Electron energy loss spectroscopy for analysis of inhaled ultrafine particles in rat lungs

Epidemiologic studies have associated cardiovascular morbidity and mortality with ambient particulate air pollution. Particles smaller than 100 nm in diameter (ultrafine particles) are present in the urban atmosphere in very high numbers yet at very low mass concentration. Organs beyond the lungs are considered as targets for inhaled ultrafine particles, whereby the route of particle translocation deeper into the lungs is unclear. Five rats were exposed to aerosols of ultrafine titanium dioxide particles of a count median diameter of 22 nm (geometric standard deviation, GSD 1.7) for 1 hour. The lungs were fixed by intravascular perfusion of fixatives immediately thereafter. TiO(2) particles in probes of the aerosol as well as in systematic tissue samples were analyzed with a LEO 912 transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy filter for elemental microanalysis. The characteristic energy loss spectra were obtained by fast spectrum acquisition. Aerosol particles as well as those in the lung tissue were unambiguously identified by electron energy loss spectroscopy. Particles were mainly found as small clusters with a rounded shape. Seven percent of the particles in the lung tissue had a needle-like shape. The size distribution of the cluster profiles in the tissue had a count median diameter of 29 nm (GSD 1.7), which indicates no severe clustering or reshaping of the originally inhaled particles. Electron energy loss spectroscopy and related analytical methods were found to be suitable to identify and localize ultrafine titanium dioxide particles within chemically fixed and resin-embedded lung tissue.     

The Human Host Defense Ribonucleases 1, 3 and 7 Are Elevated in Patients with Sepsis after Major Surgery—A Pilot Study

Sepsis is the most common cause of death in intensive care units and associated with widespread activation of host innate immunity responses. Ribonucleases (RNases) are important components of the innate immune system, however the role of RNases in sepsis has not been investigated. We evaluated serum levels of RNase 1, 3 and 7 in 20 surgical sepsis patients (Sepsis), nine surgical patients (Surgery) and 10 healthy controls (Healthy). RNase 1 and 3 were elevated in Sepsis compared to Surgery (2.2- and 3.1-fold, respectively; both p < 0.0001) or compared to Healthy (3.0- and 15.5-fold, respectively; both p < 0.0001). RNase 1 showed a high predictive value for the development of more than two organ failures (AUC 0.82, p = 0.01). Patients with renal dysfunction revealed higher RNase 1 levels than without renal dysfunction (p = 0.03). RNase 1 and 3 were higher in respiratory failure than without respiratory failure (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.02, respectively). RNase 7 was not detected in Healthy patients and only in two patients of Surgery, however RNase 7 was detected in 10 of 20 Sepsis patients. RNase 7 was higher in renal or metabolic failure than without failure (p = 0.04 and p = 0.02, respectively). In conclusion, RNase 1, 3 and 7 are secreted into serum under conditions with tissue injury, such as major surgery or sepsis. Thus, RNases might serve as laboratory parameters to diagnose and monitor organ failure in sepsis.     

Science's Response to CoVID-19

CoVID-19 is a multi-symptomatic disease which has made a global impact due to its ability to spread rapidly, and its relatively high mortality rate. Beyond the heroic efforts to develop vaccines, which we do not discuss herein, the response of scientists and clinicians to this complex problem has reflected the need to detect CoVID-19 rapidly, to diagnose patients likely to show adverse symptoms, and to treat severe and critical CoVID-19. Here we aim to encapsulate these varied and sometimes conflicting approaches and the resulting data in terms of chemistry and biology. In the process we highlight emerging concepts, and potential future applications that may arise out of this immense effort.     

Gesundheitsinformationen im Internet

Electronic Health (E-Health) increasingly strives to provide health information and services to healthcare stakeholders (e.g., insurances, physicians, hospital and patient alliances, self-help groups) via the Internet, and to actively involve patients in their care. One major chance for these participatory healthcare and patient-oriented approaches that integrate patients in healthcare are the phenomena and ideas associated with providing information and healthcare on the Internet. This paper examines the existing body of knowledge on online health information and explores the current state of research through a review of literature by classifying articles published between the last two decades in IS, BISE, and health domain-specific journals as well as a review of past and current BMBF-, DFG-, and EU-funded research projects in this field. The fundamental categories of the analysis represent the stakeholders in the healthcare sector, the connecting information flows, the information-transferring technological applications, as well as the categories of the TEMPEST model. Amongst others, the results show that most of the analyzed papers discuss conventional, transactional E-Health applications. Within the TEMPEST model the technological category has the largest share of all categories. Based on these findings, causes and future research fields are discussed.     

Investigation of the effects of a variation of fuel assembly position on the ex-core neutron flux detection in a PWR

This work shows the impact of potential displacements of the fuel assembly positions in the reactor core on the signal values of the ex-core instrumentation of a pressurized water reactor in order to understand in detail the impact on the calibration factor of ex-core detectors. This was done with a range of Monte Carlo calculations that simulated the detailed geometrical effect by stepwise changing of the positions of fuel assemblies for selected, conservative scenarios. First, criticality calculations were carried out for the chosen core configurations, and corresponding surface sources on the core barrel were determined. In these calculations, the distances were varied between the fuel assemblies which were in the line of sight of the ex-core instrumentation. A maximal change of the fluxes on the surface of the core barrel of 4%/mm could be calculated under conservative assumptions for the combination of displaced fuel assemblies. In addition, a dependence of this effect as a function of cycle burn-up was analyzed. In a second step, transport calculations for the ionization chambers were performed using the surface sources. An increase of the reaction rate at the chambers of up to 3%/mm has been calculated.     

Auslegung von Blasensäulen mithilfe von Compartmentmodellen

In bubble columns, the phenomena of mass and heat transfer as well as the reaction are closely linked to the complex fluid dynamics. Compartment modeling offers the opportunity to integrate these phenomena while enabling an axial and radial distribution with acceptable computing effort. This article includes methods for generating the compartment geometry and fluid dynamic parameters of this modeling approach, facilitating the opportunity to optimize an industrial bubble column.