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Biomedical subjects

C C Fuller

Publications and source records attributed to C C Fuller.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Determination of uranyl incorporation into biogenic manganese oxides using x-ray absorption spectroscopy and scattering.

Biogenic manganese oxides are common and an important source of reactive mineral surfaces in the environment that may be potentially enhanced in bioremediation cases to improve natural attenuation. Experiments were performed in which the uranyl ion, UO2(2+) (U(VI)), at various concentrations was present during manganese oxide biogenesis. At all concentrations, there was strong uptake of U onto the oxides. Synchrotron-based extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were carried out to determine the molecular-scale mechanism by which uranyl is incorporated into the oxide and how this incorporation affects the resulting manganese oxide structure and mineralogy. The EXAFS experiments show that at low concentrations (<0.3 mol % U, <1 microM U(VI) in solution), U(VI) is present as a strong bidentate surface complex. At high concentrations (>2 mol % U, >4 microM U(VI) in solution), the presence of U(VI) affects the stability and structure of the Mn oxide to form poorly ordered Mn oxide tunnel structures, similar to todorokite. EXAFS modeling shows that uranyl is present in these oxides predominantly in the tunnels of the Mn oxide structure in a tridentate complex. Observations by XRD corroborate these results. Structural incorporation may lead to more stable U(VI) sequestration that may be suitable for remediation uses. These observations, combined with the very high uptake capacity of the Mn oxides, imply that Mn-oxidizing bacteria may significantly influence dissolved U(VI) concentrations in impacted waters via sorption and incorporation into Mn oxide biominerals.

Bacteria↗
PubMed2003

Molecular-scale characterization of uranium sorption by bone apatite materials for a permeable reactive barrier demonstration.

Uranium binding to bone charcoal and bone meal apatite materials was investigated using U L(III)-edge EXAFS spectroscopy and synchrotron source XRD measurements of laboratory batch preparations in the absence and presence of dissolved carbonate. Pelletized bone char apatite recovered from a permeable reactive barrier (PRB) at Fry Canyon, UT, was also studied. EXAFS analyses indicate that U(VI) sorption in the absence of dissolved carbonate occurred by surface complexation of U(VI) for sorbed concentrations < or = 5500 microg U(VI)/g for all materials with the exception of crushed bone char pellets. Either a split or a disordered equatorial oxygen shell was observed, consistent with complexation of uranyl by the apatite surface. A second shell of atoms at a distance of 2.9 A was required to fit the spectra of samples prepared in the presence of dissolved carbonate (4.8 mM total) and is interpreted as formation of ternary carbonate complexes with sorbed U(VI). A U-P distance at 3.5-3.6 A was found for most samples under conditions where uranyl phosphate phases did not form, which is consistent with monodentate coordination of uranyl by phosphate groups in the apatite surface. At sorbed concentrations > or = 5500 microg U(VI)/g in the absence of dissolved carbonate, formation of the uranyl phosphate solid phase, chernikovite, was observed. The presence of dissolved carbonate (4.8 mM total) suppressed the formation of chernikovite, which was not detected even with sorbed U(VI) up to 12,300 microg U(VI)/g in batch samples of bone meal, bone charcoal, and reagent-grade hydroxyapatite. EXAFS spectra of bone char samples recovered from the Fry Canyon PRB were comparable to laboratory samples in the presence of dissolved carbonate where U(VI) sorption occurred by surface complexation. Our findings demonstrate that uranium uptake by bone apatite will probably occur by surface complexation instead of precipitation of uranyl phosphate phases under the groundwater conditions found at many U-contaminated sites.

Apatites↗
PubMed2002

Mechanisms of uranium interactions with hydroxyapatite: implications for groundwater remediation.

The speciation of U(VI) sorbed to synthetic hydroxyapatite was investigated using a combination of U LIII-edge XAS, synchrotron XRD, batch uptake measurements, and SEM-EDS. The mechanisms of U(VI) removal by apatite were determined in order to evaluate the feasibility of apatite-based in-situ permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). In batch U(VI) uptake experiments with synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA), near complete removal of dissolved uranium (>99.5%) to <0.05 microM was observed over a range of total U(VI) concentrations up to equimolar of the total P in the suspension. XRD and XAS analyses of U(VI)-reacted HA at sorbed concentrations < or = 4,700 ppm U(VI) suggested that uranium(VI) phosphate, hydroxide, and carbonate solids were not present at these concentrations. Fits to EXAFS spectra indicate the presence of Ca neighbors at 3.81 A. U-Ca separation, suggesting that U(VI) adsorbs to the HA surfaces as an inner-sphere complex. Uranium(VI) phosphate solid phases were not detected in HA with 4700 ppm sorbed U(VI) by backscatter SEM or EDS, in agreement with the surface complexation process. In contrast, U(VI) speciation in samples that exceeded 7000 ppm sorbed U(VI) included a crystalline uranium(VI) phosphate solid phase, identified as chernikovite by XRD. At these higher concentrations, a secondary, uranium(VI) phosphate solid was detected by SEM-EDS, consistent with chernikovite precipitation. Autunite formation occurred at total U:P molar ratios > or = 0.2. Our findings provide a basis for evaluating U(VI) sorption mechanisms by commercially available natural apatites for use in development of PRBs for groundwater U(VI) remediation.

