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Objective: The objective of this work was to conduct a systematic study to evaluate the performance of citric acid (CA), an example of a commonly used organic acid in hair cosmetics, on different types of chemically treated hair and to better understand how CA works., Methods: Consumer-centric routines were used to prepare the chemically treated hair, namely high-lift bleached, middle-lift bleached, permanently coloured and a combination of permed and coloured hair. Hair was subsequently treated with CA and hair reinforcement was investigated by physical techniques: High Pressure Differential Scanning Calorimetry (HPDSC), Miniature Tensile Test (MTT), Cyclic Fatigue Tensile Test (CFTT) & Micro X-ray Diffraction (μXRD) as well as chemical analysis (elemental, amino acids)., Results: CA treatment demonstrably enhances the structural integrity of chemically treated hair. DSC revealed increased crosslinking density of keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) in the hair cortex, evidenced by a 6.7% to 15.0% increase in denaturation temperature, varying with the specific chemical treatment. This improvement translates to enhanced mechanical properties, with tensile elastic modulus increasing by 7.5% to 23.5% and fatigue resistance (median cycles to break) improving by a remarkable 56% to 124%. Furthermore, CA treatment significantly reduced hair calcium levels by 21% to 42%. XRD analysis confirmed a reduction in the structure and quantity of crystallized calcium soaps following CA treatment. The observed performance improvements likely stem from a combination of mechanisms, including calcium chelation, the treatment's pH, and reinforcement of the non-covalent protein network. The precise interplay of these factors appears to be influenced by the type of pre-existing chemical treatment on the hair., Conclusion: CA effectively reinforces hair damaged by various common chemical treatments. However, these findings highlight the complex relationship between hair damage, chemical treatment type, and the efficacy of reinforcement strategies. The observed dependence of CA's performance on the level of pre-existing damage underscores the need for further research into developing targeted actives for consumers with specific and severe hair damage profiles. This opens exciting avenues for innovation in hair care tailored to individual needs., (© 2025 Society of Cosmetic Scientists and Societe Francaise de Cosmetologie.)

Objectives: This study aims to examine the effects of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP), which increases new connective tissue synthesis and revascularisation, on healing in parotid surgery wounds, prevention of salivary fistula formation, drain removal time and hospitalisation in the postoperative period., Materials and Methods: Fifty-four patients who had an operation on partial parotidectomy were randomised, and then two groups were created. PRP was obtained by centrifuging the blood taken from the patients in the study group at the end of the surgery. This obtained PRP was injected into the surgical site, and then the wound flap was closed by suturing. Patients were evaluated for parameters such as the development of salivary fistula, duration of drain removal, discharge time and all other complications during the postoperative 4 weeks., Results: Drain removal and discharge times of the PRP group cases were statistically shorter than those in the control group. The rate of development of a salivary fistula was remarkably high in the control group, but it was not statistically significant. A statistically significant correlation was found between the location of the compared tumour, the volume of material removed and the incidence of all complications., Conclusions: PRP reduced the duration of drain removal and discharge times for those who had an operation on partial parotidectomy. Thus, the decreased discharge time provides both reduced health costs and reduced risk of developing nosocomial infections. Although it was not statistically significant, a significant difference was observed in the rates of salivary fistula development., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The habitation and environment are affected by the stable isotopes of caesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr), as well as by their radioactive isotopes. The current work gives insight on Alstonia scholaris' capacity to phytoextract stable caesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr), as well as the plant's ability to protect against the toxicity of both elements. Experiments with Cs [0-5 mM (CsCl)] and Sr [0-3 mM (SrCl 2 . 6H 2 O)] dosing in controlled light, temperature, and humidity condition in greenhouse for 21 days were undertaken. Cs and Sr accumulation in different plant parts was quantified with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) respectively. Hyper-accumulation capacity for Cs and Sr was estimated with indices like transfer factor (TF) and translocation factors (TrF). The uptake pattern of caesium in Alstonia scholaris is 5452.8-24,771.4 mg/kg DW (TF = 85.2-57.6) and in the case of Sr is 1307.4-8705.7 mg/kg DW (TF = 85.3-1.46). The findings demonstrated the plant's ability to transfer Cs and Sr to aboveground biomass on the basis of dry weight, with the majority of the metals being deposited in the shoot rather than the root portion of the plant. For Cs and Sr, with increasing concentration, the plants exhibited the enzymatic expression for defence against metal toxicity by free radicals compared to control. Field emission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (FESEM with EDS) was employed to assess the spatial distribution of Cs and Sr in plant leaf, indicating the accumulation of Cs, Sr, and their homologous components., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Rationale: The first-row transition metals Cu, Ni, and Co show a strong binding affinity to natural organic matter. Compared to dissolved elements and stable water isotopes, they may be transported rapidly through the soil and host rock into caves in response to infiltration events. This study aims to assess the potential of transition metal ratios as indicators for infiltration changes in response to the seasonal and/or event-based rainfall variation., Methods: We developed a protocol to analyze Cu, Ni, and Co in the cave drip water using collision cell ICP-QMS without extensive sample pretreatment. The high Ca matrix leads to significant isobaric interferences on all isotope masses. Our method includes a correction of these matrix effects and yields results with comparable accuracy and reproducibility to other published methods. We applied this protocol to drip water samples from Larga Cave (Puerto Rico) covering at least two full annual cycles between 2014 and 2019 on a bimonthly scale., Results: The analysis of external reference materials yielded a reproducibility between 4.7% and 9.2% (relative standard deviation), validating the accuracy of the matrix correction method. The limit of detection is <0.04 ppb for Cu, <0.02 ppb for Ni, and <0.008 ppb for Co. The analysis of drip water samples from Larga Cave reveals pronounced changes of several orders of magnitude in all Element (El) to Ca, Cu/Ni, and Cu/Co ratios in response to seasonal infiltration changes. In addition, we observe a partly even stronger response after major tropical storms and heavy precipitation events of the period of record, for example, tropical storm "Bertha" (2014) and the category 5 hurricanes "Irma" and "Maria" (both 2017)., Conclusions: Transition metal ratios can be accurately measured in cave drip waters with high Ca matrix. At our tropical site, these are promising tracers of infiltration changes in response to changes in the amount of rainfall, providing the first step toward tropical cyclone reconstruction using trace elements in speleothems., (© 2022 The Authors. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)