Derivation of a Liquid-to-Soild Ratio for ASTM Method D3987-85 for Soils Containing Chromite Ore Processing Residue Using Selected Unsaturated Zone Models

While most health-based cleanup levels for hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] in soil are established to protect the general population against cancer, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has established a Cr(VI) soil cleanup criterion to protect Cr(VI)-sensitive individuals against allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). For this criterion, exposure is assumed to occur when a Cr(VI)-sensitized individual contacts a puddle in which rainfall has dissolved Cr(VI) from the associated surface soils. To simulate the movement of Cr(VI) from surface soil into puddle water after rainfall events, this soil cleanup criterion requires that the Cr(VI) concentration extracted from soil using ASTM Method D3987-85 at a 2:1 liquid-to-solid ratio (LSR) be less than 25?mg/L. However, this LSR is based on several simplifying assumptions that may not be appropriate for many soil types. In this article, three unsaturated zone transport models—Chemflo, SWIM, and HYDROGEOCHEM—are evaluated for developing LSRs for sites with soil containing chromite ore processing residue (COPR). Based on this evaluation, SWIM was found to be the most appropriate model for simulating Cr(VI) transport into puddles because of its ability to simulate rainfall and evaporation rate changes during and following precipitation events. A more refined evaluation using only SWIM was performed to determine the effects of various factors on COPR-specific LSRs, including saturated hydraulic conductivity, daily rainfall rate, daily evaporation rate, and groundwater depth. The refined evaluation demonstrated that the LSR ranges from 1.4 to 30, with a mean of 7.4 and a median of 7.0. Thus, an LSR of 7:1 is the most appropriate to represent the puddle scenario at COPR sites.     

The clinical and laboratory manifestations profile of antiphospholipid syndrome among Saudi Arabia population: Examining the applicability of Sapporo criteria

Antiphospholipid syndrome is a organized autoimmune disease presented with vascular thrombosis and pregnancy morbidity. The Sapporo classification criteria of APS were revised in 2006 and are used as the main diagnosis guideline, which validity as standard measurements is still in debate. This study observe the clinical and laboratory indices of APS among Saudi patients. This is a retrospective study hospital-based population. The clinical and Laboratory manifestations of diagnosed APS patients from electronical medical records identifies by ICD-9 code 795.79 in the King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 1990 and 2012. We selected patients with ICD-9 code 795.79 as. Sapporo criteria applied to all patients, then divided into cases fulfilled criteria and cases failed the criteria. To notice the difference in clinical and laboratory indices and comorbidities between the two groups, the T-test was performed and Logistic regression for the fulfilled criteria and clinical indices of vascular thrombosis, DVT/PE, recurrent, and pregnancy morbidity. A total of 72 (90%) females and 8 (10%) males, with the female-to-male ratio 9:1. The mean (±SD) age at diagnosis was 28.1 (±8.7) years (range 11–63 years). There were 22 patients (27.5%) attained the revised criteria (APS confirmed) and no significant difference between the two groups was observed (p > 0.2). However, we found Sapporo confirmed APS cases had significantly higher percentage of serological manifestation presence than clinically diagnosed APS cases. Though there is no statistically significance, Sapporo confirmed APS cases had advanced odds of undergoing vascular thrombosis (OR = 1.61, 95%CI) and DVT/PE (OR = 1.53, 95%CI) and lesser odds of undergoing recurrent DVT/PE (OR = 0.67, 95%CI) and pregnancy morbidity (OR = 0.63, 95%CI) than the clinically diagnosed APS cases. Over 70% of the study population with diagnosed APS did not accomplish the revised Sapporo criteria due to negative laboratory manifestations, which reflects heterogeneous but not degreed disease severity profiles.     

