different water depths at two sites in the equatorial Atlantic by normalization against excess (230)Th flux indicate that the flux of terrigenous material to the seafloor was significantly higher during the last glacial period than it is today. Fluxes started to decrease during deglaciation and reached minimal values in the middle of the Holocene. From 15,000 to 5,000 years ago, there was a substantial increase in flux with increasing water depth below 2,800 meters; this increase may reflect resuspension and lateral transport of slope and rise sediment, possibly because of intensification of deepwater circulation during that period.     

Physical and biological controls on carbon cycling in the equatorial pacific

The equatorial Pacific is the largest oceanic source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and has been proposed to be a major site of organic carbon export to the deep sea. Study of the chemistry and biology of this area from 170 degrees to 95 degrees W suggests that variability of remote winds in the western Pacific and tropical instability waves are the major factors controlling chemical and biological variability. The reason is that most of the biological production is based on recycled nutrients; only a few of the nutrients transported to the surface by upwelling are taken up by photosynthesis. Biological cycling within the euphotic zone is efficient, and the export of carbon fixed by photosynthesis is small. The fluxes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and particulate organic carbon to the deep sea were about 0.3 gigatons per year, and the production of dissolved organic carbon was about three times as large. The data establish El Ni?o events as the main source of interannual variability.     

Fumonisin production and bioavailability to maize seedlings grown from seeds inoculated with Fusarium verticillioides and grown in natural soils

The fungus Fusarium verticillioides infects maize and produces fumonisins. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of F. verticillioides to produce fumonisins in synthetic and natural soils and their biological availability to maize roots. Maize seeds were inoculated with a pathogenic strain of F. verticillioides (MRC826) and planted in synthetic and three different natural soils. There were statistically significant reductions in stalk weight and root mass and increased leaf lesions in the MRC826-treated seedlings in all soil types. Fumonisins were detected in all of the soils of seedlings grown from MRC826-inoculated seeds. The fumonisin produced in the soils was biologically available to seedlings as demonstrated by the statistically significant elevation of free sphingoid bases and sphingoid base 1-phosphates in their roots. These results indicate that F. verticillioides produced fumonisins in the autoclaved synthetic and natural soils and that the fumonisin produced is biologically available on the basis of evidence of inhibition of ceramide synthase.     

Use of routine histopathology and factor VIII‐related antigen/von Willebrand factor immunohistochemistry to differentiate primary hemangiosarcoma of bone from telangiectatic osteosarcoma in 54 dogs

Hemangiosarcoma (HSA) of bone and telangiectatic osteosarcoma (tOSA) can appear similar histologically, but differ in histogenesis (malignant endothelial cells versus osteoblasts), and may warrant different treatments. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for endothelial cell marker factor VIII‐related antigen/von Willebrand factor (FVIII‐RAg/vWF) is a well‐documented ancillary test to confirm HSA diagnoses in soft tissues, but its use in osseous HSA is rarely described. Archived samples of 54 primary appendicular bone tumours previously diagnosed as HSA or tOSA were evaluated using combination routine histopathology (RHP) and IHC. Approximately 20% of tumours were reclassified on the basis of FVIII‐RAg/vWF immunoreactivity, typically from an original diagnosis of tOSA to a reclassified diagnosis of HSA. No sample with tumour osteoid clearly identified on RHP was immunopositive for FVIII‐RAg/vWF. RHP alone was specific but not sensitive for diagnosis of HSA, compared with combination RHP and IHC. Routine histopathological evaluation in combination with FVIII‐RAg/vWF IHC can help differentiate canine primary appendicular HSA from tOSA.