Production of the monoclonal antibody against tylosin for immunoassay of macrolide antibiotics in milk

The objective of the present study was to develop an immunoassay for multi-determination of the residues of four macrolide antibiotics in milk. Tylosin was derivatized with 6-aminohexanoic acid to synthesize a hapten that was used to produce the monoclonal antibody. The obtained monoclonal antibody simultaneously recognized tylosin, acetylisovaleryltylosin, tilmicosin and desmycosin with crossreactivities of 100%, 91%, 49% and 76%, respectively. Then an indirect competitive immunoassay was developed to determine the four analytes in milk simultaneously. The limits of detection for the four analytes were in the range of 5.5–11.7 ng/mL depending on the compound. The recoveries of the four analytes from fortified blank milk were in the range of 78%–96% with coefficients of variation lower than 11.4%. The developed immunoassay could be used as a practical tool for rapid screening the residues of the four anlytes in milk.     

诱导喷嘴改进滤筒脉冲清灰效果的实验研究

改善清灰效果是提高滤筒除尘效率的关键和难点问题。运用自制脉冲喷吹实验台,采用诱导喷嘴(超音速引流喷嘴和气流散射器)对325 mm×660 mm滤筒进行脉冲喷吹清灰实验研究,并与采用普通喷吹孔的实验结果进行比较分析,得出采用诱导喷嘴时侧壁正压力峰值平均值是普通喷吹孔的1.465倍;且采用诱导喷嘴时各测点的不均衡系数为0.768～1.336,普通喷口为0.270～2.251,而不均衡系数越接近于1,其清灰效果越好;同时,采用诱导喷嘴时各测点基本在同一时刻达到正峰值。实验充分表明采用诱导喷嘴确保了滤筒长度方向上内壁清灰压力的均匀性,且对滤筒清灰效果有明显的改善作用。     

内电解人工湿地冬季低温尾水强化脱氮机制

针对湿地冬季运行效率低、污染物去除能力差,本研究通过对比无植物湿地、普通湿地和内电解湿地冬季低水温下(3~12℃)对污水厂尾水的脱氮效能,深入分析其微生物群落结构组成,揭示内电解湿地的强化脱氮机制.结果表明,内电解湿地可以更好地利用尾水中碳源,脱氮效果优势明显,出水TN浓度维持在(9±0.29)mg·L~(-1),TN平均去除率达42.27%,比无植物湿地和普通湿地分别高出17.91%、17.33%.冬季低温条件下,内电解湿地微生物活性仍很高,荧光显色法测得微生物活性达到0.224 mg·g~(-1),分别是无植物湿地和普通湿地的2.6、3.4倍,反硝化强度分别是无植物湿地和普通湿地的2.8、3.3倍.高通量测序表明,内电解湿地基质微生物群落多样性优于无植物湿地和普通湿地.检测出的脱氮微生物主要有脱氯单胞菌、根瘤菌、生丝微菌、红杆菌,还有自养反硝化细菌产硫酸杆菌.内电解湿地在脱氮微生物总量上有明显优势,脱氮微生物占微生物总量的7.13%,分别是无植物湿地、普通物湿地的3.8、8.7倍,因而脱氮效率更高.     

Scarce water resources and priority irrigation schemes from agronomic crops

Global environmental change places unavoidable pressure on water resources and agronomic crop production systems. Irrigation development is a credible measure to alleviate the challenge of food safety under water shortages, but it needs sufficient basis. The aim of this study is to address the problem of balancing water scarcity with food requirements, which are the key components of water security in regions with population growth. Marginal water productivity (MWP) indices for irrigation water performance and productivity evaluation were established in the current study. Based on the analysis of the regional water-crop relationship and spatial differences of MWP in China, the priorities for developing irrigation areas in different types of regions are discussed in this study. The results show that high MWPs are mainly in semi-arid regions with precipitation (P) between 500 and 1000 mm, while low MWPs mostly occur in areas with P more than 1000 and less than 500 mm. The significance and spatial distribution patterns of MWP are different than those of conventional irrigation water use efficiency evaluation indices, so its role cannot be replaced for the real production capacity of irrigation water evaluation. The strategies for global environmental change adaptation suggested in this study are taking MWP for irrigation water productivity evaluation and the priority irrigation schemes for agronomic crop determination; increasing MWP by means of irrigation efficiency and crop variety improvement worldwide; and raising global food production through the expansion of irrigation area in the regions hold high MWP and abundant water resources.

     

Female sex pheromone of Ostrinia orientalis – throwing a light on the relationship between O. orientalis and the European corn borer, O. nubilalis

Summary. The sex pheromone of Ostrinia orientalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) was analyzed by gas chromatography–electroantennographic detection (GC–EAD), GC–mass spectrometry and a series of bioassays. Three EAD-active compounds were detected in the female sex pheromone gland extract, and identified as tetradecyl acetate (14:OAc), (Z)-11-tetradecenyl acetate (Z11-14:OAc) and (E)-11-tetradecenyl acetate (E11-14:OAc). The titers (ratio) of 14:OAc, Z11-14:OAc and E11-14:OAc in 3-day-old virgin females were 0.49 ng (10), 4.86 ng (98) and 0.10 ng (2), respectively. In a wind-tunnel bioassay, the 98:2 blend of Z11- and E11-14:OAc, but not Z11-14:OAc alone, elicited the same male behavioral responses as virgin females and crude gland extracts. 14:OAc was inactive by itself, and did not show any synergistic effect on the binary blend. Field trapping experiments also confirmed the attractiveness of the binary blend to O. orientalis males. Based on these results, we concluded that the sex pheromone of O. orientalis is a 98:2 mixture of Z11-14:OAc and E11-14:OAc. This sex pheromone is very similar to that of the Z-type European corn borer, O. nubilalis. The present finding raises the question of whether O. orientalis , which is indistinguishable from O. nubilalis based on external morphology, is a biologically distinct species independent from O. nubilalis.     

