Analyze Diet

Topic:Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy is an analytical technique used to measure the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation. In equine research, spectroscopy is applied to assess various biological and chemical properties of horses. Techniques such as infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry are utilized to analyze tissues, fluids, and other biological samples. These methods provide insights into metabolic processes, nutritional status, and disease states in horses. Spectroscopy aids in the identification and quantification of biomolecules, contributing to the understanding of equine physiology and pathology. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the application, methodology, and findings of spectroscopic techniques in equine science.
Arthroscopic near infrared spectroscopy enables simultaneous quantitative evaluation of articular cartilage and subchondral bone in vivo.
Scientific reports    September 7, 2018   Volume 8, Issue 1 13409 doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-31670-5
Sarin JK, Te Moller NCR, Mancini IAD, Brommer H, Visser J, Malda J, van Weeren PR, Afara IO, Töyräs J.Arthroscopic assessment of articular tissues is highly subjective and poorly reproducible. To ensure optimal patient care, quantitative techniques (e.g., near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)) could substantially enhance arthroscopic diagnosis of initial signs of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, the potential of arthroscopic NIRS to simultaneously monitor progressive degeneration of cartilage and subchondral bone in vivo in Shetland ponies undergoing different experimental cartilage repair procedures. Osteochondral tissues adjacent to the repair sites...
Discrimination of Human Urine from Animal Urine Using 1H-NMR.
Journal of analytical toxicology    August 31, 2018   Volume 43, Issue 1 51-60 doi: 10.1093/jat/bky061
Lee W, Ko BJ, Sim YE, Suh S, Yoon D, Kim S.Urine was most commonly used biological sample in drug test. To create a false-negative test result, some drug abusers were reported to submit animal urine instead of their own. So, the purpose of this study was to compare and differentiate human from animal urine (Rat 370, Pig 12, Horse 10, Cat 8, Dog 13, Cow 10, Monkey 10) samples through the uses of quantitative 1H-NMR and to find biomarkers that can be used for the discrimination of human urine from animal urine. The 1H-NMR spectroscopy was employed and metabolomic analysis with multivariate statistics was carried out. Human urine samples ...
Characterization of trotter horses urine metabolome by means of proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society    August 3, 2018   Volume 14, Issue 8 106 doi: 10.1007/s11306-018-1403-3
Zhu C, Faillace V, Laus F, Bazzano M, Laghi L.Metabolomics has been recognized as a powerful approach for disease screening. In order to highlight potential health issues in subjects, a key factor is the possibility to compare quantitatively the metabolome of their biofluids with reference values from healthy individuals. Such efforts towards the systematic characterization of the metabolome of biofluids in perfect health conditions, far from concluded for humans, have barely begun on horses. The present work attempts, for the first time, to give reference quantitative values for the molecules mostly represented in the urine metabolome of...
Composition, structure and tensile biomechanical properties of equine articular cartilage during growth and maturation.
Scientific reports    July 27, 2018   Volume 8, Issue 1 11357 doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-29655-5
Oinas J, Ronkainen AP, Rieppo L, Finnilä MAJ, Iivarinen JT, van Weeren PR, Helminen HJ, Brama PAJ, Korhonen RK, Saarakkala S.Articular cartilage undergoes structural and biochemical changes during maturation, but the knowledge on how these changes relate to articular cartilage function at different stages of maturation is lacking. Equine articular cartilage samples of four different maturation levels (newborn, 5-month-old, 11-month-old and adult) were collected (N = 25). Biomechanical tensile testing, Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR-MS) and polarized light microscopy were used to study the tensile, biochemical and structural properties of articular cartilage, respectively. The tensile modulus ...
Synovial Fluid Metabolites Differentiate between Septic and Nonseptic Joint Pathologies.
