Sample records for early oxygen toxicity

  1. Increased intrapulmonary retention of radiolabeled neutrophils in early oxygen toxicity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rinaldo, J.E.; English, D.; Levine, J.

    1988-02-01

    Sequential lung injuries, such as oxygen toxicity followed by septicemia, are common during the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). As these forms of vascular injury may be mediated in part by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), aberrant interactions between PMN and previously injured pulmonary endothelium are of both theoretical interest and clinical importance. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that early oxygen toxicity at a dose that injuries pulmonary endothelium relatively selectively alters intrapulmonary neutrophil kinetics. Unanesthetized rats breathing 1.0 atmospheres oxygen for 36 h showed ultrastructural endothelial damage but no edema, injury, or neutrophilic inflammation by histologic criteria.more » However, in these oxygen-toxic animals, whereas initial accumulation of radiolabeled PMN in lungs was normal, washout of PMN was abnormal at 120 min after infusion, at which point the pulmonary retention of radiolabeled PMN in the lungs of oxygen-treated animals was significantly higher than in control animals (139% of control, p less than 0.0096). Features of our methodology, including avoidance of osmotic stress and use of paired control animals, appear to have greatly enhanced the sensitivity of radiolabeled neutrophils for detecting a subtle abnormality of neutrophil-endothelial interactions. Our studies in the oxygen toxicity model provide the first demonstration in vivo of abnormal intrapulmonary neutrophil kinetics in early oxygen toxicity prior to the onset of histologic evidence of lung injury or inflammation.« less

  2. Oxygen toxicity.

    PubMed

    Stogner, S W; Payne, D K

    1992-12-01

    The objective of this article is to provide an overview of the biochemistry of oxygen metabolism, including the formation of free radicals and the role of endogenous antioxidants. Pathophysiologic correlates underlying the clinical manifestations of oxygen toxicity are reviewed and management strategies are outlined. References from basic science and clinical journals were selected from the authors' files and from a search of a computerized database of the biomedical literature. Articles selected for review included both historical and current literature concerning the biochemistry and pathophysiology of oxygen toxicity in animals and humans. The benefits of oxygen therapy have been known for many years; however, its potential toxicity has not been recognized until the last two decades. The lungs, the eyes, and, under certain conditions, the central nervous system are the organs most affected by prolonged exposure to hyperoxic environments. Free radical formation during cellular metabolism under hyperoxic conditions is recognized as the biochemical basis of oxygen injury to cells and organs. Endogenous antioxidants are a primary means of detoxifying reactive oxygen species and preventing hyperoxia-induced cellular damage. When this defense fails or is overwhelmed by the excessive production of hyperoxia-induced free-radical species, distinctive morphologic changes occur at the cellular level. The amount of hyperoxia required to cause cellular damage and the time course of these changes vary from species to species and from individual to individual within the same species. Age, nutritional status, presence of underlying diseases, and certain drugs may influence the development of oxygen toxicity. There is currently no reliably effective drug for preventing or delaying the development of oxygen toxicity in humans. Use of the lowest effective oxygen concentration, the avoidance of certain drugs, and attention to nutritional and metabolic factors remain the best means

  3. Oxygen and Oxygen Toxicity: The Birth of Concepts

    PubMed Central

    Zhu, Hong; Traore, Kassim; Santo, Arben; Trush, Michael A.; Li, Y. Robert

    2018-01-01

    Molecular dioxygen (O2) is an essential element of aerobic life, yet incomplete reduction or excitation of O2 during aerobic metabolisms generates diverse oxygen-containing reactive species, commonly known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). On the one hand, ROS pose a serious threat to aerobic organisms via inducing oxidative damage to cellular constituents. On the other hand, these reactive species, when their generation is under homeostatic control, also play important physiological roles (e.g., constituting an important component of immunity and participating in redox signaling). This article defines oxygen and the key facts about oxygen, and discusses the relationship between oxygen and the emergence of early animals on Earth. The article then describes the discovery of oxygen by three historical figures and examines the birth of the concepts of oxygen toxicity and the underlying free radical mechanisms. The article ends with a brief introduction to the emerging field of ROS-mediated redox signaling and physiological responses. PMID:29707642

  4. Oxygen Toxicity and Special Operations Forces Diving: Hidden and Dangerous

    PubMed Central

    Wingelaar, Thijs T.; van Ooij, Pieter-Jan A. M.; van Hulst, Rob A.

    2017-01-01

    In Special Operations Forces (SOF) closed-circuit rebreathers with 100% oxygen are commonly utilized for covert diving operations. Exposure to high partial pressures of oxygen (PO2) could cause damage to the central nervous system (CNS) and pulmonary system. Longer exposure time and higher PO2 leads to faster development of more serious pathology. Exposure to a PO2 above 1.4 ATA can cause CNS toxicity, leading to a wide range of neurologic complaints including convulsions. Pulmonary oxygen toxicity develops over time when exposed to a PO2 above 0.5 ATA and can lead to inflammation and fibrosis of lung tissue. Oxygen can also be toxic for the ocular system and may have systemic effects on the inflammatory system. Moreover, some of the effects of oxygen toxicity are irreversible. This paper describes the pathophysiology, epidemiology, signs and symptoms, risk factors and prediction models of oxygen toxicity, and their limitations on SOF diving. PMID:28790955

  5. Effect of circadian rhythm on CNS oxygen toxicity.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hof, D. G.; Dexter, J. D.; Mengel, C. E.

    1971-01-01

    The circadian rhythm in susceptibility to oxygen toxicity seizures was investigated by using six groups of 20 male Sprague-Dawley rats (101-196 gm.). The animals were given standard chow, exposed to standard diurnal conditions of light (0700-1900 hr) and dark (1900-0700 hr), and fasted for 15-16 hr prior to exposure to hyperbaric oxygen. The animals were placed in a previously oxygen flushed chamber and raised to 60 psi (gauge) oxygen at a rate of 3 psi/min. Time of exposure started with attainment of 60 psi. End point was first convulsion. The animals' weights were equally distributed within the groups, and the groups were defined by hour of exposure. Time of exposure in minutes prior to seizure was significantly longer in those exposed at 0700-0800 hr and 1000-1100 hr than in four other groups. There was no relationship between animals' weights and time of exposure to seizures. All R values were negative, and the highest R value was -035. These data suggest a definite circadian rhythm in susceptibility to oxygen toxicity seizures.

  6. Central Nervous System Oxygen Toxicity in Closed-Circuit Scuba Divers

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-03-01

    CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM OXYGEN TOXICITY IN CLOSED -CIRCUIT SCUBA DIVERS III By F. K. Butler, Jr., LCDR, MC, USN NAVY EXPERIMENTAL DIVING UNIT DTIC...PANAMA CITY. FLORIDA 321407 IN. aLV OMW Vol NAVY EXPERIMENTAL DIVING UNIT REPORT NO. 5-86 CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM OXYGEN TOXICITY IN CLOSED -CIRCUIT SCUBA...BUTLER, Jr. J . .d.M. HAMILTON LCDR, MC, USK CDR, MC, USK CDR, USKN Medical Research Officer Senior Medical Officer Comanding Officer UNCLASSIFIED 4

  7. Mechanisms for regulating oxygen toxicity in phytophagous insects.

    PubMed

    Ahmad, S; Pardini, R S

    1990-01-01

    The antioxidant enzymatic defense of insects for the regulation of oxygen toxicity was investigated. Insect species examined were lepidopterous larvae of the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni), southern armyworm (Spodoptera eridania), and black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). These phytophagous species are subject to both endogenous and exogenous sources of oxidative stress from toxic oxygen radicals, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipid peroxides (LOOH). In general, the constitutive levels of the enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione transferase (GT), and its peroxidase activity (GTpx), and glutathione reductase (GR), correlate well with natural feeding habits of these insects and their relative susceptibility to prooxidant plant allelochemicals, quercetin (a flavonoid), and xanthotoxin (a photoactive furanocoumarin). Induction of SOD activity which rapidly destroys superoxide radicals, appears to be the main response to dietary prooxidant exposure. A unique observation includes high constitutive activity of CAT and a broader subcellular distribution in all three insects than observed in most mammalian species. These attributes of CAT appear to be important in the prevention of excessive accumulation of cytotoxic H2O2. Unlike mammalian species, insects possess very low levels of a GPOX-like activity toward H2O2. Irrefutable proof that this activity is due to a selenium-dependent GPOX found in mammals, is lacking at this time. However, the activity of selenium-independent GTpx is unusually high in insects, suggesting that GTpx and not GPOX plays a prominent role in scavenging deleterious LOOHs. The GSSG generated from the GPOX and GTpx reactions may be reduced to GSH by GR activity. A key role of SOD in protecting insects from prooxidant toxicity was evident when its inhibition resulted in enhanced toxicity towards prooxidants. The role of antioxidant compounds in protecting these insects from toxic forms of oxygen has not been explored in

  8. Oxygen and Early Animal Evolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xiao, S.

    2012-12-01

    It is often hypothesized that the rise of animals was triggered by an increase in O2 levels in the atmosphere and oceans. However, this hypothesis is remarkably difficult to test, because the timing of animal divergences is poorly resolved, the physiology of early animals is often unknown, estimates of past pO2 levels come with large error bars, and causal relationships between oxygenation and animal evolution are difficult to establish. Nonetheless, existing phylogenetic, paleontological, and geochemical data indicate that the evolution of macroscopic animals and motile macrometazoans with energetically expensive lifestyles may be temporally coupled with ocean oxygenation events in the Ediacaran Period. Thus, it is plausible that ocean oxygenation may have been a limiting factor in the early evolution of macroscopic, complex, and metabolically aggressive animals (particularly bilaterian animals). However, ocean oxygenation and animal evolution were likely engaged in two-way interactions: Ediacaran oxygenation may have initially lifted a physiological barrier for the evolution of animal size, motility, and active lifestyles, but subsequent animal diversification in the Paleozoic may have also changed oceanic redox structures. Viewed in a broader context, the early evolutionary history of animals was contingent upon a series of events, including genetic preparation (developmental genetics), environmental facilitation (oceanic oxygenation), and ecological escalation (Cambrian explosion), but the rise of animals to ecological importance also had important geobiological impacts on oceanic redox structures, sedimentary fabrics, and global geochemical cycles.

  9. Modulation of oxygen production in Archaean oceans by episodes of Fe(II) toxicity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Swanner, Elizabeth D.; Mloszewska, Aleksandra M.; Cirpka, Olaf A.; Schoenberg, Ronny; Konhauser, Kurt O.; Kappler, Andreas

    2015-02-01

    Oxygen accumulated in the surface waters of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere several hundred million years before the Great Oxidation Event between 2.4 and 2.3 billion years ago. Before the Great Oxidation Event, periods of enhanced submarine volcanism associated with mantle plume events supplied Fe(II) to sea water. These periods generally coincide with the disappearance of indicators of the presence of molecular oxygen in Archaean sedimentary records. The presence of Fe(II) in the water column can lead to oxidative stress in some organisms as a result of reactions between Fe(II) and oxygen that produce reactive oxygen species. Here we test the hypothesis that the upwelling of Fe(II)-rich, anoxic water into the photic zone during the late Archaean subjected oxygenic phototrophic bacteria to Fe(II) toxicity. In laboratory experiments, we found that supplying Fe(II) to the anoxic growth medium housing a common species of planktonic cyanobacteria decreased both the efficiency of oxygenic photosynthesis and their growth rates. We suggest that this occurs because of increasing intracellular concentrations of reactive oxygen species. We use geochemical modelling to show that Fe(II) toxicity in conditions found in the late Archaean photic zone could have substantially inhibited water column oxygen production, thus decreasing fluxes of oxygen to the atmosphere. We therefore propose that the timing of atmospheric oxygenation was controlled by the timing of submarine, plume-type volcanism, with Fe(II) toxicity as the modulating factor.

  10. Effects of temperature and oxygen concentration in sediment toxicity testing.

    PubMed

    Airas, Sari; Leppänen, Matti; Kukkonen, Jussi V K

    2008-07-01

    Joint effects of temperature and oxygen concentrations for the results of sediment toxicity tests were studied at 10 and 20 degrees C with 40% and 80% dissolved oxygen (DO) saturation. Growth, feeding rate, and reproduction of Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaete) and growth, emergence, and survival of Chironomus riparius (Diptera) were tested in a polluted and in a reference sediment. Both the feeding of L. variegatus and the emergence of C. riparius were significantly retarded at low temperature. Additionally, differences in the sex ratio of the emerged adults of C. riparius were observed. The oxygen concentration alone did not have any significant effect on the endpoints, but significant combined effects of polluted sediment and low DO were observed on the biomass of L. variegatus. The standard sediment toxicity tests might offer only limited data for risk assessment of contaminated sediments at sites where the actual conditions largely differ from the laboratory conditions.

  11. Incidence of DCS and oxygen toxicity in chamber attendants: a 28-year experience.

    PubMed

    Witucki, Pete; Duchnick, Jay; Neuman, Tom; Grover, Ian

    2013-01-01

    Decompression sickness (DCS) and central nervous system oxygen toxicity are inherent risks for "inside" attendants (IAs) of hyperbaric chambers. At the Hyperbaric Medicine Center at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), protocols have been developed for decompressing IAs. Protocol 1: For a total bottom time (TBT) of less than 80 minutes at 2.4 atmospheres absolute (atm abs) or shallower, the U.S. Navy (1955) no-decompression tables were utilized. Protocol 2: For a TBT between 80 and 119 minutes IAs breathed oxygen for 15 minutes prior to initiation of ascent. Protocol 3: For a TBT between 120-139 minutes IAs breathed oxygen for 30 minutes prior to ascent. These protocols have been utilized for approximately 28 years and have produced zero cases of DCS and central nervous system oxygen toxicity. These results, based upon more than 24,000 exposures, have an upper limit of risk of DCS and oxygen toxicity of 0.02806 (95% CI) using UCSD IA decompression Protocol 1, 0.00021 for Protocol 2, and 0.00549 for Protocol 3. We conclude that the utilization of this methodology may be useful at other sea-level multiplace chambers.

  12. The zerovalent iron nanoparticle causes higher developmental toxicity than its oxidation products in early life stages of medaka fish.

    PubMed

    Chen, Pei-Jen; Wu, Wan-Lin; Wu, Kevin Chia-Wen

    2013-08-01

    Nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI)-mediated oxidation reaction is increasingly being used for enhanced treatment of water or wastewater processes; however, the fate and eco-toxicological effects of nZVI in the surface aquifer remain unclear. We investigated bioaccumulation and lethal-to-sublethal toxic effects on early life development of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) with 7-day exposure to 25-200 mg/L of well-characterized solutions containing carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-stabilized nZVI (CMC-nZVI), nanoscale iron oxide (nFe3O4) or ferrous ion [Fe(II)aq]. The CMC-nZVI solution had the greatest acute mortality and developmental toxic effects in embryos, with lesser and the least effects with Fe(II)aq and nFe3O4. The toxicity of CMC-nZVI was ascribed to its high reactivity in the oxygenic solution, which led to a combination of hypoxia and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Fe(II)aq. nFe3O4 (50-100 mg/L) was more bioavailable to embryos and bioaccmulative in hatchlings than suspended CMC-nZVI. The antioxidant balance was differentially altered by induced intracellular ROS in hatchlings with all 3 iron species. We revealed causal toxic effects of nZVI and its oxidized products in early life stages of medaka fish using different organizational levels of biomarker assays. The toxicity results implicate a potential eco-toxicological impact of nZVI on the aquatic environment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Low-oxygen waters limited habitable space for early animals.

    PubMed

    Tostevin, R; Wood, R A; Shields, G A; Poulton, S W; Guilbaud, R; Bowyer, F; Penny, A M; He, T; Curtis, A; Hoffmann, K H; Clarkson, M O

    2016-09-23

    The oceans at the start of the Neoproterozoic Era (1,000-541 million years ago, Ma) were dominantly anoxic, but may have become progressively oxygenated, coincident with the rise of animal life. However, the control that oxygen exerted on the development of early animal ecosystems remains unclear, as previous research has focussed on the identification of fully anoxic or oxic conditions, rather than intermediate redox levels. Here we report anomalous cerium enrichments preserved in carbonate rocks across bathymetric basin transects from nine localities of the Nama Group, Namibia (∼550-541 Ma). In combination with Fe-based redox proxies, these data suggest that low-oxygen conditions occurred in a narrow zone between well-oxygenated surface waters and fully anoxic deep waters. Although abundant in well-oxygenated environments, early skeletal animals did not occupy oxygen impoverished regions of the shelf, demonstrating that oxygen availability (probably >10 μM) was a key requirement for the development of early animal-based ecosystems.

  14. Early Cambrian oxygen minimum zone-like conditions at Chengjiang

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hammarlund, Emma U.; Gaines, Robert R.; Prokopenko, Maria G.; Qi, Changshi; Hou, Xian-Guang; Canfield, Donald E.

    2017-10-01

    The early Cambrian succession at Chengjiang contains the most diverse Cambrian fossil assemblage yet described, and contributes significantly to our understanding of the diversification of metazoans in the Cambrian ;explosion;. The Cambrian Period occupies a transitional episode of global ocean chemistry, following the oxygenation of the surface ocean and of shallow marine environments during the Ediacaran Period, but prior to the establishment of a predominantly oxygenated deep ocean in the mid-Paleozoic. Despite recent attention, a detailed understanding of the chemical conditions that prevailed in early Cambrian marine settings and the relationship of those conditions to early metazoan ecosystems is still emerging. Here, we report multi-proxy geochemical data from two drill cores through the early Cambrian (Series 2) Yu'anshan Formation of Yunnan, China. Results reveal dynamic water-column chemistry within the succession, which progressively shifted from euxinic to oxic conditions during deposition of the Yu'anshan Formation. The Chengjiang biota occurs in strata that appear to have been deposited under an oxygen-depleted water column that may have supported denitrification, as in modern oxygen-minimum zones. The oxygenated benthic environments in which the Chengjiang biota thrived were proximal to, but sharply separated from, the open ocean by a persistent anoxic water mass that occupied a portion of the outer shelf. Oxygen depletion in the lower water column developed dynamically in response to nutrient availability and possibly at lower thresholds of productivity due to lower atmospheric oxygen concentrations in Cambrian. These findings suggest that the frequent development of oxygen-limiting conditions in continental margin settings provided an environmental barrier that may have affected biogeographic, ecological and evolutionary development of early metazoan communities.

  15. Comparative developmental toxicity of environmentally relevant oxygenated PAHs

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Knecht, Andrea L., E-mail: andrea.knecht@tanguaylab.com; Goodale, Britton C., E-mail: goodaleb@onid.orst.edu; Truong, Lisa, E-mail: lisa.truong.888@gmail.com

    2013-09-01

    Oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs) are byproducts of combustion and photo-oxidation of parent PAHs. OPAHs are widely present in the environment and pose an unknown hazard to human health. The developing zebrafish was used to evaluate a structurally diverse set of 38 OPAHs for malformation induction, gene expression changes and mitochondrial function. Zebrafish embryos were exposed from 6 to 120 h post fertilization (hpf) to a dilution series of 38 different OPAHs and evaluated for 22 developmental endpoints. AHR activation was determined via CYP1A immunohistochemistry. Phenanthrenequinone (9,10-PHEQ), 1,9-benz-10-anthrone (BEZO), xanthone (XAN), benz(a)anthracene-7,12-dione (7,12-B[a]AQ), and 9,10-anthraquinone (9,10-ANTQ) were evaluated for transcriptionalmore » responses at 48 hpf, prior to the onset of malformations. qRT-PCR was conducted for a number of oxidative stress genes, including the glutathione transferase(gst), glutathione peroxidase(gpx), and superoxide dismutase(sod) families. Bioenergetics was assayed to measure in vivo oxidative stress and mitochondrial function in 26 hpf embryos exposed to OPAHs. Hierarchical clustering of the structure-activity outcomes indicated that the most toxic of the OPAHs contained adjacent diones on 6-carbon moieties or terminal, para-diones on multi-ring structures. 5-carbon moieties with adjacent diones were among the least toxic OPAHs while the toxicity of multi-ring structures with more centralized para-diones varied considerably. 9,10-PHEQ, BEZO, 7,12-B[a]AQ, and XAN exposures increased expression of several oxidative stress related genes and decreased oxygen consumption rate (OCR), a measurement of mitochondrial respiration. Comprehensive in vivo characterization of 38 structurally diverse OPAHs indicated differential AHR dependency and a prominent role for oxidative stress in the toxicity mechanisms. - Highlights: • OPAHs are byproducts of combustion present in the environment. • OPAHs pose a

  16. Effects of oxygen toxicity on cuprolinic blue-stained proteoglycans in alveolar basement membranes.

    PubMed

    Ferrara, T B; Fox, R B

    1992-02-01

    Effects of oxygen toxicity on distribution and density of proteoglycans in basement membranes of newborn rat lungs were assessed by electron microscopic analysis of tissues processed with cuprolinic blue, a cationic label that characteristically labels these anionically charged macromolecules. Newborn rats placed in greater than 95% oxygen at birth were killed at weekly intervals for 4 wk, and lung tissues fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde with 0.2% cuprolinic blue were processed for electron microscopy. Alveolar basement membranes from oxygen-treated and control animals were compared for differences in thickness and proteoglycan concentration and distribution. Results showed progressive thickening of alveolar basement membranes with increased duration of oxygen exposure. The normal distribution of proteoglycans, which is predominantly in the lamina rara externa of alveolar basement membranes, was frequently lost in thickened membranes found in oxygen-treated animals. Density of proteoglycans in these membranes decreased to 56% of normal by 2 wk of age and remained low with continued oxygen administration. Proteoglycan concentration in basement membranes on the interstitial side of alveolar capillaries in both control and oxygen-treated animals was low compared with proteoglycan concentration in basement membranes that opposed the alveolar air space, and administration of oxygen diminished these differences. These results demonstrate a direct alteration of proteoglycan distribution and density in the developing lung as a result of oxygen toxicity. This could result in decreased cell adhesion, influence the cellular response to lung injury, and contribute to the increased permeability seen with this disorder.

  17. TOXICITY OF AHR AGONISTS TO FISH EARLY LIFE STAGES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Fish early life stages are exceptionally sensitive to the lethal toxicity of chemicals that act as arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists. Toxicity characterizations based on 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, generally the most potent AhR agonist, support the toxicity equiva...

  18. Mathematical models of retinitis pigmentosa: The oxygen toxicity hypothesis.

    PubMed

    Roberts, Paul A; Gaffney, Eamonn A; Luthert, Philip J; Foss, Alexander J E; Byrne, Helen M

    2017-07-21

    The group of genetically mediated diseases, known collectively as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), cause retinal degeneration and, hence, loss of vision. The most common inherited retinal degeneration, RP is currently untreatable. The retina detects light using cells known as photoreceptors, of which there are two types: rods and cones. In RP, genetic mutations cause patches of photoreceptors to degenerate and typically directly affect either rods or cones, but not both. During disease progression, degenerate patches spread and the unaffected photoreceptor type also begins to degenerate. The cause underlying these phenomena is currently unknown. The oxygen toxicity hypothesis proposes that secondary photoreceptor loss is due to hyperoxia (toxically high oxygen levels), which results from the decrease in oxygen uptake following the initial loss of photoreceptors. In this paper, we construct mathematical models, formulated as 1D systems of partial differential equations, to investigate this hypothesis. Using a combination of numerical simulations, asymptotic analysis and travelling wave analysis, we find that degeneration may spread due to hyperoxia, and generate spatio-temporal patterns of degeneration similar to those seen in vivo. We determine the conditions under which a degenerate patch will spread and show that the wave speed of degeneration is a monotone decreasing function of the local photoreceptor density. Lastly, the effects of treatment with antioxidants and trophic factors, and of capillary loss, upon the dynamics of photoreceptor loss and recovery are considered. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. 40 CFR 797.1600 - Fish early life stage toxicity test.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... the test solution concentrations. The test terminates following 60 days of post-hatch exposure (for an... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Fish early life stage toxicity test... Fish early life stage toxicity test. (a) Purpose. This guideline is intended to be used for assessing...

  20. 40 CFR 797.1600 - Fish early life stage toxicity test.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... the test solution concentrations. The test terminates following 60 days of post-hatch exposure (for an... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Fish early life stage toxicity test... Fish early life stage toxicity test. (a) Purpose. This guideline is intended to be used for assessing...

  1. [Wet oxidation of toxic industrial waste with oxygenated water].

    PubMed

    Alfieri, M; Colombo, G; Velotti, R

    1991-01-01

    The industrial toxic waste streams hot treatment technology with hydrogen peroxide and catalysts, developed by the research laboratories of Montefluos in Bollate, allows the abatement of many organic and bio-toxic pollutants. Some treatment examples are here reported. The examples, performed on a laboratory scale, relate to industrial waste streams with a high COD (100000-200000 mg/l) in which it was possible to obtain an abatement over the 90% of pollutants like phenols, formaldehyde, dimethylformamide and phenyl acetate. The application range of this technology is similar to that of oxygen or air wet oxidation, but it has remarkable advantages due to the lower plant, maintenance and energy costs, because the treatment is performed using much more bland conditions (atmospheric pressure and 90-100 degrees C of temperature). The aim of the bio-toxic pollutants abatement and COD reduction (70-80%) is to allow the final bio-digestion waste streams with high organic content, but too diluted to be directly incenerated at a suitable cost.

  2. Rectal temperature changes and oxygen toxicity in dogs treated in a monoplace chamber.

    PubMed

    Shmalberg, Justin; Davies, Wendy; Lopez, Stacy; Shmalberg, Danielle; Zilberschtein, Jose

    2015-01-01

    Hyperbaric oxygen treatments are increasingly administered to pet dogs, using veterinary-specific monoplace chambers. The basic physiologic responses, chamber performance and oxygen toxicity rates have not yet been evaluated in dogs in a clinical setting. As a result, a series of consecutive 45-minute, 2-atmospheres absolute (atm abs) hyperbaric treatments with 100% oxygen were evaluated in a veterinary rehabilitation center (n = 285). 65 dogs with a mean body weight of 21 ± 15 kg (1.4-71 kg) were treated with an average of four sessions each. The mean rectal temperature of canine patients decreased 0.07 degrees C (0.1 degrees F) during treatments (p = 0.04). Intra-chamber temperature and humidity both increased: +1.0 degrees C (1.7 degrees F, p < 0.0001) and +5.7% (p < 0.0001), respectively. The mean maximal oxygen concentration measured before depressurization of the veterinary-specific commercial chamber was 98.0 ± 0.9%. No strong correlations (r > 0.75) were identified between body weights, body condition scores, maximal oxygen concentrations, starting or ending rectal temperature, chamber humidity and chamber temperature. Oxygen toxicity was not observed during the observational period. Patients were most commonly treated for intervertebral disc disease (n = 16 dogs) and extensive traumatic wounds (n = 10 dogs), which represented a large number of the total study sessions (19% and 16%, respectively).

  3. Cisplatin toxicity reduced in human cultured renal tubular cells by oxygen pretreatment.

    PubMed

    Kaeidi, Ayat; Rasoulian, Bahram; Hajializadeh, Zahra; Pourkhodadad, Soheila; Rezaei, Maryam

    2013-01-01

    Cisplatin is an effective and widely used chemotherapy agent and its side effects, particularly nephrotoxicity, limit its usage and related platinum-based drugs. Cisplatin nephrotoxicity is mainly due to extremely increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation leading to kidney tubular cell death. Preconditioning with oxidative stress has been demonstrated to stimulate the cellular adaptation to subsequent severe oxidative stress. Short term oxygen pre-exposure as a mild oxidative stress may enhance some endogenous defense mechanisms, so its effect on Cisplatin induced cell death was investigated in present research. We studied the effects of hyperoxic environment pre-exposure on Cisplatin toxicity in an in-vitro model of cultured human embryonic tubular epithelial cells (AD293). Viability of AD293 cells, as evaluated by MTT-assay, was affected by Cisplatin in a time (1-4 h) dependent model. Biochemical markers of cell apoptosis were evaluated using immunoblotting. Pretreatment with nearly pure oxygen (≥90%) for 2 h significantly reduced the level of cell damage. Activated caspase 3 and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio were significantly increased in Cisplatin-treated cells. Oxygen pretreatment inhibited caspase 3 activation and decreased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Oxygen pre-treatment itself not showed any cytotoxicity in exposure times up to 3 h. Our data indicate that hyperoxic preconditioning reduces Cisplatin toxicity in cultured human tubular epithelial cells. The exact mechanism of protection is unclear, though enhancement of some endogenous defense mechanisms and subsequently scavenging of free oxygen radicals may play an important role.

  4. The Effect of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticle Valence State on Reactive Oxygen Species and Toxicity.

    PubMed

    Dunnick, Katherine M; Pillai, Rajalekshmi; Pisane, Kelly L; Stefaniak, Aleksandr B; Sabolsky, Edward M; Leonard, Stephen S

    2015-07-01

    Cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles, which are used in a variety of products including solar cells, gas sensors, and catalysts, are expected to increase in industrial use. This will subsequently lead to additional occupational exposures, making toxicology screenings crucial. Previous toxicology studies have presented conflicting results as to the extent of CeO2 toxicity, which is hypothesized to be due to the ability of Ce to exist in both a +3 and +4 valence state. Thus, to study whether valence state and oxygen vacancy concentration are important in CeO2 toxicity, CeO2 nanoparticles were doped with gadolinium to adjust the cation (Ce, Gd) and anion (O) defect states. The hypothesis that doping would increase toxicity and decrease antioxidant abilities as a result of increased oxygen vacancies and inhibition of +3 to +4 transition was tested. Differences in toxicity and reactivity based on valence state were determined in RLE-6TN rat alveolar epithelial and NR8383 rat alveolar macrophage cells using enhanced dark field microscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and annexin V/propidium iodide cell viability stain. Results from EPR indicated that as doping increased, antioxidant potential decreased. Alternatively, doping had no effect on toxicity at 24 h. The present results imply that as doping increases, thus subsequently increasing the Ce(3+)/Ce(4+) ratio, antioxidant potential decreases, suggesting that differences in reactivity of CeO2 are due to the ability of Ce to transition between the two valence states and the presence of increased oxygen vacancies, rather than dependent on a specific valence state.

  5. A Preliminary Study on the Toxic Combustion Products Testing of Polymers Used in High-Pressure Oxygen Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hshieh, Fu-Yu; Beeson, Harold D.

    2004-01-01

    One likely cause of polymer ignition in a high-pressure oxygen system is adiabatic-compression heating of polymers caused by pneumatic impact. Oxidative _ pyrolysis or combustion of polymers in a high-pressure oxygen system could generate toxic gases. This paper reports the preliminary results of toxic combustion product testing of selected polymers in a pneumatic-impact test system. Five polymers commonly used in high-pressure oxygen systems, Nylon 6/6, polychlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluoroelastomer (Viton(TradeMark) A), and nitrile rubber (Buna N), were tested in a pneumatic-impact test system at 2500- or 3500-psia oxygen pressure. The polymers were ignited and burned, then combustion products were collected in a stainless-steel sample bottle and analyzed by GC/MS/IRD, GC/FID, and GC/Methanizer/FID. The results of adiabatic-compression tests show that combustion of hydrocarbon polymers, nitrogen-containing polymers, and halogenated polymers in high-pressure oxygen systems are relatively complete. Toxicity of the combustion product gas is presumably much lower than the combustion product gas generated from ambient-pressure oxygen (or air) environments. The NASA-Lewis equilibrium code was used to determine the composition of combustion product gas generated from a simulated, adiabatic-compression test of nine polymers. The results are presented and discussed.

  6. Failure of juice or juice extract from the noni plant (Morinda citrifolia) to protect rats against oxygen toxicity.

    PubMed

    Berg, John T; Furusawa, Eiichi

    2007-02-01

    Noni juice possesses antioxidant activity and prevents superoxide-mediated tissue injury in laboratory animals. A polysaccharide-rich precipitate of noni juice (noni-ppt) also stimulates tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin 1 (IL-1) in mice. Endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) stimulates TNF and IL-1 in rats and protects against superoxide-mediated oxygen toxicity. Accordingly, we hypothesized that noni juice, or noni-ppt, would protect rats against pulmonary oxygen toxicity. Rats were divided into four groups; one received noni-ppt to test for cytokine-induced protection; another received noni juice to test for antioxidant activity; a third received saline as hyperoxia control; a fourth received no treatment in air. Rats were then exposed to either hyperoxia (> 97% oxygen at sea level for 52 or 60 hours) or air and lung injury assessed. Rats receiving saline, noni-ppt or noni juice exhibited typical signs of oxygen toxicity with hemorrhagic lungs, large pleural effusions and increases in protein concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. They also developed heavy lungs with increases in wet/dry weight ratios, hematocrit values and ratios of effusion protein to plasma protein concentration. These results show that Noni juice and Noni-ppt do not prevent oxygen toxicity in rats when administered according to the protocols used in this study.

  7. Early skin toxicity predicts better outcomes, and early tumor shrinkage predicts better response after cetuximab treatment in advanced colorectal cancer.

    PubMed

    Kogawa, T; Doi, A; Shimokawa, M; Fouad, T M; Osuga, T; Tamura, F; Mizushima, T; Kimura, T; Abe, S; Ihara, H; Kukitsu, T; Sumiyoshi, T; Yoshizaki, N; Hirayama, M; Sasaki, T; Kawarada, Y; Kitashiro, S; Okushiba, S; Kondo, H; Tsuji, Y

    2015-03-01

    Cetuximab-containing treatments for metastatic colorectal cancer have been shown to have higher overall response rates and longer progression-free and overall survival than other systemic therapies. Cetuximab-related manifestations, including severe skin toxicity and early tumor shrinkage, have been shown to be predictors of response to cetuximab. We hypothesized that early skin toxicity is a predictor of response and better outcomes in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma. We retrospectively evaluated 62 patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma who had unresectable tumors and were treated with cetuximab in our institution. Skin toxicity grade was evaluated on each treatment day. Tumor size was evaluated using computed tomography prior to treatment and 4-8 weeks after the start of treatment with cetuximab.Patients with early tumor shrinkage after starting treatment with cetuximab had a significantly higher overall response rate (P = 0.0001). Patients with early skin toxicity showed significantly longer overall survival (P = 0.0305), and patients with higher skin toxicity grades had longer progression-free survival (P = 0.0168).We have shown that early tumor shrinkage, early onset of skin toxicity, and high skin toxicity grade are predictors of treatment efficacy and/or outcome in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma treated with cetuximab.

  8. ON-LINE TOXICITY MONITORS AND WATERSHED EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A Water Quality Early Warning System using On-line Toxicity Monitors (OTMs) has been deployed in the East Fork of the Little Miami River, Clermont County, OH. Living organisms have long been used to determine the toxicity of environmental samples. With advancements in electronic ...

  9. Hydrogen gas alleviates oxygen toxicity by reducing hydroxyl radical levels in PC12 cells

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Junchao; Yu, Qiuhong; Liu, Yaling; Zhang, Ruiyun; Xue, Lianbi

    2017-01-01

    Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy through breathing oxygen at the pressure of above 1 atmosphere absolute (ATA) is useful for varieties of clinical conditions, especially hypoxic-ischemic diseases. Because of generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), breathing oxygen gas at high pressures can cause oxygen toxicity in the central nervous system, leading to multiple neurological dysfunction, which limits the use of HBO therapy. Studies have shown that Hydrogen gas (H2) can diminish oxidative stress and effectively reduce active ROS associated with diseases. However, the effect of H2 on ROS generated from HBO therapy remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of H2 on ROS during HBO therapy using PC12 cells. PC12 cells cultured in medium were exposed to oxygen gas or mixed oxygen gas and H2 at 1 ATA or 5 ATA. Cells viability and oxidation products and ROS were determined. The data showed that H2 promoted the cell viability and inhibited the damage in the cell and mitochondria membrane, reduced the levels of lipid peroxidation and DNA oxidation, and selectively decreased the levels of •OH but not disturbing the levels of O2•-, H2O2, or NO• in PC12 cells during HBO therapy. These results indicated that H2 effectively reduced •OH, protected cells against oxygen toxicity resulting from HBO therapy, and had no effect on other ROS. Our data supported that H2 could be potentially used as an antioxidant during HBO therapy. PMID:28362819

  10. Hydrogen gas alleviates oxygen toxicity by reducing hydroxyl radical levels in PC12 cells.

    PubMed

    Yu, Junchao; Yu, Qiuhong; Liu, Yaling; Zhang, Ruiyun; Xue, Lianbi

    2017-01-01

    Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy through breathing oxygen at the pressure of above 1 atmosphere absolute (ATA) is useful for varieties of clinical conditions, especially hypoxic-ischemic diseases. Because of generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), breathing oxygen gas at high pressures can cause oxygen toxicity in the central nervous system, leading to multiple neurological dysfunction, which limits the use of HBO therapy. Studies have shown that Hydrogen gas (H2) can diminish oxidative stress and effectively reduce active ROS associated with diseases. However, the effect of H2 on ROS generated from HBO therapy remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of H2 on ROS during HBO therapy using PC12 cells. PC12 cells cultured in medium were exposed to oxygen gas or mixed oxygen gas and H2 at 1 ATA or 5 ATA. Cells viability and oxidation products and ROS were determined. The data showed that H2 promoted the cell viability and inhibited the damage in the cell and mitochondria membrane, reduced the levels of lipid peroxidation and DNA oxidation, and selectively decreased the levels of •OH but not disturbing the levels of O2•-, H2O2, or NO• in PC12 cells during HBO therapy. These results indicated that H2 effectively reduced •OH, protected cells against oxygen toxicity resulting from HBO therapy, and had no effect on other ROS. Our data supported that H2 could be potentially used as an antioxidant during HBO therapy.

  11. Evolving Oxygen Landscape of the Early Atmosphere and Oceans

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lyons, T. W.; Reinhard, C. T.; Planavsky, N. J.

    2013-12-01

    The past decade has witnessed remarkable advances in our understanding of oxygen on the early Earth, and a new framework, the topic of this presentation, is now in place to address the controls on spatiotemporal distributions of oxygen and their potential relationships to deep-Earth processes. Recent challenges to the Archean biomarker record have put an added burden on inorganic geochemistry to fingerprint and quantify the early production, accumulation, and variation of biospheric oxygen. Fortunately, a wide variety of techniques now point convincingly to photosynthetic oxygen production and dynamic accumulation well before the canonical Great Oxidation Event (GOE). Recent modeling of sulfur recycling over this interval allows for transient oxygen accumulation in the atmosphere without the disappearance of non-mass-dependent (NMD) sulfur isotope anomalies from the stratigraphic record and further allows for persistent accumulation in the atmosphere well before the permanent disappearance of NMD signals. This recent work suggests that the initial rise of oxygen may have occurred in fits and starts rather than a single step, and that once permanently present in the atmosphere, oxygen likely rose to high levels and then plummeted, in phase with the Paleoproterozoic Lomagundi positive carbon isotope excursion. More than a billion years of oxygen-free conditions in the deep ocean followed and set a challenging course for life, including limited abundances and diversity of eukaryotic organisms. Despite this widespread anoxia, sulfidic (euxinic) conditions were likely limited to productive ocean margins. Nevertheless, euxinia was sufficiently widespread to impact redox-dependent nutrient relationships, particularly the availability of bioessential trace metals critical in the nitrogen cycle, which spawned feedbacks that likely maintained oxygen at very low levels in the ocean and atmosphere and delayed the arrival of animals. Then, in the mid, pre-glacial Neoproterozoic

  12. Studies with the USF/NASA toxicity screening test method - Exercise wheels and oxygen replenishment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hilado, C. J.; Cumming, H. J.

    1977-01-01

    Continuing efforts to improve the University of San Francisco/NASA toxicity screening test method have included the addition of exercise wheels to provide a different measure of incapacitation, and oxygen replenishment to offset any effect of oxygen depletion by the test animals. The addition of exercise wheels limited the number of animals in each test and doubled the required number of tests without any significant improvement in reproducibility. Oxygen replenishment appears to have an effect on survival in the last 5 minutes of the 30-minute test, but the effect is expected to be similar for most materials.

  13. Reactive Oxygen Species on the Early Earth and Survival of Bacteria

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Balk, Melikea; Mason, Paul; Stams, Alfons J. M.; Smidt, Hauke; Freund, Friedemann; Rothschild, Lynn

    2011-01-01

    An oxygen-rich atmosphere appears to have been a prerequisite for complex, multicellular life to evolve on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the Universe. However it remains unclear how free oxygen first became available on the early Earth. A potentially important, and as yet poorly constrained pathway, is the production of oxygen through the weathering of rocks and release into the near-surface environment. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), as precursors to molecular oxygen, are a key step in this process, and may have had a decisive impact on the evolution of life, present and past. ROS are generated from minerals in igneous rocks during hydrolysis of peroxy defects, which consist of pairs of oxygen anions oxidized to the valence state -1 and during (bio) transformations of iron sulphide minerals. ROS are produced and consumed by intracellular and extracellular reactions of Fe, Mn, C, N, and S species. We propose that, despite an overall reducing or neutral oxidation state of the macroenvironment and the absence of free O2 in the atmosphere, organisms on the early Earth had to cope with ROS in their microenvironments. They were thus under evolutionary pressure to develop enzymatic and other defences against the potentially dangerous, even lethal effects of oxygen and its derived ROS. Conversely it appears that microorganisms learned to take advantage of the enormous reactive potential and energy gain provided by nascent oxygen. We investigate how oxygen might be released through weathering. We test microorganisms in contact with rock surfaces and iron sulphides. We model bacteria such as Deionococcus radiodurans and Desulfotomaculum, Moorella and Bacillus species for their ability to grow or survive in the presence of ROS. We examine how early Life might have adapted to oxygen.

  14. Decreasing Irradiated Rat Lung Volume Changes Dose-Limiting Toxicity From Early to Late Effects

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Veen, Sonja J. van der; Faber, Hette; Ghobadi, Ghazaleh

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Technological developments in radiation therapy result in smaller irradiated volumes of normal tissue. Because the risk of radiation therapy-induced toxicity generally depends on irradiated volume, changing volume could change the dose-limiting toxicity of a treatment. Recently, in our rat model, we found that early radiation-induced lung dysfunction (RILD) was closely related to irradiated volume dependent vascular remodeling besides inflammation. The exact relationship between early and late RILD is still unknown. Therefore, in this preclinical study we investigated the dose-volume relationship of late RILD, assessed its dependence on early and late pathologies and studied if decreasing irradiated volume changed themore » dose-limiting toxicity. Methods and Materials: A volume of 25%, 32%, 50%, 63%, 88%, or 100% of the rat lung was irradiated using protons. Until 26 weeks after irradiation, respiratory rates were measured. Macrovascular remodeling, pulmonary inflammation, and fibrosis were assessed at 26 weeks after irradiation. For all endpoints dose-volume response curves were made. These results were compared to our previously published early lung effects. Results: Early vascular remodeling and inflammation correlated significantly with early RILD. Late RILD correlated with inflammation and fibrosis, but not with vascular remodeling. In contrast to the early effects, late vascular remodeling, inflammation and fibrosis showed a primarily dose but not volume dependence. Comparison of respiratory rate increases early and late after irradiation for the different dose-distributions indicated that with decreasing irradiated volumes, the dose-limiting toxicity changed from early to late RILD. Conclusions: In our rat model, different pathologies underlie early and late RILD with different dose-volume dependencies. Consequently, the dose-limiting toxicity changed from early to late dysfunction when the irradiated volume was reduced. In patients, early and

  15. Possible central nervous system oxygen toxicity seizures among US recreational air or enriched air nitrox open circuit diving fatalities 2004-2013.

    PubMed

    Buzzacott, P; Denoble, P J

    2017-01-01

    The first diver certification programme for recreational 'enriched air nitrox' (EAN) diving was released in 1985. Concerns were expressed that many EAN divers might suffer central nervous system (CNS) oxygen toxicity seizures and drown. US fatalities on open-circuit scuba occurring between 2004-2013, where the breathing gas was either air or EAN, were identified. Causes of death and preceding circumstances were examined by a medical examiner experienced in diving autopsies. Case notes were searched for witnessed seizures at elevated partial pressures of oxygen. The dataset comprised 344 air divers (86%) and 55 divers breathing EAN (14%). EAN divers' fatal dives were deeper than air divers' (28 msw vs 18 msw, p < 0.0001). Despite this, of the 249 cases where a cause of death was established, only three EAN divers were considered to have possibly died following CNS oxygen toxicity seizures at depth (ppO2 132, 142 and 193 kPa). The analysis of recreational diving fatalities in the US over 10 years found just one death likely from CNS oxygen toxicity among EAN divers. A further two possible, although unlikely, cases were also found. Fears of commonplace CNS oxygen toxicity seizures while EAN diving have not apparently been realized.

  16. The presence of MWCNTs reduces developmental toxicity of PFOS in early life stage of zebrafish.

    PubMed

    Wang, Shutao; Zhuang, Changlu; Du, Jia; Wu, Chuan; You, Hong

    2017-03-01

    Both carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are used widely. There is considerable concern regarding their ecotoxicity. CNTs might interact with PFOS in water and result in different impacts compared with those after single exposures. To our knowledge, the developmental toxicity of PFOS in the presence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in the early life stage of zebrafish (from 3 h post fertilization (hpf) to 96 hpf) was investigated for the first time in this study. The embryos and larvae were exposed to PFOS (0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6 mg/L), MWCNTs (50 mg/L), and a mixture of both. Compared with PFOS exposure, the adverse effects induced by PFOS on the hatching rate of zebrafish embryos and the heart rate and body length of zebrafish larvae were reduced in the presence of MWCNTs, and mortality and malformation were also alleviated. In addition, zebrafish larvae exposed to PFOS showed decreased activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, as well as decreased levels of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde, in the presence of MWCNTs, indicating that oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation was relieved. Thus, the presence of MWCNTs reduces the developmental toxicity of PFOS in the early life stage of zebrafish. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. A Brief Study on Toxic Combustion Products of the Polymers Used in High-Pressure Oxygen Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hshieh, Fu-Yu; Beeson, Harold D.

    2005-01-01

    One likely cause of polymer ignition in a high-pressure oxygen system is the adiabatic-compression heating of polymers caused by pneumatic impact. Oxidative pyrolysis or combustion of polymers in a high-pressure oxygen system could generate toxic gases. This paper investigates the feasibility of using the NASA pneumatic-impact system to conduct adiabatic-compression combustion tests and determines the toxic combustion products produced from the burning of five selected polymers. Five polymers commonly used in high-pressure oxygen systems, Zytel(Registered TradeMark) 42 (Nylon 6/6), Buna N (nitrile rubber), Witon(Registered TradeMark) A (copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropylene), Neoflon(Registered TradeMark) (polychlorotrifluoroethylene), and Teflon(Registered TradeMark) (polytetrafluoroethylene), were tested in the NASA pneumatic-impact test system at 17.2-MPa oxygen pressure. The polymers were ignited and burned; combustion products were collected in a stainless-steel sample bottle and analyzed using various methods. The results show that the NASA pneumatic-impact system is an appropriate test system to conduct adiabatic-compression combustion tests and to collect combustion products for further chemical analysis. The composition of the combustion product gas generated from burning the five selected polymers are presented and discussed.

  18. [How did the earth's oxygen atmosphere originate?].

    PubMed

    Schäfer, G

    2004-09-01

    The planet earth did not carry an oxygen atmosphere from the beginning. Though oxygen could arise from radiation mediated water splitting, these processes were not efficient enough to create a global gas atmosphere. Oxygen in the latter is a product of the photosynthetic activity of early green organisms. Only after biological mass-formation of oxygen the UV-protective ozone layer could develop, then enabeling life to move from water onto land. This took billions of years. The basics of the processes of biological oxygen liberation and utilization are described in the following as well as the importance of their steady state equilibrium. Also a hint is given to oxygen as a toxic compound though being a chemical prerequisite for aerobic life on earth.

  19. Oxygenation history of the Neoproterozoic to early Phanerozoic and the rise of land plants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wallace, Malcolm W.; Hood, Ashleigh vS.; Shuster, Alice; Greig, Alan; Planavsky, Noah J.; Reed, Christopher P.

    2017-05-01

    There has been extensive debate about the history of Earth's oxygenation and the role that land plant evolution played in shaping Earth's ocean-atmosphere system. Here we use the rare earth element patterns in marine carbonates to monitor the structure of the marine redox landscape through the rise and diversification of animals and early land plants. In particular, we use the relative abundance of cerium (Ceanom), the only redox-sensitive rare earth element, in well-preserved marine cements and other marine precipitates to track seawater oxygen levels. Our results indicate that there was only a moderate increase in oceanic oxygenation during the Ediacaran (average Cryogenian Ceanom = 1.1, average Ediacaran Ceanom = 0.62), followed by a decrease in oxygen levels during the early Cambrian (average Cryogenian Ceanom = 0.90), with significant ocean anoxia persisting through the early and mid Paleozoic (average Early Cambrian-Early Devonian Ceanom = 0.84). It was not until the Late Devonian that oxygenation levels are comparable to the modern (average of all post-middle Devonian Ceanom = 0.55). Therefore, this work confirms growing evidence that the oxygenation of the Earth was neither unidirectional nor a simple two-stage process. Further, we provide evidence that it was not until the Late Devonian, when large land plants and forests first evolved, that oxygen levels reached those comparable to the modern world. This is recorded with the first modern-like negative Ceanom (values <0.6) occurring at around 380 Ma (Frasnian). This suggests that land plants, rather than animals, are the 'engineers' responsible for the modern fully oxygenated Earth system.

  20. Early Life Origins of Metabolic Syndrome: The Role of Environmental Toxicants

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Guoying; Chen, Zhu; Bartell, Tami; Wang, Xiaobin

    2014-01-01

    Metabolic syndrome (MetS) affects more than 47 million people in the U.S. Even more alarming, MetS, once regarded as an “adult problem”, has become increasingly common in children. To date, most related research and intervention efforts have occurred in the adult medicine arena, with limited understanding of the root causes and lengthy latency of MetS. This review highlights new science on the early life origins of MetS, with a particular focus on exposure to two groups of environmental toxicants: endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and metals during the prenatal and early postnatal periods, and their specific effects and important differences in the development of MetS. It also summarizes available data on epigenetic effects, including the role of EDCs in the androgen/estrogen pathways. Emerging evidence supports the link between exposures to environmental toxicants during early life and the development of MetS later in life. Additional research is needed to address important research gaps in this area, including prospective birth cohort studies to delineate temporal and dose-response relationships, important differences in the effects of various environmental toxicants and their joint effects on MetS, as well as epigenetic mechanisms underlying the effects of specific toxicants such as EDCs and metals. PMID:24883264

  1. Early pregnancy exposure to feto-toxic medications among out-patients in Malawi.

    PubMed

    Kabuluzi, Ezereth; Campbell, Malcolm; McGowan, Linda; Chirwa, Ellen; Brabin, Loretta

    2014-08-01

    To estimate the proportion of women in early pregnancy prescribed potentially feto-toxic medications at an out-patient clinic in Malawi. Over six-months the number of women of child-bearing age attending out-patient clinics and prescribed medicines at Mitundu Community Hospital was derived from the hospital's registry and pharmacy records. Women prescribed potentially feto-toxic medicines (using Food and Drug Administration classifications) by medical assessments were subsequently interviewed and pregnancy tested. Exposure to potentially feto-toxic medications was estimated and differences between pregnant and non-pregnant women were described. Of 8970 female outpatients, 1012 (11.3%; 95% CI: 10.6% to 12%) were prescribed potentially feto-toxic medicines. After excluding 740 as unlikely to be pregnant, 209 women had negative pregnancy tests and 63 were confirmed as pregnant, representing one in 16 of women prescribed contraindicated medicines or between 2.8% and 3.5% of all women attending in early pregnancy. Most medicines were FDA rated C or D. Only 152 (55.9%) of these women had been asked about pregnancy and prescribing practices did not discriminate between pregnant and non-pregnant patients. Assessment and prescribing practices for women attending out-patient clinics who might be in early pregnancy were inadequate, increasing the risk of exposure to potentially feto-toxic medicines.

  2. Parenting Interventions in Early Head Start: The Buffering Toxic Stress Consortium

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berlin, Lisa; Blair, Clancy; Boyd, Misty L.; Constantino, John N.; Hallam, Rena A.; Han, Myae; Hustedt, Jason; Harden, Brenda Jones; Raver, C. Cybele; Sarche, Michelle; Vu, Jennifer A.; Watamura, Sarah Enos; Meyer, Aleta; Fortunato, Christine

    2013-01-01

    The Buffering Toxic Stress Consortium was created by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families to test preventive interventions for Early Head Start families facing toxic stress, as conceptualized by Shonkoff, Boyce, and McEwen in their influential 2009 article. Because relationships…

  3. Renal Blood Flow, Glomerular Filtration Rate, and Renal Oxygenation in Early Clinical Septic Shock.

    PubMed

    Skytte Larsson, Jenny; Krumbholz, Vitus; Enskog, Anders; Bragadottir, Gudrun; Redfors, Bengt; Ricksten, Sven-Erik

    2018-06-01

    Data on renal hemodynamics, function, and oxygenation in early clinical septic shock are lacking. We therefore measured renal blood flow, glomerular filtration rate, renal oxygen consumption, and oxygenation in patients with early septic shock. Prospective comparative study. General and cardiothoracic ICUs. Patients with norepinephrine-dependent early septic shock (n = 8) were studied within 24 hours after arrival in the ICU and compared with postcardiac surgery patients without acute kidney injury (comparator group, n = 58). None. Data on systemic hemodynamics and renal variables were obtained during two 30-minute periods. Renal blood flow was measured by the infusion clearance of para-aminohippuric acid, corrected for renal extraction of para-aminohippuric acid. Renal filtration fraction was measured by renal extraction of chromium-51 labeled EDTA. Renal oxygenation was estimated from renal oxygen extraction. Renal oxygen delivery (-24%; p = 0.037) and the renal blood flow-to-cardiac index ratio (-21%; p = 0.018) were lower, renal vascular resistance was higher (26%; p = 0.027), whereas renal blood flow tended to be lower (-19%; p = 0.068) in the septic group. Glomerular filtration rate (-32%; p = 0.006) and renal sodium reabsorption (-29%; p = 0.014) were both lower in the septic group. Neither renal filtration fraction nor renal oxygen consumption differed significantly between groups. Renal oxygen extraction was significantly higher in the septic group (28%; p = 0.022). In the septic group, markers of tubular injury were elevated. In early clinical septic shock, renal function was lower, which was accompanied by renal vasoconstriction, a lower renal oxygen delivery, impaired renal oxygenation, and tubular sodium reabsorption at a high oxygen cost compared with controls.

  4. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for Streptococcus pyogenes toxic shock syndrome in pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Imaeda, Taro; Nakada, Taka-Aki; Abe, Ryuzo; Tateishi, Yoshihisa; Oda, Shigeto

    2016-06-01

    Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), an invasive Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcus) infection with hypotension and multiple organ failure, is quite rare in pregnancy but is characterized by rapid disease progression and high fatality rates. We present a case of STSS with infection-induced cardiac dysfunction in a pregnant woman who was treated with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). A 24-year-old multiparous woman in the third trimester had early symptoms of high fever and diarrhea 1 day prior to admission to the hospital emergency department. On admission, she had multiple organ failure including circulatory failure. Due to fetal distress, emergency Cesarean section was carried out and transferred to intensive care units. She had refractory circulatory failure with depressed myocardial contractility with progressive multiple organ failure, despite receiving significant hemodynamic supports including high-dose catecholamine. Thus, VA-ECMO was initiated 18 h after intensive care unit admission. Consequently, ECMO provided extra time to recover from infection and myocardial depression. She was successfully weaned from VA-ECMO on day 7 and was discharged home on day 53. VA-ECMO can be a therapeutic option for refractory circulatory failure with significant myocardial depression in STSS.

  5. Effect of sleep-wake reversal and sleep deprivation on the circadian rhythm of oxygen toxicity seizure susceptibility.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dexter, J. D.; Hof, D. G.; Mengel, C. E.

    1972-01-01

    Albino Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed in a previously O2 flushed, CO2 free chamber. The exposure began with attainment of 60 psi (gauge) and the end point was the first generalized oxygen toxicity seizure. Animals were exposed to reversal diurnal conditions since weanlings until their sleep-wake cycles had completely reversed, and then divided into four groups of 20 based on the time of day exposed. The time of exposure to oxygen at high pressure prior to seizure was now significantly longer in the group exposed from 1900 to 2000 hr and a reversal of the circadian rhythm of oxygen toxicity seizure susceptibility was noted. Animals maintained on normal diurnal conditions were deprived of sleep on the day of exposure for the 12 hours prior to exposure at 1900 hr, while controls were allowed to sleep. There was no significant differences in the time prior to seizure between the deprived animals and the controls with an n = 40. Thus the inherent threshold in susceptibility to high-pressure oxygen seizures seems not to be a function of sleep itself, but of some biochemical/physiologic event which manifests a circadian rhythm.

  6. Lower early postnatal oxygen saturation target and risk of ductus arteriosus closure failure.

    PubMed

    Inomata, Kei; Taniguchi, Shinji; Yonemoto, Hiroki; Inoue, Takeshi; Kawase, Akihiko; Kondo, Yuichi

    2016-11-01

    Early postnatal hyperoxia is a major risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in extremely premature infants. To reduce the occurrence of ROP, we adopted a lower early postnatal oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) target range (85-92%) from April 2011. Lower SpO 2 target range, however, may lead to hypoxemia and an increase in the risk of ductus arteriosus (DA) closure failure. The aim of this study was therefore to determine whether a lower SpO 2 target range, during the early postnatal stage, increases the risk of DA closure failure. Infants born at <28 weeks' gestation were enrolled in this study. Oxygen saturation target range during the first postnatal 72 h was 84-100% in study period 1 and 85-92% in period 2. Eighty-two infants were included in period 1, and 61 were included in period 2. The lower oxygen saturation target range increased the occurrence of hypoxemia during the first postnatal 72 h. Prevalence of DA closure failure in period 2 (21%) was significantly higher than that in period 1 (1%). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, the lower oxygen saturation target range was an independent risk factor for DA closure failure. Lower early postnatal oxygen saturation target range increases the risk of DA closure failure. © 2016 Japan Pediatric Society.

  7. Incidence of CNS Oxygen Toxicity with Mild Hyperoxia: A Literature and Data Review

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-04-01

    multi-depth profiles.16,17 One diver reported numbness, tingling, poor concentration and dizziness after only 5 minutes. One diver reported tinnitus ...function dives,22, 24, 26, 28 the symptoms considered to be CNS oxygen toxicity during the training dives--nausea, dizziness, tinnitus ...models accumulate risk from prior exposure but do not (and cannot) consider other possible changes caused by immediate history , e.g., sensitization or

  8. Ether oxygenate additives in gasoline reduce toxicity of exhausts.

    PubMed

    Westphal, G A; Krahl, J; Brüning, T; Hallier, E; Bünger, J

    2010-02-09

    Fuel additives can improve combustion and knock resistance of gasoline engines. Common additives in commercial fuels are "short-chain, oxygen containing hydrocarbons" such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE). Since these additives change the combustion characteristics, this may as well influence toxic effects of the resulting emissions. Therefore we compared toxicity and BTEX emissions of gasoline engine exhaust regarding addition of MTBE or ETBE. Non-reformulated gasoline served as basic fuel. This fuel was supplemented with 10%, 20%, 25% and 30% ETBE or 15% MTBE. The fuels were combusted in a gasoline engine at idling, part load and rated power. Condensates and particulate matter (PM) were collected and PM samples extracted with dichloromethane. Cytotoxic effects were investigated in murine fibroblasts (L929) using the neutral red uptake assay and mutagenicity using the bacterial reverse mutation assay. BTEX emissions were analyzed by gas chromatography. PM-extracts showed mutagenicity with and without metabolic activation. Mutagenicity was reduced by the addition of MTBE and ETBE, 10% ETBE being most effective. The condensates produced no significant mutagenic response. The cytotoxicity of the condensates from ETBE- and MTBE-reformulated fuels was reduced as well. The BTEX content in the exhaust was lowered by the addition of MTBE and ETBE. This effect was significantly related to the ETBE content at rated power and part load. Addition of MTBE and ETBE to fuels can improve combustion and leads to decreased toxicity and BTEX content of the exhaust. Reduction of mutagenicity in the PM-extracts is most probably caused by a lower content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Active Oxygen Metabolites and Thromboxane in Phorbol Myristate Acetate Toxicity to the Isolated, Perfused Rat Lung.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carpenter, Laurie Jean

    When administered intravenously or intratracheally to rats, rabbits and sheep, phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) produces changes in lung morphology and function are similar to those seen in humans with the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Therefore, it is thought that information about the mechanism of ARDS development can be gained from experiments using PMA-treated animals. Currently, the mechanisms by which PMA causes pneumotoxicity are unknown. Results from other studies in rabbits and in isolated, perfused rabbit lungs suggest that PMA-induced lung injury is mediated by active oxygen species from neutrophils (PMN), whereas studies in sheep and rats suggest that PMN are not required for the toxic response. The role of PMN, active oxygen metabolites and thromboxane (TxA_2) in PMA-induced injury to isolated, perfused rat lungs (IPLs) was examined in this thesis. To determine whether PMN were required for PMA to produce toxicity to the IPL, lungs were perfused for 30 min with buffer containing various concentrations of PMA (in the presence or absence of PMN). When concentrations >=q57 ng/ml were added to medium devoid of added PMN, perfusion pressure and lung weight increased. When a concentration of PMA (14-28 ng/ml) that did not by itself cause lungs to accumulate fluid was added to the perfusion medium containing PMN (1 x 10 ^8), perfusion pressure increased, and lungs accumulated fluid. These results indicate that high concentrations of PMA produce lung injury which is independent of PMN, whereas injury induced by lower concentrations is PMN-dependent. To examine whether active oxygen species were involved in mediating lung injury induced by PMA and PMN, lungs were coperfused with the oxygen radical scavengers SOD and/or catalase. Coperfusion with either or both of these enzymes totally protected lungs against injury caused by PMN and PMA. These results suggest that active oxygen species (the hydroxyl radical in particular), mediate lung injury in

  10. Alternative aircraft anti-icing formulations with reduced aquatic toxicity and biochemical oxygen demand

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gold, Harris; Joback, Kevin; Geis, Steven; Bowman, George; Mericas, Dean; Corsi, Steven R.; Ferguson, Lee

    2010-01-01

    The current research was conducted to identify alternative aircraft and pavement deicer and anti-icer formulations with improved environmental characteristics compared to currently used commercial products (2007). The environmental characteristics of primary concern are the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and aquatic toxicity of the fully formulated products. Except when the distinction among products is necessary for clarity, “deicer” will refer to aircraft-deicing fluids (ADFs), aircraft anti-icing fluids (AAFs), and pavementdeicing materials (PDMs).

  11. New Views on the Early Evolution of Oxygen in the Galaxy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rebolo, R.; Israelian, G.; García López, R. J.

    We have performed a detailed oxygen abundance analysis of 23 metal-poor (-3.0 < [Fe/H] < -0.3) unevolved halo stars and one giant through the OH bands in the near UV, using high-resolution echelle spectra. Oxygen is found to be overabundant with respect to iron in these stars, with the [O/Fe] ratio increasing from 0.6 to 1 between [Fe/H] = -1.5 and -3.0. The behavior of the oxygen overabundance with respect to [Fe/H] is similar to that seen in previous works based on the OI IR triplet data (Abia & Rebolo 1989; Tomkin et al. 1992; Cavallo, Pilachowski, & Rebolo 1997). Contrary to the previously accepted picture, our oxygen abundances, derived from low-excitation OH lines, agree well with those derived from high-excitation lines of the triplet. For nine stars in common with Tomkin et al. we obtain a mean difference of 0.00 plus or minus 0.11dex with respect to the abundances determined from the triplet using the same stellar parameters and model photospheres. Our new results show a smooth extension of the Edvardsson et al.'s (1993) [O/Fe] versus metallicity curve to much lower abundances. The oxygen abundances of unevolved stars when compared with values in the literature for giants of similar metallicity imply that the latter may have suffered a process of oxygen depletion. It appears that unevolved metal-poor stars are better tracers of the early chemical evolution of the Galaxy. The extrapolation of our results to very low metallicities indicates that the ratio of oxygen to iron emerging from the first Type II SNe in the early Galaxy was indeed close to unity. The higher [O/Fe] ratios we find in dwarfs has an impact on the age determination of globular clusters, and suggest that current age estimates have to be reduced by about 1-2 Gyr.

  12. Thermodynamic approach to oxygen delivery in vivo by natural and artificial oxygen carriers.

    PubMed

    Bucci, Enrico

    2009-06-01

    Oxygen is a toxic gas, still indispensable to aerobic life. This paper explores how normal physiology uses the physico-chemical and thermodynamic characteristics of oxygen for transforming a toxic gas into a non toxic indispensable metabolite. Plasma oxygen concentration is in the range of 10(-5) M, insufficient to sustain metabolism. Oxygen carriers, present in blood, release oxygen into plasma, thereby replacing consumed oxygen and buffering PO(2) near their P(50). They are the natural cell-bound carriers, like hemoglobin inside red cells, myoglobin inside myocytes, and artificial cell-free hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOC) dissolved in plasma. Metabolic oxygen replacement can be defined as cell-bound and cell-free delivery. Cell-bound delivery is retarded by the slow diffusion of oxygen in plasma and interstitial fluids. The 40% hematocrit of normal blood compensates for the delay, coping with the fast oxygen consumption by mitochondria. Facilitated oxygen diffusion by HBOCs corrects for the slow diffusion, making cell-free delivery relatively independent from P(50). At all oxygen affinities, HBOCs produce hyperoxygenations that are compensated by vasoconstrictions. There is a strict direct correlation between the rate of oxygen replacement and hemoglobin content of blood. The free energy loss of the gradient adds a relevant regulation of tissues oxygenation. Oxygen is retained intravascularly by the limited permeability to gases of vessel walls.

  13. Toxic effects of magnesium oxide nanoparticles on early developmental and larval stages of zebrafish (Danio rerio).

    PubMed

    Ghobadian, Mehdi; Nabiuni, Mohammad; Parivar, Kazem; Fathi, Mojtaba; Pazooki, Jamileh

    2015-12-01

    Magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgONPs) are used in medicine, manufacturing and food industries. Because of their extensive application in our daily lives, environmental exposure to these nanoparticles is inevitable. The present study examined the effects of MgONPs on zebrafish (Danio rerio) early developmental stages. The results showed that, at different concentrations, MgONPs induced cellular apoptosis and intracellular reactive oxygen species. The hatching rate and survival of embryos decreased in a dose dependent manner. The 96-h LC50 value of MgONPs on zebrafish survival was 428 mg/l and the 48-h EC50 value of MgONPs on zebrafish embryo hatching rate was 175 mg/l. Moreover different types of malformation were observed in exposed embryos. The results demonstrate the toxic effects of MgONPs on zebrafish embryos and emphasize the need for further studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. EARLY LIFESTAGE EFFECTS OF PAH PHOTOACTIVATED TOXICITY IN MEDAKA (ORYZIAS LATIPES)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Two critical questions have yet to be sufficiently addressed for risk assessments of photoactived PAH toxicity to be completed. These include standrdized methods for quantifying the dose of activating radiation received by target organisms, and the potential for early lifestage e...

  15. Comparative effects of graphene and graphene oxide on copper toxicity to Daphnia magna: Role of surface oxygenic functional groups.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yingying; Fan, Wenhong; Xu, Zhizhen; Peng, Weihua; Luo, Shenglian

    2018-05-01

    Although the risk of graphene materials to aquatic organisms has drawn wide attention, the combined effects of graphene materials with other contaminants such as toxic metals, which may bring about more serious effects than graphene materials alone, have seldom been explored. Herein, the effects of graphene (GN) and graphene oxide (GO, an important oxidized derivative of graphene) on copper (Cu) toxicity to Daphnia magna were systematically investigated. The results indicated that GN remarkably increased the Cu accumulation in D. magna and enhanced the oxidative stress injury caused by Cu, whereas did not significantly alter D. magna acute mortality within the tested Cu concentrations (0-200 μg L -1 ). On the contrary, GO significantly decreased the Cu accumulation in D. magna and alleviated the oxidative stress injury caused by Cu. Meanwhile, the presence of GO significantly reduced the mortality of D. magna when Cu concentration exceeded 50 μg L -1 . The different effects of GN and GO on Cu toxicity were possibly dependent on the action of surface oxygenic functional group. Because of the introduction of surface oxygenic functional groups, the adsorption ability to metal ions, stability in water and interaction mode with organisms of GO are quite different from that of GN, causing different effects on Cu toxicity. This study provides important information on the bioavailability and toxicity of heavy metals as affected by graphene materials in natural water. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Early Combination of Material Characteristics and Toxicology Is Useful in the Design of Low Toxicity Carbon Nanofiber

    PubMed Central

    Jensen, Ellen K.; Larsen, Sten Y.; Nygaard, Unni C.; Marioara, Calin D.; Syversen, Tore

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes an approach for the early combination of material characterization and toxicology testing in order to design carbon nanofiber (CNF) with low toxicity. The aim was to investigate how the adjustment of production parameters and purification procedures can result in a CNF product with low toxicity. Different CNF batches from a pilot plant were characterized with respect to physical properties (chemical composition, specific surface area, morphology, surface chemistry) as well as toxicity by in vitro and in vivo tests. A description of a test battery for both material characterization and toxicity is given. The results illustrate how the adjustment of production parameters and purification, thermal treatment in particular, influence the material characterization as well as the outcome of the toxic tests. The combination of the tests early during product development is a useful and efficient approach when aiming at designing CNF with low toxicity. Early quality and safety characterization, preferably in an iterative process, is expected to be efficient and promising for this purpose. The toxicity tests applied are preliminary tests of low cost and rapid execution. For further studies, effects such as lung inflammation, fibrosis and respiratory cancer are recommended for the more in-depth studies of the mature CNF product.

  17. Developmental toxicity of PAH mixtures in fish early life stages. Part II: adverse effects in Japanese medaka.

    PubMed

    Le Bihanic, Florane; Clérandeau, Christelle; Le Menach, Karyn; Morin, Bénédicte; Budzinski, Hélène; Cousin, Xavier; Cachot, Jérôme

    2014-12-01

    In aquatic environments, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) mostly occur as complex mixtures, for which risk assessment remains problematic. To better understand the effects of PAH mixture toxicity on fish early life stages, this study compared the developmental toxicity of three PAH complex mixtures. These mixtures were extracted from a PAH-contaminated sediment (Seine estuary, France) and two oils (Arabian Light and Erika). For each fraction, artificial sediment was spiked at three different environmental concentrations roughly equivalent to 0.5, 4, and 10 μg total PAH g(-1) dw. Japanese medaka embryos were incubated on these PAH-spiked sediments throughout their development, right up until hatching. Several endpoints were recorded at different developmental stages, including acute endpoints, morphological abnormalities, larvae locomotion, and genotoxicity (comet and micronucleus assays). The three PAH fractions delayed hatching, induced developmental abnormalities, disrupted larvae swimming activity, and damaged DNA at environmental concentrations. Differences in toxicity levels, likely related to differences in PAH proportions, were highlighted between fractions. The Arabian Light and Erika petrogenic fractions, containing a high proportion of alkylated PAHs and low molecular weight PAHs, were more toxic to Japanese medaka early life stages than the pyrolytic fraction. This was not supported by the toxic equivalency approach, which appeared unsuitable for assessing the toxicity of the three PAH fractions to fish early life stages. This study highlights the potential risks posed by environmental mixtures of alkylated and low molecular weight PAHs to early stages of fish development.

  18. Atmospheric oxygen levels affect mudskipper terrestrial performance: implications for early tetrapods.

    PubMed

    Jew, Corey J; Wegner, Nicholas C; Yanagitsuru, Yuzo; Tresguerres, Martin; Graham, Jeffrey B

    2013-08-01

    The Japanese mudskipper (Periophthalmus modestus), an amphibious fish that possesses many respiratory and locomotive specializations for sojourns onto land, was used as a model to study how changing atmospheric oxygen concentrations during the middle and late Paleozoic Era (400-250 million years ago) may have influenced the emergence and subsequent radiation of the first tetrapods. The effects of different atmospheric oxygen concentrations (hyperoxia = 35%, normoxia = 21%, and hypoxia = 7% O2) on terrestrial performance were tested during exercise on a terrestrial treadmill and during recovery from exhaustive exercise. Endurance and elevated post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC; the immediate O2 debt repaid post-exercise) correlated with atmospheric oxygen concentration indicating that when additional oxygen is available P. modestus can increase oxygen utilization both during and following exercise. The time required post-exercise for mudskippers to return to a resting metabolic rate did not differ between treatments. However, in normoxia, oxygen consumption increased above hyperoxic values 13-20 h post-exercise suggesting a delayed repayment of the incurred oxygen debt. Finally, following exercise, ventilatory movements associated with buccopharyngeal aerial respiration returned to their rest-like pattern more quickly at higher concentrations of oxygen. Taken together, the results of this study show that P. modestus can exercise longer and recover quicker under higher oxygen concentrations. Similarities between P. modestus and early tetrapods suggest that increasing atmospheric oxygen levels during the middle and late Paleozoic allowed for elevated aerobic capacity and improved terrestrial performance, and likely led to an accelerated diversification and expansion of vertebrate life into the terrestrial biosphere.

  19. Toxicity of naproxen sodium and its mixture with tramadol hydrochloride on fish early life stages.

    PubMed

    Sehonova, Pavla; Plhalova, Lucie; Blahova, Jana; Doubkova, Veronika; Prokes, Miroslav; Tichy, Frantisek; Fiorino, Emma; Faggio, Caterina; Svobodova, Zdenka

    2017-12-01

    Pharmaceuticals occur in water bodies as a consequence of their incomplete removal during waste water treatment processes. The occurence of pharmaceuticals in surface waters as well as their possible impact on aquatic vertebrates have received considerable attention in recent years. However, there is still a lack of informations on the chronic effects of widely used drugs as well as their possible mixture toxicity on non-target aquatic vertebrates as well as their possible mixture toxicity. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of naproxen sodium on early life stages of fish and evaluate its mixture toxicity with tramadol hydrochloride, which was assessed in our earlier study as a single substance. Two embryo-larval toxicity tests with common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were performed according to the OECD guideline 210 (Fish, Early-life Stage Toxicity Test) in order to assess the subchronic toxicity of naproxen sodium and tramadol hydrochlorid-naproxen sodium mixture at the concentrations of 10; 50; 100 and 200 μg/L. These experiments were conducted for 32 days. The subchronic exposure to naproxen sodium and naproxen sodium and tramadol hydrochloride mixture had a strong effect on the early life stages of common carp. Hatching, developmental rate, morphology, histopathology and, in the case of the naproxen sodium and tramadol hydrochloride mixture, mortality were influenced. The bioindicators of oxidative stress were also influenced. The LOEC was determined at 10 μg/L for both naproxen sodium and naproxen sodium and tramadol hydrochloride mixture. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Oxygen reservoirs in the early solar nebula inferred from an Allende CAI.

    PubMed

    Young, E D; Russell, S S

    1998-10-16

    Ultraviolet laser microprobe analyses of a calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI) from the Allende meteorite suggest that a line with a slope of exactly 1.00 on a plot of delta (17)O against delta (18)O represents the primitive oxygen isotope reservoir of the early solar nebula. Most meteorites are enriched in (17)O and (18)O relative to this line, and their oxygen isotope ratios can be explained by mass fractionation or isotope exchange initiating from the primitive reservoir. These data establish a link between the oxygen isotopic composition of the abundant ordinary chondrites and the primitive (16)O-rich component of CAIs.

  1. Oxygen reservoirs in the early solar nebula inferred from an allende CAI

    PubMed

    Young; Russell

    1998-10-16

    Ultraviolet laser microprobe analyses of a calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI) from the Allende meteorite suggest that a line with a slope of exactly 1.00 on a plot of delta17O against delta18O represents the primitive oxygen isotope reservoir of the early solar nebula. Most meteorites are enriched in 17O and 18O relative to this line, and their oxygen isotope ratios can be explained by mass fractionation or isotope exchange initiating from the primitive reservoir. These data establish a link between the oxygen isotopic composition of the abundant ordinary chondrites and the primitive 16O-rich component of CAIs.

  2. Health assessment of gasoline and fuel oxygenate vapors: developmental toxicity in rats.

    PubMed

    Roberts, Linda G; Gray, Thomas M; Trimmer, Gary W; Parker, Robert M; Murray, F Jay; Schreiner, Ceinwen A; Clark, Charles R

    2014-11-01

    Gasoline-vapor condensate (BGVC) or condensed vapors from gasoline blended with methyl t-butyl ether (G/MTBE), ethyl t-butyl ether (G/ETBE), t-amyl methyl ether (G/TAME) diisopropyl ether (G/DIPE), ethanol (G/EtOH), or t-butyl alcohol (G/TBA) were evaluated for developmental toxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats exposed via inhalation on gestation days (GD) 5-20 for 6h/day at levels of 0 (control filtered air), 2000, 10,000, and 20,000mg/m(3). These exposure durations and levels substantially exceed typical consumer exposure during refueling (<1-7mg/m(3), 5min). Dose responsive maternal effects were reduced maternal body weight and/or weight change, and/or reduced food consumption. No significant malformations were seen in any study. Developmental effects occurred at 20,000mg/m(3) of G/TAME (reduced fetal body weight, increased incidence of stunted fetuses), G/TBA (reduced fetal body weight, increased skeletal variants) and G/DIPE (reduced fetal weight) resulting in developmental NOAEL of 10,000mg/m(3) for these materials. Developmental NOAELs for other materials were 20,000mg/m(3) as no developmental toxicity was induced in those studies. Developmental NOAELs were equal to or greater than the concurrent maternal NOAELs which ranged from 2000 to 20,000mg/m(3). There were no clear cut differences in developmental toxicity between vapors of gasoline and gasoline blended with the ether or alcohol oxygenates. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Oxygen as a driver of early arthropod micro-benthos evolution.

    PubMed

    Williams, Mark; Vannier, Jean; Corbari, Laure; Massabuau, Jean-Charles

    2011-01-01

    We examine the physiological and lifestyle adaptations which facilitated the emergence of ostracods as the numerically dominant Phanerozoic bivalve arthropod micro-benthos. The PO(2) of modern normoxic seawater is 21 kPa (air-equilibrated water), a level that would cause cellular damage if found in the tissues of ostracods and much other marine fauna. The PO(2) of most aquatic breathers at the cellular level is much lower, between 1 and 3 kPa. Ostracods avoid oxygen toxicity by migrating to waters which are hypoxic, or by developing metabolisms which generate high consumption of O(2). Interrogation of the Cambrian record of bivalve arthropod micro-benthos suggests a strong control on ecosystem evolution exerted by changing seawater O(2) levels. The PO(2) of air-equilibrated Cambrian-seawater is predicted to have varied between 10 and 30 kPa. Three groups of marine shelf-dwelling bivalve arthropods adopted different responses to Cambrian seawater O(2). Bradoriida evolved cardiovascular systems that favoured colonization of oxygenated marine waters. Their biodiversity declined during intervals associated with black shale deposition and marine shelf anoxia and their diversity may also have been curtailed by elevated late Cambrian (Furongian) oxygen-levels that increased the PO(2) gradient between seawater and bradoriid tissues. Phosphatocopida responded to Cambrian anoxia differently, reaching their peak during widespread seabed dysoxia of the SPICE event. They lacked a cardiovascular system and appear to have been adapted to seawater hypoxia. As latest Cambrian marine shelf waters became well oxygenated, phosphatocopids went extinct. Changing seawater oxygen-levels and the demise of much of the seabed bradoriid micro-benthos favoured a third group of arthropod micro-benthos, the ostracods. These animals adopted lifestyles that made them tolerant of changes in seawater O(2). Ostracods became the numerically dominant arthropod micro-benthos of the Phanerozoic. Our work

  4. Oxygen as a Driver of Early Arthropod Micro-Benthos Evolution

    PubMed Central

    Williams, Mark; Vannier, Jean; Corbari, Laure; Massabuau, Jean-Charles

    2011-01-01

    Background We examine the physiological and lifestyle adaptations which facilitated the emergence of ostracods as the numerically dominant Phanerozoic bivalve arthropod micro-benthos. Methodology/Principal Findings The PO2 of modern normoxic seawater is 21 kPa (air-equilibrated water), a level that would cause cellular damage if found in the tissues of ostracods and much other marine fauna. The PO2 of most aquatic breathers at the cellular level is much lower, between 1 and 3 kPa. Ostracods avoid oxygen toxicity by migrating to waters which are hypoxic, or by developing metabolisms which generate high consumption of O2. Interrogation of the Cambrian record of bivalve arthropod micro-benthos suggests a strong control on ecosystem evolution exerted by changing seawater O2 levels. The PO2 of air-equilibrated Cambrian-seawater is predicted to have varied between 10 and 30 kPa. Three groups of marine shelf-dwelling bivalve arthropods adopted different responses to Cambrian seawater O2. Bradoriida evolved cardiovascular systems that favoured colonization of oxygenated marine waters. Their biodiversity declined during intervals associated with black shale deposition and marine shelf anoxia and their diversity may also have been curtailed by elevated late Cambrian (Furongian) oxygen-levels that increased the PO2 gradient between seawater and bradoriid tissues. Phosphatocopida responded to Cambrian anoxia differently, reaching their peak during widespread seabed dysoxia of the SPICE event. They lacked a cardiovascular system and appear to have been adapted to seawater hypoxia. As latest Cambrian marine shelf waters became well oxygenated, phosphatocopids went extinct. Changing seawater oxygen-levels and the demise of much of the seabed bradoriid micro-benthos favoured a third group of arthropod micro-benthos, the ostracods. These animals adopted lifestyles that made them tolerant of changes in seawater O2. Ostracods became the numerically dominant arthropod micro-benthos of

  5. Monitoring of human populations for early markers of cadmium toxicity: A review

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fowler, Bruce A.

    2009-08-01

    Exposure of human populations to cadmium (Cd) from air, food and water may produce effects in organs such as the kidneys, liver, lungs, cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems. Since Cd has been identified as a human carcinogen, biomarkers for early detection of susceptibility to cancer are of an importance to public health. The ability to document Cd exposure and uptake of this element through biological monitoring is a first step towards understanding its health effects. Interpretation and application of biological monitoring data for predicting human health outcomes require correlation with biological measures of organ system responses to the documented exposure.more » Essential to this understanding is the detection and linkage of early biological responses toxic effects in target cell populations. Fortunately, advances in cell biology have resulted in the development of pre-clinical biological markers (biomarkers) that demonstrate measurable and characteristic molecular changes in organ systems following chemical exposures that occur prior to the onset of overt clinical disease or development of cancer. Technical advances have rendered a number of these biomarkers practical for monitoring Cd-exposed human populations. Biomarkers will be increasingly important in relation to monitoring effects from the exposure to new Cd-based high technology materials. For example, cadmium-selenium (CdSe), nano-materials made from combinations of these elements have greatly altered cellular uptake characteristics due to particle size. These differences may greatly alter effects at the target cell level and hence risks for organ toxicities from such exposures. The value of validated biomarkers for early detection of systemic Cd-induced effects in humans cannot be underestimated due to the rapid expansion of nano-material technologies. This review will attempt to briefly summarize the applications, to date, of biomarker endpoints for assessing target organ system

  6. Monitoring of human populations for early markers of cadmium toxicity: a review.

    PubMed

    Fowler, Bruce A

    2009-08-01

    Exposure of human populations to cadmium (Cd) from air, food and water may produce effects in organs such as the kidneys, liver, lungs, cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems. Since Cd has been identified as a human carcinogen, biomarkers for early detection of susceptibility to cancer are of an importance to public health. The ability to document Cd exposure and uptake of this element through biological monitoring is a first step towards understanding its health effects. Interpretation and application of biological monitoring data for predicting human health outcomes require correlation with biological measures of organ system responses to the documented exposure. Essential to this understanding is the detection and linkage of early biological responses toxic effects in target cell populations. Fortunately, advances in cell biology have resulted in the development of pre-clinical biological markers (biomarkers) that demonstrate measurable and characteristic molecular changes in organ systems following chemical exposures that occur prior to the onset of overt clinical disease or development of cancer. Technical advances have rendered a number of these biomarkers practical for monitoring Cd-exposed human populations. Biomarkers will be increasingly important in relation to monitoring effects from the exposure to new Cd-based high technology materials. For example, cadmium-selenium (CdSe), nano-materials made from combinations of these elements have greatly altered cellular uptake characteristics due to particle size. These differences may greatly alter effects at the target cell level and hence risks for organ toxicities from such exposures. The value of validated biomarkers for early detection of systemic Cd-induced effects in humans cannot be underestimated due to the rapid expansion of nano-material technologies. This review will attempt to briefly summarize the applications, to date, of biomarker endpoints for assessing target organ system effects in

  7. HSP70 protects rats and hippocampal neurons from central nervous system oxygen toxicity by suppression of NO production and NF-κB activation.

