Simultaneous measurement of the trace elements Al, As, B, Be, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Rb, Se, Sr, and Zn in human serum and their reference ranges by ICP-MS

The goal of this article was to establish reference ranges of the concentration of trace elements in human serum and to compare these results with those reported by other authors. We describe the sample preparation and measurement conditions that allow the rapid, precise, and accurate determination of Al, As, B, Be, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Rb, Se, Sr, and Zn in human serum samples (n=110) by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Accuracy and precision were determined by analyzing three reconstituted reference serum samples by comparison with other methods and by the standard addition procedure. The advantages of the ICP-MS method include short time of analysis of the elements mentioned, low detection limit, high precision, and high accuracy. Disadventages include a high risk of contamination due to the presence of some of the elements of interest in the environment, the relatively delicate sample handling, and the high cost of the equipment.     

Distribution of N,P, K,Ca, Mg,S, Zn,Fe, Mn and Cu in groundnut

Summary Concentration of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S in summer groundnut crop was higher than in kharif while Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu contents were higher in summer crop. Kernel's N, P and Zn; Leaflet's Ca and Mn; Stem's K and Fe; Root's S and Cu and Petiole's Mg contents were highest. Shell's N, P, K, Mg, S, Zn and Cu; Kernel's Ca, Fe and Mn contents were the least. N, P, K, S, Zn and Cu concentrations decreased linearly as the crop grew. Ca, Mg, Fe and Mn concentrations did not display any distinct pattern. Ca concentration was positively correlated with pod yield in both the seasons.     

Crystal structure, detonation performance, and thermal stability of a new polynitro cage compound: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15-nonanitro-2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15-nonaazaheptacyclo [5.5.1.13, 11. 15, 9] pentadecane

A new polynitro cage compound 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15-nonanitro-2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15-nonaazaheptcyclo [5.5.1.1(3,11).1(5,9)] pentadecane (NNNAHP) was designed in the present work. Its molecular structure was optimized at the B3LYP/6-31 G(d,p) level of density functional theory (DFT) and crystal structure was predicted using the Compass and Dreiding force fields and refined by DFT GGA-RPBE method. The obtained crystal structure of NNNAHP belongs to the P-1 space group and the lattice parameters are a = 9.99 ?, b = 10.78 ?, c = 9.99 ?, α = 90.01°, β = 120.01°, γ = 90.00°, and Z = 2, respectively. Based on the optimized crystal structure, the band gap, density of state, thermodynamic properties, infrared spectrum, strain energy, detonation characteristics, and thermal stability were predicted. Calculation results show that NNNAHP has detonation properties close to those of CL-20 and is a high energy density compound with moderate stability.     

Reference values for the concentrations of As,Cd, Co,Cr, Cu,Fe, I,Hg, Mn,Mo, Ni,Pb, Se,and Zn in selected human tissues and body fluids

This report attempts to formulate reference ranges of elemental concentrations for 15 trace elements in selected human tissues and body fluids. A set of samples consisting of whole blood, blood serum, urine, milk, liver, and hair were chosen and considered for 15 elements of biological significance: As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, F, Fe, I, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn. The results represent wholly or partially data received from 40 countries of the global regions of Africa, Asia, Europe, North, South, and Central America, Australia, and New Zealand. This survey, even if qualitative, has been useful in demonstrating certain trends of trace-element scenarios around the world. It is of course recognized that both diet and environment exert a strong influence on the distribution pattern of several elements, such as As, Cd, Mn, Pb, Se, and Zn. A limited comparison of the available information on soil status of different countries reflected some interesting associations for elements, such as Mn and Zn. Importantly, this study revealed that only a few countries were in a position to identify a reasonable amount of data on samples requested for this project. Regretably, for a number of countries, any dependable data for even such essential elements as Cu, Fe, and Zn were not available. In view of the nutritional importance of many elements, the time is ripe for concerted efforts by intergovernmental agencies to initiate investigations or commission task forces/projects to generate reliable reference data for selected global regions, which sadly lack data of any kind at present.     

