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Fire-altered or fragmentary bone presents a challenge to forensic anthropologists and bioarchaeologists due to its characteristic friability. A potential solution to this problem is the use of consolidant materials on fragile osteological material, including burned remains. Although anthropologists and odontologists employ a variety of consolidant materials, there is no consensus regarding which material is most appropriate. Four easily obtained and commonly used consolidants, Acryloid™ B-72, Acrysol™ WS-24, Rhoplex™ B-60A, and Butvar® B-98, were compared to assess ease of material application and ability to stabilize burned bone. Each consolidant was applied to a subgroup of the study population at a 10% concentration. Total dry time per specimen, ease of solution preparation and application, and any alteration to the bone's appearance were recorded to assess the practical use of each material in field recovery settings. Nanoindentation, drop weight impact, and forced vibration tests were then performed to assess degree of stabilization. These tests were chosen to mimic possible real-world scenarios where burned bone may undergo damage during and after recovery, including repeated handling and transportation from the fire scene to the lab. Based on both qualitative and quantitative data collected, Acryloid™ B-72 is the most suitable consolidant tested to stabilize burned or fragmentary bone during recovery efforts. If the dry time for Rhoplex™ B-60A could be reduced by using a different solvent, such as acetone, Rhoplex™ B-60A would also be appropriate. Highly calcined areas, and targeted structures that could be utilized for positive identification, including teeth and the frontal sinus, should preferentially be consolidated with Acryloid™ B-72 in the field prior to recovery.

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Extensive chemical analyses were conducted during the last decade to assess the heavy metal content of the finished compost as well as of biowaste and other input materials. Twenty six percent of the compost lots were class I according to ONORM S2200, 70% class II and 4% did not reach class II. If the compost lots were classified according to the new Austrian compost ordinance, 22% would conform to class A+ and 78% to class A. These data are put into relation with heavy metal contents of soil, of yard wastes and of biowastes without contaminants. In the soil samples particularly nickel and lead exceeded the limits for class A+ (compost ordinance). In the yard wastes, more than 90% of the samples met the limits for all heavy metals. Biowaste without contaminants conformed to class A+ on average. In biowaste without contaminants no influence of the housing structure on the heavy metal content was observed. The compost produced only from biowaste from areas with high building density, after undergoing the normal process of metal removal, however, was significantly higher contaminated than that of compost of the whole city of Vienna. The impact of specific input materials, such as Christmas trees or wooden crates, was investigated by chemical analyses before and after controlled composting experiments with those materials. In both experiments the compost quality did not reach the limits for heavy metals of class I (ONORM S2200).

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Organochlorine pesticides and metabolites were measured in grassland-nesting passerines that breed in North America. We also examined testes of male birds for abnormalities that may have resulted from pesticide exposure. Forty-four of 99 individuals contained one or more organochlorine pesticides above the detection limit, representing nine of 10 species. The most prevalent compound detected was p,p'-DDE (minimum-maximum levels: 7.55-285.85 ng/g, carcass concentration). Insectivorous birds had significantly higher levels of p,p'-DDE than both omnivores and granivores. Birds that frequented moist grassland habitats had significantly higher levels of p,p'-DDE than those that frequented drier grassland habitats. No evidence of feminization was observed in any of the testes analyzed, however, other endpoint effects of contamination (e.g. hormone levels and immunological parameters) should be investigated in future studies.

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Our objective in this study was to evaluate whether a group of paternally related, subadult baboons (Papio cynocephalus) would preferentially interact with kin or nonkin when they had been raised apart from kin other than their mothers. Subjects and their mothers were removed from the breeding group and placed in alternate housing within 24 h after birth to ensure that the subjects would not have a social history with either their sire or their half-siblings. At 90 days of age, the 23 subjects were separated from their mothers and assigned to a peer-peer social group. Behavioral performance was measured using focal animal sampling techniques and 12 molecular behavioral criteria. Analyses of the data indicate that in dyadic interactions kin did not interact more frequently than nonkin in performance of affiliative, sociosexual, and agonistic behaviors. The hypothesis that baboons recognize kin in the absence of maternal associations was not supported by the data; moreover, we suggest that social learning and social history are the most likely mechanisms for kin recognition.