    PubMed

    Yi, Hongjie; Huang, Guoyang; Zhang, Kun; Liu, Shulin; Xu, Weigang

    2018-05-01

    During diving, central nervous system oxygen toxicity may cause drowning or barotrauma, which has dramatically limited the working benefits of hyperbaric oxygen in underwater operations and clinical applications. The aim of this study is to understand the effects and the underlying mechanism of heat shock protein 70 on central nervous system oxygen toxicity and its mechanisms in vivo and in vitro. Rats were given geranylgeranylacetone (800 mg/kg) orally to induce hippocampal expression of heat shock protein 70 and then treated with hyperbaric oxygen. The time course of hippocampal heat shock protein 70 expression after geranylgeranylacetone administration was measured. Seizure latency and first electrical discharge were recorded to evaluate the effects of HSP70 on central nervous system oxygen toxicity. Effects of inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase and nuclear factor-κB on the seizure latencies and changes in nitric oxide, nitric oxide synthase, and nuclear factor-κB levels in the hippocampus tissues were examined. In cell experiments, hippocampal neurons were transfected with a virus vector carrying the heat shock protein 70 gene (H3445) before hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Cell viability, heat shock protein 70 expression, nitric oxide, nitric oxide synthase, and NF-κB levels in neurons were measured. The results showed that heat shock protein 70 expression significantly increased and peaked at 48 h after geranylgeranylacetone was given. Geranylgeranylacetone prolonged the first electrical discharge and seizure latencies, which was reversed by neuronal nitric oxide synthase, inducible nitric oxide synthase and NF-κB inhibitors. Nitric oxide, nitric oxide synthase, and inducible nitric oxide synthase levels in the hippocampus were significantly increased after hyperbaric oxygen exposure, but reversed by geranylgeranylacetone, while heat shock protein 70 inhibitor quercetin could inhibit this effect of geranylgeranylacetone. In the in vitro study, heat shock

  8. Photoluminescent Gold Nanoclusters in Cancer Cells: Cellular Uptake, Toxicity, and Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species.

    PubMed

    Matulionyte, Marija; Dapkute, Dominyka; Budenaite, Laima; Jarockyte, Greta; Rotomskis, Ricardas

    2017-02-10

    In recent years, photoluminescent gold nanoclusters have attracted considerable interest in both fundamental biomedical research and practical applications. Due to their ultrasmall size, unique molecule-like optical properties, and facile synthesis gold nanoclusters have been considered very promising photoluminescent agents for biosensing, bioimaging, and targeted therapy. Yet, interaction of such ultra-small nanoclusters with cells and other biological objects remains poorly understood. Therefore, the assessment of the biocompatibility and potential toxicity of gold nanoclusters is of major importance before their clinical application. In this study, the cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, and intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of bovine serum albumin-encapsulated (BSA-Au NCs) and 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid (MES)capped photoluminescent gold nanoclusters (Au-MES NCs) were investigated. The results showed that BSA-Au NCs accumulate in cells in a similar manner as BSA alone, indicating an endocytotic uptake mechanism while ultrasmall Au-MES NCs were distributed homogeneously throughout the whole cell volume including cell nucleus. The cytotoxicity of BSA-Au NCs was negligible, demonstrating good biocompatibility of such BSA-protected Au NCs. In contrast, possibly due to ultrasmall size and thin coating layer, Au-MES NCs exhibited exposure time-dependent high cytotoxicity and higher reactivity which led to highly increased generation of reactive oxygen species. The results demonstrate the importance of the coating layer to biocompatibility and toxicity of ultrasmall photoluminescent gold nanoclusters.

  9. Photoluminescent Gold Nanoclusters in Cancer Cells: Cellular Uptake, Toxicity, and Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species

    PubMed Central

    Matulionyte, Marija; Dapkute, Dominyka; Budenaite, Laima; Jarockyte, Greta; Rotomskis, Ricardas

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, photoluminescent gold nanoclusters have attracted considerable interest in both fundamental biomedical research and practical applications. Due to their ultrasmall size, unique molecule-like optical properties, and facile synthesis gold nanoclusters have been considered very promising photoluminescent agents for biosensing, bioimaging, and targeted therapy. Yet, interaction of such ultra-small nanoclusters with cells and other biological objects remains poorly understood. Therefore, the assessment of the biocompatibility and potential toxicity of gold nanoclusters is of major importance before their clinical application. In this study, the cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, and intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of bovine serum albumin-encapsulated (BSA-Au NCs) and 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid (MES)-capped photoluminescent gold nanoclusters (Au-MES NCs) were investigated. The results showed that BSA-Au NCs accumulate in cells in a similar manner as BSA alone, indicating an endocytotic uptake mechanism while ultrasmall Au-MES NCs were distributed homogeneously throughout the whole cell volume including cell nucleus. The cytotoxicity of BSA-Au NCs was negligible, demonstrating good biocompatibility of such BSA-protected Au NCs. In contrast, possibly due to ultrasmall size and thin coating layer, Au-MES NCs exhibited exposure time-dependent high cytotoxicity and higher reactivity which led to highly increased generation of reactive oxygen species. The results demonstrate the importance of the coating layer to biocompatibility and toxicity of ultrasmall photoluminescent gold nanoclusters. PMID:28208642

  10. Early Oxygen-Utilization and Brain Activity in Preterm Infants

    PubMed Central

    de Vries, Linda S.; Groenendaal, Floris; Toet, Mona C.; Lemmers, Petra M. A.; Vosse van de, Renè E.; van Bel, Frank; Benders, Manon J. N. L.

    2015-01-01

    The combined monitoring of oxygen supply and delivery using Near-InfraRed spectroscopy (NIRS) and cerebral activity using amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) could yield new insights into brain metabolism and detect potentially vulnerable conditions soon after birth. The relationship between NIRS and quantitative aEEG/EEG parameters has not yet been investigated. Our aim was to study the association between oxygen utilization during the first 6 h after birth and simultaneously continuously monitored brain activity measured by aEEG/EEG. Forty-four hemodynamically stable babies with a GA < 28 weeks, with good quality NIRS and aEEG/EEG data available and who did not receive morphine were included in the study. aEEG and NIRS monitoring started at NICU admission. The relation between regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rScO2) and cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction (cFTOE), and quantitative measurements of brain activity such as number of spontaneous activity transients (SAT) per minute (SAT rate), the interval in seconds (i.e. time) between SATs (ISI) and the minimum amplitude of the EEG in μV (min aEEG) were evaluated. rScO2 was negatively associated with SAT rate (β=-3.45 [CI=-5.76- -1.15], p=0.004) and positively associated with ISI (β=1.45 [CI=0.44-2.45], p=0.006). cFTOE was positively associated with SAT rate (β=0.034 [CI=0.009-0.059], p=0.008) and negatively associated with ISI (β=-0.015 [CI=-0.026- -0.004], p=0.007). Oxygen delivery and utilization, as indicated by rScO2 and cFTOE, are directly related to functional brain activity, expressed by SAT rate and ISI during the first hours after birth, showing an increase in oxygen extraction in preterm infants with increased early electro-cerebral activity. NIRS monitored oxygenation may be a useful biomarker of brain vulnerability in high-risk infants. PMID:25965343

  11. Effect of olive mill wastewaters on the oxygen consumption by activated sludge microorganisms: an acute toxicity test method.

    PubMed

    Paixão, S M; Anselmo, A M

    2002-01-01

    The test for inhibition of oxygen consumption by activated sludge (ISO 8192-1986 (E)) was evaluated as a tool for assessing, the acute toxicity of olive mill wastewaters (OMW). According to the ISO test, information generated by this method may be helpful in estimating the effect of a test material on bacterial communities in the aquatic environment, especially in aerobic biological treatment systems. However, the lack of standardized bioassay methodology for effluents imposed that the test conditions were modified and adapted. The experiments were conducted in the presence or absence of an easily biodegradable carbon source (glucose) with different contact times (20 min and 24 h). The results obtained showed a remarkable stimulatory effect of this effluent to the activated sludge microorganisms. In fact, the oxygen uptake rate values increase with increasing effluent concentrations and contact times up to 0.98 microl O(2) h(-1) mg(-1) dry weight for a 100% OMW sample, 24 h contact time, with blanks exhibiting an oxygen uptake rate of ca. 1/10 of this value (0.07-0.10). It seems that the application of the ISO test as an acute toxicity test for effluents should be reconsidered, with convenient adaptation for its utilization as a method of estimating the effect on bacterial communities present in aerobic biological treatment systems. Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Using Triple Oxygen Isotope Analyses of Biogenic Carbonate to Reconstruct Early Triassic Ocean Oxygen Isotopic Values and Temperatures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gibbons, J. A.; Sharp, Z. D.; Atudorei, V.

    2017-12-01

    The calcite-water triple oxygen isotope fractionation is used to determine isotopic equilibrium and ancient ocean oxygen isotopic values and temperatures. Unlike conventional δ18O analysis where the formation water's isotopic value is assumed, paired δ17O-δ18O measurements allow for the water's isotopic composition to be calculated because there is only one unique solution for equilibrium fractionation using Δ17O-δ18O values (where Δ17O=δ17O-0.528δ18O). To a first approximation, the calcite-water equilibrium fractionation factor, θ (where θ=ln17α/ln18α), varies with temperature by 0.00001/°. The calcite-water equilibrium fractionation line was determined at two temperatures, 30° and 0°, by using modern carbonate samples that formed in ocean water with a δ18O value of 0‰. The θ values for the 30° and 0° samples are 0.52515 and 0.52486, respectively. Oxygen values were measured using complete fluorination in nickel tubes with BrF5 as the reaction reagent. We calibrated all oxygen values to the SMOW-SLAP scale by measuring SMOW, SLAP, San Carlos olivine, NBS-18, NBS-19, and PDB. The triple oxygen isotope calcite-water equilibrium fractionation line was applied to well preserved Early Triassic ammonite shells from the Western United States. Based on paired δ17O-δ18O measurements, the samples did not form in equilibrium with an ice-free ocean with an oxygen isotopic value of -1‰ or the modern ocean value of 0‰. Assuming the calcite is still primary and formed in equilibrium with the ocean water, our data indicate that the δ18O value of the ocean in the early Triassic was 3-5‰ lower than modern. Samples from the Smithian thermal maximum formed in water 10° warmer than samples from after the thermal maximum. Paired δ17O-δ18O measurements of pristine ancient carbonates may provide a better understanding of past ocean conditions during climate change events.

  13. Early pulmonary toxicity following lung stereotactic body radiation therapy delivered in consecutive daily fractions.

    PubMed

    Stauder, Michael C; Macdonald, O Kenneth; Olivier, Kenneth R; Call, Jason A; Lafata, Kyle; Mayo, Charles S; Miller, Robert C; Brown, Paul D; Bauer, Heather J; Garces, Yolanda I

    2011-05-01

    Identify the incidence of early pulmonary toxicity in a cohort of patients treated with lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) on consecutive treatment days. A total of 88 lesions in 84 patients were treated with SBRT in consecutive daily fractions (Fx) for medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer or metastasis. The incidence of pneumonitis was evaluated and graded according to the NCI CTCAE v3.0. With a median follow-up of 15.8 months (range 2.5-28.6), the median age at SBRT was 71.8 years (range 23.8-87.8). 47 lesions were centrally located and 41 were peripheral. Most central lesions were treated with 48Gy in 4 Fx, and most peripheral lesions with 54Gy in 3 Fx. The incidence of grade ≥ 2 pneumonitis was 12.5% in all patients treated, and 14.3% among the subset of patients treated with 54Gy in 3 Fx. A total of two grade 3 toxicities were seen as one grade 5 toxicity in a patient treated for recurrence after pneumonectomy. Treating both central and peripheral lung lesions with SBRT in consecutive daily fractions in this cohort was well tolerated and did not cause excessive early pulmonary toxicity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Tracking Early Jurassic marine (de)oxygenation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Them, T. R., II; Caruthers, A. H.; Gill, B. C.; Gröcke, D. R.; Marroquín, S. M.; Owens, J. D.

    2017-12-01

    It has been suggested that the carbon cycle was perturbed during the Toarcian OAE (T-OAE) as observed in the carbon isotope record, and more recently other elemental cycles (e.g., Hg, Mo, Os, S). The most widely accepted hypothesis focuses on the emplacement of the Karoo-Ferrar large igneous province, outgassing of greenhouse gases, and subsequent feedbacks in the Earth system, which caused severe environmental change and biological turnover. Feedbacks to elevated atmospheric pCO2 include enhanced weathering rates, dissociation of methane clathrates, increased terrestrial methanogenesis, and widespread marine anoxia. The sequence of events related to the development and duration of marine anoxia are not well constrained for this time interval due to a lack of open-ocean geochemical records. In order to reconstruct the timing of marine deoxygenation during the Early Jurassic T-OAE, we have utilized thallium isotopes, a novel geochemical proxy from multiple anoxic basins in North America and Germany. Three sites representing a basin transect from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, and one site from the South German Basin, were chosen to reconstruct the thallium isotopic composition (ɛ205Tl) of the ocean. The ɛ205Tl composition of sediments deposited under anoxic and euxinic water columns records the global seawater ɛ205Tl composition, a function of the amount of manganese oxides that are precipitated. Increased geographic extent of marine anoxia will cause a decrease in manganese oxide precipitation and perturb the thallium system. Importantly, the inputs of thallium are nearly identical, thus changes in these fluxes cannot drive the observed perturbation. Our new Early Jurassic ɛ205Tl records suggest that the onset of marine deoxygenation occurred concurrently with Karoo-Ferrar magmatism in the late Pliensbachian and continued until after the T-OAE. These new data support a Karoo-Ferrar trigger of the T-OAE. However, thallium isotopes also suggest that

  15. Ligand-Specific Transcriptional Mechanisms Underlie Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Mediated Developmental Toxicity of Oxygenated PAHs

    PubMed Central

    Goodale, B. C.; La Du, J.; Tilton, S. C.; Sullivan, C. M.; Bisson, W. H.; Waters, K. M.; Tanguay, R. L.

    2015-01-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are priority environmental contaminants that exhibit mutagenic, carcinogenic, proinflammatory, and teratogenic properties. Oxygen-substituted PAHs (OPAHs) are formed during combustion processes and via phototoxidation and biological degradation of parent (unsubstituted) PAHs. Despite their prevalence both in contaminated industrial sites and in urban air, OPAH mechanisms of action in biological systems are relatively understudied. Like parent PAHs, OPAHs exert structure-dependent mutagenic activities and activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and cytochrome p450 metabolic pathway. Four-ring OPAHs 1,9-benz-10-anthrone (BEZO) and benz(a)anthracene-7,12-dione (7,12-B[a]AQ) cause morphological aberrations and induce markers of oxidative stress in developing zebrafish with similar potency, but only 7,12-B[a]AQ induces robust Cyp1a protein expression. We investigated the role of the AHR in mediating the toxicity of BEZO and 7,12-B[a]AQ, and found that knockdown of AHR2 rescued developmental effects caused by both compounds. Using RNA-seq and molecular docking, we identified transcriptional responses that precede developmental toxicity induced via differential interaction with AHR2. Redox-homeostasis genes were affected similarly by these OPAHs, while 7,12-B[a]AQ preferentially activated phase 1 metabolism and BEZO uniquely decreased visual system genes. Analysis of biological functions and upstream regulators suggests that BEZO is a weak AHR agonist, but interacts with other transcriptional regulators to cause developmental toxicity in an AHR-dependent manner. Identifying ligand-dependent AHR interactions and signaling pathways is essential for understanding toxicity of this class of environmentally relevant compounds. PMID:26141390

  16. How much oxygen in adult cardiac arrest?

    PubMed

    Dell'Anna, Antonio Maria; Lamanna, Irene; Vincent, Jean-Louis; Taccone, Fabicpro Silvio

    2014-10-07

    Although experimental studies have suggested that a high arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2) might aggravate post-anoxic brain injury, clinical studies in patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest (CA) have given conflicting results. Some studies found that a PaO2 of more than 300 mm Hg (hyperoxemia) was an independent predictor of poor outcome, but others reported no association between blood oxygenation and neurological recovery in this setting. In this article, we review the potential mechanisms of oxygen toxicity after CA, animal data available in this field, and key human studies dealing with the impact of oxygen management in CA patients, highlighting some potential confounders and limitations and indicating future areas of research in this field. From the currently available literature, high oxygen concentrations during cardiopulmonary resuscitation seem preferable, whereas hyperoxemia should be avoided in the post-CA care. A specific threshold for oxygen toxicity has not yet been identified. The mechanisms of oxygen toxicity after CA, such as seizure development, reactive oxygen species production, and the development of organ dysfunction, need to be further evaluated in prospective studies.

  17. Health assessment of gasoline and fuel oxygenate vapors: subchronic inhalation toxicity.

    PubMed

    Clark, Charles R; Schreiner, Ceinwen A; Parker, Craig M; Gray, Thomas M; Hoffman, Gary M

    2014-11-01

    Sprague Dawley rats were exposed via inhalation to vapor condensates of either gasoline or gasoline combined with various fuel oxygenates to assess whether their use in gasoline influences the hazard of evaporative emissions. Test substances included vapor condensates prepared from an EPA described "baseline gasoline" (BGVC), or gasoline combined with methyl tertiary butyl ether (G/MTBE), ethyl t-butyl ether (G/ETBE), t-amyl methyl ether (G/TAME), diisopropyl ether (G/DIPE), ethanol (G/EtOH), or t-butyl alcohol (G/TBA). Target concentrations were 0, 2000, 10,000 or 20,000mg/m(3) and exposures were for 6h/day, 5days/week for 13weeks. A portion of the animals were maintained for a four week recovery period to determine the reversibility of potential adverse effects. Increased kidney weight and light hydrocarbon nephropathy (LHN) were observed in treated male rats in all studies which were reversible or nearly reversible after 4weeks recovery. LHN is unique to male rats and is not relevant to human toxicity. The no observed effect level (NOAEL) in all studies was 10,000mg/m(3), except for G/MTBE (<2000) and G/TBA (2000). The results provide evidence that use of the studied oxygenates are unlikely to increase the hazard of evaporative emissions during refueling, compared to those from gasoline alone. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Ligand-specific transcriptional mechanisms underlie aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated developmental toxicity of oxygenated PAHs

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Goodale, B. C.; Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH; La Du, J.

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are priority environmental contaminants that exhibit mutagenic, carcinogenic, proinflammatory, and teratogenic properties. Oxygen-substituted PAHs (OPAHs) are formed during combustion processes and via phototoxidation and biological degradation of parent (unsubstituted) PAHs. Despite their prevalence both in contaminated industrial sites and in urban air, OPAH mechanisms of action in biological systems are relatively understudied. Like parent PAHs, OPAHs exert structure-dependent mutagenic activities and activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and cytochrome p450 metabolic pathway. Four-ring OPAHs 1,9-benz-10-anthrone (BEZO) and benz(a)anthracene-7,12-dione (7,12-B[a]AQ) cause morphological aberrations and induce markers of oxidative stress in developing zebrafish with similar potency, butmore » only 7,12-B[a]AQ induces robust Cyp1a protein expression. We investigated the role of the AHR in mediating the toxicity of BEZO and 7,12-B[a]AQ, and found that knockdown of AHR2 rescued developmental effects caused by both compounds. Using RNA-seq and molecular docking, we identified transcriptional responses that precede developmental toxicity induced via differential interaction with AHR2. Redox-homeostasis genes were affected similarly by these OPAHs, while 7,12-B[a]AQ preferentially activated phase 1 metabolism and BEZO uniquely decreased visual system genes. Analysis of biological functions and upstream regulators suggests that BEZO is a weak AHR agonist, but interacts with other transcriptional regulators to cause developmental toxicity in an AHR-dependent manner. Furthermore, identifying ligand-dependent AHR interactions and signaling pathways is essential for understanding toxicity of this class of environmentally relevant compounds.« less

  19. Ligand-specific transcriptional mechanisms underlie aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated developmental toxicity of oxygenated PAHs

    DOE PAGES

    Goodale, B. C.; Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH; La Du, J.; ...

    2015-07-03

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are priority environmental contaminants that exhibit mutagenic, carcinogenic, proinflammatory, and teratogenic properties. Oxygen-substituted PAHs (OPAHs) are formed during combustion processes and via phototoxidation and biological degradation of parent (unsubstituted) PAHs. Despite their prevalence both in contaminated industrial sites and in urban air, OPAH mechanisms of action in biological systems are relatively understudied. Like parent PAHs, OPAHs exert structure-dependent mutagenic activities and activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and cytochrome p450 metabolic pathway. Four-ring OPAHs 1,9-benz-10-anthrone (BEZO) and benz(a)anthracene-7,12-dione (7,12-B[a]AQ) cause morphological aberrations and induce markers of oxidative stress in developing zebrafish with similar potency, butmore » only 7,12-B[a]AQ induces robust Cyp1a protein expression. We investigated the role of the AHR in mediating the toxicity of BEZO and 7,12-B[a]AQ, and found that knockdown of AHR2 rescued developmental effects caused by both compounds. Using RNA-seq and molecular docking, we identified transcriptional responses that precede developmental toxicity induced via differential interaction with AHR2. Redox-homeostasis genes were affected similarly by these OPAHs, while 7,12-B[a]AQ preferentially activated phase 1 metabolism and BEZO uniquely decreased visual system genes. Analysis of biological functions and upstream regulators suggests that BEZO is a weak AHR agonist, but interacts with other transcriptional regulators to cause developmental toxicity in an AHR-dependent manner. Furthermore, identifying ligand-dependent AHR interactions and signaling pathways is essential for understanding toxicity of this class of environmentally relevant compounds.« less

  20. Pilot Plant Makes Oxygen Difluoride

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Humphrey, Marshall F.; Lawton, Emil A.

    1989-01-01

    Pilot plant makes oxygen difluoride highly-energetic, space-storable oxidizer not made commercially. Designed to handle reactants, product, and byproduct, most of which highly reactive, corrosive, and toxic. Oxygen difluoride evolves continuously from reactor containing potassium hydroxide in water at 10 degree C. Collection tanks alternated; one filled while other drained to storage cylinder. Excess OF2 and F2 dissipated in combustion of charcoal in burn barrel. Toxic byproduct, potassium fluoride, reacted with calcium hydroxide to form nontoxic calcium fluoride and to regenerate potassium hydroxide. Equipment processes toxic, difficult-to-make substance efficiently and safely.

  1. Oxygen Uptake Efficiency Plateau Best Predicts Early Death in Heart Failure

    PubMed Central

    Hansen, James E.; Stringer, William W.

    2012-01-01

    Background: The responses of oxygen uptake efficiency (ie, oxygen uptake/ventilation = V˙o2/V˙e) and its highest plateau (OUEP) during incremental cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in patients with chronic left heart failure (HF) have not been previously reported. We planned to test the hypothesis that OUEP during CPET is the best single predictor of early death in HF. Methods: We evaluated OUEP, slope of V˙o2 to log(V˙e) (oxygen uptake efficiency slope), oscillatory breathing, and all usual resting and CPET measurements in 508 patients with low-ejection-fraction (< 35%) HF. Each had further evaluations at other sites, including cardiac catheterization. Outcomes were 6-month all-reason mortality and morbidity (death or > 24 h cardiac hospitalization). Statistical analyses included area under curve of receiver operating characteristics, ORs, univariate and multivariate Cox regression, and Kaplan-Meier plots. Results: OUEP, which requires only moderate exercise, was often reduced in patients with HF. A low % predicted OUEP was the single best predictor of mortality (P < .0001), with an OR of 13.0 (P < .001). When combined with oscillatory breathing, the OR increased to 56.3, superior to all other resting or exercise parameters or combinations of parameters. Other statistical analyses and morbidity analysis confirmed those findings. Conclusions: OUEP is often reduced in patients with HF. Low % predicted OUEP (< 65% predicted) is the single best predictor of early death, better than any other CPET or other cardiovascular measurement. Paired with oscillatory breathing, it is even more powerful. PMID:22030802

  2. Early adaptation to oxygen is key to the industrially important traits of Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris during milk fermentation.

    PubMed

    Cretenet, Marina; Le Gall, Gwenaëlle; Wegmann, Udo; Even, Sergine; Shearman, Claire; Stentz, Régis; Jeanson, Sophie

    2014-12-03

    Lactococcus lactis is the most used species in the dairy industry. Its ability to adapt to technological stresses, such as oxidative stress encountered during stirring in the first stages of the cheese-making process, is a key factor to measure its technological performance. This study aimed to understand the response to oxidative stress of Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris MG1363 at the transcriptional and metabolic levels in relation to acidification kinetics and growth conditions, especially at an early stage of growth. For those purposes, conditions of hyper-oxygenation were initially fixed for the fermentation. Kinetics of growth and acidification were not affected by the presence of oxygen, indicating a high resistance to oxygen of the L. lactis MG1363 strain. Its resistance was explained by an efficient consumption of oxygen within the first 4 hours of culture, leading to a drop of the redox potential. The efficient consumption of oxygen by the L. lactis MG1363 strain was supported by a coherent and early adaptation to oxygen after 1 hour of culture at both gene expression and metabolic levels. In oxygen metabolism, the over-expression of all the genes of the nrd (ribonucleotide reductases) operon or fhu (ferrichrome ABC transports) genes was particularly significant. In carbon metabolism, the presence of oxygen led to an early shift at the gene level in the pyruvate pathway towards the acetate/2,3-butanediol pathway confirmed by the kinetics of metabolite production. Finally, the MG1363 strain was no longer able to consume oxygen in the stationary growth phase, leading to a drastic loss of culturability as a consequence of cumulative stresses and the absence of gene adaptation at this stage. Combining metabolic and transcriptomic profiling, together with oxygen consumption kinetics, yielded new insights into the whole genome adaptation of L. lactis to initial oxidative stress. An early and transitional adaptation to oxidative stress was revealed for L

  3. Ligand-Specific Transcriptional Mechanisms Underlie Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Mediated Developmental Toxicity of Oxygenated PAHs.

    PubMed

    Goodale, B C; La Du, J; Tilton, S C; Sullivan, C M; Bisson, W H; Waters, K M; Tanguay, R L

    2015-10-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are priority environmental contaminants that exhibit mutagenic, carcinogenic, proinflammatory, and teratogenic properties. Oxygen-substituted PAHs (OPAHs) are formed during combustion processes and via phototoxidation and biological degradation of parent (unsubstituted) PAHs. Despite their prevalence both in contaminated industrial sites and in urban air, OPAH mechanisms of action in biological systems are relatively understudied. Like parent PAHs, OPAHs exert structure-dependent mutagenic activities and activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and cytochrome p450 metabolic pathway. Four-ring OPAHs 1,9-benz-10-anthrone (BEZO) and benz(a)anthracene-7,12-dione (7,12-B[a]AQ) cause morphological aberrations and induce markers of oxidative stress in developing zebrafish with similar potency, but only 7,12-B[a]AQ induces robust Cyp1a protein expression. We investigated the role of the AHR in mediating the toxicity of BEZO and 7,12-B[a]AQ, and found that knockdown of AHR2 rescued developmental effects caused by both compounds. Using RNA-seq and molecular docking, we identified transcriptional responses that precede developmental toxicity induced via differential interaction with AHR2. Redox-homeostasis genes were affected similarly by these OPAHs, while 7,12-B[a]AQ preferentially activated phase 1 metabolism and BEZO uniquely decreased visual system genes. Analysis of biological functions and upstream regulators suggests that BEZO is a weak AHR agonist, but interacts with other transcriptional regulators to cause developmental toxicity in an AHR-dependent manner. Identifying ligand-dependent AHR interactions and signaling pathways is essential for understanding toxicity of this class of environmentally relevant compounds. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Hyperspectral imaging for early detection of oxygenation and perfusion changes in irradiated skin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chin, Michael S.; Freniere, Brian B.; Lo, Yuan-Chyuan; Saleeby, Jonathan H.; Baker, Stephen P.; Strom, Heather M.; Ignotz, Ronald A.; Lalikos, Janice F.; Fitzgerald, Thomas J.

    2012-02-01

    Studies examining acute oxygenation and perfusion changes in irradiated skin are limited. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI), a method of wide-field, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, provides noninvasive, quantified measurements of cutaneous oxygenation and perfusion. This study examines whether HSI can assess acute changes in oxygenation and perfusion following irradiation. Skin on both flanks of nude mice (n=20) was exposed to 50 Gy of beta radiation from a strontium-90 source. Hyperspectral images were obtained before irradiation and on selected days for three weeks. Skin reaction assessment was performed concurrently with HSI. Desquamative injury formed in all irradiated areas. Skin reactions were first seen on day 7, with peak formation on day 14, and resolution beginning by day 21. HSI demonstrated increased tissue oxygenation on day 1 before cutaneous changes were observed (p<0.001). Further increases over baseline were seen on day 14, but returned to baseline levels by day 21. For perfusion, similar increases were seen on days 1 and 14. Unlike tissue oxygenation, perfusion was decreased below baseline on day 21 (p<0.002). HSI allows for complete visualization and quantification of tissue oxygenation and perfusion changes in irradiated skin, and may also allow prediction of acute skin reactions based on early changes seen after irradiation.

  5. Oxygen enhances phosphine toxicity for postharvest pest control.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yong-Biao

    2011-10-01

    Phosphine fumigations under superatmospheric oxygen levels (oxygenated phosphine fumigations) were significantly more effective than the fumigations under the normal 20.9% atmospheric oxygen level against western flower thrips [Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)] adults and larvae, leafminer Liriomyza langei Frick pupae, grape mealybug [Pseudococcus maritimus (Ehrhorn)] eggs, and Indianmeal moth [Plodia interpunctella (Hübner)] eggs and pupae. In 5-h fumigations with 1,000 ppm phosphine at 5 degrees C, mortalities of western flower thrips increased significantly from 79.5 to 97.7% when oxygen was increased from 20.9 to 40% and reached 99.3% under 80% O2. Survivorships of leafminer pupae decreased significantly from 71.2% under 20.9% O2 to 16.2% under 40% O2 and reached 1.1% under 80% O2 in 24-h fumigations with 500 ppm phosphine at 5 degrees C. Complete control of leafminer pupae was achieved in 24-h fumigations with 1,000 ppm phosphine at 5 degrees C under 60% O2 or higher. Survivorships of grape mealybug eggs also decreased significantly in 48-h fumigations with 1,000 ppm phosphine at 2 degrees C under 60% O2 compared with the fumigations under 20.9% O2. Indian meal moth egg survivorships decreased significantly from 17.4 to 0.5% in responses to an oxygen level increase from 20.9 to 40% in 48-h fumigations with 1,000 ppm phosphine at 10 degrees C and reached 0.2% in fumigations under 80% O2. When the oxygen level was reduced from 20.9 to 15 and 10% in fumigations, survivorships of Indianmeal moth eggs increased significantly from 17.4 to 32.9 and 39.9%, respectively. Increased O2 levels also resulted in significantly lower survival rates of Indianmeal moth pupae in response to 24-h fumigations with 500 and 1,000 ppm phosphine at 10 degrees C and a complete control was achieved in the 1,000 ppm phosphine fumigations under 60% O2. Oxygenated phosphine fumigations have marked potential to improve insecticidal efficacy. Advantages and limitations of oxygenated

  6. The rise of oxygen in Earth's early ocean and atmosphere.

    PubMed

    Lyons, Timothy W; Reinhard, Christopher T; Planavsky, Noah J

    2014-02-20

    The rapid increase of carbon dioxide concentration in Earth's modern atmosphere is a matter of major concern. But for the atmosphere of roughly two-and-half billion years ago, interest centres on a different gas: free oxygen (O2) spawned by early biological production. The initial increase of O2 in the atmosphere, its delayed build-up in the ocean, its increase to near-modern levels in the sea and air two billion years later, and its cause-and-effect relationship with life are among the most compelling stories in Earth's history.

  7. Improving the Nation's Health. Step One: Reduce Toxic Stress in Early Childhood. Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Louv, Richard

    2006-01-01

    To reduce risk factors for adult disease in our society, we must tackle the problem of toxic stress in early childhood. This condition is associated with the excessive release of a stream of hormones whose persistent elevation can disrupt the wiring of the developing brain and the functioning of the immune system. Children who experience toxic…

  8. Photoluminescence due to early stage of oxygen precipitation in multicrystalline Si for solar cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Higuchi, Fumito; Tajima, Michio; Ogura, Atsushi

    2017-07-01

    To analyze the early stage of oxygen precipitation in n-type multicrytalline Si, the spectral change of photoluminescence (PL) induced by thermal treatment at 450-650 °C was investigated in relation to the changes in excess donor and interstitial oxygen concentrations. We observed the characteristic PL bands in the near-band-edge region and sharp lines in the deep-level region in correspondence with the generation of thermal donors and new donors. The observed PL spectral variation is essentially the same as that in Czochralski-grown Si annealed at 450-650 °C.

  9. Oxygen, the lung and the diver: friends and foes?

    PubMed

    van Ooij, Pieter-Jan A M; Sterk, Peter J; van Hulst, Robert A

    2016-12-01

    Worldwide, the number of professional and sports divers is increasing. Most of them breathe diving gases with a raised partial pressure of oxygen (P O 2 ). However, if the P O 2 is between 50 and 300 kPa (375-2250 mmHg) (hyperoxia), pathological pulmonary changes can develop, known as pulmonary oxygen toxicity (POT). Although in its acute phase, POT is reversible, it can ultimately lead to non-reversible pathological changes. Therefore, it is important to monitor these divers to prevent them from sustaining irreversible lesions.This review summarises the pulmonary pathophysiological effects when breathing oxygen with a P O 2 of 50-300 kPa (375-2250 mmHg). We describe the role and the limitations of lung function testing in monitoring the onset and development of POT, and discuss new techniques in respiratory medicine as potential markers in the early development of POT in divers. Copyright ©ERS 2016.

  10. THE TOXICITY OF RUBBERS AND PLASTICS USED IN TRANSFUSION-GIVING SETS

    PubMed Central

    Cruickshank, C. N. D.; Hooper, Caroline; Lewis, H. B. M.; MacDougall, J. D. B.

    1960-01-01

    The toxicity of different rubbers and plastics used in transfusion-giving sets has been investigated by examining their effects on (a) cultures of chick embryo tissues, (b) the oxygen uptake of guinea-pig skin tissue cultures, and (c) the growth of Str. pyogenes. The results of the laboratory tests have been compared with the incidence of thrombophlebitis after prolonged transfusions through the various materials. It was found that where the materials inhibited the growth of Str. pyogenes they were also toxic to tissue cultures, but that some materials which were toxic to tissue cultures did not inhibit bacterial growth. The assessments of the relative toxicity of the materials tested by the two tissue culture methods were in agreement. The skin respiration studies, however, gave more information on the early effects of the toxic materials. The relative toxicity of the materials as revealed by these tests could be correlated with the differences in the incidence of thrombophlebitis following intravenous infusions administered through giving-sets assembled with the materials tested. It is suggested therefore that the toxicity revealed by these tests is of clinical importance, and that tissue culture toxicity tests will prove to be of value in selecting rubbers and plastics for clinical purposes. Images PMID:13813084

  11. Toxic Hazards Research Unit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Macewen, J. D.; Vernot, E. H.

    1971-01-01

    The activities of the Toxic Hazards Research Unit (THRU) for the period of June 1970 through May 1971 reviewed. Modification of the animal exposure facilities primarily for improved human safety but also for experimental integrity and continuity are discussed. Acute toxicity experiments were conducted on hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen chloride (HCl), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) both singly and in combination with carbon dioxide (CO). Additional acute toxicity experiments were conducted on oxygen difluoride (OF2) and chlorine pentafluoride (ClF5). Subacute toxicity studies were conducted on methylisobutylketone and dichloromethane (methylene dichloride). The interim results of further chronic toxicity experiments on monomethylhydrazine (MMH) are also described.

  12. Reactions of singlet oxygen with pine pollen.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dowty, B.; Laseter, J. L.; Griffin, G. W.; Politzer, I. R.; Walkinshaw, C. H.

    1973-01-01

    A study was initiated to determine whether viable atmospheric particles such as plant pollens and fungal spores containing unsaturated lipids can interact with singlet oxygen to give oxygenated products that are potentially toxic. The results obtained confirm that surface and near surface components of common viable particulate matter in the atmosphere may be subject to rapid oxidation by singlet oxygen, leading to products which are probably allylic hydroperoxides. In connection with increasing atmospheric pollution, it is important to note that materials toxic to mammalian lung tissue may be oxidatively produced on the surfaces of viable particulate matter.

  13. [Monitoring early toxicity of heavy metals including Hg using a HSE-SEAP reporter gene].

    PubMed

    Yu, Zhan-Jiang; Yang, Qin; Yang, Xiao-Da; Wang, Kui

    2006-08-01

    To develop a cellular assay based on heat shock signal pathway and secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) reporter gene for investigating/predicting the early toxicity of heavy metals on HeLa cells in Chinese traditional medicine (TCM). The pHSE-SEAP plasmid was transfected into HeLa cells to build a HSE-SEAP-HeLa cell model. For validation of the model, the transfected cells were treated by either heating at 42 degrees C for 1 h or incubated with 5 mol x L(-1) CdCl2 for 4 h. Then the cells were covered in complete DMEM culture medium for 48 h and the activity of SEAP (reflecting the cellular level of heat shock protein) in cultural supernatants was measured; meanwhile, cell viability was determined by MTT assays. In addition, the cells were treated by four mercury compounds, HgCl2, merthilate sodium, HgS and cinnabar at the sub-lethal concentrations (determined by MTT assays). Then the heat shock response was detected likewise. Significant level of secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) was found in pHSE-SEAP transfected HeLa cells treated either by heating (42 degrees C) or incubating with CdCl2. The heat shock protein was induced by CdCl2 before decrease of cell viability was observed. All four mercury compounds induced heat shock response in both time and concentration-dependant manner. However, there were big differences among the mercury compounds, suggesting potential differences for early-stage toxicity in vivo. The pHSE-SEAP transfected HeLa cells respond effectively to heat shock and metal stresses, and therefore provide a practical and repeatable assay for investigating/predicting the early toxicity of heavy metals and mineral-containing drugs in TCM.

  14. Influence of dissolved oxygen conditions on toxicity of ammonium nitrate to larval natterjack toads.

    PubMed

    Ortiz-Santaliestra, Manuel E; Marco, Adolfo

    2015-07-01

    Temporary ponds, where many amphibians from temperate regions breed, show an annual cycle with a maximum water volume in spring followed by a progressive desiccation throughout late spring and summer. This desiccation leads to a decrease in dissolved oxygen and an increase in nitrogen levels, which can additionally increase because of anthropogenic sources such as chemical fertilizers. We analyzed the toxicity posed by environmentally relevant levels of a common nitrogenous fertilizer, ammonium nitrate, at different conditions of oxygen availability to Bufo calamita tadpoles, which typically develop in ephemeral ponds. Ammonium nitrate (90.3 mg N-NO3NH4/l) and hypoxic conditions (initial dissolved oxygen 4.53 ± 0.40 mg/l) caused significant lethal effects after 7 and 12 days of exposure, respectively. At the end of experiment (16 days), mortality rates were 32.5 % in individuals exposed to the fertilizer and 15 % in those growing under hypoxic conditions. When both stressors were combined, they showed an additive effect on tadpole survival. Malformations, such as oedemas and spinal curvatures, and locomotory abnormalities, were detected after 12 days of experiment in >90 % of individuals exposed to 45.2 mg N-NO3NH4/l under hypoxic conditions, whereas none of these stressors by separate related to abnormality rates >35 %. Delayed development was also observed in tadpoles exposed to ammonium nitrate with hypoxia affecting developmental rate only after 12 days of exposure. The results are discussed in terms of potential mechanisms linking negative effects of both factors as well as in terms of potential alterations of the ecological plasticity that often allows amphibians to survive in unpredictable environments.

  15. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for Severe Toxicological Exposures: Review of the Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC).

    PubMed

    Wang, G S; Levitan, R; Wiegand, T J; Lowry, J; Schult, R F; Yin, S

    2016-03-01

    Although there have been many developments related to specific strategies for treating patients after poisoning exposures, the mainstay of therapy remains symptomatic and supportive care. One of the most aggressive supportive modalities is extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Our goal was to describe the use of ECMO for toxicological exposures reported to the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC). We performed a retrospective review of the ACMT ToxIC Registry from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2013. Inclusion criteria included patients aged 0 to 89 years, evaluated between January 2010 through December 2013, and received ECMO for toxicological exposure. There were 26,271 exposures (60 % female) reported to the ToxIC Registry, 10 (0.0004 %) received ECMO: 4 pediatric (< 12 years), 2 adolescent (12-18 years), and 4 adults (>18 years). Time of initiation of ECMO ranged from 4 h to 4 days, with duration from 15 h to 12 days. Exposures included carbon monoxide/smoke inhalation (2), bitter almonds, methanol, and several medications including antihistamines (2), antipsychotic/antidepressant (2), cardiovascular drugs (2), analgesics (2), sedative/hypnotics (2), and antidiabetics (2). Four ECMO patients received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during their hospital course, and the overall survival rate was 80 %. ECMO was rarely used for poisoning exposures in the ACMT ToxIC Registry. ECMO was utilized for a variety of ages and for pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical exposures. In most cases, ECMO was administered prior to cardiovascular failure, and survival rate was high. If available, ECMO may be a valid treatment modality.

  16. [Impact of oxygen toxic action on the erythrocyte membrane and possibility of estimating central nervous system function disturbances].

    PubMed

    Belić, Branislava; Cincović, Marko R

    2011-07-01

    BACKGROUND/AIM; Prolonged exposure to hyperbaric oxygen leads to changes of erythrocytes shape as a consequence of toxic effects of oxygen on the erythrocyte membrane. The aim of this study was to examine the association between occurance of pathological forms of erythrocytes at different time from the start of hyperbaric oxygenation and the moment of convulsions occurrence, an interrelationship of different pathological forms of erythrocytes during exposure to hyperbaric oxygenation, as well as the correlation between the presence of ruptured erythrocytes and function of central nervous system (CNS) after completion of hyperbaric treatment. Sixty laboratory mice, Mus musculus, were exposed to the wholly-oxygen pressure of 3.5 absolute atmospheres (ATA). Blood was collected at the 32nd, 34th, 36th, 38th and 40th minutes after the exposure to oxygen. Pathological forms of erythrocytes were examined by electron microscopy. A moment of convulsions occurrence was registered in all animals. After decompression neurological examinations of experimental animals were perfomed. The Pearson's coefficient of correlation, and linear regression equations for the parameters outlined in the aim of the study were calculated. Hyperbaric oxygen caused damages of erythrocytes at the 34th minute after beginning of the treatment. Various forms of abnormal red blood cells occured, and immediately before the occurrence of irreversible changes (erythrocyte membrane rupture) echinocyte shape was dominated. A significant correlation between the number of damaged red blood cells at 34th minute and their number at the 36th, 38th and 40th minute was found. Convulsions were diagnosed significantly earlier in mice with a greater number of damaged red blood cells (p < 0.01). There was a negative correlation between the number of irreversiblly damaged red blood cells (ruptured) at the 40th minute and neurological score in the studied animals (p < 0.05). The analysis of altered erythrocytes during

  17. High interpatient variability of treosulfan exposure is associated with early toxicity in paediatric HSCT: a prospective multicentre study.

    PubMed

    van der Stoep, M Y Eileen C; Bertaina, Alice; Ten Brink, Marloes H; Bredius, Robbert G; Smiers, Frans J; Wanders, Dominique C M; Moes, Dirk Jan A R; Locatelli, Franco; Guchelaar, Henk-Jan; Zwaveling, Juliëtte; Lankester, Arjan C

    2017-12-01

    Treosulfan-based conditioning is increasingly employed in paediatric haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Data on treosulfan pharmacokinetics in children are scarce, and the relationship between treosulfan exposure, toxicity and clinical outcome is unresolved. In this multicentre prospective observational study, we studied treosulfan pharmacokinetics and the drug's relationship with regimen-related toxicity and early clinical outcome in 77 paediatric patients. Treosulfan dose was 30 g/m 2 , administered over 3 consecutive days in infants <1 year old (n = 12) and 42 g/m 2 in children ≥1 year old (n = 65). Mean day 1 treosulfan exposure was 1744 ± 795 mg*h/l (10 g/m 2 ) and 1561 ± 511 mg*h/l (14 g/m 2 ), with an inter-individual variability of 56 and 33% in the respective groups. High treosulfan exposure (>1650 mg*h/l) was associated with an increased risk of mucosal [Odds ratio (OR) 4·40; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·19-16·28, P = 0·026] and skin toxicity (OR 4·51; 95% CI 1·07-18·93, P = 0·040). No correlation was found between treosulfan exposure and the early clinical outcome parameters: engraftment, acute graft-versus-host disease and donor chimerism. Our study provides the first evidence in a large cohort of paediatric patients of high variability in treosulfan pharmacokinetics and an association between treosulfan exposure and early toxicity. Ongoing studies will reveal whether treosulfan exposure is related to long-term disease-specific outcome and late treatment-related toxicity. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. High doses of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride accelerate onset of CNS oxygen toxicity seizures in unanesthetized rats.

    PubMed

    Pilla, R; Held, H E; Landon, C S; Dean, J B

    2013-08-29

    Pseudoephedrine (PSE) salts (hydrochloride and sulfate) are commonly used as nasal and paranasal decongestants by scuba divers. Anecdotal reports from the Divers Alert Network suggest that taking PSE prior to diving while breathing pure O₂ increases the risk for CNS oxygen toxicity (CNS-OT), which manifests as seizures. We hypothesized that high doses of PSE reduce the latency time to seizure (LS) in unanesthetized rats breathing 5 atmospheres absolute (ATA) of hyperbaric oxygen. Sixty-three male rats were implanted with radio-transmitters that recorded electroencephalogram activity and body temperature. After ≥7-day recovery, and 2 h before "diving", each rat was administered either saline solution (control) or PSE hydrochloride intragastrically at the following doses (mg PSE/kg): 0, 40, 80, 100, 120, 160, and 320. Rats breathed pure O₂ and were dived to 5ATA until the onset of behavioral seizures coincident with neurological seizures. LS was the time elapsed between reaching 5ATA and exhibiting seizures. We observed a significant dose-dependent decrease in the LS at doses of 100-320 mg/kg, whereas no significant differences in LS from control value were observed at doses ≤80 mg/kg. Our findings showed that high doses of PSE accelerate the onset of CNS-OT seizures in unanesthetized rats breathing 5ATA of poikilocapnic hyperoxia. Extrapolating our findings to humans, we conclude that the recommended daily dose of PSE should not be abused prior to diving with oxygen-enriched gas mixes or pure O₂. Copyright © 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Fish egg injection as an alternative exposure route for early life stage toxicity studies: Description of two unique methods: Chapter 4

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Walker, Mary K.; Zabel, Erik W.; Akerman, Gun; Balk, Lennart; Wright, Peggy J.; Tillitt, Donald E.

    1996-01-01

    In the environment, lipophilic contaminants such as halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (HAHs, e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, e.g., benzo[a]pyrene) readily bioaccumulate in fish, and the bioaccumulation of these lipophilic chemicals by adult fish may have significant consequences on the development and survival of their offspring. Halogenated and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons translocate from adult female body stores into eggs during oocyte maturation, and early life stages of fish are often more sensitive than adults to the toxicity of these chemicals. Thus, the presence of persistent, bioaccumulative contaminants in the environment may pose a risk to fish early life stage survival and ultimately reduce recruitment into the adult population.Typically, standard early life stage toxicity studies exposed embryos, larvae, and juveniles to graded concentrations of waterborne toxicants, and dose-response relationships are based on the concentrations of chemicals in the water. However, use of waterborne exposure to assess the toxicity of persistent, bioaccumulative contaminants, such as HAHs and PAHs, has two significant drawbacks. First, uptake of hydrophobic chemicals, such as HAHs and PAHs, into the developing embryo from water is not a significant route of exposure in the environment since concentrations of these chemicals freely dissolved in water are extremely low. Rather, maternal deposition into developing oocytes is the most significant source of these chemicals to the embryo. Second, the dose received by the target tissue, in this case the developing embryo, is the most accurate predictor of the toxic response, and since extrapolation from water concentrations of the chemical to egg concentrations is required, the exact dose received by the embryo can only be estimated, often with large uncertainty. Due to these drawbacks, it is important to develop an alternative exposure method that will directly expose the

  20. Comparative toxicity of two oil dispersants to the early life stages of two marine species

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Singer, M.M.; George, S.; Benner, D.

    1993-10-01

    Acute, flow-through, spiked-exposure toxicity tests were performed on the early life stages of two marine species using two oil dispersants. The species represent two common near-shore marine taxa: molluscs (red abalone, Haliotis rufescens) and crustaceans (kelp forest mysid, Holmesimysis costata). The dispersants were composed of complex mixtures of anionic and nonionic surfactants and solvents. The toxicity data showed that one dispersant, Slik-A-Way, was more toxic than the other, Nokomis[reg sign] 3, to both species. Median-effect concentration estimates for the two dispersants were significantly different between species. Slik-A-Way median-effect concentrations ranged from 16.8 to 23.9 initial ppm for Haliotis and 25.9more » to 34.6 initial ppm for Holmesimysis, whereas Nokomis[reg sign] 3 median-effect concentrations ranged from 21.0 to 24.0 initial ppm for Haliotis and from 118.0 to 123.2 initial ppm for Holmesimysis. Differences in toxicity seen in the two dispersants may be due to differences in surfactant formulations.« less

  1. Magma Ocean Depth and Oxygen Fugacity in the Early Earth--Implications for Biochemistry.

    PubMed

    Righter, Kevin

    2015-09-01

    A large class of elements, referred to as the siderophile (iron-loving) elements, in the Earth's mantle can be explained by an early deep magma ocean on the early Earth in which the mantle equilibrated with metallic liquid (core liquid). This stage would have affected the distribution of some of the classic volatile elements that are also essential ingredients for life and biochemistry - H, C, S, and N. Estimates are made of the H, C, S, and N contents of Earth's early mantle after core formation, considering the effects of variable temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity, and composition on their partitioning. Assessment is made of whether additional, exogenous, sources are required to explain the observed mantle concentrations, and areas are identified where additional data and experimentation would lead to an improved understanding of this phase of Earth's history.

  2. A Microfluidic Device for Continuous Sensing of Systemic Acute Toxicants in Drinking Water

    PubMed Central

    Zhao, Xinyan; Dong, Tao

    2013-01-01

    A bioluminescent-cell-based microfluidic device for sensing toxicants in drinking water was designed and fabricated. The system employed Vibrio fischeri cells as broad-spectrum sensors to monitor potential systemic cell toxicants in water, such as heavy metal ions and phenol. Specifically, the chip was designed for continuous detection. The chip design included two counter-flow micromixers, a T-junction droplet generator and six spiral microchannels. The cell suspension and water sample were introduced into the micromixers and dispersed into droplets in the air flow. This guaranteed sufficient oxygen supply for the cell sensors. Copper (Cu2+), zinc (Zn2+), potassium dichromate and 3,5-dichlorophenol were selected as typical toxicants to validate the sensing system. Preliminary tests verified that the system was an effective screening tool for acute toxicants although it could not recognize or quantify specific toxicants. A distinct non-linear relationship was observed between the zinc ion concentration and the Relative Luminescence Units (RLU) obtained during testing. Thus, the concentration of simple toxic chemicals in water can be roughly estimated by this system. The proposed device shows great promise for an early warning system for water safety. PMID:24300075

  3. Comparative toxicity of inorganic contaminants released by placer mining to early life stages of salmonids

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Buhl, Kevin J.; Hamilton, Steven J.

    1990-01-01

    The acute toxicities of four trace inorganics associated with placer mining were determined, individually and in environmentally relevant mixtures, to early life stages of Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) from Alaska and Montana, coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kitsutch) from Alaska and Washington, and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from Montana. The descending rank order of toxicity to all species and life stages was copper > zinc > lead > arsenic. For each of the three species, sensitivity to the inorganics was greater in juveniles than in alvenins or in swim-up fry. Arctic grayling from Alaska were more sensitive than the other species tested, including Arctic grayling from Montana. For Arctic grayling, sensitivity to all four inorganics was significantly greater in swim-up fry from Alaska than in alevins from Montana, and sensitivity to arsenic and copper was significantly greater in juveniles from Alaska than in juveniles from Montana. In tests with environmentally relevant mixtures (based on ratios of concentrations measured in streams with placer mining) of these four inorganics, copper was identified as the major toxic component because it accounted for ⩾97% of the summed toxic units of the mixture, and an equitoxic mixture of these inorganics showed less-than-additive toxicity. Total and total recoverable copper concentrations reported in five Alaskan streams with active placer mines were higher than the acutely toxic concentrations, either individually or in mixtures, that the authors found to be acutely toxic to Arctic grayling and coho salmon from Alaska. However, caution should be used when comparing our results obtained in “clear” water to field situations, because speciation and toxicity of these inorganics may be altered in the presence of sediments suspended by placer mining activities.

  4. Reproductive Toxicity of T Cells in Early Life: Abnormal Immune Development and Postnatal Diseases.

    PubMed

    Liu, Han-Xiao; Jiang, Aifang; Chen, Ting; Qu, Wen; Yan, Hui-Yi; Ping, Jie

    2017-01-01

    Immunity is a balanced status with adequate biological defenses to recognize and fight "non-self", as well as adequate tolerance to recognize "self". To maintain this immune homeostasis, a well-organized T cell immune network is required, which in part depends on the well-controlled development of alternative effector T cells, with different cytokine repertoires. Recent researches have pointed that developing fetal T cells network is a remarkably sensitive toxicological target for adverse factors in early life. Epidemiological and experimental studies showed an inseparable relationship between T cell developmental toxicity and immune diseases in adults. Considering that the inflammatory and immune disorders have become a growing health problem worldwide, increasing attention is now being paid to the T cell developmental toxicity. We propose that adverse factors may have programming effects on the crucial functions of immune system during early life which is critical for fetal T cell development and the establishment of the distinct T cell repertoires balance. The permanently disturbed intrathymic or peripheral T cell development may in turn lead to the immune disorders in later life. In this manuscript, we reviewed how adverse factors affected T cell development in early-life with the consequence of the immune dysfunction and immune diseases, and further elucidate the mechanisms. These mechanisms will be helpful in prevention and treatment of the increased prevalence of immune diseases by interfering those pathways. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  5. Early plasma exchange for treating ricin toxicity in children after castor bean ingestion.

    PubMed

    Wang, Cheng-feng; Nie, Xiao-jing; Chen, Guang-ming; Yu, Zi-hua; Li, Zheng; Sun, Zhi-wen; Weng, Zeng-feng; Yang, Yu-ying; Chen, Shu-lian; Zheng, Si-rui; Luo, Ying-yun; Lu, Yan-ting; Cao, Hui-qin; Zhan, Hai-xia

    2015-06-01

    Plasma exchange (PE) for the treatment of ricin toxicity has not been previously reported. Here we describe the use of PE to treat children who experienced ricin toxicity after ingesting castor beans. Seven children (median age: 8.1 years) who consumed castor beans (median: 5 beans) were treated with PE. All had bradycardia and sinus arrhythmia, and most had experienced episodes of vomiting and/or diarrhea. PE settings were blood flow, 50-80 mL/min; PE rate, 600-800 mL/h; volume of exchange, 1440-1950 mL. Median time from ingestion to PE was 73 h. All clinical symptoms disappeared and vital signs rapidly returned to normal after PE; no severe organ dysfunction occurred. All children were discharged and recovered uneventfully. Concentrations of all serum biochemical parameters significantly decreased immediately after PE. Some, but not all, of these parameters were also significantly decreased at 48 and 72 h after PE compared with before PE. Our findings suggest that PE can be an effective early intervention in the treatment of ricin toxicity due to castor bean ingestion. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Cerebral oxygen metabolism in patients with early Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Borghammer, Per; Cumming, Paul; Østergaard, Karen; Gjedde, Albert; Rodell, Anders; Bailey, Christopher J; Vafaee, Manoucher S

    2012-02-15

    Decreased activity of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). This model would most likely predict a decrease in the rate of cerebral oxygen consumption (CMRO(2)). To test this hypothesis, we compared CMRO(2) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) PET scans from PD patients and healthy controls. Nine early-stage PD patients and 15 healthy age-matched controls underwent PET scans for quantitative mapping of CMRO(2) and CBF. Between-group differences were evaluated for absolute data and intensity-normalized values. No group differences were detected in regional magnitudes of CMRO(2) or CBF. Upon normalization using the reference cluster method, significant relative CMRO(2) decreases were evident in widespread prefrontal, parieto-occipital, and lateral temporal regions. Sensory-motor and subcortical regions, brainstem, and the cerebellum were spared. A similar pattern was evident in normalized CBF data, as described previously. While the data did not reveal substantially altered absolute CMRO(2) in brain of PD patients, employing data-driven intensity normalization revealed widespread relative CMRO(2) decreases in cerebral cortex. The detected pattern was very similar to that reported in earlier CBF and CMRglc studies of PD, and in the CBF images from the same subjects. Thus, the present results are consistent with the occurrence of parallel declines in CMRO(2), CBF, and CMRglc in spatially contiguous cortical regions in early PD, and support the hypothesis that ETC dysfunction could be a primary pathogenic mechanism in early PD. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Lethal toxicity of industrial chemicals to early life stages of Tilapia guineensis.

    PubMed

    Ezemonye, L I N; Ogeleka, D F; Okieimen, F E

    2008-08-30

    The toxic effects of industrial chemicals on three early life stages of an economically important fish, Tilapia guineensis were investigated using the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) # 203 recommended semi-static renewal bioassay. The assessment was necessary for the uncontrollable disposal of Neatex (liquid detergent) and Norust CR 486 (corrosion inhibitor) into the Niger Delta environment of Nigeria. The estimated 96-h LC(50) for 7-, 14- and 28-day-old fish in Norust CR 486 exposure was considered "more toxic" than Neatex in all life stages and was dependent on species age, exposure duration and environment. In the fresh water test, for Neatex and Norust CR 486 exposures for day 7, 14 and 28, the 96-h LC50 were 8.79, 17.10 and 82.42 mg/l and 5.55, 13.58 and 20.21 mg/l, respectively. In the brackish test, 15.42 and 46.52 mg/l, not determined (ND) and 7.35, 13.95 and 24.50mg/l were obtained. Differential toxicity was observed in the fresh and brackish water fish for the two chemicals and controls at p<0.05. The high sensitivity of the 7-day-old test organisms to both chemicals provides a rationale for regulatory surveillance and monitoring of both chemicals in the fragile Niger Delta environment.

  8. Did Mineral Surface Chemistry and Toxicity Contribute to Evolution of Microbial Extracellular Polymeric Substances?

    PubMed Central

    Campbell, Jay M.; Zhang, Nianli; Hickey, William J.

    2012-01-01

    Abstract Modern ecological niches are teeming with an astonishing diversity of microbial life in biofilms closely associated with mineral surfaces, which highlights the remarkable success of microorganisms in conquering the challenges and capitalizing on the benefits presented by the mineral–water interface. Biofilm formation capability likely evolved on early Earth because biofilms provide crucial cell survival functions. The potential toxicity of mineral surfaces toward cells and the complexities of the mineral–water–cell interface in determining the toxicity mechanisms, however, have not been fully appreciated. Here, we report a previously unrecognized role for extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which form biofilms in shielding cells against the toxicity of mineral surfaces. Using colony plating and LIVE/DEAD staining methods in oxide suspensions versus oxide-free controls, we found greater viability of wild-type, EPS-producing strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 compared to their isogenic knockout mutant with defective biofilm-producing capacity. Oxide toxicity was specific to its surface charge and particle size. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images and assays for highly reactive oxygen species (hROS) on mineral surfaces suggested that EPS shield via both physical and chemical mechanisms. Intriguingly, qualitative as well as quantitative measures of EPS production showed that toxic minerals induced EPS production in bacteria. By determining the specific toxicity mechanisms, we provide insight into the potential impact of mineral surfaces in promoting increased complexity of cell surfaces, including EPS and biofilm formation, on early Earth. Key Words: Mineral toxicity—Bacteria—EPS evolution—Biofilms—Cytotoxicity—Silica—Anatase—Alumina. Astrobiology 12, 785–798. PMID:22934560

  9. The Association of Early Blood Oxygenation with Child Development in Preterm Infants with Acute Respiratory Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Smith, Karen E.; Keeney, Susan; Zhang, Lifang; Perez-Polo, Regino; Rassin, David K.

    2008-01-01

    The potential negative impact of early blood oxygenation on development of specific cognitive and motor outcomes in children born at very low birth weight (VLBW; 1000 − 1500g) has not been examined even though these infants are exposed to varying durations and amounts of oxygen as part of their neonatal care. While this is the largest group of preterm infants, they receive much less research attention than extremely low birth weight infants (ELBW < 1000g). Although neonatologists are questioning the routine use of oxygen therapy for all neonates, research has focused primarily on the more medically fragile ELBW infants. To date there are no systematic studies available to guide decision making for oxygen supplementation for a large segment of the preterm infant population. The aim of the present study was to determine if there is an association between blood oxygenation in the first four hours of life and specific cognitive and motor skills in preterm infants with acute respiratory disorders but no severe intracranial insult using a selected cohort from a longitudinal study children recruited in 1991 and 1992 designed to examine the role of biological immaturity as defined by gestational age and parenting in development. From this cohort, 55 children had acute respiratory disorders without severe intracranial insult. Of these, 35 children had at least one partial pressure of oxygen obtained from arterial blood (PaO2) during the first four hours of life as part of their clinical care. Higher early PaO2 values were associated with lower impulse control and attention skills in the elementary school age period. Models that examined for relations between PaO2 values that also included birth weight and parenting quality across the first year of life revealed that higher PaO2 remained associated with impulse control but not attention skills. Birth weight was not associated with any outcomes. These results suggest that hyperoxia may be a risk factor for developmental

  10. Review: Oxygen and trophoblast biology — A source of controversy

    PubMed Central

    Tuuli, M.G.; Longtine, M.S.; Nelson, D.M.

    2013-01-01

    Oxygen is necessary for life yet too much or too little oxygen is toxic to cells. The oxygen tension in the maternal plasma bathing placental villi is <20 mm Hg until 10–12 weeks’ gestation, rising to 40–80 mmHg and remaining in this range throughout the second and third trimesters. Maldevelopment of the maternal spiral arteries in the first trimester predisposes to placental dysfunction and sub-optimal pregnancy outcomes in the second half of pregnancy. Although low oxygen at the site of early placental development is the norm, controversy is intense when investigators interpret how defective transformation of spiral arteries leads to placental dysfunction during the second and third trimesters. Moreover, debate rages as to what oxygen concentrations should be considered normal and abnormal for use in vitro to model villous responses in vivo. The placenta may be injured in the second half of pregnancy by hypoxia, but recent evidence shows that ischemia with reoxygenation and mechanical damage due to high flow contributes to the placental dysfunction of diverse pregnancy disorders. We overview normal and pathologic development of the placenta, consider variables that influence experiments in vitro, and discuss the hotly debated question of what in vitro oxygen percentage reflects the normal and abnormal oxygen concentrations that occur in vivo. We then describe our studies that show cultured villous trophoblasts undergo apoptosis and autophagy with phenotype-related differences in response to hypoxia. PMID:21216006

  11. Ketogenic diet for high partial pressure oxygen diving.

    PubMed

    Valadao, Jason M; Vigilante, John A; DiGeorge, Nicholas W; O'Connor, Sunila E; Bear, Alexandria; Kenyon, Jeffrey; Annis, Heather; Dituri, Joseph; Dituri, Amy E; Whelan, Harry T

    2014-01-01

    A ketogenic diet (KD) may decrease central nervous system oxygen toxicity symptoms in divers, and in view of this implication a feasibility/ toxicity pilot study was performed to demonstrate tolerance of KD while performing normal diving profiles. The exact mechanism of neuroprotection from the KD remains unknown; however, evidence to support the efficacy of the KD in reducing seizures is present in epilepsy and oxygen toxicity studies, and may provide valuable insight in diving activities. Three divers (two males and one female ages 32-45 with a history of deep diving and high pO2 exposure) on the KD made dives to varying depths in Hawaii using fully closed-circuit MK-15 and Inspiration rebreathers. These rebreathers have an electronically controlled set point, allowing the divers to monitor and control the oxygen level in the breathing loop, which can be varied manually by the divers. Oxygen level was varied during descent, bottom depth and ascent (decompression). Divers fasted for 12-18 hours before diet initiation. The ketosis level was verified by urinating on a Ketostix (reagent strips for urinalysis). Ketosis was achieved and was easily monitored with Ketostix in the simulated operational environment. The KD did not interfere with the diving mission; no seizure activity or signs or symptoms of CNS toxicity were observed, and there were no adverse effects noted by the divers while on the KD.

  12. Oxygen diffusion: an enzyme-controlled variable parameter.

    PubMed

    Erdmann, Wilhelm; Kunke, Stefan

    2014-01-01

    Previous oxygen microelectrode studies have shown that the oxygen diffusion coefficient (DO₂) increases during extracellular PO₂ decreases, while intracellular PO₂ remained unchanged and thus cell function (spike activity of neurons). Oxygen dependency of complex multicellular organisms requires a stable and adequate oxygen supply to the cells, while toxic concentrations have to be avoided. Oxygen brought to the tissue by convection diffuses through the intercellular and cell membranes, which are potential barriers to diffusion. In gerbil brain cortex, PO₂ and DO₂ were measured by membrane-covered and by bare gold microelectrodes, as were also spike potentials. Moderate respiratory hypoxia was followed by a primary sharp drop of tissue PO₂ that recovered to higher values concomitant with an increase of DO₂. A drop in intracellular PO₂ recovered immediately. Studies on the abdominal ganglion of aplysia californica showed similar results.Heterogeneity is a feature of both normal oxygen supply to tissue and supply due to a wide range of disturbances in oxygen supply. Oxygen diffusion through membranes is variable thereby ensuring adequate intracellular PO₂. Cell-derived glucosamine oxidase seems to regulate the polymerization/depolymerisation ratio of membrane mucopolysaccharides and thus oxygen diffusion.Variability of oxygen diffusion is a decisive parameter for regulating the supply/demand ratio of oxygen supply to the cell; this occurs in highly developed animals as well as in species of a less sophisticated nature. Autoregulation of oxygen diffusion is as important as the distribution/perfusion ratio of the capillary meshwork and as the oxygen extraction ratio in relation to oxygen consumption of the cell. Oxygen diffusion resistance is the cellular protection against luxury oxygen supply (which can result in toxic oxidative species leading to mutagenesis).

  13. Contribution of Neisseria Gonorrhoeae Catalase in Defense Against Toxic Oxygen Radicals and Neutrophils, and Its Role During Experimental Genital Tract Infection of Mice

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-01-01

    1981. Manganese and defenses against oxygen toxicity in Lactobacillus plantarum . J. Bacteriol. 145:442-451. Arko, R. J. 1972. Neisseria gonorrhoeae...168-171. Kono, Y., and I. Fridovich. 1983. Isolation and characterization of the pseudocatalase of Lactobacillus plantarum . A new manganese containing...factors such as temperature and pH (Zawaneh et al., 1979). Several studies have demonstrated the ability of lactobacillus to adhere to vaginal epithelial

  14. Data mining reveals a network of early-response genes as a consensus signature of drug-induced in vitro and in vivo toxicity.

    PubMed

    Zhang, J D; Berntenis, N; Roth, A; Ebeling, M

    2014-06-01

    Gene signatures of drug-induced toxicity are of broad interest, but they are often identified from small-scale, single-time point experiments, and are therefore of limited applicability. To address this issue, we performed multivariate analysis of gene expression, cell-based assays, and histopathological data in the TG-GATEs (Toxicogenomics Project-Genomics Assisted Toxicity Evaluation system) database. Data mining highlights four genes-EGR1, ATF3, GDF15 and FGF21-that are induced 2 h after drug administration in human and rat primary hepatocytes poised to eventually undergo cytotoxicity-induced cell death. Modelling and simulation reveals that these early stress-response genes form a functional network with evolutionarily conserved structure and intrinsic dynamics. This is underlined by the fact that early induction of this network in vivo predicts drug-induced liver and kidney pathology with high accuracy. Our findings demonstrate the value of early gene-expression signatures in predicting and understanding compound-induced toxicity. The identified network can empower first-line tests that reduce animal use and costs of safety evaluation.

  15. Affect of Early Life Oxygen Exposure on Proper Lung Development and Response to Respiratory Viral Infections

    PubMed Central

    Domm, William; Misra, Ravi S.; O’Reilly, Michael A.

    2015-01-01

    Children born preterm often exhibit reduced lung function and increased severity of response to respiratory viruses, suggesting that premature birth has compromised proper development of the respiratory epithelium and innate immune defenses. Increasing evidence suggests that premature birth promotes aberrant lung development likely due to the neonatal oxygen transition occurring before pulmonary development has matured. Given that preterm infants are born at a point of time where their immune system is also still developing, early life oxygen exposure may also be disrupting proper development of innate immunity. Here, we review current literature in hopes of stimulating research that enhances understanding of how the oxygen environment at birth influences lung development and host defense. This knowledge may help identify those children at risk for disease and ideally culminate in the development of novel therapies that improve their health. PMID:26322310

  16. Air toxics and early childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia in Texas, a population based case control study.

    PubMed

    Symanski, Elaine; Tee Lewis, P Grace; Chen, Ting-Yu; Chan, Wenyaw; Lai, Dejian; Ma, Xiaomei

    2016-06-14

    Traffic exhaust, refineries and industrial facilities are major sources of air toxics identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) for their potential risk to human health. In utero and early life exposures to air toxics such as benzene and 1,3-butadiene, which are known leukemogens in adults, may play an etiologic role in childhood leukemia that comprises the majority of pediatric cancers. We conducted a population based case-control study to examine individual effects of benzene, 1,3-butadiene and polycyclic organic matter (POM) in ambient residential air on acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) diagnosed in children under age 5 years in Texas from 1995-2011. Texas Cancer Registry cases were linked to birth records and then were frequency matched by birth month and year to 10 population-based controls. Maternal and infant characteristics from birth certificates were abstracted to obtain information about potential confounders. Modelled estimates of benzene, 1,3-butadiene and POM exposures at the census tract level were assigned by linking geocoded maternal addresses from birth certificates to U.S. EPA National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment data for single and co-pollutant statistical analyses. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were applied to evaluate associations between air toxics and childhood leukemia. In adjusted single pollutant models, odds of childhood leukemia among mothers with the highest ambient air exposures compared to those in the lowest quartile were 1.11 (95 % CI: 0.94-1.32) for POM, 1.17 (95 % CI: 0.98-1.39) for benzene and 1.29 (95 % CI: 1.08-1.52) for 1,3-butadiene. In co-pollutant models, odds ratios for childhood leukemia remained elevated for 1,3-butadiene but were close to the null value for benzene and POM. We observed positive associations between 1,3-butadiene and childhood leukemia in single and co-pollutant models whereas effect estimates from single pollutant models were diminished for benzene and POM in co

  17. Interplay between oxygen and Fe-S cluster biogenesis: insights from the Suf pathway.

    PubMed

    Boyd, Eric S; Thomas, Khaleh M; Dai, Yuyuan; Boyd, Jeff M; Outten, F Wayne

    2014-09-23

    Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster metalloproteins conduct essential functions in nearly all contemporary forms of life. The nearly ubiquitous presence of Fe-S clusters and the fundamental requirement for Fe-S clusters in both aerobic and anaerobic Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya suggest that these clusters were likely integrated into central metabolic pathways early in the evolution of life prior to the widespread oxidation of Earth's atmosphere. Intriguingly, Fe-S cluster-dependent metabolism is sensitive to disruption by oxygen because of the decreased bioavailability of ferric iron as well as direct oxidation of sulfur trafficking intermediates and Fe-S clusters by reactive oxygen species. This fact, coupled with the ubiquity of Fe-S clusters in aerobic organisms, suggests that organisms evolved with mechanisms that facilitate the biogenesis and use of these essential cofactors in the presence of oxygen, which gradually began to accumulate around 2.5 billion years ago as oxygenic photosynthesis proliferated and reduced minerals that buffered against oxidation were depleted. This review highlights the most ancient of the Fe-S cluster biogenesis pathways, the Suf system, which likely was present in early anaerobic forms of life. Herein, we use the evolution of the Suf pathway to assess the relationships between the biochemical functions and physiological roles of Suf proteins, with an emphasis on the selective pressure of oxygen toxicity. Our analysis suggests that diversification into oxygen-containing environments disrupted iron and sulfur metabolism and was a main driving force in the acquisition of accessory Suf proteins (such as SufD, SufE, and SufS) by the core SufB-SufC scaffold complex. This analysis provides a new framework for the study of Fe-S cluster biogenesis pathways and Fe-S cluster-containing metalloenzymes and their complicated patterns of divergence in response to oxygen.

  18. Interplay between Oxygen and Fe–S Cluster Biogenesis: Insights from the Suf Pathway

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Iron–sulfur (Fe–S) cluster metalloproteins conduct essential functions in nearly all contemporary forms of life. The nearly ubiquitous presence of Fe–S clusters and the fundamental requirement for Fe–S clusters in both aerobic and anaerobic Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya suggest that these clusters were likely integrated into central metabolic pathways early in the evolution of life prior to the widespread oxidation of Earth’s atmosphere. Intriguingly, Fe–S cluster-dependent metabolism is sensitive to disruption by oxygen because of the decreased bioavailability of ferric iron as well as direct oxidation of sulfur trafficking intermediates and Fe–S clusters by reactive oxygen species. This fact, coupled with the ubiquity of Fe–S clusters in aerobic organisms, suggests that organisms evolved with mechanisms that facilitate the biogenesis and use of these essential cofactors in the presence of oxygen, which gradually began to accumulate around 2.5 billion years ago as oxygenic photosynthesis proliferated and reduced minerals that buffered against oxidation were depleted. This review highlights the most ancient of the Fe–S cluster biogenesis pathways, the Suf system, which likely was present in early anaerobic forms of life. Herein, we use the evolution of the Suf pathway to assess the relationships between the biochemical functions and physiological roles of Suf proteins, with an emphasis on the selective pressure of oxygen toxicity. Our analysis suggests that diversification into oxygen-containing environments disrupted iron and sulfur metabolism and was a main driving force in the acquisition of accessory Suf proteins (such as SufD, SufE, and SufS) by the core SufB–SufC scaffold complex. This analysis provides a new framework for the study of Fe–S cluster biogenesis pathways and Fe–S cluster-containing metalloenzymes and their complicated patterns of divergence in response to oxygen. PMID:25153801

  19. Importance of Extracellular Processes in the Oxygen Enhancement of Radiation Lethality.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1982-03-08

    radical oxygen toxicity superoxide dismutases methyl viologen hydroxyl radical pyocyanine o. Lactobacillus plantarum manganese Streptococcus sanguis gene...Against Oxygen Toxicity in Lactobacillus plantarum . F. S. Archibald and I. Fridovich. Superoxide Dismutases: Detoxication of a Free Radical. H. M. Hassan...S. Archibald and I. Fridovich 7 Investigations of the State of the Manganese in Lactobacillus plantarum . F. S. Archibald and I. Fridovich Superoxide

  20. [Photodegradation of naproxen in aqueous systems by UV irradiation: mechanism and toxicity of photolysis products].

    PubMed

    Ma, Du-juan; Liu, Guo-guang; Lü, Wen-ying; Yao, Kun; Zhou, Li-hua; Xie, Cheng-ping

    2013-05-01

    This paper studies the degradation mechanism, the reaction kinetics and the toxicity of photolysis products of naproxen in waters under UV irradiation (120 W mercury lamp) by quenching experiments of reactive oxygen species (ROS), oxygen concentration experiment and toxicity evaluation using Vibrio fischeri bacteria. The results demonstrated that NPX could be degraded effectively by UV irradiation and the photolysis pathways was the sum of the degradation by direct photolysis and self-sensitization via ROS, and the contribution rates of self-sensitized photodegradation were 0.1%, 80.2%, 35.7% via *OH, (1)O2, O2*-, respectively. The effect of oxygen concentration illustrated that dissolved oxygen had an inhibitory effect on the direct photodegradation of NPX, and the higher the oxygen content, the more obvious the inhibitory effect. The toxicity evaluation illustrated the formation of some intermediate products that were more toxic than NPX during the photodegradation of NPX. The process of NPX degradation in all cases could be fitted by the pseudo first-order kinetics model.

  1. Peroxy defects in Rocks and H2O2 formation on the early Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gray, A.; Balk, M.; Mason, P.; Freund, F.; Rothschild, L.

    2013-12-01

    An oxygen-rich atmosphere appears to have been a prerequisite for complex life to evolve on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the Universe. The question is still shrouded in uncertainty how free oxygen became available on the early Earth. Here we study processes of peroxy defects in silicate minerals which, upon weathering, generate mobilized electronic charge carriers resulting in oxygen formation in an initially anoxic subsurface environment. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are precursors to molecular oxygen during this process. Due to their toxicity they may have strongly influenced the evolution of life. ROS are generated during hydrolysis of peroxy defects, which consist of pairs of oxygen anions. A second pathway for formation occurs during (bio) transformations of iron sulphide minerals. ROS are produced and consumed by intracellular and extracellular reactions of Fe, Mn, C, N, and S species. We propose that despite an overall reducing or neutral oxidation state of the macroenvironment and the absence of free O2 in the atmosphere, microorganisms on the early Earth had to cope with ROS in their microenvironments. They were thus under evolutionary pressure to develop enzymatic and other defenses against the potentially dangerous, even lethal effects of ROS and oxygen. We have investigated how oxygen might be released through weathering and test microorganisms in contact with rock surfaces. Our results show how early Life might have adapted to oxygen. Early microorganisms must have "trained" to detoxify ROS prior to the evolution of aerobic metabolism and oxygenic photosynthesis. A possible way out of this dilemma comes from a study of igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks, whose minerals contain a small but significant fraction of oxygen anions in the valence state 1- , forming peroxy links of the type O3Si-OO-SiO3 [1, 2]. As water hydrolyzes the peroxy links hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, forms. Continued experimental discovery of H2O2 formation at rock

  2. Early childhood adversity, toxic stress, and the role of the pediatrician: translating developmental science into lifelong health.

    PubMed

    Garner, Andrew S; Shonkoff, Jack P

    2012-01-01

    Advances in a wide range of biological, behavioral, and social sciences are expanding our understanding of how early environmental influences (the ecology) and genetic predispositions (the biologic program) affect learning capacities, adaptive behaviors, lifelong physical and mental health, and adult productivity. A supporting technical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) presents an integrated ecobiodevelopmental framework to assist in translating these dramatic advances in developmental science into improved health across the life span. Pediatricians are now armed with new information about the adverse effects of toxic stress on brain development, as well as a deeper understanding of the early life origins of many adult diseases. As trusted authorities in child health and development, pediatric providers must now complement the early identification of developmental concerns with a greater focus on those interventions and community investments that reduce external threats to healthy brain growth. To this end, AAP endorses a developing leadership role for the entire pediatric community-one that mobilizes the scientific expertise of both basic and clinical researchers, the family-centered care of the pediatric medical home, and the public influence of AAP and its state chapters-to catalyze fundamental change in early childhood policy and services. AAP is committed to leveraging science to inform the development of innovative strategies to reduce the precipitants of toxic stress in young children and to mitigate their negative effects on the course of development and health across the life span.

  3. Expanded oxygen minimum zones during the late Paleocene-early Eocene: Hints from multiproxy comparison and ocean modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, X.; Thomas, E.; Winguth, A. M. E.; Ridgwell, A.; Scher, H.; Hoogakker, B. A. A.; Rickaby, R. E. M.; Lu, Z.

    2016-12-01

    Anthropogenic warming could well drive depletion of oceanic oxygen in the future. Important insight into the relationship between deoxygenation and warming can be gleaned from the geological record, but evidence is limited because few ocean oxygenation records are available for past greenhouse climate conditions. We use I/Ca in benthic foraminifera to reconstruct late Paleocene through early Eocene bottom and pore water redox conditions in the South Atlantic and Southern Indian Oceans and compare our results with those derived from Mn speciation and the Ce anomaly in fish teeth. We conclude that waters with lower oxygen concentrations were widespread at intermediate depths (1.5-2 km), whereas bottom waters were more oxygenated at the deepest site, in the Southeast Atlantic Ocean (>3 km). Epifaunal benthic foraminiferal I/Ca values were higher in the late Paleocene, especially at low-oxygen sites, than at well-oxygenated modern sites, indicating higher seawater total iodine concentrations in the late Paleocene than today. The proxy-based bottom water oxygenation pattern agrees with the site-to-site O2 gradient as simulated in a comprehensive climate model (Community Climate System Model Version 3), but the simulated absolute dissolved O2 values are low (< 35 µmol/kg), while higher O2 values ( 60-100 µmol/kg) were obtained in an Earth system model (Grid ENabled Integrated Earth system model). Multiproxy data together with improvements in boundary conditions and model parameterization are necessary if the details of past oceanographic oxygenation are to be resolved.

  4. Production and Consumption of Reactive Oxygen Species by Fullerenes

    EPA Science Inventory

    Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are one of the most important intermediates in chemical, photochemical, and biological processes. To understand the environmental exposure and toxicity of fullerenes better, the production and consumption of ROS (singlet oxygen, superoxide, hydrogen ...

  5. Metered oxygen supply aids treatment of domestic sewage

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Weliky, N.; Hooper, T. J.; Silverman, H. P.

    1972-01-01

    Microbiological fixed-bed process was developed in which supplementary oxygen required by microbial species is supplied by electrochemical device. Rate of addition of oxygen to waste treatment process is controlled to maintain aerobic metabolism and prevent anaerobic metabolisms which produce odorous or toxic products.

  6. A prospective pilot study on early toxicity from a simultaneously integrated boost technique for canine sinonasal tumours using image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

    PubMed

    Soukup, A; Meier, V; Pot, S; Voelter, K; Rohrer Bley, C

    2018-05-14

    In order to overcome the common local treatment failure of canine sinonasal tumours, integrated boost techniques were tried in the cobalt/orthovoltage era, but dismissed because of unacceptable early (acute) toxicity. Intriguingly, a recent calculation study of a simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) technique for sinonasal irradiation using intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) predicted theoretical feasibility. In this prospective pilot study we applied a commonly used protocol of 10 × 4.2 Gy to the planning target volume (PTV) with a 20%-SIB dose to the gross tumour volume (GTV). Our hypothesis expected this dose escalation to be clinically tolerable if applied with image-guided IMRT. We included 9 dogs diagnosed with sinonasal tumours without local/distant metastases. For treatment planning, organs at risk were contoured according to strict anatomical guidelines. Planning volume extensions (GTV/CTV/PTV) were standardized to minimize interplanner variability. Treatments were applied with rigid patient positioning and verified daily with image guidance. After radiation therapy, we set focus on early ophthalmologic complications as well as mucosal and cutaneous toxicity. Early toxicity was evaluated at week 1, 2, 3, 8 and 12 after radiotherapy. Only mild ophthalmologic complications were found. Three patients (33%) had self-limiting moderate to severe early toxicity (grade 3 mucositis) which was managed medically. No patient developed ulcerations/haemorrhage/necrosis of skin/mucosa. The SIB protocol applied with image-guided IMRT to treat canine sinonasal tumours led to clinically acceptable side effects. The suspected increased tumour control probability and the risk of late toxicity with the used dose escalation of 20% has to be further investigated. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Early cavopulmonary anastomosis in very young infants after the Norwood procedure: impact on oxygenation, resource utilization, and mortality.

