Give Patients the Choice to Test for DPD Deficiency Before Fluoropyrimidine Chemotherapy.

Patients, not physicians, should decide if DPYD screening is right for them before FU/Xeloda chemotherapy.

Chemical sterilization of allograft dermal tissues.

Common terminal sterilization methods are known to alter the natural structure and properties of soft tissues. One approach to providing safe grafts with preserved biological properties is the combination of a validated chemical sterilization process followed by an aseptic packaging process. This combination of processes is an accepted method for production of sterile healthcare products as described in ANSI/AAMI ST67:2011.

Mercury and other trace elements in Ohio River fish collected near coal-fired power plants: Interspecific patterns and consideration of consumption risks.

Many coal-fired electric generating facilities in the United States are discharging higher loads of Hg, Se, and other chemicals to receiving streams due to the installation of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) air pollution control units. There are regulatory concerns about the potential increased uptake of these bioaccumulative trace elements into food webs. We evaluated the concentrations of As, total Hg (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), and Se in Ohio River fish collected proximal to coal-fired power plants, of which 75% operate FGD systems.

Assessment of bioburden on human and animal tissues: part 2--results of testing of human tissue and qualification of a composite sample for routine bioburden determination.

A quantitative method was developed and validated to assess bioburden on tissue from human donors and to compare bioburden determination results to swab culture results from the same donor. An initial study with allograft tissue from 101 donors showed a wide range of bioburden levels; values from no colony-forming units (CFU) detected to >28,000 CFU were observed. Tissues from donors that had swab cultures negative for objectionable microorganisms generally had lower bioburden than tissues from donors where objectionable microorganisms were recovered by swab culturing.

Assessment of bioburden on human and animal tissues: Part 1--results of method development and validation studies.

Recovered human and animal tissues are used extensively in surgery for wound repair and reconstruction. In preparation for the validation of chemical disinfection and radiation sterilization processes, studies were performed on the development and validation of quantitative bioburden recovery methods for human bone and soft tissue and also for porcine dermis. The use of a swab-based method was not considered due to the known poor efficiency of recovery for this technique.

Review of thin-layer placement applications to enhance natural recovery of contaminated sediment.

This article provides a review of thin-layer placement applications to enhance the natural recovery of contaminated sediment. Three principal case studies are presented in which thin-layer placement has been implemented as a component of enhanced monitored natural recovery (EMNR). EMNR is defined as the application of engineered means such as thin-layer placement or broadcasting of capping material to accelerate natural recovery processes in locations not appropriate for application of monitored natural recovery (MNR) alone.

Antithrombogenicity of Hydromer's polymeric formula F202 immobilized on polyurethane and electropolished stainless steel.

Hydromer's heparin-polymer complex (F202) was applied to polyurethane film and electropolished medical grade stainless steel. The presence of heparin on the surface was confirmed by FT-IR and immunofluorescent histochemistry. The F202 polymer was nonthrombogenic and the development of thrombi on these surfaces after exposure to recalcified human whole blood was minimal or absent.

Mercury mobilization in estuarine sediment porewaters: a diffusive gel time-series study.

To assess the lability of porewater and sediment solid-phase mercury (Hg), mercapto-substituted siloxane gels were deployed within the sediments of the Penobscot estuary in Maine. Gel deployments occurred in time series and at discrete sediment depths. A sediment distribution coefficient (K(D)) was estimated by modeling the resultant gel Hg uptake.

Influence of organic matter decomposition on soluble carbon and its copper-binding capacity.

Bulk and low molecular weight (LMW) (<1 kDa) water-extractable carbon were collected from fresh and microbially degraded wheat straw (Triticum aestivum L.) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) residues to monitor early-stage humification over an 8-wk incubation.