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We compared nerve blockade with and without the Infiniti(TM) needle guide in an ultrasound in-plane porcine simulation. We recruited 30 anaesthetists with varying blockade experience. Using the guide, the needle tip was more visible (for a median (IQR [range]) of 67 (56-100]) % of the time; and invisible for 2 (1-4 [0-19]) s) than when the guide was not used (respectively 23 (13-43 [0-80]) % and 25 (9-52 [1-198]) s; both p < 0.001). The corresponding block times were 8 (6-10 [3-28]) s and 32 (15-67 [5-225]) s, respectively; p < 0.001. The needle guide reduced the block time and the time that the needle was invisible, irrespective of anaesthetist experience.

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The effects of soil characteristics and oil types as well as the efficacy of two fertilizer formulations and three bioaugmentation packages in improving the bioremediation of oil-contaminated soils were assessed as a means of ex situ treatment selection and optimization through seven laboratory microcosm studies. The influence of bioremediation on leaching of oil from the soil was also investigated. The studies demonstrated the benefits ofbiostimulation to overcome nutrient limitation, as most of the soils were nutrient depleted. The application of both liquid and pelleted slow-release N and P fertilizers increased both the hydrocarbon biodegradation rates (by a factor of 1.4 to 2.9) and the percentage of hydrocarbon mass degraded (by > 30% after 12 weeks and 80% after 37 weeks), when compared with the unamended soils. Slow-release fertilizers can be particularly useful when multiple liquid applications are not practical or cost-effective. Bioaugmentation products containing inoculum plus fertilizer also increased biodegradation by 20% to 37% compared with unamended biotic controls; however, there was no clear evidence of additional benefits due to the inocula, compared with fertilizer alone. Therefore biostimulation is seen as the most cost-effective bioremediation strategy for contaminated soils with the levels of crude oil and refined products used in this study. However, site-specific considerations remain essential for establishing the treatability of oil-contaminated soils.

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AIMS: To investigate the factors affecting benzene biodegradation and microbial community composition in a contaminated aquifer. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified the microbial community in groundwater samples from a benzene-contaminated aquifer situated below a petrochemical plant. Eleven out of twelve groundwater samples with in situ dissolved oxygen concentrations between 0 and 2.57 mg l(-1) showed benzene degradation in aerobic microcosm experiments, whereas no degradation in anaerobic microcosms was observed. The lack of aerobic degradation in the remaining microcosm could be attributed to a pH of 12.1. Three groundwaters, examined by 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, with low in situ oxygen concentrations and high benzene levels, each had a different dominant aerobic (or denitrifying) population, either Pseudomonas, Polaromonas or Acidovorax species. These groundwaters also had syntrophic organisms, and aceticlastic methanogens were detected in two samples. The alkaline groundwater was dominated by organisms closely related to Hydrogenophaga. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that pH 12.1 is inimical to benzene biodegradation, and that oxygen concentrations below 0.03 mg l(-1) can support aerobic benzene-degrading communities. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: These findings will help to guide the treatment of contaminated groundwaters, and raise questions about the extent to which aerobes and anaerobes may interact to effect benzene degradation.

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AIMS: To isolate benzene-degrading strains from neutral and alkaline groundwaters contaminated by benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX) from the SIReN aquifer, UK, and to test their effective pH range and ability to degrade TEX. METHODS AND RESULTS: The 14 isolates studied had an optimum pH for growth of 8, and could degrade benzene to below detection level (1 microg l(-1)). Five Rhodococcus erythropolis strains were able to metabolize benzene up to pH 9, two distinct R. erythropolis strains to pH 10, and one Arthrobacter strain to pH 8.5. These Actinobacteria also degraded benzene at least down to pH 5.5. Six other isolates, a Hydrogenophaga and five Pseudomonas strains, had a narrower pH tolerance for benzene degradation (pH 6 to 8.5), and could metabolize toluene; in addition, the Hydrogenophaga and two Pseudomonas strains utilized o-, m- or p-xylenes. None of these strains degraded ethylbenzene. CONCLUSIONS: Phylogenetically distinct isolates, able to degrade BTX compounds, were obtained, and some degraded benzene at high pH. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: High pH has previously been found to inhibit in situ degradation of benzene, a widespread, carcinogenic groundwater contaminant. These benzene-degrading organisms therefore have potential applications in the remediation or natural attenuation of alkaline waters.

