Nuclear Reactors
Devices containing fissionable material in sufficient quantity and so arranged as to be capable of maintaining a controlled, self-sustaining NUCLEAR FISSION chain reaction. They are also known as atomic piles, atomic reactors, fission reactors, and nuclear piles, although such names are deprecated. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)
Air Pollution, Radioactive
Radioactive air pollution refers to the presence and circulation of radioactive particles or gases in the atmosphere, originating from human activities such as nuclear power plant accidents, nuclear weapons testing, or improper disposal of radioactive waste, which can pose significant health risks to living organisms due to ionizing radiation exposure.
Nuclear Fission
Radioactive Hazard Release
Cesium Radioisotopes
Ukraine
Isotopes
Isotope Labeling
Bioreactors
Tools or devices for generating products using the synthetic or chemical conversion capacity of a biological system. They can be classical fermentors, cell culture perfusion systems, or enzyme bioreactors. For production of proteins or enzymes, recombinant microorganisms such as bacteria, mammalian cells, or insect or plant cells are usually chosen.
Nitrogen Isotopes
Oxygen Isotopes
Stable oxygen atoms that have the same atomic number as the element oxygen, but differ in atomic weight. O-17 and 18 are stable oxygen isotopes.
Carbon Isotopes
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Enzymes, Immobilized
Zinc Isotopes
Stable zinc atoms that have the same atomic number as the element zinc, but differ in atomic weight. Zn-66-68, and 70 are stable zinc isotopes.
Water Purification
Any of several processes in which undesirable impurities in water are removed or neutralized; for example, chlorination, filtration, primary treatment, ion exchange, and distillation. It includes treatment of WASTE WATER to provide potable and hygienic water in a controlled or closed environment as well as provision of public drinking water supplies.
Sulfur Isotopes
Stable sulfur atoms that have the same atomic number as the element sulfur, but differ in atomic weight. S-33, 34, and 36 are stable sulfur isotopes.
Methane
Deuterium
Deuterium. The stable isotope of hydrogen. It has one neutron and one proton in the nucleus.
Iron Isotopes
Stable iron atoms that have the same atomic number as the element iron, but differ in atomic weight. Fe-54, 57, and 58 are stable iron isotopes.
Refuse Disposal
The discarding or destroying of garbage, sewage, or other waste matter or its transformation into something useful or innocuous.
Anaerobiosis
Biodegradation, Environmental
Industrial Waste
Methanosarcinaceae
A family of anaerobic METHANOSARCINALES whose cells are mesophilic or thermophilic and appear as irregular spheroid bodies or sheathed rods. These methanogens are found in any anaerobic environment including aquatic sediments, anaerobic sewage digesters and gastrointestinal tracts. There are four genera: METHANOSARCINA, Methanolobus, Methanothrix, and Methanococcoides.
Nitrification
A process facilitated by specialized bacteria involving the oxidation of ammonium to nitrite and nitrate.
Strontium Isotopes
Stable strontium atoms that have the same atomic number as the element strontium, but differ in the atomic weight. Sr-84, 86, 87, and 88 are the stable strontium isotopes.
Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Waste Management
Disposal, processing, controlling, recycling, and reusing the solid, liquid, and gaseous wastes of plants, animals, humans, and other organisms. It includes control within a closed ecological system to maintain a habitable environment.
Bacteria
One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.
Biomass
Methanosarcinales
An order of anaerobic methanogens in the kingdom EURYARCHAEOTA. There are two families: METHANOSARCINACEAE and Methanosaetaceae.
Biofuels
Hydrocarbon-rich byproducts from the non-fossilized BIOMASS that are combusted to generate energy as opposed to fossilized hydrocarbon deposits (FOSSIL FUELS).
Ammonium Compounds
Inorganic compounds that include a positively charged tetrahedral nitrogen (ammonium ion) as part of their structure. This class of compounds includes a broad variety of simple ammonium salts and derivatives.
Nitrosomonas
Cells, Immobilized
Microbial, plant, or animal cells which are immobilized by attachment to solid structures, usually a column matrix. A common use of immobilized cells is in biotechnology for the bioconversion of a substrate to a particular product. (From Singleton & Sainsbury, Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2d ed)
Radioisotope Dilution Technique
Bacteria, Anaerobic
'Anaerobic Bacteria' are types of bacteria that do not require oxygen for growth and can often cause diseases in humans, including dental caries, gas gangrene, and tetanus, among others.
Denitrification
Pentachlorophenol
An insecticide and herbicide that has also been used as a wood preservative. Pentachlorphenol is a widespread environmental pollutant. Both chronic and acute pentachlorophenol poisoning are medical concerns. The range of its biological actions is still being actively explored, but it is clearly a potent enzyme inhibitor and has been used as such as an experimental tool.
Biotechnology
Body of knowledge related to the use of organisms, cells or cell-derived constituents for the purpose of developing products which are technically, scientifically and clinically useful. Alteration of biologic function at the molecular level (i.e., GENETIC ENGINEERING) is a central focus; laboratory methods used include TRANSFECTION and CLONING technologies, sequence and structure analysis algorithms, computer databases, and gene and protein structure function analysis and prediction.
Ammonia
A colorless alkaline gas. It is formed in the body during decomposition of organic materials during a large number of metabolically important reactions. Note that the aqueous form of ammonia is referred to as AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE.
Mass Spectrometry
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Hydrogen
The first chemical element in the periodic table. It has the atomic symbol H, atomic number 1, and atomic weight [1.00784; 1.00811]. It exists, under normal conditions, as a colorless, odorless, tasteless, diatomic gas. Hydrogen ions are PROTONS. Besides the common H1 isotope, hydrogen exists as the stable isotope DEUTERIUM and the unstable, radioactive isotope TRITIUM.
Nitrogen
An element with the atomic symbol N, atomic number 7, and atomic weight [14.00643; 14.00728]. Nitrogen exists as a diatomic gas and makes up about 78% of the earth's atmosphere by volume. It is a constituent of proteins and nucleic acids and found in all living cells.
Recycling
Euryarchaeota
DNA, Ribosomal
Carbon
Indicator Dilution Techniques
Oxidation-Reduction
A chemical reaction in which an electron is transferred from one molecule to another. The electron-donating molecule is the reducing agent or reductant; the electron-accepting molecule is the oxidizing agent or oxidant. Reducing and oxidizing agents function as conjugate reductant-oxidant pairs or redox pairs (Lehninger, Principles of Biochemistry, 1982, p471).
Nitrosomonadaceae
A family of gram-negative nitrifying bacteria, in the order Nitrosomonadales, class BETAPROTEOBACTERIA.
Biofilms
Encrustations, formed from microbes (bacteria, algae, fungi, plankton, or protozoa) embedding in extracellular polymers, that adhere to surfaces such as teeth (DENTAL DEPOSITS); PROSTHESES AND IMPLANTS; and catheters. Biofilms are prevented from forming by treating surfaces with DENTIFRICES; DISINFECTANTS; ANTI-INFECTIVE AGENTS; and antifouling agents.
Radioisotopes
Nitrobacter
A genus of gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria that oxidizes nitrites to nitrates. Its organisms occur in aerobic environments where organic matter is being mineralized, including soil, fresh water, and sea water.
Water Microbiology
The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in water. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.