Haughey, Simon A; Graham, Stewart F; Cancouët, Emmanuelle; Elliott, Christopher T
2013-02-15
Soya bean products are used widely in the animal feed industry as a protein based feed ingredient and have been found to be adulterated with melamine. This was highlighted in the Chinese scandal of 2008. Dehulled soya (GM and non-GM), soya hulls and toasted soya were contaminated with melamine and spectra were generated using Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS). By applying chemometrics to the spectral data, excellent calibration models and prediction statistics were obtained. The coefficients of determination (R(2)) were found to be 0.89-0.99 depending on the mathematical algorithm used, the data pre-processing applied and the sample type used. The corresponding values for the root mean square error of calibration and prediction were found to be 0.081-0.276% and 0.134-0.368%, respectively, again depending on the chemometric treatment applied to the data and sample type. In addition, adopting a qualitative approach with the spectral data and applying PCA, it was possible to discriminate between the four samples types and also, by generation of Cooman's plots, possible to distinguish between adulterated and non-adulterated samples. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of the adulteration technique on the near-infrared detection of melamine in milk powder
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The fraudulent adulteration of protein-rich food ingredients with melamine in 2007 and 2008 highlighted the public health and economic consequences of adulterating foods with chemicals not approved for food use. U.S. Pharmacopeia is leading a collaborative project to develop reference materials as w...
Determination of melamine of milk based on two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Ren-jie; Liu, Rong; Xu, Kexin
2012-03-01
The adulteration of milk with harmful substances is a threat to public health and beyond question a serious crime. In order to develop a rapid, cost-effective, high-throughput analysis method for detecting of adulterants in milk, the discriminative analysis of melamine is established in milk based on the two-dimensional (2D) correlation infrared spectroscopy in present paper. Pure milk samples and adulterated milk samples with different content of melamine were prepared. Then the Fourier Transform Infrared spectra of all samples were measured at room temperature. The characteristics of pure milk and adulterated milk were studied by one-dimensional spectra. The 2D NIR and 2D IR correlation spectroscopy were calculated under the perturbation of adulteration concentration. In the range from 1400 to 1800 cm-1, two strong autopeaks were aroused by melamine in milk at 1464 cm-1 and 1560 cm-1 in synchronous spectrum. At the same time, the 1560 cm-1 band does not share cross peak with the 1464 cm-1 band, which further confirm that the two bands have the same origin. Also in the range from 4200 to 4800 cm-1, the autopeak was shown at 4648 cm-1 in synchronous spectrum of melamine in milk. 2D NIR-IR hetero-spectral correlation analysis confirmed that the bands at 1464, 1560 and 4648 cm-1 had the same origin. The results demonstrated that the adulterant can be discriminated correctly by 2D correlation infrared spectroscopy.
Toxicological risk of melamine and cyanuric acid in food and feed
Suchý, Pavel; Straková, Eva; Herzig, Ivan; Staňa, Jaroslav; Kalusová, Renata; Pospíchalová, Markéta
2009-01-01
From the toxicological point of view, in the last two years melamine and cyanuric acid have become matters of great interest. These substances, especially melamine, have been abused during food and feed adulteration by increasing the content of nitrogen compounds in these products. Melamine and cyanuric acid as individual substances do not pose any serious risk in terms of toxicology. From the point of view of toxicology, it is especially the complex of melamine with cyanuric acid that is important. This complex, also known as the melamine-cyanurate complex, is a cause of human and animal health problems. In this work we present two examples of the incidence of melamine and cyanuric acid in two feed products originating from China. They were rice and the pea concentrates intended for animal nutrition. Protein concentrates can be the main risk factor for food chain contamination with melamine and cyanuric acid, especially those of unknown origin. Feed with a high content of nitrogen compounds and low content of aminoacids can be regarded as particularly suspicious. A comparison of results for determining nitrogen compounds and amines can be used as proof of adulteration of protein feeds. These feeds must be subjected to further analysis to determine melamine and cyanuric acid. PMID:21217848
Recent advances in the risk assessment of melamine and cyanuric acid in animal feed
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Dorne, Jean Lou, E-mail: jean-lou.dorne@efsa.europa.eu; Doerge, Daniel R.; Vandenbroeck, Marc
Melamine can be present at low levels in food and feed mostly from its legal use as a food contact material in laminates and plastics, as a trace contaminant in nitrogen supplements used in animal feeds, and as a metabolite of the pesticide cyromazine. The mechanism of toxicity of melamine involves dose-dependent formation of crystals with either endogenous uric acid or a structural analogue of melamine, cyanuric acid, in renal tubules resulting in potential acute kidney failure. Co-exposure to melamine and cyanuric acid in livestock, fish, pets and laboratory animals shows higher toxicity compared with melamine or cyanuric acid alone.more » Evidence for crystal formation between melamine and other structural analogs i.e. ammelide and ammeline is limited. Illegal pet food adulterations with melamine and cyanuric acid and adulteration of milk with melamine resulted in melamine–cyanuric acid crystals, kidney damage and deaths of cats and dogs and melamine–uric acid stones, hospitalisation and deaths of children in China respectively. Following these incidents, the tolerable daily intake for melamine was re-evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organisation, and the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This review provides an overview of toxicology, the adulteration incidents and risk assessments for melamine and its structural analogues. Particular focus is given to the recent EFSA risk assessment addressing impacts on animal and human health of background levels of melamine and structural analogues in animal feed. Recent research and future directions are discussed. - Highlights: ► Melamine in food and feed. ► Forms crystals in kidney with uric acid or cyanuric acid. ► Toxicity higher with cyanuric acid. ► Recent EFSA risk assessment. ► Animal and human health.« less
Seror, Jeremy; Amar, Audrey; Braz, Leslie; Rouzier, Roman
2010-06-01
Many factors influence a mother's decision to breastfeed. We investigated whether the melamine scandal involving infant formula influenced the decision to breastfeed. News of the melamine scandal was revealed in September 2008 and rapidly spread via the Internet. We illustrate that this scandal significantly and rapidly impacted the pattern of newborn feeding among Chinese women who delivered at a hospital in the eastern district of Paris. This area is home to one of the largest groups of Chinese people in France. The breastfeeding rate increased sharply in September 2008 from 14% to a peak of 31% (p = 0.014) before decreasing over a 6-month period at a rate slower than the diminishing media frenzy. The effect of the melamine news coverage on the Internet was temporary and strongly associated to ethnicity and language (p = 0.015, p = 0.004, respectively). Numerous patients utilize the Internet to access medical information, and these findings highlight the Internet's role in the healthcare equation.
Adverse child health impacts resulting from food adulterations in the Greater China Region.
Li, Wai Chin; Chow, Chin Fung
2017-09-01
Food adulteration has a long history in human society, and it still occurs in modern times. Because children are relatively vulnerable to food adulterants, studying the health impacts of food adulteration on children is important. This article provides an overview of the child health impacts of food adulterants in two recent food adulteration incidents in the Greater China Region: (1) a plasticizer incident in Taiwan and (2) a 2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine (melamine)-tainted milk incident in China. The involved food adulterants, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate (DiNP) and melamine, are harmful to the hippocampus, kidneys, reproductive organs and immune system of children, and they also increase the risk of cancer. To detect food adulteration and to avoid further harm caused by food adulteration, simple screening methods have been developed, and they have recently emerged as a new focus area for research. This article also summarizes the simple screening methods used to analyse the aforementioned food adulterants and reports how governments reacted to the recent food incidents. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
Finete, Virgínia de Lourdes Mendes; Gouvêa, Marcos Martins; Marques, Flávia Ferreira de Carvalho; Netto, Annibal Duarte Pereira
2013-12-15
The Kjeldahl method and four classic spectrophotometric methods (Biuret, Lowry, Bradford and Markwell) were applied to evaluate the protein content of samples of UHT whole milk deliberately adulterated with melamine, ammonium sulphate or urea, which can be used to defraud milk protein and whey contents. Compared with the Kjeldahl method, the response of the spectrophotometric methods was unaffected by the addition of the nitrogen compounds to milk or whey. The methods of Bradford and Markwell were most robust and did not exhibit interference subject to composition. However, the simultaneous interpretation of results obtained using these methods with those obtained using the Kjeldahl method indicated the addition of nitrogen-rich compounds to milk and/or whey. Therefore, this work suggests a combination of results of Kjeldahl and spectrophotometric methods should be used to screen for milk adulteration by these compounds. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Simultaneous detection of multiple adulterants in dry milk using macro-scale Raman chemical imaging
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The potential of Raman chemical imaging for simultaneously detecting multiple adulterants in milk powder was investigated. Potential chemical adulterants, including ammonium sulfate, dicyandiamide, melamine, and urea, were mixed together into skim dry milk in the concentration range of 0.1–5.0% for ...
Melamine nephrotoxicity: an emerging epidemic in an era of globalization.
Bhalla, Vivek; Grimm, Paul C; Chertow, Glenn M; Pao, Alan C
2009-04-01
Recent outbreaks of nephrolithiasis and acute kidney injury among children in China have been linked to ingestion of milk-based infant formula contaminated with melamine. These cases provide evidence in humans for the nephrotoxicity of melamine, which previously had been described only in animals. The consequences of this outbreak are already severe and will likely continue to worsen. Herein we summarize the global impact of the melamine milk contamination, the reemergence of melamine-tainted animal feed, and potential mechanisms of melamine nephrotoxicity. Large-scale epidemiologic studies are necessary to further characterize this disease and to assess its potential long-term sequelae. This epidemic of environmental kidney disease highlights the morbidity associated with adulterated food products available in today's global marketplace and reminds us of the unique vulnerability of the kidney to environmental insults. Melamine is the latest in a growing list of diverse potentially toxic compounds about which nephrologists and other health-care providers responsible for the diagnosis and management of kidney disease must now be aware.
Non-enzymatic glycation of melamine with sugars and sugar like compounds.
Liu, Weixi; Cohenford, Menashi A; Frost, Leslie; Seneviratne, Champika; Dain, Joel A
2013-02-01
Melamine (1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine) is employed in the manufacture of plastics, laminates and glues, yet, it has been found sometimes added illegally to dairy products to artificially inflate foods' protein content. In 2008, dairy products adulterated with melamine were blamed for the death of several infants in China, a situation that forced Beijing to introduce stricter food safety measures. The objectives of this study were threefold: (1) to investigate the susceptibility of the amine groups of melamine to glycation with D-galactose, D-glucose and lactose, sugars commonly found in milk, (2) to study the rate and extent of melamine's glycation with methylglyoxal, glyoxal and DL-glyceraldehyde, three highly reactive metabolites of D-galactose, D-glucose and lactose, and (3) to characterize, using mass spectrometry, the Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) of melamine with sugars found commonly in milk and their metabolites. Incubation of D-galactose, D-glucose and lactose with melamine revealed that D-galactose was the most potent glycator of melamine, followed by D-glucose, then lactose. Methylglyoxal, glyoxal, and DL-glyceraldehyde glycated melamine more extensively than D-galactose, with each yielding a broader range of AGEs. The non-enzymatic modification of melamine by sugars and sugar-like compounds warrants further investigation, as this process may influence melamine's toxicity in vivo. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
He, Bin; Liu, Rong; Yang, Renjie; Xu, Kexin
2010-02-01
Adulteration of milk and dairy products has brought serious threats to human health as well as enormous economic losses to the food industry. Considering the diversity of adulterants possibly mixed in milk, such as melamine, urea, tetracycline, sugar/salt and so forth, a rapid, widely available, high-throughput, cost-effective method is needed for detecting each of the components in milk at once. In this paper, a method using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) combined with two-dimensional (2D) correlation spectroscopy is established for the discriminative analysis of adulteration in milk. Firstly, the characteristic peaks of the raw milk are found in the 4000-400 cm-1 region by its original spectra. Secondly, the adulterant samples are respectively detected with the same method to establish a spectral database for subsequent comparison. Then, 2D correlation spectra of the samples are obtained which have high time resolution and can provide information about concentration-dependent intensity changes not readily accessible from one-dimensional spectra. And the characteristic peaks in the synchronous 2D correlation spectra of the suspected samples are compared with those of raw milk. The differences among their synchronous spectra imply that the suspected milk sample must contain some kinds of adulterants. Melamine, urea, tetracycline and glucose adulterants in milk are identified respectively. This nondestructive method can be used for a correct discrimination on whether the milk and dairy products are adulterated with deleterious substances and it provides a new simple and cost-effective alternative to test the components of milk.
Temperature dependent Raman spectroscopy of melamine and structural analogs in milk powder
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Hyperspectral Raman imaging has the potential for rapid screening of solid-phase samples for potential adulterants. We found that the Raman spectra of melamine analogs changed dramatically and uniquely as a function of elevated temperature. Raman spectra were acquired for urea, biuret, cyanuric acid...
Detecting multiple adulterants in dry milk using Raman chemical imaging
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
A Raman chemical imaging method was developed for detecting the presence of multiple chemical adulterants in dry milk powder. Four chemicals (ammonium sulfate, dicyandiamide, melamine, and urea) were added in equal concentrations, between 0.1% and 5.0%, to nonfat dry milk. An area of 25×25 mm2 for e...
Moncayo, S; Manzoor, S; Rosales, J D; Anzano, J; Caceres, J O
2017-10-01
The present work focuses on the development of a fast and cost effective method based on Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to the quality control, traceability and detection of adulteration in milk. Two adulteration cases have been studied; a qualitative analysis for the discrimination between different milk blends and quantification of melamine in adulterated toddler milk powder. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and neural networks (NN) have been used to analyze LIBS spectra obtaining a correct classification rate of 98% with a 100% of robustness. For the quantification of melamine, two methodologies have been developed; univariate analysis using CN emission band and multivariate calibration NN model obtaining correlation coefficient (R 2 ) values of 0.982 and 0.999 respectively. The results of the use of LIBS technique coupled with chemometric analysis are discussed in terms of its potential use in the food industry to perform the quality control of this dairy product. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Zhang, Minwei; Ping, Hong; Cao, Xianyi; Li, Hongkun; Guan, Fengrui; Sun, Chunyan; Liu, Jingbo
2012-01-01
Water-soluble CdTe quantum dots of different sizes capped with thioglycolic acid (TGA-CdTe QDs) were synthesised via a microwave-assisted method. It was found that melamine could quench the fluorescence emission of TGA-CdTe QDs in aqueous solution. Based on this, a novel method for the determination of melamine has been developed. Under optimum conditions, the fluorescence intensity of TGA-CdTe QDs versus melamine concentrations gave a linear response according to the Stern-Volmer equation. The proposed method has been successfully used to detect melamine in liquid milk with a detection limit of 0.04 mg L⁻¹, and the whole process including sample pre-treatment could be accomplished within 30 min. The obvious merits provided by this method, such as simplicity, rapidity, low cost and high sensitivity would make it promising for on-site screening of melamine adulterant in milk products. The possible mechanism involved in the interaction of melamine with TGA-CdTe QDs is discussed.
Quantitative detection of melamine based on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhao, Xiaojing; Wang, Cuicui; Liu, Shangjian; Zuo, Jian; Zhou, Zihan; Zhang, Cunlin
2018-01-01
Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1, 3, 5-triazine skeleton. It is usually used for the production of plastics, glue and flame retardants. Melamine combines with acid and related compounds to form melamine cyanurate and related crystal structures, which have been implicated as contaminants or biomarkers in protein adulterations by lawbreakers, especially in milk powder. This paper is focused on developing an available method for quantitative detection of melamine in the fields of security inspection and nondestructive testing based on THz-TDS. Terahertz (THz) technology has promising applications for the detection and identification of materials because it exhibits the properties of spectroscopy, good penetration and safety. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a key technique that is applied to spectroscopic measurement of materials based on ultrafast femtosecond laser. In this study, the melamine and its mixture with polyethylene powder in different consistence are measured using the transmission THz-TDS. And we obtained the refractive index spectra and the absorption spectrum of different concentrations of melamine on 0.2-2.8THz. In the refractive index spectra, it is obvious to see that decline trend with the decrease of concentration; and in the absorption spectrum, two peaks of melamine at 1.98THz and 2.28THz can be obtained. Based on the experimental result, the absorption coefficient and the consistence of the melamine in the mixture are determined. Finally, methods for quantitative detection of materials in the fields of nondestructive testing and quality control based on THz-TDS have been studied.
Lee, Hoonsoo; Kim, Moon S; Lohumi, Santosh; Cho, Byoung-Kwan
2018-06-05
Extensive research has been conducted on non-destructive and rapid detection of melamine in powdered foods in the last decade. While Raman and near-infrared hyperspectral imaging techniques have been successful in terms of non-destructive and rapid measurement, they have limitations with respect to measurement time and detection capability, respectively. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a mercury cadmium telluride (MCT)-based short-wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging system and algorithm to detect melamine quantitatively in milk powder. The SWIR hyperspectral imaging system consisted of a custom-designed illumination system, a SWIR hyperspectral camera, a data acquisition module and a sample transfer table. SWIR hyperspectral images were obtained for melamine-milk samples with different melamine concentrations, pure melamine and pure milk powder. Analysis of variance and the partial least squares regression method over the 1000-2500 nm wavelength region were used to develop an optimal model for detection. The results showed that a melamine concentration as low as 50 ppm in melamine-milk powder samples could be detected. Thus, the MCT-based SWIR hyperspectral imaging system has the potential for quantitative and qualitative detection of adulterants in powder samples.
Wu, Chia-Fang; Hsiung, Chao A; Tsai, Hui-Ju; Tsai, Yi-Chun; Hsieh, Hui-Min; Chen, Bai-Hsiun; Wu, Ming-Tsang
2018-04-01
Melamine and phthalate, mainly di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), are ubiquitously present in the general environment. We investigated whether urine melamine levels can modify the relationship between DEHP exposure and markers of early renal damage in children. A nationwide health survey for Children aged ≤12 years possibly exposed to phthalates were enrolled between August 2012 and January 2013. They were administered questionnaires to collect details regarding past DEHP exposure to phthalate-tainted foodstuffs. Urine samples were measured melamine levels, phthalate metabolites and biomarkers of renal damage, including urine microalbumin/creatinine ratio (ACR), N-acetyl-beta-d-glucosaminidase (NAG), and β2-microglobulin. The study included 224 children who had a median urine melamine level (μg/mmol creatinine) of 1.61 ranging 0.18-47.42. Positive correlations were found between urine melamine levels and urine ACR as well as urine NAG levels (both Spearman correlation coefficients r = 0.24, n = 224, p < .001). The higher the past DEHP exposure or urine melamine levels, the higher the prevalence of microalbuminuria. An interaction effect was also found between urine melamine levels and past DEHP exposure on urine ACR. Melamine levels may further modify the effect of past DEHP exposure on urine ACR in children. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
The Poly Implant Prothèse breast prostheses scandal: Embodied risk and social suffering.
Greco, Cinzia
2015-12-01
This article examines the 2010 scandal surrounding the use and subsequent recall of adulterated Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) silicone breast prostheses in France. It uses a mixed method approach that includes 12 interviews with French PIP prosthesis recipients, analyses of medical literature, policy documents of French and EU regulatory agencies, and an online forum for PIP recipients. These data are used to explain how the definition of "acceptable risk" in the silicone implants controversy of the 1990s in the US influenced the PIP scandal later on in France. Additionally, PIP recipients had an embodied experience of risk that clashed with the definition of risk used by authorities and some surgeons. The coverage of re-implantation was also defined at different policy levels, leading to variation in patients' suffering. The combination of fraud and lack of recognition from part of the medical system constitutes an example of social suffering for the patients involved. The PIP scandal is a useful case for analyzing the interconnection of embodied experience and professional and public policy definitions of medical risk through the concepts of moral economy and biological citizenship. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Detecting adulterants in milk with lower cost mid-infrared and Raman spectroscopy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Changwon; Wang, Wenbo; Wilson, Benjamin K.; Connett, Marie; Keller, Matthew D.
2018-02-01
Adulteration of milk for economic gains is a widespread issue throughout the developing world that can have far-reaching health and nutritional impacts. Milk analysis technologies, such as infrared spectroscopy, can screen for adulteration, but the cost of these technologies has prohibited their use in low resource settings. Recent developments in infrared and Raman spectroscopy hardware have led to commercially available low-cost devices. In this work, we evaluated the performance of two such spectrometers in detecting and quantifying the presence of milk adulterants. Five common adulterants - ammonium sulfate, melamine, sodium bicarbonate, sucrose, and urea, were spiked into five different raw cow and goat milk samples at different concentrations. Collected MIR and Raman spectra were analyzed using partial least squares regression. The limit of detection (LOD) for each adulterant was determined to be in the range of 0.04 to 0.28% (400 to 2800 ppm) using MIR spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy showed similar LOD's for some of the adulterants, notably those with strong amine group signals, and slightly higher LOD's (up to 1.0%) for other molecules. Overall, the LODs were comparable to other spectroscopic milk analyzers on the market, and they were within the economically relevant concentration range of 100 to 4000 ppm. These lower cost spectroscopic devices therefore appear to hold promise for use in low resource settings.
Food Adulteration in Switzerland: From 'Ravioli' over 'Springbok' to 'Disco Sushi'.
Hubner, Philipp
2016-01-01
The driving force behind food adulteration is monetary profit and this has remained unchanged for at least the last hundred years. Food adulterations were and still are difficult to uncover because they occur mostly in an unpredictable and unexpected way. Very often food falsifiers take advantage of modern technology in such a way that food adulterations are difficult or sometimes even impossible to detect. Targets for food adulteration were and still are highly priced food items such as spirits, meat, seafood and olive oil. Although difficult to detect, food adulterations were in the past strong driving forces for the development of adequate detection methods in the official food control laboratories and for the enforcement of the food law. A very prominent example in this context is the 'Ravioli scandal' in Switzerland in the late 1970s which showed that cheap second-class meat could be processed into products without being discovered for long time. As a consequence the official food control laboratories in Switzerland were reinforced with more laboratory equipment and technical staff. With the introduction of new detection principles such as DNA-based analytical methods new kinds of food adulteration could and can be uncovered. Analytical methods have their limits and in some cases of food fraud there are no analytical means to detect them. In such cases the examination of trade by checking of accounts is the method of choice.
Fingerprinting food: current technologies for the detection of food adulteration and contamination.
Ellis, David I; Brewster, Victoria L; Dunn, Warwick B; Allwood, J William; Golovanov, Alexander P; Goodacre, Royston
2012-09-07
Major food adulteration and contamination events seem to occur with some regularity, such as the widely publicised adulteration of milk products with melamine and the recent microbial contamination of vegetables across Europe for example. With globalisation and rapid distribution systems, these can have international impacts with far-reaching and sometimes lethal consequences. These events, though potentially global in the modern era, are in fact far from contemporary, and deliberate adulteration of food products is probably as old as the food processing and production systems themselves. This review first introduces some background into these practices, both historically and contemporary, before introducing a range of the technologies currently available for the detection of food adulteration and contamination. These methods include the vibrational spectroscopies: near-infrared, mid-infrared, Raman; NMR spectroscopy, as well as a range of mass spectrometry (MS) techniques, amongst others. This subject area is particularly relevant at this time, as it not only concerns the continuous engagement with food adulterers, but also more recent issues such as food security, bioterrorism and climate change. It is hoped that this introductory overview acts as a springboard for researchers in science, technology, engineering, and industry, in this era of systems-level thinking and interdisciplinary approaches to new and contemporary problems.
Analysis of melamine migration from melamine food contact articles.
Chik, Z; Haron, D E Mohamad; Ahmad, E D; Taha, H; Mustafa, A M
2011-01-01
Migration of melamine has been determined for 41 types of retail melamine-ware products in Malaysia. This study was initiated by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, in the midst of public anxiety on the possibility of melamine leaching into foods that come into contact with the melamine-ware. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the level of melamine migration in melamine utensils available on the market. Samples of melamine tableware, including cups and plates, forks and spoons, tumblers, bowls, etc., were collected from various retail outlets. Following the test guidelines for melamine migration set by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN 2004) with some modifications, the samples were exposed to two types of food simulants (3% acetic acid and distilled water) at three test conditions (25°C (room temperature), 70 and 100°C) for 30 min. Melamine analysis was carried out using LC-MS/MS with a HILIC column and mobile phase consisting of ammonium acetate/formic acid (0.05%) in water and ammonium acetate/formic acid (0.05%) in acetonitrile (95 : 5, v/v). The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 5 ng/ml. Melamine migration was detected from all samples. For the articles tested with distilled water, melamine migration were [median (interquartile range)] 22.2 (32.6), 49.3 (50.9), 84.9 (89.9) ng/ml at room temperature (25°C), 70 and 100°C, respectively. In 3% acetic acid, melamine migration was 31.5 (35.7), 81.5 (76.2), 122.0 (126.7) ng/ml at room temperature (25°C), 70 and 100°C, respectively. This study suggests that excessive heat and acidity may directly affect melamine migration from melamine-ware products. However the results showed that melamine migration in the tested items were well below the specific migration limit (SML) of 30 mg/kg (30,000 ng/ml) set out in European Commission Directive 2002/72/EC.
Field, Anjalie; Field, Jeffrey
2010-08-01
In the fall of 2007 pet food contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid caused kidney stones in thousands of animals. In the summer of 2008, a more serious outbreak of adulterated dairy food caused the deaths of six infants and sickened about 290,000 children in China. In all cases, melamine was likely added to inflate the apparent protein content of the foods. To determine if we could measure protein without interference from melamine and cyanuric acid we tested these compounds in the Bradford and Ninhydrin assays, two common dye-based assays for protein, as well as by ammonia release, the most common assay used in the food industry. Neither compound was detected in the Ninhydrin and Bradford assays at concentrations of >100 μg/ml. The ammonia assay detected melamine but was inconclusive with respect to cyanuric acid. To develop an accurate test for food that would not detect either chemical as a protein, assays were run on cat food and reconstituted milk powder. The Bradford assay readily measured the protein content of each food, and importantly, the addition of melamine or cyanuric acid to reconstituted milk did not affect the readings. The protein concentrations obtained for reconstituted milk powder were as expected, but those for the cat food were 10 to 30-fold lower, due to its low solubility. We conclude that dye-binding assays can be employed to detect protein in food without interference from melamine and cyanuric acid, thus reducing the incentive to use them as additives.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Roy, Anindita; Sahoo, Ramkrishna; Chowdhury, Joydeep; Bhattacharya, Tara Shankar; Agarwal, Ratnesh; Pal, Tarasankar
2017-08-01
Attention has been directed to prepare exclusive one-dimensional silver nanostructure from the linear inorganic polymer AgCN. Successive color change from yellow to orange, to red and finally to green reflects the evolution of high yielding Ag nanorods (NRs) from well-known -[Ag-CN]- chains of polymeric AgCN at room temperature. The parental 1D morphology of AgCN is retained within the as-synthesized Ag NRs. So we could successfully exploit the Ag NR for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies for sensing a popular milk adulterant melamine down to picomolar level. We observed interesting concentration dependent selective SERS band enhancement of melamine. The enhanced 1327 cm- 1 SERS signal intensity at lower concentration (10- 9 and 10- 12 M) of melamine speaks for the preferential participation of -C-N of melamine molecule with Ag surface. On the other hand, '-NH2' group together with ring 'N' participation of melamine molecule onto Ag surface suggested an adsorptive stance at higher (10- 3-10- 7 M) concentration range. Thus the binding modes of the molecule at the Ag surface justify its fluxional behavior.
Li, Xiu Qin; Zhang, Qing He; Yang, Zong; Li, Hong Mei; Huang, Dong Feng
2017-05-01
In this paper, the effect of isotope-labeled analogs on the liquid chromatography-isotope dilution mass spectrometry (LC-IDMS) measurement was evaluated based on the comparison research of electrospray ionization responses (ESI) and matrix effect of melamine, 13 C 3 -melamine, 13 C 3 + 15 N 3 -melamine, and 15 N 3 -melamine. The isotope-labeled melamines had similar ionization efficiency with melamine in the electrospray ionization source, but the intensity of corresponding quantitative fragment ions had distinctive differences. Based on the density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-311+G** level, this phenomenon was explained very well. The rare cleavage pathways of melamine, which just could be exactly identified by 15 N-labeled melamines, resulted in the difference of quantitative fragment ions between 15 N-labeled melamines and melamine. The interaction of ESI response between melamine and isotope-labeled melamines was investigated using MRM monitor mode. 15 N-labeled melamine had significant ion inter-suppression effect on melamine, while 13 C-labeled melamine had little influence on melamine. Finally, the influence of different isotope-labeled melamines on the LC-IDMS result was evaluated using the IDMS correction factor (θ). Taking the determination of melamine in milk powder as an example, the matrix effects of different isotope-labeled melamines and melamine had notable difference and the impact of this difference on the measurement results depended on the concentrations of analyte and matrix solution. It was worth noting that 15 N 3 -melamine exhibited significant ion suppression to melamine in matrix solution. The deviation of the results from IDMS method might reach 59% using 15 N 3 -melamine as internal standard in special matrix solution. Graphical Abstract The comparison of ESI responses of melamine, 13 C 3 -melamine, 13 C 3 + 15 N 3 -melamine and 15 N 3 -melamine.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Handelsman, Mitchell M.
2017-01-01
In this article, I describe a recent scandal involving collusion between officials at the American Psychological Association (APA) and the U.S. Department of Defense, which appears to have enabled the torture of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The scandal is a relevant, complex, and engaging case that teachers can use in a…
Cao, Biyun; Yang, Hong; Song, Juan; Chang, Huafang; Li, Shuqun; Deng, Anping
2013-11-15
The adulteration of food products with melamine has led to an urgent requirement for sensitive, specific, rapid and reliable quantitative/screening methods. To enhance the sensitivity and specificity of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of melamine in milk, milk powder and feed samples, rational hapten modification and heterogeneous antibody/coating antigen combinations were adopted. Three melamine derivatives with different length of carboxylic spacer at the end were synthesized and linked to carrier proteins for the production of immunogens and coating antigens. Monoclonal antibody against melamine was produced by hybridoma technology. Under optimal experimental conditions, the standard curves of the ELISAs for melamine were constructed in range of 0.1-100 ng mL(-1). The sensitivity was 10-300 times enhanced compared to those in the published literatures. The cross-reactivity values of the ELISAs also demonstrated the assays exhibited high specificity. Five samples were spiked with melamine at different concentrations and detected by the ELISA. The recovery rates of 72.8-123.0% and intra-assay coefficients of variation of 0.8-18.9% (n=3) were obtained. The ELISA for milk sample was confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography with a high correlation coefficient of 0.9902 (n=6). The proposed ELISA was proven to be a feasible quantitative/screening method for melamine analysis. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Ovarian Toxicity in Female Rats after Oral Administration of Melamine or Melamine and Cyanuric Acid
Sun, Jiarui; Zhang, Xinchen; Cao, Yinan; Zhao, Qiling; Bao, Endong; Lv, Yingjun
2016-01-01
Although the toxicity of melamine to the kidneys and testes is well known, few studies have investigated the effects of melamine on female reproductive organs. Therefore, this study explores the effects of oral administration melamine or melamine and cyanuric acid for 28 days on the ovaries of female rats. Rats that were exposed to the mixture exhibited reduced ovarian and uterine weights, a shorter estrous cycle, and reduced serum estrogen and progesterone levels compared to rats that were exposed to melamine and control rats. Furthermore, morphological analysis revealed pathological changes in the ovaries of rats exposed to melamine or the mixture, such as more atretic follicles and necrosis of oocytes and granulosa cells. TUNEL staining revealed that the exposed groups had a higher proportion of TUNEL-positive granulosa cells than the control group, and the mRNA expressions of SOD1, GPX1, GPX2, P450scc, 17β-HSD I, and 17β-HSD II were reduced in the exposure groups compared with the control group. These results indicated that exposure to melamine alone or to the melamine-cyanuric acid mixture could damage the ovaries in rats. PMID:26866683
Melamine-formaldehyde aerogels
Pekala, Richard W.
1992-01-01
Organic aerogels that are transparent and essentially colorless are prepa from the aqueous, sol-gel polymerization of melamine with formaldehyde. The melamine-formaldehyde (MF) aerogels have low densities, high surface areas, continuous porsity, ultrafine cell/pore sizes, and optical clarity.
Migration of melamine and formaldehyde from tableware made of melamine resin.
Ishiwata, H; Inoue, T; Tanimura, A
1986-01-01
Migration of melamine and formaldehyde into food-simulating solvents from cups made of melamine resin was studied under various conditions. Little migration of melamine was observed in any unused cups kept at 60 degrees C for 30 min, room temperature (26 degrees C) for 1 h or cooled at -20 degrees C for several days. Migration of both compounds was strongly affected by heating and acidity. The highest migration of melamine into 4% acetic acid used as a food-simulating solvent was 42.9 +/- 7.2 ppm when the migration test was repeated seven times at 95 degrees C for 30 min. In this time, the migration of formaldehyde was 14.2 +/- 0.6 ppm into the solvent. The molecular ratio of the migration amount of formaldehyde to melamine decreased according to the formula Y = 9.15X-0.813 over seven repetitions of the test, and was maintained at about 1.6 between the 10th and 20th repetitions. The inner surface of the cups became tarnished during the repetition of the test and their roughness increased from 1 micron before the test to 2.5-5 microns after 20 repetitions of the test. Migration of melamine from the cups being used at a cafeteria was 0.4 +/- 0.5 ppm, but that of formaldehyde was undetectable when the cups were kept at 60 degrees C for 30 min with 4% acetic acid.
Melamine-formaldehyde aerogels
Pekala, R.W.
1992-01-14
Organic aerogels that are transparent and essentially colorless are prepared from the aqueous, sol-gel polymerization of melamine with formaldehyde. The melamine-formaldehyde (MF) aerogels have low densities, high surface areas, continuous porosity, ultrafine cell/pore sizes, and optical clarity. 3 figs.
Abernethy, Grant; Higgs, Kerianne
2013-05-03
A method to aid in the detection of the economically driven adulteration of fresh milk with a range of small, nitrogen containing compounds, including melamine, ammeline, ammelide, cyanuric acid, allantoin, thiourea, urea, biuret, triuret, semicarbazide, aminotriazine, 3- and 4-aminotriazole, cyanamide, dicyandiamide, guanidine, choline, hydroxyproline, nitrate, and a range of amino acids, has been developed. (15)N2-Urea is used as an internal standard. The adulteration of milk with exogenous urea has previously been difficult to detect because of the variation in the naturally occurring levels of urea in milk. However, by monitoring the contaminants biuret and triuret, which comprise up to 1% of synthetic urea, the adulteration of milk with urea-based fertilizer can be detected. We estimate that to be economically viable, adulteration of the order of 90-4000ppm of the above adulterants would need to be added to fresh milk. For most of the compounds, an arbitrary detection threshold of 2ppm is therefore more than sufficient. For biuret, a lower detection threshold, better than 0.5ppm, is desirable and the sensitivity for biuret and triuret can be improved by the post-column addition of lithium to create lithium adducts under electrospray ionisation. Sample handling involves a two-step solvent precipitation method that is deployed in a 96-well plate format, and the hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography uses a rapid gradient (1.2min). Three separate injections, to detect the positively charged compounds, the negatively charged compounds and amino acids and finally the lithium adducts, are used. This rapid and qualitative survey method may be deployed as a second tier screening method to quickly reduce sample numbers indicated as irregular by an FTIR based screening system, and to direct analysis to appropriate quantification methods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Kuriakose, Saji; Joe, I Hubert
2013-11-01
Determination of the authenticity of essential oils has become more significant, in recent years, following some illegal adulteration and contamination scandals. The present investigative study focuses on the application of near infrared spectroscopy to detect sample authenticity and quantify economic adulteration of sandalwood oils. Several data pre-treatments are investigated for calibration and prediction using partial least square regression (PLSR). The quantitative data analysis is done using a new spectral approach - full spectrum or sequential spectrum. The optimum number of PLS components is obtained according to the lowest root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC=0.00009% v/v). The lowest root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP=0.00016% v/v) in the test set and the highest coefficient of determination (R(2)=0.99989) are used as the evaluation tools for the best model. A nonlinear method, locally weighted regression (LWR), is added to extract nonlinear information and to compare with the linear PLSR model. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kuriakose, Saji; Joe, I. Hubert
2013-11-01
Determination of the authenticity of essential oils has become more significant, in recent years, following some illegal adulteration and contamination scandals. The present investigative study focuses on the application of near infrared spectroscopy to detect sample authenticity and quantify economic adulteration of sandalwood oils. Several data pre-treatments are investigated for calibration and prediction using partial least square regression (PLSR). The quantitative data analysis is done using a new spectral approach - full spectrum or sequential spectrum. The optimum number of PLS components is obtained according to the lowest root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC = 0.00009% v/v). The lowest root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP = 0.00016% v/v) in the test set and the highest coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.99989) are used as the evaluation tools for the best model. A nonlinear method, locally weighted regression (LWR), is added to extract nonlinear information and to compare with the linear PLSR model.
Gabriels, Gary; Lambert, Mike; Smith, Pete; Wiesner, Lubbe; Hiss, Donavon
2015-07-17
Nutritional supplements are used or experimented with by consumers, notably these are; competitive and recreational athletes of all ages, and 'weekend warriors'. As a consequence the supplement industry has grown to meet the increasing demand. A Global Industry Analysts Inc. report indicates that the herbal supplement market has not declined during the worldwide recession, but in fact exhibited steady growth over the period 2008 to 2009. It is anticipated that the market will reach US$93.15 billion by the year 2015. These supplements may contain adulterated substances that may potentially have harmful short - and long-term health consequences to the consumer. "Scrap Melamine" is such an example, which has been implicated in the kidney failure and death of several cats, dogs and pigs. In China in 2008, reports described very severe health effects in infants and young children. At the time over 294,000 infants were screened and diagnosed with urinary tract stones and sand-like calculi associated with melamine in milk products, of which 50,000 infants were hospitalised, and at least six associated deaths, recorded. The extent that melamine contamination occurs in nutritional supplements is not known. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether commercially available nutritional and traditional supplement products contain melamine, even though they are not declared by the manufacturer on the product label. A total of 138 nutritional supplements products were obtained from (i) direct purchases from shops, pharmacies and outlets, (ii) directly from consumers, and (iii) from suppliers, manufacturers and distributors. The products were laboratory analysed for melamine, using Tandem Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry. Forty-seven % of all the products (n = 138) tested positive for melamine. Eight-two % of the South African produced products (n = 27) tested positive and 58 % of the products imported into South Africa (n = 50) tested positive
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Gamboa da Costa, Gonçalo, E-mail: goncalo.gamboa@fda.hhs.gov; Jacob, Cristina C.; Von Tungeln, Linda S.
The adulteration of pet food with melamine and derivatives, including cyanuric acid, has been implicated in the kidney failure and death of cats and dogs in the USA and other countries. In a previous 7-day dietary study in F344 rats, we established a no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for a co-exposure to melamine and cyanuric acid of 8.6 mg/kg bw/day of each compound, and a benchmark dose lower confidence limit (BMDL) of 8.4–10.9 mg/kg bw/day of each compound. To ascertain the role played by the duration of exposure, we treated F344 rats for 28 days. Groups of male and female rats weremore » fed diet containing 0 (control), 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, or 360 ppm of both melamine and cyanuric acid. The lowest dose that produced histopathological alterations in the kidney was 120 ppm, versus 229 ppm in the 7-day study. Wet-mount analysis of kidney sections demonstrated the formation of melamine cyanurate spherulites in one male and two female rats at the 60 ppm dose and in one female rat at the 30 ppm dose, establishing a NOAEL of 2.1 mg/kg bw/day for males and < 2.6 mg/kg bw/day for females, and BMDL values as low as 1.6 mg/kg bw/day for both sexes. These data demonstrate that the length of exposure is an important component in the threshold of toxicity from a co-exposure to these compounds and suggest that the current risk assessments based on exposures to melamine alone may not reflect sufficiently the risk of a co-exposure to melamine and cyanuric acid. -- Highlights: ► A 28-day dietary co-exposure to melamine and cyanuric acid was conducted in F344 rats. ► The NOAELs were 2.1 mg/kg bw/day for males and < 2.6 mg/kg bw/day for females. ► BMDL values as low as 1.6 mg/kg bw/day for both sexes were determined. ► The length of exposure plays an important role in the threshold of toxicity. ► Current assessments may underestimate the risk of melamine and cyanuric acid.« less
Mo, D; Huang, J; Jia, X; Luan, H; Rozelle, S; Swinnen, J
2012-05-01
China's milk scandal is well known for causing the nation's largest food safety crisis and for its effect on thousands of children. Less, however, is known about the effect on the other victim: China's small dairy farmers. Although small backyard producers were not the ones that added melamine to the milk supply, the incomes of dairy farmers fell sharply after the crisis. In response, one of the actions taken by the government was to encourage small dairy producers to check into production complexes that were supposed to supply services, new technologies, and provide for easy/bulk procurement of the milk produced by the cows of the farmers. Because both farmers and their cows were living (and working) away from home, in the rest of the paper we call these complexes cow hotels. In this paper we examine the dynamics of China's dairy production structure before and after the milk scandal. In particular, we seek to gain a better understanding about how China's policies have been successful in encouraging farmers to move from the backyard into cow hotels. We also seek to find if larger or smaller farmers respond differently to these policy measures. Using data from a sample of farmers from dairy-producing villages in Greater Beijing, our empirical analysis finds that 1 yr after the milk scandal, the dairy production structure changed substantially. Approximately one quarter (26%) of the sample checked into cow hotels after the milk scandal, increasing from 2% before the crisis. Our results also demonstrate that the increase in cow hotel production can largely be attributed to China's dairy policies. Finally, our results suggest that the effects of government policy differ across farm sizes; China's dairy policies are more likely to persuade larger farms to join cow hotels. Apparently, larger farms benefit more when they join cow hotels. Overall, these results suggest that during the first year after the crisis, the government policies were effective in moving some of
Melamine in prenatal and postnatal organs in rats.
Chu, Ching Yan; Chu, Kai On; Ho, Chung Shun; Kwok, Sung Shing; Chan, Ho Ming; Fung, Kwok Pui; Wang, Chi Chiu
2013-01-01
Melamine can be transferred to fetus in utero through placenta and to infant ex utero by breast feeding. In this study, we characterized the pharmacokinetics of melamine in prenatal and postnatal organs in rats. Single bolus of melamine was administered to pregnant rats at different gestational stages and to infants at different postnatal stages. Distribution of melamine in maternal serum was about 30% higher in late pregnancy than that in early pregnancy; and it was 2 folds higher in postnatal serum in early infants in young adulthood. Distribution of melamine in all postnatal organs was higher than that in prenatal organs. Postnatal kidneys in early infants had the highest maximum concentration and the lowest clearance of melamine than the other postnatal organs. It may relate to the high vulnerability to the toxicity of melamine in this population. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of food: common characteristics of EMA incidents.
Everstine, Karen; Spink, John; Kennedy, Shaun
2013-04-01
Economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of food, also known as food fraud, is the intentional adulteration of food for financial advantage. A common form of EMA, undeclared substitution with alternative ingredients, is usually a health concern because of allergen labeling requirements. As demonstrated by the nearly 300,000 illnesses in China from melamine adulteration of infant formula, EMA also has the potential to result in serious public health consequences. Furthermore, EMA incidents reveal gaps in quality assurance testing methodologies that could be exploited for intentional harm. In contrast to foodborne disease outbreaks, EMA incidents present a particular challenge to the food industry and regulators because they are deliberate acts that are intended to evade detection. Large-scale EMA incidents have been described in the scientific literature, but smaller incidents have been documented only in media sources. We reviewed journal articles and media reports of EMA since 1980. We identified 137 unique incidents in 11 food categories: fish and seafood (24 incidents), dairy products (15), fruit juices (12), oils and fats (12), grain products (11), honey and other natural sweeteners (10), spices and extracts (8), wine and other alcoholic beverages (7), infant formula (5), plant-based proteins (5), and other food products (28). We identified common characteristics among the incidents that may help us better evaluate and reduce the risk of EMA. These characteristics reflect the ways in which existing regulatory systems or testing methodologies were inadequate for detecting EMA and how novel detection methods and other deterrence strategies can be deployed. Prevention and detection of EMA cannot depend on traditional food safety strategies. Comprehensive food protection, as outlined by the Food Safety Modernization Act, will require innovative methods for detecting EMA and for targeting crucial resources toward the riskiest food products.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kalaiyarasan, Gopi; K, Anusuya; Joseph, James
2017-10-01
Companies processing the milk for the further production of powdered infant formulation normally check the protein level through a test measuring nitrogen content. The addition of melamine which is a nitrogen-rich organic chemical in milk increases the nitrogen content and therefore enhances its apparent protein content. However, the melamine causes kidney failure and death owing to the formation of kidney stone. Thus the determination of melamine in humans and milk products have gained great significance in recent years. The gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have attracting features due to its unique electronic and optical properties like fluorescence nature. Therefore one can use AuNCs in the field of biosensor, bio-imaging, nanobiotechnology, drug delivery, diagnosis etc. We report, a new ratiometric nanosensor established for the selective and sensitive detection of melamine based optical sensing using glutathione stabilized AuNCs. The AuNCs were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), UV-visible and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopic techniques. In the presence of melamine, the PL intensity at 430 nm increases owing to the (turn-on) enhancement in fluorescence, whereas PL intensity at 610 nm decreases due to the melamine-induced aggregation and subsequent aggregation-enhanced emission quenching. The observed changes were ascribed to the hydrogen bonding interaction between melamine and AuNCs, which led to the aggregation of the nanoclusters. This was confirmed by dynamic light scattering and HR-TEM measurements. The present probe showed an extreme selectivity towards the determination of 28.2 μM melamine in the presence of 100-fold excess of common interfering molecules such as Alanine, Glycine, Glucose, Cystine etc. The proposed method was successfully applied to determine melamine in cow milk.
Adulterants in Urine Drug Testing.
Fu, S
Urine drug testing plays an important role in monitoring licit and illicit drug use for both medico-legal and clinical purposes. One of the major challenges of urine drug testing is adulteration, a practice involving manipulation of a urine specimen with chemical adulterants to produce a false negative test result. This problem is compounded by the number of easily obtained chemicals that can effectively adulterate a urine specimen. Common adulterants include some household chemicals such as hypochlorite bleach, laundry detergent, table salt, and toilet bowl cleaner and many commercial products such as UrinAid (glutaraldehyde), Stealth® (containing peroxidase and peroxide), Urine Luck (pyridinium chlorochromate, PCC), and Klear® (potassium nitrite) available through the Internet. These adulterants can invalidate a screening test result, a confirmatory test result, or both. To counteract urine adulteration, drug testing laboratories have developed a number of analytical methods to detect adulterants in a urine specimen. While these methods are useful in detecting urine adulteration when such activities are suspected, they do not reveal what types of drugs are being concealed. This is particularly the case when oxidizing urine adulterants are involved as these oxidants are capable of destroying drugs and their metabolites in urine, rendering the drug analytes undetectable by any testing technology. One promising approach to address this current limitation has been the use of unique oxidation products formed from reaction of drug analytes with oxidizing adulterants as markers for monitoring drug misuse and urine adulteration. This novel approach will ultimately improve the effectiveness of the current urine drug testing programs. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Assessment of melamine and cyanuric acid toxicity in cats.
Puschner, Birgit; Poppenga, Robert H; Lowenstine, Linda J; Filigenzi, Michael S; Pesavento, Patricia A
2007-11-01
The major pet food recall associated with acute renal failure in dogs and cats focused initially on melamine as the suspect toxicant. In the course of the investigation, cyanuric acid was identified in addition to melamine in the offending food. The purpose of this study was to characterize the toxicity potential of melamine, cyanuric acid, and a combination of melamine and cyanuric acid in cats. In this pilot study, melamine was added to the diet of 2 cats at 0.5% and 1%, respectively. Cyanuric acid was added to the diet of 1 cat at increasing doses of 0.2%, 0.5%, and 1% over the course of 10 days. Melamine and cyanuric acid were administered together at 0%, 0.2%, 0.5%, and 1% to 1 cat per dose group. No effect on renal function was observed in cats fed with melamine or cyanuric acid alone. Cats dosed with a combination were euthanized at 48 hours after dosing because of acute renal failure. Urine and touch impressions of kidneys from all cats dosed with the combination revealed the presence of fan-shaped, birefringent crystals. Histopathologic findings were limited to the kidneys and included crystals primarily within tubules of the distal nephron, severe renal interstitial edema, and hemorrhage at the corticomedullary junction. The kidneys contained estimated melamine concentrations of 496 to 734 mg/kg wet weight and estimated cyanuric acid concentrations of 487 to 690 mg/kg wet weight. The results demonstrate that the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid is responsible for acute renal failure in cats.
Bradley, E L; Castle, L; Day, J S; Leak, J
2011-02-01
Resins based on melamine-formaldehyde and related analogues such as methylolated melamine are used to cross-link coatings used inside food cans and on the metal closures of glass jars. Thirteen commercially coated cans and closures representing 80% of the European market were tested using simulants under realistic industrial heat-processing conditions for canned and jarred foods. The food simulants and the retort conditions used were 3% acetic acid for 1 h at 100 °C and 10% ethanol for 1 h at 130 °C. The highest migration level seen for melamine into simulant was 332 µg kg⁻¹. There was no detectable migration of the melamine analogues cyanuric acid (<1 µg kg⁻¹) or ammelide (<5 µg kg⁻¹) from any sample. Twelve of the thirteen samples released no detectable ammeline (<5 µg kg⁻¹) but the coating giving the highest release of melamine did also release ammeline at 8 µg kg⁻¹ with the higher of the two process temperatures used. Migration experiments into food simulant and foods themselves were then conducted using two experimental coatings made using amino-based cross-linking resins. Coated metal panels were exposed to the food simulant 10% (v/v) aqueous ethanol and to three foodstuffs under a range of time and temperature conditions both in the laboratory and in a commercial food canning facility using proprietary time and temperature conditions. The highest migration into a food was 152 µg kg⁻¹ from the first coating processed for a long time at a moderate sterilisation temperature. The highest migration into simulant was also from this coating at 220 µg kg⁻¹ when processed at 134 °C for 60 min, dropping to 190 µg k⁻¹ when processed at 123 °C for 70 min. Migration from the second coating was quite uniformly two to three times lower under all tests. These migration results were significantly higher than the levels of melamine extractable using 95% ethanol at room temperature. The experiments show that commercial canning and retorting
What Can We Learn from the Atlanta Cheating Scandal?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Saultz, Andrew; Murphy, Kristin M.; Aronson, Brittany
2016-01-01
In April 2015, 11 educators were convicted for their roles in the cheating scandal in the Atlanta Public Schools. The authors examine the lessons that teachers, administrators, and policy makers can learn from the cheating scandal: Teachers and school leaders were not adequately prepared to navigate the school district's environment; there were…
Investigating the Watergate Scandal.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ritchie, Donald A.
1998-01-01
Summarizes the events leading up to and the investigation that followed the Watergate break-in. Presents a lesson plan using primary documents that allows students to explore the workings of congressional investigations, the key figures in the scandal, and the arguments of the different participants. Includes copies of the documents. (DSK)
Organ transplantation scandal influencing corneal donation rate.
Röck, Tobias; Bramkamp, Matthias; Bartz-Schmidt, Karl Ulrich; Röck, Daniel
2017-01-01
In the majority of countries, there is a shortage of donor corneas for corneal transplantations. This study investigated the impact of organ transplantation scandals on corneal donation rate at the University Hospital Tübingen. Each deceased patient was considered as a potential corneal donor. An ophthalmic resident handled with stable methods of procedures the corneal donor procurement from 2009 to 2015. The rates of corneal donation were examined and analyzed. Among the 5712 hospital deaths, consent for corneal donation was obtained in 711 cases. The mean annual corneal donation rate was 12.4%. Since 2009, the donation rate per year could be increased with exception of 2013 and 2015. In the end of 2012 and 2014 two huge organ donation scandals were known in Germany. In the following years 2013 and 2015 corneal donation rate decreased significantly ( P =0.0181 and P =0.0006). We concluded that transplantation scandals have a significant impact on corneal donation rate. Improving professional's performance through full transparency and honesty is very important to earn trust of potential donors and their families.
Organ transplantation scandal influencing corneal donation rate
Röck, Tobias; Bramkamp, Matthias; Bartz-Schmidt, Karl Ulrich; Röck, Daniel
2017-01-01
In the majority of countries, there is a shortage of donor corneas for corneal transplantations. This study investigated the impact of organ transplantation scandals on corneal donation rate at the University Hospital Tübingen. Each deceased patient was considered as a potential corneal donor. An ophthalmic resident handled with stable methods of procedures the corneal donor procurement from 2009 to 2015. The rates of corneal donation were examined and analyzed. Among the 5712 hospital deaths, consent for corneal donation was obtained in 711 cases. The mean annual corneal donation rate was 12.4%. Since 2009, the donation rate per year could be increased with exception of 2013 and 2015. In the end of 2012 and 2014 two huge organ donation scandals were known in Germany. In the following years 2013 and 2015 corneal donation rate decreased significantly (P=0.0181 and P=0.0006). We concluded that transplantation scandals have a significant impact on corneal donation rate. Improving professional's performance through full transparency and honesty is very important to earn trust of potential donors and their families. PMID:28730094
Flow-injection chemiluminescence determination of melamine in urine and plasma.
Tang, Xiaoshuang; Shi, Xiyan; Tang, Yuhai; Yue, Zhongjin; He, Qiqi
2012-01-01
A novel flow-injection chemiluminescence method for the determination of melamine in urine and plasma was developed. It was found that melamine can remarkably enhance chemiluminescence emission from the luminol-K(3) Fe(CN)(6) system in an alkaline medium. Under the optimum conditions, chemiluminescence intensity had a good linear relationship with the concentration of melamine in the range 9.0 × 10(-9) -7.0 × 10(-6) g/mL, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992. The detection limit (3σ) was 3.5 ng/mL. The method has been applied to determine the concentration of melamine in samples using liquid-liquid extraction. Average recoveries of melamine were 102.6% in urine samples and 95.1% in plasma samples. The method provided a reproducible and stable approach for the sensitive detection of melamine in urine and plasma samples. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Petrakis, Eleftherios A; Cagliani, Laura R; Polissiou, Moschos G; Consonni, Roberto
2015-04-15
In the present work, a preliminary study for the detection of adulterated saffron and the identification of the adulterant used by means of (1)H NMR and chemometrics is reported. Authentic Greek saffron and four typical plant-derived materials utilised as bulking agents in saffron, i.e., Crocus sativus stamens, safflower, turmeric, and gardenia were investigated. A two-step approach, relied on the application of both OPLS-DA and O2PLS-DA models to the (1)H NMR data, was adopted to perform authentication and prediction of authentic and adulterated saffron. Taking into account the deficiency of established methodologies to detect saffron adulteration with plant adulterants, the method developed resulted reliable in assessing the type of adulteration and could be viable for dealing with extensive saffron frauds at a minimum level of 20% (w/w). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
40 CFR 721.10493 - Tris-alkyl-alkoxy melamine polymer (generic).
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Tris-alkyl-alkoxy melamine polymer... Specific Chemical Substances § 721.10493 Tris-alkyl-alkoxy melamine polymer (generic). (a) Chemical... as tris-alkyl-alkoxy melamine polymer (PMN P-05-417) is subject to reporting under this section for...
40 CFR 721.10493 - Tris-alkyl-alkoxy melamine polymer (generic).
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Tris-alkyl-alkoxy melamine polymer... Specific Chemical Substances § 721.10493 Tris-alkyl-alkoxy melamine polymer (generic). (a) Chemical... as tris-alkyl-alkoxy melamine polymer (PMN P-05-417) is subject to reporting under this section for...
Four years follow-up of 101 children with melamine-related urinary stones.
Yang, Li; Wen, Jian Guo; Wen, Jian Jun; Su, Zhi Qiang; Zhu, Wen; Huang, Chen Xu; Yu, Si Long; Guo, Zhan
2013-06-01
The melamine-contaminated milk powder incidence occurred in China in 2008. Many studies have been published regarding the epidemiology, clinical symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of melamine-related urinary stones. The objective of this study is to follow-up the effects of melamine-contaminated milk powder consumption on kidney and body growth in children with melamine-related urinary stones 4 years ago. One hundred and one children with melamine-related urinary stones were followed up by urinalysis, renal function tests and urinary ultrasonography. The data of body weight and height, clinical signs and complications were collected. Eighty normal children without the history of consuming melamine-contaminated milk powder were collected as controls. Eighty-one children with melamine-related urinary stones were successfully followed up. Of 45 cases with melamine-related urinary stones treated conservatively after discharge, 34 disappeared completely, 6 dissolved partially, 1 increased in size and 4 did not change at 4 years follow-up. The percentages of under-height and under-weight infants were significantly higher in melamine-related urinary stones group compared to the controls, respectively (p < 0.05). Routine blood, renal and bladder function tests as well as urinalysis were normal in all children. No urological tumors were detected. No noticeable impact of melamine-related urinary stones on kidney and bladder was found at 4 years follow-up. However, whether or not melamine-related urinary stones had effect on body growth needs follow-up in future.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nieuwoudt, Michel K.; Holroyd, Steve E.; McGoverin, Cushla M.; Simpson, M. Cather; Williams, David E.
2017-02-01
Point-of-care diagnostics are of interest in the medical, security and food industry, the latter particularly for screening food adulterated for economic gain. Milk adulteration continues to be a major problem worldwide and different methods to detect fraudulent additives have been investigated for over a century. Laboratory based methods are limited in their application to point-of-collection diagnosis and also require expensive instrumentation, chemicals and skilled technicians. This has encouraged exploration of spectroscopic methods as more rapid and inexpensive alternatives. Raman spectroscopy has excellent potential for screening of milk because of the rich complexity inherent in its signals. The rapid advances in photonic technologies and fabrication methods are enabling increasingly sensitive portable mini-Raman systems to be placed on the market that are both affordable and feasible for both point-of-care and point-of-collection applications. We have developed a powerful spectroscopic method for rapidly screening liquid milk for sucrose and four nitrogen-rich adulterants (dicyandiamide (DCD), ammonium sulphate, melamine, urea), using a combined system: a small, portable Raman spectrometer with focusing fibre optic probe and optimized reflective focusing wells, simply fabricated in aluminium. The reliable sample presentation of this system enabled high reproducibility of 8% RSD (residual standard deviation) within four minutes. Limit of detection intervals for PLS calibrations ranged between 140 - 520 ppm for the four N-rich compounds and between 0.7 - 3.6 % for sucrose. The portability of the system and reliability and reproducibility of this technique opens opportunities for general, reagentless adulteration screening of biological fluids as well as milk, at point-of-collection.
Ren, Shu-Ting; Xu, Chang-Fu; Du, Yun-Xia; Gao, Xiao-Li; Sun, Ying; Jiang, Yi-Na
2012-07-01
The natural outcome of melamine-induced bladder stones (cystoliths) with bladder epithelial hyperplasia (BEH) after melamine withdrawn is unclear. Using an ideal dual-model system, three experiments were conducted in BALB/c mice. Each experiment included a control, model 1 and model 2 groups. The mice were fed a regular diet in controls or a 9373 ppm melamine diet in models, and the first day was designated as dosing day 1. The melamine diet was then replaced by the regular diet in the model 2 groups, and the first day was designated as post-dosing day 1. On dosing days 12, 35 and 49, the incidence of cystoliths and diffusely active BEH was 8/8 in the mice of three model 1 groups. On post-dosing days 1, 4 and 8, in the mice of three model 2 groups, the incidence of cystoliths was 2/8, 0/8 and 1/8, respectively, and the progressive regression of BEH was observed. In conclusion, both the stones and BEH have the natural property of rapid development and rapid regression, and melamine withdrawn plays a key role in the stone dissolution-discharge necessary for BEH regression. BEH may be reversible after the discharge of the stones. The conventionally conservative therapy is thus reasonable. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Beyond a politics of recrimination: Scandal, ethics and the rehabilitation of violence
Johnson, Jamie M.
2016-01-01
The practice of contemporary warfare seems to be plagued by scandal. It is often assumed that the act of bearing witness to these moments of ethical failure, in which the relationship between the martial and the ethical breaks down, plays an important role in holding powerful actors to account for their conduct. Considerable faith has been placed in the role of transparency and truth-telling as foundations for normative engagements with war. This article argues that we must be cautious about this investment. Drawing on the work of Jean Baudrillard, this article offers a method for critically reading scandals as a series of line-drawing manoeuvres. Taken together, these manoeuvres demonstrate how scandals function to enable, excuse and obscure the complex landscapes of violence that define the spectacular and mundane sites of contemporary war. Reducing critical engagements with violent practices to a logic of recrimination, scandals often function to revitalise the very principles they appear to contest. Focusing upon the socio-political implications of wartime scandals, this article demonstrates that the performative force of scandals is therefore the reproduction of a violent status quo rather than opening up new spaces for imagining less violent futures. Offering a critical reading of controversies relating to the provision of humanitarian assistance and education in Afghanistan, this article reflects on the ambiguities and anxieties of critiquing violence. PMID:29278252
Financial Scandals and Student Loans
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Eisenberg, Meyer; Franke, Ann H.
