Background: Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) suicides have been frequent in Japan in recent years. This study was performed to describe the epidemiologic profile of an outbreak of H2S suicides in Japan. Methods: In September 2008, questionnaires about patients involved in H2S suicides were sent to 250 hospitals in Japan. Data collected from each patient included gender, age, clinical manifestations, date...

Intensive anchoring of leisure boats in seagrass meadows leads to mechanical damages. This anthropogenic impact creates bare mat patches that are not easily recolonized by the plant. Several tools are used to study human impacts on the structure of seagrass meadows but they are not able to assess the indirect and long term implication of mechanical destruction. We chose to investigate the possi...

Desulfotomaculum nigrificans, a typical sulfate reducing bacterium (SRB) was successfully grown in the presence of 12-210 mg/L of zinc. Complete bioremoval of zinc was achieved in 2 days for 12 mg/L while the bioremoval efficiency was about 70% in 40 days in the presence of 210 mg/L initial concentration of zinc, attesting to the inhibition of bacterial cell growth at higher zinc concentrations...

Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) is mainly known for its toxicity but has recently been shown to be produced endogenously in mammalian tissues and to be associated with physiological regulatory functions. To better understand the role of biomembranes in modulating its biological distribution and effects; we measured the partition coefficient of H(2)S in models of biological membranes. The partition coe...

UNLABELLED A chemolithoautotrophic strain of the family Beggiatoaceae, Beggiatoa sp. strain 35Flor, was found to oxidize molecular hydrogen when grown in a medium with diffusional gradients of oxygen, sulfide, and hydrogen. Microsensor profiles and rate measurements suggested that the strain oxidized hydrogen aerobically when oxygen was available, while hydrogen consumption under anoxic conditi...