Comprehensive Screening of per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Food Contact Materials: Utilizing Combustion Ion Chromatography for Total Organic Fluorine (TOF) Analysis.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) comprise thousands of fluorinated chemicals. They are of growing concern because many PFAS compounds are persistent and toxic. Food contact materials (FCM) containing PFAS pose multiple exposure pathways to humans, prompting twelve states to enact laws banning FCM with PFAS levels exceeding 100 ppm of TOF.

Biomarkers Assessing the Role of Cumulus Cells on IVF Outcomes: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: Although significant improvements in assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes have been accomplished, a critical question remains: which embryo is most likely to result in a pregnancy? Embryo selection is currently based on morphological and genetic criteria; however, these criteria do not fully predict good-quality embryos and additional objective criteria are needed. The cumulus cells are critical for oocyte and embryo development. This systematic review assessed biomarkers in cumulus-oocyte complexes and their association with successful IVF outcomes.

Development of a dynamic machine learning algorithm to predict clinical pregnancy and live birth rate with embryo morphokinetics.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of generating a center-specific embryo morphokinetic algorithm by time-lapse microscopy to predict clinical pregnancy rates.

Design: A retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting: Academic fertility clinic in a tertiary hospital setting.

Effect of Edge-to-Edge Mitral Valve Repair on Chordal Strain: Fluid-Structure Interaction Simulations.

Edge-to-edge repair for mitral valve regurgitation is being increasingly performed in high-surgical risk patients using minimally invasive mitral clipping devices. Known procedural complications include chordal rupture and mitral leaflet perforation. Hence, it is important to quantitatively evaluate the effect of edge-to-edge repair on chordal integrity.

Heparin-Sparing Anticoagulation Strategies Are Viable Options for Patients on Veno-Venous ECMO.

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a rescue therapy for pulmonary failure, has traditionally been limited by anticoagulation requirements. Recent practice has challenged the absolute need for anticoagulation, expanding the role of ECMO to patients with higher bleeding risk. We hypothesize that mortality, bleeding, thrombotic events, and transfusions do not differ between heparin-sparing and full therapeutic anticoagulation strategies in veno-venous (VV) ECMO management.

The Effect of Cardiac Preservation Solutions on Heart Transplant Survival.

Background: Limited data exist that compare the predominant cardiac preservation solutions (CPSs).

Materials And Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing database was retrospectively reviewed from January 1, 2004 to March 31, 2018, for donor hearts. Of 34,614 potential donors, 21,908 remained after applying the exclusion criteria.

Gadolinium Doping Enhances the Photoacoustic Signal of Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticles: A Dual Modality Contrast Agent for Stem Cell Imaging.

In this paper, we show that gadolinium-loaded synthetic melanin nanoparticles (Gd(III)-SMNPs) exhibit up to a 40-fold enhanced photoacoustic signal intensity relative to synthetic melanin alone and higher than other metal-chelated SMNPs. This property makes these materials useful as dual labeling agents because Gd(III)-SMNPs also behave as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. As a proof-of-concept, we used these nanoparticles to label human mesenchymal stem cells.

Sea Spray Aerosol: The Chemical Link between the Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate.

The oceans, atmosphere, and clouds are all interconnected through the release and deposition of chemical species, which provide critical feedback in controlling the composition of our atmosphere and climate. To better understand the couplings between the ocean and atmosphere, it is critical to improve our understanding of the processes that control sea spray aerosol (SSA) composition and which ones plays the dominate role in regulating atmospheric chemistry and climate.

Surface organization of a DPPC monolayer on concentrated SrCl and ZnCl solutions.

Transition metals are known to be enriched in organic-coated marine aerosols, but the impact these cations have on their surface properties is not well understood. Here the effect of Zn enrichment on the surface properties of a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) monolayer was investigated and compared to that of the alkaline earth metal Sr, an ion not enriched in aerosols. Phase behavior of the DPPC film on concentrated aqueous solutions was probed with surface pressure-area isotherms while domain morphology was monitored with Brewster angle microscopy (BAM).

Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis of Ruptured Mitral Chordae Tendineae.

The chordal structure is a part of mitral valve geometry that has been commonly neglected or simplified in computational modeling due to its complexity. However, these simplifications cannot be used when investigating the roles of individual chordae tendineae in mitral valve closure. For the first time, advancements in imaging, computational techniques, and hardware technology make it possible to create models of the mitral valve without simplifications to its complex geometry, and to quickly run validated computer simulations that more realistically capture its function.

An Approach to the Estimation of Adsorption Enthalpies of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Particle Surfaces.

Current atmospheric models incorporate the values of vaporization enthalpies, ΔHvap, obtained for neat standards, thus disregarding the matrix effects on volatilization. To test the adequacy of this approximation, this study measured enthalpies of vaporization for five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the form of neat standards (ΔHvap) as well as adsorbed on the surface of silica, graphite, and graphene particles (ΔHvap(eff)), by using simultaneous thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC). Measurement of the corresponding activation energy values, Ea(vap) and Ea vap(eff), by TGA using a derivative method was shown to be the most reliable and practical way to assess ΔHvap and ΔHvap(eff).

Fluid-structure interaction and structural analyses using a comprehensive mitral valve model with 3D chordal structure.

Over the years, three-dimensional models of the mitral valve have generally been organized around a simplified anatomy. Leaflets have been typically modeled as membranes, tethered to discrete chordae typically modeled as one-dimensional, non-linear cables. Yet, recent, high-resolution medical images have revealed that there is no clear boundary between the chordae and the leaflets.

High-resolution subject-specific mitral valve imaging and modeling: experimental and computational methods.