2007-01-01
The investigations of student-loan programs around the country echo previous scandals in the financial world involving stock offerings and mutual funds. The relationships between lenders and financial-aid officers seem to raise the same questions about impropriety, conflict of interest, and possible fraud. Indeed, lessons from Wall Street can…
Release rate of diazinon from microcapsule based on melamine formaldehyde
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Noviana Utami C., S.; Rochmadi
2018-04-01
The microcapsule containing diazinon as the core material and melamine formaldehyde as the membrane material have been synthesized by in situ polymerization method. The microcapsule membrane in this research is melamine formaldehyde (MF). This research aims to study the effect of pH and temperature on the release rate of diazinon from microcapsule based on melamine formaldehyde in aqueous medium. The results showed that pH and temperature has little effect on the release rate of diazinon from microcapsule based on melamine formaldehyde. This is due to the diffusion through the microcapsule membrane is not influenced by the pH and temperature of the solution outside of microcapsule.
Fu, Jingxuan; Wang, Hui; Gao, Jing; Yu, Mei; Wang, Rubin; Yang, Zhuo; Zhang, Tao
2017-03-01
Our previous investigation demonstrated that autophagy significantly reduced melamine-induced cell death in PC12 cells via inhibiting the excessive generation of ROS. In the present study, we further examine if rapamycin, used as an autophagy activator, can play a significant role in protecting neurons and alleviating the impairment of spatial cognition and hippocampal synaptic plasticity in melamine-treated rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: control, melamine-treated, and melamine-treated + rapamycin. The animal model was established by administering melamine at a dose of 300 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks. Rapamycin was intraperitoneally given at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day for 28 consecutive days. The Morris water maze test showed that spatial learning and reversal learning in melamine-treated rats were considerably damaged, whereas rapamycin significantly impeded the cognitive function impairment. Rapamycin efficiently alleviated the melamine-induced impairments of both long-term potentiation (LTP) and depotentiation, which were damaged in melamine rats. Rapamycin further increased the expression level of autophagy markers, which were significantly enhanced in melamine rats. Moreover, rapamycin noticeably decreased the reactive oxygen species level, while the superoxide dismutase activity was remarkably increased by rapamycin in melamine rats. Malondialdehyde assay exhibited that rapamycin prominently reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) level of hippocampal neurons in melamine-treated rats. In addition, rapamycin significantly decreased the caspase-3 activity, which was elevated by melamine. Consequently, our results suggest that regulating autophagy may become a new targeted therapy to relieve the damage induced by melamine.
Effects of water uptake on melamine renal stone formation in mice.
Peng, Jiao; Li, Daxu; Chan, Yee Kwan; Chen, Yan; Lamb, Jonathan R; Tam, Paul K H; El-Nezami, Hani
2012-06-01
Melamine-tainted food can induce kidney stones both in humans and animals and in domestic animals, severe cases caused acute kidney failure and death. Although increasing water intake can ameliorate kidney stone formation, its effect on melamine (Mel)-induced kidney stones has not been studied. We have analysed the effect of restricted ingestion of drinking water on melamine stone formation in mice. They were given melamine and cyanuric acid orally and received drinking water either freely or for a restricted time. Kidney stone formation and renal function were monitored. Mice receiving drinking water for a restricted 10-h period initially lost body weight, which returned to normal within 2 days. No other abnormalities were observed. Ingestion of melamine alone failed to induce kidney stones even under conditions of restricted drinking water. In mice treated with melamine together with cyanuric acid for 3 days, no renal stones were formed when the supply of drinking was normal. However, when drinking water was limited, stone formation was observed and accompanied by high levels of serum urea and creatinine. An increase in urine haemoglobin and glucose levels was also found. The administration resulted in up-regulated tissue osteopontin, kidney injury molecule-1 and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin messenger RNA expression and macrophage infiltration. Our results indicate the importance of water intake in the formation of melamine-induced renal stone formation in the mouse and provide new information on the mechanisms of melamine stone formation.
Synthesis and Thermal Degradation Studies of Melamine Formaldehyde Resins
Ullah, Sami; Bustam, M. A.; Nadeem, M.; Tan, W. L.; Shariff, A. M.
2014-01-01
Melamine formaldehyde (MF) resins have been synthesized at different reaction temperature and pH values. Different molar ratios of melamine and formaldehyde were used to synthesize the corresponding resins. The prepared resin samples were characterized by using molecular weight determination viscometry and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The maximum percentage of solid content (69.7%) was obtained at pH 8.5 and 75°C temperature. The molecular weight of MF resin was increased with an increase of melamine monomer concentration. The highest residual weight 14.125 wt.% was obtained with sample 10. PMID:25436237
Using the Melamine Contamination of Foods to Enhance the Chemistry Classroom
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kimbrough, Doris Renate; Jensen, Anna Chick
2010-01-01
An introduction to the chemistry of the triazine compound, melamine, is presented as well as a brief discussion of the health impacts on humans and pets when melamine contaminates milk products and pet food. Melamine has repeatedly been in the news, and its topical nature provides an excellent springboard for applications of a variety of chemical…
[Pathological changes in rat model of urinary calculus induced by melamine].
Shen, Ying; Sun, Ning; Wang, Guan-nan; He, Le-jian; Jia, Li-qun; Wang, Yu; Xiao, Hong-zhan; Lü, Rui-fen
2011-09-01
To investigate melamine-induced pathological changes in the kidney. Wistar rats were fed with a diet containing 0, 1% and 2% melamine for 15 weeks. After melamine feeding was stopped, various outcome measures were observed for 4 weeks. Rats fed with melamine showed reduced caloric intake, slower weight gain and impaired renal function. The blood urea nitrogen of group A and B [(13.23 ± 5.10) mmol/L and (18.30 ± 5.90) mmol/L, respectively] and serum creatinine levels of group B [(19.90 ± 2.90) mmol/L] were higher than that of group C [(8.23 ± 2.30) mmol/L and (10.04 ± 1.73) mmol/L](P < 0.01, respectively). Additionally, the kidney coefficients of group A and B were higher than that of group C (P < 0.01, respectively). Crystals, tubular ectasia and interstitial inflammation and fibrosis were found in the kidneys of melamine fed rats. Four weeks after discontinuation of feeding with melamine-contained diet, the caloric intake and weight of the rats increased, the coefficients of the kidney decreased, and the blood urea nitrogen of group A and B [(17.96 ± 2.04) mmol/L and (19.20 ± 3.36) mmol/L, respectively] and serum creatinine levels of group B [(24.20 ± 5.28) mmol/L], which became worse than 4 weeks before (P < 0.01;P < 0.05, respectively), and were still higher than that of group C [(8.30 ± 1.79) mmol/L and (9.87 ± 2.71) mmol/L, P < 0.01, respectively]. Crystals remained inside the kidney, changes in the renal interstitium did not improve. (1) Melamine-induced urinary calculus rat model can be established by feeding 3-week old male Wistar rats with a diet containing 2% melamine for 15 weeks. The main constituent of the urinary calculus was melamine (> 90%), with a little uric acid and traces of cyanuric acid. (2) Melamine damaged the renal function, formed renal crystals, and led to the pathological changes of kidneys. All the influences seemed to be dose-depended and was related with the obstruction of the crystals or calculus in the kidney. (3) The
Melamine-modified urea formaldehyde resin for bonding particleboards
Chung-Yun Hse; Feng Fu; Hui Pan
2008-01-01
For the development of a cost-effective melamine-modified urea formaldehyde resin (MUF), the study evaluated the effects of reaction pH and melamine content on resin properties and bond performance of the MUF resin adhesive systems. Eight resins, each with three replicates, were prepared in a factorial experiment that included two formulation variables: two reaction...
Can melamine-based wood primers help in understanding bonded wood durability?
Charles R. Frihart; Jermal G. Chandler
2006-01-01
Melamineâformaldehyde adhesives form wood bonds with exterior durability, and the melamine is more easily studied because of its significant nitrogen content (compared with the lack of nitrogen in wood components). In addition, some melamineâformaldehyde chemicals reduce wood swelling [6], enter into wood cell walls [7], and strengthen them [8]. This information led to...
Development of a Raman chemical imaging detection method for authenticating skim milk powder
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
This research demonstrated that Raman chemical imaging coupled with a simple image classification algorithm can be used to detect multiple chemical adulterants in skim milk powder. Ammonium sulfate, dicyandiamide, melamine, and urea were mixed into the milk powder as chemical adulterants in the conc...
Detection of adulterated commercial Spanish beeswax.
Serra Bonvehi, J; Orantes Bermejo, F J
2012-05-01
The physical and chemical parameters (melting point and saponification number), and the fraction of hydrocarbons, monoesters, acids and alcohols have been determined in 90 samples of Spanish commercial beeswax from Apis mellifera L. The adulteration with paraffins of different melting point, cow tallow, stearic acid, and carnauba wax were determined by HTGC-FID/MS detection, and the research was focussed mainly on paraffins and microcrystallines waxes. In general, the added adulterant can be identified by the presence of non-naturally beeswax components, and by the differences of values of selected components between pure and adulterated beeswax. The detection limits were determined using pure and adulterated beeswax with different amounts of added waxes (5%, 10%, 20% and 30%). Percentages higher than 1-5% of each adulterant can be detected in the mixtures. Paraffin waxes were confirmed in 33 of the 90 samples analysed at concentrations between 5% and 30%. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Multispecies Adulteration Detection of Camellia Oil by Chemical Markers.
Dou, Xinjing; Mao, Jin; Zhang, Liangxiao; Xie, Huali; Chen, Lin; Yu, Li; Ma, Fei; Wang, Xiupin; Zhang, Qi; Li, Peiwu
2018-01-25
Adulteration of edible oils has attracted attention from more researchers and consumers in recent years. Complex multispecies adulteration is a commonly used strategy to mask the traditional adulteration detection methods. Most of the researchers were only concerned about single targeted adulterants, however, it was difficult to identify complex multispecies adulteration or untargeted adulterants. To detect adulteration of edible oil, identification of characteristic markers of adulterants was proposed to be an effective method, which could provide a solution for multispecies adulteration detection. In this study, a simple method of multispecies adulteration detection for camellia oil (adulterated with soybean oil, peanut oil, rapeseed oil) was developed by quantifying chemical markers including four isoflavones, trans-resveratrol and sinapic acid, which used liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) combined with solid phase extraction (SPE). In commercial camellia oil, only two of them were detected of daidzin with the average content of 0.06 ng/g while other markers were absent. The developed method was highly sensitive as the limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 0.02 ng/mL to 0.16 ng/mL and the mean recoveries ranged from 79.7% to 113.5%, indicating that this method was reliable to detect potential characteristic markers in edible oils. Six target compounds for pure camellia oils, soybean oils, peanut oils and rapeseed oils had been analyzed to get the results. The validation results indicated that this simple and rapid method was successfully employed to determine multispecies adulteration of camellia oil adulterated with soybean, peanut and rapeseed oils.
Moore, Jeffrey C; Spink, John; Lipp, Markus
2012-04-01
Food ingredient fraud and economically motivated adulteration are emerging risks, but a comprehensive compilation of information about known problematic ingredients and detection methods does not currently exist. The objectives of this research were to collect such information from publicly available articles in scholarly journals and general media, organize into a database, and review and analyze the data to identify trends. The results summarized are a database that will be published in the US Pharmacopeial Convention's Food Chemicals Codex, 8th edition, and includes 1305 records, including 1000 records with analytical methods collected from 677 references. Olive oil, milk, honey, and saffron were the most common targets for adulteration reported in scholarly journals, and potentially harmful issues identified include spices diluted with lead chromate and lead tetraoxide, substitution of Chinese star anise with toxic Japanese star anise, and melamine adulteration of high protein content foods. High-performance liquid chromatography and infrared spectroscopy were the most common analytical detection procedures, and chemometrics data analysis was used in a large number of reports. Future expansion of this database will include additional publically available articles published before 1980 and in other languages, as well as data outside the public domain. The authors recommend in-depth analyses of individual incidents. This report describes the development and application of a database of food ingredient fraud issues from publicly available references. The database provides baseline information and data useful to governments, agencies, and individual companies assessing the risks of specific products produced in specific regions as well as products distributed and sold in other regions. In addition, the report describes current analytical technologies for detecting food fraud and identifies trends and developments. © 2012 US Pharmacupia Journal of Food Science
Kudlacek, Oliver; Hofmaier, Tina; Luf, Anton; Mayer, Felix P; Stockner, Thomas; Nagy, Constanze; Holy, Marion; Freissmuth, Michael; Schmid, Rainer; Sitte, Harald H
2017-10-01
Cocaine is a naturally occurring and illicitly used psychostimulant drug. Cocaine acts at monoaminergic neurotransmitter transporters to block uptake of the monoamines, dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. The resulting increase of monoamines in the extracellular space underlies the positively reinforcing effects that cocaine users seek. In turn, this increase in monoamines underlies the development of addiction, and can also result in a number of severe side effects. Currently, cocaine is one of the most common illicit drugs available on the European market. However, cocaine is increasingly sold in impure forms. This trend is driven by cocaine dealers seeking to increase their profit margin by mixing ("cutting") cocaine with numerous other compounds ("adulterants"). Importantly, these undeclared compounds put cocaine consumers at risk, because consumers are not aware of the additional potential threats to their health. This review describes adulterants that have been identified in cocaine sold on the street market. Their typical pharmacological profile and possible reasons why these compounds can be used as cutting agents will be discussed. Since a subset of these adulterants has been found to exert effects similar to cocaine itself, we will discuss levamisole, the most frequently used cocaine cutting agent today, and its metabolite aminorex. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Melamine detection in infant formula powder using near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy.
Mauer, Lisa J; Chernyshova, Alona A; Hiatt, Ashley; Deering, Amanda; Davis, Reeta
2009-05-27
Near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy methods (NIR, FTIR-ATR, FTIR-DRIFT) were evaluated for the detection and quantification of melamine in infant formula powder. Partial least-squares (PLS) models were established for correlating spectral data to melamine concentration: R(2) > 0.99, RMSECV ≤ 0.9, and RPD ≥ 12. Factorization analysis of spectra was able to differentiate unadulterated infant formula powder from samples containing 1 ppm melamine with no misclassifications, a confidence level of 99.99%, and selectivity > 2. These nondestructive methods require little or no sample preparation. The NIR method has an assay time of 1 min, and a 2 min total time to detection. The FTIR methods require up to 5 min for melamine detection. Therefore, NIR and FTIR methods enable rapid detection of 1 ppm melamine in infant formula powder.
Germany in 'cash for PhDs' scandal
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Stafford, Ned
2009-10-01
German prosecutors are continuing to investigate about 100 professors suspected of taking cash bribes to help students obtain doctoral degrees - a national academic scandal that research minister Annette Schavan has said could tarnish Germany's international reputation in science.
Risks associated with melamine and related triazine contamination of food
Baynes, RE; Riviere, JE
2009-01-01
Recent adulteration of milk products with melamine (ME) in several countries caused adverse health effects and even deaths in infants. Earlier, in 2007, contamination of pet food with ME and its related contaminants was associated with many clinical cases of canine and feline nephrotoxicity, and in some cases mortality. ME is a triazine compound that is often detected with other triazine analogs such as cyanuric acid. As is the custom in some livestock operations, the contaminated pet food was mixed with feed intended for the swine and poultry industry. This practice has raised several questions as to whether ME and its related triazines would adversely affect the health of these food animals, and whether meat products derived from swine and poultry could contain high-enough levels of these contaminants to warrant public health concern. Data for this review article were obtained from recent research efforts in our laboratory, peer-reviewed publications cited in PubMed, and information available at USDA, US FDA, and WHO websites. The primary issues discussed are related to (1) the chemistry and interactions between ME and its triazine analogs; (2) reported animal and human exposures with possible pathways through which ME can enter the human food chain; (3) mammalian toxicology; (4) comparative pharmacokinetics (PK) and modeling strategies used to predict residue levels; and (5) emerging issues and management strategies. PMID:22460395
"Why some consumers don't care": Heterogeneity in household responses to a food scandal.
Rieger, Jörg; Weible, Daniela; Anders, Sven
2017-06-01
In the aftermath of food scandals, household perceptions about the health risks posed by failures in food safety play a central role in determining their mitigating behavior. A stream of literature has shown that factors including media coverage of a scandal, risk perceptions, trust in food safety information, and consumption habits matter. This paper deviates from the standard assumption of a homogeneous response to media information across all households exposed to a food scandal. Instead, we present an innovative multi-method approach to investigate the impacts of household heterogeneity in underlying psychological and behavioral, media usage patterns and consumption habits on poultry demand in the aftermath of the 2011 German dioxin scandal. The analysis employs weekly retail purchase and matching survey data for 6133 households covering pre and post scandal periods. The supplementary survey data elicits household respondent's risk perceptions and risk attitudes, product label and media information behavior. Initial factor and cluster analysis identify household segments based on psychographic and behavioral indicators. We then estimate a correlated random effect Tobit model to account for clustered household responses to quantify the influence of media effects distinguishing between short-term risk mitigation behavior and longer-term habit persistence. Our results confirm significant heterogeneity in household's media-induced risk-mitigation responses to the dioxin scandal across three clusters. However, we find that habit persistence in the form of consumption preferences for the affected products were able to largely compensate for demand-reducing media effects across household clusters. Considering heterogeneity in household's risk mitigation behaviors to food scandals holds implications for policy makers and food industry alike. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Penn State Scandal Encompasses Professors, Too
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilson, Robin
2012-01-01
While most of the national focus following charges of child sex abuse at Pennsylvania State University has centered on its coaches and administrators, the scandal has reached deep into the professoriate as well. Responding to constant questions has taken an emotional toll on the university's faculty members, who have been asked by neighbors,…
Sun, Ying; Jiang, Yi-Na; Xu, Chang-Fu; Du, Yun-Xia; Zhang, Jiao-Jiao; Yan, Yang; Gao, Xiao-Li
2014-02-01
Applying a model of bladder epithelial hyperplasia (BEH) caused by melamine-induced bladder calculus (BC), the recovery of BEH after melamine withdrawal was investigated. One experiment, comprising untreated, melamine and recovery groups, was conducted in Balb/c mice. Each group included 4 subgroups. Mice were fed normal-diet in untreated or a melamine-diet in other groups. The melamine-diet was then substituted with normal-diet in recovery group. Both of BC and BEH were observed after 14 and 56 days of melamine-diet. The BC is relatively uniform at the same melamine-diet durations. The BEH was diffuse with many mitotic figures, 4-7 rows of nuclei, and well-defined umbrella/intermediate cells. No marked differences in BEH degree were observed in the two different melamine-diet durations. On 4-42 days after melamine withdrawal, BC was not found, as the progressive regression with complete regression of BEH was observed, along with well-defined ageing/apoptotic cells in the superficial regions of BEH regression tissue. Conclusion, the melamine-induced BEH is relatively uniform, may be self-limiting in rows of nuclei, and can return to normal. Melamine withdrawal duration is critical for the BEH regression. Tissue of the BEH and its regression is ideal for exploring the renewal as well as growth biology of mammalian urothelium. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Ruoping; Yang, Jingliang; Han, Junhe; Liu, Junhui; Huang, Mingju
2017-04-01
A Raman method employing silver nanoparticle (Ag NP) monolayer film as Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrate was presented to rapidly detect melamine in milk. The Ag NPs with 80 nm diameter were modified by polyvinylpyrrolidone to improve their uniformity and chemical stability. The treatment procedure of liquid milk required only addition of acetic acid and centrifugation, and required time is less than 15 min. The Ag NP monolayer film significantly enhanced Raman signal from melamine and allowed experimentally reproducible determination of the melamine concentration. A good linear relationship (R2=0.994) between the concentration and Raman peak intensity of melamine at 681 cm-1 was obtained for melamine concentrations between 0.10 mg L-1 and 5.00 mg L-1. This implies that this method can detect melamine concentrations below 1.0 mg L-1, the concentration currently considered unsafe.
Gender and urinary pH affect melamine-associated kidney stone formation risk
Lu, Xiuli; Wang, Jing; Cao, Xiangyu; Li, Mingxin; Xiao, Chunling; Yasui, Takahiro; Gao, Bing
2011-01-01
Objectives: Melamine was known as a new risk for kidney stone due to recent incidences of milk powder contamination in China. Here, we performed a retrospective study to investigate whether age, gender, and urinary pH affect melamine-associated kidney stone risk. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 217 children aged less than 3 years old. All children had a history of being fed with Sanlu milk powder contaminated by melamine, and underwent a clinical screening on kidney stone in Shenyang from November 2008 to February 2009. A comparison with the Chi-square was conducted between 83 cases and 125 normal subjects. The difference between children's gender, age, and urinary pH was evaluated. Results: A total of 208 subjects, 136 boys and 72 girls, were included in the study. Significant association was observed between melamine-associated kidney stone risk and gender [odds ratio (OR), 2.03; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.11-3.74; P=0.02] and urinary pH (OR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.01-3.11; P=0.04), respectively. Male children were at about twofold increased melamine-associated kidney stone risk compared with female children. Acidic urine showed about 1.78-fold increased melamine-associated kidney stone risk compared with normal urine. Conclusions: Our investigation results showed an association of gender and urinary pH with melamine-associated kidney stone formation risk. PMID:21747595
Development of a Raman chemical image detection algorithm for authenticating dry milk
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
This research developed a Raman chemical imaging method for detecting multiple adulterants in skim milk powder. Ammonium sulfate, dicyandiamide, melamine, and urea were mixed into the milk powder as chemical adulterants in the concentration range of 0.1–5.0%. A Raman imaging system using a 785-nm la...
Succinic acid functionalized silver nanoparticles (Suc-Ag NPs) for colorimetric sensing of melamine
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rajar, Kausar; Sirajuddin; Balouch, Aamna; Bhanger, M. I.; Shah, Muhammad Tariq; Shaikh, Tayyaba; Siddiqui, Samia
2018-03-01
In this study, a quantitative colorimetric sensing strategy is developed for the rapid, sensitive and selective determination of melamine. The sensing system relies on the application of succinic acid as a selective recognition probe functionalized over Ag NPs. The synthesized Ag NPs were modified with cysteamine to induce positively charged atmosphere which allowed easy and favorable functionalization of succinic acid. The di-carboxyl nature of succinic acid enabled its binding to both cysteamine and melamine. The strong and favorable linkage between succinic acids carbonyl and amine moieties of melamine triggered aggregation of silver NPs producing a significant shift in the measured absorption excitation. This change in the excitation along with the colorimetric response was found linearly proportional to the melamine concentration in the range of 0.1-1.2 μM. The developed sensor system is simple and unlike electrostatic attraction based sensor system utilize selective linkage for the recognition of melamine. In addition to this, the developed optical probe can efficiently be used for the determination of melamine in milk samples.
Experimental and numerical investigations on melamine wedges.
Schneider, S
2008-09-01
Melamine wedges are often used as acoustic lining material for anechoic chambers. It was proposed here to study the effects of the mounting conditions on the acoustic properties of the melamine wedges used in the large anechoic chamber at the LMA. The results of the impedance tube measurements carried out show that the mounting conditions must be taken into account when assessing the quality of an acoustic lining. As it can be difficult to simulate these mounting conditions in impedance tube experiments, a numerical method was developed, which can be used to complete the experiments or for parametric studies. By combining the finite and the boundary element method, it is possible to investigate acoustic linings with almost no restrictions as to the geometry, material behavior, or mounting conditions. The numerical method presented here was used to study the acoustic properties of the acoustic lining installed in the anechoic chamber at the LMA. Further experiments showed that the behavior of the melamine foam is anisotropic. Numerical simulations showed that this anisotropy can be used to advantage when designing an acoustic lining.
Colorimetric detection of melamine based on p-chlorobenzenesulfonic acid-modified AuNPs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Jianfang; Huang, Pengcheng; Wu, Fangying
2016-06-01
A highly selective and sensitive method is developed for colorimetric detection of melamine using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized with p-chlorobenzenesulfonic acid. The addition of melamine induced the aggregation of AuNPs, as evidenced from the morphological characterizations and the color changed from red wine to blue, which could also be monitored by the UV-visible spectrometer and even naked eyes. This process caused a significant increase in the absorbance ratio (A650nm/A520nm) of p-chlorobenzenesulfonic acid-AuNPs. Under optimized conditions, the system exhibited a linear response to melamine in the range of 6.0 × 10-7-1.5 × 10-6 mol L-1 with a correlation coefficient of 0.997, and the limit of detection can even be 2.3 nM, which was much lower than some other methods and the safe limits (20 μM in both the USA and EU, 8.0 μM for infant formula in China, 1.2 μM in the CAC (Codex Alimentarius Commission) review for melamine in liquid infant formula). More importantly, the developed method presented excellent tolerance to coexisting common metal ions such as Ca2+, Zn2+, whose concentration is 1000 times of melamine, so that it had been applied to the analysis of melamine in liquid milk and milk powder with the recovery of 97.0-101 % and 100-103 %, respectively, indicating that the proposed method is quite a highly effective means to determine melamine in milk products.
Melamine milk powder and infant formula sold in East Africa.
Schoder, Dagmar
2010-09-01
This is the first study proving the existence of melamine in milk powder and infant formula exported to the African market. A total of 49 milk powder batches were collected in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania, East Africa), the center of international trade in East Africa, which serves as a commercial bottleneck and shipment hub for sub-Saharan, Central, and East Africa. Two categories of samples were collected between October and December 2008, immediately after the melamine contamination of Chinese products became public: (i) market brands of all international companies supplying the East African market and (ii) illegally sold products from informal channels. Melamine concentration was determined with the AgraQuant Melamine Sensitive Assay. Despite the national import prohibition of Chinese milk products and unlabeled milk powder in Tanzania, 11% (22 of 200) of inspected microretailers sold milk powder on the local black market. Manufacturers could be identified for only 55% (27) of the 49 investigated batches. Six percent (3 of 49) of all samples and 11% (3 of 27) of all international brand name products tested revealed melamine concentrations up to 5.5 mg/kg of milk powder. This amount represents about twice the tolerable daily intake as suggested by the U.S Food and Drug Administration. Based on our study, we can assume that the number of affected children in Africa is substantial.
[Investigation of typical melamine urinary stones using infrared spectra].
Si, Min-Zhen; Li, Qing-Yun; Liu, Ren-Ming; Kang, Yi-Pu; Wang, Kun-Hua; Zhang, Zhi-Guo
2010-02-01
A typical melamine kidney stone confirmed by some medicine expert was collected from the first people's hospital of Yunnan. The kidney stone was adequately determined by PE corporation spectra 100(with resolution of 1 cm(-1)). The stone samples for FTIR analysis were prepared using the KBr pellet technique, where 2 mg of the pretreated stone powder was mixed with 200 mg of analytical grade KBr using an agate pestle and mortar. The digital spectrum was then scanned in the mid-infrared region from 4 000 to 400 cm(-1) at room temperature. The appearing bands between 4 000 and 2 000 cm(-1) were 3 487, 3 325, 3 162 and 2 788 cm(-1), those between 1 700 and 1 000 cm(-1) were 1 694, 1 555, 1 383, 1 340, 1 189 and 1 122 cm(-1), and those between 1 000 and 400 cm(-1) were 993, 782, 748, 709, 624, 585, 565 and 476 cm(-1). It was found that the main constituent of calculi showed few comparability with cat kidney stone, which was from cats that died after consuming the contaminated food, and confirmed that these deposits were primarily composed of melamine and cyanuric acid compared to the IR spectra of calculi in literature. It was also found that the main constituent of calculi showed few comparability with popular kidney stone by comparison with the IR spectra of calculi in literature. The spectrum of calculi was 50% respectively similar with melamine and uric acid as compared with the IR spectrum. It was found that the main constituent of calculi was melamine itself and uric acid as compared with the IR spectra of calculi and melamine: (1 : 1), because the spectrum of calculi was 83. 3% similar to melamine and uric acid (1 : 1). The appearing bands of melamine and uric acid (1 : 1) between 4 000 and 2 000 cm(-1) were 3 469, 3 419, 3 333, 3 132, 3 026, 2 827 cm(-1), those between 1 700 and 1 000 cm(-1) were 1 696, 1 656, 1 555, 1 489, 1 439, 1 350, 1 311, 1 198, 1 124 and 1 028 cm(-1), and those between 1 000 and 400 cm(-1) were 993, 878, 814, 784, 745, 708, 619, 577 and
Hatakeyama, Takashi; Takagi, Kazuhiro
2016-08-01
This study aimed to investigate the biodegrading potential of Arthrobacter sp. MCO, Arthrobacter sp. CSP, and Nocardioides sp. ATD6 in melamine-contaminated upland soil (melamine: approx. 10.5 mg/kg dry weight) after 30 days of incubation. The soil sample used in this study had undergone annual treatment of lime nitrogen, which included melamine; it was aged for more than 10 years in field. When R2A broth was used as the pre-culture medium, Arthrobacter sp. MCO could degrade 55 % of melamine after 30 days of incubation, but the other strains could hardly degrade melamine (approximately 25 %). The addition of trimethylglycine (betaine) in soil as an activation material enhanced the degradation rate of melamine by each strain; more than 50 % of melamine was degraded by all strains after 30 days of incubation. In particular, strain MCO could degrade 72 % of melamine. When the strains were pre-cultured in R2A broth containing melamine, the degradation rate of melamine in soil increased remarkably. The highest (72 %) melamine degradation rate was noted when strain MCO was used with betaine addition.
Liu, Xiaojuan; Xu, Ningning; Gai, Panpan; Li, Feng
2018-08-01
Since melamine is a strong hazard to human health, the development of new methods for highly sensitive detection of melamine is highly desirable. Herein, a novel fluorescent biosensing strategy was designed for sensitive and selective melamine assay based on the recognition ability of abasic (AP) site in triplex towards melamine and signal amplification by Mg 2+ -dependent DNAzyme. In this strategy, the melamine-induced formation of triplex DNA was employed to trigger the strand displacement reaction (SDR). The SDR process converted the specific target recognition into the release and activation of Mg 2+ -dependent DNAzyme, which could catalyze the cleavage of fluorophore/quencher labeled DNA substrate (FQ), resulting in a significantly increased fluorescent signal. Under the optimal conditions, the fluorescent signal has a linear relationship with the logarithm of the melamine concentration in a wide range of 0.005-50 μM. The detection limit was estimated to be 0.9 nM (0.1ppb), which is sufficiently sensitive for practical application. Furthermore, this strategy exhibits high selectivity against other potential interfering substances, and the practical application of this strategy for milk samples reveals that the proposed strategy works well for melamine assay in real samples. Therefore, this strategy presents a new method for the sensitive melamine assay and holds great promise for sensing applications in the environment and the food safety field. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Melamine sensing based on evanescent field enhanced optical fiber sensor
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Luo, Ji; Yao, Jun; Wang, Wei-min; Zhuang, Xu-ye; Ma, Wen-ying; Lin, Qiao
2013-08-01
Melamine is an insalubrious chemical, and has been frequently added into milk products illegally, to make the products more protein-rich. However, it can cause some various diseases, such as kidney stones and bladder cancer. In this paper, a novel optical fiber sensor with high sensitivity based on absorption of the evanescent field for melamine detection is successfully proposed and developed. Different concentrations of melamine changing from 0 to 10mg/mL have been detected using the micro/nano-sensing fiber decorated with silver nanoparticles cluster layer. As the concentration increases, the sensing fiber's output intensity gradually deceases and the absorption of the analyte becomes large. The concentration changing of 1mg/ml can cause the absorbance varying 0.664 and the limit of the melamine detectable concentration is 1ug/mL. Besides, the coupling properties between silver nanoparticles have also been analyzed by the FDTD method. Overall, this evanescent field enhanced optical fiber sensor has potential to be used in oligo-analyte detection and will promote the development of biomolecular and chemical sensing applications.
Melamine-contaminated milk products induced urinary tract calculi in children.
Zhang, Li; Wu, Ling-Ling; Wang, Ya-Ping; Liu, Ai-Min; Zou, Chao-Chun; Zhao, Zheng-Yan
2009-02-01
Melamine is an industrial chemical used primarily as plastics stabilizer and fire retardant. On September 11, 2008, melamine-contaminated milk products were reported to be responsible for urinary tract calculi in infants and children in China. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, lesions, risk factors, clinical features, and management of children fed with the melamine-contaminated milk products. A total of 15 577 infants and children fed with the milk products were screened at our hospital. Ultrasonography was performed in all the infants and children. For those found with urinary tract calculion ultrasonography, urnalysis was done. Among them, 846 with detailed data screened from September 17 to 25 were enrolled for further analysis in this study. They were divided into calculus group (326 children) and non-calculus group (520 children) according to the results of ultrasonography. They included 429 boys and 417 girls, aged from 1 month to 5 years (median, 18 months). Their clinical and laboratory data, ultrasonograms, and treatment results were analyzed. Of the 15 577 children screened, 562 (3.61%) had urinary tract calculi. The rate was closely related to the melamine concentration in patients fed with formula. In 846 children with detailed data enrolled in this analysis, weight and head circumference Z scores in the calculus group were lower than those in the non-calculus group (P=0.048, P=0.046). Long duration of formula feeding, high melamine contained formula, and minimal water intake were the risk factors for calculi (P<0.05, respectively). Of 326 children with calculi, 281 had small calculiless than 0.5 cm in diameter, 227 had multiple calculi, and 34 had urinary tract distention. Moreover, diffuse renal lesions, renal failure and ascites were noted in 4, 3 and 2 patients, respectively. After 1-month treatment with sodium bicarbonate and Chinese traditional medicine, calculi disappeared in 49 of 54 outpatients. In 41 inpatients, 5 had calculi
Effect of Coversheet Materials on the Acoustic Performance of Melamine Foam
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
McNelis, Anne M.; Hughes, William O.
2015-01-01
Melamine foam is a highly absorptive material that is often used inside the payload fairing walls of a launch vehicle. This foam reduces the acoustic excitation environment that the spacecraft experiences during launch. Often, the melamine foam is enclosed by thin coversheet materials for contamination protection, thermal protection, and electrostatic discharge control. Previous limited acoustic testing by NASA Glenn Research Center has shown that the presence of a coversheet material on the melamine foam can have a significant impact on the absorption coefficient and the transmission loss. As a result of this preliminary finding a more extensive acoustic test program using several different coversheet materials on melamine foam was performed. Those test results are summarized in this paper. Additionally, a method is provided to use the acoustic absorption and transmission loss data obtained from panel level testing to predict their combined effect for the noise reduction of a launch vehicle payload fairing.
Supramolecular intermediates in the synthesis of polymeric carbon nitride from melamine cyanurate
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Dante, Roberto C., E-mail: rcdante@yahoo.com; Sánchez-Arévalo, Francisco M.; Chamorro-Posada, Pedro
The adduct of melamine and cyanuric acid (MCA) was used in past research to produce polymeric carbon nitride and precursors. The reaction yield was considerably incremented by the addition of sulfuric acid. The polymeric carbon nitride formation occurs around 450 °C at temperatures above the sublimation of the adduct components, which occurs around 400 °C. In this report the effect of sulfuric acid on MCA was investigated. It was found that the MCA rosette supramolecular channel structures behave as a solid solvent able to host small molecules, such as sulfuric acid, inside these channels and interact with them. Therefore, themore » sulfuric acid effect was found to be close to that of a solute that causes a temperature increment of the “solvent sublimation” enough to allowing the formation of polymeric carbon nitride to occur. Sulfate ions are presumably hosted in the rosette channels of MCA as shown by simulations. - Graphical abstract: The blend of melamine cyanurate and sulfuric acid behaves like a solution so that melamine cyanurate decomposition is shifted to temperatures high enough to react and form polymeric carbon nitride. - Highlights: • The adduct of melamine and cyanuric acid behaves as a solid solvent. • The blend of sulfuric acid and melamine cyanurate behaves like a solution. • Melamine cyanurate decomposition is shifted to higher temperatures by sulfuric acid. • The formation of polymeric carbon nitride occurs for these higher temperatures.« less
Experimental Evaluation of Equivalent-Fluid Models for Melamine Foam
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Allen, Albert R.; Schiller, Noah H.
2016-01-01
Melamine foam is a soft porous material commonly used in noise control applications. Many models exist to represent porous materials at various levels of fidelity. This work focuses on rigid frame equivalent fluid models, which represent the foam as a fluid with a complex speed of sound and density. There are several empirical models available to determine these frequency dependent parameters based on an estimate of the material flow resistivity. Alternatively, these properties can be experimentally educed using an impedance tube setup. Since vibroacoustic models are generally sensitive to these properties, this paper assesses the accuracy of several empirical models relative to impedance tube measurements collected with melamine foam samples. Diffuse field sound absorption measurements collected using large test articles in a laboratory are also compared with absorption predictions determined using model-based and measured foam properties. Melamine foam slabs of various thicknesses are considered.
Assessing Risk-Based Upper Limits of Melamine Migration from Food Containers.
Ling, Min-Pei; Lien, Keng-Wen; Hsieh, Dennis P H
2016-12-01
Melamine contamination of food has become a major food safety issue because of incidents of infant disease caused by exposure to this chemical. This study was aimed at establishing a safety limit in Taiwan for the degree of melamine migration from food containers. Health risk assessment was performed for three exposure groups (preschool children, individuals who dine out, and elderly residents of nursing homes). Selected values of tolerable daily intake (TDI) for melamine were used to calculate the reference migration concentration limit (RMCL) or reference specific migration limit (RSML) for melamine food containers. The only existing values of these limits for international standards today are 1.2 mg/L (0.2 mg/dm 2 ) in China and 30 mg/L (5 mg/dm 2 ) in the European Union. The factors used in the calculations included the specific surface area of food containers, daily food consumption rate, body weight, TDI, and the percentile of the population protected at a given migration concentration limit (MCL). The results indicate that children are indeed at higher risk of melamine exposure at toxic levels than are other groups and that the 95th percentile of MCL (specific surface area = 5) for children aged 1-6 years should be the RMCL (0.07 mg/dm 2 ) for protecting the sensitive and general population. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.
Wu, Yongning; Zhang, Yu
2013-06-01
This review summarizes the most recent scientific literature and regulations regarding analytical chemistry, toxicology, epidemiology, exposure, and risk assessment of melamine in infant formula. For analyses, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, high-performance liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry have commonly been used. Organization of proficiency test programs provided good evidence to facilitate granting laboratories accreditation and to ascertain the measurement reliability of melamine methods. Metabolic studies demonstrated that melamine is predominantly restricted to blood or extracellular fluid and is not extensively distributed to organs and tissues. Studies of human renal histopathology and clinical diagnoses indicated that melamine-related obstructive nephropathy derives from melamine precipitation in the lower urinary tract, with stones that are thought to be melamine-uric acid complexes. Epidemiologic studies showed that the occurrence of melamine-related urolithiasis is related to both the concentration of melamine in ingested milk products and the duration of ingestion. Long-term follow-up cohort studies should be continued to further investigate the epidemic and chronic hazard of melamine-induced nephrotoxicity. The World Health Organization set a tolerable daily intake of 0.2 mg/kg bw/day to be applied to "the whole population including infants". Other authorities and research institutes have set/proposed lower values. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Analysis of melamine and analogs in complex matrices: Advances and trends.
Wang, Tingting; Ma, Junfeng; Chen, Yihui; Li, Ying; Zhang, Lihua; Zhang, Yukui
2017-01-01
The analysis of melamine and its analogs is of increasing research interest. Owing to their high nitrogen content and low price, they were deliberately added to artificially enhance protein concentration in a number of different types of human and animal food sources. In addition, environmental water might also be contaminated by melamine due to its use in the chemical industry and the degradation of the pesticide cyromazine. Herein we provide a detailed overview of recently developed materials and techniques for the analysis of melamine and its analogs in complex matrices, especially in dairy products (e.g., milk and powdered milk) and environmental water. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Book Review, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Could curbing food waste significantly reduce world hunger and environmental pressures? Tristram Stuart argues cogently that it could in his book Waste, which details the global food-waste scandal and delves into questions such as how much food is available globally? How much is needed and used, a...
Chromatography methods and chemometrics for determination of milk fat adulterants
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Trbović, D.; Petronijević, R.; Đorđević, V.
2017-09-01
Milk and milk-based products are among the leading food categories according to reported cases of food adulteration. Although many authentication problems exist in all areas of the food industry, adequate control methods are required to evaluate the authenticity of milk and milk products in the dairy industry. Moreover, gas chromatography (GC) analysis of triacylglycerols (TAGs) or fatty acid (FA) profiles of milk fat (MF) in combination with multivariate statistical data processing have been used to detect adulterations of milk and dairy products with foreign fats. The adulteration of milk and butter is a major issue for the dairy industry. The major adulterants of MF are vegetable oils (soybean, sunflower, groundnut, coconut, palm and peanut oil) and animal fat (cow tallow and pork lard). Multivariate analysis enables adulterated MF to be distinguished from authentic MF, while taking into account many analytical factors. Various multivariate analysis methods have been proposed to quantitatively detect levels of adulterant non-MFs, with multiple linear regression (MLR) seemingly the most suitable. There is a need for increased use of chemometric data analyses to detect adulterated MF in foods and for their expanded use in routine quality assurance testing.
Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge: 2009 Greener Reaction Conditions Award
Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge 2009 award winner, CEM Corporation, developed a fast, automated analytical process using less toxic reagents and less energy to distinguish protein from the food adulterant, melamine.
The protective role of bee honey against the toxic effect of melamine in the male rat kidney.
Al-Seeni, Madeha N; El Rabey, Haddad A; Al-Solamy, Suad M
2015-06-01
This study aimed to test the protective role of natural bee honey against melamine toxicity in the kidney of male albino rats. The dietary supplementation of melamine at a dose of 20,000 ppm for 28 days induced renal dysfunction, as reflected by a significant increase in kidney function parameters (urea, creatinine, and uric acid) and an increase in potassium levels. In addition, a decrease in catalase and glutathione-S-transferase and an increase in lipid peroxide in the kidney tissue homogenate were also observed. Histological changes in the melamine-treated group revealed hyperplasia and damage in kidney cells and the accumulation of melamine crystals in kidney tissues. Honey treatment for 28 days in rats concurrently administered melamine at a dose of 2.5 g/kg body weight for 28 days improved the kidney function, increased antioxidant enzymes, and decreased lipid peroxide levels. The morphology of the kidney cells of the melamine-fed rats was also improved as a result of honey treatment. In conclusion, this study revealed that natural bee honey protects the kidney against the adverse effects induced by melamine toxicity in male albino rats. © The Author(s) 2014.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alam, Md. Fazle; Laskar, Amaj Ahmed; Ahmed, Shahbaz; Shaida, Mohd. Azfar; Younus, Hina
2017-08-01
Melamine toxicity has recently attracted worldwide attention as it causes renal failure and the death of humans and animals. Therefore, developing a simple, fast and sensitive method for the routine detection of melamine is the need of the hour. Herein, we have developed a selective colorimetric method for the detection of melamine in milk samples based upon in-situ formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) via tannic acid. The AgNPs thus formed were characterized by UV-Visible spectrophotometer, transmission electron microscope (TEM), zetasizer and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The AgNPs were used to detect melamine under in vitro condition and in raw milk spiked with melamine. Under optimal conditions, melamine could be selectively detected in vitro within the concentration range of 0.05-1.4 μM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.01 μM, which is lower than the strictest melamine safety requirement of 1 ppm. In spiked raw milk, the recovery percentage range was 99.5-106.5% for liquid milk and 98.5-105.5% for powdered milk. The present method shows extreme selectivity with no significant interference with other substances like urea, glucose, glycine, ascorbic acid etc. This assay method does not utilize organic cosolvents, enzymatic reactions, light sensitive dye molecules and sophisticated instrumentation, thereby overcoming some of the limitations of the other conventional methods.
Varelis, P; Jeskelis, R
2008-10-01
For the determination of melamine and cyanuric acid the labelled internal standards [(13)C(3)]-melamine and [(13)C(3)]-cyanuric acid were synthesized using the common substrate [(13)C(3)]-cyanuric chloride by reaction with ammonia and acidified water, respectively. Standards with excellent isotopic and chemical purities were obtained in acceptable yields. These compounds were used to develop an isotope dilution liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method to determine melamine and cyanuric acid in catfish, pork, chicken, and pet food. The method involved extraction into aqueous methanol, liquid-liquid extraction and ion exchange solid phase clean-up, with normal phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the so-called hydrophilic interaction mode. The method had a limit of detection (LOD) of 10 microg kg(-1) for both melamine and cyanuric acid in the four foods with a percentage coefficient of variation (CV) of less than 10%. The recovery of the method at this level was in the range of 87-110% and 96-110% for melamine and cyanuric acid, respectively.
[Molecular identification of astragali radix and its adulterants by ITS sequences].
Cui, Zhan-Hu; Li, Yue; Yuan, Qing-Jun; Zhou, Li-She; Li, Min-Hui
2012-12-01
To explore a new method for identification Astragali Radix from its adulterants by using ITS sequence. Thirteen samples of the different Astragali Radix materials and 6 samples of the adulterants of the roots of Hedysarum polybotrys, Medicago sativa and Althaea rosea were collected. ITS sequence was amplified by PCR and sequenced unidirectionally. The interspecific K-2-P distances of Astragali Radix and its adulterants were calculated, and NJ tree and UPGMA tree were constructed by MEGA 4. ITS sequences were obtained from 19 samples respectively, there were Astragali Radix 646-650 bp, H. polybotrys 664 bp, Medicago sativa 659 bp, Althaea rosea 728 bp, which were registered in the GenBank. Phylogeny trees reconstruction using NJ and UPGMA analysis based on ITS nucleotide sequences can effectively distinguish Astragali Radix from adulterants. ITS sequence can be used to identify Astragali Radix from its adulterants successfully and is an efficient molecular marker for authentication of Astragali Radix and its adulterants.
Pomegranate juice adulteration by addition of grape or peach juices.
Nuncio-Jáuregui, Nallely; Calín-Sánchez, Ángel; Hernández, Francisca; Carbonell-Barrachina, Ángel A
2014-03-15
Pomegranate juice has gained a high reputation for its health properties and consequently is now a highly demanded product. However, owing to the limited production and high price of fresh pomegranates, adulteration of pomegranate juice seems to be happening. Hence it is imperative to establish criteria for detecting adulteration. Addition of grape juice significantly increased the contents of Ca, Mg and Fe and especially tartaric acid and proline and simultaneously decreased the content of K. Addition of peach juice up to 10% (v/v) only resulted in a significant increase in sucrose content. Regarding the volatile composition, adulteration of pomegranate juice with grape juice resulted in significant increases in acetic acid, isoamyl butyrate and especially 1-hexanol and linalool, while adulteration with peach juice resulted in significant increases in butyl acetate, isobutyl butyrate, benzyl acetate and especially isoamyl butyrate. The control protocols used in this study can serve as a basis for identification of pomegranate juice adulteration. It is important to highlight that it is necessary to simultaneously analyze and have results from several parameters to conclude that a particular pomegranate juice has been adulterated by mixing with another fruit juice. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.
Detection of adulterants in honey using a portable Raman Spectrometer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Garcia, Kenneth Leigh
Food adulteration is a growing problem worldwide. In the United States over half of honey consumed is provided with imported products as total domestic production of honey is unable to meet the demand. As pure, natural honey is a labor intensive, relatively expensive product it is a prime target for adulteration with less expensive sweeteners. Previously published work describes the detection of these adulterants in a strict laboratory environment with time consuming techniques and delicate instrumentation. Experiments confirm that adulterants such as high fructose corn syrup and rice malt syrup can be detected in honey using Raman Spectroscopy and portable equipment. When laser light is applied to the products, the result is a Raman signal of inelastically scattered photons representing the fingerprints of the various molecules. When this signal is detected and stored in a laptop computer it can be analyzed for characteristics peculiar to honey and to the adulterants.
Physico-chemical studies on adulteration of honey in Nigeria.
Lawal, R A; Lawal, A K; Adekalu, J B
2009-08-01
The extent of adulteration of honey samples from various geographical locations in Nigeria was evaluated. In order to ascertain the quality and extent of adulteration of the honey samples, the total titrable acidity, brix content, pH, colour, viscosity, moisture content, total solids, ash content, hydroxymethyl furfural and microbiological analysis were carried out. Honey samples from Akwa-Ibom, Ondo and Ogun had a high hydroxymethyl furfural with coliforms and total bacteria counts being absent, while honey samples from Shaki, Yola and Ibadan had a low hydroxymethyl furfural and some total viable counts were present in them. These results indicate that honey samples from Akwa-Ibom, Ondo and Ogun were completely free of adulteration. However, honey samples obtained from Shaki, Yola and Ibadan were discovered to have undergone some form of adulteration.
Melamine-bridged alkyl resorcinol modified urea - formaldehyde resin for bonding hardwood plywood
Chung-Yun Hse; Mitsuo Higuchi
2010-01-01
A powdery product was obtained by the reaction of methylolated melamine with alkyl resorcinols to form melamine-bridged alkyl resorcinols (MARs). The effects of the addition of this powder on the bonding strength and formaldehyde emission of ureaâformaldehyde (UF) resins were investigated. Three types of UF resins with a formaldehyde/urea molar ratio of 1.3 synthesized...
Food Adulteration and Consumer Awareness in Dhaka City, 1995-2011
Ahmed, Tahmeed
2014-01-01
ABSTRACT We conducted this study to investigate the magnitude of food adulteration during 1995–2011 and consumer awareness in Dhaka city. We reviewed results of food sample testing by Public Health Food Laboratory of Dhaka City Corporation, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, Consumers Association of Bangladesh publications, reports from lay press, including those on mobile magistrate court operations. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 96 residents of Dhaka city, using a structured questionnaire in 2006. The overall proportion of food samples adulterated decreased during 2001-2005, and 40-54% of daily-consumed food was adulterated during 1995-2011. More than 35 food items were commonly adulterated. Consumers considered expiry date and quality or freshness as the best criteria while buying packaged and open food items respectively; only 11 (12%) respondents considered approval of regulatory authority for buying packaged food items. More than half of the food consumed in Dhaka city is adulterated, which warrants actions by the Government, the industry, and the consumers. PMID:25395908
Food adulteration and consumer awareness in Dhaka City, 1995-2011.
Nasreen, Sharifa; Ahmed, Tahmeed
2014-09-01
We conducted this study to investigate the magnitude of food adulteration during 1995-2011 and consumer awareness in Dhaka city. We reviewed results of food sample testing by Public Health Food Laboratory of Dhaka City Corporation, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, Consumers Association of Bangladesh publications, reports from lay press, including those on mobile magistrate court operations. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 96 residents of Dhaka city, using a structured questionnaire in 2006. The overall proportion of food samples adulterated decreased during 2001-2005, and 40-54% of daily-consumed food was adulterated during 1995-2011. More than 35 food items were commonly adulterated. Consumers considered expiry date and quality or freshness as the best criteria while buying packaged and open food items respectively; only 11 (12%) respondents considered approval of regulatory authority for buying packaged food items. More than half of the food consumed in Dhaka city is adulterated, which warrants actions by the Government, the industry, and the consumers.
[Textual research on adulteration of Chinese materia medica in ancient China].
Xie, Jin; Wang, De-Qun
2013-09-01
By investigating the mainstream works of herbal classics of successive ages, it is found that adulteration of Chinese materia medica appeared early in ancient China. The main methods of adulteration was producing fraud medicines in the Northern-Southern Dynasties, fake medicines began to appear in the Tang Dynasty, and status of adulteration of Chinese materia medica ran unchecked since the Ming and Qing Dynasty. By statistics, there were 76 kinds of adulteration varieties before the Republican period. The main varieties were precious drugs, animal drugs and artifacts. Commonly methods used in the process included forging and adulterating, dealing with 11 kinds and 68 kinds respectively. Adulteration probably lead to the result of imposing the changes of the used medicinal parts of Herba Pogostemonis; Radix Aconiti Lateralis prepared by adding salt, Radix Angelica Sinensis processed by wine, and Radix Astragalis seu Hedysaris processed with bee honey. However, the root cause of adulteration in Chinese materia medica was the dissociation of professional physician and pharmacist, resulting in the ignorance of medical practitioners became unable to recognize Chinese materia medica; and the immorality of medicinal merchants. Besides, rating the quality of materia medica based on its producing areas without differentiating the false from the genuine may also contribute to this result passively.
Quantification of melamine in drinking water and wastewater by micellar liquid chromatography.
Beltrán-Martinavarro, Beatriz; Peris-Vicente, Juan; Rambla-Alegre, Maria; Marco-Peiró, Sergio; Esteve-Romero, Josep; Carda-Broch, Samuel
2013-01-01
Because of the large potential health impact caused by deliberate contamination with the synthetic chemical melamine of different products for human and animal consumption, the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations provided a range of recommendations in order to facilitate obtaining needed data, among which was the determination of the background levels of melamine in drinking water and wastewater (December 4, 2008). A chromatographic procedure using a C18 column, a micellar mobile phase consisting of sodium dodecyl sulfate (0.1 M), and 1-propanol (7.5%) buffered at pH 3, and detection by absorbance at 210 nm is reported in this paper for the quantification of melamine in drinking water and wastewater. Samples were filtered and directly injected into the chromatographic system, thus avoiding an extraction procedure. The optimal mobile phase composition was obtained by a chemometrics approach that considered the retention factor, efficiency, and peak shape. Melamine was eluted in about 6.2 min without interferences. Validation was performed following U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The analytical parameters studied were linearity (0.03-5 microg/mL, R2 = 0.998), LOD (13 nglmL), intraday and interday accuracy (between 4.1 and 12.2%), intraday and interday precision (less than 14.8%), and robustness (RSD < 5.1% for retention time and <9.0% for area). The proposed methodology was successfully applied for analysis of local wastewater and drinking water, in which no melamine was found.
A new comprehensive index for discriminating adulteration in bovine raw milk.
Liu, Jing; Ren, Jing; Liu, Zhen-Min; Guo, Ben-Heng
2015-04-01
This paper proposes a new comprehensive index, called Q, which can effectively discriminate artificial adulterated milk from unadulterated milk. Both normal and adulterated samples of bovine raw milk were analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic instrument to measure the traditional indices of quality, including fat (FAT), protein (PRO), lactose (LAC), total solids (TS), non-fat solid (NFS), freezing point (FP) and somatic cell counts (SCC). From these traditional indices, this paper elaborates a method to build the index Q. First, correlated analysis and principle component analysis were used to select parameter pairs TS-FAT and FP-LAC as predominant variables. Second, linear-regression analysis and residual analysis are applied to determine the index Q and its discriminating ranges. The verification and two-blind trial results suggested that index Q could accurately detect milk adulteration with maltodextrin and water (as low as 1.0% of adulteration proportions), and with other nine kinds of synthetic adulterants (as low as 0.5% of adulteration proportions). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Gao, Jian; Wang, Fei; Kuang, Xinyu; Chen, Rong; Rao, Jia; Wang, Bin; Li, Wenyan; Liu, Haimei; Shen, Qian; Wang, Xiang; Xu, Hong
2016-01-01
The illegal use of melamine in powdered baby formula resulted in a widespread outbreak of melamine-associated pediatric urolithiasis and kidney damage in China in 2008. We conducted this study because more needs to be known about the long-term effects of melamine-associated urolithiasis and kidney damage. To determine the prognosis and long-term implications of chronic kidney damage in children with urolithiasis resulting from melamine consumption. Prospective cohort study. Children's Hospital of Fudan University. Children six years of age or older with a history of having consumed melamine-contaminated milk powder were voluntarily screened. We measured urinary microprotein profiles [microalbumin (ALBU), immunoglobulin G (IgG), and n-acetyl-ß-d-glucosidase (NAG)] and creatinine (CR) results at 6 and 18 months in children with melamine-associated urolithiasis. This study was conducted from September 17 to October 15, 2008. Changes in urinary microprotein profiles. Of 8335 children screened, 102 children (1.22%) were diagnosed with melamine-associated urolithiasis. Follow-up rates at 6 and 18 months were 91.4% (96/105) and 89.2% (91/102), respectively. Eighteen months later, 90.3% patients had spontaneously passed a stone. The incidence rates of proteinuria and microscopic hematuria at 6 months were significantly higher than at 18 months (P=.029 and P=.017, respectively). The proportion of patients with abnormal ALBU/CR, IgG/CR and NAG/CR at 6 months (27.6%, 17.1% and 21.1%, respectively) was significantly higher than at 18 months (6.4%, 5.1% and 12.8%, respectively). The high concentration of melamine consumed was the primary factor correlated with the high microprotein levels. Approximately 90% melamine-associated urolithiasis cases can be resolved within 18 months by non-surgical therapy. The long-term presence of stones associated with a previous exposure to melanine can cause chronic kidney glomerular and tubular injuries. Passing these stones as soon as
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mizuno, T.; Takizawa, M.; Tsuchiya, B.; Jinno, M.; Bandow, S.
2013-11-01
The effect of nitrogen doping on the sheet resistivity of a graphene film is systematically studied by changing the doping concentration. The nitrogen-doped graphene film is grown on a Cu foil by chemical vapor deposition using an ultrasonically generated methanol mist containing methylated melamine resin (simply called ‘melamine’). Using this method, it is found that the magnitude of the sheet resistivity is controllable by changing the melamine concentration. Increasing the melamine concentration up to ˜0.03 % causes a decrease of the sheet resistivity. We explain this by the substitutional doping of nitrogen atoms. A further increase in melamine concentration causes an increase of the sheet resistivity. This increase may be caused by the formation of pyridinic or pyrrolic N instead of substitutional N. Electron energy loss spectroscopy analyses for the carbon K-edge indicate a decrease of π ∗ character with increasing melamine concentration up to 0.08 % and then it recovers for higher concentration. This is due to a separation of the graphitic region and the defective region at high melamine concentration.
Melamine-tainted milk product-associated urinary stones in children.
Wang, Zheng; Luo, Hong; Tu, Wenwei; Yang, Hui; Wong, Wilfred Hing-Sang; Wong, Wing-Tak; Yung, Ka-Fu; Zhou, Nan; Zhang, Jingti; Li, Xiaoqing; Wang, Zerong; Guo, Wenjun; Mu, Dezhi; Li, Fanghong; Mao, Meng; Lau, Yu-Lung
2011-08-01
An outbreak of urinary stones related to consumption of melamine-tainted milk products (MTMP) occurred in China in 2008. The aim of the present study was to evaluate such children to identify their clinical features and risk factors. Renal ultrasound was performed for 7328 children who presented to a Sichuan teaching hospital between 13 September and 15 October 2008 due to concern of such stones. Clinical data, family information, feeding history and urinary stones were analyzed. Of the 7328 children, 189 (2.58%) had ultrasound findings of urinary stones, and 51 were admitted. Age (mean ± SD) was 27.4 ± 25.5 months, and 101 were male and 88, female. The odds ratio (OR) for urinary stones for infants and young children (1-3 years) as compared to older children (>3 years), was 2.42 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.64-3.56; P < 0.0001) and 1.95 (95%CI, 1.31-2.89; P < 0.0011), respectively. Independent risk factors associated with urinary stones included consumption of MTMP with melamine at > 5500 mg/kg (OR, 13.3; 95%CI, 6.8-26.1, P < 0.0001) as compared to that with melamine at < 200 mg/kg, and younger father (P = 0.0006). On logistic regression, the only risk factor associated with inpatient care was lower family income per person (OR, 4.4; 95%CI, 1.2-15.9, P = 0.02). Repeat ultrasound for 51 children at mean follow up of 15.3 ± 8.9 days found that 33 passed out all stones, which was associated with a larger number of smaller stones (P = 0.003). Urinary stones contained melamine and uric acid, but no cyanuric acid. MTMP-associated urinary stones were more frequent in young children and more severe in children from poorer families. © 2011 The Authors. Pediatrics International © 2011 Japan Pediatric Society.
