Preliminary studies for the standardization of a pXRF analyzer ICP-OES for the accurate quantification of Pb in new paint.

Determining lead (Pb) concentrations in new paints using spectroscopic methods such as Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) requires technical expertise, consumables, equipment for method preparation, and instrumentation that can be cost prohibitive and difficult to maintain in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analyzers are less expensive and simple to operate, their inaccuracy has limited their use to screening for the analysis of Pb in new, dried paint. To determine the limits of pXRF analyzers, new paint samples were purchased, dried, homogenized, and analyzed pXRF and ICP-OES.

Benefits of Aerosolized, Point-of-care, Autologous Skin Cell Suspension (ASCS) for the Closure of Full-thickness Wounds From Thermal and Nonthermal Causes: Learning Curves From the First 50 Consecutive Cases at an Urban, Level 1 Trauma Center.

Objective: To determine the utility of Autologous Skin Cell Suspension (ASCS) in closing full-thickness (FT) defects from injury and infection.

Background: Although ASCS has documented success in closing partial-thickness burns, far less is known about the efficacy of ASCS in FT defects.

Methods: Fifty consecutive patients with FT defects (burn 17, necrotizing infection 13, crush 7, degloving 5, and other 8) underwent closure with the bilayer technique of 3:1 widely meshed, thin, split-thickness skin graft and 80:1 expanded ASCS.

Minimizing higher-order aggregation maximizes iron mobilization by small molecules.

The natural product hinokitiol mobilizes iron across lipid bilayers at low concentrations and restores hemoglobinization in iron transporter protein-deficient systems. But hinokitiol fails to similarly mobilize iron at higher concentrations, limiting its uses in chemical biology and medicine. Here we show that at higher concentrations, hinokitiol:Fe(III) complexes form large, higher-order aggregates, leading to loss of transmembrane iron mobilization.

Method for mapping Hg emissions from gold shops in artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities.

Gold shops in artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities represent major point sources of airborne mercury pollution. Concentrations of elemental mercury (Hg) emitted by these shops can be determined using a portable atomic absorbance spectrometer (AAS) with Zeeman correction. These measured Hg concentrations can then be correlated to position as determined by a hand-held GPS unit, and the resulting data mapped using a Geographic Information System (GIS).