Parasomnias are a group of sleep disorders characterized by abnormal and unpleasant motor, verbal, or behavioral events that occur during sleep or during transitions between wake and sleep states. They disrupt sleep and can have a detrimental impact on the individual experiencing them. Our goal was to identify types of parasomnias and their prevalence in the current and recent post-secondary student population and to explore their coping strategies for parasomnias they found distressing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTest methods to inform hazard characterization and labeling of pesticides to protect human health are typically conducted using laboratory animals, and for skin irritation/corrosion the rabbit Draize test is currently required by many regulatory agencies. Although the Draize test is generally regarded to provide protective classifications for human health, new approach methodologies (NAMs) have been developed that offer more human relevant models that circumvent the uncertainty associated with species differences that exist between rabbits and humans. Despite wide applicability and use of these test methods across a broad range of chemicals, they have not been widely adopted for testing pesticides and pesticidal formulations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFluorite mineral holds significant importance because of its optoelectronic properties and wide range of applications. Here, we report the successful exfoliation of bulk fluorite ore (calcium fluoride, CaF) crystals into atomically thin two-dimensional fluoritene (2D CaF) using a highly scalable liquid-phase exfoliation method. The microscopic and spectroscopy characterizations show the formation of (111) plane-oriented 2D CaF sheets with exfoliation-induced material strain due to bond breaking, leading to the changes in lattice parameter.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Prototype cosmetic formulations containing short-chain acids and alcohols intended to be applied in the proximity of the eyes are sometimes evaluated for ocular irritation potential using the validated Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability Assay (OECD TG 437). We evaluated the eye irritation potential of nine experimental cosmetic formulations designed and prepared by Avon Global Reserach and Development to differ only in the concentrations of Ethanol, Glycolic Acid and Salicylic Acid.
Methods: We analysed the data generated using the BCOP assay.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2024
Natural ores are abundant, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. Ultrathin (2D) layers of a naturally abundant van der Waals mineral, Biotite, have been prepared in bulk via exfoliation. We report here that this 2D Biotene material has shown extraordinary Li-Na-ion battery anode properties with ultralong cycling stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe explored the impacts of the remote and return-to-in-person work periods on sleep and well-being as reported by faculty ( = 22) and non-teaching staff ( = 21) with and without disabilities. Participants were recruited through college platforms and personal contacts. Our results show that contrary to expectations, the COVID-19 remote teaching/working period resulted in better sleep, as well as greater well-being, than the return-to-in-person work period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAging is one of the most dynamic biological processes in the human body and is known to carry significant impacts on individuals' self-esteem. Skin pigmentation is a highly heritable trait made possible by complex, strictly controlled cellular and molecular mechanisms. Genetic, environmental and endocrine factors contribute to the modulation of melanin's amount, type and distribution in the skin layers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral recent studies have argued that large, long-lived and molten magma chambers may not occur in the shallow Earth's crust. Here we present, however, field-based observations from the Bushveld Complex that provide evidence to the contrary. In the eastern part of the complex, the magmatic layering continuously drapes across a ~ 4-km-high sloping step in the chamber floor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work, the synthesis and characterization of ultrathin metal oxide, called biotene, using liquid-phase exfoliation from naturally abundant biotite are demonstrated. The atomically thin biotene is used for energy harvesting using its flexoelectric response under multiple bending. The effective flexoelectric response increases due to the presence of surface charges, and the voltage increases up to ≈8 V, with a high mechano-sensitivity of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study conducts Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis on the pelitic gneiss of the Basement complex of Nigeria. Phase equilibrium modeling was undertaken in the MnO-NaO-CaO-KO-FeO-MgO-AlO-SiO-HO-TiO-O (MnNCKFMASHTO) chemical system using THERMOCALC. The rock comprises of sillimanite + biotite + garnet + K-feldspar + quartz + ilmenite + plagioclase ± cordierite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo-dimensional (2D) materials are known to have low-friction interfaces by reducing the energy dissipated by sliding contacts. While this is often attributed to van der Waals (vdW) bonding of 2D materials, nanoscale and quantum confinement effects can also act to modify the atomic interactions of a 2D material, producing unique interfacial properties. Here, we demonstrate the low-friction behavior of magnetene, a non-vdW 2D material obtained via the exfoliation of magnetite, showing statistically similar friction to benchmark vdW 2D materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe discovery of ferromagnetism in atomically thin layers at room temperature widens the prospects of 2D materials for device applications. Recently, two independent experiments demonstrated magnetic ordering in two dissimilar 2D systems, CrI and Cr Ge Te , at low temperatures and in VSe at room temperature, but observation of intrinsic room-temperature magnetism in 2D materials is still a challenge. Here a transition at room temperature that increases the magnetization in magnetite while thinning down the bulk material to a few atom-thick sheets is reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Pediatr Endocrinol