    PubMed

    Jaquiss, Robert D B; Ghanayem, Nancy S; Hoffman, George M; Fedderly, Raymond T; Cava, Joseph R; Mussatto, Kathleen A; Tweddell, James S

    2004-04-01

    The optimal timing of second-stage palliation after Norwood operations remains undefined. Advantages of early cavopulmonary anastomosis are early elimination of volume load and shortening the high-risk interstage period. Potential disadvantages include severe cyanosis, prolonged pleural drainage and hospitalization, and excess mortality. We reviewed our recent experience to evaluate the safety of early cavopulmonary anastomosis. Eighty-five consecutive patients undergoing post-Norwood operation cavopulmonary anastomosis were divided into group I (cavopulmonary anastomosis at <4 months; n = 33) and group II (cavopulmonary anastomosis at >4 months; n = 52). Groups were compared for age; size; early and late mortality; preoperative, initial postoperative, and discharge oxygen saturation; and duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit stay, pleural drainage, and hospitalization. Group I patients were younger than group II patients (94 +/- 21 days vs 165 +/- 44 days, respectively; P <.001) and smaller (4.8 +/- 0.8 kg vs 5.8 +/- 0.9 kg; P <.001). The preoperative oxygen saturation was not different (group I, 75% +/- 10%; group II, 78% +/- 8%; P =.142). The oxygen saturation was lower immediately after surgery in group I compared with group II (75% +/- 7% vs 81% +/- 7%, respectively; P <.001) but not by discharge (group I, 79% +/- 4%; group II, 80% +/- 4%). Younger patients were ventilated longer (62 +/- 86 hours vs 19 +/- 42 hours; P =.001), in the intensive care unit longer (130 +/- 111 hours vs 104 +/- 94 hours; P =.049), hospitalized longer (12.5 +/- 11.5 days vs 10.3 +/- 14.8 days; P =.012), and required longer pleural drainage (106 +/- 45 hours vs 104 +/- 93 hours; P =.046). Hospital survival was 100% in both groups. Actuarial survival to 12 months was 96% +/- 4% for group I and 96% +/- 3% for group II. Early cavopulmonary anastomosis after the Norwood operation is safe. Younger patients are more cyanotic initially after surgery and have a longer

  8. Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiation Therapy for Primary Kidney Cancer: A 3-Dimensional Conformal Technique Associated With Low Rates of Early Toxicity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pham, Daniel, E-mail: daniel.pham@petermac.org; Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria; Thompson, Ann

    Purpose: To describe our 3-dimensional conformal planning approaches and report early toxicities with stereotactic body radiation therapy for the management of primary renal cell carcinoma. Methods and Materials: This is an analysis of a phase 1 trial of stereotactic body radiation therapy for primary inoperable renal cell carcinoma. A dose of 42 Gy/3 fractions was prescribed to targets ≥5 cm, whereas for <5 cm 26 Gy/1 fraction was used. All patients underwent a planning 4-dimensional CT to generate a planning target volume (PTV) from a 5-mm isotropic expansion of the internal target volume. Planning required a minimum of 8 fields prescribing to the minimummore » isodose surrounding the PTV. Intermediate dose spillage at 50% of the prescription dose (R50%) was measured to describe the dose gradient. Early toxicity (<6 months) was scored using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (v4.0). Results: From July 2012 to August 2013 a total of 20 patients (median age, 77 years) were recruited into a prospective clinical trial. Eleven patients underwent fractionated treatment and 9 patients a single fraction. For PTV targets <100 cm{sup 3} the median number of beams used was 8 (2 noncoplanar) to achieve an average R50% of 3.7. For PTV targets >100 cm{sup 3} the median beam number used was 10 (4 noncoplanar) for an average R50% value of 4.3. The R50% was inversely proportional to decreasing PTV volume (r=−0.62, P=.003) and increasing total beams used (r=−0.51, P=.022). Twelve of 20 patients (60%) suffered grade ≤2 early toxicity, whereas 8 of 20 patients (40%) were asymptomatic. Nausea, chest wall pain, and fatigue were the most common toxicities reported. Conclusion: A 3-dimensional conformal planning technique of 8-10 beams can be used to deliver highly tolerable stereotactic ablation to primary kidney targets with minimal early toxicities. Ongoing follow-up is currently in place to assess long-term toxicities and cancer control.« less

  9. General aspects of metal toxicity.

    PubMed

    Kozlowski, H; Kolkowska, P; Watly, J; Krzywoszynska, K; Potocki, S

    2014-01-01

    This review is focused on the general mechanisms of metal toxicity in humans. The possible and mainly confirmed mechanisms of their action are discussed. The metals are divided into four groups due to their toxic effects. First group comprises of metal ions acting as Fenton reaction catalyst mainly iron and copper. These types of metal ions participate in generation of the reactive oxygen species. Metals such as nickel, cadmium and chromium are considered as carcinogenic agents. Aluminum, lead and tin are involved in neurotoxicity. The representative of the last group is mercury, which may be considered as a generally toxic metal. Fenton reaction is a naturally occurring process producing most active oxygen species, hydroxyl radical: Fe(2+) + He2O2 ↔ Fe(3+) + OH(-) + OH(•) It is able to oxidize most of the biomolecules including DNA, proteins, lipids etc. The effect of toxicity depends on the damage of molecules i.e. production site of the hydroxyl radical. Chromium toxicity depends critically on its oxidation state. The most hazardous seems to be Cr(6+) (chromates) which are one of the strongest inorganic carcinogenic agents. Cr(6+) species act also as oxidative agents damaging among other nucleic acids. Redox inactive Al(3+), Cd(2+) or Hg(2+) may interfere with biology of other metal ions e.g. by occupying metal binding sites in biomolecules. All these aspects will be discussed in the review.

  10. Streptococcus agalactiae Toxic Shock-Like Syndrome

    PubMed Central

    Al Akhrass, Fadi; Abdallah, Lina; Berger, Steven; Hanna, Rami; Reynolds, Nina; Thompson, Shellie; Hallit, Rabih; Schlievert, Patrick M.

    2013-01-01

    Abstract We present 2 patients with Streptococcus agalactiae toxic shock-like syndrome and review another 11 well-reported cases from the literature. Streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome is a devastating illness with a high mortality rate, therefore we stress the importance of early supportive management, antimicrobial therapy, and surgical intervention. Toxic shock-like syndrome is likely to be underestimated in patients with invasive Streptococcus agalactiae infection who present with shock. Early diagnosis requires high suspicion of the illness, along with a thorough mucocutaneous examination. Streptococcus agalactiae produces uncharacterized pyrogenic toxins, which explains the ability of the organism to cause toxic shock-like syndrome. PMID:23263717

  11. Disposition and Mechanisms of Toxicities of Metals and Metalloids

    EPA Science Inventory

    Dr. Hughes will provide a concise overview of general disposition (e.g., absorption) and mechanisms of toxicity of metal toxicity (e.g., direct interaction with functional groups of critical proteins, generation of reactive oxygen species, and alteration of cell signaling pathway...

  12. Propulsion Risk Reduction Activities for Non-Toxic Cryogenic Propulsion

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smith, Timothy D.; Klem, Mark D.; Fisher, Kenneth

    2010-01-01

    The Propulsion and Cryogenics Advanced Development (PCAD) Project s primary objective is to develop propulsion system technologies for non-toxic or "green" propellants. The PCAD project focuses on the development of non-toxic propulsion technologies needed to provide necessary data and relevant experience to support informed decisions on implementation of non-toxic propellants for space missions. Implementation of non-toxic propellants in high performance propulsion systems offers NASA an opportunity to consider other options than current hypergolic propellants. The PCAD Project is emphasizing technology efforts in reaction control system (RCS) thruster designs, ascent main engines (AME), and descent main engines (DME). PCAD has a series of tasks and contracts to conduct risk reduction and/or retirement activities to demonstrate that non-toxic cryogenic propellants can be a feasible option for space missions. Work has focused on 1) reducing the risk of liquid oxygen/liquid methane ignition, demonstrating the key enabling technologies, and validating performance levels for reaction control engines for use on descent and ascent stages; 2) demonstrating the key enabling technologies and validating performance levels for liquid oxygen/liquid methane ascent engines; and 3) demonstrating the key enabling technologies and validating performance levels for deep throttling liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen descent engines. The progress of these risk reduction and/or retirement activities will be presented.

  13. Early and Definitive Diagnosis of Toxic Shock Syndrome by Detection of Marked Expansion of T-Cell-Receptor Vβ2-Positive T Cells

    PubMed Central

    Kato, Hidehito; Yamada, Ritsuko; Okano, Hiroya; Ohta, Hiroaki; Imanishi, Ken’ichi; Kikuchi, Ken; Totsuka, Kyouichi; Uchiyama, Takehiko

    2003-01-01

    We describe two cases of early toxic shock syndrome, caused by the superantigen produced from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and diagnosed on the basis of an expansion of T-cell-receptor Vβ2-positive T cells. One case-patient showed atypical symptoms. Our results indicate that diagnostic systems incorporating laboratory techniques are essential for rapid, definitive diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome. PMID:12643839

  14. Hemoglobin phase of oxygenation and deoxygenation in early brain development measured using fNIRS

    PubMed Central

    Watanabe, Hama; Shitara, Yoshihiko; Aoki, Yoshinori; Inoue, Takanobu; Tsuchida, Shinya; Takahashi, Naoto; Taga, Gentaro

    2017-01-01

    A crucial issue in neonatal medicine is the impact of preterm birth on the developmental trajectory of the brain. Although a growing number of studies have shown alterations in the structure and function of the brain in preterm-born infants, we propose a method to detect subtle differences in neurovascular and metabolic functions in neonates and infants. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to obtain time-averaged phase differences between spontaneous low-frequency (less than 0.1 Hz) oscillatory changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) and those in deoxygenated hemoglobin (deoxy-Hb). This phase difference was referred to as hemoglobin phase of oxygenation and deoxygenation (hPod) in the cerebral tissue of sleeping neonates and infants. We examined hPod in term, late preterm, and early preterm infants with no evidence of clinical issues and found that all groups of infants showed developmental changes in the values of hPod from an in-phase to an antiphase pattern. Comparison of hPod among the groups revealed that developmental changes in hPod in early preterm infants precede those in late preterm and term infants at term equivalent age but then, progress at a slower pace. This study suggests that hPod measured using fNIRS is sensitive to the developmental stage of the integration of circular, neurovascular, and metabolic functions in the brains of neonates and infants. PMID:28196885

  15. Effects of two fractions of inspired oxygen during anesthesia on early postanesthesia oxygenation in healthy dogs.

    PubMed

    Martin-Flores, Manuel; Tseng, Chia T; Robillard, Steven D; Abrams, Brittany E; Campoy, Luis; Harvey, H Jay; Gleed, Robin D

    2018-02-01

    OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of 2 fractions of inspired oxygen (Fio 2 s) during anesthesia on postanesthesia Pao 2 and other measures of oxygen exchange. ANIMALS 22 healthy adult sexually intact female dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy by ventral midline celiotomy. PROCEDURES Dogs were randomly assigned to receive either oxygen (Fio 2 > 0.9 [100% oxygen]; n = 11; control group) or a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen (Fio 2 = 0.4; 11; 40% oxygen group) as the carrier gas for isoflurane while anesthetized. All dogs were allowed to breathe spontaneously while anesthetized. For each dog, the Pao 2 , Paco 2 , other indices of oxygenation, and extent of sedation were monitored at predetermined times during and for 1 hour after anesthesia. Measured variables were compared between the 2 treatment groups and over time within each treatment group. RESULTS None of the measured variables differed significantly between the control and 40% oxygen groups at any time during the postanesthesia period. Within each treatment group, the Paco 2 and extent of sedation decreased over time during the postanesthesia period. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that indices of oxygenation did not differ significantly between healthy dogs in which the Fio 2 was maintained at > 0.9 and those in which the Fio 2 was maintained at 0.4 while anesthetized for ovariohysterectomy. Thus, the addition of nitrogen to the carrier gas for an inhalant anesthetic conferred neither an advantage nor disadvantage in regard to oxygenation during the first hour of anesthesia recovery.

  16. Leachate composition and toxicity assessment: an integrated approach correlating physicochemical parameters and toxicity of leachates from MSW landfill in Delhi.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Anshu; Paulraj, R

    2017-07-01

    Landfills are considered the most widely practiced method for disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) and 95% of the total MSW collected worldwide is disposed of in landfills. Leachate produced from MSW landfills may contain a number of pollutants and pose a potential environmental risk for surface as well as ground water. In the present study, chemical analysis and toxicity assessment of landfill leachate have been carried out. Leachate samples were collected from Ghazipur landfill site, New Delhi. Leachates were characterized by measuring the concentration of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cr and Ni), 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 ), chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, electrical conductivity and SO 4 2 -. For toxicity testing of leachate, Triticum aestivum (wheat) was selected and testing was done in a time- and dose-dependent manner using the crude leachate. Median lethal concentration after 24 and 48 h of exposure was observed. The main objective of this study was to evaluate toxicity of MSW landfill leachate and establish a possible correlation between the measured physicochemical parameters and resultant toxicity. Statistical analysis showed that toxicity was dependent on the concentration of heavy metals (Pb, Cu), conductivity, and organic matter (COD and BOD5).

  17. Toxicity of untreated and ozone-treated oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) to early life stages of the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas).

    PubMed

    He, Yuhe; Patterson, Sarah; Wang, Nan; Hecker, Markus; Martin, Jonathan W; El-Din, Mohamed Gamal; Giesy, John P; Wiseman, Steve B

    2012-12-01

    Due to a policy of no release, oil sands process-affected water (OSPW), produced by the surface-mining oil sands industry in North Eastern Alberta, Canada, is stored on-site in tailings ponds. Currently, ozonation is considered one possible method for remediation of OSPW by reducing the concentrations of dissolved organic compounds, including naphthenic acids (NAs), which are considered the primary toxic constituents. However, further work was needed to evaluate the effectiveness of ozonation in reducing the toxicity of OSPW and to ensure that ozonation does not increase the toxicity of OSPW. This study examined effects of untreated, ozone-treated, and activated charcoal-treated OSPW (OSPW, O3-OSPW, and AC-OSPW) on the early life stage (ELS) of fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). Success of hatching of eggs, spontaneous movement, and incidences of hemorrhage, pericardial edema, and malformation of the spine of embryos were examined. To elucidate the mechanism of toxicity, concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured, and the abundances of transcripts of genes involved in biotransformation of xenobiotics, response to oxidative stress, and apoptosis were quantified by real-time PCR. Compared to the control group, which had an embryo survival rate of 97.9 ± 2.08%, survival was significantly less when exposed to OSPW (43.8 ± 7.12%). Eggs exposed to untreated OSPW exhibited a significantly greater rate of premature hatching, and embryos exhibited greater spontaneous movement. Incidences of hemorrhage (50.0 ± 3.40%), pericardial edema (56.3 ± 7.12%), and malformation of the spine (37.5 ± 5.38%) were significantly greater in embryos exposed to OSPW compared to controls. These effects are typical of exposure to dioxin-like compounds, however, abundance of transcripts of cyp1a was not significantly greater in embryos exposed to OSPW. Significantly greater concentrations of ROS, and greater abundances of transcripts cyp3a, gst, sod, casp9, and apopen

  18. Toxic-Waste Disposal by Combustion in Containers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Houseman, J.; Stephens, J. B.; Moynihan, P. I.; Compton, L. E.; Kalvinskas, J. J.

    1986-01-01

    Chemical wastes burned with minimal handling in storage containers. Technique for disposing of chemical munitions by burning them inside shells applies to disposal of toxic materials stored in drums. Fast, economical procedure overcomes heat-transfer limitations of conventional furnace designs by providing direct contact of oxygenrich combustion gases with toxic agent. No need to handle waste material, and container also decontaminated in process. Oxygen-rich torch flame cuts burster well and causes vaporization and combustion of toxic agent contained in shell.

  19. Oxygen extraction from lunar soil by fluorination

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Seboldt, W.; Lingner, S.; Hoernes, S.; Grimmeisen, W.

    1991-01-01

    Mining and processing of lunar material could possibly lead to more cost-efficient scenarios for permanent presence of man in space and on the Moon. Production of oxygen for use as propellant seems especially important. Different candidate processes for oxygen-extraction from lunar soil were proposed, of which the reduction of ilmenite by hydrogen was studied most. This process, however, needs the concentration of ilmenite from lunar regolith to a large extent and releases oxygen only with low efficiency. Another possibility - the fluorination method - which works with lunar bulk material as feedstock is discussed. Liberation of oxygen from silicate or oxide materials by fluorination methods has been applied in geoscience since the early sixties. The fact that even at moderate temperatures 98 to 100 percent yields can be attained, suggests that fluorination of lunar regolith could be an effective way of propellant production. Lunar soil contains about 50 percent oxygen by weight which is gained nearly completely through this process as O2 gas. The second-most element Si is liberated as gaseous SiF4. It could be used for production of Si-metal and fluorine-recycling. All other main elements of lunar soil will be converted into solid fluorides which also can be used for metal-production and fluorine-recycling. Preliminary results of small scale experiments with different materials are discussed, giving information on specific oxygen-yields and amounts of by-products as functions of temperature. These experiments were performed with an already existing fluorine extraction and collection device at the University of Bonn, normally used for determination of oxygen-isotopic abundances. Optimum conditions, especially concerning energy consumption, are investigated. Extrapolation of the experimental results to large industrial-type plants on the Moon is tried and seems to be promising at first sight. The recycling of the fluorine is, however, crucial for the process. It

  20. Photo-induced toxicity in early life stage fiddler crab (Uca longisignalis) following exposure to Deepwater Horizon oil.

    PubMed

    Damare, Leigh M; Bridges, Kristin N; Alloy, Matthew M; Curran, Thomas E; Soulen, Brianne K; Forth, Heather P; Lay, Claire R; Morris, Jeffrey M; Stoeckel, James A; Roberts, Aaron P

    2018-05-01

    The 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil rig led to the release of millions of barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil in aquatic ecosystems exerts toxicity through multiple mechanisms, including photo-induced toxicity following co-exposure with UV radiation. The timing and location of the spill coincided with both fiddler crab reproduction and peak yearly UV intensities, putting early life stage fiddler crabs at risk of injury due to photo-induced toxicity. The present study assessed sensitivity of fiddler crab larvae to photo-induced toxicity during co-exposure to a range of environmentally relevant dilutions of high-energy water accommodated fractions of DWH oil, and either <10, 50, or 100% ambient sunlight, achieved with filters that allowed for variable UV penetration. Solar exposures (duration: 7-h per day) were conducted for two consecutive days, with a dark recovery period (duration: 17-h) in between. Survival was significantly decreased in treatments the presence of >10% UV and relatively low concentrations of oil. Results of the present study indicate fiddler crab larvae are sensitive to photo-induced toxicity in the presence of DWH oil. These results are of concern, as fiddler crabs play an important role as ecosystem engineers, modulating sediment biogeochemical processes via burrowing action. Furthermore, they occupy an important place in the food web in the Gulf of Mexico.

  1. Oxygen and hydrogen peroxide in the early evolution of life on earth: in silico comparative analysis of biochemical pathways.

    PubMed

    Slesak, Ireneusz; Slesak, Halina; Kruk, Jerzy

    2012-08-01

    In the Universe, oxygen is the third most widespread element, while on Earth it is the most abundant one. Moreover, oxygen is a major constituent of all biopolymers fundamental to living organisms. Besides O(2), reactive oxygen species (ROS), among them hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), are also important reactants in the present aerobic metabolism. According to a widely accepted hypothesis, aerobic metabolism and many other reactions/pathways involving O(2) appeared after the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. In this study, the hypothesis was formulated that the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) was at least able to tolerate O(2) and detoxify ROS in a primordial environment. A comparative analysis was carried out of a number of the O(2)-and H(2)O(2)-involving metabolic reactions that occur in strict anaerobes, facultative anaerobes, and aerobes. The results indicate that the most likely LUCA possessed O(2)-and H(2)O(2)-involving pathways, mainly reactions to remove ROS, and had, at least in part, the components of aerobic respiration. Based on this, the presence of a low, but significant, quantity of H(2)O(2) and O(2) should be taken into account in theoretical models of the early Archean atmosphere and oceans and the evolution of life. It is suggested that the early metabolism involving O(2)/H(2)O(2) was a key adaptation of LUCA to already existing weakly oxic zones in Earth's primordial environment.

  2. Yellow phosphorus process to convert toxic chemicals to non-toxic products

    DOEpatents

    Chang, S.G.

    1994-07-26

    The present invention relates to a process for generating reactive species for destroying toxic chemicals. This process first contacts air or oxygen with aqueous emulsions of molten yellow phosphorus. This contact results in rapid production of abundant reactive species such as O, O[sub 3], PO, PO[sub 2], etc. A gaseous or liquid aqueous solution organic or inorganic chemicals is next contacted by these reactive species to reduce the concentration of toxic chemical and result in a non-toxic product. The final oxidation product of yellow phosphorus is phosphoric acid of a quality which can be recovered for commercial use. A process is developed such that the byproduct, phosphoric acid, is obtained without contamination of toxic species in liquids treated. A gas stream containing ozone without contamination of phosphorus containing species is also obtained in a simple and cost-effective manner. This process is demonstrated to be effective for destroying many types of toxic organic, or inorganic, compounds, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), aromatic chlorides, amines, alcohols, acids, nitro aromatics, aliphatic chlorides, polynuclear aromatic compounds (PAH), dyes, pesticides, sulfides, hydroxyamines, ureas, dithionates and the like. 20 figs.

  3. Yellow phosphorus process to convert toxic chemicals to non-toxic products

    DOEpatents

    Chang, Shih-Ger

    1994-01-01

    The present invention relates to a process for generating reactive species for destroying toxic chemicals. This process first contacts air or oxygen with aqueous emulsions of molten yellow phosphorus. This contact results in rapid production of abundant reactive species such as O, O.sub.3, PO, PO.sub.2, etc. A gaseous or liquid aqueous solution organic or inorganic chemicals is next contacted by these reactive species to reduce the concentration of toxic chemical and result in a non-toxic product. The final oxidation product of yellow phosphorus is phosphoric acid of a quality which can be recovered for commercial use. A process is developed such that the byproduct, phosphoric acid, is obtained without contamination of toxic species in liquids treated. A gas stream containing ozone without contamination of phosphorus containing species is also obtained in a simple and cost-effective manner. This process is demonstrated to be effective for destroying many types of toxic organic, or inorganic, compounds, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), aromatic chlorides, amines, alcohols, acids, nitro aromatics, aliphatic chlorides, polynuclear aromatic compounds (PAH), dyes, pesticides, sulfides, hydroxyamines, ureas, dithionates and the like.

  4. Cadmium toxicity in Maize (Zea mays L.): consequences on antioxidative systems, reactive oxygen species and cadmium accumulation.

    PubMed

    Anjum, Shakeel Ahmad; Tanveer, Mohsin; Hussain, Saddam; Bao, Mingchen; Wang, Longchang; Khan, Imran; Ullah, Ehsan; Tung, Shahbaz Atta; Samad, Rana Abdul; Shahzad, Babar

    2015-11-01

    Increased cadmium (Cd) accumulation in soils has led to tremendous environmental problems, with pronounced effects on agricultural productivity. Present study investigated the effects of Cd stress imposed at various concentrations (0, 75, 150, 225, 300, 375 μM) on antioxidant activities, reactive oxygen species (ROS), Cd accumulation, and productivity of two maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars viz., Run Nong 35 and Wan Dan 13. Considerable variations in Cd accumulation and in behavior of antioxidants and ROS were observed under Cd stress in both maize cultivars, and such variations governed by Cd were concentration dependent. Exposure of plant to Cd stress considerably increased Cd concentration in all plant parts particularly in roots. Wan Dan 13 accumulated relatively higher Cd in root, stem, and leaves than Run Nong 35; however, in seeds, Run Nong 35 recorded higher Cd accumulation. All the Cd toxicity levels starting from 75 μM enhanced H2O2 and MDA concentrations and triggered electrolyte leakage in leaves of both cultivars, and such an increment was more in Run Nong 35. The ROS were scavenged by the enhanced activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and glutathione peroxidase in response to Cd stress, and these antioxidant activities were higher in Wan Dan 13 compared with Run Nong 35 at all Cd toxicity levels. The grain yield of maize was considerably reduced particularly for Run Nong 35 under different Cd toxicity levels as compared with control. The Wan Dan 13 was better able to alleviate Cd-induced oxidative damage which was attributed to more Cd accumulation in roots and higher antioxidant activities in this cultivar, suggesting that manipulation of these antioxidants and enhancing Cd accumulation in roots may lead to improvement in Cd stress tolerance.

  5. Risk of leukemia in relation to exposure to ambient air toxics in pregnancy and early childhood.

    PubMed

    Heck, Julia E; Park, Andrew S; Qiu, Jiaheng; Cockburn, Myles; Ritz, Beate

    2014-07-01

    There are few established causes of leukemia, the most common type of cancer in children. Studies in adults suggest a role for specific environmental agents, but little is known about any effect from exposures in pregnancy to toxics in ambient air. In our case-control study, we ascertained 69 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 46 cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from California Cancer Registry records of children toxics monitoring station between 1990 and 2007. Information on air toxics exposures was taken from community air monitors. We used logistic regression to estimate the risk of leukemia associated with one interquartile range increase in air toxic exposure. Risk of ALL was elevated with 3(rd) trimester exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OR=1.16, 95% CI 1.04, 1.29), arsenic (OR=1.33, 95% CI 1.02, 1.73), benzene (OR=1.50, 95% CI 1.08, 2.09), and three other toxics related to fuel combustion. Risk of AML was increased with 3rd trimester exposure to chloroform (OR=1.30, 95% CI 1.00, 1.69), benzene (1.75, 95% CI 1.04, 2.93), and two other traffic-related toxics. During the child's first year, exposure to butadiene, ortho-xylene, and toluene increased risk for AML and exposure to selenium increased risk for ALL. Benzene is an established cause of leukemia in adults; this study supports that ambient exposures to this and other chemicals in pregnancy and early life may also increase leukemia risk in children. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  6. Toxicoproteomics: serum proteomic pattern diagnostics for early detection of drug induced cardiac toxicities and cardioprotection.

    PubMed

    Petricoin, Emanuel F; Rajapaske, Vinodh; Herman, Eugene H; Arekani, Ali M; Ross, Sally; Johann, Donald; Knapton, Alan; Zhang, J; Hitt, Ben A; Conrads, Thomas P; Veenstra, Timothy D; Liotta, Lance A; Sistare, Frank D

    2004-01-01

    Proteomics is more than just generating lists of proteins that increase or decrease in expression as a cause or consequence of pathology. The goal should be to characterize the information flow through the intercellular protein circuitry which communicates with the extracellular microenvironment and then ultimately to the serum/plasma macroenvironment. The nature of this information can be a cause, or a consequence, of disease and toxicity based processes as cascades of reinforcing information percolate through the system and become reflected in changing proteomic information content of the circulation. Serum Proteomic Pattern Diagnostics is a new type of proteomic platform in which patterns of proteomic signatures from high dimensional mass spectrometry data are used as a diagnostic classifier. While this approach has shown tremendous promise in early detection of cancers, detection of drug-induced toxicity may also be possible with this same technology. Analysis of serum from rat models of anthracycline and anthracenedione induced cardiotoxicity indicate the potential clinical utility of diagnostic proteomic patterns where low molecular weight peptides and protein fragments may have higher accuracy than traditional biomarkers of cardiotoxicity such as troponins. These fragments may one day be harvested by circulating nanoparticles designed to absorb, enrich and amplify the diagnostic biomarker repertoire generated even at the critical initial stages of toxicity.

  7. Acute toxicity and histopathological effects of naproxen in zebrafish (Danio rerio) early life stages.

    PubMed

    Li, Qian; Wang, Peipei; Chen, Ling; Gao, Hongwen; Wu, Lingling

    2016-09-01

    Zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos and larvae were selected to investigate the potential risk and aquatic toxicity of a widely used pharmaceutical, naproxen. The acute toxicity of naproxen to embryos and larvae was measured, respectively. The histopathology was investigated in the liver of zebrafish larvae after 8-day embryo-larvae exposure to naproxen. The values of 96-h LC50 were 115.2 mg/L for embryos and 147.6 mg/L for larvae, indicating that zebrafish embryos were more sensitive than larvae to naproxen exposure. Large suites of symptoms were induced in zebrafish (D. rerio) early life stages by different dosages of naproxen, including hatching inhibition, lower heart rate, and morphological abnormalities. The most sensitive sub-lethal effect caused by naproxen was pericardial edema, the 72-h EC50 values of which for embryos and larvae were 98.3 and 149.0 mg/L, respectively. In addition, naproxen-treated zebrafish larvae exhibited histopathological liver damage, including swollen hepatocytes, vacuolar degeneration, and nuclei pycnosis. The results indicated that naproxen is a potential threat to aquatic organisms.

  8. MicroRNA as biomarkers of mitochondrial toxicity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baumgart, Bethany R., E-mail: bethany.baumgart@bms

    Mitochondrial toxicity can be difficult to detect as most cells can tolerate reduced activity as long as minimal capacity for function is maintained. However, once minimal capacity is lost, apoptosis or necrosis occurs quickly. Identification of more sensitive, early markers of mitochondrial toxicity was the objective of this work. Rotenone, a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor, and 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP), a mitochondrial complex II inhibitor, were administered daily to male Sprague–Dawley rats at subcutaneous doses of 0.1 or 0.3 mg/kg/day and intraperitoneal doses of 5 or 10 mg/kg/day, respectively, for 1 week. Samples of kidney, skeletal muscle (quadriceps femoris), and serummore » were collected for analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number and microRNA (miRNA) expression patterns. MtDNA was significantly decreased with administration of rotenone at 0.3 mg/kg/day and 3-NP at 5 and 10 mg/kg/day in the quadriceps femoris and with 3-NP at 10 mg/kg/day in the kidney. Additionally, rotenone and 3-NP treatment produced changes to miRNA expression that were similar in direction (i.e. upregulation, downregulation) to those previously linked to mitochondrial functions, such as mitochondrial damage and biogenesis (miR-122, miR-202-3p); regulation of ATP synthesis, abolished oxidative phosphorylation, and loss of membrane potential due to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (miR-338-5p, miR-546, miR-34c); and mitochondrial DNA damage and depletion (miR-546). These results suggest that miRNAs may be sensitive biomarkers for early detection of mitochondrial toxicity. - Highlights: • MtDNA decreased after treatment with respiratory chain inhibitors rotenone and 3-NP. • Decrease in mtDNA is generally dose-related and indicative of mitochondrial toxicity. • Altered miRNA has reported roles in regulating mitochondrial function. • Induction of miR-338-5p in kidney and serum suggests potential as renal biomarker. • Induction of miR-122

  9. Acute toxicity of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) for turbot (Psetta maxima) early life stages (ELS).

    PubMed

    Mhadhbi, Lazhar; Fumega, José; Boumaiza, Moncef; Beiras, Ricardo

    2012-03-01

    The environmental presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), among which BDE-47 and BDE-99 are particularly abundant, makes toxicity data necessary to assess the hazard risk posed by PBDE to aquatic organisms. This study examines the effects of BDE-47 and BDE-99 on embryo-larval stages of the marine flatfish turbot. The turbot embryos were exposed at nominal concentrations of BDE-47 and BDE-99 for 6 days. Selected dose levels were relevant for investigating sublethal and lethal effects. Both tested compounds caused lethal toxicity as well as non-lethal malformations during embryo development. We found a high toxic potency of BDE-47 compared to BDE-99 (LC₅₀ values for embryos and larvae, respectively, BDE-47: 27.35 and 14.13 μg L⁻¹; BDE-99: 38.28 and 29.64 μg L⁻¹). The present study shows high sensitivity of fish early life stages (ELS) to PBDE compounds. Based on environmental concentrations of dissolved PBDEs from various aquatic ecosystems, waterborne BDE-47 and BDE-99 pose little risk of acute toxicity to marine fish at relevant environmental concentrations. Turbot fish ELS proved to be an excellent model for the study of ecotoxicity of contaminants in seawater. The results demonstrate harmful effects of PBDE on turbot ELS at concentrations in the range of parts per billion units. In the perspective of risk assessment, ELS endpoints provide rapid, cost-effective and ecologically relevant information, and links should be sought between these short-term tests and effects of long-term exposures in more realistic scenarios.

  10. Oxygen Therapy in the Delivery Room: What Is the Right Dose?

    PubMed

    Kapadia, Vishal; Wyckoff, Myra H

    2018-06-01

    Oxygen is the most commonly used medicine used during neonatal resuscitation in the delivery room. Oxygen therapy in delivery room should be used judiciously to avoid oxygen toxicity while delivering sufficient oxygen to prevent hypoxia. Measurement of appropriate oxygenation relies on pulse oximetry, but adequate ventilation and perfusion are equally important for oxygen delivery. In this article, we review oxygenation while transitioning from fetal to neonatal life, the importance of appropriate oxygen therapy, its measurement in the delivery room, and current recommendations for oxygen therapy and its limitations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Lysosomal membrane permeabilization: Carbon nanohorn-induced reactive oxygen species generation and toxicity by this neglected mechanism

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yang, Mei, E-mail: happy_deercn@163.com; Zhang, Minfang; Tahara, Yoshio

    2014-10-01

    Understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for the cytotoxic effects of carbon nanomaterials is important for their future biomedical applications. Carbon nanotubular materials induce the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which causes cell death; however, the exact details of this process are still unclear. Here, we identify a mechanism of ROS generation that is involved in the apoptosis of RAW264.7 macrophages caused by excess uptake of carbon nanohorns (CNHs), a typical type of carbon nanotubule. CNH accumulated in the lysosomes, where they induced lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) and the subsequent release of lysosomal proteases, such as cathepsins, which in turnmore » caused mitochondrial dysfunction and triggered the generation of ROS in the mitochondria. The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase was not directly involved in CNH-related ROS production, and the ROS generation cannot be regulated by mitochondrial electron transport chain. ROS fed back to amplify the mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to the subsequent activation of caspases and cell apoptosis. Carbon nanotubules commonly accumulate in the lysosomes after internalization in cells; however, lysosomal dysfunction has not attracted much attention in toxicity studies of these materials. These results suggest that LMP, a neglected mechanism, may be the primary reason for carbon nanotubule toxicity. - Highlights: • We clarify an apoptotic mechanism of RAW264.7 cells caused by carbon nanohorns. • In the meantime, the mechanism of CNH-induced ROS generation is identified. • LMP is the initial factor of CNH-induced ROS generation and cell death. • Cathepsins work as mediators that connect LMP and mitochondrial dysfunction.« less

  12. Acute toxicity of fire-retardant and foam-suppressant chemicals to early life stages of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Buhl, Kevin J.; Hamilton, Steven J.

    1998-01-01

    Laboratorys studies were conducted to determine the acute toxicity of three fire retardants (Fire-Trol GTS-R, Fire-Trol LCG-R, and Phos-Chek D75-F), and two fire-suppressant foams (Phos-Chek WD-881 and Ansul Silv-Ex) to early life stages of chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, in hard and soft water. Regardless of water type, swim-up fry and juveniles (60 and 90 d posthatch) exhibited similar sensitivities to each chemical and these life stages were more sensitive than eyed eggs. Foam suppressants were more toxic to each life stage than the fire retardants in both water types. The descending rank order of toxicity for these chemicals tested with swim-up fry and juveniles (range of 96-h median lethal concentrations [LC50s]) was Phos-Chek WD-881 (7–13 mg/L) > Ansul Silv-Ex (11–22 mg/L) > Phos-Chek D75-F (218–305 mg/L) > Fire-Trol GTS-R (218–412 mg/L) > Fire-Trol LCG-R (685–1,195 mg/L). Water type had a minor effect on the toxicity of these chemicals. Comparison of acute toxicity values with recommended application concentrations indicates that accidental inputs of these chemicals into stream environments would require substantial dilution (237- to 1,429-fold) to reach concentrations equivalent to their 96-h LC50s.

  13. Assessing the toxicity and risk of salt-impacted winter road runoff to the early life stages of freshwater mussels in the Canadian province of Ontario.

    PubMed

    Prosser, R S; Rochfort, Q; McInnis, R; Exall, K; Gillis, P L

    2017-11-01

    In temperate urbanized areas where road salting is used for winter road maintenance, the level of chloride in surface waters has been increasing. While a number of studies have shown that the early-life stages of freshwater mussels are particularly sensitive to salt; few studies have examined the toxicity of salt-impacted winter road runoff to the early-life stages of freshwater mussels to confirm that chloride is the driver of toxicity in this mixture. This study examines the acute toxicity of field-collected winter road runoff to the glochidia of wavy-rayed lampmussels (Lampsilis fasciola) (48 h exposure) and newly released juvenile fatmucket mussels (Lampsilis siliquoidea) (<1 week old; 96 h exposure) under different water hardness. The chronic toxicity (28 d) to older juvenile L. siliquoidea (7-12 months old) was also investigated. The 48-h EC50 and 96-h LC50 for L. fasciola glochidia and L. siliquoidea juveniles exposed to different dilutions of road run-off created with moderately hard synthetic water (∼80 mg CaCO 3 /L) were 1177 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1011-1344 mg Cl - /L) and 2276 mg Cl - /L (95% CI: 1698-2854 mg Cl - /L), respectively. These effect concentrations correspond with the toxicity of chloride reported in other studies, indicating that chloride is likely the driver of toxicity in salt-impacted road-runoff, with other contaminants (e.g., metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) playing a de minimis role. Toxicity data from the current study and literature and concentrations of chloride in the surface waters of Ontario were used to conduct a probabilistic risk assessment of chloride to early-life stage freshwater mussels. The assessment indicated that chronic exposure to elevated chloride levels could pose a risk to freshwater mussels; further investigation is warranted to ensure that the most sensitive organisms are protected. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Photodegradation of ibuprofen under UV-Vis irradiation: mechanism and toxicity of photolysis products.

    PubMed

    Li, Fu Hua; Yao, Kun; Lv, Wen Ying; Liu, Guo Guang; Chen, Ping; Huang, Hao Ping; Kang, Ya Pu

    2015-04-01

    The photodegradation of ibuprofen (IBP) in aqueous media was studied in this paper. The degradation mechanism, the reaction kinetics and toxicity of the photolysis products of IBP under UV-Vis irradiation were investigated by dissolved oxygen experiments, quenching experiments of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and toxicity evaluation utilizing Vibrio fischeri. The results demonstrated that the IBP degradation process could be fitted by the pseudo first-order kinetics model. The degradation of IBP by UV-Vis irradiation included direct photolysis and self-sensitization via ROS. The presence of dissolved oxygen inhibited the photodegradation of IBP, which indicated that direct photolysis was more rapid than the self-sensitization. The contribution rates of ·OH and (1)O2 were 21.8 % and 38.6 % in self-sensitization, respectively. Ibuprofen generated a number of intermediate products that were more toxic than the base compound during photodegradation.

  15. Oxygen decline in biotesting of environmental samples--is there a need for consideration in the acute zebrafish embryo assay?

    PubMed

    Küster, Eberhard; Altenburger, Rolf

    2008-12-01

    Environmental samples such as groundwater, sediment pore water, native or freeze dried sediments may be difficult to analyze for toxic effects with organismic aquatic bioassays. These samples might evoke low oxygen concentration or oxygen depletion during the test. The toxicity assessment could thus be confounded by low oxygen concentrations. The acute zebrafish embryo assay was used to analyze the influence of oxygen deficit on the embryonic development in the first 48 h post fertilization. Embryos were exposed to varying oxygen concentrations ranging from <30 to >80% oxygen saturation of water. A clear concentration dependent retardation of fish embryo development was observed. Because of a retarded development toxic thresholds of environmental samples which might include substances slowing down the development will be altered. For the purpose of identification of critical contaminants in complex environmental samples, it is proposed to actively aerate environmental samples which are likely to be oxygen depleted during the duration of the zebrafish embryo bioassay. 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Meta-analysis of fish early life stage tests-Association of toxic ratios and acute-to-chronic ratios with modes of action.

    PubMed

    Scholz, Stefan; Schreiber, Rene; Armitage, James; Mayer, Philipp; Escher, Beate I; Lidzba, Annegret; Léonard, Marc; Altenburger, Rolf

    2018-04-01

    Fish early life stage (ELS) tests (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development test guideline 210) are widely conducted to estimate chronic fish toxicity. In these tests, fish are exposed from the embryonic to the juvenile life stages. To analyze whether certain modes of action are related to high toxic ratios (i.e., ratios between baseline toxicity and experimental effect) and/or acute-to-chronic ratios (ACRs) in the fish ELS test, effect concentrations (ECs) for 183 compounds were extracted from the US Environmental Protection Agency's ecotoxicity database. Analysis of ECs of narcotic compounds indicated that baseline toxicity could be observed in the fish ELS test at similar concentrations as in the acute fish toxicity test. All nonnarcotic modes of action were associated with higher toxic ratios, with median values ranging from 4 to 9.3 × 10 4 (uncoupling < reactivity < neuromuscular toxicity < methemoglobin formation < endocrine disruption < extracellular matrix formation inhibition). Four modes of action were also found to be associated with high ACRs: 1) lysyl oxidase inhibition leading to notochord distortion, 2) putative methemoglobin formation or hemolytic anemia, 3) endocrine disruption, and 4) compounds with neuromuscular toxicity. For the prediction of ECs in the fish ELS test with alternative test systems, endpoints targeted to the modes of action of compounds with enhanced toxic ratios or ACRs could be used to trigger fish ELS tests or even replace these tests. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:955-969. © 2018 SETAC. © 2018 SETAC.

  17. TOXICITY OF 2,3,7,8-TETRACHLORODIBENZO-P-DIOXIN TO EARLY LIFE STAGE BROOK TROUT (SALVELINUS FONTINALIS) FOLLOWING PARENTAL DIETARY EXPOSURE

    EPA Science Inventory

    The toxicity of TCDD to early life stages of F1 generation brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) was determined when dosed by maternal transfer. Effects were compared across six treatments including a control. The experimental groups based on TCDD concentrations in freshly spawned ...

  18. Mechanisms of Oxygen Toxicity at the Cellular Level.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1982-06-30

    exposed and measured using glucose as the sole carbon source. Addition of SH containing reducing agents (cysteine, lipoic acid or dithiothreitol) before...of a Few Seconds. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 16:1645-1657 (1974). (28) Brown, O.R. Failure of Lipoic Acid to Protect Against Cellular Oxygen...respiration, and fatty acid synthesis. The interruption of fatty acid synthesis is not the result of inactivation of the fatty acid synthetase enzyme complex

  19. Toxic Leadership in Educational Organizations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, James E.

    2014-01-01

    While research on the traits and skills of effective leaders is plentiful, only recently has the phenomenon of toxic leadership begun to be investigated. This research report focuses on toxic leadership in educational organizations--its prevalence, as well as the characteristics and early indicators. Using mixed methods, the study found four…

  20. Discriminating toxicant classes by mode of action. 1. (Eco)toxicity profiles.

    PubMed

    Nendza, Monika; Wenzel, Andrea

    2006-05-01

    Predictive toxicology, particularly quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs), require classification of chemicals by mode of action (MOA). MOA is, however, not a constant property of a compound but it varies between species and may change with concentration and duration of exposure. A battery of MOA-specific in-vitro and low-complexity assays, featuring biomolecular targets for major classes of environmental pollutants, provides characteristic responses for (1.) classification of chemicals by MOA, (2.) identification of (eco)toxicity profiles of chemicals, (3.) identification of chemicals with specific MOAs, (4.) indication of most sensitive species, (5.) identification of chemicals that are outliers in QSARs and (6.) selection of appropriate QSARs for predictions. Chemicals covering nine distinct modes of toxic action (non-polar non-specific toxicants (n=14), polar non-specific toxicants (n=18), uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation (n=25), inhibitors of photosynthesis (n=15), inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (n=14), inhibitors of respiration (n=3), thiol-alkylating agents (n=9), reactives (irritants) (n=8), estrogen receptor agonists (n=9)) were tested for cytotoxicity in the neutralred assay, oxygen consumption in isolated mitochondria, oxygen production in algae, inhibition of AChE, reaction with GSH and activity in the yeast estrogen receptor assay. Data on in-vivo aquatic toxicity (LC50, EC50) towards fish, daphnids, algae and bacteria were collected from the literature for reasons of comparison and reference scaling. In the MOA-specific in-vitro test battery, most test chemicals are specifically active at low concentrations, though multiple effects do occur. Graphical and statistical evaluation of the individual classes versus MOA 1 (non-polar non-specific toxicants) identifies interactions related to predominant MOA. Discriminant analyses (DA) on subsets of the data revealed correct classifications between 70% (in-vivo data) and >90% (in

  1. Intravenous oxygen: a novel method of oxygen delivery in hypoxemic respiratory failure?

    PubMed

    Gehlbach, Jonathan A; Rehder, Kyle J; Gentile, Michael A; Turner, David A; Grady, Daniel J; Cheifetz, Ira M

    2017-01-01

    Hypoxemic respiratory failure is a common problem in critical care. Current management strategies, including mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membranous oxygenation, can be efficacious but these therapies put patients at risk for toxicities associated with invasive forms of support. Areas covered: In this manuscript, we discuss intravenous oxygen (IVO 2 ), a novel method to improve oxygen delivery that involves intravenous administration of a physiologic solution containing dissolved oxygen at hyperbaric concentrations. After a brief review of the physiology behind supersaturated fluids, we summarize the current evidence surrounding IVO 2 . Expert commentary: Although not yet at the stage of clinical testing in the United States and Europe, IVO 2 has been used safely in Asia. Furthermore, preliminary laboratory data have been encouraging, suggesting that IVO 2 may play a role in the management of patients with hypoxemic respiratory failure in years to come. However, significantly more work needs to be done, including definitive evidence that such a therapy is safe, before it can be included in an intensivist's arsenal for hypoxemic respiratory failure.

  2. Effects of toxicants on community metabolism in pools

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Whitworth, Walter R.; Lane, Thomas H.

    1969-01-01

    Estimates of community metabolism of simulated natural environments were dcrivcd by diel oxygen techniques over a period of nine months. During this time, toxicants were added to some of the pools. "Natural" environmental factors and toxicants that did not affect the communities (0.02 mg/liter p,p' DDT; 0.1 mg/liter antimycin A; and 9.2 mg/liter KMnO,I) usually resulted in simultaneous changes, up or down, in both community photosynthesis and respiration. Concentrations (mg/liter) of 0.9 and 2.6 formalin, 10.0 nigrosine black, 10.0 and 2.0 malachite green, 0.1 Diquat, and 0,.5 and 5.0 CUSO.~ usually tlcprcsscd community oxygen production and increased community respiration for periods of 1 to 20 weeks.

  3. Early Toxicity in Patients Treated With Postoperative Proton Therapy for Locally Advanced Breast Cancer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cuaron, John J.; Chon, Brian; Tsai, Henry

    Purpose: To report dosimetry and early toxicity data in breast cancer patients treated with postoperative proton radiation therapy. Methods and Materials: From March 2013 to April 2014, 30 patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer and no history of prior radiation were treated with proton therapy at a single proton center. Patient characteristics and dosimetry were obtained through chart review. Patients were seen weekly while on treatment, at 1 month after radiation therapy completion, and at 3- to 6-month intervals thereafter. Toxicity was scored using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. Frequencies of toxicities were tabulated. Results: Median dose delivered wasmore » 50.4 Gy (relative biological equivalent [RBE]) in 5 weeks. Target volumes included the breast/chest wall and regional lymph nodes including the internal mammary lymph nodes (in 93%). No patients required a treatment break. Among patients with >3 months of follow-up (n=28), grade 2 dermatitis occurred in 20 patients (71.4%), with 8 (28.6%) experiencing moist desquamation. Grade 2 esophagitis occurred in 8 patients (28.6%). Grade 3 reconstructive complications occurred in 1 patient. The median planning target volume V95 was 96.43% (range, 79.39%-99.60%). The median mean heart dose was 0.88 Gy (RBE) [range, 0.01-3.20 Gy (RBE)] for all patients, and 1.00 Gy (RBE) among patients with left-sided tumors. The median V20 of the ipsilateral lung was 16.50% (range, 6.1%-30.3%). The median contralateral lung V5 was 0.34% (range, 0%-5.30%). The median maximal point dose to the esophagus was 45.65 Gy (RBE) [range, 0-65.4 Gy (RBE)]. The median contralateral breast mean dose was 0.29 Gy (RBE) [range, 0.03-3.50 Gy (RBE)]. Conclusions: Postoperative proton therapy is well tolerated, with acceptable rates of skin toxicity. Proton therapy favorably spares normal tissue without compromising target coverage. Further follow-up is necessary to assess for clinical outcomes and

  4. Toxicity assessment of silver nanoparticles in Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) and starry sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) during early life stages.

    PubMed

    Banan, Ashkan; Kalbassi Masjed Shahi, Mohammad Reza; Bahmani, Mahmoud; Yazdani Sadati, Mohammad Ali

    2016-05-01

    Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in consumer products mainly due to their antimicrobial action. The rapidly increasing use of nanoparticles (NPs) has driven more attention to their possible ecotoxicological effects. In this study, the acute toxicity of colloidal AgNPs was evaluated during the embryonic stage of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) and starry sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) at concentrations of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 mg/L. Fertilized eggs (75 eggs per replicate) were exposed to aforementioned concentrations for 96 h in triplicate. 96-h LC50 values in Persian sturgeon and starry sturgeon were calculated as 0.163 and 0.158 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, in starry sturgeon, the short-term effects of AgNPs on the hatching rate, survival rate, and Ag accumulation during early life stages (before active feeding commences) were also analyzed at concentrations of 0, 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 mg/L of colloidal AgNPs. The highest silver accumulation occurred in larvae exposed to 0.1 mg/L AgNPs; however, the body burden of silver did not alter survival rate, and there were no significant differences among treatments. Based on the obtained results from the acute toxicity exposures, AgNPs induced a concentration-dependent toxicity in both species during early life stages, while complementary studies are suggested for investigating their short-term effects in detail.

  5. TOXICITY OF 2,3,7,8-TETRACHLORODIBENZO-P-DIOXIN TO EARLY LIFE STAGE BROOK TROUT (SALVELINUS FONTINALIS) FOLLOWING PARTENTAL DIETARY EXPOSURE

    EPA Science Inventory

    The toxicity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) to the early life stages of F1 generation brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) was determined, when dosed by maternal transfer.Effects were compared across six treatments, including a control.The experimental groups, based...

  6. Effects of dissolved oxygen on dye removal by zero-valent iron.

    PubMed

    Wang, Kai-Sung; Lin, Chiou-Liang; Wei, Ming-Chi; Liang, Hsiu-Hao; Li, Heng-Ching; Chang, Chih-Hua; Fang, Yung-Tai; Chang, Shih-Hsien

    2010-10-15

    Effects of dissolved oxygen concentrations on dye removal by zero-valent iron (Fe(0)) were investigated. The Vibrio fischeri light inhibition test was employed to evaluate toxicity of decolorized solution. Three dyes, Acid Orange 7 (AO7, monoazo), Reactive Red 120 (RR120, diazo), and Acid Blue 9 (AB9, triphenylmethane), were selected as model dyes. The dye concentration and Fe(0) dose used were 100 mg L(-1) and 30 g L(-1), respectively. Under anoxic condition, the order for dye decolorization was AO7>RR120>AB9. An increase in the dissolved oxygen concentrations enhanced decolorization and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of the three dyes. An increase in gas flow rates also improved dye and COD removals by Fe(0). At dissolved oxygen of 6 mg L(-1), more than 99% of each dye was decolorized within 12 min and high COD removals were obtained (97% for AO7, 87% for RR120, and 93% for AB9). The toxicity of decolorized dye solutions was low (I(5)<40%). An increase in DO concentrations obviously reduced the toxicity. When DO above 2 mg L(-1) was applied, low iron ion concentration (13.6 mg L(-1)) was obtained in the decolorized AO7 solution. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. A possible early sign of hydroxychloroquine macular toxicity.

    PubMed

    Brandao, Livia M; Palmowski-Wolfe, Anja M

    2016-02-01

    Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has a low risk of retinal toxicity which increases dramatically with a cumulative dose of >1000 g. Here we report a case of HCQ macular toxicity presentation in a young patient with a cumulative dose of 438 g. A 15-year-old female started attending annual consultations for retinal toxicity screening in our clinic after 3 years of HCQ treatment for juvenile idiopathic dermatomyositis. She had been diagnosed at age 12 and had been on hydroxychloroquine 200 mg/day, cyclosporin 150 mg/day and vitamin D3 since. Screening consultations included: complete ophthalmologic examination, automated perimetry (AP, M Standard, Octopus 101, Haag-Streit), multifocal electroretinogram (VERIS 6.06™, FMSIII), optical coherence tomography (OCT, fast macular protocol, Cirrus SD-OCT, Carl Zeiss), fundus autofluorescence imaging (Spectralis OCT, Heidelberg Engineering Inc.) and color testing (Farnsworth-Panel-D-15). After 5 years of treatment, AP demonstrated reduced sensibility in only one extra-foveal point in each eye (p < 0.2). Even though other exams showed no alteration and the cumulative dose was only around 353 g, consultations were increased to every 6 months. After 2-year follow-up, that is, 7 years of HCQ, a bilateral paracentral macula thinning was evident on OCT, suggestive of bull's eye maculopathy. However, the retinal pigmented epithelium appeared intact and AP was completely normal in both eyes. Further evaluation with ganglion cell analysis (GCA = ganglion cell + inner plexiform layer, Cirrus SD-OCT, Carl Zeiss) showed a concentric thinning of this layer in the same area. Although daily and cumulative doses were still under the high toxicity risk parameters, HCQ was suspended. At a follow-up 1 year later, visual acuity was 20/16 without any further changes in OCT or on any other exam. This may be the first case report of insidious bull's eye maculopathy exclusively identified using OCT thickness analysis, in a patient in whom both cumulative

  8. Optical monitoring of kidney oxygenation and hemodynamics using a miniaturized near-infrared sensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shadgan, Babak; Macnab, Andrew; Nigro, Mark; Nguan, Christopher

    2017-02-01

    Background: Following human renal allograft transplant primary graft dysfunction can occur early in the postoperative period as a result of acute tubular necrosis, acute rejection, drug toxicity, and vascular complications. Successful treatment of graft dysfunction requires early detection and accurate diagnosis so that disease-specific medical and/or surgical intervention can be provided promptly. However, current diagnostic methods are not sensitive or specific enough, so that identifying the cause of graft dysfunction is problematic and often delayed. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an established optical method that monitors changes in tissue hemodynamics and oxygenation in real time. We report the feasibility of directly monitoring kidney the kidney in an animal model using NIRS to detect renal ischemia and hypoxia. Methods: In an anesthetized pig, a customized continuous wave spatially resolved (SR) NIRS sensor was fixed directly to the surface of the surgically exposed kidney. Changes in the concentration of oxygenated (O2Hb) deoxygenated (HHb) and total hemoglobin (THb) were monitored before, during and after renal artery clamping and reperfusion, and the resulting fluctuations in chromophore concentration from baseline used to measure variations in renal perfusion and oxygenation. Results: On clamping the renal artery THb and O2Hb concentrations declined progressively while HHb rose. With reperfusion after releasing the artery clamp O2Hb and THb rose while HHb fell with all parameters returning to its baseline. This pattern was similar in all three trials. Conclusion: This pilot study indicates that a miniaturized NIRS sensor applied directly to the surface of a kidney in an animal model can detect the onset of renal ischemia and tissue hypoxia. With modification, our NIRS-based method may contribute to early detection of renal vascular complications and graft dysfunction following renal transplant.

  9. Mo isotope record of shales points to deep ocean oxygenation in the early Paleoproterozoic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asael, Dan; Scott, Clint; Rouxel, Olivier; Poulton, Simon; Lyons, Timothy; Javaux, Emmanuelle; Bekker, Andrey

    2014-05-01

    Two steps in Earth's surface oxidation lie at either end of the Proterozoic Eon. The first step, known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), occurred at ca. 2.32 Ga (1), when atmospheric oxygen first exceeded 0.001% of present atmospheric levels (2). The second step, occurred at ca. 0.58 Ga, resulting in the pervasive oxygenation of the deep oceans, a feature that persisted through most of the Phanerozoic (3). The conventional model envisions two progressive and unidirectional increases in free oxygen. However, recent studies have challenged this simplistic view of the GOE (4, 5). A dramatic increase and decline in Earth oxidation state between 2.3 and 2.0 Ga is now well supported (6-9) and raises the question of how well-oxygenated the Earth surface was in the immediate aftermath of the GOE. In order to constrain the response of the deep oceans to the GOE, we present a study of Mo isotope composition and Mo concentration from three key early Paleoproterozoic black shale units with ages ranging from 2.32 to 2.06 Ga. Our results suggest high and unstable surface oxygen levels at 2.32 Ga, leading to an abrupt increase in Mo supply to the still globally anoxic ocean, and producing extreme seawater Mo isotopic enrichments in these black shales. We thus infer a period of significant Mo isotopic Rayleigh effects and non-steady state behaviour of the Mo oceanic system at the beginning of the GOE. Between 2.2-2.1 Ga, we observe smaller Mo isotopic variations and estimate the δ98Mo of seawater to be 1.42 ± 0.27 ‰W conclude that oxygen levels must have stabilized at a relatively high level and that the deep oceans were oxygenated for the first time in Earth's history. By ca. 2.06 Ga, immediately after the Lomagundi Event, the Mo isotopic composition decreased dramatically to δ98MoSW = 0.80 ± 0.21 o reflecting the end of deep ocean oxygenation and the return of largely anoxic deep oceans. References: [1] A. Bekker et al., 2004, Nature 427, 117-20. [2] A. Pavlov and J

  10. Timescales of Oxygenation Following the Evolution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ward, Lewis M.; Kirschvink, Joseph L.; Fischer, Woodward W.

    2016-03-01

    Among the most important bioenergetic innovations in the history of life was the invention of oxygenic photosynthesis—autotrophic growth by splitting water with sunlight—by Cyanobacteria. It is widely accepted that the invention of oxygenic photosynthesis ultimately resulted in the rise of oxygen by ca. 2.35 Gya, but it is debated whether this occurred more or less immediately as a proximal result of the evolution of oxygenic Cyanobacteria or whether they originated several hundred million to more than one billion years earlier in Earth history. The latter hypothesis involves a prolonged period during which oxygen production rates were insufficient to oxidize the atmosphere, potentially due to redox buffering by reduced species such as higher concentrations of ferrous iron in seawater. To examine the characteristic timescales for environmental oxygenation following the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis, we applied a simple mathematical approach that captures many of the salient features of the major biogeochemical fluxes and reservoirs present in Archean and early Paleoproterozoic surface environments. Calculations illustrate that oxygenation would have overwhelmed redox buffers within ~100 kyr following the emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis, a geologically short amount of time unless rates of primary production were far lower than commonly expected. Fundamentally, this result arises because of the multiscale nature of the carbon and oxygen cycles: rates of gross primary production are orders of magnitude too fast for oxygen to be masked by Earth's geological buffers, and can only be effectively matched by respiration at non-negligible O2 concentrations. These results suggest that oxygenic photosynthesis arose shortly before the rise of oxygen, not hundreds of millions of years before it.

  11. Timescales of Oxygenation Following the Evolution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis.

    PubMed

    Ward, Lewis M; Kirschvink, Joseph L; Fischer, Woodward W

    2016-03-01

    Among the most important bioenergetic innovations in the history of life was the invention of oxygenic photosynthesis-autotrophic growth by splitting water with sunlight-by Cyanobacteria. It is widely accepted that the invention of oxygenic photosynthesis ultimately resulted in the rise of oxygen by ca. 2.35 Gya, but it is debated whether this occurred more or less immediately as a proximal result of the evolution of oxygenic Cyanobacteria or whether they originated several hundred million to more than one billion years earlier in Earth history. The latter hypothesis involves a prolonged period during which oxygen production rates were insufficient to oxidize the atmosphere, potentially due to redox buffering by reduced species such as higher concentrations of ferrous iron in seawater. To examine the characteristic timescales for environmental oxygenation following the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis, we applied a simple mathematical approach that captures many of the salient features of the major biogeochemical fluxes and reservoirs present in Archean and early Paleoproterozoic surface environments. Calculations illustrate that oxygenation would have overwhelmed redox buffers within ~100 kyr following the emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis, a geologically short amount of time unless rates of primary production were far lower than commonly expected. Fundamentally, this result arises because of the multiscale nature of the carbon and oxygen cycles: rates of gross primary production are orders of magnitude too fast for oxygen to be masked by Earth's geological buffers, and can only be effectively matched by respiration at non-negligible O2 concentrations. These results suggest that oxygenic photosynthesis arose shortly before the rise of oxygen, not hundreds of millions of years before it.

  12. Non-Toxic Reaction Control System for the Reusable First Stage Vehicle

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Keith, E. L.; Rothschild, W. J.

    1999-01-01

    This paper presents the Boeing Reusable Space Systems vision of a Reaction Control System (RCS) for the Reusable First Stage (RFS) being considered as a replacement for the Solid Rocket Booster for the Space Shuttle. The requirement is to,achieve reliable vehicle control during the upper atmospheric portion of the RFS trajectory while enabling more efficient ground operations, unhindered by constraints caused by operating with highly toxic RCS propellants. Boeing's objective for this effort is to develop a safer, more efficient and environmentally friendly RCS design approach that is suitable for the RFS concept of operations, including a low cost, efficient turnaround cycle. The Boeing RCS concept utilizes ethanol and liquid oxygen in place of the highly toxic, suspected carcinogen, ozone- depleting mono-methyl-hydrazine and highly toxic nitrogen tetroxide. The Space Shuttle Upgrade program, under the leadership of the NASA Johnson Space Flight Center, is currently developing liquid oxygen and ethanol (ethyl alcohol) technology for use as non-toxic orbital maneuvering system (OMS) and RCS. The development of this liquid oxygen and ethanol technology for the Space Shuffle offers a significant leverage to select much of the same technology for the RFS program. There are significant design and development issues involved with bringing this liquid oxygen and ethanol technology to a state of maturity suitable for an operational RCS, The risks associated with a new LOX and Ethanol RCS are mitigated by maintaining kerosene and hydrogen peroxide RCS technology as an alternative. These issues, presented within this paper, include managing the oxygen supply and achieving reliable ignition in the short pulse mode of engine operation. Performance, reliability and operations requirements are presented along with a specific RCS design concept to satisfying these requirements. The work reported in this paper was performed under NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Contract to

  13. Metallothionein provides zinc-mediated protective effects against methamphetamine toxicity in SK-N-SH cells.

    PubMed

    Ajjimaporn, Amornpan; Swinscoe, John; Shavali, Shaik; Govitrapong, Piyarat; Ebadi, Manuchair

    2005-11-30

    Methamphetamine (METH) is a drug of abuse and neurotoxin that induces Parkinson's-like pathology after chronic usage by targeting dopaminergic neurons. Elucidation of the intracellular mechanisms that underlie METH-induced dopaminergic neuron toxicity may help in understanding the mechanism by which neurons die in Parkinson's disease. In the present study, we examined the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the METH-induced death of human dopaminergic SK-N-SH cells and further assessed the neuroprotective effects of zinc and metallothionein (MT) against METH-induced toxicity in culture. METH significantly increased the production of reactive oxygen species, decreased intracellular ATP levels and reduced the cell viability. Pre-treatment with zinc markedly prevented the loss of cell viability caused by METH treatment. Zinc pre-treatment mainly increased the expression of metallothionein and prevented the generation of reactive oxygen species and ATP depletion caused by METH. Chelation of zinc by CaEDTA caused a significant decrease in MT expression and loss of protective effects of MT against METH toxicity. These results suggest that zinc-induced MT expression protects dopaminergic neurons via preventing the accumulation of toxic reactive oxygen species and halting the decrease in ATP levels. Furthermore, MT may prevent the loss of mitochondrial functions caused by neurotoxins. In conclusion, our study suggests that MT, a potent scavenger of free radicals is neuroprotective against dopaminergic toxicity in conditions such as drug of abuse and in Parkinson's disease.

  14. Effect of temperature on heavy metal toxicity to juvenile crayfish, Orconectes immunis (Hagen).

    PubMed

    Khan, M A Q; Ahmed, S A; Catalin, Bogdon; Khodadoust, A; Ajayi, Oluwaleke; Vaughn, Mark

    2006-10-01

    The acute toxicity of four selected heavy metals to juvenile crayfish Orconectes immunis (Hagen) (1-2 g wet body wt. each) at room temperature increased in the following order: cadmium (x3) < copper (x10) < zinc (x2) < lead. The toxicity of these metals to crayfish acclimated at 17, 20, 23/24, and 27 degrees C increased with temperature (by 7-20% between 20 and 24 degrees C and 14-26% between 20 and 27 degrees C) as judged by the lowering of LT(50) (time to kill 50% of test animals at a fixed concentration) values. A 4 degrees C rise in temperature (from 20 to 24 degrees C), which increased the toxicity of copper by about 7%, increased the rate of oxygen consumption by about 34%. Heavy metals inhibited the rate of oxygen consumption at all temperatures. In 20 degrees C-acclimated crayfish, copper caused about 17% inhibition of oxygen consumption compared to about 7-12% by other metals including the most toxic cadmium. A 3-4 degrees C rise in temperature tripled the inhibitory effect of copper (20%), cadmium and zinc (26 and 18%, respectively), but not of lead, on oxygen consumption. A 7 degrees C-rise in temperature (from 20 to 27 degrees C) increased the inhibitory effect of heavy metals, including lead, on oxygen consumption by up to 54% in the case of copper. The data indicate that rising global temperatures (currently 0.60 degrees C) associated with climate change can have the potential to increase the sensitivity of aquatic animals to heavy metals in their environment.

  15. Comparative toxicity of methidathion and glyphosate on early life stages of three amphibian species: Pelophylax ridibundus, Pseudepidalea viridis, and Xenopus laevis.

    PubMed

    Güngördü, Abbas

    2013-09-15

    The assessments of pesticide toxicity on nontarget organisms have largely been focused on the determination of median lethal concentration (LC50) values using single/laboratory species. Although useful, these studies cannot describe the biochemical mechanisms of toxicity and also cannot explain the effects of pesticides on natural species. In this study, the toxic effects of glyphosate and methidathion were evaluated comparatively on early developmental stages of 3 anurans-2 natural (Pelophylax ridibundus, Pseudepidalea viridis) and 1 laboratory species (Xenopus laevis). The 96-h LC50 values for methidathion and glyphosate were determined as 25.7-19.6 mg active ingredient (AI)/L for P. viridis, 27.4-22.7 mg AI/L for P. ridibundus, and 15.3-5.05 mg AI/L for X. laevis tadpoles. Furthermore, as early signs of intoxication, glutathione S-transferase (GST), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), carboxylesterase (CaE), glutathione reductase, lactate dehydrogenase, and aspartate aminotrasferase were assayed in 4-day-old tadpoles after 96-h pesticide exposure. The GST induction after 3.2mg AI/L methidathion exposure was determined to be 173%, 83%, and 38% of control, and the AChE inhibition for the same dose was determined to be 86%, 96%, and 30% of control for P. ridibundus, P. viridis, and X. laevis, respectively. Unlike the application of methidathion, all enzyme activities showed statistically significant increases on glyphosate exposure compared to controls. However, these increases in enzyme activities were not shown to be parallel with the increase of concentration. The levels of increases of GST and AChE were determined to be 111% and 31% for P. ridibundus, 13% and 51% for P. viridis, and 15% and 36% for X. laevis after 3.2mg AI/L glyphosate exposure, respectively. The findings of the study suggest that the most sensitive species to pesticide exposure is X. laevis. The selected biomarker enzymes AChE, CaE, and GST are useful in understanding the toxic mechanisms of these

  16. Exposure to 100% Oxygen Abolishes the Impairment of Fracture Healing after Thoracic Trauma

    PubMed Central

    Kemmler, Julia; Bindl, Ronny; McCook, Oscar; Wagner, Florian; Gröger, Michael; Wagner, Katja; Scheuerle, Angelika; Radermacher, Peter; Ignatius, Anita

    2015-01-01

    In polytrauma patients a thoracic trauma is one of the most critical injuries and an important trigger of post-traumatic inflammation. About 50% of patients with thoracic trauma are additionally affected by bone fractures. The risk for fracture malunion is considerably increased in such patients, the pathomechanisms being poorly understood. Thoracic trauma causes regional alveolar hypoxia and, subsequently, hypoxemia, which in turn triggers local and systemic inflammation. Therefore, we aimed to unravel the role of oxygen in impaired bone regeneration after thoracic trauma. We hypothesized that short-term breathing of 100% oxygen in the early post-traumatic phase ameliorates inflammation and improves bone regeneration. Mice underwent a femur osteotomy alone or combined with blunt chest trauma 100% oxygen was administered immediately after trauma for two separate 3 hour intervals. Arterial blood gas tensions, microcirculatory perfusion and oxygenation were assessed at 3, 9 and 24 hours after injury. Inflammatory cytokines and markers of oxidative/nitrosative stress were measured in plasma, lung and fracture hematoma. Bone healing was assessed on day 7, 14 and 21. Thoracic trauma induced pulmonary and systemic inflammation and impaired bone healing. Short-term exposure to 100% oxygen in the acute post-traumatic phase significantly attenuated systemic and local inflammatory responses and improved fracture healing without provoking toxic side effects, suggesting that hyperoxia could induce anti-inflammatory and pro-regenerative effects after severe injury. These results suggest that breathing of 100% oxygen in the acute post-traumatic phase might reduce the risk of poorly healing fractures in severely injured patients. PMID:26147725

  17. Lead Toxicity to the Performance, Viability, And Community Composition of Activated Sludge Microorganisms

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yuan, L; Zhi, W; Liu, YS

    Lead (Pb) is a prominent toxic metal in natural and engineered systems. Current knowledge on Pb toxicity to the activated sludge has been limited to short-term (<= 24 h) toxicity. The effect of extended Pb exposure on process performance, bacterial viability, and community compositions remains unknown. We quantified the 24-h and 7-day Pb toxicity to chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH3-N removal, bacterial viability, and community compositions using lab-scale experiments. Our results showed that 7-day toxicity was significantly higher than the short-term 24-h toxicity. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were more susceptible than the heterotrophs to Pb toxicity. The specific oxygen uptake ratemore » responded quickly to Pb addition and could serve as a rapid indicator for detecting Pb pollutions. Microbial viability decreased linearly with the amount of added Pb at extended exposure. The bacterial community diversity was markedly reduced with elevated Pb concentrations. Surface analysis suggested that the adsorbed form of Pb could have contributed to its toxicity along with the dissolved form. Our study provides for the first time a systematic investigation of the effect of extended exposure of Pb on the performance and microbiology of aerobic treatment processes, and it indicates that long-term Pb toxicity has been underappreciated by previous studies.« less

  18. Low oxygen tension enhances endothelial fate of human pluripotent stem cells.

    PubMed

    Kusuma, Sravanti; Peijnenburg, Elizabeth; Patel, Parth; Gerecht, Sharon

    2014-04-01

    A critical regulator of the developing or regenerating vasculature is low oxygen tension. Precise elucidation of the role of low oxygen environments on endothelial commitment from human pluripotent stem cells necessitates controlled in vitro differentiation environments. We used a feeder-free, 2-dimensional differentiation system in which we could monitor accurately dissolved oxygen levels during human pluripotent stem cell differentiation toward early vascular cells (EVCs). We found that oxygen uptake rate of differentiating human pluripotent stem cells is lower in 5% O2 compared with atmospheric conditions. EVCs differentiated in 5% O2 had an increased vascular endothelial cadherin expression with clusters of vascular endothelial cadherin+ cells surrounded by platelet-derived growth factor β+ cells. When we assessed the temporal effects of low oxygen differentiation environments, we determined that low oxygen environments during the early stages of EVC differentiation enhance endothelial lineage commitment. EVCs differentiated in 5% O2 exhibited an increased expression of vascular endothelial cadherin and CD31 along with their localization to the membrane, enhanced lectin binding and acetylated low-density lipoprotein uptake, rapid cord-like structure formation, and increased expression of arterial endothelial cell markers. Inhibition of reactive oxygen species generation during the early stages of differentiation abrogated the endothelial inductive effects of the low oxygen environments. Low oxygen tension during early stages of EVC derivation induces endothelial commitment and maturation through the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, highlighting the importance of regulating oxygen tensions during human pluripotent stem cell-vascular differentiation.

  19. Early oxygenation of the terrestrial environment during the Mesoproterozoic.

    PubMed

    Parnell, John; Boyce, Adrian J; Mark, Darren; Bowden, Stephen; Spinks, Sam

    2010-11-11

    Geochemical data from ancient sedimentary successions provide evidence for the progressive evolution of Earth's atmosphere and oceans. Key stages in increasing oxygenation are postulated for the Palaeoproterozoic era (∼2.3 billion years ago, Gyr ago) and the late Proterozoic eon (about 0.8 Gyr ago), with the latter implicated in the subsequent metazoan evolutionary expansion. In support of this rise in oxygen concentrations, a large database shows a marked change in the bacterially mediated fractionation of seawater sulphate to sulphide of Δ(34)S < 25‰ before 1 Gyr to ≥50‰ after 0.64 Gyr. This change in Δ(34)S has been interpreted to represent the evolution from single-step bacterial sulphate reduction to a combination of bacterial sulphate reduction and sulphide oxidation, largely bacterially mediated. This evolution is seen as marking the rise in atmospheric oxygen concentrations and the evolution of non-photosynthetic sulphide-oxidizing bacteria. Here we report Δ(34)S values exceeding 50‰ from a terrestrial Mesoproterozoic (1.18 Gyr old) succession in Scotland, a time period that is at present poorly characterized. This level of fractionation implies disproportionation in the sulphur cycle, probably involving sulphide-oxidizing bacteria, that is not evident from Δ(34)S data in the marine record. Disproportionation in both red beds and lacustrine black shales at our study site suggests that the Mesoproterozoic terrestrial environment was sufficiently oxygenated to support a biota that was adapted to an oxygen-rich atmosphere, but had also penetrated into subsurface sediment.

  20. Nanophase Iron Oxides as an Ultraviolet Sunscreen for Ancient Photosynthetic Microbes: A Possible Link Between Early Organisms, Banded-Iron Formations, and the Oxygenation of the Atmosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bishop, Janice L.; Rothschild, Lynn J.; Rothschild, Lynn J.; Rogoff, Dana A.

    2006-01-01

    We propose that nanophase iron oxide-bearing materials provided important niches for ancient photosynthetic microbes on the early Earth that ultimately led to the oxygenation of the Earth s atmosphere and the formation of iron oxide deposits. Atmospheric oxygen and ozone attenuate UV radiation on the Earth today providing substantial protection for photosynthetic organisms. With ultraviolet radiation fluxes likely to have been even higher on the early Earth than today, accessing solar radiation was particularly risky for early organisms. Yet, we know that photosynthesis arose then and played a critical role in subsequent evolution. Of primary importance was protection at approx.250-290 nm, where peak nucleic acid (approx.260 nm) and protein (approx.280 nm) absorptions occur. Nanophase ferric oxide/oxyhydroxide minerals absorb, and thus block, the lethal UV radiation, while transmitting light through much of the visible and near-infrared regions of interest to photosynthesis (400 to 1100 nm). Further, they were available in early environments, and are synthesized by many organisms. Based on ferric oxide/oxyhydroxide spectral properties, likely geologic processes, and the results of experiments with the photosynthetic organisms, Euglena sp. and Chlumydomonus reinhardtii, we propose a scenario where photosynthesis, and ultimately the oxygenation of the atmosphere, depended on the protection of early microbes by nanophase ferric oxides/oxyhydroxides. The results of this study are also applicable to other potentially habitable iron-bearing planetary bodies because of the evolutionary pressure to utilize solar radiation when available as an energy source.

  1. Early hyperbaric oxygen treatment for nonarteritic central retinal artery obstruction.

    PubMed

    Menzel-Severing, Johannes; Siekmann, Ullrich; Weinberger, Andreas; Roessler, Gernot; Walter, Peter; Mazinani, Babac

    2012-03-01

    To compare hyperbaric oxygen treatment combined with hemodilution with hemodilution only in central retinal artery obstruction. Retrospective, nonrandomized case series. We reviewed records of all our patients diagnosed with central retinal artery obstruction between 1997 and 2010. In these patients, hyperbaric oxygen and hemodilution therapy had been administered routinely (oxygen group). Where hyperbaric oxygenation could not be performed, patients were underwent hemodilution only (control group). Patients with presenting visual acuity (VA) of up to 20/200 within 12 hours of onset were included in our analysis. Exclusion criteria included cilioretinal vessels or arteritic occlusion. The oxygen group comprised 51 patients, and the control group comprised 29 patients. Mean baseline VA was counting fingers (oxygen group) and 20/1000 (control group; P = .1). Most other potential confounders, including duration of symptoms, also did not differ significantly at baseline. In the oxygen group, mean VA improvement was 3 lines (P < .0001). This was sustained over a follow-up of 3 months (P = .01). In the control group, mean improvement was 1 line (P = .23 at discharge, P = .17 at follow-up). Differences between both groups were not significant (P = .07 at discharge, P = .26 at follow-up). The number of patients gaining 3 lines or more was 38.0% versus 17.9% at discharge (P = .06) and 35.7% versus 30.8% at follow-up (P = .76). We saw significant VA improvement after the combined treatment, but not when using hemodilution only. Confirming superiority of the combination treatment requires a randomized, prospective trial. A high number of nonresponders highlights the need to improve our understanding and treatment of hypoxia-related metabolic insults after central retinal artery obstruction. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Enzymatic defenses against the toxicity of oxygen and of streptonigrin in Escherichia coli.

    PubMed

    Hassan, H M; Fridovich, I

    1977-03-01

    Anaerobically grown Escherichia coli K-12 contain only one superoxide dismutase and that is the iron-containing isozyme found in the periplasmic space. Exposure to oxygen caused the induction of a manganese-containing superoxide dismutase and of another, previously undescribed, superoxide dismutase, as well as of catalase and peroxidase. These inductions differed in their responsiveness towards oxygen. Thus the very low levels of oxygen present in deep, static, aerobic cultures were enough for nearly maximal induction of the manganese-superoxide dismutase. In contrast, induction of the new superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase required the much higher levels of oxygen achieved in vigorously agitated aerobic cultures. Anaerobically grown cells showed a much greater oxygen enhancement of the lethality of streptonigrin than did aerobically grown cells, in accord with the proposal that streptonigrin can serve as an intracellular source of superoxide. Anaerobically grown cells in which enzyme inductions were prevented by puromycin were damaged by exposure to air. This damage was evidenced both as a decline in viable cell count and as structural abnormalities evident under an electron microscope.

  3. Dissolved oxygen: Chapter 6

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Senn, David; Downing-Kunz, Maureen; Novick, Emily

    2016-01-01

    Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration serves as an important indicator of estuarine habitat condition, because all aquatic macro-organisms require some minimum DO level to survive and prosper. The instantaneous DO concentration, measured at a specific location in the water column, results from a balance between multiple processes that add or remove oxygen (Figure 6.1): primary production produces O2; aerobic respiration in the water column and sediments consumes O2; abiotic or microbially-mediated biogeochemical reactions utilize O2 as an oxidant (e.g., oxidation of ammonium, sulfide, and ferrous iron); O2 exchange occurs across the air:water interface in response to under- or oversaturated DO concentrations in the water column; and water currents and turbulent mixing transport DO into and out of zones in the water column. If the oxygen loss rate exceeds the oxygen production or input rate, DO concentration decreases. When DO losses exceed production or input over a prolonged enough period of time, hypoxia ((<2-3 mg/L) or anoxia can develop. Persistent hypoxia or anoxia causes stress or death in aquatic organism populations, or for organisms that can escape a hypoxic or anoxic area, the loss of habitat. In addition, sulfide, which is toxic to aquatic organisms and causes odor problems, escapes from sediments under low oxygen conditions. Low dissolved oxygen is a common aquatic ecosystem response to elevated organic

  4. Toxicity testing of crude oil and related compounds using early life stages of the crimson-spotted rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis).

    PubMed

    Pollino, Carmel A; Holdway, Douglas A

    2002-07-01

    The toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbons to marine aquatic organisms has been widely investigated; however, the effects on freshwater environments have largely been ignored. In the Australian freshwater environment, the potential impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons are virtually unknown. The toxicity of crude oil and related compounds were measured in the sensitive early life stages of the crimson-spotted rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis). Waterborne petroleum hydrocarbons crossed the chorion of embryonic rainbowfish, reducing survival and hatchability. Acute exposures resulted in developmental abnormalities at and above 0.5 mg/L total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). Deformities included pericardial edema, disturbed axis formation, and abnormal jaw development. When assessing the acute toxicities of the water-accommodated fraction (WAF) of crude oil, dispersants, dispersant-oil mixtures, and naphthalene to larval rainbowfish, the lowest to highest 96-h median lethal concentrations for day of hatch larvae were naphthalene (0.51 mg/L), dispersed crude oil WAF (DCWAF)-9527 (0.74 mg/L TPH), WAF (1.28 mg/L TPH), DCWAF-9500 (1.37 mg/L TPH), Corexit 9500 (14.5 mg/L TPH), and Corexit 9527 (20.1 mg/L). Using naphthalene as a reference toxicant, no differences were found between the sensitivities of larval rainbowfish collected from adults exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons during embryonic development and those collected from unexposed adults.

  5. Reactive oxygen species are crucial for hydroxychavicol toxicity toward KB epithelial cells.

    PubMed

    Jeng, J H; Wang, Y J; Chang, W H; Wu, H L; Li, C H; Uang, B J; Kang, J J; Lee, J J; Hahn, L J; Lin, B R; Chang, M C

    2004-01-01

    Betel quid (BQ) chewing shows a strong correlation to the incidence of oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), leukoplakia and oral cancer. BQ contains mainly areca nut, lime, Piper betle leaf (PBL) and the inflorescence of P. betle (IPB). Hydroxychavicol (4-allyl-catechol, HC), as a major phenolic compound in PBL and IPB, is shown to induce oxidative stress, glutathione (GSH) depletion and cell cycle deregulation. Using bivariate BrdU/PI flow cytometry, KB cells in DNA synthesis (S phase) are shown to be sensitive to the toxic effect of HC and show cell cycle arrest and apoptosis following exposure to 0.1 and 0.3 mM HC. HC-induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest are associated with mitochondrial membrane potential (delta Psim) depolarization as revealed by a decrease in rhodamine fluorescence. N-acetyl-L-cysteine (1 mM), superoxide dismutase (100 U/ml) and catalase (1000 U/ml) were effective in prevention of HC-induced GSH depletion (as indicated by chloromethylfluorescein fluorescence), reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (by dichlorofluorescein fluorescence), cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. However, dimethylthiourea (2 mM), neocuproine (1 mM), 1,10-phenanthroline (200 microM) and desferrioxamine (0.5 mM) showed little effect on HC-induced cell changes. HC elevated the cellular and mitochondrial GSH levels at moderate concentrations (0.05-0.1 mM), whereas at a concentration of 0.3 mM, inhibitory effects were noted. These results indicate that HC consumption may be associated with BQ-chewing-related oral mucosal diseases via GSH depletion, ROS production, mitochondrial dysfunction, cell cycle disturbance and the induction of apoptosis. These events are related to the production of superoxide radicals and hydrogen peroxide.

  6. Preparation and characterization of dextran nanobubbles for oxygen delivery.

    PubMed

    Cavalli, R; Bisazza, A; Giustetto, P; Civra, A; Lembo, D; Trotta, G; Guiot, C; Trotta, M

    2009-11-03

    Dextran nanobubbles were prepared with a dextran shell and a perfluoropentan core in which oxygen was stored. To increase the stability polyvinylpirrolidone was also added to the formulation as stabilizing agent. Rhodamine B was used as fluorescent marker to obtain fluorescent nanobubbles. The nanobubble formulations showed sizes of about 500nm, a negative surface charge and a good capacity of loading oxygen, no hemolytic activity or toxic effect on cell lines. The fluorescent labelled nanobubbles could be internalized in Vero cells. Oxygen-filled nanobubbles were able to release oxygen in different hypoxic solutions at different time after their preparation in in vitro experiments. The oxygen release kinetics could be enhanced after nanobubble insonation with ultrasound at 2.5MHz. The oxygen-filled nanobubble formulations might be proposed for therapeutic applications in various diseases.

