Hydralazine-Associated Vasculitis and Pulmonary Hemorrhage.

Hydralazine is a potent vasodilating medication used as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of hypertension. Rarely, hydralazine may cause the development of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody vasculitis with the pulmonary-renal syndrome. We are presenting a case of hydralazine-associated vasculitis and pulmonary hemorrhage.

Assessment of anthropogenic pollution by monitoring occurrence and distribution of chemicals in the river Liffey in Dublin.

This paper evaluates for the first time the spatial distribution of a wide group of organic (phthalates, nitro, aliphatic, halogen, aromatic, phenol and amino compounds) and inorganic pollutants along the Liffey river in Dublin city. The work takes into account the effect of short-term weather conditions on the occurrence of these contaminants. The results showed that rainfall conditions affect the levels of pollutants along the river in the days following a rainfall event.

Assessment of Antifouling Potential of Novel Transparent Sol Gel Coatings for Application in the Marine Environment.

In recent years, there has become a growing need for the development of antifouling technology for application in the marine environment. The accumulation of large quantities of biomass on these surfaces cause substantial economic burdens within the marine industry, or adversely impact the performance of sensor technologies. Here, we present a study of transparent coatings with potential for applications on sensors or devices with optical windows.

Differential Scanning Calorimetry to Quantify Heat-Induced Aggregation in Concentrated Protein Solutions.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is an important technique to measure the thermodynamics of protein unfolding (or folding). Information including the temperature for the onset of unfolding, the melt transition temperature (T), enthalpy of unfolding (ΔH), and refolding index (RI) are useful for evaluating the heat stability of proteins for a range of biochemical, structural biology, industrial, and pharmaceutical applications. We describe a procedure for careful sample preparation of proteins for DSC measurements and data analysis to determine a range of thermodynamic parameters.

Frequency of goose and duck down causation of hypersensitivity pneumonitis within an 80-patient cohort.

Background: A variety of antigens have been identified as causative of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), which is characterized by inflammation to the lung parenchyma that is induced by exposure. Goose and duck down (GDD) bedding is often overlooked by physicians as a potential cause, yet the use of GDD has markedly increased in recent years, paralleling an increased frequency of reports of GDD-induced HP.

Objective: To determine the frequency of GDD as the causative antigen in patients with HP who use bedding that contains GDD.

Probing skin physiology through the volatile footprint: Discriminating volatile emissions before and after acute barrier disruption.

Volatile organic compounds emitted by human skin were sampled before and after acute barrier disruption of the volar forearm to investigate the significance of this approach to skin physiology research. A small wearable housing integrating a solid-phase micro-extraction fibre permitting rapid enclosed headspace sampling of human skin volatiles is presented, enabling non-invasive sample collection in 15 minutes, in a comfortable wearable format. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was utilised to separate and identify the volatile metabolites.

Evaluation of a miniaturised single-stage thermal modulator for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography of petroleum contaminated soils.

A novel miniaturised single-stage resistively heated thermal modulator was investigated as an alternative to cryogenic modulation for use in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC). The single-stage thermal modulator described herein yielded average retention time relative standard deviations (RSD) of ≤0.2% RSD (first-dimension) and ≤3.

Back-flushing and heart cut capillary gas chromatography using planar microfluidic Deans' switching for the separation of benzene and alkylbenzenes in industrial samples.

Planar microfluidic devices coupled with modern electronic pressure control have allowed gas chromatography (GC) practitioners to easily manipulate chromatographic systems to achieve heart cut and back-flushing configurations. These planar microfluidic devices have enhanced the connectivity between different components of GC instrumentation and have improved the inertness and minimised system dead volumes compared to classical chromatographic unions and valves. In the present contribution the setup and configuration of two multidimensional GC (MDGC) platforms is described for achieving the separation and quantification of trace level target C6-C8 alkylbenzenes in styrene monomer and Isoparaffin™ solvents, using flame ionisation detection (FID).

Multiplexed dual first-dimension comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with contra-directional thermal modulation.

A multiplexed dual-primary column comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry approach (2GC×GC-MS) is introduced. The approach splits injected samples into two first-dimension columns with different stationary phases, and recombines the two streams into one second-dimension column that terminates at a single detector. The approach produces two two-dimensional chromatograms for each injection, and is made possible by using a dual-stage modulator operated in contra-directional modulation mode.

Applications of resistive heating in gas chromatography: a review.

Gas chromatography is widely applied to separate, identify, and quantify components of samples in a timely manner. Increasing demand for analytical throughput, instrument portability, environmental sustainability, and more economical analysis necessitates the development of new gas chromatography instrumentation. The applications of resistive column heating technologies have been espoused for nearly thirty years and resistively heated gas chromatography has been commercially available for the last ten years.