-
General Dentistry 2023This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the acidity and fluoride content of beverages commonly consumed by millennials and the enamel-softening effect of these drinks on...
This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the acidity and fluoride content of beverages commonly consumed by millennials and the enamel-softening effect of these drinks on tooth enamel. The study included 13 beverages in 4 categories: energy (sports) drink, flavored sparkling water, kombucha, and other (an unsweetened iced tea, a vegetable-fruit juice blend, and a soft drink). The acidity was measured with a pH/ion meter, and the fluoride concentration was measured with a combined fluoride electrode coupled to the meter (n = 10 measurements per beverage). The Vickers hardness number of extracted molars was measured before and after a 30-minute immersion in 4 representative beverages via 2 immersion protocols (n = 10 per beverage per protocol): (1) immersion in the beverage only and (2) immersion alternating between the beverage and artificial saliva every other minute. The pH and fluoride concentrations of the beverages ranged from 2.652 to 4.242 and from 0.0033 to 0.6045 ppm, respectively. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that all differences between beverages in pH values were statistically significant, as were the majority of differences in fluoride concentrations (P < 0.001). The beverages and the 2 immersion methods significantly affected enamel softening (2-way ANOVA, P = 0.0001 to 0.033). The representative energy drink (pH 2.990; 0.0102 ppm fluoride) caused the greatest enamel softening followed by the representative kombucha (pH 2.820; 0.2036 ppm fluoride). The representative flavored sparkling water (pH 4.066; 0.0098 ppm fluoride) caused significantly less enamel softening than the energy drink and kombucha. A root beer (pH 4.185; 0.6045 ppm fluoride) had the least enamel softening effect. All tested beverages were acidic and had a pH below 4.5; only some contained fluoride. Flavored sparkling water, likely due to its higher pH, caused less enamel softening than the tested energy drink and kombucha. The fluoride content of kombucha and root beer lower their enamel-softening effects. It is imperative that consumers be aware of the erosive potential of beverages they consume.
Topics: Humans; Fluorides; Carbonated Water; Tooth Erosion; Dental Enamel; Beverages; Carbonated Beverages; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
PubMed: 37358581
DOI: No ID Found -
Explore (New York, N.Y.) 2021To design a set of measures which were portable and cost-effective that scientists could use to determine competence of Energy Practitioners so that qualified...
OBJECTIVE
To design a set of measures which were portable and cost-effective that scientists could use to determine competence of Energy Practitioners so that qualified practitioners could be employed in improving ongoing research accuracy.
DESIGN
This was a prospective study with sample of convenience.
SUBJECTS
213 subjects, 185 women and 28 men, were tested in this study.
OUTCOME MEASURES
Empirical outcome measures included Triaxial Extra Low Frequency Magnetic Field meter, Data Logging Multimeter, RF Field Spectrum Analyzer, Acoustimeter, Broadcast Frequency counter, digital pH meter, digital TDS meter, GDV and physiology suite including heart rate variability, galvanic skin response, respiration, EMG, EKG, temperature and blood volume pulse. Additional questions on ethics and body reading were included in the test.
RESULTS
Results suggest a range of tests which could be used to determine practitioner competence. Many of the energy practitioners tested consistently produced changes in the areas being measured past the error rate of the devices being used. Across the 13 measures, practitioner success ranged from 56.8% on the Acoustimeter to 100% on the Broadcast Frequency Counter measures with 95% CI. Tri Axial ELF magnetic field meter showed significance with practitioners producing oscillations of amplitude from the L hand at p< 0.01 with and effect size D of 1.5 and R hand p< 0.001 and an effect size D of 1.6. Practitioners demonstrated the ability to produce a change in pH beyond ±.1pH in 10 minutes at a Mean of 0.5 and a SD of 0.4 at a 95% CI of 0.48-0.58 and changes in TDS beyond+/-2% at a Mean of 36.7 and a SD of 35.2 at a 95% CI of 31.9-41.5. Other measures are discussed in detail.
CONCLUSIONS
This test presents a possible way to demonstrate a level of practitioner competence and improve the selection of energy practitioners for use in scientific studies of energy healing in the areas of full spectrum healing, laying-on-of-hands healing, Reiki, Qi Gong and Tai Chi.