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The copy number of 2 mu DNA-derived plasmids in CIR+ Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformants is determined by its selective marker and is usually much lower than that of the endogenous plasmid. Only plasmids containing the leu2 allele of pJDB219, designated as leu2-d, under selective conditions displayed a higher copy number than did endogenous 2 mu DNA and by displacement generated cured cells. Spontaneous loss of 2 mu DNA occurred with a frequency of about 0.02% per generation. Curing plasmids, like pMP78, have copy numbers of 35; noncuring plasmids, like pDB248 or YEp6, have copy numbers of 4 to 8. The 2 mu DNA copy number in strains AH22 and YNN27 were determined to be 40 and 100, respectively. The high copy number of leu2-d-containing plasmids can be explained by its weak expression of less than 5% that of the wild-type LEU2 gene. The leu2-d allele has a deletion of the 5'-end sequence starting from 29 base pairs before the ATG initiation codon, but surprisingly, its expression is still regulated. On YRp7, which contains the chromosomal autonomic replication sequence ARS1, the defective leu2-d allele could not complement a leu2 host strain. This suggests a more stringent control of replication of ARS1-containing plasmids than of 2 mu-containing plasmids.

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Electron microscopic findings on the nerve of the biventer cervicis muscle of the chick, which was completely transected and immediately after submitted to an adequate microsurgical nerve suture, confirmed our previous statement that proper microsurgical nerve suture may impede the Wallerian degeneration that normally occurs in the distal segment of a completely transected nerve.

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Neste trabalho experimental foi utilizado, como o fizemos em l968, o nervo do musculo biventer cervicis do pintainho. Os nervos transeccionados ao nivel do tendao intermedio do musculo e propositadamente nao suturados, ou acidentalmente mal suturados, apresentaram, como esperado, degeneracao Walleriana total do segmento distal e consequente desnervacao do ventre distal do musculo. Os nervos, transeccionados e imediatamente suturados com tecnica microcirurgico fascicular adequada, apresentaram, em nivel de microscopia eletronica, de 7/12 hs. a 2 meses pos-operatorio, numerosas fibras nervosas mielinicas integras, alem naturalmente, de fibras nervosas em diferentes e progressivas fases de degeneracao Walleriana. Os ventres distais dos musculos cujos nervos foram operados com sucesso apresentavam coloracao e aspectos normais, respondiam a estimulos mecanicos e, em cortes histologicos para microscopia optica, exibiram numerosas placas motoras integras. A afirmacao que fizemos em trabalhos anterioes "a degeneracao Walleriana total que normalmente ocorre em segmentos distais de nervos completamente transeccionados pode ser parcialmente evitada atraves de neurorrafias, com tecnica microcirurgica fascicular adequada: - e agora documentada em nivel de microscopia eletronica

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Wild or industrial yeast strains cannot be transformed by most selective vectors due to a lack of auxotrophic mutations. To enable identification of transformants of such yeast species, we have developed a 2-µm DNA vector with an indicator gene that can be used without any additional marker. The Escherichia coli gene for ß-lactamase (bla) was placed under the control of the yeast promoter for the structural gene encoding ADHI. This increased the amount of ß-lactamase produced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae 100-fold giving an enzyme activity in transformant colonies which is high enough to be detected directly on indicator plates. Non-selectively, the transformation frequency is even higher than under selective conditions indicating that selection does not assist the establishment of new plasmids. Transformants isolated non-selectively were found to retain the endogenous 2-µm DNA. Under control of appropriate promoters, the bacterial bla gene may also provide a convenient marker for other eukaryotic transformation systems.

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A general procedure for the curing of 2-µm in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is described. The method is based on the displacement of endogenous 2-µm DNA by the recombinant plasmid pMP78-1, which carries the yeast leu2 gene and the 2 -µm DNA replicon, but cannot be maintained stably in a yeast cell without endogenous 2-µm DNA. After transformation with pMP78-1 cells are grown selectively to displace 2-µm DNA. During the non-selective growth which follows, plasmid pMP78-1 is lost and up to 100% of the cells completely lack plasmids. In conjunction with a kanamycin resistance marker, as present in plasmid pMP81, this method should be applicable to cure any wild-type yeast strain. The stability of recombinant plasmids in cir (+) and cir (0) strains has been compared.

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The gross anatomy and the internal structure of the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) brain stem, cerebellum and diencephalon are described based on the observations made on the material obtained from 10 adult animals (native name: sagui). 5 brains were used for gross anatomical observations; the other 5 brains, included in toto in celloidin, were cut into serial sections, properly stained and used for comparative studies of the internal structure. Only general descriptions are given considering this part of the encephalon because, in further papers, it is intended to go on describing in details the nervous system of this small primate, very common in Brazilian jungles and easily domesticated. It shows to be a very good and inexpensive animal for neurophysiological experiments.

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The gross anatomy and the internal structure of the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) brain are described based on the observations made on the material obtained from 10 adult animals (native name: sagui). 5 brains were used for gross anatomical observations; the other 5 brains, included in toto in celloidin, were cut into serial sections, properly stained and used for comparative studies of the internal structure. Only general descriptions are given considering the brain because, in further papers, it is intended to go on describing in details the nervous system of this small primate, very common in Brazilian jungles and easily domesticated. It shows to be a very good and inexpensive animal for neurophysiological experiments.

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