Supercritical fluid extraction of atrazine and other triazine herbicides from fortified and incurred eggs

Triazines are a class of important pre-emergent weed herbicides. Some members of this class of herbicides exhibit carcinogenic and immunotoxicity properties, which make their use controversial in areas where animal feed crops are grown. It is therefore important to determine if triazine residues are transported to animal food products in order to ascertain the extent of human exposure. Most of the current herbicide residue extraction methods are time-consuming and solvent intensive. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using CO(2) has been used as a alternative for other residue extraction methods as a replacement for hazardous organic solvents. In this study, 10 triazines were extracted from eggs fortified at 100 ppb using unmodified supercritical CO(2) at a pressure of 10000 psi and a temperature of 50 degrees C with off-line collection on a solid phase extraction cartridge containing Florisil. Atrazine recovery averaged 90.4% with an RSD of 3.3%. The other triazines were recovered at mean levels >73%. In a separate feeding study, atrazine and two of its dealkyl metabolites were detected in the egg. The results indicate that SFE is a viable technique for isolating triazine residues from eggs, requiring only 8 mL of solvent for each analysis.     

Use of a laryngeal mask airway in rabbits during isoflurane anesthesia

The purpose of this study was to find out if an LMA (#1 LMA‐Classic) would provide a better airway than a face mask in spontaneously breathing anesthetized rabbits, and to test if it could be used for mechanically controlled ventilation. Sixteen rabbits (4.1 ± 0.8 kg, mean ± SD) were assigned randomly to three treatment groups; face mask with spontaneous ventilation (FM‐SV; n = 5), LMA with spontaneous ventilation (LMA‐SV; n = 5), and LMA with controlled ventilation (LMA‐CV; n = 6). Rabbits were anesthetized in dorsal recumbency using a circle circuit at constant ET isoflurane (2.3%, Datex airway gas monitor) and constant rectal temperature (38.85 °C) for 2 hours. PaCO₂, PaO₂, minute volume, tidal volume (Wright's respirometer), and Pe CO₂ were measured at 15 minute intervals. Two individuals in the FM‐SV group had PaCO₂ >100 mm Hg (>13.3 kPa). One rabbit in the FM‐SV had PaO₂ <80 mm Hg (<10.7 kPa). All FM‐SV rabbits showed signs of airway obstruction and two were withdrawn from the study at 45 and 90 minutes, respectively, because of cyanosis. Tidal volume could not be measured in the FM‐SV group. No signs of airway obstructions were observed in either of the LMA groups. Four rabbits in the LMA‐CV group developed gastric tympany, and one of these refluxed after 110 minutes. The significance of differences between the two spontaneously breathing groups and between the two LMA groups were measured using Wilcoxon's rank sum test (with significance assumed at p < 0.05). There were no statistical differences between FM‐SV and LMA‐SV in any variable tested. PaCO₂ and Pe ′CO₂ were less in the LMA‐CV group than in the LMA‐SV group, while PaO₂, tidal volume, and minute volume were all more. We conclude that biologically, the LMA provides a better airway than the face mask during spontaneous breathing and that it can be used for IPPV, but that gastric tympany is likely to occur during IPPV.     

Tracking the long-term decline and recovery of an isolated population

Effects of small population size and reduced genetic variation on the viability of wild animal populations remain controversial. During a 35-year study of a remnant population of greater prairie chickens, population size decreased from 2000 individuals in 1962 to fewer than 50 by 1994. Concurrently, both fitness, as measured by fertility and hatching rates of eggs, and genetic diversity declined significantly. Conservation measures initiated in 1992 with translocations of birds from large, genetically diverse populations restored egg viability. Thus, sufficient genetic resources appear to be critical for maintaining populations of greater prairie chickens.     

Chlamydiosis in workers at a duck farm and processing plant

SUMMARY An outbreak of chlamydiosis was Investigated in workers at a duck farm and processing plant during winter 1989. Chlamydia psittaci was isolated from ducks, but there was little evidence of clinical chlamydiosis in the ducks. Serological tests showed that 76% of workers had been exposed to Infection, 12% recently, 16% had not been exposed and 8% had inconclusive test results. There was a strong association (P < 0.05) between years of employment and exposure to Infection. Infection appeared to be contracted during the first year of employment. Measures were Implemented to reduce shed contamination and control rodents and wild birds. At the same time, ducks were medicated, the processing plant was modified, work practices were altered and workers were advised about chlamydiosis to reduce the risk of human infection.     

Growth of SiO2 at room temperature with the use of catalyzed sequential half-reactions

Films of silicon dioxide (SiO2) were deposited at room temperature by means of catalyzed binary reaction sequence chemistry. The binary reaction SiCl4 + 2H2O --> SiO2 + 4HCl was separated into SiCl4 and H2O half-reactions, and the half-reactions were then performed in an ABAB ellipsis sequence and catalyzed with pyridine. The pyridine catalyst lowered the deposition temperature from >600 to 300 kelvin and reduced the reactant flux required for complete reactions from approximately 10(9) to approximately 10(4) Langmuirs. Growth rates of approximately 2.1 angstroms per AB reaction cycle were obtained at room temperature for reactant pressures of 15 millitorr and 60-second exposure times with 200 millitorr of pyridine. This catalytic technique may be general and should facilitate the chemical vapor deposition of other oxide and nitride materials.     

Investigations on N-nitrosopyrrolidine in dry-cured bacon

Dry-cured or "country-style" bacon is a low volume specialty product typically made by small producers whose production practices vary widely. These practices include the direct application of dry-cure formulations containing varying concentrations of salt, sugar, flavoring agents, sodium nitrite, and sometimes sodium nitrate, and the use of lengthy curing and processing times. Because of the possibility of generating higher levels of N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) after frying in this product type compared with pump-cured bacon, an investigation was carried out on dry-cured bacon obtained from cooperating state or federally inspected establishments. Three different samples from each of the 16 plants were analyzed. Only one sample from each of 2 different producers exceeded the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) action level of 17 ppb NPYR, indicating that the majority of samples tested were in compliance. A significant correlation (P less than 0.01) was found between residual NaNO2 prior to frying and NPYR after frying. The elimination of added nitrate in the dry-cure formulations is recommended.