Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Bacterial Residues In Coprolite Of Herbivorous Dinosaurs: Role Of Bacteria In Mineralization Of Feces, Thomas C. Hollocher, Karen Chin, Kurt T. Hollocher, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation of northwestern Montana has yielded blocky, calcareous coprolites that contain abundant fragments of conifer wood and were produced by large herbivorous dinosaurs. The coprolites are generally dark gray to black in color due to a dark substance confined chiefly within what originally were the capillaries of tracheid and ray cells of xylem. This substance is a kerogen which consists in part of thin-walled vesicles 0.1-1.3 µm in diameter. Pyrolysis products of this kerogen are diagnostic of a bacterial origin with a possible contribution from terrestrial plants. The vesicular component is interpreted as the residue of …

Cerumen Composition By Flash Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry, Craig N. Burkhart, Michael A. Kruge, Craig G. Burkhart, Curtis Black

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Objective: To assess the chemical composition of cerumen by flash pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Study Design: Collected earwax specimens were fractionated into residue and supernatant by means of deoxycholate. This natural bile acid produces significantly better disintegration of earwax in vitro than do presently available ceruminolytic preparations, and also has demonstrated excellent clinical results in vivo to date.

Patients: The sample for analysis was obtained from a patient with clinical earwax impaction.

Results: The supernatant is composed of simple aromatic hydrocarbons, C₅-C_{l 7} straight-chain hydrocarbons, a complex mixture of compounds tentatively identified as diterpenoids, …

Use Of Py-Gc/Ms Analysis Techniques In Animal Waste Management: A Preliminary Survey Of Dairy Manures, Daniel L. Vaughn, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The increasing practice of industrial-scale agriculture tends to concentrate large masses of animal waste in relatively compact areas, potentially leading to excessive release of polluting nutrients into waterways during major storms. Anaerobic treatment conditions are generally favored to conserve nitrate N as an agricultural commodity. However, overall N contents in waste are often in excess of crop fertilization needs: storing excess N in soluble nitrate form increases pollution potential. Thus the perceived needs of agriculture and society-at-large become at odds. Organic nitrogen forms (e.g., proteins) are more environmentally stable and are less subject to unintentional release. Although U.S. farmers tend …