Titanium wear from magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGRs) for the treatment of spinal deformities in children.

Magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGRs) are an effective treatment method for early-onset scoliosis (EOS). In recent years, increasing titanium wear was observed in tissue adjacent to implants and in blood samples of these patients. This study aims to investigate the potential correlation between amount of metal loss and titanium levels in blood during MCGR treatment as well as influencing factors for metal wear. In total, 44 MCGRs (n = 23 patients) were retrieved after an average of 2.6 years of implantation and analyzed using a tactile measurement instrument and subsequent metal loss calculation. Titanium plasma levels (n = 23) were obtained using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The correlation of both parameters as well as influencing factors were analyzed. Titanium abrasion on MCGRs was observed in the majority of implants. There was no correlation of metal implant wear or titanium plasma values to the duration of MCGR implantation time, number of external lengthening procedures, patient's ambulatory status, gender, weight or height. Material loss on the MCGRs showed a positive correlation to titanium blood plasma values. The present study is one of the first studies to analyze retrieved MCGRs using high-precision metrological techniques and compare these results with ICP-MS analyses determining blood titanium values.

Learning in lockdown: Using the COVID-19 crisis to teach children about food and climate change.

Food systems are significant sources of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). Since emission intensity varies greatly between different foods, changing food choices towards those with lower GHGE could make an important contribution to mitigating climate change. Public engagement events offer an opportunity to communicate these multifaceted issues and raise awareness about the climate change impact of food choices. An interdisciplinary team of researchers was preparing food and climate change educational activities for summer 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown disrupted these plans. In this paper, we report on shifting these events online over the month of June 2020. We discuss what we did and the reception to our online programme. We then reflect on and highlight issues that arose. These relate to: (1) the power dynamics of children, diet and climate change; (2) mental health, diet and COVID-19; (3) engaging the wider science, agriculture and food communities; (4) the benefits of being unfunded and the homemade nature of this programme; (5) the food system, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) and diversity; and (6) how our work fits into our ongoing journey of food and climate change education.

An analysis of factors affecting the mercury content in the human femoral bone.

The study was carried out to determine the content of mercury in bone tissue of the proximal femur (head and neck bone) of 95 patients undergoing total hip replacement due to osteoarthritis, using CF-AFS analytical technique. Furthermore, the investigations were aimed at assessing the impact of selected factors, such as age, gender, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, exposure to chemical substance at work, type of degenerative changes, clinical evaluation and radiological parameters, type of medications, on the concentration of mercury in the head and neck of the femur, resected in situ. Mercury was obtained in all samples of the head and neck of the femur (n = 190) in patients aged 25-91 years. The mean content of mercury for the whole group of patients was as follows: 37.1 ± 35.0 ng/g for the femoral neck and 24.2 ± 19.5 ng/g for the femoral head. The highest Hg contents were found in femoral neck samples, both in women and men, and they amounted to 169.6 and 176.5 ng/g, respectively. The research showed that the mercury content of bones can be associated with body mass index, differences in body anatomy, and gender. The uses of statistical analysis gave the possibility to define the influence of factors on mercury content in human femoral bones.

Phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance of staphylococci from bovine milk.

The aim of this study was to examine phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance of staphylococci from milk samples from cows with subclinical and clinical mastitis and from cows without mastitis symptoms to methicillin, tetracyclines, macrolides and lincosamides (ML). Of 207 strains, including 34 S. aureus and 173 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), 11 (6.4%) CNS strains were phenotypically resistant to methicillin. The mecA gene was detected by PCR only in two S. xylosus strains and one strain of S. epidermidis and S. simulans. No methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains were observed. In methicillin-resistant strains with mecA, gene resistance to other investigated antibiotics was not observed. Phenotypic resistance to tetracycline was detected in 11.0% of CNS strains and 47.4% of them carried the tetK gene. Of 173 CNS strains studied, 27 (15.6%) were resistant to at least one ML antibiotic. The resistance gene ermC was detected in 55.5% of the 27 ML-resistant strains. The ermA and ermB genes were detected in 14.8% and 11.1% of ML-resistant CNS strains, respectively. Antimicrobial resistance to methicillin, tetracyclines and macrolides was detected more frequently in staphylococcal strains from clinical mastitis compared to animals with subclinical symptoms and without mastitis, while the resistance to lincosamides showed a similar frequency in all groups of cows. In conclusion, CNS species from bovine milk differ in phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance profiles, and the use of PCR technique alone for the detection of methicillin, macrolide, lincosamide and tetyracycline resistance in CNS from cattle is not reliable.

New method for speciation analysis of aluminium fluoride complexes by HPLC-FAAS hyphenated technique.