  7. Evaluation of Solvent Alternatives for Cleaning of Oxygen Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Beeson, Harold; Biesinger, Paul; Delgado, Rafael; Antin, Neil

    1999-01-01

    The NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) in a joint program with the Naval Sea Systems Command has evaluated a number of solvents as alternatives to the use of chlorofluorocarbons currently utilized for cleaning of oxygen systems. Particular attention has been given to the cleaning of gauges and instrumentation used in oxygen service, since there have been no identified aqueous alternatives. The requirements identified as selection criteria, include toxicity, physical properties consistent with application, flammability, oxygen compatibility, and cleaning ability. This paper provides a summary of results and recommendations for solvents evaluated to date.

  8. Progress in understanding the molecular oxygen paradox - function of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in cell signaling.

    PubMed

    Kuksal, Nidhi; Chalker, Julia; Mailloux, Ryan J

    2017-10-26

    The molecular oxygen (O2) paradox was coined to describe its essential nature and toxicity. The latter characteristic of O2 is associated with the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can damage structures vital for cellular function. Mammals are equipped with antioxidant systems to fend off the potentially damaging effects of ROS. However, under certain circumstances antioxidant systems can become overwhelmed leading to oxidative stress and damage. Over the past few decades, it has become evident that ROS, specifically H2O2, are integral signaling molecules complicating the previous logos that oxyradicals were unfortunate by-products of oxygen metabolism that indiscriminately damage cell structures. To avoid its potential toxicity whilst taking advantage of its signaling properties, it is vital for mitochondria to control ROS production and degradation. H2O2 elimination pathways are well characterized in mitochondria. However, less is known about how H2O2 production is controlled. The present review examines the importance of mitochondrial H2O2 in controlling various cellular programs and emerging evidence for how production is regulated. Recently published studies showing how mitochondrial H2O2 can be used as a secondary messenger will be discussed in detail. This will be followed with a description of how mitochondria use S-glutathionylation to control H2O2 production.

  9. Behavior as a sentry of metal toxicity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Weiss, B.

    1978-01-01

    Many of the toxic properties of metals are expressed as behavioral aberrations. Some of these arise from direct actions on the central nervous system. Others arise from primary events elsewhere, but still influence behavior. Toxicity may be expressed either as objectively measurable phenomena, such as ataxia, or as subjective complaints, such as depression. In neither instance is clinical medicine equipped to provide assessments of subtle, early indices of toxicity. Reviewers of visual disturbances, paresthesia, and mental retardation exemplify the potential contribution of psychology to the toxicology of metals. Behavior and nervous system functions act as sensitive mirrors of metal toxicity.more » Sensitivity is the prime aim in environmental health assessments. Early detection of adverse effects, before they progress to irreversibility, underlies the strategy for optimal health protection. Some of the toxic actions of metals originate in direct nervous system dysfunction. Others may reflect disturbances of systems less directly linked to behavior than the central nervous system. But behavior, because it expresses the integrated functioning of the organism, can indicate flaws in states and processes outside the nervous system.« less

  10. Thermoregulatory responses to environmental toxicants: The interaction of thermal stress and toxicant exposure

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Leon, Lisa R.

    2008-11-15

    Thermal stress can have a profound impact on the physiological responses that are elicited following environmental toxicant exposure. The efficacy by which toxicants enter the body is directly influenced by thermoregulatory effector responses that are evoked in response to high ambient temperatures. In mammals, the thermoregulatory response to heat stress consists of an increase in skin blood flow and moistening of the skin surface to dissipate core heat to the environment. These physiological responses may exacerbate chemical toxicity due to increased permeability of the skin, which facilitates the cutaneous absorption of many environmental toxicants. The core temperature responses that aremore » elicited in response to high ambient temperatures, toxicant exposure or both can also have a profound impact on the ability of an organism to survive the insult. In small rodents, the thermoregulatory response to thermal stress and many environmental toxicants (such as organophosphate compounds) is often biphasic in nature, consisting initially of a regulated reduction in core temperature (i.e., hypothermia) followed by fever. Hypothermia is an important thermoregulatory survival strategy that is used by small rodents to diminish the effect of severe environmental insults on tissue homeostasis. The protective effect of hypothermia is realized by its effects on chemical toxicity as molecular and cellular processes, such as lipid peroxidation and the formation of reactive oxygen species, are minimized at reduced core temperatures. The beneficial effects of fever are unknown under these conditions. Perspective is provided on the applicability of data obtained in rodent models to the human condition.« less

  11. Early life stage (ELS) toxicity of sucralose to fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas.

    PubMed

    Stoddard, K I; Huggett, D B

    2014-10-01

    Sucralose, an intense artificial sweetener, has been detected in wastewater and surface waters at concentrations ranging from ng/L to low µg/L. Although over a hundred studies have been conducted to evaluate the safety of sucralose for human consumption, few studies have focused on the chronic ecotoxicological effects of this compound in fish. As a remedy to this data gap, an early-life stage toxicity test was conducted to assess the effects of sucralose on hatching, survival, and growth of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Hatching, survival, and growth were unaffected by 98 mg/L of sucralose. The Lowest-Observed-Effect Concentration (LOEC) and the No-Observed-Effect Concentration (NOEC) for fathead minnows determined by this study are >98 and 98 mg/L, respectively. The results from this study suggest that the concentrations of sucralose detected in the environment are well below those required to cause adverse effects to developing aquatic organisms.

  12. Formation and emission of large furans and oxygenated hydrocarbons from flames.

    PubMed

    Johansson, K Olof; Dillstrom, Tyler; Monti, Matteo; El Gabaly, Farid; Campbell, Matthew F; Schrader, Paul E; Popolan-Vaida, Denisia M; Richards-Henderson, Nicole K; Wilson, Kevin R; Violi, Angela; Michelsen, Hope A

    2016-07-26

    Many oxygenated hydrocarbon species formed during combustion, such as furans, are highly toxic and detrimental to human health and the environment. These species may also increase the hygroscopicity of soot and strongly influence the effects of soot on regional and global climate. However, large furans and associated oxygenated species have not previously been observed in flames, and their formation mechanism and interplay with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are poorly understood. We report on a synergistic computational and experimental effort that elucidates the formation of oxygen-embedded compounds, such as furans and other oxygenated hydrocarbons, during the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. We used ab initio and probabilistic computational techniques to identify low-barrier reaction mechanisms for the formation of large furans and other oxygenated hydrocarbons. We used vacuum-UV photoionization aerosol mass spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to confirm these predictions. We show that furans are produced in the high-temperature regions of hydrocarbon flames, where they remarkably survive and become the main functional group of oxygenates that incorporate into incipient soot. In controlled flame studies, we discovered ∼100 oxygenated species previously unaccounted for. We found that large alcohols and enols act as precursors to furans, leading to incorporation of oxygen into the carbon skeletons of PAHs. Our results depart dramatically from the crude chemistry of carbon- and oxygen-containing molecules previously considered in hydrocarbon formation and oxidation models and spearhead the emerging understanding of the oxidation chemistry that is critical, for example, to control emissions of toxic and carcinogenic combustion by-products, which also greatly affect global warming.

  13. Formation and emission of large furans and oxygenated hydrocarbons from flames

    PubMed Central

    Johansson, K. Olof; Dillstrom, Tyler; Monti, Matteo; El Gabaly, Farid; Campbell, Matthew F.; Schrader, Paul E.; Popolan-Vaida, Denisia M.; Richards-Henderson, Nicole K.; Wilson, Kevin R.; Violi, Angela; Michelsen, Hope A.

    2016-01-01

    Many oxygenated hydrocarbon species formed during combustion, such as furans, are highly toxic and detrimental to human health and the environment. These species may also increase the hygroscopicity of soot and strongly influence the effects of soot on regional and global climate. However, large furans and associated oxygenated species have not previously been observed in flames, and their formation mechanism and interplay with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are poorly understood. We report on a synergistic computational and experimental effort that elucidates the formation of oxygen-embedded compounds, such as furans and other oxygenated hydrocarbons, during the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. We used ab initio and probabilistic computational techniques to identify low-barrier reaction mechanisms for the formation of large furans and other oxygenated hydrocarbons. We used vacuum-UV photoionization aerosol mass spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to confirm these predictions. We show that furans are produced in the high-temperature regions of hydrocarbon flames, where they remarkably survive and become the main functional group of oxygenates that incorporate into incipient soot. In controlled flame studies, we discovered ∼100 oxygenated species previously unaccounted for. We found that large alcohols and enols act as precursors to furans, leading to incorporation of oxygen into the carbon skeletons of PAHs. Our results depart dramatically from the crude chemistry of carbon- and oxygen-containing molecules previously considered in hydrocarbon formation and oxidation models and spearhead the emerging understanding of the oxidation chemistry that is critical, for example, to control emissions of toxic and carcinogenic combustion by-products, which also greatly affect global warming. PMID:27410045

  14. Noninvasive oxygen monitoring techniques.

    PubMed

    Wahr, J A; Tremper, K K

    1995-01-01

    As this article demonstrates, tremendous progress has been made in the techniques of oxygen measurement and monitoring over the past 50 years. From the early developments during and after World War II, to the most recent applications of solid state and microprocessor technology today, every patient in a critical care situation will have several continuous measurements of oxygenation applied simultaneously. Information therefore is available readily to alert personnel of acute problems and to guide appropriate therapy. The majority of effort to date has been placed on measuring oxygenation of arterial or venous blood. The next generation of devices will attempt to provide information about living tissue. Unlike the devices monitoring arterial or venous oxygen content, no "gold standards" exist for tissue oxygenation, so calibration will be difficult, as will interpretation of the data provided. The application of these devices ultimately may lead to a much better understanding of how disease (and the treatment of disease) alters the utilization of oxygen by the tissues.

  15. ACUTE BEHAVIORAL TOXICITY OF SULFOLANE: INFLUENCE OF HYPOTHERMIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    Sulfolane is a solvent which produces hypothermia and decreased oxygen consumption following acute exposure. In the present experiment, the author investigated effects of sulfolane on a behavioral measure of toxicity at ambient temperatures which would either prevent or facilitat...

  16. Topical oxygen as an adjunct to wound healing: a clinical case series.

    PubMed

    Kalliainen, Loree K.; Gordillo, Gayle M.; Schlanger, Richard; Sen, Chandan K.

    2003-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Disrupted vasculature and high energy-demand to support processing and regeneration of wounded tissue are typical characteristics of a wound site. Oxygen delivery is a critical element for the healing of wounds. Clinical experience with adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of chronic wounds have shown that wound hyperoxia increases wound granulation tissue formation and accelerates wound contraction and secondary closure. Nevertheless, the physiologic basis for this modality remains largely unknown. Also, systemic hyperbaric oxygen therapy is associated with risks related to oxygen toxicity. Topical oxygen therapy represents a less explored modality in wound care. The advantages of topical oxygen therapy include low cost, lack of systemic oxygen toxicity, and the ability to receive treatment at home, making the benefits of oxygen therapy available to a much larger population of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over 9 months, seven surgeons treated 58 wounds in 32 patients with topical oxygen with follow-up ranging from 1 to 8 months. The data presented herein is a retrospective analysis of the results we have achieved using topical oxygen on complex wounds. RESULTS: Thirty-eight wounds in 15 patients healed while on topical oxygen. An additional five wounds in five patients had preoperative oxygen therapy; all wounds initially healed postoperatively. In two patients, wounds recurred post-healing. In ten wounds, topical oxygen had no effect; and two of those patients went on to require limb amputation. There were no complications attributable to topical oxygen. Three patients died during therapy and one died in the first postoperative month from underlying medical problems. Two patients were lost to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In this case series, topical oxygen had no detrimental effects on wounds and showed beneficial indications in promoting wound healing.

  17. Isotopic Composition of Oxygen in Lunar Zircons

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nemchin, A. A.; Whitehouse, M. J.; Pidgeon, R. T.; Meyer, C.

    2005-01-01

    The recent discovery of heavy oxygen in zircons from the Jack Hills conglomerates Wilde et al. and Mojzsis et al. was interpreted as an indication of presence of liquid water on the surface of Early Earth. The distribution of ages of Jack Hills zircons and lunar zircons appears to be very similar and therefore analysis of oxygen in the lunar grains may provide a reference frame for further study of the early history of the Earth as well as give additional information regarding processes that operated on the Moon. In the present study we have analysed the oxygen isotopic composition of zircon grains from three lunar samples using the Swedish Museum of Natural History CAMECA 1270 ion microprobe. The samples were selected as likely tests for variations in lunar oxygen isotopic composition. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

  18. Spin labeled antioxidants protect bacteria against the toxicity of alkylating antitumor drug CCNU.

    PubMed

    Gadjeva, Vesselina; Lazarova, Grozdanka; Zheleva, Antoaneta

    2003-10-15

    We have studied the toxic effect of the alkylating antitumor drug N'-cyclohexyl-N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitrosourea (lomustine, CCNU) on Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains, alone and in presence of oxygen radical-scavenging substances [Vitamin E, stable nitroxyl radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl (TMPO), and spin labeled (nitroxyl free radical moiety containing) analogues of CCNU] and compared with that of the alkylating antitumor drug 5-(3,3-dimethyltriazene-1-yl)-imidazole-4-carboxamide (dacarbazine, DTIC). All spin labeled compounds tested were almost no toxic at doses of 50-500 microM/ml, whereas the alkylating antitumor drug CCNU showed toxicity in a dose dependent manner. Even low doses of spin labeled nitrosoureas provided protection against the toxicity caused by the antitumor drug CCNU alone. The lowest toxicity against E. coli and S. aureus were achieved when 500 microM/ml of CCNU was combined with 200 microM/ml of spin labeled nitrosourea N-[N'-(2-chloroethyl)-N'-nitrosocarbamoyl]-glycine amid of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-aminopiperidine-1-oxyl (SLCNUgly). A combination of TMPO with vitamin E completely abolished the toxicity of CCNU. Endogenous formation of oxygen radicals and their possible involvement in CCNU toxicity towards the bacteria strains tested have been also discussed.

  19. Non-Toxic Reaction Control System for the Reusable First Stage Vehicle

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Keith, E. L.; Rothschild, W. J.

    1999-01-01

    This paper presents the Boeing Reusable Space Systems vision of a Reaction Control System (RCS) for the Reusable First Stage (RFS) being considered as a replacement for the Solid Rocket Booster for the Space Shuttle. The requirement is to achieve reliable vehicle control during the upper atmospheric portion of the RFS trajectory while enabling more efficient ground operations, unhindered by constraints caused by operating with highly toxic RCS propellants. Boeing's objective for this effort is to develop a safer, more efficient and environmentally friendly RCS design approach that is suitable for the RFS concept of operations, including a low cost, efficient turnaround cycle. The Boeing RCS concept utilizes ethanol and liquid oxygen in place of the highly toxic, suspected carcinogen, ozone-depleting mono-methyl-hydrazine and highly toxic nitrogen tetroxide. The Space Shuttle Upgrade program, under the leadership of the NASA Johnson Space Flight Center, is currently developing liquid oxygen and ethanol (ethyl alcohol) technology for use as non-toxic orbital maneuvering system (OMS) and RCS. The development of this liquid oxygen and ethanol technology for the Space Shuttle offers a significant leverage to select much of the same technology for the RFS program. There are significant design and development issues involved with bringing this liquid oxygen and ethanol technology to a state of maturity suitable for an operational RCS. The risks associated with a new LOX and Ethanol RCS are mitigated by maintaining kerosene and hydrogen peroxide RCS technology as an alternative. These issues, presented within this paper, include managing the oxygen supply and achieving reliable ignition in the short pulse mode of engine operation. Performance, reliability and operations requirements are presented along with a specific RCS design concept to satisfying these requirements. The work reported in this paper was performed under NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Contract Number

  20. Oceanic oxygenation events in the anoxic Ediacaran ocean.

    PubMed

    Sahoo, S K; Planavsky, N J; Jiang, G; Kendall, B; Owens, J D; Wang, X; Shi, X; Anbar, A D; Lyons, T W

    2016-09-01

    The ocean-atmosphere system is typically envisioned to have gone through a unidirectional oxygenation with significant oxygen increases in the earliest (ca. 635 Ma), middle (ca. 580 Ma), or late (ca. 560 Ma) Ediacaran Period. However, temporally discontinuous geochemical data and the patchy metazoan fossil record have been inadequate to chart the details of Ediacaran ocean oxygenation, raising fundamental debates about the timing of ocean oxygenation, its purported unidirectional rise, and its causal relationship, if any, with the evolution of early animal life. To better understand the Ediacaran ocean redox evolution, we have conducted a multi-proxy paleoredox study of a relatively continuous, deep-water section in South China that was paleogeographically connected with the open ocean. Iron speciation and pyrite morphology indicate locally euxinic (anoxic and sulfidic) environments throughout the Ediacaran in this section. In the same rocks, redox sensitive element enrichments and sulfur isotope data provide evidence for multiple oceanic oxygenation events (OOEs) in a predominantly anoxic global Ediacaran-early Cambrian ocean. This dynamic redox landscape contrasts with a recent view of a redox-static Ediacaran ocean without significant change in oxygen content. The duration of the Ediacaran OOEs may be comparable to those of the oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) in otherwise well-oxygenated Phanerozoic oceans. Anoxic events caused mass extinctions followed by fast recovery in biologically diversified Phanerozoic oceans. In contrast, oxygenation events in otherwise ecologically monotonous anoxic Ediacaran-early Cambrian oceans may have stimulated biotic innovations followed by prolonged evolutionary stasis. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. The Stroke Oxygen Study (SO2S) - a multi-center, study to assess whether routine oxygen treatment in the first 72 hours after a stroke improves long-term outcome: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Mild hypoxia is common in stroke patients and may have significant adverse effects on the ischemic brain after stroke. The use of oxygen treatment is rapidly increasing in European stroke units but is not without side effects. It impedes early mobilization, could pose an infection risk, and may encourage the formation of toxic free radicals, leading to further damage to the ischemic brain. In the Stroke Oxygen Pilot Study (2 or 3 L/min for 72 hours) neurological recovery at one week was better in the oxygen group than in controls, and after correction for difference in baseline stroke severity and prognostic factors, there was a trend to better outcome with oxygen at six months. Oxygen was as effective in mild as in severe strokes. Oxygen saturation is lower at night than during the day, and episodes of oxygen desaturation are common during sleep. Nocturnal oxygen supplementation is likely to reduce the burden of hypoxia without interfering with daytime mobilization and rehabilitation. Before wider use of oxygen supplementation becomes established it is important to obtain better evidence on which patients benefit from such treatment. Methods Participants will be randomized to one of three groups: the first will receive continuous oxygen for 72 hours (at a rate of 2 or 3 L/min depending on baseline oxygen saturation), the second group will receive nocturnal oxygen only (at a rate of 2 or 3 L/min depending on baseline oxygen saturation) and the third group will not receive any oxygen (control). A baseline assessment is performed at randomization and a one-week follow-up completed. Outcome data at three, six and twelve months will be obtained via a questionnaire sent to the patient by the trial center. Discussion This study will provide evidence on the effectiveness of oxygen supplementation for the treatment of stroke and whether nocturnal oxygen is a potentially beneficial therapy regimen. Trial registration This trial is registered with the ISRCTN

  2. Acute toxicity of 31 different nanoparticles to zebrafish (Danio rerio) tested in adulthood and in early life stages – comparative study

    PubMed Central

    Kovrižnych, Jevgenij A.; Zeljenková, Dagmar; Rollerová, Eva; Szabová, Elena; Wimmerová, Soňa

    2013-01-01

    At present, nanoparticles are beginning to influence our lives in many ways and understanding the environmental health and safety aspect of nanomaterials has become a crucial issue. The aim of the work was to assess and compare the acute toxicity of 31 different nanomaterials to fish mature individuals Danio rerio with that to fish early life stages on using evaluation of the 48- and 96- hour LC50 values. A further aim was to evaluate teratogenicity of the nanoparticles tested to fish eggs. The nanoparticles tested were: 8 pure metals, 10 metal oxides, 5 other metal compounds and their mixtures, 2 silicon compounds, 3 calcium compounds, and 3 carbon compounds. Using 48-h and 96-h tests of acute toxicity (according to OECD 203), we evaluated mortality data, LC50 values, occurrence of malformations, as well as hatching time. In our study, 6 kinds of nanoparticles – calcium oxide, copper, copper in the form of oxide and CuZnFe4O4, magnesium oxide, and nickel – caused cumulative mortality. Two kinds of nanoparticles – copper and silver – were toxic for fish with LC50 values of approximately 3 mg/L. We did not observe marked differences between the 48-hour and 96-hour acute toxicity LC50 values, yet the possibility to evaluate hatching time in the 96-h acute fish toxicity test seems to be an advantage against that of the 48-hour toxicity. PMID:24179431

  3. Comparative toxicities of selected rare earth elements: Sea urchin embryogenesis and fertilization damage with redox and cytogenetic effects

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pagano, Giovanni, E-mail: gbpagano@tin.it; Guida, Marco; Siciliano, Antonietta

    Background: Broad-ranging adverse effects are known for rare earth elements (REE), yet only a few studies tested the toxicity of several REE, prompting studies focusing on multi-parameter REE toxicity. Methods: Trichloride salts of Y, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu and Gd were tested in Paracentrotus lividus sea urchin embryos and sperm for: (1) developmental defects in either REE-exposed larvae or in the offspring of REE-exposed sperm; (2) fertilization success; (3) mitotic anomalies in REE-exposed embryos and in the offspring of REE-exposed sperm, and (4) reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, and malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels. Results: REEs affectedmore » P. lividus larvae with concentration-related increase in developmental defects, 10{sup −6} to 10{sup −4} M, ranking as: Gd(III)>Y(III)>La(III)>Nd(III)≅Eu(III)>Ce(III)≅Sm(III). Nominal concentrations of REE salts were confirmed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Significant increases in MDA levels, ROS formation, and NO levels were found in REE-exposed embryos. Sperm exposure to REEs (10{sup −5} to 10{sup −4} M) resulted in concentration-related decrease in fertilization success along with increase in offspring damage. Decreased mitotic activity and increased aberration rates were detected in REE-exposed embryos and in the offspring of REE-exposed sperm. Conclusion: REE-associated toxicity affecting embryogenesis, fertilization, cytogenetic and redox endpoints showed different activities of tested REEs. Damage to early life stages, along with redox and cytogenetic anomalies should be the focus of future REE toxicity studies. - Highlights: • Seven rare earth elements exerted different effects on sea urchin early life stages. • Embryo-, spermio- and mitotoxicity, and oxidative/ nitrosative stress were found. • Nominal vs. analytical REE concentrations were checked. • Comparative toxicities were evaluated for the different REE.« less

  4. Differential concentration-specific effects of caffeine on cell viability, oxidative stress, and cell cycle in pulmonary oxygen toxicity in vitro

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tiwari, Kirti Kumar; Chu, Chun; Couroucli, Xanthi

    Highlights: • Caffeine at 0.05 mM decreases oxidative stress in hyperoxia. • Caffeine at 1 mM decreases cell viability, increases oxidative stress in hyperoxia. • Caffeine at 1 but not 0.05 mM, abrogates hyperoxia-induced G2/M arrest. - Abstract: Caffeine is used to prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in premature neonates. Hyperoxia contributes to the development of BPD, inhibits cell proliferation and decreases cell survival. The mechanisms responsible for the protective effect of caffeine in pulmonary oxygen toxicity remain largely unknown. A549 and MLE 12 pulmonary epithelial cells were exposed to hyperoxia or maintained in room air, in the presence of differentmore » concentrations (0, 0.05, 0.1 and 1 mM) of caffeine. Caffeine had a differential concentration-specific effect on cell cycle progression, oxidative stress and viability, with 1 mM concentration being deleterious and 0.05 mM being protective. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation during hyperoxia was modulated by caffeine in a similar concentration-specific manner. Caffeine at 1 mM, but not at the 0.05 mM concentration decreased the G2 arrest in these cells. Taken together this study shows the novel funding that caffeine has a concentration-specific effect on cell cycle regulation, ROS generation, and cell survival in hyperoxic conditions.« less

  5. Assessing Aromatic-Hydrocarbon Toxicity to Fish Early Life Stages Using Passive-Dosing Methods and Target-Lipid and Chemical-Activity Models.

    PubMed

    Butler, Josh D; Parkerton, Thomas F; Redman, Aaron D; Letinski, Daniel J; Cooper, Keith R

    2016-08-02

    Aromatic hydrocarbons (AH) are known to impair fish early life stages (ELS). However, poorly defined exposures often confound ELS-test interpretation. Passive dosing (PD) overcomes these challenges by delivering consistent, controlled exposures. The objectives of this study were to apply PD to obtain 5 d acute embryo lethality and developmental data and 30 d chronic embryo-larval survival and growth-effects data using zebrafish with different AHs; to analyze study and literature toxicity data using target-lipid (TLM) and chemical-activity (CA) models; and to extend PD to a mixture and test the assumption of AH additivity. PD maintained targeted exposures over a concentration range of 6 orders of magnitude. AH toxicity increased with log Kow up to pyrene (5.2). Pericardial edema was the most sensitive sublethal effect that often preceded embryo mortality, although some AHs did not produce developmental effects at concentrations causing mortality. Cumulative embryo-larval mortality was more sensitive than larval growth, with acute-to-chronic ratios of <10. More-hydrophobic AHs did not exhibit toxicity at aqueous saturation. The relationship and utility of the TLM-CA models for characterizing fish ELS toxicity is discussed. Application of these models indicated that concentration addition provided a conservative basis for predicting ELS effects for the mixture investigated.

  6. EXAMINATION OF QUINONE TOXICITY USING YEAST SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE MODEL SYSTEM. (R827352C007)

    EPA Science Inventory

    The toxicity of quinones is generally thought to occur by two mechanisms: the formation of covalent bonds with biological molecules by Michael addition chemistry and the catalytic reduction of oxygen to superoxide and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) (redox cycling). In an ...

  7. Evaluation of water treatment sludges toxicity using the Daphnia bioassay.

    PubMed

    Sotero-Santos, Rosana B; Rocha, Odete; Povinelli, Jurandyr

    2005-10-01

    Alum and ferric chloride sludges from two water treatment plants (WTPs) were analyzed regarding their physicochemical characteristics and toxicity to Daphnia similis. Experiments were carried out in the dry and rainy seasons. Acute and chronic toxicity was measured using survival and reproduction as measurement endpoints. No acute toxicity of the sludge was observed in 48 h exposure. Ferric chloride sludge caused chronic toxicity, demonstrated by low fecundity and some mortality, while alum sludge caused chronic toxicity characterized by low fecundity. Some sludge characteristics varied between samplings, including turbidity, solids contents, N, P and metal (Al and Fe) concentrations. These variables and the increase of chemical oxygen demand (COD) were identified as the main cause of degradation of the receiving waters. However, no relationship was observed between these variables and degree of toxicity. It is apparent from these results that water treatment sludges may be toxic and therefore may impair receiving waters. Alum sludge was less toxic than ferric chloride sludge.

  8. Acute cardiovascular toxicity of sterilizers, PHMG, and PGH: severe inflammation in human cells and heart failure in zebrafish.

    PubMed

    Kim, Jae-Yong; Kim, Hak Hyeon; Cho, Kyung-Hyun

    2013-06-01

    In 2011, dozens of children and pregnant women in Korea died by exposure to sterilizer for household humidifier, such as Oxy(®) and Cefu(®). Until now, however, it remains unknown how the sterilizer affect the human health to cause the acute deaths. To find its toxicity for organ, we investigated the putative toxicity of the sterilizer in the cardiovascular system. The sterilizers, polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate (PHMG, Cefu(®)), and oligo-[2-(2-ethoxy)-ethoxyethyl)-guanidinium-chloride (PGH, Oxy(®)) were treated to human lipoproteins, macrophages, and dermal fibroblast cells. The PGH and PHMG at normal dosages caused severe atherogenic process in human macrophages, cytotoxic effect, and aging in human dermal cell. Zebrafish embryos, which were exposed to the sterilizer, showed early death with acute inflammation and attenuated developmental speed. All zebrafish exposed to the working concentration of PHMG (final 0.3 %) and PGH (final 10 mM) died within 70 min and displayed acute increases in serum triacylglycerol level and fatty liver induction. The dead zebrafish showed severe accumulation of fibrous collagen in the bulbous artery of the heart with elevation of reactive oxygen species. In conclusion, the sterilizers showed acute toxic effect in blood circulation system, causing by severe inflammation, atherogenesis, and aging, with embryo toxicity.

  9. Using early life stages of marine animals to screen the toxicity of priority hazardous and noxious substances.

    PubMed

    Cunha, Isabel; Torres, Tiago; Oliveira, Helena; Martins, Rosário; McGowan, Thomas; Sheahan, David; Santos, Miguel Machado

    2017-04-01

    This study provides toxicity values for early life stages (ELS) of two phylogenetically distinct marine animal taxa, the sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus), a deuterostome invertebrate, and the turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), a vertebrate (teleost), when challenged by six hazardous and noxious substances (HNS): aniline, butyl acrylate, m-cresol, cyclohexylbenzene, hexane and trichloroethylene. The aim of the study was to provide preliminary information on toxic effects of representative and relevant priority HNS to assess the risk posed by spills to marine habitats and therefore improve preparedness and the response at the operational level. Selection criteria to include each compound in the study were (1) inclusion in the HASREP (2005) list; (2) presence on the priority list established by Neuparth et al. (2011); (3) paucity of toxicological data (TOXnet and ECOTOX) for marine organisms; (4) behaviour in the water according to the categories defined by the European Behaviour classification system (GESAMP 2002), by selecting compounds with different behaviours in water; and (5) physicochemical and toxicological properties, where available, in order to anticipate the most toxic compounds. Aniline and m-cresol were the most toxic compounds with no observed apical effect concentration (NOAEC) values for sea urchin ranging between 0.01 and 0.1 mg/L, followed by butyl acrylate and cyclohexylbenzene with NOAECs ranging between 0.1 and 1.0 mg/L and trichloroethylene with NOAEC values that were in the range between 1 and 10 mg/L, reflecting their behaviour in water, mostly vapour pressure, but also solubility and log Kow. Hexane was toxic only for turbot embryos, due to its neurotoxic effects, and not for sea urchin larvae, at concentrations in the range between 1 and 10 mg/L. The concentrations tested were of the same order of magnitude for both species, and it was observed that sea urchin embryos (length of the longest arm) are more sensitive than turbot eggs larvae

  10. Formation and emission of large furans and oxygenated hydrocarbons from flames

    DOE PAGES

    Johansson, K. Olof; Dillstrom, Tyler; Monti, Matteo; ...

    2016-07-07

    Many oxygenated hydrocarbon species formed during combustion, such as furans, are highly toxic and detrimental to human health and the environment. These species may also increase the hygroscopicity of soot and strongly influence the effects of soot on regional and global climate. However, large furans and associated oxygenated species have not previously been observed in flames, and their formation mechanism and interplay with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are poorly understood. We report on a synergistic computational and experimental effort that elucidates the formation of oxygen-embedded compounds, such as furans and other oxygenated hydrocarbons, during the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. Wemore » used ab initio and probabilistic computational techniques to identify low-barrier reaction mechanisms for the formation of large furans and other oxygenated hydrocarbons. We used vacuum-UV photoionization aerosol mass spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to confirm these predictions. We show that fura ns are produced in the high- Temperature regions of hydrocarbon flames, where they remarkably survive and become the main functional group of oxygenates that incorporate into incipient soot. In controlled flame studies, we discovered ~100 oxygenated species previously unaccounted for. We found that large alcohols and enols act as precursors to furans, leading to incorporation of oxygen into the carbon skeletons of PAHs. Our results depart dramatically from the crude chemistry of carbonand oxygen-containing molecules previously considered in hydrocarbon formation and oxidation models and spearhead the emerging understanding of the oxidation chemistry that is critical, for example, to control emissions of toxic and carcinogenic combustion by-products, which also greatly affect global warming.« less

  11. Fuzzy logic assisted control of inspired oxygen in ventilated newborn infants.

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Y.; Kohane, I.; Stark, A. R.

    1994-01-01

    The control of oxygen delivery to mechanically ventilated newborn infants is a time intensive process that must balance adequate tissue oxygenation against possible toxic effects of oxygen exposure. Investigation in computer assisted control of mechanical ventilation is increasing, although very few studies involve newborn infants. We have implemented a fuzzy controller for the adjustment of inspired oxygen concentration (FIO2) in ventilated newborns. The controller utilizes rules produced by neonatologists, and operates in real-time. A clinical trial of this controller is currently taking place in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Children's Hospital, Boston, MA. PMID:7950026

  12. The toxic Doppelganger: on the ionic and molecular mimicry of cadmium.

    PubMed

    Chmielowska-Bąk, Jagna; Izbiańska, Karolina; Deckert, Joanna

    2013-01-01

    Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal which can cause numerous alterations in cell functioning. Exposure to cadmium leads to generation of reactive oxygen species, disorders in membrane structure and functioning, inhibition of respiration, disturbances in ion homeostasis, perturbations in cell division, and initiation of apoptosis and necrosis. This heavy metal is considered a carcinogen by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. At least some of the described toxic effects could result from the ability of cadmium to mimic other divalent ions and alert signal transduction networks. This review describes the role of cadmium mimicry in its uptake, reactive oxygen species generation, alterations in calmodulin, Wnt/β-catenin and estrogen signaling pathways, and modulation of neurotransmission. The last section is dedicated to the single known case of a favorable function performed by cadmium mimicry: marine diatoms, which live in zinc deficient conditions, utilize cadmium as a cofactor in carbonic anhydrase - so far the only described cadmium enzyme.

  13. Involvement of reactive oxygen species during early stages of ectomycorrhiza establishment between Castanea sativa and Pisolithus tinctorius.

    PubMed

    Baptista, Paula; Martins, Anabela; Pais, Maria Salomé; Tavares, Rui M; Lino-Neto, Teresa

    2007-05-01

    Evidence for the participation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant systems in ectomycorrhizal (ECM) establishment is lacking. In this paper, we evaluated ROS production and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) during the early contact of the ECM fungus Pisolithus tinctorius with the roots of Castanea sativa (chestnut tree). Roots were placed in contact with P. tinctorius mycelia, and ROS production was evaluated by determining the levels of H(2)O(2) and O(2) (.-) during the early stages of fungal contact. Three peaks of H(2)O(2) production were detected, the first two coinciding with O(2) (.-) bursts. The first H(2)O(2) production peak coincided with an increase in SOD activity, whereas CAT activity seemed to be implicated in H(2)O(2) scavenging. P. tinctorius growth was evaluated in the presence of P. tinctorius-elicited C. sativa crude extracts prepared during the early stages of fungal contact. Differential hyphal growth that matched the H(2)O(2) production profile with a delay was detected. The result suggests that during the early stages of ECM establishment, H(2)O(2) results from an inhibition of ROS-scavenging enzymes and plays a role in signalling during symbiotic establishment.

  14. The medical use of oxygen: a time for critical reappraisal.

    PubMed

    Sjöberg, F; Singer, M

    2013-12-01

    Oxygen treatment has been a cornerstone of acute medical care for numerous pathological states. Initially, this was supported by the assumed need to avoid hypoxaemia and tissue hypoxia. Most acute treatment algorithms, therefore, recommended the liberal use of a high fraction of inspired oxygen, often without first confirming the presence of a hypoxic insult. However, recent physiological research has underlined the vasoconstrictor effects of hyperoxia on normal vasculature and, consequently, the risk of significant blood flow reduction to the at-risk tissue. Positive effects may be claimed simply by relief of an assumed local tissue hypoxia, such as in acute cardiovascular disease, brain ischaemia due to, for example, stroke or shock or carbon monoxide intoxication. However, in most situations, a generalized hypoxia is not the problem and a risk of negative hyperoxaemia-induced local vasoconstriction effects may instead be the reality. In preclinical studies, many important positive anti-inflammatory effects of both normobaric and hyperbaric oxygen have been repeatedly shown, often as surrogate end-points such as increases in gluthatione levels, reduced lipid peroxidation and neutrophil activation thus modifying ischaemia-reperfusion injury and also causing anti-apoptotic effects. However, in parallel, toxic effects of oxygen are also well known, including induced mucosal inflammation, pneumonitis and retrolental fibroplasia. Examining the available 'strong' clinical evidence, such as usually claimed for randomized controlled trials, few positive studies stand up to scrutiny and a number of trials have shown no effect or even been terminated early due to worse outcomes in the oxygen treatment arm. Recently, this has led to less aggressive approaches, even to not providing any supplemental oxygen, in several acute care settings, such as resuscitation of asphyxiated newborns, during acute myocardial infarction or after stroke or cardiac arrest. The safety of more

  15. Removal of organic contaminant toxicity from sediments - Early work toward development of a toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) method

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lebo, J.A.; Huckins, J.N.; Petty, J.D.; Ho, K.T.

    1999-01-01

    Work was performed to determine the feasibility of selectively detoxifying organic contaminants in sediments. The results of this research will be used to aid in the development of a scheme for whole-sediment toxicity identification evaluations (TIEs). The context in which the method will be used inherently restricts the treatments to which the sediments can be subjected: Sediments cannot be significantly altered physically or chemically and the presence and bioavailabilities of other toxicants must not be changed. The methodological problem is daunting because of the requirement that the detoxification method be relatively fast and convenient together with the stipulation that only innocuous and minimally invasive treatments be used. Some of the experiments described here dealt with degrees of decontamination (i.e., detoxification as predicted from instrumental measurements) of spiked sediments rather than with degrees of detoxification as gauged by toxicity tests (e.g., 48-h toxicity tests with amphipods). Although the larger TIE scheme itself is mostly outside the scope of this paper, theoretical aspects of bioavailability and of the desorption of organic contaminants from sediments are discussed.

  16. Depletion of pulmonary glutathione using diethylmaleic acid accelerates the development of oxygen-induced lung injury in term and preterm guinea-pig neonates.

    PubMed

    Langley, S C; Kelly, F J

    1994-02-01

    Dietary or chemical depletion of pulmonary glutathione in adult rats and mice, has been demonstrated to exacerbate the toxic effects of high oxygen concentrations. The present paper has examined this phenomenon in a guinea-pig model of prematurity, using the electrophilic agent diethylmaleic acid (DEM) to provide a transient (up to 12 h) pulmonary glutathione depletion. Full-term and 3-days preterm guinea-pig pups were studied to assess the possible role for glutathione deficiency as a mechanism mediating the increased susceptibility of the immature lung to oxygen free-radical damage. The administration of DEM to guinea-pig neonates depleted lung glutathione by 90% (term) or 68% (preterm) over 2 h. On exposure of pups to 95% oxygen for 48 h, DEM increased the incidence of oxygen-related death to 31% in term pups and 100% in preterm pups. Term pups exposed to hyperoxia and treated with DEM showed evidence of pulmonary injury, indicated by an influx of neutrophils into the lung airspaces, and elevated microvascular permeability. Control pups exposed to 95% oxygen were found to have uninjured lungs after 48 h. We conclude that glutathione is an essential component of the pulmonary antioxidant array in neonates. Glutathione may be of particular importance in the early phase of oxygen exposure. The deficiency of lung glutathione observed in preterm animals may account for their increased susceptibility to oxygen-induced pulmonary injury.

  17. Toxic Effects of Nickel Oxide Bulk and Nanoparticles on the Aquatic Plant Lemna gibba L.

    PubMed Central

    Oukarroum, Abdallah; Barhoumi, Lotfi; Samadani, Mahshid

    2015-01-01

    The aquatic plant Lemna gibba L. was used to investigate and compare the toxicity induced by 30 nm nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs) and nickel(II) oxide as bulk (NiO-Bulk). Plants were exposed during 24 h to 0–1000 mg/L of NiO-NPs or NiO-Bulk. Analysis of physicochemical characteristics of nanoparticles in solution indicated agglomerations of NiO-NPs in culture medium and a wide size distribution was observed. Both NiO-NPs and NiO-Bulk caused a strong increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, especially at high concentration (1000 mg/L). These results showed a strong evidence of a cellular oxidative stress induction caused by the exposure to NiO. Under this condition, NiO-NPs and NiO-Bulk induced a strong inhibitory effect on the PSII quantum yield, indicating an alteration of the photosynthetic electron transport performance. Under the experimental conditions used, it is clear that the observed toxicity impact was mainly due to NiO particles effect. Therefore, results of this study permitted determining the use of ROS production as an early biomarker of NiO exposure on the aquatic plant model L. gibba used in toxicity testing. PMID:26075242

  18. Heavy Isotope Composition of Oxygen in Zircon from Soil Sample 14163: Lunar Perspective of an Early Ocean on the Earth

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nemchin, A. A.; Whitehouse, M. J.; Pidgeon, R. T.; Meyer, C.

    2006-01-01

    Thirty oxygen analyses of a large (sub-millimetre) zircon grain from the lunar soil sample 14163 have been determined using CAMECA 1270 ion microprobe. The sample 14163 was returned form the Fra Mauro region by Apollo 14 mission. Zircon grain of 0.6-0.8 mm in size extracted from the sample was imaged using CL detector fitted to the Philips Electron Microscope in order to reveal internal structure. Oxygen isotopes have been analysed during two sessions. The first set of data was collected using the original mount where the grain was set in the resin attached to the glass slide. This resulted in the two complications: (i) standard zircon has to be analysed from the separate mount and (ii) the lunar zircon grain was rased in the holder compared to the standard. In order to investigate, if the elevated oxygen compositions observed during this session could have resulted from this difference in geometric configuration during the standard and sample analyses, the lunar zircon was extracted from the original mount, remounted with the standard chip in the new resin disk and reanalysed during the second session. All analyses made during the first session show delta O-18 values heavier than 6.0%. The second set of data has a wider spread of delta O-18 values with some values as low as 5.6%. Nevertheless, a half of observed delta O-18 values in this set is also higher than 6.0%. Slightly lighter oxygen compositions observed during the second session indicate possible dependence of measured delta O-18 values on the geometry of analysed samples. Presence of zircons with similar heavy oxygen isotope compositions on the Moon, which neither had liquid water or felic crust similar to that on the Earth nor ever developed regime similar to plate tectonics, suggests that other mechanisms can be responsible for elevated delta O-18 values in zircons. This implies that there is no support for the presence of an ocean on the surface of the early Earth and as the ocean appears to be an

  19. Intrauterine inflammation, cerebral oxygen consumption and susceptibility to early brain injury in very preterm newborns.

    PubMed

    Stark, Michael J; Hodyl, Nicolette A; Belegar V, Kiran Kumar; Andersen, Chad C

    2016-03-01

    In utero exposure to inflammation results in elevated cerebral oxygen consumption. This increased metabolic demand may contribute to the association between chorioamnionitis and intraventricular haemorrhage (P/IVH). We hypothesised that intrauterine inflammation imposes an elevated cerebral metabolic load and increased fractional oxygen extraction (cFTOE) with cFTOE further increased in the presence of early P/IVH. Eighty-three infants ≤30 weeks gestation were recruited. Exposure to intrauterine inflammation was determined by placental histology. Total internal carotid blood flow (Doppler ultrasound) and near infrared spectroscopy were measured and cerebral oxygen delivery (mcerbDO2), consumption (mcerbVO2) and cFTOE were calculated on days 1 and 3 of life. Primary outcome was defined as death or P/IVH >grade II (cranial sonograph) by day 3. Infants exposed to intrauterine inflammation had higher total internal carotid blood flow (92 vs 63 mL/kg/min) and mcerbDO2 (13.7 vs 10.1 mL/kg/min) than those not exposed to inflammation. Newborns with P/IVH had both higher oxygen consumption and extraction compared with those without sonographic injury regardless of exposure to intrauterine inflammation. Further, in preterms exposed to inflammation, those with P/IVH had higher consumption (6.1 vs 4.8 mL/kg/min) and extraction than those without injury. These differences were observed only on day 1 of life. Although P/IVH is multifactorial in preterm newborns, it is likely that cerebral hypoxic-ischaemia plays a central pathophysiological role. These data provide a mechanistic insight into this process and suggests that the increased cerebral metabolic load imposed by the presence of inflammation results in a higher risk of critical hypoxic ischaemia in the preterm with increased susceptibility to significant P/IVH. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  20. (Eco)toxicity and biodegradability of protic ionic liquids.

    PubMed

    Oliveira, Maria V S; Vidal, Bruna T; Melo, Claudia M; de Miranda, Rita de C M; Soares, Cleide M F; Coutinho, João A P; Ventura, Sónia P M; Mattedi, Silvana; Lima, Álvaro S

    2016-03-01

    Ionic liquids (ILs) are often claimed to be "environmentally friendly" compounds however, the knowledge of their potential toxicity towards different organisms and trophic levels is still limited, in particular when protic ionic liquids (PILs) are addressed. This study aims to evaluate the toxicity against various microorganisms and the biodegradability of four PILs namely, N-methyl-2-hydroxyethylammonium acetate, m-2-HEAA; N-methyl-2-hydroxyethylammonium propionate, m-2-HEAPr; N-methyl-2-hydroxyethylammonium butyrate, m-2-HEAB; and N-methyl-2-hydroxyethylammonium pentanoate, m-2-HEAP. The antimicrobial activity was determined against the two bacteria, Sthaplylococcus aureus ATCC-6533 and Escherichia coli CCT-0355; the yeast Candida albicans ATCC-76645; and the fungi Fusarium sp. LM03. The toxicity of all PILs was tested against the aquatic luminescent marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri using the Microtox(®) test. The impact of the PILs was also studied regarding their effect on lettuce seeds (Lactuta sativa). The biodegradability of these PILs was evaluated using the ratio between the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and the chemical oxygen demand (COD). The results show that, in general, the elongation of the alkyl chain tends to increase the negative impact of the PILs towards the organisms and biological systems under study. According to these results, m-2-HEAA and m-2-HEAP are the less and most toxic PILs studied in this work, respectively. Additionally, all the PILs have demonstrated low biodegradability. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  1. Oxygen and the spatial structure of microbial communities.

    PubMed

    Fenchel, Tom; Finlay, Bland

    2008-11-01

    Oxygen has two faces. On one side it is the terminal electron acceptor of aerobic respiration - the most efficient engine of energy metabolism. On the other hand, oxygen is toxic because the reduction of molecular O2 creates reactive oxygen species such as the superoxide anion, peroxide, and the hydroxyl radical. Probably most prokaryotes, and virtually all eukaryotes, depend on oxygen respiration, and we show that the ambiguous relation to oxygen is both an evolutionary force and a dominating factor driving functional interactions and the spatial structure of microbial communities.We focus on microbial communities that are specialised for life in concentration gradients of oxygen, where they acquire the full panoply of specific requirements from limited ranges of PO2, which also support the spatial organisation of microbial communities. Marine and lake sediments provide examples of steep O2 gradients, which arise because consumption or production of oxygen exceeds transport rates of molecular diffusion. Deep lakes undergo thermal stratification in warm waters, resulting in seasonal anaerobiosis below the thermocline, and lakes with a permanent pycnocline often have permanent anoxic deep water. The oxycline is here biologically similar to sediments, and it harbours similar microbial biota, the main difference being the spatial scale. In sediments, transport is dominated by molecular diffusion, and in the water column, turbulent mixing dominates vertical transport. Cell size determines the minimum requirement of aerobic organisms. For bacteria (and mitochondria), the half-saturation constant for oxygen uptake ranges within 0.05-0.1% atmospheric saturation; for the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii it is 0.2%, and for two ciliate species measuring around 150 microm, it is 1-2 % atmospheric saturation. Protection against O2 toxicity has an energetic cost that increases with increasing ambient O2 tension. Oxygen sensing seems universal in aquatic organisms. Many aspects

  2. Towards new methods for the determination of dose limiting toxicities and the assessment of the recommended dose for further studies of molecularly targeted agents--dose-Limiting Toxicity and Toxicity Assessment Recommendation Group for Early Trials of Targeted therapies, an European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer-led study.

    PubMed

    Postel-Vinay, Sophie; Collette, Laurence; Paoletti, Xavier; Rizzo, Elisa; Massard, Christophe; Olmos, David; Fowst, Camilla; Levy, Bernard; Mancini, Pierre; Lacombe, Denis; Ivy, Percy; Seymour, Lesley; Le Tourneau, Christophe; Siu, Lillian L; Kaye, Stan B; Verweij, Jaap; Soria, Jean-Charles

    2014-08-01

    Traditional dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) definition, which uses grade (G) 3-4 toxicity data from cycle 1 (C1) only, may not be appropriate for molecularly targeted agents (MTAs) of prolonged administration, for which late or lower grade toxicities also deserve attention. In collaboration with pharmaceutical companies and academia, an European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-led initiative, Dose-Limiting Toxicity and Toxicity Assessment Recommendation Group for Early Trials of Targeted therapies (DLT-TARGETT), collected data from completed phase 1 trials evaluating MTAs as monotherapy. All toxicities at least possibly related to the study drugs that occurred during C1-6, their type, grade (CTCAEv3.0), and duration as well as patients' relative dose-intensity (RDI), were recorded. The 54 eligible trials enrolled 2084 evaluable adult patients with solid tumours between 1999 and 2013, and evaluated small molecules (40), antibodies (seven), recombinant peptides (five) and antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (two). A maximum tolerated dose was set in 43 trials. Fifteen percent of the patients received <75% of the intended RDI in C1, but only 9.1% of them presented protocol-defined DLTs. After C1, 16-19% of patients received <75% of the intended RDI. A similar proportion of G ⩾ 3 toxicities was recorded in C1 and after C1 (936 and 1087 toxicities, respectively), with the first G⩾3 toxicity occurring after C1 in 18.6% of patients. Although protocol-defined DLT period is traditionally limited to C1, almost 20% of patients present significant reductions in RDI at any time in phase 1 trials of MTAs. Recommended phase 2 dose assessment should incorporate all available information from any cycle (notably lower grade toxicities leading to such RDI decrease), and be based on achieving >75% RDI. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Mechanisms of group A Streptococcus resistance to reactive oxygen species

    PubMed Central

    Henningham, Anna; Döhrmann, Simon; Nizet, Victor; Cole, Jason N.

    2015-01-01

    Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A Streptococcus (GAS), is an exclusively human Gram-positive bacterial pathogen ranked among the ‘top 10’ causes of infection-related deaths worldwide. GAS commonly causes benign and self-limiting epithelial infections (pharyngitis and impetigo), and less frequent severe invasive diseases (bacteremia, toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis). Annually, GAS causes 700 million infections, including 1.8 million invasive infections with a mortality rate of 25%. In order to establish an infection, GAS must counteract the oxidative stress conditions generated by the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the infection site by host immune cells such as neutrophils and monocytes. ROS are the highly reactive and toxic byproducts of oxygen metabolism, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide anion (O2•−), hydroxyl radicals (OH•) and singlet oxygen (O2*), which can damage bacterial nucleic acids, proteins and cell membranes. This review summarizes the enzymatic and regulatory mechanisms utilized by GAS to thwart ROS and survive under conditions of oxidative stress. PMID:25670736

  4. Mechanisms of group A Streptococcus resistance to reactive oxygen species.

    PubMed

    Henningham, Anna; Döhrmann, Simon; Nizet, Victor; Cole, Jason N

    2015-07-01

    Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A Streptococcus (GAS), is an exclusively human Gram-positive bacterial pathogen ranked among the 'top 10' causes of infection-related deaths worldwide. GAS commonly causes benign and self-limiting epithelial infections (pharyngitis and impetigo), and less frequent severe invasive diseases (bacteremia, toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis). Annually, GAS causes 700 million infections, including 1.8 million invasive infections with a mortality rate of 25%. In order to establish an infection, GAS must counteract the oxidative stress conditions generated by the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the infection site by host immune cells such as neutrophils and monocytes. ROS are the highly reactive and toxic byproducts of oxygen metabolism, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide anion (O2•(-)), hydroxyl radicals (OH•) and singlet oxygen (O2*), which can damage bacterial nucleic acids, proteins and cell membranes. This review summarizes the enzymatic and regulatory mechanisms utilized by GAS to thwart ROS and survive under conditions of oxidative stress. © FEMS 2015.

  5. Acute toxicity of three fire-retardant and two fire-suppressant foam formulations to the early life stages of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gaikowski, Mark P.; Hamilton, Steven J.; Buhl, Kevin J.; McDonald, Susan F.; Summers, Cliff H.; Linder, G.; Krest, S.; Sparling, D.; Little, E.

    1996-01-01

    Laboratory studies were conducted with five early life stages of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, to determine the acute toxicities of five fire-fighting chemical formulations in standardized soft and hard water. Eyed egg, embryo–larvae, swim-up fry, and 60- and 90-d posthatch juveniles were exposed to three fire retardants (Fire-Trol LCG-R, Fire-Trol GTS-R, and Phos-Chek D75-F) and two fire-suppressant foams (Phos-Chek WD-881 and Silv-Ex). Swim-up fry were generally the most sensitive life stage, whereas the eyed-egg was the least sensitive. Toxicity of fire-fighting formulations was greater in hard water than in soft water for all life stages tested with Fire-Trol GTS-R and Silv-Ex and for 90-d-old juveniles tested with Fire-Trol LCG-R. The fire-suppressant foams were more toxic than the fire retardants. The 96-h median lethal concentrations (LC50s) were ranked from the most toxic to the least toxic formulation as follows (ranges are the lowest and highest 96-h LC50 calculated for each formulation): Phos-Chek WD-881 (11–44 mg/L), Silv-Ex (11–78 mg/L), Phos-Chek D75-F (218–>3,600 mg/L), Fire-Trol GTS-R (207–>6,000 mg/L), and Fire-Trol LCG-R (872–>10,000 mg/L). Toxicity values suggest that accidental entry of fire-fighting chemicals into aquatic environments could adversely affect fish populations.

  6. Clinical Meaning of Early Oxygenation Improvement in Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome under Prolonged Prone Positioning

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Kwangha; Kim, Mi-Young; Yoo, Jung-Wan; Hong, Sang-Bum; Lim, Chae-Man

    2010-01-01

    Background/Aims Ventilating patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the prone position has been shown to improve arterial oxygenation, but prolonged prone positioning frequently requires continuous deep sedation, which may be harmful to patients. We evaluated the meaning of early gas exchange in patients with severe ARDS under prolonged (≥ 12 hours) prone positioning. Methods We retrospectively studied 96 patients (mean age, 60.1 ± 15.6 years; 75% men) with severe ARDS (PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 150 mmHg) admitted to a medical intensive care unit (MICU). The terms "PaO2 response" and "PaCO2 response" represented responses that resulted in increases in the PaO2/FiO2 ratio of ≥ 20 mmHg and decreases in PaCO2 of ≥ 1 mmHg, respectively, 8 to 12 hours after first placement in the prone position. Results The mean duration of prone positioning was 78.5 ± 61.2 hours, and the 28-day mortality rate after MICU admission was 56.3%. No significant difference in clinical characteristics was observed between PaO2 and PaCO2 responders and non-responders. The PaO2 responders after prone positioning showed an improved 28-day outcome, compared with non-responders by Kaplan-Meier survival estimates (p < 0.05 by the log-rank test), but the PaCO2 responders did not. Conclusions Our results suggest that the early oxygenation improvement after prone positioning might be associated with an improved 28-day outcome and may be an indicator to maintain prolonged prone positioning in patients with severe ARDS. PMID:20195404

  7. Identification of an Archean marine oxygen oasis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Riding, Dr Robert E; Fralick, Dr Philip; Liang, Liyuan

    2014-01-01

    The early Earth was essentially anoxic. A number of indicators suggest the presence of oxygenic photosynthesis 2700 3000 million years (Ma) ago, but direct evidence for molecular oxygen (O2) in seawater has remained elusive. Here we report rare earth element (REE) analyses of 2800 million year old shallowmarine limestones and deep-water iron-rich sediments at Steep Rock Lake, Canada. These show that the seawater from which extensive shallow-water limestones precipitated was oxygenated, whereas the adjacent deeper waters where iron-rich sediments formed were not. We propose that oxygen promoted limestone precipitation by oxidative removal of dissolved ferrous iron species, Fe(II), to insolublemore » Fe(III) oxyhydroxide, and estimate that at least 10.25 M oxygen concentration in seawater was required to accomplish this at Steep Rock. This agrees with the hypothesis that an ample supply of dissolved Fe(II) in Archean oceans would have hindered limestone formation. There is no direct evidence for the oxygen source at Steep Rock, but organic carbon isotope values and diverse stromatolites in the limestones suggest the presence of cyanobacteria. Our findings support the view that during the Archean significant oxygen levels first developed in protected nutrient-rich shallow marine habitats. They indicate that these environments were spatially restricted, transient, and promoted limestone precipitation. If Archean marine limestones in general reflect localized oxygenic removal of dissolved iron at the margins of otherwise anoxic iron-rich seas, then early oxygen oases are less elusive than has been assumed.« less

  8. Coping with cyclic oxygen availability: evolutionary aspects.

    PubMed

    Flück, Martin; Webster, Keith A; Graham, Jeffrey; Giomi, Folco; Gerlach, Frank; Schmitz, Anke

    2007-10-01

    Both the gradual rise in atmospheric oxygen over the Proterozoic Eon as well as episodic fluctuations in oxygen over several million-year time spans during the Phanerozoic Era, have arguably exerted strong selective forces on cellular and organismic respiratory specialization and evolution. The rise in atmospheric oxygen, some 2 billion years after the origin of life, dramatically altered cell biology and set the stage for the appearance of multicelluar life forms in the Vendian (Ediacaran) Period of the Neoproterozoic Era. Over much of the Paleozoic, the level of oxygen in the atmosphere was near the present atmospheric level (21%). In the Late Paleozoic, however, there were extended times during which the level of atmospheric oxygen was either markedly lower or markedly higher than 21%. That these Paleozoic shifts in atmospheric oxygen affected the biota is suggested by the correlations between: (1) Reduced oxygen and the occurrences of extinctions, a lowered biodiversity and shifts in phyletic succession, and (2) During hyperoxia, the corresponding occurrence of phenomena such as arthropod gigantism, the origin of insect flight, and the evolution of vertebrate terrestriality. Basic similarities in features of adaptation to hyopoxia, manifest in living organisms at levels ranging from genetic and cellular to physiological and behavioral, suggest the common and early origin of a suite of adaptive mechanisms responsive to fluctuations in ambient oxygen. Comparative integrative approaches addressing the molecular bases of phenotypic adjustments to cyclic oxygen fluctuation provide broad insight into the incremental steps leading to the early evolution of homeostatic respiratory mechanisms and to the specialization of organismic respiratory function.

  9. UHMS position statement: topical oxygen for chronic wounds.

    PubMed

    Feldmeier, J J; Hopf, H W; Warriner, R A; Fife, C E; Gesell, L B; Bennett, M

    2005-01-01

    A small body of literature has been published reporting the application of topical oxygen for chronic non-healing wounds . Frequently, and erroneously, this form of oxygen administration has been referred to as "topical hyperbaric oxygen therapy" or even more erroneously "hyperbaric oxygen therapy." The advocates of topical oxygen claim several advantages over systemic hyperbaric oxygen including decreased cost, increased safety, decreased complications and putative physiologic effects including decreased free radical formation and more efficient delivery of oxygen to the wound surface. With topical oxygen an airtight chamber or polyethylene bag is sealed around a limb or the trunk by either a constriction/tourniquet device or by tape and high flow (usually 10 liters per minute) oxygen is introduced into the bag and over the wound. Pressures just over 1.0 atmospheres absolute (atm abs) (typically 1.004 to 1.013 atm abs) are recommended because higher pressures could decrease arterial/capillary inflow. The premise for topical oxygen, the diffusion of oxygen into the wound adequate to enhance healing, is attractive (though not proven) and its delivery is certainly less complex and expensive than hyperbaric oxygen. When discussing the physiology of topical oxygen, its proponents frequently reference studies of systemic hyperbaric oxygen suggesting that mechanisms are equally applicable to both topical and systemic high pressure oxygen delivery. In fact, however, the two are very different. To date, mechanisms of action whereby topical oxygen might be effective have not been defined or substantiated. Conversely, cellular toxicities due to extended courses of topical oxygen have been reported, although, again these data are not conclusive, and no mechanism for toxicity has been examined scientifically. Generally, collagen production and fibroblast proliferation are considered evidence of improved healing, and these are both enhanced by hyperbaric oxygen therapy

  10. Singlet oxygen generation as a major cause for parasitic reactions during cycling of aprotic lithium-oxygen batteries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mahne, Nika; Schafzahl, Bettina; Leypold, Christian; Leypold, Mario; Grumm, Sandra; Leitgeb, Anita; Strohmeier, Gernot A.; Wilkening, Martin; Fontaine, Olivier; Kramer, Denis; Slugovc, Christian; Borisov, Sergey M.; Freunberger, Stefan A.

    2017-03-01

    Non-aqueous metal-oxygen batteries depend critically on the reversible formation/decomposition of metal oxides on cycling. Irreversible parasitic reactions cause poor rechargeability, efficiency, and cycle life, and have predominantly been ascribed to the reactivity of reduced oxygen species with cell components. These species, however, cannot fully explain the side reactions. Here we show that singlet oxygen forms at the cathode of a lithium-oxygen cell during discharge and from the onset of charge, and accounts for the majority of parasitic reaction products. The amount increases during discharge, early stages of charge, and charging at higher voltages, and is enhanced by the presence of trace water. Superoxide and peroxide appear to be involved in singlet oxygen generation. Singlet oxygen traps and quenchers can reduce parasitic reactions effectively. Awareness of the highly reactive singlet oxygen in non-aqueous metal-oxygen batteries gives a rationale for future research towards achieving highly reversible cell operation.

  11. Response Characteristics of an Aquatic Biomonitor Used for Rapid Toxicity Detection

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-05-15

    for drinking water protection. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES biological early warning system; Lepomis macrochirus; bluegill; aquatic toxicity...Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5010, USA Key words: biomonitor; biological early warning system; Lepomis macrochirus; bluegill; aquatic toxicity; water ...narcosis are most likely to cause rapid aquatic biomonitor depth related to variations in water quality (primarily responses. Other modes of action may

  12. Intraportal islet oxygenation.

    PubMed

    Suszynski, Thomas M; Avgoustiniatos, Efstathios S; Papas, Klearchos K

    2014-05-01

    Islet transplantation (IT) is a promising therapy for the treatment of diabetes. The large number of islets required to achieve insulin independence limit its cost-effectiveness and the number of patients who can be treated. It is believed that >50% of islets are lost in the immediate post-IT period. Poor oxygenation in the early post-IT period is recognized as a possible reason for islet loss and dysfunction but has not been extensively studied. Several key variables affect oxygenation in this setting, including (1) local oxygen partial pressure (pO(2)), (2) islet oxygen consumption, (3) islet size (diameter, D), and (4) presence or absence of thrombosis on the islet surface. We discuss implications of oxygen-limiting conditions on intraportal islet viability and function. Of the 4 key variables, the islet size appears to be the most important determinant of the anoxic and nonfunctional islet volume fractions. Similarly, the effect of thrombus formation on the islet surface may be substantial. At the University of Minnesota, average size distribution data from clinical alloislet preparations (n = 10) indicate that >150-µm D islets account for only ~30% of the total islet number, but >85% of the total islet volume. This suggests that improved oxygen supply to the islets may have a profound impact on islet survivability and function since most of the β-cell volume is within large islets which are most susceptible to oxygen-limiting conditions. The assumption that the liver is a suitable islet transplant site from the standpoint of oxygenation should be reconsidered. © 2014 Diabetes Technology Society.

  13. Intraportal Islet Oxygenation

    PubMed Central

    Suszynski, Thomas M.; Avgoustiniatos, Efstathios S.

    2014-01-01

    Islet transplantation (IT) is a promising therapy for the treatment of diabetes. The large number of islets required to achieve insulin independence limit its cost-effectiveness and the number of patients who can be treated. It is believed that >50% of islets are lost in the immediate post-IT period. Poor oxygenation in the early post-IT period is recognized as a possible reason for islet loss and dysfunction but has not been extensively studied. Several key variables affect oxygenation in this setting, including (1) local oxygen partial pressure (pO2), (2) islet oxygen consumption, (3) islet size (diameter, D), and (4) presence or absence of thrombosis on the islet surface. We discuss implications of oxygen-limiting conditions on intraportal islet viability and function. Of the 4 key variables, the islet size appears to be the most important determinant of the anoxic and nonfunctional islet volume fractions. Similarly, the effect of thrombus formation on the islet surface may be substantial. At the University of Minnesota, average size distribution data from clinical alloislet preparations (n = 10) indicate that >150-µm D islets account for only ~30% of the total islet number, but >85% of the total islet volume. This suggests that improved oxygen supply to the islets may have a profound impact on islet survivability and function since most of the β-cell volume is within large islets which are most susceptible to oxygen-limiting conditions. The assumption that the liver is a suitable islet transplant site from the standpoint of oxygenation should be reconsidered. PMID:24876622

  14. Hydrogen peroxide and the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mckay, C. P.; Hartman, H.

    1991-01-01

    Possible pathways for the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis in the early reducing atmosphere of the earth are discussed. It is suggested that the abiotic production of atmospheric oxidants could have provided a mechanism by which locally oxidizing conditions were sustained within spatially confined habitats thus removing the available reductants and forcing photosynthetic organisms to utilize water (rather than ferrous or sulfide ions) as the electron donor. It is argued that atmospheric H2O2 played the key role in inducing oxygenic photosynthesis, because, as peroxide concentrations local environments increased, primitive organisms would not only be faced with a loss of a reductant, but would be also forced to develop a biochemical apparatus (such as catalase) that would protect them against the products of oxygenic photosynthesis. This scenario allows for the early evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis at the time when global conditions were still anaerobic.

  15. Feasibility and toxicity of docetaxel before or after fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide as adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Abe, Hajime; Mori, Tsuyoshi; Kawai, Yuki; Cho, Hirotomi; Kubota, Yoshihiro; Umeda, Tomoko; Kurumi, Yoshimasa; Tani, Tohru

    2013-06-01

    The tolerance and safety associated with the administration order of the anthracycline and taxane drugs have not been evaluated. Breast cancer patients with node-positive or high-risk patients with node-negative were eligible. The feasibility and toxicity were evaluated in the following regimens--arm A, 3 courses of fluorouracil 500 mg/m(2), epirubicin 100 mg/m(2) and cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m(2) (FEC) followed by 3 courses of docetaxel 100 mg/m(2) (DOC); arm B, 3 courses of DOC followed by 3 courses of FEC. Forty-two patients were registered. The relative dose intensity was 94.2 % for FEC and 97.8 % for DOC in arm A, and 98.9 % for DOC and 95.2 % for FEC in arm B. In arm A, grade 3 or higher hematological toxicity was observed in nine patients, and febrile neutropenia developed in three patients with FEC. In arm B, grade 3 or higher hematological toxicity was observed in seven patients, but febrile neutropenia was not noted in any patient. The regimens in both arms A and B were safe regarding adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer. However, DOC followed by FEC might be more tolerable. Further studies will maximize the results obtained with DOC followed by FEC.

  16. [Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome].

    PubMed

    Gvozdenović, Ljiljana; Pasternak, Janko; Milovanović, Stanislav; Ivanov, Dejan; Milić, Sasa

    2010-01-01

    Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome is now recognized as a toxin-mediated, multisystem illness. It is characterized by an early onset of shock with multiorgan failure and continues to be associated with high morbidity and mortality, caused by group A Streptococcus pyogenes. The symptoms for staphylococcal and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome are similar. Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome was not well described until 1993, when children who had suffered from varicella presented roughly 2-4 weeks later with a clinical syndrome highly suggestive of toxic shock syndrome. It is characterized by a sudden onset of fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches and rash. It can rapidly progress to severe and intractable hypotension and multisystem dysfunction. Almost every organ system can he involved. Complications of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome may include kidney failure, liver failure (and even death. Crystalloids and inotropic agents are used to treat the hypovolemic shock aggressively, with close monitoring of the patient's mean arterial pressure and central venous pressure. An immediate and aggressive management of hypovolemic shock is essential in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Targeted antibiotics are indicated: penicillin or a beta-lactam antibiotic is used for treating group A streptococci, and clindamycin has emerged as a key portion of the standard treatment.

  17. Respirometric biomonitor for the control of industrial effluent toxicity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Campanella, Luigi; Favero, G.; Mastrofini, D.; Tomassetti, M.

    1995-10-01

    A yeast cell biosystem has been recently developed for the total toxicity testing of a sample that may contain a number of different polluting species. The method uses an amperometric gas diffusion oxygen sensor as indicating electrode and is based on the perturbation of the respiratory activity of the immobilized yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae; glucose acts as substrate. Several toxic substances were tested: metal ions, phenol and cationic, anionic or nonionic surfactants. Some results of a monitoring program of an industrial wastewater are also reported and discussed.

  18. Wildlife toxicity testing

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hoffman, David J.; Hoffman, David J.; Rattner, Barnett A.; Burton, G. Allen; Cairns, John

    1995-01-01

    Reports of anthropogenic environmental contaminants affecting free-ranging wildlife first began to accumulate during the Industrial Revolution of the 1850s. early reports included cases of arsenic and lead shot ingestion, and industrial smokestack emission toxicity. One early report described the death of fallow deer (Dama dama) due to arsenic emissions from a silver foundry in Germany in 1887, whereas another report described hydrogen sulfide fumes in the vicinity of a Texas oil field that resulted in a large die-off of both wild birds and mammals.1 Mortality in waterfowl and ring-necked pheasants (Phaisanus colchicus) due to the ingestion of spent lead shot was recognized at least as early as 1874 when lead-poisoned birds were reported in Texas and North Carolina.

  19. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Special Session: Oxygen in the Solar System, I

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2004-01-01

    The Special Session: Oxygen in the Solar System, I, included the following reports:Oxygen in the Solar System: Origins of Isotopic and Redox Complexity; The Origin of Oxygen Isotope Variations in the Early Solar System; Solar and Solar-Wind Oxygen Isotopes and the Genesis Mission; Solar 18O/17O and the Setting for Solar Birth; Oxygen Isotopes in Early Solar System Materials: A Perspective Based on Microbeam Analyses of Chondrules from CV Carbonaceous Chondrites; Insight into Primordial Solar System Oxygen Reservoirs from Returned Cometary Samples; Tracing Meteorites to Their Sources Through Asteroid Spectroscopy; Redox Conditions Among the Terrestrial Planets; Redox Complexity in Martian Meteorites: Implications for Oxygen in the Terrestrial Planets; Implications of Sulfur Isotopes for the Evolution of Atmospheric Oxygen; Oxygen in the Outer Solar System; and On the Oxidation States of the Galilean Satellites: Implications for Internal Structures.

  20. Transient deep-water oxygenation in the early Cambrian Nanhua Basin, South China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, Meng; Li, Chao; Zhou, Lian; Feng, LianJun; Algeo, Thomas J.; Zhang, FeiFei; Romaniello, Stephen; Jin, ChengSheng; Ling, HongFei; Jiang, ShaoYong

    2017-08-01

    Many late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian fossils of multicellular eukaryotes, including those of benthic animals, are found preserved under anoxic and even euxinic bottom-water conditions, which is contradictory to the consensus that oxygen is essential to eukaryotes. To investigate this conundrum, we conducted an integrated study of iron speciation, redox-sensitive trace elements, and Mo isotopes (δ98Mo) on the black shale interval of the lower Cambrian Hetang Formation (∼535-521 Ma) at Lantian, South China, in which benthic sponge fossils are abundant in the lower member (LM) but absent in the upper member (UM). Iron speciation data point to uniformly anoxic-ferruginous conditions in the LM and euxinic conditions in the UM, whereas the trace-element and δ98Mo data show greater secular variation in redox conditions. The LM shows higher mean trace element concentrations (Mo: 108 ppm, U: 36 ppm, V: 791 ppm) and lower and more variable δ98Mo (+0.13 to +1.76‰) relative to the UM (Mo: 45 ppm, U: 18 ppm, V: 265 ppm, δ98Mo: +1.59 to +1.67‰), and ratios of redox-sensitive trace element concentrations to total organic carbon are significantly more variable and higher on average in the LM relative to the UM. The appearance of sponge fossils and lower δ98Mo values correlate strongly with gray (i.e., lighter-colored) layers in the LM. These patterns can best be interpreted as recording mainly euxinic conditions throughout deposition of the study units, with more intense background euxinia in the LM relative to the UM, but also with frequent transient oxygenation events in the LM that do not appear in the UM. The transient oxygenation events of the LM led to the initial colonization of the deep Nanhua Basin by sponges, and the termination of these events in the UM caused sponge faunas to disappear until a general rise in O2 levels later in the Cambrian permitted their return to deeper-water habitats. Our study also illustrates that multiple geochemical and

  1. Sterilization by pure oxygen plasma and by oxygen-hydrogen peroxide plasma: an efficacy study.

    PubMed

    Boscariol, M R; Moreira, A J; Mansano, R D; Kikuchi, I S; Pinto, T J A

    2008-04-02

    Plasma is an innovative sterilization method characterized by a low toxicity to operators and patients, and also by its operation at temperatures close to room temperatures. The use of different parameters for this method of sterilization and the corresponding results were analyzed in this study. A low-pressure inductive discharge was used to study the plasma sterilization processes. Oxygen and a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide were used as plasma source gases. The efficacy of the processes using different combinations of parameters such as plasma-generation method, type of gas, pressure, gas flow rate, temperature, power, and exposure time was evaluated. Two phases were developed for the processes, one using pure oxygen and the other a mixture of gases. Bacillus subtilis var. niger ATCC 9372 (Bacillus atrophaeus) spores inoculated on glass coverslips were used as biological indicators to evaluate the efficacy of the processes. All cycles were carried out in triplicate for different sublethal exposure times to calculate the D value by the enumeration method. The pour-plate technique was used to quantify the spores. D values of between 8 and 3 min were obtained. Best results were achieved at high power levels (350 and 400 W) using pure oxygen, showing that plasma sterilization is a promising alternative to other sterilization methods.

  2. Trends in brain oxygenation during mental and physical exercise measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS): potential for early detection of Alzheimer's disease

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allen, Monica S.; Allen, Jeffery W.; Mikkilineni, Shweta; Liu, Hanli

    2005-04-01

    Motivation: Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is crucial because symptoms respond best to available treatments in the initial stages of the disease. Recent studies have shown that marked changes in brain oxygenation during mental and physical tasks can be used for noninvasive functional brain imaging to detect Alzheimer"s disease. The goal of our study is to explore the possibility of using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and mapping (NIRM) as a diagnostic tool for AD before the onset of significant morphological changes in the brain. Methods: A 16-channel NIRS brain imager was used to noninvasively measure spatial and temporal changes in cerebral hemodynamics induced during verbal fluency task and physical activity. The experiments involved healthy subjects (n = 10) in the age range of 25+/-5 years. The NIRS signals were taken from the subjects' prefrontal cortex during the activities. Results and Conclusion: Trends of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin in the prefrontal cortex of the brain were observed. During the mental stimulation, the subjects showed significant increase in oxygenated hemoglobin [HbO2] with a simultaneous decrease in deoxygenated hemoglobin [Hb]. However, physical exercise caused a rise in levels of HbO2 with small variations in Hb. This study basically demonstrates that NIRM taken from the prefrontal cortex of the human brain is sensitive to both mental and physical tasks and holds potential to serve as a diagnostic means for early detection of Alzheimer's disease.

  3. Early benthic successional processes at implanted substrates in Barkley Submarine Canyon affected by a permanent oxygen minimum zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cabrera De Leo, F.; Smith, C. R.; Levin, L. A.; Fleury, A.; Aguzzi, J.

    2016-02-01

    With the advent of cabled observatories scientists are now able to have a permanent presence in the deep-seafloor, being able to reveal previously unseen faunal behavior as well as to track long-term changes in biodiversity and ecosystem function. The Ocean Networks Canada 800-km loop seafloor observatory array (NEPTUNE) located in the NE Pacific has instruments measuring a variety of environmental variables ranging from temperature, salinity, oxygen, currents, turbidity, fluorescence, etc, at multiple and very high temporal resolution scales. High-definition video cameras also monitor benthic communities in multiple deep-sea habitats, all at some extent influenced by an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). In the present study, whale-bone and wood substrates are being used to evaluate bathymetric, regional and inter-basin variations in benthic biodiversity and connectivity, as well as interactions between biodiversity and ecosystem function. In May of 2014 three humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) rib sections, one 20x20x10 cm block of Douglas Fir (Pseudotsunga meniziesii), and a 30x30x30 block of authigenic carbonate were placed with the use of an ROV at 890 m depth inside Barkley Canyon. The substrate packages were placed concentrically, 45-cm away from a HD video camera. Five-minute videos were captured at 2-hr intervals. Preliminary data analysis from 8 months of deployment showed very distinct early community succession patterns between the two organic substrates (bones and wood) and the authigenic carbonate. Whalebones and wood showed amphipod (Orchomene obtusa) abundance peaks mostly contained during the first 60 days after deployment; Amphipod peak abundance rapid decline coincides with rapid growth of bacterial mat on whalebone and wood surfaces. Low abundance, species richness and substrate degradation rates are in agreement with a low oxygen environment of the OMZ in the canyon. Despite the early stages of data analysis, this experiment demonstrates how

  4. Unusual complication of toxic megacolon in typhoid colitis.

    PubMed

    Arun Babu, Thirunavukkarasu; Ananthakrishnan, Shanthi; Jayakumar, P; Kullu, Poonam

    2014-05-01

    Colitis is a rare manifestation of enteric fever in children. Toxic megacolon complicating typhoid colitis is even rarer and requires early recognition and aggressive management due to the high mortality associated with this condition. The authors report a rare case of Toxic megacolon secondary to typhoid colitis in a seven-year-old girl.

  5. Effects of antioxidants and hyperbaric oxygen in ameliorating experimental doxorubicin skin toxicity in the rat.

    PubMed

    Upton, P G; Yamaguchi, K T; Myers, S; Kidwell, T P; Anderson, R J

    1986-04-01

    Doxorubicin, an antineoplastic drug, can cause severe ulceration if extravasated when iv injected. In this study, the effects of hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) and the antioxidants butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and beta-carotene were tested on such ulcers using female Sprague-Dawley rats. It was found that HBO and vitamin A did not greatly ameliorate the ulcers produced by doxorubicin, but BHT prefed for 1 week before doxorubicin was injected was able to significantly reduce lesion size (P less than 0.05). Doxorubicin with HBO was a lethal combination, with an 87% mortality among the animals by the fourth week after injection. This was probably due to doxorubicin and HBO both promoting the formation of free radicals which are highly destructive to cells. BHT, when prefed (and to a lesser extent, beta-carotene), demonstrated a protective effect by lowering the death rate (P less than 0.05), probably due to their ability to scavenge free radicals. This experiment also tested more conventionally recommended treatments such as sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), hydrocortisone, and ice. NaHCO3 and hydrocortisone decreased lesion size although only at a significance of P less than 0.10. Ice did not aid in the healing of the doxorubicin-induced ulcers and even proved deleterious. Multiple injections of hydrocortisone or NaHCO3 appeared to deepen ulceration. Of all the treatments tested, free radical scavengers appear to most significantly reduce skin toxicity of doxorubicin.

  6. Electrochemical cell for obtaining oxygen from carbon dioxide atmospheres

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hooker, M. W.; Rast, H. E.; Rogers, D. K.

    1989-01-01

    For manned missions to Mars to become a reality, an efficient and reliable means of obtaining oxygen from the carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere will be required. Otherwise, the high cost of transporting the oxygen needed to sustain the astronauts will severely restrict the expedition to the martian surface. Recently, the use of electrochemical devices has been explored as a means of obtaining oxygen from the carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. In these devices, oxygen ions diffuse through solid oxide membranes, thus, separating oxygen from the other gases presented. This phenomenon has only recently been explored as a means of obtaining large quantities of oxygen from toxic atmospheres, although first observed by Walter nernst in 1899. Nernst observed that stabilized zirconia will conduct oxygen ions when an electrical potential is applied across metallic electrodes applied to the ceramic membrane. Diatomic oxygen molecules are dissociated at the positive electrode/electrolyte interface. The oxygen ions enter the ceramic body due to the ion density gradient which is produced by the electrical potential across the electrolytic membrane. Once the ions have diffused through the membrane, they reform diatomic oxygen molecules at the anode. The separation of oxygen from carbon dioxide is achieved by the combination of thermal and electrochemical processes. The thermal decomposition of carbon dioxide (at 1000 C) results in the production of carbon monoxide and oxygen by the reaction.

  7. Early postoperative changes in cerebral oxygen metabolism following neonatal cardiac surgery: Effects of surgical duration

    PubMed Central

    Buckley, Erin M.; Lynch, Jennifer M.; Goff, Donna A.; Schwab, Peter J.; Baker, Wesley B.; Durduran, Turgut; Busch, David R.; Nicolson, Susan C.; Montenegro, Lisa M.; Naim, Maryam Y.; Xiao, Rui; Spray, Thomas L.; Yodh, A. G.; Gaynor, J. William; Licht, Daniel J.

    2013-01-01

    Objective The early postoperative period following neonatal cardiac surgery is a time of increased risk for brain injury, yet the mechanisms underlying this risk are unknown. To understand these risks more completely, we quantified changes in postoperative cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2), oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), and cerebral blood flow (CBF) compared with preoperative levels by using noninvasive optical modalities. Methods Diffuse optical spectroscopy and diffuse correlation spectroscopy were used concurrently to derive cerebral blood flow and oxygen utilization postoperatively for 12 hours. Relative changes in CMRO2, OEF, and CBF were quantified with reference to preoperative data. A mixed-effect model was used to investigate the influence of total support time and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest duration on relative changes in CMRO2, OEF, and CBF. Results Relative changes in CMRO2, OEF, and CBF were assessed in 36 patients, 21 with single-ventricle defects and 15 with 2-ventricle defects. Among patients with single-ventricle lesions, deep hypothermic circulatory arrest duration did not affect relative changes in CMRO2, CBF, or OEF (P > .05). Among 2-ventricle patients, total support time was not a significant predictor of relative changes in CMRO2 or CBF (P > .05), although longer total support time was associated significantly with greater increases in relative change of postoperative OEF (P = .008). Conclusions Noninvasive diffuse optical techniques were used to quantify postoperative relative changes in CMRO2, CBF, and OEF for the first time in this observational pilot study. Pilot data suggest that surgical duration does not account for observed variability in the relative change in CMRO2, and that more comprehensive clinical studies using the new technology are feasible and warranted to elucidate these issues further. PMID:23111021

  8. Oxygen Gradients in the Microcirculation

    PubMed Central

    Pittman, Roland N.

    2010-01-01

    Early in the last century August Krogh embarked on a series of seminal studies to understand the connection between tissue metabolism and mechanisms by which the cardiovascular system supplied oxygen to meet those needs. Krogh recognized that oxygen was supplied from blood to the tissues by passive diffusion and that the most likely site for oxygen exchange was the capillary network. Studies of tissue oxygen consumption and diffusion coefficient, coupled with anatomical studies of capillarity in various tissues, led him to formulate a model of oxygen diffusion from a single capillary. Fifty years after the publication of this work, new methods were developed which allowed the direct measurement of oxygen in and around microvessels. These direct measurements have confirmed the predictions by Krogh and have led to extensions of his ideas resulting in our current understanding of oxygenation within the microcirculation. Developments during the last 40 years are reviewed, including studies of oxygen gradients in arterioles, capillaries, venules, microvessel wall and surrounding tissue. These measurements were made possible by the development and use of new methods to investigate oxygen in the microcirculation, so mention is made of oxygen microelectrodes, microspectrophotometry of haemoglobin and phosphorescence quenching microscopy. Our understanding of oxygen transport from the perspective of the microcirculation has gone from a consideration of oxygen gradients in capillaries and tissue to the realization that oxygen has the ability to diffuse from any microvessel to another location under the conditions that there exists a large enough PO2 gradient and that the permeability for oxygen along the intervening pathway is sufficient. PMID:21281453

  9. Oxygen delivery, consumption, and conversion to reactive oxygen species in experimental models of diabetic retinopathy

    PubMed Central

    Eshaq, Randa S.; Wright, William S.; Harris, Norman R.

