Automated extraction of direct, reactive, and vat dyes from cellulosic fibers for forensic analysis by capillary electrophoresis.

Systematic designed experiments were employed to find the optimum conditions for extraction of direct, reactive, and vat dyes from cotton fibers prior to forensic characterization. Automated microextractions were coupled with measurements of extraction efficiencies on a microplate reader UV-visible spectrophotometer to enable rapid screening of extraction efficiency as a function of solvent composition. Solvent extraction conditions were also developed to be compatible with subsequent forensic characterization of extracted dyes by capillary electrophoresis with UV-visible diode array detection. The capillary electrophoresis electrolyte successfully used in this work consists of 5 mM ammonium acetate in 40:60 acetonitrile-water at pH 9.3, with the addition of sodium dithionite reducing agent to facilitate analysis of vat dyes. The ultimate goal of these research efforts is enhanced discrimination of trace fiber evidence by analysis of extracted dyes.

Speech intelligibility assessment in a helium environment. II. The speech intelligibility index.

The Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) was measured for Navy divers participating in two saturation deep dives and for a group of nondivers to test different communication systems and their components. These SIIs were validated using the Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) test and the Griffiths version of the Modified Rhyme Test (GMRT). Our goal was to determine if either of these assessments was sensitive enough to provide an objective measure of speech intelligibility when speech was processed through different helmets and helium speech unscramblers (HSUs). Results indicated that SII values and percent intelligibility decreased incrementally as background noise level increased. SIIs were very reliable across the different groups of subjects indicating that the SII was a strong measurement for predicting speech intelligibility to compare linear system components such as helmets. The SII was not useful in measuring intelligibility through nonlinear devices such as HSUs. The speech intelligibility scores on the GMRT and SPIN tests were useful when the system component being compared had a large measurable difference, such as in helmet type. However, when the differences were more subtle, such as differences in HSUs, neither the SPIN nor the GMRT appeared sensitive enough to make such distinctions. These results have theoretical as well as practical value for measuring the quality and intelligibility of helium speech enhancement systems.

Modeling gas exchange in a closed plant growth chamber.

Fluid transport models for fluxes of water vapor and CO2 have been developed for one crop of wheat and three crops of soybean grown in a closed plant growth chamber. Correspondence among these fluxes is discussed. Maximum fluxes of gases are provided for engineering design requirements of fluid recycling equipment in growth chambers. Furthermore, to investigate the feasibility of generalized crop models, dimensionless representations of water vapor fluxes are presented. The feasibility of such generalized models and the need for additional data are discussed.

Labeling of fructans in winter wheat stems.

Fructans synthesized from newly formed assimilates accumulate in wheat stems as nonstructural carbohydrates. Experiments performed tested the hypothesis that the fructose moiety from translocated sucrose is used preferentially in biosynthesis of these fructans. Results indicated: (a) a large percentage of labeled sucrose was translocated and unloaded in an unaltered state; and (b) sucrose contributed its fructose moiety to fructan synthesis in stems.

Translocation of [C]sucrose in wheat.

Flag leaves of wheat plants (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell. cv ;Duke') were supplied with (14)C(glucosyl)sucrose. Translocated [(14)C]sucrose was isolated, then hydrolyzed. Label appeared in both the hexose moieties indicating that some randomization of label had occurred. However, near the radioactive front essentially all of the (14)C was in the glucose moiety, suggesting that randomization occurred after unloading, supporting the conclusion that sucrose was taken up intact by phloem and translocated unaltered.

Cytokinin-induced wall extensibility in excised cotyledons of radish and cucumber.

The mechanism of cytokinin-induced cell expansion in cotyledons excised from dark-grown seedlings of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and cucumber (Cucumus sativus L.) was studied. Cotyledons were incubated in dim light with or without 17 micromolar zeatin for periods up to 3 days. Fresh weights and osmotic potentials were measured daily. Cell wall extensibility properties were measured before and after the growth period. Also, experiments in which radish cotyledons were grown in mannitol solutions of various concentrations were performed. Comparisons of growth rates and increases of tissue osmotic potentials (toward zero) during growth without mannitol indicate that wall extensibility increased during the growth period and that this extensibility was enhanced by zeatin.Extensibility values derived from growth rates in mannitol provided indirect evidence of zeatin-increased wall extensibility. These conclusions were verified by direct measurements of plasticity with an Instron extensiometer. Thus, growth stimulation of excised cotyledons by cytokinins apparently involves wall loosening, in addition to previously demonstrated increases of K(+) absorption and formation of reducing sugars.

Phloem loading in squash.

Squash (Cucurbita pepo L. var. melopepo torticalis, Bailey) leaves were supplied with (14)C-sucrose, then specific radioactivities of the glucose and galactose moieties of translocated stachyose were determined. In every case, the specific radioactivity of the galactose moiety was greater than that of the glucose moiety. It is concluded that the stachyose was not synthesized at either the phloem-loading site or subsequent to phloem loading, but rather in cells that were not a part of the translocation system, possibly the mesophyll cells.

Stachyose: an early product of photosynthesis in squash leaves.

It was hypothesized that stachyose is translocated by squash because stachyose is supplied to the phloem loading system by the photosynthetic system. To test this hypothesis, (14)CO(2) was supplied to squash leaves. The nonphosphorylated sugars containing (14)C were studied. A large proportion of (14)C appeared in stachyose very early in the time sequence, tending to confirm the hypothesis.

Translocation of sucrose by squash plants.

Sucrose-(14)C was fed to the leaf blades of squash plants (Cucurbita pepo L. var. melopepo torticallis Bailey) for 30 or 60 minutes. Petioles of treated plants were cut into sections and extracted. The majority of the (14)C within the petiole was in sucrose rather than stachyose, the sugar that is transported by the squash plants when (14)CO(2) is supplied. This indicates that the phloem loading system of squash plants is not the system that specifies which sugar is transported.

Labeling pattern of translocated stachyose in squash.

One mature blade of each squash plant was continuously labeled with (14)CO(2) for 15, 30, or 70 minutes in light. The ethanol soluble materials from serial sections of petioles were extracted and separated by paper chromatography. The ratios of label in the various components of this fraction were determined. Stachyose, which contained the major portion of the label of this fraction, was hydrolyzed and the resultant hydrolysate was separated by paper chromatography. Specific activities of the hexoses derived from stachyose were determined. It was found that the glucose and fructose moieties of stachyose became labeled at the same rates; however, the galactose moiety became labeled more rapidly.