Relations of the Al,B, Ba,Br, Ca,Cl, Cu,Fe, K,Li, Mg,Mn, Na,P, S,Si, Sr,and Zn mass fractions to morphometric parameters in pediatric and nonhyperplastic young adult prostate glands

The variation with age of the 18 trace element mass fractions and some histological characteristics of intact prostate glands of 50 subjects aged 0–30 years was investigated by instrumental neutron activation analysis, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, and a quantitative morphometric analysis. Mean values ± standard error of the mean (M ± SΕΜ) for the mass fractions (in milligrams per kilogram wet tissue) of these trace elements in pre-puberty were: Al 28.5 ± 9.0, B 0.40 ± 0.11, Ba 1.48 ± 0.44, Br 10.5 ± 1.5, Ca 241 ± 30, Cl 3,203 ± 278, Cu 3.51 ± 0.89, Fe 33.7 ± 4.1, K 2,364 ± 145, Li 0.020 ± 0.004, Mg 153 ± 23, Mn 0.46 ± 0.06, Na 2,286 ± 130, P 1,391 ± 100, S 1,698 ± 132, Si 62 ± 11, Sr 0.38 ± 0.08, and Zn 27.6 ± 2.3. During puberty and postpuberty, when there is a significant increase in circulating androgens, the mean values were: Al 7.2 ± 1.4, B 0.21 ± 0.05, Ba 0.25 ± 0.06, Br 5.8 ± 1.0, Ca 433 ± 81, Cl 2,314 ± 201, Cu 1.77 ± 0.13, Fe 20.9 ± 1.6, K 2,585 ± 118, Li 0.0088 ± 0.0014, Mg 232 ± 27, Mn 0.34 ± 0.04, Na 1,875 ± 107, P 1,403 ± 98, S 1,673 ± 73, Si 22.2 ± 3.1, Sr 0.22 ± 0.03, and Zn 93.3 ± 8.9. Mean values (M ± SΕΜ) of percent volumes (%) of the stroma, epithelium and lumen in the prostate before puberty were 73.4 ± 2.6, 20.4 ± 1.7, and 4.45 ± 0.94, respectively, versus 46.5 ± 2.5, 38.5 ± 1.9, and 14.9 ± 1.2 during puberty and postpuberty. This work’s results confirm that the Zn mass fraction in prostate tissue is an androgen-dependent parameter. For the first time it has been demonstrated that the glandular lumen is a main pool of Ca, Mg, and Zn accumulation and that the stroma is a main pool of Al, B, Ba, Br, Cl, Cu, Fe, Mn, Na, and Si accumulation in the normal human prostate, for the age range 0–30 years. It was concluded that the Ca, Mg, and Zn binds tightly within the prostatic fluid, because the volume of glandular lumen reflects the volume of prostatic fluid.     

The Effect of Age and Gender on Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Sr, V, and Zn Contents in Rib Bone of Healthy Humans

The effect of age and gender on major, minor, and trace element contents in the intact rib bone of 80 relatively healthy 15–55-year-old women and men was investigated. Contents or upper limit of contents of 16 chemical elements in the rib bone were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Mean values (M?±?SΕΜ) for the mass fraction of Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Na, P, S, Sr, and Zn (milligram per kilogram of dry bone) were as follows: 2.54?±?0.16, 171,400?±?4,050, 1.35?±?0.22, 140?±?11, 1,874?±?71, 0.049?±?0.011, 2,139?±?38, 5,378?±?88, 75,140?±?1,660, 1,881?±?51, 291?±?20, and 92.8?±?1.5, respectively. The upper limits of contents of Al, B, Mn, and V were <7.20, <0.65, <0.36, and <0.03, respectively. Statistically significant tendency for the Ca, Mg, and P content to decrease with age was found in the human rib bone, regardless of gender. The mass fraction of Fe in the male rib bone increases with age. It was shown that higher Ca, Mg, Na, P, and Sr mass fractions as well as lower Fe content were typical of female ribs as compared to those in male ribs.     

