Fabric-Phase Sorptive Membrane Array As a Noninvasive In Vivo Sampling Device For Human Exposure To Different Compounds.

This study introduces an innovative device for the noninvasive sampling and chromatographic analysis of different compounds present in exhaled breath aerosol (EBA). The new sampling device, especially in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic that forced many countries to impose mandatory facemasks, allows an easy monitoring of the subject's exposure to different compounds they may come in contact with, actively or passively. The project combines the advantages of a fabric-phase sorptive membrane (FPSM) as an in vivo sampling device with a validated LC-MS/MS screening procedure able to monitor more than 739 chemicals with an overall analysis time of 18 min. The project involves the noninvasive in vivo sampling of the EBA using an FPSM array inserted inside an FFP2 mask. The study involved 15 healthy volunteers, and no restrictions were imposed during or prior to the sampling process regarding the consumption of drinks, food, or drugs. The FPSM array-LC-MS/MS approach allowed us to effectively exploit the advantages of the two complementary procedures (the convenient sampling by an FPSM array and the rapid analysis by LC-MS/MS), obtaining a powerful and green tool to carry out rapid screening analyses for human exposure to different compounds. The flexible fabric substrate, the sponge-like porous architecture of the high-efficiency sol-gel sorbent coating, the availability of a large cache of sorbent coatings, including polar, nonpolar, mixed mode, and zwitterionic phases, the easy installation into the facemask, and the possibility of sampling without interrupting regular activities provide FPSMs unparalleled advantages over other sampling techniques, and their applications are expected to expand to many other clinical or toxicological studies.

Novel MIPs-Parabens based SPE Stationary Phases Characterization and Application.

In this work, the synthesis, characterization, and application of novel parabens imprinted polymers as highly selective solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents have been reported. The imprinted polymers were created using sol-gel molecular imprinting process. All the seven parabens were considered herein in order to check the phase selectivity. By means of a validated HPLC-photodiode array detector (PDA) method all seven parabens were resolved in a single chromatographic run of 25 min. These SPE sorbents, in-house packed in SPE empty cartridges, were first characterized in terms of extraction capability, breakthrough volume, retention volume, hold-up volume, number of theoretical plates, and retention factor. Finally, the device was applied to a real urine sample to check the method feasibility on a very complex matrix. The new paraben imprinted SPE sorbents, not yet present in the literature, potentially encourage the development of novel molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) to enhance the extraction efficiency, and consequently the overall analytical performances, when the trace quantification is required.

Intense, Instantaneous, and Shooting Pain During Local Anesthesia for Implant Surgery.

Administration of local anesthetics is daily routine for most dental practitioners. Normally, the effect is achieved, and no adverse effects are seen. In this article, the authors describe the complications of immediate, intense and shooting pain, numbness, and marked pallor of the cheek, which occurred during infiltration of a local anesthetic in buccal vestibule infiltration. The patients moved suddenly because of pain and marked pallor of the cheek near the root of the nose and lower eyelid pallor was observed. The pain was very short and the injection was performed again after a few minutes. Two patients also reported an alteration of vision or paralysis of the extra-ocular muscles and drooping eyelid due to paralysis of the levator palpebrae superioris muscle and signs of numbness in the infraorbital area on the same side as the anesthesia. While 3 patients were also apprehensive and started to scare with heart palpitations, as they did not understand what was happening. Probably the anesthetic solutions were injected into an intravascular artery and passed from the extraosseous branch of posterior superior alveolar artery through to the infraorbital artery, which could produce the clinical signs observed in the present study. At the same time, the inoculation of anesthetic in the artery could be grounds for legal disputes for the dentist. In fact, in the absence of vascular disease, anomalies documented by the dentist, they would, however, respond to professional liability and be liable for damages caused to the patient. In conclusion, despite the fact that this condition requires no treatment, it could lead to the recognition of clinical signs in patient with injection of local anesthesia into the artery. At the same time, the inoculation of anesthetic in the artery could be grounds for legal disputes for the dentist.

A new LC-MS/MS confirmation method for the determination of 17 drugs of abuse in oral fluid and its application to real samples.

A new liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) confirmation method for the direct analysis of 17 drugs starting from 200µL of diluted oral fluid (OF), in a single chromatographic run, was developed and validated. Cocaine, benzoylecgonine (BEG), cocaethylene, Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ-9-THC), buprenorphine, 6-acetylmorphine (6AM), morphine, codeine, methadone, 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP), amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine (MDE), ketamine, N-methyl-1-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2-butanamine (MBDB) were determined in a chromatographic run of 12min only with no sample pre-treatment, after the addition of 15 different internal standards (ISs). The method met all requirements in terms of linearity, accuracy (precision and trueness), recovery, and stability requested by FDA guidelines. Carry-over and interferences were negligible, as well as the matrix effects. LLOQs are below the limits defined by European guidelines and Italian national laws. The original oral fluid collections are stable at least six months at -20°C and one week at +4°C.

Estimation of date of death through wound healing of an extraction socket: A case report.

Surgical extraction of teeth due to dental pathologies is a relatively common procedure in modern man. The healing of the wound that results occurs in gradual and sequential stages, such that the analysis of this repair process can be very useful in forensic investigations on human remains. The following study reports on a particular case where the remodeling of a tooth socket allowed an estimation of the time that had elapsed from the day of the surgical extraction of the tooth to the time of death. The corpse was that of a woman of 34 years. It was in an advanced state of decomposition, as it was largely skeletonized. Macroscopic, radiographic, and histological examinations of the oral cavity showed the initial stages of alveolar bone remodeling of the first left mandibular molar, which was characterized by: (i) a small reduction in the vertical height of the vestibular surface with respect to the theoretical original position of the tooth; (ii) resorption of the intra-alveolar septum and lamina dura; and (iii) formation of new immature bone, which covered the entire inner surface of the socket. This study established that the subject died 13-42days after the tooth extraction. Knowing the date of the dental extraction provided by the police investigation, it was possible to provide an estimate of the date of death.