A 2024 inventory of test methods relevant to thyroid hormone system disruption for human health and environmental regulatory hazard assessment.

Thyroid hormone system disruption (THSD) is a growing concern in chemical hazard assessment due to its impact on human and environmental health and the scarce methods available for assessing the THSD potential of chemicals. In particular, the general lack of validated in silico and methods for assessing THS activity is of high concern. This manuscript provides an inventory of test methods relevant to THSD.

Identification of compounds contributing to glucocorticoid activity in indoor dust supported by orthogonal fractionation.

Indoor dust contains various endocrine-disrupting contaminants, yet the effect drivers of observed glucocorticoid activity are completely unknown. This study conducted an effect-directed analysis using orthogonal fractionation to identify effect drivers of glucocorticoid activity in indoor dust. After the detection of bioactivity using a human cell line stably transfected with a reporter gene, the sample underwent parallel HPLC fractionations with octadecyl, pentafluorophenyl, and aminopropyl columns to obtain orthogonal fractions.

Method of calculation of paraxial design parameters of a hybrid catadioptric zoom system with focus tunable elements.

This paper introduces and analyzes a theory for a paraxial design of a hybrid catadioptric optical system with variable focal length, which uses focus tunable optical components. Compared to the conventional zoom lens system, the proposed hybrid optical system can be designed with a smaller length and weight than a lens system of similar characteristics. The hybrid system does not need the movement of individual elements for zooming.

The thyroid hormone system disrupting potential of resorcinol in fish.

Environmental pollutants capable of interfering with the thyroid hormone (TH) system increasingly raise concern for both human and environmental health. Recently, resorcinol has received attention as a compound of concern due to its endocrine disrupting properties. It is a known inhibitor of thyroperoxidase (TPO), an enzyme required in TH synthesis, and therapeutic use of resorcinol exposure has led to hypothyroidism in humans.

Comparison of toric intraocular lens tilt and decentration measurement using dynamic Purkinje-meter and anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

Aims: To present a new method of dynamic Purkinje-metry and to verify it by comparison with a commercially available anterior segment optical coherence tomography CASIA2.

Patients And Methods: A dynamic Purkinje-meter with a movable fixation target was assembled. A coaxial circular pattern formed by infrared LEDs was projected onto the eye and evoked Purkinje images (1st, 3rd, 4th = P1, P3, P4).

In vitro assessment of thyroid peroxidase inhibition by chemical exposure: comparison of cell models and detection methods.

Disruption of the thyroid hormone (TH) system is connected with diverse adverse health outcomes in wildlife and humans. It is crucial to develop and validate suitable in vitro assays capable of measuring the disruption of the thyroid hormone (TH) system. These assays are also essential to comply with the 3R principles, aiming to replace the ex vivo tests often utilised in the chemical assessment.

Millisecond X-ray reflectometry and neural network analysis: unveiling fast processes in spin coating.

X-ray reflectometry (XRR) is a powerful tool for probing the structural characteristics of nanoscale films and layered structures, which is an important field of nanotechnology and is often used in semiconductor and optics manufacturing. This study introduces a novel approach for conducting quantitative high-resolution millisecond monochromatic XRR measurements. This is an order of magnitude faster than in previously published work.

Endocrine disrupting potential of total and bioaccessible extracts of dust from seven different types of indoor environment.

Information on the indoor environment as a source of exposure with potential adverse health effects is mostly limited to a few pollutant groups and indoor types. This study provides a comprehensive toxicological profile of chemical mixtures associated with dust from various types of indoor environments, namely cars, houses, prefabricated apartments, kindergartens, offices, public spaces, and schools. Organic extracts of two different polarities and bioaccessible extracts mimicking the gastrointestinal conditions were prepared from two different particle size fractions of dust.

Theoretical analysis of a compensator of the secondary longitudinal chromatic aberration.

A theoretical analysis of an afocal compensator of the secondary longitudinal chromatic aberration is provided. Such a compensator is able to compensate for chromatic aberration of an achromatic optical system and make an apochromatic correction of the system. The parameters of the proposed chromatic aberration compensator are described and the principle is presented in examples.

Optical Absorption Properties in Pentacene/Tetracene Solid Solutions.

Modifying the optical and electronic properties of crystalline organic thin films is of great interest for improving the performance of modern organic semiconductor devices. Therein, the statistical mixing of molecules to form a solid solution provides an opportunity to fine-tune optical and electronic properties. Unfortunately, the diversity of intermolecular interactions renders mixed organic crystals highly complex, and a holistic picture is still lacking.

Calculation of the wave aberration of an axial bundle of rays.

A differential equation is derived for the calculation of the wave aberration of an axial bundle of rays affected by spherical aberration. The solution of the derived equation is analyzed, and the influence of the radius of the reference sphere on the value of the wave aberration is presented. The approximate formula for wave aberration is obtained, which allows the splitting of the wave aberration into a part relative to an infinitely distant reference sphere and a part showing the dependence of the wave aberration on the radius of the reference sphere.

Method for algebraic calculation of initial design parameters of a two-element telecentric f-theta lens.

A method for the algebraic calculation of paraxial design parameters of a telecentric f-theta lens is described. Moreover, a third-order aberration analysis is performed for a telecentric f-theta lens composed of two optical elements. The method can be used to calculate the starting optical design of telecentric f-theta lenses, which can be used, for example, in laser material processing, optical imaging systems, and optical metrology.

Algebraic solution for aplanatic cemented doublets with aspherical surfaces of second degree.

