A new portable monitor for measuring odorous compounds in oral, exhaled and nasal air

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The B/B Checker^®, a new portable device for detecting odorous compounds in oral, exhaled, and nasal air, is now available. As a single unit, this device is capable of detecting several kinds of gases mixed with volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) in addition to other odorous gasses. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the B/B Checker^®for detecting the malodor level of oral, exhaled, and nasal air.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 30 healthy, non-smoking volunteers (16 males and 14 females) participated in this study. The malodor levels in oral, exhaled, and nasal air were measured using the B/B Checker^®and by organoleptic test (OT) scores. The VSCs in each air were also measured by gas chromatography (GC). Associations among B/B Checker^®measurements, OT scores and VSC levels were analyzed using Spearman correlation coefficients. In order to determine the appropriate B/B Checker^®level for screening subjects with malodor, sensitivity and specificity were calculated using OT scores as an identifier for diagnosing oral malodor.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In oral and nasal air, the total VSC levels measured by GC significantly correlated to that measured by the B/B Checker^®. Significant correlation was observed between the results of OT scores and the B/B Checker^®measurements in oral (r = 0.892, p < 0.001), exhaled (r = 0.748, p < 0.001) and nasal air (r = 0.534, p < 0.001). The correlation between the OT scores and VSC levels was significant only for oral air (r = 0.790, p < 0.001) and nasal air (r = 0.431, p = 0.002); not for exhaled air (r = 0.310, p = 0.096). When the screening level of the B/B Checker^®was set to 50.0 for oral air, the sensitivity and specificity were 1.00 and 0.90, respectively. On the other hand, the screening level of the B/B Checker^®was set to 60.0 for exhaled air, the sensitivity and specificity were 0.82 and 1.00, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The B/B Checker^®is useful for objective evaluation of malodor in oral, exhaled and nasal air and for screening subjects with halitosis.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01139073">NCT01139073</a></p

Description of an aerodynamic levitation apparatus with applications in Earth sciences

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In aerodynamic levitation, solids and liquids are floated in a vertical gas stream. In combination with CO₂-laser heating, containerless melting at high temperature of oxides and silicates is possible. We apply aerodynamic levitation to bulk rocks in preparation for microchemical analyses, and for evaporation and reduction experiments.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Liquid silicate droplets (~2 mm) were maintained stable in levitation using a nozzle with a 0.8 mm bore and an opening angle of 60°. The gas flow was ~250 ml min^-1. Rock powders were melted and homogenized for microchemcial analyses. Laser melting produced chemically homogeneous glass spheres. Only highly (e.g. H₂O) and moderately volatile components (Na, K) were partially lost. The composition of evaporated materials was determined by directly combining levitation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. It is shown that the evaporated material is composed of Na > K >> Si. Levitation of metal oxide-rich material in a mixture of H₂and Ar resulted in the exsolution of liquid metal.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Levitation melting is a rapid technique or for the preparation of bulk rock powders for major, minor and trace element analysis. With exception of moderately volatile elements Na and K, bulk rock analyses can be performed with an uncertainty of ± 5% relative. The technique has great potential for the quantitative determination of evaporated materials from silicate melts. Reduction of oxides to metal is a means for the extraction and analysis of siderophile elements from silicates and can be used to better understand the origin of chondritic metal.</p

The effect of Al 3+ , Fe 3+ , and Ti 4+ on the configurational heat capacities of sodium silicate liquids