    2014-01-01

    Retinal tissue receives its supply of oxygen from two sources – the retinal and choroidal circulations. Decreases in retinal blood flow occur in the early stages of diabetes, with the eventual development of hypoxia thought to contribute to pathological neovascularization. Oxygen consumption in the retina has been found to decrease in diabetes, possibly due to either a reduction in neuronal metabolism or to cell death. Diabetes also enhances the rate of conversion of oxygen to superoxide in the retina, with experimental evidence suggesting that mitochondrial superoxide not only drives the overall production of reactive oxygen species, but also initiates several pathways leading to retinopathy, including the increased activity of the polyol and hexosamine pathways, increased production of advanced glycation end products and expression of their receptors, and activation of protein kinase C. PMID:24936440

  10. Oxygen delivery, consumption, and conversion to reactive oxygen species in experimental models of diabetic retinopathy.

    PubMed

    Eshaq, Randa S; Wright, William S; Harris, Norman R

    2014-01-01

    Retinal tissue receives its supply of oxygen from two sources - the retinal and choroidal circulations. Decreases in retinal blood flow occur in the early stages of diabetes, with the eventual development of hypoxia thought to contribute to pathological neovascularization. Oxygen consumption in the retina has been found to decrease in diabetes, possibly due to either a reduction in neuronal metabolism or to cell death. Diabetes also enhances the rate of conversion of oxygen to superoxide in the retina, with experimental evidence suggesting that mitochondrial superoxide not only drives the overall production of reactive oxygen species, but also initiates several pathways leading to retinopathy, including the increased activity of the polyol and hexosamine pathways, increased production of advanced glycation end products and expression of their receptors, and activation of protein kinase C.

  11. Molecular controls of the oxygenation and redox reactions of hemoglobin.

    PubMed

    Bonaventura, Celia; Henkens, Robert; Alayash, Abdu I; Banerjee, Sambuddha; Crumbliss, Alvin L

    2013-06-10

    The broad classes of O(2)-binding proteins known as hemoglobins (Hbs) carry out oxygenation and redox functions that allow organisms with significantly different physiological demands to exist in a wide range of environments. This is aided by allosteric controls that modulate the protein's redox reactions as well as its O(2)-binding functions. The controls of Hb's redox reactions can differ appreciably from the molecular controls for Hb oxygenation and come into play in elegant mechanisms for dealing with nitrosative stress, in the malarial resistance conferred by sickle cell Hb, and in the as-yet unsuccessful designs for safe and effective blood substitutes. An important basic principle in consideration of Hb's redox reactions is the distinction between kinetic and thermodynamic reaction control. Clarification of these modes of control is critical to gaining an increased understanding of Hb-mediated oxidative processes and oxidative toxicity in vivo. This review addresses emerging concepts and some unresolved questions regarding the interplay between the oxygenation and oxidation reactions of structurally diverse Hbs, both within red blood cells and under acellular conditions. Developing methods that control Hb-mediated oxidative toxicity will be critical to the future development of Hb-based blood substitutes.

  12. Reactive Oxygen Species Function to Mediate the Fe Deficiency Response in an Fe-Efficient Apple Genotype: An Early Response Mechanism for Enhancing Reactive Oxygen Production

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Chaohua; Wu, Ting; Zhai, Longmei; Li, Duyue; Zhang, Xinzhong; Xu, Xuefeng; Ma, Huiqin; Wang, Yi; Han, Zhenhai

    2016-01-01

    Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important signaling molecules in plants that contribute to stress acclimation. This study demonstrated that ROS play a critical role in Fe deficiency-induced signaling at an early stage in Malus xiaojinensis. Once ROS production has been initiated, prolonged Fe starvation leads to activation of ROS scavenging mechanisms. Further, we demonstrated that ROS scavengers are involved in maintaining the cellular redox homeostasis during prolonged Fe deficiency treatment. Taken together, our results describe a feedback repression loop for ROS to preserve redox homeostasis and maintain a continuous Fe deficiency response in the Fe-efficient woody plant M. xiaojinensis. More broadly, this study reveals a new mechanism in which ROS mediate both positive and negative regulation of plant responses to Fe deficiency stress. PMID:27899933

  13. Reactive Oxygen Species Function to Mediate the Fe Deficiency Response in an Fe-Efficient Apple Genotype: An Early Response Mechanism for Enhancing Reactive Oxygen Production.

    PubMed

    Sun, Chaohua; Wu, Ting; Zhai, Longmei; Li, Duyue; Zhang, Xinzhong; Xu, Xuefeng; Ma, Huiqin; Wang, Yi; Han, Zhenhai

    2016-01-01

    Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important signaling molecules in plants that contribute to stress acclimation. This study demonstrated that ROS play a critical role in Fe deficiency-induced signaling at an early stage in Malus xiaojinensis . Once ROS production has been initiated, prolonged Fe starvation leads to activation of ROS scavenging mechanisms. Further, we demonstrated that ROS scavengers are involved in maintaining the cellular redox homeostasis during prolonged Fe deficiency treatment. Taken together, our results describe a feedback repression loop for ROS to preserve redox homeostasis and maintain a continuous Fe deficiency response in the Fe-efficient woody plant M. xiaojinensis . More broadly, this study reveals a new mechanism in which ROS mediate both positive and negative regulation of plant responses to Fe deficiency stress.

  14. Draft Test Guideline: Fish Early-Life Stage Toxicity Test

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The following draft test guideline is part of a series of test guidelines that have been developed by EPA for use in the testing of pesticides and toxic substances, and the development of test data for submission to the Agency for review.

  15. Central command increases muscular oxygenation of the non-exercising arm at the early period of voluntary one-armed cranking.

    PubMed

    Ishii, Kei; Matsukawa, Kanji; Asahara, Ryota; Liang, Nan; Endo, Kana; Idesako, Mitsuhiro; Michioka, Kensuke; Sasaki, Yu; Hamada, Hironobu; Yamashita, Kaori; Watanabe, Tae; Kataoka, Tsuyoshi; Takahashi, Makoto

    2017-04-01

    This study aimed to examine whether central command increases oxygenation in non-contracting arm muscles during contralateral one-armed cranking and whether the oxygenation response caused by central command differs among skeletal muscles of the non-exercising upper limb. In 13 male subjects, the relative changes in oxygenated-hemoglobin concentration (Oxy-Hb) of the non-contracting arm muscles [the anterior deltoid, triceps brachii, biceps brachii, and extensor carpi radialis (ECR)] were measured during voluntary one-armed cranking (intensity, 35-40% of maximal voluntary effort) and mental imagery of the one-armed exercise for 1 min. Voluntary one-armed cranking increased ( P  <   0.05) the Oxy-Hb of the triceps, biceps, and ECR muscles to the same extent (15 ± 4% of the baseline level, 17 ± 5%, and 16 ± 4%, respectively). The greatest increase in the Oxy-Hb was observed in the deltoid muscle. Intravenous injection of atropine (10-15  μ g/kg) and/or propranolol (0.1 mg/kg) revealed that the increased Oxy-Hb of the arm muscles consisted of the rapid atropine-sensitive and delayed propranolol-sensitive components. Mental imagery of the exercise increased the Oxy-Hb of the arm muscles. Motor-driven passive one-armed cranking had little influence on the Oxy-Hb of the arm muscles. It is likely that central command plays a role in the initial increase in oxygenation in the non-contracting arm muscles via sympathetic cholinergic vasodilatation at the early period of one-armed cranking. The centrally induced increase in oxygenation may not be different among the distal arm muscles but may augment in the deltoid muscle. © 2017 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

  16. Carbon nanotubes enhanced the lead toxicity on the freshwater fish

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martinez, D. S. T.; Alves, O. L.; Barbieri, E.

    2013-04-01

    Carbon nanotubes are promising nanostructures for many applications in materials industry and biotechnology. However, it is mandatory to evaluate their toxicity and environmental implications. We evaluated nitric acid treated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (HNO3-MWCNT) toxicity in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and also the lead (Pb) toxicity modulation after the nanotube interaction. Industrial grade multiwalled carbon nanotubes [Ctube 100, CNT Co. Ltd] were treated with 9M HNO3 for 12h at 150°C to generate oxygenated groups on the nanotube surface, to improve water dispersion and heavy metal interaction. The HNO3-treated multiwalled carbon nanotubes were physico-chemically characterized by several techniques [e.g. TEM, FE-SEM, TGA, ζ-potential and Raman spectroscopy]. HNO3-MWCNT did not show toxicity on Nile tilapia when the concentration ranged from 0.1 to 3.0 mg/L, and the maximum exposure time was 96h. After 24, 48, 72 and 96h the LC50 values of Pb were 1.65, 1.32, 1.10 and 0.99 mg/L, respectively. To evaluate the Pb-nanotube interaction influence on the ecotoxicity, we submitted the Nile tilapia to different concentrations of Pb mixed with a non-toxic concentration of HNO3-MWCNT (1.0 mg/L). After 24, 48, 72, 96 h the LC50 values of Pb plus nanotubes were: 0.32, 0.25, 0.20, 0.18 mg/L, respectively. These values showed a synergistic effect after Pb-nanotube interaction since Pb toxicity increased over five times. X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to confirm lead adsorption on the carbon nanotube oxidized surface. The exposure of Nile tilapia to Pb plus HNO3-MWCNT caused both oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion decrease, when compared to the control. Finally, our results show that carbon nanotubes interact with classical pollutants drawing attention to the environmental implications.

  17. Synergism between airborne singlet oxygen and a trisubstituted olefin sulfonate for the inactivation of bacteria.

    PubMed

    Choudhury, Rajib; Greer, Alexander

    2014-04-01

    The reactivity of a trisubstituted alkene surfactant (8-methylnon-7-ene-1 sulfonate, 1) to airborne singlet oxygen in a solution containing E. coli was examined. Surfactant 1 was prepared by a Strecker-type reaction of 9-bromo-2-methylnon-2-ene with sodium sulfite. Submicellar concentrations of 1 were used that reacted with singlet oxygen by an "ene" reaction to yield two hydroperoxides (7-hydroperoxy-8-methylnon-8-ene-1 sulfonate and (E)-8-hydroperoxy-8-methylnon-6-ene-1 sulfonate) in a 4:1 ratio. Exchanging the H2O solution for D2O where the lifetime of solution-phase singlet oxygen increases by 20-fold led to an ∼2-fold increase in the yield of hydroperoxides pointing to surface activity of singlet oxygen with the surfactant in a partially solvated state. In this airborne singlet oxygen reaction, E. coli inactivation was monitored in the presence and absence of 1 and by a LIVE/DEAD cell permeabilization assay. It was shown that the surfactant has low dark toxicity with respect to the bacteria, but in the presence of airborne singlet oxygen, it produces a synergistic enhancement of the bacterial inactivation. How the ene-derived surfactant hydroperoxides can provoke (1)O2 toxicity and be of general utility is discussed.

  18. Toxicity and cardiac effects of carbaryl in early developing zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lin, C.C.; Hui, Michelle N.Y.; Cheng, S.H. E-mail: bhcheng@cityu.edu.hk

    2007-07-15

    Carbaryl, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, is known to be moderately toxic to adult zebrafish and has been reported to cause heart malformations and irregular heartbeat in medaka. We performed experiments to study the toxicity of carbaryl, specifically its effects on the heart, in early developing zebrafish embryos. LC50 and EC50 values for carbaryl at 28 h post-fertilization were 44.66 {mu}g/ml and 7.52 {mu}g/ml, respectively, and 10 {mu}g/ml carbaryl was used in subsequent experiments. After confirming acetylcholinesterase inhibition by carbaryl using an enzymatic method, we observed red blood cell accumulation, delayed hatching and pericardial edema, but not heart malformation as described inmore » some previous reports. Our chronic exposure data also demonstrated carbaryl-induced bradycardia, which is a common effect of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors due to the accumulation of acetylcholine, in embryos from 1 day post-fertilization (dpf) to 5 dpf. The distance between the sinus venosus, the point where blood enters the atrium, and the bulbus arteriosus, the point where blood leaves the ventricle, indicated normal looping of the heart tube. Immunostaining of myosin heavy chains with the ventricle-specific antibody MF20 and the atrium-specific antibody S46 showed normal development of heart chambers. At the same time, acute exposure resulted in carbaryl-induced bradycardia. Heart rate dropped significantly after a 10-min exposure to 100 {mu}g/ml carbaryl but recovered when carbaryl was removed. The novel observation of carbaryl-induced bradycardia in 1- and 2-dpf embryos suggested that carbaryl affected cardiac function possibly through an alternative mechanism other than acetylcholinesterase inhibition such as inhibition of calcium ion channels, since acetylcholine receptors in zebrafish are not functional until 3 dpf. However, the exact nature of this mechanism is currently unknown, and thus further studies are required.« less

  19. Oxygen gradients in the microcirculation.

    PubMed

    Pittman, R N

    2011-07-01

    Early in the last century August Krogh embarked on a series of seminal studies to understand the connection between tissue metabolism and mechanisms by which the cardiovascular system supplied oxygen to meet those needs. Krogh recognized that oxygen was supplied from blood to the tissues by passive diffusion and that the most likely site for oxygen exchange was the capillary network. Studies of tissue oxygen consumption and diffusion coefficient, coupled with anatomical studies of capillarity in various tissues, led him to formulate a model of oxygen diffusion from a single capillary. Fifty years after the publication of this work, new methods were developed which allowed the direct measurement of oxygen in and around microvessels. These direct measurements have confirmed the predictions by Krogh and have led to extensions of his ideas resulting in our current understanding of oxygenation within the microcirculation. Developments during the last 40 years are reviewed, including studies of oxygen gradients in arterioles, capillaries, venules, microvessel wall and surrounding tissue. These measurements were made possible by the development and use of new methods to investigate oxygen in the microcirculation, so mention is made of oxygen microelectrodes, microspectrophotometry of haemoglobin and phosphorescence quenching microscopy. Our understanding of oxygen transport from the perspective of the microcirculation has gone from a consideration of oxygen gradients in capillaries and tissue to the realization that oxygen has the ability to diffuse from any microvessel to another location under the conditions that there exists a large enough PO(2) gradient and that the permeability for oxygen along the intervening pathway is sufficient. © 2011 The Author. Acta Physiologica © 2011 Scandinavian Physiological Society.

  20. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES IN HUMAN PLASMA AND BLOOD

    EPA Science Inventory

    Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are commonly associated with diseased states (including asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer) infections, and exposure to various toxicants in humans. It is of interest in epidemiology studies to characterize the association of oxidative stress in...

  1. Oxygen toxicity in the perfused rat liver and lung under hyperbaric conditions.

    PubMed Central

    Nishiki, K; Jamieson, D; Oshino, N; Chance, B

    1976-01-01

    1. In the lung and liver of tocopherol-deficient rats, the activities of glutathione peroxidase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase were increased substantially, suggesting an important role for both enzymes in protecting the organ against the deleterious effects of lipid peroxides. 2. Facilitation of the glutathione peroxidase reaction by infusing t-butyl hydroperoxide caused the oxidation of nicotinamide nucleotides and glutathione, resulting in a concomitant increase in the rate of release of oxidized glutathione into the perfusate. Thus the rate of production of lipid peroxide and H2O2 in the perfused organ could be compared by simultaneous measurement of the rate of glutathione release and the turnover number of the catalase reaction. 3. On hyperbaric oxygenation at 4 X 10(5)Pa, H2O2 production, estimated from the turnover of the catalase reaction, was increased slightly in the liver, and glutathione release was increased slightly, in both lung and liver. 4. Tocopherol deficiency caused a marked increase in lipid-peroxide formation as indicated by a corresponding increase in glutathione release under hyperbaric oxygenation, with a further enhancement when the tocopherol-deficient rats were also starved. 5. The study demonstrates that the primary response to hyperbaric oxygenation is an elevation of the rate of lipid peroxidation rather than of the rate of formation of H2O2 or superoxide. PMID:12754

  2. Streptococcus agalactiae toxic shock-like syndrome: two case reports and review of the literature.

    PubMed

    Al Akhrass, Fadi; Abdallah, Lina; Berger, Steven; Hanna, Rami; Reynolds, Nina; Thompson, Shellie; Hallit, Rabih; Schlievert, Patrick M

    2013-01-01

    We present 2 patients with Streptococcus agalactiae toxic shock-like syndrome and review another 11 well-reported cases from the literature. Streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome is a devastating illness with a high mortality rate, therefore we stress the importance of early supportive management, antimicrobial therapy, and surgical intervention. Toxic shock-like syndrome is likely to be underestimated in patients with invasive Streptococcus agalactiae infection who present with shock. Early diagnosis requires high suspicion of the illness, along with a thorough mucocutaneous examination. Streptococcus agalactiae produces uncharacterized pyrogenic toxins, which explains the ability of the organism to cause toxic shock-like syndrome.

  3. Mechanisms and Early Detections of Multidecadal Oxygen Changes in the Interior Subpolar North Atlantic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tjiputra, J. F.; Goris, N.; Lauvset, S. K.; Heinze, C.; Olsen, A.; Schwinger, J.; Steinfeldt, R.

    2018-05-01

    The oxygen response in the subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) to future climate change is poorly understood. We investigate the multidecadal variability in interior oxygen and its association with the subpolar gyre index (a gyre strength proxy) for models and data. During positive phases, persistent strong Labrador Sea (LS) lateral and vertical mixing entrains oxygen-rich water into the interior southern SPNA and vice versa during negative phases. This is indicated by the observed anomalously fresh, cold, and low apparent oxygen utilization, resembling LS water mass during positive phases. We use this relationship to benchmark Earth system models. Under a high CO2 future, the best performing models project a steady decline in SPNA oxygen, driven partly by lower solubility and increases in apparent oxygen utilization. The deoxygenation depends on the sensitivity of the LS mixing to warming. The time of emergence of interior oxygen is projected to be decades earlier than that of temperature and salinity.

  4. Planar implantable sensor for in vivo measurement of cellular oxygen metabolism in brain tissue.

    PubMed

    Tsytsarev, Vassiliy; Akkentli, Fatih; Pumbo, Elena; Tang, Qinggong; Chen, Yu; Erzurumlu, Reha S; Papkovsky, Dmitri B

    2017-04-01

    Brain imaging methods are continually improving. Imaging of the cerebral cortex is widely used in both animal experiments and charting human brain function in health and disease. Among the animal models, the rodent cerebral cortex has been widely used because of patterned neural representation of the whiskers on the snout and relative ease of activating cortical tissue with whisker stimulation. We tested a new planar solid-state oxygen sensor comprising a polymeric film with a phosphorescent oxygen-sensitive coating on the working side, to monitor dynamics of oxygen metabolism in the cerebral cortex following sensory stimulation. Sensory stimulation led to changes in oxygenation and deoxygenation processes of activated areas in the barrel cortex. We demonstrate the possibility of dynamic mapping of relative changes in oxygenation in live mouse brain tissue with such a sensor. Oxygenation-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is very effective method for functional brain mapping but have high costs and limited spatial resolution. Optical imaging of intrinsic signal (IOS) does not provide the required sensitivity, and voltage-sensitive dye optical imaging (VSDi) has limited applicability due to significant toxicity of the voltage-sensitive dye. Our planar solid-state oxygen sensor imaging approach circumvents these limitations, providing a simple optical contrast agent with low toxicity and rapid application. The planar solid-state oxygen sensor described here can be used as a tool in visualization and real-time analysis of sensory-evoked neural activity in vivo. Further, this approach allows visualization of local neural activity with high temporal and spatial resolution. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Luteolin as reactive oxygen generator by X-ray and UV irradiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Toyama, Michiru; Mori, Takashi; Takahashi, Junko; Iwahashi, Hitoshi

    2018-05-01

    Non-toxic X-ray-responsive substances can be used in the radiosensitization of cancer, like porphyrin mediated radiotherapy. However, most X-ray-responsive substances are toxic. To find novel non-toxic X-ray-responsive substances, we studied the X-ray and UV reactivity of 40 non-toxic compounds extracted from plants. Dihydroethidium was used as an indicator to detect reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by the compounds under X-ray or UV irradiation. We found that 13 of the investigated compounds generated ROS under X-ray irradiation and 17 generated ROS under UV irradiation. Only 4 substances generated ROS under both X-ray and UV. In particular, luteolin exhibited the highest activity among the investigated compounds; therefore, the ROS generated by luteolin were thoroughly characterized. To identify the ROS, we employed a combination of ROS detection reagents and their quenchers. O2·- generation by luteolin was monitored using dihydroethidium and superoxide dismutase (as an O2·- quencher). OH· and 1O2 generation was determined using aminophenyl fluorescein with ethanol (OH· quencher) and Singlet Oxygen Sensor Green® with NaN3 (1O2 quencher), respectively. Generation of O2·- under X-ray and UV irradiation was observed; however, no OH· or 1O2 was detected. The production of ROS from luteolin is surprising, because luteolin is a well-known antioxidant.

  6. Influence of dissolved organic matter on photogenerated reactive oxygen species and metal-oxide nanoparticle toxicity.

    PubMed

    Li, Yang; Niu, Junfeng; Shang, Enxiang; Crittenden, John Charles

    2016-07-01

    The effect of humic acid (HA) or fulvic acid (FA) on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by six metal-oxide nanoparticles (NPs) and their toxicities toward Escherichia coli was investigated under UV irradiation. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) decreased OH generation by TiO2, ZnO, and Fe2O3, with FA inhibiting OH generation more than HA. The generated OH in NPs/DOM mixtures was higher than the measured concentrations because DOM consumes OH faster than its molecular probe. None of NPs/FA mixtures produced O2(-). The generated O2(-) concentrations in NPs/HA mixtures (except Fe2O3/HA) were higher than the sum of O2(-) concentrations that produced as NPs and HA were presented by themselves. Synergistic O2(-) generation in NPs/HA mixtures resulted from O2 reduction by electron transferred from photoionized HA to NPs. DOM increased (1)O2 generation by TiO2, CuO, CeO2, and SiO2, and FA promoted (1)O2 generation more than HA. Enhanced (1)O2 generation resulted from DOM sensitization of NPs. HA did not increase (1)O2 generation by ZnO and Fe2O3 primarily because released ions quenched (1)O2 precursor ((3)HA*). Linear correlation was developed between total ROS concentrations generated by NPs/DOM mixtures and bacterial survival rates (R(2) ≥ 0.80). The results implied the necessity of considering DOM when investigating the photoreactivity of NPs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. A unique hypofractionated radiotherapy schedule with 51.3 Gy in 18 fractions three times per week for early breast cancer: outcomes including local control, acute and late skin toxicity.

    PubMed

    Vassilis, Kouloulias; Ioannis, Gogalis; Anna, Zygogianni; Christina, Armpilia; Christos, Antypas; John, Kokakis; Porfyrios, Koromperlis; Vassiliki, Gennimata; John, Kouvaris

    2017-03-01

    Evaluation of local control and acute and late toxicity regarding a hypofractionated RT schedule for breast cancer patients. Between October 2007 and October 2009, 80 women with early breast cancer were treated by 42.75 Gy in 15 fractions over 5 weeks. This treatment involved three fractions per week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday). All patients received an additional boost dose to the tumor bed of 8.55 Gy in 3 fractions using 6 MV photons. The primary endpoint included any local recurrence in the treated breast. Secondary endpoint included acute and late radiation skin toxicity. The median follow-up time was 63 months (range 60-72). Radiation toxicity was graded according the RTOG/EORTC criteria. Neither local nor distant recurrence was noted in any patient during this 3-year follow-up. Grade 0, 1, 2 acute skin toxicity was observed in 56/80 (70.0 %), in 19/80 (23.8 %) and in 5/80 (6.3 %), respectively. Three months post-RT, toxicity grades 0, 1, 2 skin toxicity were 64/80 (80 %), 14/80 (17.5 %) and 2/80 (2.5 %), respectively. Late toxicity as grade 0, 1 was observed in 72/80 (90.0 %) and in 8/80 (10.0 %), respectively, 6 months post-RT, whereas after 1 year they were 78/80 (97.5 %) and 2/80 (2.5 %), respectively. Preliminary results regarding skin reactions, cosmetic appearance and local control are consistent with published data that support the use of shorter fractionation schedules in early breast cancer patients after breast conservative surgery. Longer follow-up and a randomized prospective study stand in need for the extraction of safe conclusions.

  8. Cytotoxicity of InP/ZnS quantum dots related to reactive oxygen species generation.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chibli, H.; Carlini, L.; Park, S.

    Indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as a presumably less hazardous alternative to cadmium-based particles, but their cytotoxicity has not been well examined. Although their constituent elements are of very low toxicity to cells in culture, they nonetheless exhibit phototoxicity related to generation of reactive oxygen species by excited electrons and/or holes interacting with water and molecular oxygen. Using spin-trap electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and reporter assays, we find a considerable amount of superoxide and a small amount of hydroxyl radical formed under visible illumination of biocompatible InP QDs with a single ZnS shell, comparable to whatmore » is seen with CdTe. A double thickness shell reduces the reactive oxygen species concentration approximately two-fold. Survival assays in five cell lines correspondingly indicate a distinct reduction in toxicity with the double-shell InP QDs. Toxicity varies significantly across cell lines according to the efficiency of uptake, being overall significantly less than what is seen with CdTe or CdSe/ZnS. This indicates that InP QDs are a useful alternative to cadmium-containing QDs, while remaining capable of electron-transfer processes that may be undesirable or which may be exploited for photosensitization applications.« less

  9. Cytotoxicity of InP/ZnS quantum dots related to reactive oxygen species generation.

    PubMed

    Chibli, Hicham; Carlini, Lina; Park, Soonhyang; Dimitrijevic, Nada M; Nadeau, Jay L

    2011-06-01

    Indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as a presumably less hazardous alternative to cadmium-based particles, but their cytotoxicity has not been well examined. Although their constituent elements are of very low toxicity to cells in culture, they nonetheless exhibit phototoxicity related to generation of reactive oxygen species by excited electrons and/or holes interacting with water and molecular oxygen. Using spin-trap electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and reporter assays, we find a considerable amount of superoxide and a small amount of hydroxyl radical formed under visible illumination of biocompatible InP QDs with a single ZnS shell, comparable to what is seen with CdTe. A double thickness shell reduces the reactive oxygen species concentration approximately two-fold. Survival assays in five cell lines correspondingly indicate a distinct reduction in toxicity with the double-shell InP QDs. Toxicity varies significantly across cell lines according to the efficiency of uptake, being overall significantly less than what is seen with CdTe or CdSe/ZnS. This indicates that InP QDs are a useful alternative to cadmium-containing QDs, while remaining capable of electron-transfer processes that may be undesirable or which may be exploited for photosensitization applications.

  10. Cytotoxicity of InP/ZnS quantum dots related to reactive oxygen species generation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chibli, Hicham; Carlini, Lina; Park, Soonhyang; Dimitrijevic, Nada M.; Nadeau, Jay L.

    2011-06-01

    Indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as a presumably less hazardous alternative to cadmium-based particles, but their cytotoxicity has not been well examined. Although their constituent elements are of very low toxicity to cells in culture, they nonetheless exhibit phototoxicity related to generation of reactive oxygen species by excited electrons and/or holes interacting with water and molecular oxygen. Using spin-trap electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and reporter assays, we find a considerable amount of superoxide and a small amount of hydroxyl radical formed under visible illumination of biocompatible InP QDs with a single ZnS shell, comparable to what is seen with CdTe. A double thickness shell reduces the reactive oxygen species concentration approximately two-fold. Survival assays in five cell lines correspondingly indicate a distinct reduction in toxicity with the double-shell InP QDs. Toxicity varies significantly across cell lines according to the efficiency of uptake, being overall significantly less than what is seen with CdTe or CdSe/ZnS. This indicates that InP QDs are a useful alternative to cadmium-containing QDs, while remaining capable of electron-transfer processes that may be undesirable or which may be exploited for photosensitization applications.

  11. Multivariate relationships between groundwater chemistry and toxicity in an urban aquifer.

    PubMed

    Dewhurst, Rachel E; Wells, N Claire; Crane, Mark; Callaghan, Amanda; Connon, Richard; Mather, John D

    2003-11-01

    Multivariate statistical methods were used to investigate the causes of toxicity and controls on groundwater chemistry from 274 boreholes in an urban area (London) of the United Kingdom. The groundwater was alkaline to neutral, and chemistry was dominated by calcium, sodium, and sulfate. Contaminants included fuels, solvents, and organic compounds derived from landfill material. The presence of organic material in the aquifer caused decreases in dissolved oxygen, sulfate and nitrate concentrations, and increases in ferrous iron and ammoniacal nitrogen concentrations. Pearson correlations between toxicity results and the concentration of individual analytes indicated that concentrations of ammoniacal nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, ferrous iron, and hydrocarbons were important where present. However, principal component and regression analysis suggested no significant correlation between toxicity and chemistry over the whole area. Multidimensional scaling was used to investigate differences in sites caused by historical use, landfill gas status, or position within the sample area. Significant differences were observed between sites with different historical land use and those with different gas status. Examination of the principal component matrix revealed that these differences are related to changes in the importance of reduced chemical species.

  12. A critical evaluation of the fish early-life stage toxicity test for engineered nanomaterials: experimental modifications and recommendations.

    PubMed

    Shaw, Benjamin J; Liddle, Corin C; Windeatt, Kirsten M; Handy, Richard D

    2016-09-01

    There are concerns that regulatory toxicity tests are not fit for purpose for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) or need modifications. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the OECD 210 fish, early-life stage toxicity test for use with TiO2 ENMs, Ag ENMs, and MWCNT. Both TiO2 ENMS (≤160 mg l(-1)) and MWCNT (≤10 mg l(-1)) showed limited acute toxicity, whilst Ag ENMs were acutely toxic to zebrafish, though less so than AgNO3 (6-day LC50 values of 58.6 and 5.0 µg l(-1), respectively). Evidence of delayed hatching, decreased body length and increased muscle width in the tail was seen in fish exposed to Ag ENMs. Oedema (swollen yolk sacs) was also seen in fish from both Ag treatments with, for example, mean yolk sac volumes of 17, 35 and 39 µm(3) for the control, 100 µg l(-1) Ag ENMs and 5 µg l(-1) AgNO3 treatments, respectively. Among the problems with the standard test guidelines was the inability to maintain the test solutions within ±20 % of nominal concentrations. Pronounced settling of the ENMs in some beakers also made it clear the fish were not being exposed to nominal concentrations. To overcome this, the exposure apparatus was modified with the addition of an exposure chamber that ensured mixing without damaging the delicate embryos/larvae. This allowed more homogeneous ENM exposures, signified by improved measured concentrations in the beakers (up to 85.7 and 88.1 % of the nominal concentrations from 10 mg l(-1) TiO2 and 50 µg l(-1) Ag ENM exposures, respectively) and reduced variance between measurements compared to the original method. The recommendations include: that the test is conducted using exposure chambers, the use of quantitative measurements for assessing hatching and morphometrics, and where there is increased sensitivity of larvae over embryos to conduct a shorter, larvae-only toxicity test with the ENMs.

  13. The terrestrial hydro-climate of the Early Eocene: insights from the oxygen and clumped isotope composition of pedogenic siderite

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Dijk, J.; Fernandez, A.; Müller, I.; White, T. S.; Bernasconi, S. M.

    2016-12-01

    The Early Eocene (56 Ma) is the youngest period of Earth's history when CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere (600-1500 ppm) reached levels close to those predicted for future emission scenarios. Proxy-based climate reconstructions from this interval can therefore be used to gain insights on effects that anthropogenic emissions might have on the climate system. So far, Early Eocene climatic data is limited to the oceans, where proxies for temperature are abundant and relatively well understood. However, in order to get a complete picture of the Early Eocene climate, temperature and rainfall reconstructions on the continental paleo-surface are needed. Here, we present clumped and stable oxygen isotope measurements of siderite samples collected along a North-South transect in the North American Continent. These siderites formed in kaolinitic soils that developed globally under the extremely wet and warm conditions of the Early Eocene. They provide a record of both soil temperature and the δ18O composition of meteoric water, which can be used to unravel the regional paleo-precipitation rate. Both parameters were estimated using an elaborate in-house calibration constructed with synthetic siderite precipitated in the presence or absence of iron reducing bacteria. Measurements of δD on plant-derived N-alkanes present within the same soils align well with our δ18Owater data, confirming an Early Eocene meteoric water line similar to the present day. We provide an estimate of the meridional temperature gradient during the Early Eocene and offer constraints on the boundary conditions of the Earth's hydrologic cycle under high pCO2.

  14. Alpha-synuclein Toxicity in the Early Secretory Pathway: How It Drives Neurodegeneration in Parkinsons Disease

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Ting; Hay, Jesse C.

    2015-01-01

    Alpha-synuclein is a predominant player in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease. However, despite extensive study for two decades, its physiological and pathological mechanisms remain poorly understood. Alpha-synuclein forms a perplexing web of interactions with lipids, trafficking machinery, and other regulatory factors. One emerging consensus is that synaptic vesicles are likely the functional site for alpha-synuclein, where it appears to facilitate vesicle docking and fusion. On the other hand, the dysfunctions of alpha-synuclein are more dispersed and numerous; when mutated or over-expressed, alpha-synuclein affects several membrane trafficking and stress pathways, including exocytosis, ER-to-Golgi transport, ER stress, Golgi homeostasis, endocytosis, autophagy, oxidative stress, and others. Here we examine recent developments in alpha-synuclein's toxicity in the early secretory pathway placed in the context of emerging themes from other affected pathways to help illuminate its underlying pathogenic mechanisms in neurodegeneration. PMID:26617485

  15. Interactions between toxic chemicals and natural environmental factors--a meta-analysis and case studies.

    PubMed

    Laskowski, Ryszard; Bednarska, Agnieszka J; Kramarz, Paulina E; Loureiro, Susana; Scheil, Volker; Kudłek, Joanna; Holmstrup, Martin

    2010-08-15

    The paper addresses problems arising from effects of natural environmental factors on toxicity of pollutants to organisms. Most studies on interactions between toxicants and natural factors, including those completed in the EU project NoMiracle (Novel Methods for Integrated Risk Assessment of Cumulative Stressors in Europe) described herein, showed that effects of toxic chemicals on organisms can differ vastly depending purely on external conditions. We compiled data from 61 studies on effects of temperature, moisture and dissolved oxygen on toxicity of a range of chemicals representing pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, plant protection products of bacterial origin and trace metals. In 62.3% cases significant interactions (p< or =0.05 or less) between natural factors and chemicals were found, reaching 100% for the effect of dissolved oxygen on toxicity of waterborne chemicals. The meta-analysis of the 61 studies showed that the null hypothesis assuming no interactions between toxic chemicals and natural environmental factors should be rejected at p=2.7 x 10(-82) (truncated product method probability). In a few cases of more complex experimental designs, also second-order interactions were found, indicating that natural factors can modify interactions among chemicals. Such data emphasize the necessity of including information on natural factors and their variation in time and across geographic regions in ecological risk assessment. This can be done only if appropriate ecotoxicological test designs are used, in which test organisms are exposed to toxicants at a range of environmental conditions. We advocate designing such tests for the second-tier ecological risk assessment procedures. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Exploring Oxidative Reactions in Hemoglobin Variants Using Mass Spectrometry: Lessons for Engineering Oxidatively Stable Oxygen Therapeutics

    PubMed Central

    Strader, Michael Brad

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Significance: Worldwide demand has driven the development of hemoglobin (Hb)-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) as potential acellular oxygen therapeutics. HBOCs have the potential to provide an oxygen bridge to patients and minimize current problems associated with supply and storage of donated blood. However, to date, safety and efficacy issues have hampered the approval of viable HBOCs in the United States. These previous efforts have underscored the need for a better molecular understanding of toxicity to design safe and oxidatively stable HBOCs. Recent Advances: High-resolution accurate mass (HRAM) mass spectrometry (MS) has recently become a versatile tool in characterizing oxidative post-translational modifications that occur in Hb. When integrated with other analytical techniques, HRAM data have been invaluable in providing mechanistic insight into the extent of oxidative modification by quantifying oxidation in amino acids near the reactive heme or at specific “oxidative hotspots.” Critical Issues: In addition to providing a deeper understanding of Hb oxidative toxicity, HRAM MS studies are currently being used toward developing suitable HBOCs using a “two-prong” strategy that involves (i) understanding the mechanism of Hb toxicity by evaluating mutant Hbs identified in patients with hemoglobinopathies and (ii) utilizing this information toward designing against (or for) these reactions in acellular oxygen therapeutics that will result in oxidatively stable protein. Future Directions: Future HRAM studies are aimed at fully characterizing engineered candidate HBOCs to determine the most oxidatively stable protein while retaining oxygen carrying function in vivo. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 26, 777–793. PMID:27626360

  17. Toxicity of sulfide to early life stages of wild rice (Zizania palustris).

    PubMed

    Fort, Douglas J; Todhunter, Kevin; Fort, Troy D; Mathis, Michael B; Walker, Rachel; Hansel, Mike; Hall, Scott; Richards, Robin; Anderson, Kurt

    2017-08-01

    The sensitivity of wild rice (Zizania palustris) to sulfide is not well understood. Because sulfate in surface waters is reduced to sulfide by anaerobic bacteria in sediments and historical information indicated that 10 mg/L sulfate in Minnesota (USA) surface water reduced Z. palustris abundance, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency established 10 mg/L sulfate as a water quality criterion in 1973. A 21-d daily-renewal hydroponic study was conducted to evaluate sulfide toxicity to wild rice and the potential mitigation of sulfide toxicity by iron (Fe). The hydroponic design used hypoxic test media for seed and root exposure and aerobic headspace for the vegetative portion of the plant. Test concentrations were 0.3, 1.6, 3.1, 7.8, and 12.5 mg/L sulfide in test media with 0.8, 2.8, and 10.8 mg/L total Fe used to evaluate the impact of iron on sulfide toxicity. Visual assessments (i.e., no plants harvested) of seed activation, mesocotyl emergence, seedling survival, and phytoxicity were conducted 10 d after dark-phase exposure. Each treatment was also evaluated for time to 30% emergence (ET30), total plant biomass, root and shoot lengths, and signs of phytotoxicity at study conclusion (21 d). The results indicate that exposure of developing wild rice to sulfide at ≥3.1 mg sulfide/L in the presence of 0.8 mg/L Fe reduced mesocotyl emergence. Sulfide toxicity was mitigated by the addition of Fe at 2.8 mg/L and 10.8 mg/L relative to the control value of 0.8 mg Fe/L, demonstrating the importance of iron in mitigating sulfide toxicity to wild rice. Ultimately, determination of site-specific sulfate criteria taking into account factors that alter toxicity, including sediment Fe and organic carbon, are necessary. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2217-2226. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

  18. Cellular Response of Pea Plants to Cadmium Toxicity: Cross Talk between Reactive Oxygen Species, Nitric Oxide, and Calcium1[W][OA

    PubMed Central

    Rodríguez-Serrano, María; Romero-Puertas, María C.; Pazmiño, Diana M.; Testillano, Pilar S.; Risueño, María C.; del Río, Luis A.; Sandalio, Luisa M.

    2009-01-01

    Cadmium (Cd) toxicity has been widely studied in different plant species; however, the mechanism involved in its toxicity as well as the cell response against the metal have not been well established. In this work, using pea (Pisum sativum) plants, we studied the effect of Cd on antioxidants, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO) metabolism of leaves using different cellular, molecular, and biochemical approaches. The growth of pea plants with 50 μm CdCl2 affected differentially the expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) isozymes at both transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels, giving rise to a SOD activity reduction. The copper/zinc-SOD down-regulation was apparently due to the calcium (Ca) deficiency induced by the heavy metal. In these circumstances, the overproduction of the ROS hydrogen peroxide and superoxide could be observed in vivo by confocal laser microscopy, mainly associated with vascular tissue, epidermis, and mesophyll cells, and the production of superoxide radicals was prevented by exogenous Ca. On the other hand, the NO synthase-dependent NO production was strongly depressed by Cd, and treatment with Ca prevented this effect. Under these conditions, the pathogen-related proteins PrP4A and chitinase and the heat shock protein 71.2, were up-regulated, probably to protect cells against damages induced by Cd. The regulation of these proteins could be mediated by jasmonic acid and ethylene, whose contents increased by Cd treatment. A model is proposed for the cellular response to long-term Cd exposure consisting of cross talk between Ca, ROS, and NO. PMID:19279198

  19. Molecular Controls of the Oxygenation and Redox Reactions of Hemoglobin

    PubMed Central

    Henkens, Robert; Alayash, Abdu I.; Banerjee, Sambuddha; Crumbliss, Alvin L.

    2013-01-01

    Abstract Significance: The broad classes of O2-binding proteins known as hemoglobins (Hbs) carry out oxygenation and redox functions that allow organisms with significantly different physiological demands to exist in a wide range of environments. This is aided by allosteric controls that modulate the protein's redox reactions as well as its O2-binding functions. Recent Advances: The controls of Hb's redox reactions can differ appreciably from the molecular controls for Hb oxygenation and come into play in elegant mechanisms for dealing with nitrosative stress, in the malarial resistance conferred by sickle cell Hb, and in the as-yet unsuccessful designs for safe and effective blood substitutes. Critical Issues: An important basic principle in consideration of Hb's redox reactions is the distinction between kinetic and thermodynamic reaction control. Clarification of these modes of control is critical to gaining an increased understanding of Hb-mediated oxidative processes and oxidative toxicity in vivo. Future Directions: This review addresses emerging concepts and some unresolved questions regarding the interplay between the oxygenation and oxidation reactions of structurally diverse Hbs, both within red blood cells and under acellular conditions. Developing methods that control Hb-mediated oxidative toxicity will be critical to the future development of Hb-based blood substitutes. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 18, 2298–2313. PMID:23198874

  20. DEPLOYMENT OF A WATER QUALITY EARLY WARNING SYSTEM USING ON-LINE TOXICITY MONITORS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Contaminants are of concern when they are found in concentrations that are toxic to plants and/or animals. On–line Toxicity Monitors (OTMs) integrate all factors resulting in stress including physical and chemical qualities. This is important because of the limitations of c...

  1. Presence of organophosphorus pesticide oxygen analogs in air samples

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Armstrong, Jenna L.; Fenske, Richard A.; Yost, Michael G.; Galvin, Kit; Tchong-French, Maria; Yu, Jianbo

    2013-02-01

    A number of recent toxicity studies have highlighted the increased potency of oxygen analogs (oxons) of several organophosphorus (OP) pesticides. These findings were a major concern after environmental oxons were identified in environmental samples from air and surfaces following agricultural spray applications in California and Washington State. This paper reports on the validity of oxygen analog measurements in air samples for the OP pesticide, chlorpyrifos. Controlled environmental and laboratory experiments were used to examine artificial formation of chlorpyrifos-oxon using OSHA Versatile Sampling (OVS) tubes as recommended by NIOSH method 5600. Additionally, we compared expected chlorpyrifos-oxon attributable to artificial transformation to observed chlorpyrifos-oxon in field samples from a 2008 Washington State Department of Health air monitoring study using non-parametric statistical methods. The amount of artificially transformed oxon was then modeled to determine the amount of oxon present in the environment. Toxicity equivalency factors (TEFs) for chlorpyrifos-oxon were used to calculate chlorpyrifos-equivalent air concentrations. The results demonstrate that the NIOSH-recommended sampling matrix (OVS tubes with XAD-2 resin) was found to artificially transform up to 30% of chlorpyrifos to chlorpyrifos-oxon, with higher percentages at lower concentrations (<30 ng m-3) typical of ambient or residential levels. Overall, the 2008 study data had significantly greater oxon than expected by artificial transformation, but the exact amount of environmental oxon in air remains difficult to quantify with the current sampling method. Failure to conduct laboratory analysis for chlorpyrifos-oxon may result in underestimation of total pesticide concentration when using XAD-2 resin matrices for occupational or residential sampling. Alternative methods that can accurately measure both OP pesticides and their oxygen analogs should be used for air sampling, and a toxicity

  2. Is oxygen required before atropine administration in organophosphorus or carbamate pesticide poisoning? – A cohort study

    PubMed Central

    Konickx, L. A.; Bingham, K.

    2014-01-01

    Background Early and adequate atropine administration in organophosphorus (OP) or carbamate insecticide poisoning improves outcome. However, some authors advise that oxygen must be given before atropine due to the risk of inducing ventricular dysrhythmias in hypoxic patients. Because oxygen is frequently unavailable in district hospitals of rural Asia, where the majority of patients with insecticide poisoning present, this guidance has significant implications for patient care. The published evidence for this advice is weak. We therefore performed a patient cohort analysis to look for early cardiac deaths in patients poisoned by anticholinesterase pesticides. Methods We analysed a prospective Sri Lankan cohort of OP or carbamate-poisoned patients treated with early atropine without the benefit of oxygen for evidence of early deaths. The incidence of fatal primary cardiac arrests within 3 h of admission was used as a sensitive (but non-specific) marker of possible ventricular dysrhythmias. Results The cohort consisted of 1957 patients. The incidence of a primary cardiac death within 3 h of atropine administration was 4 (0.2%) of 1957 patients. The majority of deaths occurred at a later time point from respiratory complications of poisoning. Conclusion We found no evidence of a high number of early deaths in an observational study of 1957 patients routinely given atropine before oxygen that might support guidance that oxygen must be given before atropine. The published literature indicates that early and rapid administration of atropine during resuscitation is life-saving. Therefore, whether oxygen is available or not, early atropinisation of OP- and carbamate-poisoned patients should be performed. PMID:24810796

  3. Selective Thinning of the Perifoveal Inner Retina as an Early Sign of Hydroxychloroquine Retinal Toxicity

    PubMed Central

    Pasadhika, Sirichai; Fishman, Gerald A; Choi, Dongseok; Shahidi, Mahnaz

    2013-01-01

    Purpose To evaluate macular thickness profiles using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) and image segmentation in patients with chronic exposure to hydroxychloroquine. Methods This study included 8 patients with chronic exposure to hydroxychloroquine (Group 1) and 8 controls (Group 2). Group 1 patients had no clinically-evident retinal toxicity. All subjects underwent SDOCT imaging of the macula. An image segmentation technique was used to measure thickness of 6 retinal layers at 200 µm intervals. A mixed-effects model was used for multivariate analysis. Results By measuring total retinal thickness either at the central macular (2800 µm in diameter), the perifoveal region 1200-µm-width ring surrounding the central macula), or the overall macular area (5200 µm in diameter), there were no significant differences in the thickness between Groups 1 and 2. On an image segmentation analysis, selective thinning of the inner plexiform + ganglion cell layers (p=0.021) was observed only in the perifoveal area of the patients in Group 1 compared to that of Group 2 by using the mixed-effects model analysis. Conclusions Our results suggest that chronic exposure to hydroxychloroquine is associated with thinning of the perifoveal inner retinal layers, especially in the ganglion cell and inner plexiform layers, even in the absence of functional or structural clinical changes involving the photoreceptor or retinal pigment epithelial cell layers. This may be a contributing factor as the reason most patients who have early detectable signs of drug toxicity present with paracentral or pericentral scotomas. PMID:20395978

  4. Assessment of Early Toxicity and Response in Patients Treated With Proton and Carbon Ion Therapy at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center Using the Raster Scanning Technique

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rieken, Stefan; Habermehl, Daniel; Nikoghosyan, Anna

    2011-12-01

    Puropose: To asses early toxicity and response in 118 patients treated with scanned ion beams to validate the safety of intensity-controlled raster scanning at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center. Patients and Methods: Between November 2009 and June 2010, we treated 118 patients with proton and carbon ion radiotherapy (RT) using active beam delivery. The main indications included skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas, salivary gland tumors, and gliomas. We evaluated early toxicity within 6 weeks after RT and the initial clinical and radiologic response for quality assurance in our new facility. Results: In all 118 patients, few side effects were observed,more » in particular, no high numbers of severe acute toxicity were found. In general, the patients treated with particle therapy alone showed only a few single side effects, mainly Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/Common Terminology Criteria grade 1. The most frequent side effects and cumulative incidence of single side effects were observed in the head-and-neck patients treated with particle therapy as a boost and photon intensity-modulated RT. The toxicities included common radiation-attributed reactions known from photon RT, including mucositis, dysphagia, and skin erythema. The most predominant imaging responses were observed in patients with high-grade gliomas and those with salivary gland tumors. For skull base tumors, imaging showed a stable tumor outline in most patients. Thirteen patients showed improvement of pre-existing clinical symptoms. Conclusions: Side effects related to particle treatment were rare, and the overall tolerability of the treatment was shown. The initial response was promising. The data have confirmed the safe delivery of carbon ions and protons at the newly opened Heidelberg facility.« less

  5. Assessment of early toxicity and response in patients treated with proton and carbon ion therapy at the Heidelberg ion therapy center using the raster scanning technique.

    PubMed

    Rieken, Stefan; Habermehl, Daniel; Nikoghosyan, Anna; Jensen, Alexandra; Haberer, Thomas; Jäkel, Oliver; Münter, Marc W; Welzel, Thomas; Debus, Jürgen; Combs, Stephanie E

    2011-12-01

    PUROPOSE: To asses early toxicity and response in 118 patients treated with scanned ion beams to validate the safety of intensity-controlled raster scanning at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center. Between November 2009 and June 2010, we treated 118 patients with proton and carbon ion radiotherapy (RT) using active beam delivery. The main indications included skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas, salivary gland tumors, and gliomas. We evaluated early toxicity within 6 weeks after RT and the initial clinical and radiologic response for quality assurance in our new facility. In all 118 patients, few side effects were observed, in particular, no high numbers of severe acute toxicity were found. In general, the patients treated with particle therapy alone showed only a few single side effects, mainly Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/Common Terminology Criteria grade 1. The most frequent side effects and cumulative incidence of single side effects were observed in the head-and-neck patients treated with particle therapy as a boost and photon intensity-modulated RT. The toxicities included common radiation-attributed reactions known from photon RT, including mucositis, dysphagia, and skin erythema. The most predominant imaging responses were observed in patients with high-grade gliomas and those with salivary gland tumors. For skull base tumors, imaging showed a stable tumor outline in most patients. Thirteen patients showed improvement of pre-existing clinical symptoms. Side effects related to particle treatment were rare, and the overall tolerability of the treatment was shown. The initial response was promising. The data have confirmed the safe delivery of carbon ions and protons at the newly opened Heidelberg facility. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Limited toxicity of NH(x) pulses on an early and late successional tropical seagrass species: interactions with pH and light level.

    PubMed

    Christianen, M J A; van der Heide, T; Bouma, T J; Roelofs, J G M; van Katwijk, M M; Lamers, L P M

    2011-07-01

    Seagrasses have declined at a global scale due to light reduction and toxicity events, caused by eutrophication and increased sediment loading. Although several studies have tested effects of light reduction and toxicants on seagrasses, there is at present no information available on their interacting effects. In a full-factorial 5-day laboratory experiment, we studied short-term interactive effects of light conditions, pH and reduced nitrogen (NH(x)) in the water layer, mimicking pulses of river discharge, on the tropical early successional species Halodule uninervis and the late successional species Thalassia hemprichii. In contrast to recent results reported for the temperate species Zostera marina, increased NH(x) supply did not affect leaf mortality or photochemical efficiency in H. uninervis and in 7 out of 8 treatments for T. hemprichii. However, both tropical species demonstrated striking differences in nitrogen accumulation, free amino acid composition and free NH₃ accumulation. The increase in tissue nitrogen content was two times higher for H. uninervis than for T. hemprichii. Nitrogen stored as free amino acids (especially asparagine) only increased in H. uninervis. High pH only affected T. hemprichii, but only when not shaded, by doubling its free NH₃ concentrations, concomitantly decreasing its photosynthetic efficiency. Our results indicate that the early successional H. uninervis has higher tolerance to high NH(x) loads as compared to the late successional T. hemprichii. H. uninervis was better able to avoid toxic internal NH(x) levels by further assimilating glutamine into asparagine in contrast to T. hemprichii. Moreover, both tropical species seem to cope much better with high NH(x) than the temperate Z. marina. The implications for the distribution and succession of seagrass species under high nutrient loads are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. NQO2 Is a Reactive Oxygen Species Generating Off-Target for Acetaminophen

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    The analgesic and antipyretic compound acetaminophen (paracetamol) is one of the most used drugs worldwide. Acetaminophen overdose is also the most common cause for acute liver toxicity. Here we show that acetaminophen and many structurally related compounds bind quinone reductase 2 (NQO2) in vitro and in live cells, establishing NQO2 as a novel off-target. NQO2 modulates the levels of acetaminophen derived reactive oxygen species, more specifically superoxide anions, in cultured cells. In humans, NQO2 is highly expressed in liver and kidney, the main sites of acetaminophen toxicity. We suggest that NQO2 mediated superoxide production may function as a novel mechanism augmenting acetaminophen toxicity. PMID:25313982

  8. Managing toxicities and optimal dosing of targeted drugs in advanced kidney cancer

    PubMed Central

    Seruga, B.; Gan, H.K.; Knox, J.J.

    2009-01-01

    The toxicities of new, targeted drugs may diminish their effectiveness in advanced kidney cancer if those toxicities are not recognized and properly addressed early in patient treatment. Most of the drug-related toxicities in advanced kidney cancer are manageable with supportive care, obviating a need for long interruptions, dose reductions, or permanent discontinuation of the treatment. PMID:19478903

  9. Oxygen: the two-faced elixir of life.

    PubMed

    Biddle, Chuck

    2008-02-01

    Take a moment and consider our planet without oxygen. Imagine the earth some 2.5 billion years ago when oxygen first appeared as a waste product of early anaerobes. Oxygen, as we know it today, is essential for life. Abundant and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, oxygen has widespread use in industry and healthcare. Anesthesia providers routinely administer oxygen in concentrations exceeding that in ambient air to ensure clinical safety and to offset the predictable sequelae associated with patient, drug-related, and procedural factors. Understanding the history of this unique element is critical in evaluating the often contentious body of contemporary research that has illuminated its efficacy (as elixir) and its attendant complications (its "two-faced" nature). Of particular interest is its role in free radical formation as etiogenic in developing complications. Oxygen is a mainstay in the perioperative management of patients, but its administration should be guided by thoughtful and rational goal-directed outcomes to maximize efficacy and minimize complications associated with its use.

  10. Toxin detection using a tyrosinase-coupled oxygen electrode.

    PubMed

    Smit, M H; Rechnitz, G A

    1993-02-15

    An enzyme-based "electrochemical canary" is described for the detection of cyanide. The sensing system imitates cyanide's site of toxicity in the mitochondria. The terminal sequence of electron transfer in aerobic respiration is mimicked by mediator coupling of tyrosinase catalysis to an electro-chemical system. An enzyme-coupled oxygen electrode is created which is sensitive to selective poisoning. Biocatalytic reduction of oxygen is promoted by electrochemically supplying tyrosinase with electrons. Thus, ferrocyanide is generated at a cathode and mediates the enzymatic reduction of oxygen to water. An enzyme-dependent reductive current can be monitored which is inhibited by cyanide in a concentration-dependent manner. Oxygen depletion in the reaction layer can be minimized by addressing enzyme activity using a potential pulsing routine. Enzyme activity is electrochemically initiated and terminated and the sensor becomes capable of continuous monitoring. Cyanide poisoning of the biological component is reversible, and it can be reused after rinsing. The resulting sensor detects cyanide based on its biological activity rather than its physical or chemical properties.

  11. Evaluation of N-acetylcysteine and methylprednisolone as therapies for oxygen and acrolein-induced lung damage

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Critchley, J.A.J.H.; Beeley, J.M.; Clark, R.J.

    1990-04-01

    Reactive oxidizing species are implicated in the etiology of a range of inhalational pulmonary injuries. Consequently, various free radical scavengers have been tested as potential prophylactic agents. The sulfydryl compound, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is the only such compound clinically available for use in realistic dosages, and it is well established as an effective antidote for the hepatic and renal toxicity of paracetamol. Another approach in pulmonary injury prophylaxis is methylprednisolone therapy. The authors evaluated NAC and methylprednisolone in two rats models of inhalation injury: 40-hr exposure to >97% oxygen at 1.1 bar and 15-min exposure to acrolein vapor (210 ppm). Themore » increases in lung wet/dry weight ratios, seen with both oxygen and acrolein toxicity were reduced with both treatments. However, with oxygen, NAC therapy was associated with considerably increased mortality and histological changes. Furthermore, IP NAC administration resulted in large volumes of ascitic fluid. With acrolein, IV, NAC had no significant effect on mortality or pulmonary histological damage. Methylprednisolone had no beneficial effects on either the mortality or histological damage observed in either toxicity model. They caution against the ad hoc use of NAC in the management of inhalational pulmonary injury.« less

  12. Early Evolution of the Toxicity Identification Evaluation Process: Contributions from the USEPA Effluent Testing Program

    EPA Science Inventory

    As part of its whole effluent testing program, the USEPA developed an effects-directed analysis (EDA) approach to identifying the cause of toxicity in toxic effluents or ambient waters, an EDA process termed a “Toxicity Identification Evaluation” (TIE), which is the focus of this...

  13. Toxicity assessment on combined biological treatment of pharmaceutical industry effluents.

    PubMed

    Inanc, B; Calli, B; Alp, K; Ciner, F; Mertoglu, B; Ozturk, I

    2002-01-01

    This paper describes the wastewater characterization and aerobic/anaerobic treatability (oxygen uptake rate and biogas production measurement) of chemical-synthesis based pharmaceutical industry effluents in a nearby baker's yeast industry treatment plant. Preliminary experiments by the industry had indicated strong anaerobic toxicity. On the other hand, aerobic treatability was also uncertain due to complexity and unknown composition of the wastewater. The work in this study has indicated that the effluents of the pharmaceutical industry can be treated without toxicity in the aerobic stage of the treatment plant. Methanogenic activity tests with anaerobic sludge from the anaerobic treatment stage of the wastewater treatment plant and acetate as substrate have confirmed the strong toxicity, while showing that 30 min aeration or coagulation with an alum dose of 300 mg/l is sufficient for reducing the toxicity almost completely. Powdered activated carbon, lime and ferric chloride (100-1,000 mg/l) had no effect on reduction of the toxicity. Consequently, the pharmaceutical industry was recommended to treat its effluents in the anaerobic stage of the nearby baker's yeast industry wastewater treatment plan at which there will be no VOC emission and toxicity problem, provided that pretreatment is done.

  14. Assessment of acute toxicity of carbofuran in Macrobrachium olfersii (Wiegmann, 1836) at different temperature levels.

    PubMed

    Barbieri, Edison; Moreira, Priscila; Luchini, Luiz Alberto; Hidalgo, Karla Ruiz; Muñoz, Alejandro

    2016-01-01

    Carbofuran (2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-7-benzofuranyl methylcarbamate; C12H15NO3) is one of the most toxic carbamate pesticides. For acute toxicity of carbofuran, juveniles of Macrobrachium olfersii were exposed to different concentrations of carbofuran using the static renewal method at different temperature levels (15, 20 and 25°C) at pH 7.0. The main purpose of the present study was to detect the acute toxicity of carbofuran to M. olfersii and investigate its effects on oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion; these tests have not been carried out in this species before. First, the acute toxicity - median lethal concentration - of carbofuran to M. olfersii for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h was examined, which resulted in the following values: 1.64, 1.22, 0.86 and 0.42 mg L(-1), respectively. Furthermore, we also found that carbofuran caused an inhibition in oxygen consumption of 60.6, 65.3 and 66.2% with respect to the control. In addition, after separate exposures to carbofuran, elevations in ammonium excretion were more than 500% with respect to the control. © The Author(s) 2013.

  15. The effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on early regeneration of sensory axons after nerve crush in the rat.

    PubMed

    Bajrović, Fajko F; Sketelj, Janez; Jug, Marko; Gril, Iztok; Mekjavić, Igor B

    2002-09-01

    Abstract The effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO) on sensory axon regeneration was examined in the rat. The sciatic nerve was crushed in both legs. In addition, the distal stump of the sural nerve on one side was made acellular and its blood perfusion was compromised by freezing and thawing. Two experimental groups received hyperbaric exposures (2.5 ATA) to either compressed air (pO2 = 0.5 ATA) or 100% oxygen (pO2 = 2.5 ATA) 90 minutes per day for 6 days. Sensory axon regeneration in the sural nerve was thereafter assessed by the nerve pinch test and immunohistochemical reaction to neurofilament. HBO treatment increased the distances reached by the fastest regenerating sensory axons by about 15% in the distal nerve segments with preserved and with compromised blood perfusion. There was no significant difference between the rats treated with different oxygen tensions. The total number of regenerated axons in the distal sural nerve segments after a simple crush injury was not affected, whereas in the nerve segments with compromised blood perfusion treated by the higher pO2, the axon number was about 30% lower than that in the control group. It is concluded that the beneficial effect of HBO on sensory axon regeneration is not dose-dependent between 0.5 and 2.5 ATA pO2. Although the exposure to 2.5 ATA of pO2 moderately enhanced early regeneration of the fastest sensory axons, it decreased the number of regenerating axons in the injured nerves with compromised blood perfusion of the distal nerve stump.

  16. Comparative effects of biological and chemical dispersants on the bioavailability and toxicity of crude oil to early life stages of marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma).

    PubMed

    Mu, Jingli; Jin, Fei; Ma, Xindong; Lin, Zhongsheng; Wang, Juying

    2014-11-01

    The authors assessed the bioavailability and chronic toxicity of water-accommodated fractions of crude oil (WAFs) and 2 dispersants plus dispersed crude oil (chemical dispersant + crude oil [CE-WAF] and biological dispersant + crude oil [BE-WAF]) on the early life stages of marine medaka, Oryzias melastigma. The results showed that the addition of the 2 dispersants caused a 3- and 4-fold increase in concentrations of summed priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and high-molecular-weight PAHs with 3 or more benzene rings. The chemical and biological dispersants increased the bioavailability (as measured by ethoxyresorufin-O-dethylase activity) of crude oil 6-fold and 3-fold, respectively. Based on nominal concentrations, chronic toxicity (as measured by deformity) in WAFs exhibited a 10-fold increase in CE-WAF and a 3-fold increase in BE-WAF, respectively. When total petroleum hydrocarbon was measured, the differences between WAF and CE-WAF treatments disappeared, and CE-WAF was approximately 10 times more toxic than BE-WAF. Compared with the chemical dispersant, the biological dispersant possibly modified the toxicity of oil hydrocarbons because of the increase in the proportion of 2- and 3-ringed PAHs in water. The chemical and biological dispersants enhanced short-term bioaccumulation and toxicity, through different mechanisms. These properties should be considered in addition to their efficacy in degrading oil when oil spill management strategies are selected. © 2014 SETAC.

  17. Non-Toxic Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) and Reaction Control System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hurlbert, Eric A.; Nicholson, Leonard S. (Technical Monitor)

    1999-01-01

    NASA is pursuing the technology and advanced development of a non-toxic (NT) orbital maneuvering system (OMS) and reaction control system (RCS) for shuttle upgrades, RLV, and reusable first stages. The primary objectives of the shuttle upgrades program are improved safety, improved reliability, reduced operations time and cost, improved performance or capabilities, and commonality with future space exploration needs. Non-Toxic OMS/RCS offers advantages in each of these categories. A non-toxic OMS/RCS eliminates the ground hazards and the flight safety hazards of the toxic and corrosive propellants. The cost savings for ground operations are over $24M per year for 7 flights, and the savings increase with increasing flight rate up to $44M per year. The OMS/RCS serial processing time is reduced from 65 days to 13 days. The payload capability can be increased up to 5100 Ibms. The non-toxic OMS/RCS also provides improved space station reboost capability up to 20 nautical miles over the current toxic system of 14 nautical miles. A NT OMS/RCS represents a clear advancement in the SOA over MMH/NTO. Liquid oxygen and ethanol are clean burning, high-density propellants that provide a high degree of commonality with other spacecraft subsystems including life support, power, and thermal control, and with future human exploration and development of space missions. The simple and reliable pressure-fed design uses sub-cooled liquid oxygen at 250 to 350 psia, which allows a propellant to remain cryogenic for longer periods of time. The key technologies are thermal insulation and conditioning techniques are used to maintain the sub-cooling. Phase I successfully defined the system architecture, designed an integrated OMS/RCS propellant tank, analyzed the feed system, built and tested the 870 lbf RCS thrusters, and tested the 6000 lbf OMS engine. Phase 11 is currently being planned for the development and test of full-scale prototype of the system in 1999 and 2000

  18. Tretinoin-loaded lipid-core nanocapsules decrease reactive oxygen species levels and improve bovine embryonic development during in vitro oocyte maturation.

    PubMed

    Lucas, Caroline Gomes; Remião, Mariana Härter; Komninou, Eliza Rossi; Domingues, William Borges; Haas, Cristina; Leon, Priscila Marques Moura de; Campos, Vinicius Farias; Ourique, Aline; Guterres, Silvia S; Pohlmann, Adriana R; Basso, Andrea Cristina; Seixas, Fabiana Kömmling; Beck, Ruy Carlos Ruver; Collares, Tiago

    2015-12-01

    In vitro oocyte maturation (IVM) protocols can be improved by adding chemical supplements to the culture media. Tretinoin is considered an important retinoid in embryonic development and its association with lipid-core nanocapsules (TTN-LNC) represents an innovative way of improving its solubility, and chemical stability, and reducing its toxicity. The effects of supplementing IVM medium with TTN-LNC was evaluated by analyzing production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), S36-phosphorilated-p66Shc levels and caspase activity in early embryonic development, and expression of apoptosis and pluripotency genes in blastocysts. The lowest concentration tested (0.25μM) of TTN-LNC generated higher blastocyst rate, lower ROS production and S36-p66Shc amount. Additionally, expression of BAX and SHC1 were lower in both non-encapsulated tretinoin (TTN) and TTN-LNC-treated groups. Nanoencapsulation allowed the use of smaller concentrations of tretinoin to supplement IVM medium thus reducing toxic effects related with its use, decreasing ROS levels and apoptose frequency, and improving the blastocyst rates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Decompression from Saturation Using Oxygen: Its Effect on DCS and RNA in Large Swine

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-01-01

    mask. The external jugular vein was catheter- ized with a 14-Ga., 30-cm single lumen catheter ( Central Venous Catheterization Set; Arrow... venous catheterization for sequential blood sampling from the pig. J Invest Surg 1991; 4:103-7. 3. Behnke AR. The isobaric (oxygen window) principle of...pressures may lead to toxicity that involves the pulmonary system and/ or the central nervous system (CNS). There is evidence that 100% oxygen in

  20. Seven fractions to deliver partial breast irradiation: the toxicity is Low.

    PubMed

    Trovo, Marco; Avanzo, Michele; Vinante, Lorenzo; Furlan, Carlo; Fiorica, Francesco; Perin, Tiziana; Militello, Loredana; Spazzapan, Simon; Berretta, Massimiliano; Jena, Rajesh; Stancanello, Joseph; Piccoli, Erica; Mileto, Mario; Micheli, Elvia; Roncadin, Mario; Massarut, Samuele

    2017-05-23

    To assess toxicity and clinical outcome, in breast cancer patients treated with external beam partial breast irradiation (PBI) consisting of 35 Gy in 7 daily fractions (5 Gy/fraction). Patients affected by early-stage breast cancer were enrolled in this phase II trial. Patients had to be 60 years old or over and treated with breast conservative surgery for early stage invasive carcinoma. Seventy-three patients were analyzed. Median follow-up was 40 months. The proposed schedule was well tolerated. No Grade 3 toxicity was documented. Late toxicity was assessable for all the treated patients. Two patients (2.7%) developed Grade 2 pain 6 months after PBI. Four patients (5%) developed asymptomatic fat necrosis. Grade 2 fibrosis was observed in 5 patients (6.7%). No correlation was found between early and late toxicity and the type of adjuvant systemic therapy (no therapy vs. hormonal therapy vs. chemotherapy). No statistical correlation between dosimetric parameters and toxicity was found. Patients who developed Grade 2 radiation fibrosis had not higher radiation volumes to the untreated normal breast than those without fibrosis. Cosmesis was judged good/excellent in the majority of the cases (93%). One patient relapsed locally, and one developed distant metastases, corresponding to a 5-year local control and distant metastases-free survival of 98% and 96.7%, respectively. 35 Gy in 7 daily fractions is an effective and well-tolerated regimen to deliver PBI.

  1. Treatment of Early-Stage Unfavorable Hodgkin Lymphoma: Efficacy and Toxicity of 4 Versus 6 Cycles of ABVD Chemotherapy With Radiation.

    PubMed

    Gunther, Jillian R; Fanale, Michelle A; Reddy, Jay P; Akhtari, Mani; Smith, Grace L; Pinnix, Chelsea C; Milgrom, Sarah A; Yehia, Zeinab Abou; Allen, Pamela K; Osborne, Eleanor M; Mawlawi, Osama; Dabaja, Bouthaina S

    2016-09-01

    The German Hodgkin Study Group HD11 trial validated 4 cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy followed by involved field radiation therapy (IFRT) for early unfavorable Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients. However, practitioners often recommend 6 cycles followed by RT, especially for bulky disease. We compared patient outcomes after treatment with 4 or 6 cycles of ABVD followed by RT (IFRT and involved site RT [ISRT]). We identified 128 patients treated for early unfavorable HL (GHSG criteria) between 2000 and 2013. Clinical outcomes (overall survival [OS] and freedom from relapse [FFR]) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Toxicities were evaluated. The median follow-up time was 5.0 years. Patients received 4 (70 patients, 55%) or 6 (58 patients, 45%) cycles of chemotherapy. Bulky disease was present in 22 patients (31%; 0 stage IA, 3 stage IB, 19 stage IIA) of the 4-cycle group and 42 patients (72%; 5 stage IA, 3 stage IB, 34 stage IIA) of the 6-cycle group. For patients receiving 4 and 6 cycles, the 6-year OS was 100% and 97% (P=.35), respectively, and the 6 year FFR was 100% and 98% (P=.28), respectively. More patients received 6 cycles if they were treated before 2010 (HD11 report) (P=.01) and if they had bulky disease (P<.01). Sixty-eight percent of patients received ISRT. The 6-year FFR was 99% and 100% for patients receiving ISRT and IFRT, respectively (P=.58). More patients experienced bleomycin pulmonary toxicity in the 6-cycle group (20% vs 31%, P=.16). For patients with bulky disease, the 4-year FFR was similar with receipt of 4 (100%) or 6 (98%) cycles (P=.48) and IFRT (100%) or ISRT (98%) (P=.52). There were no deaths among patients with bulky disease. Patients with early unfavorable HL have excellent outcomes with 4 cycles of ABVD chemotherapy followed by ISRT. Six cycles of chemotherapy does not appear superior for disease control, even for bulky disease. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Toxicity evaluation of boron nitride nanospheres and water-soluble boron nitride in Caenorhabditis elegans

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Ning; Wang, Hui; Tang, Chengchun; Lei, Shijun; Shen, Wanqing; Wang, Cong; Wang, Guobin; Wang, Zheng; Wang, Lin

    2017-01-01

    Boron nitride (BN) nanomaterials have been increasingly explored for potential biological applications. However, their toxicity remains poorly understood. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a whole-animal model for toxicity analysis of two representative types of BN nanomaterials – BN nanospheres (BNNSs) and highly water-soluble BN nanomaterial (named BN-800-2) – we found that BNNSs overall toxicity was less than soluble BN-800-2 with irregular shapes. The concentration thresholds for BNNSs and BN-800-2 were 100 µg·mL−1 and 10 µg·mL−1, respectively. Above this concentration, both delayed growth, decreased life span, reduced progeny, retarded locomotion behavior, and changed the expression of phenotype-related genes to various extents. BNNSs and BN-800-2 increased oxidative stress levels in C. elegans by promoting reactive oxygen species production. Our results further showed that oxidative stress response and MAPK signaling-related genes, such as GAS1, SOD2, SOD3, MEK1, and PMK1, might be key factors for reactive oxygen species production and toxic responses to BNNSs and BN-800-2 exposure. Together, our results suggest that when concentrations are lower than 10 µg·mL−1, BNNSs are more biocompatible than BN-800-2 and are potentially biocompatible material. PMID:28860759

  3. Toxicity evaluation of boron nitride nanospheres and water-soluble boron nitride in Caenorhabditis elegans.

    PubMed

    Wang, Ning; Wang, Hui; Tang, Chengchun; Lei, Shijun; Shen, Wanqing; Wang, Cong; Wang, Guobin; Wang, Zheng; Wang, Lin

    2017-01-01

    Boron nitride (BN) nanomaterials have been increasingly explored for potential biological applications. However, their toxicity remains poorly understood. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a whole-animal model for toxicity analysis of two representative types of BN nanomaterials - BN nanospheres (BNNSs) and highly water-soluble BN nanomaterial (named BN-800-2) - we found that BNNSs overall toxicity was less than soluble BN-800-2 with irregular shapes. The concentration thresholds for BNNSs and BN-800-2 were 100 µg·mL -1 and 10 µg·mL -1 , respectively. Above this concentration, both delayed growth, decreased life span, reduced progeny, retarded locomotion behavior, and changed the expression of phenotype-related genes to various extents. BNNSs and BN-800-2 increased oxidative stress levels in C. elegans by promoting reactive oxygen species production. Our results further showed that oxidative stress response and MAPK signaling-related genes, such as GAS1 , SOD2 , SOD3 , MEK1 , and PMK1 , might be key factors for reactive oxygen species production and toxic responses to BNNSs and BN-800-2 exposure. Together, our results suggest that when concentrations are lower than 10 µg·mL -1 , BNNSs are more biocompatible than BN-800-2 and are potentially biocompatible material.

  4. Coupling Between Overlying Hydrodynamics, Bioturbation, and Biogeochemical Processes Controls Metal Mobility, Bioavailability, and Toxicity in Sediments

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-05-01

    Geochemistry 54 5.2.3.2 Toxicity 56 5.2.4 Discussion 57 5.3 Effects of Bioturbation and Bioirrigation on Particle Dispersion and Oxygen ...Redistribution 61 5.3.1 Burrow structures and sediment mixing 61 5.3.2 Discussion 64 5.3.3 Oxygen optode results 65 5.3.4 Discussion 68 5.4 Effects ...concentrations in the pore water 84 5.5.4 Dissolved oxygen profile 86 5.5.5 Effects of physical, chemical and biological processes on metal mobility 86

  5. The influence of systemic hemodynamics and oxygen transport on cerebral oxygen saturation in neonates after the Norwood procedure.

    PubMed

    Li, Jia; Zhang, Gencheng; Holtby, Helen; Guerguerian, Anne-Marie; Cai, Sally; Humpl, Tilman; Caldarone, Christopher A; Redington, Andrew N; Van Arsdell, Glen S

    2008-01-01

    Ischemic brain injury is an important morbidity in neonates after the Norwood procedure. Its relationship to systemic hemodynamic oxygen transport is poorly understood. Sixteen neonates undergoing the Norwood procedure were studied. Continuous cerebral oxygen saturation was measured by near-infrared spectroscopy. Continuous oxygen consumption was measured by respiratory mass spectrometry. Pulmonary and systemic blood flow, systemic vascular resistance, oxygen delivery, and oxygen extraction ratio were derived with measurements of arterial, and superior vena cava and pulmonary venous gases and pressures at 2- to 4-hour intervals during the first 72 hours in the intensive care unit. Mean cerebral oxygen saturation was 66% +/- 12% before the operation, reduced to 51% +/- 13% on arrival in the intensive care unit, and remained low during the first 8 hours; it increased to 56% +/- 9% at 72 hours, still significantly lower than the preoperative level (P < .05). Postoperatively, cerebral oxygen saturation was closely and positively correlated with systemic arterial pressure, arterial oxygen saturation, and arterial oxygen tension and negatively with oxygen extraction ratio (P < .0001 for all). Cerebral oxygen saturation was moderately and positively correlated with systemic blood flow and oxygen delivery (P < .0001 for both). It was weakly and positively correlated with pulmonary blood flow (P = .001) and hemoglobin (P = .02) and negatively correlated with systemic vascular resistance (P = .003). It was not correlated with oxygen consumption (P > .05). Cerebral oxygen saturation decreased significantly in neonates during the early postoperative period after the Norwood procedure and was significantly influenced by systemic hemodynamic and metabolic events. As such, hemodynamic interventions to modify systemic oxygen transport may provide further opportunities to reduce the risk of cerebral ischemia and improve neurodevelopmental outcomes.

  6. Long-Term Storage and Impedance-Based Water Toxicity Testing Capabilities of Fluidic Biochips Seeded with RTgill-W1 Cells

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-24

    Cell Line Microplate Cytotoxicity Test. In: Blaise, C., Férard, J.T. (Eds.), Small-scale Freshwater Toxicity Investigations, Vol 1. Springer, The...Eckert, M.L., Lee, L.E.J., Gallagher, E.P., 2008. Comparative oxygen radical formation and toxicity of BDE 47 in rainbow trout cell lines. Marine

  7. Target or barrier? The cell wall of early- and later-diverging plants vs cadmium toxicity: differences in the response mechanisms

    PubMed Central

    Parrotta, Luigi; Guerriero, Gea; Sergeant, Kjell; Cai, Giampiero; Hausman, Jean-Francois

    2015-01-01

    Increasing industrialization and urbanization result in emission of pollutants in the environment including toxic heavy metals, as cadmium and lead. Among the different heavy metals contaminating the environment, cadmium raises great concern, as it is ecotoxic and as such can heavily impact ecosystems. The cell wall is the first structure of plant cells to come in contact with heavy metals. Its composition, characterized by proteins, polysaccharides and in some instances lignin and other phenolic compounds, confers the ability to bind non-covalently and/or covalently heavy metals via functional groups. A strong body of evidence in the literature has shown the role of the cell wall in heavy metal response: it sequesters heavy metals, but at the same time its synthesis and composition can be severely affected. The present review analyzes the dual property of plant cell walls, i.e., barrier and target of heavy metals, by taking Cd toxicity as example. Following a summary of the known physiological and biochemical responses of plants to Cd, the review compares the wall-related mechanisms in early- and later-diverging land plants, by considering the diversity in cell wall composition. By doing so, common as well as unique response mechanisms to metal/cadmium toxicity are identified among plant phyla and discussed. After discussing the role of hyperaccumulators’ cell walls as a particular case, the review concludes by considering important aspects for plant engineering. PMID:25814996

  8. Sulfur Mustard Toxicity Following Dermal Exposure

    PubMed Central

    Paromov, Victor; Suntres, Zacharias; Smith, Milton; Stone, William L.

    2007-01-01

    Objective: Sulfur mustard (bis-2-(chloroethyl) sulfide) is a chemical warfare agent (military code: HD) causing extensive skin injury. The mechanisms underlying HD-induced skin damage are not fully elucidated. This review will critically evaluate the evidence showing that oxidative stress is an important factor in HD skin toxicity. Oxidative stress results when the production of reactive oxygen (ROS) and/or reactive nitrogen oxide species (RNOS) exceeds the capacity of antioxidant defense mechanisms. Methods: This review will discuss the role of oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of HD skin toxicity in both in vivo and in vitro model systems with emphasis on the limitations of the various model systems. Evidence supporting the therapeutic potential of antioxidants and antioxidant liposomes will be evaluated. Antioxidant liposomes are effective vehicles for delivering both lipophilic (incorporated into the lipid bilayers) and water-soluble (encapsulated in the aqueous inner-spaces) antioxidants to skin. The molecular mechanisms interconnecting oxidative stress to HD skin toxicity are also detailed. Results: DNA repair and inflammation, in association with oxidative stress, induce intracellular events leading to apoptosis or to a programmable form of necrosis. The free radical, nitric oxide (NO), is of considerable interest with respect to the mechanisms of HD toxicity. NO signaling pathways are important in modulating inflammation, cell death, and wound healing in skin cells. Conclusions: Potential future directions are summarized with emphasis on a systems biology approach to studying sulfur mustard toxicity to skin as well as the newly emerging area of redox proteomics. PMID:18091984

  9. Toxic shock syndrome in Australian children.

    PubMed

    Chen, Katherine Y H; Cheung, Michael; Burgner, David P; Curtis, Nigel

    2016-08-01

    There are limited data describing the epidemiology, management and outcomes of children with toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a potentially life-threatening illness. Here, we describe the incidence, clinical features, treatment and outcome of children with staphylococcal and streptococcal TSS in Victoria, Australia. Retrospective chart review of children admitted between 2003 and 2014 to two tertiary paediatric referral centres who fulfilled the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case definition of TSS. There were 62 cases over the 11-year period; 43 staphylococcal TSS and 19 streptococcal TSS. The majority (46 (74%)) of cases were admitted to an intensive care unit and 44 (71%) required inotropic support. Compared with those with staphylococcal TSS, patients with streptococcal TSS were younger, more unwell and more likely to have residual morbidity. Adjunctive therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin or clindamycin was used in 58 (94%) of cases and fresh frozen plasma was used in 15 (24%). Seven patients received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. All patients survived. This study highlights the importance of early recognition of TSS and supports rapid tertiary referral and intensive care management, which includes the use of adjunctive therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin and clindamycin. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  10. Salicylate toxicity from ingestion of traditional massage oil

    PubMed Central

    Muniandy, Rajesh Kumar; Sinnathamby, Vellan

    2012-01-01

    A 16-month-old child developed a brief generalised tonic–clonic fitting episode and vomiting at home, after accidental ingestion of traditional massage oil. As the patient presented with clinical features of salicylate toxicity, appropriate management was instituted. He was admitted to the intensive care unit for multiorgan support. The child was discharged well 1 week after the incident. Methyl-salicylate is a common component of massage oils which are used for topical treatment of joint and muscular pains. However, these massage oils may be toxic when taken orally. Early recognition of the salicylate toxicity is very important in producing a good patient outcome. PMID:22922924

  11. Effects of the toxic benthic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis cf. ovata on fertilization and early development of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus.

    PubMed

    Neves, Raquel A F; Contins, Mariana; Nascimento, Silvia M

    2018-04-01

    Blooms of the benthic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis cf. ovata have been recorded with increasing frequency, intensity and geographic distribution. This dinoflagellate produces potent toxins that may cause mortality of marine invertebrates. Adults of sea urchins are commonly affected by O. cf. ovata exposure with evidence of spines loss and high mortality during periods of high dinoflagellate abundances. Here, we report on the effects of the toxic dinoflagellate O. cf. ovata on fertilization and early development of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus, a key ecological herbivore. Lytechinus variegatus eggs and sperm were experimentally exposed to different concentrations of Ostreopsis cf. ovata (4, 40, 400, and 4000 cells ml -1 ) to test the hypothesis that fertilization success, embryonic and larval development of the sea urchin are negatively affected by the toxic dinoflagellate even at low abundances. Reduced fertilization, developmental failures, embryo and larval mortality, and occurrence of abnormal offspring were evident after exposure to O. cf. ovata. Fertilization decreased when gametes were exposed to high O. cf. ovata abundances (400 and 4000 cells ml -1 ), but just the exposure to the highest abundance significantly reduced fertilization success. Sea urchin early development was affected by O. cf. ovata in a dose-dependent way, high dinoflagellate abundances fully inhibited the early development of L. variegatus. Ostreopsis cf. ovata significantly increased the mortality of sea urchin eggs and embryos in the first hours of exposure (∼1-3 h), regardless of dinoflagellate abundance. Abundances of 400 and 4000 O. cf. ovata cells ml -1 induced significantly higher mortality on sea urchin initial stages in the first hours, and no egg or embryo was found in these treatments after 18 h of incubation. The early echinopluteus larva was only reached in the control and in treatments with low Ostreopsis cf. ovata abundances (4 and 40 cells ml -1 ). The

  12. Comparative toxicities of selected rare earth elements: Sea urchin embryogenesis and fertilization damage with redox and cytogenetic effects.

