Chimpanzee vertebrate consumption: Savanna and forest chimpanzees compared

Publication date: November 2017
Source:Journal of Human Evolution, Volume 112
Author(s): Jim Moore, Jessica Black, R. Adriana Hernandez-Aguilar, Gen'ichi Idani, Alex Piel, Fiona Stewart
There is broad consensus among paleoanthropologists that meat-eating played a key role in the evolution of Homo, but the details of where, when, and why are hotly debated. It has been argued that increased faunivory was causally connected with hominin adaptation to open, savanna habitats. If savanna-dwelling chimpanzees eat meat more frequently than do forest chimpanzees, it would support the notion that open, dry, seasonal habitats promote hunting or scavenging by hominoids. Here we present observational and fecal analysis data on vertebrate consumption from several localities within the dry, open Ugalla region of Tanzania. Combining these with published fecal analyses, we summarize chimpanzee vertebrate consumption rates, showing quantitatively that savanna chimpanzee populations do not differ significantly from forest populations. Compared with forest populations, savanna chimpanzees consume smaller vertebrates that are less likely to be shared, and they do so more seasonally. Analyses of chimpanzee hunting that focus exclusively on capture of forest monkeys are thus difficult to apply to chimpanzee faunivory in open-country habitats and may be misleading when used to model early hominin behavior. These findings bear on discussions of why chimpanzees hunt and suggest that increases in hominin faunivory were related to differences between hominins and chimpanzees and/or differences between modern and Pliocene savanna woodland environments.



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P 40 Correlation between hypothalamus and third ventricle of patients with affective disorders

Former studies proved the key role of the hypothalamus in the pathophysiology of affective disorders. Because of limited imaging methods and difficult delineation, attested volumetric changes has only been verified post-mortem, so in vivo studies made use of the adjacent third ventricle as an indirect marker of hypothalamic changes. Considering that these former ventricle studies leave sufficient scope for methodical improvements, it was our aim to replicate and complement these findings by using a high-resolution 7T-MRI for the first time.

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P 75 Movement-induced γ oscillations in the subthalamic nucleus are increased by dopamine and scaled by velocity in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a basal ganglia disorder that results in general slowness of movement and an effective treatment option consists in subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS). Postoperatively, DBS-electrodes are externalized which gives the unique opportunity of recording local field potentials (LFP). Previous studies have shown that there are disease specific oscillatory patterns at rest, most prominently an increased β synchronization (Kühn, 2006) that correlates with clinical symptoms of PD such as rigidity and bradykinesia (Neumann, 2016).

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P 91 Changes of cerebral perfusion and cerebral pressure induced by rapid altitude changes of 1000m in an alpine region? – results of a neurosonographic study of volume flow rate and optic sheath diameter

As the clinical implications of altitude sickness are well known, the etiology of this potential life threatening disease is far from understood completely. We studied noninvasively by means of Neurosonography the effects of a rapid change of altitude in the alpine region on the cerebral volume flow and intracranial pressure.

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P 57 The influence of sports expertise on the extent of physiological mirror-EMG-activity in the upper and lower extremity

During unimanual motor tasks, muscle activity may not be restricted to the contracting muscle, but has also been reported to occur involuntarily in the contralateral resting limb in healthy subjects, referred to as physiological mirror electromyographic (MEMG) activity (Sehm et al., 2015). To date, however, it is unknown if the physiological form of MEMG can also be observed in lower extremities during the performance of unilateral isometric leg contractions. Furthermore it still remains elusive if and how MEMG is affected by long-term exercise training.

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P 83 Parasomnia, parkinsonism, impulse control disorder and bulbar palsy with IgLON5 antibodies: A new case report

In 2014 a complex neurological syndrome with parasomnia, sleep breathing dysfunction and variable bulbar symptoms associated with antibodies to IgLON5, a neuronal cell-adhesion protein, was described (Sabater et al., 2016). Postmortal studies revealed tauopathy predominately involving the hypothalamus and tegmentum of the brainstem (Gelpi et al., 2016). To the best of our knowledge, there are 16 published cases so far.