Lim, Jongguk; Kim, Giyoung; Mo, Changyeun; Kim, Moon S; Chao, Kuanglin; Qin, Jianwei; Fu, Xiaping; Baek, Insuck; Cho, Byoung-Kwan
2016-05-01
Illegal use of nitrogen-rich melamine (C3H6N6) to boost perceived protein content of food products such as milk, infant formula, frozen yogurt, pet food, biscuits, and coffee drinks has caused serious food safety problems. Conventional methods to detect melamine in foods, such as Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), are sensitive but they are time-consuming, expensive, and labor-intensive. In this research, near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging technique combined with regression coefficient of partial least squares regression (PLSR) model was used to detect melamine particles in milk powders easily and quickly. NIR hyperspectral reflectance imaging data in the spectral range of 990-1700nm were acquired from melamine-milk powder mixture samples prepared at various concentrations ranging from 0.02% to 1%. PLSR models were developed to correlate the spectral data (independent variables) with melamine concentration (dependent variables) in melamine-milk powder mixture samples. PLSR models applying various pretreatment methods were used to reconstruct the two-dimensional PLS images. PLS images were converted to the binary images to detect the suspected melamine pixels in milk powder. As the melamine concentration was increased, the numbers of suspected melamine pixels of binary images were also increased. These results suggested that NIR hyperspectral imaging technique and the PLSR model can be regarded as an effective tool to detect melamine particles in milk powders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Species Adulteration in the Herbal Trade: Causes, Consequences and Mitigation.
Srirama, Ramanujam; Santhosh Kumar, J U; Seethapathy, G S; Newmaster, Steven G; Ragupathy, S; Ganeshaiah, K N; Uma Shaanker, R; Ravikanth, Gudasalamani
2017-08-01
The global economy of the international trade of herbal products has been increasing by 15% annually, with the raw material for most herbal products being sourced from South and Southeast Asian countries. In India, of the 8000 species of medicinal plants harvested from the wild, approximately 960 are in the active trade. With increasing international trade in herbal medicinal products, there is also increasing concern about the widespread adulteration and species admixtures in the raw herbal trade. The adverse consequences of such species adulteration on the health and safety of consumers have only recently begun to be recognised and documented. We provide a comprehensive review of the nature and magnitude of species adulteration in the raw herbal trade, and identify the underlying drivers that might lead to such adulteration. We also discuss the possible biological and chemical equivalence of species that are used as adulterants and substitutes, and the consequences thereof to consumer health and safety, and propose a framework for the development of a herbal trade authentication service that can help regulate the herbal trade market.
Li, Guanghua; Wang, Du; Zhou, Aijun; Sun, Yimin; Zhang, Qi; Poapolathep, Amnart; Zhang, Li; Fan, Zhiyong; Zhang, Zhaowei; Li, Peiwu
2018-06-06
To ensure protein beverage safety and prevent illegal melamine use to artificially increase protein content, a rapid, on-site, ultrasensitive detection method for melamine must be developed because melamine is detrimental to human health. Herein, an ultrasensitive time-resolved fluorescence detection paper (TFDP) was developed to detect melamine in protein beverages within 15 min using a one-step sample preparation. The lower limits of detection were 0.89, 0.94, and 1.05 ng/mL, and the linear ranges were 2.67-150, 2.82-150, and 3.15-150 ng/mL (R 2 > 0.982) for peanut, walnut, and coconut beverages, respectively. The recovery rates were 85.86-110.60% with a coefficient of variation <7.80% in the spiking experiment. A high specificity was observed in the interferent experiment. When detecting real protein beverage samples, the TFDP and ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS) results were consistent. This method is a promising alternative for rapid, on-site detection of melamine in beverages.
Hydrogen-bonding patterns in 5-fluoro-cytosine-melamine co-crystal (4/1).
Mohana, Marimuthu; Muthiah, Packianathan Thomas; Sanjeewa, Liurukara D; McMillen, Colin D
2016-04-01
The asymmetric unit of the title compound, 4C4H4FN3O·C3H6N6, comprises of two independent 5-fluoro-cytosine (5FC) mol-ecules (A and B) and one half-mol-ecule of melamine (M). The other half of the melamine mol-ecule is generated by a twofold axis. 5FC mol-ecules A and B are linked through two different homosynthons [R 2 (2)(8) ring motif]; one is formed via a pair of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and the second via a pair of N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds. In addition to this pairing, the O atoms of 5FC mol-ecules A and B inter-act with the N2 amino group on both sides of the melamine mol-ecule, forming a DDAA array of quadruple hydrogen bonds and generating a supra-molecular pattern. The 5FC (mol-ecules A and B) and two melamine mol-ecules inter-act via N-H⋯O, N-H⋯N and N-H⋯O, N-H⋯N, C-H⋯F hydrogen bonds forming R 6 (6)(24) and R 4 (4)(15) ring motifs. The crystal structure is further strengthened by C-H⋯F, C-F⋯π and π-π stacking inter-actions.
[Molecular identification of Hibiscus syriacus and its adulterants using ITS2 barcode].
Liu, Yi-Mei; Jin, Li-Na; Xiong, Yong-Xin; Wu, Lan; Chen, Ke-Li
2014-03-01
To identify Hibiscus syriacus and its adulterants using DNA barcoding technique. Nine samples of five species were PCR amplified and sequenced, and twelve samples were downloaded from the GenBank. The intra-specific and interspecific K2P distances were calculated, and neighbor-joining( NJ) tree was constructed by MEGA 5.0. The results showed the intra-specific genetic distances of Hibiscus syriacus were ranged from 0.009 to 0.056, which were far lower than inter-specific genetic distances between Hibiscus syriacus and its adulterants (0.236 - 0.301). Variable sites within Hibiscus syriacus ranged from 2 to 9 which were far less than the adulterants (45 - 52); Different samples of Hibiscus syriacus were gathered together and could be distinguished from its adulterants by NJ tree. ITS2 can discriminate Hibiscus syriacus from its adulterants correctly. The ITS2 region is an efficient barcode for authentication of Hibiscus syriacus and its adulterants.
Taste characteristics based quantitative and qualitative evaluation of ginseng adulteration.
Cui, Shaoqing; Yang, Liangcheng; Wang, Jun; Wang, Xinlei
2015-05-01
Adulteration of American ginseng with Asian ginseng is common and has caused much damage to customers. Panel evaluation is commonly used to determine their differences, but it is subjective. Chemical instruments are used to identify critical compounds but they are time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, a fast, accurate and convenient method is required. A taste sensing system, combining both advantages of the above two technologies, provides a novel potential technology for determining ginseng adulteration. The aim is to build appropriate models to distinguish and predict ginseng adulteration by using taste characteristics. It was found that ginsenoside contents decreased linearly (R(2) = 0.92) with mixed ratios. A bioplot of principal component analysis showed a good performance in classing samples with the first two principal components reaching 89.7%, and it was noted that it was the bitterness, astringency, aftertaste of bitterness and astringency, and saltiness leading the successful determination. After factor screening, bitterness, astringency, aftertaste of bitterness and saltiness were employed to build latent models. Tastes of bitterness, astringency and aftertaste bitterness were demonstrated to be most effective in predicting adulteration ratio, mean while, bitterness and aftertaste bitterness turned out to be most effective in ginsenoside content prediction. Taste characteristics of adulterated ginsengs, considered as taste fingerprint, can provide novel guidance for determining the adulteration of American and Asian ginseng. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.
Classification of adulterated honeys by multivariate analysis.
Amiry, Saber; Esmaiili, Mohsen; Alizadeh, Mohammad
2017-06-01
In this research, honey samples were adulterated with date syrup (DS) and invert sugar syrup (IS) at three concentrations (7%, 15% and 30%). 102 adulterated samples were prepared in six batches with 17 replications for each batch. For each sample, 32 parameters including color indices, rheological, physical, and chemical parameters were determined. To classify the samples, based on type and concentrations of adulterant, a multivariate analysis was applied using principal component analysis (PCA) followed by a linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Then, 21 principal components (PCs) were selected in five sets. Approximately two-thirds were identified correctly using color indices (62.75%) or rheological properties (67.65%). A power discrimination was obtained using physical properties (97.06%), and the best separations were achieved using two sets of chemical properties (set 1: lactone, diastase activity, sucrose - 100%) (set 2: free acidity, HMF, ash - 95%). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Kalivas, John H; Georgiou, Constantinos A; Moira, Marianna; Tsafaras, Ilias; Petrakis, Eleftherios A; Mousdis, George A
2014-04-01
Quantitative analysis of food adulterants is an important health and economic issue that needs to be fast and simple. Spectroscopy has significantly reduced analysis time. However, still needed are preparations of analyte calibration samples matrix matched to prediction samples which can be laborious and costly. Reported in this paper is the application of a newly developed pure component Tikhonov regularization (PCTR) process that does not require laboratory prepared or reference analysis methods, and hence, is a greener calibration method. The PCTR method requires an analyte pure component spectrum and non-analyte spectra. As a food analysis example, synchronous fluorescence spectra of extra virgin olive oil samples adulterated with sunflower oil is used. Results are shown to be better than those obtained using ridge regression with reference calibration samples. The flexibility of PCTR allows including reference samples and is generic for use with other instrumental methods and food products. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Hu, Yaxi; Lu, Xiaonan
2016-05-01
An innovative "one-step" sensor conjugating molecularly imprinted polymers and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic-active substrate (MIPs-SERS) was investigated for simultaneous extraction and determination of melamine in tap water and milk. This sensor was fabricated by integrating silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with MIPs synthesized by bulk polymerization of melamine (template), methacrylic acid (functional monomer), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (cross-linking agent), and 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile (initiator). Static and kinetic adsorption tests validated the specific affinity of MIPs-AgNPs to melamine and the rapid adsorption equilibration rate. Principal component analysis segregated SERS spectral features of tap water and milk samples with different melamine concentrations. Partial least squares regression models correlated melamine concentrations in tap water and skim milk with SERS spectral features. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of melamine in tap water were determined as 0.0019 and 0.0064 mmol/L, while the LOD and LOQ were 0.0165 and 0.055 mmol/L for the determination of melamine in skim milk. However, this sensor is not ideal to quantify melamine in tap water and skim milk. By conjugating MIPs with SERS-active substrate (that is, AgNPs), reproducibility of SERS spectral features was increased, resulting in more accurate detection. The time required to determine melamine in tap water and milk were 6 and 25 min, respectively. The low LOD, LOQ, and rapid detection confirm the potential of applying this sensor for accurate and high-throughput detection of melamine in tap water and milk. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®
García Gavin, Juan; Loureiro Martinez, Manuel; Fernandez-Redondo, Virginia; Seoane, Maria-José; Toribio, Jaime
2008-01-01
Melamine paper is a basic material used in the furniture industry for home and office interiors. Contact allergic dermatitis from melamine formaldehyde resins (MFRs) should be considered in patients who work on melamine paper impregnation lines. We report a case of a 28-year-old female plywood worker who developed eczema on the dorsal side of her hands and wrists after 2 years of working on the melamine paper impregnation line. She had a relevant positive patch-test reaction to MFR, with a negative reaction to formaldehyde. Contact dermatitis due to MFR is not common, and it is usually related to products that are not fully cured or to close contact with intermediate products on the assembly line. Formaldehyde release from MFR can explain most of the positive responses. To our knowledge, this is the first report of MFR contact allergic dermatitis in a worker on a melamine paper impregnation line.
Identification of offal adulteration in beef by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS).
Velioglu, Hasan Murat; Sezer, Banu; Bilge, Gonca; Baytur, Süleyman Efe; Boyaci, Ismail Hakki
2018-04-01
Minced meat is the major ingredient in sausages, beef burgers, and similar products; and thus it is the main product subjected to adulteration with meat offal. Determination of this kind of meat adulteration is crucial due to religious, economic and ethical concerns. The aim of the present study is to discriminate the beef meat and offal samples by using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). To this end, LIBS and multivariate data analysis were used to discriminate pure beef and offal samples qualitatively and to determine the offal mixture adulteration quantitatively. In this analysis, meat samples were frozen and LIBS analysis were performed. The results indicate that by using principal component analysis (PCA), discrimination of pure offal and offal mixture adulterated beef samples can be achieved successfully. Besides, adulteration ratio can be determined using partial least square analysis method (PLS) with 0.947 coefficient of determination (R 2 ) and 3.8% of limit of detection (LOD) values for offal mixture adulterated beef samples. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hughes, William O.; McNelis, Anne M.; McNelis, Mark E.
2014-01-01
The external acoustic liftoff levels predicted for NASA's future heavy lift launch vehicles are expected to be significantly higher than the environment created by today's commercial launch vehicles. This creates a need to develop an improved acoustic attenuation system for future NASA payload fairings. NASA Glenn Research Center initiated an acoustic test series to characterize the acoustic performance of melamine foam, with and without various acoustic enhancements. This testing was denoted as NEMFAT, which stands for NESC Enhanced Melamine Foam Acoustic Test, and is the subject of this paper. Both absorption and transmission loss testing of numerous foam configurations were performed at the Riverbank Acoustical Laboratory in July 2013. The NEMFAT test data provides an initial acoustic characterization and database of melamine foam for NASA. Because of its acoustic performance and lighter mass relative to fiberglass blankets, melamine foam is being strongly considered for use in the acoustic attenuation systems of NASA's future launch vehicles.
Kelly, J F Daniel; Downey, Gerard
2005-05-04
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and attenuated total reflection sampling have been used to detect adulteration of single strength apple juice samples. The sample set comprised 224 authentic apple juices and 480 adulterated samples. Adulterants used included partially inverted cane syrup (PICS), beet sucrose (BS), high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and a synthetic solution of fructose, glucose, and sucrose (FGS). Adulteration was carried out on individual apple juice samples at levels of 10, 20, 30, and 40% w/w. Spectral data were compressed by principal component analysis and analyzed using k-nearest neighbors and partial least squares regression techniques. Prediction results for the best classification models achieved an overall (authentic plus adulterated) correct classification rate of 96.5, 93.9, 92.2, and 82.4% for PICS, BS, HFCS, and FGS adulterants, respectively. This method shows promise as a rapid screening technique for the detection of a broad range of potential adulterants in apple juice.
An investigation of social media data during a product recall scandal
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tse, Ying Kei; Loh, Hanlin; Ding, Juling; Zhang, Minhao
2018-07-01
As social media has become an important part of modern daily life, users often share product opinions online and these tend to spike when large companies undergo crises. This paper investigates customer online responses to a large company crisis by uncovering hidden insights in social media comments and presents a framework for handling social media data and crisis management. Analysis of textual Facebook data from users responding to the 2013 horsemeat scandal is presented. In this study, we used a novel comprehensive data analysis framework alongside a text-mining framework to objectively classify and understand customer perceptions during this horsemeat scandal. This framework provides an effective approach for investigating customer perception during a company crisis and measures the effectiveness of crisis management practices which the company has adopted. Our analyses show that social media can provide important insights into customer behaviour during crisis communications.
Colorimetric detection of melamine in milk by using gold nanoparticles-based LSPR via optical fibers
Chang, Keke; Wang, Shun; Zhang, Hao; Guo, Qingqian; Hu, Xinran; Lin, Zhili; Sun, Haifeng; Jiang, Min
2017-01-01
A biosensing system with optical fibers is proposed for the colorimetric detection of melamine in liquid milk samples by using the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The biosensing system consists of a broadband light source that covers the spectral range from 200 nm to 1700 nm, an optical attenuator, three types of 600 μm premium optical fibers with SMA905 connectors and a miniature spectrometer with a linear charge coupled device (CCD) array. The biosensing system with optical fibers is low-cost, simple and is well-proven for the detection of melamine. Its working principle is based on the color changes of AuNPs solution from wine-red to blue due to the inter-particle coupling effect that causes the shifts of wavelength and absorbance in LSPR band after the to-be-measured melamine samples were added. Under the optimized conditions, the detection response of the LSPR biosensing system was found to be linear in melamine detection in the concentration range from 0μM to 0.9 μM with a correlation coefficient (R2) 0.99 and a detection limit 33 nM. The experimental results obtained from the established LSPR biosensing system in the actual detection of melamine concentration in liquid milk samples show that this technique is highly specific and sensitive and would have a huge application prospects. PMID:28475597
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Khatua, Pijus Kanti; Dubey, Rajib Kumar; Roymahapatra, Gourisankar; Mishra, Anjan; Shahoo, Shadhu Charan; Kalawate, Aparna
2017-10-01
Wood is one of the most sustainable, naturally growing materials that consist mainly of combustible organic carbon compounds. Since plywood are widely used nowadays especially in buildings, furniture and cabinets. Too often the fire behavior of ply-board may be viewed as a drawback. Amino-plastic based thermosetting resin adhesives are the important and most widely used in the plywood panel industries. The fire retardant property of wood panel products by adding animal glue as an additive in the form of MGF resin and used as substitute of melamine for manufacture of plywood. Environment concerns and higher cost of petroleum based resins have resulted in the development of technologies to replace melamine partially by biomaterials for the manufacturing of resin adhesive. Natural bio-based materials such as tannin, CNSL (cardanol), lignin, soya etc. are used as partial substitution of melamine. This article presents the development of melamine-animal glue formaldehyde resin as plywood binder. About 30 % melamine was substituted by animal glue and optimized. The different physico-mechanical and fire retardant property properties tested as per IS: 1734-1983 and IS: 5509-2000 respectively are quite satisfactory. The production of adhesive from melamine with compatible natural proteinous material is cost effective, eco-friendly and enhance the fire retardant property.
Designing of cardanol based polyol and its curing kinetics with melamine formaldehyde resin
Balgude, Dinesh Bapurao; Sabnis, Anagha Shyamsunder; Ghosh, Swapan Kumar
2017-01-01
Abstract Commercially used industrial baking enamels consist of alkyd or polyester resin with melamine formaldehyde. These resins are mainly derived from fossil resources. Considering growing environmental legislation regarding use of petroleum based raw materials, utilization of renewable resources to synthesize various chemistries can be the only obvious option as far as academia and industries are concerns. The present work deals with exploration of one of the natural resources (Cardanol) for polyol synthesis, its characterization (FTIR and NMR) and its curing behavior with melamine formaldehyde resin by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The optimized formulations from DSC study were further evaluated for general coating properties to study the suitability of developed polyol for industrial coating application. The experimental studies revealed that melamine content in the curing mixtures and thereby developed crosslinking density played an important role in deciding the coatings properties. PMID:29491791
[Melamine related urinary calculus and acute renal failure in infants].
Sun, Ning; Shen, Ying; Sun, Qiang; Li, Xu-ran; Jia, Li-qun; Zhang, Gui-ju; Zhang, Wei-ping; Chen, Zhi; Fan, Jian-feng; Jiang, Ye-ping; Feng, Dong-chuan; Zhang, Rui-feng; Zhu, Xiao-yu; Xiao, Hong-zhan
2008-11-01
To summarize clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of infants with urinary calculus and acute renal failure developed after being fed with melamine tainted formula milk. Data of infant patients with urinary calculus and acute renal failure due to melamine tainted formula milk admitted to the Beijing Children's Hospital affiliated to the Capital Medical University and the Xuzhou Children's Hospital in 2008 were used to analyze the epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, image features as well as effects of 4 types of therapies. All the 34 infants with urinary calculus were complicated with acute renal failure, their blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was (24.1 +/- 8.2) mmol/L and creatinine (Cr) was (384.2 +/- 201.2) micromol/L. The chemical analysis on the urinary calculus sampled from 14 of the infants showed that the calculus contained melamine and acidum uricum. The time needed for the four types of therapies for returning Cr to normal was (3.5 +/- 1.9) d for cystoscopy group, (2.7 +/- 1.1) d for lithotomy group, (3.8 +/- 2.3) d for dialysis group, and (2.7 +/- 1.6) d for medical treatment group, which had no statistically significant difference (P = 0.508). Renal failure of all the 34 infants was relieved within 1 to 7 days, averaging (3.0 +/- 1.8) d. Melamine tainted formula milk may cause urinary calculus and obstructive acute renal failure. It is suggested that firstly the patients with urinary calculus complicated with acute renal failure should be treated with dialysis or medication to correct electrolyte disturbances, in particular hyperkalemia, and then relieve the obstruction with available medical and surgical methods as soon as possible. It is observed that the short term prognosis is satisfactory.
Akbari-Adergani, Behrouz; Sadeghian, Gholam-Hossein; Alimohammadi, Alireza; Esfandiari, Zahra
2017-03-01
In this study, a new separation technique based on membrane extraction is described for the determination of melamine in dry milk. The water-compatible cellulose acetate membrane, which is photografted by melamine imprinted nanospheres, was prepared by placing the membrane into the polymerization solution containing methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker, acetonitrile as porogen, and melamine as the template molecule. The characterization of the polymeric membrane was performed by Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This integrated composite membrane was used as a solid-phase extraction medium for the extraction of melamine from dry milk samples. Various parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of the membrane were evaluated. The results showed higher binding capacity for melamine imprinted membranes in comparison with the nonimprinted membranes. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that the extraction of melamine from dry milk by the photografted cellulose acetate membrane had a linear calibration curve in the range of 0.02-11.80 μg/mL with an excellent precision of 2.73%. The limit of detection and quantification of melamine was 0.007 and 0.020 μg/mL, respectively. The recoveries of melamine were in the range of 88.7-94.8%. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Everstine, Karen; Abt, Eileen; McColl, Diane; Popping, Bert; Morrison-Rowe, Sara; Lane, Richard W; Scimeca, Joseph; Winter, Carl; Ebert, Andrew; Moore, Jeffrey C; Chin, Henry B
2018-01-01
Food fraud, the intentional misrepresentation of the true identity of a food product or ingredient for economic gain, is a threat to consumer confidence and public health and has received increased attention from both regulators and the food industry. Following updates to food safety certification standards and publication of new U.S. regulatory requirements, we undertook a project to (i) develop a scheme to classify food fraud-related adulterants based on their potential health hazard and (ii) apply this scheme to the adulterants in a database of 2,970 food fraud records. The classification scheme was developed by a panel of experts in food safety and toxicology from the food industry, academia, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Categories and subcategories were created through an iterative process of proposal, review, and validation using a subset of substances known to be associated with the fraudulent adulteration of foods. Once developed, the scheme was applied to the adulterants in the database. The resulting scheme included three broad categories: 1, potentially hazardous adulterants; 2, adulterants that are unlikely to be hazardous; and 3, unclassifiable adulterants. Categories 1 and 2 consisted of seven subcategories intended to further define the range of hazard potential for adulterants. Application of the scheme to the 1,294 adulterants in the database resulted in 45% of adulterants classified in category 1 (potentially hazardous). Twenty-seven percent of the 1,294 adulterants had a history of causing consumer illness or death, were associated with safety-related regulatory action, or were classified as allergens. These results reinforce the importance of including a consideration of food fraud-related adulterants in food safety systems. This classification scheme supports food fraud mitigation efforts and hazard identification as required in the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act Preventive Controls Rules.
Deconinck, E; Cauwenbergh, T; Bothy, J L; Custers, D; Courselle, P; De Beer, J O
2014-11-01
Sibutramine is one of the most occurring adulterants encountered in dietary supplements with slimming as indication. These adulterated dietary supplements often contain a herbal matrix. When customs intercept these kind of supplements it is almost impossible to discriminate between the legal products and the adulterated ones, due to misleading packaging. Therefore in most cases these products are confiscated and send to laboratories for analysis. This results inherently in the confiscation of legal, non-adulterated products. Therefore there is a need for easy to use equipment and techniques to perform an initial screening of samples. Attenuated total reflectance-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy was evaluated for the detection of sibutramine in adulterated dietary supplements. Data interpretation was performed using different basic chemometric techniques. It was found that the use of ATR-IR combined with the k-Nearest Neighbours (k-NN) was able to detect all adulterated dietary supplements in an external test set and this with a minimum of false positive results. This means that a small amount of legal products will still be confiscated and analyzed in a laboratory to be found negative, but no adulterated samples will pass the initial ATR-IR screening. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lv, Junwei; Wang, Bin; Ma, Qi; Wang, Wenjing; Xiang, Dong; Li, Mengyao; Zeng, Lan; Li, Hui; Li, Yuntao; Zhao, Chunxia
2018-06-01
Melamine and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were grafted onto Poly-p-phenylene benzobisoxazole (PBO) fiber surface effectively via layer-by-layer method. Both of them have been chemically bonded as fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed. Grafting melamine overcame the inertness of PBO surface. Ammoniation was processed on PBO surface through grafting melamine so that the MWCNTs could be grafted onto PBO surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images indicated that melamine used as molecular bridge could increase MWCNTs’ quantity on PBO surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results revealed the variation of chemical composition of PBO surface. Test of interfacial shear strength (IFSS) and tensile strength indicated the great mechanical properties of modified PBO fibers when combining with epoxy resin. Furthermore, whole reaction was processed under a simple condition. Results in this research also promised a potential method to modify PBO surface.
NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Enhanced Melamine (ML) Foam Acoustic Test (NEMFAT)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
McNelis, Anne M.; Hughes, William O.; McNelis, Mark E.
2014-01-01
The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) funded a proposal to achieve initial basic acoustic characterization of ML (melamine) foam, which could serve as a starting point for a future, more comprehensive acoustic test program for ML foam. A project plan was developed and implemented to obtain acoustic test data for both normal and enhanced ML foam. This project became known as the NESC Enhanced Melamine Foam Acoustic Test (NEMFAT). This document contains the outcome of the NEMFAT project.
Lohumi, Santosh; Lee, Hoonsoo; Kim, Moon S; Qin, Jianwei; Kandpal, Lalit Mohan; Bae, Hyungjin; Rahman, Anisur; Cho, Byoung-Kwan
2018-01-01
The potential adulteration of foodstuffs has led to increasing concern regarding food safety and security, in particular for powdered food products where cheap ground materials or hazardous chemicals can be added to increase the quantity of powder or to obtain the desired aesthetic quality. Due to the resulting potential health threat to consumers, the development of a fast, label-free, and non-invasive technique for the detection of adulteration over a wide range of food products is necessary. We therefore report the development of a rapid Raman hyperspectral imaging technique for the detection of food adulteration and for authenticity analysis. The Raman hyperspectral imaging system comprises of a custom designed laser illumination system, sensing module, and a software interface. Laser illumination system generates a 785 nm laser line of high power, and the Gaussian like intensity distribution of laser beam is shaped by incorporating an engineered diffuser. The sensing module utilize Rayleigh filters, imaging spectrometer, and detector for collection of the Raman scattering signals along the laser line. A custom-built software to acquire Raman hyperspectral images which also facilitate the real time visualization of Raman chemical images of scanned samples. The developed system was employed for the simultaneous detection of Sudan dye and Congo red dye adulteration in paprika powder, and benzoyl peroxide and alloxan monohydrate adulteration in wheat flour at six different concentrations (w/w) from 0.05 to 1%. The collected Raman imaging data of the adulterated samples were analyzed to visualize and detect the adulterant concentrations by generating a binary image for each individual adulterant material. The results obtained based on the Raman chemical images of adulterants showed a strong correlation (R>0.98) between added and pixel based calculated concentration of adulterant materials. This developed Raman imaging system thus, can be considered as a powerful
Preparation of Proton Exchange Membranes and Lithium Batteries from Melamine-containing Ormosils
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Tigelaar, Dean M.; Kinder, James D.; Meador, Mary Ann; Waldecker, James; Bennett, William R.
2004-01-01
Our laboratory has recently reported a series of rodcoil polymers for lithium batteries that display dimensionally stable films with good ionic conductivity. The rod segments consist of rigid linear and branched polyimides and the coil segments are polyethylene oxides (PEO). It has been proposed that good mechanical and transport properties are due to phase separation between the rod and coil segments. It was also observed that increased branching and molecular weight lead to increased conductivity. The following study was undertaken to assess the effects of phase separation in polyalkylene oxides connected by melamine linkages. Melamine was chosen as the linking unit because it provides a branching site, cation binding sites to help ionic transport between polymer chains, and the opportunity for self assembly through hydrogen bonding. Polymers were made by the reaction of cyanuric chloride with a series of amine-terminated alkylene oxides. A linear polymer was first made, followed by reaction of the third site on cyanuric chloride with varying ratios of monofunctional Jeffamine and (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane. The lithium trifluoromethane sulfonamide-doped polymers are then crosslinked through a sol-gel process to form free-standing films. Initial results have shown mechanically strong films with lithium conductivities on the order of 2 x 10(exp -5) S/cm at ambient temperature. In a separate study, organically modified silanes (Ormosils) that contain sulfonic acid derivatized melamines have been incorporated into proton exchange membranes. The membranes are made by reaction of the primary amine groups of various ratios of melamine derivative and difunctional Jeffamine (MW = 2000) with the epoxide group of (3-Glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane. The films were then cross-linked through a sol-gel process. Resulting sulfuric acid doped films are strong, flexible, and have proton conductivities on the order of 2 x l0(exp -2) S/cm (120 C, 25% relative humidity). Our
Hydrogen-bonding patterns in 5-fluorocytosine–melamine co-crystal (4/1)
Mohana, Marimuthu; Muthiah, Packianathan Thomas; Sanjeewa, Liurukara D.; McMillen, Colin D.
2016-01-01
The asymmetric unit of the title compound, 4C4H4FN3O·C3H6N6, comprises of two independent 5-fluorocytosine (5FC) molecules (A and B) and one half-molecule of melamine (M). The other half of the melamine molecule is generated by a twofold axis. 5FC molecules A and B are linked through two different homosynthons [R 2 2(8) ring motif]; one is formed via a pair of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and the second via a pair of N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. In addition to this pairing, the O atoms of 5FC molecules A and B interact with the N2 amino group on both sides of the melamine molecule, forming a DDAA array of quadruple hydrogen bonds and generating a supramolecular pattern. The 5FC (molecules A and B) and two melamine molecules interact via N—H⋯O, N—H⋯N and N—H⋯O, N—H⋯N, C—H⋯F hydrogen bonds forming R 6 6(24) and R 4 4(15) ring motifs. The crystal structure is further strengthened by C—H⋯F, C—F⋯π and π–π stacking interactions. PMID:27375887
Tomita Bunchiro; Chung-Yun Hse
1995-01-01
The 13C-NMR (carbon 13 nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins, melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resins, and melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) cocondensed resins synthesized under various conditions were taken with a frequency of 75 MHz. The main purpose was to investigate whether or not the occurrences of cocondensation...
Bunichiro Tomita; Chung-Yun Hse
1995-01-01
The 13C-NMR (carbon 13 nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins, melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resins, and melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) cocondensed resins synthesized under various conditions were taken with a frequency of 75 MHz. The main purpose was to investigate whether or not the occurrences of cocondensation...
Differentiation of Saraca Asoca Crude Drug From Its Adulterant
Mathew, Samuel; Mathew, Gracy; Joy, P.P.; Skari, Baby P.; Joseph, T.S.
2005-01-01
Saraca asoca commonly known as asoka, which is considered as a sacred tree by Hindus and Buddhists possesses various medicinal uses. The stem bark of the tree is the principal constituent of several ayurvedic preparations which are widely prescribed in leucorrhoea, haematuria, menorrhagia and other diseases of the female genitourinary system. Because of destructive extraction and the absence of an organized cultivation programme, the avilbility of the crude drug is diminishing and this has resulted in the sale of adulterants. The commonly used adulterant is the bark of Polyalthia longifolia which shows some similarity with that of asoka. Studies were conducted at Aromatic and Medicinal Plants Research station, Odakkali (Kerala Agricultural University) during 2001-2002 to evolve methods for differentiating the original drug from the adulterant species by anatomical biochemical and chromatographic techniques. PMID:22557174
Differentiation of saraca asoca crude drug from its adulterant.
Mathew, Samuel; Mathew, Gracy; Joy, P P; Skari, Baby P; Joseph, T S
2005-04-01
Saraca asoca commonly known as asoka, which is considered as a sacred tree by Hindus and Buddhists possesses various medicinal uses. The stem bark of the tree is the principal constituent of several ayurvedic preparations which are widely prescribed in leucorrhoea, haematuria, menorrhagia and other diseases of the female genitourinary system. Because of destructive extraction and the absence of an organized cultivation programme, the avilbility of the crude drug is diminishing and this has resulted in the sale of adulterants. The commonly used adulterant is the bark of Polyalthia longifolia which shows some similarity with that of asoka. Studies were conducted at Aromatic and Medicinal Plants Research station, Odakkali (Kerala Agricultural University) during 2001-2002 to evolve methods for differentiating the original drug from the adulterant species by anatomical biochemical and chromatographic techniques.
Seo, Pill Won; Khan, Nazmul Abedin; Hasan, Zubair; Jhung, Sung Hwa
2016-11-02
A highly porous metal-organic framework (MOF), MIL-101, was modified to introduce urea or melamine via grafting on open metal sites of the MOF. Adsorptive removal of three artificial sweeteners (ASWs) was studied using the MOFs, with or without modifications (including nitration), and activated carbon (AC). The adsorbed quantities (based on the weight of the adsorbent) of saccharin (SAC) under various conditions decreased in the order urea-MIL-101 > melamine-MIL-101 > MIL-101 > AC > O 2 N-MIL-101; however, the quantities based on unit surface area are in the order melamine-MIL-101 > urea-MIL-101 > MIL-101 > O 2 N-MIL-101. Similar ASWs [acesulfame (ACE) and cyclamate (CYC)] showed the same tendency. The mechanism for very favorable adsorption of SAC, ACE, and CYC over urea- and melamine-MIL-101 could be explained by H-bonding on the basis of the contents of -NH 2 groups on the MOFs and the adsorption results under a wide range of pH values. Moreover, the direction of H-bonding could be clearly defined (H acceptor: ASWs; H donor: MOFs). Urea-MIL-101 and melamine-MIL-101 could be suggested as competitive adsorbents for organic contaminants (such as ASWs) with electronegative atoms, considering their high adsorption capacity (for example, urea-MIL-101 had 2.3 times the SAC adsorption of AC) and ready regeneration.
Dai, Haichao; Shi, Yan; Wang, Yilin; Sun, Yujing; Hu, Jingting; Ni, Pengjuan; Li, Zhuang
2014-03-15
In this work, we proposed a facile, environmentally friendly and cost-effective assay for melamine with BSA-stabilized gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) as a fluorescence reader. Melamine, which has a multi-nitrogen heterocyclic ring, is prone to coordinate with Hg(2+). This property causes the anti-quenching ability of Hg(2+) to AuNCs through decreasing the metallophilic interaction between Hg(2+) and Au(+). By this method, detection limit down to 0.15 µM is obtained, which is approximately 130 times lower than that of the US food and Drug Administration estimated melamine safety limit of 20 µM. Furthermore, several real samples spiked with melamine, including raw milk and milk powder, are analyzed using the sensing system with excellent recoveries. This gold-nanocluster-based fluorescent method could find applications in highly sensitive detection of melamine in real samples. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Tan, Khay M; Barman, Ishan; Dingari, Narahara C; Singh, Gajendra P; Chia, Tet F; Tok, Wee L
2013-02-05
There is a critical need for a real-time, nonperturbative probe for monitoring the adulteration of automotive gasoline. Running on adulterated fuel leads to a substantive increase in air pollution, because of increased tailpipe emissions of harmful pollutants, as well as a reduction in engine performance. Consequently, both classification of the gasoline type and quantification of the adulteration content are of great significance for quality control. Gasoline adulteration detection is currently carried out in the laboratory with gas chromatography, which is time-consuming and costly. Here, we propose the application of Raman spectroscopic measurements for on-site rapid detection of gasoline adulteration. In this proof-of-principle report, we demonstrate the effectiveness of Raman spectra, in conjunction with multivariate analysis methods, in classifying the base oil types and simultaneously detecting the adulteration content in a wide range of commercial gasoline mixtures, both in their native states and spiked with different adulterants. In particular, we show that Raman spectra acquired with an inexpensive noncooled detector provides adequate specificity to clearly discriminate between the gasoline samples and simultaneously characterize the specific adulterant content with a limit of detection below 5%. Our promising results in this study illustrate, for the first time, the capability and the potential of Raman spectroscopy, together with multivariate analysis, as a low-cost, powerful tool for on-site rapid detection of gasoline adulteration and opens substantive avenues for applications in related fields of quality control in the oil industry.
The melamine incident: implications for international food and feed safety.
Gossner, Céline Marie-Elise; Schlundt, Jørgen; Ben Embarek, Peter; Hird, Susan; Lo-Fo-Wong, Danilo; Beltran, Jose Javier Ocampo; Teoh, Keng Ngee; Tritscher, Angelika
2009-12-01
A major food safety incident in China was made public in September 2008. Kidney and urinary tract effects, including kidney stones, affected about 300,000 Chinese infants and young children, with six reported deaths. Melamine had been deliberately added at milk-collecting stations to diluted raw milk ostensibly to boost its protein content. Subsequently, melamine has been detected in many milk and milk-containing products, as well as other food and feed products, which were also exported to many countries worldwide. The melamine event represents one of the largest deliberate food contamination incidents. We provide a description and analysis of this event to determine the global implications on food and feed safety. A series of factors, including the intentional character of the milk contamination, the young age of the population affected, the large number of potentially contaminated products, the global distribution of these products, and the delay in reporting led this event to take on unexpected proportions. This incident illustrated the complexity of international trade of food products and food ingredients that required immediate actions at international level. Managing food-safety events should be done internationally and early on as soon as multinational consequences are expected. Collaboration between food-safety authorities worldwide is needed to efficiently exchange information and to enable tracking and recalling of affected products to ensure food safety and to protect public health.
Selective delivery of 2-hydroxy APA to Trypanosoma brucei using the melamine motif
Klee, Nina; Wong, Pui Ee; Baragaña, Beatriz; Mazouni, Farah El; Phillips, Margaret A.; Barrett, Michael P.; Gilbert, Ian H.
2010-01-01
Trypanosoma brucei, the parasite that causes human African trypanosomiasis, is auxotrophic for purines and has specialist nucleoside transporters to import these metabolites. In particular, the P2 aminopurine transporter can also selectively accumulate melamine derivatives. In this Letter, we report the coupling of the melamine moiety to 2-hydroxy APA, a potent ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor, with the aim of selectively delivering this compound to the parasite. The best compound described here shows an increased in vitro trypanocidal activity compared with the parent. PMID:20615694
Calibration and testing of a Raman hyperspectral imaging system to reveal powdered food adulteration
Lohumi, Santosh; Lee, Hoonsoo; Kim, Moon S.; Qin, Jianwei; Kandpal, Lalit Mohan; Bae, Hyungjin; Rahman, Anisur
2018-01-01
The potential adulteration of foodstuffs has led to increasing concern regarding food safety and security, in particular for powdered food products where cheap ground materials or hazardous chemicals can be added to increase the quantity of powder or to obtain the desired aesthetic quality. Due to the resulting potential health threat to consumers, the development of a fast, label-free, and non-invasive technique for the detection of adulteration over a wide range of food products is necessary. We therefore report the development of a rapid Raman hyperspectral imaging technique for the detection of food adulteration and for authenticity analysis. The Raman hyperspectral imaging system comprises of a custom designed laser illumination system, sensing module, and a software interface. Laser illumination system generates a 785 nm laser line of high power, and the Gaussian like intensity distribution of laser beam is shaped by incorporating an engineered diffuser. The sensing module utilize Rayleigh filters, imaging spectrometer, and detector for collection of the Raman scattering signals along the laser line. A custom-built software to acquire Raman hyperspectral images which also facilitate the real time visualization of Raman chemical images of scanned samples. The developed system was employed for the simultaneous detection of Sudan dye and Congo red dye adulteration in paprika powder, and benzoyl peroxide and alloxan monohydrate adulteration in wheat flour at six different concentrations (w/w) from 0.05 to 1%. The collected Raman imaging data of the adulterated samples were analyzed to visualize and detect the adulterant concentrations by generating a binary image for each individual adulterant material. The results obtained based on the Raman chemical images of adulterants showed a strong correlation (R>0.98) between added and pixel based calculated concentration of adulterant materials. This developed Raman imaging system thus, can be considered as a powerful
[Discrimination of Rice Syrup Adulterant of Acacia Honey Based Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy].
Zhang, Yan-nan; Chen, Lan-zhen; Xue, Xiao-feng; Wu, Li-ming; Li, Yi; Yang, Juan
2015-09-01
At present, the rice syrup as a low price of the sweeteners was often adulterated into acacia honey and the adulterated honeys were sold in honey markets, while there is no suitable and fast method to identify honey adulterated with rice syrup. In this study, Near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) combined with chemometric methods were used to discriminate authenticity of honey. 20 unprocessed acacia honey samples from the different honey producing areas, mixed? with different proportion of rice syrup, were prepared of seven different concentration gradient? including 121 samples. The near infrared spectrum (NIR) instrument and spectrum processing software have been applied in the? spectrum? scanning and data conversion on adulterant samples, respectively. Then it was analyzed by Principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical discriminant analysis methods in order to discriminating adulterated honey. The results showed that after principal components analysis, the first two principal components accounted for 97.23% of total variation, but the regionalism of the score plot of the first two PCs was not obvious, so the canonical discriminant analysis was used to make the further discrimination, all samples had been discriminated correctly, the first two discriminant functions accounted for 91.6% among the six canonical discriminant functions, Then the different concentration of adulterant samples can be discriminated correctly, it illustrate that canonical discriminant analysis method combined with NIR spectroscopy is not only feasible but also practical for rapid and effective discriminate of the rice syrup adulterant of acacia honey.
Anand, K; Singh, Thishana; Madhumitha, G; Phulukdaree, A; Gengan, Robert M; Chuturgoon, A A
2017-04-01
The bio-synthesized DTAuNPs have an average size of 21nm. The aggregation extent depends on the concentration of melamine, which was validated by UV-vis spectra and visual method of melamine detection was developed. The major observation in this method was the color change of DTAuNPs from red to purple due to the aggregation of ligand capped gold nanoparticles instigated by melamine. The reaction of color changes were processed due to the shifting of bonding in hydrogen in between nanoparticles and melamine. The aggregation extent depends on the concentration of melamine, which can be validated UV-vis spectra and visual method of detecting melamine is developed. The electron density and conventional UV-vis, FTIR spectroscopy and DFT studies on the ligand was performed using computational methods. The theoretical and experimental data for the energy transitions and the molar extinction coefficients of the ligands studied has been obtained. Further, the ligand capped gold nanoparticles was assessed for cytotoxicity against A549 cells which resulted in significant decrease in cell viability was noted in 50μg/mL DTAu, 4-ATP and AXT treated cells at 2h (85% and 66%) and 6h (83% and 36%) respectively, (p<0.01) were studied and reported in this manuscript. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liang, Lijiao; Zhen, Shujun; Huang, Chengzhi
2017-02-01
A highly selective method was presented for colorimetric determination of melamine using uracil 5‧-triphosphate sodium modified gold nanoparticles (UTP-Au NPs) in this paper. Specific hydrogen-bonding interaction between uracil base (U) and melamine resulted in the aggregation of AuNPs, displaying variations of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) features such as color change from red to blue and enhanced localized surface plasmon resonance light scattering (LSPR-LS) signals. Accordingly, the concentration of melamine could be quantified based on naked eye or a spectrometric method. This method was simple, inexpensive, environmental friendly and highly selective, which has been successfully used for the detection of melamine in pretreated liquid milk products with high recoveries.
Overkill: Black Lives and the Spectacle of the Atlanta Cheating Scandal
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Royal, Camika; Dodo Seriki, Vanessa
2018-01-01
This article examines the 2015 Atlanta cheating scandal trials and sentencing. Using critical race theory, the authors argue that cheating is a natural outgrowth of market-based school reform and that racial realism will always lead to scrutiny of Black performance. The sentences of these Black educators is overkill, rooted in anti-Blackness, and…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wu, Jingzhu; Dong, Jingjing; Dong, Wenfei; Chen, Yan; Liu, Cuiling
2016-10-01
A classification method of support vector machines with linear kernel was employed to authenticate genuine olive oil based on near-infrared spectroscopy. There were three types of adulteration of olive oil experimented in the study. The adulterated oil was respectively soybean oil, rapeseed oil and the mixture of soybean and rapeseed oil. The average recognition rate of second experiment was more than 90% and that of the third experiment was reach to 100%. The results showed the method had good performance in classifying genuine olive oil and the adulteration with small variation range of adulterated concentration and it was a promising and rapid technique for the detection of oil adulteration and fraud in the food industry.
Effective Identification on Adulteration of Polyethylene With Post-consumer Ones
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhao, S.; Qin, W. B.; Guo, J. F.; Liu, J.; Wang, Y. L.; Zhang, W.; Zhao, X. Y.; Wang, L.
2018-05-01
This paper mainly describes the effective identification of the adulteration of polyethylene with post-consumer ones. Degradation would be happened when multiple processings occurred. The melt flow index (MFI) analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) were used to characterize the processability and thermal stabilities of virgin polyethylene and recycled polyethylene which adulterated post-consumer PE. The results indicated that MFI of PE increased with the increasing doping content. Adulterating reclaimed PE had effects on the thermal stability of PE, which led to lower thermal decomposition temperature. Melting peak of recycled LLDPE varied from merely single to double, which differently compared differently with virgin LLDPE. Besides, with the doping content of post-consumer LDPE, the melting temperature had a decreasing tendency.
Synthesis and characterizations of melamine-based epoxy resins.
Ricciotti, Laura; Roviello, Giuseppina; Tarallo, Oreste; Borbone, Fabio; Ferone, Claudio; Colangelo, Francesco; Catauro, Michelina; Cioffi, Raffaele
2013-09-05
A new, easy and cost-effective synthetic procedure for the preparation of thermosetting melamine-based epoxy resins is reported. By this innovative synthetic method, different kinds of resins can be obtained just by mixing the reagents in the presence of a catalyst without solvent and with mild curing conditions. Two types of resins were synthesized using melamine and a glycidyl derivative (resins I) or by adding a silane derivative (resin II). The resins were characterized by means of chemical-physical and thermal techniques. Experimental results show that all the prepared resins have a good thermal stability, but differ for their mechanical properties: resin I exhibits remarkable stiffness with a storage modulus value up to 830 MPa at room temperature, while lower storage moduli were found for resin II, indicating that the presence of silane groups could enhance the flexibility of these materials. The resins show a pot life higher than 30 min, which makes these resins good candidates for practical applications. The functionalization with silane terminations can be exploited in the formulation of hybrid organic-inorganic composite materials.
Synthesis and Characterizations of Melamine-Based Epoxy Resins
Ricciotti, Laura; Roviello, Giuseppina; Tarallo, Oreste; Borbone, Fabio; Ferone, Claudio; Colangelo, Francesco; Catauro, Michelina; Cioffi, Raffaele
2013-01-01
A new, easy and cost-effective synthetic procedure for the preparation of thermosetting melamine-based epoxy resins is reported. By this innovative synthetic method, different kinds of resins can be obtained just by mixing the reagents in the presence of a catalyst without solvent and with mild curing conditions. Two types of resins were synthesized using melamine and a glycidyl derivative (resins I) or by adding a silane derivative (resin II). The resins were characterized by means of chemical-physical and thermal techniques. Experimental results show that all the prepared resins have a good thermal stability, but differ for their mechanical properties: resin I exhibits remarkable stiffness with a storage modulus value up to 830 MPa at room temperature, while lower storage moduli were found for resin II, indicating that the presence of silane groups could enhance the flexibility of these materials. The resins show a pot life higher than 30 min, which makes these resins good candidates for practical applications. The functionalization with silane terminations can be exploited in the formulation of hybrid organic-inorganic composite materials. PMID:24013372
Yang, Yang; Ferro, Miguel Duarte; Cavaco, Isabel; Liang, Yizeng
2013-04-17
In this study, an analytical method for the detection and identification of extra virgin olive oil adulteration with four types of oils (corn, peanut, rapeseed, and sunflower oils) was proposed. The variables under evaluation included 22 fatty acids and 6 other significant parameters (the ratio of linoleic/linolenic acid, oleic/linoleic acid, total saturated fatty acids (SFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), MUFAs/PUFAs). Univariate analyses followed by multivariate analyses were applied to the adulteration investigation. As a result, the univariate analyses demonstrated that higher contents of eicosanoic acid, docosanoic acid, tetracosanoic acid, and SFAs were the peculiarities of peanut adulteration and higher levels of linolenic acid, 11-eicosenoic acid, erucic acid, and nervonic acid the characteristics of rapeseed adulteration. Then, PLS-LDA made the detection of adulteration effective with a 1% detection limit and 90% prediction ability; a Monte Carlo tree identified the type of adulteration with 85% prediction ability.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gao, Nan; Huang, Pengcheng; Wu, Fangying
2018-03-01
In this study, we have developed a method for rapid, highly efficient and selective detection of melamine. The negatively charged citrate ions form an electrostatic layer on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and keep the NPs dispersed and stable. When citrate-capped AuNPs were further modified with Triton X-100, it stabilized the AuNPs against the conditions of high ionic strength and a broad pH range. However, the addition of melamine caused the destabilization and aggregation of NPs. This may be attributed to the interaction between melamine and the AuNPs through the ligand exchange with citrate ions on the surface of AuNPs leading Triton X-100 to be removed. As a result, the AuNPs were unstable, resulting in the aggregation. The aggregation induced a wine red-to-blue color change, and a new absorption peak around 630 nm appeared. Triton X-100-AuNPs could selectively detect melamine at the concentration as low as 5.1 nM. This probe was successfully applied to detect melamine in milk. Furthermore, paper-based quantitative detection system using this colorimetric probe was also demonstrated by integrating with a smartphone.
The Melamine Incident: Implications for International Food and Feed Safety
Gossner, Céline Marie-Elise; Schlundt, Jørgen; Ben Embarek, Peter; Hird, Susan; Lo-Fo-Wong, Danilo; Beltran, Jose Javier Ocampo; Teoh, Keng Ngee; Tritscher, Angelika
2009-01-01
Background A major food safety incident in China was made public in September 2008. Kidney and urinary tract effects, including kidney stones, affected about 300,000 Chinese infants and young children, with six reported deaths. Melamine had been deliberately added at milk-collecting stations to diluted raw milk ostensibly to boost its protein content. Subsequently, melamine has been detected in many milk and milk-containing products, as well as other food and feed products, which were also exported to many countries worldwide. Objectives The melamine event represents one of the largest deliberate food contamination incidents. We provide a description and analysis of this event to determine the global implications on food and feed safety. Discussions A series of factors, including the intentional character of the milk contamination, the young age of the population affected, the large number of potentially contaminated products, the global distribution of these products, and the delay in reporting led this event to take on unexpected proportions. This incident illustrated the complexity of international trade of food products and food ingredients that required immediate actions at international level. Conclusion Managing food-safety events should be done internationally and early on as soon as multinational consequences are expected. Collaboration between food-safety authorities worldwide is needed to efficiently exchange information and to enable tracking and recalling of affected products to ensure food safety and to protect public health. PMID:20049196
Targeted and non-targeted detection of lemon juice adulteration by LC-MS and chemometrics.
Wang, Zhengfang; Jablonski, Joseph E
2016-01-01
Economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of lemon juice was detected by LC-MS and principal component analysis (PCA). Twenty-two batches of freshly squeezed lemon juice were adulterated by adding an aqueous solution containing 5% citric acid and 6% sucrose to pure lemon juice to obtain 30%, 60% and 100% lemon juice samples. Their total titratable acidities, °Brix and pH values were measured, and then all the lemon juice samples were subject to LC-MS analysis. Concentrations of hesperidin and eriocitrin, major phenolic components of lemon juice, were quantified. The PCA score plots for LC-MS datasets were used to preview the classification of pure and adulterated lemon juice samples. Results showed a large inherent variability in the chemical properties among 22 batches of 100% lemon juice samples. Measurement or quantitation of one or several chemical properties (targeted detection) was not effective in detecting lemon juice adulteration. However, by using the LC-MS datasets, including both chromatographic and mass spectrometric information, 100% lemon juice samples were successfully differentiated from adulterated samples containing 30% lemon juice in the PCA score plot. LC-MS coupled with chemometric analysis can be a complement to existing methods for detecting juice adulteration.
2009-01-01
The recent melamine crisis in China has pointed out a serious deficiency in current food control systems, namely, they specifically focus on selected known compounds. This targeted approach allowed the presence of melamine in milk products to be overlooked for a considerable time. To avoid such crises in the future, we propose that nontargeted screening methods need to be developed and applied. To this end, NMR has an extraordinary potential that just started to be recognized and exploited. Our research shows that, from the very same set of spectra, 1H NMR at 400 MHz can distinguish between melamine-contaminated and melamine-free infant formulas and can provide quantitative information by integration of individual lines after identification. For contaminated Chinese infant formulas or candy, identical results were obtained when comparing NMR with SPE-LC/MS/MS. NMR was found to be suitable for routine nontargeted and targeted analyses of foods, and its use will significantly increase food safety. PMID:20349917
[Identification of pyrrosiae folium and its adulterants based on psbA-trnH sequence].
Zhang, Ya-Qin; Shi, Yue; Song, Ming; Lin, Yun-Han; Ma, Xiao-Xi; Sun, Wei; Xiang, Li; Liu, Xi
2014-06-01
In this study, the psbA-trnH sequence as DNA barcode was used to evaluate the accuracy and stability for identification pteridophyte medicinal material Pyrrosiae Foliumas from adulterants. Genomic DNA from 106 samples were extracted successfully. The Kimura 2-Parameter (K2P) distances and ML tree were calculated using software MEGA 6.0. The intra-specific genetic distances of 3 original plants were lower than inter-specific genetic distances of adulterants. The ML tree indicated that Pyrrosiae Folium can be distinguished from its adulterants obviously. Therefore, the psbA-trnH sequence as a barcode of the pteridophyte, can accurately and stably distinguish Pyrrosiae Folium from its adulterants.
2016-01-01
Multivariate calibration (MVC) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy have demonstrated potential for rapid analysis of melamine in various dairy products. However, the practical application of ordinary MVC can be largely restricted because the prediction of a new sample from an uncalibrated batch would be subject to a significant bias due to matrix effect. In this study, the feasibility of using NIR spectroscopy and the standard addition (SA) net analyte signal (NAS) method (SANAS) for rapid quantification of melamine in different brands/types of milk powders was investigated. In SANAS, the NAS vector of melamine in an unknown sample as well as in a series of samples added with melamine standards was calculated and then the Euclidean norms of series standards were used to build a straightforward univariate regression model. The analysis results of 10 different brands/types of milk powders with melamine levels 0~0.12% (w/w) indicate that SANAS obtained accurate results with the root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP) values ranging from 0.0012 to 0.0029. An additional advantage of NAS is to visualize and control the possible unwanted variations during standard addition. The proposed method will provide a practically useful tool for rapid and nondestructive quantification of melamine in different brands/types of milk powders. PMID:27525154
Determination of butter adulteration with margarine using Raman spectroscopy.
Uysal, Reyhan Selin; Boyaci, Ismail Hakki; Genis, Hüseyin Efe; Tamer, Ugur
2013-12-15
In this study, adulteration of butter with margarine was analysed using Raman spectroscopy combined with chemometric methods (principal component analysis (PCA), principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares (PLS)) and artificial neural networks (ANNs). Different butter and margarine samples were mixed at various concentrations ranging from 0% to 100% w/w. PCA analysis was applied for the classification of butters, margarines and mixtures. PCR, PLS and ANN were used for the detection of adulteration ratios of butter. Models were created using a calibration data set and developed models were evaluated using a validation data set. The coefficient of determination (R(2)) values between actual and predicted values obtained for PCR, PLS and ANN for the validation data set were 0.968, 0.987 and 0.978, respectively. In conclusion, a combination of Raman spectroscopy with chemometrics and ANN methods can be applied for testing butter adulteration. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Bradley, E L; Castle, L; Day, J S; Ebner, I; Ehlert, K; Helling, R; Koster, S; Leak, J; Pfaff, K
2010-12-01
A variety of melaware articles were tested for the migration of melamine into the food simulant 3% w/v acetic acid as a benchmark, and into other food simulants, beverages and foods for comparison. The results indicate that the acidity of the food simulant plays a role in promoting migration, but not by as much as might have been anticipated, since 3% acetic acid gave migration values about double those obtained using water under the same time and temperature test conditions. In contrast, migration into the fatty food simulant olive oil was not detectable and at least 20-fold lower than with the aqueous food simulants. This was expected given the solubility properties of melamine and the characteristics of the melaware plastic. Migration levels into hot acidic beverages (apple juice, tomato juice, red-fruit tea and black coffee) were rather similar to the acetic acid simulant when the same time and temperature test conditions are used, e.g. 2 h at 70°C. However, migration levels into foods that were placed hot into melaware articles and then allowed to cool on standing were much lower (6-14 times lower) than if pre-heated food was placed into the articles and then maintained (artificially) at that high temperature in the same way that a controlled time-temperature test using simulants would be conducted. This very strong influence of time and especially temperature was manifest in the effects seen of microwave heating of food or beverage in the melaware articles. Here, despite the short duration of hot contact, migration levels were similar to simulants used for longer periods, e.g. 70°C for 2 h. This is rationalized in terms of the peak temperature achieved on microwave heating, which may exceed 70°C, counterbalancing the shorter time period held hot. There was also evidence that when using melaware utensils in boiling liquids, as for stovetop use of spatulas, the boiling action of circulating food/simulant can have an additional effect in promoting surface
Rebechi, S R; Vélez, M A; Vaira, S; Perotti, M C
2016-02-01
The aims of the present study were to test the accuracy of the fatty acid ratios established by the Argentinean Legislation to detect adulterations of milk fat with animal fats and to propose a regression model suitable to evaluate these adulterations. For this purpose, 70 milk fat, 10 tallow and 7 lard fat samples were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography. Data was utilized to simulate arithmetically adulterated milk fat samples at 0%, 2%, 5%, 10% and 15%, for both animal fats. The fatty acids ratios failed to distinguish adulterated milk fats containing less than 15% of tallow or lard. For each adulterant, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) was applied, and a model was chosen and validated. For that, calibration and validation matrices were constructed employing genuine and adulterated milk fat samples. The models were able to detect adulterations of milk fat at levels greater than 10% for tallow and 5% for lard. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cai, Tie; Ting, Hu; Jin-Lan, Zhang
2016-01-01
Coffee is one of the most common and most valuable beverages. According to International Coffee Organization (ICO) reports, the adulteration of coffee for financial reasons is regarded as the most serious threat to the sustainable development of the coffee market. In this work, a novel strategy for adulteration identification in ground coffee was developed based on UPLC-HRMS oligosaccharide profiling. Along with integrated statistical analysis, 17 oligosaccharide composition were identified as markers for the identification of soybeans and rice in ground coffee. This strategy, validated by manual mixtures, optimized both the reliability and authority of adulteration identification. Rice and soybean adulterants present in ground coffee in amounts as low as 5% were identified and evaluated. Some commercial ground coffees were also successfully tested using this strategy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Patel, Dhavalkumar Narendrabhai; Li, Lin; Kee, Chee-Leong; Ge, Xiaowei; Low, Min-Yong; Koh, Hwee-Ling
2014-01-01
The popularity of phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) enzyme inhibitors for the treatment of erectile dysfunction has led to the increase in prevalence of illicit sexual performance enhancement products. PDE-5 inhibitors, namely sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil, and their unapproved designer analogues are being increasingly used as adulterants in the herbal products and health supplements marketed for sexual performance enhancement. To date, more than 50 unapproved analogues of prescription PDE-5 inhibitors were found as adulterants in the literature. To avoid detection of such adulteration by standard screening protocols, the perpetrators of such illegal products are investing time and resources to synthesize exotic analogues and devise novel means for adulteration. A comprehensive review of conventional and advance analytical techniques to detect and characterize the adulterants is presented. The rapid identification and structural elucidation of unknown analogues as adulterants is greatly enhanced by the wide myriad of analytical techniques employed, including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography mass-spectrometry (LC-MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, vibrational spectroscopy, liquid chromatography-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry (LC-FT-ICR-MS), liquid chromatograph-hybrid triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometer with information dependent acquisition, ultra high performance liquid chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TOF-MS), ion mobility spectroscopy (IMS) and immunoassay methods. The many challenges in detecting and characterizing such adulterants, and the need for concerted effort to curb adulteration in order to safe guard public safety and interest are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A Hybrid Sensing Approach for Pure and Adulterated Honey Classification
Subari, Norazian; Saleh, Junita Mohamad; Shakaff, Ali Yeon Md; Zakaria, Ammar
2012-01-01
This paper presents a comparison between data from single modality and fusion methods to classify Tualang honey as pure or adulterated using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) statistical classification approaches. Ten different brands of certified pure Tualang honey were obtained throughout peninsular Malaysia and Sumatera, Indonesia. Various concentrations of two types of sugar solution (beet and cane sugar) were used in this investigation to create honey samples of 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% adulteration concentrations. Honey data extracted from an electronic nose (e-nose) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were gathered, analyzed and compared based on fusion methods. Visual observation of classification plots revealed that the PCA approach able to distinct pure and adulterated honey samples better than the LDA technique. Overall, the validated classification results based on FTIR data (88.0%) gave higher classification accuracy than e-nose data (76.5%) using the LDA technique. Honey classification based on normalized low-level and intermediate-level FTIR and e-nose fusion data scored classification accuracies of 92.2% and 88.7%, respectively using the Stepwise LDA method. The results suggested that pure and adulterated honey samples were better classified using FTIR and e-nose fusion data than single modality data. PMID:23202033
A hybrid sensing approach for pure and adulterated honey classification.
