Bioenergetic impairment in Gulf War illness assessed via P-MRS.

Time for post-exercise phosphocreatine-recovery (PCr-R), deemed a robust index of mitochondrial function in vivo, was previously reported to be elevated (signifying impaired ATP production) in veterans with Gulf War illness (GWI). Here we sought to replicate the finding and assess the impact of contravening previous eligibility requirements. The replication sample comprised white males.

Portable chemical detection platform for on-site monitoring of odorant levels in natural gas.

The adequate odorization of natural gas is critical to identify gas leaks and to reduce accidents. To ensure odorization, natural gas utility companies collect samples to be processed at core facilities or a trained human technician smells a diluted natural gas sample. In this work, we report a detection platform that addresses the lack of mobile solutions capable of providing quantitative analysis of mercaptans, a class of compounds used to odorize natural gas.

Transferability of Geometric Patterns from Protein Self-Interactions to Protein-Ligand Interactions.

There is significant interest in developing machine learning methods to model protein-ligand interactions but a scarcity of experimentally resolved protein-ligand structures to learn from. Protein self-contacts are a much larger source of structural data that could be leveraged, but currently it is not well understood how this data source differs from the target domain. Here, we characterize the 3D geometric patterns of protein self-contacts as probability distributions.

An environmental air sampler to evaluate personal exposure to volatile organic compounds.

A micro fabricated chip-based wearable air sampler was used to monitor the personnel exposure of volatile chemical concentrations in microenvironments. Six teenagers participated in this study and 14 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including naphthalene, 3-decen-1-ol, hexanal, nonanal, methyl salicylate and limonene gave the highest abundance during routine daily activity. VOC exposure associated with daily activities and the location showed strong agreements with two of the participant's results.

Peak detection and random forests classification software for gas chromatography/differential mobility spectrometry (GC/DMS) data.

Gas Chromatography/Differential Mobility Spectrometry (GC/DMS) is an effective tool to discern volatile chemicals. The process of correlating GC/DMS data outputs to chemical identities requires time and effort from trained chemists due to lack of commercially available software and the lack of appropriate libraries. This paper describes the coupling of computer vision techniques to develop models for peak detection and can align chemical signatures across datasets.

SPME-based mobile field device for active sampling of volatiles.

Monitoring plant volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles can reveal information regarding the health state of the plant, such as whether it is nutrient stressed or diseased. Typically, plant VOC sampling uses sampling enclosures. Enclosures require time and equipment which are not easily adapted to high throughput sampling in field environments.

Design and Benchmark Testing for Open Architecture Reconfigurable Mobile Spirometer and Exhaled Breath Monitor with GPS and Data Telemetry.

Portable and wearable medical instruments are poised to play an increasingly important role in health monitoring. Mobile spirometers are available commercially, and are used to monitor patients with advanced lung disease. However, these commercial monitors have a fixed product architecture determined by the manufacturer, and researchers cannot easily experiment with new configurations or add additional novel sensors over time.

Modular and reconfigurable gas chromatography / differential mobility spectrometry (GC/DMS) package for detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Due to the versatility of present day microcontroller boards and open source development environments, new analytical chemistry devices can now be built outside of large industry and instead within smaller individual groups. While there are a wide range of commercial devices available for detecting and identifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs), most of these devices use their own proprietary software and complex custom electronics, making modifications or reconfiguration of the systems challenging. The development of microprocessors for general use, such as the Arduino prototyping platform, now enables custom chemical analysis instrumentation.

Wearable Environmental Monitor To Quantify Personal Ambient Volatile Organic Compound Exposures.

Air pollution can cause acute and chronic health problems. It has many components, and one component of interest is volatile organic compounds (VOCs). While the outdoor environment may have regulations regarding exposure limits, the indoor environment is often unregulated and VOCs often appear in greater concentrations in the indoor environment.

Portable combination of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential mobility spectrometry for advanced vapor phase analysis.

Designing mobile devices for the analysis of complex sample mixtures containing a variety of analytes at different concentrations across a large dynamic range remains a challenging task in many analytical scenarios. To meet this challenge, a compact hybrid analytical platform has been developed combining Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy based on substrate-integrated hollow waveguides (iHWG-FTIR) with gas chromatography coupled differential mobility spectrometry (GC-DMS). Due to the complementarity of these techniques regarding analyte type and concentration, their combination provides a promising tool for the detection of complex samples containing a broad range of molecules at different concentrations.

An Easy to Manufacture Micro Gas Preconcentrator for Chemical Sensing Applications.

We have developed a simple-to-manufacture microfabricated gas preconcentrator for MEMS-based chemical sensing applications. Cavities and microfluidic channels were created using a wet etch process with hydrofluoric acid, portions of which can be performed outside of a cleanroom, instead of the more common deep reactive ion etch process. The integrated heater and resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) were created with a photolithography-free technique enabled by laser etching.

Identification of fungal metabolites from inside Gallus gallus domesticus eggshells by non-invasively detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The natural porosity of eggshells allows hen eggs to become contaminated with microbes from the nesting material and environment. Those microorganisms can later proliferate due to the humid ambient conditions while stored in refrigerators, causing a potential health hazard to the consumer. The microbes' volatile organic compounds (mVOCs) are released by both fungi and bacteria.