Adsorption and Retention of U-238 and Th-232 from Groundwater Using BIOS

2003 ◽  
Vol 807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig R. Anderson ◽  
Karsten Pedersen

ABSTRACTBiofilms were grown in situ 296 metres below sea level in the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory. The prominent organism in these biofilms wasGallionella ferruginea, which is an iron oxidising chemolithotrophic microorganism that grows in low oxygen conditions. This organism grows an organic stalk structure capable of binding and concentrating trace metals. This stalk structure also allows amorphous ferric iron oxyhydroxides, or BIOS, (bacteriogenic iron oxides) to precipitate. The pH of the groundwater within the system was between 7.4 and 7.6, with Eh potential between 150 and 190 mV and oxygen saturation between 3 and 15%. Biofilms developed within two weeks and were sampled every two weeks for three months. Cell number and stalk length was recorded for each sample. The concentration of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, REE (rare earth elements), U-238 and Th-232 was measured by ICP-MS. Early results suggested thatGallionellabiofilms and associated BIOS could potentially concentrate trace metals up to 1000 fold higher than levels within the host rock and over 1 000 000 times the levels in the groundwater over a period of years. These new experiments indicate thatGallionellabiofilms and BIOS can rapidly attenuate metals to levels over 1000 fold higher than the levels in the groundwater. This process can occur anywhere where reduced groundwater enters the waste repository tunnel, open cavities or where groundwater extrudes at the surface. Because of this, there is huge potential to use biofilms and BIOS for retention of radionuclides and pollution control.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jungwon Choi ◽  
Wontae Kim ◽  
Hyejin Yoon ◽  
Jaewang Lee ◽  
Jin Hyun Jun

Oxygen tension is one of the most critical factors for mammalian embryo development and its survival. The HIF protein is an essential transcription factor that activated under hypoxic conditions. In this study, we evaluated the effect of dynamic oxygen conditions on the expression of embryonic genes and translocation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in cultured mouse blastocysts. Two-pronuclear (2PN) zygotes harvested from ICR mice were subjected to either high oxygen (HO; 20%), low oxygen (LO; 5%), or dynamic oxygen (DO; 5% to 2%) conditions. In the DO group, PN zygotes were cultured in 5% O2 from days 1 to 3 and then in 2% O2 till day 5 after hCG injection. On day 5, the percentage of blastocysts in the cultured embryos from each group was estimated, and the embryos were also subjected to immunocytochemical and gene expression analysis. We found that the percentage of blastocysts was similar among the experimental groups; however, the percentage of hatching blastocysts in the DO and LO groups was significantly higher than that in the HO group. The total cell number of blastocysts in the DO group was significantly higher than that of both the HO and LO groups. Further, gene expression analysis revealed that the expression of genes related to the embryonic development was significantly higher in the DO group than that in the HO and LO groups. Interestingly, HIF-1α mRNA expression did not significantly differ; however, HIF-1α protein translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus was significantly higher in the DO group than in the HO and LO groups. Our study suggests that dynamic oxygen concentrations increase the developmental capacity in mouse preimplantation embryos through activation of the potent transcription factor HIF-1α.


2012 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 51-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Praxedes Muñoz ◽  
Laurent Dezileau ◽  
Lissette Cardenas ◽  
Javier Sellanes ◽  
Carina B. Lange ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mareike Paul ◽  
Niels A. G. M. van Helmond ◽  
Caroline P. Slomp ◽  
Sami A. Jokinen ◽  
Joonas J. Virtasalo ◽  
...  