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P 67 Electrophysiological correlates of language improvements after intensive language therapy in patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia

Aphasia affects approximately one third of all stroke patients and may lead to chronic disability. Effective neurorehabilitation programs focusing on improving speech and language in patients with post-stroke aphasia are essential. A better understanding of the neurobiological processes accompanying language deficits and rehabilitation may bear fruit in the advancement of neurorehabilitation programs.

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P 48 The time of the ALSFRS-R to decrease to 50% (D50) in a sigmoidal decay model sufficiently describes the complete disease course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The progression of ALSFRS-R is not linear (Gordon et al., 2010; Proudfoot et al., 2016); the often used calculated progression rate using PR=((48-ALSFRS-R)/disease duration) presents the progression at a certain time point rather than reflecting the entire disease course. A model describing the disease progression at different time points would facilitate the stratification of ALS patients according to disease severity and progression type and will in combination with other biomarkers enable identification of effective drugs in clinical trials.

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P 32 Insufficient evidence for structural gray matter alterations in late life minor depression – results from LIFE-adult study

Minor depressive episode is diagnosed when two to four depressive symptoms (including depressed mood or loss of interest) disturb the patient during at least two weeks. In late life minor depression is more prevalent than major depression. Newertheless, publications investigating pathophysiology of minor depression are missing.

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P 87 The perfusion changes in temporal and parietal lobe epilepsy

The aim of this study was to assess the regional relative interictal and postictal perfusion changes in temporal and parietal lobe epilepsy.

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P 79 Physiological assessment of the sense of agency in psychogenic movement disorders

Psychogenic movement disorders (PMD) are conditions characterized by the occurrence of unwanted motoric symptoms in which a somatic reason cannot be found. As patients suffering from PMD experience their pathological movements as non-voluntary, it is hypothesized that those patients have an altered sense of agency (SoA). SoA is defined as the feeling of controlling ones own actions and through them controlling events in the external world (Haggard and Tsakiris, 2009). SoA can be assessed by measuring the intentional binding (IB) effect.

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P 71 Levodopa modulates beta and gamma oscillations in the cortico-basal ganglia loop with a higher efficacy than the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine in experimental Parkinsonism

The pharmacotherapy of Parkinson's disease (PD) is based on levodopa, and dopamine receptor agonists, such as apomorphine. Although both types of agents provide beneficial clinical effects on motor and non-motor symptoms in PD clinical efficiency and side effects differ substantially between levodopa and dopamine receptor agonists. Levodopa is known to provide a greater symptomatic relief than dopamine receptor agonists. Since long-term levodopa treatment often results in debilitating motor fluctuations, dopamine receptor agonists are recommended in younger patients.

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P 63 Investigating the effects of tRNS variants and task dependency on cortical excitability

Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) has specific benefits and is fundamentally different as compared to more established methods such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in modulating brain function (Terney et al., 2008; Ambrus et al., 2010). For example, previous research in the motor system has shown corticospinal excitability (CSE) to be task-dependent (Terney et al., 2008). It remains unresolved and largely unaddressed what the critical stimulation parameters of tRNS are, e.g.

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P 53 Impact of acoustic stimulation on motor response inhibition and error monitoring

Previous studies suggested that acoustic stimulation can be used to modulate cognition, to reduce anxiety level as well as to enhance mood. In this study we investigated whether acoustic stimulation can modulate response inhibition and error monitoring in a continuous performance task. Using the Go-NoGo paradigm in healthy adults during MEG recordings, Mazaheri et al. (2009) was able to predict errors during response inhibition by theta-alpha coupling. Thus, it seems likely that frontal theta activity after an error may boost an adjustment of the mental state of individuals towards more preparatory alertness resulting in alpha decrease and better sustained performance.

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P 44 Brisk jerk reflexes in a CMT case – novel heterozygous variant c.785T>C; p.Leu262Pro in KIF5A explaining the mixed phenotype

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a progressively disabling syndrome phenotypically comprising distal muscle weakness and atrophy, foot deformities, sensory loss, and reduced or absent tendon reflexes. In spastic paraplegia (SPG), a hereditary disorder affecting the upper motor neuron only, pareses are spastic, and deep tendon reflexes increased. Mixed forms between both diseases have been previously described (Liu et al., 2014). By multiple gene panel based analysis using next-generation-sequencing (NGS), we herein identified the novel variant c.785T>C; p.Leu262Pro in KIF5A as the putative cause of a mixed CMT and SPG phenotype.

