Evaluation of Colilert-18 for detection and enumeration of fecal coliform bacteria in wastewater using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Alternative Test procedure Protocol

This study compared recovery of fecal coliform bacteria from sewage by Colilert-18 and Standard Methods 9222D (membrane-Fecal Coliform medium) in accordance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Alternative Test Protocol (ATP). Samples were collected from 10 different wastewater treatment plants in the northeastern United States and tested in a single laboratory. Twenty replicates of each sample were analyzed by each method, and 200 positive and 200 negative responses were confirmed for each method. Recovery of fecal coliforms by Colilert-18 was significantly higher than (8 of 10 sites) or statistically equivalent to (1 of 10 sites) recovery by the reference method (Standard Methods 9222D) for samples from all but one site. Both methods had low false-positive rates (< 2%); however, the false-negative rate observed with Standard Methods 9222D (21.5%) was substantially higher than that observed with Colilert-18 (7%). The accuracy rates of the two methods were calculated as 96.5 and 88.9% for Colilert-18 and Standard Methods 9222D, respectively. The results of this study demonstrate that Colilert-18 meets the acceptance criteria for alternative methods specified in the EPA ATP.     

FLASH PHOTOLYSIS-ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE STUDIES OF THE DYNAMICS OF PHOTOSYSTEM I IN GREEN-PLANT PHOTOSYNTHESIS—II. INTACT AND BROKEN SPINACH CHLOROPLASTS*

Abstract —The transient oxidation and subsequent reduction of P700⁺ in spinach chloroplasts has been monitored by flash photolysis-electron spin resonance spectroscopy in the presence of various donors and acceptors. In general, the results obtained correlate well with results on Photosystem I subchloroplast particles, with two major differences. For Type A and B intact chloroplasts in the presence of 3-(3, 4-dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea (DCMU), the electron acceptor methyl viologen has no effect on the decay kinetics. This phenomenon is interpreted in terms of a functioning cyclic electron flow path around Photosystem I. Also, the photoresponse of Signal I depends on the length of the photolyzing flash. This is interpreted in terms of the existence of a primary electron donor to P700⁺ with a transfer time of ? 10 μs.     

FLASH PHOTOLYSIS-ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE STUDIES OF THE DYNAMICS OF PHOTOSYSTEM I IN GREEN-PLANT PHOTOSYNTHESIS-I. EFFECTS OF ACCEPTORS AND DONORS IN SUBCHLOROPLAST PARTICLES*

Abstract —Transient decay kinetics of Signal I in spinach subchloroplast particles have been studied in the presence of artificial donors [5-methyl phenazonium methyl sulfate (PMS), 2, 6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DPIP), N, N, N', N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD) and ascorbate], artificial acceptors [benzyl viologen (BV) and methyl viologen (MV)] and various natural donor and acceptor moieties, using the technique of flash photolysis-electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The results are discussed in the framework of three mechanisms for reduction of P700⁺: (1) direct electron return from the primary acceptor to P700⁺, (2) cyclic electron flow via an electron carrier, and (3) noncvclic electron flow.     

Photoionization of highly charged ions using an ECR ion source and undulator radiation

Photoionization of Xe4+ to Xe7+ ions was studied by combining an electron cyclotron resonance ion source with synchrotron radiation. Multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations were performed to interpret the data. Many autoionization lines were measured and identified, resulting from excitation of a 4d electron into nf and np orbitals followed by Auger decay of the excited states. Continuum photoionization is negligible for the higher members of the isonuclear series.     

The Development and Validation of the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution Instrument

A biology teacher's acceptance or rejection of evolutionary theory as a scientifically valid explanation is potentially important to the role that evolution takes in the high school biology curriculum. Due to the nature of available instrumentation, our understanding of teacher acceptance of this complex overreaching biological theory may be incomplete or confounded. This paper describes the development and validation of the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE)—a 20-item Likert-scaled instrument that assesses teachers' overall acceptance of evolutionary theory. Chronbach alpha reliability of the MATE is also reported.     

Carbonyl-carboxylato-ruthenium complexes incorporating diimine ligands and unexpected cyclometalation of carboxylate ligands

We report two new synthetic routes to the dinuclear Ru(I) complexes, [Ru(I)(2)(RCO(2))(CO)(4)(N( wedge )N)(2)](+) (N( wedge )N = 2,2'-bipyridine or 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives) that use RuCl(3).3H(2)O as a starting material. Direct addition of the bidentate diimine ligand to a methanolic solution of [Ru(CO)(2)Cl(2)](n) and sodium acetate yielded a mixture of [Ru(I)(2)(MeCO(2))(CO)(4)(N( wedge )N)(2)](+) (N( wedge )N = 4,4'-dmbpy, and 5,6-dmphen), and [Ru(II)(MeCO(2))(2)(CO)(2)(N( wedge )N)] (N( wedge )N = 4,4'-dmbpy and 5,5'-dmbpy). Single-crystal X-ray studies confirmed that the Ru(II) complexes had a trans-acetate-cis-carbonyl arrangement of the ligands. In contrast, the use of sodium benzoate resulted in the unexpected formation of a Ru-C bond producing ortho-cyclometalated complexes, [Ru(II)(O(2)CC(6)H(4))(CO)(2)(N( wedge )N)], where N( wedge )N = bpy or phen. A second approach used ligand exchange between a bidentate ligand (N( wedge )N) and the pyridine ligands of [Ru(I)(RCO(2))(CO)(2)(py)](2) to convert these neutral complexes into [Ru(I)(2)(RCO(2))(CO)(4)(N( wedge )N)(2)](+). This method, although it involved more steps, was applicable for a wider variety of diimine ligands (R = Me and N( wedge )N = 4,4'-dmbpy, 5,5'-dmbpy, 5,6-dmphen; R = Ph and N( wedge )N = bpy, phen, 5,6-dmphen).