In vitro toxicity and chemical analysis of e-cigarette aerosol produced amid dry hitting.

Dry hitting, a phenomenon produced by e-cigarettes with refillable cartridges when the liquid in the coil is low, is a common occurrence among regular vapers despite being an unintended consequence of the device. This phenomenon's hazard to public health is still unknown and needs further investigation. Lung cells cultured at the air-liquid interface were exposed to vaped aerosol consisting of 3 % w/v ethyl maltol in propylene glycol for three-second puffs every 30 seconds for 80 total puffs with either dry hit or saturated conditions.

Benchmark Dose Modeling Approaches for Volatile Organic Chemicals Using a Novel Air-Liquid Interface In Vitro Exposure System.

Inhalation is the most relevant route of volatile organic chemical (VOC) exposure; however, due to unique challenges posed by their chemical properties and poor solubility in aqueous solutions, in vitro chemical safety testing is predominantly performed using direct application dosing/submerged exposures. To address the difficulties in screening toxic effects of VOCs, our cell culture exposure system permits cells to be exposed to multiple concentrations at air-liquid interface (ALI) in a 24-well format. ALI exposure methods permit direct chemical-to-cell interaction with the test article at physiological conditions.

Application of telemedicine video visits in a maternal-fetal medicine practice at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Telemedicine in obstetrics has mostly been described in the rural areas that have limited access to subspecialties. During the COVID-19 pandemic, health systems rapidly expanded telemedicine services for urgent and nonurgent healthcare delivery, even in urban settings. The New York University health system implemented a prompt systemwide expansion of video-enabled telemedicine visits, increasing telemedicine to >8000 visits daily within 6 weeks of the beginning of the pandemic.

Fixed-bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty provides a lower failure rate than mobile-bearing unicompartimental knee arthroplasty when used after a failed high tibial osteotomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Despite the fact that the choice of bearing design has been thought to influence the functional outcomes and longevity of unicompartimental knee arthroplasty (UKA), there is a lack of clinical evidence supporting the decision-making process in patients who have undergone high tibial osteotomy (HTO). A systematic review of studies was carried out that reported the outcomes of fixed-bearing (FB) or mobile-bearing (MB) medial UKA in patients with a previous HTO. A random effect meta-analysis using a generalized linear mixed-effects model to calculate revision rates was done.

Study of Friction and Wear Effects in Aluminum Parts Manufactured via Single Point Incremental Forming Process Using Petroleum and Vegetable Oil-Based Lubricants.

This paper focuses on studying how mineral oil, sunflower, soybean, and corn lubricants influence friction and wear effects during the manufacturing of aluminum parts via the single point incremental forming (SPIF) process. To identify how friction, surface roughness, and wear change during the SPIF of aluminum parts, Stribeck curves were plotted as a function of the SPIF process parameters such as vertical step size, wall angle, and tool tip semi-spherical diameter. Furthermore, lubricant effects on the surface of the formed parts are examined by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, the Alicona optical 3D measurement system, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Use of cervical elastography at 18 to 22 weeks' gestation in the prediction of spontaneous preterm birth.

Background: Accurate identification of the women who will have spontaneous preterm birth continues to be a great challenge. The use of cervical elastography for prediction of preterm birth is promising, but several limitations exist. Newer cervical elastography technology has been developed that may prove useful in evaluation of risk of preterm birth.

New Approach Methods to Evaluate Health Risks of Air Pollutants: Critical Design Considerations for In Vitro Exposure Testing.

Air pollution consists of highly variable and complex mixtures recognized as major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. The vast number of chemicals, coupled with limitations surrounding epidemiological and animal studies, has necessitated the development of new approach methods (NAMs) to evaluate air pollution toxicity. These alternative approaches include in vitro (cell-based) models, wherein toxicity of test atmospheres can be evaluated with increased efficiency compared to in vivo studies.

Cardiovascular effects of diesel exhaust inhalation: photochemically altered versus freshly emitted in mice.

This study was designed to compare the cardiovascular effects of inhaled photochemically altered diesel exhaust (aged DE) to freshly emitted DE (fresh DE) in female C57Bl/6 mice. Mice were exposed to either fresh DE, aged DE, or filtered air (FA) for 4 hr using an environmental irradiation chamber. Cardiac responses were assessed 8 hr after exposure utilizing Langendorff preparation with a protocol consisting of 20 min of perfusion and 20 min of ischemia followed by 2 hr of reperfusion.

A new cell culture exposure system for studying the toxicity of volatile chemicals at the air-liquid interface.

A cell culture exposure system (CCES) was developed to expose cells established at an air-liquid interface (ALI) to volatile chemicals. We characterized the CCES by exposing indigo dye-impregnated filter inserts inside culture wells to 125 ppb ozone (O) for 1 h at flow rates of 5 and 25 mL/min/well; the reaction of O with an indigo dye produces a fluorescent product. A 5-fold increase in fluorescence at 25 mL/min/well versus 5 mL/min/well was observed, suggesting higher flows were more effective.