Topics: Female; Hand; Heart Rate; Humans; Male; Mind-Body Therapies; Prospective Studies; Therapeutic Touch
PubMed: 32798173
DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2020.07.010 -
Annals of Clinical Biochemistry Jul 2021Hypercholesterolemia (plasma cholesterol concentration ≥5.2 mmol/L) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. Many different cholesterol self-tests are...
BACKGROUND
Hypercholesterolemia (plasma cholesterol concentration ≥5.2 mmol/L) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. Many different cholesterol self-tests are readily available at general stores, pharmacies and web shops. However, there is limited information on their analytical and diagnostic performance.
METHODS
We included 62 adult patients who required a lipid panel measurement (cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglycerides and LDL) for routine care. The performance of five different cholesterol self-tests, three quantitative meters (, and ) and two semi-quantitative strip tests ( and ), was assessed according to the manufacturers' protocol.
RESULTS
The average plasma cholesterol concentration was 5.2 ± 1.2 mmol/L. The mean absolute relative difference (MARD) of the five cholesterol self-tests ranged from 6 ± 5% () to 20 ± 12% (). The cholesterol meter showed the best diagnostic performance with a 92% sensitivity and 89% specificity. The and are able to measure HDL concentrations and can thus provide a cholesterol:HDL ratio. The Passing-Bablok regression analyses for the ratio showed poor performance in both self-tests (: y = 1.62x-1.20; : y = 0.61x + 1.75). The is unable to measure the plasma high-density lipoprotein concentration.Conclusions/interpretation: The cholesterol meter (Roche) had excellent diagnostic and analytic performance. However, several of the commercially-available self-tests had considerably poor accuracy and diagnostic performance and therefore do not meet the required qualifications, potentially leading to erroneous results. Better regulation, standardization and harmonization of cholesterol self-tests is warranted.
Topics: Adult; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, HDL; Humans; Hypercholesterolemia; Lipids; Predictive Value of Tests; Regression Analysis; Reproducibility of Results; Risk Factors; Self-Testing; Sensitivity and Specificity; Specimen Handling; Triglycerides
PubMed: 33478240
DOI: 10.1177/0004563221992393 -
Journal of Diabetes Science and... May 2020When used in hospital settings, glucose meter performance issues involve analytic comparability to lab-based testing, patient and sample variables, and clinical affects... (Review)
Review
When used in hospital settings, glucose meter performance issues involve analytic comparability to lab-based testing, patient and sample variables, and clinical affects such as insulin treatment protocol outcomes and morbidity or outcome risk factors. Different tools are available to assess these issues, including accuracy and precision statistics along with clinical risk measures such as error grids or simulation testing. Regulatory, guidance, and professional bodies have advocated a number of varying recommendations for glucose meter performance in different situations and under different patient conditions. These are summarized and compared, but reconciling these guidelines can be confusing or difficult for providers. Blood glucose meters are useful in the management of patients in acute or assisted care facilities, but users must appreciate the variables that affect measurements and provide for oversight that can manage risk factors and maintain meter performance expectations.
Topics: Biomarkers; Blood Chemical Analysis; Blood Glucose; Equipment Design; Guideline Adherence; Hospitals; Humans; Point-of-Care Systems; Point-of-Care Testing; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Predictive Value of Tests; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 31983225
DOI: 10.1177/1932296819898277 -
Brain and Behavior Nov 2020Music is ubiquitous and powerful in the world's cultures. Music listening involves abundant information processing (e.g., pitch, rhythm) in the central nervous system...
INTRODUCTION
Music is ubiquitous and powerful in the world's cultures. Music listening involves abundant information processing (e.g., pitch, rhythm) in the central nervous system and can also induce changes in the physiology, such as heart rate and perspiration. Yet, previous studies tended to examine music information processing in the brain separately from physiological changes. In the current study, we focused on the temporal structure of music (i.e., beat and meter) and examined the physiology, neural processing, and, most importantly, the relation between the two areas.
METHODS
Simultaneous MEG and ECG data were collected from a group of adults (N = 15) while they passively listened to duple and triple rhythmic patterns. To characterize physiology, we measured heart rate variability (HRV), indexing the parasympathetic nervous system function (PSNS). To characterize neural processing of beat and meter, we examined the neural entertainment and calculated the beat-to-meter ratio to index the relation between beat-level and meter-level entrainment. Specifically, the current study investigated three related questions: (a) whether listening to musical rhythms affects HRV; (b) whether the neural beat-to-meter ratio differed between metrical conditions, and (c) whether neural beat-to-meter ratio is related to HRV.
