Effect of Polymer Properties on the Biodegradation of Polyurethane Microplastics.

The release of fragments from plastic products, that is, secondary microplastics, is a major concern in the context of the global plastic pollution. Currently available (thermoplastic) polyurethanes [(T)PU] are not biodegradable and therefore should be recycled. However, the ester bond in (T)PUs might be sufficiently hydrolysable to enable at least partial biodegradation of polyurethane particles.

Environmental Degradation of Microplastics: How to Measure Fragmentation Rates to Secondary Micro- and Nanoplastic Fragments and Dissociation into Dissolved Organics.

Understanding the environmental fate of microplastics is essential for their risk assessment. It is essential to differentiate size classes and degradation states. Still, insights into fragmentation and degradation mechanisms of primary and secondary microplastics into micro- and nanoplastic fragments and other degradation products are limited.

Maternal serum cytokines at 30-33 weeks in the prediction of preeclampsia.

Objective: The aim of this case-control study at 30-33 weeks, a few days or weeks before the clinical onset of preeclampsia (PE), was to assess whether serum concentrations of cytokines differ between patients who are destined to develop PE and those with uncomplicated pregnancies.

Methods: A panel of cytokines was measured using Luminex technology at 30-33 weeks' gestation in 39 cases that developed PE at or after 34 weeks and 117 unaffected controls.

Results: The serum concentrations of most analysed cytokines were no different in women who developed PE than in controls.

Natural killer cells and their activation status in normal pregnancy.

Increased peripheral blood-activated NK cell counts are associated with increased risk of miscarriage and failed in vitro fertilization treatment. However, assessment of activated peripheral NK cells in normal and pathological pregnancies beyond implantation and early miscarriage has not been described. Total CD69 expressing NK cells counts were measured by flow cytometry in healthy women with singleton pregnancies, including 45 at 11(+6)-13(+6) weeks' gestation, 46 at 20(+0)-22(+4) weeks, and 42 at 31(+6)-33(+5) weeks.

Maternal serum tumour necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNF-R1) at 30-33 weeks in the prediction of preeclampsia.

Objective: To investigate the potential value of maternal serum concentration of tumour necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNF-R1) at 30-33 weeks' gestation in the prediction of preeclampsia (PE) developing at or after 34 weeks.

Methods: Serum TNF-R1 was measured at 11-13 and at 30-33 weeks' gestation in a case-control study of 50 cases that developed PE at or after 34 weeks and 250 unaffected controls. The measured values of TNF-R1 were converted into multiples of the normal median (MoM) and the MoM values in the PE and control groups were compared.

Chromosome-selective sequencing of maternal plasma cell-free DNA for first-trimester detection of trisomy 21 and trisomy 18.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the prenatal detection rate of trisomy 21 and 18 and the false-positive rate by chromosome-selective sequencing of maternal plasma cell-free DNA.

Study Design: Nested case-control study of cell-free DNA was examined in plasma that was obtained at 11-13 weeks before chorionic villous sampling from 300 euploid pregnancies, 50 pregnancies with trisomy 21, and 50 pregnancies with trisomy 18. Laboratory personnel were blinded to fetal karyotype.

Among the missing: content on lesbian and gay people in social work journals.

Lesbian and gay issues are barely visible in the social work literature. This study examined the content of articles on homosexuality that were published in four major social work journals between 1988 and 1997. Articles were coded according to their focus on either HIV/AIDS and the gay community or other issues pertaining to lesbians and gay men.