Acidification of “dry” caustic peeling waste by lactic acid fermentation

The wurpeel process used by the potato industry produces a peel waste of high solids. This material is easily handled and collected, but due to the caustic used for peel release it has high residual alkalinity. This waste when acidified to neutralize the excess alkali yields a useful feedstuff for cattle. A method for neutralization of the excess alkali by lactic acid fermentation is described.     

Efficacy of Medroxyprogesterone Acetate in Suppression of Estrus in Cycling Mares

The effects of compounded medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on follicular activity and estrous behavior were evaluated. Eighteen cycling mares were assigned to one of three treatment groups. Mares in the MPA group (n = 6) were injected intramuscularly with 1,600 mg MPA (week 1), then 400 mg weekly for the next 5 weeks. Saline mares (n = 6) were injected intramuscularly weekly for 6 weeks. Altrenogest mares (n = 6) received 10 mL orally daily for 7 weeks. Mares were teased daily for 60 days and categorized as displaying estrous, diestrous, or neutral behavior. Transrectal ultrasound examinations were performed three times weekly, or daily when a 30-mm follicle was identified, until ovulation. Blood samples were harvested weekly for analysis of progesterone concentration and daily from days 14 to 23 for analysis of luteinizing hormone (LH) concentration. Mares treated with saline or MPA showed normal intervals of diestrus and estrus during the study. All altrenogest mares showed behavioral diestrus during treatment. All mares in the saline and MPA groups showed normal follicular development and ovulations. No altrenogest mares ovulated during treatment; four mares returned to estrus and resumed normal follicular development after treatment ceased. Progesterone analyses agreed with transrectal ultrasonographic ovarian activity for all mares. LH levels were lower for altrenogest-treated mares compared with MPA-treated and saline-treated mares during the treatment period. In conclusion, compounded MPA at dose rates and intervals used in this study was not effective in suppression of estrus, follicular development, or LH secretion in mares.     

Atipamezole changes the antinociceptive effects of butorphanol after medetomidine–ketamine anaesthesia in rats

Objective  To investigate the effects of atipamezole administered before butorphanol, on tail-flick latency (TFL) and also following medetomidine–ketamine anaesthesia in rats.
Study design  Prospective, randomized experimental study.
Animals  Thirty-four adult male Sprague–Dawley rats weighing 260–390 g.
Methods  TFL in 50 °C water was used to measure antinociception. In the first experiment, rats received saline ( n  = 5) or atipamezole ( n  = 5) followed by butorphanol treatments. In the second experiment, three groups of rats received saline ( n  = 8), atipamezole ( n  = 8) or atimpamezole ( n  = 8) followed by butorphanol 60 minutes after medetomidine–ketamine administration.
Results  In the first experiment, butorphanol significantly increased TFL compared to baseline. Atipamezole significantly decreased this effect. In the second experiment, TFL was significantly increased after recovery from medetomidine–ketamine anaesthesia compared to baseline. This was almost completely blocked by atipamezole. Atipamezole with butorphanol after recovery from the anaesthesia significantly reduced TFL compared to saline but still significantly increased TFL compared to the baseline.
Conclusion and clinical relevance  Atipamezole attenuated the analgesic effects of butorphanol. When postoperative atipamezole is used to hasten recovery from anaesthesia in rats, it may interfere with the postoperative analgesic effect of butorphanol.     

Development of an immunoassay for the pyrethroid insecticide esfenvalerate.

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed for the detection of the pyrethroid insecticide esfenvalerate. Two haptens containing amine or propanoic acid groups on the terminal aromatic ring of the fenvalerate molecule were synthesized and coupled to carrier proteins as immunogens. Five antisera were produced and screened against eight different coating antigens. The assay that had the least interference and was the most sensitive for esfenvalerate was optimized and characterized. The I(50) for esfenvalerate was 30 +/- 6.2 microg/L, and the lower detection limit (LDL) was 3.0 +/- 1.8 microg/L. The assay was very selective. Other pyrethroid analogues and esfenvalerate metabolites tested did not cross-react significantly in this assay. To increase the sensitivity of the overall method, a C(18) sorbent-based solid-phase extraction (SPE) was used for water matrix. With this SPE step, the LDL of the overall method for esfenvalerate was 0.1 microg/L in water samples.     