Monovalent Cation Permeation through the Connexin40 Gap Junction Channel : Cs,Rb, K,Na, Li,TEA, TMA,TBA, and Effects of Anions Br,Cl, F,Acetate, Aspartate,Glutamate, and NO3

The unitary conductances and permeability sequences of the rat connexin40 (rCx40) gap junction channels to seven monovalent cations and anions were studied in rCx40-transfected neuroblastoma 2A (N2A) cell pairs using the dual whole cell recording technique. Chloride salt cation substitutions (115 mM principal salt) resulted in the following junctional maximal single channel current-voltage relationship slope conductances (γ_j in pS): CsCl (153), RbCl (148), KCl (142), NaCl (115), LiCl (86), TMACl (71), TEACl (63). Reversible block of the rCx40 channel was observed with TBA. Potassium anion salt γ_j are: Kglutamate (160), Kacetate (160), Kaspartate (158), KNO₃ (157), KF (148), KCl (142), and KBr (132). Ion selectivity was verified by measuring reversal potentials for current in rCx40 gap junction channels with asymmetric salt solutions in the two electrodes and using the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation to calculate relative permeabilities. The permeabilities relative to Li⁺ are: Cs⁺ (1.38), Rb⁺ (1.32), K⁺ (1.31), Na⁺ (1.16), TMA⁺ (0.53), TEA⁺ (0.45), TBA⁺ (0.03), Cl⁻ (0.19), glutamate⁻ (0.04), and NO₃− (0.14), assuming that the monovalent anions permeate the channel by forming ion pairs with permeant monovalent cations within the pore thereby causing proportionate decreases in the channel conductance. This hypothesis can account for why the predicted increasing conductances with increasing ion mobilities in an essentially aqueous channel were not observed for anions in the rCx40 channel. The rCx40 effective channel radius is estimated to be 6.6 Å from a theoretical fit of the relationship of relative permeability and cation radius.     

Caprine blood groups. 2. The C,G, H,I, J,K, L,N, and Q systems

Nine blood group systems of goats were identified using 12 caprine reagents produced by absorption of alloimmune antisera. The caprine C blood group system, possibly homologous to the ovine C blood group system, was characterized by two reagents and shown to be controlled by three alleles,C ¹²,C ²⁵, andC ⁻. A more complex blood group system of goats, designated G, was identified using three reagents and shown to be controlled by six codominant alleles (G ^10.19.20,G ^10.19,G ^10.20,G ¹⁰,G ¹⁹,G ²⁰) and a recessive allele (G ⁻). A further seven one-factor two-allelic systems were identified by seven reagents. The nine genetic systems provided exclusion probabilities of 0.479, 0.492, 0.548, and 0.572 in Australian Angora, Dairy, Cashmere, and Texan Angora goat breeds, respectively. This work was supported by a grant from the Australian Stud Book, Alison Road, Randwick, New South Wales 2031, Australia.     

Competitive inhibition and selectivity enhancement by Ca in the uptake of inorganic elements (Be, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Sc, Mn, Co, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Ce, Pm, Gd, Hf) by carrot (Daucus carota cv. U.S. harumakigosun)

We investigated the uptake of inorganic elements (Be, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Sc, Mn, Co, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Ce, Pm, Gd, and Hf) and the effect of Ca on their uptake in carrots (Daucus carota cv. U.S. harumakigosun) by the radioactive multitracer technique. The experimental results suggested that Na, Mg, K, and Rb competed for the functional groups outside the cells in roots with Ca but not for the transporter-binding sites on the plasma membrrane of the root cortex cells. In contrast, Y, Ce, Pm, and Gd competed with Ca for the transporters on the plasma membrane. The selectivity, which was defined as the value obtained by dividing the concentration ratio of an elemental pair, K/Na, Rb/Na, Be/Sr, and Mg/Sr, in the presence of 0.2 and 2 ppm Ca by that of the corresponding elemental pair in the absence of Ca in the solution was estimated. The selectivity of K and Rb in roots was increased in the presence of Ca. The selectivity of Be in roots was not affected, whereas the selectivity of Mg was increased by Ca. These observations suggest that the presence of Ca in the uptake solution enhances the selectivity in the uptake of metabolically important elements against unwanted elements.     

