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Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational... 2023To compare epidermal biophysical properties, indicators of epidermal function, in individuals with and without primary cutaneous amyloidosis (PCA).
PURPOSE
To compare epidermal biophysical properties, indicators of epidermal function, in individuals with and without primary cutaneous amyloidosis (PCA).
PATIENTS AND METHODS
This study incorporated 189 patients with PCA and 166 healthy individuals. The GPSkin Barrier was employed to measure transepidermal water loss (TEWL) rates and hydration levels of the stratum corneum. The Sebumeter and the Skin pH Meter were utilized to determine the skin surface's sebum content and pH, respectively. The severity of pruritus in participants was evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS).
RESULTS
Compared to the control group without PCA, individuals with PCA displayed a notable increase in skin surface pH and TEWL and a decrease in the hydration levels of the stratum corneum (<0.0001 for all parameters). Additionally, the sebum content was markedly lower in those with PCA than in the controls (<0.0001). Of particular note, both TEWL and skin surface pH at the lesion sites on the back and the shin were more elevated in lichenoid amyloidosis (LA) and in macular amyloidosis (MA), whereas hydration levels of the stratum corneum and sebum levels were diminished in LA compared to MA (<0.05). In conclusion, both hydration levels of the stratum corneum and sebum content exhibited an inverse relationship with pruritus severity, whereas TEWL and skin surface pH demonstrated a positive correlation with pruritus intensity.
CONCLUSION
The function of the epidermis is compromised in individuals diagnosed with PCA. However, the mechanisms underlying these changes await further investigation.
PubMed: 37953856
DOI: 10.2147/CCID.S426209 -
Current Urology Reports Aug 2023Urinary pH is an important factor related to renal stone disease, and it plays an essential role in stone prevention. Monitoring of urinary pH by patients at home... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Urinary pH is an important factor related to renal stone disease, and it plays an essential role in stone prevention. Monitoring of urinary pH by patients at home provides information that can help to assess the treatment needed by each patient. We conducted a systematic review is to assess the available evidence concerning urinary pH monitoring methods along with their accuracy, cost, and usefulness by patients with urolithiasis.
RECENT FINDINGS
A total of 9 articles were included (1886 urinary pH measurements). They reported information about urinary dipsticks, portable electronic pH meters and electronic strip readers, amongst other methods. Accuracy was compared with a laboratory pH meter (gold standard). Urinary dipsticks were found to be not accurate enough to guide clinical decision making and portable electronic pH meters showed promising results. Urinary dipsticks are neither precise nor accurate enough. Portable electronic pH meters seem to be more accurate, easy to use, and cost-effective. They are a reliable source for patients to use at home in order to prevent future episodes of nephrolithiasis.
Topics: Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Kidney Calculi; Urolithiasis; Urinary Tract; Forecasting
PubMed: 37314611
DOI: 10.1007/s11934-023-01166-5 -
ACS Nano Oct 2019Nanoscale measurements provide insight into the nano world. For instance, nanometric spatiotemporal distribution of intracellular pH is regulated by and regulates a...
Nanoscale measurements provide insight into the nano world. For instance, nanometric spatiotemporal distribution of intracellular pH is regulated by and regulates a variety of biological processes. However, there is no general method to fabricate nanoscale pH sensors. Here, we, to endow pH-sensing functions, tailor the surface properties of a fluorescent nanodiamond (FND) containing nitrogen-vacancy centers (NV centers) by coating the FND with an ionic chemical layer. The longitudinal relaxation time of the electron spins in the NV centers inside a nanodiamond modified by carboxyl groups on the particle surface was found to depend on ambient pH between pH 3 and pH 7, but not between pH 7 and pH 11. Therefore, a single particle of the carboxylated nanodiamond works as a nanometer-sized pH meter within a microscopic image and directly measures the nanometric local pH environment. Moreover, the pH dependence of an FND was changed by coating it with a polycysteine layer, which contains a multitude of thiol groups with higher p. The polycysteine-coated nanodiamond obtained a pH dependence between pH 7 and pH 11. The pH dependence of the FND was also observed in heavy water (DO) buffers. This indicates that the pH dependence is not caused by magnetic noise induced by H nuclear spin fluctuations, but by electric noise induced by ion exchanges. our method, the sensitive pH range of the nanodiamond pH sensor can potentially be controlled by changing the ionic layer appropriately according to the target biological phenomena.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Nanodiamonds; Nanoparticles; Peptides
PubMed: 31538479
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.9b05342 -
Journal of Water and Health May 2022With a higher pH level and being unlikely to erode the tooth, bottled water has been considered a safe alternative to acidic beverages. However, recent studies have...