September 2020
Background: Antifungals act on fungal sterols structurally similar to human cholesterol. Ketoconazole reversibly suppresses steroidogenesis by inhibiting cytochrome P450 enzymes and interferes with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) activity by binding to the androgen receptor. Hypospadias was reported in infants exposed to nystatin in utero.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPorphyry ore deposits, Earth's most important resources of copper, molybdenum, and rhenium, are strongly associated with felsic magmas showing signs of high-pressure differentiation and are usually found in places with thickened crust (>45 kilometers). This pattern is well-known, but unexplained, and remains an outstanding problem in our understanding of porphyry ore deposit formation. We approach this problem by investigating the oxidation state of magmatic sulfur, which controls the behavior of ore-forming metals during magma differentiation and magmatic-hydrothermal transition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrace amounts of water dissolved in minerals affect density, viscosity and melting behaviour of the Earth's mantle and play an important role in global tectonics, magmatism and volatile cycle. Water concentrations and the ratios of hydrogen isotopes in the mantle give insight into these processes, as well as into the origin of terrestrial water. Here we show the presence of molecular H in minerals (omphacites) from eclogites from the Kaapvaal and Siberian cratons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe formation of some Earth's monomineralic igneous rocks appears to be prohibited by constraints imposed by liquidus phase-equilibria on evolution of mantle-derived magmas. Yet, these rocks exist as stratiform layers in many mafic-ultramafic intrusions. One conspicuous example is monomineralic anorthosites in the Bushveld Complex that occur as stratiform layers up to hundreds of kilometres in length.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) classifies personal lubricants as Class II medical devices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
October 2019
To gain constructive insight into the possible effect of doping on the electrocatalytic activity of materials, a catalytic framework with a discrete distribution of dopants is an appropriate model system. Such a system assures well-defined active centers, maximum atom utilization efficiency, and hence enhanced selectivity, catalytic activity, and stability. Herein, a comprehensive investigation of the electrocatalytic activity of iron-doped cobalt oxide (Fe-CoO) nanosheets is presented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitrogen, the most dominant constituent of Earth's atmosphere, is critical for the habitability and existence of life on our planet. However, its distribution between Earth's major reservoirs, which must be largely influenced by the accretion and differentiation processes during its formative years, is poorly known. Sequestration into the metallic core, along with volatility related loss pre- and post-accretion, could be a critical process that can explain the depletion of nitrogen in the Bulk Silicate Earth (BSE) relative to the primitive chondrites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCortisol and growth hormone (GH) deficiencies are causes of neonatal hypoglycemia. When they coexist, a pituitary disorder is suspected. We present an infant with hypoglycemia in whom an ACTH receptor defect was associated with transient GH deficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarth's status as the only life-sustaining planet is a result of the timing and delivery mechanism of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and hydrogen (H). On the basis of their isotopic signatures, terrestrial volatiles are thought to have derived from carbonaceous chondrites, while the isotopic compositions of nonvolatile major and trace elements suggest that enstatite chondrite-like materials are the primary building blocks of Earth. However, the C/N ratio of the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) is superchondritic, which rules out volatile delivery by a chondritic late veneer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe surfaces of rocky planets are mostly covered by basaltic crust, but Earth is unique in that it also has extensive regions of felsic crust, manifested in the form of continents. Exactly how felsic crust forms when basaltic magmas are the dominant products of melting the mantles of rocky planets is unclear. A fundamental part of the debate is centered on the low Nb/Ta of Earth's continental crust (11-13) compared to basalts (15-16).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Irritation reactions are a frequently reported occupational illness. The potential adverse effects of pharmaceutical compounds (PCs) on eye and skin can now be assessed using validated in vitro methods.
Objectives: Our overall aim is to reduce animal testing by replacing the historically utilized in vivo test methods with validated in vitro test methods which accurately determine the ocular and dermal irritation/corrosion potential of PCs to inform worker safety within the pharmaceutical space.
With the advent of graphene, the most studied of all two-dimensional materials, many inorganic analogues have been synthesized and are being exploited for novel applications. Several approaches have been used to obtain large-grain, high-quality materials. Naturally occurring ores, for example, are the best precursors for obtaining highly ordered and large-grain atomic layers by exfoliation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlatinum-bearing chromitites in mafic-ultramafic intrusions such as the Bushveld Complex are key repositories of strategically important metals for human society. Basaltic melts saturated in chromite alone are crucial to their generation, but the origin of such melts is controversial. One concept holds that they are produced by processes operating within the magma chamber, whereas another argues that melts entering the chamber were already saturated in chromite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF