Inhaled medications are commonplace for administering bronchodilators, anticholinergics, and corticosteroids. While they have a defined legitimate use, they are also used in sporting events as performance-enhancing drugs. These performance enhancers can be acquired via both legal (i.e., at a pharmacy through over-the-counter medications or through a prescription) and illicit (i.e., black market and foreign pharmacies) means, thus making monitoring procurement impossible. While urine tests can detect these pharmacological agents hours after they have been inhaled, there is a significant lag time before they are observed in urine. Direct detection of these inhaled agents is complicated and requires a multiplexed approach due to the sheer number of inhaled pharmacological agents. Therefore, detection of propellants, which carry the drug into the lungs, provides a simpler path forward toward detection of broad pharmacological agents. In this paper, we demonstrate the first use of terahertz spectroscopy (THz) to detect inhaled medications in human subjects. Notably, we were able to detect and quantitate the propellant, HFA-134a, in breath up to 30 min after using an asthma inhaler, enabling the use of a point-of-care device to monitor exhaled breath for the presence of propellants. We also demonstrate via simulations that the same approach can be leveraged to detect and identify next-generation propellants, specifically HFA-152a. As a result, we provide evidence that a single point-of-care THz sensor can detect when individuals have used pressure-mediated dose inhalers (pMDIs) without further modification of the hardware.
In the oil industry, techniques that decrease unwanted water production have drawn large amounts of interest from many companies. During water injection operations, water is injected into the reservoir in order to extract oil remaining in the formation. Due to the heterogeneity in the reservoir formation, oil production will decline and water production will increase as the injected water sweeps the high permeability zones. In order to flush out the oil remaining in the low permeability zones, many treatments have been used. One such treatment involves the injection of a superabsorbent polymer (SAP) into the high permeability zones. The swelled polymer will decrease heterogeneity in the reservoir’s permeability, thus forcing injected water into the oil rich, unswept zones/areas of the formation. Proper application of an SAP can have a dramatic impact on both the production and lifespan of mature oil wells. Understanding the swelling and deswelling kinetics of the SAP is crucial to its application. The following work focused on the use of AT-O3S polymer, a Sodium salt of crosslinked polyacrylic acid purchased from Emerging Technologies®. The polymer had a particle size of 35 to 60 meshes, or 250 to 500 microns. The swelling and deswelling ratio of such a polymer is heavily influenced by salinity, temperature, and pH. In order to study the polymer’s kinetics, 1% (for swelling) or 0.1% (for deswelling) by solution weight of polymer was allowed to swell and deswell over time in various brines. These brines were made up of deionized water, 1% to 20% (by wt.) Sodium Chloride, and/or 1% to 10% (by wt.) Calcium Chloride. The effect of temperature on the final swelling ratio was afterwards tested. Understanding the reaction of SAPs to conditions similar to those found in an oil formation can help the oil industry to utilize this tool with greater efficiency.
In mature reservoirs, the goal is to increase oil mobility and decrease water mobility. As a result, oil production will be increased and unwanted water production will be decreased. Surfactant and alkaline are widely used to change the wettability of reservoir rocks from oil wet to water wet. Viscosity measurements are important in finding out the impact viscous fluids on enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This project focuses on the viscosity measurements of various mixed fluids used in oil-fields to enhance oil recovery. Two types of surfactants (A and B) and one type of alkaline were utilized throughout the work. In addition, different types of oil obtained from different areas were implemented. The viscosity of these mixed fluids was measured while observing the implications of using varying surfactant and alkaline concentrations. Lastly, the effect of temperature on fluid viscosity was monitored.
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