ABSTRACT
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection performed a representative survey on the radiological quality of drinking water in Germany. The aim of this study was to determine regional variations of natural radionuclide concentrations and to estimate radiation exposures caused by drinking water consumption. The study includes analyses of the natural radionuclides (238)U, (234)U, (235)U, (228)Ra, (226)Ra, (222)Rn, (210)Pb, (210)Po and of gross alpha activity concentrations in drinking water from 564 public water supplies. This represents 3 % of all German water supplies providing about 37 Mio. inhabitants. Results on ranges, medians and distributions of radionuclide concentrations of drinking water as well as age-dependent ingestion and inhalation doses estimated for members of the public are presented. Generally, the dose due to uranium isotopes is negligibly low. Radiation exposures are predominantly caused by (222)Rn, (228)Ra, (210)Po and (210)Pb. The ingestion dose deduced for adults (>17 a) and infants (0-1 a) is dominated by (222)Rn and (228)Ra, respectively. A gross alpha activity analysis procedure using liquid scintillation counting has been tested. Measured gross alpha activities values were found to be well related to the summarised activities of (238)U, (234)U, (226)Ra and (210)Po.
Subject(s)
Alpha Particles , Elements, Radioactive/analysis , Radiation Monitoring , Water Pollutants, Radioactive/analysis , Water Supply/analysis , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Germany , Humans , Infant , Lead/analysis , Polonium/analysis , Radium/analysis , Radon/analysis , Uranium/analysis , Young AdultABSTRACT
Considerando el bajo consumo de fibra del adulto mayor y los beneficios que la fibra dietética aportaría en la prevención y tratamiento de algunas patologías como obesidad, diabetes y constipación, se investigó el efecto de alimentación de adultos mayores durante un período de 5 semanas. Los productos desarrollados enriquecidos con fibra de lupino (vitafiber) fueron: queques (6,3 por ciento fibra dietaria), galletas (7,95 por ciento de fibra dietaria), pan (9,0 por ciento de fibra dietaria) y fideos (11,05 por ciento de fibra dietaria). Estos productos se dieron a 44 adultos mayores seleccionados por padecer de constipación, obesidad y diabetes mellitus. Se realizó una evaluación nutricional por indicadores bioquímicos y antropométricos en los períodos pre y post-ingesta del estudio. El aporte de fibra proporcionado por los productos fue aumentado progresivamente durante el estudio, llegando a un promedio de 6,2g diarios. Los productos entregados tuvieron una buena aceptabilidad y hubo mejorías en los pacientes con constipación. Se obtuvo una disminución altamente significativa (p<0,001) en el peso, índice de masa corporal, colesterol total, LDL y la relación colesterol/HDL después de las 5 semanas de estudio
Subject(s)
Humans , Aged , Dietary Fiber/therapeutic use , Food, Fortified , Nutritive Value , Constipation/diet therapy , Diabetes Mellitus/diet therapy , Dietary Fiber/administration & dosage , Nutrition Assessment , Obesity/diet therapyABSTRACT
The abundance and polymorphism of 38 different simple-sequence repeat motifs was studied in four accessions of cultivated chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) by in-gel hybridization of synthetic oligonucleotides to genomic DNA digested with 14 different restriction enzymes. Among 38 probes tested, 35 yielded detectable hybridization signals. The abundance and level of polymorphism of the target sequences varied considerably. The probes fell into three broad categories: (1) probes yielding distinct, polymorphic banding patterns; (2) probes yielding distinct, monomorphic banding patterns, and (3) probes yielding blurred patterns, or diffused bands superimposed on a high in lane background. No obvious correlation existed between abundance, fingerprint quality, and the sequence characteristics of a particular motif. Digestion with methyl-sensitive enzymes revealed that simple-sequence motifs are enriched in highly methylated genomic regions. The high level of intraspecific polymorphism detected by oligonucleotide fingerprinting suggests the suitability of simple-sequence repeat probes as molecular markers for genome mapping.
