Multiple Influences (multiple + influence)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Multiple influences of nitrate on uranium solubility during bioremediation of uranium-contaminated subsurface sediments

ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 9 2002
Kevin T. Finneran
Summary Microbiological reduction of soluble U(VI) to insoluble U(IV) has been proposed as a remediation strategy for uranium-contaminated groundwater. Nitrate is a common co-contaminant with uranium. Nitrate inhibited U(VI) reduction in acetate-amended aquifer sediments collected from a uranium-contaminated site in New Mexico. Once nitrate was depleted, both U(VI) and Fe(III) were reduced concurrently. When nitrate was added to sediments in which U(VI) had been reduced, U(VI) reappeared in solution. Parallel studies with the dissimilatory Fe(III)-, U(VI)- and nitrate-reducing microorganism, Geobacter metallireducens, demonstrated that nitrate inhibited reduction of Fe(III) and U(VI) in cell suspensions of cells that had been grown with nitrate as the electron acceptor, but not in Fe(III)-grown cells. Suspensions of nitrate-grown G. metallireducens oxidized Fe(II) and U(IV) with nitrate as the electron acceptor. U(IV) oxidation was accelerated when Fe(II) was also added, presumably due to the Fe(III) being formed abiotically oxidizing U(IV). These studies demonstrate that although the presence of nitrate is not likely to be an impediment to the bioremediation of uranium contamination with microbial U(VI) reduction, it is necessary to reduce nitrate before U(VI) can be reduced. These results also suggest that anaerobic oxidation of U(IV) to U(VI) with nitrate serving as the electron acceptor may provide a novel strategy for solubilizing and extracting microbial U(IV) precipitates from the subsurface. [source]


How the 1977 World Health Organization report on alcohol-related disabilities came to be written: a provisional analysis

ADDICTION, Issue 11 2007
Griffith Edwards
ABSTRACT Background In 1977 the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report entitled ,Alcohol-Related Disabilities'. The crucial contribution of this report was to differentiate between alcohol dependence, on one hand, and alcohol-related disabilities (or problems) on the other hand. Essentially, it offered a bi-axial mapping of the field of concern. Aims This paper seeks to identify the multiple influences which shaped the evolution of this report. Methods Use is made of unpublished archival material and recall of personal involvement, together with relevant published material. Results Three major influences made it possible to move beyond the confines of previous WHO thinking on alcohol: the multi-disciplinary nature of the input; the internationality of the enterprise; and the expectations set that the concepts developed should speak to the practical world. Conclusions The arena of drug and alcohol policy has, for more than a century, been rich in its reports. This case study, although limited in its immediate content, points to the need for further analysis of the history of such reports. [source]


An interspecific analysis of relative jaw-joint height in primates

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
Brooke A. Armfield
Abstract Jaw-joint height (JJH) above the occlusal plane is thought to be influenced by cranial base angle (CBA) and facial angulation during growth. To better understand how JJH relates to midline craniofacial form, we test the hypothesis that relative increases in JJH are correlated with increasing CBA flexion and facial kyphosis (i.e., ventral bending) across primates. We compared JJH above the occlusal plane to CBA and the angle of facial kyphosis (AFK) across adults from 82 species. JJH scales with positive allometry relative to a skull geometric mean in anthropoids and most likely strepsirrhines. Anthropoid regressions for JJH are elevated above strepsirrhines, whereas catarrhines exhibit a higher slope than platyrrhines. Semipartial correlations between relative JJH and both CBA and AFK show no association across a small strepsirrhine sample, limited associations among catarrhines and anthropoids, but strong correlations in platyrrhines. Contrary to our hypothesis, however, increases in relative JJH are correlated with relatively less flexed basicrania and more airorhynch faces (i.e., reduced ventral bending) in platyrrhines. The mosaic pattern of relationships involving JJH across primate clades points to multiple influences on JJH across primates. In clades showing little association with basicranial and facial angles, such as strepsirrhines, the potential morphological independence of JJH may facilitate a relative freedom for evolutionary changes related to masticatory function. Finally, failure to associate relative JJH and basicranial flexion in most clades suggests that the relatively taller JJH and more flexed basicrania of anthropoids compared to strepsirrhines may have evolved as an isolated event during the origin of anthropoids. Am J Phys Anthropol 142:519,530, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Effects of Cyclic Versus Sustained Estrogen Administration on Peripheral Immune Functions in Ovariectomized Mice

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
Jing Li
Citation Li J, McMurray RW. Effects of cyclic versus sustained estrogen administration on peripheral immune functions in ovariectomized mice. Am J Reprod Immunol 2010; 63: 274,281 Problem, Estrogens have multiple influences on immune functions. We aimed to compare the effects of cyclic versus sustained estrogen treatments under the same accumulated dose on peripheral immune functions in ovariectomized mice. Method of study, Ovariectomized adult Balb/c mice were treated with estradiol (E2) by s.c. injection once every 4 days (total 44.8 ,g) or by pellet implantation (total 44.2 ,g). After 6 weeks of treatment, all animals were immunized with DNP-KLH. Peripheral immune functions were assessed 10 days later. Results, Both cyclic and sustained E2 treatments significantly reduced the percentage of splenic B220+sIgM+ cells, enhanced IFN-, production and suppressed IL-6 secretion from Con A-stimulated splenocytes, and increased serum anti-DNP antibody levels. No differences were found in the above responses or in uterine weight gain between the two regimens of E2 administration. Conclusion, There are no differential effects on peripheral immune functions between cyclic and sustained estrogen administration under the same total dose. [source]