Microplastics in the Olfactory Bulb of the Human Brain.

Importance: Microplastic (MP) pollution is an emerging environmental and health concern. While MPs have been detected in various human tissues, their presence in the human brain has not been documented, raising important questions about potential neurotoxic effects and the mechanisms by which MPs might reach brain tissues.

Objective: To determine the presence of MPs in the human olfactory bulb and to analyze their characteristics such as size, morphology, color, and polymeric composition.

A Study of the Peculiarities of the Formation of a Hybrid Interface Based on Polydopamine between Dental Tissues and Dental Composites, Using IR and Raman Microspectroscopy, at the Submicron Level.

The creation of buffer (hybrid) layers that provide improved adhesion to two heterogeneous materials is a promising and high-priority research area in the field of dental materials science. In our work, using FTIR and Raman microspectroscopy at the submicron level in a system of dental composites/intact dental enamel, we assessed the molecular features of formation and chemically visualized the hybrid interface formed on the basis of a nature-like adhesive, polydopamine (PDA). It is shown that a homogeneous bioinspired PDA-hybrid interface with an increased content of O-Ca-O bonds can be created using traditional methods of dental tissue pretreatment (diamond micro drilling, acid etching), as well as the subsequent alkalinization procedure and the developed synthesis technology.

The chemical fingerprint of hair melanosomes by infrared nano-spectroscopy.

In situ characterization of the chemical and structural properties of black and white sheep hair was performed with a spatial resolution of 25 nm using infrared nano-spectroscopy. Comparing data sets from two types of hair allowed us to isolate the keratin FTIR fingerprint and so mark off chemical properties of the hair's melanosomes. From a polarization sensitive analysis of the nano-FTIR spectra, we showed that keratin intermediate filaments (IFs) present anisotropic molecular ordering.