With a higher pH level and being unlikely to erode the tooth, bottled water has been considered a safe alternative to acidic beverages. However, recent studies have reported some bottled water products in different countries to be acidic. The present paper aimed to examine the pH values of 42 bottled waters commercially available in Australia, using a pH meter and probe, and classify their risks to cause erosive tooth wear in comparison with the critical pH of enamel and dentine. Of the 42 bottled water samples collected, 81.0 and 73.8% were considered erosive to tooth dentine and enamel, respectively. Flavoured waters were the most acidic, followed by sparkling waters, spring waters, artesian waters, mineral waters, and alkaline waters. All sparkling waters and flavoured waters showed an erosive risk to the enamel and dentine. A portion of spring waters and artesian waters was also acidic enough to erode tooth structures. The findings of this work were of concern given the risk of sustaining erosive tooth wear from consuming bottled waters. Health promotion strategies including public awareness and education on oral health consequences related to the consumption of bottled water are needed. Future epidemiological and in vivo investigations are also warranted.
Topics: Carbonated Water; Drinking Water; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Oral Health; Tooth Wear
PubMed: 35635779
DOI: 10.2166/wh.2022.070 -
PDA Journal of Pharmaceutical Science... 2022Viral inactivation has been demonstrated to be an effective viral clearance step in the biologics purification processes. In the 2019 Viral Clearance Symposium, the...
Viral inactivation has been demonstrated to be an effective viral clearance step in the biologics purification processes. In the 2019 Viral Clearance Symposium, the topics were focused on alternative eco-friendly and cost-effective detergents, validation of on-column viral inactivation, and further understanding of low pH and solvent/detergent viral inactivation. Sugar-based surfactants and a synthetized replacement of Triton X-100 were evaluated to be effective and robust in inactivating enveloped viruses. For low pH viral inactivation, consistent pH measurement, through alignment of pH meters and probes across different labs and manufacturing facilities, was confirmed to be critical to ensure both product quality and safety. For the well-established solvent/detergent inactivation, an approach of adding premixed solvent/detergent stock significantly improved operation. Different viral clearance approaches were discussed for on-column viral inactivation using a detergent-containing wash buffer.
Topics: Detergents; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Solvents; Virus Inactivation; Viruses
PubMed: 34911831
DOI: 10.5731/pdajpst.2021.012681 -
Heliyon Feb 2020Urinary dipsticks are often used for the diagnosis of kidney, liver, metabolic, and urogenital diseases in cattle clinical practice for the simplicity of use and ease of...
Urinary dipsticks are often used for the diagnosis of kidney, liver, metabolic, and urogenital diseases in cattle clinical practice for the simplicity of use and ease of access. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the agreement between urinary dipsticks and pH-meter for the urine pH in dairy cattle, and also to compare the urine pH before and after centrifugation from each method. The agreement between urine dipstick and pH-meter methods before and after centrifuge were calculated by Passing-Bablok regression analysis demonstrated constant differences (intercept) at 0.60 and -1.01 and positive proportional differences (slope) at 0.94 and 1.13; respectively. Total bias estimated by Bland-Altman plot analysis before (0.20) and after (0.14) centrifuge were lower than the acceptable bias in urine samples. The regression analysis of this study emphasized that the urinary dipstick can be used to determine the cattle urine.
PubMed: 32055734
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03316 -
Arthritis Care & Research Apr 2021Little is known regarding what difference in functional performance measures is significant in individuals with chronic medical disease. Our objective was to examine the...
OBJECTIVE
Little is known regarding what difference in functional performance measures is significant in individuals with chronic medical disease. Our objective was to examine the important differences in gait speed in adults with radiographic knee osteoarthritis.
METHODS
Functional performance was measured by gait speed using 20-meter and 400-meter walk tests performed at a self-selected usual pace among adults with radiographic knee osteoarthritis participating in the Osteoarthritis Initiative at baseline and 2 years later. Both distribution-based methods and anchor-based methods were used to calculate the important differences in gait speed. Anchor-based methods used the chair stand rate and self-reported function to estimate gait speed differences related to physical function.
RESULTS
We included 2,527 participants with radiographic knee osteoarthritis. Distribution-based important difference estimates for the 20-meter walk ranged from 4.1 to 6.4 meters/minute and 400-meter walk estimates ranged from 2.9 to 6.5 meters/minute. Prevalent (cross-sectional) anchor-based estimates for the 20-meter walk ranged from 5.4 to 6.9 meters/minute and for the 400-meter walk ranged from 3.0 to 6.9 meters/minute. Longitudinal anchor-based estimates were deemed unreliable. Combining distribution-based with prevalent anchor-based methods showed that an important gait speed difference for the 20-meter walk is between 4.1 and 6.9 meters/minute and for the 400-meter walk is between 2.9 and 6.9 meters/minute.
CONCLUSION
Our results found that the important difference in gait speed for the 20-meter walk and the 400-meter walk is consistent with important difference estimates for older adult populations. These findings can provide benchmarks for assessing and understanding functional performance outcomes when comparing exposure groups and can be used in designing future studies targeting adults with radiographic knee osteoarthritis.
Topics: Aged; Female; Functional Status; Gait Analysis; Humans; Knee Joint; Male; Middle Aged; Osteoarthritis, Knee; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; Time Factors; United States; Walking Speed
PubMed: 32004424
DOI: 10.1002/acr.24159 -
Neuropsychologia Oct 2019A prominent question in timing research is whether meter perception is possible without attention to meter. So far, research has probed attention effects on meter...