Subari, Norazian; Mohamad Saleh, Junita; Md Shakaff, Ali Yeon; Zakaria, Ammar
2012-10-17
This paper presents a comparison between data from single modality and fusion methods to classify Tualang honey as pure or adulterated using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) statistical classification approaches. Ten different brands of certified pure Tualang honey were obtained throughout peninsular Malaysia and Sumatera, Indonesia. Various concentrations of two types of sugar solution (beet and cane sugar) were used in this investigation to create honey samples of 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% adulteration concentrations. Honey data extracted from an electronic nose (e-nose) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were gathered, analyzed and compared based on fusion methods. Visual observation of classification plots revealed that the PCA approach able to distinct pure and adulterated honey samples better than the LDA technique. Overall, the validated classification results based on FTIR data (88.0%) gave higher classification accuracy than e-nose data (76.5%) using the LDA technique. Honey classification based on normalized low-level and intermediate-level FTIR and e-nose fusion data scored classification accuracies of 92.2% and 88.7%, respectively using the Stepwise LDA method. The results suggested that pure and adulterated honey samples were better classified using FTIR and e-nose fusion data than single modality data.
da Silva, Neirivaldo Cavalcante; Honorato, Ricardo Saldanha; Pimentel, Maria Fernanda; Garrigues, Salvador; Cervera, Maria Luisa; de la Guardia, Miguel
2015-09-01
There is an increasing demand for herbal medicines in weight loss treatment. Some synthetic chemicals, such as sibutramine (SB), have been detected as adulterants in herbal formulations. In this study, two strategies using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy have been developed to evaluate potential adulteration of herbal medicines with SB: a qualitative screening approach and a quantitative methodology based on multivariate calibration. Samples were composed by products commercialized as herbal medicines, as well as by laboratory adulterated samples. Spectra were obtained in the range of 14,000-4000 per cm. Using PLS-DA, a correct classification of 100% was achieved for the external validation set. In the quantitative approach, the root mean squares error of prediction (RMSEP), for both PLS and MLR models, was 0.2% w/w. The results prove the potential of NIR spectroscopy and multivariate calibration in quantifying sibutramine in adulterated herbal medicines samples. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Dasgupta, Amitava; Wahed, Amer; Wells, Alice
2002-02-01
Several adulterants are used to mask tests for abused drugs in urine. Adulterants such as "Klear" and "Whizzies" contain potassium nitrite, and "Urine Luck" contains pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC). The presence of these adulterants cannot be detected by routine specimen integrity checks (pH, specific gravity, and temperature). We developed rapid spot tests for detecting these adulterants in urine. Addition of 3% hydrogen peroxide in urine adulterated with PCC caused rapid formation of a dark brown color. In contrast, unadulterated urine turned colorless when hydrogen peroxide was added. When urine contaminated with nitrite and 2 to 3 drops of 2N hydrochloric acid were added to 2% aqueous potassium permanganate solution, the dark pink permanganate solution turned colorless immediately with effervescence. Urine contaminated with nitrite liberated iodine from potassium iodide solution in the presence of 2N hydrochloric acid. Urine adulterated with PCC also liberated iodine from potassium iodide in acid medium but did not turn potassium permanganate solution colorless. Urine specimens from volunteers and random urine samples that tested negative for drugs did not cause false-positive results. These rapid spot tests are useful for detecting adulterated urine to avoid false-negative drug tests.
Performance evaluation of three on-site adulterant detection devices for urine specimens.
Peace, Michelle R; Tarnai, Lisa D
2002-10-01
The performance of three on-site adulterant detection devices that assess the integrity of urine specimens collected for drug-of-abuse testing was evaluated: the Intect 7, MASK Ultra Screen, and Adultacheck 4. Intect 7 simultaneously tests creatinine, nitrite, glutaraldehyde, pH, specific gravity, and the presence of bleach and pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC). Mask Ultra Screen tests creatinine, nitrite, pH, specific gravity, and oxidants, and Adultacheck 4 tests creatinine, nitrite, glutaraldehyde, and pH. Urine specimens were prepared with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration regulated analytes at 50% above the cut-off concentrations. Stealth, Urine Luck, Instant Clean ADD-IT-ive, and KLEAR were added individually to the drug-added urine specimens so that their concentrations reflected the "optimum" usage reported in their package inserts and 25% above and below that optimum. Stealth is reported to be peroxidase; Urine Luck is believed to be PCC; Instant Clean ADD-it-ive reportedly contains glutaraldehyde, and Klear is a nitrite. The following diluents/adulterants were added at 25%, 33%, and 50% of the volume of drug-added urine: distilled water, bleach, ammonia, and vinegar. Of the devices tested, Intect 7 proved to be the most sensitive, and it correctly indicated the presence of adulterant or diluent in all samples tested. In order to do so, all indication pads had to be assessed in concert. Adultacheck 4 specifically assesses four characteristics of urine integrity and is therefore very limited in detecting the use of several popular adulterants that are commercially available. Although it correctly assessed the four characteristics, it did not detect the use of Stealth, Urine Luck, or Instant Clean ADD-it-ive. Mask Ultra Screen can potentially detect a broader range of adulterants than Adultacheck 4. However, in practice, it only detected them at levels well above their optimum usage, making it less efficacious than Intect 7. Clearly, the
Tomita Bunchiro; Chung-Yun Hse
1995-01-01
The urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins, melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resins, and melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) cocondensed resins were synthesized using the labeling method with 13C enriched formaldehyde unde neutral conditions and their 13C-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra were analyzed. The remarkable down-field...
Bunichiro Tomita; Chung-Yun Hse
1995-01-01
The urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins, melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resins, and melamine-ureaformaldehyde (MUF) cocondensed resins were synthesized using the labeling method with 13C enriched formaldehyde under neutral conditions and their 13C-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra were analyzed. The remarkable down-field...
Wang, Jing; Hu, Bo; Lu, Ling; Zhang, Min
2013-01-01
Introduction The current report detailed an investigation of melamine-linked urinary stones in children exposed to contaminated formula. Material and methods A total of 1062 children fed with melamine-contaminated infant formula were screened for urinary stones. Sixty healthy children without melamine exposure were recruited as a control group. Ultrasonography of the urinary tract system was performed. Urinalysis, renal function, liver status, and serum electrolytes were determined. Results We encountered 49 affected children from the 1062 screened ones, at a rate of 4.6% per ultrasound performed. Thirty-two were male, and 17 were female. The affected children ranged in age from 1 month to 96 months, with a mean of 25 months. Duration of exposure was from 1.3 months to 84 months, with a mean of 19.5 months. The melamine contents in serum were between 12 mg/kg and 2563 mg/kg, with mean concentration of 1295.3 mg/kg. Most affected children were asymptomatic with no urinary findings. Patients with urinary stones exhibited lower urine pH and serum HCO3 – than those in the healthy children, whereas for serum uric acid, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and anion gap the opposite trends were observed. The stone diameter ranged from 2 mm to 18 mm with a median of 6.5 mm. Multiple stones were noted in all patients. After 1 week of conservative management, stone diameters of 38 cases (77.6%) were significantly decreased. Among them, urinary stones were discharged completely in 21 affected children (42.9%). Conclusions The short-term outcome of melamine-linked urinary stones is satisfactory. PMID:23515431
Annotations on a Scandal: Desire, Transgression, and the Filmic Fantasy of Pedagogy
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stillwaggon, James; Jelinek, David
2015-01-01
From Socrates to Jean Brodie, we have become accustomed to teachers serving as placeholders for transgressive and powerful desires in our cultural imaginary. Evidenced by recent scholarship on teachers in film, however, as well as by the 2006 film "Notes on a Scandal", the way we ought to feel about teachers acting on their transgressive…
Bunichiro Tomita; Chung-Yun Hse
1995-01-01
The urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins, melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resins, and melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) cocondensed resins were synthesized using the labeling method of 13C enriched formaldehyde udner neutral conditions and their 13C-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra were analyzed. The remarkable down-field shifts...
Surface modification of melamine sponges for pH-responsive oil absorption and desorption
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lei, Zhiwen; Zhang, Guangzhao; Deng, Yonghong; Wang, Chaoyang
2017-09-01
Inspired by the development of smart oil/water separation materials, a pH responsive melamine sponge has been obtained by grafting poly (4-vinylpyridine) on the skeleton surface through atom transfer radical polymerization. Through scanning electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the successful grafting of poly (4-vinylprridine) onto the melamine sponge has been confirmed. When contacting with different pH water droplets in air, the as-prepared product shows excellent switchable wettability between super-hydrophilicity (0°) and highly hydrophobicity (135°). Meanwhile, this responsive sponge also exhibits super-hydrophilic/oleophobic property underwater at pH = 1.0, and highly hydrophobic/super-oleophilic property in neutral solution at pH = 7.0. Furthermore, the excellent responsiveness is remained after five cycle water contact angle tests between two different pH stages at pH 1.0 and 7.0. The modified melamine sponges could not only absorb the oil from the oily water at pH = 7.0, but also quickly release the absorbed oil underwater at pH = 1.0 without leaving any residues and hurting the environment nearly, showing a good potential in controlled oil/water separation and oil recovery.
Bandele, Omari; Camacho, Luísa; Ferguson, Martine; Reimschuessel, Renate; Stine, Cynthia; Black, Thomas; Olejnik, Nicholas; Keltner, Zachary; Scott, Michael; Gamboa da Costa, Gonçalo; Sprando, Robert
2013-01-01
Although standard nephrotoxicity assessments primarily detect impaired renal function, KIM-1, clusterin, NGAL, osteopontin and TIMP-1 were recently identified biomarkers proposed to indicate earlier perturbations in renal integrity. The recent adulteration of infant and pet food with melamine (MEL) and structurally-related compounds revealed that co-ingestion of MEL and cyanuric acid (CYA) could form melamine–cyanurate crystals which obstruct renal tubules and induce acute renal failure. This study concurrently evaluated the ability of multiplexed urinary biomarker immunoassays and biomarker gene expression analysis to detect nephrotoxicity in F344 rats co-administered 60 ppm each of MEL and CYA in feed or via gavage for 28 days. The biomarkers were also evaluated for the ability to differentiate the effects of the compounds when co-administered using diverse dosing schedules (i.e., consecutive vs. staggered gavage) and dosing matrixes (i.e., feed vs. gavage). Our results illustrate the ability of both methods to detect and differentiate the severity of adverse effects in the staggered and consecutive gavage groups at much lower doses than previously observed in animals co-exposed to the compounds in feed. We also demonstrate that these urinary biomarkers outperform traditional diagnostic methods and represent a powerful, non-invasive indicator of chemical-induced nephrotoxicity prior to the onset of renal dysfunction. PMID:23022069
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhao, Huiling; Li, Yinli; Chen, Dong; Liu, Bo
2016-12-01
The co-adsorption behavior of nucleic-acid base (thymine; cytosine) and melamine was investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) technique at liquid/solid (1-octanol/graphite) interface. STM characterization results indicate that phase separation happened after dropping the mixed solution of thymine-melamine onto highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface, while the hetero-component cluster-like structure was observed when cytosine-melamine binary assembly system is used. From the viewpoints of non-covalent interactions calculated by using density functional theory (DFT) method, the formation mechanisms of these assembled structures were explored in detail. This work will supply a methodology to design the supramolecular assembled structures and the hetero-component materials composed by biological and chemical compound.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Perpétuo, Genivaldo Julio; Janczak, Jan
2018-01-01
A family of supramolecular complexes of melamine with fluorophenylacetic acid isomers using solvent-assisted and evaporation-based techniques has been prepared. Crystallization of melamine with 2-fluorophenylacetic acid yield hydrated ionic supramolecular complex (1), whereas crystallization of melamine with 3- and 4-fluorophenylacetic acids leads to formation of neutral supramolecular complexes (2, 3), all with base to acid ratio of 1:2. The supramolecular assembly is driven by the noncovalent interactions, most commonly by the hydrogen bonds. The components of the crystal 1 interact via Nsbnd H⋯O and Osbnd H⋯N hydrogen bonds with R22(8) and R32(10) graphs forming ionic supramolecular complex, whereas the components in the crystals 2 and 3 interact with a graph of R22(8) forming neutral supramolecular complexes. The singly protonated melamin-1-ium residues in 1 interact each other via a pair of Nsbnd H⋯N hydrogen bonds forming one dimensional chains along [-110] that interact via Nsbnd H⋯O with deprotonated and neutral 2-fluorophenylacetic acid units and water molecules forming ribbon. In 2 and 3 co-crystals the melamine interacts with 3- and 4-fluorophenylacetic acids via a pair of Nsbnd H⋯O hydrogen bonds forming pseudo one-dimensional supramolecular chains along [010] direction. Hirshfeld surface and analysis of 2D fingerprint plots have been analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively interactions that governing the supramolecular organisation. The IR and Raman vibrational characterization of the supramolecular complexes 1-3 was supported by the spectra of their deuterated analogues.
Preparation and oil absorption properties of magnetic melamine sponge
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lei, LUO; Jia-qi, HU; Na, LV
2017-12-01
The magnetic melamine sponge (MS-Fe3O4) with magnetic response and high hydrophobicity was fabricated by two-step method. First, the magnetic nano-particles were fixed on the skeleton of melamine sponge (MS) using 3-hydroxytyramine hydrochloride and 1-dodecanethiol, then hydrophobicity modified with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS). The structures and chemical compositions of MS and MS-Fe3O4 were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The wettability of the sample was obtained by using contact angle analysis system. MS-Fe3O4 endowed with outstanding selectivity and excellent oil absorption capacities, which can be widely used in absorbing various sorts of oil. The oil absorption capacities for crude oil, diesel oil, lubricating oil, soybean oil and peanut oil were 71g/g, 51g/g, 62g/g, 54g/g, 57g/g. In addition, MS-Fe3O4 showed excellent recyclability which can be forecasted as an ideal candidate for oil-water separation.
Chemical markers of shiikuwasha juice adulterated with calamondin juice.
Yamamoto, Kenta; Yahada, Ayumi; Sasaki, Kumi; Ogawa, Kazunori; Koga, Nobuyuki; Ohta, Hideaki
2012-11-07
Detection of shiikuwasha (Citrus depressa Hayata) juice adulterated with calamondin (Citrus madurensis Lour.) juice was investigated by the analyses of (1) phloretin dihydrochalcone glucoside, 3',5'-di-C-β-glucopyranosylphloretin (PD) detected by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), (2) polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs), included nobiletin, tangeretin, and sinensetin, detected by HPLC, and (3) γ-terpinene peak percentage obtained by headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography with cryofocusing. PD was detected in calamondin juice (25.5 mg/100 mL) but not in shiikuwasha juice. Shiikuwasha juice contained higher levels of nobiletin (48.8 mg/100 mL) than calamondin juice (2.4 mg/100 mL). Shiikuwasha juice was characterized by containing a higher percentage of γ-terpinene (12.3%) than calamondin juice (0.7%). A discrimination function obtained by a linear discriminant analysis with PMFs and a peak ratio of [nobiletin/tangeretin] and γ-terpinene detected the adulteration with accuracies of 91.7%. These three chemical markers were useful to detect shiikuwasha juice that is suspected of being adulterated with calamondin juice.
7 CFR 58.242 - Product adulteration.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Product adulteration. 58.242 Section 58.242... AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) GRADING AND INSPECTION, GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR APPROVED PLANTS AND STANDARDS FOR GRADES OF DAIRY PRODUCTS 1 General...
Li, Shuifang; Zhang, Xin; Shan, Yang; Su, Donglin; Ma, Qiang; Wen, Ruizhi; Li, Jiaojuan
2017-03-01
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) was used for qualitative and quantitative detection of honey adulterated with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or maltose syrup (MS). Competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) was employed to select key variables. Partial least squares linear discriminant analysis (PLS-LDA) was adopted to classify the adulterated honey samples. The CARS-PLS-LDA models showed an accuracy of 86.3% (honey vs. adulterated honey with HFCS) and 96.1% (honey vs. adulterated honey with MS), respectively. PLS regression (PLSR) was used to predict the extent of adulteration in the honeys. The results showed that NIR combined with PLSR could not be used to quantify adulteration with HFCS, but could be used to quantify adulteration with MS: coefficient (R p 2 ) and root mean square of prediction (RMSEP) were 0.901 and 4.041 for MS-adulterated samples from different floral origins, and 0.981 and 1.786 for MS-adulterated samples from the same floral origin (Brassica spp.), respectively. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Modern analytical methods for the detection of food fraud and adulteration by food category.
Hong, Eunyoung; Lee, Sang Yoo; Jeong, Jae Yun; Park, Jung Min; Kim, Byung Hee; Kwon, Kisung; Chun, Hyang Sook
2017-09-01
This review provides current information on the analytical methods used to identify food adulteration in the six most adulterated food categories: animal origin and seafood, oils and fats, beverages, spices and sweet foods (e.g. honey), grain-based food, and others (organic food and dietary supplements). The analytical techniques (both conventional and emerging) used to identify adulteration in these six food categories involve sensory, physicochemical, DNA-based, chromatographic and spectroscopic methods, and have been combined with chemometrics, making these techniques more convenient and effective for the analysis of a broad variety of food products. Despite recent advances, the need remains for suitably sensitive and widely applicable methodologies that encompass all the various aspects of food adulteration. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
Dastjerdi, Akram Ghasemi; Akhgari, Maryam; Kamali, Artin; Mousavi, Zahra
2018-05-01
Obesity is one of the major problems in many countries. Herbal drugs are widely used to treat obesity. Unfortunately the majority of herbal weight loss drugs are adulterated with active pharmaceutical ingredients. The purpose of the present study was to analyse herbal weight loss drugs for the general search for pharmaceuticals. sixty one herbal weight loss drugs that were collected from herb shops and internet in Kermanshah, Iran were analysed qualitatively using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Of the 61 weight loss products sampled, 72% were found to be adulterated with tramadol, caffeine, fluoxetine, rizatriptan, venlafaxine and methadone. Herbal weight loss products were adulterated with controlled and legitimate drugs. Patients should be aware of the danger of using adulterated supplements. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Yan, Hongyuan; Cheng, Xiaoling; Sun, Ning; Cai, Tianyu; Wu, Ruijun; Han, Kun
2012-11-01
A simple, convenient and high selective molecularly imprinted matrix solid-phase dispersion (MI-MSPD) using water-compatible cyromazine-imprinted polymer as adsorbent was proposed for the rapid screening of melamine from bovine milk coupled with liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. The molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) synthesized by cyromazine as dummy template and reformative methanol-water system as reaction medium showed higher affinity and selectivity to melamine, and so they were applied as the specific dispersant of MSPD to extraction of melamine and simultaneously eliminate the effect of template leakage on quantitative analysis. Under the optimized conditions, good linearity was obtained in a range of 0.24-60.0μgg(-1) with the correlation coefficient of 0.9994. The recoveries of melamine at three spiked levels were ranged from 86.0 to 96.2% with the relative standard deviation (RSD)≤4.0%. This proposed MI-MSPD method combined the advantages of MSPD and MIPs, and could be used as an alternative tool for analyzing the residues of melamine in complex milk samples. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Identification of species adulteration in traded medicinal plant raw drugs using DNA barcoding.
Nithaniyal, Stalin; Vassou, Sophie Lorraine; Poovitha, Sundar; Raju, Balaji; Parani, Madasamy
2017-02-01
Plants are the major source of therapeutic ingredients in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). However, species adulteration in traded medicinal plant raw drugs threatens the reliability and safety of CAM. Since morphological features of medicinal plants are often not intact in the raw drugs, DNA barcoding was employed for species identification. Adulteration in 112 traded raw drugs was tested after creating a reference DNA barcode library consisting of 1452 rbcL and matK barcodes from 521 medicinal plant species. Species resolution of this library was 74.4%, 90.2%, and 93.0% for rbcL, matK, and rbcL + matK, respectively. DNA barcoding revealed adulteration in about 20% of the raw drugs, and at least 6% of them were derived from plants with completely different medicinal or toxic properties. Raw drugs in the form of dried roots, powders, and whole plants were found to be more prone to adulteration than rhizomes, fruits, and seeds. Morphological resemblance, co-occurrence, mislabeling, confusing vernacular names, and unauthorized or fraudulent substitutions might have contributed to species adulteration in the raw drugs. Therefore, this library can be routinely used to authenticate traded raw drugs for the benefit of all stakeholders: traders, consumers, and regulatory agencies.
Tosun, Murat
2013-06-01
Honey can be adulterated in various ways. One of the adulteration methods is the addition of different sugar syrups during or after honey production. Starch-based sugar syrups, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), glucose syrup (GS) and saccharose syrups (SS), which are produced from beet or canes, can be used for adulterating honey. In this study, adulterated honey samples were prepared with the addition of HFCS, GS and SS (beet sugar) at a ratio of 0%, 10%, 20%, 40% and 50% by weight. (13)C/(12)C analysis was conducted on these adulterated honey samples using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer in combination with an elemental analyser (EA-IRMS). As a result, adulteration using C(4) sugar syrups (HFCS and GS) could be detected to a certain extent while adulteration of honey using C(3) sugar syrups (beet sugar) could not be detected. Adulteration by using SS (beet sugar) still has a serious detection problem, especially in countries in which beet is used in manufacturing sugar. For this reason, practice and analysis methods are needed to meet this deficit and to detect the adulterations precisely in the studies that will be conducted. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Kunz, Matthew Ross; Ottaway, Joshua; Kalivas, John H; Georgiou, Constantinos A; Mousdis, George A
2011-02-23
Detecting and quantifying extra virgin olive adulteration is of great importance to the olive oil industry. Many spectroscopic methods in conjunction with multivariate analysis have been used to solve these issues. However, successes to date are limited as calibration models are built to a specific set of geographical regions, growing seasons, cultivars, and oil extraction methods (the composite primary condition). Samples from new geographical regions, growing seasons, etc. (secondary conditions) are not always correctly predicted by the primary model due to different olive oil and/or adulterant compositions stemming from secondary conditions not matching the primary conditions. Three Tikhonov regularization (TR) variants are used in this paper to allow adulterant (sunflower oil) concentration predictions in samples from geographical regions not part of the original primary calibration domain. Of the three TR variants, ridge regression with an additional 2-norm penalty provides the smallest validation sample prediction errors. Although the paper reports on using TR for model updating to predict adulterant oil concentration, the methods should also be applicable to updating models distinguishing adulterated samples from pure extra virgin olive oil. Additionally, the approaches are general and can be used with other spectroscopic methods and adulterants as well as with other agriculture products.
Visible and near-infrared spectral signatures for adulteration assessment of extra virgin olive oil
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mignani, A. G.; Ciaccheri, L.; Ottevaere, H.; Thienpont, H.; Conte, L.; Marega, M.; Cichelli, A.; Attilio, C.; Cimato, A.
2010-04-01
Because of its high price, the extra virgin olive oil is frequently target for adulteration with lower quality oils. This paper presents an innovative optical technique capable of quantifying the adulteration of extra virgin olive oil caused by lowergrade olive oils. It relies on spectral fingerprinting the test liquid by means of diffuse-light absorption spectroscopy carried out by optical fiber technology in the wide 400-1700 nm spectral range. Then, a smart multivariate processing of spectroscopic data is applied for immediate prediction of adulterant concentration.
Development of a mercury detection kit based on melamine-functionalized gold nanoparticles.
Liu, Guoyan; Ren, Huipeng; Guan, Yuyu; Dai, Ronghua; Chai, Chunyan
2015-01-01
A fast and simple mercury detection kit was developed based on melamine-functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs). The detection kit contained reagent 1 (GNPs), reagent 2 (melanine), a reaction cuvette with four separated cells, a colorimetric card and a plastic pipette. The GNPs were prepared by a citrate reduction of HAuCl4. A proper amount of melamine was applied to functionalize the GNPs. The complex reaction took place in the present of Hg(2+) in the test samples, leading to the combination of Hg(2+) with the C=N group of melamine located on the surface of the GNPs. This reaction resulted in damage to the stability of colloid gold, and the aggregation of GNPs occurred. Different color changes (from claret-red to lilac, purple and plum) were displayed with different concentrations of Hg(2+) in the test samples. It was very easy and convenient to determine the amount of mercury ion by the naked eye. The advantages of this methodology are listed as follows: a short detecting time (within 10 min), a high specificity (no significant interference was indicated upon adding a certain amount of Cu(2+), Pb(2+), Zn(2+), Mg(2+), Cd(2+) and Fe(2+)), high sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.01 mg L(-1) , easy operation and practical on-site use.
Ion mobility spectrometry fingerprints: A rapid detection technology for adulteration of sesame oil.
Zhang, Liangxiao; Shuai, Qian; Li, Peiwu; Zhang, Qi; Ma, Fei; Zhang, Wen; Ding, Xiaoxia
2016-02-01
A simple and rapid detection technology was proposed based on ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) fingerprints to determine potential adulteration of sesame oil. Oil samples were diluted by n-hexane and analyzed by IMS for 20s. Then, chemometric methods were employed to establish discriminant models for sesame oils and four other edible oils, pure and adulterated sesame oils, and pure and counterfeit sesame oils, respectively. Finally, Random Forests (RF) classification model could correctly classify all five types of edible oils. The detection results indicated that the discriminant models built by recursive support vector machine (R-SVM) method could identify adulterated sesame oil samples (⩾ 10%) with an accuracy value of 94.2%. Therefore, IMS was shown to be an effective method to detect the adulterated sesame oils. Meanwhile, IMS fingerprints work well to detect the counterfeit sesame oils produced by adding sesame oil essence into cheaper edible oils. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Determination of whey adulteration in milk powder by using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.
Bilge, Gonca; Sezer, Banu; Eseller, Kemal Efe; Berberoglu, Halil; Topcu, Ali; Boyaci, Ismail Hakki
2016-12-01
A rapid and in situ method has been developed to detect and quantify adulterated milk powder through adding whey powder by using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The methodology is based on elemental composition differences between milk and whey products. Milk powder, sweet and acid whey powders were produced as standard samples, and milk powder was adulterated with whey powders. Based on LIBS spectra of standard samples and commercial products, species was identified using principle component analysis (PCA) method, and discrimination rate of milk and whey powders was found as 80.5%. Calibration curves were obtained with partial least squares regression (PLS). Correlation coefficient (R(2)) and limit of detection (LOD) values were 0.981 and 1.55% for adulteration with sweet whey powder, and 0.985 and 0.55% for adulteration with acid whey powder, respectively. The results were found to be consistent with the data from inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) method. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Dixon-Woods, Mary; Yeung, Karen; Bosk, Charles L
2011-11-01
This article identifies the role played by a series of medical scandals in the U.K., occurring from the mid-1990s onwards, in ending a collegial model of self-regulation of the medical profession that had endured for 150 years. The state's original motive in endorsing professional self-regulation was to resolve the principal-agent problem inherent in the doctor-patient relationship. The profession, in return for its self-regulating privileges, undertook to act as a reliable guarantor for the competence and conduct of each of its members. Though sufficient to ensure that most doctors were "good", the collegial model adopted by the profession left it fatally vulnerable to the problem of "bad apples": those unwilling, incapable or indifferent to delivering on their professional commitments and who betrayed the trust of both patients and peers. Weak administrative systems in the NHS failed to compensate for the defects of the collegium in controlling these individuals. The scandals both provoked and legitimised erosion of the profession's self-regulatory power. Though its vulnerability to bad apples had been present since the founding of the 19th century profession, it was the convergence of social and political conditions at a particular historical moment that transformed the scandals into an unstoppable imperative for reform. Huge public anger, the voice permitted to a coalition of critics, shifts in social attitudes, the opportunity presented for imposing standards for accountability, and the increasing ascendancy of pro-interventionist managerialist and political agendas from the early 1990s onwards were all implicated in the response made to scandals and the shape the reforms took. Scandals need to be understood not as simple determinants of change, but as one performative element in a constellation of socially contingent forces and contexts. The new rebalancing of the "countervailing powers" has dislodged the profession as the senior partner in the regulation of
Chen, Sammy P L; Tang, Magdalene H Y; Ng, Sau Wah; Poon, Wing Tat; Chan, Albert Y W; Mak, Tony W L
2010-10-01
Sibutramine, or its structurally related analogs, is often found as an adulterant in proprietary herbal slimming products in Hong Kong. A few solitary case reports of sibutramine-associated psychosis have been published since 2000. As the only tertiary referral center for clinical toxicology analysis in Hong Kong, we noticed that psychosis was an unusually common feature in patients taking "herbal slimming products" adulterated with sibutramine or its structurally related analogs over the past 5 years. To examine the association between psychosis and the use of sibutramine-adulterated herbal products, in an attempt to elucidate this possible adverse drug reaction. This retrospective study reviewed all cases hospitalized with psychotic symptoms confirmed to have used herbal slimming products adulterated with sibutramine, or its analogs, between January 2004 and October 2009. The cases' clinical features, outcome, drug history, and analytical findings of the offending slimming products were studied. Results. Among the 16 confirmed cases, 15 (94%) were female; the median age was 19 years (range: 15-47). Auditory hallucination was documented in 10 (63%), visual hallucination in 6 (38%), persecutory ideas in 6 (38%), delusions in 4 (25%), and suicidal ideation in 2 (13%). For 20 "herbal" slimming products analyzed, 16 were found to have been adulterated with sibutramine, 2 with N-desmethyl-sibutramine, and 1 with N-bisdesmethyl-sibutramine. Other concomitant adulterants were also found and included phenolphthalein in 9, fenfluramine, mazindol, animal thyroid tissue in 2, hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone in 1. Eight patients disclosed the source of the products: four through the Internet, one obtained over-the-counter locally, with three acquired outside Hong Kong. Slimming products claimed "herbal" in origin could often be adulterated with sibutramine and other Western medications. We observed an association between the use of these products and psychotic features
9 CFR 381.151 - Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure for handling.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-01-01
...; Processing Requirements § 381.151 Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure for handling. (a) In the event there is polluted water (including but not limited to flood water) in an official... rendered adulterated by the water shall be condemned. (b) After the polluted water has receded from an...
9 CFR 381.151 - Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure for handling.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Adulteration of product by polluted...; Processing Requirements § 381.151 Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure for handling. (a) In.... (c) Hermetically sealed containers of poultry product which have been contaminated by polluted water...
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hughes, William O.; McNelis, Anne M.
2014-01-01
A spacecraft at launch is subjected to a harsh acoustic and vibration environment resulting from the passage of acoustic energy, created during the liftoff of a launch vehicle, through the vehicle's payload fairing. In order to ensure the mission success of the spacecraft it is often necessary to reduce the resulting internal acoustic sound pressure levels through the usage of acoustic attenuation systems. Melamine foam, lining the interior walls of the payload fairing, is often utilized as the main component of such a system. In order to better understand the acoustic properties of melamine foam, with the goal of developing improved acoustic attenuation systems, NASA has recently performed panel level testing on numerous configurations of melamine foam acoustic treatments at the Riverbank Acoustical Laboratory. Parameters assessed included the foam's thickness and density, as well as the effects of a top outer cover sheet material and mass barriers embedded within the foam. This testing followed the ASTM C423 standard for absorption and the ASTM E90 standard for transmission loss. The acoustic test data obtained and subsequent conclusions are the subjects of this paper.
Broccoli-like porous carbon nitride from ZIF-8 and melamine for high performance supercapacitors
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cai, Chenglong; Zou, Yongjin; Xiang, Cuili; Chu, Hailiang; Qiu, Shujun; Sui, Qingli; Xu, Fen; Sun, Lixian; Shah, Afzal
2018-05-01
Broccoli-like porous carbon nitride is synthesized by simple one-step carbonization of a composite comprising a Zn-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) and melamine. The introduction of melamine into the ZIF-8 framework not only increases the N content of the composite and the surface area of the carbonization product, but also induces the formation of a flower-like structure. The carbon obtained from the ZIF-8/melamine composite by the proposed carbonization process at a temperature of 800 °C (ZM-C-800) is found to have a unique three-dimensional broccoli-like shape, a nanoscale size, and an extremely high doping N content (28.3 at.%). These properties substantially improve the electrochemical performance of ZM-C-800, as represented by a high specific capacitance of 359.1 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1, much higher than that of ZIF-8. Furthermore, a symmetric supercapacitor fabricated with two ZM-C-800 electrodes exhibits a power density of 498.5 W kg-1 for an energy density of 11.4 Wh kg-1. This indicates the strong potential of ZM-C-800 for use in the fabrication of energy storage devices.
Nie, Fang; Li, Xin-jie; Shang, Pan-feng; Wang, Ying
2013-04-01
In 2008, the melamine-tainted-milk incident started with reports of increased incidence of urolithiasis in infants in China. Affected children were screened for urolithiasis. The purpose of this study was to analyze sonographic characterization of infant melamine-induced urolithiasis. Transabdominal US examination was done in 603 infants with melamine-induced calculi. The imaging characteristics of calculi and hydronephrosis were analyzed. Follow-up US imaging was performed. Comet-tail sign was seen behind the calculus of <4 mm. Calculi of ≥ 4 mm were found in 299 inpatients with clear posterior border and with or without light shadowing. Solitary and multiple stones had similar incidence. Incidence of calculi in the inferior renal calyx was the highest (55.2%) in inpatients. Calculus size in inpatients age 2-3 years was smaller than that of children younger than 2 years old (P < 0.05). Inpatients age 2-3 years had the highest incidence rate (48.0%) of hydronephrosis. Calculi of <4 mm manifested as hyperechoic foci near the renal papillae, while calculi of ≥ 4 mm usually manifested as echogenic foci with visible inferior edge in the renal calyx. Hydronephrosis was a common imaging finding in inpatients ages 2-3 years.
9 CFR 318.14 - Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure for handling.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-01-01
...; REINSPECTION AND PREPARATION OF PRODUCTS General § 318.14 Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure for handling. (a) In the event there is polluted water (including but not limited to flood water) in... that have been rendered adulterated by the water shall be condemned. (b) After the polluted water has...
9 CFR 352.12 - Disposal of diseased or otherwise adulterated carcasses and parts.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Disposal of diseased or otherwise adulterated carcasses and parts. 352.12 Section 352.12 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION... INSPECTION Exotic Animals § 352.12 Disposal of diseased or otherwise adulterated carcasses and parts. This...
9 CFR 318.14 - Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure for handling.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure for handling. 318.14 Section 318.14 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND...; REINSPECTION AND PREPARATION OF PRODUCTS General § 318.14 Adulteration of product by polluted water; procedure...
Zhu, Yu; Xu, Yangyang; Zou, Gang; Zhang, Qijin
2015-08-01
Introduction of hydrogen-bonding interaction into π-conjugated systems is a promising strategy, since the highly selective and directional hydrogen-bonding can increase the binding strength, provide enhanced stability to the assemblies, and position the π-conjugated molecules in a desired arrangement. The helical packing of the rigid melamine cores seems to play a dominating role in the subsequent formation of the peripheral helical PDA backbone. The polymerized Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films exhibited reversible colorimetric and chiroptical changes during repeated heating-cooling cycles, which should be ascribed to the strong hydrogen-bonding interaction between the carboxylic acid and the melamine core. Further, the closely helical packing of the melamine cores could be destroyed upon exposure to HCl or NH(3) gas, whereas the peripheral helical polyaniline and polydiacetylene (PDA) backbone exhibited excellent stability. Although similar absorption changes could be observed for the films upon exposure to HCl or NH(3) gas, their distinct circular dichroism (CD) responses enabled us to distinguish the above two stimuli. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Deconinck, E; Aouadi, C; Bothy, J L; Courselle, P
2018-04-15
Due to the rising popularity of dietary supplements, especially plant food supplements, and alternative herbal medicines, a whole market developed and these products became freely available through internet. Though several searches revealed that at least a part of these products, especially the ones obtained from websites disclosing their physical identity, are aldulterated with pharmaceutical compounds. This causes a threat for public health, since these compounds are not declared and therefore adverse effects will not immediately be related to the product. The more the adulterants can interfere with other medicinal treatments. Since the present active pharmaceutical ingredients are not declared on the package and the products are sold as 100% natural or herbal in nature, it is very difficult for custom personnel to discriminate between products to be confiscated or not. Therefore easy to apply analytical approaches to discriminate between adulterated and non-adulterated products are necessary. This paper presents an approach based on infrared spectroscopy combined with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) and partial least squares- discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to easily differentiate between adulterated and non- adulterated plant food supplements and to get a first idea of the nature of the adulterant present. The performance of PLS-DA models based on Mid-IR and NIR data were compared as well as models based on the combined data. Further three preprocessing strategies were compared. The best performance was obtained for a PLS-DA model using Mid-IR data with the second derivative as preprocessing method. This model showed a correct classification rate of 98.3% for an external test set. Also eight real samples were screened using the model and for seven of these samples a correct classification was obtained. Generally it could be concluded that the obtained model and the presented approach could be used at customs to discriminate between adulterated and non-adulterated
Kamruzzaman, Mohammed; Sun, Da-Wen; ElMasry, Gamal; Allen, Paul
2013-01-15
Many studies have been carried out in developing non-destructive technologies for predicting meat adulteration, but there is still no endeavor for non-destructive detection and quantification of adulteration in minced lamb meat. The main goal of this study was to develop and optimize a rapid analytical technique based on near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging to detect the level of adulteration in minced lamb. Initial investigation was carried out using principal component analysis (PCA) to identify the most potential adulterate in minced lamb. Minced lamb meat samples were then adulterated with minced pork in the range 2-40% (w/w) at approximately 2% increments. Spectral data were used to develop a partial least squares regression (PLSR) model to predict the level of adulteration in minced lamb. Good prediction model was obtained using the whole spectral range (910-1700 nm) with a coefficient of determination (R(2)(cv)) of 0.99 and root-mean-square errors estimated by cross validation (RMSECV) of 1.37%. Four important wavelengths (940, 1067, 1144 and 1217 nm) were selected using weighted regression coefficients (Bw) and a multiple linear regression (MLR) model was then established using these important wavelengths to predict adulteration. The MLR model resulted in a coefficient of determination (R(2)(cv)) of 0.98 and RMSECV of 1.45%. The developed MLR model was then applied to each pixel in the image to obtain prediction maps to visualize the distribution of adulteration of the tested samples. The results demonstrated that the laborious and time-consuming tradition analytical techniques could be replaced by spectral data in order to provide rapid, low cost and non-destructive testing technique for adulterate detection in minced lamb meat. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Nisbet, Cevat; Kazak, Filiz; Ardalı, Yuksel
2018-03-23
This study used various parameters of honey to develop a potentially more robust approach to the detection of adulterated honey. For this purpose, 25 multifloral, natural honey samples and 20 samples of adulterated honey produced by bees that had been fed supplementary sucrose syrup were analysed. The mean total phenolic content of the natural honeys was considerably higher than in the adulterated honeys at 157 ± 13 and 35.2 ± 7.3 mg GAE/100 g, respectively. Similarly, considerable variation was determined between natural and adulterated honeys in terms of total flavonoids (3.3 ± 0.3 and 2.1 ± 0.4 mg QE/100 g, respectively), antiradical activity (87.9 ± 12 and 163 ± 11 mg/mL, respectively) and proline content (202 ± 26 and 71.1 ± 21.6 mg/kg, respectively.) The potassium, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium contents of natural honeys were also higher than in adulterated honeys (P < 0.01). In conclusion, the determination of the proline level, phenolic content, antioxidant activity and mineral profile may collectively provide a more holistic method approach to the differentiation of natural and adulterated honey, and also for comparing their food values.
Detection of Ophiocordyceps sinensis and Its Common Adulterates Using Species-Specific Primers
Liu, Yang; Wang, Xiao-yue; Gao, Zi-tong; Han, Jian-ping; Xiang, Li
2017-01-01
Ophiocordyceps sinensis is a fungus that infects Hepialidae caterpillars, mummifying the larvae and producing characteristic fruiting bodies (stromata) that are processed into one of the most valued traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). The product commands a very high price due to a high demand but a very limited supply. Adulteration with other fungi is a common problem and there is a need to test preparation for the presence of the correct fungus. In the current study, a PCR-based approach for the identification of O. sinensis based on a segment of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was developed. The segments is 146-bp in size and is likely to be amplified even in materials where processing led to DNA fragmentation. Primer development was based on the alignment of sequence data generated from a total of 89 samples of O. sinensis and potential adulterants as well as sequences date from 41 Ophiocordyceps species and 26 Cordyceps species available in GenBank. Tests with primer pair, DCF4/DCR4, demonstrated generation of an amplicon from DNA extracted from O. sinensis stromata, but not from extracts derived from adulterants. Species-specific primer pairs were also developed and tested for detection of the common adulterants, Cordyceps gunnii, Cordyceps cicadae, Cordyceps militaris, Cordyceps liangshanensis and Ophiocordyceps nutans. The collection of primers developed in the present study will be useful for the authentication of preparation claiming to only contain O. sinensis and for the detection of fungi used as adulterants in these preparations. PMID:28680424
Reis, Nádia; Franca, Adriana S; Oliveira, Leandro S
2013-10-15
The current study presents an application of Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy for detection and quantification of fraudulent addition of commonly employed adulterants (spent coffee grounds, coffee husks, roasted corn and roasted barley) to roasted and ground coffee. Roasted coffee samples were intentionally blended with the adulterants (pure and mixed), with total adulteration levels ranging from 1% to 66% w/w. Partial Least Squares Regression (PLS) was used to relate the processed spectra to the mass fraction of adulterants and the model obtained provided reliable predictions of adulterations at levels as low as 1% w/w. A robust methodology was implemented that included the detection of outliers. High correlation coefficients (0.99 for calibration; 0.98 for validation) coupled with low degrees of error (1.23% for calibration; 2.67% for validation) confirmed that DRIFTS can be a valuable analytical tool for detection and quantification of adulteration in ground, roasted coffee. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Freeman, Eric
2015-01-01
This analysis of the Atlanta test-cheating scandal differs markedly from the version reported in the press. Using discourse analysis, I examined over 50 articles published in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" ("AJC"), the hometown newspaper at the center of the investigation. Because newspapers are a primary source of…
Detection of starch adulteration in onion powder by FT-NIR and FT-IR spectroscopy
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Adulteration of onion powder with cornstarch was identified by Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The reflectance spectra of 180 pure and adulterated samples (1–35 wt% starch) were collected and preprocessed to generate calibration and predi...
Detection of cow milk adulteration in yak milk by ELISA.
Ren, Q R; Zhang, H; Guo, H Y; Jiang, L; Tian, M; Ren, F Z
2014-10-01
In the current study, a simple, sensitive, and specific ELISA assay using a high-affinity anti-bovine β-casein monoclonal antibody was developed for the rapid detection of cow milk in adulterated yak milk. The developed ELISA was highly specific and could be applied to detect bovine β-casein (10-8,000 μg/mL) and cow milk (1:1,300 to 1:2 dilution) in yak milk. Cross-reactivity was <1% when tested against yak milk. The linear range of adulterant concentration was 1 to 80% (vol/vol) and the minimum detection limit was 1% (vol/vol) cow milk in yak milk. Different treatments, including heating, acidification, and rennet addition, did not interfere with the assay. Moreover, the results were highly reproducible (coefficient of variation <10%) and we detected no significant differences between known and estimated values. Therefore, this assay is appropriate for the routine analysis of yak milk adulterated with cow milk. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Purity and adulterant analysis of crack seizures in Brazil.
Fukushima, André R; Carvalho, Virginia M; Carvalho, Débora G; Diaz, Ernesto; Bustillos, Jose Oscar William Vega; Spinosa, Helenice de S; Chasin, Alice A M
2014-10-01
Cocaine represents a serious problem to society. Smoked cocaine is very addictive and it is frequently associated with violence and health issues. Knowledge of the purity and adulterants present in seized cocaine, as well as variations in drug characteristics are useful to identify drug source and estimate health impact. No data are available regarding smoked cocaine composition in most countries, and the smoked form is increasing in the Brazilian market. The purpose of the present study is to contribute to the current knowledge on the status of crack cocaine seized samples on the illicit market by the police of São Paulo. Thus, 404 samples obtained from street seizures conducted by the police were examined. The specimens were macroscopically characterized by color, form, odor, purity, and adulterant type, as well as smoke composition. Samples were screened for cocaine using modified Scott test and thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) technique. Analyses of purity and adulterants were performed with gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Additionally, smoke composition was analyzed by GC-mass spectrometry (MS), after samples burning. Samples showed different colors and forms, the majority of which is yellow (74.0%) or white (20.0%). Samples free of adulterants represented 76.3% of the total. Mean purity of the analyzed drug was 71.3%. Crack cocaine presented no correlations between macroscopic characteristics and purity. Smoke analysis showed compounds found also in the degradation of diesel and gasoline. Therefore, the drug marketed as crack cocaine in São Paulo has similar characteristics to coca paste. High purity can represent a greater risk of dependency and smoke compounds are possibly worsening drug health impact. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Shim, Eric K S; Chandra, Gleen F; Pedireddy, S; Lee, Soo-Y
2016-09-01
Edible bird's nest (EBN) is made from the glutinous salivary secretion of highly concentrated mucin glycoprotein by swiftlets (genus Aerodramus or Collocalia ) native to the Indo-Pacific region. The unique Raman spectrum of EBN has vibrational lines that can be assigned to peptides and saccharides in the glycoprotein, and it can be used to screen for adulteration. The common edible adulterants classified into two types. Type I adulterants, such as fish bladder, pork skin, karaya gum, coralline seaweed, agar strips, and tremella fungus, were solids which adhered externally on the surface of the EBN cement. They can usually be detected with a microscope based on differences in the surface structure. Type II adulterants were water soluble substances such as saccharides (e.g., glucose, sucrose), polypeptides (e.g., hydrolyzed collagen) and salts (e.g. monosodium glutamate) which can be readily soaked up by the EBN hydrogel when moist and adsorbed internally in the EBN cement matrix forming a composite upon drying, making them difficult to detect visually. The present study showed that Raman microspectroscopy offers a rapid, non-invasive, and label free technique to detect both Type I and II adulterants in EBN.
NIR detection of honey adulteration reveals differences in water spectral pattern.
Bázár, György; Romvári, Róbert; Szabó, András; Somogyi, Tamás; Éles, Viktória; Tsenkova, Roumiana
2016-03-01
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was mixed with four artisanal Robinia honeys at various ratios (0-40%) and near infrared (NIR) spectra were recorded with a fiber optic immersion probe. Levels of HFCS adulteration could be detected accurately using leave-one-honey-out cross-validation (RMSECV=1.48; R(2)CV=0.987), partial least squares regression and the 1300-1800nm spectral interval containing absorption bands related to both water and carbohydrates. Aquaphotomics-based evaluations showed that unifloral honeys contained more highly organized water than the industrial sugar syrup, supposedly because of the greater variety of molecules dissolved in the multi-component honeys. Adulteration with HFCS caused a gradual reduction of water molecular structures, especially water trimers, which facilitate interaction with other molecules. Quick, non-destructive NIR spectroscopy combined with aquaphotomics could be used to describe water molecular structures in honey and to detect a rather common form of adulteration. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Illegal use of nitrogen-rich melamine (C3H6N6) to boost perceived protein content of food products such as milk, infant formula, frozen yogurt, pet food, biscuits, and coffee drinks has caused serious food safety problems. Conventional methods to detect melamine in foods, such as Enzyme-linked immun...
A low cost instrumentation system to analyze different types of milk adulteration.
Das, Siuli; Sivaramakrishna, Mulinti; Biswas, Karabi; Goswami, Bhaswati
2015-05-01
In this paper, the design of a complete instrumentation system to detect different types of milk adulteration has been reported. A simple to use indicator type readout device is reported which can be used by milk community people. A low cost microcontroller based automatic sensing system is also reported to detect 'synthetic milk', which has been reconstructed after adulterating the milk with 'liquid-whey'. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
[A cohort study of longer-term impact of melamine contaminated formula on infant health].
Wang, Pei-xin; Li, Hong-tian; Wang, Lin-lin; Zhang, Long; Zhou, Yu-bo; Liu, Jian-meng
2013-10-15
To prospectively evaluate the health status of infants with exposure to melamine-contaminated milk formula prior to September 2008. The cohort study was conducted in an area close to the manufacturer of Sanlu dairy products. There were three groups (n = 47 each). In September 2008, the exposure group I included infants with exposure to melamine and a diagnosis of renal abnormalities, the exposure group IIhad exposure to melamine but there was no diagnosis of renal abnormalities and the non-exposure group had no exposure to melamine. The exposure II and non-exposure groups were matched with those of exposure group I by birthplaces, gender and date of birth ( ± 3 months). Kidney function tests (urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, uric acid, serum albumin, β2-microglobulin and cystatin C), liver function tests (alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase), growth and development assessment and urinary system ultrasonography were implemented between November 2011 and June 2012. The analysis of covariance (least significant difference method) was performed to compare the differences of relevant variables among three groups. The urinary system ultrasonography showed that all abnormalities disappeared in exposure group I and all infants of another two groups had normal ultrasonography. There were statistically significant differences in serum uric acid and albumin of kidney function in exposure group I, exposure group II and non-exposure group ((344 ± 75) and (338 ± 98) and (282 ± 69) µmol/L , (47 ± 5) and (47 ± 6) and (43 ± 5) g/L, all P < 0.05) among three groups. However the differences in the remaining markers of kidney function, markers of liver function and Z scores of weight-for-age and height-for age were all statistically insignificant (all P > 0.05). Further pair-wise comparisons showed that the levels of serum uric acid and albumin in exposure group I were higher than those in non-exposure group (P = 0.001 and 0.010). And the levels of serum
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Melamine has been used in industrial manufacturing of numerous forms of plastics, fertilizer, adhesives and laminates. In 2008, dairy products tainted with melamine have been reported to be responsible for kidney stones and renal failure among infants and children in China. Some dairy farmers and ma...
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-03-22
...] (Formerly Docket No. 1998N-0046) Compliance Policy Guide Sec. 540.375 Canned Salmon -- Adulteration... of Compliance Policy Guide Sec. 540.375 Canned Salmon -- Adulteration Involving Decomposition (CPG... relating to decomposition in fish and fishery products, including canned salmon, is provided in CPG Sec...
Tittlemier, Sheryl A; Lau, Benjamin P-Y; Ménard, Cathie; Corrigan, Catherine; Sparling, Melissa; Gaertner, Dean; Cao, Xu-Liang; Dabeka, Bob; Hilts, Carla
2010-01-01
A variety of egg-containing, soy-based, fish, shrimp and vegetable products sold in Canada were analysed for melamine (MEL) using a sensitive solid-phase extraction LC-MS/MS analytical method. MEL was detected above the method quantification limit of 0.004 mg/kg in 98 of the 378 samples analysed. Concentrations in the various food product groups ranged 0.00507-0.247 mg/kg (egg-containing items), 0.00408-0.0479 mg/kg (soy-based meat substitutes), 0.00409-1.10 mg/kg (fish and shrimp products), and 0.00464-0.688 mg/kg (vegetable products). MEL was detected less frequently in egg- and soy-containing products. The presence of MEL in most of the Canadian Total Diet Study shrimp composites collected after 2001 suggested the residues in shrimp were caused by a relatively recent exposure to MEL. All concentrations of MEL reported were lower than the 2.5 mg/kg interim standard established for MEL in items containing milk and milk-derived ingredients and the respective maximum residue limits for cyromazine and its metabolite, melamine, in vegetables set by the Canadian Government (2009; http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/chem-chim/melamine/qa-melamine-qr-eng.php#8 ). The consumption of foods containing these low levels of MEL does not constitute a health risk for consumers.
Barcode DNA length polymorphisms vs fatty acid profiling for adulteration detection in olive oil.
Uncu, Ali Tevfik; Uncu, Ayse Ozgur; Frary, Anne; Doganlar, Sami
2017-04-15
The aim of this study was to compare the performance of a DNA-barcode assay with fatty acid profile analysis to authenticate the botanical origin of olive oil. To achieve this aim, we performed a PCR-capillary electrophoresis (PCR-CE) approach on olive oil: seed oil blends using the plastid trnL (UAA) intron barcode. In parallel to genomic analysis, we subjected the samples to gas chromatography analysis of fatty acid composition. While the PCR-CE assay proved equally efficient as gas chromatography analysis in detecting adulteration with soybean, palm, rapeseed, sunflower, sesame, cottonseed and peanut oils, it was superior to the widely utilized analytical chemistry approach in revealing the adulterant species and detecting small quantities of corn and safflower oils in olive oil. Moreover, the DNA-based test correctly identified all tested olive oil: hazelnut oil blends whereas it was not feasible to detect hazelnut oil adulteration through fatty acid profile analysis. Thus, the present research has shown the feasibility of a PCR-CE barcode assay to detect adulteration in olive oil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sisco, Edward; Dake, Jeffrey
2016-04-14
Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS) has been used to detect the presence of non-narcotic adulterants in beverages. The non-narcotic adulterants that were examined in this work incorporated a number low molecular weight alcohols, acetone, ammonium hydroxide, and sodium hypochlorite. Analysis of the adulterants was completed by pipetting 1 µL deposits onto glass microcapillaries along with an appropriate dopant species followed by introduction into the DART gas stream. It was found that detection of these compounds in the complex matrices of common beverages (soda, energy drinks, etc.) was simplified through the use of a dopant species to allow for adduct formation with the desired compound(s) of interest. Other parameters that were investigated included DART gas stream temperature, in source collision induced dissociation, ion polarity, and DART needle voltage. Sensitivities of the technique were found to range from 0.001 % volume fraction to 0.1 % volume fraction, comparable to traditional analyses completed using headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS). Once a method was established using aqueous solutions, , fifteen beverages were spiked with each of the nine adulterants, to simulate real world detection, and in nearly all cases the adulterant could be detected either in pure form, or complexed with the added dopant species. This technique provides a rapid way to directly analyze beverages believed to be contaminated with non-narcotic adulterants at sensitivities similar to or exceeding those of traditional confirmatory analyses.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mignani, A. G.; Ciaccheri, L.; Ottevaere, H.; Thienpont, H.; Conte, L.; Marega, M.; Cichelli, A.; Attilio, C.; Cimato, A.
2010-09-01
A fiber optic setup for diffuse-light absorption spectroscopy in the wide 400-1700 nm spectral range is experimented for detecting and quantifying the adulteration of extra virgin olive oil caused by lower-grade olive oils. Absorption measurements provide spectral fingerprints of authentic and adulterated oils. A multivariate processing of spectroscopic data is applied for discriminating the type of adulterant and for predicting its fraction.
Capote, F Priego; Jiménez, J Ruiz; de Castro, M D Luque
2007-08-01
An analytical method for the sequential detection, identification and quantitation of extra virgin olive oil adulteration with four edible vegetable oils--sunflower, corn, peanut and coconut oils--is proposed. The only data required for this method are the results obtained from an analysis of the lipid fraction by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total number of 566 samples (pure oils and samples of adulterated olive oil) were used to develop the chemometric models, which were designed to accomplish, step-by-step, the three aims of the method: to detect whether an olive oil sample is adulterated, to identify the type of adulterant used in the fraud, and to determine how much aldulterant is in the sample. Qualitative analysis was carried out via two chemometric approaches--soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA) and K nearest neighbours (KNN)--both approaches exhibited prediction abilities that were always higher than 91% for adulterant detection and 88% for type of adulterant identification. Quantitative analysis was based on partial least squares regression (PLSR), which yielded R2 values of >0.90 for calibration and validation sets and thus made it possible to determine adulteration with excellent precision according to the Shenk criteria.
Kim, Chae-Wook; Yun, Jun-Won; Bae, Il-Hong; Lee, Joon-Seok; Kang, Hyun-Jin; Joo, Kyung-Mi; Jeong, Hye-Jin; Chung, Jin-Ho; Park, Young-Ho; Lim, Kyung-Min
2010-01-01
After the outbreak of acute renal failure associated with melamine-contaminated pet food, many attempts have been made to uncover the mechanism underlying the renal toxicity caused by melamine and melamine-related compounds. Using rat models, we investigated the renal crystal formation following the ingestion of a melamine-cyanuric acid mixture (M+CA, 1:1) to gain insight into the M+CA-induced renal toxicity. M+CA did not induce toxicity in precision-cut kidney slices, suggesting that M+CA does not have a direct nephrotoxicity. On the contrary, oral administration of M+CA for 3 days induced nephrotoxicity as determined by increased serum blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, reduced creatinine clearance, and enlarged kidneys in the animals treated with 50 mg/kg M+CA (melamine, 25 mg/kg, and cyanuric acid, 25 mg/kg; 2 of 10 animals) and 100 mg/kg M+CA (9 of 9 animals). While urine crystals were found in all animals treated with M+CA (25-100 mg/kg), histological examination revealed that renal crystals could be observed only in the kidneys of animals showing signs of nephrotoxicity. Remarkably, at 50 mg/kg M+CA, crystals were observed mainly in the medulla region of the kidney, while at 100 mg/kg, crystals were disseminated throughout the cortex and medulla regions. To further investigate the crystal formation by M+CA, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization quadrupole time-of-flight (MALDI-Q-TOF) imaging mass spectrometry detecting melamine distribution through monitoring the product ion (m/z 85, M + H) from melamine (m/z 127, M + H) was developed to directly obtain the image of melamine distribution in the kidney. The distribution image of melamine in kidney tissue confirmed that dense points of melamine were located only in the medulla region at 50 mg/kg M+CA, while at 100 mg/kg, they were disseminated widely from the cortex to medulla. These results demonstrated that M+CA ingestion could lead to crystal formation in kidney tubules along the osmotic gradient and
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Holland, Alice R.
2015-01-01
The outcomes of The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) child sexual abuse scandal have left many scholars and individuals questioning the university's collective identity. The goal of this research was to uncover the dominant themes that describe a problematic institutional response to the child sexual abuse incidents in order to provide…
Detection of plant-based adulterants in turmeric powder using DNA barcoding.
Parvathy, V A; Swetha, V P; Sheeja, T E; Sasikumar, B
2015-01-01
In its powdered form, turmeric [Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae)], a spice of medical importance, is often adulterated lowering its quality. The study sought to detect plant-based adulterants in traded turmeric powder using DNA barcoding. Accessions of Curcuma longa L., Curcuma zedoaria Rosc. (Zingiberaceae), and cassava starch served as reference samples. Three barcoding loci, namely ITS, rbcL, and matK, were used for PCR amplification of the reference samples and commercial samples representing 10 different companies. PCR success rate, sequencing efficiency, occurrence of SNPs, and BLAST analysis were used to assess the potential of the barcoding loci in authenticating the traded samples of turmeric. The PCR and sequencing success of the loci rbcL and ITS were found to be 100%, whereas matK showed no amplification. ITS proved to be the ideal locus because it showed greater variability than rbcL in discriminating the Curcuma species. The presence of C. zedoaria could be detected in one of the samples whereas cassava starch, wheat, barley, and rye in other two samples although the label claimed nothing other than turmeric powder in the samples. Unlabeled materials in turmeric powder are considered as adulterants or fillers, added to increase the bulk weight and starch content of the commodity for economic gains. These adulterants pose potential health hazards to consumers who are allergic to these plants, lowering the product's medicinal value and belying the claim that the product is gluten free. The study proved DNA barcoding as an efficient tool for testing the integrity and the authenticity of commercial products of turmeric.
Ishwar, Shailesh; Dudeja, Puja; Shankar, Pooja; Swain, Santosh; Mukherji, Sandip
2018-01-01
Food adulteration includes various forms of practices, including mixing, substituting, concealing the quality of food, etc. One of the main causes for rampant adulteration is ignorance of consumer regarding their right and responsibilities resulting in faulty buying practices. Hence, the present study was done to assess the knowledge about adulteration among consumers in an urban slum. A community-based cross-sectional study was done among residents of an urban slum over a period of 2 months. Adults responsible for purchasing groceries for the household were included. A sample size of 100 was taken and pilot-tested questionnaire was administered. All of them were made aware about adulteration. The mean age of the study subjects was 40.2 ± 11.7 years. Only 7% of the study subjects were illiterate. Good practices like checking of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) logo (90%), Agmark logo (76%) and nutrition label (65%) are lacking among the majority. The most prominent source of knowledge about adulteration is mass media especially television (65%). Almost 40% of the study subjects are unaware about the consumer empowering initiative ' Jago Grahak Jago '. Factors which had a strong positive relationship with good practices like checking of nutrition label, FSSAI logo, Agmark logo, seal and expiry date are age, education status and socio-economic status ( p value ≤ 0.05). Majority of study subjects are unaware about adulteration. ' Jago Grahak Jago ' initiative which empowers the consumers has to be instilled in the minds of consumers. Awareness and motivation will lead to empowerment and end the menace of food adulteration.
