Bioaccumulation pattern of lanthanides in pteridophytes and magnoliophytes species from Atlantic Forest

The availability of chemical elements for plants is mainly dependent on the nature of the soil and characteristics of each species. The transfer factors of lanthanides from the soil to the tree leaves of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil, were calculated for one fern species (Alsophila sternbergii-Pteridophyta division) and four magnoliophytes species (Bathysa australis, Euterpe edulis, Garcinia gardneriana and Guapira opposita-Magnoliophyta division) obtained in two areas of Serra do Mar State Park and collected in two different seasons. Samples were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The soil-to-plant transfer factor (TF = C(plant):C(soil)) in magnoliophytes species was correlated to the mass fraction of lanthanides in the soil, described by a exponential model (TF = a.C (soil) (-b) ). Despite the tree fern Alsophila sternbergii presented a hyperaccumulation of lanthanides, this species did not have a significant relationship between TF and mass fraction in soil. Results indicated that plants of Magnoliophyta division selected the input of lanthanides from the soil, while the same was not observed in Alsophila sternbergii.

Biomonitoring of coastal regions of So Paulo State, Brazil, using mussels Perna perna

The marine environment is constantly affected by anthropic actions, with causes consequent degradation of the waters and marine biota by various discharges of xenobiotics. In the present study, the focus was the study of a region of the marine coast of the State of So Paulo (city of Santos), which is one of the most industrialized parts of Brazil and suffers also from a strong impact of domestic effluents. The mussel Perna perna, very abundant in the coast of the State of So Paulo, Brazil, was selected as the biomonitoring organism for the determination of inorganic elements and a passive biomonitoring was performed. The organisms were collected at two sites in So Paulo State coast: Cocanha beach in Caraguatatuba (mussel farm) and Santos Bay (Itaipu and Palmas). Seasonally, the Perna perna were collected between September/08 and July/09 in each study sites. After removal and sample preparation, the elements As, Co, Cr, Fe, Se and Zn were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and Cd, Pb and Hg were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) in this organism.

Elemental composition evaluation in lichens collected in the industrial city of So Mateus Sul, Parana, Brazil

In this study, Canoparmelia texana lichenized fungi species was used as a passive biomonitor of the atmospheric pollution from the industrial city of So Mateus do Sul, PR, Brazil. Lichen samples collected from tree barks were cleaned, freeze-dried and analyzed by neutron activation analysis. Comparisons were made between the element concentrations obtained in lichens from this city and that from a clean area of Atlantic Forest in Intervales Park, SP. The high concentrations of elements As, Ca, Co, Cr, Fe, Hf, Sb, and Th found in lichens could be attributed to the emissions from a ceramic and an oil shale plants.

Comparison of INAA elemental composition data between Lago Grande and Osvaldo archaeological sites in the central Amazon: a first perspective

In this work, 50 ceramic fragments from the Lago Grande and 30 from the Osvaldo archaeological site were compared to assess elemental similarities. The aim is to perform a preliminary comparison between the sites, which are located in the central Amazon, Brazil. The analytical technique employed to obtain the ceramics elemental composition was instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The data set obtained was explored by the multivariate statistical techniques of cluster, principal component and discriminant analysis. The analyzed elements were: Na, Lu, U, Yb, La, Th, Cr, Cs, Sc, Fe, Eu, Ce and Hf. The results showed the existence of at least two compositional groups for Lago Grande and Osvaldo. Each compositional group of Osvaldo archaeological site matches with one group of Lago Grande. Correlated with the archaeological background, the results suggest commercial or cultural exchange in the region, which is an indicative of socio-cultural interactions between those sites.

Vanadium biomonitoring by using Perna perna (Linnaeus, 1758) mussels transplanted in the coast of the State of So Paulo, Brazil

The increased pollution in the aquatic ecosystem has led to the investigation of toxic elements in sea water by using marine organisms to assess marine pollution from human activities. Among these organisms, the mollusks bivalves have been used as biomonitors since they can accumulate trace elements and other substances, without the occurrence of their death. In this study, Perna perna mussels were transplanted from a mussel farm (reference region) to four sites located in coastal regions of So Paulo State, Brazil, close to anthropic discharge areas. Vanadium was determined in mussel tissues by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Quality control of V analysis was checked by analyzing biological reference materials and the results obtained were precise and in good agreement with the certified values. Comparisons between the V concentrations obtained in transplanted mussels indicated that those from So Sebastio region, close to an oil terminal presented the highest concentration of this element, during spring.