Speciation analysis of aluminium in the presented system of HPLC-FAAS hyphenated technique lasts 4min. Using the bifunctional column in model analysis and using the calculation methods for modelling using the Mineql program enabled the authors to presume that particular forms will be subjected to elution in the following order: (1) AlF(2)(+) and AlF(4)(-), (2) AlF(2+) and AlF(3)(0) and (3) Al(3+). Based on the obtained results for model solutions, the presented method enables the determination of aluminium fluoride complexes and Al(3+) speciation form. The study compares the tendency of occurrence variability of aluminium fluoride complexes and Al(3+) form, determined based on the results obtained using the HPLC-FAAS hyphenated technique with the trend defined based on the Mineql program calculation method. The method was successfully applied to soil samples.

Multivariate characterization of elements accumulated in King Bolete Boletus edulis mushroom at lowland and high mountain regions.

Based on ICP-MS, ICP-OES, HG-AAS, CV-AAS and elementary instrumental analysis of King Bolete collected from four sites of different soil bedrock geochemistry considered could be as mushroom abundant in certain elements. King's Bolete fruiting bodies are very rich in K (> 20 mg/g dry weight), rich in Ca, Mg, Na, Rb and Zn (> 100 microg/g dw), and relatively also rich in Ag, Cd, Cs, Cu, Fe, Mn and Se (> 10 microg/g dw). The caps of King Bolete when compared to stipes around two-to three-fold more abundant are in Ag, Cd, Cs, Cu, Hg, K, Mg, Mo, N, Rb, Se and Zn. King Bolete collected at the lowland and mountain sites showed Ag, Ba, Co, Cr, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Mo and Na in caps in comparable concentrations, and specimens from the mountain areas accumulated more Cd and Sb. Elements such as Al, Pb and Rb occurred at relatively elevated concentration in King Bolete picked up at the metal ores-rich region of the Sudety Mountains. Because of high bioconcentration potential King Bolete at the background sites accumulate in fruiting bodies great concentrations of problematic elements such as Cd, Pb and Hg, i.e. up to nearly 20, 3 and 5 microg/g dw, on the average, respectively. The interdependence among determined mineral elements examined were using the principal components analysis (PCA) method. The PCA explained 56% of the total variance. The metals tend to cluster together (Ba, Cd, Cs, Cr, Ga, Rb, Se, Sr and V; K and Mg; Cu and Mo). The results provided useful environmental and nutritional background level information on 26 minerals as the composition of King Bolete from the sites of different bedrock soil geochemistry.

Content and bioconcentration of mercury in mushrooms from northern Poland.

Mercury (Hg) was quantified using cold vapour-atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS) in the fruiting bodies of nine edible and five inedible mushrooms and in underlying soil substrate samples. In total, 404 samples comprising caps and stalks and 202 samples of soil substrate (0-10 cm layer) were collected in 1996 from Trójmiejski Landscape Park, northern Poland. Mean Hg concentrations in the soil substrate for different species varied between 10 +/- 3 and 780 +/- 500 ng x g(-1) dry wt (range 2.3-1700). Among edible mushroom species, Horse Mushroom (Agaricus arvensis), Brown Birch Scaber Stalk (Leccinum scabrum), Parasol Mushroom (Macrolepiota procera), King Bolete (Boletus edulis) and Yellow-cracking Bolete (Xerocomus subtomentosus) contained elevated concentrations of Hg ranging from 1600 +/- 930 to 6800 +/- 4000 ng x g(-1) dry wt in the caps. Concentrations of Hg in the stalks were 2.6 +/- 1.1 to 1.7 +/- 1.0 times lower than those in the caps. Some mushroom species investigated had high Hg levels when compared with specimens collected from the background reference sites elsewhere (located far away from the big cities) in northern Poland. Bioconcentration factors of Hg in the caps of Horse Mushroom, Parasol Mushroom and Brown Birch Scaber Stalk were between 150 +/- 58 and 230 +/- 150 ng x g(-1) dry wt, respectively, and for inedible Pestle-shaged Puffball (Claviata excipulformis) was 960 +/- 300 ng x g(-1) dry wt. Linear regression coefficients between Hg in caps and in stalks and Hg soil concentrations showed a positive relationship for A. arvensis and Horse mushroom (p < 0.05) and a negative correlation for the caps of Death Caps (Amanita phalloides) and Woolly Milk Cap (Lactarius torminosus) (p < 0.05), while for other species no clear trend was found.

Total mercury in mushrooms and underlying soil substrate from the Borecka Forest, Northeastern Poland.

