Validation of passive samplers for monitoring of acetic and formic acid in museum environments

Acetic acid and formic acid are volatile pollutants leading to degradation of some heritage materials. They are usually determined in museum environments with various types of passive samplers. In this work, SKC UMEx 200 passive samplers, originally intended for sampling of NO2 and SO2, have been validated for sampling of these organic acids. The sampling rates, extraction efficiency, loss through reverse diffusion or during storage, capacity, and detection limits were determined for both acids. For laboratory exposure, a known concentration of both acids was prepared in a flow-through reactor system at controlled temperature and humidity, the samplers were extracted, followed by analysis using ion chromatography. The sampling rates were determined to be 16.7 ml/min for acetic and 17.7 ml/min for formic acid and the detection limits for 7-day exposure were determined to be 2.1μg/m3 for acetic and 1.9μg/m3 for formic acid. The validated method was finally used for sampling of air in two case studies at the National Museum of Slovenia, where the concentrations in the range of 2–54μg/m3 were determined

Effects of a Water Aerobics Program on the Blood Pressure, Percentage of Body Fat, Weight, and Resting Pulse Rate of Senior Citizens

Ten men and 18 women aged 57 to 76 participated in a 16-week water exercise class at Rose State College, Oklahoma City. The class met for one hour twice a week for the 16 weeks and was composed of flexibility exercises, aerobic exercises, and cool-down exercises. Pre- and postclass measurements were taken for blood pressure, weight, percentage of body fat, and resting pulse rate and were compared using a paired t-test. Reductions significant at the .05 level were recorded for diastolic blood pressure, weight, and percentage of body fat. There were no significant reductions in systolic blood pressure and resting pulse rate. I concluded that water aerobics is an ideal modality for senior citizens'aerobic exercise because of the favorable changes it produces in the health parameters investigated and because it places little stress on the weight-bearing joints during exercise.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Immobilisation of bovine enterokinase and application of the immobilised enzyme in fusion protein cleavage

Kubitzki T, Noll T, Luetz S. Immobilisation of bovine enterokinase and application of the immobilised enzyme in fusion protein cleavage. BIOPROCESS AND BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING. 2008;31(3):173-182.Two immobilisation methods for enterokinase were developed, which yielded high remaining activities for the cleavage of the fusion protein MUC1-IgG Fc. Different carrier materials were compared regarding remaining enzyme activity and storage stability. Immobilisation procedures involving support material activation using glutardialdehyde were found to result in low remaining activities. Applying less aggressive activation procedures, remaining activities of similar to 60% were received when immobilising enterokinase on either Estapor paramagnetic microspheres or hexamethylamino Sepabeads(R). In case of hexamethylamino Sepabeads(R) we were able to increase the half-life time 4.3-fold at 23 degrees C and 3.8-fold at 4 degrees C compared to the free enzyme at the same temperatures. By immobilising the biocatalyst the downstream process is simplified allowing the easy removal of the enzyme from the reaction mixture. The immobilised enterokinase cleaves the fusion protein MUC1-IgG Fc in at least two repeated batches, proving the efficiency of the immobilisation method and the reusability of the biocatalyst

Small babies, big risks: global estimates of prevalence and mortality for vulnerable newborns to accelerate change and improve counting

Small newborns are vulnerable to mortality and lifelong loss of human capital. Measures of vulnerability previously focused on liveborn low-birthweight (LBW) babies, yet LBW reduction targets are off-track. There are two pathways to LBW, preterm birth and fetal growth restriction (FGR), with the FGR pathway resulting in the baby being small for gestational age (SGA). Data on LBW babies are available from 158 (81%) of 194 WHO member states and the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, with 113 (58%) having national administrative data, whereas data on preterm births are available from 103 (53%) of 195 countries and areas, with only 64 (33%) providing national administrative data. National administrative data on SGA are available for only eight countries. Global estimates for 2020 suggest 13·4 million livebirths were preterm, with rates over the past decade remaining static, and 23·4 million were SGA. In this Series paper, we estimated prevalence in 2020 for three mutually exclusive types of small vulnerable newborns (SVNs; preterm non-SGA, term SGA, and preterm SGA) using individual-level data (2010–20) from 23 national datasets (∼110 million livebirths) and 31 studies in 18 countries (∼0·4 million livebirths). We found 11·9 million (50% credible interval [Crl] 9·1–12·2 million; 8·8%, 50% Crl 6·8–9·0%) of global livebirths were preterm non-SGA, 21·9 million (50% Crl 20·1–25·5 million; 16·3%, 14·9–18·9%) were term SGA, and 1·5 million (50% Crl 1·2–4·2 million; 1·1%, 50% Crl 0·9–3·1%) were preterm SGA. Over half (55·3%) of the 2·4 million neonatal deaths worldwide in 2020 were attributed to one of the SVN types, of which 73·4% were preterm and the remainder were term SGA. Analyses from 12 of the 23 countries with national data (0·6 million stillbirths at ≥22 weeks gestation) showed around 74% of stillbirths were preterm, including 16·0% preterm SGA and approximately one-fifth of term stillbirths were SGA. There are an estimated 1·9 million stillbirths per year associated with similar vulnerability pathways; hence integrating stillbirths to burden assessments and relevant indicators is crucial. Data can be improved by counting, weighing, and assessing the gestational age of every newborn, whether liveborn or stillborn, and classifying small newborns by the three vulnerability types. The use of these more specific types could accelerate prevention and help target care for the most vulnerable babies