The legal frameworks that govern fetal surgery in the United Kingdom,European Union,and the United States

The specialty of fetal surgery or fetal intervention is one of the most exciting emerging fields of modern medicine. It is made possible by decades of major developments in antenatal imaging, obstetric anaesthesia, fetal medicine, paediatric surgery, and of course by the bold and novel practitioners willing to take new steps to advance the field. Beginning in the 1970s, it has now reached a stage of maturity where there are several established in utero procedures and countless clinical trials and studies to develop more. But what is the legal situation that fetal surgeons find themselves in? What are the rights and legal protections for the fetus and the mother, both of which are arguably the patient? This article will address this question, discussing and summarising the current legal frameworks governing fetal surgery in the jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights, and the United States of America as well as discuss what the future may hold and how researchers and physicians in the specialty can best navigate the legal environment.     

Geochemistry and bioavailability of metals in sediments from northern San Francisco Bay

In this study, metals (Be, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd, Pb and Hg) in the fine-grained fraction (<63 microm) from 12 sites at different locations in northern San Francisco Bay over a year period from March 2000 to March 2001 were analyzed after acid extraction. The results showed that metal concentrations in the sediments varied from site to site, whereas some of them were found elevated with respect to the sediment of Tomales Bay, CA, which has little contamination history, indicating an enrichment of the metals in the sediment samples analyzed. Sediment toxicity and bioaccumulation evaluation by a clam species, Macoma nasuta, exposed to the sediment samples collected from the six sampling sites was carried out. The results showed that the sediment samples tested significantly reduced clam survival. Toxicity of the sediments to the clam was, in part, related to elevated metal concentrations in the sediments. In order to examine geochemistry of the metals and to understand potential correlations between metal concentrations and geochemical matrix elements of the sediments, bioavailability and toxicity of the metals, detailed analysis of metal concentrations associated with total organic carbon and the Fe-oxy-hydroxides in the sediment samples was performed. The analysis showed that sediment geochemistry appeared to influence metal bioavailability and may have important impacts on the toxicity of these metals to the clam.     

Yield and arsenate uptake of arbuscular mycorrhizal tomato colonized by Glomus mosseae BEG167 in As spiked soil under glasshouse conditions

A glasshouse pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization by Glomus mosseae BEG167 on the yield and arsenate uptake of tomato plants in soil experimentally contaminated with five As levels (0, 25, 50, 75 and 150 mg kg(-1)). Mycorrhizal colonization (50-70% of root length) was little affected by As application and declined only in soil amended with 150 mg As kg(-1). Mycorrhizal colonization increased plant biomass at As application rates of 25, 50 and 75 mg kg(-1). Shoot As concentration increased with increasing As addition up to 50 mg kg(-1) but decreased with mycorrhizal colonization at As addition rates of 75 and 150 mg kg(-1). Shoot As uptake increased with mycorrhizal colonization at most As addition levels studied, but tended to decrease with addition of 150 mg As kg(-1). Total P uptake by mycorrhizal plants was elevated at As rates of 25, 50 and 75 mg kg(-1), and more P was allocated to the roots of mycorrhizal plants. Mycorrhizal plants had higher shoot and root P/As ratios at higher As application rates than did non-mycorrhizal controls. The soil of inoculated treatments had higher available As than uninoculated controls, and higher pH values at As addition levels of 25, 50 and 75 mg kg(-1). Mycorrhizal colonization may have increased plant resistance to potential As toxicity at the highest level of As contamination studied. Mycorrhizal tomato plants may have potential for phytoextraction of As from moderately contaminated soils or phytostabilization of more highly polluted sites.     

Irrigation model of bleached Kraft mill wastewater through volcanic soil as a pollutants attenuation process

An irrigation process through volcanic soil columns was evaluated for bleached Kraft mill effluent pollutants retention. The system was designed to remove color and phenolic compounds and a simple kinetic model for determining the global mass transfer coefficient and the adsorption rate constant was used. The results clearly indicate that the global mass transfer coefficient values (K(c)a) and the adsorption rate constants are higher for the irrigation processes onto acidified soil. This means that the pretreatment of washing the volcanic soil with an acid solution has a positive effect on the adsorption rate for both pollutant groups. The enhanced adsorption capacity is partially explained by the activation of the metal oxides present in the soil matrix during the acid washing process. Increasing the flow rate from 1.5 to 2.5 ml/min yielded higher (K(c)a) values and adsorption rate constants for both pollutant groups. For instance, regarding color adsorption onto acidified soil, there is an increment of 43% in the (K(c)a) value for the experiment with a flow rate of 2.5 ml/min. Increasing the porosity of the column from 0.55 to 0.59, yielded a decrease in the (K(c)a) values for color and phenolic compounds adsorption processes. Onto natural soil for example, these decreases reached 21% and 24%, respectively. Therefore, the (K(c)a) value is dependent on both the liquid-phase velocity (external resistance) and the soil fraction in the column (internal resistance); making forced convection and diffusion to be the main transport mechanisms involved in the adsorption process. Analyzing the adsorption rate constants (K(c)a)/m, phenolic compounds and color adsorption rates onto acidified soil of 2.25 x 10(-6) and 2.62 x 10(-6) l/mg min were achieved for experiment 1. These adsorption rates are comparable with other adsorption systems and adsorbent materials.