Evaluation of an Ozone Chamber as a Routine Method to Decontaminate Firefighters’ PPE

Ozone chambers have emerged as an alternative method to decontaminate firefighters’ Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from toxic fire residues. This work evaluated the efficiency of using an ozone chamber to clean firefighters’ PPE. This was achieved by studying the degradation of pyrene and 9-methylanthracene polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The following experiments were performed: (i) insufflating ozone into PAH solutions (homogeneous setup), and (ii) exposing pieces of PPE impregnated with the PAHs to an ozone atmosphere for up to one hour (heterogeneous setup). The ozonolysis products were assessed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC), and Mass Spectrometry (MS) analysis. In the homogeneous experiments, compounds of a higher molecular weight were produced due to the incorporation of oxygen into the PAH structures. Some of these new compounds included 4-oxapyren-5-one (m/z 220) and phenanthrene-4,5-dicarboxaldehyde (m/z 234) from pyrene; or 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde (m/z 207) and hydroxy-9,10-anthracenedione (m/z 225) from 9-methylanthracene. In the heterogeneous experiments, a lower oxidation was revealed, since no byproducts were detected using FTIR and TLC, but only using MS. However, in both experiments, significant amounts of the original PAHs were still present even after one hour of ozone treatment. Thus, although some partial chemical degradation was observed, the remaining PAH and the new oxygenated-PAH compounds (equally or more toxic than the initial molecules) alerted us of the risks to firefighters’ health when using an ozone chamber as a unique decontamination method. These results do not prove the ozone-advertised efficiency of the ozone chambers for decontaminating (degrading the toxic combustion residues into innocuous compounds) firefighters’ PPE.

Peculiarities of hemodynamics in gestosis

As many as 239 pregnant women suffering from gestosis were examined and they were allowed to give birth by the caesarean operation. Nine types of hemodynamics were selected. All the patients were divided into two groups, depending on the level of gestosis. In each group two subgroups were picked out according to the type of therapy (the 1st one by the old way, the 2d one by new methods). It is shown that in both groups the hypertensive-hypodynamic dissociation and isolated hypertension prevailed. It is stated that in both groups the calculation of the Cardiac Index and Systemic Vascular Resistance with the following definition of the hypodinamic type reflects the severity of the course of gestosis and the effeciency of the therapy directed to the correction of hemodinamics. The application of suggested systematization of hemodynamics disorders and the therapy methods promotes quicker correction of complications of hypertensive therapy in the form ofv postural reactions than in the case of the routine method.

Developing Two Rapid Protein Extraction Methods Using Focused-Ultrasonication and Zirconia-Silica Beads for Filamentous Fungi Identification by MALDI-TOF MS

Filamentous fungi identification by Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been challenging due to the lack of simple and rapid protein extraction methods and insufficient species coverage in the database. In this study, we created two rapid protein extraction methods for filamentous fungi: a one-step zirconia-silica beads method (ZSB) and a focused-ultrasonication method (FUS). The identification accuracy of two methods were evaluated with the VITEK MS, as well as number of spectra peaks and signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) with M-Discover 100 MALDI-TOF MS compared to the routine method. The better method was applied to build a filamentous fungi in-house spectra library for the M-Discover 100 MS, and then another one and routine method were performed in parallel to verify the accuracy and commonality of the in-house library. Using the two optimized methods, the dedicated operating time before MALDI-TOF MS analysis was reduced from 30 min to 7 (ZSB) or 5 (FUS) min per sample, with only a few seconds added for each additional strain. And both two methods identified isolates from most mold types equal to or better than the routine method, and the total correct identification rate using VITEK MS was 79.67, 76.42, and 76.42%, respectively. On the other hand, the two rapid methods generally achieved higher maximum and minimum S/N ratios with these isolates tested as compared to the routine method. Besides, the ZSB method produced overall mean of maximum and minimum S/N ratio higher than that by FUS. An in-house library of M-Discover MS was successfully built from 135 isolates from 42 species belonging to 18 genera using the ZSB method. Analysis of 467 isolates resulted in 97.22% correctly identified isolates to the species level by the ZSB method versus 95.50% by the routine method. The two novel methods are time- and cost-effective and allow efficient identification of filamentous fungi while providing a simplified procedure to build an in-house library. Thus, more clinical laboratories may consider adopting MALDI-TOF MS for filamentous fungi identification in the future.