Journal of proteome research    July 20, 2018   Volume 17, Issue 8 2735-2743 doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.8b00190
Anderson JR, Phelan MM, Clegg PD, Peffers MJ, Rubio-Martinez LM.Osteoarthritis (OA), osteochondrosis (OC), and synovial sepsis in horses cause loss of function and pain. Reliable biomarkers are required to achieve accurate and rapid diagnosis, with synovial fluid (SF) holding a unique source of biochemical information. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy allows global metabolite analysis of a small volume of SF, with minimal sample preprocessing using a noninvasive and nondestructive method. Equine SF metabolic profiles from both nonseptic joints (OA and OC) and septic joints were analyzed using 1D H NMR spectroscopy. Univariate and multivariate ...
Determination of body proportion factor in draft horses for the use of bioimpedance spectroscopy.
The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne    June 19, 2018   Volume 59, Issue 6 650-653 
Greco-Otto PR, Léguillette R.Bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS) instantly assesses body composition to monitor the effects of diet, competition, and illness, though it requires a body proportion factor (Kb). This study aimed to validate a draft horse-specific Kb. The calculated Kb was 1.42, resulting in significantly lower body composition values, with the exception of fat mass. Une spectroscopie de bio-impédance bioélectrique (SBB) évalue instantanément la composition corporelle pour surveiller les effets de la diète, de la compétition et de la maladie, même si elle exige un facteur de proportion corporel...
Dynamics of Ionic Liquid-Assisted Refolding of Denatured Cytochrome c: A Study of Preferential Interactions toward Renaturation.
Molecular pharmaceutics    May 25, 2018   Volume 15, Issue 7 2684-2697 doi: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.8b00212
Singh UK, Patel R.In vitro refolding of denatured protein and the influence of the alkyl chain on the refolding of a protein were tested using long chain imidazolium chloride salts, 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium chloride [Cmim][Cl], and 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [Cmim][Cl]. The horse heart cytochrome c (h-cyt c) was denatured by urea and guanidinium hydrochloride (GdnHCl), as well as by base-induced denaturation at pH 13, to provide a broad overview of the overall refolding behavior. The variation in the alkyl chain of the ionic liquids (ILs) showed a profound effect on the refolding of denatured h-cyt...
The content of essential and toxic elements in the hair of the mane of the trotter horses depending on their speed.
Environmental science and pollution research international    May 24, 2018   Volume 25, Issue 22 21961-21967 doi: 10.1007/s11356-018-2334-2
Kalashnikov V, Zajcev A, Atroshchenko M, Miroshnikov S, Frolov A, Zav'yalov O, Kalinkova L, Kalashnikova T.A study on the Russian trotting breeds was conducted to assess the impact of horses' sporting results and the degree of accumulation of chemical elements in the hair. In the first phase of the research, the elemental composition of the mane hair of trotter horses (n = 215) was studied. Based on these studies, percentile intervals for the distribution of concentrations of chemical elements in the hair have been established, and the values of 25 and 75 percentile adopted as a "physiological standard" have been defined. In the second stage of the research into clinically healthy Russian trott...
Intracellular free magnesium concentration in healthy horses.
Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition    May 9, 2018   Volume 102, Issue 5 1351-1356 doi: 10.1111/jpn.12921
Winter JC, Sponder G, Merle R, Aschenbach JR, Gehlen H.Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is a worldwide disease in horses that parallels human diabetes mellitus type 2. In both diseases, patients show an altered peripheral insulin sensitivity as a key feature. In humans, multiple studies have demonstrated the beneficial effect of magnesium supplementation on insulin sensitivity. However, serum magnesium levels vary and are therefore not a reliable indicator of the patients' magnesium status. Determining the intracellular free magnesium concentration appears to be a more sensitive diagnostic indicator. In this study, the free intracellular magnesium ...
Morphology and elemental analysis of free range and stabled Polish Konik horses hair using Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).
Polish journal of veterinary sciences    April 7, 2018   Volume 21, Issue 1 65-72 doi: 10.24425/119023
Siwińska N, Żak A, Słowikowska M, Kubiak K, Jaworski Z, Niedzwiedź A.Hair is a more biologically stable material than other tissues and contains a relatively constant level of minerals, drugs or toxins. The content of essential elements in hair depends on dietary and non-dietary factors. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the effect of diet on the elemental composition and morphological properties of the hair of healthy Polish Konik horses. Mane hair was collected from 19 horses living in The National Park in Popielno in Poland. Six of these horses were free-ranged all year with permanent access to pasture, while 13 horses were kept in the stable a...
