Potential reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance in livestock waste and treated wastewater that can be disseminated to agricultural land.

Livestock manure, dairy lagoon effluent, and treated wastewater are known reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and virulence factor genes (VFGs), and their application to agricultural farmland could be a serious public health threat. However, their dissemination to agricultural lands and impact on important geochemical pathways such as the nitrogen (N) cycle have not been jointly explored. In this study, shotgun metagenomic sequencing and analyses were performed to examine the diversity and composition of microbial communities, ARGs, VFGs, and N cycling genes in different livestock manure/lagoon and treated wastewater collected from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and a municipal wastewater treatment plant along the west coast of the United States.

Positron-emitting radiotracers spatially resolve unexpected biogeochemical relationships linked with methane oxidation in Arctic soils.

Arctic soils are marked by cryoturbic features, which impact soil-atmosphere methane (CH ) dynamics vital to global climate regulation. Cryoturbic diapirism alters C/N chemistry within frost boils by introducing soluble organic carbon and nutrients, potentially influencing microbial CH oxidation. CH oxidation in soils, however, requires a spatio-temporal convergence of ecological factors to occur.

Label-Free Physical Techniques and Methodologies for Proteins Detection in Microfluidic Biosensor Structures.

Proteins in biological fluids (blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid) are important biomarkers of various pathological conditions. Protein biomarkers detection and quantification have been proven to be an indispensable diagnostic tool in clinical practice. There is a growing tendency towards using portable diagnostic biosensor devices for point-of-care (POC) analysis based on microfluidic technology as an alternative to conventional laboratory protein assays.

L-Asparaginase Toxicity in the Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Asparaginase is a basic component of chemotherapy in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and has played a crucial role in improving the long-term survival of this disease. The objectives of this retrospective study were to elucidate the toxicity profile associated with asparaginase in children and adolescents with ALL, to analyze the impact of each type of toxicity on long-term outcomes, and to identify risk factors. We analyzed the medical charts of 165 patients diagnosed with ALL at Sf.

Outcomes of patients with Down syndrome and acute leukemia: A retrospective observational study.

Children with Down syndrome (DS) have a higher risk of developing acute leukemia than do those without DS. There are few studies in the literature about outcome, survival, and difficulties of treating patients with DS and acute leukemia in a developing country. This study aimed to analyze the outcome, response to treatment, survival, treatment complications, and causes of death in patients with DS and acute leukemia compared with those in patients with acute leukemia without DS diagnosed in the same period of time.

Label-Free Protein Detection by Micro-Acoustic Biosensor Coupled with Electrical Field Sorting. Theoretical Study in Urine Models.

Diagnostic devices for point-of-care (POC) urine analysis (urinalysis) based on microfluidic technology have been actively developing for several decades as an alternative to laboratory based biochemical assays. Urine proteins (albumin, immunoglobulins, uromodulin, haemoglobin etc.) are important biomarkers of various pathological conditions and should be selectively detected by urinalysis sensors.

The role of monodentate tetrahedral borate complexes in boric acid binding to a soil organic matter analogue.

Boron is an essential plant micronutrient responsible for several important functions. Boron availability in soils may be influenced by binding with soil organic matter (SOM), particularly with aromatic diol and polyphenol groups on SOM. The mechanism by which aromatic diols bind boron, however, remains unclear.

From the Outside in: An Overview of Positron Imaging of Plant and Soil Processes.

Positron-emitting nuclides have long been used as imaging agents in medical science to spatially trace processes non-invasively, allowing for real-time molecular imaging using low tracer concentrations. This ability to non-destructively visualize processes in real time also makes positron imaging uniquely suitable for probing various processes in plants and porous environmental media, such as soils and sediments. Here, we provide an overview of historical and current applications of positron imaging in environmental research.

Polarizability-Dependent Sorting of Microparticles Using Continuous-Flow Dielectrophoretic Chromatography with a Frequency Modulation Method.

The separation of microparticles with respect to different properties such as size and material is a research field of great interest. Dielectrophoresis, a phenomenon that is capable of addressing multiple particle properties at once, can be used to perform a chromatographic separation. However, the selectivity of current dielectrophoretic particle chromatography (DPC) techniques is limited.

Oxalate-enhanced solubility of lead (Pb) in the presence of phosphate: pH control on mineral precipitation.

Here we study the precipitation of lead (Pb)-phosphate minerals over the pH range of 4.0 to 8.0 with and without oxalate, a ubiquitous and abundant low-molecular-weight organic acid derived from plants and microorganisms in environmental matrices.

New magnetic phase of the chiral skyrmion material CuOSeO.

The lack of inversion symmetry in the crystal lattice of magnetic materials gives rise to complex noncollinear spin orders through interactions of a relativistic nature, resulting in interesting physical phenomena, such as emergent electromagnetism. Studies of cubic chiral magnets revealed a universal magnetic phase diagram composed of helical spiral, conical spiral, and skyrmion crystal phases. We report a remarkable deviation from this universal behavior.

Simultaneous Quantification of Electron Transfer by Carbon Matrices and Functional Groups in Pyrogenic Carbon.

Pyrogenic carbon contains redox-active functional groups and polyaromatic carbon matrices that are both capable of transferring electrons. Several techniques have been explored to characterize the individual electron transfer process of either functional groups or carbon matrices individually. However, simultaneous analysis of both processes remains challenging.

