Accumulation and elimination of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in mule ducks.

In Taiwan, a food safety crisis involving a presence of high concentrations of dioxin residues in duck eggs occurred in 2004. The dioxin content in duck meat sampled from supermarkets was also reported to be substantially higher than in products from other farm animals. Despite increased awareness of the potential for contamination and exposure to dioxins, the accumulation and elimination of dioxins in ducks have not been well characterized. In the present study, mule ducks were fed capsules containing polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) for 14 days and the trial was continued for another 28 days without PCDD/Fs supplementation. Ducks were sacrificed on the 14th, 28th, and 42nd days from the beginning of administration and samples of abdominal fat, breast, and liver tissue were obtained. The concentrations of PCDD/Fs were analyzed in the samples to investigate their distribution and elimination in various duck tissues. The bioaccumulation of PCDD/Fs in ducks was found to be tissue-dependent. In the abdominal fat, the bioconcentration factor was negatively correlated with the degree of chlorination. Conversely, more chlorinated PCDD/Fs (hexa- or hepta-congeners) were associated with higher bioconcentration in the liver and breast tissue. In terms of the efficiency of PCDD/Fs elimination, the liver was found to be the fastest, followed by the breast and the abdominal fat. The clearance rate positively correlated with the degree of chlorination, as determined by comparing the apparent elimination rate constant (k) of PCDD/Fs in various tissues. Overall, lower k values observed in this study imply that mule ducks have a reduced clearance of PCDD/Fs in comparison with layer and broiler chickens.

Terahertz multichanneled filter in a superconducting photonic crystal.

Terahertz spectroscopic properties in a one-dimensional superconductor-dielectric photonic crystal are theoretically investigated. Based on the calculated results, a terahertz multichanneled transmission filter can be achieved within the photonic passband. This structure possesses the comb-like resonant peaks in transmission spectrum at low temperature. The number of resonant peaks is directly related to the number of periods. The resonant peak height is lowered and broadened as the temperature increases. The dependence of the filling factor in the superconductor layer is also discussed. This filter containing no defect layer in structure is fundamentally different from the usual multichanneled filter based on a photonic crystal containing a photonic quantum well as a defect layer.