Catastrophic gastric rupture in a horse secondary to psyllium pharmacobezoars.
The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne    March 31, 2018   Volume 59, Issue 3 249-253 
Bergstrom TC, Sakai RR, Nieto JE.A mare was euthanized because of gastric rupture secondary to complete duodenal obstruction by 2 bezoars located in the pylorus and proximal duodenum. Infrared spectroscopy showed that the bezoars were composed of psyllium. The mare had been receiving treatment with a pelleted psyllium product at 4 times the recommended dosage. Veterinarians should be aware that treatment of colic in horses with pelleted psyllium products could be associated with gastric impaction. Rupture gastrique catastrophique secondaire à des pharmacobézoards de psyllium en boulettes chez un cheval. Une jument a été e...
Biomarkers for equine joint injury and osteoarthritis.
Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society    January 24, 2018   Volume 36, Issue 3 823-831 doi: 10.1002/jor.23738
McIlwraith CW, Kawcak CE, Frisbie DD, Little CB, Clegg PD, Peffers MJ, Karsdal MA, Ekman S, Laverty S, Slayden RA, Sandell LJ, Lohmander LS, Kraus VB.We report the results of a symposium aimed at identifying validated biomarkers that can be used to complement clinical observations for diagnosis and prognosis of joint injury leading to equine osteoarthritis (OA). Biomarkers might also predict pre-fracture change that could lead to catastrophic bone failure in equine athletes. The workshop was attended by leading scientists in the fields of equine and human musculoskeletal biomarkers to enable cross-disciplinary exchange and improve knowledge in both. Detailed proceedings with strategic planning was written, added to, edited and referenced to...
Procyanidin A2 in the Australian plant Alectryon oleifolius has anthelmintic activity against equine cyathostomins in vitro.
Veterinary parasitology    November 21, 2017   Volume 249 63-69 doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2017.11.008
Payne SE, Flematti GR, Reeder A, Kotze AC, Durmic Z, Vercoe PE.There is a need to investigate new methods of controlling cyathostomins in horses due to increasing anthelmintic resistance amongst these parasites. In a previous study we identified the Australian plant Alectryon oleifolius as having anthelmintic activity towards cyathostomins. This study aimed to isolate and identify the bioactive compound(s) responsible for all or part of this anthelmintic activity and quantify its activity in vitro. The condensed tannin procyanidin A2 was isolated from the plant through a process of bioassay guided fractionation and identified using 1D and 2D nuclear magne...
Protocol for Robust In Vivo Measurements of Erythrocyte Aggregation Using Ultrasound Spectroscopy.
Ultrasound in medicine & biology    September 22, 2017   Volume 43, Issue 12 2871-2881 doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2017.08.005
Garcia-Duitama J, Chayer B, Garcia D, Goussard Y, Cloutier G.Erythrocyte aggregation is a non-specific marker of acute and chronic inflammation. Although it is usual to evaluate this phenomenon from blood samples analyzed in laboratory instruments, in vivo real-time assessment of aggregation is possible with spectral ultrasound techniques. However, variable blood flow can affect the interpretation of acoustic measures. Therefore, flow standardization is required. Two techniques of flow standardization were evaluated with porcine and equine blood samples in Couette flow. These techniques consisted in either stopping the flow or reducing it. Then, the se...
Trace elements in struvite equine enteroliths: Concentration, speciation and influence of diet.
Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS)    September 19, 2017   Volume 45 23-30 doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2017.09.019
Rouff AA, Lager GA, Arrue D, Jaynes J.Equine enteroliths ∼1.5cm in diameter were collected from an Arabian horse in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and light microscope imaging of a sectioned enterolith showed two distinct regions of concentric growth outward from the central nidus, a small pebble. After initial growth, acidic colonic fluids permeated the stone inducing recrystallization and alteration of crystals closest to the nidus. A second growth event, when mineral crystallization was again favorable, produced an outer region of unaltered crystals at the rim. The mineral was identifi...