RESULTS
Results suggest that while at the group level, both HRV and neural processing are highly similar across metrical conditions, at the individual level, neural beat-to-meter ratio significantly predicts HRV, establishing a neural-physiological link.
CONCLUSION
This observed link is discussed under the theoretical "neurovisceral integration model," and it provides important new perspectives in music cognition and auditory neuroscience research.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Auditory Perception; Brain; Cognition; Music
PubMed: 32920995
DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1836 -
Journal of Integrative Plant Biology Apr 2016Plants emit biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) causing transcriptomic, metabolomic and behavioral responses in receiver organisms. Volatiles involved in such... (Review)
Review
Plants emit biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) causing transcriptomic, metabolomic and behavioral responses in receiver organisms. Volatiles involved in such responses are often called "plant language". Arthropods having sensitive chemoreceptors can recognize language released by plants. Insect herbivores, pollinators and natural enemies respond to composition of volatiles from plants with specialized receptors responding to different types of compounds. In contrast, the mechanism of how plants "hear" volatiles has remained obscured. In a plant-plant communication, several individually emitted compounds are known to prime defense response in receiver plants with a specific manner according to the chemical structure of each volatile compound. Further, composition and ratio of volatile compounds in the plant-released plume is important in plant-insect and plant-plant interactions mediated by plant volatiles. Studies on volatile-mediated plant-plant signaling indicate that the signaling distances are rather short, usually not longer than one meter. Volatile communication from plants to insects such as pollinators could be across distances of hundreds of meters. As many of the herbivore induced VOCs have rather short atmospheric life times, we suggest that in long-distant communications with plant volatiles, reaction products in the original emitted compounds may have additional information value of the distance to emission source together with the original plant-emitted compounds.
Topics: Animals; Invertebrates; Models, Biological; Plant Diseases; Plants; Signal Transduction; Volatile Organic Compounds
PubMed: 26563972
DOI: 10.1111/jipb.12447 -
Journal of Endourology Jul 2018To evaluate a portable electronic pH meter and to put its accuracy in perspective with reagent strips read by a layperson, a healthcare professional, and an electronic...
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate a portable electronic pH meter and to put its accuracy in perspective with reagent strips read by a layperson, a healthcare professional, and an electronic reading device.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Based on a preanalysis on 20 patients, a sample size of 77 urine aliquots from healthy volunteers was necessary to obtain sufficient study power. Measurements of urinary pH were obtained by use of reagent strips, a portable pH meter and a laboratory pH meter (gold standard). Reagents strips were read by a professional experienced in interpreting strips, a layperson, and an electronic strip reader. The mean matched pair difference between measurement methods was analyzed by the paired t-test. The degree of correlation and agreement were evaluated by the Pearson's correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plots, respectively.
RESULTS
The mean matched pair difference between the gold standard and all other pH measurement methods was the smallest with the portable electronic pH meter (bias 0.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.07 to 0.08; p = 0.89), followed by strips read by a professional (bias -0.09, 95% CI -0.21 to 0.02; p = 0.10), layperson (bias -0.17, 95% CI -0.31 to -0.04; p = 0.015), and electronic strip reader (bias -0.29, 95% CI -0.41 to -0.16; p < 0.001). The portable electronic pH meter achieved the highest Pearson's correlation coefficient and narrowest 95% limits of agreement, followed by strip interpretation by a professional, electronic strip reader, and layperson. To quantify the ability of pH measurement methods to correctly classify values within a predefined urinary pH target range, we performed classification tests for several stones. The portable electronic pH meter outperformed all other measurement methods for negative predictive values.
CONCLUSIONS
Findings of this study support that the portable electronic pH meter is a reliable pH measuring device. It appears to be more accurate compared to reagent strips readings.
