Neighborhood-scale lead (Pb) speciation in Akron, Ohio (USA) soils: primary sources, post-deposition diagenesis, and high concentrations of labile Pb.

Lead (Pb) poses a significant risk to infants and children through exposure to contaminated soil and dust. However, there is a lack of information on Pb speciation and distribution at the neighborhood-scale. This work aimed to determine: (1) the distribution of acid-extractable (labile) Pb and other metals ([M]) in two neighborhoods in Akron, Ohio (USA) (Summit Lake and West Akron; n = 82 samples); and (2) Pb speciation and potential sources.

Does Construct Type Matter? A Retrospective Review Comparing Outcomes of Distal Radius Fractures Treated with Standard Volar Plating versus Fragment-Specific Fixation.

 Treatment of intra-articular distal radius fractures (DRFs) rests on anatomic internal fixation. Fragment-specific fixation (FSF) is applied when fracture pattern is too complex for standard volar plating (SVP), oftentimes with potential increased risk of complications. We hypothesized that patients undergoing FSF would achieve less wrist range of motion (ROM) with higher risk of complications compared with SVP.

Inhibiting anti-angiogenic VEGF165b activates a miR-17-20a-Calcipressin-3 pathway that revascularizes ischemic muscle in peripheral artery disease.

Background: VEGFa increases the expression of the microRNA-17-92 cluster, promoting developmental, retinal, and tumor angiogenesis. We have previously shown that VEGFb, an alternatively spliced anti-angiogenic VEGF-A isoform, inhibits the VEGFR-STAT3 pathway in ischemic endothelial cells (ECs) to decrease their angiogenic capacity. In ischemic macrophages (Møs), VEGFb inhibits VEGFR1 to induce S100A8/A9 expression, which drives M1-like polarization.

Pharmacy stewardship to reduce recurrent hypoglycemia.

Background: Inpatient hypoglycemia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. After a hypoglycemic event, the likelihood of additional episodes increases. The Joint Commission recommends evaluating all episodes of hypoglycemia for root-cause analysis.

Altmetric analysis of the most mentioned articles online in the orthopaedic literature.

Social media has become a valuable tool for the distribution of scientific content. This investigation examined the most mentioned articles in orthopaedics and identified factors concurrent with greater dissemination. Altmetric Attention Score (AAS), which measures the online attention of an article, was examined for 88,683 publications in the top 50 orthopaedic journals by 2021 impact factor.

Effects of Autoclaving, EtOH, and UV Sterilization on the Chemical, Mechanical, Printability, and Biocompatibility Characteristics of Alginate.

Sterilization is a necessary step during the processing of biomaterials, but it can affect the materials' functional characteristics. This study characterizes the effects of three commonly used sterilization processes-autoclaving (heat-based), ethanol (EtOH; chemical-based), and ultraviolet (UV; radiation-based)-on the chemical, mechanical, printability, and biocompatibility properties of alginate, a widely used biopolymer for drug delivery, tissue engineering, and other biomedical applications. Sterility assessment tests showed that autoclaving was effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria at loads up to 10 CFU/mL, while EtOH was the least effective.

Factors affecting sedimentational separation of bacteria from blood.

Rapid diagnosis of blood infections requires fast and efficient separation of bacteria from blood. We have developed spinning hollow disks that separate bacteria from blood cells via the differences in sedimentation velocities of these particles. Factors affecting separation included the spinning speed and duration, and disk size.

Genome Sequences of Nine Erwinia amylovora Bacteriophages.

Erwinia amylovora is a plant pathogen belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family, a family containing many plant and animal pathogens. Herein, we announce nine genome sequences of E. amylovora bacteriophages isolated from infected apple trees along the Wasatch Front in Utah.

Rapid separation of very low concentrations of bacteria from blood.

A rapid and accurate diagnosis of the species and antibiotic resistance of bacteria in septic blood is vital to increase survival rates of patients with bloodstream infections, particularly those with carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections. The extremely low levels in blood (1 to 100CFU/ml) make rapid diagnosis difficult. In this study, very low concentrations of bacteria (6 to 200CFU/ml) were separated from 7ml of whole blood using rapid sedimentation in a spinning hollow disk that separated plasma from red and white cells, leaving most of the bacteria suspended in the plasma.

Rapid separation of bacteria from blood - Chemical aspects.

To rapidly diagnose infectious organisms causing blood sepsis, bacteria must be rapidly separated from blood, a very difficult process considering that concentrations of bacteria are many orders of magnitude lower than concentrations of blood cells. We have successfully separated bacteria from red and white blood cells using a sedimentation process in which the separation is driven by differences in density and size. Seven mL of whole human blood spiked with bacteria is placed in a 12-cm hollow disk and spun at 3000rpm for 1min.