Simultaneous determination of PT, PD, RH and IR traces in environmental samples by flow injection solid phase extraction coupled with online inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES)

An increased worldwide usage of platinum group elements (PGEs) has been observed during the last twenty years due to their applications in areas such as chemical industry, metallurgy, jewelry production, dental devices, anti-cancer drug and automobile catalytic converter systems. These applications were found to be anthropogenic sources of pollution of these elements nowadays. The presence of PGEs in different environmental and biological materials is a risk to ecological and human health because may be easily mobilized and solubilized in several matrices. The determination of Pt, Pd, Rh and Ir presents difficulties because of the low concentrations of these metals in environmental samples and the numerous interactions between the analytes and the matrix constituents, which can significantly influence both the limit of detection and the accuracy of determination in complex samples. Initial sample pretreatment such as pre-concentration of these elements and matrix separation are often necessary. Numerous reviews devoted to PGEs determination have been published; however, they deal mainly with techniques used for analytical signal formation and less with pre-concentration and separation procedures which usually precede the quantification of the analyte by spectrometric techniques [1]. In this work, Pt, Pd, Rh and Ir have been simultaneously determined by flow injection solid phase extraction coupled online with ICP-AES. The system is based on the retention of the analytes onto a minicolumn filled with a chelating exchange resin placed in the injection valve of a simple flow manifold. This configuration offers several advantages, including (a) elimination of the matrix effect, (b) increase the sensitivity by the preconcentration and, (c) automatization of the different steps. The effects of chemicals and flow variables were investigated. The optimized operating conditions selected were: sample pH 7.5, sample flow rate 2.2 mL min-1, eluent flow rate 0.9 mL min-1, eluent 0.07% thiourea in 2M HCl. With these conditions, the enrichment factors obtained were 6.3, 6.7, 3.7 and 6.3 for Pt, Pd, Rh and Ir respectively. Detection limits (3 min sample loading time) were 1.4 µg L-1 for Pt, 0.5 µg L-1 for Pd, 256 µg L-1 for Rh and 0.6 µg L-1 for Ir. The accuracy of the proposed method was checked with the certified reference material NIST-2557 autocatalyst. The results obtained using this method were in good agreement with the certified values of the standard reference material. The method was applied to the determination of Pt, Pd, Rh and Ir in different sea-water samples collected in Málaga, Spain. [1] B. Godlewska-Zylkiewicz, Microchim. Acta 147 (2004) 189.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Neuropsychological, environmental, and prodromal predictive factors of severe mental disorders

Resumen de la conferencia "66th Annual Meeting of the American-Academy-of-Child-and-Adolescent-Psychiatry (AACAP)", Chicago, IL, oct 14-19,2019This presentation aims to develop a prediction model to examine whether clinical, behavioral, and neuropsychological functioning factors predict the risk of onset of severe mental disorders

Neuropsychological, clinical and environmental predictors of severe mental disorders in offspring of patients with schizophrenia

Offspring of individuals with schizophrenia (SZCOff) are at an increased risk for this disorder. Neuropsychological decline is a core feature of the disorder and researchers have reported increasing impairments in cognition during the prodromal phase in high-risk adolescents. Additionally, factors like the presence of prodromal symptoms or specific behavioral patterns could predict, together with neurocognitive functioning, the risk of conversion to severe mental disorders in SCZOff. This study aims to compare the neuropsychological functioning of a sample of 41 SCZOff children and adolescents and 105 community control offspring (CCOff) and to develop a prediction model to examine whether neuropsychological functioning, clinical and behavioral factors predict subsequent risk of severe mental disorders. We collected demographic, clinical and neuropsychological data. We found significant differences between groups in working memory, speed of processing, verbal memory and learning, visual memory and intelligence quotient (IQ). The socioeconomic status, verbal memory, working memory and positive prodromal symptoms predicted a significant proportion of the dependent variable variance. In conclusion, SCZOff showed neurocognitive impairments in several neuropsychological domains compared to CCOff. Neuropsychological functioning, environmental factors and positive prodromal symptoms could predict the risk of onset of severe mental disorders in SCZOff

European Autism GEnomics Registry (EAGER): protocol for a multicentre cohort study and registry.

Peer reviewed: TrueINTRODUCTION: Autism is a common neurodevelopmental condition with a complex genetic aetiology that includes contributions from monogenic and polygenic factors. Many autistic people have unmet healthcare needs that could be served by genomics-informed research and clinical trials. The primary aim of the European Autism GEnomics Registry (EAGER) is to establish a registry of participants with a diagnosis of autism or an associated rare genetic condition who have undergone whole-genome sequencing. The registry can facilitate recruitment for future clinical trials and research studies, based on genetic, clinical and phenotypic profiles, as well as participant preferences. The secondary aim of EAGER is to investigate the association between mental and physical health characteristics and participants' genetic profiles. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: EAGER is a European multisite cohort study and registry and is part of the AIMS-2-TRIALS consortium. EAGER was developed with input from the AIMS-2-TRIALS Autism Representatives and representatives from the rare genetic conditions community. 1500 participants with a diagnosis of autism or an associated rare genetic condition will be recruited at 13 sites across 8 countries. Participants will be given a blood or saliva sample for whole-genome sequencing and answer a series of online questionnaires. Participants may also consent to the study to access pre-existing clinical data. Participants will be added to the EAGER registry and data will be shared externally through established AIMS-2-TRIALS mechanisms. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: To date, EAGER has received full ethical approval for 11 out of the 13 sites in the UK (REC 23/SC/0022), Germany (S-375/2023), Portugal (CE-085/2023), Spain (HCB/2023/0038, PIC-164-22), Sweden (Dnr 2023-06737-01), Ireland (230907) and Italy (CET_62/2023, CEL-IRCCS OASI/24-01-2024/EM01, EM 2024-13/1032 EAGER). Findings will be disseminated via scientific publications and conferences but also beyond to participants and the wider community (eg, the AIMS-2-TRIALS website, stakeholder meetings, newsletters)