Sugar beet Ca-pectate gel as a cost-effective immobilized-cell matrix for metal biosorption.

Whole bacterial (Pseudomonas putida) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells were immobilized by entrapment in gel beads of Ca-pectate obtained from sugar beet pulp and gel beads of commercial Ca-alginate (of algal origin). These immobilized-cell particles were tested for Cd2+ removal from dilute aqueous solutions and their mechanical properties were evaluated. Only Ca-pectate gel beads loaded with yeast cells displayed enhanced cadmium-binding efficiency (13.

Leukocyte mean corpuscular volume in the differential diagnosis of acute leukemias.

The leukocyte mean corpuscular volume was measured in 61 cases of acute leukemia. The volume of blast cells allows a clear distinction between lymphoblastic and other varieties of acute leukemia. There seems to be good correlation between patients' age, leukocyte corpuscular volume, cytological and cytochemical findings.