TL, OSL and C-14 dating results of the sediments and bricks from mummified nuns' grave

This paper presents the results of TL and OSL dating of soil and fragments of bricks from a grave, which was occupied by two mummified nuns, found at "Luz" Monastery, located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The TL and OSL ages were compared to C-14 dating ones obtained from bone collagens of the mummies. The majority of the ages is related to the eighteenth century. The gamma-ray spectroscopy was used to evaluate natural radioisotope concentrations in the samples, and by using these concentrations the annual dose rates, from 3.0 to 5.3 Gy/kyr, were obtained. Neutron activation analysis was performed and the radioisotope contents results are in agreement with those obtained by gamma-ray spectroscopy. The contents of U, Th and Ce elements were higher than those found in usual sediments.

Acúmulo de minerais em Aechmea blanchetiana (Baker) L.B. Smith (Bromeliaceae), contaminadas com zinco em cultivo in vitro

Com o objetivo de estudar a absorção e translocação de Ca, Co, Fe, K e Zn em Aechmea blanchetiana, plantas foram cultivadas in vitro em meios de cultivo contendo concentrações de Zn (0,0; 0,18; 1,8; 18 e 180 mg Zn L-1). Após 16 semanas de cultivo, os sistemas aéreo e radicular foram separados e determinadas à massa seca para massa de matéria seca e para a análise por ativação com nêutrons (AAN). O procedimento consistiu em irradiar amostras e padrões no reator nuclear de pesquisa IEA-R1 por 16 h para análise por espectrometria de raios gama. O controle dos resultados foi avaliado por meio das análises dos materiais de referência certificados, com desvios padrão relativo de 9,1 % e erros inferiores a 12,9 %. Os resultados das determinações dos elementos mostraram que o Zn alterou absorção e translocação de Ca, Co, Fe, K e Zn. A espécie apresentou alta quantidade de Zn nos sistemas aéreo e radicular indicando, possivelmente, ser bioacumuladora desse elemento.

Determination of trace elemental species in periostracum of Cypraea shells

n this work, three Cypraea species (C. talpa, C. tigris and C. zebra) were exhaustively studied. The shells have been separated in the structural layers. The mineralogy, ultra- and micro-structure of each layer were analyzed by Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffractometry (XRD) and Raman Spectroscopy (RS). The presence of biologically relevant trace metals (Mn, Co, Fe, Zn, Cr, etc.) has been investigated using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) as detection tool. A new method has been developed and optimized to extract and analyze the soluble organic matrix (SOM) of the shell. Although the molecular nature of the SOM is not really known, it contains at least large protein fraction, if not only consists of proteins. The extracted matrices were compared between layers and species using Size Exclusion High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with Ultra Violet Spectrometry (SE-HPLC-UV), Gel electrophoresis (GE) and protein quantification tests. For the first time to our knowledge the association of trace elements to the protein in the SOM of the shell was studied using hyphenated on line as well as combined off line techniques and validated through inter-comparison tests between the different methods applied. Interesting correlations between the trace element concentration, the microstructure and the protein content were directly and indirectly detected. The metals Cu, Ni, Co and Zn have shown to bind to the SOM extracted from C. talpa, C. tigris and C. zebra shells. Within the conclusions of this work it was demonstrated that these protein-metal-complexes (or metal containing proteins) change from one layer to the other and are different between the three snails analyzed. In addition, the complexes are clearly related only to certain protein fractions of the SOM, and not to the whole SOM observed. These fractions and show not to be very metal-specific (i.e. some of these fractions bind two or three different metals).

Elementanalytik und Isotopenverhältnisbestimmungen an humanbiologischen Materialien