The heat capacities of 29 glasses and supercooled liquids in the Na 2 O-SiO 2 , Na 2 O-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 , Na 2 O-(FeO)-Fe 2 O 3 -SiO 2 , and Na 2 O-TiO 2 -SiO 2 systems were measured in air from 328 to 998 K with a differential scanning calorimeter. The reproducibility of the data determined from multiple heat capacity runs on a single crystal MgO standard is within ± 1% of the accepted values at temperatures ≤ 800 K and within ± 1.5% between 800 and 1000 K. Within the resolution of the data, the heat capacities of sodium silicate and sodium aluminosilicate liquids are temperature independent. Heat capacity data in the supercooled liquid region for the sodium silicates and sodium aluminosilicates were combined and modelled assuming a linear compositional dependence. The derived values for the partial molar heat capacities of Na 2 O, Al 2 O 3 , and SiO 2 are 112.35 ± 0.42, 153.16 ± 0.82, and 76.38 ± 0.20 J/gfw · K respectively. The partial molar heat capacities of Fe 2 O 3 and TiO 2 could not be determined in the same manner because the heat capacities of the Fe 2 O 3 - and TiO 2 -bearing sodium silicate melts showed varying degrees of negative temperature dependence. The negative temperature dependence to the configurational C P may be related to the occurrence of sub-microscopic domains (relatively polymerized and depolymerized) that break down to a more homogeneous melt structure with increasing temperature. Such an interpretation is consistent with data from in situ Raman, Mössbauer, and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopic studies on similar melts.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42090/1/269-26-2-83_80260083.pd

High-temperature heat capacity and thermodynamic properties for end-member titanite (CaTiSiO 5 )

 The heat capacity of end-member titanite and (CaTiSiO 5 ) glass has been measured in the range 328–938 K using differential scanning calorimetry. The data show a weak λ-shaped anomaly at 483 ± 5 K, presumably associated with the well-known low-pressure P 2 1 /a ⇆  A 2/a transition, in good agreement with previous studies. A value of 0.196 ± 0.007 kJ mol −1 for the enthalpy of the P 2 1 /a ⇆  A 2/a transition was determined by integration of the area under the curve for a temperature interval of 438–528 K, bracketing the anomaly. The heat capacity data for end-member titanite and (CaTiSiO 5 ) glass can be reproduced within <1% using the derived empirical equations (temperature in K, pressure in bars):Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42091/1/269-28-3-167_10280167.pd

Regulation of BLM Nucleolar Localization

Defects in coordinated ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcription in the nucleolus cause cellular and organismal growth deficiencies. Bloom’s syndrome, an autosomal recessive human disorder caused by mutated recQ-like helicase BLM, presents with growth defects suggestive of underlying defects in rRNA transcription. Our previous studies showed that BLM facilitates rRNA transcription and interacts with RNA polymerase I and topoisomerase I (TOP1) in the nucleolus. The mechanisms regulating localization of BLM to the nucleolus are unknown. In this study, we identify the TOP1-interaction region of BLM by co-immunoprecipitation of in vitro transcribed and translated BLM segments and show that this region includes the highly conserved nuclear localization sequence (NLS) of BLM. Biochemical and nucleolar co-localization studies using site-specific mutants show that two serines within the NLS (S1342 and S1345) are critical for nucleolar localization of BLM but do not affect the functional interaction of BLM with TOP1. Mutagenesis of both serines to aspartic acid (phospho-mimetic), but not alanine (phospho-dead), results in approximately 80% reduction in nucleolar localization of BLM while retaining the biochemical functions and nuclear localization of BLM. Our studies suggest a role for this region in regulating nucleolar localization of BLM via modification of the two serines within the NLS

Coordination changes in magnesium silicate glasses

Glasses made from the magnesium silicate minerals enstatite (\chem{MgSiO_3}) and forsterite (\chem{Mg_2SiO_4}) and three intermediate compositions can be considered as analogues of quenched melts from the Earth and Lunar mantle. Combined neutron and X-ray diffraction data show an abrupt change in glass structure in the narrow compositional range 38% \chem{SiO_2} to 33% \chem{SiO_2} (\chem{Mg_2SiO_4}). These structural changes reflect a change from a glass characterized by corner-shared \chem{SiO_4} tetrahedra and an approximately equal mixture of \chem{MgO_4} and \chem{MgO_5} polyhedra, to one in which the average coordination of magnesium by oxygen is increased from $4.5 \pm 0.1$ to $5.0\pm 0.1$. Both these local environments are very different from that of their crystalline counterparts. The change in structure is associated with a discontinuous change in the rheological properties of these glass-forming liquids close to the forsterite composition