    PubMed

    Pagano, Giovanni; Guida, Marco; Siciliano, Antonietta; Oral, Rahime; Koçbaş, Fatma; Palumbo, Anna; Castellano, Immacolata; Migliaccio, Oriana; Thomas, Philippe J; Trifuoggi, Marco

    2016-05-01

    Broad-ranging adverse effects are known for rare earth elements (REE), yet only a few studies tested the toxicity of several REE, prompting studies focusing on multi-parameter REE toxicity. Trichloride salts of Y, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu and Gd were tested in Paracentrotus lividus sea urchin embryos and sperm for: (1) developmental defects in either REE-exposed larvae or in the offspring of REE-exposed sperm; (2) fertilization success; (3) mitotic anomalies in REE-exposed embryos and in the offspring of REE-exposed sperm, and (4) reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, and malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels. REEs affected P. lividus larvae with concentration-related increase in developmental defects, 10(-6) to 10(-4)M, ranking as: Gd(III)>Y(III)>La(III)>Nd(III)≅Eu(III)>Ce(III)≅Sm(III). Nominal concentrations of REE salts were confirmed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Significant increases in MDA levels, ROS formation, and NO levels were found in REE-exposed embryos. Sperm exposure to REEs (10(-5) to 10(-4)M) resulted in concentration-related decrease in fertilization success along with increase in offspring damage. Decreased mitotic activity and increased aberration rates were detected in REE-exposed embryos and in the offspring of REE-exposed sperm. REE-associated toxicity affecting embryogenesis, fertilization, cytogenetic and redox endpoints showed different activities of tested REEs. Damage to early life stages, along with redox and cytogenetic anomalies should be the focus of future REE toxicity studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Metal Oxide Nanoparticles: The Importance of Size, Shape, Chemical Composition, and Valence State in Determining Toxicity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dunnick, Katherine

    Nanoparticles, which are defined as a structure with at least one dimension between 1 and 100 nm, have the potential to be used in a variety of consumer products due to their improved functionality compared to similar particles of larger size. Their small size is associated with increased strength, improved catalytic properties, and increased reactivity; however, their size is also associated with increased toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Numerous toxicological studies have been conducted to determine the properties of nanomaterials that increase their toxicity in order to manufacture new nanomaterials with decreased toxicity. Data indicates that size, shape, chemical composition, and valence state of nanomaterials can dramatically alter their toxicity profile. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to determine how altering the shape, size, and chemical composition of various metal oxide nanoparticles would affect their toxicity. Metal oxides are used in variety of consumer products, from spray-sun screens, to food coloring agents; thus, understanding the toxicity of metal oxides and determining which aspects affect their toxicity may provide safe alternatives nanomaterials for continued use in manufacturing. Tungstate nanoparticles toxicity was assessed in an in vitro model using RAW 264.7 cells. The size, shape, and chemical composition of these nanomaterials were altered and the effect on reactive oxygen species and general cytotoxicity was determined using a variety of techniques. Results demonstrate that shape was important in reactive oxygen species production as wires were able to induce significant reactive oxygen species compared to spheres. Shape, size, and chemical composition did not have much effect on the overall toxicity of these nanoparticles in RAW 264.7 cells over a 72 hour time course, implicating that the base material of the nanoparticles was not toxic in these cells. To further assess how chemical composition can affect toxicity

  14. Redox and fungicidal properties of phthalocyanine metal complexes as related to active oxygen.

    PubMed

    Vol'pin, M E; Novodarova, G N; Krainova NYu; Lapikova, V P; Aver'yanov, A A

    2000-10-01

    Some chemical and fungicidal effects of 20 phthalocyanines of Co, Fe, Cu, and Al were studied. Under dark conditions, these complexes reduced nitroblue tetrazolium in the presence of KCN, accelerated the autoxidation of ascorbate or hydroquinone and decomposed hydrogen peroxide. In the later reaction, hydroxyl radical was generated as evidenced with the deoxyribose assay. The inhibition by superoxide dismutase and catalase of catalyzed autoxidation of ascorbate suggests the participation of superoxide anion-radical and hydrogen peroxide in the reaction. Most complexes were toxic to the fungus Magnaporthe grisea which causes blast disease of rice. The toxicity was enhanced by light being diminished by antioxidant reagents sequestering active oxygen species. Some complexes (including nontoxic ones), after 1-day contact with a leaf surface of the disease-susceptible rice cultivar, induced the fungitoxicity of leaf diffusate. This toxicity was also light-activated and sensitive to antioxidant reagents. Several complexes, when added to inocula, decreased 2-3 times the frequency of the compatible symptoms of the blast. It is suggested that in planta, the dark redox activity of phthalocyanines along with their photosensitization promote the generation of active oxygen, which damages the parasite and, therefore, favors disease resistance.

  15. Toxicities of chimeric antigen receptor T cells: recognition and management

    PubMed Central

    Brudno, Jennifer N.

    2016-01-01

    Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells can produce durable remissions in hematologic malignancies that are not responsive to standard therapies. Yet the use of CAR T cells is limited by potentially severe toxicities. Early case reports of unexpected organ damage and deaths following CAR T-cell therapy first highlighted the possible dangers of this new treatment. CAR T cells can potentially damage normal tissues by specifically targeting a tumor-associated antigen that is also expressed on those tissues. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS), a systemic inflammatory response caused by cytokines released by infused CAR T cells can lead to widespread reversible organ dysfunction. CRS is the most common type of toxicity caused by CAR T cells. Neurologic toxicity due to CAR T cells might in some cases have a different pathophysiology than CRS and requires different management. Aggressive supportive care is necessary for all patients experiencing CAR T-cell toxicities, with early intervention for hypotension and treatment of concurrent infections being essential. Interleukin-6 receptor blockade with tocilizumab remains the mainstay pharmacologic therapy for CRS, though indications for administration vary among centers. Corticosteroids should be reserved for neurologic toxicities and CRS not responsive to tocilizumab. Pharmacologic management is complicated by the risk of immunosuppressive therapy abrogating the antimalignancy activity of the CAR T cells. This review describes the toxicities caused by CAR T cells and reviews the published approaches used to manage toxicities. We present guidelines for treating patients experiencing CRS and other adverse events following CAR T-cell therapy. PMID:27207799

  16. Early sepsis does not stimulate reactive oxygen species production and does not reduce cardiac function despite an increased inflammation status.

    PubMed

    Léger, Thibault; Charrier, Alice; Moreau, Clarisse; Hininger-Favier, Isabelle; Mourmoura, Evangelia; Rigaudière, Jean-Paul; Pitois, Elodie; Bouvier, Damien; Sapin, Vincent; Pereira, Bruno; Azarnoush, Kasra; Demaison, Luc

    2017-07-01

    If it is sustained for several days, sepsis can trigger severe abnormalities of cardiac function which leads to death in 50% of cases. This probably occurs through activation of toll-like receptor-9 by bacterial lipopolysaccharides and overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF- α and IL-1 β In contrast, early sepsis is characterized by the development of tachycardia. This study aimed at determining the early changes in the cardiac function during sepsis and at finding the mechanism responsible for the observed changes. Sixty male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to two groups, the first one being made septic by cecal ligation and puncture (sepsis group) and the second one being subjected to the same surgery without cecal ligation and puncture (sham-operated group). The cardiac function was assessed in vivo and ex vivo in standard conditions. Several parameters involved in the oxidative stress and inflammation were determined in the plasma and heart. As evidenced by the plasma level of TNF- α and gene expression of IL-1 β and TNF- α in the heart, inflammation was developed in the sepsis group. The cardiac function was also slightly stimulated by sepsis in the in vivo and ex vivo situations. This was associated with unchanged levels of oxidative stress, but several parameters indicated a lower cardiac production of reactive oxygen species in the septic group. In conclusion, despite the development of inflammation, early sepsis did not increase reactive oxygen species production and did not reduce myocardial function. The depressant effect of TNF- α and IL-1 β on the cardiac function is known to occur at very high concentrations. The influence of low- to moderate-grade inflammation on the myocardial mechanical behavior must thus be revisited. © 2017 French National Institute of Agronomical Research (INRA). Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

  17. Salicylic acid alleviates aluminum toxicity in soybean roots through modulation of reactive oxygen species metabolism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Ning; Song, Fengbin; Zhu, Xiancan; You, Jiangfeng; Yang, Zhenming; Li, Xiangnan

    2017-11-01

    As an important signal molecule, salicylic acid (SA) improves plant tolerance to aluminum (Al) stress. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of exogenous SA application on the dynamics of endogenous SA and reactive oxygen species in soybean (Glycine max L.) exposed to Al stress. The roots of soybean seedlings were exposed to a combination of AlCl3 (30 μM) and SA (10 μM)/PAC (100 μM, paclobutrazol, SA biosynthesis inhibitor) for 3, 6, 9 and 12 h. Al stress induced an increase in endogenous SA concentration in a time-dependent manner, also verified by the up-regulated expression of GmNPR1, an SA-responsive gene. Al stress increased the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and benzoic acid 2-hydroxylase (BA2H), and the contents of SA, O2- and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the root apex. The application of exogenous SA increased PAL and BA2H, and reduced O2- and MDA contents in soybean roots under Al stress. PAC inhibited the SA induced increase in BA2H activity. In addition, the SA application resulted in a rapid increase in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration under Al stress, followed by a sharp decrease. Compared with the plants exposed to Al alone, Al+SA plants possessed higher activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase, and lower catalase activity, indicating that SA alleviated Al-induced oxidative damage. These results suggested that PAL and BA2H were involved in Al-induced SA production and showed that SA alleviated the adverse effects of Al toxicity by modulating the cellular H2O2 level and the antioxidant enzyme activities in the soybean root apex.

  18. Lipid Emulsion for Local Anesthetic Systemic Toxicity

    PubMed Central

    Ciechanowicz, Sarah; Patil, Vinod

    2012-01-01

    The accidental overdose of local anesthetics may prove fatal. The commonly used amide local anesthetics have varying adverse effects on the myocardium, and beyond a certain dose all are capable of causing death. Local anesthetics are the most frequently used drugs amongst anesthetists and although uncommon, local anaesthetic systemic toxicity accounts for a high proportion of mortality, with local anaesthetic-induced cardiac arrest particularly resistant to standard resuscitation methods. Over the last decade, there has been convincing evidence of intravenous lipid emulsions as a rescue in local anesthetic-cardiotoxicity, and anesthetic organisations, over the globe have developed guidelines on the use of this drug. Despite this, awareness amongst practitioners appears to be lacking. All who use local anesthetics in their practice should have an appreciation of patients at high risk of toxicity, early symptoms and signs of toxicity, preventative measures when using local anesthetics, and the initial management of systemic toxicity with intravenous lipid emulsion. In this paper we intend to discuss the pharmacology and pathophysiology of local anesthetics and toxicity, and the rationale for lipid emulsion therapy. PMID:21969824

  19. Acute and early life stage toxicity of industrial effluent on Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes).

    PubMed

    Zha, Jinmiao; Wang, Zijian

    2006-03-15

    To develop the whole effluent toxicity testing methods (WET), embryo larval stage toxicity test using Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) was conducted to evaluate an effluent from a banknote printing plant (BPP). The method is based on acute toxicity using endpoint of 96-h larval morality and on chronic toxicity using endpoints such as the time to hatch, hatching success, deformity, growth rate, swim-up failure, accumulative mortality and sexual ratio. In test for 96-h larval mortality, LC50 (the concentration was lethal to 50% of newly hatching medaka larvae) was 72.9%. In chronic toxicity test, newly fertilized embryos (<5-h old) were exposed to 1%, 6.25%, 12.5%, 25%, 50% effluent concentrations and to 200 mug/l BPA in a 24-h static renewal system at 25+/-1 degrees C until 15 day post-hatch. The results showed that all chronic endpoints were significantly different from the control at 50% dilution (p < 0.01). Embryos began to show lesions on 4th day at higher concentrations (12.5%, 25%, 50% BPP effluent concentrations). Treatment group of 25% dilution showed delayed time to hatch. A reduction in body weight was observed at 25% dilutions for males and females, respectively. Deformities were observed in newly hatched larvae at 25% and 50% BPP effluent concentrations. At 25% dilution, sex ratio of larvae was alternated and there was feminization phenomenon. We conclude that embryo larval stage test using medaka is feasible to evaluate both acute and chronic toxicities and potential endocrine disrupting activity of industrial effluents.

  20. Toxicity of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles on Green Alga Chlorella vulgaris

    PubMed Central

    Barhoumi, Lotfi

    2013-01-01

    Toxicity of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) was investigated on Chlorella vulgaris cells exposed during 72 hours to Fe3O4 (SPION-1), Co0.2Zn0.8Fe2O4 (SPION-2), or Co0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 (SPION-3) to a range of concentrations from 12.5 to 400 μg mL−1. Under these treatments, toxicity impact was indicated by the deterioration of photochemical activities of photosynthesis, the induction of oxidative stress, and the inhibition of cell division rate. In comparison to SPION-2 and -3, exposure to SPION-1 caused the highest toxic effects on cellular division due to a stronger production of reactive oxygen species and deterioration of photochemical activity of Photosystem II. This study showed the potential source of toxicity for three SPION suspensions, having different chemical compositions, estimated by the change of different biomarkers. In this toxicological investigation, algal model C. vulgaris demonstrated to be a valuable bioindicator of SPION toxicity. PMID:24369015

  1. Is 1H NMR metabolomics becoming the promising early biomarker for neonatal sepsis and for monitoring the antibiotic toxicity?

    PubMed

    Noto, Antonio; Mussap, Michele; Fanos, Vassilios

    2014-06-01

    Metabolomics, the latest of omics disciplines, has been successfully used in various fields of basic research such as pharmacology and toxicology. Recently, this new science has gained an important role in the translational research of diagnostics. In this regard, the challenge for neonatologists and medical laboratories is to diagnose neonatal sepsis, a disease with high mortality and morbidity due to the difficulty in diagnosing it. Metabolomics, through its ability to identify perturbations caused by this condition, aims at recognizing metabolites that characterize neonatal sepsis with high specificity and sensitivity. The purpose of this review is to highlight the ability of metabolomics to find early biomarkers for this condition, as well as to predict the toxic effects caused by antibiotics.

  2. Oxidant generation and toxicity enhancement of aged-diesel exhaust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Qianfeng; Wyatt, Anna; Kamens, Richard M.

    Diesel exhaust related airborne Particulate Matter (PM) has been linked to a myriad of adverse health outcomes, ranging from cancer to cardiopulmonary disease. The underlying toxicological mechanisms are of great scientific interest. A hypothesis under investigation is that many of the adverse health effects may derive from oxidative stress, initiated by the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within affected cells. In this study, the main objective was to determine whether aged-diesel exhaust PM has a higher oxidant generation and toxicity than fresh diesel exhaust PM. The diesel exhaust PM was generated from a 1980 Mercedes-Benz model 300SD, and a dual 270 m 3 Teflon film chamber was utilized to generate two test atmospheres. One side of the chamber is used to produce ozone-diesel exhaust PM system, and another side of the chamber was used to produce diesel exhaust PM only system. A newly optimized dithiothreitol (DTT) method was used to assess their oxidant generation and toxicity. The results of this study showed: (1) both fresh and aged-diesel exhaust PM had high oxidant generation and toxicity; (2) ozone-diesel exhaust PM had a higher toxicity response than diesel exhaust PM only; (3) the diesel exhaust PM toxicity increased with time; (4) the optimized DTT method could be used as a good quantitative chemical assay for oxidant generation and toxicity measurement.

  3. Physico-chemical characteristics of ZnO nanoparticles-based discs and toxic effect on human cervical cancer HeLa cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sirelkhatim, Amna; Mahmud, Shahrom; Seeni, Azman; Kaus, Noor Haida Mohd.; Sendi, Rabab

    2014-10-01

    In this study, we investigated physico-chemical properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs)-based discs and their toxicity on human cervical cancer HeLa cell lines. ZnO NPs (80 nm) were produced by the conventional ceramic processing method. FESEM analysis indicated dominant structure of nanorods with dimensions 100-500 nm in length, and 20-100 nm in diameter. The high content of ZnO nanorods in the discs probably played significant role in toxicity towards HeLa cells. Structural defects (oxygen vacancies and zinc/oxygen interstitials) were revealed by PL spectra peaks at 370-376 nm and 519-533 nm for the ZnO discs. The structural, optical and electrical properties of prepared sample have influenced the toxicological effects of ZnO discs towards HeLa cell lines via the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), internalization, membrane damage, and eventually cell death. The larger surface to volume area of the ZnO nanorods, combined with defects, stimulated enhanced toxicity via ROS generation hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radicals, and superoxide anion. The preliminary results confirmed the ZnO-disc toxicity on HeLa cells was significantly associated with the unique physicochemical properties of ZnO NPs and to our knowledge, this is the first cellular study for treatment of HeLa cells with ZnO discs made from 80 nm ZnO particles.

  4. Transport of pyruvate into mitochondria is involved in methylmercury toxicity

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Jin-Yong; Ishida, Yosuke; Takahashi, Tsutomu; Naganuma, Akira; Hwang, Gi-Wook

    2016-01-01

    We have previously demonstrated that the overexpression of enzymes involved in the production of pyruvate, enolase 2 (Eno2) and D-lactate dehydrogenase (Dld3) renders yeast highly sensitive to methylmercury and that the promotion of intracellular pyruvate synthesis may be involved in intensifying the toxicity of methylmercury. In the present study, we showed that the addition of pyruvate to culture media in non-toxic concentrations significantly enhanced the sensitivity of yeast and human neuroblastoma cells to methylmercury. The results also suggested that methylmercury promoted the transport of pyruvate into mitochondria and that the increased pyruvate concentrations in mitochondria were involved in intensifying the toxicity of methylmercury without pyruvate being converted to acetyl-CoA. Furthermore, in human neuroblastoma cells, methylmercury treatment alone decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential, and the addition of pyruvate led to a further significant decrease. In addition, treatment with N-acetylcysteine (an antioxidant) significantly alleviated the toxicity of methylmercury and significantly inhibited the intensification of methylmercury toxicity by pyruvate. Based on these data, we hypothesize that methylmercury exerts its toxicity by raising the level of pyruvate in mitochondria and that mitochondrial dysfunction and increased levels of reactive oxygen species are involved in the action of pyruvate. PMID:26899208

  5. Effect of antioxidants on vanadate-induced toxicity towards isolated perfused rat livers.

    PubMed

    Younes, M; Kayser, E; Strubelt, O

    1991-01-01

    The effect of trolox C, a water soluble vitamin E analogue, propyl gallate and ascorbate on vanadate hepatotoxicity was investigated in vitro. In isolated perfused livers from fasted rats, sodium orthovanadate (2 mmol/l) led to toxic responses including reduction of oxygen consumption, release of cytosolic (glutamate-pyruvate-transaminase (GPT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)) and mitochondrial (glutamate-dehydrogenase (GLDH)) enzymes, intracellular accumulation of calcium, a marked depletion of glutathione (GSH) and an enhanced formation and release of thiobarbituric acid- (TBA) reactive material. Trolox C and propyl gallate inhibited the release of GPT and LDH partially and that of GLDH totally, but had no influence on vanadate-induced calcium accumulation or on the reduction of oxygen consumption. Both agents suppressed vanadate-induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) and partially prevented GSH depletion. Ascorbate failed to provide any protection probably due to the interference of its pro-oxidant potential with its antioxidant activity. The protection, mainly of mitochondria, afforded by those agents which also inhibited LPO substantiates our previous findings that the pro-oxidant activity of vanadate is mainly responsible for its direct hepatotoxic actions [2]. Besides, reduction of organ perfusion rate due to vasoconstriction also contributes to vanadate toxicity, but oxidative stress is not involved in this indirect toxic activity.

  6. Recent Developments in Whole Sediment Toxicity Identification Evaluations: Innovations in Manipulations and Endpoints

    EPA Science Inventory

    Whole sediment Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) methods were developed primarily in the late 1990s and early 2000s in research programs dedicated to developing manipulations and endpoints to characterize and identify causes of toxicity to benthic freshwater and marine org...

  7. Mechanisms of Drug Toxicity and Relevance to Pharmaceutical Development

    PubMed Central

    Guengerich, F. Peter

    2016-01-01

    Toxicity has been estimated to be responsible for the attrition of ~ 1/3 of drug candidates and is a major contributor to the high cost of drug development, particularly when not recognized until late in the clinical trials or post-marketing. The causes of drug toxicity can be organized in several ways and include mechanism-based (on-target) toxicity, immune hypersensitivity, off-target toxicity, and bioactivation/covalent modification. In addition, idiosyncratic responses are rare but one of the most problematic issues; several hypotheses for these have been advanced. Although covalent binding of drugs to proteins was described almost 40 years ago, the significance to toxicity has been difficult to establish; recent literature in this field is considered. The development of more useful biomarkers and short-term assays for rapid screening of drug toxicity early in the drug discovery/development process is a major goal, and some progress has been made using “omics” approaches. PMID:20978361

  8. Textile dyes induce toxicity on zebrafish early life stages.

    PubMed

    de Oliveira, Gisele Augusto Rodrigues; de Lapuente, Joaquín; Teixidó, Elisabet; Porredón, Constança; Borràs, Miquel; de Oliveira, Danielle Palma

    2016-02-01

    Textile manufacturing is one of the most polluting industrial sectors because of the release of potentially toxic compounds, such as synthetic dyes, into the environment. Depending on the class of the dyes, their loss in wastewaters can range from 2% to 50% of the original dye concentration. Consequently, uncontrolled use of such dyes can negatively affect human health and the ecological balance. The present study assessed the toxicity of the textile dyes Direct Black 38 (DB38), Reactive Blue 15 (RB15), Reactive Orange 16 (RO16), and Vat Green 3 (VG3) using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos for 144 h postfertilization (hpf). At the tested conditions, none of the dyes caused significant mortality. The highest RO16 dose significantly delayed or inhibited the ability of zebrafish embryos to hatch from the chorion after 96 hpf. From 120 hpf to 144 hpf, all the dyes impaired the gas bladder inflation of zebrafish larvae, DB38 also induced curved tail, and VG3 led to yolk sac edema in zebrafish larvae. Based on these data, DB38, RB15, RO16, and VG3 can induce malformations during embryonic and larval development of zebrafish. Therefore, it is essential to remove these compounds from wastewater or reduce their concentrations to safe levels before discharging textile industry effluents into the aquatic environment. © 2015 SETAC.

  9. Comparison of toxicity values across zebrafish early life stages and mammalian studies: Implications for chemical testing.

    PubMed

    Ducharme, Nicole A; Reif, David M; Gustafsson, Jan-Ake; Bondesson, Maria

    2015-08-01

    With the high cost and slow pace of toxicity testing in mammals, the vertebrate zebrafish has become a tractable model organism for high throughput toxicity testing. We present here a meta-analysis of 600 chemicals tested for toxicity in zebrafish embryos and larvae. Nineteen aggregated and 57 individual toxicity endpoints were recorded from published studies yielding 2695 unique data points. These data points were compared to lethality and reproductive toxicology endpoints analyzed in rodents and rabbits and to exposure values for humans. We show that although many zebrafish endpoints did not correlate to rodent or rabbit acute toxicity data, zebrafish could be used to accurately predict relative acute toxicity through the rat inhalation, rabbit dermal, and rat oral exposure routes. Ranking of the chemicals based on toxicity and teratogenicity in zebrafish, as well as human exposure levels, revealed that 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), benzo(a)pyrene, and chlorpyrifos ranked in the top nine of all chemicals for these three categories, and as such should be considered high priority chemicals for testing in higher vertebrates. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. S-nitrosylation of GAD65 is implicated in decreased GAD activity and oxygen-induced seizures.

    PubMed

    Gasier, Heath G; Demchenko, Ivan T; Tatro, Lynn G; Piantadosi, Claude A

    2017-07-13

    Breathing oxygen at partial pressures ≥2.5 atmospheres absolute, which can occur in diving and hyperbaric oxygen (HBO 2 ) therapy, can rapidly become toxic to the central nervous system (CNS). This neurotoxicity culminates in generalized EEG epileptiform discharges, tonic-clonic convulsions and ultimately death. Increased production of neuronal nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated in eliciting hyperoxic seizures by altering the equilibrium between glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic transmission. Inhibition of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity in HBO 2 promotes this imbalance; however, the mechanisms by which this occurs is unknown. Therefore, we conducted a series of experiments using mice, a species that is highly susceptible to CNS oxygen toxicity, to explore the possibility that NO modulates GABA metabolism. Mice were exposed to 100% oxygen at 4 ATA for various durations, and brain GAD and GABA transaminase (GABA-T) activity, as well as S-nitrosylation of GAD65 and GAD67 were determined. HBO 2 inhibited GAD activity by 50% and this was negatively correlated with S-nitrosylation of GAD65, whereas GABA-T activity and S-nitrosylation of GAD67 were unaltered. These results suggest a new mechanism by which NO alters GABA metabolism, leading to neuroexcitation and seizures in HBO 2 . Published by Elsevier B.V.

  11. Toxic Shock Syndrome Caused by Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) After Expander-Based Breast Reconstruction.

    PubMed

    Suga, Hirotaka; Shiraishi, Tomohiro; Takushima, Akihiko; Harii, Kiyonori

    2016-01-01

    Toxic shock syndrome is a rare but life-threatening complication after plastic surgery procedures. We experienced 2 cases of toxic shock syndrome after expander-based breast reconstruction caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The first patient took a severe clinical course due to the delayed diagnosis and treatment, and the second patient recovered rapidly after the early diagnosis and treatment based on our experience of the first case. Fever, rash, and gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea and/or vomiting) were characteristic and important for the early diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome. Considering the increased prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, we should suspect methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in cases of toxic shock syndrome that occur postoperatively, and the empiric administration of vancomycin should be initiated in such cases.

  12. Can oxygen set thermal limits in an insect and drive gigantism?

    PubMed

    Verberk, Wilco C E P; Bilton, David T

    2011-01-01

    Thermal limits may arise through a mismatch between oxygen supply and demand in a range of animal taxa. Whilst this oxygen limitation hypothesis is supported by data from a range of marine fish and invertebrates, its generality remains contentious. In particular, it is unclear whether oxygen limitation determines thermal extremes in tracheated arthropods, where oxygen limitation may be unlikely due to the efficiency and plasticity of tracheal systems in supplying oxygen directly to metabolically active tissues. Although terrestrial taxa with open tracheal systems may not be prone to oxygen limitation, species may be affected during other life-history stages, particularly if these rely on diffusion into closed tracheal systems. Furthermore, a central role for oxygen limitation in insects is envisaged within a parallel line of research focussing on insect gigantism in the late Palaeozoic. Here we examine thermal maxima in the aquatic life stages of an insect at normoxia, hypoxia (14 kPa) and hyperoxia (36 kPa). We demonstrate that upper thermal limits do indeed respond to external oxygen supply in the aquatic life stages of the stonefly Dinocras cephalotes, suggesting that the critical thermal limits of such aquatic larvae are set by oxygen limitation. This could result from impeded oxygen delivery, or limited oxygen regulatory capacity, both of which have implications for our understanding of the limits to insect body size and how these are influenced by atmospheric oxygen levels. These findings extend the generality of the hypothesis of oxygen limitation of thermal tolerance, suggest that oxygen constraints on body size may be stronger in aquatic environments, and that oxygen toxicity may have actively selected for gigantism in the aquatic stages of Carboniferous arthropods.

  13. Toxicity and genotoxicity of hospital laundry wastewaters treated with photocatalytic ozonation.

    PubMed

    Kern, Deivid I; Schwaickhardt, Rômulo de O; Mohr, Geane; Lobo, Eduardo A; Kist, Lourdes T; Machado, Ênio L

    2013-01-15

    The aim of the present study was to assess the efficiency of advanced oxidative processes based on photocatalytic ozonation (O(3), UV, UV/O(3), UV/O(3)/Fe(2+) 50 mg L(-1) and 150 mg L(-1)) in the treatment of hospital laundry wastewaters. The analysis of the investigated wastewater revealed high chemical oxygen demand (COD - 3343.8 mg L(-1)), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(5) - 1906.4 mg L(-1)), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN - 79.8 mg L(-1)) and Daphnia magna toxicity (EC50=1.73). Genotoxic effects were also detected for Allium cepa. Reductions of some parameters occurred after photocatalytic ozonation. The UV/O(3)/Fe(2+) 150 mg L(-1) method was more efficient in reducing COD (59.1%), BOD(5) (50.3%) and TKN (86.8%). There was significant reduction (p<0.05) in D. magna toxicity, O(3) (EC50=47.3%), UV (EC50=50.6%) and UV/O(3)/Fe(2+) 150 mg L(-1) (EC50=45.4%) processes. Normalization of the mitotic index and reduction of micronucleated cells were observed in A. cepa after the treatments. Results demonstrate that these methods were efficient in the degradation of hospital laundry wastewaters, representing a thriving alternative for the removal of pollutants that cause toxicity and genotoxicity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Linking hydrogen-mediated boron toxicity tolerance with improvement of root elongation, water status and reactive oxygen species balance: a case study for rice

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Yu; Duan, Xingliang; Xu, Sheng; Wang, Ren; Ouyang, Zhaozeng; Shen, Wenbiao

    2016-01-01

    Background and aims Boron is essential for plant growth but hazardous when present in excess. As the antioxidant properties of hydrogen gas (H2) were recently described in plants, oxidative stress induced by excess boron was investigated along with other biological responses during rice (Oryza sativa) seed germination to study the beneficial role of H2. Methods Rice seeds were pretreated with exogenous H2. Using physiological, pharmacological and molecular approaches, the production of endogenous H2, growth status, reactive oxygen species (ROS) balance and relative gene expression in rice were measured under boron stress to investigate mechanisms of H2-mediated boron toxicity tolerance. Key Results In our test, boron-inhibited seed germination and seedling growth, and endogenous H2 production, were obviously blocked by exogenously applying H2. The re-establishment of ROS balance was confirmed by reduced lipid peroxidation and ROS accumulation. Meanwhile, activities of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) were increased. Suppression of pectin methylesterase (PME) activity and downregulation of PME transcripts by H2 were consistent with the alleviation of root growth inhibition caused by boron. Water status was improved as well. This result was confirmed by the upregulation of genes encoding specific aquaporins (AQPs), the maintenance of low osmotic potential and high content of soluble sugar. Increased transcription of representative AQP genes (PIP2;7 in particular) and BOR2 along with decreased BOR1 mRNA may contribute to lowering boron accumulation. Conclusions Hydrogen provides boron toxicity tolerance mainly by improving root elongation, water status and ROS balance. PMID:27616208

  15. Improvement of arterial oxygenation in free-ranging moose (Alces alces) immobilized with etorphine-acepromazine-xylazine

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background The effect of intranasal oxygen and/or early reversal of xylazine with atipamezole on arterial oxygenation in free-ranging moose (Alces alces) immobilized with etorphine-acepromazine-xylazine with a cross-sectional clinical study on 33 adult moose was evaluated. Moose were darted from a helicopter with 3.37 mg etorphine, 15 mg acepromazine and 75 mg xylazine. Intranasal oxygen at a flow rate of 4 L/min and/or early reversal of xylazine with 7.5 mg atipamezole to improve oxygenation was evaluated, using four treatment regimens; intranasal oxygen (n = 10), atipamezole intramuscularly (n = 6), atipamezole intravenously (n = 10), or a combination of atipamezole intravenously and intranasal oxygen (n = 7). Arterial blood was collected 7–30 minutes (min) after darting, and again 15 min after institution of treatment and immediately analyzed using an i-STAT®1 Portable Clinical Analyzer. Results Before treatment the mean ± SD (range) partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2) was 62 ± 17 (26–99) mmHg. Twenty-six animals had a PaO2 < 80 mmHg. Ten had a PaO2 of 40–60 mmHg and three animals had a PaO2 < 40 mmHg. Intranasal oxygen and intravenous administration of atipamezole significantly increased the mean PaO2, as did the combination of the two. In contrast, atipamezole administered intramuscularly at the evaluated dose had no significant effect on arterial oxygenation. Conclusions This study shows that intranasal oxygen effectively improved arterial oxygenation in immobilized moose, and that early intravenous reversal of the sedative component, in this case xylazine, in an opioid-based immobilization drug-protocol significantly improves arterial oxygenation. PMID:25124367

  16. Phosphoprotein SAK1 is a regulator of acclimation to singlet oxygen in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

    PubMed

    Wakao, Setsuko; Chin, Brian L; Ledford, Heidi K; Dent, Rachel M; Casero, David; Pellegrini, Matteo; Merchant, Sabeeha S; Niyogi, Krishna K

    2014-05-23

    Singlet oxygen is a highly toxic and inevitable byproduct of oxygenic photosynthesis. The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is capable of acclimating specifically to singlet oxygen stress, but the retrograde signaling pathway from the chloroplast to the nucleus mediating this response is unknown. Here we describe a mutant, singlet oxygen acclimation knocked-out 1 (sak1), that lacks the acclimation response to singlet oxygen. Analysis of genome-wide changes in RNA abundance during acclimation to singlet oxygen revealed that SAK1 is a key regulator of the gene expression response during acclimation. The SAK1 gene encodes an uncharacterized protein with a domain conserved among chlorophytes and present in some bZIP transcription factors. The SAK1 protein is located in the cytosol, and it is induced and phosphorylated upon exposure to singlet oxygen, suggesting that it is a critical intermediate component of the retrograde signal transduction pathway leading to singlet oxygen acclimation.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02286.001. Copyright © 2014, Wakao et al.

  17. Gradually Increased Oxygen Administration Improved Oxygenation and Mitigated Oxidative Stress after Resuscitation from Severe Hemorrhagic Shock.

    PubMed

    Luo, Xin; Yin, Yujing; You, Guoxing; Chen, Gan; Wang, Ying; Zhao, Jingxiang; Wang, Bo; Zhao, Lian; Zhou, Hong

    2015-11-01

    The optimal oxygen administration strategy during resuscitation from hemorrhagic shock (HS) is still controversial. Improving oxygenation and mitigating oxidative stress simultaneously seem to be contradictory goals. To maximize oxygen delivery while minimizing oxidative damage, the authors proposed the notion of gradually increased oxygen administration (GIOA), which entails making the arterial blood hypoxemic early in resuscitation and subsequently gradually increasing to hyperoxic, and compared its effects with normoxic resuscitation, hyperoxic resuscitation, and hypoxemic resuscitation in severe HS. Rats were subjected to HS, and on resuscitation, the rats were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 8): the normoxic, the hyperoxic, the hypoxemic, and the GIOA groups. Rats were observed for an additional 1 h. Hemodynamics, acid-base status, oxygenation, and oxidative injury were observed and evaluated. Central venous oxygen saturation promptly recovered only in the hyperoxic and the GIOA groups, and the liver tissue partial pressure of oxygen was highest in the GIOA group after resuscitation. Oxidative stress in GIOA group was significantly reduced compared with the hyperoxic group as indicated by the reduced malondialdehyde content, increased catalase activity, and the lower histologic injury scores in the liver. In addition, the tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 expressions in the liver were markedly decreased in the GIOA group than in the hyperoxic and normoxic groups as shown by the immunohistochemical staining. GIOA improved systemic/tissue oxygenation and mitigated oxidative stress simultaneously after resuscitation from severe HS. GIOA may be a promising strategy to improve resuscitation from HS and deserves further investigation.

  18. Improvement of arterial oxygenation in free-ranging moose (Alces alces) immobilized with etorphine-acepromazine-xylazine.

    PubMed

    Lian, Marianne; Evans, Alina L; Bertelsen, Mads F; Fahlman, Åsa; Haga, Henning A; Ericsson, Göran; Arnemo, Jon M

    2014-08-15

    The effect of intranasal oxygen and/or early reversal of xylazine with atipamezole on arterial oxygenation in free-ranging moose (Alces alces) immobilized with etorphine-acepromazine-xylazine with a cross-sectional clinical study on 33 adult moose was evaluated. Before treatment the mean±SD (range) partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2) was 62±17 (26-99) mmHg. Twenty-six animals had a PaO2<80 mmHg. Ten had a PaO2 of 40-60 mmHg and three animals had a PaO2<40 mmHg. Intranasal oxygen and intravenous administration of atipamezole significantly increased the mean PaO2, as did the combination of the two. In contrast, atipamezole administered intramuscularly at the evaluated dose had no significant effect on arterial oxygenation. This study shows that intranasal oxygen effectively improved arterial oxygenation in immobilized moose, and that early intravenous reversal of the sedative component, in this case xylazine, in an opioid-based immobilization drug-protocol significantly improves arterial oxygenation.

  19. Biological Oxygen Productivity Over The Last Glacial Termination From Triple Oxygen Isotope Measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blunier, T.; Bender, M. L.; Hendricks, M. B.

    The atmospheric oxygen isotope signature of O2 is linked to the oxygen signature of seawater through photosynthesis and respiration. Fractionation during these pro- cesses is mass dependent affecting 17O about half as much as 18O. A mass indepen- dent fractionation process takes place during isotope exchange between O2 and CO2 in the stratosphere (Thiemens, 1999; Luz et al., 1999). The magnitude of the mass- independent anomaly in the triple isotope composition of O2 depends on relative rates of biological O2 cycling and photochemical reactions in the stratosphere. Variations of this anomaly thus allows us to estimate changes of mass dependent O2 production by photosynthesis versus mass independent O2-CO2 exchange in the stratosphere. We reconstruct total oxygen productivity for the past from 17O and 18O measure- ments of O2 trapped in ice cores. With a box model we estimate that the total biogenic productivity was only 76-83 % of today for the glacial and was probably still lower than today during the glacial-interglacial transition and the early Holocene. In principle we can calculate the oxygen flux from the ocean biosphere if we know the oxygen flux from the land biosphere. Calculated ocean production is very sensitive to the estimate of land biosphere production. The latter term remains uncertain, however, and we can presently only constrain glacial ocean production to 88 to 140 % of the present value.

  20. Protein Nanoscaffolds for Delivering Toxic Inorganic Cargo to Cancer Cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cioloboc, Daniela

    Targeted delivery of anticancer drugs or prodrugs to tumors can minimize systemic toxicity and side effects. This study develops platforms for targeted delivery of two potentially less systemically toxic prodrugs by exploiting the native and/or bioinorganic properties of two ferritins, both of which function naturally as iron storage proteins. Two delivery approaches were investigated. The first system was designed to serve as either an enhancement or alternative to traditional photodynamic therapy by generating hydroxyl radical in addition to singlet oxygen as the toxic reactive oxygen species. This system used Escherichia coli bacterioferritin (Bfr) loaded with 2,500 irons and multiple zinc-porphyrin (ZnP) photosensitizers. Ferrous iron was released by photoreduction of ferric iron stored within the Bfr protein shell. Hydroxyl radicals were generated via the Fenton reaction between hydrogen peroxide and the released ferrous iron. The outer surface of the Bfr protein shell was coated with peptides that specifically bind to a receptor known to be overexpressed in many tumor cells and tumor vasculature. The iron-loaded peptide-ZnP-Bfr was endocytosed by melanoma cells, where it showed photo-triggered release of iron and light-dependent cytotoxicity. The second system, built around human heavy chain ferritin (HFn), was loaded with arsenate as a less toxic "prodrug" and designed to release arsenic in its toxic, therapeutically effective reduced form, arsenic trioxide (ATO). The Hfn shell was coated with peptides targeting receptors that are hyperexpressed in triple negative breast cancers. The arsenate/iron-loaded-Hfn was endocytosed by a breast cancer cell line and showed cytotoxicity equivalent to that of free ATO on an arsenic basis, whereas the "empty" or iron-only loaded Hfn showed no cytotoxicity. Although HFn has previously been used to deliver organic drugs and imaging agents, these new results demonstrate that both Bfr and HFn can be manipulated to function

  1. Developmental Toxicity of the Organic Fraction from Hydraulic Fracturing Flowback and Produced Waters to Early Life Stages of Zebrafish ( Danio rerio).

    PubMed

    He, Yuhe; Sun, Chenxing; Zhang, Yifeng; Folkerts, Erik J; Martin, Jonathan W; Goss, Greg G

    2018-03-20

    Hydraulic fracturing (HF) has emerged as a major recovery method of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs and concerns have been raised regarding the environmental impact of releases of Flowback and Produced Water (FPW) to aquatic ecosystems. To investigate potential effects of HF-FPW on fish embryo development, HF-FPW samples were collected from two different wells and the organic fractions were isolated from both aqueous and particle phases to eliminate the confounding effects of high salinity. Each organic extract was characterized by non-target analysis with HPLC-Orbitrap-MS, with targeted analysis for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons provided as markers of petroleum-affected water. The organic profiles differed between samples, including PAHs and alkyl PAHs, and major substances identified by non-target analysis included polyethylene glycols, alkyl ethoxylates, octylphenol ethoxylates, and other high molecular weight (C 49-79 ) ethylene oxide polymeric material. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to various concentrations of FPW organic extracts to investigate acute (7-day) and developmental toxicity in early life stages. The acute toxicity (LD 50 ) of the extracted FPW fractions ranged from 2.8× to 26× the original organic content. Each extracted FPW fraction significantly increased spinal malformation, pericardial edema, and delayed hatch in exposed embryos and altered the expression of a suite of target genes related to biotransformation, oxidative stress, and endocrine-mediation in developing zebrafish embryos. These results provide novel information on the variation of organic profiles and developmental toxicity among different sources and fractions of HF-FPWs.

  2. Residual oxygen time model for oxygen partial pressure near 130 kPa (1.3 atm).

    PubMed

    Shykoff, Barbara E

    2015-01-01

    A two-part residual oxygen time model predicts the probability of detectible pulmonary oxygen toxicity P(P[O2tox]) after dives with oxygen partial pressure (PO2) approximately 130 kPa, and provides a tool to plan dive series with selected risk of P[O2tox]. Data suggest that pulmonary oxygen injury at this PO2 is additive between dives. Recovery begins after a delay and continues during any following dive. A logistic relation expresses P(P[O2tox]) as a function of dive duration (T(dur)) [hours]: P(P[O2tox]) = 100/[1+exp (3.586-0.49 x T(dur))] This expression maps T(dur) to P(P[O2tox]) or, in the linear mid-portion of the curve, P(P[O2tox]) usefully to T(dur). For multiple dives or during recovery, it maps to an equivalent dive duration, T(eq). T(eq) was found after second dives of duration T(dur 2). Residual time from the first dive t(r) = T(eq) - T(dur2). With known t(r), t and T(dur) a recovery model was fitted. t(r) = T(dur) x exp [-k x((t-5)/T(dur)2], where t = t - 5 hours, k = 0.149 for resting, and 0.047 for exercising divers, and t represents time after surfacing. The fits were assessed for 1,352 man-dives. Standard deviations of the residuals were 8.5% and 18.3% probability for resting or exercise dives, respectively.

  3. Oxygen Candle Background for Subs and Space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Graf, John

    2017-01-01

    "At any time and without warning, a submarine may have to remain submerged for several days on account of the presence of the enemy, or rough weather, or serious accident to the machinery. Fortunately such occurrences are rare; but every commanding officer must be prepared to meet such an emergency that will afford his men the greatest possible chance of survival." Reference (1) This quotation is taken from a review of submarine air purification technology published by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in 1919. At that time, the U.S. Navy had just begun to experiment with possible air purification devices and supplies of oxygen that might permit submarines to remain submerged longer that the untreated closed atmosphere would allow. Submariners were exposed to elevated levels of carbon dioxide and reduced levels of oxygen that would be considered completely unacceptable by current standards. It was a different world, but humans are still humans, and the requirements for safe and effective functioning in a self-contained environment are really unchanged. The maximum submergence time for submarines as published in that work was approximately 48 hours, reference (1) In early submarines, the preferred supply of oxygen was 1800 psig compressed gas bled into the boat as needed, references (1,2). The need for added oxygen was occasionally "measured" by the physiological impact on the crew rather than a reliable instrument, reference (1). The design of submarine oxygen supply was limited to approximately 25 day submerged operation, reference (2). It was not until 1958 that U.S. submarines were able to carry out dives beyond that period and necessitated new sources of oxygen, reference (2). A curious second source of oxygen at the time was compressed air vessels that were bled into the boat while "vitiated" air (air with reduced oxygen and elevated carbon dioxide) from the opposite end of the boat was compressed into waiting empty vessels, reference (1). The periodic use of

  4. DIRECT AND PHOTOACTIVATED TOXICITY OF A COMPLEX PETROLEUM MIXTURE: A COMPARISON OF SOLUBILIZATION METHODS

    EPA Science Inventory

    This work addresses several issues associated with the toxicity of a complex petroleum mixture (combined kerosene/diesel and crude oil), including developmental effects and early lifestage mortality, method of solubilization, and potential photo-activated and photo-modified toxic...

  5. Myocardial oxygen delivery after experimental hemorrhagic shock.

    PubMed Central

    Archie, J P; Mertz, W R

    1978-01-01

    The two components of myocardial oxygen delivery, coronary blood flow to capillaries and diffusion from capillaries to mitochondria, were studied in six dogs, (1) prior to shock, (2) after three hours of hemorrhage shock at a mean systemic arterial pressure of 40 torr, (3) after reinfusion of shed blood, and (4) during the irreversible late posttransfusion stage. There was a maldistribution of left ventricular coronary flow during late shock consistent with subendocardial ischemia. Cardiac performance was significantly impaired after resuscitation and all dogs became irreversible. Total and regional left ventricular coronary blood flow and myocardial oxygen delivery to capillaries were significantly greater than preshock values in (3) but not different from preshock values in (4). However, the myocardial oxygen diffusion area to distance ratio was significantly lower than preshock values in (3), and slightly lower in (4). These data suggest that myocardial oxygen diffusion may be impaired in the early post transfusion period, (3). Accordingly, the probable etiology of left ventricular dysfunction and possibly irreversibility after resuscitation from hemorrhagic shock is subendocardial ischemia during shock with either post-resuscitation impairment of myocardial oxygen diffusion, or in cellular oxygen utilization, or both. PMID:629622

  6. Toxicity of ferric chloride sludge to aquatic organisms.

    PubMed

    Sotero-Santos, Rosana B; Rocha, Odete; Povinelli, Jurandyr

    2007-06-01

    Iron-rich sludge from a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) was investigated regarding its toxicity to aquatic organisms and physical and chemical composition. In addition, the water quality of the receiving stream near the DWTP was evaluated. Experiments were carried out in August 1998, February 1999 and May 1999. Acute toxicity tests were carried out on a cladoceran (Daphnia similis), a midge (Chironomus xanthus) and a fish (Hyphessobrycon eques). Chronic tests were conducted only on D. similis. Acute sludge toxicity was not detected using any of the aquatic organisms, but chronic effects were observed upon the fecundity of D. similis. Although there were relatively few sample dates, the results suggested that the DWTP sludge had a negative effect on the receiving body as here was increased suspended matter, turbidity, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and hardness in the water downstream of the DWTP effluent discharge. The ferric chloride sludge also exhibited high heavy metal concentrations revealing a further potential for pollution and harmful chronic effects on the aquatic biota when the sludge is disposed of without previous treatment.

  7. Toxicity of copper to early-life stage Kootenai River white sturgeon, Columbia River white sturgeon, and rainbow trout

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Little, E.E.; Calfee, R.D.; Linder, G.

    2012-01-01

    White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) populations throughout western North America are in decline, likely as a result of overharvest, operation of dams, and agricultural and mineral extraction activities in their watersheds. Recruitment failure may reflect the loss of early-life stage fish in spawning areas of the upper Columbia River, which are contaminated with metals from effluents associated with mineral-extraction activities. Early-life stage white sturgeon (A. transmontanus) from the Columbia River and Kootenai River populations were exposed to copper during 96-h flow-through toxicity tests to determine their sensitivity to the metal. Similar tests were conducted with rainbow trout (RBT [Oncorhynchus mykiss]) to assess the comparative sensitivity of this species as a surrogate for white sturgeon. Exposures were conducted with a water quality pH 8.1-8.3, hardness 81-119 mg/L as CaCO2, and dissolved organic carbon 0.2-0.4 mg/L. At approximately 30 days posthatch (dph), sturgeon were highly sensitive to copper with median lethal concentration (LC50) values ranging from 4.1 to 6.8 μg/L compared with 36.5 μg/L for 30 dph RBT. White sturgeon at 123-167 dph were less sensitive to copper with LC50 values ranging from 103.7 to 268.9 μg/L. RBT trout, however, remained more sensitive to copper at 160 dph with an LC50 value of 30.9 μg/L. The results indicate that high sensitivity to copper in early-life stage white sturgeon may be a factor in recruitment failure occurring in the upper Columbia and Kootenai rivers. When site-specific water-quality criteria were estimated using the biotic ligand model (BLM), derived values were not protective of early-life stage fish, nor were estimates derived by water-hardness adjustment.

  8. Effect of Electroacupuncture on Transcutaneous Oxygen Partial Pressure During Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Healthy Individuals.

    PubMed

    Qu, Lan; Ye, Yong; Li, Chunfeng; Gao, Guangkai

    2015-01-01

    The goal of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is to increase the oxygen (O₂) supply to the body significantly. Because of the toxic side effects and complications of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂), the environmental pressure and treatment time must be restricted. The research team hypothesized that other therapies administered during HBOT could safely improve the value of the arterial oxygen partial pressure (PaO₂) during HBOT and improve its therapeutic effect. The study intended to investigate whether electroacupuncture (EA) while receiving HBOT had a greater effect for healthy individuals than HBOT or EA alone or EA combined with normobaric pure oxygen (pure O₂). The research team designed a randomized, controlled trial. The study was performed in the Department of Hyperbaric Medicine at the No. 401 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army in Qingdao, China. A total of 81 volunteers were recruited. After thorough physical examination and laboratory testing, 21 volunteers were excluded from the study. Participants included 60 healthy volunteers. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups of 15 participants each: (1) an HBOT group, (2) an EA group, (3) an EA During HBOT group, and (4) an EA Combined With Pure O₂group. Because at the current technology level a blood gas analyzer cannot test PaO₂during HBOT, transcutaneous oxygen partial pressure (PtcO₂) of the participants was tested instead. Before, during, and after EA, variations in PtcO₂were monitored in each group. For the EA During HBOT group, (1) the increase in PtcO₂during EA was significantly greater than that observed for the other 3 groups (P > .05). The EA During HBOT method provided improvements in the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of HBOT, and the study's results partially demonstrated the accuracy of the research team's hypothesis that EA therapy applied during HBOT could safely improve the value of PtcO₂(PaO₂) during HBOT and produce a greater therapeutic effect.

  9. A new SOD mimic, Mn(III) ortho N-butoxyethylpyridylporphyrin combines superb potency and lipophilicity with low toxicity

    PubMed Central

    Rajic, Zrinka; Tovmasyan, Artak; Spasojevic, Ivan; Sheng, Huaxin; Lu, Miaomiao; Li, Alice M.; Gralla, Edith B.; Warner, David S.; Benov, Ludmil; Batinic-Haberle, Ines

    2012-01-01

    The Mn porphyrins of kcat(O2˙−) as high as that of a superoxide dismutase enzyme, and of optimized lipophilicity have already been synthesized. Their exceptional in vivo potency is at least in part due to their ability to mimic site and location of mitochondrial superoxide dismutase, MnSOD. MnTnHex-2-PyP5+ is the most studied among lipophilic Mn porphyrins. It is of remarkable efficacy in animal models of oxidative stress injuries and particularly in central nervous system diseases. However, when used at high single and multiple doses it becomes toxic. The toxicity of MnTnHex-2-PyP5+ has been in part attributed to its micellar properties, i.e. the presence of polar cationic nitrogens and hydrophobic alkyl chains. The replacement of a CH2 group by oxygen atom in each of the four alkyl chains was meant to disrupt the porphyrin micellar character. When such modification occurs at the end of long alkyl chains, the oxygens become heavily solvated, which leads to a significant drop in the lipophilicity of porphyrin. However, when the oxygen atoms are buried deeper within the long heptyl chains, their excessive solvation is precluded and the lipophilicity preserved. The presence of oxygens and the high lipophilicity bestow the exceptional chemical and physical properties to Mn(III) meso-tetrakis(N-n-butoxyethylpyridinium-2-yl)porphyrin, MnTnBuOE-2-PyP5+. The high SOD-like activity is fully preserved and somewhat enhanced: log kcat(O2˙−) = 7.83 vs 7.48 and 7.65 for MnTnHex-2-PyP5+ and MnTnHep-2-PyP5+, respectively. MnTnBuOE-2-PyP5+ was tested in an O2˙− - specific in vivo assay – aerobic growth of SOD-deficient yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where it was fully protective in the range of 5 – 30 µM. MnTnHep-2-PyP5+ was already toxic at 5 µM, and MnTnHex-2-PyP5+ became toxic at 30 µM. In a mouse toxicity study, MnTnBuOE-2-PyP5+ was several-fold less toxic than either MnTnHex-2-PyP5+ or MnTnHep-2-PyP5+. PMID:22336516

  10. Effects of arsenic toxicity on morphological characters in blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) during early growth stage.

    PubMed

    Shamim, M Z; Pandey, A

    2017-07-31

    Blackgram is an important pulse crop of the tropic and sub-tropic area and has been identified as a potential crop in many countries. In the south-East Asia arsenic toxicity in soil and water is one of the most environmental problems. Crop productivity is highly affected by cultivation in arsenic polluted soil or irrigation through arsenic polluted water. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of arsenic (As) on fresh shoot length, fresh shoot weight, fresh root length, fresh shoot weight and total fresh biomass, The results indicate that root length is more affected than shoot length due to arsenic toxicity. The fresh shoot weight observed was more affected than fresh root weight. This study indicates that arsenic toxicity causes the deleterious effect on blackgram growth. The toxic effect of blackgram depends on the genotypic variability. Some blackgram genotypes show very less toxic effect of arsenic due to its genetic makeup. Experimental findings of study indicate that longer root length and more shoot weight in arsenic stress condition may be tolerant blackgram genotype to arsenic toxicity.

  11. Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) as Predicting Marker for Clinical Outcome and Evaluation of Early Toxicity Rate after High-Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR-BT) in Combination with Additional External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) for High Risk Prostate Cancer.

    PubMed

    Ecke, Thorsten H; Huang-Tiel, Hui-Juan; Golka, Klaus; Selinski, Silvia; Geis, Berit Christine; Koswig, Stephan; Bathe, Katrin; Hallmann, Steffen; Gerullis, Holger

    2016-11-10

    High-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is a common treatment option for locally advanced prostate cancer (PCa). Seventy-nine male patients (median age 71 years, range 50 to 79) with high-risk PCa underwent HDR-BT following EBRT between December 2009 and January 2016 with a median follow-up of 21 months. HDR-BT was administered in two treatment sessions (one week interval) with 9 Gy per fraction using a planning system and the Ir192 treatment unit GammaMed Plus iX. EBRT was performed with CT-based 3D-conformal treatment planning with a total dose administration of 50.4 Gy with 1.8 Gy per fraction and five fractions per week. Follow-up for all patients was organized one, three, and five years after radiation therapy to evaluate early and late toxicity side effects, metastases, local recurrence, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value measured in ng/mL. The evaluated data included age, PSA at time of diagnosis, PSA density, BMI (body mass index), Gleason score, D'Amico risk classification for PCa, digital rectal examination (DRE), PSA value after one/three/five year(s) follow-up (FU), time of follow-up, TNM classification, prostate volume, and early toxicity rates. Early toxicity rates were 8.86% for gastrointestinal, and 6.33% for genitourinary side effects. Of all treated patients, 84.81% had no side effects. All reported complications in early toxicity were grade 1. PSA density at time of diagnosis ( p = 0.009), PSA on date of first HDR-BT ( p = 0.033), and PSA on date of first follow-up after one year ( p = 0.025) have statistical significance on a higher risk to get a local recurrence during follow-up. HDR-BT in combination with additional EBRT in the presented design for high-risk PCa results in high biochemical control rates with minimal side-effects. PSA is a negative predictive biomarker for local recurrence during follow-up. A longer follow-up is needed to assess long-term outcome and toxicities.

  12. Toxicity of smelter slag-contaminated sediments from Upper Lake Roosevelt and associated metals to early life stage White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Little, E.E.; Calfee, R.D.; Linder, G.

    2014-01-01

    The toxicity of five smelter slag-contaminated sediments from the upper Columbia River and metals associated with those slags (cadmium, copper, zinc) was evaluated in 96-h exposures of White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836) at 8 and 30 days post-hatch. Leachates prepared from slag-contaminated sediments were evaluated for toxicity. Leachates yielded a maximum aqueous copper concentration of 11.8 μg L−1 observed in sediment collected at Dead Man's Eddy (DME), the sampling site nearest the smelter. All leachates were nonlethal to sturgeon that were 8 day post-hatch (dph), but leachates from three of the five sediments were toxic to fish that were 30 dph, suggesting that the latter life stage is highly vulnerable to metals exposure. Fish maintained consistent and prolonged contact with sediments and did not avoid contaminated sediments when provided a choice between contaminated and uncontaminated sediments. White Sturgeon also failed to avoid aqueous copper (1.5–20 μg L−1). In water-only 96-h exposures of 35 dph sturgeon with the three metals, similar toxicity was observed during exposure to water spiked with copper alone and in combination with cadmium and zinc. Cadmium ranging from 3.2 to 41 μg L−1 or zinc ranging from 21 to 275 μg L−1 was not lethal, but induced adverse behavioral changes including a loss of equilibrium. These results suggest that metals associated with smelter slags may pose an increased exposure risk to early life stage sturgeon if fish occupy areas contaminated by slags.

  13. Toxic stress and child refugees.

    PubMed

    Murray, John S

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this article was to describe the phenomenon of toxic stress and its impact on the physical and mental health of child refugees. Almost two decades ago, researchers found that recurring adverse childhood events (ACEs; e.g., physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction such as substance abuse, mental illness, and criminal behavior) were associated with a significant increase in serious illnesses during adulthood. Illnesses include heart, lung, and liver disease, cancer, and bone fractures. The scientists reported that experiencing four or more ACEs during childhood significantly increases the risk for toxic stress. Toxic stress is defined as the exposure to extreme, frequent, and persistent adverse events without the presence of a supportive caretaker. There is a paucity of literature related to toxic stress and child refugees. However, it has been clearly established that the prolonged brutal and traumatizing war in Syria is having a profound impact on the physical and mental health of child refugees at a distressing rate. Prevention of toxic stress should be a primary goal of all pediatric healthcare professionals working with child refugees. While this seems daunting given the population, and the seemingly insurmountable stressors they experience, some basic interventions should be considered. Providing basic anticipatory guidance to parents and caregivers of child refugees, to encourage positive parenting and strengthening support networks, will be highly effective in developing the requisite buffers that mitigate the effects of stress and avoid toxic stress. Efforts should also be focused on addressing caregiver stress and improving their ability to provide safe, reliable, and nurturing care that will help to mitigate any stress response experienced by a child. It is critical that greater awareness be placed on the effects of toxic stress on child refugees who are exposed to significant adverse events early in life

  14. Early anaerobic metabolisms

    PubMed Central

    Canfield, Don E; Rosing, Minik T; Bjerrum, Christian

    2006-01-01

    Before the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis, the biosphere was driven by anaerobic metabolisms. We catalogue and quantify the source strengths of the most probable electron donors and electron acceptors that would have been available to fuel early-Earth ecosystems. The most active ecosystems were probably driven by the cycling of H2 and Fe2+ through primary production conducted by anoxygenic phototrophs. Interesting and dynamic ecosystems would have also been driven by the microbial cycling of sulphur and nitrogen species, but their activity levels were probably not so great. Despite the diversity of potential early ecosystems, rates of primary production in the early-Earth anaerobic biosphere were probably well below those rates observed in the marine environment. We shift our attention to the Earth environment at 3.8 Gyr ago, where the earliest marine sediments are preserved. We calculate, consistent with the carbon isotope record and other considerations of the carbon cycle, that marine rates of primary production at this time were probably an order of magnitude (or more) less than today. We conclude that the flux of reduced species to the Earth surface at this time may have been sufficient to drive anaerobic ecosystems of sufficient activity to be consistent with the carbon isotope record. Conversely, an ecosystem based on oxygenic photosynthesis was also possible with complete removal of the oxygen by reaction with reduced species from the mantle. PMID:17008221

  15. Identification of Chemical Toxicity Using Ontology Information of Chemicals.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Zhanpeng; Xu, Rui; Dong, Changchun

    2015-01-01

    With the advance of the combinatorial chemistry, a large number of synthetic compounds have surged. However, we have limited knowledge about them. On the other hand, the speed of designing new drugs is very slow. One of the key causes is the unacceptable toxicities of chemicals. If one can correctly identify the toxicity of chemicals, the unsuitable chemicals can be discarded in early stage, thereby accelerating the study of new drugs and reducing the R&D costs. In this study, a new prediction method was built for identification of chemical toxicities, which was based on ontology information of chemicals. By comparing to a previous method, our method is quite effective. We hope that the proposed method may give new insights to study chemical toxicity and other attributes of chemicals.

  16. Aquatic toxicity information retrieval data base (AQUIRE). Data file

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    The purpose of AQUIRE is to provide scientists and managers quick access to a comprehensive, systematic, computerized compilation of aquatic toxicity data. Scientific papers published both nationally and internationally on the toxicity of chemicals to aquatic organisms and plants are collected and reviewed for AQUIRE. Independently compiled data files that meet AQUIRE parameter and quality assurance criteria are also included. Relevant toxicity test results and related test information for any individual chemicals analyzed using freshwater and marine organisms in laboratory and field conditions, are included in the database. During 1992 and early 1993, nine data updates were made to themore » AQUIRE system. AQUIRE now contains 109,338 individual aquatic toxicity test results for 5,159 chemicals, 2,429 organisms, and over 160 endpoints reviewed from 7,517 publications.« less

  17. Time-resolved studies define the nature of toxic IAPP intermediates, providing insight for anti-amyloidosis therapeutics

    PubMed Central

    Abedini, Andisheh; Plesner, Annette; Cao, Ping; Ridgway, Zachary; Zhang, Jinghua; Tu, Ling-Hsien; Middleton, Chris T; Chao, Brian; Sartori, Daniel J; Meng, Fanling; Wang, Hui; Wong, Amy G; Zanni, Martin T; Verchere, C Bruce; Raleigh, Daniel P; Schmidt, Ann Marie

    2016-01-01

    Islet amyloidosis by IAPP contributes to pancreatic β-cell death in diabetes, but the nature of toxic IAPP species remains elusive. Using concurrent time-resolved biophysical and biological measurements, we define the toxic species produced during IAPP amyloid formation and link their properties to induction of rat INS-1 β-cell and murine islet toxicity. These globally flexible, low order oligomers upregulate pro-inflammatory markers and induce reactive oxygen species. They do not bind 1-anilnonaphthalene-8-sulphonic acid and lack extensive β-sheet structure. Aromatic interactions modulate, but are not required for toxicity. Not all IAPP oligomers are toxic; toxicity depends on their partially structured conformational states. Some anti-amyloid agents paradoxically prolong cytotoxicity by prolonging the lifetime of the toxic species. The data highlight the distinguishing properties of toxic IAPP oligomers and the common features that they share with toxic species reported for other amyloidogenic polypeptides, providing information for rational drug design to treat IAPP induced β-cell death. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12977.001 PMID:27213520

  18. FETAX assay for evaluation of developmental toxicity.

    PubMed

    Mouche, Isabelle; Malesic, Laure; Gillardeaux, Olivier

    2011-01-01

    The Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay Xenopus (FETAX) test is a development toxicity screening test. Due to the small amount of compound needed and the capability to study organogenesis in a short period of time (96 h), FETAX test constitutes an efficient development toxicity alert test when performed early in drug safety development. The test is conducted on fertilized Xenopus laevis mid-blastula stage eggs over the organogenesis period. Compound teratogenic potential is determined after analysis of the mortality and malformation observations on larva. In parallel, FETAX test provides also information concerning embryotoxic effect based on larva length.

  19. FETAX Assay for Evaluation of Developmental Toxicity.

    PubMed

    Mouche, Isabelle; Malésic, Laure; Gillardeaux, Olivier

    2017-01-01

    The frog embryo teratogenesis assay Xenopus (FETAX) test is a development toxicity screening test. Due to the small amount of compound needed and the capability to study organogenesis in a short period of time (96 h), FETAX test constitutes an efficient development toxicity alert test when performed early in drug safety development. The test is conducted on fertilized Xenopus laevis mid-blastula-stage eggs over the organogenesis period. Compound teratogenic potential is determined after analysis of the mortality and malformation observations on larvae. In parallel, FETAX test provides also information concerning embryotoxic effect based on larva length.

  20. The role of oxidative stress in organophosphate and nerve agent toxicity

    PubMed Central

    Pearson, Jennifer N.; Patel, Manisha

    2016-01-01

    Organophosphate nerve agents exert their toxicity through inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. The excessive stimulation of cholinergic receptors rapidly causes neuronal damage, seizures, death, and long-term neurological impairment in those that survive. Owing to the lethality of organophosphorus agents and the growing risk they pose, medical interventions that prevent organophosphate toxicity and the delayed injury response are much needed. Studies have shown that oxidative stress occurs in models of subacute, acute, and chronic exposure to organophosphate agents. Key findings of these studies include alterations in mitochondrial function and increased free radical–mediated injury, such as lipid peroxidation. This review focuses on the role of reactive oxygen species in organophosphate neurotoxicity and its dependence on seizure activity. Understanding the sources, mechanisms, and pathological consequences of organophosphate-induced oxidative stress can lead to the development of rational therapies for treating toxic exposures. PMID:27371936

  1. Aluminum Toxicity Is Associated with Mitochondrial Dysfunction and the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species in Plant Cells1

    PubMed Central

    Yamamoto, Yoko; Kobayashi, Yukiko; Devi, S. Rama; Rikiishi, Sanae; Matsumoto, Hideaki

    2002-01-01

    Potential mechanisms of Al toxicity measured as Al-induced inhibition of growth in cultured tobacco cells (Nicotiana tabacum, nonchlorophyllic cell line SL) and pea (Pisum sativum) roots were investigated. Compared with the control treatment without Al, the accumulation of Al in tobacco cells caused instantaneously the repression of mitochondrial activities [monitored by the reduction of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide and the uptake of Rhodamine 123] and, after a lag of about 12 h, triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, respiration inhibition, ATP depletion, and the loss of growth capability almost simultaneously. The presence of an antioxidant, butylated hydroxyanisol, during Al treatment of SL cells prevented not only ROS production but also ATP depletion and the loss of growth capability, suggesting that the Al-triggered ROS production seems to be a cause of ATP depletion and the loss of growth capability. Furthermore, these three late events were similarly repressed in an Al-tolerant cell line (ALT301) isolated from SL cells, suggesting that the acquisition of antioxidant functions mimicking butylated hydroxyanisol can be a mechanism of Al tolerance. In the pea root, Al also triggered ROS production, respiration inhibition, and ATP depletion, which were all correlated with inhibition of root elongation. Taken together, we conclude that Al affects mitochondrial functions, which leads to ROS production, probably the key critical event in Al inhibition of cell growth. PMID:11788753

  2. Human cell toxicogenomic analysis links reactive oxygen species to the toxicity of monohaloacetic acid drinking water disinfection byproducts

    PubMed Central

    Pals, Justin; Attene-Ramos, Matias S.; Xia, Menghang; Wagner, Elizabeth D.; Plewa, Michael J.

    2014-01-01

    Chronic exposure to drinking water disinfection byproducts has been linked to adverse health risks. The monohaloacetic acids (monoHAAs) are generated as byproducts during the disinfection of drinking water and are cytotoxic, genotoxic, mutagenic, and teratogenic. Iodoacetic acid toxicity was mitigated by antioxidants, suggesting the involvement of oxidative stress. Other monoHAAs may share a similar mode of action. Each monoHAA generated a significant concentration-response increase in the expression of a β-lactamase reporter under the control of the Antioxidant Response Element (ARE). The monoHAAs generated oxidative stress with a rank order of IAA > BAA >> CAA; this rank order was observed with other toxicological endpoints. Toxicogenomic analysis was conducted with a non-transformed human intestinal epithelial cell line (FHs 74 Int). Exposure to the monoHAAs altered the transcription levels of multiple oxidative stress responsive genes, indicating that each exposure generated oxidative stress. The transcriptome profiles showed an increase in TXNRD1 and SRXN1, suggesting peroxiredoxin proteins had been oxidized during monoHAA exposures. Three sources of reactive oxygen species were identified, the hypohalous acid generating peroxidase enzymes LPO and MPO, NADPH-dependent oxidase NOX5, and PTGS2 (COX-2) mediated arachidonic acid metabolism. Each monoHAA exposure caused an increase in COX-2 mRNA levels. These data provide a functional association between monoHAA exposure and adverse health outcomes such as oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer. PMID:24050308

  3. Can Oxygen Set Thermal Limits in an Insect and Drive Gigantism?

    PubMed Central

    Verberk, Wilco C. E. P.; Bilton, David T.

    2011-01-01

    Background Thermal limits may arise through a mismatch between oxygen supply and demand in a range of animal taxa. Whilst this oxygen limitation hypothesis is supported by data from a range of marine fish and invertebrates, its generality remains contentious. In particular, it is unclear whether oxygen limitation determines thermal extremes in tracheated arthropods, where oxygen limitation may be unlikely due to the efficiency and plasticity of tracheal systems in supplying oxygen directly to metabolically active tissues. Although terrestrial taxa with open tracheal systems may not be prone to oxygen limitation, species may be affected during other life-history stages, particularly if these rely on diffusion into closed tracheal systems. Furthermore, a central role for oxygen limitation in insects is envisaged within a parallel line of research focussing on insect gigantism in the late Palaeozoic. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we examine thermal maxima in the aquatic life stages of an insect at normoxia, hypoxia (14 kPa) and hyperoxia (36 kPa). We demonstrate that upper thermal limits do indeed respond to external oxygen supply in the aquatic life stages of the stonefly Dinocras cephalotes, suggesting that the critical thermal limits of such aquatic larvae are set by oxygen limitation. This could result from impeded oxygen delivery, or limited oxygen regulatory capacity, both of which have implications for our understanding of the limits to insect body size and how these are influenced by atmospheric oxygen levels. Conclusions/Significance These findings extend the generality of the hypothesis of oxygen limitation of thermal tolerance, suggest that oxygen constraints on body size may be stronger in aquatic environments, and that oxygen toxicity may have actively selected for gigantism in the aquatic stages of Carboniferous arthropods. PMID:21818347

  4. Investigating Epigenetic Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Toxic Metals in Newborns: Challenges and Benefits.

    PubMed

    Nye, Monica D; Fry, Rebecca C; Hoyo, Cathrine; Murphy, Susan K

    2014-01-01

    Increasing evidence suggest that epigenetic alterations can greatly impact human health, and that epigenetic mechanisms (DNA methylation, histone modifications, and microRNAs) may be particularly relevant in responding to environmental toxicant exposure early in life. The epigenome plays a vital role in embryonic development, tissue differentiation and disease development by controlling gene expression. In this review we discuss what is currently known about epigenetic alterations in response to prenatal exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) and lead (Pb), focusing specifically on their effects on DNA methylation. We then describe how epigenetic alterations are being studied in newborns as potential biomarkers of in utero environmental toxicant exposure, and the benefits and challenges of this approach. In summary, the studies highlighted herein indicate how epigenetic mechanisms are impacted by early life exposure to iAs and Pb, and the research that is being done to move towards understanding the relationships between toxicant-induced epigenetic alterations and disease development. Although much remains unknown, several groups are working to understand the correlative and causal effects of early life toxic metal exposure on epigenetic changes and how these changes may result in later development of disease.

  5. Activation of p47phox as a Mechanism of Bupivacaine-Induced Burst Production of Reactive Oxygen Species and Neural Toxicity.

    PubMed

    Li, Yu-Jie; Zhao, Wei; Yu, Xu-Jiao; Li, Feng-Xian; Liu, Zi-Ting; Li, Le; Xu, Shi-Yuan

    2017-01-01

    Bupivacaine has been shown to induce neurotoxicity through inducing excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. NOX2 is one of the most important sources of ROS in the nervous system, and its activation requires the membrane translocation of subunit p47phox. However, the role of p47phox in bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity has not been explored. In our in vitro study, cultured human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were treated with 1.5 mM bupivacaine to induce neurotoxicity. Membrane translocation of p47phox was assessed by measuring the cytosol/membrane ratio of p47phox. The effects of the NOX inhibitor VAS2870 and p47phox-siRNA on bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity were investigated. Furthermore, the effect of VAS2870 on bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity was assessed in vivo in rats. All these changes were reversed by pretreatment with VAS2870 or transfection with p47phox-siRNA in SH-SY5Y cells. Similarly, pretreatment with VAS2870 attenuated bupivacaine-induced neuronal toxicity in rats. It is concluded that enhancing p47phox membrane translocation is a major mechanism whereby bupivacaine induced neurotoxicity and that pretreatment with VAS2870 or local p47phox gene knockdown attenuated bupivacaine-induced neuronal cell injury.

  6. Oxygen/Alcohol Dual Thrust RCS Engines

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Angstadt, Tara; Hurlbert, Eric

    1999-01-01

    A non-toxic dual thrust RCS engine offers significant operational, safety, and performance advantages to the space shuttle and the next generation RLVs. In this concept, a single engine produces two thrust levels of 25 and 870 lbf. The low thrust level is provided by the spark torch igniter, which, with the addition of 2 extra valves, can also be made to function as a vernier. A dual thrust RCS engine allows 38 verniers to be packaged more efficiently on a vehicle. These 38 vemiers improve translation and reduce cross coupling, thereby providing more pure roll, pitch, and yaw maneuvers of the vehicle. Compared to the 6 vemiers currently on the shuttle, the 38 dual thrust engines would be 25 to 40% more efficient for the same maneuvers and attitude control. The vernier thrust level also reduces plume impingement and contamination concerns. Redundancy is also improved, thereby improving mission success reliability. Oxygen and ethanol are benign propellants which do not create explosive reaction products or contamination, as compared to hypergolic propellants. These characteristics make dual-thrust engines simpler to implement on a non-toxic reaction control system. Tests at WSTF in August 1999 demonstrated a dual-thrust concept that is successful with oxygen and ethanol. Over a variety of inlet pressures and mixture ratios at 22:1 area ratio, the engine produced between 230 and 297 sec Isp, and thrust levels from 8 lbf. to 50 lbf. This paper describes the benefits of dual-thrust engines and the recent results from tests at WSTF.

  7. Protein expression and oxygen consumption rate of early postmortem mitochondria relate to meat tenderness.

    PubMed

    Grabež, V; Kathri, M; Phung, V; Moe, K M; Slinde, E; Skaugen, M; Saarem, K; Egelandsdal, B

    2015-04-01

    Oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of muscle fibers from bovine semimembranosus muscle of 41 animals was investigated 3 to 4 h and 3 wk postmortem. Significant relations (P < 0.05) were found between OCR measurements and Warner-Bratzler shear force measurement. Muscles with high mitochondrial OCR after 3 to 4 h and low nonmitochondrial oxygen consumption gave more tender meat. Tender (22.92 ± 2.2 N/cm2) and tough (72.98 ± 7.2 N/cm2) meat samples (4 samples each), separated based on their OCR measurements, were selected for proteomic studies using mitochondria isolated approximately 2.5 h postmortem. Twenty-six differently expressed proteins (P < 0.05) were identified in tender meat and 19 in tough meat. In tender meat, the more prevalent antioxidant and chaperon enzymes may reduce reactive oxygen species and prolong oxygen removal by the electron transport system (ETS). Glycolytic, Krebs cycle, and ETS enzymes were also more abundant in tender meat

  8. Hydrogen sulfide alleviates mercury toxicity by sequestering it in roots or regulating reactive oxygen species productions in rice seedlings.

    PubMed

    Chen, Zhen; Chen, Moshun; Jiang, Ming

    2017-02-01

    Soil mercury (Hg) contamination is a major factor that affects agricultural yield and food security. Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) plays multifunctional roles in mediating a variety of responses to abiotic stresses. The effects of exogenous H 2 S on rice (Oryza sativa var 'Nipponbare') growth and metabolism under mercuric chloride (HgCl 2 ) stress were investigated in this study. Either 100 or 200 μM sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, a donor of H 2 S) pretreatment improved the transcription of bZIP60, a membrane-associated transcription factor, and then enhanced the expressions of non-protein thiols (NPT) and metallothioneins (OsMT-1) to sequester Hg in roots and thus inhibit Hg transport to shoots. Meanwhile, H 2 S promoted seedlings growth significantly even in the presences of Hg and superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) or catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) inhibitors, diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) or 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (AT). H 2 S might act as an antioxidant to inhibit or scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) productions for maintaining the lower MDA and H 2 O 2 levels, and thereby preventing oxidative damages. All these results indicated H 2 S effectively alleviated Hg toxicity by sequestering it in roots or by regulating ROS in seedlings and then thus significantly promoted rice growth. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  9. Patterns and trends in sediment toxicity in the San Francisco Estuary

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Anderson, B.; Hunt, J.; Phillips, B.; Thompson, B.; Lowe, S.; Taberski, K.; Scott, Carr R.

    2007-01-01

    Widespread sediment toxicity has been documented throughout the San Francisco Estuary since the mid-1980s. Studies conducted in the early 1990s as part of the Bay Protection and Toxic Cleanup Program (BPTCP), and more recently as part of the Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) have continued to find sediment toxicity in the Estuary. Results of these studies have shown a number of sediment toxic hotspots located at selected sites in the margins of the Estuary. Recent RMP monitoring has indicated that the magnitude and frequency of sediment toxicity is greater in the winter wet season than in the summer dry season, which suggests stormwater inputs are associated with sediment toxicity. Additionally, spatial trends in sediment toxicity data indicate that toxic sediments are associated with inputs from urban creeks surrounding the Estuary, and from Central Valley rivers entering the northern Estuary via the Delta. Sediment toxicity has been correlated with a number of contaminants, including selected metals, PAHs and organochlorine pesticides. While toxicity identification evaluations (TIEs) suggest that metals are the primary cause of sediment toxicity to bivalve embryos; TIEs conducted with amphipods have been inconclusive. ?? 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Combined effects of toxic cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and hypoxia on the physiological responses of triangle sail mussel Hyriopsis cumingii.

    PubMed

    Hu, Menghong; Wu, Fangli; Yuan, Mingzhe; Liu, Qigen; Wang, Youji

    2016-04-05

    The single and combined effects of toxic cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and hypoxia on the energy budget of triangle sail mussel Hyriopsis cumingii were determined in terms of scope for growth (SfG). Mussels were exposed to different combinations of toxic M. aeruginosa (0%, 50%, and 100% of total dietary dry weight) and dissolved oxygen concentrations (1, 3, and 6.0mg O2l(-1)) with a 3×3 factorial design for 14 days, followed by a recovery period with normal conditions for 7 days. Microcystin contents in mussel tissues increased with the increase in the exposed M. aeruginosa concentration at each sampling time. Adverse physiological responses of H. cumingii under toxic M. aeruginosa and hypoxic exposure were found in terms of clearance rate, absorption efficiency, respiration rate, excretion rate, and SfG. Results emphasized the importance of combined effects of hypoxia and toxic cyanobacteria on H. cumingii bioenergetic parameters, highlighted the interactive effects of toxic algae and hypoxia, and implied that the two stressors affected H. cumingii during the exposure period and showed carryover effects later. Thus, if H. cumingii is used as a bioremediation tool to eliminate M. aeruginosa, the waters should be oxygenated. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Chromium(VI) Toxicity in Legume Plants: Modulation Effects of Rhizobial Symbiosis

    PubMed Central

    Lushchak, Volodymyr I.

    2018-01-01

    Most legume species have the ability to establish a symbiotic relationship with soil nitrogen-fixing rhizobacteria that promote plant growth and productivity. There is an increasing evidence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) important role in formation of legume-rhizobium symbiosis and nodule functioning. Environmental pollutants such as chromium compounds can cause damage to rhizobia, legumes, and their symbiosis. In plants, toxic effects of chromium(VI) compounds are associated with the increased production of ROS and oxidative stress development as well as with inhibition of pigment synthesis and modification of virtually all cellular components. These metabolic changes result in inhibition of seed germination and seedling development as well as reduction of plant biomass and crop yield. However, if plants establish symbiosis with rhizobia, heavy metals are accumulated preferentially in nodules decreasing the toxicity of metals to the host plant. This review summarizes data on toxic effects of chromium on legume plants and legume-rhizobium symbiosis. In addition, we discussed the role of oxidative stress in both chromium toxicity and formation of rhizobial symbiosis and use of nodule bacteria for minimizing toxic effects of chromium on plants. PMID:29662899

  12. Net production of oxygen in the subtropical ocean.

    PubMed

    Riser, Stephen C; Johnson, Kenneth S

    2008-01-17

    The question of whether the plankton communities in low-nutrient regions of the ocean, comprising 80% of the global ocean surface area, are net producers or consumers of oxygen and fixed carbon is a key uncertainty in the global carbon cycle. Direct measurements in bottle experiments indicate net oxygen consumption in the sunlit zone, whereas geochemical evidence suggests that the upper ocean is a net source of oxygen. One possible resolution to this conflict is that primary production in the gyres is episodic and thus difficult to observe: in this model, oligotrophic regions would be net consumers of oxygen during most of the year, but strong, brief events with high primary production rates might produce enough fixed carbon and dissolved oxygen to yield net production as an average over the annual cycle. Here we examine the balance of oxygen production over three years at sites in the North and South Pacific subtropical gyres using the new technique of oxygen sensors deployed on profiling floats. We find that mixing events during early winter homogenize the upper water column and cause low oxygen concentrations. Oxygen then increases below the mixed layer at a nearly constant rate that is similar to independent measures of net community production. This continuous oxygen increase is consistent with an ecosystem that is a net producer of fixed carbon (net autotrophic) throughout the year, with episodic events not required to sustain positive oxygen production.

  13. Oxygenation of the Mesoproterozoic ocean and the evolution of complex eukaryotes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Kan; Zhu, Xiangkun; Wood, Rachel A.; Shi, Yao; Gao, Zhaofu; Poulton, Simon W.

    2018-05-01

    The Mesoproterozoic era (1,600-1,000 million years ago (Ma)) has long been considered a period of relative environmental stasis, with persistently low levels of atmospheric oxygen. There remains much uncertainty, however, over the evolution of ocean chemistry during this period, which may have been of profound significance for the early evolution of eukaryotic life. Here we present rare earth element, iron-speciation and inorganic carbon isotope data to investigate the redox evolution of the 1,600-1,550 Ma Yanliao Basin, North China Craton. These data confirm that the ocean at the start of the Mesoproterozoic was dominantly anoxic and ferruginous. Significantly, however, we find evidence for a progressive oxygenation event starting at 1,570 Ma, immediately prior to the occurrence of complex multicellular eukaryotes in shelf areas of the Yanliao Basin. Our study thus demonstrates that oxygenation of the Mesoproterozoic environment was far more dynamic and intense than previously envisaged, and establishes an important link between rising oxygen and the emerging record of diverse, multicellular eukaryotic life in the early Mesoproterozoic.

  14. Metabolism and toxicity of arsenicals in mammals.

    PubMed

    Sattar, Adeel; Xie, Shuyu; Hafeez, Mian Abdul; Wang, Xu; Hussain, Hafiz Iftikhar; Iqbal, Zahid; Pan, Yuanhu; Iqbal, Mujahid; Shabbir, Muhammad Abubakr; Yuan, Zonghui

    2016-12-01

    Arsenic (As) is a metalloid usually found in organic and inorganic forms with different oxidation states, while inorganic form (arsenite As-III and arsenate As-v) is considered to be more hazardous as compared to organic form (methylarsonate and dimethylarsinate), with mild or no toxicity in mammals. Due to an increasing trend to using arsenicals as growth promoters or for treatment purposes, the understanding of metabolism and toxicity of As gets vital importance. Its toxicity is mainly depends on oxi-reduction states (As-III or As-v) and the level of methylation during the metabolism process. Currently, the exact metabolic pathways of As have yet to be confirmed in humans and food producing animals. Oxidative methylation and glutathione conjugation is believed to be major pathways of As metabolism. Oxidative methylation is based on conversion of Arsenite in to mono-methylarsonic acid and di-methylarsenic acid in mammals. It has been confirmed that As is only methylated in the presence of glutathione or thiol compounds, suggesting that As is being methylated in trivalent states. Subsequently, non-conjugated trivalent arsenicals are highly reactive with thiol which converts the trivalent arsenicals in to less toxic pentavalent forms. The glutathione conjugate stability of As is the most important factor for determining the toxicity. It can lead to DNA damage by alerting enzyme profile and production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species which causes the oxidative stress. Moreover, As causes immune-dysfunction by hindering cellular and humeral immune response. The present review discussed different metabolic pathways and toxic outcomes of arsenicals in mammals which will be helpful in health risk assessment and its impact on biological world. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  15. Environmental democracy in action: The Toxics Release Inventory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lynn, Frances M.; Kartez, Jack D.