Topics: Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Monitoring, Physiologic; Point-of-Care Systems; Reagent Strips; Urinalysis; Urinary Tract
PubMed: 29699425
DOI: 10.1089/end.2018.0202 -
Diabetes Care Oct 2018Blood glucose monitoring is fundamental for hyperglycemia management during pregnancy, but are the devices up to the job? Studies assessing the accuracy of 10... (Review)
Review
Blood glucose monitoring is fundamental for hyperglycemia management during pregnancy, but are the devices up to the job? Studies assessing the accuracy of 10 commercially available glucose meters during pregnancy showed that although >98-99% of the meter values were in the acceptable zones of the error grid for the majority of the meters, the meter performance varied, with the majority showing positive bias and a few showing minimal negative bias. The mean difference between meter and laboratory plasma values varied between -0.33 and 0.73 mmol/L. Three meters showed deviations from laboratory results with a change in maternal hematocrit levels. No meters had a total analytical error <5%, and no studies evaluated meters using recent International Organization for Standardization 15197:2013 criteria. The Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Women With Type 1 Diabetes in Pregnancy Trial (CONCEPTT) recently showed that an antenatal continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS), as an adjunct to capillary monitoring, was associated with a lower incidence of large-for-gestational-age babies, fewer neonatal intensive care unit admissions (>24 h), and a lower incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia. The flash glucose monitoring system shows good accuracy in pregnant women but has not been marketed widely in the U.S. We suggest that meters cannot be assumed to be sufficiently accurate during pregnancy and that manufacturers should ensure a total error <5%, with bias and imprecision <2% during pregnancy. Large studies are needed to evaluate the usefulness of CGMS among pregnant women with type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes mellitus.
Topics: Blood Glucose; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Diabetes, Gestational; Female; Humans; Monitoring, Physiologic; Pregnancy; Pregnancy in Diabetics; Reference Standards; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 30237233
DOI: 10.2337/dc18-0833 -
Biochemistry Oct 2022One of the main factors affecting protein structure in solution is pH. Traditionally, to study pH-dependent conformational changes in proteins, the concentration of the...
One of the main factors affecting protein structure in solution is pH. Traditionally, to study pH-dependent conformational changes in proteins, the concentration of the H ions is adjusted manually, complicating real-time analyses, hampering dynamic pH regulation, and consequently leading to a limited number of tested pH levels. Here, we present a programmable device, a scanning pH-meter, that can automatically generate different types of pH ramps and waveforms in a solution. A feedback loop algorithm calculates the required flow rates of the acid/base titrants, allowing one, for example, to generate periodic pH sine waveforms to study the reversibility of protein folding by fluorescence spectroscopy. Interestingly, for some proteins, the fluorescence intensity profiles recorded in such a periodically oscillating pH environment display hysteretic behavior indicating an asymmetry in the sequence of the protein unfolding/refolding events, which can most likely be attributed to their distinct kinetics. Another useful application of the scanning pH-meter concerns coupling it with an electrospray ionization mass spectrometer to observe pH-induced structural changes in proteins as revealed by their varying charge-state distributions. We anticipate a broad range of applications of the scanning pH-meter developed here, including protein folding studies, determination of the optimum pH for achieving maximum fluorescence intensity, and characterization of fluorescent dyes and other synthetic materials.
PubMed: 36251331
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00453 -
Mikrochimica Acta Nov 2023Microliter volume pH determination is of great importance in the biomedical and industrial applications. The current available pH meter and measurement techniques are...
Microliter volume pH determination is of great importance in the biomedical and industrial applications. The current available pH meter and measurement techniques are hard to reach the high demand of microliter volume pH determination in a repeatable, stable, and sensitivity manner. This work aims to fill the gap of microliter volume pH measurements while maintaining good sensing performance. The electrodeposited iridium oxide and cobalt hydroxide along with gold electrode served as working, counter, and reference electrode, respectively, for 10-12 μL volume pH measurements with Nernst constant of 55.9 ± 4.4 mV/pH. The electrodeposited thin film was further characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectrometry, etc. to confirm its morphology and composition. The constructed pH sensor was used for human serum sample measurements to confirm the suitability of future applications. The results show that it has only 0.80% variation compared to a commercial pH meter with a limit of detection (LOD, or resolution) of ± 0.01 pH. It holds a great potential to be used in the future for microliter volume in situ pH measurements.
PubMed: 37917196
DOI: 10.1007/s00604-023-06035-z