Total mercury concentrations were determined by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy in 240 composite samples of the caps, 240 of the stalks, and 16 of the whole fruiting bodies of 13 species of wild mushrooms and in 256 samples of underlying soil substrate collected from the Borecka Forest and the adjacent area in 1998. The area of the study is a background site with no known local sources of mercury emission. The mercury concentrations of the fruiting bodies varied largely (range between 14 and 14,000 ng/g dry weight) depending on the site and mushroom species investigated, but were less varied in soil samples (between 5 and 86 ng/g dry weight). The fruiting bodies of king bolete (Boletus edulis) showed greatest content of mercury. King bolete and yellow-cracking bolete (Xerocomus subtomentosus) collected from the Borecka Forest both contained in the caps around threefold greater concentrations of mercury than were noted for the same species collected from the surrounding area with 9,900 +/- 2,700 and 3,600 +/- 1,400, and 480 +/- 190 and 160 +/- 70 ng/g dry weight, respectively. Apart from the king bolete, relatively elevated concentrations of mercury were quantified also in a whole fruiting bodies of common puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) with 3,400 +/- 1,300 ng/g as well as in the caps and stalks of common scaber stalk (Leccinum scabrum) with 1,200 +/- 740 and 1,100 +/- 380 ng/g dry weight. In other species investigated, the mercury concentrations were below 1,000 ng/g dry weight, and the smallest values were noted for crab-scended brittle gills (Russula xerampelina) with 60 +/- 20 in the caps and 40 +/- 20 ng/g dry weight in the stalks. For the species such as larch bolete, bay bolete (Xerocomus badius), yellow-cracking bolete, king bolete, common scaber stalk, fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), crab-scented brittle gills, honey mushroom (Amariella mellea) and safron milk cap (Lactarius deliciosus) a positive correlation (0.01 < p < 0.05) between the mercury content and size (diameter) of the caps was found, and in some cases also between mercury content of the stalks and size (height) of the fruiting body. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) values of total mercury were greatest for king bolete, i.e., 250 +/- 65 in the caps and 140 +/- 47 in the stalks, while for the other species investigated were between 200 +/- 91 and 1.8 +/- 0.5 in the caps, and 94 +/- 57 and 1.7 +/- 0.4 in the stalks. Nevertheless, despite great values of BCF of mercury indicated for some species and also a positive correlation between mercury content of the caps/stalks and underlying soil substrate, subsequent coefficients of determination were usually below 40%, and only for bay bolete (stalk), yellow-cracking bolete (cap), common scaber stalk (cap), hard bolete (Leccinum griseum) (cap, stalk), crab-scented gills (stalk), and honey mushroom (cap) were up to 68, 82, 42, 82, 51, 74, and 45%, respectively. The values of the cap/stalk Hg quotient were greatest for larch bolete (Suillus flavus) collected from the Borecka Forest (4.4 +/- 1.3) and for honey mushroom (2.7 +/- 0.9) from the adjacent area.

ICP/MS and ICP/AES elemental analysis (38 elements) of edible wild mushrooms growing in Poland.

Thirty-eight elements, including toxic cadmium, lead, mercury, silver and thallium, were determined in 18 species of wild edible mushrooms collected from several sites in Pomorskie Voivodeship in northern Poland in 1994. Elements were determined by double focused high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), after wet digestion of the dried samples with concentrated nitric acid in closed PTFE vessels using a microwave oven. K, P and Mg were present at levels of mg/g dry matter; Na, Zn, Ca, Fe, Cu, Mn, Rb, Ag, Cd, Hg, Pb, Cs, Sr, Al and Si were present at microg/g levels, while Tl, In, Bi, Th, U, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, La, Lu and Ba were present at ng/g levels.

[Bioaccumulation of elements and radionuclides by macrofungi. Review for territories of Poland]. / Biokumulacja pierwiastków i radionuklidów przez grzyby wielkoowocnikowe. Przeglad bibliograficzny dla ziem Polskich.

A bibliographic review is presented on publications related to bioaccumulation of elements, specially metals and radionuclides in fruiting bodies of higher mushrooms collected at the territory of Poland. In the paper apart from the list of references in tables is given, chronologically, name of the first author, year of publication, site, the type of work (in situ, commercial source, field experiment, laboratory study), chemical symbols of the elements and the abbreviations of the latin names of the mushroom species under study.

[Content of mercury in edible mushrooms on the terrains of Morag and Lukta]. / Zawartosc rteci w grzybach jadalnych na terenie gmin Morag i Lukta.

Mercury concentrations were determined in the caps and stalks of seven species of edible mushrooms: Cantharellus cibarius, Xerocomus badius, Leccinum rufum, Leccinum scabrum, Boletus edulis, Tricholoma terreum and Marasmius oreades, collected at the area of the communes Morag and Lukta in the County of Ostróda in 1997-98. The method of mercury measurement was cold-vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy (CV-AAS) after wet digestion of the samples with concentrated nitric acid under pressure in teflon vessels in microwave oven. There were a large variation of mercury content between examined mushrooms species. Boletus edulis showed a highest mercury concentration, i.e. 3.000 +/- 1.600 ng/g in the caps and 1.800 +/- 900 ng/g dry matter in the stalks. The lowest mercury concentration was detected in Cantharellus cibarius and Tricholoma terreum.