COMPARISON OF HBA1C LEVEL MEASURED BY HPLC AND CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS AMONG PATIENT WITH HIGH UREA

Utilization of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes mellitus is accepted and validated worldwide. Standardisation between various methods available is no longer an issue. However, knowledge of HbA1c interference by various haemoglobin (Hb) fractions presence in the patient’s sample must be taken into account during HbA1c analysis and interpretation. Carbamylated Hb (cHb) is one of Hb fractions, formed when Hb condensed at the N-terminal valine by cyanate derived from spontaneous decomposition of urea which usually raised in patients with renal impairment. This study aimed to compare the level of HbA1c in patient with high urea measured using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Capillary Electrophoresis (CE). After analysis using the laboratory’s routine method, or HPLC, the patient’s samples with concurrent urea level of >25 mmol/L were re-analyzed within 2 hours using the comparative method or CE. A cut off cHb of 2% on HPLC considered as no interference. The mean level of urea was 31.37±5.09 mmol/L (range 25.2-43.1mmol/L). Out of 68 samples, only 24 cHb were detected by HPLC but only less than 2% and none cHb detected on CE. Correlation between HPLC and CE showed no significant different in HbA1c measurement (r= p>0.05). Therefore, we propose that both HPLC and CE can be used to determine HbA1c level in patient with high urea.

ZGA: a flexible pipeline for read processing, de novo assembly and annotation of prokaryotic genomes

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) became a routine method in modern days and may be applied to study a wide spectrum of scientific problems. Despite increasing availability of genome sequencing by itself, genome assembly and annotation could be a challenge for an inexperienced researcher. To solve this problem, a bioinformatic pipeline was developed to conduct a user from raw sequencing reads to annotated bacterial or archaeal genome ready for deposition to any INSDC database as NCBI, ENA or DDBJ. The pipeline is fully automated and doesn’t require internet connection after installation which prevents data leakage and premature publication of genome sequences. The source code of the pipeline is freely available at https://github.com/laxeye/zga/. The software may be installed from popular repositories: Anaconda Cloud (https://anaconda.org/bioconda/zga/) and PyPI (https://pypi.org/project/zga/).

Retarding Ostwald ripening through Gibbs adsorption and interfacial complexions leads to high-performance SnTe thermoelectrics

Nanoprecipitation is a routine method to decrease the thermal conductivity for advancing thermoelectric performance. However, the coarsening/Ostwald ripening of precipitates under temperature gradients in long-duration service deteriorates the efficacy of...

Microchip Electrophoresis

Microchip electrophoresis (MCE) is a miniaturized form of capillary electrophoresis. Electrophoresis is a common technique to separate macromolecules such as nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) and proteins. This technique has become a routine method for DNA size fragmenting and separating protein mixtures in most laboratories around the world. The application of higher voltages in MCE achieves faster and efficient electrophoretic separations.

When Stereochemistry Raised Its Ugly Head in Coordination Chemistry—An Appreciation of Howard Flack

Chiral compounds have played an important role in the development of coordination chemistry. Unlike organic chemistry, where mechanistic rules allowed the establishment of absolute configurations for numerous compounds once a single absolute determination had been made, coordination compounds are more complex. This article discusses the development of crystallographic methods and the interplay with coordination chemistry. Most importantly, the development of the Flack parameter is identified as providing a routine method for determining the absolute configuration of coordination compounds.

Identification of Synthetic Cannabinoid 5F-ADB (5F-MDMB-PINACA) and Its Metabolite in Urine Sample Using Liquid Chromatography – High Resolution Mass Spectrometer (LC-HRMS)

Synthetic cannabinoids are commonly known as Gorillas Tobacco, Hanomans Tobacco or Ganeshas Tobacco in Indonesia. Those products are camouflaged as a tobacco related to the number of smokers in Indonesia. The 5F-ADB (5F-MDMB-PINACA) has become an issue since 2016. It was undetectable by conventional drug testing methodology such as immunoassay method. GC-MS as a routine method analysis is not recommended also for detecting the metabolites from biological specimen with low concentration. The paper report LC-HRMS based method for identification of 5F-ADB and its metabolites in urine sample. Various of volume injections (1, 3, and 6 µL) was studied. Sample was acidified with concentrate of HCl, then undergo extraction with EXtrelut® Column NT3 prior to LC-HRMS analysis. The full method was operated for MS/dd-MS2 identification. The 5F-ADB and its ester hydrolysis metabolite, 5F-ADB metabolite 7 (C19H27FN3O3+) was detected in urine sample.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis whole genome sequence data support repurposing antileprosy antibiotic as antituberculosis

Background We implanted WGS as the routine method to profile the antibiotic susceptibility of M. tuberculosis isolates focusing on in silico resistance to antileprosy drugs that we recently proposed to reposition for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods We prospectively performed WGS of 112 M. tuberculosis isolates recovered from respiratory tract samples of 106 patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis between 2017 and 2019 and defined their antibiotic susceptibility profile to 17 antibiotics including antileprotics drugs. Results We incidentally observed 08 sequence variations in 07 genes, specific to seven sublineages. Altogether, we observed 09 (8%) rifampicin-resistant, 05 (4.4%) multidrug-resistant and 02 (1.7%) extensively-drug resistant isolates; whereas only one isolate exhibited in silico resistance to clofazimine. Conclusion These results support repurposing of antileprosis antibiotics as antituberculosis; and offer new targets for genotyping M. tuberculosis.