Silver nanoparticles toxicity against airborne strains of Staphylococcus spp.
Journal of environmental science and health. Part A, Toxic/hazardous substances & environmental engineering    September 14, 2017   Volume 52, Issue 13 1247-1256 doi: 10.1080/10934529.2017.1356186
Wolny-Koładka KA, Malina DK.The aim of this study was to explore the toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by chemical reduction method assessment with regard to airborne strains of Staphylococcus spp. The first step of the experiment was the preparation of silver nanoparticle suspension. The suspension was obtained by a fast and simple chemical method involving the reduction of silver ions through a reducing factor in the presence of the suitable stabilizer required to prevent the aggregation. In the second stage, varied instrumental techniques were used for the analysis and characterization of the obtain...
Combination of optical coherence tomography and near infrared spectroscopy enhances determination of articular cartilage composition and structure.
Scientific reports    September 6, 2017   Volume 7, Issue 1 10586 doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-10973-z
Sarin JK, Rieppo L, Brommer H, Afara IO, Saarakkala S, Töyräs J.Conventional arthroscopic evaluation of articular cartilage is subjective and poorly reproducible. Therefore, implementation of quantitative diagnostic techniques, such as near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), is essential. Locations (n = 44) with various cartilage conditions were selected from mature equine fetlock joints (n = 5). These locations and their surroundings were measured with NIRS and OCT (n = 530). As a reference, cartilage proteoglycan (PG) and collagen contents, and collagen network organization were determined using quantitative ...
Effect of conservative mutations (L94V and L94I) on the structure and stability of horse cytochrome c.
Archives of biochemistry and biophysics    August 26, 2017   Volume 633 40-49 doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2017.08.015
Khan SH, Islam A, Hassan MI, Sharma S, Singh TP, Ahmad F.A sequence alignment of horse cytochrome c (cyt c) with all known cyts c shows that Leu at position 94 is conserved, except in 14 species which have either Val or Ile at this position. It is also known that Leu94 of the mammalian cyt c plays an important role in folding and stability. The important question here is as to what will happen in terms of folding and stability if Leu94 of the mammalian cyt c is substituted by Val or Ile. To answer this question, we introduced natural substitutes of Leu94 by Val and Ile in horse cyt c. The purified L94V and L94I mutants under native condition (pH 6.0...
Optimal Regression Method for Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Evaluation of Articular Cartilage.
Applied spectroscopy    August 22, 2017   Volume 71, Issue 10 2253-2262 doi: 10.1177/0003702817726766
Prakash M, Sarin JK, Rieppo L, Afara IO, Töyräs J.Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been successful in nondestructive assessment of biological tissue properties, such as stiffness of articular cartilage, and is proposed to be used in clinical arthroscopies. Near-infrared spectroscopic data include absorbance values from a broad wavelength region resulting in a large number of contributing factors. This broad spectrum includes information from potentially noisy variables, which may contribute to errors during regression analysis. We hypothesized that partial least squares regression (PLSR) is an optimal multivariate regression technique and...
Spectroscopic Study of the Interaction between Horse Heart Myoglobin and Zirconium(IV)-Substituted Polyoxometalates as Artificial Proteases.
Chemphyschem : a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry    August 3, 2017   Volume 18, Issue 18 2451-2458 doi: 10.1002/cphc.201700680
Ly HGT, Parac-Vogt TN.A recent study [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 7391-7394] has shown that horse heart myoglobin (HHM) is selectively hydrolyzed by a range of zirconium(IV)-substituted polyoxometalates (POMs) under mild conditions. In this study, the molecular interactions between the Zr-POM catalysts and HHM are investigated by using a range of complementary techniques, including circular dichroism (CD), UV/Vis spectroscopy, tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy, and H and P NMR spectroscopy. A tryptophan fluorescence quenching study reveals that, among all examined Zr-POMs, the most reactive POM, 2:2 Zr -...
Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy for photon migration studies in bones with different mineralization levels.
The Analyst    August 3, 2017   Volume 142, Issue 17 3219-3226 doi: 10.1039/c7an00408g
Sowoidnich K, Churchwell JH, Buckley K, Goodship AE, Parker AW, Matousek P.The ability of Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) to obtain chemically specific information from below the sample surface makes it a promising technique for non-invasive in vivo diagnosis of bone conditions by sampling bone through the skin. The depth below a surface interrogated by SORS depends on the system's optical properties and is difficult to estimate for complex bone material. This paper uses 830 nm laser excitation to investigate the influence of bone mineralization on photon migration properties in deer antler cortex, equine metacarpal cortex and whale tympanic bulla. Thin sl...
Correlation between capillary oxygen saturation and small intestinal wall thickness in the equine colic patient.
Veterinary record open    April 23, 2017   Volume 4, Issue 1 e000197 doi: 10.1136/vetreco-2016-000197
Mirle E, Wogatzki A, Kunzmann R, Schoenfelder AM, Litzke LF.The surgical evaluation of haemorrhagic infarcted intestine and the decision for or against bowel resection require a lot of experience and are subjective. The aim of this prospective, clinical study was to examine the correlation between oxygen saturation and small intestinal wall (IW) thickness, using two objective methods. In 22 colicky horses, the blood flow, oxygen saturation and relative amount of haemoglobin were measured intraoperatively via laser Doppler and white light spectroscopy (O2C, oxygen to see, LEA Medizintechnik) at six measuring points (MPs) in small and large intestines. F...
Time resolved calorimetry of photo-induced folding in horse heart cytochrome c at high pH.
Archives of biochemistry and biophysics    December 29, 2016   Volume 615 10-14 doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2016.12.013
Word TA, Larsen RW.Here the molar volume and enthalpy changes associated with the early events in the folding of ferrocytochrome c (Cc) at high pH have been examined using time resolved photoacoustic calorimetry (PAC). The data reveal an overall volume change of 1.3 ± 0.3 mL mol and an enthalpy change of 13 ± 7 kcal mol occurring subsequent to photodissociation of the unfolded CO bound Cc species in <∼20 ns. Two additional kinetic phases are observed that are associated with non-native His binding (ΔH and ΔV of 2 ± 4 kcal mol and -0.5 mL mol, τ ∼ 2.5 μs ) and Met binding (ΔH an...
Induced sub-lethal oxidative damage affects osmotic tolerance and cryosurvival of spermatozoa.
Reproduction, fertility, and development    October 19, 2016   Volume 29, Issue 9 1739-1750 doi: 10.1071/RD16183
Ertmer F, Oldenhof H, Schütze S, Rohn K, Wolkers WF, Sieme H.If the physiological balance between production and scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is shifted towards production of ROS this may result in accumulation of cell damage over time. In this study stallion spermatozoa were incubated with xanthine and xanthine oxidase (X-XO) to artificially generate defined levels of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide resulting in sub-lethal oxidative damage. The effects of X-XO treatment on various sperm characteristics were studied. Special emphasis was placed on sperm osmotic tolerance pre-freeze and its correlation with cryosurvival, given that cryopr...
Nitrite coordination in myoglobin.
Journal of inorganic biochemistry    October 14, 2016   Volume 166 49-54 doi: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2016.10.002
Ioannou A, Lambrou A, Daskalakis V, Pinakoulaki E.The coordination of nitrite in myoglobin (Mb) has been characterized by resonance Raman spectroscopy and the frequencies of the nitrite bound to the heme Fe as well to the 2-vinyl have been computed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The DFT Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis and the extensive isotope-labeling in the resonance Raman experiments indicate that NO (O1NO2) is bound to the heme Fe via O1. Based on the vibrational characterization of the reversible transition between low and high spin FeONO/2-nitrovinyl species, we suggest that the key step that triggers the spin-chan...
