Bio-monitoring for uranium using stream-side terrestrial plants and macrophytes.

This study evaluated the abilities of various plant species to act as bio-monitors for environmental uranium (U) contamination. Vegetation and soil samples were collected from a U processing facility. The water-way fed from facility storm and processing effluents was the focal sample site as it represented a primary U transport mechanism. Soils and sediments from areas exposed to contamination possessed U concentrations that averaged 630 mg U kg(-1). Aquatic mosses proved to be exceptional accumulators of U with dry weight (dw) concentrations measuring as high as 12,500 mg U kg(-1) (approximately 1% of the dw mass was attributable to U). The macrophytes (Phragmites communis, Scripus fontinalis and Sagittaria latifolia) were also effective accumulators of U. In general, plant roots possessed higher concentrations of U than associated upper portions of plants. For terrestrial plants, the roots of Impatiens capensis had the highest observed levels of U accumulation (1030 mg kg(-1)), followed by the roots of Cyperus esculentus and Solidago speciosa. The concentration ratio (CR) characterized dry weight (dw) vegetative U levels relative to that in associated dw soil. The plant species that accumulated U at levels in excess of that found in the soil were: P. communis root (CR, 17.4), I. capensis root (CR, 3.1) and S. fontinalis whole plant (CR, 1.4). Seven of the highest ten CR values were found in the roots. Correlations with concentrations of other metals with U were performed, which revealed that U concentrations in the plant were strongly correlated with nickel (Ni) concentrations (correlation: 0.992; r-squared: 0.984). Uranium in plant tissue was also strongly correlated with strontium (Sr) (correlation: 0.948; r-squared: 0.899). Strontium is chemically and physically similar to calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), which were also positively-correlated with U. The correlation with U and these plant nutrient minerals, including iron (Fe), suggests that active uptake mechanisms may influence plant U accumulation.

Progesterone enhances in vitro development of bovine embryos.

Increased pregnancy rates in cattle given progesterone (P4) prior to 5 d after breeding have recently been reported. The objective was to determine if this increase in pregnancy rate could be attributed to a direct positive effect of P4 on the developing embryo. In Experiment 1, 280 bovine oocytes were inseminated in vitro and at Day 3 (insemination=Day 0), good quality 8 cell embryos (n=206) were randomly allocated to be cultured in either CR1aa+serum with 0 or ∼15 ng/mL (n=102 and n=104, respectively). In Experiment 2, 881 bovine oocytes were used; on Day 3, good quality 8 cell embryos (n=511) were randomly allocated to either the control (CR1aa+FCS, n=168), vehicle (CR1aa+FCS+ethanol, n=170), or P4 treatment (CR1aa+FCS+∼15 ng/mL P4 in ethanol, n=173). On Day 7, in both experiments, there were increased numbers of blastocysts developing in the P4 group (Experiment 1, 59% and Experiment 2, 71%) compared to the vehicle (Experiment 2, 53%) or control (40 and 62% in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively). The addition of P4 (8%) stimulated the rate of embryo development (early blastocysts or more advanced stages on Day 6) compared to vehicle (3%) and control (0%) and the P4 group had more hatched or hatching blastocysts (33%) on Day 9 compared to the control or vehicle group (21 or 22%). Additionally, the P4 group had greater embryo diameter and significantly more Grade 1 blastocysts on Day 7. In conclusion, P4 had a direct, positive effect on developing bovine embryos cultured in vitro.

Transfer of inner cell mass cells derived from bovine nuclear transfer embryos into the trophoblast of bovine in vitro-produced embryos.

Presence of placental tissues from more normal noncloned embryos could reduce the pregnancy failure of somatic cloning in cattle. In this study, inner cell mass (ICM) cells of in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos was replaced with those of nuclear transfer (NT) embryos to reconstruct bovine blastocysts with ICM and trophoblast cells from NT and IVP embryos, respectively. A total of 65 of these reconstructed embryos were nonsurgically transferred to 20 recipient beef females. Of those, two females were diagnosed pregnant by ultrasonography on day 30 of gestation. One pregnancy was lost at 60-90 days of gestation, and the other recipient cow remained pregnant at day 240 of gestation; however, this female died on day 252 of gestation. Gross pathology of the internal organs of the recipient female, a large fetus, and a large placental tissue mass suggested the massive size of the fetus and placental tissue were likely involved in terminating the life of the recipient female. Biopsy samples were harvested from the skin of the dead recipient cow, the fetus and from cotyledonary tissue. Microsatellite DNA analysis of these samples revealed that the genotype of the fetus was the same as that of the NT donor cells and different from that of the recipient cow. Correspondingly, neither the fetus nor recipient cow had the same genotype with that of the fetal cotyledonary tissue. These results present the first known documented case of a bovine somatic NT pregnancy with nonclone placental tissues after transfer of a blastocyst reconstructed by a microsurgical method to exchange of ICM cells and trophoblast tissue between NT and IVP blastocysts.

Closely similar values obtained when the ME7 strain of scrapie agent was titrated in parallel by two individuals in separate laboratories using two sublines of C57BL mice.

A single C57BL mouse-brain infected with the ME7 strain of mouse-passaged scrapie agent was used to carry out four parallel infectivity titrations in mice. These were carried out by two individuals in two laboratories using two sublines of C57BL mice. The titre values obtained by the four assays were very similar, and showed no significant differences between the two different operatives, the two different laboratories or the two different sublines of C57BL mice. The data confirm the validity of comparing these types of transmission data generated in different laboratories when a common methodology is used.

Solvent extraction as an adjunct to rendering: the effect on BSE and scrapie agents of hot solvents followed by dry heat and steam.

The study was designed to determine the effect on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie agents of the solvent extraction processes used in the past by British renderers. The raw material was mouse spleen infected with either the 22A strain of scrapie agent or the 301V strain of BSE agent. Samples were exposed to hexane, heptane, petroleum spirit or perchlorethylene at the relevant temperatures for the appropriate times. Control samples were exposed to the same range of temperatures for the same range of times in saline. Other samples were exposed to the hot solvents, followed by treatment with dry heat at 100 degrees C for 30 minutes and steam at 100 degrees C for 30 minutes. Further samples were exposed only to the dry heat and steam cycles. No single complete process was significantly more effective than any of the others, and they all produced only slight inactivation, less than one log on average for both strains of agent. The average degree of inactivation produced by exposure to hot saline was generally comparable to that produced by exposure to the hot solvents. This was also true for the samples exposed only to dry heat and steam compared with those exposed to hot solvent before treatment with dry heat and steam, and suggests that the slight inactivation was caused by the heat rather than by the solvents. It is concluded that the solvent extraction processes used by renderers in Britain had little capacity to inactivate BSE and scrapie agents.

Teoría microeconómica

Contenido: 1. Teoría de la conducta del consumidor y de la demanda 2. Teoría de la producción y el coste 3. La teoría de la empresa y la organización del mercado 4. La teoría de la distribución 5. teoría del equilibrio general y el bienestar económico