Potential Compounds for Oral Cancer Treatment: Resveratrol,Nimbolide, Lovastatin,Bortezomib, Vorinostat,Berberine, Pterostilbene,Deguelin, Andrographolide,and Colchicine

Oral cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related deaths in South-Asian countries. There are very limited treatment options available for oral cancer. Research endeavors focused on discovery and development of novel therapies for oral cancer, is necessary to control the ever rising oral cancer related mortalities. We mined the large pool of compounds from the publicly available compound databases, to identify potential therapeutic compounds for oral cancer. Over 84 million compounds were screened for the possible anti-cancer activity by custom build SVM classifier. The molecular targets of the predicted anti-cancer compounds were mined from reliable sources like experimental bioassays studies associated with the compound, and from protein-compound interaction databases. Therapeutic compounds from DrugBank, and a list of natural anti-cancer compounds derived from literature mining of published studies, were used for building partial least squares regression model. The regression model thus built, was used for the estimation of oral cancer specific weights based on the molecular targets. These weights were used to compute scores for screening the predicted anti-cancer compounds for their potential to treat oral cancer. The list of potential compounds was annotated with corresponding physicochemical properties, cancer specific bioactivity evidences, and literature evidences. In all, 288 compounds with the potential to treat oral cancer were identified in the current study. The majority of the compounds in this list are natural products, which are well-tolerated and have minimal side-effects compared to the synthetic counterparts. Some of the potential therapeutic compounds identified in the current study are resveratrol, nimbolide, lovastatin, bortezomib, vorinostat, berberine, pterostilbene, deguelin, andrographolide, and colchicine.     

New Coleoptera records from New Brunswick, Canada: Stenotrachelidae, Oedemeridae, Meloidae, Myceteridae, Boridae, Pythidae, Pyrochroidae, Anthicidae, and Aderidae

We report 19 new species records for the faunal list of Coleoptera in New Brunswick, Canada, six of which are new records for the Maritime provinces, and one of which is new Canadian record. We also provide the first recent records for five additional species in New Brunswick. One new species of Stenotrachelidae, Cephaloon ungulare LeConte, is added to the New Brunswick faunal list. Additional records are provided for Cephaloon lepturides Newman, as well the first recent record of Nematoplus collaris LeConte. Two species of Oedemeridae, Asclera puncticollis (Say) and Asclera ruficollis (Say), are newly reported for New Brunswick, and additional locality and bionomic data are provided for Calopus angustus LeConte and Ditylus caeruleus (Randall). The records of Ditylus caerulus are the first recent records for the province. Three species of Meloidae, Epicauta pestifera Werner, Lytta sayi LeConte, and Meloe augustcollis Say are reported the first time for New Brunswick; Epicauta pestifera is newly recorded in Canada. Lacconotus punctatus LeConte and the family Mycteridaeis newly recorded for New Brunswick. The first recent records of Borus unicolor Say (Boridae) are reported from the province. One new species of Pythidae, Pytho siedlitzi Blair, and the first recent records of Pytho niger Kirby are added to the faunal list of New Brunswick. Three species of Pyrochroidae are newly reported for the province, including Pedilus canaliculatus (LeConte) and Pedilus elegans (Hentz), which are new for the Maritime provinces. Five species of Anthicidae and the first recent record of Anthicus cervinus LaFerté-Sénectére are newly reported for New Brunswick. Anthicus melancholicus LaFerté-Sénectère, Sapintus pubescens (LaFerté-Sénectère), Notoxus bifasciatus (LeConte), and Stereopalpus rufipes Casey are new to the Maritime provinces faunal list. Ambyderus granularis (LeConte) is removed from the faunal list of the province. Three species of Aderidae, Vanonus huronicus Casey, Zonantes fasciatus (Melsheimer), and Zonantes pallidusWerner, are newly recorded for New Brunswick; Zonantes fasciatus and Vanonus huronicus are new for the Maritime provinces' faunal list. Collection data, bionomic data, and distribution maps are presented for all these species.     

An adapid primate,sinoadapis, from lufeng,latest miocene,Yunnan, China

The paper deals with a new form ofSinoadapis from the Lufeng hominoid Locality, assigned toSinoadapis shihuibaensis sp. nov. Holotype PA 882 A fragment of right mandible with C,−M₃. Other materials. PA 903 A fragment of left maxilla with P³−M³. PA 959 Left lower tooth row with I₁−P², P₄. PA 902 Right upper tooth row with C′−P³. PA 964 An isolated left I¹. PA 907 An isolated right I³. PA 972 An isolated right M³.