In clinical medicine, increasing attention is being directed towards the important areas of nutritional biochemistry and toxicant bioaccumulation as they relate to human health and chronic disease. Optimal nutritional status, including healthy levels of vitamin D and essential minerals, is requisite for proper physiological function; conversely, accrual of toxic elements has the potential to im...

Many of the trace elements which have essential roles in animals, such as zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu), are required for the growth, development and maintenance of healthy bones (Rucker, 1988; Leach, 1988). Of the remaining trace or ultratrace elements, which by definition are normally present at low concentrations in animal tissues, some have a toxic effect on bone such as lead (P...

The concentrations of five essential elements and six potentially toxic elements were determined in seven organs collected at autopsy from 30 human subjects. Elemental analyses were carried out by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, and concentrations in fresh and formalin-fixed ...

A question that frequently arises in connection with elements regarded necessary for plant growth is whether or not a particular element is an essential plant food or merely a stimulating substance. Is its role that of a catalyzer, or is it actually incorporated into the tissues as an integral part of the plant? These questions are more applicable to such elements as manganese, copper, zinc and...

MAMMALS and birds sometimes seek shelter or nesting sites in the ground. Many of them scarcely affect the soil as a medium for plant growth. A notable exception is the soil-dwelling rodents. Although their acreweight is usually only about a few pounds even in the uncultivated land, their soil transporting activities sometimes are considerable. In building their tunnels and nests, they transport...