Ching, Chor Kwan; Chen, Sammy Pak Lam; Lee, Hencher Han Chih; Lam, Ying Hoo; Ng, Sau Wah; Chen, Mo Lung; Tang, Magdalene Huen Yin; Chan, Suzanne Suk San; Ng, Candy Wai Yan; Cheung, Jana Wing Lan; Chan, Tina Yee Ching; Lau, Nike Kwai Cheung; Chong, Yeow Kuan; Mak, Tony Wing Lai
2018-01-01
Proprietary Chinese medicines (pCMs) and health products, generally believed to be natural and safe, are gaining popularity worldwide. However, the safety of pCMs and health products has been severely compromised by the practice of adulteration. The current study aimed to examine the problem of adulteration of pCMs and health products in Hong Kong. The present study was conducted in a tertiary referral clinical toxicology laboratory in Hong Kong. All cases involving the use of pCMs or health products, which were subsequently confirmed to contain undeclared adulterants, from 2005 to 2015 were reviewed retrospectively. A total of 404 cases involving the use of 487 adulterated pCMs or health products with a total of 1234 adulterants were identified. The adulterants consisted of approved drugs, banned drugs, drug analogues and animal thyroid tissue. The six most common categories of adulterants detected were nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (17.7%), anorectics (15.3%), corticosteroids (13.8%), diuretics and laxatives (11.4%), oral antidiabetic agents (10.0%) and erectile dysfunction drugs (6.0%). Sibutramine was the most common adulterant (n = 155). The reported sources of these illicit products included over-the-counter drug stores, the internet and Chinese medicine practitioners. A significant proportion of patients (65.1%) had adverse effects attributable to these illicit products, including 14 severe and two fatal cases. Psychosis, iatrogenic Cushing syndrome and hypoglycaemia were the three most frequently encountered adverse effects. Adulteration of pCMs and health products with undeclared drugs poses severe health hazards. Public education and effective regulatory measures are essential to address the problem. © 2017 The British Pharmacological Society.
Kim, Jin-Man; Kim, Ha-Jung; Park, Jung-Min
2015-09-01
This study assessed the potential application of gas chromatography (GC) in detecting milk fat (MF) adulteration with vegetable oils and animal fats and of characterizing samples by fat source. One hundred percent pure MF was adulterated with different vegetable oils and animal fats at various concentrations (0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 90%). GC was used to obtain the fatty acid (FA) profiles, triacylglycerol (TG) contents, and cholesterol contents. The pure MF and the adulterated MF samples were discriminated based on the total concentrations of saturated FAs and on the 2 major FAs (oleic acid [C18:1n9c] and linoleic acid [C18:2n6c], TGs [C52 and C54], and cholesterol contents using statistical analysis to compared difference. These bio-markers enabled the detection of as low as 10% adulteration of non-MF into 100% pure MF. The study demonstrated the high potential of GC to rapidly detect MF adulteration with vegetable and animal fats, and discriminate among commercial butter and milk products according to the fat source. These data can be potentially useful in detecting foreign fats in these butter products. Furthermore, it is important to consider that several individual samples should be analyzed before coming to a conclusion about MF authenticity. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®
Bujang, Nur Baizura; Chee, Chin Fei; Heh, Choon Han; Rahman, Noorsaadah Abd; Buckle, Michael J C
2017-07-01
Adulteration of herbal health supplements with phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors and their analogues is becoming a worldwide problem. The aim of this study was to investigate herbal and food products sold in the Malaysian market for the presence of these adulterants. Sixty-two products that claim to enhance men's sexual health were sampled between April 2014 and April 2016. These products included unregistered products seized by the Pharmacy Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Health (n = 39), products sent to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency for pre-registration testing (n = 9) and products investigated under the post-registration market surveillance programme (n = 14). The products were tested against an in-house spectral library consisting of 61 PDE-5 inhibitors and analogues using a validated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry ion-trap-time-of-flight (LC-MS IT-TOF) method. Thirty-two (82%) of the unregistered products and two (14%) of the registered products were found to be adulterated with at least one PDE-5 inhibitor or analogue, while none of the pre-registration products contained adulterants. A total of 16 different adulterants were detected and 36% of the adulterated products contained a mixture of two or more adulterants. This study has demonstrated that the adulteration of unregistered herbal products in the Malaysian market is an alarming issue that needs to be urgently addressed by the relevant authorities.
Efficient adsorption of Hg (II) ions in water by activated carbon modified with melamine
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qin, Hangdao; Meng, Jingling; Chen, Jing
2018-04-01
Removal of Hg (II) ions from industrial wastewater is important for the water treatment, and adsorption is an efficient treatment process. Activated carbon (AC) was modified with melamine, which introduced nitrogen-containing functional groups onto AC surface. Original AC and melamine modified activated carbon (ACM) were characterized by elemental analysis, N2 adsorption-desorption, determination of the pH of the point of zero charge (pHpzc) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and their performance in the adsorption of Hg(II) ions was investigated. Langmuir model fitted the experimental data of equilibrium isotherms well. ACM showed the higher Hg (II) ions adsorption capacity, increasing more than more than 1.8 times compared to the original one. Moreover, ACM showed a wider pH range for the maximum adsorption than the parent AC.
He, Qiqi; Yue, Zhongjin; Tang, XiaoShuang; Chang, Hong; Wang, Wei; Shi, Wei; Wang, Zhiping; Shang, Panfeng
2014-10-01
Abstract An epidemic of urinary tract stones was noted among infants in China, 2008. This event was believed to be associated with consumption melamine-contaminated powdered formula. The patients with symptoms and clinical manifests had already been analyzed in our previous studies. In this study, our aim is to investigate the risk factors of melamine-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) and the potential relationship toward children growth in our five years follow-up. A total of 619 infants with melamine-associated urolithiasis were admitted into 20 different hospitals in the Gansu province, China. All clinical data were divided into AKI and control groups according to the occurrence of AKI. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed with a logistic regression model to assess the independent risk factors of AKI. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds ratio (OR) of AKI was 19.62 in the group of infants who consumed Sanlu® milk powdered infant milk formula. A higher prevalence of AKI was observed in infants age of 6-11 months (OR: 9.59, p < 0.01) and 12-17 months (OR: 5.06, p < 0.01). Multivariate analysis also indicated that any one symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), diarrhea, dehydration and fever (OR: 4.29, p < 0.01) were independent risk factors of AKI. Therefore, this study demonstrated that high melamine infant formula (Sanlu® milk powdered infant formula), age (6-17 months) and symptoms of URTI, diarrhea, dehydration or fever were risk factors of AKI in infants with melamine-associated urolithiasis.
Du, Lijuan; Lu, Weiying; Cai, Zhenzhen Julia; Bao, Lei; Hartmann, Christoph; Gao, Boyan; Yu, Liangli Lucy
2018-02-01
Flow injection mass spectrometry (FIMS) combined with chemometrics was evaluated for rapidly detecting economically motivated adulteration (EMA) of milk. Twenty-two pure milk and thirty-five counterparts adulterated with soybean, pea, and whey protein isolates at 0.5, 1, 3, 5, and 10% (w/w) levels were analyzed. The principal component analysis (PCA), partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and support vector machine (SVM) classification models indicated that the adulterated milks could successfully be classified from the pure milks. FIMS combined with chemometrics might be an effective method to detect possible EMA in milk. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Das, Chirantan; Chakraborty, Subhadip; Acharya, Krishnendu; Bera, Nirmal Kumar; Chattopadhyay, Dipankar; Karmakar, Anupam; Chattopadhyay, Sanatan
2017-08-15
This study sought to detect the presence of sucrose as an adulterant in selected honey varieties from different floral origins by employing Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) technique which has been simultaneously supported by Fourier Transform-Mid Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-MIR) measurements to provide a rapid, robust yet simple platform for honey quality evaluation. Variation of electrical parameters such as impedance, capacitance and conductance for 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% and 70% (w/w) sucrose syrup (SS) adulterated honey samples are analyzed and their respective current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are studied. Capacitance, conductance and net current flowing through the system are observed to decrease linearly whereas system impedance has been found to increase similarly with the increase in adulterant content. Also, FT-MIR measurements in the spectral region between 1800cm -1 and 650cm -1 reveal the increment of absorbance values due to the addition of SS. Full-Width-at-Half-Maximum (FWHM) is estimated from the spectral peak 1056cm -1 for all pure and adulterated honey samples and is observed to be linearly increasing with increase in adulterant content. Finally, the coefficient of sensitivity has been extracted for all varieties of honey considered in terms of the measured conductance values. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Moreira, Maria João
2018-01-01
The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with chemometric methods to detect fish adulteration. Muscles of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) (SS) and Salmon trout (Onconrhynchus mykiss) (OM) muscles were mixed in different percentages and transformed into mini-burgers. These were stored at 3 °C, then examined at 0, 72, 160, and 240 h for deteriorative microorganisms. Mini-burgers was submitted to Soxhlet extraction, following which lipid extracts were analyzed by FTIR. The principal component analysis (PCA) described the studied adulteration using four principal components with an explained variance of 95.60%. PCA showed that the absorbance in the spectral region from 721, 1097, 1370, 1464, 1655, 2805, to 2935, 3009 cm−1 may be attributed to biochemical fingerprints related to differences between SS and OM. The partial least squares regression (PLS-R) predicted the presence/absence of adulteration in fish samples of an external set with high accuracy. The proposed methods have the advantage of allowing quick measurements, despite the storage time of the adulterated fish. FTIR combined with chemometrics showed that a methodology to identify the adulteration of SS with OM can be established, even when stored for different periods of time. PMID:29621135
Torrecilla, José S; García, Julián; García, Silvia; Rodríguez, Francisco
2011-03-04
The combination of lag-k autocorrelation coefficients (LCCs) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) equipment is defined here as a tool to detect and quantify adulterations of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) with refined olive (ROO), refined olive pomace (ROPO), sunflower (SO) or corn (CO) oils, when the adulterating agents concentration are less than 14%. The LCC is calculated from TGA scans of adulterated EVOO samples. Then, the standardized skewness of this coefficient has been applied to classify pure and adulterated samples of EVOO. In addition, this chaotic parameter has also been used to quantify the concentration of adulterant agents, by using successful linear correlation of LCCs and ROO, ROPO, SO or CO in 462 EVOO adulterated samples. In the case of detection, more than 82% of adulterated samples have been correctly classified. In the case of quantification of adulterant concentration, by an external validation process, the LCC/TGA approach estimates the adulterant agents concentration with a mean correlation coefficient (estimated versus real adulterant agent concentration) greater than 0.90 and a mean square error less than 4.9%. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Raman spectral imaging technique on detection of melamine in skim milk powder
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
A point-scan Raman spectral imaging system was used for quantitative detection of melamine in milk powder. A sample depth of 2 mm and corresponding laser intensity of 200 mW were selected after evaluating the penetration of a 785 nm laser through milk powder. Horizontal and vertical spatial resoluti...
Dufner, Annette; Harris, John
2015-06-01
A recent organ distribution scandal in Germany raises questions of general importance on which many thousands of lives may well depend. The scandal in Germany has produced reactions that are likely to occur whenever and wherever distribution irregularities occur and become public knowledge. After it had become known that physicians in three German hospitals were in the habit of manipulating records in order to fast-track their patients' cases, the country experienced a decrease of available organs by a staggering 40% in October 2012. Even though this loss of trust by donors and their families is understandable, and potentially a legitimate form of protest against wrongful distribution, the withdrawal of agreement to serve as a posthumous donor in response to irregularities also inevitably results in avoidable poor outcomes for highly vulnerable individuals. In this paper, we provide a moral analysis of such dilemmas and make recommendations as to the way forward. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
On the front lines: Stakeholder threat cues determine how identified employees cope with scandal.
Grandey, Alicia A; Krannitz, Morgan A; Slezak, Tyler
2015-07-01
When organizational identity is threatened as a result of scandal, highly identified members who represent the threatened organization to stakeholders have a particularly challenging and overlooked experience. Addressing a theoretical paradox, we propose that organizational identification interacts with the threat cues from stakeholders to determine employee responses. We conducted a multimethod, in vivo test of these ideas with university fundraising employees after events threatened the university's moral identity. Interview and archival data demonstrated that stakeholders expressed identity threat to fundraisers, who experienced their own identity-related distress and engaged in both group-dissociative and group-affirming responses. Surveys of professional and student university fundraisers demonstrated that more identified employees were more distressed (e,g., felt anxious, grief, betrayed) regardless of stakeholder threat cues. Yet, when employees perceived weak threat cues from stakeholders, more identified members were less likely to dissociate from the group and more likely to affirm the group's positive identity with stakeholders. These benefits of identification were not present when the stakeholder threat cues were strong. We discuss future research and practical implications of front-line employee identification and stakeholder cues during scandal. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Sun, Ning; Shen, Ying; Sun, Qiang; Li, Xu-ran; Jia, Li-qun; Zhang, Gui-ju; Zhang, Wei-ping; Chen, Zhi; Fan, Jian-feng; Jiang, Ye-ping; Feng, Dong-chuan; Zhang, Rui-feng; Zhu, Xiao-yu; Xiao, Hong-zhan
2009-02-05
Infants in some areas of China developed urinary lithiasis after being fed with powdered milk that was tainted with melamine in 2008 and very small proportion of the infants developed acute renal failure caused by urinary tract calculus obstruction. The aim of this article was to summarize clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of infants with urinary calculus and acute renal failure developed after being fed with melamine tainted formula milk. Data of infant patients with urinary calculus and acute renal failure due to melamine tainted formula milk admitted to the Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Medical University and the Xuzhou Children's Hospital in 2008 were used to analyze the epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, imaging features as well as effects of 4 types of therapies. All the 34 infants with urinary calculus were complicated with acute renal failure, their blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was (24.1+/-8.2) mmol/L and creatinine (Cr) was (384.2+/-201.2) micromol/L. The chemical analysis on the urinary calculus sampled from 15 of the infants showed that the calculus contained melamine and acidum uricum. The time needed for the four types of therapies for returning Cr to normal was (3.5+/-1.9) days for cystoscopy group, (2.7+/-1.1) days for lithotomy group, (3.8+/-2.3) days for dialysis group, and (2.7+/-1.6) days for medical treatment group, which had no statistically significant difference (P=0.508). Renal failure of all the 34 infants was relieved within 1 to 7 days, averaging (3.00+/-1.78) days. Melamine tainted formula milk may cause urinary calculus and obstructive acute renal failure. It is suggested that firstly the patients with urinary calculus complicated with acute renal failure should be treated with dialysis or medication to correct electrolyte disturbance, in particular hyperkalemia, and then relieve the obstruction with available medical and surgical methods as soon as possible. It was observed
Torrecilla, José S; Rojo, Ester; Domínguez, Juan C; Rodríguez, Francisco
2010-02-10
A simple and novel method to quantify adulterations of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) with refined olive oil (ROO) and refined olive-pomace oil (ROPO) is described here. This method consists of calculating chaotic parameters (Lyapunov exponent, autocorrelation coefficients, and two fractal dimensions, CPs) from UV-vis scans of adulterated EVOO samples. These parameters have been successfully linearly correlated with the ROO or ROPO concentrations in 396 EVOO adulterated samples. By an external validation process, when the adulterating agent concentration is less than 10%, the integrated CPs/UV-vis model estimates the adulterant agent concentration with a mean correlation coefficient (estimated versus real concentration of low grade olive oil) greater than 0.97 and a mean square error of less than 1%. In light of these results, this detector is suitable not only to detect adulterations but also to measure impurities when, for instance, a higher grade olive oil is transferred to another storage tank in which lower grade olive oil was stored that had not been adequately cleaned.
Ma, Yuan-Chun; Mani, Ana; Cai, Yaling; Thomson, Jaclyn; Ma, Jie; Peudru, Flavie; Chen, Sarah; Luo, Mai; Zhang, Junzeng; Chapman, Robert G; Shi, Zhen-Tuo
2016-04-15
Ginkgo biloba L. (Ginkgoaceae) leaf extract is one of the most popular herbal products on the market, as it contains flavone glycosides (≥ 24%) and terpene lactones (≥ 6%), which are proposed to have significant physiological effects. Unfortunately, the challenging financial climate has resulted in a natural health product market containing adulterated ginkgo products. 42 ginkgo samples were analyzed to establish an HPLC profile for authentic ginkgo and common ginkgo adulterants, and to develop a method capable of easily detecting adulteration in ginkgo commercial products. In this study an efficient and targeted HPLC analysis method was established that is capable of distinguishing flavonol glycosides and aglycones simultaneously for the evaluation of ginkgo powdered extracts (PEs) and finished products in a single, 13 min run. Thirteen ginkgo leaf samples, fifteen standardized powdered extracts, and fourteen commercially available ginkgo products have been analyzed using this new HPLC method. Chromatograms were compared to six standard reference materials: one flavonol glycoside (rutin), three aglycones (quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin), and two isoflavones (genestin and genistein). The quantitative chromatographic data was interpreted by principal component analysis (PCA), which assisted in the detection of unexpected chromatographic features in various adulterated botanical products. Only three of the commercially available ginkgo finished products tested in this study were determined to be authentic, with flavonol glycoside rutin, and aglycones quercetin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin found to be common adulterants in the ginkgo powdered extract and finished product samples. Despite evidence of adulteration in most of the samples, each of the samples discussed herein met most of the current pharmacopeial standards. It is therefore critical that a preliminary evaluation be utilized to detect adulteration in commercial ginkgo products, prior to the
Finete, Virginia de Lourdes Mendes; Gouvêa, Marcos Martins; Marques, Flávia Ferreira de Carvalho; Netto, Annibal Duarte Pereira
2014-06-01
Experimental studies of the natural photoluminescence of melamine in aqueous solutions showed that its fluorescence intensity (at 250/365 nm) was appropriated for analytical purposes. The exploitation of such melamine property provided the basis of development of a new, simple, precise and accurate method based on high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-Fluo) to determine melamine in kitchen plastic ware following aqueous extraction using a microwave oven. Optimization of analytical parameters such as solvent composition, pH and extraction conditions led to limits of detection and quantification of melamine of 0.0081 and 0.027 μg mL(-1), respectively, with a linear range up to 10 μg mL(-1). Sample extracts fortified with melamine at three concentration levels produced an average recovery of 98±6%, which was in agreement with the results achieved with a reference HPLC-UV method. Different samples of kitchen plastic ware analyzed by the developed and optimized method showed melamine concentrations in the aqueous extract up to 17 µg mL(-1), which corresponded to 86.0 mg kg(-1) in these utensils. The results obtained indicate that the use of kitchen plastic ware made of melamine can contaminate food with this compound after heating in a microwave oven. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qu, Lei; Chen, Jian-bo; Zhou, Qun; Zhang, Gui-jun; Sun, Su-qin; Guo, Yi-zhen
2016-11-01
As a kind of expensive perfume and valuable herb, the commercial Aquilariae Lignum Resinatum (ALR) is often adulterated for economic motivations. In this research, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and two-dimensional (2D) correlation analysis are employed to establish a simple and quick identification method for the authentic and adulterated ALR. In the conventional infrared spectra, the standard ALR has a strong peak at 1658 cm-1 referring to the conjugated carbonyl of resin, while this peak is absent in the adulterated samples. The position, intensity, and shape of the auto-peaks and cross-peaks of the authentic and adulterated ALR are much different in the synchronous 2D correlation spectra with thermal perturbation. In the range of 1700-1500 cm-1, the standard ALR has four obvious auto-peaks, while the strongest one is at 1659 cm-1. The adulterated sample w-1 has three obvious auto-peaks and the strongest one is at 1647 cm-1. The adulterated sample w-2 has three obvious auto-peaks and the strongest one is at 1519 cm-1. The adulterated sample w-3 has four obvious auto-peaks and the strongest one is at 1690 cm-1. The above auto-peaks confirm that the standard ALR contains a certain content of resin compounds, while the three counterfeits contain little or different resins. The results show the potential of FT-IR spectroscopy and 2D correlation analysis in the simple and quick identification of authentic and adulterated ALR.
Balabin, Roman M; Smirnov, Sergey V
2011-07-15
Melamine (2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine) is a nitrogen-rich chemical implicated in the pet and human food recalls and in the global food safety scares involving milk products. Due to the serious health concerns associated with melamine consumption and the extensive scope of affected products, rapid and sensitive methods to detect melamine's presence are essential. We propose the use of spectroscopy data-produced by near-infrared (near-IR/NIR) and mid-infrared (mid-IR/MIR) spectroscopies, in particular-for melamine detection in complex dairy matrixes. None of the up-to-date reported IR-based methods for melamine detection has unambiguously shown its wide applicability to different dairy products as well as limit of detection (LOD) below 1 ppm on independent sample set. It was found that infrared spectroscopy is an effective tool to detect melamine in dairy products, such as infant formula, milk powder, or liquid milk. ALOD below 1 ppm (0.76±0.11 ppm) can be reached if a correct spectrum preprocessing (pretreatment) technique and a correct multivariate (MDA) algorithm-partial least squares regression (PLS), polynomial PLS (Poly-PLS), artificial neural network (ANN), support vector regression (SVR), or least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM)-are used for spectrum analysis. The relationship between MIR/NIR spectrum of milk products and melamine content is nonlinear. Thus, nonlinear regression methods are needed to correctly predict the triazine-derivative content of milk products. It can be concluded that mid- and near-infrared spectroscopy can be regarded as a quick, sensitive, robust, and low-cost method for liquid milk, infant formula, and milk powder analysis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Scandal on the Plains: William F. Slocum, Edward S. Parsons, and the Colorado College Controversies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dunn, Joe P.
2010-01-01
This is a story about a scandal that took place on the western frontier, a sexual harassment crisis involving one of the giants of late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century education and the disgraceful treatment of the man who pursued the case. The treatment of the two related incidents in the several official histories of the institution…
Tan, Jin; Li, Rong; Jiang, Zi-Tao; Tang, Shu-Hua; Wang, Ying; Shi, Meng; Xiao, Yi-Qian; Jia, Bin; Lu, Tian-Xiang; Wang, Hao
2017-02-15
Synchronous front-face fluorescence spectroscopy has been developed for the discrimination of used frying oil (UFO) from edible vegetable oil (EVO), the estimation of the using time of UFO, and the determination of the adulteration of EVO with UFO. Both the heating time of laboratory prepared UFO and the adulteration of EVO with UFO could be determined by partial least squares regression (PLSR). To simulate the EVO adulteration with UFO, for each kind of oil, fifty adulterated samples at the adulterant amounts range of 1-50% were prepared. PLSR was then adopted to build the model and both full (leave-one-out) cross-validation and external validation were performed to evaluate the predictive ability. Under the optimum condition, the plots of observed versus predicted values exhibited high linearity (R(2)>0.96). The root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV) and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) were both lower than 3%. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cao, Liang; Yuan, Yuan; Chen, Min; Jin, Yan; Huang, Luqi
2014-01-01
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most important and expensive medicinal spice products in the world. Because of its high market value and premium price, saffron is often adulterated through the incorporation of other materials, such as Carthamus tinctorius L. and Calendula officinalis L. flowers, Hemerocallis L. petals, Daucus carota L. fleshy root, Curcuma longa L. rhizomes, Zea may L., and Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. stigmas. To develop a straightforward, nonsequencing method for rapid, sensitive, and discriminating detection of these adulterants in traded saffron, we report here the application of a barcoding melting curve analysis method (Bar-MCA) that uses the universal chloroplast plant DNA barcoding region trnH-psbA to identify adulterants. When amplified at DNA concentrations and annealing temperatures optimized for the curve analysis, peaks were formed at specific locations for saffron (81.92°C) and the adulterants: D. carota (81.60°C), C. tinctorius (80.10°C), C. officinalis (79.92°C), Dendranthema morifolium (Ramat.) Tzvel. (79.62°C), N. nucifera (80.58°C), Hemerocallis fulva (L.) L. (84.78°C), and Z. mays (84.33°C). The constructed melting curves for saffron and its adulterants have significantly different peak locations or shapes. In conclusion, Bar-MCA could be a faster and more cost-effective method to authenticate saffron and detect its adulterants. PMID:25548775
Jiang, Chao; Cao, Liang; Yuan, Yuan; Chen, Min; Jin, Yan; Huang, Luqi
2014-01-01
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most important and expensive medicinal spice products in the world. Because of its high market value and premium price, saffron is often adulterated through the incorporation of other materials, such as Carthamus tinctorius L. and Calendula officinalis L. flowers, Hemerocallis L. petals, Daucus carota L. fleshy root, Curcuma longa L. rhizomes, Zea may L., and Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. stigmas. To develop a straightforward, nonsequencing method for rapid, sensitive, and discriminating detection of these adulterants in traded saffron, we report here the application of a barcoding melting curve analysis method (Bar-MCA) that uses the universal chloroplast plant DNA barcoding region trnH-psbA to identify adulterants. When amplified at DNA concentrations and annealing temperatures optimized for the curve analysis, peaks were formed at specific locations for saffron (81.92°C) and the adulterants: D. carota (81.60°C), C. tinctorius (80.10°C), C. officinalis (79.92°C), Dendranthema morifolium (Ramat.) Tzvel. (79.62°C), N. nucifera (80.58°C), Hemerocallis fulva (L.) L. (84.78°C), and Z. mays (84.33°C). The constructed melting curves for saffron and its adulterants have significantly different peak locations or shapes. In conclusion, Bar-MCA could be a faster and more cost-effective method to authenticate saffron and detect its adulterants.
Nie, Pengcheng; Wu, Di; Sun, Da-Wen; Cao, Fang; Bao, Yidan; He, Yong
2013-01-01
Notoginseng is a classical traditional Chinese medical herb, which is of high economic and medical value. Notoginseng powder (NP) could be easily adulterated with Sophora flavescens powder (SFP) or corn flour (CF), because of their similar tastes and appearances and much lower cost for these adulterants. The objective of this study is to quantify the NP content in adulterated NP by using a rapid and non-destructive visible and near infrared (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy method. Three wavelength ranges of visible spectra, short-wave near infrared spectra (SNIR) and long-wave near infrared spectra (LNIR) were separately used to establish the model based on two calibration methods of partial least square regression (PLSR) and least-squares support vector machines (LS-SVM), respectively. Competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) was conducted to identify the most important wavelengths/variables that had the greatest influence on the adulterant quantification throughout the whole wavelength range. The CARS-PLSR models based on LNIR were determined as the best models for the quantification of NP adulterated with SFP, CF, and their mixtures, in which the rP values were 0.940, 0.939, and 0.867 for the three models respectively. The research demonstrated the potential of the Vis-NIR spectroscopy technique for the rapid and non-destructive quantification of NP containing adulterants. PMID:24129019
Mabood, Fazal; Abbas, Ghulam; Jabeen, Farah; Naureen, Zakira; Al-Harrasi, Ahmed; Hamaed, Ahmad M; Hussain, Javid; Al-Nabhani, Mahmood; Al Shukaili, Maryam S; Khan, Alamgir; Manzoor, Suryyia
2018-03-01
Cows' butterfat may be adulterated with animal fat materials like tallow which causes increased serum cholesterol and triglycerides levels upon consumption. There is no reliable technique to detect and quantify tallow adulteration in butter samples in a feasible way. In this study a highly sensitive near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometric methods was developed to detect as well as quantify the level of tallow adulterant in clarified butter samples. For this investigation the pure clarified butter samples were intentionally adulterated with tallow at the following percentage levels: 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, 9%, 11%, 13%, 15%, 17% and 20% (wt/wt). Altogether 99 clarified butter samples were used including nine pure samples (un-adulterated clarified butter) and 90 clarified butter samples adulterated with tallow. Each sample was analysed by using NIR spectroscopy in the reflection mode in the range 10,000-4000 cm -1 , at 2 cm -1 resolution and using the transflectance sample accessory which provided a total path length of 0.5 mm. Chemometric models including principal components analysis (PCA), partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), and partial least-squares regressions (PLSR) were applied for statistical treatment of the obtained NIR spectral data. The PLSDA model was employed to differentiate pure butter samples from those adulterated with tallow. The employed model was then externally cross-validated by using a test set which included 30% of the total butter samples. The excellent performance of the model was proved by the low RMSEP value of 1.537% and the high correlation factor of 0.95. This newly developed method is robust, non-destructive, highly sensitive, and economical with very minor sample preparation and good ability to quantify less than 1.5% of tallow adulteration in clarified butter samples.
A method based on coffee-ring deposition confocal Raman spectroscopy of analysis of melamine in milk
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tan, Zong; Chen, Da
2016-10-01
In this work, an economical and high-efficiency method for detection of melamine in milk was developed. The enrichment effect of coffee-ring was combined with the micro-region analysis of confocal Raman spectroscopy, in addition, assisted with chemometric algorithmthe. Consequently, a desired result was obtained that the LOD of melamine in this method was 1 ppm, which was excellent because the sensitivity of conventional Raman detection was generally low. Furthermore, the whole process were processed in an easily available condition with almost no chemical reagents consumption, and the chosen substrates for the formation of coffee-ring were reusable. Thus, the method is environmental friendly and has a great potential application in food safety inspection.
Metal adatoms generated by the co-play of melamine assembly and subsequent CO adsorption.
Wang, Li; Chen, Qiwei; Shi, Hong; Liu, Huihui; Ren, Xinguo; Wang, Bing; Wu, Kai; Shao, Xiang
2016-01-28
Molecular self-assembly films are expected to tailor the surface process by the periodic nanostructures and add-on functional groups. In this work, a molecular network of melamine with featured pores of subnanometer size is prepared on the Au(111) surface, and is found to be able to trap the gold adatoms and concomitant single vacancies generated under the impingement of CO molecules at room temperature. DFT calculations suggest that the strong CO-Au adatom interaction as well as the high adhesion of the Au adatom inside the melamine pore could well be the driving force behind such process. This study not only sheds light onto the interactions between gasses and the metal surface that is covered by molecular self-assembly films, but also provides a novel route to manipulate the monoatomic surface species which is of catalytic interest.
Xue, Shu-Wen; Li, Jing; Xu, Li
2017-05-01
Magnetic melamine-formaldehyde resin was prepared via water-in-oil emulsification approach by entrapping Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles as the core. The preparation of the magnetic resin was optimized by investigating the amount of polyethylene glycol 20000 and Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles, the concentration of the catalyst (hydrochloric acid), as well as the mechanical stirring rate. The prepared material was characteristic of excellent anion-exchange capacity, good water wettability, and proper magnetism. Its application was demonstrated by magnetic solid-phase extraction of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs coupled to high performance liquid chromatography-UV analysis. Under the optimal conditions, the proposed method showed broad linear range of 1-5000 ng mL -1 of milk and urine samples, satisfactory reproducibility with intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations less than 12.4% and 9.7%, respectively, and low limits of detection of 0.2 ng mL -1 for the studied nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The developed method was successfully used for the determination of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in spiked urine and milk samples. The magnetic melamine-formaldehyde resin was promising for the sample pretreatment of acidic analytes via anion-exchange interaction with convenient operation from complex sample matrix. Graphical abstract Magnetic solid-phase extraction based on melamine-formaldehyde resin.
Liu, Jian-meng; Ren, Aiguo; Yang, Lei; Gao, Jinji; Pei, Lijun; Ye, Rongwei; Qu, Quangang; Zheng, Xiaoying
2010-01-01
Background Kidney damage related to consumption of melamine-contaminated dairy products by young children in China has been described. However, no studies have reported on the population-based prevalence of kidney damage among exposed children or on the condition of affected children after follow-up. Methods We conducted an ultrasound-based screening in September 2008 of 7933 children younger than 36 months of age who lived in a rural area in China where the dairy products most highly contaminated with melamine were sold. We monitored children who had evidence of nephrolithiasis or hydronephrosis at screening using renal ultrasonography after one, three and six months. We also collected information from the mothers of affected children about consumption of melamine-contaminated products between June and August 2008. Results The overall prevalence of urinary tract abnormalities among screened children was 0.61% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.45%–0.80%). The mean exposure dose of melamine was estimated to be 116 (range 36–220) mg per day. Of the 48 affected children, 43 (89.6%) were asymptomatic, 2 had symptoms and were hospitalized, and 3 had symptoms but treatment had been not sought for them. Of the 46 children for whom six-month follow-up information was available, renal abnormalities persisted in 5 children and resolved in the remaining 41. Interpretation Among children who underwent screening, 0.61% showed ultrasonographic evidence of nephrolithiasis or hydronephrosis. Most of the affected children were asymptomatic. The majority of the affected children recovered from the toxic effects of melamine over time without specific treatment. Renal abnormalities remained in 12% of the affected children. PMID:20176755
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Noever, David A.; Sibille, Laurent; Smith, David; Cronise, Raymond
1998-01-01
There is a current lack of environmentally acceptable foams to insulate Long-Duration Human Spaceflight Missions, including the experimental Express Rack for the Space Station. A recent 60-day manned test in a sealed chamber at Johnson Space Center (JSC) was nearly aborted, because of persistently high formaldehyde concentrations in the chamber. Subsequent investigation showed that the source was melamine foam (used extensively for acoustic insulation). The thermal and acoustic potential for melamine-foam substitutes is evaluated for scale-up to a silica-based foam and aerogel, which is environmentally benign for long duration space flight. These features will be discussed in reference to an aerogel prototype to: 1) assemble material strength data for various formulated aerogels, both silica and organic carbon aerogels; 2) assemble the aerogel into panels of mylar/vacuum-encapsulated rigid boards which can be molded in various shapes and rigidities; and 3) describe a process for space applications for formaldehyde-free, long duration thermal and acoustic insulators.
Effect of Temperature on Ultrasonic Signal Propagation for Extra Virgin Olive Oil Adulteration
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alias, N. A.; Hamid, S. B. Abdul; Sophian, A.
2017-11-01
Fraud cases involving adulteration of extra virgin olive oil has become significant nowadays due to increasing in cost of supply and highlight given the benefit of extra virgin olive oil for human consumption. This paper presents the effects of temperature variation on spectral formed utilising pulse-echo technique of ultrasound signal. Several methods had been introduced to characterize the adulteration of extra virgin olive oil with other fluid sample such as mass chromatography, standard method by ASTM (density test, distillation test and evaporation test) and mass spectrometer. Pulse-echo method of ultrasound being a non-destructive method to be used to analyse the sound wave signal captured by oscilloscope. In this paper, a non-destructive technique utilizing ultrasound to characterize extra virgin olive oil adulteration level will be presented. It can be observed that frequency spectrum of sample with different ratio and variation temperature shows significant percentages different from 30% up to 70% according to temperature variation thus possible to be used for sample characterization.
The development of a new method to detect the adulteration of commercial aloe gel powders.
Kim, K H; Lee, J G; Kim, D G; Kim, M K; Park, J H; Shin, Y G; Lee, S K; Jo, T H; Oh, S T
1998-10-01
Simple and accurate methods to detect the adulteration of commercial aloe gel powder were developed. Crude polysaccharide in aloe gel powder was isolated by precipitating with excess ethyl alcohol and total hexose in isolated polysaccharide was determined by Dubois assay. After hydrolysis of non-dialysable polysaccharides, resultant free sugar was determined by gas chromatography for sugar recognition and ash contents was considered simultaneously. In some products, the content of ash was very low while the content of total hexose was very high. And polysaccharides of these products revealed typical dextran pattern, therefore, these products could be identified that adulterated with commercial maltodextrin. The content of maltodextrin in adulterated product was determined by HPLC and TLC analysis which could be adopted as a part of a certification process.
Peiponen, Kai-Erik
2018-01-01
Adulteration of fuels is a major problem, especially in developing and third world countries. One such case is the adulteration of diesel oil by kerosene. This problem contributes to air pollution, which leads to other far-reaching adverse effects, such as climate change. The objective of this study was to develop a relatively easy measurement method based on an inexpensive, handheld Abbe refractometer for the detection of adulteration and estimation of the ascending order of the amount of kerosene present in adulterated samples in field conditions. We achieved this by increasing the volume of pure diesel sample in the adulterated diesel oil, and measuring the trend of refractive index change, and next, exploiting the true and ideal permittivities of the binary mixture. The permittivity can be obtained with the aid of the measured refractive index of a liquid. Due to the molecular interactions, the true and ideal permittivities of diesel–kerosene binary liquid mixture have a mismatch which can be used to screen for adulterated diesel oils. The difference between the true and the ideal permittivity is the so-called excess permittivity. We first investigated a training set of diesel oils in laboratory in Finland, using the accurate table model Abbe refractometer and depicting the behavior of the excess permittivity of the mixture of diesel oil and kerosene. Then, we measured same samples in the laboratory using a handheld refractometer. Finally, preliminary field measurements using the handheld device were performed in Tanzania to assess the accuracy and possibility of applying the suggested method in field conditions. We herein show that it is not only possible to detect even relatively low adulteration levels of diesel in kerosene—namely, 5%, 10%, and 15%—but also it is possible to monitor the ascending order of adulteration for different adulterated diesel samples. We propose that the method of increasing the volume of an unknown (suspected) diesel oil
Kanyathare, Boniphace; Peiponen, Kai-Erik
2018-05-14
Adulteration of fuels is a major problem, especially in developing and third world countries. One such case is the adulteration of diesel oil by kerosene. This problem contributes to air pollution, which leads to other far-reaching adverse effects, such as climate change. The objective of this study was to develop a relatively easy measurement method based on an inexpensive, handheld Abbe refractometer for the detection of adulteration and estimation of the ascending order of the amount of kerosene present in adulterated samples in field conditions. We achieved this by increasing the volume of pure diesel sample in the adulterated diesel oil, and measuring the trend of refractive index change, and next, exploiting the true and ideal permittivities of the binary mixture. The permittivity can be obtained with the aid of the measured refractive index of a liquid. Due to the molecular interactions, the true and ideal permittivities of diesel⁻kerosene binary liquid mixture have a mismatch which can be used to screen for adulterated diesel oils. The difference between the true and the ideal permittivity is the so-called excess permittivity. We first investigated a training set of diesel oils in laboratory in Finland, using the accurate table model Abbe refractometer and depicting the behavior of the excess permittivity of the mixture of diesel oil and kerosene. Then, we measured same samples in the laboratory using a handheld refractometer. Finally, preliminary field measurements using the handheld device were performed in Tanzania to assess the accuracy and possibility of applying the suggested method in field conditions. We herein show that it is not only possible to detect even relatively low adulteration levels of diesel in kerosene-namely, 5%, 10%, and 15%-but also it is possible to monitor the ascending order of adulteration for different adulterated diesel samples. We propose that the method of increasing the volume of an unknown (suspected) diesel oil sample by
Probability of identification: adulteration of American Ginseng with Asian Ginseng.
Harnly, James; Chen, Pei; Harrington, Peter De B
2013-01-01
The AOAC INTERNATIONAL guidelines for validation of botanical identification methods were applied to the detection of Asian Ginseng [Panax ginseng (PG)] as an adulterant for American Ginseng [P. quinquefolius (PQ)] using spectral fingerprints obtained by flow injection mass spectrometry (FIMS). Samples of 100% PQ and 100% PG were physically mixed to provide 90, 80, and 50% PQ. The multivariate FIMS fingerprint data were analyzed using soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) based on 100% PQ. The Q statistic, a measure of the degree of non-fit of the test samples with the calibration model, was used as the analytical parameter. FIMS was able to discriminate between 100% PQ and 100% PG, and between 100% PQ and 90, 80, and 50% PQ. The probability of identification (POI) curve was estimated based on the SD of 90% PQ. A digital model of adulteration, obtained by mathematically summing the experimentally acquired spectra of 100% PQ and 100% PG in the desired ratios, agreed well with the physical data and provided an easy and more accurate method for constructing the POI curve. Two chemometric modeling methods, SIMCA and fuzzy optimal associative memories, and two classification methods, partial least squares-discriminant analysis and fuzzy rule-building expert systems, were applied to the data. The modeling methods correctly identified the adulterated samples; the classification methods did not.
Detection of adulteration in diesel and petrol by kerosene using SPR based fiber optic technique
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Verma, Rajneesh K.; Suwalka, Payal; Yadav, Jatin
2018-07-01
In this paper we focused on the experimental investigations for fabricating a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based fiber optic sensor for the detection of the extent of adulteration in petrochemicals: petrol and diesel by kerosene. Primarily it is observed that the refractive index of the petrol and diesel changes if we mix kerosene in it. The variation in refractive index is linear in nature. Utilizing the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance in Krestchmann configuration on optical fiber, the percentage of adulteration in petrol and diesel is detected. The detection level of adulteration is quantified systematically for both the petrol and diesel. The study carried out here explores the possibility of utilizing SPR technique for the detection of the level of adulteration in petrochemicals. The suitability of the optical fiber for remote sensing and its immunity towards electromagnetic interaction makes this probe very useful for such endeavor. High sensitivity, easy construction and its portability, makes this study important in the development of SPR based optical fiber sensors for petrochemical industries. Apart from this various aspects of environment polluting hazardous/toxic gases as an emission product of automobile fuels has also been discussed.
Raman detection of extra virgin olive oil adulterated with cheaper oils
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Farley, Carlton; Kassu, Aschalew; Mills, Jonathan; Kenney, Brianna; Ruffin, Paul; Sharma, Anup
2016-09-01
Pure extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is mixed with cheaper edible oils and samples are kept inside clear glass containers, while a 785nm Raman system is used to take measurements as Raman probe is placed against glass container. Several types of oils at various concentrations of adulteration are used. Ratios of peak intensities are used to analyze raw data, which allows for quick, easy, and accurate analysis. While conventional Raman measurements of EVOO may take as long as 2 minutes, all measurements reported here are for integration times of 15s. It is found that adulteration of EVOO with cheaper oils is detectable at concentrations as low as 5% for all oils used in this study.
Hegde, Satisha; Hegde, Harsha Vasudev; Jalalpure, Sunil Satyappa; Peram, Malleswara Rao; Pai, Sandeep Ramachandra; Roy, Subarna
2017-01-01
Saraca asoca (Roxb.) De Wilde (Ashoka) is a highly valued endangered medicinal tree species from Western Ghats of India. Besides treating cardiac and circulatory problems, S. asoca provides immense relief in gynecological disorders. Higher price and demand, in contrast to the smaller population size of the plant, have motivated adulteration with other plants such as Polyalthia longifolia (Sonnerat) Thwaites. The fundamental concerns in quality control of S. asoca arise due to its part of medicinal value (Bark) and the chemical composition. Phytochemical fingerprinting with proper selection of analytical markers is a promising method in addressing quality control issues. In the present study, high-performance liquid chromatography of phenolic compounds (gallic acid, catechin, and epicatechin) coupled to multivariate analysis was used. Five samples each of S. asoca, P. longifolia from two localities alongside five commercial market samples showed evidence of adulteration. Subsequently, multivariate hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis was established to discriminate the adulterants of S. asoca. The proposed method ascertains identification of S. asoca from its putative adulterant P. longifolia and commercial market samples. The data generated may also serve as baseline data to form a quality standard for pharmacopoeias. SUMMARY Simultaneous quantification of gallic acid, catechin, epicatechin from Saraca asoca by high-performance liquid chromatographyDetection of S. asoca from adulterant and commercial samplesUse of analytical method along with a statistical tool for addressing quality issues. Abbreviations used: HPLC: High Performance Liquid Chromatography; RP-HPLC: Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography; CAT: Catechin; EPI: Epicatechin; GA: Gallic acid; PCA: Principal Component Analysis. PMID:28808391
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Coffee is a high-value commodity that is a target for adulteration, especially after the beans have been roasted and ground. Countries such as Brazil, the second largest coffee producer, have set limits on the allowable amount of coffee contamination and adulteration. Therefore, there is significant...
Nunes, Karen M; Andrade, Marcus Vinícius O; Santos Filho, Antônio M P; Lasmar, Marcelo C; Sena, Marcelo M
2016-08-15
Concerns about meat authenticity are increasing recently, due to great fraud scandals. This paper analysed real samples (43 adulterated and 12 controls) originated from criminal networks dismantled by the Brazilian Police. This fraud consisted of injecting solutions of non-meat ingredients (NaCl, phosphates, carrageenan, maltodextrin) in bovine meat, aiming to increase its water holding capacity. Five physico-chemical variables were determined, protein, ash, chloride, sodium, phosphate. Additionally, infrared spectra were recorded. Supervised classification PLS-DA models were built with each data set individually, but the best model was obtained with data fusion, correctly detecting 91% of the adulterated samples. From this model, a variable selection based on the highest VIPscores was performed and a new data fusion model was built with only one chemical variable, providing slightly lower predictions, but a good cost/performance ratio. Finally, some of the selected infrared bands were specifically associated to the presence of adulterants NaCl, tripolyphosphate and carrageenan. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Li, Junrong; Zhang, Guannan; Wang, Lihua; Shen, Aiguo; Hu, Jiming
2015-08-01
In this work, we suggest a chitosan-modified popcorn-like Au-Ag nanoparticles (CSPNPs) based assay for high sensitive detection of melamine, in which CSPNPs not only provide with an intrinsic peroxidase-like activity but also act as surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. CSPNPs can catalyze the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by H2O2 to the charge transfer complex (CTC), which contributes to a tremendous surface-enhanced resonant Raman scattering (SERRS) signals with 632.8 nm laser excitation. The target molecule melamine can generate an additional compound with H2O2, which means the available amount of H2O2 for the oxidation of TMB reduced. Correspondingly, the SERRS intensity of CTC is decreased. The decreased Raman intensity is proportional to the concentration of melamine over a wide range from 10 nM to 50 μM (R(2)=0.989), with a limit of detection (LOD) of 8.51 nM. Moreover, the proposed highly selective method is fully capable of rapid, separation-free detection of melamine in milk powder. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Visible light induced photobleaching of methylene blue over melamine-doped TiO2 nanocatalyst
TiO2 doping with N-rich melamine produced a stable, active and visible light sentisized nanocatalyst that showed a remarkable efficiency towards the photobleaching of a model compound – methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution. The photobleaching followed a mixed reaction order ki...
Synthesis of crumpled nanosheets of polymeric carbon nitride from melamine cyanurate
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Dante, Roberto C., E-mail: rcdante@yahoo.com; Martín-Ramos, Pablo; Sánchez-Arévalo, F.M.
2013-05-01
Polymeric carbon nitride was synthesized by pyrolysis in nitrogen flux at different temperatures between 450 and 700 °C using melamine cyanurate as a reagent and sulfuric acid as a catalyst. The obtained carbon nitride consisted of curled nanosheets (650 °C), and globular particles (700 °C) with formula C₆N₇NHNH₂. The reaction yield of the catalyzed reaction was around the 15% for the sample treated at 700 °C, in a tapped crucible. The optical band gap of the polymer obtained at 700 °C is around 2.9 eV. The gap to the Fermi level is around 2 eV, considerably above the half ofmore » the band gap (due to electrons trapped in the gap), indicating that the polymer is probably a n-type semiconductor. - Graphical abstract: Transition from amorphous to crystalline carbon nitride, which is composed of globular particles and is a n-type wide band semiconductor. Highlights: • We synthetized carbon nitride using melamine cyanurate. • The reaction of carbon nitride formation is catalyzed by sulfuric acid. • The carbon nitride obtained at 700 °C is composed of globular particles. • The material obtained at 700 °C is a n-type semiconductor.« less
Luong, Susan; Kuzhiumparambil, Unnikrishnan; Fu, Shanlin
2015-09-17
Currently, procedures that identify the drugs 'destroyed' in adulterated urine specimens are very limited. This study aimed to determine the effect of pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) on routine opiate assays and identify reaction products formed. Results/methodology: Opiate-positive urines adulterated with PCC (20 and 100 mM) were analyzed using CEDIA ® immunoassay and GC-MS. Urine and water samples spiked with 6-monoacetylmorphine, morphine and its glucuronides (10 µg/ml) and PCC (0.02-100 mM) were monitored with LC-MS, and the products characterized. PCC significantly decreased the abundance of morphine, codeine and IS. Adulterated water and urine samples containing 6-monoacetylmorphine, morphine and morphine-3-glucuronide yielded morphinone-3-glucuronide, 7,14-dihydroxy-6-monoacetylmorphine, 7,8-diketo-6-monoacetylmorphine and 7,8-diketo-morphine (tentative assignment). Reaction pathways may be different in the two matrices.
Vaclavik, Lukas; Krynitsky, Alexander J; Rader, Jeanne I
2014-11-01
The increased availability and use of botanical dietary supplements and herbal remedies among consumers has been accompanied by an increased frequency of adulteration of these products with synthetic pharmaceuticals. Unscrupulous producers may add drugs and analogues of various classes, such as phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors, weight loss, hypoglycemic, antihypertensive and anti-inflammatory agents, or anabolic steroids, to develop or intensify biological effects of dietary supplements or herbal remedies. The presence of such adulterated products in the marketplace is a worldwide problem and their consumption poses health risks to consumers. Analytical methods that allow rapid and reliable testing of dietary supplements for the presence of synthetic drugs are needed to address such fraudulent practices. Mass spectrometry (MS) and hyphenated techniques such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) have become primary tools in this endeavor. The present review critically assesses the role and summarizes the applications of MS in the analysis of pharmaceutical adulterants in botanical dietary supplements and herbal remedies. The uses of MS techniques in detection, confirmation, and quantification of known pharmaceutical adulterants as well as in screening for and structure elucidation of unexpected adulterants and novel designer drugs are discussed.
Li, Guo; Yan, Qiang; Xia, Hesheng; Zhao, Yue
2015-06-10
Therapeutic-ultrasound-triggered shape memory was demonstrated for the first time with a melamine-enhanced poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) physical hydrogel. The addition of a small amount of melamine (up to 1.5 wt %) in PVA results in a strong hydrogel due to the multiple H-bonding between the two constituents. A temporary shape of the hydrogel can be obtained by deformation of the hydrogel (∼65 wt % water) at room temperature, followed by fixation of the deformation by freezing/thawing the hydrogel under strain, which induces crystallization of PVA. We show that the ultrasound delivered by a commercially available device designed for the patient's pain relief could trigger the shape recovery process as a result of ultrasound-induced local heating in the hydrogel that melts the crystallized PVA cross-linking. This hydrogel is thus interesting for potential applications because it combines many desirable properties, being mechanically strong, biocompatible, and self-healable and displaying the shape memory capability triggered by a physiological stimulus.
Adulteration Practices of Psychoactive Illicit Drugs: An Updated Review.
Solimini, Renata; Rotolo, Maria C; Pellegrini, Manuela; Minutillo, Adele; Pacifici, Roberta; Busardò, Francesco P; Zaami, Simona
2017-01-01
Powdery drugs such as cocaine and heroin are frequently adulterated or diluted predominantly to obtain more doses and to increase the drug dealer's profits, but also to enhance, to modify or to oppose drug effects. The aim of this report is to provide an overview of the recent scientific literature on medicines as well as on new psychoactive substances, used as cutting agents (i.e. pharmacologically active adulterants) and on the related adverse health effects on consumers, possibly due to the synergistic effect of the adulterants laced with substances of abuse. A literature search up to January 2017 was performed on MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science and reports and documents of international agencies or institutions were also searched. Pharmacologically active substances such as: paracetamol, caffeine, dextromethorphan, clenbuterol for heroin; levamisole, phenacetine, lidocaine, hydroxyzine and diltiazem for cocaine; caffeine and phentermine for amphetamine, have been identified over the years. Furthermore, since cocaine and morphine (this latter as a precursor of heroin) are both extracted from natural products, some impurities and minor alkaloids can be present in the final preparation. In this context, it is worth considering that new psychoactive substances are also used as cutting agents. The wide availability of illicit psychotropic drugs is the most serious hazard threatening consumers. Indeed emergency departments are often responsible in evaluating damages caused not only by the base substance, but also by other eventual compounds added to mimic or antagonize drug effects or simply dilute the drug amount, with a possible harmful synergic toxic action. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.
Adulteration of apple with pear juice: emphasis on major carbohydrates, proline, and arbutin.
Thavarajah, Pushparajah; Low, Nicholas H
2006-06-28
Detection of juice-to-juice adulteration based on chemical composition studies is a common method used by government regulatory agencies and food companies. This study investigated the use of major carbohydrate (fructose, glucose and sucrose), polyol (sorbitol), proline, and phenolic profiles as indicators of pear adulteration of apple juice (PAAJ). For this work, a total of 105 authentic apple juice samples from 13 countries and 27 authentic pear juice samples from 5 countries were analyzed. Because the major carbohydrate ranges for these juices showed significant overlap their use as markers for PAAJ detection would be very limited. It was found that sorbitol and proline means for apple and pear were significantly different; however, their broad natural ranges would afford PAAJ at levels up to 30% without detection. In addition, careful selection of the pear juice used as the adulterant would further limit the usefulness of these markers for PAAJ detection. Arbutin was conclusively identified as a marker for pear juice on the basis of its presence in all 27 authentic pear samples and its absence (<0.5 microg/mL) in all 105 apple juice samples analyzed in this study. The application of the developed HPLC-PDA method for arbutin analysis to detect PAAJ at levels as low as 2% (v/v) was demonstrated. A confirmation method for the presence of arbutin in pure pear juice and apple adulterated with pear juice was introduced on the basis of the hydrolysis of arbutin to hydroquinone employing beta-glucosidase, with reactant and product monitoring by HPLC-PDA.
Peng, Dan; Bi, Yanlan; Ren, Xiaona; Yang, Guolong; Sun, Shangde; Wang, Xuede
2015-12-01
This study was performed to develop a hierarchical approach for detection and quantification of adulteration of sesame oil with vegetable oils using gas chromatography (GC). At first, a model was constructed to discriminate the difference between authentic sesame oils and adulterated sesame oils using support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. Then, another SVM-based model is developed to identify the type of adulterant in the mixed oil. At last, prediction models for sesame oil were built for each kind of oil using partial least square method. To validate this approach, 746 samples were prepared by mixing authentic sesame oils with five types of vegetable oil. The prediction results show that the detection limit for authentication is as low as 5% in mixing ratio and the root-mean-square errors for prediction range from 1.19% to 4.29%, meaning that this approach is a valuable tool to detect and quantify the adulteration of sesame oil. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
New psychoactive substances as adulterants of controlled drugs. A worrying phenomenon?
Giné, Claudio Vidal; Espinosa, Iván Fornís; Vilamala, Mireia Ventura
2014-01-01
The use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) as adulterants has received little attention in the literature. In this paper, results from Energy Control's drug checking service documenting the use of NPS as adulterants of controlled drugs are presented, and some reflections about possible explanations for this new phenomenon, potential risks for users, and challenges that it poses are discussed. From 2009 to 2012, 24 NPS belonging to several chemical classes such as phenethylamines, substituted cathinones, tryptamines, and methoxetamine were identified in 173 samples believed to be MDMA, amphetamine, ketamine, cocaine, mescaline, or methamphetamine. The NPS adulterant most frequently observed was 2-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethanamine (2C-B) followed by 1-(4-fluorophenyl)propan-2-amine (4-FA). Sixty-nine different combinations of substances were detected: 20 involving a controlled drug combined with an NPS, and 49 involving one or more NPS that substituted the controlled drug. As these combinations could pose substantial risks to users, the need to improve knowledge about toxicity associated with these combinations, and the danger of these substances being incorporated into the products of illegal markets, are highlighted. Drug checking services and the European Union's early-warning system operated by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol can play an important role in reducing the harm associated with this phenomenon. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Shen, Ying; Sun, Qiang; Gao, Jie; Jia, Li-Qun; Sun, Ning; Pan, Yue-Song; Liu, Xiao-Mei; Liu, Xiao-Rong; Wang, Yu; Wu, Dong-Xue; Jiang, Ye-Ping
2011-05-01
To evaluate their prognosis, the damage by melamine on children's kidney and other organs, and its influence on the children's development, was investigated. Nine hundred and sixty-two Chinese children were divided into three groups: group A, 265 children diagnosed with melamine-associated urolithiasis; group B, 197 children with a history of melamine-contaminated milk powder consumption but without urolithiasis; and group C, 500 healthy children. They were examined at 0, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. The factors influencing the prognosis were investigated. The stone discharge was monitored by ultrasonography. Overt renal and liver damage and underlying renal injury markers were analyzed. The stone discharge rates 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the diagnoses were 52.5%, 67.2%, 88.3% and 95.5%, respectively. Stone size was a stable influencing factor for the stone discharge rate. Additionally, the values of the potential renal injury markers in children with stones already discharged is equivalent to normal children. This 12 month follow up of early renal injury markers indicated that the damage to the kidney is temporary with no persistent negative outcomes being found till now. Additionally, the gross development of the children seemed not yet jeopardized by melamine. Longer-term follow up will be conducted. © 2011 The Authors. Nephrology © 2011 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology.
RAPD/SCAR Approaches for Identification of Adulterant Breeds' Milk in Dairy Products.
Cunha, Joana T; Domingues, Lucília
2017-01-01
Food safety and quality are nowadays a major consumers' concern. In the dairy industry the fraudulent addition of cheaper/lower-quality milks from nonlegitimate species/breeds compromises the quality and value of the final product. Despite the already existing approaches for identification of the species origin of milk, there is little information regarding differentiation at an intra-species level. In this protocol we describe a low-cost, sensitive, fast, and reliable analytical technique-Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA/Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (RAPD/SCAR)-capable of an efficient detection of adulterant breeds in milk mixtures used for fraudulent manufacturing of dairy products and suitable for the detection of milk adulteration in processed dairy foods.
Krüppel-like factor 5 associates with melamine-cyanurate crystal-induced nephritis in rats.
Huang, Hsin-Lei; Yang, Wen-Ying; Pu, Hsiao-Fung; Tsai, Tung-Hu; Lin, Chi-Hung; Chen, Nien-Jung; Tarng, Der-Cherng
2013-10-01
Melamine and cyanuric acid (M/CA), when orally administered together to rats, can induce crystal formation within renal tubules and cause acute kidney injury. To investigate the pathomechanism of crystal-induced nephritis, melamine and/or cyanuric acid were administered to 3-week-old (young) and 8-week-old (adult) rats, respectively. Crystal formation, blood urea nitrogen elevation, tubular cell injury and macrophage infiltration were noted in rats fed with M/CA, but not in rats fed with vehicle, melamine or CA alone. These parameters were significantly higher in young rats than those in adult rats fed with M/CA 200 mg/kg body weight (BW) for 3 days. Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) was expressed on distal tubule cells, especially when crystals deposited within the lumens. Both mRNA and protein levels were higher in young rats than those in adult rats fed with M/CA (200 mg/kg BW). KLF5 expression has been shown to modulate renal tissue cytokine production, and we found that proinflammatory cytokines like monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and interlukin-6 were increased in kidney tissues of young rats fed with M/CA for 3 days. In contrast, interlukin-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, was upregulated in kidneys of adult rats fed with M/CA for 3 days. Crystals are prone to deposition in distal tubules of young rats fed with M/CA. M/CA Crystal-related nephritis might be induced by the KLF5 expression, which modulated macrophage recruitment and proinflammatory cytokine production, subsequently leading to renal tubular injury and interstitial inflammation.
Aroca-Santos, Regina; Cancilla, John C; Matute, Gemma; Torrecilla, José S
2015-06-17
In this research, the detection and quantification of adulterants in one of the most common varieties of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) have been successfully carried out. Visible absorption information was collected from binary mixtures of Picual EVOO with one of four adulterants: refined olive oil, orujo olive oil, sunflower oil, and corn oil. The data gathered from the absorption spectra were used as input to create an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The designed mathematical tool was able to detect the type of adulterant with an identification rate of 96% and to quantify the volume percentage of EVOO in the samples with a low mean prediction error of 1.2%. These significant results make ANNs coupled with visible spectroscopy a reliable, inexpensive, user-friendly, and real-time method for difficult tasks, given that the matrices of the different adulterated oils are practically alike.
Rethinking gossip and scandal in healthcare organizations.