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The release of 14CO2 from 9-[14C]phenanthrene, 4,5,9,10-[14C]pyrene and 7-[14C]benzo[a]pyrene, added to Brent/Fortes crude oil and mixed into a pristine sand soil (0.40% organic C) and a pristine organic soil (22.9% organic C), was determined. After 244 days at 25 degrees C, 11.1 +/- 3.5% (sand) and 17.1 +/- 0.30% (organic) phenanthrene-14C and 9.77 +/- 2.8% (sand) and 5.86 +/- 1.4% (organic) benzo[a]pyrene-14C was released. After 210 days, 3.65 +/- 0.5% (sand) and 4.43 +/- 0.33% (organic) pyrene-14C was released. Inoculation of these two soils with DC1 and PD2 (bacteria capable of accelerating the phenanthrene and pyrene mineralisation in soil in the absence of crude oil) either at day 0 or after release as 14CO2 by indigenous degraders had ceased, failed to increase or initiate further mineralisation. Thus, aged PAH residues were non-bioavailable to these metabolically competent degrading microorganisms. At the end of the first period of incubation (210 days or 244 days), the total aromatic hydrocarbons recovered using Soxhlet extraction was 0.18% (sand) and 42.8% (organic) compared with approximately 100% from bio-inhibited soils. This confirmed that the indigenous microbiological activity not only caused a limited amount of PAH mineralisation but also reduced the extractability of residues, possibly due to the generation of metabolites which were chemisorbed and bound (and non extractable) in 'aged' soils.

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Inoculation of soil with bacteria (a Gram-negative rod [PD2] and a 4-membered consortium [DC1]) accelerated mineralisation of phenanthrene and pyrene (but not naphthalene) added individually to a pristine sand and a pristine organic soil. The half-life of naphthalene was 3.5 days in both soils whether inoculated or non-inoculated. However, the half-life of phenanthrene decreased from 86 days in non-inoculated sand soil and 80 days in the non-inoculated organic soil to 3.6 days in the sand and 3.1 days in organic soil when inoculated with PD2, and to 6.6 days in the sand and 8.7 days in the organic soil when inoculated with DC1. Phenanthrene mineralisation ceased after 23 days in DC1-inoculated soil and was 71.3 +/- 3.6% (sand) and 63.3 +/- 2.8% (organic). This compared with 96.8 +/- 3.8% (sand) 102.8 +/- 2.5% (organic) after 8 days in PD2-inoculated soil. Inoculation with DC1 (but not PD2) also accelerated mineralisation of pyrene, where the half-life decreased from 155 days to 18 days in the sand soil, and from 216 days to 33 days in organic soil.

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The kinetics of erythromycin production were dependent on the identity of the growth rate-limiting nutrient during batch cultures of Saccharopolyspora erythraea. Semilogarithmic linear regression provided a single estimate of growth rate during the exponential phase, but partial cubic spline curve fit derivatives provided time-dependent specific growth and production rate profile. Non-growth-linked product formation was observed when the medium was glucose- or phosphate-limited. However, growth-linked product formation was observed in a nitrate-limited medium. The kinetics observed in nitrate-limited chemostat culture provided evidence that Saccharopolyspora erythraea may be subject to noncompetitive inhibition by a growth-linked product under these conditions. A mathematical model was used to test this theory. The model simulation fitted the observed data very closely and was used to calculate estimates of the kinetic parameters involved: [formula; see text]

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