Modelling Acidic Deposition in the United Kingdom at a Scale of 5 Km by 5 Km

This paper discusses the use of a long-term Lagrangian receptor-oriented trajectory model for assessing acidic deposition to the United Kingdom at high spatial resolution. Previously, a coarse resolution of 20 km was used. Impact assessments using the critical loads approach now require higher-resolutions of modelled data for future scenarios. In this paper, first results from a higher resolution of 5 km using a revised parameterization of orographic enhancement of the seeder-feeder effect. It was found that country budgets for the two different model resolutions were in good agreement and compared well with observations, except in the far north of Scotland where the straight-line trajectory approach is less valid.     

Options for liming rivers to ameliorate acidity — A UK perspective

The options for large scale liming of river systems are reviewed with particular reference to the River Tywi in Wales, a major salmonid river with a reservoir in the upper catchment. For hydrological source area liming the cost of lime transport is high due to remoteness and inaccessibility. The concern of potential damage to wetland mires of conservation value is considered. Re-treatment intervals are expected to be 5–10 years, but results from sub-catchment experiments indicate that treatment longevity and the pattern of ecological recovery are uncertain. Flow-related dosing systems for rivers avoid impacts on wetlands but would treat only the main river. Reliability may be problematical though the reservoir provides a margin of safety against system failure. Reservoirs can be limed to treat the main river outflow. This avoids the problems of power supply. For the River Tywi, the financial costs of both direct treatment methods are lower than for catchment liming and comparable with estimates of the economic benefit to the fishery. The system currently operated on the Tywi is reservoir treatment. Results from the first 3 years demonstrate colonization of the main river by acid intolerant invertebrate taxa and clear increases in populations of juvenile Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L. and sea/brown trout. Salmo trutta L.     

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) protease inhibitors from the Bowman-Birk class influence the growth of human colorectal adenocarcinoma HT29 cells in vitro

The Bowman-Birk trypsin-chymotrypsin inhibitor (BBI) from soybean has been described as a potential cancer chemopreventive agent. We have compared the effects of BBI with those of two variant recombinant pea (Pisum sativum L.) seed protease inhibitors, rTI1B and rTI2B, homologous to BBI but differing in inhibitory activity, on the growth of human colorectal adenocarcinoma HT29 cells in vitro. A significant and dose-dependent decrease in the growth of HT29 cells was observed using all protease inhibitors, with rTI1B showing the largest decrease (IC50 = 46 microM). Inclusion of the pan-caspase inhibitor, Boc-D-FMK, did not negate the effects of rTI1B or rTI2B in the cell assays. The relative effectiveness of rTI1B and rTI2B may correlate with a variant amino acid sequence within their respective chymotrypsin inhibitory domain, in agreement with a chymotrypsin-like protease as a potential target.     

Development of a class-selective enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for mercapturic acids in human urine

Epidemiological and toxicological studies often require the analysis of large numbers of samples for biological markers of exposure. The goal of this work was to develop a class-selective ELISA to detect groups of structurally closely related mercapturic acids with small nonpolar S-substituents. An assay was developed with strong recognition for mercapturates including S-benzylmercapturic acid (IC50 = 0.018 micromol/L), S-n-hexylmercapturic acid (IC50 = 0.021 micromol/L), S-phenylmercapturic acid (IC50 = 0.024 micromol/L), and S-cyclohexylmethylmercapturic acid (IC50 = 0.042 micromol/L). The same assay also showed weaker recognition for S-(1-hydroxynaphthal-2-yl)mercapturic acid and S-allylmercapturic acid (IC50 = 1.1 and 1.7 micromol/L, respectively). Subtle modifications to the hapten linker structure of the coating antigen proved to have a strong impact on the selectivity and the specificity of the assay. A slightly modified assay showed high recognition for S-benzylmercapturic acid (IC50 = 0.018 micromol/L) and weaker recognition for seven other mercapturic acids (IC50 = 0.021-10 micromol/L). Strong positive assay responses were detected in 12 urine samples obtained from persons with no known occupational exposure to exogenous electrophilic xenobiotics. Solid phase extraction and cross-reactivity indicated that the presumptive immunoreactive materials were similar in size and polarity to S-benzylmercapturic acid. The assay was more selective to mercapturic acids than the spectrophotometric thioether assay.