Adsorption↗
PubMed2001

Processes of nickel and cobalt uptake by a manganese oxide forming sediment in Pinal Creek, Globe mining district, Arizona.

A series of column experiments was conducted using manganese oxide coated sediments collected from the hyporheic zone in Pinal Creek (AZ), a metal-contaminated stream, to study the uptake and retention of Mn, Ni, and Co. Experimental variables included the absence (abiotic) and presence (biotic) of active Mn-oxidizing bacteria, the absence and presence of dissolved Mn, and sediment manganese oxide content. Uptake of Mn under biotic conditions was between 8 and 39% higher than under abiotic conditions. Continuous uptake of Mn due to biotic oxidation was evident from extraction of column sediments. Manganese uptake is hypothesized to initially occur as adsorption, which led to subsequent surface and/or microbial oxidation. Complete breakthrough of Ni within 100 pore volumes indicated no process of continuous uptake and was modeled as an equilibrium adsorption process. Nickel uptake in the presence of dissolved Mn was 67-100% reversible. Sediment extractions suggest that Ni uptake occurred through weak and strong adsorption. Continuous uptake of cobalt increased with sediment manganese oxide content, and Co uptake was up to 75% greater under biotic than abiotic conditions. Cobalt uptake was controlled by both existing and newly formed manganese oxides. Only a small amount of Co uptake was reversible (10-25%). XANES spectral analysis indicated that most Co(II) was oxidized to Co(III) and probably incorporated structurally into manganese oxides. Although manganese oxides were the primary phase controlling uptake and retention of Mn, Ni, and Co, the mechanisms varied among the metals.

Adsorption↗
PubMed2000

Linear scleroderma: a Neuman nursing perspective.

Although quite a rare pediatric disease, linear scleroderma (LS), a chronic disease, may leave scarring and may have devastating effects on a child and family. This article provides an overview of the disease, presents a case history of a boy with LS, and discusses how nurses and other health-team members assisted the child and family in managing the illness. The description of the nursing care is based on the Neuman systems model and on the nursing diagnoses of fear, disturbed self-concept, and impaired physical mobility.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1997

Juvenile arthritis: a nursing perspective.

Juvenile arthritis is the fifth most common chronic illness in children. When a child is diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, the family must adjust in many ways in order to cope with the demands of this illness. This article provides an overview of the disease, presents the case history of two sisters with polyarticular arthritis, and discusses how nurses and other health team members can empower a family to manage more successfully with this disease and thereby enhance quality of life. Professional resources that aid families coping including educating the family about the disease, providing psychologic support, as well as knowledge and assistance for optimal physical functioning and maintaining energy reserves, and suggesting strategies to sustain self esteem, motivation and hope.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1980

Father psychological absence and heterosexual behavior, personal adjustment and sex-typing in adolescent girls.

Until recently, research efforts have neglected the father as a significant influence on female personality development. This study proposed that the psychological absence of the father is related to a greater frequency and extent of heterosexual behaviors, increased anxiety as a personality trait and increased anxiety in a dating situation. A positive psychological presence of the father was hypothesized to correlate with androgyny in adolescent females. Measures of perceived parental behavior, extent and frequency of heterosexual behaviors, manifest anxiety and sex-role identification were obtained from 160 single female college students. Results indicated a significant relationship between father psychological absence and a greater extent and frequency of heterosexual behaviors. Father psychologically absent girls also exhibited greater manifest anxiety as a personality trait and in a dating situation. Significant correlations between androgyny and a positive father-daughter relationship were not found. Also reported were additional findings relating several variables to self-rating of attractiveness.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Potential artifacts in interpretation of differential breakthrough of colloids and dissolved tracers in the context of transport in a zero-valent iron permeable reactive barrier.

Many published studies have used visual comparison of the timing of peak breakthrough of colloids versus conservative dissolved tracers (hereafter referred to as dissolved tracers or tracers) in subsurface media to determine whether they are advected differently, and to elucidate the mechanisms of differential advection. This purely visual approach of determining differential advection may have artifacts, however, due to the attachment of colloids to subsurface media. The attachment of colloids to subsurface media may shift the colloidal peak breakthrough to earlier times, causing an apparent "faster" peak breakthrough of colloids relative to dissolve tracers even though the transport velocities for the colloids and the dissolved tracers may actually be equivalent. In this paper, a peak shift analysis was presented to illustrate the artifacts associated with the purely visual approach in determining differential advection, and to quantify the peak shift due to colloid attachment. This peak shift analysis was described within the context of microsphere and bromide transport within a zero-valent iron (ZVI) permeable reactive barrier (PRB) located in Fry Canyon, Utah. Application of the peak shift analysis to the field microsphere and bromide breakthrough data indicated that differential advection of the microspheres relative to the bromide occurred in the monitoring wells closest to the injection well in the PRB. It was hypothesized that the physical heterogeneity at the grain scale, presumably arising from differences in inter- versus intra-particle porosity, contributed to the differential advection of the microspheres versus the bromide in the PRB. The relative breakthrough (RB) of microspheres at different wells was inversely related to the ionic strength of ground water at these wells, in agreement with numerous studies showing that colloid attachment is directly related to solution ionic strength.

Artifacts↗