Corrosion scales and deposits formed within drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) have the potential to retain inorganic contaminants. The objective of this study was to characterize the elemental and structural composition of extracted pipe solids and hydraulically-mobile deposits originating from representative DWDSs. Goethite (alpha-FeOOH), magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) and siderite (FeCO(3)) ...

In order to guarantee the highest quality of ready-to-eat cereals and legumes, two different cooking methods have been applied: traditional cooking and sous-vide. Ashes and metals content (magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, and copper) has been determined and compared in 50 samples of red lentils, peas, Borlotti beans, pearl barley, and cereals soup. All the samples cooked with sous-vide showed ...

CONTEXT Nutritional supplements advertised as ergogenic are commonly used by athletes at all levels. Health care professionals have an opportunity and responsibility to counsel athletes concerning the safety and efficacy of supplements on the market. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION An Internet search of common fitness and bodybuilding sites was performed to identify supplement promotions. A search of ME...

Biodegradable materials are developed for designing temporary medical implants, like fixation devices for fractured bones or stents. At present, polymeric biomaterials such as poly-lactic acid (PLA) are currently used in these applications. The disadvantage of polymers is a low mechanical strength, hardness and wear resistance that is the main limitation for the use in load-bearing implants. Fo...

OBJECTIVES To identify any effects that lead, calcium, magnesium, and zinc may have on the development of gestational hypertension. METHODS Third-trimester 110 normotensive and 33 gestational hypertension cases were assayed for various metal levels, using standard techniques, including atomic absorption spectrometry. RESULTS Gestational hypertension cases showed significantly higher blood l...

A flow system exploiting multicommutation and multidetection is proposed for sequential determinations in pharmaceutical preparations. The feasibilities were demonstrated by the determination of zinc, iron, copper, calcium and magnesium without changing the flow set-up. The gravitational flow of the solutions was exploited for addition of different chromogenic reagents and sample aliquots, thus...

Clarification of the pathogenesis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders is one of the challenges today. In this study, we examine scalp hair concentrations of 26 trace elements for 1,967 children with autistic disorders (1,553 males and 414 females). Five-hundred and eighty-four (29.7%), 347 (17.6%) and 114 (5.8%) subjects was found deficient in zinc, magnesium and calcium, respectively, a...

OBJECTIVE We compared the effects of different kinds of bread fermentation on mineral bioavailability. METHODS Wistar rats were fed one of the following experimental diets for 21 d: control, reconstituted whole wheat flour (white flour plus bran), yeast bread, and sourdough bread. The apparent mineral absorption and intestinal fermentation were measured in each animal. RESULTS Phytate conte...

In this study, impacts of different element absence (nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus and magnesium) and supplementation (nitrogen and zinc) on element uptake and triacylglycerol production was followed in wild type Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CC-124 strain. Macro- and microelement composition of C. reinhardtii greatly differed under element regimes studied. In particular, heavy metal quotas of the m...

In this paper a biochemical hypothesis is proposed for the working of acupuncture. In this hypothesis, copper and zinc ions play an important role. Inserting a needle into an acupuncture point will locally damage the tissue. It is known that this causes a local release of zinc ions. It is also known that both zinc ions and copper ions bind on the intracellular transport protein metallothionein,...