The diversity of mitral valve (MV) geometries and multitude of surgical options for correction of MV diseases necessitates the use of computational modeling. Numerical simulations of the MV would allow surgeons and engineers to evaluate repairs, devices, procedures, and concepts before performing them and before moving on to more costly testing modalities. Constructing, tuning, and validating these models rely upon extensive in vitro characterization of valve structure, function, and response to change due to diseases.

Selectivity Across the Interface: A Test of Surface Activity in the Composition of Organic-Enriched Aerosols from Bubble Bursting.

Although theories have been developed that describe surface activity of organic molecules at the air-water interface, few studies have tested how surface activity impacts the selective transfer of molecules from solution phase into the aerosol phase during bubble bursting. The selective transfer of a series of organic compounds that differ in their solubility and surface activity from solution into the aerosol phase is quantified experimentally for the first time. Aerosol was produced from solutions containing salts and a series of linear carboxlyates (LCs) and dicarboxylates (LDCs) using a bubble bursting process.

Analysis of Organic Anionic Surfactants in Fine and Coarse Fractions of Freshly Emitted Sea Spray Aerosol.

The inclusion of organic compounds in freshly emitted sea spray aerosol (SSA) has been shown to be size-dependent, with an increasing organic fraction in smaller particles. Here we have used electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometry in negative ion mode to identify organic compounds in nascent sea spray collected throughout a 25 day mesocosm experiment. Over 280 organic compounds from ten major homologous series were tentatively identified, including saturated (C8-C24) and unsaturated (C12-C22) fatty acids, fatty acid derivatives (including saturated oxo-fatty acids (C5-C18) and saturated hydroxy-fatty acids (C5-C18), organosulfates (C2-C7, C12-C17) and sulfonates (C16-C22).

Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis of Papillary Muscle Forces Using a Comprehensive Mitral Valve Model with 3D Chordal Structure.

Numerical models of native heart valves are being used to study valve biomechanics to aid design and development of repair procedures and replacement devices. These models have evolved from simple two-dimensional approximations to complex three-dimensional, fully coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) systems. Such simulations are useful for predicting the mechanical and hemodynamic loading on implanted valve devices.

The occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives and the proinflammatory potential of fractionated extracts of diesel exhaust and wood smoke particles.

Exposure to combustion emissions, including diesel engine exhaust and wood smoke particles (DEPs and WSPs), has been associated with inflammatory responses. To investigate the possible role of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and PAH-derivatives, the DEPs and WSPs methanol extracts were fractionated by solid phase extraction (SPE), and the fractions were analyzed for more than ∼120 compounds. The pro-inflammatory effects of the fractionated extracts were characterized by exposure of bronchial epithelial lung cells (BEAS-2B).

Differential effects of the particle core and organic extract of diesel exhaust particles.

Exposure to diesel engine exhaust particles (DEPs), representing a complex and variable mixture of components, has been associated with lung disease and induction of pro-inflammatory mediators and CYP1A1 expression. The aim of this study was to further characterise DEP-components accounting for these effects. Human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) were exposed to either native DEPs, or corresponding methanol DEP-extract or residual DEPs, and investigated with respect to cytotoxicity and expression and release of multiple inflammation-related mediators.

Fluid-Structure Interactions of the Mitral Valve and Left Heart: Comprehensive Strategies, Past, Present and Future.

The remodeling that occurs after a posterolateral myocardial infarction can alter mitral valve function by creating conformational abnormalities in the mitral annulus and in the posteromedial papillary muscle, leading to mitral regurgitation (MR). It is generally assumed that this remodeling is caused by a volume load and is mediated by an increase in diastolic wall stress. Thus, mitral regurgitation can be both the cause and effect of an abnormal cardiac stress environment.

Detection of chromosomal anomalies in endometrial atypical hyperplasia and carcinoma by using fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Background: Endometrial cancer is the most common pelvic gynecological malignancy. The diagnosis of well-differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma, atypical hyperplasia, and hyperplasia is often challenging. The authors sought to investigate the utility of chromosomal anomalies for the detection of endometrial hyperplasia and carcinoma using multitarget fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Outcomes of patients undergoing concomitant aortic and mitral valve surgery in northern new England.

Background: Concomitant aortic (AV) and mitral (MV) valve surgery accounts for 4% of all valve procedures in northern New England. We examined in-hospital and long-term mortality.

Methods And Results: This is a report of a prospective study of 1057 patients undergoing concomitant AV and MV surgery from 1989 to 2007.

Long-term survival of the very elderly undergoing aortic valve surgery.

Background: Increasing numbers of the very elderly are undergoing aortic valve procedures. We describe the short- and long-term survivorship for this cohort.

Methods And Results: We conducted a cohort study of 7584 consecutive patients undergoing open aortic valve surgery without (51.

Broad DNA repair responses in neural injury are associated with activation of the IL-6 pathway in cholesterol-fed rabbits.

The importance of DNA repair in the pathogenic mechanism of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is still poorly understood. Here, we report that a broad range of responses by DNA repair proteins plays a critical role in the regulation of inflammatory response in rabbits fed with cholesterol-rich diet, a model system for AD. We found accumulation of oxodG DNA adduct in the brain of rabbits fed with cholesterol-enriched diets compared to control diets, which subsequently induced a broad range of DNA repair protein activities.

Percutaneous mitral valve dilatation: single balloon versus double balloon. A finite element study.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Percutaneous mitral valve (MV) dilatation is routinely performed for mitral stenosis using either a single balloon (SB) or double balloon (DB) technique. The study aim was to compare the two techniques using the finite element (FE) method.

Methods: An established FE model of the MV was modified by fusing MV leaflet edges at commissure level to simulate a stenotic valve (orifice area = 180 mm2).