An algebraic method of an initial design of the aplanatic cemented doublet with a unit focal length is described. Based on the third-order aberration theory, algebraic equations are derived for calculating the design parameters of an aplanatic thin cemented doublet with spherical surfaces and aspherical surfaces of the second degree. These equations make it easy to determine whether there exists a real solution of the doublet design for required parameters.

Bioanalytical and chemical characterization of organic micropollutant mixtures in long-term exposed passive samplers from the Joint Danube Survey 4: Setting a baseline for water quality monitoring.

Monitoring methodologies reflecting the long-term quality and contamination of surface waters are needed to obtain a representative picture of pollution and identify risk drivers. This study sets a baseline for characterizing chemical pollution in the Danube River using an innovative approach, combining continuous three-months use of passive sampling technology with comprehensive chemical (747 chemicals) and bioanalytical (seven in vitro bioassays) assessment during the Joint Danube Survey (JDS4). This is one of the world's largest investigative surface-water monitoring efforts in the longest river in the European Union, which water after riverbank filtration is broadly used for drinking water production.

Quantitation of small molecules from liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric accurate mass datasets using CycloBranch.

Gaussian and exponentially modified Gaussian functions were incorporated into integrating algorithms used by an open-source, cross-platform tool called CycloBranch. The quantitation is demonstrated on bacterial pyoverdines separated by fine isotope features. Using our algorithm, we can separate the m/z values 694.

Method of initial design of a two-element double-sided telecentric optical system.

An algebraic method for finding fundamental parameters of a starting design of a two-element double-sided telecentric lens is introduced in this work. The telecentric lens is formed by two objectives composed of an afocal meniscus lens followed by a cemented doublet. It is used the third-order aberration theory to find the fundamental parameters of the starting configuration of a given optical system.

Algebraic method for finding the initial design parameters of a two-element optical system with an afocal meniscus lens.

This work introduces an algebraic method of the calculation of an initial design of a two-element optical system composed of a thick afocal meniscus lens and a thin lens element, which can be formed, for example, by a cemented doublet. The third-order aberration theory is used to find the fundamental parameters of the starting configuration of a given optical system. The method gives results that make it possible to obtain a good starting design for further optimization of such imaging systems using optical design software.

Lorentz-Boost-Driven Magneto-Optics in a Dirac Nodal-Line Semimetal.

Optical response of crystalline solids is to a large extent driven by excitations that promote electrons among individual bands. This allows one to apply optical and magneto-optical methods to determine experimentally the energy band gap -a fundamental property crucial to our understanding of any solid-with a great precision. Here it is shown that such conventional methods, applied with great success to many materials in the past, do not work in topological Dirac semimetals with a dispersive nodal line.

Method of calculation of initial design parameters of microscope objective lenses with a long working distance.

We describe an analytic method of the initial design of microscope objectives with a long working distance. The optical system of a microscope objective is composed of two thin optical elements and a frontal optical element from several thick lenses. The paper describes formulas that make it possible to calculate fundamental parameters of the objective, namely Seidel aberration coefficients, radii of curvature, refractive indices of individual lenses of the microscope objective, etc.

Teratogenicity of retinoids detected in surface waters in zebrafish embryos and its predictability by in vitro assays.

Retinoids are newly detected compounds in aquatic ecosystems associated with cyanobacterial water blooms. Their potential health risks are only scarcely described despite numerous detections of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and its derivatives in the environment. Besides the known teratogen ATRA there is only little or no information about their potency and namely their effects in vivo.

Risk Factors for Severe COVID-19 and Hospital Admission in Patients With Inborn Errors of Immunity - Results From a Multicenter Nationwide Study.

Despite the progress in the understanding how COVID-19 infection may impact immunocompromised patients, the data on inborn errors of immunity (IEI) remain limited and ambiguous. Therefore, we examined the risk of severe infection course and hospital admission in a large cohort of patients with IEI. In this multicenter nationwide retrospective survey-based trial, the demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected by investigating physicians from 8 national referral centers for the diagnosis and treatment of IEI using a COVID-19-IEI clinical questionnaire.

Toxicity to bronchial cells and endocrine disruptive potentials of indoor air and dust extracts and their association with multiple chemical classes.

Pollution of indoor environment, where people spend much of their time, comprises complex mixtures of compounds with vastly understudied hazard potential. This study examined several important specific toxic effects and pollutant levels (177 compounds) of indoor samples (air gas phase, PM and dust) from different microenvironments after two extractions with focus on their gas/particle/dust distribution and polarity. The endocrine disruptive (ED) potential was assessed by human cell-based in vitro bioassays addressing anti-/estrogenicity, anti-/androgenicity, aryl hydrocarbon, thyroid and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-mediated activities.

Noninvasive Combined Diagnosis and Monitoring of and Infections: Proof of Concept.

In acutely ill patients, particularly in intensive care units or in mixed infections, time to a microbe-specific diagnosis is critical to a successful outcome of therapy. We report the application of evolving technologies involving mass spectrometry to diagnose and monitor a patient's course. As proof of this concept, we studied five patients and used two rat models of mono-infection and coinfection.

MassSpecBlocks: a web-based tool to create building blocks and sequences of nonribosomal peptides and polyketides for tandem mass spectra analysis.

Nonribosomal peptides and polyketides are natural products commonly synthesized by microorganisms. They are widely used in medicine, agriculture, environmental protection, and other fields. The structures of natural products are often analyzed by high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry, which becomes more popular with its increasing availability.