Addressing Racial/Ethnic Equity in Access to COVID-19 Testing Through Drive-Thru And Walk-In Testing Sites in Chicago.

Mile Square Health Center (MSHC), a network of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) run by the University of Illinois Hospital (UIH) in Chicago, established Drive-Thru and Walk-Up COVID-19 testing sites. The primary aim of the UIH/MSHC testing project was to increase testing capacity in the most affected, racial/ethnic minority communities. More than 7,500 tests were performed over a six-month period. Half of those who were tested were Black and Latinx residents. The majority of those tested at the Walk-Up sites were Black, while "Other" race group tended to get tested in Drive Thru testing sites. Latinx residents had the highest positivity rate, followed by Other race group. Younger age groups were more likely to have higher positivity rates. Overall, UH/MSHC testing results reflected the overall Chicago COVID-19 testing results. Our findings substantiate the need to advocate for equitable resource allocation to counter the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 infection among minority communities. FQHCs were shown to be an effective approach to reduce structural barriers to COVID-19 testing and subsequently reduce disparities. Going forward, FQHCs can be key to ensuring COVID-19 vaccine outreach and dissemination.

Efficient graphene-coated iron oxide (GCIO) nanoadsorbent for removal of lead and arsenic ions.

ABSTRACTThe graphene-coated iron oxide (GCIO) was used for the removal of Pb2+ and As3+ ions from aqueous solution. For the characterization of GCIO, several techniques (FTIR, XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, TGA, DSC and vibrating sample magnetometry) were used which indicated the interaction of Pb2+ and As3+ with adsorbent. In addition, the effects of adsorbate concentration, different composition of adsorbent, temperature, pH of the solution and contact time of adsorbate-adsorbent were studied. After analysis of these experiments, it was found that GCIO offered very fast removal of Pb2+ and As3+ with small amount of GCIO (0.09 g) in 100 mg/L adsorbate solution. The maximum removal of Pb2+ ions (up to 97.62%) was achieved when 100 mg/L standard solution of metal ion was treated with GCIO for 35 min at 45°C in weak acidic medium (5 pH). The adsorption of Pb2+ ions followed Freundlich model with high correlation coefficient 0.98 R2. In case of As3+ ions, maximum removal of metal ion (up to 86.62%) was attained when 100 mg/L adsorbate solution is treated with GCIO for 25 min in slightly acidic medium (6 pH) at 25°C. The adsorption of As3+ ions followed D-R model with 0.98 R2 value. The adsorption of both metal ions (Pb2+ and As3+) follows second-order kinetic model. The high percentage removal of metal ions with little quantity of GCIO confirmed that GCIO is an excellent, effective and economic adsorbent.

Structural and redox properties of mitochondrial cytochrome c co-sorbed with phosphate on hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) surfaces.

The interaction of metalloproteins with oxides has implications not only for bioanalytical systems and biosensors but also in the areas of biomimetic photovoltaic devices, bioremediation, and bacterial metal reduction. Here, we investigate mitochondrial ferricytochrome c (Cyt c) co-sorption with 0.01 and 0.1 M phosphate on hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) surfaces as a function of pH (2-11). Although Cyt c sorption to hematite in the presence of phosphate is consistent with electrostatic attraction, other forces act upon Cyt c as well. The occurrence of multilayer adsorption, and our AFM observations, suggest that Cyt c aggregates as the pH approaches the Cyt c isoelectric point. In solution, methionine coordination of heme Fe occurs only between pH 3 and 7, but in the presence of phosphate this coordination is retained up to pH 10. Electrochemical evidence for the presence of native Cyt c occurs down to pH 3 and up to pH 10 in the absence of phosphate, and this range is extended to pH 2 and 11 in the presence of phosphate. Cyt c that initially adsorbs to a hematite surface may undergo conformation change and coat the surface with unfolded protein such that subsequently adsorbing protein is more likely to retain the native conformational state. AFM provides evidence for rapid sorption kinetics for Cyt c co-sorbed with 0.01 or 0.1 M phosphate. Cyt c co-sorbed with 0.01 M phosphate appears to unfold on the surface of hematite while Cyt c co-sorbed with 0.1 M phosphate possibly retains native conformation due to aggregation.

XANES investigation of phosphate sorption in single and binary systems of iron and aluminum oxide minerals.

Phosphate sorption on Fe- and Al-oxide minerals helps regulate the solubility and mobility of P in the environment. The objective of this study was to characterize phosphate adsorption and precipitation in single and binary systems of Fe- and Al-oxide minerals. Varying concentrations of phosphate were reacted for 42 h in aqueous suspensions containing goethite, ferrihydrite, boehmite, or noncrystalline (non-xl) Al-hydroxide, and in 1:1 (by mass) mixed-mineral suspensions of goethite/boehmite and ferrihydrite/ non-xl Al-hydroxide at pH 6 and 22 degrees C. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy was used to detect precipitated phosphate and distinguish PO4 associated with Fe(III) versus Al(III) in mixed-mineral systems. Changes in the full width at half-maximum height (fwhm) in the white-line peak in P K-XANES spectra provided evidence for precipitation in Al-oxide single-mineral systems, but not in goethite or ferrihydrite systems. Similarly, adsorption isotherms and XANES data showed evidence for precipitation in goethite/boehmite mixtures, suggesting that mineral interactive effects on PO4 sorption were minimal. However, sorption in ferrihydrite/non-xl Al-hydroxide systems and a lack of XANES evidence for precipitation indicated that mineral interactions inhibited precipitation in these binary mixtures.