Bright Liver and Alanine Aminotransferase Are Associated with Metabolic Syndrome in Adults

Objectives: The metabolic syndrome has become a significant health problem worldwide. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the metabolic syndrome, bright liver (BL) by ultrasonography (US), and plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels among apparently healthy adults. Research Methods and Procedures: A total of 15, 430 nonalcoholic healthy adults without hepatitis B or C were recruited from four nationwide MJ Health Screening Centers in Taiwan in 2000. Metabolic syndrome was defined using the National Cholesterol Education Panel (NCEP) metabolic syndrome criteria or modified NCEP criteria. Based on liver US, subjects were classified into either having BL or not. The relationship between the metabolic syndrome, BL, and ALT levels was examined using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The crude OR of the metabolic syndrome was 13.92 (12.19 using modified NCEP criteria), and the age‐BMI‐sex—adjusted OR was 3.77 (3.71 using modified NCEP criteria) in subjects with BL vs. subjects without BL, respectively. The ORs of the metabolic syndrome were significantly higher in subjects with elevated ALT levels than in those with normal ALT levels. After adjustment for age, sex, and BMI, BL and elevated ALT level were independently associated with increased risk of the metabolic syndrome. Discussion: Presence of BL and elevated plasma ALT level was independently associated with increased risk of the metabolic syndrome in adults. These factors contribute to a list of well‐known risk factors, including obesity, aging, and male sex, and thus can be applied as an additional evaluation for the metabolic syndrome in a clinical setting.     

Approaches to Ecological Risk Characterization and Management: Selecting the Right Tools for the Job

Chemical-specific hazard quotient (HQ) risk characterization in ecological risk assessment (ERA) can be a value-added tool for risk management decision-making at chemical release sites, when applied appropriately. However, there is little consensus regarding how HQ results can be used for risk management decision-making at the population, community, and ecosystem levels. Furthermore, stakeholders are reluctant to consider alternatives to HQ results for risk management decisions. Chemical-specific HQs risk characterization should be viewed as only one of several approaches (i.e., tools) for addressing ecological issues; and in many situations, other quantitative and qualitative approaches will likely result in superior risk management decisions. The purpose of this paper is to address fundamental issues and limitations associated with chemical-specific HQ risk characterization in ERA, to identify when it may be appropriate, to explore alternatives that are currently available, and to identify areas that could be developed for the future. Several alternatives (i.e., compensatory restoration, performance-based ecological monitoring, ecological significance criteria, net environmental benefit analysis), including their limitations, that can supplement, augment, or substitute for HQs in ERA are presented. In addition, areas of research (i.e., wildlife habitat assessment/landscape ecology/population biology, and field validated risk-based screening levels) that could yield new tools are discussed.     

Mass variation in Northern Saw-whet Owls: implications for current sexing criteria

ABSTRACT.   Currently, a protocol using body mass as the primary criterion for assigning sex of Northern Saw-whet Owls ( Aegolius acadicus ) is being used by banders. We assessed mass variation of owls using paired measurements of those recaptured ( N = 372) during fall migration along the lower Delmarva Peninsula (1994–2005) to assess the stability of gender assignments resulting from the protocol in current use. Mass variation ranged from 0 to 26.0 g, with a mean of 6.0 g. There was a positive relationship between body mass and the magnitude of the mass change between measurements. Variation in mass between captures caused a considerable shift in gender designations. Changes were most pronounced for birds classified as male ( N = 43), with 58% remaining either definite or probable male and the remainder changing to either unknown (28%) or female (14%). Female designations ( N = 317) were more stable, with 76% remaining either definite or probable female. Variation in mass and associated changes in gender assignments caused a two-fold shift in perceived sex ratio from 1:13 to 1:6 (M:F). Given that meals cause variation in mass that is large relative to the differences between sexes, we suggest that mass carries an unacceptably high level of uncertainty to be useful in assigning gender. Sex ratios and other demographic parameters generated using the current technique should be used with caution.     