A prominent question in timing research is whether meter perception is possible without attention to meter. So far, research has probed attention effects on meter perception with a surface-based approach that may create confounds between meter and rhythm, and not with a structural approach requiring abstraction from surface patterns. The available pattern of findings suggests that different meter dimensions (meter as beat hierarchy vs. meter as regular cycle length) may yield different attention effects: meter as cycle-length regularity may require attention (it is attentive but not pre-attentive), while meter as beat-hierarchy may be pre-attentive. However, it is unknown whether this dissociation prevails under structural meter processing. We examined attention effects on the EEG correlates of structural meter-processing, considering the two dimensions of meter perception: hierarchy and cycle-length. While the results for hierarchy violations were inconclusive, cycle-length violations induced pre-attentive, but not attentive, responses. These pre-attentive responses corresponded to late ERPs (300-600 ms), consistent with deep, structural meter-processing. Our findings highlight the importance of pre-attentive processing in meter perception, and they raise the hypothesis of dissociation between surface- and structure-based meter processing.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Adolescent; Adult; Attention; Auditory Perception; Brain; Electroencephalography; Evoked Potentials; Evoked Potentials, Auditory; Female; Humans; Male; Music; Time Perception; Young Adult
PubMed: 31518576
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107184 -
HardwareX Sep 2023Acid-base titration is a quantitative analysis that enables knowing the quantity of acidic or basic groups present in a solution sample. It consists in the addition of...
Acid-base titration is a quantitative analysis that enables knowing the quantity of acidic or basic groups present in a solution sample. It consists in the addition of base or acid to the solution sample while monitoring the pH to reach a neutral pH. The titration can be automated and here we present a low cost Arduino based Open Source Pump (OSPump) modified to act as an automated titrator with an obsolete but reliable Metrohm 713 pH meter. Our device is 50 times less expensive than second hand units from the pH meter manufacturer and inherently open to customization. We present two validation cases of study, including the lipolysis of a vegetable olive oil in water emulsion, characterized by the OSPump Titrator.
PubMed: 37649586
DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2023.e00464 -
The Journal of Sports Medicine and... Jan 2023In sports, 10 m, 30 m and 40m events are used to test the athlete's acceleration ability, which depends on the coordination of physiological and neural function and can... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
INTRODUCTION
In sports, 10 m, 30 m and 40m events are used to test the athlete's acceleration ability, which depends on the coordination of physiological and neural function and can be greatly improved through scientific training.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION
This study conducted a systematic meta-analysis on the intermittent time of post-activation potentiation enhancement (PAPE) and the outcome measure was the sprint ability in 10 m and 30 m events. Data Sources : Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, Embase, Science Direct, Google Scholar, WanFang Data and CNKI. Study eligibility criteria : to qualify for inclusion in meta-analysis, the study must be: 1) healthy people (athletes, students); 2) randomized controlled trials; 3) Barbell squat was used to induce PAPE; 4) intervention period of at least 6 weeks; and 5) an outcome indicator of sprinting ability.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS
We used the inverse-variance random-effects model for meta-analyses. Effect sizes (standardized mean difference), calculated from measures of horizontally orientated performance, were represented by the standardized mean difference and presented alongside 95% confidence intervals (CI). A total of 9 studies including 141 participants, met the inclusion criteria. The sprint ability in 10 meters (ES=-0.03, P<0.0001) and 30 meters events (ES=-0.03, P=0.004) could be significantly improved when the intermittent time of PAPE was 4-8 min. When the intensity of the squat load was 85%1RM~100%1RM, compared with the intermittent time of 0-3min, 9-12min, and more than 13min, the sprint ability in 10 meters (ES=-0.04, P<0.0001) and 30 meters events (ES=-0.08, P=0.0001) was incredibly enhanced if the intermittent time was 4-8 minutes. Compared with college students, the sprint ability in 10-meter (ES=-0.03, P<0.0001) and 30-meter (ES=-0.04, P=0.001) events was significantly improved in athletes when the intermittent time of PAPE was 4-8 minutes. Compared with non-ball games, the sprint ability in 10 meters (ES=-0.04, P<0.0001) and 30 meters (ES=-0.09, P=0.0002) in ball games was significantly improved when the intermittent time of PAPE was 4-8 minutes.
CONCLUSIONS
Our meta-analysis indicated that when squats were used as the induction and the load intensity was 85% 1RM~100% 1RM, the sprint ability in 10-meter and 30-meter events could be significantly improved if the intermittent time was 4-8min. According to the analysis on different population, compared with college students and non-ball games, the 10-meter and 30-meter the sprint ability were significantly improved in athletes and ball games when the intermittent time was 4-8 minutes. Therefore, future research should focus on developing a reasonable combination of load stimulation and intermittent time according to the sprint ability to better induce PAPE.
Topics: Humans; Athletic Performance; Resistance Training; Acceleration; Athletes; Posture
PubMed: 35620952
DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.22.13502-4