Using optimized monochromatic energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence to determine the cadmium concentration in cacao and soil samples.

Following the implementation of food safety limits on cadmium (Cd) in cacao products, there has been a growing demand for monitoring Cd in cacao tissues and soils. Traditional methods like acid digestion followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) are time-consuming and costly. X-ray Fluorescence is an alternative technique that offers advantages in terms of speed, cost, ease of use and less environmental impact.

Ageism and Ableism in Individuals Aging with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Biomedical and structural factors impact oral health for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The onset of age prevalent chronic diseases and conditions can result in new cognitive or physical disabilities leaving individuals with IDD to contend with ageism as well as ableism and further exclusion from the oral health care systems. Environments and attitudes that inform how health care systems are built and maintained significantly impact quality of life and outcomes, more than the fact of being disabled or old.

Cholecystectomy Is a Risk Factor for Proximal Colon Cancer That May Also Relate to its Aggressiveness.

Introduction: There are studies with mixed conclusions about the role cholecystectomy plays as a risk factor for proximal colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study where the records of patients with CRC were reviewed. Data was collected regarding affected colon subsegment (cecum, ascending, transverse, descending, sigmoid, or rectum, which were also combined into proximal or distal colon), history and time since cholecystectomy, histopathology reports (TNM classification and clinical stage), and KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF mutation analysis.

Respiratory Disease Surveillance in the Middle East and Latin America during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2022.

Characterizing the epidemiology of circulating respiratory pathogens during the COVID-19 pandemic could clarify the burden of acute respiratory infections and monitor outbreaks of public health and military relevance. The US Department of Defense supported 2 regions for influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infections surveillance, one in the Middle East through US Naval Medical Research Unit EURAFCENT, and another in Latin America through US Naval Medical Research Unit SOUTH. During 2020‒2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, we collected a total of 16,146 nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab samples from sentinel sites in Jordan (n = 11,305) and Latin America (n = 4,841).