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P 36 Structural and functional imaging findings in somatoparaphrenia

With regard to somatosensory delusion, neglect or deficits of body integrity a great number of overlapping pathophysiological concepts exist. Moreover, the range of assumed underlying psychiatric and neurologic syndromes only partially is thought to be related to even diverse neuroanatomical structures so far: Alien Hand Syndrome, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), Depersonalization, Somatoparaphrenia and Xenomelia. Specific deafferentiation within temporal regions, the insula or representational structures of the somatosensory cortex of the right parietal lobe is thought to be related only in some variants.

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P 28 Voxel-based Morphometry (VBM) subcortical white matter changes correlate with disease progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, multisystemic disorder.Signs of lower motor neurone involvement are readily detectable but the involvement of the upper motor neurone is elusive.Hence, we must identify the extent and development of ALS related changes in the brain in different subtypes of ALS to facilitate an early diagnosis and stratification for clinical trials.Previous studies applying Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) provided inconsistent results.

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P 89 Case presentation – Clinically unrecognized status epilepticus in neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (CLN 3 gene)

On the previous day the 12-year-old boy P.-J. had a convulsive spasm (duration about 30s) in the morning and at noon. After that, he recovered and went outside for a walk. Before the evening meal P.-J. cramped again. Since then, he was not really awake, was not responsive, and had repeatedly convulsions (seven times on the day of admission). In between he was always sleepy and unresponsive. Since noon on the previous day, P. Luca did not eat and drink any more and did not take his medication. In the evening, the emergency physician was called, who did not administer any medicines because of stable vital parameters and only a short convulsive spasm when drawing blood from the vein.

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P 85 KCNQ-2 missense mutations and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in familial epilepsy

The KCNQ2/3 channel is a slowly activating, non-inactivating voltage-gated potassium channel. It causes the M-current and sustains the resting membrane potential. Therefore, it is crucial for the regulation of neuronal plasticity. If a neuron does not reach the resting-potential after activation, excitation may spread throughout the neuronal network and a seizure may follow.In this work we study the influence of the intracellular second messenger phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) on channels containing mutant KCNQ2 subunits associated with Benign Familial Neonatal Convulsions (BFNC).

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P 81 Voiding disorder – almond or walnut?

Limbic encephalitis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. The subacute development of short-term memory deficit is typical of this disease, as are psychiatric symptoms and seizures. Limbic encephalitis is caused by auto -immunity and is associated with cancer in about 60 per cent of cases. Since 1999, several antibodies associated with limbic encephalitis have been identified.

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P 77 Optogenetic stimulations of striatal cholinergic interneurons in an animal model of dystonia

Dystonias are movement disorders, defined by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions causing twisting movements and postures. The most prevalent inherited form of dystonia is caused by a mutation in the gene for torsin A (DYT1, ΔGAG) with incomplete penetrance. It has been hypothesized that an increased activity of cholinergic interneurons in the striatum, resulting in abnormal synaptic plasticity, plays an important role in the disease pathophysiology. However, this hypothesis is merely based on ex vivo electrophysiological recordings in brain slices of animal models which do not show a dystonic phenotype.

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Deciphering signature of selection affecting beef quality traits in Angus cattle

Abstract

Artificial selection towards a desired phenotype/trait has modified the genomes of livestock dramatically that generated breeds that greatly differ in morphology, production and environmental adaptation traits. Angus cattle are among the famous cattle breeds developed for superior beef quality. This paper aimed at exploring genomic regions under selection in Angus cattle that are associated with meat quality traits and other associated phenotypes. The whole genome of 10 Angus cattle was compared with 11 Hanwoo (A-H) and 9 Jersey (A-J) cattle breeds using a cross-population composite likelihood ratio (XP-CLR) statistical method. The top 1% of the empirical distribution was taken as significant and annotated using UMD3.1. As a result, 255 and 210 genes were revealed under selection from A–H and A–J comparisons, respectively. The WebGestalt gene ontology analysis resulted in sixteen (A–H) and five (A–J) significantly enriched KEGG pathways. Several pathways associated with meat quality traits (insulin signaling, type II diabetes mellitus pathway, focal adhesion pathway, and ECM-receptor interaction), and feeding efficiency (olfactory transduction, tight junction, and metabolic pathways) were enriched. Genes affecting beef quality traits (e.g., FABP3, FTO, DGAT2, ACS, ACAA2, CPE, TNNI1), stature and body size (e.g., PLAG1, LYN, CHCHD7, RPS20), fertility and dystocia (e.g., ESR1, RPS20, PPP2R1A, GHRL, PLAG1), feeding efficiency (e.g., PIK3CD, DNAJC28, DNAJC3, GHRL, PLAG1), coat color (e.g., MC1-R) and genetic disorders (e.g., ITGB6, PLAG1) were found to be under positive selection in Angus cattle. The study identified genes and pathways that are related to meat quality traits and other phenotypes of Angus cattle. The findings in this study, after validation using additional or independent dataset, will provide useful information for the study of Angus cattle in particular and beef cattle in general.

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Documentation of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy and Care Quality for PTSD in the Department of Veterans Affairs

Abstract

This study measured the prevalence of evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) templated notes in VA and tested the hypothesis that template use would be associated with care quality for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Across 130 facilities, an average of 3.6% of patients with a PTSD diagnosis received at least one EBP template in 2015. Among patients receiving psychotherapy for PTSD, an average of 8.5% received an EBP template. In adjusted models, facility-level EBP template use was associated with a greater proportion of PTSD-diagnosed patients treated in specialty clinics, greater facility-level rates of diagnostic assessment, and greater facility-level rates of psychotherapy adequacy.

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Impact of Video Technology for Improving Success of Medial Canthus Episcleral Anesthesia in Ophthalmology.

Background and Objectives: Efficient learning of regional anesthesia in ophthalmology remains challenging because trainees are afforded limited opportunity to practice ocular anesthesia. The aim of this prospective, randomized, blinded study was to determine whether teaching with video improves regional anesthesia skills of residents in ophthalmology. Methods: From January to October 2016, 32 novice anesthesiology residents were evaluated while performing medial canthus episcleral procedures during a 5-day rotation. Residents were randomly assigned to either receive or not receive a video review of their performance at day 3. The primary outcome was a comparison of akinesia using a 12-point scale before incision assessed by the blinded surgeon. Results: A total of 288 blocks were performed by 32 residents and were assessed by 3 surgeons before the intervention (144 blocks) and after the intervention (144 blocks). Residents in the review group improved to a greater degree compared with residents in the no-review group. The median overall akinesia scores for the review and no-review groups were similarly low (6; interquartile range [IQR], 2-11; and 6 [IQR, 2-9], respectively) on day 1 of the rotation, whereas anesthesia performed by residents in the video group provided a better akinesia score (12 [IQR, 10-12] vs 8 [IQR, 6-10]; P

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The Technology of Video Laryngoscopy.

Tracheal intubation via laryngeal exposure has evolved over the past 150 years and has greatly expanded in the last decade with the introduction and development of newer, more sophisticated optical airway devices. The introduction of indirect and video-assisted laryngoscopes has significantly impacted airway management as evidenced by the presence of these devices in the majority of published difficult airway algorithms. However, it is quite possible that many airway managers do not have a thorough comprehension of how these devices actually function, an understanding that is vital not only for their use but also for assessing the devices' limitations. This article discusses the development of video laryngoscopy, how the video laryngoscope works, and the impact of video laryngoscopy on difficult airway management. (C) 2017 International Anesthesia Research Society

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You Will Never Walk Alone: A Simulation Experience for Caregiver's Family and Friends.

No abstract available

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General Anesthesia Imposes Negative Effects on Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Regulation in Patients With a History of Head and Neck Radiation Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Head and neck radiation therapy (HNRT) impairs baroreflex sensitivity, and it may potentiate the effects of anesthetics on heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) regulation. Currently, the impacts of HNRT on HR and BP under anesthesia remain unclear. METHODS: In this study, 472 patients with primary oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer at all stages were examined. Half of the patients underwent HNRT plus surgery. The other half underwent surgery only and was matched with the treatment patients according to age, sex, and body mass index at a 1:1 ratio. The HRs and BPs in the 2 groups during anesthetic induction, skin incision, and emergence were compared retrospectively. A multivariable model of repeated measures with unstructured covariance structure was used to examine the associations of HNRT with intraoperative HRs and BPs after adjusting for baseline HR and BP, time, use of [beta]-blockers, history of chemotherapy, and American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status score. BPs and HRs were collected every 5 minutes. The baseline HR and BP measurements were not included in the outcome vector and were only used as adjustment for baselines. RESULTS: Compared with corresponding baseline values in controls, the baseline HR was significantly higher (P = .0012) and the baseline systolic BP was lower (P

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Maternal Death Due to Amniotic Fluid Embolism: A National Study in France.

BACKGROUND: A structured definition of amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) based on 4 criteria was recently proposed for use in research by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) and the Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation. The main objective of this study was to review all AFE-related maternal deaths in France during 2007-2011 according to the presence or not of all these 4 diagnostic criteria. METHODS: Maternal deaths due to AFE were identified by the national experts committee of the French Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths during 2007-2011 (n = 39). The maternal mortality ratio for AFE was calculated. We applied the structured definition proposed by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation to AFE-related maternal deaths identified by the national experts committee. Characteristics of women, pregnancies and deliveries; clinical and biological features of AFE; and specific laboratory tests used were described by the presence or not of all 4 diagnostic criteria. Management of obstetric hemorrhage and quality of care according to the experts were also described. RESULTS: The maternal mortality ratio from AFE was 0.95/100,000 live births (95% confidence interval, 0.67-1.3). Detailed clinical data were collected for 36 women who died from AFE: 21 (58%) had all 4 proposed diagnostic criteria and 15 (42%) had 1 or more missing criterion. Documented early disseminated intravascular coagulopathy was missing for 14 women, and 2 women exhibited more than 1 missing criterion. Ten of the 15 women with missing criteria had clinical coagulopathy, with standard hemostasis tests performed in only 3. Specific diagnostic examinations for AFE were performed in similar proportions by the presence or not of all diagnostic criteria. Opportunities to improve care included timely performance of indicated hysterectomy (n = 13) and improved transfusion practices (n = 9). In the context of maternal cardiac arrest, for 5 of 13 women, fetal extraction was performed within 5 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: The structured definition of AFE for research studies would exclude more than one-third of AFE-related maternal deaths identified by the national experts committee. Inclusion of clinical coagulopathy as a diagnostic criterion for AFE would reduce this proportion to 14%. There is still room for improvement in the management of obstetric hemorrhage and timely fetal extraction in the context of maternal cardiac arrest, frequently observed in AFE-related maternal death. (C) 2017 International Anesthesia Research Society

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Imprinted gene expression in maize starchy endosperm and aleurone tissues of reciprocal F1 hybrids at a defined developmental stage

Abstract

Imprinted gene expression in flowering plants predominantly occurs in the triploid endosperm of developing seed. However, endosperm is composed of distinct tissue types. For example, the maize (Zea mays) endosperm is constituted by two major tissues, starchy endosperm and aleurone. Previous studies in imprinted gene expression have generally assumed that the different tissues constituting endosperm would behavior the same, and hence have not examined them separately. Here, to examine parental-specific expression of imprinted genes in different parts of the seed, eight previously reported maize protein-coding imprinted genes were selected, and analyzed by cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) coupled with Sanger sequencing for transcripts from the various seed tissues collected at 18 days after pollination (DAP). The studied tissues included seed coat, embryo, starchy endosperm and aleurone, which were collected from a pair of reciprocal F1 hybrids produced by crossing inbred lines B73 and Mo17. Six of these eight analyzed imprinted genes showed the same imprinted expression pattern between the starchy endosperm and aleurone, but two showed imprinted expression only in the starchy endosperm. Comparison of the expression pattern of 20 selected imprinted genes in multiple seed tissues and vegetative tissues indicated that the majority (~ 75%) of these imprinted genes exhibited seed-specific or endosperm-specific expression. Our results also uncovered that imprinted genes have a high propensity to be alternatively spliced via intron retention in the developing embryo compared with the other tissues.