Waddington, Kathryn
2016-09-19
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that gossip is a neglected aspect of organizational communication and knowledge, and an under-used management resource. Design/methodology/approach The paper challenges mainstream managerial assumptions that gossip is trivial or tainted talk which should be discouraged in the workplace. Instead, gossip is re-framed at an organizational level of analysis, which provides the opportunity for relational knowledge about systemic failure and poor practice in healthcare to surface. Findings Rather than simply viewing gossip as an individual behaviour and interpersonal process, it is claimed that organizational gossip is also a valuable early warning indicator of risk and failure in healthcare systems. There is potentially significant value in re-framing gossip as an aspect of organizational communication and knowledge. If attended to (rather than neglected or silenced) gossip can provide fresh insights into professional practice, decision making and relational leadership. Originality/value This paper offers a provocative challenge to mainstream health organization and management thinking about gossip in the workplace. It offers new ways of thinking to promote patient safety, and prevent the scandals that have plagued healthcare organizations in recent years.
Detection and quantification of adulteration in sandalwood oil through near infrared spectroscopy.
Kuriakose, Saji; Thankappan, Xavier; Joe, Hubert; Venkataraman, Venkateswaran
2010-10-01
The confirmation of authenticity of essential oils and the detection of adulteration are problems of increasing importance in the perfumes, pharmaceutical, flavor and fragrance industries. This is especially true for 'value added' products like sandalwood oil. A methodical study is conducted here to demonstrate the potential use of Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy along with multivariate calibration models like principal component regression (PCR) and partial least square regression (PLSR) as rapid analytical techniques for the qualitative and quantitative determination of adulterants in sandalwood oil. After suitable pre-processing of the NIR raw spectral data, the models are built-up by cross-validation. The lowest Root Mean Square Error of Cross-Validation and Calibration (RMSECV and RMSEC % v/v) are used as a decision supporting system to fix the optimal number of factors. The coefficient of determination (R(2)) and the Root Mean Square Error of Prediction (RMSEP % v/v) in the prediction sets are used as the evaluation parameters (R(2) = 0.9999 and RMSEP = 0.01355). The overall result leads to the conclusion that NIR spectroscopy with chemometric techniques could be successfully used as a rapid, simple, instant and non-destructive method for the detection of adulterants, even 1% of the low-grade oils, in the high quality form of sandalwood oil.
Detection of honey adulteration with starch syrup by high performance liquid chromatography.
Wang, Shaoqing; Guo, Qilei; Wang, Linlin; Lin, Li; Shi, Hailiang; Cao, Hong; Cao, Baosen
2015-04-01
According to saccharide profile comparison between starch syrups and pure honeys analysed through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), a characteristic peak was found at 15.25 min retention time in HPLC chromatogram of syrup, but no peak was observed at the same retention time in chromatogram of pure honeys. This characteristic peak for syrup was identified as an overlapping peak of oligosaccharides with more than 5 degree of polymerisation (DP) based on HPLC chromatogram comparison between starch syrup and a series of standard mono-, di- and oligosaccharides of 3-7 DP. Additionally syrup content correlated linearly with the height of the characteristic peak of syrup under different slope in two ranges 2.5-7.5% and 10-100%, respectively. Therefore, the characteristic peak at 15.25 min retention time can serve as a syrup indicator in HPLC analysis of the adulterated honeys. This new HPLC method for honey adulteration detection was further applied in an authenticity inspection on more than 100 commercial honeys. In addition to the improved accuracy of honey adulteration detection, the proposed HPLC method was simple, low cost and easy practice for honey product quality control by government department considering the popularity of HPLC device and technology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Lv, Diya; Cao, Yan; Lou, Ziyang; Li, Shujin; Chen, Xiaofei; Chai, Yifeng; Lu, Feng
2015-02-01
Ephedrine and its analogues are in the list of prohibited substance in adulteration to botanical dietary supplements (BDS) for their uncontrollable stimulating side effects. However, they were always adulterated illegally in BDS to promote losing weight. In order to avoid detection, various kinds of ephedrine analogues were added rather than ephedrine itself. This has brought about great difficulties in authentication of BDS. In this study, we put forward for the first time a method which combined thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to directly identify trace adulterant. Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, methylephedrine, and norephedrine were mixed and used in this method to develop an analytical model. As a result, the four analogues were separated efficiently in TLC analysis, and trace-components and low-background SERS detection was realized. The limit of detection (LOD) of the four analogues was 0.01 mg/mL. Eight common Raman peaks (△υ = 620, 1003, 1030, 1159, 1181, 1205, 1454, 1603 cm(-1)) were extracted experimentally and statistically to characterize the common feature of ephedrine analogues. A TLC-SERS method coupled with common-peak model was adopted to examine nine practical samples, two of which were found to be adulterated with ephedrine analogues. Identification results were then confirmed by UPLC-QTOF/MS analysis. The proposed method was simple, rapid, and accurate and can also be employed to trace adulterant identification even when there are no available reference derivatives on-site or unknown types of ephedrine analogues are adulterated.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Benediktsson, Michael Owen
2010-01-01
What role do the media play in the identification and construction of white-collar crimes? Few studies have examined media coverage of corporate deviance. This study investigates news coverage of six large-scale accounting scandals that broke in 2001 and 2002. Using a variety of empirical methods to analyze the 51 largest U.S. newspapers, the…
Muñoz-Vahos, Carlos Horacio; Herrera-Uribe, Sebastián; Arbeláez-Cortés, Álvaro; Jaramillo-Arroyave, Daniel; González-Naranjo, Luis Alonso; Vásquez-Duque, Gloria; Restrepo-Escobar, Mauricio; Correa-Londoño, Luis Alfonso; Arias-Restrepo, Luis Fernando; Vanegas-García, Adriana Lucía
2018-05-19
The aims of this study were to describe clinical and laboratory manifestations of patients with levamisole-adulterated cocaine-induced vasculitis/vasculopathy and to propose a skin classification according to the distribution and severity of lesions. We report the characteristics of 30 patients admitted with levamisole-adulterated cocaine-induced vasculitis/vasculopathy in 4 high-complexity institutions in Colombia, from December 2010 to May 2017. We compare our findings with the principal published series. Median age was 31 years (interquartile range, 27-38 years) with a male-to-female ratio of 5:1. Eighty-three percent of the patients had retiform purpura affecting the limbs, buttocks, face, or abdomen; 73% had ear necrosis, 50% cutaneous ulcers, 17% genital necrosis, 13% oral ulcers, and 10% digital necrosis. Cutaneous involvement was classified according to the frequency of the compromised corporal area, and purpuric lesions were stratified in 4 grades of severity. Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies were positive in 85% of the cases, lupus anticoagulant in 73%, and antinuclear autoantibodies in 57%, and rheumatoid factor was negative in all cases. We found nephritis in 17 cases (57%). Prednisolone was used in most of the patients (70%), with other immunosuppressive agents being used in a lower percentage. Improvement was observed in 93% of the patients, but symptoms recurred in 40%, attributed to relapses in consumption. End-stage chronic renal disease developed in 10% of the cases, and 1 patient died. Because of rising cocaine consumption and levamisole adulteration frequency, levamisole-adulterated cocaine-induced vasculitis/vasculopathy is becoming more common. Detailed characterization of skin involvement coupled with multiple antibody positivity is essential for a diagnosis. Renal involvement is frequent, clinically and histologically heterogeneous, and potentially serious.
Gao, Feng; Ye, Qingqing; Cui, Peng; Zhang, Lu
2012-05-09
We here report an efficient and enhanced fluorescence energy transfer system between confined quantum dots (QDs) by entrapping CdTe into the mesoporous silica shell (CdTe@SiO₂) as donors and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as acceptors. At pH 6.50, the CdTe@SiO₂-AuNPs assemblies coalesce to form larger clusters due to charge neutralization, leading to the fluorescence quenching of CdTe@SiO₂ as a result of energy transfer. As compared with the energy transfer system between unconfined CdTe and AuNPs, the maximum fluorescence quenching efficiency of the proposed system is improved by about 27.0%, and the quenching constant, K(sv), is increased by about 2.4-fold. The enhanced quenching effect largely turns off the fluorescence of CdTe@SiO₂ and provides an optimal "off-state" for sensitive "turn-on" assay. In the present study, upon addition of melamine, the weak fluorescence system of CdTe@SiO₂-AuNPs is enhanced due to the strong interactions between the amino group of melamine and the gold nanoparticles via covalent bond, leading to the release of AuNPs from the surfaces of CdTe@SiO₂; thus, its fluorescence is restored. A "turn-on" fluorimetric method for the detection of melamine is proposed based on the restored fluorescence of the system. Under the optimal conditions, the fluorescence enhanced efficiency shows a linear function against the melamine concentrations ranging from 7.5 × 10⁻⁹ to 3.5 × 10⁻⁷ M (i.e., 1.0-44 ppb). The analytical sensitivity is improved by about 50%, and the detection limit is decreased by 5.0-fold, as compared with the analytical results using the CdTe-AuNPs system. Moreover, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of melamine in real samples with excellent recoveries in the range from 97.4 to 104.1%. Such a fluorescence energy transfer system between confined QDs and AuNPs may pave a new way for designing chemo/biosensing.
21 CFR 314.170 - Adulteration and misbranding of an approved drug.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-04-01
... SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS FOR HUMAN USE APPLICATIONS FOR FDA APPROVAL TO MARKET A NEW DRUG FDA Action on... subject to the adulteration and misbranding provisions in sections 501, 502, and 503 of the act. FDA is...
21 CFR 314.170 - Adulteration and misbranding of an approved drug.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-04-01
... SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS FOR HUMAN USE APPLICATIONS FOR FDA APPROVAL TO MARKET A NEW DRUG FDA Action on... subject to the adulteration and misbranding provisions in sections 501, 502, and 503 of the act. FDA is...
21 CFR 314.170 - Adulteration and misbranding of an approved drug.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-04-01
... SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS FOR HUMAN USE APPLICATIONS FOR FDA APPROVAL TO MARKET A NEW DRUG FDA Action on... subject to the adulteration and misbranding provisions in sections 501, 502, and 503 of the act. FDA is...
21 CFR 314.170 - Adulteration and misbranding of an approved drug.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-04-01
... SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS FOR HUMAN USE APPLICATIONS FOR FDA APPROVAL TO MARKET A NEW DRUG FDA Action on... subject to the adulteration and misbranding provisions in sections 501, 502, and 503 of the act. FDA is...
21 CFR 314.170 - Adulteration and misbranding of an approved drug.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-04-01
... SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS FOR HUMAN USE APPLICATIONS FOR FDA APPROVAL TO MARKET A NEW DRUG FDA Action on... subject to the adulteration and misbranding provisions in sections 501, 502, and 503 of the act. FDA is...
Farley, Carlton; Kassu, Aschalew; Bose, Nayana; Jackson-Davis, Armitra; Boateng, Judith; Ruffin, Paul; Sharma, Anup
2017-06-01
A short distance standoff Raman technique is demonstrated for detecting economically motivated adulteration (EMA) in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Using a portable Raman spectrometer operating with a 785 nm laser and a 2-in. refracting telescope, adulteration of olive oil with grapeseed oil and canola oil is detected between 1% and 100% at a minimum concentration of 2.5% from a distance of 15 cm and at a minimum concentration of 5% from a distance of 1 m. The technique involves correlating the intensity ratios of prominent Raman bands of edible oils at 1254, 1657, and 1441 cm -1 to the degree of adulteration. As a novel variation in the data analysis technique, integrated intensities over a spectral range of 100 cm -1 around the Raman line were used, making it possible to increase the sensitivity of the technique. The technique is demonstrated by detecting adulteration of EVOO with grapeseed and canola oils at 0-100%. Due to the potential of this technique for making measurements from a convenient distance, the short distance standoff Raman technique has the promise to be used for routine applications in food industry such as identifying food items and monitoring EMA at various checkpoints in the food supply chain and storage facilities.
Zhu, Qingxia; Cao, Yongbing; Cao, Yingying; Chai, Yifeng; Lu, Feng
2014-03-01
A novel facile method has been established for rapid on-site detection of antidiabetes chemicals used to adulterate botanical dietary supplements (BDS) for diabetes. Analytes and components of pharmaceutical matrices were separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) then surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used for qualitative identification of trace substances on the HPTLC plate. Optimization and standardization of the experimental conditions, for example the method used for preparation of silver colloids, the mobile phase, and the concentration of colloidal silver, resulted in a very robust and highly sensitive method which enabled successful detection when the amount of adulteration was as low as 0.001 % (w/w). The method was also highly selective, enabling successful identification of some chemicals in extremely complex herbal matrices. The established TLC-SERS method was used for analysis of real BDS used to treat diabetes, and the results obtained were verified by liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). The study showed that TLC-SERS could be used for effective separation and detection of four chemicals used to adulterate BDS, and would have good prospects for on-site qualitative screening of BDS for adulterants.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Feng, Yanchun; Lei, Deqing; Hu, Changqin
We created a rapid detection procedure for identifying herbal medicines illegally adulterated with synthetic drugs using near infrared spectroscopy. This procedure includes a reverse correlation coefficient method (RCCM) and comparison of characteristic peaks. Moreover, we made improvements to the RCCM based on new strategies for threshold settings. Any tested herbal medicine must meet two criteria to be identified with our procedure as adulterated. First, the correlation coefficient between the tested sample and the reference must be greater than the RCCM threshold. Next, the NIR spectrum of the tested sample must contain the same characteristic peaks as the reference. In this study, four pure synthetic anti-diabetic drugs (i.e., metformin, gliclazide, glibenclamide and glimepiride), 174 batches of laboratory samples and 127 batches of herbal anti-diabetic medicines were used to construct and validate the procedure. The accuracy of this procedure was greater than 80%. Our data suggest that this protocol is a rapid screening tool to identify synthetic drug adulterants in herbal medicines on the market.
Zhang, Qing; Liu, Cheng; Sun, Zhijian; Hu, Xiaosong; Shen, Qun; Wu, Jihong
2012-06-01
The application of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy to authenticate edible vegetable oils (corn, peanut, rapeseed and soybean oil) adulterated with used frying oil was introduced in this paper. The FTIR spectrum of oil was divided into 22 regions which corresponded to the constituents and molecular structures of vegetable oils. Samples of calibration set were classified into four categories for corn and peanut oils and five categories for rapeseed and soybean oils by cluster analysis. Qualitative analysis of validation set was obtained by discriminant analysis. Area ratio between absorption band 19 and 20 and wavenumber shift of band 19 were treated by linear regression for quantitative analysis. For four adulteration types, LODs of area ratio were 6.6%, 7.2%, 5.5%, 3.6% and wavenumber shift were 8.1%, 9.0%, 6.9%, 5.6%, respectively. The proposed methodology is a useful tool to authenticate the edible vegetable oils adulterated with used frying oil. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Advances in the identification of adulterated cereals and cereal products
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
This book chapter addresses the most common occurrences of adulteration in the cereal grains, the regulations in place by countries (such as the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, India, and the European Union), and the methodologies by which detection and quantification of the contaminant are ma...
Application of analytical methods in authentication and adulteration of honey.
Siddiqui, Amna Jabbar; Musharraf, Syed Ghulam; Choudhary, M Iqbal; Rahman, Atta-Ur-
2017-02-15
Honey is synthesized from flower nectar and it is famous for its tremendous therapeutic potential since ancient times. Many factors influence the basic properties of honey including the nectar-providing plant species, bee species, geographic area, and harvesting conditions. Quality and composition of honey is also affected by many other factors, such as overfeeding of bees with sucrose, harvesting prior to maturity, and adulteration with sugar syrups. Due to the complex nature of honey, it is often challenging to authenticate the purity and quality by using common methods such as physicochemical parameters and more specialized procedures need to be developed. This article reviews the literature (between 2000 and 2016) on the use of analytical techniques, mainly NMR spectroscopy, for authentication of honey, its botanical and geographical origin, and adulteration by sugar syrups. NMR is a powerful technique and can be used as a fingerprinting technique to compare various samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Dasgupta, Amitava; Chughtai, Omar; Hannah, Christina; Davis, Bonnette; Wells, Alice
2004-10-01
Several adulterants are used to mask tests for abused drugs in urine. Adulterants such as "Klear" and "Whizzies" contain potassium nitrite while "Urine Luck" contains pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC). The presence of these adulterants cannot be detected by routine specimen integrity check (pH, specific gravity, creatinine and temperature). We previously reported the development of rapid spot tests to detect the presence of these adulterants. AdultaCheck 6 and Intect 7 urine test strips are commercially available for detecting the presence of these adulterants along with specific gravity, creatinine and pH in urine. The performance of these two test strips for detecting adulterants was compared with the results obtained by spot tests. Both AdultaCheck 6 and Intect 7 effectively detected the presence of nitrite and pyridinium chlorochromate in urine. Moreover, both test strips successfully detected the presence of glutaraldehyde, for which no spot test is currently available. High amount of glucose and ascorbic acid did not cause any false positive result with AdultaCheck 6 or Intect 7. Both AdultaCheck 6 and Intect 7 can be used for checking the integrity of a urine specimen submitted for drugs of abuse testing.
Sun, Qiang; Shen, Ying; Sun, Ning; Zhang, Gui Ju; Chen, Zhi; Fan, Jian Feng; Jia, Li Qun; Xiao, Hong Zhan; Li, Xu Ran; Puschner, Birgit
2010-04-01
A total of 25 Chinese patients aged 6 to 36 months hospitalised at Beijing Children's Hospital due to melamine-induced kidney stones complicated by acute obstructive renal failure in 2008 were included in a study in order to diagnose and treat these special cases more effectively. Feeding history, clinical presentation, ultrasound findings, treatments and effects were summarised. Twelve to seventeen months follow-up was reported also. Ultrasound examination showed that calculi were located at the kidney and ureters. Stones were composed of both uric acid and melamine in a molar ratio of 1.2:1 to 2.1:1. Treatments providing liquid plus alkalisation of urine proved to be effective in helping the patients pass the stones. Surgical intervention was needed in severe cases. Renal function returned to normal in all 25 patients after various durations of therapy. Sixty-eight percent of the patients expelled all of the calculi within 3 months, 90% in 6 months and 95% in 9 months, without sequelae till now. Melamine-contaminated milk formula can cause kidney stones in infants, which should be diagnosed by feeding history, clinical symptoms and ultrasound examination. Composition of the stones was not only of melamine but also uric acid. Providing liquid orally or intravenously plus alkalisation of urine proved to promote the removal of the stones. Follow-up of 12 to 17 months after discharge showed no sequelae.
Zakaria, Ammar; Shakaff, Ali Yeon Md; Masnan, Maz Jamilah; Ahmad, Mohd Noor; Adom, Abdul Hamid; Jaafar, Mahmad Nor; Ghani, Supri A.; Abdullah, Abu Hassan; Aziz, Abdul Hallis Abdul; Kamarudin, Latifah Munirah; Subari, Norazian; Fikri, Nazifah Ahmad
2011-01-01
The major compounds in honey are carbohydrates such as monosaccharides and disaccharides. The same compounds are found in cane-sugar concentrates. Unfortunately when sugar concentrate is added to honey, laboratory assessments are found to be ineffective in detecting this adulteration. Unlike tracing heavy metals in honey, sugar adulterated honey is much trickier and harder to detect, and traditionally it has been very challenging to come up with a suitable method to prove the presence of adulterants in honey products. This paper proposes a combination of array sensing and multi-modality sensor fusion that can effectively discriminate the samples not only based on the compounds present in the sample but also mimic the way humans perceive flavours and aromas. Conversely, analytical instruments are based on chemical separations which may alter the properties of the volatiles or flavours of a particular honey. The present work is focused on classifying 18 samples of different honeys, sugar syrups and adulterated samples using data fusion of electronic nose (e-nose) and electronic tongue (e-tongue) measurements. Each group of samples was evaluated separately by the e-nose and e-tongue. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) were able to separately discriminate monofloral honey from sugar syrup, and polyfloral honey from sugar and adulterated samples using the e-nose and e-tongue. The e-nose was observed to give better separation compared to e-tongue assessment, particularly when LDA was applied. However, when all samples were combined in one classification analysis, neither PCA nor LDA were able to discriminate between honeys of different floral origins, sugar syrup and adulterated samples. By applying a sensor fusion technique, the classification for the 18 different samples was improved. Significant improvement was observed using PCA, while LDA not only improved the discrimination but also gave better classification. An improvement
Zakaria, Ammar; Shakaff, Ali Yeon Md; Masnan, Maz Jamilah; Ahmad, Mohd Noor; Adom, Abdul Hamid; Jaafar, Mahmad Nor; Ghani, Supri A; Abdullah, Abu Hassan; Aziz, Abdul Hallis Abdul; Kamarudin, Latifah Munirah; Subari, Norazian; Fikri, Nazifah Ahmad
2011-01-01
The major compounds in honey are carbohydrates such as monosaccharides and disaccharides. The same compounds are found in cane-sugar concentrates. Unfortunately when sugar concentrate is added to honey, laboratory assessments are found to be ineffective in detecting this adulteration. Unlike tracing heavy metals in honey, sugar adulterated honey is much trickier and harder to detect, and traditionally it has been very challenging to come up with a suitable method to prove the presence of adulterants in honey products. This paper proposes a combination of array sensing and multi-modality sensor fusion that can effectively discriminate the samples not only based on the compounds present in the sample but also mimic the way humans perceive flavours and aromas. Conversely, analytical instruments are based on chemical separations which may alter the properties of the volatiles or flavours of a particular honey. The present work is focused on classifying 18 samples of different honeys, sugar syrups and adulterated samples using data fusion of electronic nose (e-nose) and electronic tongue (e-tongue) measurements. Each group of samples was evaluated separately by the e-nose and e-tongue. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) were able to separately discriminate monofloral honey from sugar syrup, and polyfloral honey from sugar and adulterated samples using the e-nose and e-tongue. The e-nose was observed to give better separation compared to e-tongue assessment, particularly when LDA was applied. However, when all samples were combined in one classification analysis, neither PCA nor LDA were able to discriminate between honeys of different floral origins, sugar syrup and adulterated samples. By applying a sensor fusion technique, the classification for the 18 different samples was improved. Significant improvement was observed using PCA, while LDA not only improved the discrimination but also gave better classification. An improvement
Ali, Hina; Saleem, Muhammad; Anser, Muhammad Ramzan; Khan, Saranjam; Ullah, Rahat; Bilal, Muhammad
2018-01-01
Due to high price and nutritional values of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), it is vulnerable to adulteration internationally. Refined oil or other vegetable oils are commonly blended with EVOO and to unmask such fraud, quick, and reliable technique needs to be standardized and developed. Therefore, in this study, adulteration of edible oil (sunflower oil) is made with pure EVOO and analyzed using fluorescence spectroscopy (excitation wavelength at 350 nm) in conjunction with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression. Fluorescent spectra contain fingerprints of chlorophyll and carotenoids that are characteristics of EVOO and differentiated it from sunflower oil. A broad intense hump corresponding to conjugated hydroperoxides is seen in sunflower oil in the range of 441-489 nm with the maximum at 469 nm whereas pure EVOO has low intensity doublet peaks in this region at 441 nm and 469 nm. Visible changes in spectra are observed in adulterated EVOO by increasing the concentration of sunflower oil, with an increase in doublet peak and correspondingly decrease in chlorophyll peak intensity. Principal component analysis showed a distinct clustering of adulterated samples of different concentrations. Subsequently, the PLS regression model was best fitted over the complete data set on the basis of coefficient of determination (R 2 ), standard error of calibration (SEC), and standard error of prediction (SEP) of values 0.99, 0.617, and 0.623 respectively. In addition to adulterant, test samples and imported commercial brands of EVOO were also used for prediction and validation of the models. Fluorescence spectroscopy combined with chemometrics showed its robustness to identify and quantify the specified adulterant in pure EVOO.
Adsorption of Paraquat Dichloride by Graphitic Carbon Nitride Synthesized from Melamine Scraps
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Watcharenwong, A.; Kaeokan, A.; Rammaroeng, R.; Upama, P.; Kajitvichyanukul, P.
2017-07-01
In this research, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was synthesized from useless melamine scraps. Mixture of melamine powder and urea was directly burned in the muffle furnace at 550 °C. Later as-synthesized g-C3N4 was modified with hydrochloric acid. The g-C3N4 powder was characterized by several techniques including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and specific surface area analyser. Adsorption of the herbicide paraquat from an aqueous solution to suspended particles of g-C3N4 was investigated, taking into consideration several parameters such as initial concentration of paraquat, initial pH, and dosage of g-C3N4. The results showed that with the same amount of g-C3N4, the increase in the paraquat concentration caused the reduction in the removal efficiency and the higher the amount of g-C3N4, the less residual paraquat remained in the bulk solution. G-C3N4 showed better adsorption behaviour in the basic condition. Finally, Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were also evaluated. Paraquat adsorption by g-C3N4 was in accordance with Langmuir more than Freundlich adsorption isotherm.
Bulky melamine-based Zn-porphyrin tweezer as a CD probe of molecular chirality.
Petrovic, Ana G; Vantomme, Ghislaine; Negrón-Abril, Yashira L; Lubian, Elisa; Saielli, Giacomo; Menegazzo, Ileana; Cordero, Roselynn; Proni, Gloria; Nakanishi, Koji; Carofiglio, Tommaso; Berova, Nina
2011-10-01
The transfer of chirality from a guest molecule to an achiral host is the subject of significant interest especially when, upon chiral induction, the chiroptical response of the host/guest complex can effectively report the absolute configuration (AC) of the guest. For more than a decade, dimeric metalloporphyrin hosts (tweezers) have been successfully applied as chirality probes for determination of the AC for a wide variety of chiral synthetic compounds and natural products. The objective of this study is to investigate the utility of a new class of melamine-bridged Zn-porphyrin tweezers as sensitive AC reporters. A combined approach based on an experimental CD analysis and a theoretical prediction of the prevailing interporphyrin helicity demonstrates that these tweezers display favorable properties for chiral recognition. Herein, we discuss the application of the melamine-bridged tweezer to the chiral recognition of a diverse set of chiral guests, such as 1,2-diamines, α-amino-esters and amides, secondary alcohols, and 1,2-amino-alcohols. The bulky periphery and the presence of a rigid porphyrin linkage lead, in some cases, to a more enhanced CD sensitivity than that reported earlier with other tweezers. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Phanyawong, Suphitcha; Siengchin, Suchart; Parameswaranpillai, Jyotishkumar; Asawapirom, Udom; Polpanich, Duangporn
2018-01-01
Sappan dye, a natural dye extracted from sappan wood is widely used in cosmetics, textile dyeing and as food additives. However, it was recognized that natural dyes cannot withstand high temperature. In this study, a protective coating of melamine-formaldehyde shell material was applied over the sappan dye to improve its thermal stability. The percentage of sappan dye used in the microencapsulation was 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 wt%. The color, shape, size, and thermal stability of sappan dye microcapsules were investigated. It was found that increasing amount of sappan dye content in the microcapsules decreased the particle size. Thermal analysis reveals that the melamine-formaldehyde resin served as an efficient protective shell for sappan dye. Besides, 30 wt% sappan dye microcapsules with different weight percent (1, 3 and 5 wt%) of sappan dye was used as modifier for polypropylene (PP). All the prepared composites are red in color which supports the thermal stability of the microcapsules. The changes in crystallinity and melting behavior of PP by the addition of microcapsules were studied in detail by differential scanning calorimetry. Thermogravimetric studies showed that the thermal stability of PP composites increased by the addition of microcapsules.
Chen, Jiucun; You, Hui; Xu, Liqun; Li, Tianhao; Jiang, Xianquan; Li, Chang Ming
2017-11-15
Oil leakages often cause fatal disasters for environmental pollution but an efficient treatment of the oil spills is still very challenging. Sponge-substrates with superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity have been attracted much attention for oil/water separation. In this study, an inexpensive commercial melamine sponge was chemically modified for the uses of oil spills treatment by oil/water separation. Inspiring from the superhydrophobic property of lotus leaf, pyrrole was polymerized by a simple vapor-phase deposition to encapsulate the raw melamine-formaldehyde (MF) sponge. The as-formed thin polypyrrole walls were utilized as reducing reagent to generate Ag nanoparticles on the capsuled sponge. Accordingly, a superhydrophobic melamine sponge with a two-tier hierarchical structure was achieved after fluorination, and this material was applied to absorb oil from water. The absorption capacity, absorption rate and recyclability were investigated. This superhydrophobic sponge exhibited an efficient and fast oil/water separation performance in complicated environment and could be applied in industrial production because of its low cost and simple fabrication procedure. This study presents a facile strategy for the fabrication of efficient oil sorbents based on a two-tier hierarchical structure, providing a novel means for the upgrading of engineered sorption materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hu, Leqian; Ma, Shuai; Yin, Chunling
2018-03-01
In this work, fluorescence spectroscopy combined with multi-way pattern recognition techniques were developed for determining the geographical origin of kudzu root and detection and quantification of adulterants in kudzu root. Excitation-emission (EEM) spectra were obtained for 150 pure kudzu root samples of different geographical origins and 150 fake kudzu roots with different adulteration proportions by recording emission from 330 to 570 nm with excitation in the range of 320-480 nm, respectively. Multi-way principal components analysis (M-PCA) and multilinear partial least squares discriminant analysis (N-PLS-DA) methods were used to decompose the excitation-emission matrices datasets. 150 pure kudzu root samples could be differentiated exactly from each other according to their geographical origins by M-PCA and N-PLS-DA models. For the adulteration kudzu root samples, N-PLS-DA got better and more reliable classification result comparing with the M-PCA model. The results obtained in this study indicated that EEM spectroscopy coupling with multi-way pattern recognition could be used as an easy, rapid and novel tool to distinguish the geographical origin of kudzu root and detect adulterated kudzu root. Besides, this method was also suitable for determining the geographic origin and detection the adulteration of the other foodstuffs which can produce fluorescence.
Effects of microwave heating on the migration of substances from melamine formaldehyde tableware.
Poovarodom, Ngamtip; Junsrisuriyawong, Kansuda; Sangmahamad, Raweeporn; Tangmongkollert, Pattaree
2014-01-01
Melamine formaldehyde (MF) tableware, after undergoing repeated heating in a microwave oven for 1, 2, 3 or 5 min, was tested for migration into 3% (w/v) acetic acid, a food simulant. Overall migration (OM) consistently increased with an increasing number of heating/washing cycles, while formaldehyde was found at low concentrations or was not detectable. Unexpectedly, the 1-min series caused the most rapid increase in OM; the European Union regulatory limit of 10 mg dm(-2) was exceeded after 25 cycles. The number of cycles required to reach the OM limit rose to 29 and 67 for the 2- and 3-min series, respectively. Only 37 cycles were needed in the case of the 5-min series; however, the cumulative exposure time to microwave irradiation was relatively close to that of the 3-min series. These findings indicate that microwave heating affects the migration of MF in a significantly different manner as compared with conventional heating reported in previous studies. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of MF after completing the microwave heating series show that the plastic was not fully cured, as evidenced by the absence of methylene linkages. The majority of migrants obtained from OM tests consisted of low molecular weight methylol melamine derivatives. The results indicate that microwave heating allowed demethylolation, addition and condensation reactions to occur, which was not the case when using conventional heating. This study demonstrates that microwave heating for 1-2 min in a repeated manner is of high concern in terms of consumer health. It was found that the service terms of melamine ware under microwave heating were drastically reduced, by more than 10-fold, as compared with the service terms under conventional heating. Hence, it is strongly recommended that manufacturers of MF articles provide instructions for use, e.g. "Do not use in microwave", which should be clearly visible to consumers and not easily detachable.
Zhao, Haixiang; Wang, Yongli; Xu, Xiuli; Ren, Heling; Li, Li; Xiang, Li; Zhong, Weike
2015-01-01
A simple and accurate authentication method for the detection of adulterated vegetable oils that contain waste cooking oil (WCO) was developed. This method is based on the determination of cholesterol, β-sitosterol, and campesterol in vegetable oils and WCO by GC/MS without any derivatization. A total of 148 samples involving 12 types of vegetable oil and WCO were analyzed. According to the results, the contents and ratios of cholesterol, β-sitosterol, and campesterol were found to be criteria for detecting vegetable oils adulterated with WCO. This method could accurately detect adulterated vegetable oils containing 5% refined WCO. The developed method has been successfully applied to multilaboratory analysis of 81 oil samples. Seventy-five samples were analyzed correctly, and only six adulterated samples could not be detected. This method could not yet be used for detection of vegetable oils adulterated with WCO that are used for frying non-animal foods. It provides a quick method for detecting adulterated edible vegetable oils containing WCO.
Mateescu, Cristina; Popescu, Anca Mihaela; Radu, Gabriel Lucian; Onisei, Tatiana; Raducanu, Adina Elena
2017-01-01
Purpose: This study was carried out in order to find a reliable method for the fast detection of adulterated herbal food supplements with sexual enhancement claims. As some herbal products are advertised as "all natural", their "efficiency" is often increased by addition of active pharmaceutical ingredients such as PDE-5 inhibitors, which can be a real health threat for the consumer. Methodes: Adulterants, potentially present in 50 herbal food supplements with sexual improvement claims, were detected using 2 spectroscopic methods - Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared - known for reliability, reproductibility, and an easy sample preparation. GC-MS technique was used to confirm the potential adulterants spectra. Results: About 22% (11 out of 50 samples) of herbal food supplements with sexual enhancement claims analyzed by spectroscopic and spectrometric methods proved to be "enriched" with active pharmaceutical compounds such as: sildenafil and two of its analogues, tadalafil and phenolphthalein. The occurence of phenolphthalein could be the reason for the non-relevant results obtained by FTIR method in some samples. 91% of the adulterated herbal food supplements were originating from China. Conclusion: The results of this screening highlighted the necessity for an accurate analysis of all alleged herbal aphrodisiacs on the Romanian market. This is a first such a screening analysis carried out on herbal food supplements with sexual enhancement claims. PMID:28761827
Mateescu, Cristina; Popescu, Anca Mihaela; Radu, Gabriel Lucian; Onisei, Tatiana; Raducanu, Adina Elena
2017-06-01
Purpose: This study was carried out in order to find a reliable method for the fast detection of adulterated herbal food supplements with sexual enhancement claims. As some herbal products are advertised as "all natural", their "efficiency" is often increased by addition of active pharmaceutical ingredients such as PDE-5 inhibitors, which can be a real health threat for the consumer. Methodes: Adulterants, potentially present in 50 herbal food supplements with sexual improvement claims, were detected using 2 spectroscopic methods - Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared - known for reliability, reproductibility, and an easy sample preparation. GC-MS technique was used to confirm the potential adulterants spectra. Results: About 22% (11 out of 50 samples) of herbal food supplements with sexual enhancement claims analyzed by spectroscopic and spectrometric methods proved to be "enriched" with active pharmaceutical compounds such as: sildenafil and two of its analogues, tadalafil and phenolphthalein. The occurence of phenolphthalein could be the reason for the non-relevant results obtained by FTIR method in some samples. 91% of the adulterated herbal food supplements were originating from China. Conclusion: The results of this screening highlighted the necessity for an accurate analysis of all alleged herbal aphrodisiacs on the Romanian market. This is a first such a screening analysis carried out on herbal food supplements with sexual enhancement claims.
LIU, Changjiang; LI, Hui; YANG, Kedi; YANG, Haixia
2013-01-01
Melamine is a new risk of urinary stones. Gansu province is a heavily affected area and has large population and underdeveloped economy. We hypothesized that number of family members and family income may play significant roles in the formation of urinary stones. A case-control study was performed among 190 infants. Results showed that the case group had less numbers of family members than the control (4.4 vs. 5.6, respectively). The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that number of family members was an independent influencing factor associated with urinary stones (OR, 0.606; 95% CI, 0.411–0.893; P = 0.011). Family income, however, did not exhibit a significant difference. Observed results suggested that number of family members was a new and significant influencing factor to affect the risk of melamine-associated urinary stones. PMID:23967433
Adulteration of Ginkgo biloba products and a simple method to improve its detection.
Wohlmuth, Hans; Savage, Kate; Dowell, Ashley; Mouatt, Peter
2014-05-15
Extracts of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) leaf are widely available worldwide in herbal medicinal products, dietary supplements, botanicals and complementary medicines, and several pharmacopoeias contain monographs for ginkgo leaf, leaf extract and finished products. Being a high-value botanical commodity, ginkgo extracts may be the subject of economically motivated adulteration. We analysed eight ginkgo leaf retail products purchased in Australia and Denmark and found compelling evidence of adulteration with flavonol aglycones in three of these. The same three products also contained genistein, an isoflavone that does not occur in ginkgo leaf. Although the United States Pharmacopeia - National Formulary (USP-NF) and the British and European Pharmacopoeias stipulate a required range for flavonol glycosides in ginkgo extract, the prescribed assays quantify flavonol aglycones. This means that these pharmacopoeial methods are not capable of detecting adulteration of ginkgo extract with free flavonol aglycones. We propose a simple modification of the USP-NF method that addresses this problem: by assaying for flavonol aglycones pre and post hydrolysis the content of flavonol glycosides can be accurately estimated via a simple calculation. We also recommend a maximum limit be set for free flavonol aglycones in ginkgo extract. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Penido, Ciro A F O; Pacheco, Marcos Tadeu T; Zângaro, Renato A; Silveira, Landulfo
2015-01-01
Identification of cocaine and subsequent quantification immediately after seizure are problems for the police in developing countries such as Brazil. This work proposes a comparison between the Raman and FT-IR techniques as methods to identify cocaine, the adulterants used to increase volume, and possible degradation products in samples seized by the police. Near-infrared Raman spectra (785 nm excitation, 10 sec exposure time) and FT-IR-ATR spectra were obtained from different samples of street cocaine and some substances commonly used as adulterants. Freebase powder, hydrochloride powder, and crack rock can be distinguished by both Raman and FT-IR spectroscopies, revealing differences in their chemical structure. Most of the samples showed characteristic peaks of degradation products such as benzoylecgonine and benzoic acid, and some presented evidence of adulteration with aluminum sulfate and sodium carbonate. Raman spectroscopy is better than FT-IR for identifying benzoic acid and inorganic adulterants in cocaine. © 2014 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Gu, Xuan; Zhang, Xiao-qin; Song, Xiao-na; Zang, Yi-mei; Li Yan-peng; Ma, Chang-hua; Zhao, Bai-xiao; Liu, Chun-sheng
2014-12-01
The fruit of Lycium ruthenicum is a common folk medicine in China. Now it is popular for its antioxidative effect and other medical functions. The adulterants of the herb confuse consumers. In order to identify a new adulterant of L. ruthenicum, a research was performed based on NCBI Nucleotide Database ITS Sequence, combined analysis of the origin and morphology of the adulterant to traceable varieties. Total genomic DNA was isolated from the materials, and nuclear DNA ITS sequences were amplified and sequenced; DNA fragments were collated and matched by using ContingExpress. Similarity identification of BLAST analysis was performed. Besides, the distribution of plant origin and morphology were considered to further identification and verification. Families and genera were identified by molecular identification method. The adulterant was identified as plant belonging to Berberis. Origin analysis narrowed the range of sample identification. Seven different kinds of plants in Berberis were potential sources of the sample. Adulterants variety was traced by morphological analysis. The united molecular identification-origin-morphology research proves to be a preceding way to medical herbs traceability with time-saving and economic advantages and the results showed the new adulterant of L. ruthenicum was B. kaschgarica. The main differences between B. kaschgarica and L. ruthenicum are as follows: in terms of the traits, the surface of B. kaschgarica is smooth and crispy, and that of L. ruthenicum is shrinkage, solid and hard. In microscopic characteristics, epicarp cells of B. aschgarica thickening like a string of beads, stone cells as the rectangle, and the stone cell walls of L. ruthenicum is wavy, obvious grain layer. In molecular sequences, the length of ITS sequence of B. kaschgarica is 606 bp, L. ruthenicum is 654 bp, the similarity of the two sequences is 53.32%.
Joshi, Vaishali C; Srinivas, Pullela V; Khan, Ikhlas A
2005-01-01
Illicium verum Hook. f. is used as an herbal tea to treat colic pain in infants. Reports suggest that Star anise herbal tea may be adulterated with Illicium anisatum Linn. A short and rapid method using microscopy and gas chromatography (GC) was developed to detect I. anisatum Linn., an adulterant in the powdered mixture of I. verum. Anatomical differences in the epicarp cells of I. verum and I. anisatum fruits were clearly defined as examined under fluorescent microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A GC method was developed for quick identification of possible I. anisatum adulteration with I. verum.
A rapid screening for adulterants in olive oil using DNA barcodes
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
A distinctive methodology is developed to trace out the mixing into olive oil, which is marketed every year with 20% or more fraudulent oils. Such adulteration has been difficult to differentiate using fatty acid analysis and other available current techniques, as chemically fatty acids are the same...
21 CFR 99.405 - Applicability of labeling, adulteration, and misbranding authority.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-04-01
... AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON UNAPPROVED/NEW USES FOR MARKETED DRUGS, BIOLOGICS, AND DEVICES Corrective Actions and Cessation of Dissemination § 99.405 Applicability of labeling, adulteration, and misbranding authority. The dissemination of information relating to a new use for a drug or...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mabood, F.; Boqué, R.; Folcarelli, R.; Busto, O.; Jabeen, F.; Al-Harrasi, Ahmed; Hussain, J.
2016-05-01
In this study the effect of thermal treatment on the enhancement of synchronous fluorescence spectroscopic method for discrimination and quantification of pure extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) samples from EVOO samples adulterated with refined oil was investigated. Two groups of samples were used. One group was analyzed at room temperature (25 °C) and the other group was thermally treated in a thermostatic water bath at 75 °C for 8 h, in contact with air and with light exposure, to favor oxidation. All the samples were then measured with synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. Synchronous fluorescence spectra were acquired by varying the wavelength in the region from 250 to 720 nm at 20 nm wavelength differential interval of excitation and emission. Pure and adulterated olive oils were discriminated by using partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). It was found that the best PLS-DA models were those built with the difference spectra (75 °C-25 °C), which were able to discriminate pure from adulterated oils at a 2% level of adulteration of refined olive oils. Furthermore, PLS regression models were also built to quantify the level of adulteration. Again, the best model was the one built with the difference spectra, with a prediction error of 3.18% of adulteration.
Chen, Jin-Jin; Zhao, Qing-Sheng; Liu, Yi-Lan; Zha, Sheng-Hua; Zhao, Bing
2015-09-01
Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is an herbaceous plant that grows in high plateaus and has been used as both food and folk medicine for centuries because of its benefits to human health. In the present study, ITS (internal transcribed spacer) sequences of forty-three maca samples, collected from different regions or vendors, were amplified and analyzed. The ITS sequences of nineteen potential adulterants of maca were also collected and analyzed. The results indicated that the ITS sequence of maca was consistent in all samples and unique when compared with its adulterants. Therefore, this DNA-barcoding approach based on the ITS sequence can be used for the molecular identification of maca and its adulterants. Copyright © 2015 China Pharmaceutical University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Finding Self: A Qualitative Study of Transgender, Transitioning, and Adulterated Silicone
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wallace, Phyllis M.
2010-01-01
Objective: To describe the development and testing of a theory-based interview guide. To increase awareness of adulterated silicone use among Transgender. Design: A qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews. Setting: Interviews were conducted in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Method: Seven transgender adults aged 18 and over were interviewed…
Adulteration of urine by "Urine Luck".
Wu, A H; Bristol, B; Sexton, K; Cassella-McLane, G; Holtman, V; Hill, D W
1999-07-01
In vitro adulterants are used to invalidate assays for urine drugs of abuse. The present study examined the effect of pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) found in the product "Urine Luck". PCC was prepared and added to positive urine controls at concentrations of 0, 10, 50, and 100 g/L. The controls were assayed for methamphetamine, benzoylecgonine (BE), codeine and morphine, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and phencyclidine (PCP) with the Emit II (Syva) and Abuscreen Online (Roche) immunoassays, and by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Two tests were also developed to detect PCC in urine: a spot test to detect chromate ions using 10 g/L 1,5-diphenylcarbazide as the indicator, and a GC/MS assay for pyridine. We tested 150 samples submitted for routine urinalysis, compliance, and workplace drug testing for PCC, using these assays. Response rates decreased at 100 g/L PCC for all Emit II drug assays and for the Abuscreen morphine and THC assays. In contrast, the Abuscreen amphetamine assay produced apparently higher results, and no effect was seen on the results for BE or PCP. The PCC did not affect the GC/MS recovery of methamphetamine, BE, PCP, or their deuterated internal standards, but decreased GC/MS recovery of the opiates at both intermediate (50 g/L) and high (100 g/L) PCC concentrations and apparent concentrations of THC and THC-d3 at all PCC concentrations. Two of 50 samples submitted for workplace drug testing under chain-of-custody conditions were positive for PCC, whereas none of the remaining 100 specimens submitted for routine urinalysis or compliance drug testing were positive. PCC is an effective adulterant for urine drug testing of THC and opiates. Identification of PCC use can be accomplished with use of a spot test for the oxidant.
ElAmrawy, Fatema; ElAgouri, Ghada; Elnoweam, Ola; Aboelazayem, Samar; Farouk, ElMohanad; Nounou, Mohamed I
2016-11-01
Erectile dysfunction prevalence globally is noticeably high. This is accompanied by an increase in the use of nutraceuticals for male enhancement. However, the global market is invaded by counterfeit and adulterated nutraceuticals claimed to be of natural origin sold with a therapeutic claim. The objective of this article is to review male enhancement nutraceuticals worldwide with respect to claim, adulterants, and safety. The definition of such products is variable across countries. Thus, the registration procedures differ as well. This facilitates the manipulation of the process, which leads to widespread adulterated and counterfeit products without control. The tele-advertisement and Internet pharmacies aided the widespread sale of male enhancement nutraceuticals, unfortunately, the spurious ones. Finally, based on literature, most of these products were found to be adulterated with active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and mislabeled as being natural. These products represent a major health hazard for consumers due to lack of clear regulations.
Nicholls, David A; Cheek, Julianne
2006-05-01
In 1894 the Society of Trained Masseuses (STM) formed in response to massage scandals published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The Society's founders acted to legitimise massage, which had become sullied by its association with prostitution. This study analyses the discourses that influenced the founders of the Society and reflects upon the social and political conditions that enabled the STM to emerge and prosper. The founders established a clear practice model for massage which effectively regulated the sensual elements of contact between therapist and patient. Massage practices were regulated through clearly defined curricula, examinations and the surveillance of the Society's members. A biomechanical model of physical rehabilitation was adopted to enable masseuses to view the body as a machine rather than as a sensual being. Medical patronage of the Society was courted enabling the Society to prosper amongst competing organisations. Using Foucault's work on power we explore the contingent nature of these events, seeing the massage scandals in context with broader questions of sexual morality, professionalisation and expertise in the late nineteenth century society. We argue that many of the technologies developed by the founders resonate with physiotherapy practice today and enable us to critically analyse the continued relevance of the profession to contemporary healthcare.
Ha, Jimyeong; Kim, Sejeong; Lee, Jeeyeon; Lee, Soomin; Lee, Heeyoung; Choi, Yukyung; Oh, Hyemin; Yoon, Yohan
2017-01-01
The identification of pork in commercially processed meats is one of the most crucial issues in the food industry because of religious food ethics, medical purposes, and intentional adulteration to decrease production cost. This study therefore aimed to develop a method for the detection of pork adulteration in meat products using primers specific for pig mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial DNA sequences for pig, cattle, chicken, and sheep were obtained from GenBank and aligned. The 294-bp mitochondrial DNA D-loop region was selected as the pig target DNA sequence and appropriate primers were designed using the MUSCLE program. To evaluate primer sensitivity, pork-beef-chicken mixtures were prepared as follows: i) 0% pork-50% beef-50% chicken, ii) 1% pork-49.5% beef-49.5% chicken, iii) 2% pork-49% beef-49% chicken, iv) 5% pork-47.5% beef-47.5% chicken, v) 10% pork-45% beef-45% chicken, and vi) 100% pork-0% beef-0% chicken. In addition, a total of 35 commercially packaged products, including patties, nuggets, meatballs, and sausages containing processed chicken, beef, or a mixture of various meats, were purchased from commercial markets. The primers developed in our study were able to detect as little as 1% pork in the heat treated pork-beef-chicken mixtures. Of the 35 processed products, three samples were pork positive despite being labeled as beef or chicken only or as a beef-chicken mix. These results indicate that the developed primers could be used to detect pork adulteration in various processed meat products for application in safeguarding religious food ethics, detecting allergens, and preventing food adulteration. PMID:28747833
The politics of presidential illness. Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra Scandal.
Gilbert, Robert E
2014-01-01
This paper assesses the likelihood that the Iran-Contra scandal was shaped heavily by the effects of Ronald Reagan's cancer surgery in summer, 1985. During the President's hospitalization and in the period soon after, he took several actions--which he apparently did not remember--that launched a policy that was unwise, counterproductive, and a failure. These damaged both his Administration and his standing in history. The 25th Amendment afforded Reagan the means by which his involvement in these events could easily have been avoided. However, the President and his aides determined that he would resume the powers and duties of the presidency only hours after undergoing extensive cancer surgery. This decision contributed materially to the most damaging episode of Reagan's eight-year presidency.
7 CFR 57.840 - Identification of inedible, unwholesome, or adulterated egg products.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... adulterated egg products. 57.840 Section 57.840 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) INSPECTION OF EGGS (EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT) Regulations Governing...
7 CFR 57.840 - Identification of inedible, unwholesome, or adulterated egg products.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-01-01
... adulterated egg products. 57.840 Section 57.840 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) INSPECTION OF EGGS (EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT) Regulations Governing...
Mabood, F; Boqué, R; Folcarelli, R; Busto, O; Jabeen, F; Al-Harrasi, Ahmed; Hussain, J
2016-05-15
In this study the effect of thermal treatment on the enhancement of synchronous fluorescence spectroscopic method for discrimination and quantification of pure extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) samples from EVOO samples adulterated with refined oil was investigated. Two groups of samples were used. One group was analyzed at room temperature (25 °C) and the other group was thermally treated in a thermostatic water bath at 75 °C for 8h, in contact with air and with light exposure, to favor oxidation. All the samples were then measured with synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. Synchronous fluorescence spectra were acquired by varying the wavelength in the region from 250 to 720 nm at 20 nm wavelength differential interval of excitation and emission. Pure and adulterated olive oils were discriminated by using partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). It was found that the best PLS-DA models were those built with the difference spectra (75 °C-25 °C), which were able to discriminate pure from adulterated oils at a 2% level of adulteration of refined olive oils. Furthermore, PLS regression models were also built to quantify the level of adulteration. Again, the best model was the one built with the difference spectra, with a prediction error of 3.18% of adulteration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Wang, Jun Feng; Wu, Xue Zhong; Xiao, Rui; Dong, Pei Tao; Wang, Chao Guang
2014-01-01
A new high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate with extremely high SERS activity was produced. This SERS substrate combines the advantages of Au film over nanosphere (AuFON) substrate and Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs). A three order enhancement of SERS was observed when Rhodamine 6G (R6G) was used as a probe molecule to compare the SERS effects of the new substrate and commonly used AuFON substrate. These new SERS substrates can detect R6G down to 1 nM. The new substrate was also utilized to detect melamine, and the limit of detection (LOD) is 1 ppb. A linear relationship was also observed between the SERS intensity at Raman peak 682 cm−1 and the logarithm of melamine concentrations ranging from 10 ppm to 1 ppb. This ultrasensitive SERS substrate is a promising tool for detecting trace chemical molecules because of its simple and effective fabrication procedure, high sensitivity and high reproducibility of the SERS effect. PMID:24886913
Wang, Jun Feng; Wu, Xue Zhong; Xiao, Rui; Dong, Pei Tao; Wang, Chao Guang
2014-01-01
A new high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate with extremely high SERS activity was produced. This SERS substrate combines the advantages of Au film over nanosphere (AuFON) substrate and Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs). A three order enhancement of SERS was observed when Rhodamine 6G (R6G) was used as a probe molecule to compare the SERS effects of the new substrate and commonly used AuFON substrate. These new SERS substrates can detect R6G down to 1 nM. The new substrate was also utilized to detect melamine, and the limit of detection (LOD) is 1 ppb. A linear relationship was also observed between the SERS intensity at Raman peak 682 cm(-1) and the logarithm of melamine concentrations ranging from 10 ppm to 1 ppb. This ultrasensitive SERS substrate is a promising tool for detecting trace chemical molecules because of its simple and effective fabrication procedure, high sensitivity and high reproducibility of the SERS effect.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Honick, Craig
Since the late 19th century, the proprietary school sector in the United States has undergone four major cycles of scandal and reform: the emergence of the commercial college sector in the 1870s, the progressive era of the early 20th century, the fallout of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill), and the period following the 1972…
Liang, Qionglin; Qu, Jun; Luo, Guoan; Wang, Yiming
2006-02-13
In recent years, dietary supplements and herbal medicines are increasing in popularity all over the world. However, it is problematic that some manufacturers illegally included synthetic drugs in their products. Due to the extremely complex matrices of those products, most existing methods for screening illegal adulterations are time-consuming and liable to false positive. In this paper, a robust LC/MS/MS method for the high-throughput, sensitive and reliable determination of illegal adulterations from herbal medicines and dietary supplements was established. Minimal LC separation was employed and MRM was used to simultaneously monitor the three transitions under their respective optimal collision energy for each compound. Positive results were determined only if well-defined peaks appeared at all of the three transitions and the ratios among the peak areas were within given threshold. In this study, the method had been applied for the screening of nine most commonly adulterated therapeutic substances, such as sildenafil (Viagra) and famotidine, and the lower limits of detection of these compounds ranged from 0.05 to 1.5 ng/ml. Little sample preparation was needed for this method and the analysis time was less than 5 min/sample. The reliability has been demonstrated by the test with blank matrix. Over 200 products that were under suspicion by SDA of China had been assayed and till now no false negative or positive result was found. This method is rapid, simple, reliable and capable of screening multiple adulterants in one run.
Identification and quantification of Cu-chlorophyll adulteration of edible oils.
Fang, Mingchih; Tsai, Chia-Fen; Wu, Guan-Yan; Tseng, Su-Hsiang; Cheng, Hwei-Fang; Kuo, Ching-Hao; Hsu, Che-Lun; Kao, Ya-Min; Shih, Daniel Yang-Chih; Chiang, Yu-Mei
2015-01-01
Cu-pyropheophytin a, the major Cu-pigment of Cu-chlorophyll, was determined in edible oil by high-resolution mass spectrometry with a high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole (HPLC-Q)-Orbitrap system and by HPLC coupled with a photodiode-array detector. Respective limit of detection and limit of quantification levels of 0.02 μg/g and 0.05 μg/g were obtained. Twenty-nine commercial oil products marked as olive oil, grapeseed oil and blended oil, all sourced directly from a food company that committed adulteration with Cu-chlorophyll, were investigated. In this company, four green dyes illegally used in oils were seized during factory investigation by the health authorities. The food additive Cu-pyropheophytin a was found in all confiscated samples in concentrations between 0.02 and 0.39 μg/g. Survey results of another 235 commercial oil samples manufactured from other companies, including olive pomace oil, extra virgin olive oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil and blended oil, indicated high positive incidences of 63%, 39%, 44%, 97% and 8%, respectively, with a concentration range between 0.02 and 0.54 μg/g. High Cu-chlorophyll concentrations are indications for fraudulent adulteration of oils.
Van der Kelen, Christophe; Göransson, Peter
2013-12-01
The flow resistivity tensor, which is the inverse of the viscous permeability tensor, is one of the most important material properties for the acoustic performance of porous materials used in acoustic treatments. Due to the manufacturing processes involved, these porous materials are most often geometrically anisotropic on a microscopic scale, and for demanding applications, there is a need for improved characterization methods. This paper discusses recent refinements of a method for the identification of the anisotropic flow resistivity tensor. The inverse estimation is verified for three fictitious materials with different degrees of anisotropy. Measurements are performed on nine glass wool samples and seven melamine foam samples, and the anisotropic flow resistivity tensors obtained are validated by comparison to measurements performed on uni-directional cylindrical samples, extracted from the same, previously measured cubic samples. The variability of flow resistivity in the batch of material from which the glass wool is extracted is discussed. The results for the melamine foam suggest that there is a relation between the direction of highest flow resistivity, and the rise direction of the material.
9 CFR 590.840 - Identification of inedible, unwholesome, or adulterated egg products.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
..., unwholesome, or adulterated egg products. 590.840 Section 590.840 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION INSPECTION OF EGGS AND EGG PRODUCTS (EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT) Identification of Restricted Eggs Or Egg Products Not Intended for Human...
78 FR 78013 - Focused Mitigation Strategies To Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-12-24
... and procedures; I--Inspect your work area and surrounding areas; R--Recognize anything out of the...: Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper or CD-ROM submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305... Proposed Rule Costs and Benefits I. Introduction II. Background A. Incidents of Intentional Adulteration of...
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Some commercial sweet sorghum syrups can be fraudulently or accidently adulterated with inexpensive sugar syrups, particularly high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or corn syrup, and sold at a relatively low market price or even mis-branded. This undermines the economic stability of the current small-sc...
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Commercial sweet sorghum syrups can be adulterated with inexpensive sugar syrups, particularly high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or corn syrup, and sold at a relatively low market price or even mis-branded. This undermines the economic stability of the current small-scale producers of food-grade swee...
9 CFR 590.840 - Identification of inedible, unwholesome, or adulterated egg products.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-01-01
..., unwholesome, or adulterated egg products. 590.840 Section 590.840 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION INSPECTION OF EGGS AND EGG PRODUCTS (EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT) Identification of Restricted Eggs Or Egg Products Not Intended for Human...
Guo, Tianyang; Fang, Pingping; Jiang, Juanjuan; Zhang, Feng; Yong, Wei; Liu, Jiahui; Dong, Yiyang
2016-11-04
A rapid method to screen and quantify multi-class analytic targets in red wine has been developed by direct analysis in real time (DART) coupled with triple quadruple tandem mass spectrometry (QqQ-MS). A modified QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) procedure was used for increasing analytical speed and reducing matrix effect, and the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in DART-MS/MS ensured accurate analysis. One bottle of wine containing 50 pesticides and 12 adulterants, i.e., preservatives, antioxidant, sweeteners, and azo dyes, could be totally determined less than 12min. This method exhibited proper linearity (R 2 ≥0.99) in the range of 1-1000ng/mL for pesticides and 10-5000ng/mL for adulterants. The limits of detection (LODs) were obtained in a 0.5-50ng/mL range for pesticides and 5-50ng/mL range for adulterants, and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were in a 1-100ng/mL range for pesticides and 10-250ng/mL range for adulterants. Three spiked levels for each analyte in wine were evaluated, and the recoveries were in a scope of 75-120%. The results demonstrated DART-MS/MS was a rapid and simple method, and could be applied to rapid analyze residual pesticides and illegal adulterants in a large quantities of red wine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Azadmard-Damirchi, Sodeif
2010-01-01
Adulteration of virgin olive oil with less expensive oils such as hazelnut oil is a serious problem for quality control of olive oil. Detection of the presence of hazelnut oil in olive oil at low percentages (<20%) is limited with current official standard methods. In this review, various classes of phytosterols in these two oils are assessed as possible markers to detect adulterated olive oil. The composition of 4-desmethyl- and 4-monomethylsterols is similar in both oils, but the 4,4'-dimethylsterols differ. Lupeol and an unknown (lupane skeleton) compound from 4,4'-dimethylsterols are exclusively present in hazelnut oil and can be used as markers via GC-MS monitoring to detect adulteration at levels as low as 2%. The phytosterol classes need to be separated and enriched by a preparative method prior to analysis by GC or GC/MS; these SPE and TLC methods are also described in this review.
Rani, Anupama; Sharma, Vivek; Arora, Sumit; Lal, Darshan; Kumar, Anil
2015-04-01
Detection of milk fat adulteration with foreign fats/oils continues to be a challenge for the dairy industry as well as food testing laboratories, especially in the present scenario of rampant adulteration using the scientific knowledge by unscrupulous persons involved in the trade. In the present investigation a rapid reversed-phase thin layer chromatographic (RP-TLC) protocol was standardized to ascertain the purity of milk fat. RP-TLC protocol did not show any false positive results in the genuine ghee (clarified butter fat) samples of known origin. Adulteration of ghee with coconut oil up to 7. 5 %, soybean oil, sunflower oil and groundnut oil up to 1 %, while, designer oil up to 2 % level could be detected using the standardized RP-TLC protocol. The protocol standardized is rapid and convenient to use.
49 CFR 40.95 - What are the adulterant cutoff concentrations for initial and confirmation tests?
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Drug Testing... laboratory, you must use the cutoff concentrations for the initial and confirmation adulterant testing as...
49 CFR 40.95 - What are the adulterant cutoff concentrations for initial and confirmation tests?
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-10-01
... Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Drug Testing... laboratory, you must use the cutoff concentrations for the initial and confirmation adulterant testing as...
