Publications by authors named "Robert Houk"

The visualization of foliage color in plants provides immediate insight into some of the compounds that exist in the leaf. However, many non-colored compounds are also present; their cellular distributions are not readily identifiable optically. In this study we evaluate the applicability of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) via electrospray laser desorption ionization (ELDI) to reveal the spatial distribution of metabolites.

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Doubly charged molecular ions of alkaline earth metals and argon could be identified as spectral interferences in an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. These molecular ions were found to occur at abundances reaching about 10(-4) relative to the alkaline earth atomic ion abundances. They can thus substantially affect ultratrace analyses and, when present at similar concentration as the analyte elements, also isotope ratio measurements.

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Doubly charged diatomic ions MAr(2+) where M=Mg, Ca, Sr or Ba have been observed by mass spectrometry with an inductively coupled plasma ion source. Abundance ratios are quite high, 0.1 % for MgAr(2+) , 0.

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Time-of-flight mass spectrometry along with statistical analysis was utilized to study metabolic profiles among rats fed resistant starch (RS) diets. Fischer 344 rats were fed four starch diets consisting of 55 % (w/w, dbs) starch. A control starch diet consisting of corn starch was compared against three RS diets.

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Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) qualitatively and quantitatively measured resistant starch (RS) in rat cecal contents. Fisher 344 rats were fed diets of 55% (w/w, dry basis) starch for 8 weeks. Cecal contents were collected from sacrificed rats.

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Protein misfolding and aggregation are considered key features of many neurodegenerative diseases, but biochemical mechanisms underlying protein misfolding and the propagation of protein aggregates are not well understood. Prion disease is a classical neurodegenerative disorder resulting from the misfolding of endogenously expressed normal cellular prion protein (PrP(C)). Although the exact function of PrP(C) has not been fully elucidated, studies have suggested that it can function as a metal binding protein.

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This work describes the preparation of a selenium-modified TiO(2) photocatalyst and a preliminary evaluation of its photocatalytic activity. Se-TiO(2) displayed greater visible absorption than undoped TiO(2) and was still capable of degrading quinoline at a slightly faster rate than undoped TiO(2) under UV light. Se-TiO(2) was also able to degrade organic molecules under purely visible light by a single electron transfer pathway.

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Environmental exposure to neurotoxic metals through various sources including exposure to welding fumes has been linked to an increased incidence of Parkinson's disease (PD). Welding fumes contain many different metals including vanadium typically present as particulates containing vanadium pentoxide (V2O5). However, possible neurotoxic effects of this metal oxide on dopaminergic neuronal cells are not well studied.

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The normal prion protein is abundantly expressed in the central nervous system, but its biological function remains unclear. The prion protein has octapeptide repeat regions that bind to several divalent metals, suggesting that the prion proteins may alter the toxic effect of environmental neurotoxic metals. In the present study, we systematically examined whether prion protein modifies the neurotoxicity of manganese (Mn) by comparing the effect of Mn on mouse neural cells expressing prion protein (PrP(C)-cells) and prion-knockout (PrP(KO)-cells).

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Epidemiologic studies demonstrate increased cancer incidence among workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and metals, probably through cumulative oxidative DNA damage in response to carcinogens. Boilermakers are exposed to particulates of residual oil fly ash (ROFA) and metal fume that contain carcinogenic PAH and metals. We conducted a repeated-measures cohort study in boilermakers during the overhaul of an oil-fired boiler to determine a possible association between the level of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG; an oxidative injury biomarker) and biomarkers of PAH (1-hydroxypyrene; 1-OHP) and metal exposure.

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