<p>Deoxygenation in response to eutrophication and climate change in coastal systems is increasing worldwide. Low oxygen conditions cause the chemical transformation of redox-sensitive trace metals (e.g. molybdenum and uranium) in seawater, and their subsequent transport to the sediment. Sedimentary trace metal contents can therefore be used as a record of changes in bottom water oxygen conditions allowing the history of deoxygenation to be reconstructed. However, most trace metal studies have focused on strongly reducing and sulfidic settings, leaving mildly reducing and oxygenated (but eutrophic) settings vastly understudied. Currently, it is unknown to what extent existing trace metal redox proxies are applicable to reconstruct oxygen conditions in coastal zones experiencing mild deoxygenation, despite the fact that such areas occupy vast stretches of the coastal oceans. Here, we study trace metal enrichments in 13 European coastal marine sites with varying bottom water redox conditions and depositional environments. Our data demonstrates that sedimentary molybdenum and uranium contents are sensitive to deoxygenation across a range of settings, although the mechanisms of enrichment may vary. Improved understanding of molybdenum and uranium dynamics in mildly reducing coastal settings will facilitate the development of reliable and widely applicable molybdenum and uranium-based redox proxies.</p>


Author(s):  
Hossein Amirjamshidi ◽  
Jude S. Sauer ◽  
Bryan Barrus ◽  
Peter A. Knight ◽  
Sunil M. Prasad

Objective Bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) bypass can enable more complete arterial revascularization procedures. Minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) can offer significant patient benefits. New minimally invasive technology for sternal retraction and tissue manipulation is needed to enable ergonomic and reliable minimally invasive ITA harvesting. The goal of this research was to develop technology and techniques, along with experimental testing and training models, for a sternal-sparing approach to in situ BITA harvesting through a small subxiphoid access site. Methods This study focused on optimizing custom equipment and methods for subxiphoid BITA harvesting initially in a porcine model (19 pig carcasses, 36 ITAs) and subsequently in 7 cadavers (14 ITAs). Results Fifty consecutive ITAs were successfully harvested using this remote access approach. The last 20 ITA specimens harvested from the porcine model were explanted and measured; the average length of the free ITA grafts was 12.8 ± 0.9 cm (range 10.8 to 14.2 cm) with a mean time of 23.3 ± 5.2 minutes (range 13 to 25 minutes) for each harvest. Conclusions Early results demonstrate that both ITAs can be reliably harvested in a skeletonized fashion in situ through sternal-sparing, small subxiphoid access in 2 experimental models. This innovative approach warrants further exploration toward facilitating complete arterial revascularization and the further adoption of minimally invasive coronary artery bypass graft surgery.


Author(s):  
Lei Xu ◽  
Wen Zhang ◽  
Tao Luo ◽  
Jin-Hui Yang ◽  
Zhaochu Hu

High precise and accurate measurements of Fe isotope ratios for fourteen reference materials from the USGS, MPI-DING and CGSG were successfully carried out using a developed analytical technique by fs...


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 225
Author(s):  
Lei Xuan ◽  
Jianfeng Hua ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Zhiquan Wang ◽  
Xiaoxiao Pei ◽  
...  

The Taxodium hybrid ‘Zhongshanshan 406’ (T. hybrid ‘Zhongshanshan 406’) [Taxodium mucronatum Tenore × Taxodium distichum (L.). Rich] has an outstanding advantage in flooding tolerance and thus has been widely used in wetland afforestation in China. Alcohol dehydrogenase genes (ADHs) played key roles in ethanol metabolism to maintain energy supply for plants in low-oxygen conditions. Two ADH genes were isolated and characterized—ThADH1 and ThADH4 (GenBank ID: AWL83216 and AWL83217—basing on the transcriptome data of T. hybrid ‘Zhongshanshan 406’ grown under waterlogging stress. Then the functions of these two genes were investigated through transient expression and overexpression. The results showed that the ThADH1 and ThADH4 proteins both fall under ADH III subfamily. ThADH1 was localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus, whereas ThADH4 was only localized in the cytoplasm. The expression of the two genes was stimulated by waterlogging and the expression level in roots was significantly higher than those in stems and leaves. The respective overexpression of ThADH1 and ThADH4 in Populus caused the opposite phenotype, while waterlogging tolerance of the two transgenic Populus significantly improved. Collectively, these results indicated that genes ThADH1 and ThADH4 were involved in the tolerance and adaptation to anaerobic conditions in T. hybrid ‘Zhongshanshan 406’.


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