49 CFR 40.95 - What are the adulterant cutoff concentrations for initial and confirmation tests?
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Drug Testing... laboratory, you must use the cutoff concentrations for the initial and confirmation adulterant testing as...
49 CFR 40.95 - What are the adulterant cutoff concentrations for initial and confirmation tests?
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Drug Testing... laboratory, you must use the cutoff concentrations for the initial and confirmation adulterant testing as...
49 CFR 40.95 - What are the adulterant cutoff concentrations for initial and confirmation tests?
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Drug Testing... laboratory, you must use the cutoff concentrations for the initial and confirmation adulterant testing as...
de Oliveira Mendes, Thiago; Porto, Brenda Lee Simas; Bell, Maria José Valenzuela; Perrone, Ítalo Tuler; de Oliveira, Marcone Augusto Leal
2016-12-15
Adulteration of milk with whey is difficult to detect because these two have similar physical and chemical characteristics. The traditional methodologies to monitor this fraud are based on the analysis of caseinomacropeptide. The present study proposes a new approach to detect and quantify this fraud using the fatty acid profiles of milk and whey. Fatty acids C14:0, C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 were selected by gas chromatography associated with discriminant analysis to differentiate milk and whey, as they are present in quite different amounts. These six fatty acids were quantified within a short time by capillary zone electrophoresis in a set of adulterated milk samples. The correlation coefficient between the true values of whey addition and the experimental values obtained by this technique was 0.973. The technique is thus useful for the evaluation of milk adulteration with whey, contributing to the quality control of milk in the dairy industry. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Purity, adulteration and price of drugs bought on-line versus off-line in the Netherlands.
van der Gouwe, Daan; Brunt, Tibor M; van Laar, Margriet; van der Pol, Peggy
2017-04-01
On-line drug markets flourish and consumers have high expectations of on-line quality and drug value. The aim of this study was to (i) describe on-line drug purchases and (ii) compare on-line with off-line purchased drugs regarding purity, adulteration and price. Comparison of laboratory analyses of 32 663 drug consumer samples (stimulants and hallucinogens) purchased between January 2013 and January 2016, 928 of which were bought on-line. The Netherlands. Primary outcome measures were (i) the percentage of samples purchased on-line and (ii) the chemical purity of powders (or dosage per tablet); adulteration; and the price per gram, blotter or tablet of drugs bought on-line compared with drugs bought off-line. The proportion of drug samples purchased on-line increased from 1.4% in 2013 to 4.1% in 2015. The frequency varied widely, from a maximum of 6% for controlled, traditional substances [ecstasy tablets, 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) powder, amphetamine powder, cocaine powder, 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2C-B) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)] to more than a third for new psychoactive substances (NPS) [4-fluoroamphetamine (4-FA), 5/6-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran (5/6-APB) and methoxetamine (MXE)]. There were no large differences in drug purity, yet small but statistically significant differences were found for 4-FA (on-line 59% versus off-line 52% purity for 4-FA on average, P = 0.001), MDMA powders (45 versus 61% purity for MDMA, P = 0.02), 2C-B tablets (21 versus 10 mg 2C-B/tablet dosage, P = 0.49) and ecstasy tablets (131 versus 121 mg MDMA/tablet dosage, P = 0.05). The proportion of adulterated samples purchased on-line and off-line did not differ, except for 4-FA powder, being less adulterated on-line (χ 2 = 8.3; P < 0.02). Drug prices were mainly higher on-line, ranging for various drugs from 10 to 23% higher than that of drugs purchased off-line (six of 10 substances: P < 0.05). Dutch drug users increasingly
Di Girolamo, Francesco; Masotti, Andrea; Salvatori, Guglielmo; Scapaticci, Margherita; Muraca, Maurizio; Putignani, Lorenza
2014-01-01
She-donkey’s milk (DM) and goat’s milk (GM) are commonly used in newborn and infant feeding because they are less allergenic than other milk types. It is, therefore, mandatory to avoid adulteration and contamination by other milk allergens, developing fast and efficient analytical methods to assess the authenticity of these precious nutrients. In this experimental work, a sensitive and robust matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) profiling was designed to assess the genuineness of DM and GM milks. This workflow allows the identification of DM and GM adulteration at levels of 0.5%, thus, representing a sensitive tool for milk adulteration analysis, if compared with other laborious and time-consuming analytical procedures. PMID:25110863
Tosun, Murat
2014-12-15
Mulberry pekmez can be adulterated in different ways either during the production process or after production is completed. To identify these adulterations, stable carbon isotope ratio analysis (SCIRA) was performed on the model examples prepared by adding saccharose syrup (SS), glucose syrup (GS) and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) into two different pure mulberry pekmez samples in the ratios of 0%, 10%, 30% and 50%. The δ(13)C ratio of the pure mulberry pekmez was determined as -26.60‰ on average, the saccharose syrup as -24.80‰, the glucose syrup as -11.20‰ and the high-fructose corn syrup as -11.40‰. In identifying the adulteration made to pekmez, especially with the high-fructose corn syrup, which is obtained from corn starch, and with the glucose syrup, the δ(13)C ratio comes into prominence. However it remains impossible identify the adulterations made with the saccharose, which is obtained from beet sugar, or invert sugar syrups. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Han, Bang-Xing; Yuan, Yuan; Huang, Lu-Qi; Zhao, Qun; Tan, Ling-Ling; Song, Xiang-Wen; He, Xiao-Mei; Xu, Tao; Liu, Feng; Wang, Jian
2017-01-01
The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Qianhu and Zihuaqianhu are the dried roots of Peucedanum praeruptorum and Angelica decursiva , respectively. Since the plant sources of Qianhu and Zihuaqianhu are more complex, the chemical compositions of P. praeruptorum and A. decursiva are significantly different, and many adulterants exist because of the differences in traditional understanding and medication habits. Therefore, the rapid and accurate identification methods are required. The aim was to study the feasibility of using DNA barcoding to distinguish between Traditional Chinese medicine Qianhu ( Peucedanum praeruptorum ), Zihuaqianhu ( Angelica decursiva ), and common adulterants, based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, as well as specific PCR identification between P. praeruptorum and A. decursiva . The ITS sequences of P. praeruptorum , A. decursiva , and adulterant were studied, and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. Based on the ITS barcode, the specific PCR primer pairs QH-CP19s/QH-CP19a and ZHQH-CP3s/ZHQH-CP3a were designed for P. praeruptorum and A. decursiva , respectively. The amplification conditions were optimized, and specific PCR products were obtained. The results showed that the phylogenetic trees constructed using the BI and MP methods were consistent, and P. praeruptorum and A. decursiva sequence haplotypes formed their own monophyly. The experimental results showed that in PCR products, the target bands appeared in the genuine drug and not in the adulterant, which suggests the high specificity of the two primer pairs. The ITS sequence was ideal DNA barcode to identify P. praeruptorum , A. decursiva , and adulterant. The specific PCR is a quick and effective method to distinguish between P. praeruptorum and A. decursiva . Peucedanum praeruptorum and Angelica decursiva sequence haplotypes formed their own monophyly.The ITS sequence was ideal DNA barcode to identify P. praeruptorum , A. decursiva , and adulterant.Specific PCR is a
Polymer platforms for selective detection of cocaine in street samples adulterated with levamisole.
Florea, Anca; Cowen, Todd; Piletsky, Sergey; De Wael, Karolien
2018-08-15
Accurate drug detection is of utmost importance for fighting against drug abuse. With a high number of cutting agents and adulterants being added to cut or mask drugs in street powders the number of false results is increasing. We demonstrate for the first time the usefulness of employing polymers readily synthesized by electrodeposition to selectively detect cocaine in the presence of the commonly used adulterant levamisole. The polymers were selected by computational modelling to exhibit high binding affinity towards cocaine and deposited directly on the surface of graphene-modified electrodes via electropolymerization. The resulting platforms allowed a distinct electrochemical signal for cocaine, which is otherwise suppressed by levamisole. Square wave voltammetry was used to quantify cocaine alone and in the presence of levamisole. The usefulness of the platforms was demonstrated in the screening of real street samples. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qu, Lei; Chen, Jian-bo; Zhang, Gui-Jun; Sun, Su-qin; Zheng, Jing
2017-03-01
As a kind of expensive perfume and valuable herb, Aquilariae Lignum Resinatum (ALR) is often adulterated for economic motivations. In this research, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is employed to establish a simple and quick method for the adulteration screening of ALR. First, the principal chemical constituents of ALR are characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy at room temperature and two-dimensional correlation infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy with thermal perturbation. Besides the common cellulose and lignin compounds, a certain amount of resin is the characteristic constituent of ALR. Synchronous and asynchronous 2D-IR spectra indicate that the resin (an unstable secondary metabolite) is more sensitive than cellulose and lignin (stable structural constituents) to the thermal perturbation. Using a certified ALR sample as the reference, the infrared spectral correlation threshold is determined by 30 authentic samples and 6 adulterated samples. The spectral correlation coefficient of an authentic ALR sample to the standard reference should be not less than 0.9886 (p = 0.01). Three commercial adulterated ALR samples are identified by the correlation threshold. Further interpretation of the infrared spectra of the adulterated samples indicates the common adulterating methods - counterfeiting with other kind of wood, adding ingredient such as sand to increase the weight, and adding the cheap resin such as rosin to increase the content of resin compounds. Results of this research prove that FT-IR spectroscopy can be used as a simple and accurate quality control method of ALR.
Skalicka-Woźniak, Krystyna; Georgiev, Milen I; Orhan, Ilkay Erdogan
2017-10-01
The popularity of herbal medicines and dietary supplements is increasing all over the world due to the many side-effects assigned to synthetic drugs. Herbal remedies should be considered as safe, with no side-effects, but unfortunately, even if they are labelled as natural, large numbers of adulterants, not only with toxic heavy metals but also with undeclared synthetic substances, have been detected up to date. In this review, the most frequent instances of adulteration of herbal medicines and dietary supplements acting as sexual enhancers and slimming products are thoroughly discussed. The great success of synthetic phosphodiesterase type-5 (PDE-5) inhibitory drugs like sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil, used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction has made them, as well as their unapproved analogues, popular as adulterants in herbal dietary supplements. The second group among blockbuster products are herbal preparations for slimming purpose, as obesity and gaining weight are major problems worldwide. Here, sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate, an anti-obesity drug which inhibits serotonergic and noradrenergic reuptake, seems to be the most common adulterant. Together with large numbers of its analogues, thyroid hormones, anorexigens, diuretics, stimulants, and laxative agents are also detected in most of tested diet supplements. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Wang, Zhe; Wu, Caisheng; Wang, Gangli; Zhang, Qingsheng; Zhang, Jinlan
2015-03-01
The detection, confirmation, and quantification of multiple illegal adulterants in health foods and herbal medicines by using a single analytical method are a challenge. This paper reports on a new strategy to meet this challenge by employing high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry and a mass spectral tree similarity filter technique. This analytical method can rapidly collect high-resolution, high-accuracy, optionally multistage mass data for compounds in samples. After a preliminary screening by retention time and high-resolution mass spectral data, known illegal adulterants can be detected. The mass spectral tree similarity filter technique has been applied to rapidly confirm these adulterants and simultaneously discover unknown ones. By using full-scan mass spectra as stem and data-dependent subsequent stage mass spectra to form branches, mass spectrometry data from detected compounds are converted into mass spectral trees. The known or unknown illegal adulterants in the samples are confirmed or discovered based on the similarity between their mass spectral trees and those of the references in a library, and they are finally quantified against standard curves. This new strategy has been tested by using 50 samples, and the illegal adulterants were rapidly and effectively detected, confirmed and quantified. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rios-Corripio, M. A.; Rios-Leal, E.; Rojas-López, M.; Delgado-Macuil, R.
2011-01-01
A chemometric analysis of adulteration of Mexican honey by sugar syrups such as corn syrup and cane sugar syrup was realized. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to measure the absorption of a group of bee honey samples from central region of Mexico. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to process FTIR spectra to determine the adulteration of bee honey. In addition to that, the content of individual sugars from honey samples: glucose, fructose, sucrose and monosaccharides was determined by using PLS-FTIR analysis validated by HPLC measurements. This analytical methodology which is based in infrared spectroscopy and chemometry can be an alternative technique to characterize and also to determine the purity and authenticity of nutritional products as bee honey and other natural products.
Ogrinc, N; Kosir, I J; Spangenberg, J E; Kidric, J
2003-06-01
This review covers two important techniques, high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS), used to characterize food products and detect possible adulteration of wine, fruit juices, and olive oil, all important products of the Mediterranean Basin. Emphasis is placed on the complementary use of SNIF-NMR (site-specific natural isotopic fractionation nuclear magnetic resonance) and IRMS (isotope-ratio mass spectrometry) in association with chemometric methods for detecting the adulteration.
Mung, Dorothea; Li, Liang
2018-02-25
There is an increasing demand for donor human milk to feed infants for various reasons including that a mother may be unable to provide sufficient amounts of milk for their child or the milk is considered unsafe for the baby. Selling and buying human milk via the Internet has gained popularity. However, there is a risk of human milk sold containing other adulterants such as animal or plant milk. Analytical tools for rapid detection of adulterants in human milk are needed. We report a quantitative metabolomics method for detecting potential milk adulterants (soy, almond, cow, goat and infant formula milk) in human milk. It is based on the use of a high-performance chemical isotope labeling (CIL) LC-MS platform to profile the metabolome of an unknown milk sample, followed by multivariate or univariate comparison of the resultant metabolomic profile with that of human milk to determine the differences. Using dansylation LC-MS to profile the amine/phenol submetabolome, we could detect an average of 4129 ± 297 (n = 9) soy metabolites, 3080 ± 470 (n = 9) almond metabolites, 4256 ± 136 (n = 18) cow metabolites, 4318 ± 198 (n = 9) goat metabolites, 4444 ± 563 (n = 9) infant formula metabolites, and 4020 ± 375 (n = 30) human metabolites. This high level of coverage allowed us to readily differentiate the six different types of samples. From the analysis of binary mixtures of human milk containing 5, 10, 25, 50 and 75% other type of milk, we demonstrated that this method could be used to detect the presence of as low as 5% adulterant in human milk. We envisage that this method could be applied to detect contaminant or adulterant in other types of food or drinks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Cunha, Joana T; Ribeiro, Tânia I B; Rocha, João B; Nunes, João; Teixeira, José A; Domingues, Lucília
2016-11-15
Serra da Estrela Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese is the most famous Portuguese cheese and has a high commercial value. However, the adulteration of production with cheaper/lower-quality milks from non-autochthones ovine breeds compromises the quality of the final product and undervalues the original PDO cheese. A Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method was developed for efficient detection of adulterant breeds in milk mixtures used for fraudulent production of this cheese. Furthermore, Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (SCAR) markers were designed envisioning the detection of milk adulteration in processed dairy foods. The RAPD-SCAR technique is here described, for the first time, to be potentially useful for detection of milk origin in dairy products. In this sense, our findings will play an important role on the valorization of Serra da Estrela cheese, as well as on other high-quality dairy products prone to adulteration, contributing to the further development of the dairy industry. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Chung-Yun Hse
2009-01-01
To upgrade the performance of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin bonded particleboards, melamine modified urea-formaldehyde (MUF) resins based on strong acidic pH catalyzed UF polymers were investigated. The study was conducted in a series of two experiments: 1) formulation of MUF resins based on a UF polymer catalyzed with strong acidic pH and 2) determination of the...
High-Throughput Platform for Synthesis of Melamine-Formaldehyde Microcapsules.
Çakir, Seda; Bauters, Erwin; Rivero, Guadalupe; Parasote, Tom; Paul, Johan; Du Prez, Filip E
2017-07-10
The synthesis of microcapsules via in situ polymerization is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process, where many composition and process factors affect the microcapsule formation and its morphology. Herein, we report a novel combinatorial technique for the preparation of melamine-formaldehyde microcapsules, using a custom-made and automated high-throughput platform (HTP). After performing validation experiments for ensuring the accuracy and reproducibility of the novel platform, a design of experiment study was performed. The influence of different encapsulation parameters was investigated, such as the effect of the surfactant, surfactant type, surfactant concentration and core/shell ratio. As a result, this HTP-platform is suitable to be used for the synthesis of different types of microcapsules in an automated and controlled way, allowing the screening of different reaction parameters in a shorter time compared to the manual synthetic techniques.
Wielogorska, Ewa; Chevallier, Olivier; Black, Connor; Galvin-King, Pamela; Delêtre, Marc; Kelleher, Colin T; Haughey, Simon A; Elliott, Christopher T
2018-01-15
Due to increasing number of food fraud incidents, there is an inherent need for the development and implementation of analytical platforms enabling detection and quantitation of adulteration. In this study a set of unique biomarkers of commonly found oregano adulterants became the targets in the development of a LC-MS/MS method which underwent a rigorous in-house validation. The method presented very high selectivity and specificity, excellent linearity (R 2 >0.988) low decision limits and detection capabilities (<2%), acceptable accuracy (intra-assay 92-113%, inter-assay 69-138%) and precision (CV<20%). The method was compared with an established FTIR screening assay and revealed a good correlation of quali- and quantitative results (R 2 >0.81). An assessment of 54 suspected adulterated oregano samples revealed that almost 90% of them contained at least one bulking agent, with a median level of adulteration of 50%. Such innovative methodologies need to be established as routine testing procedures to detect and ultimately deter food fraud. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Trojanowska, Anna
2014-01-01
In the second half of the 19th century, the economic changes, industrial development and migration of the population from rural to urban areas in Europe, there was an increasing demand for cheap foodstuffs, which contributed to the growth of mass food production, as well as to the increase in adulteration of foodstuffs. In the Kingdom of Poland, the research on this problem was conducted by a Warsaw pharmacist and chemist, Alfons Bukowski (1858-1921), the author of the first Polish textbook on bromatology Podrqcznik do badania pokarmów (1884) ("A manual for food testing"). The methods and results of his research were published in magazines, among others, in "WiadomoSci Farmaceutyczne" ("Pharmasist News"), "Zdrowie" ("The Health") and "Czasopisma Towarzystwa Aptekarskiego" ("Journals of the Pharmasist Association"). He paid attention to the social noxiousness of the adulterations, indicating that it is especially the poor people, who buy the cheapest products that are particularly vulnerable to adulteration of foodstuffs. In this paper, there have been presented selected issues related to adulteratibn of food products, issues to which Bukowski paid particular attention, and which were significantly affected by contemporary development of food chemistry, among other the development of methods of chemical and microscopic analysis and the generation of new surrogates, which replaced the natural food products.
Qu, Lei; Chen, Jian-Bo; Zhang, Gui-Jun; Sun, Su-Qin; Zheng, Jing
2017-03-05
As a kind of expensive perfume and valuable herb, Aquilariae Lignum Resinatum (ALR) is often adulterated for economic motivations. In this research, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is employed to establish a simple and quick method for the adulteration screening of ALR. First, the principal chemical constituents of ALR are characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy at room temperature and two-dimensional correlation infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy with thermal perturbation. Besides the common cellulose and lignin compounds, a certain amount of resin is the characteristic constituent of ALR. Synchronous and asynchronous 2D-IR spectra indicate that the resin (an unstable secondary metabolite) is more sensitive than cellulose and lignin (stable structural constituents) to the thermal perturbation. Using a certified ALR sample as the reference, the infrared spectral correlation threshold is determined by 30 authentic samples and 6 adulterated samples. The spectral correlation coefficient of an authentic ALR sample to the standard reference should be not less than 0.9886 (p=0.01). Three commercial adulterated ALR samples are identified by the correlation threshold. Further interpretation of the infrared spectra of the adulterated samples indicates the common adulterating methods - counterfeiting with other kind of wood, adding ingredient such as sand to increase the weight, and adding the cheap resin such as rosin to increase the content of resin compounds. Results of this research prove that FT-IR spectroscopy can be used as a simple and accurate quality control method of ALR. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Dandan; Wu, Qiong; Wang, Jun; Wang, Qi; Qiao, Heng
2015-01-01
In this work, the fluorescence quenching was used to study the interaction of cyanuric acid (CYA) and uric acid (UA) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) at two different temperatures (283 K and 310 K). The bimolecular quenching constant (Kq), apparent quenching constant (Ksv), effective binding constant (KA) and corresponding dissociation constant (KD), binding site number (n) and binding distance (r) were calculated by adopting Stern-Volmer, Lineweaver-Burk, Double logarithm and overlap integral equations. The results show that CYA and UA are both able to obviously bind to BSA, but the binding strength order is BSA + CYA < BSA + UA. And then, the interactions of CYA and UA with melamine (MEL) under the same conditions were also studied by using similar methods. The results indicates that both CYA and UA can bind together closely with melamine (MEL). It is wished that these research results would facilitate the understanding the formation of kidney stones and gout in the body after ingesting excess MEL.
The hidden web and the fentanyl problem: Detection of ocfentanil as an adulterant in heroin.
Quintana, Pol; Ventura, Mireia; Grifell, Marc; Palma, Alvaro; Galindo, Liliana; Fornís, Iván; Gil, Cristina; Carbón, Xoán; Caudevilla, Fernando; Farré, Magí; Torrens, Marta
2017-02-01
The popularization of anonymous markets such as Silk Road is challenging current drug policy and may provide a new context for old issues, such as adulteration of heroin with fentanyl derivatives. The aims of this paper are to report the presence of ocfentanil, a novel, potent, non-controlled fentanyl analog, in samples sold as heroin in the hidden web, and to summarize the effects reported by users. In 2015, four samples allegedly bought as heroin in cryptomarkets of the hidden web were sent to Energy Control for analysis. Energy Control is a Spanish harm reduction NGO that offers anonymous drug checking with the purpose of adapting counselling to the specific substances present in the drug and monitor the drug market. Identification was performed by GC/MS and LC/MS/MS. We contacted the submitters of the samples and performed an Internet search to retrieve additional information. One sample contained ocfentanil, caffeine and heroin. Three samples contained the aforementioned substances plus paracetamol. Two out of the four contacted users reported distinct short acting, opioid-like effects. No fora discussion could be found about the effects of ocfentanil, neither web pages nor individuals advertising the substance. We report the presence of a new substance detected in the hidden web as an adulterant of heroin, ocfentanil. It has short acting opioid-like effects, roughly the same potency as fentanyl, and can be injected, snorted or smoked. Severe side effects have been associated with its use, including one death. No discussion about this substance could be found in the Internet, which suggests this substance has not been sold as such. Available data about purities of drugs purchased in cryptomarkets suggest that adulteration is not a severe problem and this agrees with users' perceptions. However, this study suggests that adulteration is a real threat not only at the street level, but also for users that buy substances in cryptomarkets, and suggest the need for
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kumar, Manish; Raghuwanshi, Sanjeev Kumar
2018-02-01
In recent years, food safety issues caused by contamination of chemical substances or microbial species have raised a major area of concern to mankind. The conventional chromatography-based methods for detection of chemical are based on human-observation and slow for real-time monitoring. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors offers the capability of detection of very low concentrations of adulterated chemical and biological agents for real-time by monitoring. Thus, adulterant agent in food gives change in refractive index of pure food result in corresponding phase change. These changes can be detected at the output and can be related to the concentration of the chemical species present at the point.
Surface Modification of Melamine-Formaldehyde (MF-R) Macroparticles in Complex Plasma
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Semenov, A. V.; Pergament, A. L.; Scherbina, A. I.; Pikalev, A. A.
2018-04-01
The surface modification of melamine-formaldehyde (MF-R) macroparticles (4.12 ± 0.09 μm in diameter) in dc glow discharges in neon, argon, and an argon-oxygen mixture (90% Ar, 10% O2) was studied experimentally. The macroparticles were treated in the discharge plasma for 10, 20, 40, and 60 min. The macroparticles were placed in ordered plasma-dust structures and then extracted from them. The results of atomic force microscopy of the surface profile are presented. Quantitative data on destruction of the surface layer and aspects of its modification are discussed. The amount of substance removed from the particle surface for the exposure time was calculated using the fractal analysis method.
Kelly, J Daniel; Petisco, Cristina; Downey, Gerard
2006-08-23
A collection of authentic artisanal Irish honeys (n = 580) and certain of these honeys adulterated by fully inverted beet syrup (n = 280), high-fructose corn syrup (n = 160), partial invert cane syrup (n = 120), dextrose syrup (n = 160), and beet sucrose (n = 120) was assembled. All samples were adjusted to 70 degrees Bx and scanned in the midinfrared region (800-4000 cm(-1)) by attenuated total reflectance sample accessory. By use of soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and partial least-squares (PLS) classification, authentic honey and honey adulterated by beet sucrose, dextrose syrups, and partial invert corn syrup could be identified with correct classification rates of 96.2%, 97.5%, 95.8%, and 91.7%, respectively. This combination of spectroscopic technique and chemometric methods was not able to unambiguously detect adulteration by high-fructose corn syrup or fully inverted beet syrup.
Fang, Fang; Qi, Yunpeng; Lu, Feng; Yang, Liangbao
2016-01-01
The phenomenon of botanical dietary supplements (BDS) doped with illegal adulterants has become a serious problem all over the world, which could cause great threat to human's health. Therefore, it is of great value to identify BDS. Herein, we put forward a highly sensitive method for on-site detection of antitussive and antiasthmatic drugs adulterated in BDS using thin layer chromatography (TLC) combined with dynamic surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (DSERS). Adulterants in BDS were separated on a TLC plate and located under UV illumination. Then DSERS detection was performed using a portable Raman spectrometer with 50% glycerol silver colloid serving as DSERS active substrate. Here, the effects of different solvents on detection efficacy were evaluated using phenformin hydrochloride (PHE) as a probe. It was shown that 50% glycerol resulted in higher SERS enhancement and relatively higher stability. Moreover, practical application of this novel TLC-DSERS method was demonstrated with rapid analysis of real BDS samples and one sample adulterated with benproperine phosphate (BEN) was found. Furthermore, the obtained result was verified by ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS). The sensitivity of the TLC-DSERS technique is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than that of TLC-SERS technique. The results turned out that this combined method would have good prospects for on-site and sensitive detection of adulterated BDS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Lee, Ji Hyun; Park, Han Na; Choi, Ji Yeon; Kim, Nam Sook; Park, Hyung-Joon; Park, Seong Soo; Baek, Sun Young
2017-12-01
Adulterated products are continuously detected in society and cause problems. In this study, we developed and validated a method for determining synthetic sedative-hypnotics and sleep inducers, including barbital, benzodiazepam, zolpidem, and first-generation antihistamines, in adulterated products using Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry and ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. In Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry analysis, target compounds were confirmed using a combination of retention time, mass tolerance, mass accuracy, and fragment ions. For quantification, several validation parameters were employed using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation was 0.05-53 and 0.17-177 ng/mL, respectively. The correlation coefficient for linearity was more than 0.995. The intra- and interassay accuracies were 86-110 and 84-111%, respectively. Their precision values were evaluated as within 4.0 (intraday) and 10.7% (interday). Mean recoveries of target compounds in adulterated products ranged from 85 to 116%. The relative standard deviation of stability was less than 10.7% at 4°C for 48 h. The 144 adulterated products obtained over 3 years (2014-2016) from online and in-person vendors were tested using established methods. After rapidly screening with Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry, the detected samples were quantified using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Two of them were adulterated with phenobarbital. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Jermal G. Chandler; Charles R. Frihart
2005-01-01
Is the hydroxymethylated resorcinol (HMR) primer unique or can a melamine- based primer also increase the wet wood strength of epoxy bonds? Although the exact reason for poor durability with some wood adhesives is not known, the HMR priming agent was found to facilitate durable bonds in most cases tested. A model of cell wall stabilization that is believed to be the...
Mathon, Caroline; Ankli, Anita; Reich, Eike; Bieri, Stefan; Christen, Philippe
2014-01-01
The adulteration of herbal supplements is of growing importance, especially when they contain undeclared compounds like sibutramine that are unsafe drugs. Sibutramine was withdrawn from US and European markets in 2010. In this study, an HPTLC-UV densitometric method was developed for the quantification of sibutramine in herbal diet foods. Sample extracts were directly applied onto HPTLC silica gel plates and separated with a mobile phase made of a toluene-methanol mixture. Sibutramine was quantified at 225 nm and its unequivocal identification was confirmed by MS using a TLC-MS interface. During two surveys, 52 weight loss supplements obtained via the Internet were screened. Half of those were adulterated with sibutramine at amounts reaching up to 35 mg per capsule. The results of this validated HPTLC method were compared with those obtained by HPLC-UV and HPLC-MS/MS. The results were not significantly different with the three methods.
Verenitch, Sergei; Mazumder, Asit
2012-08-29
Recently it has been shown that stable isotopes of nitrogen can be used to discriminate between organic and synthetic fertilizers, but the robustness of the approach is questionable. This work developed a comprehensive method that is far more robust in identifying an adulteration of organic nitrogen fertilizers. Organic fertilizers of various types (manures, composts, blood meal, bone meal, fish meal, products of poultry and plant productions, molasses and seaweed based, and others) available on the North American market were analyzed to reveal the most sensitive criteria as well as their quantitative ranges, which can be used in their authentication. Organic nitrogen fertilizers of known origins with a wide δ(15)N range between -0.55 and 28.85‰ (n = 1258) were characterized for C and N content, δ(13)C, δ(15)N, viscosity, pH, and nitrogen profile (urea, ammonia, organic N, water insoluble N, and NO3). A statistically significant data set of characterized unique organic nitrogen fertilizers (n = 335) of various known origins has been assembled. Deliberately adulterated samples of different types of organic fertilizers mixed with synthetic fertilizers at a wide range of proportions have been used to develop the quantitative critical characteristics of organic fertilizers as the key indicators of their adulteration. Statistical analysis based on the discriminant functions of the quantitative critical characteristics of organic nitrogen fertilizers from 14 different source materials revealed a very high average rate of correct classification. The developed methodology has been successfully used as a source identification tool for numerous commercial nitrogen fertilizers available on the North American market.
Miao, Li; Liu, Yan; Li, Hao; Qi, Yunpeng; Lu, Feng
2017-02-01
Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) was employed for the identification of ephedrine (Ep) and pseudoephedrine (Ps) present in illegally adulterated slimming herbal products (SHPs). Second derivative (SD) spectral pretreatment was used prior to 2DCOS analysis to highlight specific features not readily observable by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), SD-FTIR, or original 2DCOS, leading to enhanced resolution and a reduced lower limit of detection (<1% in this study). After examining the power spectra of suspicious SHPs, bands containing characteristic peaks for Ep (701, 747, 1042, 1363, 1375, 1451, 1478 cm -1 etc) and/or Ps (703, 767, 1037, 1375, 1428, 1455, 1590 cm - 1, etc.) were selected to construct synchronous and asynchronous maps for further analysis, while the latter was applied to discriminate positive SHPs adulterated simultaneously with Ep and Ps. The proposed method is simple and economical and has the potential to identify other chemicals in illegally adulterated herbal products. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hoisl, A; Barbey, R; Graf, B M; Briegel, J; Bein, T
2015-01-01
The press is an important medium and plays a significant role as an information source for people. Moreover, the daily press transmits opinion-forming contents. During the German "transplantation scandal" various articles were published in the German press focusing on organ donation, transplantation, allocation of organs and brain death determination. Selected important newspaper articles were analyzed using a scientific text analysis as it was assumed that the publications might have had an important influence on attitudes or mistrust of transplantation medicine. A total of 216 articles from Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Die Zeit published between summer 2012 and early 2013, which focused on the transplantation scandal were analyzed using a modern form of scientific text analysis. From these articles 12 categories of contents were identified which were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Most articles were published between June and August 2012 when the accusations of organ allocation manipulation were made public. A second wave was found in the early months of 2013, when the court proceedings against the predominantly blamed physician began. Most of the categories (63.8 %) transmitted a negative evaluative opinion (i.e. loss of confidence, enrichment of the persons involved, fraud, misconduct, rejection of brain death and disturbing the peace of the dead) leading to mistrust of transplantation per se, while the minority (36.2 %) were categorized as endeavoring to convey objective information, focus on ethical responsibility for organ donation or the problems of organ shortage. Furthermore, a striking increase of articles doubting the concept of brain death was observed. German newspapers as important opinion-leading and opinion-forming media have a substantial impact in accomplishing the demands for objective and factual information of transplantation medicine. Physicians, ethicists, journalists and politicians are
Frank, Nancy; Bessaire, Thomas; Tarres, Adrienne; Goyon, Alexandre; Delatour, Thierry
2017-11-01
The increasing number of food frauds using exogenous nitrogen-rich adulterants to artificially raise the protein content for economically motivated adulteration has demonstrated the need for a robust analytical methodology. This method should be applicable for quality control in operations covering a wide range of analyte concentrations to be able to analyse high levels as usually found in adulteration, as well as low levels due to contamination. The paper describes a LC-MS/MS method covering 14 nitrogen-rich adulterants using a simple and fast sample preparation based on dilution and clean-up by dispersive SPE. Quantification is carried out by isotopic dilution reaching LOQs of 0.05-0.20 mg/kg in a broad range of food matrices (infant formula, liquid milk, dairy ingredient, high protein meal, cereal, infant cereal, and meat/fish powder). Validation of seven commodity groups was performed according to SANCO 12571/2013, giving satisfactory results demonstrating the method's fitness for purpose at the validated range at contamination level. Method ruggedness was further assessed by transferring the developed method into another laboratory devoted to routine testing for quality control. Next to the method description, emphasis is placed on challenges and problems appearing during method development as well as validation. They are discussed in detail and solutions are provided.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
A simple, rapid and sensitive immunogold chromatographic strip test based on a monoclonal antibody was developed for the detection of melamine (MEL) residues in raw milk, milk products and animal feed. The limit of detection was estimated to be 0.05 µg/mL in raw milk, since the detection test line ...
Ruiz-Colón, Kazandra; Chavez-Arias, Carlos; Díaz-Alcalá, José Eric; Martínez, María A
2014-07-01
Xylazine is not a controlled substance; it is marketed as a veterinary drug and used as a sedative, analgesic and muscle relaxant. In humans, it could cause central nervous system depression, respiratory depression, bradycardia, hypotension, and even death. There have been publications of 43 cases of xylazine intoxication in humans, in which 21 (49%) were non-fatal scenarios and 22 (51%) resulted in fatalities. Most of the non-fatal cases required medical intervention. Over recent years xylazine has emerged as an adulterant in recreational drugs, such as heroin or speedball (a cocaine and heroin mixture). From the 43 reported cases, 17 (40%) were associated with the use of xylazine as an adulterant of drugs of abuse. Its chronic use is reported to be associated with physical deterioration and skin ulceration. Literature shows some similar pharmacologic effects between xylazine and heroin in humans. These similar pharmacologic effects may create synergistic toxic effects in humans. Therefore, fatalities among drug users may increase due to the use of xylazine as an adulterant. Xylazine alone has proven harmful to humans and even more when it is combined with drugs of abuse. A comprehensive review of the literature of non-fatal and fatal xylazine intoxication cases including those in which the substance was used as adulterant is presented, in order to increase the awareness in the forensic community, law enforcement, and public health agencies. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Calibration and testing of a Raman hyperspectral imaging system to reveal powdered food adulteration
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The potential adulteration of foodstuffs has led to increasing concern regarding food safety and security, in particular for powdered food products where cheap ground materials or hazardous chemicals can be added to increase the quantity of powder or to obtain the desired aesthetic quality. Due to t...
Soha, Sahel; Mortazavian, Amir M; Piravi-Vanak, Zahra; Mohammadifar, Mohammad A; Sahafar, Hamed; Nanvazadeh, Sara
2015-01-01
In this research a comparison has been made between the fatty acid and sterol compositions of Iranian pure butter and three samples of adulterated butter. These samples were formulated using edible vegetable fats/oils with similar milk fat structures including palm olein, palm kernel and coconut oil to determine the authenticity of milk fat. The amount of vegetable fats/oils used in the formulation of the adulterated butter was 10%. The adulterated samples were formulated so that their fatty acid profiles were comforted with acceptable levels of pure butter as specified by the Iranian national standard. Based on the type of the vegetable oil/fat, fatty acids such as C4:0, C12:0 and C18:2 were used as indicators for the adulterated formulations. According to the standard method of ISO, the analysis was performed using gas chromatography. The cholesterol contents were 99.71% in pure butter (B1), and 97.61%, 98.48% and 97.98% of the total sterols in the samples adulterated with palm olein, palm kernel and coconut oil (B2, B3 and B4), respectively. Contents of the main phytosterol profiles such as β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol were also determined. The β-sitosterol content, as an indicator of phytosterols, was 0% in pure butter, and 1.81%, 1.67% and 2.16%, of the total sterols in the adulterated samples (B2, B3 and B4), respectively. Our findings indicate that fatty acid profiles are not an efficient indicator for butter authentication. Despite the increase in phytosterols and the reduction in cholesterol and with regard to the conformity of the sterol profiles of the edible fats/oils used in the formulations with Codex standards, lower cholesterol and higher phytosterols contents should have been observed. It can therefore be concluded that sterol measurement is insufficient to verify the authenticity of the milk fat in butter. It can therefore be concluded that sterol measurement is insufficient in verifying the authenticity of milk fat.
Villani, Tom S; Reichert, William; Ferruzzi, Mario G; Pasinetti, Giulio M; Simon, James E; Wu, Qingli
2015-03-01
Fundamental concerns in quality control arise due to increasing use of grape seed extract (GSE) and the complex chemical composition of GSE. Proanthocyanidin monomers and oligomers are the major bioactive compounds in GSE. Given no standardized criteria for quality, large variation exists in the composition of commercial GSE supplements. Using HPLC/UV/MS, 21 commercial GSE containing products were purchased and chemically profiled, major compounds quantitated, and compared against authenticated grape seed extract, peanut skin extract, and pine bark extract. The antioxidant capacity and total polyphenol content for each sample was also determined and compared using standard techniques. Nine products were adulterated, found to contain peanut skin extract. A wide degree of variability in chemical composition was detected in commercial products, demonstrating the need for development of quality control standards for GSE. A TLC method was developed to allow for rapid and inexpensive detection of adulteration in GSE by peanut skin. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Nounou, Mohamed Ismail; Ko, Yamin; Helal, Nada A; Boltz, Jeremy F
2017-10-11
Global prevalence of nutraceuticals is noticeably high. The American market is flooded with nutraceuticals claiming to be of natural origin and sold with a therapeutic claim by major online retail stores such as Amazon and eBay. The objective of this commentary is to highlight the possible problems of online-sold nutraceuticals in the United States with respect to claim, adulterants, and safety. Furthermore, there is a lack of strict regulatory laws governing the sales, manufacturing, marketing, and label claims of nutraceutical formulations currently sold in the U.S. market. Major online retail stores and Internet pharmacies aid the widespread sale of nutraceuticals. Finally, according to the literature, many of these products were found to be either counterfeit or adulterated with active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and mislabeled as being safe and natural. Therefore, regulatory authorities along with the research community should intervene to draw attention to these products and their possible effects.
Identification of 3-MCPD esters to verify the adulteration of extra virgin olive oil.
Hung, Wei-Ching; Peng, Guan-Jhih; Tsai, Wen-Ju; Chang, Mei-Hua; Liao, Chia-Ding; Tseng, Su-Hsiang; Kao, Ya-Min; Wang, Der-Yuan; Cheng, Hwei-Fang
2017-09-01
The adulteration of olive oil is an important issue around the world. This paper reports an indirect method by which to identify 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) esters in olive oils. Following sample preparation, the samples were spiked with 1,2-bis-palmitoyl-3-chloropropanediol standard for analysis using gas chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry. The total recovery ranged from 102.8% to 105.5%, the coefficient of variation ranged from 1.1% to 10.1%, and the limit of quantification was 0.125 mg/kg. The content of 3-MCPD esters in samples of refined olive oil (0.97-20.53 mg/kg) exceeded those of extra virgin olive oil (non-detected to 0.24 mg/kg). These results indicate that the oil refining process increased the content of 3-MCPD esters, which means that they could be used as a target compound for the differentiation of extra virgin olive oil from refined olive oil in order to prevent adulteration.
Qi-Ning Sun; Chung-Yun Hse; Todd F. Shupe
2011-01-01
Urea-formaldehyde resins modified by melamine were synthesized by four catalysts (H2SO4, HCl, H3PO4, and NaOH/NH4OH) with a F/U/M molar ratio of 1.38/1/0.074. Resin structure and thermal behavior were studied by 13C-NMR and DSC techniques. For H2SO4, HCl, and H3PO4 catalysts, resins were prepared by two stage pH adjustment: the first pH stage was set at 1.25 (H3PO4 pH...
Liang, Shiru; Yan, Hongyuan; Cao, Jiankun; Han, Yehong; Shen, Shigang; Bai, Ligai
2017-01-25
A new molecularly imprinted phloroglucinol-formaldehyde-melamine resin (MIPFMR) was synthesized in a deep eutectic solvent (DES) using phenylephrine as a dummy template. The MIPFMR was used as a solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbent for the selective isolation and recognition of clorprenaline (CLP) and bambuterol (BAM) in urine. Phloroglucinol and melamine were used as double functional monomers that introduced abundant hydrophilic groups (such as hydroxyl groups, imino groups, and ether linkages) into the MIPFMR, making it compatible with aqueous solvents. In addition, the formation of DES by combining the quaternary ammonium salt of choline chloride with ethylene glycol as a hydrogen bond donor was an environmentally safe alternative to toxic organic solvents such as chloroform and dimethylsulfoxide that are typically used in the preparation of most molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Moreover, MIPFMR-based SPE of CLP and BAM in urine resulted in higher recoveries and purer extracts than those obtained by using other SPE materials (e.g., SCX, C 18 , HLB, and non-imprinted phloroglucinol-formaldehyde-melamine resin (NIPFMR)). The optimized MIPFMR-SPE-HPLC-UV method had good linearity (r 2 ≥ 0.9996) ranging from 15.0 to 3000.0 ng mL -1 for CLP and BAM, and the recoveries at three spiked levels ranged from 91.7% to 100.1% with RSDs ≤7.6%. The novel MIPFMR-SPE-HPLC-UV method is simple, selective, and accurate, and can be used for the determination of CLP and BAM in urine samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Mottram, Hazel R; Woodbury, Simon E; Rossell, J Barry; Evershed, Richard P
2003-01-01
Maize oil commands a premium price and is thus a target for adulteration with cheaper vegetable oils. Detection of this activity presents a particular challenge to the analyst because of the natural variability in the fatty acid composition of maize oils and because of their high sterol and tocopherol contents. This paper describes a method that allows detection of adulteration at concentrations of just 5% (m/m), based on the Mahalanobis distances of the principal component scores of the delta(13)C values of major and minor vegetable oil components. The method makes use of a database consisting of delta(13)C values and relative abundances of the major fatty acyl components of over 150 vegetable oils. The sterols and tocopherols of 16 maize oils and 6 potential adulterant oils were found to be depleted in (13)C by a constant amount relative to the bulk oil. Moreover, since maize oil contains particularly high levels of sterols and tocopherols, their delta(13)C values were not significantly altered when groundnut oil was added up to 20% (m/m) and it is possible to use the values for the minor components to predict the values that would be expected in a pure oil; therefore, comparison of the predicted values with those obtained experimentally allows adulteration to be detected. A refinement involved performing a discriminant analysis on the delta(13)C values of the bulk oil and the major fatty acids (16:0, 18:1 and 18:2) and using the Mahalanobis distances to determine the percentage of adulterant oil present. This approach may be refined further by including the delta(13)C values of the minor components in the discriminant analysis thereby increasing the sensitivity of the approach to concentrations at which adulteration would not be attractive economically. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Screening of adulterants in powdered foods and ingredients using line-scan Raman chemical imaging.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
A newly developed line-scan Raman imaging system using a 785 nm line laser was used to authenticate powdered foods and ingredients. The system was used to collect hyperspectral Raman images in the range of 102–2865 wavenumber from three representative food powders mixed with selected adulterants eac...
Gleason, Brigette; West, Angela; Avula, Danny; Utah, Okey; Vogt, Marshall; Cumpston, Kirk; Kelly, Michael; Brasler, Paul; Wyatt, Shane; Forlano, Laurie
In March 2015, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) was alerted by the Virginia Poison Center of a 6-patient cluster treated for severe clinical presentations after using heroin. Patients' symptoms were atypical for heroin use, and concern existed that patients were exposed to heroin that had been adulterated with or replaced by another substance. To understand the extent and characterization of the outbreak and implement response measures to prevent further cases. The purpose of this report is to highlight the collaborative nature of a public health investigation among a diverse group of stakeholders. Active surveillance and retrospective case finding. Richmond metro area community and hospitals. Regional poison centers, the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, community partners, local law enforcement, and multiple VDH divisions. Outbreak investigation, communication to public health professionals, clinicians, and the community, and liaising with the local law enforcement. Outbreak control. Laboratory confirmation of clenbuterol in clinical specimens implicated it as the heroin adulterant. Thirteen patients met clinical and epidemiologic criteria for exposure to clenbuterol-adulterated heroin. All patients were associated with a localized area within Richmond, and patient interviews elucidated heroin supplier information. VDH collaborated with local law enforcement agents who investigated and arrested the supplier, leading to cessation of the outbreak. This outbreak highlights the value of policies and practices that support an integrated outbreak response among public health practitioners, poison center staff, laboratorians, clinicians, law enforcement agents, community groups, and other agencies. Collaboration enabled implementation of effective control measures-including those outside the purview of the health department-and should be standard practice in future outbreaks involving
Umdale, Suraj D; Kshirsagar, Parthraj R; Lekhak, Manoj M; Gaikwad, Nikhil B
2017-07-01
Smithia conferta Sm. is an annual herb widely used in Indian traditional medical practice and commonly known as "Lakshman booti" in Sanskrit. Morphological resemblance among the species of genus Smithia Aiton . leads to inaccurate identification and adulteration. This causes inconsistent therapeutic effects and also affects the quality of herbal medicine. This study aimed to generate potential barcode for authentication of S. conferta and its adulterants through DNA barcoding technique. Genomic DNA extracted from S. conferta and its adulterants was used as templates for polymerase chain reaction amplification of the barcoding regions. The amplicons were directed for sequencing, and species identification was conducted using BLASTn and unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean trees. In addition, the secondary structures of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 2 region were predicted. The nucleotide sequence of ITS provides species-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms and sequence divergence (22%) than psb A- trn H (10.9%) and rbc L (3.1%) sequences. The ITS barcode indicates that S. conferta and Smithia sensitiva are closely related compared to other species. ITS is the most applicable barcode for molecular authentication of S. conferta , and further chloroplast barcodes should be tested for phylogenetic analysis of genus Smithia. The present investigation is the first effort of utilization of DNA barcode for molecular authentication of S. conferta and its adulterants. Also, this study expanded the application of the ITS2 sequence data in the authentication. The ITS has been proved as a potential and reliable candidate barcode for the authentication of S. conferta . Abbreviations used: BLASTn: Basic Local Alignment Search Tool for Nucleotide; MEGA: Molecular Evolutionary Genetic Analysis; EMBL: European Molecular Biology Laboratory; psb A- trn H: Photosystem II protein D1- stuctural RNA: His tRNA gene; rbcL: Ribulose 1,5 bi-phosphate carboxylase
Biocompatible 3D SERS substrate for trace detection of amino acids and melamine
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Satheeshkumar, Elumalai; Karuppaiya, Palaniyandi; Sivashanmugan, Kundan; Chao, Wei-Ting; Tsay, Hsin-Sheng; Yoshimura, Masahiro
2017-06-01
A novel, low-cost and biocompatible three-dimensional (3D) substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is fabricated using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) loaded on cellulose paper for detection of amino acids and melamine. Dysosma pleiantha rhizome (Dp-Rhi) capped AuNPs (Dp-Rhi_AuNPs) were prepared by in situ using aqueous extract of Dp-Rhi and in situ functionalized Dp-Rhi on AuNPs surface was verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and zeta potentials analysis shows a negative (- 18.4 mV) surface charges, which confirm that presence of Dp-Rhi on AuNPs. The biocompatibility of Dp-Rhi_AuNPs is also examined by cell viability of FaDu cells using MTS assay and compared to control group. In conclusion, the SERS performance of AuNPs@cellulose paper substrates were systematically demonstrated and examined with different excitation wavelengths (i.e. 532, 632.8 and 785 nm lasers) and the as-prepared 3D substrates provided an enhancement factor approaching 7 orders of magnitude compared with conventional Raman intensity using para-nitrothiophenol (p-NTP), para-aminothiophenol (p-ATP) and para-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA) as probe molecules. The strong electromagnetic effect was generated at the interface of AuNPs and pre-treated roughened cellulose paper is also investigated by simulation in which the formation of possible Raman hot-spot zone in fiber-like microstructure of cellulose paper decorated with AuNPs. Notably, with optimized condition of as-prepared 3D AuNPs@cellulose paper is highly sensitive in the SERS detection of aqueous tyrosine (10- 10 M) and melamine (10- 9 M).
Vidal Giné, Claudio; Ventura Vilamala, Mireia; Fornís Espinosa, Iván; Gil Lladanosa, Cristina; Calzada Álvarez, Nú; Fitó Fruitós, Ariadna; Rodríguez Rodríguez, Joan; Domíngo Salvany, Antonia; de la Torre Fornell, Rafael
2016-06-01
Although 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has a long history in recreational settings, research on its composition (purity and adulteration) has focused only on tablets even though crystal format is readily available for users. Drug specimens collected between January 2000 and December 2014 were analyzed at Energy Control's facilities. All samples were voluntarily provided by drug users. Sample identification was made with thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and quantification with ultraviolet spectrophotometry (only in unadulterated samples). Between January 2000 and December 2014, 6200 samples purchased as ecstasy by their users were analyzed. Crystals were the most frequent format (60.6%) followed by tablets (38.8%). During the study period, the proportion of samples containing only MDMA was higher in crystals than in tablets. Compared with tablets, adulterated crystal samples contained the same number of adulterants but more combinations of different substances. Although caffeine was commonly detected as adulterant both in crystals and tablets, other substances such as phenacetin, lidocaine, dextrometorphan or methamphetamine were detected almost exclusively in crystal samples. The amount of MDMA in crystal samples remained stable unlike tablets for which a huge increase in MDMA dose was observed since 2010. Crystal samples of ecstasy showed clear differences compared to ecstasy tablets and this must be taken into account both in research and harm reduction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Who is 'Molly'? MDMA adulterants by product name and the impact of harm-reduction services at raves.
Saleemi, Sarah; Pennybaker, Steven J; Wooldridge, Missi; Johnson, Matthew W
2017-08-01
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), often sold as 'Ecstasy' or 'Molly', is commonly used at music festivals and reported to be responsible for an increase in deaths over the last decade. Ecstasy is often adulterated and contains compounds that increase morbidity and mortality. While users and clinicians commonly assume that products sold as Molly are less-adulterated MDMA products, this has not been tested. Additionally, while pill-testing services are sometimes available at raves, the assumption that these services decrease risky drug use has not been studied. This study analyzed data collected by the pill-testing organization, DanceSafe, from events across the United States from 2010 to 2015. Colorimetric reagent assays identified MDMA in only 60% of the 529 samples collected. No significant difference in the percentage of samples testing positive for MDMA was determined between Ecstasy and Molly. Individuals were significantly less likely to report intent to use a product if testing did not identify MDMA (relative risk (RR) = 0.56, p = 0.01). Results suggest that Molly is not a less-adulterated substance, and that pill-testing services are a legitimate harm-reduction service that decreases intent to consume potentially dangerous substances and may warrant consideration by legislators for legal protection. Future research should further examine the direct effects of pill-testing services and include more extensive pill-testing methods.
Real-time near-infrared spectroscopic inspection system for adulterated sesame oil
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kang, Sukwon; Lee, Kang-jin; Son, Jaeryong; Kim, Moon S.
2010-04-01
Sesame seed oil is popular and expensive in Korea and has been often mixed with other less expensive vegetable oils. The objective of this research is to develop an economical and rapid adulteration determination system for sesame seed oil mixed with other vegetable oils. A recently developed inspection system consists of a light source, a measuring unit, a spectrophotometer, fiber optics, and a data acquisition module. A near-infrared transmittance spectroscopic method was used to develop the prediction model using Partial Least Square (PLS). Sesame seed oil mixed with a range of concentrations of corn, or perilla, or soybean oil was measured in 8 mm diameter glass tubes. For the model development, a correlation coefficient value of 0.98 was observed for corn, perilla, and soybean oil mixtures with standard errors of correlation of 6.32%, 6.16%, and 5.67%, respectively. From the prediction model, the correlation coefficients of corn oil, perilla oil, and soybean oil were 0.98, 0.97 and 0.98, respectively. The Standard Error of Prediction (SEP) for corn oil, perilla oil, and soybean oil were 6.52%, 6.89% and 5.88%, respectively. The results indicated that this system can potentially be used as a rapid non-destructive adulteration analysis tool for sesame seed oil mixed with other vegetable oils.
Dahlsten, Per; Próchniak, Piotr; Kosmulski, Marek; Rosenholm, Jarl B
2009-11-15
The electrokinetic behavior of micrometer-sized melamine-formaldehyde latex particles in 10(-3)-10(-1)M monovalent electrolyte dispersions was investigated by electrophoresis and electroacoustics. Specific adsorption of the electrolytes was identified as a shift of the isoelectric point (pH(iep)) with an increased ionic strength. All salts had an equal dependence on the ionic strength. The pH(iep) was correlated with the anion sequence predicted by the hard-soft acid-base (HSAB) principle, Hofmeister series, and Born charging. The Born and the Hofmeister anion scale were successful in producing a systematic dependency of the isoelectric point (pH(iep)), particularly in high (10(-1)M) and low (10(-3)M) MF electrolyte dispersions. No clear trend could be found for the pH(iep) dependence on the anion HSAB scale.
Sarafraz Yazdi, Ali; Raouf Yazdinezhad, Samaneh; Heidari, Tahereh
2014-01-01
Surfactant-enhanced hollow fiber liquid phase (SE-HF-LPME) microextraction was applied for the extraction of melamine in conjunction with high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC–UV). Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was added firstly to the sample solution at pH 1.9 to form hydrophobic ion-pair with protonated melamine. Then the protonated melamine–dodecyl sulfate ion-pair (Mel–DS) was extracted from aqueous phase into organic phase immobilized in the pores and lumen of the hollow fiber. After extraction, the analyte-enriched 1-octanol was withdrawn into the syringe and injected into the HPLC. Preliminary, one variable at a time method was applied to select the type of extraction solvent. Then, in screening step, the other variables that may affect the extraction efficiency of the analyte were studied using a fractional factorial design. In the next step, a central composite design was applied for optimization of the significant factors having positive effects on extraction efficiency. The optimum operational conditions included: sample volume, 5 mL; surfactant concentration, 1.5 mM; pH 1.9; stirring rate, 1500 rpm and extraction time, 60 min. Using the optimum conditions, the method was analytically evaluated. The detection limit, relative standard deviation and linear range were 0.005 μg mL−1, 4.0% (3 μg mL−1, n = 5) and 0.01–8 μg mL−1, respectively. The performance of the procedure in extraction of melamine from the soil samples was good according to its relative recoveries in different spiking levels (95–109%). PMID:26644934
Evaluation of turmeric powder adulterated with metanil yellow using FT-Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Turmeric powder (Curcuma longa L.) is valued both for its medicinal properties and for its popular culinary use such as being a component in curry powder. Due to its high demand in international trade, turmeric powder has been subject to economically driven, hazardous chemical adulteration. This stu...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chang, Jung-Wei; Lee, Ching-Chang; Pan, Wen-Harn; Chou, Wei-Chun; Huang, Han-Bin; Chiang, Hung-Che; Huang, Po-Chin
2017-03-01
A food scandal occurred in Taiwan in 2011 because the DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate) had been intentionally used in food products. We assessed the daily intakes (DIs) and cumulative risk of phthalates in Taiwan’s general population after the scandal. The DIs of 6 phthalates, including di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), di-iso-butyl phthalate (DiBP), and DEHP, were evaluated using urinary phthalate metabolites. Hazard quotients of phthalates classified as affecting the reproductive (HQrep) and hepatic (HQhep) systems were assessed using cumulative approach. The creatinine-based model showed that the highest DI values in children 7-to 12- years-old were for DEHP (males: median: 4.79 μg/kg bw/d; females: median: 2.62 μg/kg bw/d). The 95th percentile (P95) of HQrep values were all >1 in the 7- to 12-year-old and 18- to 40-year-old male groups. The P95 of HQhep values were all >1 in the 7- to 18- year-old male groups. Most of the HQrep was attributable to the HQs of DnBP and DiBP (53.9-84.7%), and DEHP contributed most to HQhep (83.1-98.6%), which reveals that DnBP, DiBP and DEHP were the main risk of phthalate exposure for Taiwanese. Taiwan’s general population is widely exposed to DnBP, DiBP and DEHP, especially for young children.
Graf, Jonathan; Lynch, Kara; Yeh, Chia-Lin; Tarter, Laura; Richman, Nicole; Nguyen, Thuy; Kral, Alex; Dominy, Steven; Imboden, John
2011-12-01
To describe the clinical and serologic abnormalities in 6 patients who presented with retiform purpura and extensive cutaneous necrosis after exposure to levamisole-adulterated cocaine. All patients were evaluated at San Francisco General Hospital or the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. Each underwent standard screening for substances of abuse and had urine tested for the presence of levamisole by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Routine laboratory, autoantibody, and antiphospholipid antibody testing was performed in the hospitals' clinical or reference laboratories. Testing for atypical antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) was performed separately using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. The patients were women ages 39-50 years who presented with retiform purpura and cutaneous necrosis. Skin biopsies revealed a predominantly small-vessel thrombotic vasculopathy with varying degrees of vasculitis. Four patients were neutropenic. All tested positive for lupus anticoagulant, had IgM antibodies to cardiolipin, and tested strongly positive for ANCAs in a perinuclear pattern by immunofluorescence. Each patient had antibodies to multiple components of neutrophil granules, including neutrophil elastase, lactoferrin, cathepsin G, proteinase 3, and myeloperoxidase. Rheumatologists should be aware of this distinctive form of necrotic purpura, its associated autoantibodies, and its link to levamisole-adulterated cocaine. Copyright © 2011 by the American College of Rheumatology.
Kung, Hsien-Feng; Tsai, Yung-Hsiang; Chang, Shih-Chih; Hong, Tang-Yao
2012-10-01
Twenty-five tuna sausage products were purchased from retail markets in Taiwan. The rates of occurrence of biogenic amines, histamine-forming bacteria, and adulteration by pork and poultry were determined. The average content of various biogenic amines in all tested samples was less than 2.0 mg/100 g (<0.05 to 1.85 mg/100 g). Thirteen histamine-producing bacterial strains isolated from tested samples produced 12.1 to 1,261 ppm of histamine in Trypticase soy broth supplemented with 1.0% L-histidine. Among them, Raoultella ornithinolytica (one strain), Enterobacter aerogenes (one strain), and Staphylococcus pasteuri (two strains) were identified as prolific histamine formers. PCR assay revealed that the adulteration rates were 80% (20 of 25) and 4% (1 of 25) for pork and poultry, respectively, in tuna sausage. The fish species in the tuna sausage samples were identified as Thunnus albacares for 22 samples (88%), Thunnus alalunga for 1 sample (4%), and Thunnus thynnus for 1 sample (4%), whereas the remaining sample was identified as Makaira nigricans (blue marlin).
HESS Opinions: Repeatable research: what hydrologistscan learn from the Duke cancer research scandal
Fienen, Michael; Bakker, Mark
2016-01-01
In the past decade, difficulties encountered in reproducing the results of a cancer study at Duke University resulted in a scandal and an investigation which concluded that tools used for data management, analysis, and modeling were inappropriate for the documentation of the study, let alone the reproduction of the results. New protocols were developed which require that data analysis and modeling be carried out with scripts that can be used to reproduce the results and are a record of all decisions and interpretations made during an analysis or a modeling effort. In the hydrological sciences, we face similar challenges and need to develop similar standards for transparency and repeatability of results. A promising route is to start making use of open-source languages (such as R and Python) to write scripts and to use collaborative coding environments (such as Git) to share our codes for inspection and use by the hydrological community. An important side-benefit to adopting such protocols is consistency and efficiency among collaborators.