Mutagenic atmospheres resulting from the photooxidation of aromatic hydrocarbon and NO mixtures.

Although many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are regulated to limit air pollution and the consequent health effects, the photooxidation products generally are not. Thus, we examined the mutagenicity in TA100 of photochemical atmospheres generated in a steady-state atmospheric simulation chamber by irradiating mixtures of single aromatic VOCs, NO, and ammonium sulfate seed aerosol in air. The 10 VOCs examined were benzene; toluene; ethylbenzene; -, -, and -xylene; 1,2,4- and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene; -cresol; and naphthalene.

Unusual Presentation of Prostate Cancer Metastatic to the Cricoid Cartilage and Oral Cavity.

In Mexico, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death in men. Prostate cancer usually presents metastasis to the regional lymph nodes and bone. Hereby, we present an unusual case of metastatic prostate cancer, with affectation to the cricoid cartilage and oral cavity, being the first case to have ever been reported in Mexico.

Evaluation of an Air Quality Health Index for Predicting the Mutagenicity of Simulated Atmospheres.

No study has evaluated the mutagenicity of atmospheres with a calculated air quality health index (AQHI). Thus, we generated in a UV-light-containing reaction chamber two simulated atmospheres (SAs) with similar AQHIs but different proportions of criteria pollutants and evaluated them for mutagenicity in three Salmonella strains at the air-agar interface. We continuously injected into the chamber gasoline, nitric oxide, and ammonium sulfate, as well as either α-pinene to produce SA-PM, which had a high concentration of particulate matter (PM): 119 ppb ozone (O), 321 ppb NO, and 1007 μg/m PM; or isoprene to produce SA-O, which had a high ozone (O) concentration: 415 ppb O, 633 ppb NO, and 55 μg/m PM.

Fabrication and Electrochemical Performance of Structured Mesoscale Open Shell VO Networks.

Crystalline vanadium pentoxide (VO) has attracted significant interest as a potential cathode material for energy storage applications due to its high theoretical capacity. Unfortunately, the material suffers from low conductivity as well as slow lithium ion diffusion, both of which affect how fast the electrode can be charged/discharged and how many times it can be cycled. Colloidal crystal templating (CCT) provides a simple approach to create well-organized 3-D nanostructures of materials, resulting in a significant increase in surface area that can lead to marked improvements in electrochemical performance.

Classic Kaposi's sarcoma - complete response to radiation therapy: a case report.

Background: Classic Kaposi's sarcoma is a lymphatic endothelial cell neoplasm usually present on the skin of the upper and lower extremities. Although it commonly affects human immunodeficiency virus positive patients, there have been some human immunodeficiency virus negative cases reported. We report an uncommon presentation of stage IV classic Kaposi's sarcoma in an human immunodeficiency virus negative patient in Latin America with complete clinical response using only radiation therapy treatment.

Assessment of biological responses of EpiAirway 3-D cell constructs versus A549 cells for determining toxicity of ambient air pollution.

Context: EpiAirway™ 3-D constructs are human-derived cell cultures of differentiated airway epithelial cells that may represent a more biologically relevant model of the human lung. However, limited information is available on their utility for exposures to air pollutants at the air-liquid interface (ALI).

Objective: To assess the biological responses of EpiAirway™ cells in comparison to the responses of A549 human alveolar epithelial cells after exposure to air pollutants at ALI.

Cellular RNA is chemically modified by exposure to air pollution mixtures.

RNAs are more susceptible to modifications than DNA, and chemical modifications in RNA have an effect on their structure and function. This study aimed to characterize chemical effects on total RNA in human A549 lung cells after exposure to elevated levels of major secondary air pollutants commonly found in urban locations, including ozone (O3), acrolein (ACR) and methacrolein (MACR). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to measure levels of interleukin (IL)-8 in the growth media and 8-oxoguanine (8OG) levels in total cellular RNA, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the growth media was measured by a coupled enzymatic assay.

The Gillings Sampler--an electrostatic air sampler as an alternative method for aerosol in vitro exposure studies.

There is growing interest in studying the toxicity and health risk of exposure to multi-pollutant mixtures found in ambient air, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving towards setting standards for these types of mixtures.

Photochemically altered air pollution mixtures and contractile parameters in isolated murine hearts before and after ischemia.

Background: The cardiopulmonary effects of the individual criteria air pollutants have been well investigated, but little is known about the cardiopulmonary effects of inhaled multipollutant mixtures that more realistically represent environmental exposures.

Objectives: We assessed the cardiopulmonary effects of exposure to photochemically altered particle-free multipollutant mixtures.

Methods: We exposed mice to filtered air (FA), multipollutant mixtures, or ozone (O3) for 4 hr in a photochemical reaction chamber.