Room temperature fluorescence and phosphorescence study on the interactions of iodide ions with single tryptophan containing serum albumins.
Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy    June 8, 2016   Volume 169 16-24 doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2016.06.016
Gałęcki K, Kowalska-Baron A.In this study, the influence of heavy-atom perturbation, induced by the addition of iodide ions, on the fluorescence and phosphorescence decay parameters of some single tryptophan containing serum albumins isolated from: human (HSA), equine (ESA) and leporine (LSA) has been studied. The obtained results indicated that, there exist two distinct conformations of the proteins with different exposure to the quencher. In addition, the Stern-Volmer plots indicated saturation of iodide ions in the binding region. Therefore, to determine quenching parameter, we proposed alternative quenching model and...
Chondroitin sulphate glycosaminoglycans contribute to widespread inferior biomechanics in tendon after focal injury.
Journal of biomechanics    June 6, 2016   Volume 49, Issue 13 2694-2701 doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2016.06.006
Choi RK, Smith MM, Martin JH, Clarke JL, Dart AJ, Little CB, Clarke EC.Both mechanical and structural properties of tendon change after injury however the causal relationship between these properties is presently unclear. This study aimed to determine the extent of biomechanical change in post-injury tendon pathology and whether the sulphated glycosaminoglycans (glycosaminoglycans) present are a causal factor in these changes. Equine superficial digital flexor tendons (SDF tendons) were surgically-injured in vivo (n=6 injured, n=6 control). Six weeks later they were harvested and regionally dissected into twelve regions around the lesion (equal medial/lateral, pr...
Near Infrared Spectroscopic Mapping of Functional Properties of Equine Articular Cartilage.
Annals of biomedical engineering    May 27, 2016   Volume 44, Issue 11 3335-3345 doi: 10.1007/s10439-016-1659-6
Sarin JK, Amissah M, Brommer H, Argüelles D, Töyräs J, Afara IO.Mechanical properties of articular cartilage are vital for normal joint function, which can be severely compromised by injuries. Quantitative characterization of cartilage injuries, and evaluation of cartilage stiffness and thickness by means of conventional arthroscopy is poorly reproducible or impossible. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for predicting and mapping the functional properties of equine articular cartilage at and around lesion sites. Lesion and non-lesion areas of interests (AI, N = 44) of equine joints (N = 5) were divided into...
The study of natural and artificial radionuclides incorporation in teeth and head bones of animals lived nearby Caetité uranium mine, Brazil.
Journal of environmental radioactivity    May 20, 2016   Volume 162-163 39-44 doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2016.04.037
Walencik-Łata A, Kozłowska B, Mietelski JW, Szufa K, Freire FD, Souza SO.This study aimed at assessing the incorporation of radionuclides in animals in the proximity of the uranium mine in Caetité, Brazil. In 2014, samples of bovine and equine teeth and skull bones were collected and their contents of natural and artificial isotopes were assessed using nuclear spectrometry techniques. Gamma ray emission from Ra and K isotopes was determined using high-purity germanium (HPGe) spectrometry, Sr radioactivity was measured with liquid scintillation, and U, Th, Po and Pu radioactivity was assessed with alpha-spectrometry. Prior to the measurements, sample dissolutions a...
Practical Considerations in Trace Element Analysis of Bone by Portable X-ray Fluorescence.
Journal of forensic sciences    April 19, 2016   Volume 61, Issue 4 1041-1045 doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.13103
Byrnes JF, Bush PJ.Forensic anthropologists are more often turning to nondestructive methods to assist with skeletal analyses, specifically for trace elemental analyses. Portable XRF (pXRF) instruments are versatile and are able to be used in diverse settings or for specimens of a shape and size that cannot be accommodated by laboratory-based instruments. Use of XRF requires knowledge of analysis parameters such as X-ray penetration and exit depth. Analysis depth was determined by examining pure elements through known thicknesses of equine bone slices. Correlation between the element's X-ray emission energy and ...