Primary and ultimate degradation of benzophenone-type UV filters under different environmental conditions and the underlying structure-biodegradability relationships.

Ten common benzophenone-based UV filters (BPs), sharing the same basic structure and differing only in their substituents, were investigated with respect to their primary and ultimate biodegradability. This study was carried out in order to gain deeper insights into the relationship between structure and biodegradability. The primary biodegradation of the selected BPs was studied in river water at environmentally relevant concentrations (1 µg/L) while varying specific, crucial environmental conditions (aerobic, suboxic, supplementation of nutrients).

Tracking towards care: Relational affordances of self-tracking in gym culture.

In the past few years, self-tracking technologies have been celebrated for the possibilities they offer to 'optimize' fitness and wellbeing, yet also criticized for being rigid and isolating. In this article, we identify complex tracking arrangements that consist of a variety of data and multiple modalities of tracking emplaced within arrangements of actors and objects (digital/analog tracking devices and data output). We inquire into how these arrangements afford care.

Critical-depth Raman spectroscopy enables home-use non-invasive glucose monitoring.

One of the most ambitious endeavors in the field of diabetes technology is non-invasive glucose sensing. In the past decades, a number of different technologies have been assessed, but none of these have found its entry into general clinical use. We report on the development of a table-top confocal Raman spectrometer that was used in the home of patients with diabetes and operated for extended periods of time unsupervised and without recalibration.

Real-time monitoring of lycopene content in tomato-derived products during processing: implementation of a novel double-slit Raman spectrometer.

Lycopene is a very attractive antioxidant associated with cancer prevention in humans. Therefore, it is important to develop new analytical methods that allow for differentiation of food production streams that contain various antioxidant concentrations. The lycopene content in tomato juice, an intermediate between raw tomatoes and the final tomato paste product, was monitored on-line for 46 days at a production plant with a novel, patented double-channel Raman setup.

Positive selection pressure introduces secondary mutations at Gag cleavage sites in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 harboring major protease resistance mutations.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease inhibitors (PIs) specifically target the HIV-1 protease enzyme. Mutations in the enzyme can result in PI resistance (termed PI mutations); however, mutations in the HIV-1 gag region, the substrate for the protease enzyme, might also lead to PI resistance. We analyzed gag and pol sequence data from the following 313 HIV-1-infected patients: 160 treatment-naïve patients, 93 patients failing antiretroviral treatment that included a PI (with no major PI mutations), and 60 patients failing antiretroviral treatment that included a PI (with major PI mutations).