The brine shrimp (Artemia parthenogenetica) as encapsulation organism for prophylactic chemotherapy of fish and prawn

Brine shrimp (Artemia parthenogenetica) which had ingested three water-insoluble antibacterial drugs i.e. sulfadiazine(SD), oxytetracycline (OTC) and erythromycin estolate (ERY-Es) were fed toTilapia and Mysis IIIof Penaeus orientalis K. The drug contents in the predators were then determined. After administration of drugs toTilapia and Mysis III, through the bio-encapsulation of the brine shrimp, efficacious therapeutical concentration of OTC and ERY-Es (but not SD) in the predators could be reached and maintained for more than 8 hours.     

On the pH-dependent formation constants of iron(III)-sulfur(IV) transient complexes

An experimental study is described of Fe(III)-S(IV) formation constants measured as a function of pH (1–3), ionic strength (0.2–0.5 M) and [Fe(III)] _T (2.5–5.0×10^–4 M) using a continuous-flow spectrophotometric technique to make observations 160 ms after mixing. Preliminary experiments using pulse-accelerated-flow (PAF) spectrophotometry to measure rate constants on a microsecond timescale are also described. The conditional formation constant at 25 °C can be modeled with the following equation: {ie307-1} where {ie307-2}K ₇ andK ₈ can be interpreted as intrinsic constants for the coordination of HSO ₃ ^– by FeOH²⁺ and Fe³⁺, respectively, but until further evidence is obtained they should be regarded as fitting constants. PAF spectrophotometry showed that the initial reaction of Fe(III) with S(IV) (pH 2.0) is characterized by a second-order rate constant of 4×10⁶ M^–1 s^–1 which is comparable to rate of reaction of FeOH²⁺ with SO ₄ ^2– . However, the PAF results should be regarded as preliminary since unexpected features in the initial data indicate that the reaction may be more complex than expected.     

Kinetics of redox cycling of iron coupled with fulvic acid

The kinetics of conversion of iron(III) (hydr)oxides to ferrous iron mediated by fulvic acid have been investigated in order to improve the understanding of the redox cycling of iron at the oxic-anoxic boundary in natural waters. Under the conditions similar to natural waters, fulvic acid is able to reduce the iron(III) (hydr)oxide. The kinetics of the reaction depend on the reactivity of iron(III) (hydr)oxides and the reducing power of the fulvic acid. The rate of reaction is 60 nm/h obtained under following conditions: total concentration of Fe(III) 1.0 × 10^–4 M, pH 7.5, fulvic acid 5 mg/L. The rate is considered as a net result of reduction and oxidation in the > Fe^III-OH/Fe(II) wheel coupled with fulvic acid. In a real natural water system, reductants other than fulvic acid may be of importance. The results obtained in the laboratory, however, provide evidence that the Fe(OH)₃(s)/Fe(II) redox couple is able to act as an electron-transfer mediator for the oxidation of natural organic substances, such as fulvic acid by molecular oxygen either in the absence of microorganisms or as a supplement to microbial activity.     

The Removal of Dissolved Metals by Hydroxysulphate Precipitates during Oxidation and Neutralization of Acid Mine Waters, Iberian Pyrite Belt

This study examines the removal of dissolved metals during the oxidation and neutralization of five acid mine drainage (AMD) waters from La Zarza, Lomero, Esperanza, Corta Atalaya and Poderosa mines (Iberian Pyrite Belt, Huelva, Spain). These waters were selected to cover the spectrum of pH (2.2–3.5) and chemical composition (e.g., 319–2,103 mg/L Fe; 2.85–33.3 g/L SO₄⁼) of the IPB mine waters. The experiments were conducted in the laboratory to simulate the geochemical evolution previously recognized in the field. This evolution includes two stages: (1) oxidation of dissolved Fe(II) followed by hydrolysis and precipitation of Fe(III), and (2) progressive pH increase during mixing with fresh waters. Fe(III) precipitates at pH < 3.5 (stages 1 and 2) in the form of schwertmannite, whereas Al precipitates during stage 2 at pH 5.0 in the form of several hydroxysulphates of variable composition (hydrobasaluminite, basaluminite, aluminite). During these stages, trace elements are totally or partially sorbed and/or coprecipitated at different rates depending basically on pH, as well as on the activity of the SO₄⁼ anion (which determines the speciation of metals). The general trend for the metals which are chiefly present as aqueous free cations (Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺) is a progressive sorption at increasing pH. On the other hand, As and V (mainly present as anionic species) are completely scavenged during the oxidation stage at pH < 3.5. In waters with high activities (> 10⁻¹) of the SO ₄⁼ ion, some elements like Al, Zn, Cd, Pb and U can also form anionic bisulphate complexes and be significantly sorbed at pH < 5. The removal rates at pH 7.0 range from around 100% for As, V, Cu and U, and 60–80% for Pb, to less than 20% for Zn, Co, Ni and Mn. These processes of metal removal represent a significant mechanism of natural attenuation in the IPB.     

