Geology topics

Anthony M. Frank

Publications and source records attributed to Anthony M. Frank.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2016

An expert system for prediction of chemical toxicity

The National Fisheries Research Center- Great Lakes has developed an interactive computer program that uses the structure of an organic molecule to predict its acute toxicity to four aquatic species. The expert system software, written in the muLISP language, identifies the skeletal structures and substituent groups of an organic molecule from a user-supplied standard chemical notation known as a SMILES string, and then generates values for four solvatochromic parameters. Multiple regression equations relate these parameters to the toxicities (expressed as log 10 LC50s and log 10 EC50s, along with 95% confidence intervals) for four species. The system is demonstrated by prediction of toxicity for anilide-type pesticides to the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). This software is designed for use on an IBM-compatible personal computer by personnel with minimal toxicology background for rapid estimation of chemical toxicity. The system has numerous applications, with much potential for use in the pharmaceutical industry

Drug Information Journal↗

USGS2009

An expert system for prediction of aquatic toxicity of contaminants

The National Fisheries Research Center-Great Lakes has developed an interactive computer program in muLISP that runs on an IBM-compatible microcomputer and uses a linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) to predict acute toxicity to four representative aquatic species from the detailed structure of an organic molecule. Using the SMILES formalism for a chemical structure, the expert system identifies all structural components and uses a knowledge base of rules based on an LSER to generate four structure-related parameter values. A separate module then relates these values to toxicity. The system is designed for rapid screening of potential chemical hazards before laboratory or field investigations are conducted and can be operated by users with little toxicological background. This is the first expert system based on LSER, relying on the first comprehensive compilation of rules and values for the estimation of LSER parameters.

Book chapter↗

USGS2002

Procedures for formation of composite samples from segmented populations

We used a simulation approach to investigate the implication of two methods of forming composite samples to characterize segmented populations. We illustrate the case where the weight of individual segments varies randomly, a situation common with fish samples. Composite samples from segments such as whole fish or muscle tissue should be formed by homogenizing each segment separately and combining equal-sized portions randomly drawn from each homogenate. This approach permits unbiased estimation of the mean concentration per fish. Estimates of mean contaminant concentration varied little with variation in the number of composite samples analyzed or with composite size (number of segments in a composite sample). However, for a fixed number of composite samples, the precision of the variance estimate increases as composite size increased. In addition, for a fixed number of composites, the estimate of the variance stabilized as more segments were included in the composite samples. Estimates of the variance among fish or other population segments can be recovered using appropriate compositing procedures and specially-designed studies.

Environmental Science & Technology↗

USGS1999

The effect of temperature and ration size on the growth, body composition, and energy content of juvenile coho salmon

Juvenile (postsmolt) coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kitsuch) were held in fresh water in the laboratory at 5, 10, 15, and 18A?C for 8 weeks and fed freshly thawed, juvenile alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) at rates equal to 1 and 2 % of their wet body weight/day, and also at the ad libitum or unrestricted ration rate. Most rapid growth in weight (1.2% wet body weight/day) occurred among fish fed the ad libitum ration at 15A?C; growth was most rapid at about 10A?C for fish fed the 2% ration (0.7%/day), and the 1% ration (0.1%/day). Gross conversion efficiency was highest at 10A?C for all three ration levels. Gross body constituents and energy content of the test fish changed with temperature and ration during the study. Growth rate was positively related to lipid, energy content, and ration; lipid and energy content were positively related to water temperature; lipid, energy content, growth rate, ration, and water temperature were negatively related to water content; and protein was not related to any of the test variables. At the end of the study, water (68.7 to 76.4%) and lipid (3.5 to 10.4%) content were more variable than ash (1.8 to 3.1%), carbohydrate (0.1 to 1.9%), and protein (16.9 to 19.4%) content. Energy content of the fish increased with ration and was highest for each ration level at 15A?C.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗

USGS1997

The effect of temperature on growth of juvenile bloater

The bloater ( Coregonus hoyi ), which feeds mainly on invertebrates and in turn is eaten by lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) and burbot ( Lota lota ), is a major trophic integrator in coldwater ecosystems in the upper Great Lakes. To better understand their thermal niche and habitat distribution, we acclimated groups of yearling bloater to 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25°C and then fed them ad libitum for 35 days. Bloater increased in length and weight at all of the test temperatures and at the end of the study were heaviest and longest at 15–20°C. The specific growth rate was highest at 20°C and progressively lower at 15, 25, 10, 5, and 3°C. A curve fitted to the specific growth rate data indicated that the optimum temperature for growth was 18.6°C. Our results are in agreement with other published information on the thermal ecology of juvenile bloater.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗

USGS1995

Survival of lake trout eggs on reputed spawning grounds in Lakes Huron and Superior: In situ incubation, 1987-1988

Lake trout reproduce widely in Lake Superior but little in Lake Huron. We examined whether survival of lake trout eggs and fry in either lake was reduced by physical disturbances and swim-up mortality. Eggs were collected from feral lake trout in Lake Superior and placed in 108 plastic incubators. A total of 48 incubators was set at Partridge Island Reef in southern Lake Superior, 48 were set at Port Austin Reef in southern Lake Huron, and 12 were held as controls inflowing well water at a laboratory. Survival-to-hatching of these eggs at Partridge Island Reef (18%) was significantly different from that at Port Austin Reef (43%) and significantly different in the laboratory (88%) from that at either reef (P < 0.05). During egg-fry incubation from 28 October 1987 to 5 May 1988, 11–18 cm of sediment accumulated in sediment traps placed on the reefs but < 1 cm of sediment was present on each reef in May 1988. Analysis showed that 44% of the eggs at Port Austin Reef and 28% of those at Partridge Island Reef were buried and killed by sediments. During the first week after deployment, mean wave energy was 90% higher at Partridge Island Reef and significantly different from that at Port Austin Reef. Wave energy may be a habitat condition that makes Partridge Island Reef less suitable than Port Austin Reef for incubation of lake trout eggs. Fry from eggs incubated at all three sites experienced no swim-up mortality. We conclude that in 1987–88 habitat conditions required for survival of lake trout eggs were more suitable at Port Austin Reef than at Partridge Island Reef.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗

