This descriptive case series retrospectively reviewed medical records from thirty-one previously healthy, war-fighting veterans who self-reported exposure to airborne hazards while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and the present. They all noted new-onset dyspnea, which began during deployment or as a military contractor. Twenty-one subjects underwent non-invasive pulmonary diagnostic testing, including maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) and impulse oscillometry (IOS). In addition, five soldiers received a lung biopsy; tissue results were compared to a previously published sample from a soldier in our Iraq Afghanistan War Lung Injury database and others in our database with similar exposures, including burn pits. We also reviewed civilian control samples (5) from the Stony Brook University database. Military personnel were referred to our International Center of Excellence in Deployment Health and Medical Geosciences, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell under the auspices of Northwell IRB: 17-0140-FIMR Feinstein Institution for Medical Research “Clinicopathologic characteristics of Iraq Afghanistan War Lung Injury.” We retrospectively examined medical records, including exposure data, radiologic imaging, and non-invasive pulmonary function testing (MGC Diagnostic Platinum Elite Plethysmograph) using the American Thoracic Society (ATS) standard interpretation based on Morgan et al., and for a limited cohort, biopsy data. Lung tissue, when available, was examined for carbonaceous particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Raman spectroscopy), metals, titanium connected to iron (Brookhaven National Laboratory, National Synchrotron Light Source II, Beamline 5-ID), oxidized metals, combustion temperature, inflammatory cell accumulation and fibrosis, neutrophil extracellular traps, Sirius red, Prussian Blue, as well as polarizable crystals/particulate matter/dust. Among twenty-one previously healthy, deployable soldiers with non-invasive pulmonary diagnostic tests, post-deployment, all had severely decreased MEP values, averaging 42% predicted. These same patients concurrently demonstrated abnormal airways reactance (X5Hz) and peripheral/distal airways resistance (D5–D20%) via IOS, averaging − 1369% and 23% predicted, respectively. These tests support the concept of airways hyperresponsiveness and distal airways narrowing, respectively. Among the five soldiers biopsied, all had constrictive bronchiolitis. We detected the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)—which are products of incomplete combustion—in the lung tissue of all five warfighters. All also had detectable titanium and iron in the lungs. Metals were all oxidized, supporting the concept of inhaling burned metals. Combustion temperature was consistent with that of burned petrol rather than higher temperatures noted with cigarettes. All were nonsmokers. Neutrophil extracellular traps were reported in two biopsies. Compared to our prior biopsies in our Middle East deployment database, these histopathologic results are similar, since all database biopsies have constrictive bronchiolitis, one has lung fibrosis with titanium bound to iron in fixed mathematical ratios of 1:7 and demonstrated polarizable crystals. These results, particularly constrictive bronchiolitis and polarizable crystals, support the prior data of King et al. (N. Engl. J. Med. 365:222–230, 2011) Soldiers in this cohort deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003, with exposure to airborne hazards, including sandstorms, burn pits, and improvised explosive devices, are at high risk for developing chronic clinical respiratory problems, including: (1) reduction in respiratory muscle strength; (2) airways hyperresponsiveness; and (3) distal airway narrowing, which may be associated with histopathologic evidence of lung damage, reflecting inhalation of burned particles from burn pits along with particulate matter/dust. Non-invasive pulmonary diagnostic tests are a predictor of burn pit-induced lung injury.
The X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) of the AuL III edge in gold metal and in its two compounds AuCN and AuCl 3 have been recorded. The observed chemical shifts of the edge and the fine structure peaks in the compounds are discussed. It is observed that the energy shifts 'E of the AuL III due to chemical effects in aurous cyanide (AuCN) and auric chloride (AuCl 3 ) with respect to the pure Au edge is 2.9 eV in AuCN and 0.7eV in AuCl 3 . The edge widths in AuCN and AuCl 3 are found to be almost the same for both the compounds, presumably because electronegativities of CN and Cl are not very different. The observed fine structure peaks of the discontinuities of AuCN and AuCl 3 are displaced progressively away from the main edge.
We have synthesized nickel by means of pulsed laser ablation. A nickel disc was used for ablation with the focused output of fundamental harmonic from Nd: YAG laser. X-ray diffraction result shows that the synthesized nanoparticles are of pure metallic nickel with a face-centred cubic structure and the average particle size is 35 nm. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies of pure nickel foil and the synthesized nanoparticles show similar structures. The position of the main peak is same in these nanoparticles with reference to the nickel foil. The only difference was observed in the reduction of the amplitude. The nearestneighbour distance is similar as for pure nickel foil. The Debye-Waller factor is also similar. There is no trace of oxide and hydroxide in the EXAFS data, suggesting that the synthesized nanoparticles contain only nickel metal. IntroductionNanoscience involves a study of materials where at least one of the dimensions is in the 1-100 nm range. Properties of such materials are strongly dependant on their size and shape. Nanomaterials are produced by physical methods such as laser ablation, arc-discharge and evaporation. Among these methods pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) media is an emerging technique in material science for fabricating metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles.Laser ablation of a metal in a liquid medium is of particular interest because of its strong non-equilibrium process. The nanostructure formation by laser ablation liquid is mainly due to the combination of ultra-fast quenching of hot plasma and its interaction with surrounding media. The sodium dodecyle sulfate (SDS) can be attributed to the capping effect on the nanoparticles. SDS solution adsorbs on the Ni nanoparticles surface and this capping will prevent not only oxidation of the particles but also the coalescence among particles due to repulsive interaction, leading to stable colloidal solution and small-sized particles.
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