Hybrid Sol-Gel Coatings Doped with Non-Toxic Corrosion Inhibitors for Corrosion Protection on AZ61 Magnesium Alloy

Physiological human fluid is a natural corrosive environment and can lead to serious corrosion and mechanical damages to light Mg–Al alloys used in prosthetics for biomedical applications. In this work, organic–inorganic hybrid coatings doped with various environmentally friendly and non-toxic corrosion inhibitors have been prepared by the sol-gel process for the corrosion protection of AZ61 magnesium alloys. Effectiveness has been evaluated by pH measurements, optical microscopy, and SEM during a standard corrosion test in a Hanks’ Balanced Salt Solution. The results showed that the addition of an inhibitor to the sol-gel coating can improve significantly the corrosion performance, being an excellent barrier for the L-cysteine-doped hybrid sol-gel films. The incorporation of TiO2 nanoparticles, 2-Aminopyridine and quinine organic molecules slowed down the corrosion rate of the Mg–Al alloy. Graphene oxide seemed to have the same response to corrosion as the hybrid sol-gel coating without inhibitors.

Urease-free Ni-microwires intercalated Co-ZIF electrocatalyst for rapid detection of urea in human fluid and milk samples in diverse electrolytes

Urea assists an important biological role in metabolism to determine the protein levels in human body. The surplus limit of its prescribed level causes heart failure, dehydration, cachexia, and hepatic...

The Novel Neurotoxic and Neuroimmunotoxic Capabilities of Aflatoxin B1 on the Nervous System: A Review

Aflatoxins B1(AFB1) is an ancillary lethal metabolite archetypally spawned by Aspergillus flavus as well as A. parasiticus mostly found all over the world but more in tropic and humid regions. AFB1 has been isolated is almost all food products. The isolation of AFB1 in humans was demonstrated using human fluid like urine, serum as well as breast milk. Also, AFB1 was isolated in human placenta in pregnant women. ELISA is extremely sensitive in detecting AFB1. AFB1 was capable of compromising the activities of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). AFB1 was capable of triggering peripheral and central nervous degeneration. Acute central nervous system (CNS) symptoms like coma, cerebral edema as well as death has been observed in AFB1 exposure to the brain. Also, symptoms of brain destruction such as dullness, restlessness, muscle tremor, convulsions, loss of memory, epilepsy, idiocy, loss of muscle coordination, and abnormal sensations have been associated with deficiencies of these neurotransmitter during AFB1exposure. AFB1 was capable of influencing the end products of proteins as well as amino acid metabolism leading to hyper-ammonemia which easily cross the BBB to trigger the synthesis of glutamate neurotransmitters which are cytotoxic to the brain cells and causes encephalopathy. Glutathione (GHS) depletion resulted in destruction to critical cellular components such as DNA, lipids and proteins via the 8,9 epoxides of AFB1.This review therefore elucidates the novel neurotoxic and neuroimmunotoxic roles of AFB1 on the CNS.

Gaps between the digits

Artificially intelligent systems (ai) are increasingly becoming the ubiquitous, unseen arbiters of our social, civic and familial lives. Ever increasing computational power, combined with almost limitless data, has led to a turning point in the way artificial intelligence assists, judges, and cares for humans. In the wake of such power we must ask ourselves what it is that we are making inherently unknowable as the world becomes more predictable, managed, and discrete. Building on the work of black feminists Sylvia Wynter and Hortense Spillers, I perform a reading of the “flesh”. I aim to hint towards a different field of relations and a knowledge politic premised on unknowability and the radical potential of the subjugated to foster new imaginaries of the human fluid enough to weather instability. This piece troubles the boundaries inscribed between things. Settled in the flesh of blackness, we are reminded of the ways that blackness floods the landscape of productive reason while holding outlier ways of being beyond Western Man. This paper seeks to return to the pulse found within the flesh as a critical site for thinking through alternate ways of being, within the messiness, the unstable, the precarious; finding life born of transition, the pulse within discord.

Metabolomics Test Materials for Quality Control: A Study of a Urine Materials Suite

There is a lack of experimental reference materials and standards for metabolomics measurements, such as urine, plasma, and other human fluid samples. Reasons include difficulties with supply, distribution, and dissemination of information about the materials. Additionally, there is a long lead time because reference materials need their compositions to be fully characterized with uncertainty, a labor-intensive process for material containing thousands of relevant compounds. Furthermore, data analysis can be hampered by different methods using different software by different vendors. In this work, we propose an alternative implementation of reference materials. Instead of characterizing biological materials based on their composition, we propose using untargeted metabolomic data such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or gas and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS and LC-MS) profiles. The profiles are then distributed with the material accompanying the certificate, so that researchers can compare their own metabolomic measurements with the reference profiles. To demonstrate this approach, we conducted an interlaboratory study (ILS) in which seven National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) urine Standard Reference Material®s (SRM®s) were distributed to participants, who then returned the metabolomic data to us. We then implemented chemometric methods to analyze the data together to estimate the uncertainties in the current measurement techniques. The participants identified similar patterns in the profiles that distinguished the seven samples. Even when the number of spectral features is substantially different between platforms, a collective analysis still shows significant overlap that allows reliable comparison between participants. Our results show that a urine suite such as that used in this ILS could be employed for testing and harmonization among different platforms. A limited quantity of test materials will be made available for researchers who are willing to repeat the protocols presented here and contribute their data.