ABSTRACT
Tank battery sites have historically been used for the initial processing of crude oil which separates water and sediment from the produced oil. Typically, one or more producing wells is connected to a tank battery site consisting of storage and separation tanks. Historical operating practices also included a production holding pit for increased separation of oil, water, and sediment. The sediment remaining in the pit is composed of an oily, viscous material called sludge. Under certain circumstances, this sludge may contain naturally occurring radioactive material. The methodology required for reclamation of the production holding pits consisted of removal of soil and sludge from the pits with controlled land-spreading to achieve biodegradation of the hydrocarbons. The purpose of this study was to perform a radiological characterization on representative tank battery sites that had been reclaimed in the above fashion. The average gamma radiation exposure rates encountered ranged from 2.1-7.2 pC kg-1 s-1. The average concentration of 226Ra for the tank battery sites ranged from 0.5-2.3, 0.5-2.8, and 0.3-3.2 Bq g-1 for soil depths of 0-15, 15-30, and 30-51 cm, respectively. Average radon flux measurements ranged from 29.7-211.8 mBq m-2 s-1. Measurements of the radon emanation coefficient of NORM ranged from 3-7%.
Subject(s)
Fossil Fuels , Occupational Exposure , Power Plants , Radium/analysis , Radon/analysis , Gamma Rays , Humans , Radiation Dosage , Radiation Monitoring/methods , United States , United States Environmental Protection AgencyABSTRACT
Mouse L-cell nucleoli were isolated from sonicated nuclei by centrifugation and extensively treated with pancreatic DNase or micrococcal nuclease to obtain "core nucleoli." Core nucleoli still contained the precursors to rRNA and about 1% of the total nuclear DNA, which remained tightly bound even after the removal of some chromatin proteins with 2 M NaCl. The core nucleolar DNA electrophoresed in a series of discrete bands, 20 to about 200 base pairs in length. Hybridization tests with specific DNA probes showed that the DNA was devoid of sequences complementary to mouse satellite, mouse Alu-like, and 5S RNA sequences. It also lacked sequences coding for cytoplasmic rRNA species, since it did not hybridize to the 18S to 28S portion of rDNA in Northern blot analyses and none of it was protected by hybridization to a 100-fold excess of total cytoplasmic RNA in S1 nuclease assays. However, the core nucleolar DNA did hybridize to nontranscribed and external transcribed spacer rDNA sequences. We infer that specific portions of rDNA are protected from DNase action by a tight association with nucleolar structural proteins.
Subject(s)
Cell Nucleolus/ultrastructure , DNA, Ribosomal/genetics , Animals , Cell Fractionation , Cell Nucleolus/analysis , DNA, Ribosomal/isolation & purification , Deoxyribonuclease I , L Cells/ultrastructure , Mice , Nucleic Acid Hybridization , RNA, Ribosomal/genetics , RibonucleasesSubject(s)
Accounting/methods , Costs and Cost Analysis , Diagnosis-Related Groups , Financial Management, Hospital/methods , Financial Management/methods , Information Systems/organization & administration , Management Information Systems/organization & administration , Prospective Payment System , Reimbursement Mechanisms , Efficiency , Marketing of Health Services , Nursing Service, Hospital/economics , Rate Setting and Review , United StatesABSTRACT
The locations of three cleavages that can occur in mouse 45S pre-rRNA were determined by Northern blot hybridization and S1 nuclease mapping techniques. These experiments indicate that an initial cleavage of 45S pre-rRNA can directly generate the mature 5' terminus of 18S rRNA. Initial cleavage of 45S pre-rRNA can also generate the mature 5' terminus of 5.8S rRNA, but in this case cleavage can occur at two different locations, one at the known 5' terminus of 5.8S rRNA and another 6 or 7 nucleotides upstream. This pattern of cleavage results in the formation of cytoplasmic 5.8S rRNA with heterogeneous 5' termini. Further, our results indicate that one pathway for the formation of the mature 5' terminus of 28S rRNA involves initial cleavages within spacer sequences followed by cleavages which generate the mature 5' terminus of 28S rRNA. Comparison of these different patterns of cleavage for mouse pre-rRNA with that for Escherichia coli pre-rRNA implies that there are fundamental differences in the two processing mechanisms. Further, several possible cleavage signals have been identified by comparing the cleavage sites with the primary and secondary structure of mouse rRNA (see W. E. Goldman, G. Goldberg, L. H. Bowman, D. Steinmetz, and D. Schlessinger, Mol. Cell. Biol. 3:1488-1500, 1983).
Subject(s)
Nucleic Acid Precursors/metabolism , RNA Splicing , RNA, Ribosomal/genetics , Animals , Base Sequence , Chromosome Mapping , MiceABSTRACT
Using radiolabeled purified hepatitis B surface antigen and human liver slices, the affinity of hepatitis B virus to its host organ was evaluated. Saturable adsorption of the 125I-HBs Ag complex to liver was demonstrated over both time and complex concentration which could be blocked by excess unlabeled antigen. The specific binding was not found using human pancreas, lung, or kidney tissue. Correspondingly, no specific binding could be found for murine liver but it could be demonstrated with woodchuck liver. The woodchuck is a natural host for one of the newly described hepatitis B-like viruses which is antigenically cross-reactive with the B virus.