What is Applied Psychophysiology? Toward a Definition

This paper presents a proposed working definition of applied psychophysiology. The paper reviews the background for the term, reasons for formalizing a definition, and boundaries. The working definition, explanation of key terms, and inclusion and exclusion criteria are then presented. Selected questions are then addressed such as whether physiology always has to be measured, and the boundaries such as distinguishing applied psychophysiology from psychotherapy.     

Sudden infant death syndrome, infection and inflammatory responses

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is sudden unexpected death in infancy for which there is no explanation after review of the history, a death scene investigation and a thorough autopsy. The use of common diagnostic criteria is a prerequisite for discussing the importance of infection, inflammatory responses and trigger mechanism in SIDS. Several observations of immune stimulation in the periphery and of interleukin-6 elevation in the cerebrospinal fluid of SIDS victims explain how infections can play a role in precipitating these deaths. Finally, these findings and important risk factors for SIDS are integrated in the concept of a vicious circle for understanding the death mechanism. The vicious circle is a concept to elucidate the interactions between unfavourable factors, including deficient auto-resuscitation, and how this could result in death.     

A computational method for assessing peptide- identification reliability in tandem mass spectrometry analysis with SEQUEST

High-throughput protein identification in mass spectrometry is predominantly achieved by first identifying tryptic peptides by a database search and then by combining the peptide hits for protein identification. One of the popular tools used for the database search is SEQUEST. Peptide identification is carried out by selecting SEQUEST hits above a specified threshold, the value of which is typically chosen empirically in an attempt to separate true identifications from false ones. These SEQUEST scores are not normalized with respect to the composition, length and other parameters of the peptides. Furthermore, there is no rigorous reliability estimate assigned to the protein identifications derived from these scores. Hence, the interpretation of SEQUEST hits generally requires human involvement, making it difficult to scale up the identification process for genome-scale applications. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a method, which combines a neural network and a statistical model, for normalizing SEQUEST scores, and also for providing a reliability estimate for each SEQUEST hit. This method improves the sensitivity and specificity of peptide identification compared to the standard filtering procedure used in the SEQUEST package, and provides a basis for estimating the reliability of protein identifications.     

Does a dose-response relationship reduce sensitivity to hidden bias?

It is often said that an important consideration in judging whether an association between treatment and response is causal is the presence or absence of a dose-response relationship, that is, larger ostensible treatment effects when doses of treatment are larger. This criterion is widely discussed in textbooks and is often mentioned in empirical papers. At the same time, it is well known through both important examples and elementary theory that a treatment may cause dramatic effects with no dose-response relationship, and hidden biases may produce a dose-response relationship when the treatment is without effect. What does a dose-response relationship say about causality? It is observed here that a dose-response relationship may or may not reduce sensitivity to hidden bias, and whether it has or has not can be determined by a suitable analysis using the data at hand. Moreover, a study without a dose-response relationship may or may not be less sensitive to hidden bias than another study with such a relationship, and this, too, can be determined from the data at hand. An example concerning cytogenetic damage among professional painters is used to illustrate.     

Use of the pH memory effect in lyophilized proteins to achieve preferential methylation of alpha-amino groups

It is demonstrated that the pH memory effect can be used to control the ionization state of amino groups in lyophilized proteins and hence their chemical reactivity toward modifying reagents. When proteins were lyophilized from aqueous solutions at pH values between 6 and 7 and reacted in vacuo with iodomethane, the -amino groups were found to be either preferentially or selectively trimethylated. Reaction with ¹³C-labeled iodomethane permitted detection and identification of individual trimethylated -amino groups by ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy as distinct peaks in the spectral region between 52 and 57 ppm. There was adequate sensitivity to detect minor resonances of free -amino groups arising from proteolysis of the major protein or from protein impurities. The resonances of the trimethylated -amino groups in standard amino acids and peptides are sufficiently close to those in the derivatized protein to make a tentative identification of the N-terminal amino acid. It is also demonstrated that advantage can be taken of the pH memory effect to use the preferential ¹³C-methylation of amino groups to verify whether a protein has a free or blocked amino terminus.