Impact of Haloarchaea on Speciation of Uranium-A Multispectroscopic Approach.

Haloarchaea represent a predominant part of the microbial community in rock salt, which can serve as host rock for the disposal of high level radioactive waste. However, knowledge is missing about how Haloarchaea interact with radionuclides. Here, we used a combination of spectroscopic and microscopic methods to study the interactions of an extremely halophilic archaeon with uranium, one of the major radionuclides in high level radioactive waste, on a molecular level.

Visualization of cyclooxygenase-2 using a 2,3-diarylsubstituted indole-based inhibitor and confocal laser induced cryofluorescence microscopy at 20K in melanoma cells in vitro.

This study aimed at visualization of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression in melanoma cells by confocal laser induced cryofluorescence microscopy using 4-(3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-indol-2-yl)benzene-sulfonamide (C1) representative for a novel class of autofluorescent 2,3-diarylsubstituted indole-based selective COX-2 inhibitors. COX-2 expression was measured in human melanoma cell lines A2058 and MelJuso by immunocytochemistry and immunoblotting. Cellular uptake experiments using varying C1 concentrations down to 0.

Ergonomic risk assessment with DesignCheck to evaluate assembly work in different phases of the vehicle development process.

Occupational hazards exist, if the design of the work situation is not in accordance with ergonomic design principles. At assembly lines ergonomics is applied to the design of work equipment and tasks and to work organisation. The ignoring of ergonomic principles in planning and design of assembly work leads to unfavourable working posture, action force and material handling.

Uranium speciation in biofilms studied by laser fluorescence techniques.

Biofilms may immobilize toxic heavy metals in the environment and thereby influence their migration behaviour. The mechanisms of these processes are currently not understood, because the complexity of such biofilms creates many discrete geochemical microenvironments which may differ from the surrounding bulk solution in their bacterial diversity, their prevailing geochemical properties, e.g.

Visualizing different uranium oxidation states during the surface alteration of uraninite and uranium tetrachloride.

Low-temperature alteration reactions on uranium phases may lead to the mobilization of uranium and thereby poses a potential threat to humans living close to uranium-contaminated sites. In this study, the surface alteration of uraninite (UO(2)) and uranium tetrachloride (UCl(4)) in air atmosphere was studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy using an excitation wavelength of 408 nm. It was found that within minutes the oxidation state on the surface of the uraninite and the uranium tetrachloride changed.

Fluorescence properties of a uranyl(V)-carbonate species [U(V)O(2)(CO(3))(3)](5-) at low temperature.

Fluorescence properties of a uranyl(V)-carbonate species in solution are reported for the first time. The fluorescence characteristics of the stable aqueous uranyl(V)-carbonate complex [U(V)O(2)(CO(3))(3)](5-) was determined in a frozen solution (T=153K) of 0.5mM uranium and 1.

Identification of fluorescent U(V) and U(VI) microparticles in a multispecies biofilm by confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy.

Fluorescent uranium(V) and uranium(VI) particles were observed for the first time in vivo by a combined laser fluorescence spectroscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy approach in a living multispecies biofilm grown on biotite plates. These particles ranged between 1 and 7 um in width and up to 20 microm in length and were located at the bottom and at the edges of biofilms colonies. Analysis of amplified 16S rRNA fragments and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used to characterize the biofilm communities.