Stability of arsenopyrite and As(III) in low-temperature acidic solutions

Arsenopyrite is one of the most important pri-mary arsenic mineral. In the Eh-pH diagram of the As-O2-S-H2O system, if the total arsenic concentration (TAs) is taken to be 0.75 mg/L, the total sulfur con-centration, 32 mg/L, the temperature, 25℃and the pressure, one atmosphere pressure for the discrimina-tion of arsenic species, it may be found that under hy-pergene conditions, arsenopyrite is a moderately stable mineral. Only in the strongly alkaline and reducing environment can arsenopy…     

N1923-DA201大孔吸附树脂反相分配色层分离、偶氮胂Ⅲ比色测定矿石中钍

用N1923-二甲苯作固定相,AD201大孔聚二乙烯苯吸附树脂作裁体,研究了钍在硫酸介质中的反相分配色层分离条件。拟定了矿石中微量钍的测定方法。     

Determination of arsenic(III) for the investigation of the microbial oxidation of arsenic(III) to arsenic(V)

Recent evaluations of acute and chronical toxicity of arsenic resulted in a reduction of the standard value for total arsenic from 40 μg/L to 10 μg/L in drinking water which will be valid in Germany after a transition period as from January 1996. Arsenic is well known as substance of deep groundwaters, mainly of geogenic origin and normally found as As(III) or As(V). As(V) is well removable by flocculation and filtration after adding iron salts. As(III), however, has to be oxidized first to As(V). Therefore, it is important for treatment techniques to be able to distinguish between As(III) and As(V). A modified determination of As(III) using flow injection analysis was installed and optimized in order to investigate whether As(III) may be oxidized to As(V) by bacteria in natural waters. The results showed that at 4°C, no As(III)-oxidation was observed within 14 days. At room temperature, however, in the bacteria-containing samples, an As(III)-oxidation was found starting after 3 to 7 days. After 14 days, no As(III) was left over. In contrast, in the sterile samples, no As(III)-oxidation could be observed within 14 days. These results demonstrated that microbial processes influence the oxidation of As(III) to As(V) in natural waters.     

Orbit injection error analysis for the Lageos III mission

An analysis is presented of the orbital injection errors for the Lageos III satellite mission. Several methods are introduced for the solution of the Inverse Problem in the Theory of Errors. The novelty of the present approach consists in the use of the full geopotential covariance matrix in the error propagation equations. The GEM-T1 covariance matrix is used. It is found that by properly accounting for the correlation among the even zonal harmonic coefficients the acceptable error bounds increase by an order of magnitude with respect to the case when only the variances are used. The most stringent constraint, even when using the full covariance, is on inclination, whose nominal value must be realized within approximately 0.1° for the recovery of the Lense-Thirring precession to be successful at the 3% level (accounting only for injection errors). The associated tolerance in the semimajor axis is about 30 km while that in eccentricity is approximately 0.2. However, if the errors in semimajor axis and eccentricity can be kept to the routinely achievable levels respectively of 10 km and 0.004, then the tolerance in inclination can be relaxed to 0.2°.     

Flotation Separation of Trace Elements from Alkaline-Earth Matrices by Co(III) Hexamethylenedithiocarbamate before ICP-AES Determination

A method for the selective separation of Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in traces from solutions of calcite (CaCO₃), dolomite (CaMg(CO₃)₂) and gypsum (CaSO₄.2H₂O) before their determination by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) is presented. The expected interferences of Ca and Mg on intensities of trace analytes were removed by collecting the elements of interest with cobalt(III) hexamethylenedithiocar-bamate, Co(HMDTC)₃. The flotation of aqueous solutions (1 l) of calcite, dolomite and gypsum was performed at pH 6.0, by 1.5 mg l⁻¹ Co and 0.6 mmol l⁻¹ HMDTC⁻. To minimise the effect of the reaction between Ca/Mg, which restrains the function of the surfactant, careful selection of the most suitable foaming reagent was necessary. The accuracy of the method was established by analysing natural alkaline-earth minerals by the standard addition method as well as using the dolomite reference materials GBW 07114 and GSJ JDo-1. The ICP-AES limits of detection following flotation on different minerals were found to be 0.080 μg g⁻¹ for Cd, 0.105 μg g⁻¹ for Ag, 0.142 μg g⁻¹ for Cu, 0.195 μg g⁻¹ for Cr, 0.212 μg g⁻¹ for Ni, 0.235 μg g⁻¹ for Zn and 0.450 μg g⁻¹ for Pb.     

On the nature of the Galactic nebula We 1–12

In 1977, Weinberger published a list of 12 new extended possible planetary nebulae (PNe). Whereas, because of their characteristic morphology and/or the presence of a blue central star, almost all of them could easily be suspected to be genuine planetary nebulae, one object (No. 12) captivated because of its unusually bright central star. This find prompted Kaler & Feibelman to question the PN nature of this object (We 1–12) on the basis of IUE spectra. A definite conclusion could, however, not be drawn by them; thus, until now, the real nature of We 1–12 remained unsolved. For the first time, a spectral investigation of both the central star and the nebula is presented in this paper. It definitely shows that this intriguing object is an (isolated) H  ii region and its central star, as previously assumed, is an early B star which serves as the ionizing source. We 1–12, a part of which is coincident with a weak IRAS point source, is at a distance of 2–2.6 kpc and is reddened by E ( B − V )=0.6–0.8 mag.