    1994-07-01

    The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) created by the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act initially received limited attention. During the early years of its implementation, the TRI has become the basis for a national experiment in voluntaristic problem solving among citizens and industry, but that process of environmental democracy hinges on citizens' ability to actually acquire, understand, and apply the new data on industrial toxic emissions. A national study of TRI-using organizations in the public and private sectors reveals that effective citizen access depends in part on the efforts of intermediary public interest groups to bridge individual needs and right-to-know data. Although the TRI has had early success as a supplement to conventional command and control regulation, questions exist about the extent to which state and federal government should or must provide special efforts to make environmental information access work for citizens.

  16. How Should Oxygen Supplementation Be Guided by Pulse Oximetry in Children: Do We Know the Level?

    PubMed Central

    Langley, Ross; Cunningham, Steve

    2017-01-01

    Supplemental oxygen is one of the most commonly prescribed therapies to children in hospital, but one of the least studied therapeutics. This review considers oxygen from a range of perspectives; discovery and early use; estimation of oxygenation in the human body—both clinically and by medical device; the effects of illness on oxygen utilization; the cellular consequences of low oxygen; and finally, how clinical studies currently inform our approach to targeting supplementing oxygen in those with lower than normal oxygen saturation. PMID:28191454

  17. Acute toxicity of organochlorine insecticide endosulfan to the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrochium rosenbergii

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dai, Xilin; Xiong, Zhaodi; Xie, Jian; Ding, Fujiang

    2014-01-01

    Endosulfan, an organochlorine pesticide, is highly toxic and effective at controlling pests in agriculture, horticulture, and public health programs. In this study, static bioassays were used to evaluate the toxicity of endosulfan to freshwater prawns ( Macrobrachium rosenbergii) of various lengths (1.5±0.03, 4±0.08, and 7±0.06 cm). Additionally, the activities of peroxidase (POD), acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and Na+/K+-ATPase were analyzed to reflect the effects of endosulfan exposure. The 96 h LC50 of endosulfan for prawns 1.5, 4, and 7 cm long were 1.86, 4.53, and 6.09 μg/L, respectively, improved tolerance to endosulfan with growth. The POD activities of test organisms exposed to low concentrations of endosulfan were inhibited, indicating the presence of oxygen damaged tissue. Moreover, a notable decrease in AChE activity was observed due to overstimulation of neurotransmission, which might result in abnormal behavior. The effect caused by endosulfan on phosphatase production in the hepatopancreas of prawns 1.5, 4, and 7 cm long was different because the ability of nonspecific immune regulation increased with growth. The 96 h LC50 values obtained in this study could be used in the formulation of water-quality criteria in China. Moreover, the changes in enzymes activities of M. rosenbergii under stress of endosulfan could be applied in the establishment of early warning indicators for bio-safety.

  18. A comparative study of the usefulness of color vision, photostress recovery time, and visual evoked potential tests in early detection of ocular toxicity from hydroxychloroquine.

    PubMed

    Heravian, Javad; Saghafi, Massoud; Shoeibi, Naser; Hassanzadeh, Samira; Shakeri, Mohammad Taghi; Sharepoor, Maria

    2011-08-01

    Ocular toxicity from hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is rare, but its potential permanence and severity makes it imperative to employ measures and screening protocols to minimize its occurrence. This study was performed to assess the usefulness of color vision, photo stress recovery time (PSRT), and visual evoked potentials (VEP) in early detection of ocular toxicity of HCQ, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). 86 patients were included in the study and divided into three groups: (1) with history of HCQ use: interventional 1 (Int.1) without fundoscopic changes and Int.2 with fundoscopic changes; and (2) without history of HCQ use, as control. Visual field, color vision, PSRT and VEP results were recorded for all patients and the effect of age, disease duration, treatment duration and cumulative dose of HCQ on each test was assessed in each group. There was a significant relationship among PSRT and age, treatment duration, cumulative dose of HCQ and disease duration (P<0.001 for all). Color vision was normal in all the cases. P100 amplitude was not different between the three groups (P=0.846), but P100 latency was significantly different (P=0.025) and for Int.2 it was greater than the others. The percentage of abnormal visual fields for Int.2 was more than Int.1 and control groups (P=0.002 and P=0.005 respectively), but Int.1 and control groups were not significantly different (P>0.50). In the early stages of maculopathy, P100 latencies of VEP and PSRT are useful predictors of HCQ ocular toxicity. In patients without ocular symptoms and fundoscopic changes, the P100 latency of VEP predicts more precisely than the others.

  19. NMR-based urine analysis in rats: prediction of proximal tubule kidney toxicity and phospholipidosis.

    PubMed

    Lienemann, Kai; Plötz, Thomas; Pestel, Sabine

    2008-01-01

    The aim of safety pharmacology is early detection of compound-induced side-effects. NMR-based urine analysis followed by multivariate data analysis (metabonomics) identifies efficiently differences between toxic and non-toxic compounds; but in most cases multiple administrations of the test compound are necessary. We tested the feasibility of detecting proximal tubule kidney toxicity and phospholipidosis with metabonomics techniques after single compound administration as an early safety pharmacology approach. Rats were treated orally, intravenously, inhalatively or intraperitoneally with different test compounds. Urine was collected at 0-8 h and 8-24 h after compound administration, and (1)H NMR-patterns were recorded from the samples. Variation of post-processing and feature extraction methods led to different views on the data. Support Vector Machines were trained on these different data sets and then aggregated as experts in an Ensemble. Finally, validity was monitored with a cross-validation study using a training, validation, and test data set. Proximal tubule kidney toxicity could be predicted with reasonable total classification accuracy (85%), specificity (88%) and sensitivity (78%). In comparison to alternative histological studies, results were obtained quicker, compound need was reduced, and very importantly fewer animals were needed. In contrast, the induction of phospholipidosis by the test compounds could not be predicted using NMR-based urine analysis or the previously published biomarker PAG. NMR-based urine analysis was shown to effectively predict proximal tubule kidney toxicity after single compound administration in rats. Thus, this experimental design allows early detection of toxicity risks with relatively low amounts of compound in a reasonably short period of time.

  20. Glyphosate induces cardiovascular toxicity in Danio rerio.

    PubMed

    Roy, Nicole M; Ochs, Jeremy; Zambrzycka, Ewelina; Anderson, Ariann

    2016-09-01

    Glyphosate is a broad spectrum herbicide used aggressively in agricultural practices as well as home garden care. Although labeled "safe" by the chemical industry, doses tested by industry do not mimic chronic exposures to sublethal doses that organisms in the environment are exposed to over long periods of time. Given the widespread uses of and exposure to glyphosate, studies on developmental toxicity are needed. Here we utilize the zebrafish vertebrate model system to study early effects of glyphosate on the developing heart. Treatment by embryo soaking with 50μg/ml glyphosate starting at gastrulation results in structural abnormalities in the atrium and ventricle, irregular heart looping, situs inversus as well as decreased heartbeats by 48h as determined by live imaging and immunohistochemistry. Vasculature in the body was also affected as determined using fli-1 transgenic embryos. To determine if the effects noted at 48h post fertilization are due to early stage alterations in myocardial precursors, we also investigate cardiomyocyte development with a Mef2 antibody and by mef2ca in situ hybridization and find alterations in the Mef2/mef2ca staining patterns during early cardiac patterning stages. We conclude that glyphosate is developmentally toxic to the zebrafish heart. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Linking hydrogen-mediated boron toxicity tolerance with improvement of root elongation, water status and reactive oxygen species balance: a case study for rice.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yu; Duan, Xingliang; Xu, Sheng; Wang, Ren; Ouyang, Zhaozeng; Shen, Wenbiao

    2016-12-01

    Boron is essential for plant growth but hazardous when present in excess. As the antioxidant properties of hydrogen gas (H 2 ) were recently described in plants, oxidative stress induced by excess boron was investigated along with other biological responses during rice (Oryza sativa) seed germination to study the beneficial role of H 2 METHODS: Rice seeds were pretreated with exogenous H 2 Using physiological, pharmacological and molecular approaches, the production of endogenous H 2 , growth status, reactive oxygen species (ROS) balance and relative gene expression in rice were measured under boron stress to investigate mechanisms of H 2 -mediated boron toxicity tolerance. In our test, boron-inhibited seed germination and seedling growth, and endogenous H 2 production, were obviously blocked by exogenously applying H 2 The re-establishment of ROS balance was confirmed by reduced lipid peroxidation and ROS accumulation. Meanwhile, activities of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) were increased. Suppression of pectin methylesterase (PME) activity and downregulation of PME transcripts by H 2 were consistent with the alleviation of root growth inhibition caused by boron. Water status was improved as well. This result was confirmed by the upregulation of genes encoding specific aquaporins (AQPs), the maintenance of low osmotic potential and high content of soluble sugar. Increased transcription of representative AQP genes (PIP2;7 in particular) and BOR2 along with decreased BOR1 mRNA may contribute to lowering boron accumulation. Hydrogen provides boron toxicity tolerance mainly by improving root elongation, water status and ROS balance. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Ignition Temperatures of Metals in Oxygen Atmospheres

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Laurendeau, N. M.; Glassman, I.

    1971-01-01

    The ignition temperature of ten common non-toxic metals has been determined experimentally in an oxygen environment. In this investigation a induction furnace facility that emphasized the preignition surface.oxidation effects upon the ignition temperature was used. The bulk ignition temperatures of barium, bismuth, calcium, iron, lead, magnesium, molybdenum, strontium, tin, and zinc were found and compared to the previous results of Grosse and Conway. The differences in the results are attributed to how the heating cycle is carried out and how the cycle affects the surface oxide coat.

  3. The Search for Nonflammable Solvent Alternatives for Cleaning Aerospace Oxygen Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mitchell, Mark; Lowrey, Nikki

    2012-01-01

    Oxygen systems are susceptible to fires caused by particle and nonvolatile residue (NVR) contaminants, therefore cleaning and verification is essential for system safety. . Cleaning solvents used on oxygen system components must be either nonflammable in pure oxygen or complete removal must be assured for system safety. . CFC -113 was the solvent of choice before 1996 because it was effective, least toxic, compatible with most materials of construction, and non ]reactive with oxygen. When CFC -113 was phased out in 1996, HCFC -225 was selected as an interim replacement for cleaning propulsion oxygen systems at NASA. HCFC-225 production phase-out date is 01/01/2015. HCFC ]225 (AK ]225G) is used extensively at Marshall Space Flight Center and Stennis Space Center for cleaning and NVR verification on large propulsion oxygen systems, and propulsion test stands and ground support equipment. . Many components are too large for ultrasonic agitation - necessary for effective aqueous cleaning and NVR sampling. . Test stand equipment must be cleaned prior to installation of test hardware. Many items must be cleaned by wipe or flush in situ where complete removal of a flammable solvent cannot be assured. The search for a replacement solvent for these applications is ongoing.

  4. Cytotoxic and Antitumor Activity of Sulforaphane: The Role of Reactive Oxygen Species

    PubMed Central

    Sestili, Piero

    2015-01-01

    According to recent estimates, cancer continues to remain the second leading cause of death and is becoming the leading one in old age. Failure and high systemic toxicity of conventional cancer therapies have accelerated the identification and development of innovative preventive as well as therapeutic strategies to contrast cancer-associated morbidity and mortality. In recent years, increasing body of in vitro and in vivo studies has underscored the cancer preventive and therapeutic efficacy of the isothiocyanate sulforaphane. In this review article, we highlight that sulforaphane cytotoxicity derives from complex, concurring, and multiple mechanisms, among which the generation of reactive oxygen species has been identified as playing a central role in promoting apoptosis and autophagy of target cells. We also discuss the site and the mechanism of reactive oxygen species' formation by sulforaphane, the toxicological relevance of sulforaphane-formed reactive oxygen species, and the death pathways triggered by sulforaphane-derived reactive oxygen species. PMID:26185755

  5. Superoxide dismutating molecules rescue the toxic effects of PINK1 and parkin loss.

    PubMed

    Biosa, Alice; Sanchez-Martinez, Alvaro; Filograna, Roberta; Terriente-Felix, Ana; Alam, Sarah M; Beltramini, Mariano; Bubacco, Luigi; Bisaglia, Marco; Whitworth, Alexander J

    2018-05-01

    Reactive oxygen species exert important functions in regulating several cellular signalling pathways. However, an excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species can perturb the redox homeostasis leading to oxidative stress, a condition which has been associated to many neurodegenerative disorders. Accordingly, alterations in the redox state of cells and mitochondrial homeostasis are established hallmarks in both familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease cases. PINK1 and Parkin are two genes which account for a large fraction of autosomal recessive early-onset forms of Parkinson's disease and are now firmly associated to both mitochondria and redox homeostasis. In this study we explored the hypothesis that superoxide anions participate in the generation of the Parkin and PINK1 associated phenotypic effect by testing the capacity of endogenous and exogenous superoxide dismutating molecules to rescue the toxic effects induced by loss of PINK1 or Parkin, in both cellular and fly models. Our results demonstrate the positive effect of an increased level of superoxide dismutase proteins on the pathological phenotypes, both in vitro and in vivo. A more pronounced effectiveness for mitochondrial SOD2 activity points to the superoxide radicals generated in the mitochondrial matrix as the prime suspect in the definition of the observed phenotypes. Moreover, we also demonstrate the efficacy of a SOD-mimetic compound, M40403, to partially ameliorate PINK1/Parkin phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. These results support the further exploration of SOD-mimetic compounds as a therapeutic strategy against Parkinson's disease.

  6. Impaired ERAD and ER stress are early and specific events in polyglutamine toxicity

    PubMed Central

    Duennwald, Martin L.; Lindquist, Susan

    2008-01-01

    Protein misfolding, whether caused by aging, environmental factors, or genetic mutations, is a common basis for neurodegenerative diseases. The misfolding of proteins with abnormally long polyglutamine (polyQ) expansions causes several neurodegenerative disorders, such as Huntington’s disease (HD). Although many cellular pathways have been documented to be impaired in HD, the primary triggers of polyQ toxicity remain elusive. We report that yeast cells and neuron-like PC12 cells expressing polyQ-expanded huntingtin (htt) fragments display a surprisingly specific, immediate, and drastic defect in endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD). We further decipher the mechanistic basis for this defect in ERAD: the entrapment of the essential ERAD proteins Npl4, Ufd1, and p97 by polyQ-expanded htt fragments. In both yeast and mammalian neuron-like cells, overexpression of Npl4 and Ufd1 ameliorates polyQ toxicity. Our results establish that impaired ER protein homeostasis is a broad and highly conserved contributor to polyQ toxicity in yeast, in PC12 cells, and, importantly, in striatal cells expressing full-length polyQ-expanded huntingtin. PMID:19015277

  7. Earliest land plants created modern levels of atmospheric oxygen.

    PubMed

    Lenton, Timothy M; Dahl, Tais W; Daines, Stuart J; Mills, Benjamin J W; Ozaki, Kazumi; Saltzman, Matthew R; Porada, Philipp

    2016-08-30

    The progressive oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere was pivotal to the evolution of life, but the puzzle of when and how atmospheric oxygen (O2) first approached modern levels (∼21%) remains unresolved. Redox proxy data indicate the deep oceans were oxygenated during 435-392 Ma, and the appearance of fossil charcoal indicates O2 >15-17% by 420-400 Ma. However, existing models have failed to predict oxygenation at this time. Here we show that the earliest plants, which colonized the land surface from ∼470 Ma onward, were responsible for this mid-Paleozoic oxygenation event, through greatly increasing global organic carbon burial-the net long-term source of O2 We use a trait-based ecophysiological model to predict that cryptogamic vegetation cover could have achieved ∼30% of today's global terrestrial net primary productivity by ∼445 Ma. Data from modern bryophytes suggests this plentiful early plant material had a much higher molar C:P ratio (∼2,000) than marine biomass (∼100), such that a given weathering flux of phosphorus could support more organic carbon burial. Furthermore, recent experiments suggest that early plants selectively increased the flux of phosphorus (relative to alkalinity) weathered from rocks. Combining these effects in a model of long-term biogeochemical cycling, we reproduce a sustained +2‰ increase in the carbonate carbon isotope (δ(13)C) record by ∼445 Ma, and predict a corresponding rise in O2 to present levels by 420-400 Ma, consistent with geochemical data. This oxygen rise represents a permanent shift in regulatory regime to one where fire-mediated negative feedbacks stabilize high O2 levels.

  8. Earliest land plants created modern levels of atmospheric oxygen

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lenton, Timothy M.; Dahl, Tais W.; Daines, Stuart J.; Mills, Benjamin J. W.; Ozaki, Kazumi; Saltzman, Matthew R.; Porada, Philipp

    2016-08-01

    The progressive oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere was pivotal to the evolution of life, but the puzzle of when and how atmospheric oxygen (O2) first approached modern levels (˜21%) remains unresolved. Redox proxy data indicate the deep oceans were oxygenated during 435-392 Ma, and the appearance of fossil charcoal indicates O2 >15-17% by 420-400 Ma. However, existing models have failed to predict oxygenation at this time. Here we show that the earliest plants, which colonized the land surface from ˜470 Ma onward, were responsible for this mid-Paleozoic oxygenation event, through greatly increasing global organic carbon burial—the net long-term source of O2. We use a trait-based ecophysiological model to predict that cryptogamic vegetation cover could have achieved ˜30% of today’s global terrestrial net primary productivity by ˜445 Ma. Data from modern bryophytes suggests this plentiful early plant material had a much higher molar C:P ratio (˜2,000) than marine biomass (˜100), such that a given weathering flux of phosphorus could support more organic carbon burial. Furthermore, recent experiments suggest that early plants selectively increased the flux of phosphorus (relative to alkalinity) weathered from rocks. Combining these effects in a model of long-term biogeochemical cycling, we reproduce a sustained +2‰ increase in the carbonate carbon isotope (δ13C) record by ˜445 Ma, and predict a corresponding rise in O2 to present levels by 420-400 Ma, consistent with geochemical data. This oxygen rise represents a permanent shift in regulatory regime to one where fire-mediated negative feedbacks stabilize high O2 levels.

  9. A Perspective on the Toxicity of Low Concentrations of Petroleum-Derived Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons to Early Life Stages of Herring and Salmon

    PubMed Central

    Page, David S.; Chapman, Peter M.; Landrum, Peter F.; Neff, Jerry; Elston, Ralph

    2012-01-01

    This article presents a critical review of two groups of studies that reported adverse effects to salmon and herring eggs and fry from exposure to 1 μg/L or less of aqueous total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (TPAH), as weathered oil, and a more toxic aqueous extract of “very weathered oil.” Exposure media were prepared by continuously flowing water up through vertical columns containing gravel oiled at different concentrations of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Uncontrolled variables associated with the use of the oiled gravel columns included time- and treatment-dependent variations in the PAH concentration and composition in the exposure water, unexplored toxicity from other oil constituents/degradation products, potential toxicity from bacterial and fungal activity, oil droplets as a potential contaminant source, inherent differences between control and exposed embryo populations, and water flow rate differences. Based on a review of the evidence from published project reports, peer-reviewed publications, chemistry data in a public database, and unpublished reports and laboratory records, the reviewed studies did not establish consistent dose (concentration) response or causality and thus do not demonstrate that dissolved PAH alone from the weathered oil resulted in the claimed effects on fish embryos at low μg/L TPAH concentrations. Accordingly, these studies should not be relied on for management decision-making, when assessing the risk of very low–level PAH exposures to early life stages of fish. PMID:22754275

  10. Chronic toxicity of nickel-spiked freshwater sediments: variation in toxicity among eight invertebrate taxa and eight sediments

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Besser, John M.; Brumbaugh, William G.; Ingersoll, Christopher G.; Ivey, Chris D.; Kunz, James L.; Kemble, Nile E.; Schlekat, Christian E.; Garman, Emily R.

    2013-01-01

    This study evaluated the chronic toxicity of Ni-spiked freshwater sediments to benthic invertebrates. A 2-step spiking procedure (spiking and sediment dilution) and a 2-stage equilibration period (10 wk anaerobic and 1 wk aerobic) were used to spike 8 freshwater sediments with wide ranges of acid-volatile sulfide (AVS; 0.94–38 µmol/g) and total organic carbon (TOC; 0.42–10%). Chronic sediment toxicity tests were conducted with 8 invertebrates (Hyalella azteca, Gammarus pseudolimnaeus, Chironomus riparius, Chironomus dilutus, Hexagenia sp., Lumbriculus variegatus, Tubifex tubifex, and Lampsilis siliquoidea) in 2 spiked sediments. Nickel toxicity thresholds estimated from species-sensitivity distributions were 97 µg/g and 752 µg/g (total recoverable Ni; dry wt basis) for sediments with low and high concentrations of AVS and TOC, respectively. Sensitive species were tested with 6 additional sediments. The 20% effect concentrations (EC20s) for Hyalella and Gammarus, but not Hexagenia, were consistent with US Environmental Protection Agency benchmarks based on Ni in porewater and in simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) normalized to AVS and TOC. For Hexagenia, sediment EC20s increased at less than an equimolar basis with increased AVS, and toxicity occurred in several sediments with Ni concentrations in SEM less than AVS. The authors hypothesize that circulation of oxygenated water by Hexagenia led to oxidation of AVS in burrows, creating microenvironments with high Ni exposure. Despite these unexpected results, a strong relationship between Hexagenia EC20s and AVS could provide a basis for conservative site-specific sediment quality guidelines for Ni.

  11. Chronic toxicity of nickel-spiked freshwater sediments: variation in toxicity among eight invertebrate taxa and eight sediments.

    PubMed

    Besser, John M; Brumbaugh, William G; Ingersoll, Christopher G; Ivey, Chris D; Kunz, James L; Kemble, Nile E; Schlekat, Christian E; Garman, Emily Rogevich

    2013-11-01

    This study evaluated the chronic toxicity of Ni-spiked freshwater sediments to benthic invertebrates. A 2-step spiking procedure (spiking and sediment dilution) and a 2-stage equilibration period (10 wk anaerobic and 1 wk aerobic) were used to spike 8 freshwater sediments with wide ranges of acid-volatile sulfide (AVS; 0.94-38 µmol/g) and total organic carbon (TOC; 0.42-10%). Chronic sediment toxicity tests were conducted with 8 invertebrates (Hyalella azteca, Gammarus pseudolimnaeus, Chironomus riparius, Chironomus dilutus, Hexagenia sp., Lumbriculus variegatus, Tubifex tubifex, and Lampsilis siliquoidea) in 2 spiked sediments. Nickel toxicity thresholds estimated from species-sensitivity distributions were 97 µg/g and 752 µg/g (total recoverable Ni; dry wt basis) for sediments with low and high concentrations of AVS and TOC, respectively. Sensitive species were tested with 6 additional sediments. The 20% effect concentrations (EC20s) for Hyalella and Gammarus, but not Hexagenia, were consistent with US Environmental Protection Agency benchmarks based on Ni in porewater and in simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) normalized to AVS and TOC. For Hexagenia, sediment EC20s increased at less than an equimolar basis with increased AVS, and toxicity occurred in several sediments with Ni concentrations in SEM less than AVS. The authors hypothesize that circulation of oxygenated water by Hexagenia led to oxidation of AVS in burrows, creating microenvironments with high Ni exposure. Despite these unexpected results, a strong relationship between Hexagenia EC20s and AVS could provide a basis for conservative site-specific sediment quality guidelines for Ni. © 2013 SETAC.

  12. Rise to modern levels of ocean oxygenation coincided with the Cambrian radiation of animals.

    PubMed

    Chen, Xi; Ling, Hong-Fei; Vance, Derek; Shields-Zhou, Graham A; Zhu, Maoyan; Poulton, Simon W; Och, Lawrence M; Jiang, Shao-Yong; Li, Da; Cremonese, Lorenzo; Archer, Corey

    2015-05-18

    The early diversification of animals (∼ 630 Ma), and their development into both motile and macroscopic forms (∼ 575-565 Ma), has been linked to stepwise increases in the oxygenation of Earth's surface environment. However, establishing such a linkage between oxygen and evolution for the later Cambrian 'explosion' (540-520 Ma) of new, energy-sapping body plans and behaviours has proved more elusive. Here we present new molybdenum isotope data, which demonstrate that the areal extent of oxygenated bottom waters increased in step with the early Cambrian bioradiation of animals and eukaryotic phytoplankton. Modern-like oxygen levels characterized the ocean at ∼ 521 Ma for the first time in Earth history. This marks the first establishment of a key environmental factor in modern-like ecosystems, where animals benefit from, and also contribute to, the 'homeostasis' of marine redox conditions.

  13. Oxygen dependency of germinating Brassica seeds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, Myoung Ryoul; Hasenstein, Karl H.

    2016-02-01

    Establishing plants in space, Moon or Mars requires adaptation to altered conditions, including reduced pressure and composition of atmospheres. To determine the oxygen requirements for seed germination, we imbibed Brassica rapa seeds under varying oxygen concentrations and profiled the transcription patterns of genes related to early metabolism such as starch degradation, glycolysis, and fermentation. We also analyzed the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), and measured starch degradation. Partial oxygen pressure (pO2) greater than 10% resulted in normal germination (i.e., protrusion of radicle about 18 hours after imbibition) but lower pO2 delayed and reduced germination. Imbibition in an oxygen-free atmosphere for three days resulted in no germination but subsequent transfer to air initiated germination in 75% of the seeds and the root growth rate was transiently greater than in roots germinated under ambient pO2. In hypoxic seeds soluble sugars degraded faster but the content of starch after 24 h was higher than at ambient oxygen. Transcription of genes related to starch degradation, α-amylase (AMY) and Sucrose Synthase (SUS), was higher under ambient O2 than under hypoxia. Glycolysis and fermentation pathway-related genes, glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI), 6-phosphofructokinase (PFK), fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (ALD), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), LDH, and ADH, were induced by low pO2. The activity of LDH and ADH was the highest in anoxic seeds. Germination under low O2 conditions initiated ethanolic fermentation. Therefore, sufficient oxygen availability is important for germination before photosynthesis provides necessary oxygen and the determination of an oxygen carrying capacity is important for uniform growth in space conditions.

  14. Effects of early life exposure to ultraviolet C radiation on mitochondrial DNA content, transcription, ATP production, and oxygen consumption in developing Caenorhabditis elegans

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is present in multiple copies per cell and undergoes dramatic amplification during development. The impacts of mtDNA damage incurred early in development are not well understood, especially in the case of types of mtDNA damage that are irreparable, such as ultraviolet C radiation (UVC)-induced photodimers. Methods We exposed first larval stage nematodes to UVC using a protocol that results in accumulated mtDNA damage but permits nuclear DNA (nDNA) repair. We then measured the transcriptional response, as well as oxygen consumption, ATP levels, and mtDNA copy number through adulthood. Results Although the mtDNA damage persisted to the fourth larval stage, we observed only a relatively minor ~40% decrease in mtDNA copy number. Transcriptomic analysis suggested an inhibition of aerobic metabolism and developmental processes; mRNA levels for mtDNA-encoded genes were reduced ~50% at 3 hours post-treatment, but recovered and, in some cases, were upregulated at 24 and 48 hours post-exposure. The mtDNA polymerase γ was also induced ~8-fold at 48 hours post-exposure. Moreover, ATP levels and oxygen consumption were reduced in response to UVC exposure, with marked reductions of ~50% at the later larval stages. Conclusions These results support the hypothesis that early life exposure to mitochondrial genotoxicants could result in mitochondrial dysfunction at later stages of life, thereby highlighting the potential health hazards of time-delayed effects of these genotoxicants in the environment. PMID:23374645

  15. Effect of trifluoperazine on toxicity, HIF-1α induction and hepatocyte regeneration in acetaminophen toxicity in mice1

    PubMed Central

    Chaudhuri, Shubhra; McCullough, Sandra S.; Hennings, Leah; Brown, Aliza T.; Li, Shun-Hwa; Simpson, Pippa M.; Hinson, Jack A.; James, Laura P.

    2012-01-01

    Oxidative stress and mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) are important mechanisms in acetaminophen (APAP) toxicity. The MPT inhibitor trifluoperazine (TFP) reduced MPT, oxidative stress, and toxicity in freshly isolated hepatocytes treated with APAP. Since hypoxia inducible factor-one alpha (HIF-1α is induced very early in APAP toxicity, a role for oxidative stress in the induction has been postulated. In the present study, the effect of TFP on toxicity and HIF-1α induction in B6C3F1 male mice treated with APAP was examined. Mice received TFP (10 mg/kg, oral gavage) prior to APAP (200 mg/kg IP) and at 7 and 36 h after APAP. Measures of metabolism (hepatic glutathione and APAP protein adducts) were comparable in the two groups of mice. Toxicity was decreased in the APAP/TFP mice at 2, 4, and 8 h, compared to the APAP mice. At 24 and 48 h, there were no significant differences in toxicity between the two groups. TFP lowered HIF-1α induction but also reduced the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, a marker of hepatocyte regeneration. TFP can also inhibit phospholipase A2, and cytosolic and secretory PLA2 activity levels were reduced in the APAP/TFP mice compared to the APAP mice. TFP also lowered prostaglandin E2 expression, a known mechanism of cytoprotection. In summary, the MPT inhibitor TFP delayed the onset of toxicity and lowered HIF-1α induction in APAP treated mice. TFP also reduced PGE2 expression and hepatocyte regeneration, likely through a mechanism involving PLA2. PMID:22902588

  16. Emerging climate change signals in the interior ocean oxygen content

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tjiputra, Jerry; Goris, Nadine; Schwinger, Jörg; Lauvset, Siv

    2017-04-01

    Earth System Models (ESMs) indicate that human-induced climate change will introduce spatially heterogeneous modifications of dissolved oxygen in the North Atlantic. In the upper ocean, an increase (decrease) is predicted at low (high) latitude. Oxygen increase is driven by a reduction of the oxygen consumption for biological remineralization while warming-induced reduction in air-sea fluxes and increase in remineralization due to weaker overturning circulation lead to the projected decrease. In the interior ocean, modifications in the apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) dominate the overall oxygen changes. Moreover, for the southern subpolar gyre, both observations and model hindcast indicate a close relationship between interior ocean oxygen and the subpolar gyre index. Over the 21st century, all ESMs consistently project a steady weakening of this index and consequently the oxygen. Our finding shows that climate change-induced oxygen depletion in the interior has likely occurred and can already be detected. Nevertheless, considering the observational uncertainties, we show that in the proximity of southern subpolar gyre the projected interior trend is sufficiently large enough for early detection.

  17. Clinical and neuropathological findings of acute carbon monoxide toxicity in chihuahuas following smoke inhalation.

    PubMed

    Kent, Marc; Creevy, Kate E; Delahunta, Alexander

    2010-01-01

    Three adult Chihuahuas were presented for evaluation after smoke inhalation during a house fire. All three dogs received supportive care and supplemental oxygen. After initial improvement, the dogs developed seizures. Despite anticonvulsant therapy and supportive care, the dogs died. The brains of two dogs were examined. Lesions were identified that were compatible with acute carbon monoxide (CO) toxicity. Lesions were confined to the caudate nucleus, the globus pallidus, and the substantia nigra bilaterally, as well as the cerebellum, cerebral cortex, and dorsal thalamus. This case report describes the clinicopathological sequelae in acute CO toxicity.

  18. Two Cases of Refractory Cardiogenic Shock Secondary to Bupropion Successfully Treated with Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

    PubMed

    Heise, C William; Skolnik, Aaron B; Raschke, Robert A; Owen-Reece, Huw; Graeme, Kimberlie A

    2016-09-01

    Bupropion inhibits the uptake of dopamine and norepinephrine. Clinical effects in overdose include seizure, status epilepticus, tachycardia, arrhythmias, and cardiogenic shock. We report two cases of severe bupropion toxicity resulting in refractory cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest, and repeated seizures treated successfully. Patients with cardiovascular failure related to poisoning may particularly benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). These are the first cases of bupropion toxicity treated with veno-arterial EMCO (VA-ECMO) in which bupropion toxicity is supported by confirmatory testing. Both cases demonstrate the effectiveness of VA-ECMO in poisoned patients with severe cardiogenic shock or cardiopulmonary failure.

  19. Neurodevelopmental outcomes in the early CPAP and pulse oximetry trial.

    PubMed

    Vaucher, Yvonne E; Peralta-Carcelen, Myriam; Finer, Neil N; Carlo, Waldemar A; Gantz, Marie G; Walsh, Michele C; Laptook, Abbot R; Yoder, Bradley A; Faix, Roger G; Das, Abhik; Schibler, Kurt; Rich, Wade; Newman, Nancy S; Vohr, Betty R; Yolton, Kimberly; Heyne, Roy J; Wilson-Costello, Deanne E; Evans, Patricia W; Goldstein, Ricki F; Acarregui, Michael J; Adams-Chapman, Ira; Pappas, Athina; Hintz, Susan R; Poindexter, Brenda; Dusick, Anna M; McGowan, Elisabeth C; Ehrenkranz, Richard A; Bodnar, Anna; Bauer, Charles R; Fuller, Janell; O'Shea, T Michael; Myers, Gary J; Higgins, Rosemary D

    2012-12-27

    Previous results from our trial of early treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) versus early surfactant treatment in infants showed no significant difference in the outcome of death or bronchopulmonary dysplasia. A lower (vs. higher) target range of oxygen saturation was associated with a lower rate of severe retinopathy but higher mortality. We now report longer-term results from our prespecified hypotheses. Using a 2-by-2 factorial design, we randomly assigned infants born between 24 weeks 0 days and 27 weeks 6 days of gestation to early CPAP with a limited ventilation strategy or early surfactant administration and to lower or higher target ranges of oxygen saturation (85 to 89% or 91 to 95%). The primary composite outcome for the longer-term analysis was death before assessment at 18 to 22 months or neurodevelopmental impairment at 18 to 22 months of corrected age. The primary outcome was determined for 1234 of 1316 enrolled infants (93.8%); 990 of the 1058 surviving infants (93.6%) were evaluated at 18 to 22 months of corrected age. Death or neurodevelopmental impairment occurred in 27.9% of the infants in the CPAP group (173 of 621 infants), versus 29.9% of those in the surfactant group (183 of 613) (relative risk, 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78 to 1.10; P=0.38), and in 30.2% of the infants in the lower-oxygen-saturation group (185 of 612), versus 27.5% of those in the higher-oxygen-saturation group (171 of 622) (relative risk, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.94 to 1.32; P=0.21). Mortality was increased with the lower-oxygen-saturation target (22.1%, vs. 18.2% with the higher-oxygen-saturation target; relative risk, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.55; P=0.046). We found no significant differences in the composite outcome of death or neurodevelopmental impairment among extremely premature infants randomly assigned to early CPAP or early surfactant administration and to a lower or higher target range of oxygen saturation. (Funded by the Eunice Kennedy

  20. An automated microphysiological assay for toxicity evaluation.

    PubMed

    Eggert, S; Alexander, F A; Wiest, J

    2015-08-01

    Screening a newly developed drug, food additive or cosmetic ingredient for toxicity is a critical preliminary step before it can move forward in the development pipeline. Due to the sometimes dire consequences when a harmful agent is overlooked, toxicologists work under strict guidelines to effectively catalogue and classify new chemical agents. Conventional assays involve long experimental hours and many manual steps that increase the probability of user error; errors that can potentially manifest as inaccurate toxicology results. Automated assays can overcome many potential mistakes that arise due to human error. In the presented work, we created and validated a novel, automated platform for a microphysiological assay that can examine cellular attributes with sensors measuring changes in cellular metabolic rate, oxygen consumption, and vitality mediated by exposure to a potentially toxic agent. The system was validated with low buffer culture medium with varied conductivities that caused changes in the measured impedance on integrated impedance electrodes.

  1. Kainate toxicity in energy-compromised rat hippocampal slices: differences between oxygen and glucose deprivation.

    PubMed

    Schurr, A; Rigor, B M

    1993-06-18

    The effects of kainate (KA) on the recovery of neuronal function in rat hippocampal slices after hypoxia or glucose deprivation (GD) were investigated and compared to those of (R,S)-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4- isoxazoleproprionate (AMPA). KA and AMPA were found to be more toxic than either N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), quinolinate, or glutamate, both under normal conditions and under states of energy deprivation. Doses as low as 1 microM KA or AMPA were sufficient to significantly reduce the recovery rate of neuronal function in slices after a standardized period of hypoxia or GD. The enhancement of hypoxic neuronal damage by both agonists could be partially blocked by the antagonist kynurenate, by the NMDA competitive antagonist AP5, and by elevating [Mg2+] in or by omitting Ca2+ from the perfusion medium. The AMPA antagonist glutamic acid diethyl ester was ineffective in preventing the enhanced hypoxic neuronal damage by either KA or AMPA. The antagonist of the glycine modulatory site on the NMDA receptor, 7-chlorokynurenate, did not block the KA toxicity but was able to block the toxicity of AMPA. 2,3-Dihydroxyquinoxaline completely blocked the KA- and AMPA-enhanced hypoxic neuronal damage. The KA-enhanced, GD-induced neuronal damage was prevented by Ca2+ depletion and partially antagonized by kynurenate but not by AP5 or elevated [Mg2+]. The results of the present study indicate that the KA receptor is involved in the mechanism of neuronal damage induced by hypoxia and GD, probably allowing Ca2+ influx and subsequent intracellular Ca2+ overload.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  2. Growth and Photosynthetic Characteristics of Toxic and Non-Toxic Strains of the Cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and Anabaena circinalis in Relation to Light

    PubMed Central

    Islam, M. Ashraful; Beardall, John

    2017-01-01

    Cyanobacteria are major bloom-forming organisms in freshwater ecosystems and many strains are known to produce toxins. Toxin production requires an investment in energy and resources. As light is one of the most important factors for cyanobacterial growth, any changes in light climate might affect cyanobacterial toxin production as well as their growth and physiology. To evaluate the effects of light on the growth and physiological parameters of both toxic and non-toxic strains of Microcystis aeruginosa and Anabaena circinalis, cultures were grown at a range of light intensities (10, 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 µmol m−2 s−1). The study revealed that the toxic strains of both species (CS558 for M. aeruginosa and CS537 and CS541 for A. circinalis) showed growth (µ) saturation at a higher light intensity compared to the non-toxic strains (CS338 for M. aeruginosa and CS534 for A. circinalis). Both species showed differences in chlorophyll a, carotenoid, allophycocyanin (APC) and phycoerythrin (PE) content between strains. There were also differences in dark respiration (Rd), light saturated oxygen evolution rates (Pmax) and efficiency of light harvesting (α) between strains. All other physiological parameters showed no statistically significant differences between strains. This study suggest that the different strains respond differently to different light habitats. Thus, changes in light availability may affect bloom intensity of toxic and nontoxic strains of cyanobacteria by changing the dominance and succession patterns. PMID:28777340

  3. Early resuscitation with polymerized bovine hemoglobin reverses acidosis, but not peripheral tissue oxygenation, in a severe hamster shock model.

    PubMed

    Wettstein, Reto; Tsai, Amy G; Harder, Yves; Erni, Dominique; Intaglietta, Marcos

    2006-11-01

    Awake hamsters equipped with the dorsal window chamber preparation were subjected to hemorrhage of 50% of the estimated blood volume. Initial resuscitation (25% of estimated blood volume) with polymerized bovine hemoglobin (PBH) or 10% hydroxyethyl starch (HES) occurred in concert with an equivolumetric bleeding to simulate the early, prehospital setting (exchange transfusion). Resuscitation (25% of estimated blood volume) without bleeding was performed with PBH, HES, or autologous red blood cells (HES-RBCs). Peripheral microcirculation, tissue oxygenation, and systemic hemodynamic and blood gas parameters were assessed. After exchange transfusion, base deficit was -8.6 +/- 3.7 mmol/L (PBH) and -5.1 +/- 5.3 mmol/L (HES) (not significant). Functional capillary density was 17% +/- 6% of baseline (PBH) and 31% +/- 11% (HES) (P < 0.05) and arteriolar diameter 73% +/- 3% of baseline (PBH) and 90% + 5% (HES) (P < 0.01). At the end, hemoglobin levels were 3.7 +/- 0.3 g/dL with HES, 8.2 +/- 0.6 g/dL with PBH, and 10.4 +/- 0.8 g/dL with HES-RBCs (P < 0.01 HES vs. PBH and HES-RBCs, P < 0.05 PBH vs. HES-RBCs). Base excess was restored to baseline with PBH and HES-RBCs, but not with HES (P < 0.05). Functional capillary density was 46% +/- 5% of baseline (PBH), 62% + 20% (HES-RBCs), and 36% +/- 19% (HES) (P < 0.01 HES-RBCs vs. HES). Peripheral oxygen delivery and consumption was highest with HES-RBCs, followed by PBH (P < 0.05 HES-RBCs vs. PBH, P < 0.01 HES-RBCs and PBH vs. HES). In conclusion, the PBH led to a correction of base deficit comparable to blood transfusion. However, oxygenation of the peripheral tissue was inferior with PBH. This was attributed to its negative impact on the peripheral microcirculation caused by arteriolar vasoconstriction.

  4. Oxygen profile and clogging in vertical flow sand filters for on-site wastewater treatment.

    PubMed

    Petitjean, A; Forquet, N; Boutin, C

    2016-04-01

    13 million people (about 20% of the population) use on-site wastewater treatment in France. Buried vertical sand filters are often built, especially when the soil permeability is not sufficient for septic tank effluent infiltration in undisturbed soil. Clogging is one of the main problems deteriorating the operation of vertical flow filters for wastewater treatment. The extent of clogging is not easily assessed, especially in buried vertical flow sand filters. We suggest examining two possible ways of detecting early clogging: (1) NH4-N/NO3-N outlet concentration ratio, and (2) oxygen measurement within the porous media. Two pilot-scale filters were equipped with probes for oxygen concentration measurements and samples were taken at different depths for pollutant characterization. Influent and effluent grab-samples were taken three times a week. The systems were operated using batch-feeding of septic tank effluent. Qualitative description of oxygen transfer processes under unclogged and clogged conditions is presented. NH4-N outlet concentration appears to be useless for early clogging detection. However, NO3-N outlet concentration and oxygen content allows us to diagnose the early clogging of the system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Physiological and lavage fluid cytological and biochemical endpoints of toxicity in the rat

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lehnert, B.E.

    1992-01-01

    Exposure of the respiratory tract to toxic materials can result in a variety of physiologic disturbances that can serve as endpoints of toxicity. In addition to a brief review of commonly assessed physiologic endpoints, attention is given in the first component of this report to the use of both nose breathing and mouth'' breathing rats in toxicity studies that involve measurements of ventilatory functional changes in response to test atmospheres. Additionally, the usefulness of maximum oxygen consumption, or VO[sub 2max], as a physiologic endpoint of toxicity that uses exercising rats after exposure to test atmospheres is described, along with anmore » introduction to post-exposure exercise as an important behavioral activity that can markedly impact on the severity of acute lung injury caused by pneumoedematogenic materials. The second component of this report focuses on bronchoalveolar lavage and cytological and biochemical endpoints that can be assessed in investigations of the toxicities of test materials. As will be shown herein, some of the biochemical endpoints of toxicity, especially, can sensitively detect subtle injury to the lower respiratory tract that may escape detection by changes in some other conventional endpoints of toxicity, including lung gravimetric increases and histopathological alterations.« less

  6. Physiological and lavage fluid cytological and biochemical endpoints of toxicity in the rat

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lehnert, B.E.

    1992-12-31

    Exposure of the respiratory tract to toxic materials can result in a variety of physiologic disturbances that can serve as endpoints of toxicity. In addition to a brief review of commonly assessed physiologic endpoints, attention is given in the first component of this report to the use of both nose breathing and ``mouth`` breathing rats in toxicity studies that involve measurements of ventilatory functional changes in response to test atmospheres. Additionally, the usefulness of maximum oxygen consumption, or VO{sub 2max}, as a physiologic endpoint of toxicity that uses exercising rats after exposure to test atmospheres is described, along with anmore » introduction to post-exposure exercise as an important behavioral activity that can markedly impact on the severity of acute lung injury caused by pneumoedematogenic materials. The second component of this report focuses on bronchoalveolar lavage and cytological and biochemical endpoints that can be assessed in investigations of the toxicities of test materials. As will be shown herein, some of the biochemical endpoints of toxicity, especially, can sensitively detect subtle injury to the lower respiratory tract that may escape detection by changes in some other conventional endpoints of toxicity, including lung gravimetric increases and histopathological alterations.« less

  7. A Natural Component-Based Oxygen Indicator with In-Pack Activation for Intelligent Food Packaging.

    PubMed

    Won, Keehoon; Jang, Nan Young; Jeon, Junsu

    2016-12-28

    Intelligent food packaging can provide consumers with reliable and correct information on the quality and safety of packaged foods. One of the key constituents in intelligent packaging is a colorimetric oxygen indicator, which is widely used to detect oxygen gas involved in food spoilage by means of a color change. Traditional oxygen indicators consisting of redox dyes and strong reducing agents have two major problems: they must be manufactured and stored under anaerobic conditions because air depletes the reductant, and their components are synthetic and toxic. To address both of these serious problems, we have developed a natural component-based oxygen indicator characterized by in-pack activation. The conventional oxygen indicator composed of synthetic and artificial components was redesigned using naturally occurring compounds (laccase, guaiacol, and cysteine). These natural components were physically separated into two compartments by a fragile barrier. Only when the barrier was broken were all of the components mixed and the function as an oxygen indicator was begun (i.e., in-pack activation). Depending on the component concentrations, the natural component-based oxygen indicator exhibited different response times and color differences. The rate of the color change was proportional to the oxygen concentration. This novel colorimetric oxygen indicator will contribute greatly to intelligent packaging for healthier and safer foods.

  8. Use of Pulmonary Arteriovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Conjunction with the Total Artificial Heart

    PubMed Central

    Behrens, Lindsey G.; Goodale, Nicole L.; Turek, Joseph W.; Bates, Michael J.

    2015-01-01

    The temporary total artificial heart (TAH-t) is approved for destination therapy or bridge to transplant and is associated with improved survival rates before and after transplantation [1]. Postoperatively, patients with the TAH-t may experience acute respiratory failure requiring significant respiratory support. Pulmonary arteriovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has the capabilities to provide this support while minimizing the risks of barotrauma or oxygen toxicity [2]. This report presents a novel cannulation technique for ECMO to provide support for patients after the placement of the TAH-t. PMID:25910839

  9. Potential toxicity of improperly discarded exhausted photovoltaic cells.

    PubMed

    Motta, C M; Cerciello, R; De Bonis, S; Mazzella, V; Cirino, P; Panzuto, R; Ciaravolo, M; Simoniello, P; Toscanesi, M; Trifuoggi, M; Avallone, B

    2016-09-01

    Low tech photovoltaic panels (PVPs) installed in the early '80s are now coming to the end of their life cycle and this raises the problem of their proper disposal. As panels contain potentially toxic elements, unconventional, complex and costly procedures are required to avoid environmental health risks and in countries where environmental awareness and economic resources are limited this may be especially problematic. This work was designed to investigate potential risks from improper disposal of these panels. To accomplish this aim an exhausted panel was broken into pieces and these were placed in water for 30 days. The resulting leached solution was analyzed to determine chemical release or used in toto, to determine its potential toxicity in established tests. The end points were seed germination (on Cucumis sativus and Lens culinaris) and effects on early development in three larval models: two crustaceans, Daphnia magna and Artemia salina, and the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Our results show that the panels release small amounts of electrolytes (Na, Ca and Mg) into solution, along with antimony and manganese, with a concentration under the accepted maximum contaminant level, and nickel at a potentially toxic concentration. Developmental defects are seen in the plant and animal test organisms after experimental exposure to the whole solution leached from the broken panel. The toxic effects revealed in in vitro tests are sufficient to attract attention considering that they are exerted on both plants and aquatic animals and that the number of old PVPs in disposal sites will be very high. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Enhancing biodegradation of C16-alkyl quaternary ammonium compounds using an oxygen-based membrane biofilm reactor.

    PubMed

    Lai, YenJung Sean; Ontiveros-Valencia, Aura; Ilhan, Zehra Esra; Zhou, Yun; Miranda, Evelyn; Maldonado, Juan; Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa; Rittmann, Bruce E

    2017-10-15

    Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) (e.g., hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide, CTAB) are emerging contaminants with widespread use as surfactants and disinfectants. Because the initial step of QAC biodegradation is mono-oxygenation, QAC degraders require O 2 , but normal aeration leads to serious foaming. Here, we developed and tested an oxygen-based membrane biofilm reactor (O 2 -MBfR) that delivers O 2 by diffusion through the walls of hollow-membranes to a biofilm accumulating on the outer surface of membranes. The O 2 -MBfR sustained QAC biodegradation even with high and toxic QAC input concentrations, up to 400 mg/L CTAB. Bubbleless O 2 transfer completely eliminated foaming, and biofilm accumulation helped the QAC biodegraders resist toxicity. Pseudomonas, Achromobacter, Stenotrophomonas, and members of the Xanthomonadaceae family were dominant in the biofilm communities degrading CTAB, and their proportions depended on the O 2 -delivery capacity of the membranes. Bacteria capable of biodegrading QACs often harbor antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that help them avoid QAC toxicity. Gene copies of ARGs were detected in biofilms and liquid, but the levels of ARGs were 5- to 35-fold lower in the liquid than in the biofilm. In summary, the O 2 -MBfR achieved aerobic biodegradation of CTAB with neither foaming nor toxicity, and it also minimized the spread of ARGs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Intrinsic toxicity of hemoglobin: how to counteract it.

    PubMed

    Simoni, Jan; Simoni, Grace; Moeller, John F

    2009-02-01

    The development of safe and effective blood substitutes is of great importance in both civilian and military medicine. The currently tested hemoglobin (Hb)-based oxygen carriers, however, have toxicity and efficacy problems. A number of unwanted effects have been observed in human trials, creating doubts about their clinical usefulness. In some subjects, vasoconstriction and decreased blood flow to the vital organs, heart attack, stroke, systemic inflammation, organ damage, and even death, have been attributed to the transfusion of these experimental products. Hb is a well-known pressor agent and strong oxidant, although the full understanding of its intrinsic toxicity is yet to be uncovered. In particular, the complete mechanism of Hb-induced vasoconstriction needs full elucidation. Knowledge of the biological events that trigger the induction of genes upon treatment with redox-active Hb, as well as its catabolism, is still incomplete. It seems that our limited knowledge of free Hb effects in vivo is the main reason for not yet having a viable substitute of human blood. The future for universal red cell substitutes is in the new-generation products that address all of Hb's intrinsic toxicity issues.

  12. Oxaliplatin-induced Oxidative Stress Provokes Toxicity in Isolated Rat Liver Mitochondria.

    PubMed

    Tabassum, Heena; Waseem, Mohammad; Parvez, Suhel; Qureshi, M Irfan

    2015-11-01

    Oxaliplatin is a widely employed platinum-derived chemotherapeutic agent commonly used for the treatment of colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, the benefit of this important drug is compromised by severe side effects such as neuropathy, ototoxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity, and hematological toxicity. Recently, few studies have also suggested the occurrence of hepatotoxicity in oxaliplatin-treated patients. Mitochondria have emerged as targets for anticancer drugs in various kinds of toxicity including hepatotoxicity that can lead to neoplastic disease. Oxidative stress is a well-established biomarker of mitochondrial toxicity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dose-dependent damage caused by oxaliplatin on isolated liver mitochondria under in vitro conditions. The study was conducted in mitochondria isolated from liver of Wistar rats. Oxaliplatin was incubated with mitochondria in a dose-dependent manner under in vitro conditions. Oxidative stress indexes, non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants were evaluated, looking at the overall armamentarium against the toxicity induced by oxaliplatin. Oxaliplatin caused a significant rise in the mitochondrial oxidative stress indexes lipid peroxidation and protein carbonyl. Alterations in the levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants and activities of enzymatic antioxidants were also observed. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the mitochondrial toxicity of oxaliplatin. The integrity of the hepatic tissue is compromised by the reactive oxygen species-mediated lipid peroxidation and protein carbonyl formation. Copyright © 2015 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Sensitivity of early life stages of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) to acute and chronic toxicity of lead, cadmium, and zinc in water

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wang, N.; Ingersoll, C.G.; Ivey, C.D.; Hardesty, D.K.; May, T.W.; Augspurger, T.; Roberts, A.D.; Van Genderen, E.; Barnhart, M.C.

    2010-01-01

    Toxicity of lead, cadmium, or zinc to early life stages of freshwater mussels (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea; Neosho mucket, L. rafinesqueana) was evaluated in 48-h exposures with mussel larvae (glochidia), in 96-h exposures with newly transformed (5-d-old) and two- or six-month-old juvenile mussels, or in 28-d exposures with two- or four-month-old mussels in reconstituted soft water. The 24-h median effect concentrations (EC50s) for fatmucket glochidia (>299??g Pb/L, >227??g Cd/L, 2,685??g Zn/L) and 96-h EC50s for two- or six-month-old fatmucket (>426??g Pb/L, 199??g Cd/L, 1,700??g Zn/L) were much higher than 96-h EC50s for newly transformed fatmucket (142 and 298??g Pb/L, 16??g Cd/L, 151 and 175??g Zn/L) and Neosho mucket (188??g Pb/L, 20??g Cd/L, 145??g Zn/L). Chronic values for fatmucket were 10??g Pb/L, 6.0??g Cd/L, and 63 and 68??g Zn/L. When mussel data from the present study and the literature were included in updated databases for deriving U.S. Environmental Protection Agency water quality criteria, mussel genus mean acute values were in the lower percentiles of the sensitivity distribution of all freshwater species for Pb (the 26th percentile), Cd (the 15th to 29th percentile), or Zn (the 12th to 21st percentile). The mussel (Lampsilis) genus mean chronic value was the lowest value ever reported for Pb (the 9th percentile) but was near the middle of the sensitivity distribution for Cd (the 61st percentile) or Zn (the 44th percentile). These results indicate that mussels were relatively sensitive to the acute toxicity of these three metals and to the chronic toxicity of Pb, but were moderately sensitive to the chronic toxicity of Cd or Zn compared to other freshwater species. ?? 2010 SETAC.

  14. Sensitivity of early life stages of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) to acute and chronic toxicity of lead, cadmium, and zinc in water.

    PubMed

    Wang, Ning; Ingersoll, Christopher G; Ivey, Christopher D; Hardesty, Douglas K; May, Thomas W; Augspurger, Tom; Roberts, Andy D; van Genderen, Eric; Barnhart, M Chris

    2010-09-01

    Toxicity of lead, cadmium, or zinc to early life stages of freshwater mussels (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea; Neosho mucket, L. rafinesqueana) was evaluated in 48-h exposures with mussel larvae (glochidia), in 96-h exposures with newly transformed (5-d-old) and two- or six-month-old juvenile mussels, or in 28-d exposures with two- or four-month-old mussels in reconstituted soft water. The 24-h median effect concentrations (EC50s) for fatmucket glochidia (>299 microg Pb/L, >227 microg Cd/L, 2,685 microg Zn/L) and 96-h EC50s for two- or six-month-old fatmucket (>426 microg Pb/L, 199 microg Cd/L, 1,700 microg Zn/L) were much higher than 96-h EC50s for newly transformed fatmucket (142 and 298 microg Pb/L, 16 microg Cd/L, 151 and 175 microg Zn/L) and Neosho mucket (188 microg Pb/L, 20 microg Cd/L, 145 microg Zn/L). Chronic values for fatmucket were 10 microg Pb/L, 6.0 microg Cd/L, and 63 and 68 microg Zn/L. When mussel data from the present study and the literature were included in updated databases for deriving U.S. Environmental Protection Agency water quality criteria, mussel genus mean acute values were in the lower percentiles of the sensitivity distribution of all freshwater species for Pb (the 26th percentile), Cd (the 15th to 29th percentile), or Zn (the 12th to 21st percentile). The mussel (Lampsilis) genus mean chronic value was the lowest value ever reported for Pb (the 9th percentile) but was near the middle of the sensitivity distribution for Cd (the 61st percentile) or Zn (the 44th percentile). These results indicate that mussels were relatively sensitive to the acute toxicity of these three metals and to the chronic toxicity of Pb, but were moderately sensitive to the chronic toxicity of Cd or Zn compared to other freshwater species. Copyright 2010 SETAC.

  15. Paraquat toxicity is increased in Escherichia coli defective in the synthesis of polyamines.

    PubMed

    Minton, K W; Tabor, H; Tabor, C W

    1990-04-01

    We have shown that toxicity of paraquat for Escherichia coli is increased over 10-fold in strains defective in the biosynthesis of spermidine compared to isogenic strains containing spermidine. The increased sensitivity of these spermidine-deficient mutants to paraquat is eliminated by growth in medium containing spermidine or by endogenous supplementation of spermidine by the use of a speE+D+ plasmid. No paraquat toxicity is seen in the absence of oxygen, even in amine-deficient strains, indicating that superoxide is the agent responsible for the increased toxicity. However, the specific mechanisms responsible for the increased paraquat toxicity in the spermidine-deficient mutants remain to be determined. The marked sensitivity to paraquat of E. coli deficient in spermidine is of particular interest, since such mutants have no other phenotypic properties that can be easily assayed. This increased sensitivity has been used as the basis of a convenient method for scoring for mutants in polyamine biosynthesis and for the detection of plasmids containing the biosynthetic genes.

  16. Oxygen Compatibility of Brass-Filled PTFE Compared to Commonly Used Fluorinated Polymers for Oxygen Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Herald, Stephen D.; Frisby, Paul M.; Davis, Samuel Eddie

    2009-01-01

    Safe and reliable seal materials for high-pressure oxygen systems sometimes appear to be extinct species when sought out by oxygen systems designers. Materials that seal well are easy to find, but these materials are typically incompatible with oxygen, especially in cryogenic liquid form. This incompatibility can result in seals that leak, or much worse, seals that easily ignite and burn during use. Materials that are compatible with oxygen are easy to find, such as the long list of compatible metals, but these metallic materials are limiting as seal materials. A material that seals well and is oxygen compatible has been the big game in the designer's safari. Scientists at the Materials Combustion Research Facility (MCRF), part of NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), are constantly searching for better materials and processes to improve the safety of oxygen systems. One focus of this effort is improving the characteristics of polymers used in the presence of an oxygen enriched environment. Very few systems can be built which contain no polymeric materials; therefore, materials which have good impact resistance, low heat of combustion, high auto-ignition temperature and that maintain good mechanical properties are essential. The scientists and engineers at the Materials Combustion Research Facility, in cooperation with seal suppliers, are currently testing a new formulation of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with Brass filler. This Brass-filled PTFE is showing great promise as a seal and seat material for high pressure oxygen systems. Early research has demonstrated very encouraging results, which could rank this material as one of the best fluorinated polymers ever tested. This paper will compare the data obtained for Brass-filled PTFE with other fluorinated polymers, such as TFE-Teflon (PTFE) , Kel-F 81, Viton A, Viton A-500, Fluorel , and Algoflon . A similar metal filled fluorinated polymer, Salox-M , was tested in comparison to Brass-filled PTFE to

  17. Health assessment of gasoline and fuel oxygenate vapors: developmental toxicity in mice.

    PubMed

    Roberts, L G; Gray, T M; Marr, M C; Tyl, R W; Trimmer, G W; Hoffman, G M; Murray, F J; Clark, C R; Schreiner, C A

    2014-11-01

    CD-1 mice were exposed to baseline gasoline vapor condensate (BGVC) alone or to vapors of gasoline blended with methyl tertiary butyl ether (G/MTBE). Inhalation exposures were 6h/d on GD 5-17 at levels of 0, 2000, 10,000, and 20,000mg/m(3). Dams were evaluated for evidence of maternal toxicity, and fetuses were weighed, sexed, and evaluated for external, visceral, and skeletal anomalies. Exposure to 20,000mg/m(3) of BGVC produced slight reductions in maternal body weight/gain and decreased fetal body weight. G/MTBE exposure did not produce statistically significant maternal or developmental effects; however, two uncommon ventral wall closure defects occurred: gastroschisis (1 fetus at 10,000mg/m(3)) and ectopia cordis (1 fetus at 2000mg/m(3); 2 fetuses/1 litter at 10,000mg/m(3)). A second study (G/MTBE-2) evaluated similar exposure levels on GD 5-16 and an additional group exposed to 30,000mg/m(3) from GD 5-10. An increased incidence of cleft palate was observed at 30,000mg/m(3) G/MTBE. No ectopia cordis occurred in the replicate study, but a single observation of gastroschisis was observed at 30,000mg/m(3). The no observed adverse effect levels for maternal/developmental toxicity in the BGVC study were 10,000/2000mg/m(3), 20,000/20,000 for the G/MTBE study, and 10,000/20,000 for the G/MTBE-2 study. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Evaluation of the Treatment Process of Landfill Leachate Using the Toxicity Assessment Method

    PubMed Central

    Qiu, Aifeng; Cai, Qiang; Zhao, Yuan; Guo, Yingqing; Zhao, Liqian

    2016-01-01

    Landfill leachate is composed of a complex composition with strong biological toxicity. The combined treatment process of coagulation and sedimentation, anaerobics, electrolysis, and aerobics was set up to treat landfill leachate. This paper explores the effect of different operational parameters of coagulation and sedimentation tanks and electrolytic cells, while investigating the combined process for the removal efficiency of physicochemical indices after processing the landfill leachate. Meanwhile, a battery of toxicity tests with Vibrio fischeri, zebrafish larvae, and embryos were conducted to evaluate acute toxicity and calculated the toxicity reduction efficiency after each treatment process. The combined treatment process resulted in a 100% removal efficiency of Cu, Cd and Zn, and a 93.50% and an 87.44% removal efficiency of Ni and Cr, respectively. The overall removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), and total nitrogen (TN) were 93.57%, 97.46% and 73.60%, respectively. In addition, toxicity test results showed that the acute toxicity of landfill leachate had also been reduced significantly: toxicity units (TU) decreased from 84.75 to 12.00 for zebrafish larvae, from 82.64 to 10.55 for zebrafish embryos, and from 3.41 to 0.63 for Vibrio fischeri. The combined treatment process was proved to be an efficient treatment method to remove heavy metals, COD, NH4+-N, and acute bio-toxicity of landfill leachate. PMID:28009808

  19. Evaluation of the Treatment Process of Landfill Leachate Using the Toxicity Assessment Method.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Aifeng; Cai, Qiang; Zhao, Yuan; Guo, Yingqing; Zhao, Liqian

    2016-12-21

    Landfill leachate is composed of a complex composition with strong biological toxicity. The combined treatment process of coagulation and sedimentation, anaerobics, electrolysis, and aerobics was set up to treat landfill leachate. This paper explores the effect of different operational parameters of coagulation and sedimentation tanks and electrolytic cells, while investigating the combined process for the removal efficiency of physicochemical indices after processing the landfill leachate. Meanwhile, a battery of toxicity tests with Vibrio fischeri , zebrafish larvae, and embryos were conducted to evaluate acute toxicity and calculated the toxicity reduction efficiency after each treatment process. The combined treatment process resulted in a 100% removal efficiency of Cu, Cd and Zn, and a 93.50% and an 87.44% removal efficiency of Ni and Cr, respectively. The overall removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), and total nitrogen (TN) were 93.57%, 97.46% and 73.60%, respectively. In addition, toxicity test results showed that the acute toxicity of landfill leachate had also been reduced significantly: toxicity units (TU) decreased from 84.75 to 12.00 for zebrafish larvae, from 82.64 to 10.55 for zebrafish embryos, and from 3.41 to 0.63 for Vibrio fischeri . The combined treatment process was proved to be an efficient treatment method to remove heavy metals, COD, NH₄⁺-N, and acute bio-toxicity of landfill leachate.

  20. Human cell toxicogenomic analysis linking reactive oxygen species to the toxicity of monohaloacetic acid drinking water disinfection byproducts.

    PubMed

    Pals, Justin; Attene-Ramos, Matias S; Xia, Menghang; Wagner, Elizabeth D; Plewa, Michael J

    2013-01-01

    Chronic exposure to drinking water disinfection byproducts has been linked to adverse health risks. The monohaloacetic acids (monoHAAs) are generated as byproducts during the disinfection of drinking water and are cytotoxic, genotoxic, mutagenic, and teratogenic. Iodoacetic acid toxicity was mitigated by antioxidants, suggesting the involvement of oxidative stress. Other monoHAAs may share a similar mode of action. Each monoHAA generated a significant concentration-response increase in the expression of a β-lactamase reporter under the control of the antioxidant response element (ARE). The monoHAAs generated oxidative stress with a rank order of iodoacetic acid (IAA) > bromoacetic acid (BAA) ≫ chloroacetic acid (CAA); this rank order was observed with other toxicological end points. Toxicogenomic analysis was conducted with a nontransformed human intestinal epithelial cell line (FHs 74 Int). Exposure to the monoHAAs altered the transcription levels of multiple oxidative stress responsive genes, indicating that each exposure generated oxidative stress. The transcriptome profiles showed an increase in thioredoxin reductase 1 (TXNRD1) and sulfiredoxin (SRXN1), suggesting peroxiredoxin proteins had been oxidized during monoHAA exposures. Three possible sources of reactive oxygen species were identified, the hypohalous acid generating peroxidase enzymes lactoperoxidase (LPO) and myeloperoxidase (MPO), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-dependent oxidase 5 (NOX5), and PTGS2 (COX-2) mediated arachidonic acid metabolism. Each monoHAA exposure caused an increase in COX-2 mRNA levels. These data provide a functional association between monoHAA exposure and adverse health outcomes such as oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer.

  1. A comprehensive study of the toxicity of natural multi-contaminated sediments: New insights brought by the use of a combined approach using the medaka embryo-larval assay and physico-chemical analyses.

    PubMed

    Barjhoux, Iris; Clérandeau, Christelle; Menach, Karyn Le; Anschutz, Pierre; Gonzalez, Patrice; Budzinski, Hélène; Morin, Bénédicte; Baudrimont, Magalie; Cachot, Jérôme

    2017-08-01

    Sediment compartment is a long term sink for pollutants and a secondary source of contamination for aquatic species. The abiotic factors controlling the bioavailability and thus the toxicity of complex mixtures of pollutants accumulated in sediments are poorly documented. To highlight the different factors influencing sediment toxicity, we identified and analyzed the physico-chemical properties, micro-pollutant contents, and toxicity level of six contrasted sediments in the Lot-Garonne continuum. Sediment toxicity was evaluated using the recently described Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) embryo-larval assay with direct exposure to whole sediment (MELAc). Multiple toxicity endpoints including embryotoxicity, developmental defects and DNA damage were analyzed in exposed embryos. Chemical analyses revealed significant variations in the nature and contamination profile of sediments, mainly impacted by metallic trace elements and, unexpectedly, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Exposure to sediments induced different toxic impacts on medaka early life stages when compared with the reference site. Principal component analysis showed that the toxic responses following exposure to sediments from the Lot River and its tributary were associated with micro-pollutant contamination: biometric measurements, hatching success, genotoxicity, craniofacial deformities and yolk sac malabsorption were specifically correlated to metallic and organic contaminants. Conversely, the main biological responses following exposure to the Garonne River sediments were more likely related to their physico-chemical properties than to their contamination level. Time to hatch, cardiovascular injuries and spinal deformities were correlated to organic matter content, fine particles and dissolved oxygen levels. These results emphasize the necessity of combining physico-chemical analysis of sediment with toxicity assessment to accurately evaluate the environmental risks associated with sediment

  2. Sensitivity of Seawater Oxygen Isotopes to Climatic and Tectonic Boundary Conditions in an Early Paleogene Simulation with GISS ModelE-R

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roberts, Christopher D.; LeGrande, Allegra N.; Tripati, Aradhna K.

    2011-01-01

    An isotope-enabled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GISS ModelE -R) is used to estimate the spatial gradients of the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater (delta O-18(sub sw), where delta is the deviation from a known reference material in per mil) during the early Paleogene (45.65 Ma). Understanding the response of delta O-18(sub sw) to changes in climatic and tectonic boundary conditions is important because records of carbonate delta O-18 document changes in hydrology, as well as changes in temperature and global ice -volume. We present results from an early Paleogene configuration of ModelE -R which indicate that spatial gradients of surface ocean delta O-18(sub sw) during this period could have been significantly different to those in the modern ocean. The differences inferred from ModelE -R are sufficient to change early Paleogene sea surface temperature estimates derived from primary carbonate delta O-18 signatures by more than +/-2 C in large areas of the ocean. In the North Atlantic, Indian, and Southern Oceans, the differences in d18Osw inferred from our simulation with ModelE -R are in direct contrast with those from another d18O ]tracing model study which used different, but equally plausible, early Paleogene boundary conditions. The large differences in delta O-18(sub sw) between preindustrial and early Paleogene simulations, and between models, emphasizes the sensitivity of d18Osw to climatic and tectonic boundary conditions. For this reason, absolute estimates of Eocene/ Paleocene temperature derived from carbonate delta O-18 alone are likely to have larger uncertainties than are usually assumed.

  3. Rise to modern levels of ocean oxygenation coincided with the Cambrian radiation of animals

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Xi; Ling, Hong-Fei; Vance, Derek; Shields-Zhou, Graham A.; Zhu, Maoyan; Poulton, Simon W.; Och, Lawrence M.; Jiang, Shao-Yong; Li, Da; Cremonese, Lorenzo; Archer, Corey

    2015-01-01

    The early diversification of animals (∼630 Ma), and their development into both motile and macroscopic forms (∼575–565 Ma), has been linked to stepwise increases in the oxygenation of Earth's surface environment. However, establishing such a linkage between oxygen and evolution for the later Cambrian ‘explosion' (540–520 Ma) of new, energy-sapping body plans and behaviours has proved more elusive. Here we present new molybdenum isotope data, which demonstrate that the areal extent of oxygenated bottom waters increased in step with the early Cambrian bioradiation of animals and eukaryotic phytoplankton. Modern-like oxygen levels characterized the ocean at ∼521 Ma for the first time in Earth history. This marks the first establishment of a key environmental factor in modern-like ecosystems, where animals benefit from, and also contribute to, the ‘homeostasis' of marine redox conditions. PMID:25980960

  4. Phosphorescent nanoparticles for quantitative measurements of oxygen profiles in vitro and in vivo

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Nak Won; Verbridge, Scott S.; Williams, Rebecca M.; Chen, Jin; Kim, Ju-Young; Schmehl, Russel; Farnum, Cornelia E.; Zipfel, Warren R.; Fischbach, Claudia; Stroock, Abraham D.

    2012-01-01

    We present the development and characterization of nanoparticles loaded with a custom phosphor; we exploit these nanoparticles to perform quantitative measurements of the concentration of oxygen within three-dimensional (3-D) tissue cultures in vitro and blood vessels in vivo. We synthesized a customized ruthenium (Ru)-phosphor and incorporated it into polymeric nanoparticles via self-assembly. We demonstrate that the encapsulated phosphor is non-toxic with and without illumination. We evaluated two distinct modes of employing the phosphorescent nanoparticles for the measurement of concentrations of oxygen: 1) in vitro, in a 3-D microfluidic tumor model via ratiometric measurements of intensity with an oxygen-insensitive fluorophore as a reference, and 2) in vivo, in mouse vasculature using measurements of phosphorescence lifetime. With both methods, we demonstrated micrometer-scale resolution and absolute calibration to the dissolved oxygen concentration. Based on the ease and customizability of the synthesis of the nanoparticles and the flexibility of their application, these oxygen-sensing polymeric nanoparticles will find a natural home in a range of biological applications, benefiting studies of physiological as well as pathological processes in which oxygen availability and concentration play a critical role. PMID:22240511

  5. Recognition and management of digitalis toxicity.

    PubMed

    Kelly, R A; Smith, T W

    1992-06-04

    The most important step in the management of toxicity due to any of the cardiac glycosides is its recognition. Despite the development of an accurate clinical assay for serum levels of digoxin greater than 20 years ago, digitalis toxicity remains common and difficult to confirm, even if suspected, due primarily to 2 factors. First, the signs and symptoms of digitalis toxicity, most commonly an abnormal electrocardiogram showing ventricular or atrial arrhythmias, with or without some degree of concurrent atrioventricular block, often also occur in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and underlying coronary atherosclerosis who are not receiving a cardiac glycoside. Second, due to digoxin's narrow therapeutic ratio, the marked degree of variability in the sensitivity of individual patients to its toxic effects, and the common problem of obtaining blood samples inappropriately during the early distribution phase following dosing, a serum digoxin concentration often does not serve as a reliable indicator of toxicity. Despite these difficulties in diagnosis, the management of digoxin toxicity has been made much more effective with the widespread availability of F(ab) fragments of anti-digoxin antibodies. This drug provides the clinician with a rapidly acting, safe antidote for all commonly used digitalis preparations. Conventional therapy for digoxin toxicity remains the maintenance of serum potassium levels greater than or equal to 4 mEq/liter, reversal of decompensated CHF or overt myocardial ischemia, attention to serum magnesium levels and the patient's acid-base status, appropriate antiarrhythmics in the event of ventricular arrhythmias, and a temporary pacemaker for high-grade atrioventricular block. Nevertheless, the high specificity and documented safety of the antibody preparation provides a needed safety net for the continuing use of cardiac glycosides as first-line inotropic agents in the modern therapy of chronic CHF.

  6. Activation of p47phox as a Mechanism of Bupivacaine-Induced Burst Production of Reactive Oxygen Species and Neural Toxicity

    PubMed Central

    Zhao, Wei; Yu, Xu-jiao; Li, Feng-xian; Liu, Zi-ting

    2017-01-01

    Bupivacaine has been shown to induce neurotoxicity through inducing excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. NOX2 is one of the most important sources of ROS in the nervous system, and its activation requires the membrane translocation of subunit p47phox. However, the role of p47phox in bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity has not been explored. In our in vitro study, cultured human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were treated with 1.5 mM bupivacaine to induce neurotoxicity. Membrane translocation of p47phox was assessed by measuring the cytosol/membrane ratio of p47phox. The effects of the NOX inhibitor VAS2870 and p47phox-siRNA on bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity were investigated. Furthermore, the effect of VAS2870 on bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity was assessed in vivo in rats. All these changes were reversed by pretreatment with VAS2870 or transfection with p47phox-siRNA in SH-SY5Y cells. Similarly, pretreatment with VAS2870 attenuated bupivacaine-induced neuronal toxicity in rats. It is concluded that enhancing p47phox membrane translocation is a major mechanism whereby bupivacaine induced neurotoxicity and that pretreatment with VAS2870 or local p47phox gene knockdown attenuated bupivacaine-induced neuronal cell injury. PMID:28751934

  7. Earliest land plants created modern levels of atmospheric oxygen

    PubMed Central

    Lenton, Timothy M.; Dahl, Tais W.; Daines, Stuart J.; Mills, Benjamin J. W.; Ozaki, Kazumi; Saltzman, Matthew R.; Porada, Philipp

    2016-01-01

    The progressive oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere was pivotal to the evolution of life, but the puzzle of when and how atmospheric oxygen (O2) first approached modern levels (∼21%) remains unresolved. Redox proxy data indicate the deep oceans were oxygenated during 435–392 Ma, and the appearance of fossil charcoal indicates O2 >15–17% by 420–400 Ma. However, existing models have failed to predict oxygenation at this time. Here we show that the earliest plants, which colonized the land surface from ∼470 Ma onward, were responsible for this mid-Paleozoic oxygenation event, through greatly increasing global organic carbon burial—the net long-term source of O2. We use a trait-based ecophysiological model to predict that cryptogamic vegetation cover could have achieved ∼30% of today’s global terrestrial net primary productivity by ∼445 Ma. Data from modern bryophytes suggests this plentiful early plant material had a much higher molar C:P ratio (∼2,000) than marine biomass (∼100), such that a given weathering flux of phosphorus could support more organic carbon burial. Furthermore, recent experiments suggest that early plants selectively increased the flux of phosphorus (relative to alkalinity) weathered from rocks. Combining these effects in a model of long-term biogeochemical cycling, we reproduce a sustained +2‰ increase in the carbonate carbon isotope (δ13C) record by ∼445 Ma, and predict a corresponding rise in O2 to present levels by 420–400 Ma, consistent with geochemical data. This oxygen rise represents a permanent shift in regulatory regime to one where fire-mediated negative feedbacks stabilize high O2 levels. PMID:27528678

  8. Workshop on Oxygen in the Terrestrial Planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2004-01-01

    Lunar Metal Grains: Solar, Lunar or Terrestrial Origin? 22) Isotopic Zoning in the Inner Solar System; 23) Redox Conditions on Small Bodies; 24) Determining the Oxygen Fugacity of Lunar Pyroclastic Glasses Using Vanadium Valence - An Update; 25) Mantle Redox Evolution and the Rise of Atmospheric O2; 26) Variation of Kd for Fe-Mg Exchange Between Olivine and Melt for Compositions Ranging from Alkaline Basalt to Rhyolite; 27) Determining the Partial Pressure of Oxygen (PO,) in Solutions on Mars; 28) The Influence of Oxygen Environment on Kinetic Properties of Silicate Rocks and Minerals; 29) Redox Evolution of Magmatic Systems; 30) The Constancy of Upper Mantlefo, Through Time Inferred from V/Sc Ratios in Basalts: Implications for the Rise in Atmospheric 0 2; 31) Nitrogen Solubility in Basaltic Melt. Effects of Oxygen Fugacity, Melt Composition and Gas Speciation; 32) Oxygen Isotope Anomalies in the Atmospheres of Earth and Mars; 33) The Effect of Oxygen Fugacity on Interdiffusion of Iron and Magnesium in Magnesiowiistite 34) The Calibration of the Pyroxene Eu-Oxybarometer for the Martian Meteorites; 35) The Europium Oxybarometer: Power and Pitfalls; 36) Oxygen Fugacity of the Martian Mantle from PigeoniteMelt Partitioning of Samarium, Europium and Gadolinium; 37) Oxidation-Reduction Processes on the Moon: Experimental Verification of Graphite Oxidation in the Apollo 17 Orange Glasses; 38) Oxygen and Core Formation in the Earth; 39) Geologic Record of the Atmospheric Sulfur Chemistry Before the Oxygenation of the Early Earth s Atmosphere; 40) Comparative Planetary Mineralogy: V/(CrCAl) Systematics in Chromite as an Indicator of Relative Oxygen Fugacity; 41) How Well do Sulfur Isotopes Constrain Oxygen Abundance in the Ancient Atmospheres? 42) Experimental Constraints on the Oxygen Isotope (O-18/ O-16) Fractionation in the Ice vapor and Adsorbant vapor Systems of CO2 at Conditions Relevant to the Surface of Mars; 43) Micro-XANES Measurements on Experimental Spinels andhe

  9. HYPOTHERMIA AND HYPOMETABOLISM: SENSITIVE INDICES OF WHOLE-BODY TOXICITY FOLLOWING EXPOSURE TO METALLIC SALTS IN THE MOUSE

    EPA Science Inventory

    To investigate the practicality of hypothermia and hypometabolism as sensitive indices of toxicity in the mouse, oxygen consumption was monitored continuously and body temperature was measured at 30 min post-injection following the intraperitoneal administration of various metal ...

  10. Toxicity of leather tanning wastewater effluents in sea urchin early development and in marine microalgae.

    PubMed

    Meriç, Süreyya; De Nicola, Elena; Iaccarino, Mario; Gallo, Marialuisa; Di Gennaro, Annamaria; Morrone, Gaetano; Warnau, Michel; Belgiorno, Vincenzo; Pagano, Giovanni

    2005-10-01

    This study was designed to investigate the composition and the toxicity of leather tanning wastewater and conditioned sludge collected at the leather tanning wastewater treatment plant (CODISO) located in Solofra, Avellino (Southern Italy). Samples were analyzed for their conventional parameters (COD, TSS, chromium and ammonia) and for metal content. Effluent samples included raw wastewater, and samples collected following coagulation/flocculation process and biological treatment. A set of toxicity endpoints were tested using sea urchin and marine microalgal bioassays by evaluating acute embryotoxicity, developmental defects, changes in sperm fertilization success and transmissible damage from sperm to the offspring, and changes in algal growth rate. Dose-related toxicity to sea urchin embryogenesis and sperm fertilization success was exerted by effluent or sludge samples according to the following rank: conditioned sludge > coagulated effluent > or = raw influent > effluent from biological treatment. Offspring quality was not affected by sperm exposure to any wastewater or to sludge samples. Algal growth was inhibited by raw or coagulated effluent to a similar extent and, again, the effluent from the biological treatment resulted in a decreased toxicity. The results suggest that coagulated effluent and conditioned sludge result in higher toxicity than raw influent in sea urchin embryos and sperm, whereas the biological wastewater treatment of coagulated effluent, in both sea urchins and algae, cause a substantial improvement of wastewater quality. Hence a final biological wastewater treatment should be operated to minimize any environmental damage from tannery wastewater.

  11. Impacts of triclosan exposure on zebrafish early-life stage: Toxicity and acclimation mechanisms.

    PubMed

    Falisse, Elodie; Voisin, Anne-Sophie; Silvestre, Frédéric

    2017-08-01

    the acclimation process of larvae exposed to 100μg/L of TCS. Our integrative analysis revealed complex non-monotonic concentration-related effects on zebrafish early-life stages with increased resistance between 50 and 100μg/L exposures. This research highlighted oxidative stress and neurotoxicity as major toxicity mechanisms of TCS during development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Impact of solar UV radiation on toxicity of ZnO nanoparticles through photocatalytic reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and photo-induced dissolution.

    PubMed

    Ma, Hongbo; Wallis, Lindsay K; Diamond, Steve; Li, Shibin; Canas-Carrell, Jaclyn; Parra, Amanda

    2014-10-01

    The present study investigated the impact of solar UV radiation on ZnO nanoparticle toxicity through photocatalytic ROS generation and photo-induced dissolution. Toxicity of ZnO nanoparticles to Daphnia magna was examined under laboratory light versus simulated solar UV radiation (SSR). Photocatalytic ROS generation and particle dissolution were measured on a time-course basis. Two toxicity mitigation assays using CaCl2 and N-acetylcysteine were performed to differentiate the relative importance of these two modes of action. Enhanced ZnO nanoparticle toxicity under SSR was in parallel with photocatalytic ROS generation and enhanced particle dissolution. Toxicity mitigation by CaCl2 to a less extent under SSR than under lab light demonstrates the role of ROS generation in ZnO toxicity. Toxicity mitigation by N-acetylcysteine under both irradiation conditions confirms the role of particle dissolution and ROS generation. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering environmental solar UV radiation when assessing ZnO nanoparticle toxicity and risk in aquatic systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Paraquat toxicity. (Latest citations from the Life Sciences Collection database). Published Search

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    The bibliography contains citations concerning the toxic effects of the herbicide paraquat on humans and animals. Topics include clinical and pathological findings, biochemical mechanisms, effects of oxygen, pulmonary effects of exposure, and effects on freshwater and marine organisms. The contamination of marijuana plants with paraquat is also considered. (Contains 250 citations and includes a subject term index and title list.)

  14. Earth's oxygen cycle and the evolution of animal life.

    PubMed

    Reinhard, Christopher T; Planavsky, Noah J; Olson, Stephanie L; Lyons, Timothy W; Erwin, Douglas H

    2016-08-09

    The emergence and expansion of complex eukaryotic life on Earth is linked at a basic level to the secular evolution of surface oxygen levels. However, the role that planetary redox evolution has played in controlling the timing of metazoan (animal) emergence and diversification, if any, has been intensely debated. Discussion has gravitated toward threshold levels of environmental free oxygen (O2) necessary for early evolving animals to survive under controlled conditions. However, defining such thresholds in practice is not straightforward, and environmental O2 levels can potentially constrain animal life in ways distinct from threshold O2 tolerance. Herein, we quantitatively explore one aspect of the evolutionary coupling between animal life and Earth's oxygen cycle-the influence of spatial and temporal variability in surface ocean O2 levels on the ecology of early metazoan organisms. Through the application of a series of quantitative biogeochemical models, we find that large spatiotemporal variations in surface ocean O2 levels and pervasive benthic anoxia are expected in a world with much lower atmospheric pO2 than at present, resulting in severe ecological constraints and a challenging evolutionary landscape for early metazoan life. We argue that these effects, when considered in the light of synergistic interactions with other environmental parameters and variable O2 demand throughout an organism's life history, would have resulted in long-term evolutionary and ecological inhibition of animal life on Earth for much of Middle Proterozoic time (∼1.8-0.8 billion years ago).