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Monte Carlo Simulations Comparing Fisher Exact Test and Unequal Variances t Test for Analysis of Differences Between Groups in Brief Hospital Lengths of Stay.

BACKGROUND: We examined type I and II error rates for analysis of (1) mean hospital length of stay (LOS) versus (2) percentage of hospital LOS that are overnight. These 2 end points are suitable for when LOS is treated as a secondary economic end point. METHODS: We repeatedly resampled LOS for 5052 discharges of thoracoscopic wedge resections and lung lobectomy at 26 hospitals. RESULTS: Unequal variances t test (Welch method) and Fisher exact test both were conservative (ie, type I error rate less than nominal level). The Wilcoxon rank sum test was included as a comparator; the type I error rates did not differ from the nominal level of 0.05 or 0.01. Fisher exact test was more powerful than the unequal variances t test at detecting differences among hospitals; estimated odds ratio for obtaining P

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70th World Health Assembly, Geneva, Switzerland.

No abstract available

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Research Productivity and Rankings of Anesthesiology Departments in Canada and the United States: The Relationship Between the h-Index and Other Common Metrics.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the relative research productivity and ranking of anesthesiology departments in Canada and the United States, using the Hirsch index (h-index) and 4 other previously validated metrics. METHODS: We identified 150 anesthesiology departments in Canada and the United States with an accredited residency program. Publications for each of the 150 departments were identified using Thomson's Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science, and the citation report for each department was exported. The bibliometric data were used to calculate publication metrics for 3 time periods: cumulative (1945-2014), 10 years (2005-2014), and 5 years (2010-2014). The following group metrics were then used to determine the publication impact and relative ranking of all 150 departments: h-index, m-index, total number of publications, sum of citations, and average number of citations per article. Ranking for each metric were also stratified by using a proxy for departmental size. The most common journals in which US and Canadian anesthesiology departments publish their work were identified. RESULTS: The majority (23 of the top 25) of top-ranked anesthesiology departments are in the United States, and 2 of the top 25 departments (University of Toronto; McGill University) are in Canada. There was a strong positive relationship between each of h-index, total number of publications, and the sum of citations (0.91-0.97; P

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Removing uranium (VI) from aqueous solution with insoluble humic acid derived from leonardite

Publication date: December 2017
Source:Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Volume 180
Author(s): Fande Meng, Guodong Yuan, Steven L. Larson, John H. Ballard, Charles A. Waggoner, Zikri Arslan, Fengxiang X. Han
The occurrence of uranium (U) and depleted uranium (DU)-contaminated wastes from anthropogenic activities is an important environmental problem. Insoluble humic acid derived from leonardite (L-HA) was investigated as a potential adsorbent for immobilizing U in the environment. The effect of initial pH, contact time, U concentration, and temperature on U(VI) adsorption onto L-HA was assessed. The U(VI) adsorption was pH-dependent and achieved equilibrium in 2 h. It could be well described with pseudo-second-order model, indicating that U(VI) adsorption onto L-HA involved chemisorption. The U(VI) adsorption mass increased with increasing temperature with maximum adsorption capacities of 91, 112 and 120 mg g⁻¹ at 298, 308 and 318 K, respectively. The adsorption reaction was spontaneous and endothermic. We explored the processes of U(VI) desorption from the L-HA-U complex through batch desorption experiments in 1 mM NaNO3 and in artificial seawater. The desorption process could be well described by pseudo-first-order model and reached equilibrium in 3 h. L-HA possessed a high propensity to adsorb U(VI). Once adsorbed, the release of U(VI) from L-HA-U complex was minimal in both 1 mM NaNO3and artificial seawater (0.06% and 0.40%, respectively). Being abundant, inexpensive, and safe, L-HA has good potential for use as a U adsorbent from aqueous solution or immobilizing U in soils.

Graphical abstract

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