Ziel der Arbeit war es, festzustellen, inwieweit die Bestimmung der Konzentrationen und der Isotopenverhältnisse verschiedener Elemente in humanbiologischen Materialien dazu geeignet ist, Informationen über Herkunft und Wohnort oder zurückliegende Ortswechsel einer Person aufzuzeigen. Dieses Forschungsprojekt wurde in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Bundeskriminalamt Wiesbaden durchgeführt. Dort werden in dem seit 2008 laufenden Projekt „Isohaar“ vor allem Haare, aber auch Fingernägel, von Personen vor, während und nach einer Auslandsreise gesammelt. An diesen Materialien sollte überprüft werden, ob ein Ortswechsel Einfluss auf die Elementgehalte und/oder Isotopenverhältnisse hat.rnAls elementanalytische Methoden wurden die Neutronenaktivierungsanalyse (NAA) und die induktiv gekoppeltes Plasma-Massenspektrometrie (ICP-MS) an flüssigen Aufschlüssen der Proben, sowie direkt an den Proben mittels Laser Ablation (LA-ICP-MS) erprobt. Die Isotopenverhältnisse der Elemente Kohlenstoff und Stickstoff wurden mittels Isotopenverhältnis-Massenspektrometrie (IRMS) bestimmt, die der schweren Elemente Strontium und Blei mittels Thermionen-Massenspektrometrie (TIMS).rnMittels Flüssig-ICP-MS wurde ein Konzentrationsanstieg für einige Elemente (z.B. Na, Mg Ba, Cu, Sr und Ca) vom Haaransatz (jüngster Haarabschnitt) zur Haarspitze (ältester Haarabschnitt) einer analysierten Strähne gefunden. Die Spender dieser Proben hatten keinen Ortswechsel vollzogen. Bei Haarproben von Personen, die einen Aufenthaltsortswechsel erlebt hatten, zeigten sich markante Konzentrationserhöhungen bei Eisen, Mangan, Titan und Blei in den betreffenden Abschnitten. Diese Elemente scheinen evtl. das Potential zu haben, Ortswechsel anzuzeigen.rnBei den Isotopenverhältnissen von Kohlenstoff und Stickstoff konnten einige Unterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Aufenthaltsorten einer Person gefunden werden. Diese Änderungen werden mit der häufig unausweichlichen unterschiedlichen Ernährungsweise des Haarspenders bei Reisen in Zusammenhang gebracht. Die Isotopenverhältnisse von Strontium und Blei konnten bisher nicht einem bestimmten Land oder einer Region zugeordnet werden. Die Proben zwischen den einzelnen Teilnehmern unterschieden sich jedoch. rnFür die Zukunft sollte versucht werden, die Ergebnisse der Analysenmethoden miteinander zu kombinieren, um aussagekräftigere Hinweise auf einen möglichen Ortswechsel zu erhalten.rn

HCl gas gettering of 3d transition metals for crystalline silicon solar cell concepts

In order to reduce the costs of crystalline silicon solar cells, low-cost silicon materials like upgraded metallurgical grade (UMG) silicon are investigated for the application in the photovoltaic (PV) industry. Conventional high-purity silicon is made by cost-intensive methods, based on the so-called Siemens process, which uses the reaction to form chlorosilanes and subsequent several distillation steps before the deposition of high-purity silicon on slim high-purity silicon rods. UMG silicon in contrast is gained from metallurgical silicon by a rather inexpensive physicochemical purification (e.g., acid leaching and/or segregation). However, this type of silicon usually contains much higher concentrations of impurities, especially 3d transition metals like Ti, Fe, and Cu. These metals are extremely detrimental in the electrically active part of silicon solar cells, as they form recombination centers for charge carriers in the silicon band gap. This is why simple purification techniques like gettering, which can be applied between or during solar cell process steps, will play an important role for such low-cost silicon materials. Gettering in general describes a process, whereby impurities are moved to a place or turned into a state, where they are less detrimental to the solar cell. Hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas gettering in particular is a promising simple and cheap gettering technique, which is based on the reaction of HCl gas with transition metals to form volatile metal chloride species at high temperatures.rnThe aim of this thesis was to find the optimum process parameters for HCl gas gettering of 3d transition metals in low-cost silicon to improve the cell efficiency of solar cells for two different cell concepts, the standard wafer cell concept and the epitaxial wafer equivalent (EpiWE) cell concept. Whereas the former is based on a wafer which is the electrically active part of the solar cell, the latter uses an electrically inactive low-cost silicon substrate with an active layer of epitaxially grown silicon on top. Low-cost silicon materials with different impurity grades were used for HCl gas gettering experiments with the variation of process parameters like the temperature, the gettering time, and the HCl gas concentration. Subsequently, the multicrystalline silicon neighboring wafers with and without gettering were compared by element analysis techniques like neutron activation analysis (NAA). It was demonstrated that HCl gas gettering is an effective purification technique for silicon wafers, which is able to reduce some 3d transition metal concentrations by over 90%. Solar cells were processed for both concepts which could demonstrate a significant increase of the solar cell efficiency by HCl gas gettering. The efficiency of EpiWE cells could be increased by HCl gas gettering by approximately 25% relative to cells without gettering. First process simulations were performed based on a simple model for HCl gas gettering processes, which could be used to make qualitative predictions.