  15. Phospho-Rb mediating cell cycle reentry induces early apoptosis following oxygen-glucose deprivation in rat cortical neurons.

    PubMed

    Yu, Ying; Ren, Qing-Guo; Zhang, Zhao-Hui; Zhou, Ke; Yu, Zhi-Yuan; Luo, Xiang; Wang, Wei

    2012-03-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cell cycle reentry and apoptosis in cultured cortical neurons following oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). We found that the percentage of neurons with BrdU uptake, TUNEL staining, and colocalized BrdU uptake and TUNEL staining was increased relative to control 6, 12 and 24 h after 1 h of OGD. The number of neurons with colocalized BrdU and TUNEL staining was decreased relative to the number of TUNEL-positive neurons at 24 h. The expression of phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (phospho-Rb) was significantly increased 6, 12 and 24 h after OGD, parallel with the changes in BrdU uptake. Phospho-Rb and TUNEL staining were colocalized in neurons 6 and 12 h after OGD. This colocalization was strikingly decreased 24 h after OGD. Treatment with the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor roscovitine (100 μM) decreased the expression of phospho-Rb and reduced neuronal apoptosis in vitro. These results demonstrated that attempted cell cycle reentry with phosphorylation of Rb induce early apoptosis in neurons after OGD and there must be other mechanisms involved in the later stages of neuronal apoptosis besides cell cycle reentry. Phosphoralated Rb may be an important factor which closely associates aberrant cell cycle reentry with the early stages of neuronal apoptosis following ischemia/hypoxia in vitro, and pharmacological interventions for neuroprotection may be useful directed at this keypoint.

  16. Induction of the nuclear factor HIF-1{alpha} in acetaminophen toxicity: Evidence for oxidative stress

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    James, Laura P.; Donahower, Brian; Burke, Angela S.

    2006-04-28

    Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) controls the transcription of genes involved in angiogenesis, erythropoiesis, glycolysis, and cell survival. HIF-1{alpha} levels are a critical determinant of HIF activity. The induction of HIF-1{alpha} was examined in the livers of mice treated with a toxic dose of APAP (300 mg/kg IP) and sacrificed at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 h. HIF-1{alpha} was induced at 1-12 h and induction occurred prior to the onset of toxicity. Pre-treatment of mice with N-acetylcysteine (1200 mg/kg IP) prevented toxicity and HIF-1{alpha} induction. In further studies, hepatocyte suspensions were incubated with APAP (1 mM) in the presence ofmore » an oxygen atmosphere. HIF-1{alpha} was induced at 1 h, prior to the onset of toxicity. Inclusion of cyclosporine A (10 {mu}M), an inhibitor of mitochondrial permeability transition, oxidative stress, and toxicity, prevented the induction of HIF-1{alpha}. Thus, HIF-1{alpha} is induced before APAP toxicity and can occur under non-hypoxic conditions. The data suggest a role for oxidative stress in the induction of HIF-1{alpha} in APAP toxicity.« less

  17. Development of a Minimal-Bulk Oxygen Delivery Product to Enhance Survival During Hemorrhagic Shock/Studies Regarding the Use of Perfluorocarbon- Derived Intravascular Microbubbles from Oxygen Transport

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-07-01

    TREATED PIGS A few minu tes after th e Hextend infusion was initiated, th e arterial pr essures started to incr ease gradually as demonstrated in Figure...Until the end of treatment both panels displays SAP (systolic arterial pressure) and DAP (diastolic arterial pr essure ) as mean ± SE, after...toxicity, high pressu re nervous syndrome, work to lerance at pr essure , hyperbaric oxygen treatment for decompression sickness and clinical use

  18. No Clinically Significant Changes in Pulmonary Function Following Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Early- Stage Peripheral Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: An Analysis of RTOG 0236

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stanic, Sinisa, E-mail: sinisa.stanic@carle.com; Paulus, Rebecca; Timmerman, Robert D.

    2014-04-01

    Purpose: To investigate pulmonary function test (PFT) results and arterial blood gas changes (complete PFT) following stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and to see whether baseline PFT correlates with lung toxicity and overall survival in medically inoperable patients receiving SBRT for early stage, peripheral, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods and Materials: During the 2-year follow-up, PFT data were collected for patients with T1-T2N0M0 peripheral NSCLC who received effectively 18 Gy × 3 in a phase 2 North American multicenter study (Radiation Therapy Oncology Group [RTOG] protocol 0236). Pulmonary toxicity was graded by using the RTOG SBRT pulmonary toxicity scale. Paired Wilcoxon signedmore » rank test, logistic regression model, and Kaplan-Meier method were used for statistical analysis. Results: At 2 years, mean percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in the first second and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide declines were 5.8% and 6.3%, respectively, with minimal changes in arterial blood gases and no significant decline in oxygen saturation. Baseline PFT was not predictive of any pulmonary toxicity following SBRT. Whole-lung V5 (the percentage of normal lung tissue receiving 5 Gy), V10, V20, and mean dose to the whole lung were almost identical between patients who developed pneumonitis and patients who were pneumonitis-free. Poor baseline PFT did not predict decreased overall survival. Patients with poor baseline PFT as the reason for medical inoperability had higher median and overall survival rates than patients with normal baseline PFT values but with cardiac morbidity. Conclusions: Poor baseline PFT did not appear to predict pulmonary toxicity or decreased overall survival after SBRT in this medically inoperable population. Poor baseline PFT alone should not be used to exclude patients with early stage lung cancer from treatment with SBRT.« less

  19. The neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NANT blocks acetaminophen toxicity and protein nitration in freshly isolated hepatocytes.

    PubMed

    Banerjee, Sudip; Melnyk, Stepan B; Krager, Kimberly J; Aykin-Burns, Nukhet; Letzig, Lynda G; James, Laura P; Hinson, Jack A

    2015-12-01

    3-Nitrotyrosine (3NT) in liver proteins of mice treated with hepatotoxic doses of acetaminophen (APAP) has been postulated to be causative in toxicity. Nitration is by a reactive nitrogen species formed from nitric oxide (NO). The source of the NO is unclear. iNOS knockout mice were previously found to be equally susceptible to APAP toxicity as wildtype mice and iNOS inhibitors did not decrease toxicity in mice or in hepatocytes. In this work we examined the potential role of nNOS in APAP toxicity in hepatocytes using the specific nNOS inhibitor NANT (10 µM)(N-[(4S)-4-amino-5-[(2-aminoethyl)amino]pentyl]-N'-nitroguanidinetris (trifluoroacetate)). Primary hepatocytes (1 million/ml) from male B6C3F1 mice were incubated with APAP (1mM). Cells were removed and assayed spectrofluorometrically for reactive nitrogen and oxygen species using diaminofluorescein (DAF) and Mitosox red, respectively. Cytotoxicity was determined by LDH release into media. Glutathione (GSH, GSSG), 3NT, GSNO, acetaminophen-cysteine adducts, NAD, and NADH were measured by HPLC. APAP significantly increased cytotoxicity at 1.5-3.0 h. The increase was blocked by NANT. NANT did not alter APAP mediated GSH depletion or acetaminophen-cysteine adducts in proteins which indicated that NANT did not inhibit metabolism. APAP significantly increased spectroflurometric evidence of reactive nitrogen and oxygen formation at 0.5 and 1.0 h, respectively, and increased 3NT and GSNO at 1.5-3.0 h. These increases were blocked by NANT. APAP dramatically increased NADH from 0.5-3.0 h and this increase was blocked by NANT. Also, APAP decreased the Oxygen Consumption Rate (OCR), decreased ATP production, and caused a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, which were all blocked by NANT. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Investigating the performance of three modified activated sludge processes treating municipal wastewater in organic pollutants removal and toxicity reduction.

    PubMed

    Han, Xue; Zuo, Yu-Ting; Hu, Yu; Zhang, Jie; Zhou, Meng-Xuan; Chen, Mo; Tang, Fei; Lu, Wen-Qing; Liu, Ai-Lin

    2018-02-01

    This study investigated the treatment performance of three types of modified activated sludge processes, i.e., anoxic/oxic (A/O), anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A2/O) and oxidation ditch process, in treating municipal wastewater by measuring physicochemical and spectroscopic parameters, and the toxicity of the influents and effluents collected from 8 full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs). The relationships between spectroscopic and physicochemical parameters of the wastewater samples and the applicability of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) bioassays for the assessment of the toxic properties of municipal wastewater were also evaluated. The results indicated that the investigated MWTPs employing any of A/O, A2/O and oxidation ditch processes could effectively control the discharge of major wastewater pollutants including biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand, nitrogen and phosphorus. The oxidation ditch process appeared to have the advantage of removing tyrosine-like substances and presented slightly better removal efficiency of tryptophan-like fluorescent (peak T) substances than the A/O and A2/O processes. Both ultraviolet absorbance at 254nm and peak T may be used to characterize the organic load of municipal wastewater, and peak T can be adopted as a gauge of the BOD removal efficacy of municipal wastewater treatment. Using C. elegans-based oxygen consumption rate assay for monitoring municipal wastewater toxicity deserves further investigations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. BLOOD SUBSTITUTES: EVOLUTION FROM NON-CARRYING TO OXYGEN AND GAS CARRYING FLUIDS

    PubMed Central

    Cabrales, Pedro; Intaglietta, Marcos

    2013-01-01

    The development of oxygen (O2) carrying blood substitutes has evolved from the goal of replicating blood O2 transports properties to that of preserving microvascular and organ function, reducing the inherent or potential toxicity of the material used to carry O2, and treating pathologies initiated by anemia and hypoxia. Furthermore, the emphasis has shifted from blood replacement fluid to “O2 therapeutics” that restore tissue oxygenation to specific tissues regions. This review covers the different alternatives, potential and limitations of hemoglobin based O2 carriers (HBOCs) and perfluorocarbon based O2 carriers (PFCOCs), with emphasis on the physiological conditions disturbed in the situation that they will be used. It describes how concepts learned from plasma expanders without O2 carrying capacity can be applied to maintain O2 delivery and summarizes the microvascular responses due to HBOCs and PFCOCs. This review also presents alternative applications of HBOCs and PFCOCs namely: 1) How HBOC O2 affinity can be engineered to target O2 delivery to hypoxic tissues; and 2) How the high gas solubility of PFCOCs provides new opportunities for carrying, dissolving and delivering gases with biological activity. It is concluded that current blood substitutes development has amplified their applications horizon by devising therapeutic functions for oxygen carriers requiring limited O2 delivery capacity restoration. Conversely, full, blood-like O2 carrying capacity re-establishment awaits control of O2 carrier toxicity. PMID:23820271

  2. Neuron specific metabolic adaptations following multi-day exposures to oxygen glucose deprivation.

    PubMed

    Zeiger, Stephanie L H; McKenzie, Jennifer R; Stankowski, Jeannette N; Martin, Jacob A; Cliffel, David E; McLaughlin, BethAnn

    2010-11-01

    Prior exposure to sub toxic insults can induce a powerful endogenous neuroprotective program known as ischemic preconditioning. Current models typically rely on a single stress episode to induce neuroprotection whereas the clinical reality is that patients may experience multiple transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) prior to suffering a stroke. We sought to develop a neuron-enriched preconditioning model using multiple oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) episodes to assess the endogenous protective mechanisms neurons implement at the metabolic and cellular level. We found that neurons exposed to a five minute period of glucose deprivation recovered oxygen utilization and lactate production using novel microphysiometry techniques. Using the non-toxic and energetically favorable five minute exposure, we developed a preconditioning paradigm where neurons are exposed to this brief OGD for three consecutive days. These cells experienced a 45% greater survival following an otherwise lethal event and exhibited a longer lasting window of protection in comparison to our previous in vitro preconditioning model using a single stress. As in other models, preconditioned cells exhibited mild caspase activation, an increase in oxidized proteins and a requirement for reactive oxygen species for neuroprotection. Heat shock protein 70 was upregulated during preconditioning, yet the majority of this protein was released extracellularly. We believe coupling this neuron-enriched multi-day model with microphysiometry will allow us to assess neuronal specific real-time metabolic adaptations necessary for preconditioning. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Comparative toxicity of several metal oxide nanoparticle aqueous suspensions to Zebrafish (Danio rerio) early developmental stage.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Xiaoshan; Zhu, Lin; Duan, Zhenghua; Qi, Ruiqi; Li, Yan; Lang, Yupeng

    2008-02-15

    With the emergence of manufactured nanomaterials, it is urgent to carry out researches on their potential environmental impacts and biological effects. To better understand the potential ecotoxicological impacts of metal oxide nanoparticles released to aquatic environments, the zebrafish 96-h embryo-larval bioassay was used to assess and compare the developmental toxicities of nanoscale zinc oxide (nZnO), titanium dioxide (nTiO(2)) and alumina (nAl(2)O(3)) aqueous suspensions. Toxicological endpoints such as zebrafish embryos or larvae survival, hatching rate and malformation were noted and described within 96 h of exposure. Meanwhile, a comparative experiment with their bulk counterparts (i.e., ZnO/bulk, TiO(2)/bulk and Al(2)O(3)/bulk) was conducted to understand the effect of particle size on their toxicities. The results showed that: (i) both nZnO and ZnO/bulk aqueous suspensions delayed zebrafish embryo and larva development, decreased their survival and hatching rates, and caused tissue damage. The 96-h LC(50) of nZnO and ZnO/bulk aqueous suspensions on the zebrafish survival are 1.793 mg/L and 1.550 mg/L respectively; and the 84-h EC(50) on the zebrafish embryo hatching rate are 2.065 mg/L and 2.066 mg/L respectively. Serious tissue ulceration was found on zebrafish larvae exposed to nZnO and ZnO/bulk aqueous suspensions. (ii) In contrast, neither nTiO(2) and TiO(2)/bulk nor nAl(2)O(3) and Al(2)O(3)/bulk showed any toxicity to zebrafish embryos and larvae under the same experimental condition. It revealed that the metal oxide nanoparticles with different chemical composition have different zebrafish developmental toxicities. (iii) Exposures of nTiO(2), nZnO and nAl(2)O(3) produced toxic effects on zebrafish embryos and larvae, which was not different from the effects caused by exposing to their bulk counterparts. This is the first study about the developmental toxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles, and the results demonstrate that nZnO is very toxic to

  4. Singlet oxygen generation during the oxidation of L-tyrosine and L-dopa with mushroom tyrosinase

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Miyaji, Akimitsu; Kohno, Masahiro; Inoue, Yoshihiro

    2016-03-18

    The generation of singlet oxygen during the oxidation of tyrosine and L-dopa using mushroom tyrosinase in a phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), the model of melanin synthesis in melanocytes, was examined. The reaction was performed in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone (4-oxo-TEMP), an acceptor of singlet oxygen and the electron spin resonance (ESR) of the spin adduct, 4-oxo-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (4-oxo-TEMPO), was measured. An increase in the ESR signal attributable to 4-oxo-TEMPO was observed during the oxidation of tyrosine and L-dopa with tyrosinase, indicating the generation of singlet oxygen. The results suggest that {sup 1}O{sub 2} generation via tyrosinase-catalyzed melanin synthesis occurs in melanocyte.more » - Highlights: • Generation of singlet oxygen was observed during tyrosinase-catalyzed tyrosine oxidation. • The singlet oxygen generated when tyrosine was converted into dopachrome. • The amount of singlet oxygen is not sufficient for cell toxicity. • It decreased when the hydroxyl radicals and/or superoxide anions were trapped.« less

  5. Time-response characteristic and potential biomarker identification of heavy metal induced toxicity in zebrafish.

    PubMed

    Yin, Jian; Wang, Ai-Ping; Li, Wan-Fang; Shi, Rui; Jin, Hong-Tao; Wei, Jin-Feng

    2018-01-01

    The present work aims to explore the time-response (from 24 h to 96 h) characteristic and identify early potential sensitive biomarkers of copper (Cu) (as copper chloride dihydrate), cadmium (Cd) (as cadmium acetate), lead (Pb) (as lead nitrate) and chromium (Cr) (as potassium dichromate) exposure in adult zebrafish, focusing on reactive oxygen species (ROS), SOD activity, lipid peroxidation and gene expression related to oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Furthermore, the survival rate decreased apparently by a concentration-dependent manner after Cu, Cr, Cd and Pb exposure, and we selected non-lethal concentrations 0.05 mg/L for Cu, 15 mg/L for Cr, 3 mg/L for Cd and 93.75μg/L for Pb to test the effect on the following biological indicators. Under non-lethal concentration, the four heavy metals have no apparent histological change in adult zebrafish gills. Similar trends in ROS production, MDA level and SOD activity were up-regulated by the four heavy metals, while MDA level responded more sensitive to Pb by time-dependent manner than the other three heavy metals. In addition, mRNA levels related to antioxidant system (SOD1, SOD2 and Nrf2) were up-regulated by non-lethal concentration Cu, Cr, Cd and Pb exposure. MDA level and SOD1 gene have a more delayed response to heavy metals. Genes related to immunotoxicity were increased significantly after heavy metals exposure at non-lethal concentrations. TNF-α and IL-1β gene have similar sensibility to the four heavy metals, while IL-8 gene was more responsive to Cr, Cd and Pb exposure at 48 h groups and IFN-γ gene showed more sensitivity to Cu at 48 h groups than the other heavy metals. In conclusion, the present works have suggested that the IFN-γ gene may applied as early sensitive biomarker to identify Cu-induced toxicity, while MDA content and IL-8 gene may use as early sensitive biomarkers for evaluating the risk of Pb exposure. Moreover, IL-8 and IFN-γ gene were more responsive to heavy

  6. Toxic epidermal necrolysis: a paradigm of critical illness

    PubMed Central

    Estrella-Alonso, Alfonso; Aramburu, José Antonio; González-Ruiz, Mercedes Yolanda; Cachafeiro, Lucía; Sánchez, Manuel Sánchez; Lorente, José A.

    2017-01-01

    Toxic epidermal necrolysis is an adverse immunological skin reaction secondary in most cases to the administration of a drug. Toxic epidermal necrolysis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and multiform exudative erythema are part of the same disease spectrum. The mortality rate from toxic epidermal necrolysis is approximately 30%. The pathophysiology of toxic epidermal necrolysis is similar in many respects to that of superficial skin burns. Mucosal involvement of the ocular and genital epithelium is associated with serious sequelae if the condition is not treated early. It is generally accepted that patients with toxic epidermal necrolysis are better treated in burn units, which are experienced in the management of patients with extensive skin loss. Treatment includes support, elimination, and coverage with biosynthetic derivatives of the skin in affected areas, treatment of mucosal involvement, and specific immunosuppressive treatment. Of the treatments tested, only immunoglobulin G and cyclosporin A are currently used in most centers, even though there is no solid evidence to recommend any specific treatment. The particular aspects of the treatment of this disease include the prevention of sequelae related to the formation of synechiae, eye care to prevent serious sequelae that can lead to blindness, and specific immunosuppressive treatment. Better knowledge of the management principles of toxic epidermal necrolysis will lead to better disease management, higher survival rates, and lower prevalence of sequelae. PMID:29340540

  7. Charcoal evidence that rising atmospheric oxygen terminated Early Jurassic ocean anoxia

    PubMed Central

    Baker, Sarah J.; Hesselbo, Stephen P.; Lenton, Timothy M.; Duarte, Luís V.; Belcher, Claire M.

    2017-01-01

    The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) was characterized by a major disturbance to the global carbon(C)-cycle, and depleted oxygen in Earth's oceans resulting in marine mass extinction. Numerical models predict that increased organic carbon burial should drive a rise in atmospheric oxygen (pO2) leading to termination of an OAE after ∼1 Myr. Wildfire is highly responsive to changes in pO2 implying that fire-activity should vary across OAEs. Here we test this hypothesis by tracing variations in the abundance of fossil charcoal across the T-OAE. We report a sustained ∼800 kyr enhancement of fire-activity beginning ∼1 Myr after the onset of the T-OAE and peaking during its termination. This major enhancement of fire occurred across the timescale of predicted pO2 variations, and we argue this was primarily driven by increased pO2. Our study provides the first fossil-based evidence suggesting that fire-feedbacks to rising pO2 may have aided in terminating the T-OAE. PMID:28497785

  8. Charcoal evidence that rising atmospheric oxygen terminated Early Jurassic ocean anoxia.

    PubMed

    Baker, Sarah J; Hesselbo, Stephen P; Lenton, Timothy M; Duarte, Luís V; Belcher, Claire M

    2017-05-12

    The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) was characterized by a major disturbance to the global carbon(C)-cycle, and depleted oxygen in Earth's oceans resulting in marine mass extinction. Numerical models predict that increased organic carbon burial should drive a rise in atmospheric oxygen (pO 2 ) leading to termination of an OAE after ∼1 Myr. Wildfire is highly responsive to changes in pO 2 implying that fire-activity should vary across OAEs. Here we test this hypothesis by tracing variations in the abundance of fossil charcoal across the T-OAE. We report a sustained ∼800 kyr enhancement of fire-activity beginning ∼1 Myr after the onset of the T-OAE and peaking during its termination. This major enhancement of fire occurred across the timescale of predicted pO 2 variations, and we argue this was primarily driven by increased pO 2 . Our study provides the first fossil-based evidence suggesting that fire-feedbacks to rising pO 2 may have aided in terminating the T-OAE.

  9. Glycidamide inhibits progesterone production through reactive oxygen species-induced apoptosis in R2C Rat Leydig Cells.

    PubMed

    Li, Mingwei; Sun, Jianxia; Zou, Feiyan; Bai, Shun; Jiang, Xinwei; Jiao, Rui; Ou, Shiyi; Zhang, Hui; Su, Zhijian; Huang, Yadong; Bai, Weibin

    2017-10-01

    The food contaminant acrylamide (AA) is usually recognized as a probable human carcinogen. In addition, AA has also been found able to induce male infertility in animals. Interestingly, resent research work revealed that the toxic effect of AA on the ability of male reproduction in vivo may due to glycidamide (GA) which is the metabolite of AA. In this study, R2C Leydig cells was used to investigate the toxic effects of GA on progesterone production. GA caused dose-dependent inhibition on the cell growth, with IC 25 , IC 50, and IC 75 values found at 0.635, 0.872, and 1.198 mM, respectively. The results of single cell gel/Comet assay showed that GA significantly induced early-phase cell apoptosis, reduced progesterone production, as well as decreasing the protein expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) in R2C cells. Furthermore, GA induced overproduction of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), upregulated Bax expression, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and triggered mitochondria-mediated cell apoptosis. Consequently, the downstream effector caspase-3 was activated, resulting in Leydig cells apoptosis. Overall, our results showed that GA could damage R2C Leydig cells by the lesion of the ability of progesterone genesis and inducing cells apoptosis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Acylcarnitine Profiles in Acetaminophen Toxicity in the Mouse: Comparison to Toxicity, Metabolism and Hepatocyte Regeneration

    PubMed Central

    Bhattacharyya, Sudeepa; Pence, Lisa; Beger, Richard; Chaudhuri, Shubhra; McCullough, Sandra; Yan, Ke; Simpson, Pippa; Hennings, Leah; Hinson, Jack; James, Laura

    2013-01-01

    High doses of acetaminophen (APAP) result in hepatotoxicity that involves metabolic activation of the parent compound, covalent binding of the reactive intermediate N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI) to liver proteins, and depletion of hepatic glutathione. Impaired fatty acid β-oxidation has been implicated in previous studies of APAP-induced hepatotoxicity. To better understand relationships between toxicity and fatty acid β-oxidation in the liver in APAP toxicity, metabolomic assays for long chain acylcarnitines were examined in relationship to established markers of liver toxicity, oxidative metabolism, and liver regeneration in a time course study in mice. Male B6C3F1 mice were treated with APAP (200 mg/kg IP) or saline and sacrificed at 1, 2, 4, 8, 24 or 48 h after APAP. At 1 h, hepatic glutathione was depleted and APAP protein adducts were markedly increased. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were elevated at 4 and 8 h, while proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression, indicative of hepatocyte regeneration, was apparent at 24 h and 48 h. Elevations of palmitoyl, oleoyl and myristoyl carnitine were apparent by 2–4 h, concurrent with the onset of Oil Red O staining in liver sections. By 8 h, acylcarnitine levels were below baseline levels and remained low at 24 and 48 h. A partial least squares (PLS) model suggested a direct association of acylcarnitine accumulation in serum to APAP protein adduct and hepatic glutathione levels in mice. Overall, the kinetics of serum acylcarnitines in APAP toxicity in mice followed a biphasic pattern involving early elevation after the metabolism phases of toxicity and later depletion of acylcarnitines. PMID:24958141

  11. Comparative chronic toxicity of imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam to Chironomus dilutus and estimation of toxic equivalency factors.

    PubMed

    Cavallaro, Michael C; Morrissey, Christy A; Headley, John V; Peru, Kerry M; Liber, Karsten

    2017-02-01

    Nontarget aquatic insects are susceptible to chronic neonicotinoid insecticide exposure during the early stages of development from repeated runoff events and prolonged persistence of these chemicals. Investigations on the chronic toxicity of neonicotinoids to aquatic invertebrates have been limited to a few species and under different laboratory conditions that often preclude direct comparisons of the relative toxicity of different compounds. In the present study, full life-cycle toxicity tests using Chironomus dilutus were performed to compare the toxicity of 3 commonly used neonicotinoids: imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam. Test conditions followed a static-renewal exposure protocol in which lethal and sublethal endpoints were assessed on days 14 and 40. Reduced emergence success, advanced emergence timing, and male-biased sex ratios were sensitive responses to low-level neonicotinoid exposure. The 14-d median lethal concentrations for imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam were 1.52 μg/L, 2.41 μg/L, and 23.60 μg/L, respectively. The 40-d median effect concentrations (emergence) for imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam were 0.39 μg/L, 0.28 μg/L, and 4.13 μg/L, respectively. Toxic equivalence relative to imidacloprid was estimated through a 3-point response average of equivalencies calculated at 20%, 50%, and 90% lethal and effect concentrations. Relative to imidacloprid (toxic equivalency factor [TEF] = 1.0), chronic (lethality) 14-d TEFs for clothianidin and thiamethoxam were 1.05 and 0.14, respectively, and chronic (emergence inhibition) 40-d TEFs were 1.62 and 0.11, respectively. These population-relevant endpoints and TEFs suggest that imidacloprid and clothianidin exert comparable chronic toxicity to C. dilutus, whereas thiamethoxam induced comparable effects only at concentrations an order of magnitude higher. However, the authors caution that under field conditions, thiamethoxam readily degrades to

  12. [Toxic shock syndrome].

    PubMed

    Tyll, T; Bílková, M; Revinová, A; Müller, M; Čurdová, M; Zlámal, M; Holub, M

    2015-10-01

    The authors present an up-to-date review of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) - a life-threatening condition where toxins of the Gram-positive bacteria Staphyloccocus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes play a key role in the pathogenesis. The authors provide insight into the epidemiology and pathogenesis of the disease and point out the relevant patient history data and clinical signs and symptoms that may indicate progression of TSS. Last but not least, the state of the art diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to early and full blown TSS are summarized. Case reports are presented to illustrate two different etiological forms of this relatively rare nosological entity.

  13. Quantification of the oxygen uptake rate in a dissolved oxygen controlled oscillating jet-driven microbioreactor.

    PubMed

    Kirk, Timothy V; Marques, Marco Pc; Radhakrishnan, Anand N Pallipurath; Szita, Nicolas

    2016-03-01

    Microbioreactors have emerged as a new tool for early bioprocess development. The technology has advanced rapidly in the last decade and obtaining real-time quantitative data of process variables is nowadays state of the art. In addition, control over process variables has also been achieved. The aim of this study was to build a microbioreactor capable of controlling dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and to determine oxygen uptake rate in real time. An oscillating jet driven, membrane-aerated microbioreactor was developed without comprising any moving parts. Mixing times of ∼7 s, and k L a values of ∼170 h -1 were achieved. DO control was achieved by varying the duty cycle of a solenoid microvalve, which changed the gas mixture in the reactor incubator chamber. The microbioreactor supported Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth over 30 h and cell densities of 6.7 g dcw L -1 . Oxygen uptake rates of ∼34 mmol L -1 h -1 were achieved. The results highlight the potential of DO-controlled microbioreactors to obtain real-time information on oxygen uptake rate, and by extension on cellular metabolism for a variety of cell types over a broad range of processing conditions. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

  14. Accelerated hematopoietic toxicity by high energy (56)Fe radiation.

    PubMed

    Datta, Kamal; Suman, Shubhankar; Trani, Daniela; Doiron, Kathryn; Rotolo, Jimmy A; Kallakury, Bhaskar V S; Kolesnick, Richard; Cole, Michael F; Fornace, Albert J

    2012-03-01

    There is little information on the relative toxicity of highly charged (Z) high-energy (HZE) radiation in animal models compared to γ or X-rays, and the general assumption based on in vitro studies has been that acute toxicity is substantially greater. C57BL/6J mice were irradiated with (56)Fe ions (1 GeV/nucleon), and acute (within 30 d) toxicity compared to that of γ rays or protons (1 GeV). To assess relative hematopoietic and gastrointestinal toxicity, the effects of (56)Fe ions were compared to γ rays using complete blood count (CBC), bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage colony forming unit (GM-CFU), terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay for apoptosis in bone marrow, and intestinal crypt survival. Although onset was more rapid, (56)Fe ions were only slightly more toxic than γ rays or protons with lethal dose (LD)(50/30) (a radiation dose at which 50% lethality occurs at 30-day) values of 5.8, 7.25, and 6.8 Gy, respectively, with relative biologic effectiveness for (56)Fe ions of 1.25 and 1.06 for protons. (56)Fe radiation caused accelerated and more severe hematopoietic toxicity. Early mortality correlated with more profound leukopenia and subsequent sepsis. Results indicate that there is selective enhanced toxicity to bone marrow progenitor cells, which are typically resistant to γ rays, and bone marrow stem cells, because intestinal crypt cells did not show increased HZE toxicity.

  15. [Sequential course and prospective management of ifosfamide-induced multi-organ toxicity].

    PubMed

    Mollenkopf, A; du Bois, A; Meerpohl, H G

    1996-10-01

    We report on an 66-year old female in whom we diagnosed uterine carcinosarcoma and concurrent breast cancer. As first-line treatment the patient received ifosfamide 4.8 mg/m2 body surface. During her second course of chemotherapy she developed sequentially life-threatening toxicities; severe emesis followed by nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity and myelosuppression. Early prophylactic administration of rhG-CSF (Filgrastim) helped to overcome severe, potentially fatal myelosuppression. The course of severe toxicities following high doses of ifosfamide might reflect a dependent sequence, where one organ failure causes a subsequent organ failure. Prophylactic treatment of anticipated toxicity should be considered for the management of severe ifosfamide-induced toxicity. Such treatment may consist of sufficient antiemesis, sufficient hydration, as well as a therapy with methylene blue in case of severe neurotoxicity.

  16. REPRODUCTIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY OF ARSENIC IN RODENTS: A REVIEW

    EPA Science Inventory

    Arsenic is a recognized reproductive toxicant in humans and induces malformations, especially neural tube defects, in laboratory animals. Early studies showed that murine malformations occurred only when a high dose of inorganic arsenic was given by intravenous or intraperitoneal...

  17. Earth's early biosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Des Marais, D. J.

    1998-01-01

    Understanding our own early biosphere is essential to our search for life elsewhere, because life arose on Earth very early and rocky planets shared similar early histories. The biosphere arose before 3.8 Ga ago, was exclusively unicellular and was dominated by hyperthermophiles that utilized chemical sources of energy and employed a range of metabolic pathways for CO2 assimilation. Photosynthesis also arose very early. Oxygenic photosynthesis arose later but still prior to 2.7 Ga. The transition toward the modern global environment was paced by a decline in volcanic and hydrothermal activity. These developments allowed atmospheric O2 levels to increase. The O2 increase created new niches for aerobic life, most notably the more advanced Eukarya that eventually spawned the megascopic fauna and flora of our modern biosphere.

  18. Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species from Silicon Nanowires

    PubMed Central

    Leonard, Stephen S; Cohen, Guy M; Kenyon, Allison J; Schwegler-Berry, Diane; Fix, Natalie R; Bangsaruntip, Sarunya; Roberts, Jenny R

    2014-01-01

    Processing and synthesis of purified nanomaterials of diverse composition, size, and properties is an evolving process. Studies have demonstrated that some nanomaterials have potential toxic effects and have led to toxicity research focusing on nanotoxicology. About two million workers will be employed in the field of nanotechnology over the next 10 years. The unknown effects of nanomaterials create a need for research and development of techniques to identify possible toxicity. Through a cooperative effort between National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and IBM to address possible occupational exposures, silicon-based nanowires (SiNWs) were obtained for our study. These SiNWs are anisotropic filamentary crystals of silicon, synthesized by the vapor–liquid–solid method and used in bio-sensors, gas sensors, and field effect transistors. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be generated when organisms are exposed to a material causing cellular responses, such as lipid peroxidation, H2O2 production, and DNA damage. SiNWs were assessed using three different in vitro environments (H2O2, RAW 264.7 cells, and rat alveolar macrophages) for ROS generation and possible toxicity identification. We used electron spin resonance, analysis of lipid peroxidation, measurement of H2O2 production, and the comet assay to assess generation of ROS from SiNW and define possible mechanisms. Our results demonstrate that SiNWs do not appear to be significant generators of free radicals. PMID:25452695

  19. Generation of reactive oxygen species from silicon nanowires.

    PubMed

    Leonard, Stephen S; Cohen, Guy M; Kenyon, Allison J; Schwegler-Berry, Diane; Fix, Natalie R; Bangsaruntip, Sarunya; Roberts, Jenny R

    2014-01-01

    Processing and synthesis of purified nanomaterials of diverse composition, size, and properties is an evolving process. Studies have demonstrated that some nanomaterials have potential toxic effects and have led to toxicity research focusing on nanotoxicology. About two million workers will be employed in the field of nanotechnology over the next 10 years. The unknown effects of nanomaterials create a need for research and development of techniques to identify possible toxicity. Through a cooperative effort between National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and IBM to address possible occupational exposures, silicon-based nanowires (SiNWs) were obtained for our study. These SiNWs are anisotropic filamentary crystals of silicon, synthesized by the vapor-liquid-solid method and used in bio-sensors, gas sensors, and field effect transistors. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be generated when organisms are exposed to a material causing cellular responses, such as lipid peroxidation, H2O2 production, and DNA damage. SiNWs were assessed using three different in vitro environments (H2O2, RAW 264.7 cells, and rat alveolar macrophages) for ROS generation and possible toxicity identification. We used electron spin resonance, analysis of lipid peroxidation, measurement of H2O2 production, and the comet assay to assess generation of ROS from SiNW and define possible mechanisms. Our results demonstrate that SiNWs do not appear to be significant generators of free radicals.

  20. Dissolved oxygen and its response to eutrophication in a tropical black water river.

    PubMed

    Rixen, Tim; Baum, Antje; Sepryani, Harni; Pohlmann, Thomas; Jose, Christine; Samiaji, Joko

    2010-08-01

    The Siak is a typical, nutrient-poor, well-mixed, black water river in central Sumatra, Indonesia, which owes its brown color to dissolved organic matter (DOM) leached from surrounding, heavily disturbed peat soils. We measured dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and oxygen concentrations along the river, carried out a 36-h experiment in the province capital Pekanbaru and quantified organic matter and nutrient inputs from urban wastewater channels into the Siak. In order to consider the complex dynamic of oxygen in rivers, a box-diffusion model was used to interpret the measured data. The results suggest that the decomposition of soil derived DOM was the main factor influencing the oxygen concentration in the Siak which varied between approximately 100 and 140 micromol l(-1). Additional DOM input caused by wastewater discharges appeared to reduce the oxygen concentrations by approximately 20 micromol l(-1) during the peak-time in household water use in the early morning and in the early evening. Associated enhanced nutrient inputs appear to reduce the impact of the anthropogenic DOM by favoring the photosynthetic production of oxygen in the morning. A reduction of 20 micromol l(-1), which although perhaps not of great significance in Pekanbaru, has strong implications for wastewater management in the fast developing areas downstream Pekanbaru where oxygen concentrations rarely exceed 20 micromol l(-1). Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Toxicity of lead: A review with recent updates

    PubMed Central

    Gupta, Deepesh; Tiwari, Archana

    2012-01-01

    Lead poisoning has been recognized as a major public health risk, particularly in developing countries. Though various occupational and public health measures have been undertaken in order to control lead exposure, cases of lead poisoning are still reported. Exposure to lead produces various deleterious effects on the hematopoietic, renal, reproductive and central nervous system, mainly through increased oxidative stress. These alterations play a prominent role in disease manifestations. Modulation of cellular thiols for protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been used as a therapeutic strategy against lead poisoning. N-acetylcysteine, α-lipoic acid, vitamin E, quercetin and a few herbal extracts show prophylaxis against the majority of lead mediated injury in both in vitro and in vivo studies. This review provides a comprehensive account of recent updates describing health effects of lead exposure, relevant biomarkers and mechanisms involved in lead toxicity. It also updates the readers about recent advances in chelation therapy and newer therapeutic strategies, like nanoencapsulation, to treat lead induced toxic manifestations. PMID:23118587

  2. Photoenhanced toxicity of a carbamate insecticide to early life stage anuran amphibians

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Zaga, A.; Little, E.E.; Rabeni, C.F.; Ellersieck, Mark R.

    1998-01-01

    Aican clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) and gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor) embryos and tadpoles were exposed to sublethal levels of carbaryl, a broad-spectrum insecticide, and ultraviolet radiation to determine interactive and sublethal effects. Ultraviolet intensity (UV-B [285–320 nm] plus UV-A [321–400 nm]) was controlled with various types of plastic filters and quantified with a scanning spectroradiometer. Significant differences in swimming activity and mortality of both species were evident during the 96-h experiments. Ultraviolet-B radiation alone and carbaryl in the presence of UV-B significantly decreased swimming activity of both species. As little as 1.5% intensity of ambient solar UV-B radiation photoactivated carbaryl. Toxicity of 7.5 mg/L carbaryl increased by 10-fold in the presence of UV-B in all species and life stages tested. Our results indicate that photoenhancement by solar UV-B radiation should be considered when evaluating the toxicity of contaminants to amphibians and other organisms.

  3. Toxic effects and possible mechanisms of hydrogen sulfide and/or ammonia on porcine oocyte maturation in vitro.

    PubMed

    Yang, Lei-Lei; Zhao, Yong; Luo, Shi-Ming; Ma, Jun-Yu; Ge, Zhao-Jia; Shen, Wei; Yin, Shen

    2018-03-15

    Previous studies suggest that hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) and ammonia (NH 3 ) are two major air pollutants which can cause damage to porcine health. However, the mechanisms underlying toxic effects of these compounds on porcine oocyte maturation are not clear. To clarify the mechanism, we evaluated the oocyte quality by detecting some events during oocytes maturation. In our study, porcine oocytes were cultured with different concentrations of Na 2 S and/or NH 4 Cl in vitro and the rate of the first polar body extrusion decreased significantly. Also, actin filament was seriously disrupted to damage the cytoskeleton which resulted in reduced rate of oocyte maturation. We explored the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and found that the ROS level was increased significantly after Na 2 S treatment but not after NH 4 Cl treatment. Moreover, early stage apoptosis rate was significantly increased and autophagy protein LC3 B expression level was higher in oocytes treated with Na 2 S and/or NH 4 Cl, which might be caused by ROS elevation. Additionally, exposure to Na 2 S and/or NH 4 Cl also caused ROS generation and early apoptosis in cumulus cells, which might further affect oocyte maturation in vitro. In summary, our data suggested that exposure to H 2 S and/or NH 3 decreased porcine oocyte maturation in vitro, which might be caused by actin disruption, ROS generation, early apoptosis and autophagy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Toxic epidermal necrolysis and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: a case report and literature review

    PubMed Central

    Sniderman, Jonathan D S; Cuvelier, Geoff D E; Veroukis, Stasa; Hansen, Gregory

    2015-01-01

    Key Clinical Message Diagnostic criteria for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis should be reviewed early in critically ill patients with toxic epidermal necrolysis, multisystem dysfunction, and a deteriorating clinical trajectory. PMID:25767712

  5. Health assessment of gasoline and fuel oxygenate vapors: generation and characterization of test materials.

    PubMed

    Henley, Michael; Letinski, Daniel J; Carr, John; Caro, Mario L; Daughtrey, Wayne; White, Russell

    2014-11-01

    In compliance with the Clean Air Act regulations for fuel and fuel additive registration, the petroleum industry, additive manufacturers, and oxygenate manufacturers have conducted comparative toxicology testing on evaporative emissions of gasoline alone and gasoline containing fuel oxygenates. To mimic real world exposures, a generation method was developed that produced test material similar in composition to the re-fueling vapor from an automotive fuel tank at near maximum in-use temperatures. Gasoline vapor was generated by a single-step distillation from a 1000-gallon glass-lined kettle wherein approximately 15-23% of the starting material was slowly vaporized, separated, condensed and recovered as test article. This fraction was termed vapor condensate (VC) and was prepared for each of the seven test materials, namely: baseline gasoline alone (BGVC), or gasoline plus an ether (G/MTBE, G/ETBE, G/TAME, or G/DIPE), or gasoline plus an alcohol (G/EtOH or G/TBA). The VC test articles were used for the inhalation toxicology studies described in the accompanying series of papers in this journal. These studies included evaluations of subchronic toxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, genotoxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity. Results of these studies will be used for comparative risk assessments of gasoline and gasoline/oxygenate blends by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Nanomaterials and Retinal Toxicity | Science Inventory | US ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The neuroretina should be considered as a potential site of nanomaterial toxicity. Engineered nanomaterials may reach the retina through three potential routes of exposure including; intra­ vitreal injection of therapeutics; blood-borne delivery in the retinal vasculature and then crossing the blood-retinal barrier; and through the choroidal blood supply, crossing the Bruch's membrane and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The blood-retinal barrier is functionally similar to the blood-brain barrier, normally restricting transport of larger sized materials, but particles in the lower nanomaterial size range can be expected to transit. The blood flow to the retinal choroid is, on a tissue mass basis, one of the highest in the body raising the potential for rapid delivery of nanomaterials to the RPE. In vitro, RPE cells rapidly uptake nano particles, transport and agglomerate them in the perinuclear cytoplasm. In vivo studies have shown that the eye can uptake nanomaterials and retain them longer than many other tissues after cessation of exposure. Toxicity from nanomaterials to the neural retina or the RPE would be expected to follow common mechanisms identified for other tissues including generation of reactive oxygen species, alteration of cellular redox status, altered intracellular signaling, and release of toxic metal ions from soluble metallic particles. The retina and other ocular tissues, however, have potential for additional phototoxic mechanism

  7. Priorities for toxic wastewater management in Pakistan

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rahman, A.

    1996-12-31

    This study assesses the number of industries in Pakistan, the total discharge of wastewater, the biological oxygen demand (BOD) load, and the toxicity of the wastewater. The industrial sector is a major contributor to water pollution, with high levels of BOD, heavy metals, and toxic compounds. Only 30 industries have installed water pollution control equipment, and most are working at a very low operational level. Priority industrial sectors for pollution control are medium- to large-scale textile industries and small-scale tanneries and electroplating industries. Each day the textile industries discharge about 85,000 m{sup 3} of wastewater with a high BOD, whilemore » the electroplating industries discharge about 23,000 m{sup 3} of highly toxic and hazardous wastewater. Various in-plant modifications can reduce wastewater discharges. Economic incentives, like tax rebates, subsidies, and soft loans, could be an option for motivating medium- to large-scale industries to control water pollution. Central treatment plants may be constructed for treating wastewater generated by small-scale industries. The estimated costs for the treatment of textile and electroplating wastewater are given. The legislative structure in Pakistan is insufficient for control of industrial pollution; not only do existing laws need revision, but more laws and regulations are needed to improve the state of affairs, and enforcement agencies need to be strengthened. 15 refs., 1 fig., 9 tabs.« less

  8. [Peroxynitrite effect on the haemoglobin oxygen affinity in vitro in presence of different partial pressure of carbon dioxide].

    PubMed

    Stepuro, T L; Zinchuk, V V

    2011-08-01

    Peroxynitrite (ONOO-) besides its toxic possesses regulatory action that includes the modulation of oxygen binding properties of blood. The aim of this work was to estimate ONOO- effect on the haemoglobin oxygen affinity (HOA) in vitro in presence of different partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2). The ONOO- presence in venous blood in conditions of hypercapnia induced oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve shift leftward while in hypocapnic conditions the result of a different character was obtained. The revealed effect of ONOO- is realized, possibly, through various modifications ofhaemoglobin whose formation is dependent on the CO2 pressure. The ONOO- influences the HOA in different manner that can be important in regulation of blood oxygenation in lungs and maintenance of oxygen consumption in tissues.

  9. The role of dissolved organic carbon concentration and composition on nickel toxicity to early life-stages of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis and purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.

    PubMed

    Blewett, Tamzin A; Dow, Elissa M; Wood, Chris M; McGeer, James C; Smith, D Scott

    2018-05-24

    Nickel (Ni) emissions resulting from production and transportation raise concerns about the impact of Ni exposure to marine ecosystems. Ni bioavailability models are established for FW systems, but the influence of chemical parameters (e.g. dissolved organic carbon (DOC)) on Ni toxicity within marine systems is less well understood. To examine the effects of DOC concentration and composition on Ni toxicity, acute toxicity tests were conducted on early life-stages of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and sea urchin embryos (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) in full strength sea water (32 ppt). Nine different field collected samples of water with varying concentration (up to 4.5 mg C/L) and composition of DOC were collected from the east coast of the United States. Organic matter compositional analysis included molecular fluorescence and absorbance spectroscopy. The different DOC sources had different protective effects against embryo toxicity. The control (no DOC) Ni 48 h-EC 50 for Mytilus embryos was 133 µg/L (95% confidence interval (C.I.) of 123-144 µg/L), while Strongylocentrotus embryos displayed control 96-h EC 50 values of 207 µg/L (167-247 µg/L). The most significantly protective sample had high humic acid concentrations (as determined from fluorescence spectroscopy), which yielded an EC 50 of 195 µg/L (169-222 µg/L) for Mytilus, and an EC 50 of 394 µg/L (369-419 µg/L) for S. purpuratus. Among all samples, protection was related to both DOC quantity and quality, with fluorescence-resolved humic and fulvic acid concentrations showing the strongest correlations with protection for both species. These data suggest that DOC is protective against Ni toxicity in M. edulis and S. purpuratus, and that accounting for a DOC quality factor will improve predictive toxicity models such as the biotic ligand model. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Innovative encapsulated oxygen-releasing beads for bioremediation of BTEX at high concentration in groundwater.

    PubMed

    Lin, Chi-Wen; Wu, Chih-Hung; Guo, Pei-Yu; Chang, Shih-Hsien

    2017-12-15

    Both a low concentration of dissolved oxygen and the toxicity of a high concentration of BTEX inhibit the bioremediation of BTEX in groundwater. A novel method of preparing encapsulated oxygen-releasing beads (encap-ORBs) for the biodegradation of BTEX in groundwater was developed. Experimental results show that the integrality and oxygen-releasing capacity of encap-ORBs exceeded those of ORBs. The use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with high M.W. to prepare encap-ORBs improved their integrality. The encap-ORBs effectively released oxygen for 128 days. High concentration of BTEX (480 mg L -1 ) inhibited the biodegradation by the free cells. Immobilization of degraders in the encap-ORB alleviated the inhibition. Scanning electron microscope analysis reveals that the BTEX degraders grew on the surface of encap-ORB after bioremediation. The above results indicate that the encap-ORBs were effective in the bioremediation of BTEX at high concentration in groundwater. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Biomarkers of Exposure to Toxic Substances. Volume 1. Global Experimental Design: Biomarker Discovery for Early Prediction of Organ-Selective Toxicity

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-05-30

    in the polyphenols chlorogenic acid , quinic acid and caffeic acid ). It appears in variable concentrations in urine and at much lower concentrations...liver, kidney, toxicity, gene, expression, nephrotoxin, D-serine, hippuric acid , Puromycin, Amphotericin B 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17...6 1.4.4. Hippuric Acid

  12. The transition from day-to-night activity is a risk factor for the development of CNS oxygen toxicity in the diurnal fat sand rat (Psammomys obesus).

    PubMed

    Eynan, Mirit; Biram, Adi; Mullokandov, Michael; Kronfeld-Schor, Noga; Paz-Cohen, Rotem; Menajem, Dvir; Arieli, Yehuda

    2017-01-01

    Performance and safety are impaired in employees engaged in shift work. Combat divers who use closed-circuit oxygen diving apparatus undergo part of their training during the night hours. The greatest risk involved in diving with such apparatus is the development of central nervous system oxygen toxicity (CNS-OT). We investigated whether the switch from day-to-night activity may be a risk factor for the development of CNS-OT using a diurnal animal model, the fat sand rat (Psammomys obesus). Animals were kept on a 12:12 light-dark schedule (6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 500 lx). The study included two groups: (1) Control group: animals were kept awake and active during the day, between 09:00 and 15:00. (2) Experimental group: animals were kept awake and active during the night, between 21:00 and 03:00, when they were exposed to dim light in order to simulate the conditions prevalent during combat diver training. This continued for a period of 3 weeks, 5 days a week. On completion of this phase, 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (6-SMT) levels in urine were determined over a period of 24 h. Animals were then exposed to hyperbaric oxygen (HBO). To investigate the effect of acute melatonin administration, melatonin (50 mg/kg) or its vehicle was administered to the animals in both groups 20 min prior to HBO exposure. After the exposure, the activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase was measured, as were the levels of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and overall nitrotyrosylation in the cortex and hippocampus. Latency to CNS-OT was significantly reduced after the transition from day-to-night activity. This was associated with alterations in the level of melatonin metabolites secreted in the urine. Acute melatonin administration had no effect on latency to CNS-OT in either of the groups. Nevertheless, the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase, as well as nitrotyrosine and nNOS levels, were altered in the hippocampus following melatonin

  13. Acute toxicity of nitrofurazone to channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus, and goldfish, Carassius auratus

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wise, M.L.; Stiebel, C.L.; Grizzle, J.M.

    1987-01-01

    Nitrofurazone (5-nitro-2-furaldehyde semicarbazone) is a nitrofuran, a group of organic compounds which have inhibitory activity against many Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and against some protozoan parasites. Although not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use with food fish, nitrofurazone has been found effective in fish against external and internal infections by various species of Aeromonas, Pseudomonas and myxobacteria and can be administered either as a food additive or as a bath treatment. Attempts to control the microsporidian parasite Pleistophora ovariae in golden shiners, Notemigonus crysoleucas, with nitrofurazone met with equivocal results. The following experiment was performedmore » to determine acute toxicity, including lesions, of nitrofurazone to channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, and goldfish, carassius auratus, fingerlings. Toxicity of nitrofurazone to channel catfish was determined with low dissolved oxygen concentrations (2 mg/L) to simulate conditions frequently encountered in channel catfish culture. Information abut toxic levels of drugs and the lesions occurring in exposed fish is important to determine the safety of treatment levels and the effects of toxic concentrations.« less

  14. Classification of toxicity effects of biotransformed hepatic drugs using whale optimized support vector machines.

    PubMed

    Tharwat, Alaa; Moemen, Yasmine S; Hassanien, Aboul Ella

    2017-04-01

    Measuring toxicity is an important step in drug development. Nevertheless, the current experimental methods used to estimate the drug toxicity are expensive and time-consuming, indicating that they are not suitable for large-scale evaluation of drug toxicity in the early stage of drug development. Hence, there is a high demand to develop computational models that can predict the drug toxicity risks. In this study, we used a dataset that consists of 553 drugs that biotransformed in liver. The toxic effects were calculated for the current data, namely, mutagenic, tumorigenic, irritant and reproductive effect. Each drug is represented by 31 chemical descriptors (features). The proposed model consists of three phases. In the first phase, the most discriminative subset of features is selected using rough set-based methods to reduce the classification time while improving the classification performance. In the second phase, different sampling methods such as Random Under-Sampling, Random Over-Sampling and Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE), BorderLine SMOTE and Safe Level SMOTE are used to solve the problem of imbalanced dataset. In the third phase, the Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifier is used to classify an unknown drug into toxic or non-toxic. SVM parameters such as the penalty parameter and kernel parameter have a great impact on the classification accuracy of the model. In this paper, Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) has been proposed to optimize the parameters of SVM, so that the classification error can be reduced. The experimental results proved that the proposed model achieved high sensitivity to all toxic effects. Overall, the high sensitivity of the WOA+SVM model indicates that it could be used for the prediction of drug toxicity in the early stage of drug development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. 42 CFR 414.226 - Oxygen and oxygen equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Oxygen and oxygen equipment. 414.226 Section 414... Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetic and Orthotic Devices, and Surgical Dressings § 414.226 Oxygen and oxygen equipment. (a) Payment rules—(1) Oxygen equipment. Payment for rental of oxygen equipment is made...

  16. 2H,3H-decafluoropentane-based nanodroplets: new perspectives for oxygen delivery to hypoxic cutaneous tissues.

    PubMed

    Prato, Mauro; Magnetto, Chiara; Jose, Jithin; Khadjavi, Amina; Cavallo, Federica; Quaglino, Elena; Panariti, Alice; Rivolta, Ilaria; Benintende, Emilio; Varetto, Gianfranco; Argenziano, Monica; Troia, Adriano; Cavalli, Roberta; Guiot, Caterina

    2015-01-01

    Perfluoropentane (PFP)-based oxygen-loaded nanobubbles (OLNBs) were previously proposed as adjuvant therapeutic tools for pathologies of different etiology sharing hypoxia as a common feature, including cancer, infection, and autoimmunity. Here we introduce a new platform of oxygen nanocarriers, based on 2H,3H-decafluoropentane (DFP) as core fluorocarbon. These new nanocarriers have been named oxygen-loaded nanodroplets (OLNDs) since DFP is liquid at body temperature, unlike gaseous PFP. Dextran-shelled OLNDs, available either in liquid or gel formulations, display spherical morphology, ~600 nm diameters, anionic charge, good oxygen carrying capacity, and no toxic effects on human keratinocytes after cell internalization. In vitro OLNDs result more effective in releasing oxygen to hypoxic environments than former OLNBs, as demonstrated by analysis through oxymetry. In vivo, OLNDs effectively enhance oxy-hemoglobin levels, as emerged from investigation by photoacoustic imaging. Interestingly, ultrasound (US) treatment further improves transdermal oxygen release from OLNDs. Taken together, these data suggest that US-activated, DFP-based OLNDs might be innovative, suitable and cost-effective devices to topically treat hypoxia-associated pathologies of the cutaneous tissues.

  17. 2H,3H-Decafluoropentane-Based Nanodroplets: New Perspectives for Oxygen Delivery to Hypoxic Cutaneous Tissues

    PubMed Central

    Jose, Jithin; Khadjavi, Amina; Cavallo, Federica; Quaglino, Elena; Panariti, Alice; Rivolta, Ilaria; Benintende, Emilio; Varetto, Gianfranco; Argenziano, Monica; Troia, Adriano; Cavalli, Roberta; Guiot, Caterina

    2015-01-01

    Perfluoropentane (PFP)-based oxygen-loaded nanobubbles (OLNBs) were previously proposed as adjuvant therapeutic tools for pathologies of different etiology sharing hypoxia as a common feature, including cancer, infection, and autoimmunity. Here we introduce a new platform of oxygen nanocarriers, based on 2H,3H-decafluoropentane (DFP) as core fluorocarbon. These new nanocarriers have been named oxygen-loaded nanodroplets (OLNDs) since DFP is liquid at body temperature, unlike gaseous PFP. Dextran-shelled OLNDs, available either in liquid or gel formulations, display spherical morphology, ~600 nm diameters, anionic charge, good oxygen carrying capacity, and no toxic effects on human keratinocytes after cell internalization. In vitro OLNDs result more effective in releasing oxygen to hypoxic environments than former OLNBs, as demonstrated by analysis through oxymetry. In vivo, OLNDs effectively enhance oxy-hemoglobin levels, as emerged from investigation by photoacoustic imaging. Interestingly, ultrasound (US) treatment further improves transdermal oxygen release from OLNDs. Taken together, these data suggest that US-activated, DFP-based OLNDs might be innovative, suitable and cost-effective devices to topically treat hypoxia-associated pathologies of the cutaneous tissues. PMID:25781463

  18. Availability of free oxygen in deep bottom water of some Archean-Early Paleoproterozoic ocean basins as derived from iron formation facies analyses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beukes, N. J.; Smith, A.

    2013-12-01

    Archean to Early Paleoproterozoic ocean basins are commonly, although not exclusively, depicted as rather static systems; either permanently stratified with shallow mixed oxygenated water overlying anoxic deep water or with a totally anoxic water column. The anoxic water columns are considered enriched in dissolved ferrous iron derived from hydrothermal plume activity. These sourced deposition of iron formations through precipitation of mainly ferrihydrite via reaction with free oxygen in the stratified model or anaerobic iron oxidizing photoautotrophs in the anoxic model. However, both these models face a simple basic problem if detailed facies reconstructions of deepwater microbanded iron formations (MIFs) are considered. In such MIFs it is common that the deepest water and most distal facies is hematite rich followed shoreward by magnetite, iron silicate and siderite facies iron formation. Examples of such facies relations are known from jaspilitic iron formation of the ~3,2 Ga Fig Tree Group (Barberton Mountainland), ~ 2,95 Ga iron formations of the Witwatersrand-Mozaan basin and the ~2,5 Ga Kuruman Iron Formation, Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa. Facies relations of these MIFs with associated siliciclastics or carbonates also indicate that the upper water columns of the basins, down to below wave base, were depleted in iron favoring anoxic-oxic stratification rather than total anoxia. In the MIFs it can be shown that hematite in the distal facies represents the earliest formed diagenetic mineral; most likely crystallized from primary ferrihydrite. The problem is one of how ferrihydrite could have been preserved on the ocean floor if it was in direct contact with reducing ferrous deep bottom water. Rather dissolved ferrous iron would have reacted with ferrihydrite to form diagenetic magnetite. This dilemma is resolved if in the area of deepwater hematite MIF deposition, the anoxic ferrous iron enriched plume was detached from the basin floor due to buoyancy

  19. Growing experience with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation.

    PubMed

    Shafii, Alexis E; Mason, David P; Brown, Chase R; Vakil, Nakul; Johnston, Douglas R; McCurry, Kenneth R; Pettersson, Gosta B; Murthy, Sudish C

    2012-01-01

    Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is rarely used as a bridge to lung transplantation (BTT) because of its associated morbidity and mortality. However, recent advancements in perfusion technology and critical care have revived interest in this application of ECMO. We retrospectively reviewed our utilization of ECMO as BTT and evaluated our early and midterm results. Nineteen patients were placed on ECMO with the intent to transplant of which 14 (74%) were successfully transplanted. Early and midterm survival of transplanted patients was 75% (1 year) and 63% (3 years), respectively, with the most favorable results observed in interstitial lung disease patients supported in the venovenous configuration. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation-bridged transplant survival rates were equivalent to nonbridged recipients, but early morbidity and mortality are high and the failure to bridge to transplant is significant. Overall, successfully bridged patients can derive a tangible benefit, albeit with considerable consumption of resources.

  20. Effects of multi-metal toxicity on the performance of sewage treatment system during the festival of colors (Holi) in India.

    PubMed

    Tyagi, Vinay Kumar; Bhatia, Akanksha; Gaur, Rubia Zahid; Khan, Abid Ali; Ali, Muntajir; Khursheed, Anwar; Kazmi, Absar Ahmad

    2012-12-01

    The present study investigated the effects of heavy metals (Ni, Zn, Cd, Cu, and Pb) toxicity on the performance of 18 MLD activated sludge process-based sewage treatment plant (STP) during celebration of Holi (festival of colors in India). The composite sampling (n = 32) was carried out during the entire study period. The findings show a significant decrease in chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency (20%) of activated sludge system, after receiving the heavy metals laden wastewater. A significant reduction of 40% and 60% were observed in MLVSS/MLSS ratio and specific oxygen uptake rate, which eventually led to a substantial decrease in biomass growth yield (from 0.54 to 0.17). The toxic effect of metals ions was also observed on protozoan population. Out of the 12 mixed liquor species recorded, only two ciliates species of Vorticella and Epistylis exhibited the greater tolerance against heavy metals toxicity. Furthermore, activated sludge shows the highest metal adsorption affinity for Cu, followed by Zn, Pb, Ni, and Cd (Cu > Zn > Pb > Ni > Cd). Finally, this study proves the robustness of activated sludge system against the sudden increase in heavy metal toxicity since it recovered the earlier good quality performance within 5 days.

  1. Oxygen Sensing, Hypoxia Tracing and in Vivo Imaging with Functional Metalloprobes for the Early Detection of Non-communicable Diseases

    PubMed Central

    Mirabello, Vincenzo; Cortezon-Tamarit, Fernando; Pascu, Sofia I.

    2018-01-01

    Hypoxia has been identified as one of the hallmarks of tumor environments and a prognosis factor in many cancers. The development of ideal chemical probes for imaging and sensing of hypoxia remains elusive. Crucial characteristics would include a measurable response to subtle variations of pO2 in living systems and an ability to accumulate only in the areas of interest (e.g., targeting hypoxia tissues) whilst exhibiting kinetic stabilities in vitro and in vivo. A sensitive probe would comprise platforms for applications in imaging and therapy for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) relying on sensitive detection of pO2. Just a handful of probes for the in vivo imaging of hypoxia [mainly using positron emission tomography (PET)] have reached the clinical research stage. Many chemical compounds, whilst presenting promising in vitro results as oxygen-sensing probes, are facing considerable disadvantages regarding their general application in vivo. The mechanisms of action of many hypoxia tracers have not been entirely rationalized, especially in the case of metallo-probes. An insight into the hypoxia selectivity mechanisms can allow an optimization of current imaging probes candidates and this will be explored hereby. The mechanistic understanding of the modes of action of coordination compounds under oxygen concentration gradients in living cells allows an expansion of the scope of compounds toward in vivo applications which, in turn, would help translate these into clinical applications. We summarize hereby some of the recent research efforts made toward the discovery of new oxygen sensing molecules having a metal-ligand core. We discuss their applications in vitro and/or in vivo, with an appreciation of a plethora of molecular imaging techniques (mainly reliant on nuclear medicine techniques) currently applied in the detection and tracing of hypoxia in the preclinical and clinical setups. The design of imaging/sensing probe for early-stage diagnosis would longer term

  2. 42 CFR 414.226 - Oxygen and oxygen equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Oxygen and oxygen equipment. 414.226 Section 414... Equipment and Prosthetic and Orthotic Devices § 414.226 Oxygen and oxygen equipment. (a) Payment rules—(1) Oxygen equipment. Payment for rental of oxygen equipment is made based on a monthly fee schedule amount...

  3. 42 CFR 414.226 - Oxygen and oxygen equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Oxygen and oxygen equipment. 414.226 Section 414... Equipment and Prosthetic and Orthotic Devices § 414.226 Oxygen and oxygen equipment. (a) Payment rules—(1) Oxygen equipment. Payment for rental of oxygen equipment is made based on a monthly fee schedule amount...

  4. 42 CFR 414.226 - Oxygen and oxygen equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Oxygen and oxygen equipment. 414.226 Section 414... Durable Medical Equipment and Prosthetic and Orthotic Devices § 414.226 Oxygen and oxygen equipment. (a) Payment rules—(1) Oxygen equipment. Payment for rental of oxygen equipment is made based on a monthly fee...

  5. 42 CFR 414.226 - Oxygen and oxygen equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Oxygen and oxygen equipment. 414.226 Section 414... Durable Medical Equipment and Prosthetic and Orthotic Devices § 414.226 Oxygen and oxygen equipment. (a) Payment rules—(1) Oxygen equipment. Payment for rental of oxygen equipment is made based on a monthly fee...

  6. Aneuploidy: a common and early evidence-based biomarker for carcinogens and reproductive toxicants.

    PubMed

    Mandrioli, Daniele; Belpoggi, Fiorella; Silbergeld, Ellen K; Perry, Melissa J

    2016-10-12

    Aneuploidy, defined as structural and numerical aberrations of chromosomes, continues to draw attention as an informative effect biomarker for carcinogens and male reproductive toxicants. It has been well documented that aneuploidy is a hallmark of cancer. Aneuploidies in oocytes and spermatozoa contribute to infertility, pregnancy loss and a number of congenital abnormalities, and sperm aneuploidy is associated with testicular cancer. It is striking that several carcinogens induce aneuploidy in somatic cells, and also adversely affect the chromosome compliment of germ cells. In this paper we review 1) the contributions of aneuploidy to cancer, infertility, and developmental abnormalities; 2) techniques for assessing aneuploidy in precancerous and malignant lesions and in sperm; and 3) the utility of aneuploidy as a biomarker for integrated chemical assessments of carcinogenicity, and reproductive and developmental toxicity.

  7. Modeling spatial distribution of oxygen in 3d culture of islet beta-cells.

    PubMed

    McReynolds, John; Wen, Yu; Li, Xiaofei; Guan, Jianjun; Jin, Sha

    2017-01-01

    Three-dimensional (3D) scaffold culture of pancreatic β-cell has been proven to be able to better mimic physiological conditions in the body. However, one critical issue with culturing pancreatic β-cells is that β-cells consume large amounts of oxygen, and hence insufficient oxygen supply in the culture leads to loss of β-cell mass and functions. This becomes more significant when cells are cultured in a 3D scaffold. In this study, in order to understand the effect of oxygen tension inside a cell-laden collagen culture on β-cell proliferation, a culture model with encapsulation of an oxygen-generator was established. The oxygen-generator was made by embedding hydrogen peroxide into nontoxic polydimethylsiloxane to avoid the toxicity of a chemical reaction in the β-cell culture. To examine the effectiveness of the oxygenation enabled 3D culture, the spatial-temporal distribution of oxygen tension inside a scaffold was evaluated by a mathematical modeling approach. Our simulation results indicated that an oxygenation-aided 3D culture would augment the oxygen supply required for the β-cells. Furthermore, we identified that cell seeding density and the capacity of the oxygenator are two critical parameters in the optimization of the culture. Notably, cell-laden scaffold cultures with an in situ oxygen supply significantly improved the β-cells' biological function. These β-cells possess high insulin secretion capacity. The results obtained in this work would provide valuable information for optimizing and encouraging functional β-cell cultures. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:221-228, 2017. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  8. Mechanistic quantitative structure-activity relationship model for the photoinduced toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. 2: An empirical model for the toxicity of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to the duckweed Lemna gibba L. G-3

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Huang, X.D.; Krylov, S.N.; Ren, L.

    1997-11-01

    Photoinduced toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurs via photosensitization reactions (e.g., generation of singlet-state oxygen) and by photomodification (photooxidation and/or photolysis) of the chemicals to more toxic species. The quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) described in the companion paper predicted, in theory, that photosensitization and photomodification additively contribute to toxicity. To substantiate this QSAR modeling exercise it was necessary to show that toxicity can be described by empirically derived parameters. The toxicity of 16 PAHs to the duckweed Lemna gibba was measured as inhibition of leaf production in simulated solar radiation (a light source with a spectrum similar to thatmore » of sunlight). A predictive model for toxicity was generated based on the theoretical model developed in the companion paper. The photophysical descriptors required of each PAH for modeling were efficiency of photon absorbance, relative uptake, quantum yield for triplet-state formation, and the rate of photomodification. The photomodification rates of the PAHs showed a moderate correlation to toxicity, whereas a derived photosensitization factor (PSF; based on absorbance, triplet-state quantum yield, and uptake) for each PAH showed only a weak, complex correlation to toxicity. However, summing the rate of photomodification and the PSF resulted in a strong correlation to toxicity that had predictive value. When the PSF and a derived photomodification factor (PMF; based on the photomodification rate and toxicity of the photomodified PAHs) were summed, an excellent explanatory model of toxicity was produced, substantiating the additive contributions of the two factors.« less

  9. Historical Fluxes of Toxic Trace Elements and Associated Implications in the Salton Sea Basin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Odigie, K. O.; Hardisty, D. S.; Geraci, J. B.; Lyons, T. W.

    2017-12-01

    The Salton Sea is a polymictic, hypersaline lake that is predominantly sustained by wastewater and agricultural runoff from Mexico and the United States. It is a terminal lake that acts as a net sink for toxicants, which in addition to nutrients and increasing salinity, have dramatically transformed the lake over the past century. However, the impacts of these changes on the cycling and bio-accessibility of toxic elements and compounds and their associated human and environmental health implications are not well understood. This project aims to measure and model the fluxes of toxic elements, including selenium, lead, and mercury, in the lake over temporal and spatial scales by using geochemical data from the analysis of sediment cores, a pervasive salt crust, and the water column. The project also aims to elucidate the bio-accessibility and depositional environments of these elements. Preliminary results highlight two different oxygen concentration regimes in the lake: an increasingly anoxic condition in the bottom of the northern lobe and a seasonally variable oxygen deficiency in the bottom of the southern lobe. The deteriorating conditions at the lake could be exacerbated by a receding shoreline, which has already exposed several square kilometres of lake bed and is expected to continue as future inflows are diverted under the Quantification Settlement Agreement. Continued water conservation by Imperial Valley farmers and the increasing reuse of reclaimed water by Mexico are also expected to contribute to reduced inflows to the lake. Therefore, improved understanding of the cycling of toxic elements and their potential remobilization, including via wind entrainment (dust) associated with lake desiccation, will be valuable in protecting human and environmental health within the Salton Sea basin.

  10. Identification of distinct physiochemical properties of toxic prefibrillar species formed by A{beta} peptide variants

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Goeransson, Anna-Lena, E-mail: anngo@ifm.liu.se; Nilsson, K. Peter R., E-mail: petni@ifm.liu.se; Kagedal, Katarina, E-mail: katarina.kagedal@liu.se

    2012-04-20

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Identification of toxic prefibrillar A{beta} species. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Fluorescence measurements using a combined set of fluorophores. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Morphology studies using transmission electron microscopy. -- Abstract: The formation of amyloid-{beta} peptide (A{beta}) aggregates at an early stage during the self-assembly process is an important factor in the development of Alzheimer's disease. The toxic effect is believed to be exerted by prefibrillar species of A{beta}. It is therefore important to identify which prefibrillar species are toxic and characterize their distinct properties. In the present study, we investigated the in vitro aggregation behavior of A{beta}-derived peptides possessing different levels of neurotoxic activity,more » using fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with transmission electron microscopy. The toxicity of various A{beta} aggregates was assessed by using cultures of human neuroblastoma cells. Through combined use of the fluorescence probe 8-anilino-1-napthalenesulfonate (ANS) and the novel luminescent probe pentamer formyl thiophene acetic acid (p-FTAA), we were able to identify those A{beta} peptide-derived prefibrillar species which exhibited cellular toxicity. In particular, species, which formed early during the aggregation process and showed strong p-FTAA and ANS fluorescence, were the species that possessed toxic activities. Moreover, by manipulating the aggregation conditions, it was possible to change the capacity of the A{beta} peptide to form nontoxic versus toxic species.« less

  11. Temporal pattern of toxicity in runoff from the Tijuana River Watershed.

    PubMed

    Gersberg, Richard M; Daft, Daniel; Yorkey, Darryl

    2004-02-01

    Samples were collected from the Tijuana River under both dry weather (baseflow) conditions and during wet weather, and tested for toxicity using Ceriodaphnia dubia tests. Toxicity of waters in the Tijuana River was generally low under baseflow conditions, but increased markedly during high flow runoff events. In order to determine the temporal pattern of toxicity during individual rain events, sequential grab samples were collected using an autosampler at 5-7 h intervals after the start of the rain event, and tested for acute toxicity. In all cases, peak toxicity values (ranging from 2.8 to 5.8TU) for each storm occurred within the first 1-2 h of initiation of the rain event, and were statistically higher (using the 95% CL) for each of the pre-storm base flow values. However, there was no statistically significant correlation (p<0.05) between flow rate and toxicity when all storm data was pooled. Additionally, we used toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) procedures to attempt to identify the classes of chemicals that account for this early storm toxicity. Solid phase extraction was the only treatment that showed consistent and significant (P<0.05) removal of toxicity. These TIEs, conducted on the most toxic sample of the river's flow during runoff events, suggest that non-polar organics may be responsible for such toxicity. The temporal pattern of toxicity, both during a given storm event and seasonally, indicates that wash-off from the watershed by rainfall may deplete the supply of toxicity available for wash-off in subsequent events, so that a clearly consistent relationship between flow and toxicity was not evident.

  12. Animal alternatives for whole effluent toxicity testing ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Since the 1940s, effluent toxicity testing has been utilized to varying degrees in many countries to assess potential ecological impacts and assist in determining necessary treatment options for environmental protection. However, it was only in the early 1980’s that toxicity based effluent assessments and subsequent discharge controls became globally important, when it was recognized that physical and chemical measurements alone did not protect the environment from potential impacts. Consequently, various strategies using different toxicity tests, whole effluent assessment techniques (incorporating bioaccumulation potential and persistence) plus supporting analytical tools have been developed over 30 years of practice. Numerous workshops and meetings have focused on effluent risk assessment through ASTM, SETAC, OSPAR, UK competent authorities, and EU specific country rules. Concurrent with this drive to improve effluent quality using toxicity tests, interest in reducing animal use has risen. The Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) organized and facilitated an international workshop in March 2016 to evaluate strategies for concepts, tools, and effluent assessments and update the toolbox of for effluent testing methods. The workshop objectives were to identify opportunities to use a suite of strategies for effluents, and to identify opportunities to reduce the reliance on animal tests and to determine barriers to implementation of new methodologie

  13. Modeling Respiratory Toxicity of Authentic Lunar Dust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Santana, Patricia A.; James, John T.; Lam, Chiu-Wing

    2010-01-01

    The lunar expeditions of the Apollo operations from the 60 s and early 70 s have generated awareness about lunar dust exposures and their implication towards future lunar explorations. Critical analyses on the reports from the Apollo crew members suggest that lunar dust is a mild respiratory and ocular irritant. Currently, NASA s space toxicology group is functioning with the Lunar Airborne Dust Toxicity Assessment Group (LADTAG) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to investigate and examine toxic effects to the respiratory system of rats in order to establish permissible exposure levels (PELs) for human exposure to lunar dust. In collaboration with the space toxicology group, LADTAG and NIOSH the goal of the present research is to analyze dose-response curves from rat exposures seven and twenty-eight days after intrapharyngeal instillations, and model the response using BenchMark Dose Software (BMDS) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Via this analysis, the relative toxicities of three types of Apollo 14 lunar dust samples and two control dust samples, titanium dioxide (TiO2) and quartz will be determined. This will be executed for several toxicity endpoints such as cell counts and biochemical markers in bronchoaveolar lavage fluid (BALF) harvested from the rats.

  14. Effect of low-dose ionizing radiation on luminous marine bacteria: radiation hormesis and toxicity.

    PubMed

    Kudryasheva, N S; Rozhko, T V

    2015-04-01

    The paper summarizes studies of effects of alpha- and beta-emitting radionuclides (americium-241, uranium-235+238, and tritium) on marine microorganisms under conditions of chronic low-dose irradiation in aqueous media. Luminous marine bacteria were chosen as an example of these microorganisms; bioluminescent intensity was used as a tested physiological parameter. Non-linear dose-effect dependence was demonstrated. Three successive stages in the bioluminescent response to americium-241 and tritium were found: 1--absence of effects (stress recognition), 2--activation (adaptive response), and 3--inhibition (suppression of physiological function, i.e. radiation toxicity). The effects were attributed to radiation hormesis phenomenon. Biological role of reactive oxygen species, secondary products of the radioactive decay, is discussed. The study suggests an approach to evaluation of non-toxic and toxic stages under conditions of chronic radioactive exposure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Accelerated Hematopoietic Toxicity by High Energy 56Fe Radiation

    PubMed Central

    Datta, Kamal; Suman, Shubhankar; Trani, Daniela; Doiron, Kathryn; Rotolo, Jimmy A.; Kallakury, Bhaskar V. S.; Kolesnick, Richard; Cole, Michael F.; Fornace, Albert J.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose There is little information on the relative toxicity of highly charged (Z) high-energy (HZE) radiation in animal models compared to γ or x-rays, and the general assumption based on in vitro studies has been that acute toxicity is substantially greater. Methods C57BL/6J mice were irradiated with 56Fe ions (1 GeV/nucleon), and acute (within 30 d) toxicity compared to that of γ rays or protons (1 GeV). To assess relative hematopoietic and gastrointestinal toxicity, the effects of 56Fe ions were compared to γ rays using complete blood count (CBC), bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage colony forming unit (GM-CFU), terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay for apoptosis in bone marrow, and intestinal crypt survival. Results Although onset was more rapid, 56Fe ions were only slightly more toxic than γ rays or protons with lethal dose (LD)50/30 (a radiation dose at which 50% lethality occurs at 30-day) values of 5.8, 7.25, and 6.8 Gy respectively with relative biologic effectiveness for 56Fe ions of 1.25 and 1.06 for protons. Conclusions 56Fe radiation caused accelerated and more severe hematopoietic toxicity. Early mortality correlated with more profound leukopenia and subsequent sepsis. Results indicate that there is selective enhanced toxicity to bone marrow progenitor cells, which are typically resistant to γ rays, and bone marrow stem cells, because intestinal crypt cells did not show increased HZE toxicity. PMID:22077279

  16. Material Usage in High Pressure Oxygen Systems for the International Space Station

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kravchenko, Michael; Sievers, D. Elliott

    2014-01-01

    The Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) for the International Space Station (ISS) Program was required as part of the Space Shuttle retirement efforts to sustain the ISS life support systems. The system is designed around a 7000 psia Oxygen or Nitrogen Recharge Tank Assembly which is able to be utilized both internally and externally to the ISS. Material selection and usage were critical to ensure oxygen compatibility for the design, while taking into consideration toxicity, weldability, brazability and general fabrication and assembly techniques. The system uses unique hardware items such a composite overwrap pressure vessel (COPV), high pressure mechanical gauges, compact regulators and valves, quick disconnects, metal tubing and flexhoses. Numerous challenges and anomalies were encountered due to the exotic nature of this project which will be discussed in detail. The knowledge gained from these anomalies and failure resolutions can be applied to more than space applications, but can also be applicable to industry pressurized systems.

  17. The diversification of Paleozoic fire systems and fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen concentration

    PubMed Central

    Scott, Andrew C.; Glasspool, Ian J.

    2006-01-01

    By comparing Silurian through end Permian [≈250 million years (Myr)] charcoal abundance with contemporaneous macroecological changes in vegetation and climate we aim to demonstrate that long-term variations in fire occurrence and fire system diversification are related to fluctuations in Late Paleozoic atmospheric oxygen concentration. Charcoal, a proxy for fire, occurs in the fossil record from the Late Silurian (≈420 Myr) to the present. Its presence at any interval in the fossil record is already taken to constrain atmospheric oxygen within the range of 13% to 35% (the “fire window”). Herein, we observe that, as predicted, atmospheric oxygen levels rise from ≈13% in the Late Devonian to ≈30% in the Late Permian so, too, fires progressively occur in an increasing diversity of ecosystems. Sequentially, data of note include: the occurrence of charcoal in the Late Silurian/Early Devonian, indicating the burning of a diminutive, dominantly rhyniophytoid vegetation; an apparent paucity of charcoal in the Middle to Late Devonian that coincides with a predicted atmospheric oxygen low; and the subsequent diversification of fire systems throughout the remainder of the Late Paleozoic. First, fires become widespread during the Early Mississippian, they then become commonplace in mire systems in the Middle Mississippian; in the Pennsylvanian they are first recorded in upland settings and finally, based on coal petrology, become extremely important in many Permian mire settings. These trends conform well to changes in atmospheric oxygen concentration, as predicted by modeling, and indicate oxygen levels are a significant control on long-term fire occurrence. PMID:16832054

  18. Environmentally Safer, Less Toxic Fire-Extinguishing Agents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Parrish, Clyde F.

    2003-01-01

    Fire-extinguishing agents comprising microscopic drops of water microencapsulated in flame-retardant polymers have been proposed as effective, less toxic, non-ozone-depleting, non-globalwarming alternatives to prior fire-extinguishing agents. Among the prior fire-extinguishing agents are halons (various halocarbon fluids), which are toxic and contribute both to depletion of upperatmospheric ozone and to global warming. Other prior fire-extinguishing agents are less toxic and less environmentally harmful but, in comparison with halons, are significantly less effective in extinguishing fires. The proposal to formulate new waterbased agents is based on recent success in the use of water mist as a fire-suppression agent. Water suppresses a flame by reducing the flame temperature and the concentration of oxygen available for the combustion process. The temperature is reduced because the water droplets in the mist absorb latent heat of vaporization as they evaporate. The concentration of oxygen is reduced because the newly generated water vapor displaces air. Unfortunately, water mists are difficult to produce in confined spaces and can evaporate before they reach the bases of flames. The proposal addresses both of these issues: The proposed fire-extinguishing agents would be manufactured in microencapsulated form in advance, eliminating the problem of generating mists in confined spaces. Because of the microencapsulation, the droplets would not evaporate until exposed directly to the heat of flames. In addition, the proposal calls for the introduction of free radicals that would inhibit the propagation of the chemical reactions of the combustion reactions. Manufacturing of a fire-extinguishing agent according to the proposal would begin with the formulation of a suitable polymer (e.g., a polybromostyrene) that would contribute free radicals to the combustion process. The polymer would be dissolved in a suitable hydrocarbon liquid (e.g., toluene). Water would be

  19. Human milk and breastfeeding: An intervention to mitigate toxic stress.

    PubMed

    Hallowell, Sunny G; Froh, Elizabeth B; Spatz, Diane L

    The American Academy of Nursing has identified toxic stress in childhood as a health policy concern of high priority. Adult diseases (e.g., obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease) should be viewed as developmental disorders that begin early in life that could be reduced with the alleviation of toxic stress in childhood. The provision of human milk/breastfeeding is an evidence-based intervention that may hold the greatest potential to mitigate the effects of toxic stress from the moment of birth. Assisting families to make an informed choice to initiate and continue breastfeeding from birth has the potential to address both the disparity in the quality of nutrition provided infants and the economic stress experienced by families who purchase formula. The Expert Panel on Breastfeeding endorses initiatives to improve the initiation, duration, and exclusivity of breastfeeding to mitigate the effects of toxic stress in this call to action for research to build the evidence to support these critical relationships. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Influence of oxygen in atmospheric-pressure argon plasma jet on sterilization of Bacillus atrophaeous spores

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lim, Jin-Pyo; Uhm, Han S.; Li, Shou-Zhe

    2007-09-01

    A nonequilibrium Ar /O2 plasma discharge at atmospheric pressure was carried out in a coaxial cylindrical reactor with a stepped electrode configuration powered by a 13.56MHz rf power supplier. The argon glow discharge with high electron density produces oxygen reactive species in large quantities. Argon plasma jets penetrate deep into ambient air and create a path for oxygen radicals to sterilize microbes. A sterilization experiment with bacterial endospores indicates that an argon-oxygen plasma jet very effectively kills endospores of Bacillus atrophaeus (ATCC 9372), thereby demonstrating its capability to clean surfaces and its usefulness for reinstating contaminated equipment as free from toxic biological warfare agents. The decimal reduction time (D values) of the Ar /O2 plasma jet at an exposure distance of 0.5-1.5cm ranges from 5 to 57s. An actinometric comparison of the sterilization data shows that atomic oxygen radicals play a significant role in plasma sterilization. When observed under a scanning electron microscope, the average size of the spores appears to be greatly reduced due to chemical reactions with the oxygen radicals.