Three dry Holstein cows fitted with rumen fistula were fed a 7.4% crude protein diet consisting of 47.4% corn, 50% cottonseed hulls, and 2.6% minerals and vitamins during a 44-d experiment. Treatments consisted of rumen infusion, 0, 33, 67, and 100 g/d of urea nitrogen applied in a four period Youden Square design. Increasing urea infusion increased rumen fluid ammonia nitrogen from 4.3 to 25.0 mg/dl. Estimated effective dry matter degradation based on in situ rates of digestion were increased from 67.9 to 74.4% for corn and 77.5 to 80.3% for soybean meal with maximums at 100 g/d infused urea nitrogen. Up to 67 g/d infused nitrogen increased dry matter degradation of corn gluten feed from 67.0 to 71.4% and cottonseed meal dry matter degradation from 56.7 to 60.1%. Alfalfa hay dry matter and neutral detergent fiber degradation were not increased by urea infusion. Minimum rumen ammonia required in feeds in this trial were pooled with literature data and suggest that lowest ammonia concentrations required for maximal digestion was a function of the rumen fermentability of the diet or feed. The equation: minimum ammonia concentration (mg/dl) = .452 fermentability % - 15.71, accounted for 50% of the variation in minimum ammonia requirements. We conclude that rumen ammonia concentrations required for maximum digestion are not constant but rather are a function of fermentability of the diet.

Uranium is a chemically toxic and radioactive heavy metal. Depleted uranium (DU) is the byproduct of the uranium enrichment process, with a majority of U as uranium-238, and a lower content of the fissile isotope uranium-235 than natural uranium. Uranium-235 is mainly used in nuclear reactors and in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. Exposure is likely to have an impact on humans or the ecosystem where military operations have used DU. Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, USA has been using depleted uranium ballistics for 36 years. At a contaminated site in the Proving Grounds, soil samples were collected from the flat, open field and lower elevated trenches that typically collect summer runoff. Spatial distribution and fractionation of uranium in the fields were analyzed with total acid digestion and selective sequential dissolution with eight operationally defined solid-phase fractions. In addition to uranium, other trace elements (As, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Nb, Pd, Pb, V, Zn, Zr) were also assessed. Results show that the trench area in the testing site had a higher accumulation of total U (12.4%) compared to the open-field soil with 279 mg/kg U. Among the eight solid-phase components in the open-field samples, U demonstrated stronger affinities for the amorphous iron-oxide bound, followed by the carbonate bound, and the residual fractions. However, U in the trench area had a stronger binding to the easily reducible oxide bound fraction, followed by the carbonate-bound and amorphous iron-oxide-bound fractions. Among other trace elements, Nb, As, and Zr exhibited the strongest correlations with U distribution among solid-phase components. This study indicates a significant spatial variation of U distribution in the shooting range site. Fe/Mn oxides and carbonate were the major solid-phase components for binding U in the weapon test site.

Depleted uranium (DU) armor-penetrating munitions are used on testing and training ranges leading to elevated concentrations of U in range soils. To prevent exposure from secure areas contaminated with DU hotspots, easy and rapid screening methods are needed. This study explores the feasibility of field-portable X-ray fluorescence (FPXRF) spectrometry as a fast screening tool for locating hotspots of DU in the field. Direct comparisons of results were made for U concentrations in the soil obtained using FPXRF spectrometry and measurement of U using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) after acid digestion. The environmental samples included both field-range contaminated soils collected at a munition testing facility and soils spiked with uranium dioxide, uranium trioxide, and uranyl nitrate. Using U concentrations measured with ICP–MS from split samples, FPXRF operating procedures and conditions such as analysis time, soil moisture content, sample amount, and sample packing factors were optimized. Results showed that the FPXRF technique yielded similar U concentrations as ICP–MS measurements after acid digestion in both standard soil (NIST) samples and DU-contaminated range soils. In field-contaminated soils, U values with FPXRF were 88.8% of the measurements with ICP–MS with a significant correlation (R 2: 0.98, n = 8). Sample preparation affected the uranium concentration measurements made with FPXRF in the laboratory and in the field. A loose packing of the samples in the sample containers, higher sample occupancy, and low soil moisture yielded significantly higher U concentrations by 4–5, 15–50, and 43%, respectively. The measured soil U concentrations were not affected by the variation of the sample analysis time. This study suggests that FPXRF is a promising fast screening tool for field DU hotspots as well as detection/location of penetrators in the fields that can increase the ability to rapidly and inexpensively manage DU on ranges and help ensure sustainable use of DU munitions on testing and training ranges.

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