Reconstructing Iron Age Community Dynamics in Eskisehir Province, Central Turkey

Current understanding of the Iron Age polity of Phrygia in Central Anatolia is primarily based on excavations and survey in the region of the Phrygian capital of Gordion. In order to expand our knowledge of the Phrygian polity, we assess the scale and nature of Iron Age communities in the western (EskiAYehir) region of Phrygia. We address the challenge of interpreting ceramics derived from large-scale archaeological survey by utilizing Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) of ceramics from 12 sites across the region collected by the EskiAYehir archaeological survey project as well as an excavated assemblage from Aar Hoyuk. While the uniformity in ceramic technology and styles suggest the region is part of the larger Phrygian community, NAA results reveal that (a) ceramic production was regionally highly localized with limited evidence of standardization during the Iron Age and (b) based on evidence of community interaction it is possible to establish a partial chronological sequence of development. These results have implications not only for understanding the internal dynamics within the Phrygian core but also for developing a methodology for comparing ancient polities using commensurate units of interacting communities. The present study is part of the larger Anatolian Iron Age Ceramics project (http://www.une.edu.au/a-ia).

Scaling Ceramic Provenience at Lydian Sardis, Western Turkey

We present a multistage strategy to define the scale and geographic distribution of 'local' ceramic production at Lydian Sardis based on geochemical analysis (NAA) of a large diverse ceramic sample (n = 281). Within the sphere of local ceramic production, our results demonstrate an unusual pattern of reliance on a single resource relative to other contemporary Iron Age centers. When our NAA results are combined with legacy NAA provenience data for production centers in Western Anatolia, we can differentiate ceramic emulation from exchange, establish probable proveniences for the non-local component of the dataset, and define new non-local groups with as yet no known provenience. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cultural Dynamics and Ceramic Resource Use at Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Troy, Northwestern Turkey

Changes in resource use over time can provide insight into technological choice and the extent of long-term stability in cultural practices. In this paper we re-evaluate the evidence for a marked demographic shift at the inception of the Early Iron Age at Troy by applying a robust macroscale analysis of changing ceramic resource use over the Late Bronze and Iron Age. We use a combination of new and legacy analytical datasets (NAA and XRF), from excavated ceramics, to evaluate the potential compositional range of local resources (based on comparisons with sediments from within a 10 km site radius). Results show a clear distinction between sediment-defined local and non-local ceramic compositional groups. Two discrete local ceramic resources have been previously identified and we confirm a third local resource for a major class of EIA handmade wares and cooking pots. This third source appears to derive from a residual resource on the Troy peninsula (rather than adjacent alluvial valleys). The presence of a group of large and heavy pithoi among the non-local groups raises questions about their regional or maritime origin. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ceramics, Trade, Provenience and Geology: Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age

The island of Cyprus was a major producer of copper and stood at the heart of east Mediterranean trade networks during the Late Bronze Age. It may also have been the source of the Red Lustrous Wheelmade Ware that has been found in mortuary contexts in Egypt and the Levant, and in Hittite temple assemblages in Anatolia. Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has enabled the source area of this special ceramic to be located in a geologically highly localised and geochemically distinctive area of western Cyprus. This discovery offers a new perspective on the spatial organisation of Cypriot economies in the production and exchange of elite goods around the eastern Mediterranean at this time.

[The effectiveness of rare earth elements as a possible alternative growth promoter for pigs and poultry].

Mixtures of Rare Earth Elements (REE) have been used as animal growth-promoters on a large scale in China during the last 20 years. Numerous studies carried out in China claim it produces quite sensational growth-promoting effects in all categories of farm animals. To explore the question of whether REE's might prove suitable as a growth-promoter under western keeping conditions, feeding experiments were performed on pigs and poultry. The animals received a typical diet, supplemented with REE salts in concentrations between 75 and 300 mg/kg feed. Weight-gain, feed-intake, feed-conversion and (where applicable) laying parameters were observed. It was shown that in pigs receiving feed supplemented with REEs, an increase in daily weight gain of up to 19% and an improvement in feed-conversion of up to 11% can be achieved, whereas, for poultry, no positive effects on growth or productivity of the animals could be observed. Testing of important organs via Neutron Activating Analysis (NAA) showed a minute accumulation of REE, principally in liver and bones. Analysis of the poultry gut-flora, using selective media, showed that the main microorganism populations of the alimentary canal were unaffected by feed-supplementation with REE.