USGS1993

Polychlorinated biphenyls in Great Lakes lake trout and their eggs: relations to survival and congener composition 1979-1988

Eggs taken from lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) captured from various Great Lakes between 1979 and 1988 were analyzed for individual polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners. Eggs from the same fish had been previously reared through hatching and early fry development to ascertain egg quality. Tissues from a subsample of the adult females that provided eggs were similarly analyzed. Significant relations were found between embryonic mortality (eggs dying between fertilization and hatch) and the concentrations of total PCBs in both the eggs and adults. PCB concentrations were also negatively correlated with the percentage of normal fry that successfully hatched, but no relation was found between PCB residues and fry mortality. Pattern recognition analysis indicated that the PCB congener fingerprint for eggs from Lake Superior was different than that of eggs from Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario. A difference between PCB residue patterns was also identified between eggs and the parent fish. While this difference indicated some preferential deposition of congeners in the eggs, the difference was not attributed to the toxic AHH-active congeners. No difference in the PCB pattern was observed over the 10 years of sample collection, demonstrating that concentrations of individual congeners are declining at similar rates.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗

USGS1991

Production of Hexagenia limbata nymphs in contaminated sediments in the Upper Great Lakes connecting channels

In April through October 1986, we sampled sediments and populations of nymphs of the burrowing mayfly, Hexagenia limbata (Serville), at 11 locations throughout the connecting channels of the upper Great Lakes, to determine if sediment contaminants adversely affected nymph production. Production over this period was high (980 to 9231 mg dry wt m -2 ) at the five locations where measured sediment levels of oil, cyanide, and six metals were below the threshold criteria of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Ontario Ministry of Environment for contaminated or polluted sediments, and also where the criterion for visible oil given in the Water Quality Agreement between the U.S.A. and Canada for connecting waters of the Great Lakes was not exceeded. At the other six locations where sediments were polluted, production was markedly lower (359 to 872 mg dry wt m -2 ). This finding is significant because it indicates that existing sediment quality criteria can be applied to protect H. limbata from oil, cyanide, and metals in the Great Lakes and connecting channels where the species fulfills a major role in secondary production and trophic transfer of energy.

Hydrobiologia↗

USGS1988

Linear solvation energy relationships for toxicity of selected organic chemicals to Daphnia pulex and Daphnia magna

In the Laurentian Great Lakes, more than 300 contaminants have been identified in fish, other biota, water, and sediment. Current hazard assessment of these chemicals by the National Fisheries Research Center-Great Lakes is based on their toxicity, occurrence in the environment, and source. Although scientists at the Center have tested over 70 chemicals with the crustacean Daphnia pulex , the number of experimental data needed to screen the huge array of chemicals in the Great Lakes exceeds the practical capabilities of conducting bioassays. This limitation can be partly circumvented, however, by using mathematical models based on quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) to provide rapid, inexpensive estimates of toxicity. Many properties of chemicals, including toxicity, bioaccumulation and water solubility are well correlated and can be predicted by equations of the generalized linear solvation energy relationships (LSER). The equation we used to model solute toxicity is Toxicity = constant + m VI/100 + s (π* + dδ) + b βm + a αm where VI = intrinsic (Van der Waals) molar volume; π* = molecular dipolarity/polarizability; δ = polarizability 'correction term'; βm = solute hydrogen bond acceptor basicity; and αm = solute hydrogen bond donor acidity. The subscript m designates solute monomer values for α and β. We applied the LSER model to 48-h acute toxicity data (measured as immobilization) for six classes of chemicals detected in Great Lakes fish. The following regression was obtained for Daphnia pulex (concentration = μM): log EC50 = 4.86 - 4.35 VI/100; N = 38, r2 = 0.867, sd = 0.403 We also used the LSER modeling approach to analyze to a large published data set of 24-h acute toxicity for Daphnia magna ; the following regression resulted, for eight classes of compounds (concentration = mM): log EC50 = 3.88 - 4.52 VI/100 - 1.62 π* + 1.66 βm - 0.916 αm; N = 62, r2 = 0.859, sd = 0.375 In addition we developed computer software that identifies chemical structures, estimates the LSER parameters, and predicts toxicity. The LSER models promise to be effective in differentiating between reactive and nonreactive toxicity behavior where other models have failed. Contaminants with reactive behavior are generally the most toxic and rank highest in hazard assessment of environmental chemicals.

Proceedings of the QSAR↗

USGS1988

Molecular conductivity indices for modelling toxicities of Great Lakes contaminants to Daphnia pulex

Hazard assessment of hundreds of observed and potential contaminants in fish, sediment, and water of the Great Lakes is necessary to determine impact on fishery sources and other aquatic biota. The hundreds of new compunds introduced each year have few measured properties. Mathematical models based on quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) provide rapid, inexpensive estimates of physical properties and toxicites. These models are useful when the contaminants are not commercially available for testing. To develop these predicitive models, acute bioassay results (48-hr EC50 of Daphnia pulex ) of 62 compounds were regressed against several modes of molecular connectivity indices. The compunds were selected from the more hazardous classes in a list of 476 compunds tentatively identified by GC/MS in Great Lakes fish.

Conference Paper↗