Supramolecular Association Impacts Biomolecule Adsorption onto Goethite.

Formation of biomolecule-rich supramolecular complexes in dissolved organic matter (DOM) and subsequent adsorption onto minerals is important for the development of mineral-stabilized organic matter, yet the impact of supramolecular association on interfacial behavior is seldom studied. A series of supramolecular complexes of model biomolecules (deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA)) are synthesized, characterized, and adsorbed onto goethite. Complexes represent 0.

Structures and mechanisms in clay nanopore trapping of structurally-different fluoroquinolone antimicrobials.

Smectite clay nanoparticles are implicated in the retention of antimicrobials within soils and sediments; these clays are also inspected as drug carriers in physiological systems. Cation exchange is considered the primary adsorption mechanism of antimicrobials within smectite nanopores. However, a dual role of acid-base chemistry and adsorptive structures is speculated by recent studies.

The Role of Iraqi Dust in Inducing Lung Injury in United States Soldiers-An Interdisciplinary Study.

United States soldiers are returning from the Greater Middle East with respiratory illnesses ranging from new onset asthma to constrictive bronchiolitis. The etiology of the diseases is unknown. A study was conducted to determine the possible role of local mineral dust in the development of abnormal respiratory illnesses in soldiers during and after deployment in Iraq.

SAW-Based Phononic Crystal Microfluidic Sensor-Microscale Realization of Velocimetry Approaches for Integrated Analytical Platform Applications.

The current work demonstrates a novel surface acoustic wave (SAW) based phononic crystal sensor approach that allows the integration of a velocimetry-based sensor concept into single chip integrated solutions, such as Lab-on-a-Chip devices. The introduced sensor platform merges advantages of ultrasonic velocimetry analytic systems and a microacoustic sensor approach. It is based on the analysis of structural resonances in a periodic composite arrangement of microfluidic channels confined within a liquid analyte.

Ironing Out Genes in the Environment: An Experimental Study of the DNA-Goethite Interface.

DNA fate in soil plays an important role in the cycling of genetic information in the environment. Adsorption onto mineral surfaces has great impact on this function. This study probes the kinetics, equilibrium behavior and bonding mechanisms associated with adsorption of DNA onto goethite, a common soil mineral.

Kinetic and Conformational Insights of Protein Adsorption onto Montmorillonite Revealed Using in Situ ATR-FTIR/2D-COS.

Protein adsorption onto clay minerals is a process with wide-ranging impacts on the environmental cycling of nutrients and contaminants. This process is influenced by kinetic and conformational factors that are often challenging to probe in situ. This study represents an in situ attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic investigation of the adsorption of a model protein (bovine serum albumin (BSA)) onto a clay mineral (montmorillonite) at four concentrations (1.

Nearly free electrons in a 5d delafossite oxide metal.

Understanding the role of electron correlations in strong spin-orbit transition-metal oxides is key to the realization of numerous exotic phases including spin-orbit-assisted Mott insulators, correlated topological solids, and prospective new high-temperature superconductors. To date, most attention has been focused on the 5d iridium-based oxides. We instead consider the Pt-based delafossite oxide PtCoO2.

Zintl-phase Sr3LiAs2H: crystal structure and chemical bonding analysis by the electron localizability approach.

The compound Sr3 LiAs2 H was synthesized by reaction of elemental strontium, lithium, and arsenic, as well as LiH as hydrogen source. The crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction: space group Pnma; Pearson symbol oP28; a = 12.0340(7), b = 4.

Synthesis, structure, and properties of two Zintl phases around the composition SrLiAs.

Two atomic arrangements were found near the equiatomic composition in the strontium-lithium-arsenic system. Orthorhombic o-SrLiAs was synthesized by reaction of elemental components at 950 °C, followed by annealing at 800 °C and subsequent quenching in water. The hexagonal modification h-SrLi(1-x)As was obtained from annealing of o-SrLiAs at 550 °C in dynamic vacuum.

ZnS nanocrystal cytotoxicity is influenced by capping agent chemical structure and duration of time in suspension.

As a result of their characteristic physical and optical properties, including their size, intense fluorescence, broad excitation, narrow emission and resistance to photobleaching, semiconductor nanocrystals are potentially useful for a variety of biological applications including molecular imaging, live-cell labeling, photodynamic therapy and targeted drug delivery. In this study, zinc sulfide (ZnS) semiconductor nanocrystals were synthesized in the 3 to 4 nm size range with selected capping agents intended to protect the nanocrystal core and increase its biological compatibility. We show that the biocompatibility of ZnS nanocrystals with primary murine splenocytes is influenced by the chemical structure of the outer capping agent on the nanocrystal.

Search for a low-mass standard model Higgs boson in the ττ decay channel in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV.

We report on a search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into pairs of τ leptons in pp collisions produced by the Tevatron at sqrt[s]=1.96  TeV. The analyzed data sample was recorded by the CDFII detector and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 6.

Measurements of the angular distributions in the decays B→K(*)μ(+)μ(-) at CDF.

We report an indirect search for nonstandard model physics using the flavor-changing neutral current decays B→K(*)μ(+)μ(-). We reconstruct the decays and measure their angular distributions, as a function of q(2)=M(μμ)(2)c(2), where M(μμ) is the dimuon mass, in pp¯ collisions at √s=1.96 TeV using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6.