Marikkar, Jalaldeen Mohammed Nazrim; Rana, Sohel
2014-01-01
A study was conducted to detect and quantify lard stearin (LS) content in canola oil (CaO) using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Authentic samples of CaO were obtained from a reliable supplier and the adulterant LS were obtained through a fractional crystallization procedure as reported previously. Pure CaO samples spiked with LS in levels ranging from 5 to 15% (w/w) were analyzed using DSC to obtain their cooling and heating profiles. The results showed that samples contaminated with LS at 5% (w/w) level can be detected using characteristic contaminant peaks appearing in the higher temperature regions (0 to 70°C) of the cooling and heating curves. Pearson correlation analysis of LS content against individual DSC parameters of the adulterant peak namely peak temperature, peak area, peak onset temperature indicated that there were strong correlations between these with the LS content of the CaO admixtures. When these three parameters were engaged as variables in the execution of the stepwise regression procedure, predictive models for determination of LS content in CaO were obtained. The predictive models obtained with single DSC parameter had relatively lower coefficient of determination (R(2) value) and higher standard error than the models obtained using two DSC parameters in combination. This study concluded that the predictive models obtained with peak area and peak onset temperature of the adulteration peak would be more accurate for prediction of LS content in CaO based on the highest coefficient of determination (R(2) value) and smallest standard error.
Qualitative analysis of pure and adulterated canola oil via SIMCA
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Basri, Katrul Nadia; Khir, Mohd Fared Abdul; Rani, Rozina Abdul; Sharif, Zaiton; Rusop, M.; Zoolfakar, Ahmad Sabirin
2018-05-01
This paper demonstrates the utilization of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to classify pure and adulterated sample of canola oil. Soft Independent Modeling Class Analogies (SIMCA) algorithm was implemented to discriminate the samples to its classes. Spectral data obtained was divided using Kennard Stone algorithm into training and validation dataset by a fixed ratio of 7:3. The model accuracy obtained based on the model built is 0.99 whereas the sensitivity and precision are 0.92 and 1.00. The result showed the classification model is robust to perform qualitative analysis of canola oil for future application.
Yulia, Meinilwita
2017-01-01
Asian palm civet coffee or kopi luwak (Indonesian words for coffee and palm civet) is well known as the world's priciest and rarest coffee. To protect the authenticity of luwak coffee and protect consumer from luwak coffee adulteration, it is very important to develop a robust and simple method for determining the adulteration of luwak coffee. In this research, the use of UV-Visible spectra combined with PLSR was evaluated to establish rapid and simple methods for quantification of adulteration in luwak-arabica coffee blend. Several preprocessing methods were tested and the results show that most of the preprocessing spectra were effective in improving the quality of calibration models with the best PLS calibration model selected for Savitzky-Golay smoothing spectra which had the lowest RMSECV (0.039) and highest RPDcal value (4.64). Using this PLS model, a prediction for quantification of luwak content was calculated and resulted in satisfactory prediction performance with high both RPDp and RER values. PMID:28913348
Di Girolamo, Francesco; Masotti, Andrea; Lante, Isabella; Scapaticci, Margherita; Calvano, Cosima Damiana; Zambonin, Carlo; Muraca, Maurizio; Putignani, Lorenza
2015-09-01
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) with its nutraceutical characteristics substantially contributes as a major nutrient to the health benefit of the Mediterranean diet. Unfortunately, the adulteration of EVOO with less expensive oils (e.g., peanut and corn oils), has become one of the biggest source of agricultural fraud in the European Union, with important health implications for consumers, mainly due to the introduction of seed oil-derived allergens causing, especially in children, severe food allergy phenomena. In this regard, revealing adulterations of EVOO is of fundamental importance for health care and prevention reasons, especially in children. To this aim, effective analytical methods to assess EVOO purity are necessary. Here, we propose a simple, rapid, robust and very sensitive method for non-specialized mass spectrometric laboratory, based on the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) coupled to unsupervised hierarchical clustering (UHC), principal component (PCA) and Pearson's correlation analyses, to reveal corn oil (CO) adulterations in EVOO at very low levels (down to 0.5%).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gillis, Robert James
2017-01-01
The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore how department chairs described the influence of recent corporate ethics scandals on content and availability of ethics education in postsecondary business schools in Arizona. The following research questions guided this study: RQ1: How do department chairs describe the influence of…
Salghi, Rachid; Armbruster, Wolfgang; Schwack, Wolfgang
2014-06-15
Triacylglycerol profiles were selected as indicator of adulteration of argan oils to carry out a rapid screening of samples for the evaluation of authenticity. Triacylglycerols were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detection. Different peak area ratios were defined to sensitively detect adulteration of argan oil with vegetable oils such as sunflower, soy bean, and olive oil up to the level of 5%. Based on four reference argan oils, mean limits of detection and quantitation were calculated to approximately 0.4% and 1.3%, respectively. Additionally, 19 more argan oil reference samples were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography-refractive index detection, resulting in highly comparative results. The overall strategy demonstrated a good applicability in practise, and hence a high potential to be transferred to routine laboratories. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tsopelas, Fotios; Konstantopoulos, Dimitris; Kakoulidou, Anna Tsantili
2018-07-26
In the present work, two approaches for the voltammetric fingerprinting of oils and their combination with chemometrics were investigated in order to detect the adulteration of extra virgin olive oil with olive pomace oil as well as the most common seed oils, namely sunflower, soybean and corn oil. In particular, cyclic voltammograms of diluted extra virgin olive oils, regular (pure) olive oils (blends of refined olive oils with virgin olive oils), olive pomace oils and seed oils in presence of dichloromethane and 0.1 M of LiClO 4 in EtOH as electrolyte were recorded at a glassy carbon working electrode. Cyclic voltammetry was also employed in methanolic extracts of olive and seed oils. Datapoints of cyclic voltammograms were exported and submitted to Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Partial Least Square- Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA). In diluted oils, PLS-DA provided a clear discrimination between olive oils (extra virgin and regular) and olive pomace/seed oils, while SIMCA showed a clear discrimination of extra virgin olive oil in regard to all other samples. Using methanolic extracts and considering datapoints recorded between 0.6 and 1.3 V, PLS-DA provided more information, resulting in three clusters-extra virgin olive oils, regular olive oils and seed/olive pomace oils-while SIMCA showed inferior performance. For the quantification of extra virgin olive oil adulteration with olive pomace oil or seed oils, a model based on Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis was developed. Detection limit of adulteration in olive oil was found to be 2% (v/v) and the linearity range up to 33% (v/v). Validation and applicability of all models was proved using a suitable test set. In the case of PLS, synthetic oil mixtures with 4 known adulteration levels in the range of 4-26% were also employed as a blind test set. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Son, Ji Yeon; Kang, Yoon Jong; Kim, Kyeong Seok; Kim, Tae Hyung; Lim, Sung Kwang; Lim, Hyun Jung; Jeong, Tae Cheon; Choi, Dal Woong; Chung, Kyu Hyuck; Lee, Byung Mu
2014-01-01
Melamine-induced nephrotoxicity is closely associated with crystal formation in the kidney caused by combined exposure to melamine (Mel) and cyanuric acid (CA). However, there are few dosage-finding studies for toxicological evaluation of chronic co-exposure to Mel and CA. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible mechanism by which a Mel and CA mixture lead to renal toxicity in rats. Mel and CA were co-administered to rats via oral gavage for 50 days. Nephrotoxicity was determined by measuring blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (sCr) levels. Relative kidney weights were significantly increased in rats after co-exposure to Mel+CA (63/6.3 or 630/6.3 mg/kg) mixtures. BUN and sCr levels were significantly increased after Mel and CA co-exposure. Taken together, significant increase in KIM-1, NGAL, and calbindin levels were observed in the urine of rats exposed to Mel+CA (63/6.3 or 630/6.3 mg/kg) compared with the corresponding control group. Histological analysis revealed epithelial degeneration and necrotic cell death in the proximal tubules of the kidney after co-exposure to Mel+CA (63/6.3 or 630/6.3 mg/kg). Our data suggest that Mel-mediated renal toxicity may be influenced by CA concentrations in Mel-contaminated milk or foods. PMID:25071919
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Quansheng; Qi, Shuai; Li, Huanhuan; Han, Xiaoyan; Ouyang, Qin; Zhao, Jiewen
2014-10-01
To rapidly and efficiently detect the presence of adulterants in honey, three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy (3DFS) technique was employed with the help of multivariate calibration. The data of 3D fluorescence spectra were compressed using characteristic extraction and the principal component analysis (PCA). Then, partial least squares (PLS) and back propagation neural network (BP-ANN) algorithms were used for modeling. The model was optimized by cross validation, and its performance was evaluated according to root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and correlation coefficient (R) in prediction set. The results showed that BP-ANN model was superior to PLS models, and the optimum prediction results of the mixed group (sunflower ± longan ± buckwheat ± rape) model were achieved as follow: RMSEP = 0.0235 and R = 0.9787 in the prediction set. The study demonstrated that the 3D fluorescence spectroscopy technique combined with multivariate calibration has high potential in rapid, nondestructive, and accurate quantitative analysis of honey adulteration.
Xing-xia Ma; Grant T. Kirker; Ming-liang Jiang; Yu-zhang Wu
2016-01-01
Surface coatings of melamine-modified urea-formaldehyde resins (MUFs) containing ammonium polyphosphate (APP) have been shown to significantly improve the fire retardancy of wood by prolonging the ignition time and reducing the heat release rate, total heat released, and mass loss rate. Dual protection of wood against both decay and fire has been proposed for remedial...
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Milk is a vulnerable target for economically motivated adulteration. In this study, a line-scan high-throughput Raman imaging system was used to authenticate milk powder. A 5 W 785 nm line laser (240 mm long and 1 mm wide) was used as a Raman excitation source. The system was used to acquire hypersp...
Xu, Lu; Shi, Peng-Tao; Ye, Zi-Hong; Yan, Si-Min; Yu, Xiao-Ping
2013-12-01
This paper develops a rapid analysis method for adulteration identification of a popular traditional Chinese food, lotus root powder (LRP), by near-infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics. 85 pure LRP samples were collected from 7 main lotus producing areas of China to include most if not all of the significant variations likely to be encountered in unknown authentic materials. To evaluate the model specificity, 80 adulterated LRP samples prepared by blending pure LRP with different levels of four cheaper and commonly used starches were measured and predicted. For multivariate quality models, two class modeling methods, the traditional soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and a recently proposed partial least squares class model (PLSCM) were used. Different data preprocessing techniques, including smoothing, taking derivative and standard normal variate (SNV) transformation were used to improve the classification performance. The results indicate that smoothing, taking second-order derivatives and SNV can improve the class models by enhancing signal-to-noise ratio, reducing baseline and background shifts. The most accurate and stable models were obtained with SNV spectra for both SIMCA (sensitivity 0.909 and specificity 0.938) and PLSCM (sensitivity 0.909 and specificity 0.925). Moreover, both SIMCA and PLSCM could detect LRP samples mixed with 5% (w/w) or more other cheaper starches, including cassava, sweet potato, potato and maize starches. Although it is difficult to perform an exhaustive collection of all pure LRP samples and possible adulterations, NIR spectrometry combined with class modeling techniques provides a reliable and effective method to detect most of the current LRP adulterations in Chinese market. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Durán Merás, Isabel; Domínguez Manzano, Jaime; Airado Rodríguez, Diego; Muñoz de la Peña, Arsenio
2018-02-01
Within olive oils, extra virgin olive oil is the highest quality and, in consequence, the most expensive one. Because of that, it is common that some merchants attempt to take economic advantage by mixing it up with other less expensive oils, like olive oil or olive pomace oil. In consequence, the characterization and authentication of extra virgin olive oils is a subject of great interest, both for industry and consumers. This paper reports the potential of front-face total fluorescence spectroscopy combined with second-order chemometric methods for the detection of extra virgin olive oils adulteration with other olive oils. Excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) of extra virgin olive oils and extra virgin olive oils adulterated with olive oils or with olive pomace oils were recorded using front-face fluorescence spectroscopy. The full information content in these fluorescence images was analyzed with the aid of unsupervised parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), PARAFAC supervised by linear discriminant analysis (LDA-PARAFAC), and discriminant unfolded partial least-squares (DA-UPLS). The discriminant ability of LDA-PARAFAC was studied through the tridimensional plots of the canonical vectors, defining a surface separating the established categories. For DA-UPLS, the discriminant ability was established through the bidimensional plots of predicted values of calibration and validation samples, in order to assign each sample to a given class. The models demonstrated the possibility of detecting adulterations of extra virgin olive oils with percentages of around 15% and 3% of olive and olive pomace oils, respectively. Also, UPLS regression was used to quantify the adulteration level of extra virgin olive oils with olive oils or with olive pomace oils. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Suhandy, D.; Yulia, M.; Ogawa, Y.; Kondo, N.
2018-05-01
In the present research, an evaluation of using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in tandem with full spectrum partial least squares (FS-PLS) regression for quantification of degree of adulteration in civet coffee was conducted. A number of 126 ground roasted coffee samples with degree of adulteration 0-51% were prepared. Spectral data were acquired using a NIR spectrometer equipped with an integrating sphere for diffuse reflectance measurement in the range of 1300-2500 nm. The samples were divided into two groups calibration sample set (84 samples) and prediction sample set (42 samples). The calibration model was developed on original spectra using FS-PLS regression with full-cross validation method. The calibration model exhibited the determination coefficient R2=0.96 for calibration and R2=0.92 for validation. The prediction resulted in low root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) (4.67%) and high ratio prediction to deviation (RPD) (3.75). In conclusion, the degree of adulteration in civet coffee have been quantified successfully by using NIR spectroscopy and FS-PLS regression in a non-destructive, economical, precise, and highly sensitive method, which uses very simple sample preparation.
Effects of oxidizing adulterants on detection of 11-nor-delta9-THC-9-carboxylic acid in urine.
Paul, Buddha D; Jacobs, Aaron
2002-10-01
Bleach, nitrite, chromate, and hydrogen peroxide-peroxidase are effective urine adulterants used by the illicit drug users to conceal marijuana-positive results. Methods for detecting nitrite and chromate are available. Effects of other oxidizing agents that could possibly be used as adulterants and are difficult to detect or measure are presented in this report. Urine samples containing 40 ng/mL of 11-nor-delta9-THC-9-carboxylic acid (THC-acid) were treated with 10 mmol/L of commonly available oxidizing agents. Effects of horseradish peroxidase of activity 10 unit/mL and extracts from 2.5 g of red radish (Raphanus sativus, Radicula group), horseradish (Armoracia rusticana), Japanese radish (Raphanus sativus, Daikon group), and black mustard seeds (Brassica nigra), all with 10 mmol/L of hydrogen peroxide, were also examined. After 5 min, 16 h and 48 h of exposure at room temperature (23 degrees C) the specimens were tested by a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method for THC-acid. A control group treated with sodium hydrosulfite to reduce the oxidants, was also tested to investigate the effect of oxidizing agents on THC-acid in the extraction method. THC-acid was lost completely in the extraction method when treated with chromate, nitrite, oxone, and hydrogen peroxide/ferrous ammonium sulfate (Fenton's reagent). Some losses were also observed with persulfate and periodate (up to 25%). These oxidants, and other oxidizing agents like permanganate, periodate, peroxidase, and extracts from red radish, horseradish, Japanese radish and black mustard seeds destroyed most of the THC-acid (> 94%) within 48 h of exposure. Chlorate, perchlorate, iodate, and oxychloride under these conditions showed little or no effect. Complete loss was observed when THC-acid was exposed to 50 mmol/L of oxychloride for 48 h. Several oxidizing adulterants that are difficult to test by the present urine adulterant testing methods showed considerable effects on the destruction of THC
Beyond eugenics: the forgotten scandal of hybridizing humans and apes.
Etkind, Alexander
2008-06-01
This paper examines the available evidence on one of the most radical ideas in the history of eugenics and utopianism. In the mid-1920s, the zoology professor Ilia Ivanov submitted to the Soviet government a project for hybridizing humans and apes by means of artificial insemination. He received substantial financing and organized expeditions to Africa to catch apes for his experiments. His project caused an international sensation. The American Association for the Advancement of Atheism announced its fund-raising campaign to support Ivanov's project but gave it a scandalously racist interpretation. Ivanov's own motivation remained unclear, as did the motivation of those in the Bolshevik government who supported Ivanov until his arrest in 1930. This paper discusses three hypothetical reasons for Ivanov's adventure: first, hybridization between humans and apes, should it be successful, would support the atheist propaganda of the Bolsheviks; second, regardless of the success of hybridization, Ivanov would catch and bring to Russia apes, which were necessary for the rejuvenation programs that were fashionable among the Bolshevik elite; and third, hybridization, should it be successful, would pave the way to the New Socialist Man whose 'construction by scientific means' was the official purpose of the Bolsheviks. Ivanov's ideas were arguably important for the American proponent of reform eugenics, Herman Muller, and for the Soviet anthropologist Boris Porshnev.
Gao, Zitong; Liu, Yang; Wang, Xiaoyue; Song, Jingyuan; Chen, Shilin; Ragupathy, Subramanyam; Han, Jianping; Newmaster, Steven G
2017-07-19
Lonicerae japonicae Flos has been used to produce hundred kinds of Chinese patent medicines (CPMs) in China. Economically motivated adulterants have been documented, leading to market instability and a decline in consumer confidence. ITS2 has been used to identify raw medicinal materials, but it's not suitable for the identification of botanical extracts and complex CPMs. Therefore, a short barcode for the identification of processed CPMs would be profitable. A 34 bp nucleotide signature (5' CTAGCGGTGGTCGTACGATAGCCAATGCATGAGT 3') was developed derived from ITS2 region of Eucommiae Folium based on unique motifs. Mixtures of powdered Lonicerae japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos resulted in double peaks at the expected SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) positions, of which the height of the peaks were roughly indicative of the species' ratio in the mixed powder. Subsequently we tested 20 extracts and 47 CPMs labelled as containing some species of Lonicera. The results revealed only 17% of the extracts and 22% of the CPMs were authentic, others exist substitution or adulterant; 7% were shown to contain both of two adulterants Eucommiae Folium and Lonicerae Flos. The methods developed in this study will widely broaden the application of DNA barcode in quality assurance of natural health products.
Synthesis of mesoporous poly(melamine-formaldehyde) particles by inverse emulsion polymerization.
Schwarz, Dana; Weber, Jens
2017-07-15
Mesoporous poly(melamine-formaldehyde) (MF) particles with surface areas of up to 200m 2 g -1 were synthesized by an inverse emulsion polymerization using dodecane and Span80® as continuous phase. The finer details of the shape control (using emulsion techniques) and the porosity control (using silica nanoparticles as hard-template) are discussed. The impact of phase-separation processes on the observable porosity of the 20-200µm sized spherical particles is analysed by gas sorption methods and electron microscopy. The high density of amine and triazine functional groups in the porous MF particles make the material a promising adsorber for heavy metal ions and methylene blue. In a preliminary column experiment, the synthesized material exhibited a total capacity of 2.54mmol/g (≙ 812.4mg/g) for the adsorption of methylene blue. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Tsai, S C; ElSohly, M A; Dubrovsky, T; Twarowska, B; Towt, J; Salamone, S J
1998-10-01
The adulteration of urine specimens with nitrite ion hasseen shown to mask the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) confirmation testing of marijuana use. This study was designed to further investigate the effect of nitrite adulteration on the detection of five commonly abused drugs by immunoassay screening and GC-MS analysis. The drugs tested are cocaine metabolite (benzoylecgonine), morphine, 11-nor-delta-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH), amphetamine, and phencyclidine. The immunoassays evaluated included the instrument-based Abuscreen ONLINE assays, the on-site Abuscreen ONTRAK assays, and the one-step ONTRAK TESTCUP-5 assay. Multianalyte standards containing various levels of drugs were used to test the influence of both potassium and sodium nitrite. In the ONLINE immunoassays, the presence of up to 1.0M nitrite in the multianalyte standards had no significant effect for benzoylecgonine, morphine, and phencyclidine assays. With a high concentration of nitrite, ONLINE became more sensitive for amphetamine (detected more drug than what was expected) and less sensitive for THCCOOH (detected less drug than what was expected). No effects of nitrite were observed on the results of the Abuscreen ONTRAK assays. Similarly, no effects were observed on the absolute qualitative results of the TESTCUP-5 when testing the nitrite-adulterated standards. However, the produced intensities of the signals that indicate the negative test results were slightly lowered in the THC and phencyclidine assays. The presence of 1.0M of nitrite did not show dramatic interference with the GC-MS analysis of benzoylecgonine, morphine, amphetamine, and phencyclidine. In contrast, nitrite ion significantly interfered with the detection of THCCOOH by GC-MS. The presence of 0.03M of nitrite ion resulted in significant loss in the recovery of THCCOOH and its internal standard by GC-MS. The problem of nitrite adulteration could be alleviated by sodium bisulfite treatment even
Di Girolamo, Francesco; Masotti, Andrea; Lante, Isabella; Scapaticci, Margherita; Calvano, Cosima Damiana; Zambonin, Carlo; Muraca, Maurizio; Putignani, Lorenza
2015-01-01
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) with its nutraceutical characteristics substantially contributes as a major nutrient to the health benefit of the Mediterranean diet. Unfortunately, the adulteration of EVOO with less expensive oils (e.g., peanut and corn oils), has become one of the biggest source of agricultural fraud in the European Union, with important health implications for consumers, mainly due to the introduction of seed oil-derived allergens causing, especially in children, severe food allergy phenomena. In this regard, revealing adulterations of EVOO is of fundamental importance for health care and prevention reasons, especially in children. To this aim, effective analytical methods to assess EVOO purity are necessary. Here, we propose a simple, rapid, robust and very sensitive method for non-specialized mass spectrometric laboratory, based on the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) coupled to unsupervised hierarchical clustering (UHC), principal component (PCA) and Pearson’s correlation analyses, to reveal corn oil (CO) adulterations in EVOO at very low levels (down to 0.5%). PMID:26340625
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-04-01
...; color identification to prevent adulteration of human and animal food. 2.25 Section 2.25 Food and Drugs... RULINGS AND DECISIONS Human and Animal Foods § 2.25 Grain seed treated with poisonous substances; color... the natural color of the food seed as to make admixture of treated, denatured seeds with good food...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-04-01
...; color identification to prevent adulteration of human and animal food. 2.25 Section 2.25 Food and Drugs... RULINGS AND DECISIONS Human and Animal Foods § 2.25 Grain seed treated with poisonous substances; color... the natural color of the food seed as to make admixture of treated, denatured seeds with good food...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-04-01
...; color identification to prevent adulteration of human and animal food. 2.25 Section 2.25 Food and Drugs... RULINGS AND DECISIONS Human and Animal Foods § 2.25 Grain seed treated with poisonous substances; color... the natural color of the food seed as to make admixture of treated, denatured seeds with good food...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-04-01
...; color identification to prevent adulteration of human and animal food. 2.25 Section 2.25 Food and Drugs... RULINGS AND DECISIONS Human and Animal Foods § 2.25 Grain seed treated with poisonous substances; color... the natural color of the food seed as to make admixture of treated, denatured seeds with good food...
Guler, Ahmet; Kocaokutgen, Hasan; Garipoglu, Ali V; Onder, Hasan; Ekinci, Deniz; Biyik, Selim
2014-07-15
In the present study, one hundred pure and adulterated honey samples obtained from feeding honeybee colonies with different levels (5, 20 and 100 L/colony) of various commercial sugar syrups including High Fructose Corn Syrup 85 (HFCS-85), High Fructose Corn Syrup 55 (HFCS-55), Bee Feeding Syrup (BFS), Glucose Monohydrate Sugar (GMS) and Sucrose Sugar (SS) were evaluated in terms of the δ(13)C value of honey and its protein, difference between the δ(13)C value of protein and honey (Δδ(13)C), and C4% sugar ratio. Sugar type, sugar level and the sugar type*sugar level interaction were found to be significant (P<0.001) regarding the evaluated characteristics. Adulterations could not be detected in the 5L/colony syrup level of all sugar types when the δ(13)C value of honey, Δδ(13)C (protein-honey), and C4% sugar ratio were used as criteria according to the AOAC standards. However, it was possible to detect the adulteration by using the same criteria in the honeys taken from the 20 and 100 L/colony of HFCS-85 and the 100L/colony of HFCS-55. Adulteration at low syrup level (20 L/colony) was more easily detected when the fructose content of HFCS syrup increased. As a result, the official methods (AOAC, 978.17, 1995; AOAC, 991.41, 1995; AOAC 998.12, 2005) and Internal Standard Carbon Isotope Ratio Analysis could not efficiently detect the indirect adulteration of honey obtained by feeding the bee colonies with the syrups produced from C3 plants such as sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) and wheat (Triticium vulgare). For this reason, it is strongly needed to develop novel methods and standards that can detect the presence and the level of indirect adulterations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Old drug new trick: levamisole-adulterated cocaine causing acute kidney injury.
Ammar, Abeer T; Livak, Mark; Witsil, Joanne C
2015-02-01
Levamisole is an agent previously used in humans and later withdrawn from the US drug market due to concerns of agranulocytosis.It is currently used as an adulterating agent in cocaine, bringing to light toxicities typically manifested by vasculitis and skin necrosis.We report a case of a 36-year-old crack cocaine user who presented with a purpuric rash on her face and limbs. Levamisole-induced vasculitis was suspected, and she therefore underwent an extensive work-up. In addition to these findings, she also presented with acute kidney injury of unknown etiology, which was later attributed to levamisoleadulterated cocaine.
Urumarudappa, Santhosh Kumar Jayanthinagar; Gogna, Navdeep; Newmaster, Steven G; Venkatarangaiah, Krishna; Subramanyam, Ragupathy; Saroja, Seethapathy Gopalakrishnan; Gudasalamani, Ravikanth; Dorai, Kavita; Ramanan, Uma Shaanker
2016-11-01
Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd, commonly known as "Asoka" or "Ashoka," is one of the most important medicinal plants used in raw herbal trade in India. The bark extracts of the tree are used in the treatment of leucorrhea and other uterine disorders besides also having anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-pyretic, anti-helminthic, and analgesic activity. The indiscriminate and rampant extraction of the wood to meet the ever-increasing market demand has led to a sharp decline in naturally occurring populations of the species in the country. Consequently, the species has recently been classified as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Increasing deforestation and increasing demand for this medicinal plant have resulted in a limited supply and suspected widespread adulteration of the species in the raw herbal trade market. Adulteration is a serious concern due to: (i) reduction in the efficacy of this traditional medicine, (ii) considerable health risk to consumers, and (iii) fraudulent product substitution that impacts the economy for the Natural Health Product (NHP) Industry and consumers. In this paper, we provide the first attempt to assess the extent of adulteration in the raw herbal trade of S. asoca using DNA barcoding validated by NMR spectroscopic techniques. Analyzing market samples drawn from 25 shops, mostly from peninsular India, we show that more than 80 % of the samples were spurious, representing plant material from at least 7 different families. This is the first comprehensive and large-scale study to demonstrate the widespread adulteration of market samples of S. asoca in India. These results pose grave implications for the use of raw herbal drugs, such as that of S. asoca, on consumer health and safety. Based on these findings, we argue for a strong and robust regulatory framework to be put in place, which would ensure the quality of raw herbal trade products and reassure consumer confidence in indigenous
Oliveira, Flavia C C; Brandão, Christian R R; Ramalho, Hugo F; da Costa, Leonardo A F; Suarez, Paulo A Z; Rubim, Joel C
2007-03-28
In this work it has been shown that the routine ASTM methods (ASTM 4052, ASTM D 445, ASTM D 4737, ASTM D 93, and ASTM D 86) recommended by the ANP (the Brazilian National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) to determine the quality of diesel/biodiesel blends are not suitable to prevent the adulteration of B2 or B5 blends with vegetable oils. Considering the previous and actual problems with fuel adulterations in Brazil, we have investigated the application of vibrational spectroscopy (Fourier transform (FT) near infrared spectrometry and FT-Raman) to identify adulterations of B2 and B5 blends with vegetable oils. Partial least square regression (PLS), principal component regression (PCR), and artificial neural network (ANN) calibration models were designed and their relative performances were evaluated by external validation using the F-test. The PCR, PLS, and ANN calibration models based on the Fourier transform (FT) near infrared spectrometry and FT-Raman spectroscopy were designed using 120 samples. Other 62 samples were used in the validation and external validation, for a total of 182 samples. The results have shown that among the designed calibration models, the ANN/FT-Raman presented the best accuracy (0.028%, w/w) for samples used in the external validation.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-04-01
... the natural color of the food seed as to make admixture of treated, denatured seeds with good food... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Grain seed treated with poisonous substances; color identification to prevent adulteration of human and animal food. 2.25 Section 2.25 Food and Drugs...
Migration of formaldehyde from melamine-ware: UK 2008 survey results.
Potter, E L J; Bradley, E L; Davies, C R; Barnes, K A; Castle, L
2010-06-01
Fifty melamine-ware articles were tested for the migration of formaldehyde - with hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) expressed as formaldehyde - to see whether the total specific migration limit (SML(T)) was being observed. The SML(T), given in European Commission Directive 2002/72/EC as amended, is 15 mg kg(-1). Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was carried out on the articles to confirm the plastic type. Articles were exposed to the food simulant 3% (w/v) aqueous acetic acid under conditions representing their worst foreseeable use. Formaldehyde and HMTA in food simulants were determined by a spectrophotometric derivatization procedure. Positive samples were confirmed by a second spectrophotometric procedure using an alternative derivatization agent. As all products purchased were intended for repeat use, three sequential exposures to the simulant were carried out. Formaldehyde was detected in the simulant exposed to 43 samples. Most of the levels found were well below the limits set in law such that 84% of the samples tested were compliant. However, eight samples had formaldehyde levels that were clearly above the legal maximum at six to 65 times the SML(T).
Intercalation of sulfonated melamine formaldehyde polycondensates into a hydrocalumite LDH structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
von Hoessle, F.; Plank, J.; Leroux, F.
2015-05-01
A series of sulfonated melamine formaldehyde (SMF) polycondensates possessing different anionic charge amounts and molecular weights was synthesized and incorporated into a hydrocalumite type layered double hydroxide structure using the rehydration method. For this purpose, tricalcium aluminate was dispersed in water and hydrated in the presence of these polymers. Defined inorganic-organic hybrid materials were obtained as reaction products. All SMF polymers tested intercalated readily into the hydrocalumite structure, independent of their different molecular weights (chain lengths) and anionic charge amounts. X-ray diffraction revealed typical patterns for weakly ordered, highly polymer loaded LDH materials which was confirmed via elemental analysis and thermogravimetry. IR spectroscopy suggests that the SMF polymers are interleaved between the [Ca2Al(OH)6]+ main sheets via electrostatic interaction, and that no chemical bond between the host matrix and the guest anion is formed. The SMF polymers well ensconced within the LDH structure exhibit significantly slower thermal degradation.
Zhu, Qing-Xia; Cao, Yong-Bing; Cao, Ying-Ying; Lu, Feng
2014-04-01
A novel facile method for on-site detection of antipertensive chemicals (e. g. nicardipine hydrochloride, doxazosin mesylate, propranolol hydrochloride, and hydrochlorothiazide) adulterated in traditional Chinese medicine for hypertension using thin layer chromatography (TLC) combined with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was reported in the present paper. Analytes and pharmaceutical matrices was separated by TLC, then SERS method was used to complete qualitative identification of trace substances on TLC plate. By optimizing colloidal silver concentration and developing solvent, as well as exploring the optimal limits of detection (LOD), the initially established TLC-SERS method was used to detect real hypertension Chinese pharmaceuticals. The results showed that this method had good specificity for the four chemicals and high sensitivity with a limit of detection as lower as to 0.005 microg. Finally, two of the ten antipertensive drugs were detected to be adulterated with chemicals. This simple and fast method can realize rapid detection of chemicals illegally for doping in antipertensive Chinese pharmaceuticals, and would have good prospects in on-site detection of chemicals for doping in Chinese pharmaceuticals.
Lim, Dong Kyu; Long, Nguyen Phuoc; Mo, Changyeun; Dong, Ziyuan; Cui, Lingmei; Kim, Giyoung; Kwon, Sung Won
2017-10-01
The mixing of extraneous ingredients with original products is a common adulteration practice in food and herbal medicines. In particular, authenticity of white rice and its corresponding blended products has become a key issue in food industry. Accordingly, our current study aimed to develop and evaluate a novel discrimination method by combining targeted lipidomics with powerful supervised learning methods, and eventually introduce a platform to verify the authenticity of white rice. A total of 30 cultivars were collected, and 330 representative samples of white rice from Korea and China as well as seven mixing ratios were examined. Random forests (RF), support vector machines (SVM) with a radial basis function kernel, C5.0, model averaged neural network, and k-nearest neighbor classifiers were used for the classification. We achieved desired results, and the classifiers effectively differentiated white rice from Korea to blended samples with high prediction accuracy for the contamination ratio as low as five percent. In addition, RF and SVM classifiers were generally superior to and more robust than the other techniques. Our approach demonstrated that the relative differences in lysoGPLs can be successfully utilized to detect the adulterated mixing of white rice originating from different countries. In conclusion, the present study introduces a novel and high-throughput platform that can be applied to authenticate adulterated admixtures from original white rice samples. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
López-Hill, Ximena; Prieto, José Pedro; Meikle, María Noel; Urbanavicius, Jessika; Abin-Carriquiry, Juan Andrés; Prunell, Giselle; Umpiérrez, Eleuterio; Scorza, María Cecilia
2011-08-01
Coca-paste (CP) is a drug of abuse that so far has not been extensively characterized. CP is an intermediate product of the cocaine alkaloid extraction process from coca leaves, hence it has a high content of cocaine base mixed with other chemical substances (impurities) and it is probably adulterated when it reaches the consumers. Despite its high prevalence and distribution through South America, little is known about its effects on the central nervous system. In the present study, a chemical analysis of CP samples from different police seizures was performed to determine the cocaine base content and the presence and content of impurities and adulterants. Some CP representative samples were selected to study the effects on the locomotor activity induced after acute systemic administration in rats as a measure of its stimulant action. The behavioral response was compared to equivalent doses of cocaine. As expected, cocaine was the main component in most of the CP samples assayed. Caffeine was the only active adulterant detected. Interestingly, several CP samples elicited a higher stimulant effect compared to that observed after cocaine when administered at equivalent doses of cocaine base. Combined treatment of cocaine and caffeine, as surrogate of different CP samples mimicked their stimulant effect. We demonstrated that cocaine and caffeine are the main components responsible for the CP-induced stimulant action while the contribution of the impurities was imperceptible. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... the adulterant found by the laboratory entered the specimen through physiological means. (2) To meet... produce or could have produced urine through physiological means, meeting the creatinine concentration criterion of less than 2 mg/dL and the specific gravity criteria of less than or equal to 1.0010 or greater...
Sugawara, Yuya; Tanimoto, Tetsuya; Miyagawa, Shoko; Murakami, Masayasu; Tsuya, Atsushi; Tanaka, Atsushi; Kami, Masahiro; Narimatsu, Hiroto
2017-02-28
The academic scandal on a study on stimulus‑triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells in Japan in 2014 involved suspicions of scientific misconduct by the lead author of the study after the paper had been reviewed on a peer‑review website. This study investigated the discussions on STAP cells on Twitter and content of newspaper articles in an attempt to assess the role of social compared with traditional media in scientific peer review. This study examined Twitter utilization in scientific peer review on STAP cells misconduct. Searches for tweets and newspaper articles containing the term "STAP cells" were carried out through Twitter's search engine and Nikkei Telecom database, respectively. The search period was from January 1 to July 1, 2014. The nouns appearing in the "top tweets" and newspaper articles were extracted through a morphological analysis, and their frequency of appearance and changes over time were investigated. The total numbers of top tweets and newspaper articles containing the term were 134,958 and 1646, respectively. Negative words concerning STAP cells began to appear on Twitter by February 9-15, 2014, or 3 weeks after Obokata presented a paper on STAP cells. The number of negative words in newspaper articles gradually increased beginning in the week of March 12-18, 2014. A total of 1000 tweets were randomly selected, and they were found to contain STAP-related opinions (43.3%, 433/1000), links to news sites and other sources (41.4%, 414/1000), false scientific or medical claims (8.9%, 89/1000), and topics unrelated to STAP (6.4%, 64/1000). The discussion on scientific misconduct during the STAP cells scandal took place at an earlier stage on Twitter than in newspapers, a traditional medium. ©Yuya Sugawara, Tetsuya Tanimoto, Shoko Miyagawa, Masayasu Murakami, Atsushi Tsuya, Atsushi Tanaka, Masahiro Kami, Hiroto Narimatsu. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 28.02.2017.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... 49 Transportation 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false On what basis does the MRO verify test results involving adulteration or substitution? 40.145 Section 40.145 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Medical Review Officers and the Verification Process §...
Mazivila, Sarmento Júnior
2018-04-01
Discrimination of biodiesel feedstock present in diesel-biodiesel blend is challenging due to the great similarity in the spectral profile as well as digital image profile of each type of feedstock employed in biodiesel production. Once the marketed diesel-biodiesel blend is subsidized, in which motivates adulteration in biofuel blend by cheaper supplies with high solubility to obtain profits associated with the subsidies involved in biodiesel production. Non-destructive analytical methods based on qualitative and quantitative analysis for detecting marketed diesel-biodiesel blend adulteration are reviewed. Therefore, at the end is discussed the advantage of the qualitative analysis over quantitative analysis, when the systems require immediate decisions such as to know if the marketed diesel-biodiesel blend is unadulterated or adulterated in order to aid the analyst in selecting the most appropriate green analytical procedure for detecting diesel-biodiesel blend adulteration proceeding in fast way. This critical review provides a brief review on the non-destructive analytical methods reported in scientific literature based on different first-order multivariate calibration models coupled with spectroscopy data and digital image data to identify the type of biodiesel feedstock present in diesel-biodiesel blend in order to meets the strategies adopted by European Commission Directive 2012/0288/EC as well as to monitoring diesel-biodiesel adulteration. According to that Directive, from 2020 biodiesel produced from first-generation feedstock, that is, oils employed in human food such as sunflower, soybean, rapeseed, palm oil, among other oils should not be subsidized. Therefore, those non-destructive analytical methods here reviewed are helpful for discrimination of biodiesel feedstock present in diesel-biodiesel blend according to European Commission Directive 2012/0288/EC as well as for detecting diesel-biodiesel blend adulteration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B
Ding, Yichun; Yang, Jack; Tolle, Charles R; Zhu, Zhengtao
2018-05-09
Flexible and wearable pressure sensor may offer convenient, timely, and portable solutions to human motion detection, yet it is a challenge to develop cost-effective materials for pressure sensor with high compressibility and sensitivity. Herein, a cost-efficient and scalable approach is reported to prepare a highly flexible and compressible conductive sponge for piezoresistive pressure sensor. The conductive sponge, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)@melamine sponge (MS), is prepared by one-step dip coating the commercial melamine sponge (MS) in an aqueous dispersion of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Due to the interconnected porous structure of MS, the conductive PEDOT:PSS@MS has a high compressibility and a stable piezoresistive response at the compressive strain up to 80%, as well as good reproducibility over 1000 cycles. Thereafter, versatile pressure sensors fabricated using the conductive PEDOT:PSS@MS sponges are attached to the different parts of human body; the capabilities of these devices to detect a variety of human motions including speaking, finger bending, elbow bending, and walking are evaluated. Furthermore, prototype tactile sensory array based on these pressure sensors is demonstrated.
Jović, Ozren
2016-12-15
A novel method for quantitative prediction and variable-selection on spectroscopic data, called Durbin-Watson partial least-squares regression (dwPLS), is proposed in this paper. The idea is to inspect serial correlation in infrared data that is known to consist of highly correlated neighbouring variables. The method selects only those variables whose intervals have a lower Durbin-Watson statistic (dw) than a certain optimal cutoff. For each interval, dw is calculated on a vector of regression coefficients. Adulteration of cold-pressed linseed oil (L), a well-known nutrient beneficial to health, is studied in this work by its being mixed with cheaper oils: rapeseed oil (R), sesame oil (Se) and sunflower oil (Su). The samples for each botanical origin of oil vary with respect to producer, content and geographic origin. The results obtained indicate that MIR-ATR, combined with dwPLS could be implemented to quantitative determination of edible-oil adulteration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
What's NOT to eat- Food adulteration in the context of human biology
Schell, Lawrence M.; Gallo, Mia V.; Cook, Katsi
2011-01-01
Food has nutritional and non-nutritional components. The latter are not well studied despite the fact that food adulteration has been common. Food adulteration may have reached its peak in cities of western Europe and the US in the 18th and 19th centuries when foods were often purposely contaminated with additives to increase bulk, attractiveness, disguise spoilage and increase profit. Effective regulation of food began in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Nevertheless, today food recalls for bacterial contamination are common, while pesticides and compounds from manufacturing are detected in many foods. Foods with strong reputations for healthiness, such as salmon, may have sizable contaminant contents. The contaminant content of many foods varies by origin and season. Nearly all commercially raised salmon has higher contaminant levels than wild caught salmon. Opting out of the commercial food distribution system is an option, but the value depends on the habitat in which the food is obtained. Traditionally, the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation has depended on local fish and wildlife for their diet. Now pollution of local waterways has led to the contamination of many local foods, and levels of the contaminant PCBs in the Akwesasne Mohawk people reflect current or past dietary patterns. Many other communities in non-urban settings are exposed to contaminants through long-trail distribution of contaminants in food, air, and/or water. Human biologists considering nutrition, disease, growth, reproduction, aging, to name a few areas, may consider the non-nutritional components of food as many have the ability to alter physiological functioning. PMID:22262531
What's NOT to eat--food adulteration in the context of human biology.
Schell, Lawrence M; Gallo, Mia V; Cook, Katsi
2012-01-01
Food has nutritional and non-nutritional components. The latter are not well-studied despite the fact that food adulteration has been common. Food adulteration may have reached its peak in cities of Western Europe and the US in the 18th and 19th centuries when foods were often purposely contaminated with additives to increase bulk, attractiveness, disguise spoilage, and increase profit. Effective regulation of food began in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Nevertheless, today food recalls for bacterial contamination are common, while pesticides and compounds from manufacturing are detected in many foods. Foods with strong reputations for healthiness, such as salmon, may have sizable contaminant contents. The contaminant content of many foods varies by origin and season. Nearly all commercially raised salmon has higher contaminant levels than wild caught salmon. Opting out of the commercial food distribution system is an option, but the value depends on the habitat in which the food is obtained. Traditionally, the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation has depended on local fish and wildlife for their diet. Now pollution of local waterways has led to the contamination of many local foods, and levels of the contaminant polychlorinated biphenyls in the Akwesasne Mohawk people reflect current or past dietary patterns. Many other communities in nonurban settings are exposed to contaminants through long-trail distribution of contaminants in food, air, and/or water. Human biologists considering nutrition, disease, growth, reproduction, aging, to name a few areas, may consider the non-nutritional components of food as many have the ability to alter physiological functioning. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Durakli Velioglu, Serap; Ercioglu, Elif; Boyaci, Ismail Hakki
2017-05-01
This research paper describes the potential of synchronous fluorescence (SF) spectroscopy for authentication of buffalo milk, a favourable raw material in the production of some premium dairy products. Buffalo milk is subjected to fraudulent activities like many other high priced foodstuffs. The current methods widely used for the detection of adulteration of buffalo milk have various disadvantages making them unattractive for routine analysis. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the potential of SF spectroscopy in combination with multivariate methods for rapid discrimination between buffalo and cow milk and detection of the adulteration of buffalo milk with cow milk. SF spectra of cow and buffalo milk samples were recorded between 400-550 nm excitation range with Δλ of 10-100 nm, in steps of 10 nm. The data obtained for ∆λ = 10 nm were utilised to classify the samples using principal component analysis (PCA), and detect the adulteration level of buffalo milk with cow milk using partial least square (PLS) methods. Successful discrimination of samples and detection of adulteration of buffalo milk with limit of detection value (LOD) of 6% are achieved with the models having root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and the root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV) and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) values of 2, 7, and 4%, respectively. The results reveal the potential of SF spectroscopy for rapid authentication of buffalo milk.
Kee, Chee-Leong; Ge, Xiaowei; Gilard, Véronique; Malet-Martino, Myriam; Low, Min-Yong
2018-01-05
To date, there are 80 synthetic PDE-5i found as adulterants in dietary supplements. Analogues of sildenafil remain as the top list with 50 (62%) and are followed by analogues of tadalafil, 21 (26%), analogues of vardenafil, 7 (9%) and others, 2 (3%). The sildenafil group can be sub-categorized into sulphonamide-bonded (24, 48%), acetyl-bonded (11, 22%), carbonyl or thiocarbonyl-bonded (8, 16%) and other types (7, 14%) based on the functional group linked to pyrazolopyrimidine-one moieties. Meanwhile, analogues of tadalafil have become popularly found as adulterants in dietary supplements like beverages and herbal extracts from 2015 to 2016. The uptrend has been observed with the increase in number and complexity with more trans-oriented and dimerized tadalafil analogues being reported. Interestingly, there is no much increase for analogues of vardenafil. About two thirds of analogues have been reported from the Asian countries (67%), followed by Europe (22%) and North America (11%). South Korea and Singapore have reported the most number of analogues with a total number of 40 (50%). One plausible contributing factor to this trend is the convenient purchase of sexual enhancement dietary supplements, especially the on-line purchase. In terms of analytical methodologies, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) hyphenated to ultra-violet (UV) and/or mass spectrometry (MS) detection have been preferred in the screening analysis, i.e. 70 out of 77 compounds have been analysed by HPLC-UV. In addition, the electrospray ionization multistage fragmentation experiments (ESI-MS n ) for acquiring low- and high-resolution mass spectra have been successfully applied to detect and quantify PDE-5i in adulterated products simultaneously. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is another important technique in the structural elucidation of novel analogues. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Dal Bosco, Chiara; Panero, Stefania; Navarra, Maria Assunta; Tomai, Pierpaolo; Curini, Roberta; Gentili, Alessandra
2018-05-30
Adulteration of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana with cow milk is a common fraud because of the high price and limited seasonal availability of water buffalo milk. To identify such adulteration, this work proposes a novel approach based on the use of species-specific, low-molecular-weight biomarkers (LMWBs). Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry screening analyses identified β-carotene, lutein, and β-cryptoxanthin as LMWBs of cow milk, while ergocalciferol was found only in water buffalo milk. Adulterated mozzarellas were prepared in the laboratory and analyzed for the four biomarkers. Combined quantification of β-carotene and ergocalciferol enabled the detection of cow milk with a sensitivity threshold of 5% (w/w). The method was further tested by analyzing a certificated water buffalo mozzarella and several commercial products. This approach is alternative to conventional proteomic and genomic methods and is advantageous for routine operations as a result of its simplicity, speed, and low cost.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kenzhin, Roman M.; Bauman, Yuri I.; Volodin, Alexander M.; Mishakov, Ilya V.; Vedyagin, Aleksey A.
2017-10-01
A novel approach to the synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers in a closed system at elevated pressure with the use of bulk Ni-Cr alloy as a catalyst precursor was proposed. Melamine was chosen as a substrate containing both carbon and nitrogen. Method of ferromagnetic resonance was applied for diagnostics of dispersed Ni particles appearance. The process of corrosion of a bulk alloy followed by formation of dispersed Ni particles catalyzing the growth of nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers was found to take place at temperatures above 560 °C. The final content of nitrogen in obtained carbon nanofibers was about 10 at.%.
Comparative study on "long-dan", "qin-jiao" and their adulterants by HPLC analysis.
Liu, Fang-Fang; Wang, Yan-Ming; Zhu, Hong-Tao; Wang, Dong; Yang, Chong-Ren; Xu, Min; Zhang, Ying-Jun
2014-10-01
"Long-Dan" and "Qin-Jiao" are two important TCM herbs since ancient times in China. In the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the dried roots and rhizomes of four species from the genus Gentiana, e.g. Gentiana manshurica, G. scabra, G. triflora and G. rigescens, are recorded under the name of Gentianae Radix et Rhizoma ("Long-Dan" in Chinese), while the other four species from the same genus including G. macrophylla, G. crassicaulis, G. straminea and G. duhurica are recorded and used as the raw materials of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix ("Qin-Jiao" in Chinese). On the basis of the establishment of a validated HPLC-UV method for quantifying simultaneously, five iridoid glycosides, e.g. loganic acid (1), swertiamarinin (2), gentiopicroside (3), sweroside (4) and 2'-(o,m-dihydroxybenzyl)sweroside (5) have been used successfully as chemical markers for the comparison of the species used as "Long-Dan", "Qin-Jiao" and their adulterants in the present study. The results suggested that four iridoid glycosides 1-4 commonly existed in both "Long-Dan" and "Qin-Jiao", while 2'-(o,m-dihydroxybenzyl)sweroside (5) also existed as one of the major components in "Dian-Long-Dan" species. Moreover, the contents of compounds 1-5 were various in different "Long-Dan" and "Qin-Jiao" species. Herein, we profiled and compared three "Long-Dan" species, four "Qin-Jiao" species and five adulterants by applying multivariate statistical techniques to their HPLC data sets to establish the differences and/or similarities.
Kazemnejadi, Milad; Nikookar, Mahsa; Mohammadi, Mohammad; Shakeri, Alireza; Esmaeilpour, Mohsen
2018-05-18
Efficient and selective oxidation of alcohol to the corresponding carbonyl and/or nitrile was carried out by a new water-soluble melamine-based dendritic Mn(III) complex (Melamine-Mn (III)-Schiff base complex) in the presence of 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine (TCT) and O 2 at room temperature. Also, the oxidation of amine to the corresponding nitrile with high selectivity and conversion was performed at room temperature using the current method and high amounts of turnover frequencies (TOFs) were obtained for reactions. This system was also applicable for direct preparation of oxime through oxidation of alcohol. The catalyst was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), CHN and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analyses. Also, oxidation/reduction behavior of the catalyst was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Moreover, chemoselectivity of the catalyst was discussed with various combinations. The water-soluble catalyst could be recycled from the reaction mixture and reused for several times with a very low losing in efficiency. The recovered catalyst was also investigated with various analyses. Finally, gram scale preparation of nitrile was evaluated by present method. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Luong, Susan; Fu, Shanlin
2014-03-01
In vitro urine adulteration is a well-documented practice adopted by individuals aiming to evade detection of drug use, when required to undergo mandatory sports and workplace drug testing. Potassium nitrite is an effective urine adulterant due to its oxidizing potential, and has been shown to mask the presence of many drugs of abuse. However, limited research has been conducted to understand its mechanism of action, and to explore the possibility of the drugs undergoing direct oxidation to form stable reaction products. In this study, opiates including morphine, codeine, morphine-3-glucuronide and morphine-6-glucuronide were exposed to potassium nitrite in water and urine to mimic the process of nitrite adulteration. It was found that two stable reaction products were detected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) when morphine and morphine-6-glucuronide were exposed to nitrite. Isolation and elucidation using spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques revealed that they were 2-nitro-morphine and 2-nitro-morphine-6-glucuronide, respectively. These reaction products were also formed when an authentic morphine-positive urine specimen was fortified with nitrite. 2-Nitro-morphine was found to be stable enough to undergo the enzymatic hydrolysis procedure and also detectable by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after forming a trimethylsilyl derivative. On the contrary, morphine-3-glucuronide did not appear to be chemically manipulated when exposed to potassium nitrite in urine. These reaction products are not endogenously produced, are relatively stable and can be monitored with both LC-MS and GC-MS confirmatory techniques. As a result, these findings have revealed the possibility for the use of 2-nitro-morphine and 2-nitro-morphine-6-glucuronide as markers for the indirect monitoring of morphine and morphine-6-glucuronide in urine specimens adulterated with nitrite. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Brandão, Luiz Filipe Paiva; Braga, Jez Willian Batista; Suarez, Paulo Anselmo Ziani
2012-02-17
The current legislation requires the mandatory addition of biodiesel to all Brazilian road diesel oil A (pure diesel) marketed in the country and bans the addition of vegetable oils for this type of diesel. However, cases of irregular addition of vegetable oils directly to the diesel oil may occur, mainly due to the lower cost of these raw materials compared to the final product, biodiesel. In Brazil, the situation is even more critical once the country is one of the largest producers of oleaginous products in the world, especially soybean, and also it has an extensive road network dependent on diesel. Therefore, alternatives to control the quality of diesel have become increasingly necessary. This study proposes an analytical methodology for quality control of diesel with intention to identify and determine adulterations of oils and even fats of vegetable origin. This methodology is based on detection, identification and quantification of triacylglycerols on diesel (main constituents of vegetable oils and fats) by high performance liquid chromatography in reversed phase with UV detection at 205nm associated with multivariate methods. Six different types of oils and fats were studied (soybean, frying oil, corn, cotton, palm oil and babassu) and two methods were developed for data analysis. The first one, based on principal component analysis (PCA), nearest neighbor classification (KNN) and univariate regression, was used for samples adulterated with a single type of oil or fat. In the second method, partial least square regression (PLS) was used for the cases where the adulterants were mixtures of up to three types of oils or fats. In the first method, the techniques of PCA and KNN were correctly classified as 17 out of 18 validation samples on the type of oil or fat present. The concentrations estimated for adulterants showed good agreement with the reference values, with mean errors of prediction (RMSEP) ranging between 0.10 and 0.22% (v/v). The PLS method was
Evaluation of Turmeric Powder Adulterated with Metanil Yellow Using FT-Raman and FT-IR Spectroscopy
Dhakal, Sagar; Chao, Kuanglin; Schmidt, Walter; Qin, Jianwei; Kim, Moon; Chan, Diane
2016-01-01
Turmeric powder (Curcuma longa L.) is valued both for its medicinal properties and for its popular culinary use, such as being a component in curry powder. Due to its high demand in international trade, turmeric powder has been subject to economically driven, hazardous chemical adulteration. This study utilized Fourier Transform-Raman (FT-Raman) and Fourier Transform-Infra Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy as separate but complementary methods for detecting metanil yellow adulteration of turmeric powder. Sample mixtures of turmeric powder and metanil yellow were prepared at concentrations of 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10%, 5%, 1%, and 0.01% (w/w). FT-Raman and FT-IR spectra were acquired for these mixture samples as well as for pure samples of turmeric powder and metanil yellow. Spectral analysis showed that the FT-IR method in this study could detect the metanil yellow at the 5% concentration, while the FT-Raman method appeared to be more sensitive and could detect the metanil yellow at the 1% concentration. Relationships between metanil yellow spectral peak intensities and metanil yellow concentration were established using representative peaks at FT-Raman 1406 cm−1 and FT-IR 1140 cm−1 with correlation coefficients of 0.93 and 0.95, respectively. PMID:28231130
Li, Yuan; Chen, YiRong; Zhang, Wei; Huang, XiaoGang; Li, WenHui; Ru, XiaoRui; Meng, Min; Xi, Xinsheng; Huang, Gang; Shi, BaoGuang; Liu, Gang; Li, WeiHua; Xu, Hui
2011-08-01
To investigate the composition changes in melamine-related urinary calculi and their clinical significance. A total of 49 melamine-related urinary calculi were included from 49 children (age 4-82 months, mean 22). The qualitative analysis of stone composition was determined using Fourier transform infrared. The quantitative analysis of the stone computed tomography (CT) attenuation value, stone uric acid level, and stone calcium level were measured using spiral CT, high-performance liquid chromatography, and flame atomic absorption spectrum, respectively. Fourier transform infrared showed that 41 (84%) of the 49 stones contained uric acid and 25 (51%) contained calcium compounds. The data from the qualitative and quantitative analysis were available for 15 stones because of sample consumption in the detection process (Fourier transform infrared, atomic absorption spectrum, and high-performance liquid chromatography). A negative correlation was observed between stone uric acid level and stone calcium level (n = 15, r = -0.629, P = .009). A positive correlation was observed between the stone calcium level and stone CT attenuation value (n = 25, r = 0.855, P = .000). Compared with the ≤1-year-age group and the 1-2-year-age group, the stone calcium level in the >2-year-age group was significantly greater (27.51% ± 12.65% vs 1.60% ± 1.68% or 10.12% ± 8.69%, P = .000 and P = .003, respectively). Compared with the alkalization-alone group, the stone calcium level in the nonalkalization-alone group was significant greater (19.83% ± 7.48% vs 1.25% ± 1.43%, n = 19, P = .000). The stones from children >2 years old were not amenable to medical treatment because they contained greater levels of calcium, which can be demonstrated by the radiologic "positive stone image" or stone CT attenuation value. We believe that surgical invention will be the best choice for such patients if extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy has failed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights
Investigation of melamine derived quaternary as ammonium salt potential shale inhibitor
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yu, Hongjiang; Hu, Weimin; Guo, Gang; Huang, Lei; Li, Lili; Gu, Xuefan; Zhang, Zhifang; Zhang, Jie; Chen, Gang
2017-06-01
Melamine, sodium chloroacetate and sodium hydroxide were used as raw materials to synthesize a kind of neutral quaternary ammonium salt (NQAS) as potential clay swelling inhibitor and water-based drilling fluid additive, and the reaction conditions were screened based on the linear expansion rate of bentonite. The inhibitive properties of NQASs were investigated by various methods, including montmorillonite (MMT) linear expansion test, mud ball immersing test, particle distribution measurement, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy etc. The results indicate that NQAS can inhibit expansion and dispersion of clay in water effectively. At the same condition, the bentonite linear expansion rate in NQAS-6 solution is much lower than those of others, and the hydration expansion degree of the mud ball in 0.5% NQAS-6 solution is appreciably weaker than the control test. The compatibility test indicates NQAS-6 could be compatible with the conventional additives in water-based drilling fluids, and the temperature resistance of modified starch was improved effectively. Meanwhile, the inhibitive mechanism was discussed through the particle distribution measurement.
Miaw, Carolina Sheng Whei; Assis, Camila; Silva, Alessandro Rangel Carolino Sales; Cunha, Maria Luísa; Sena, Marcelo Martins; de Souza, Scheilla Vitorino Carvalho
2018-07-15
Grape, orange, peach and passion fruit nectars were formulated and adulterated by dilution with syrup, apple and cashew juices at 10 levels for each adulterant. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform mid infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra were obtained. Partial least squares (PLS) multivariate calibration models allied to different variable selection methods, such as interval partial least squares (iPLS), ordered predictors selection (OPS) and genetic algorithm (GA), were used to quantify the main fruits. PLS improved by iPLS-OPS variable selection showed the highest predictive capacity to quantify the main fruit contents. The selected variables in the final models varied from 72 to 100; the root mean square errors of prediction were estimated from 0.5 to 2.6%; the correlation coefficients of prediction ranged from 0.948 to 0.990; and, the mean relative errors of prediction varied from 3.0 to 6.7%. All of the developed models were validated. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cao, Zhen; Wang, Zhenjie; Shang, Zhonglin; Zhao, Jiancheng
2017-01-01
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with the attenuated total reflectance technique was used to identify Rhodobryum roseum from its four adulterants. The FTIR spectra of six samples in the range from 4000 cm-1 to 600 cm-1 were obtained. The second-derivative transformation test was used to identify the small and nearby absorption peaks. A cluster analysis was performed to classify the spectra in a dendrogram based on the spectral similarity. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to classify the species of six moss samples. A cluster analysis with PCA was used to identify different genera. However, some species of the same genus exhibited highly similar chemical components and FTIR spectra. Fourier self-deconvolution and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) were used to enhance the differences among the species with similar chemical components and FTIR spectra. Three scales were selected as the feature-extracting space in the DWT domain. The results show that FTIR spectroscopy with chemometrics is suitable for identifying Rhodobryum roseum and its adulterants.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nieuwoudt, Michél. K.; Martin, Jacob W.; Oosterbeek, Reece N.; Novikova, Nina I.; Wang, Xindi; Malmström, Jenny; Williams, David E.; Simpson, M. C.
2015-03-01
Surface Enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) offers sensitive and non-invasive detection of a variety of compounds as well as unparalleled information for establishing the molecular identity of both inorganic and organic compounds, not only in biological fluids but in all other aqueous and non-aqueous media. The localized hotspots produced through SERS at the solution/nanostructure interface of clustered gold or silver nano-particles enables detection levels of parts per trillion. Recent developments in advanced fabrication methods have enabled the manufacture of SERS substrates with repeatable surface nanostructures which provide reproducible quantitative analysis, historically a weakness of the SERS technique. In this paper we describe the novel use of gold sputtered Blu-Ray surfaces as SERS substrates. Blu-Ray disks provide ideal surfaces of SERS substrates with their repeatable and regular nano-gratings. We show that the unique surface features and composition of the recording surface enables the formation of gold nano-islands with nanogaps, simply through gold sputtering, and relate this to a 600 fold signal increase of the melamine Raman signal in aqueous solutions and detection to 68 ppb. Melamine is a triazine compound and appears not only as environmental contaminant in environmental groundwater but also as an adulterant in foods due to its high nitrogen content. We have shown significant SERS signal enhancements for spectra of melamine using gold-sputtered Blu-Ray disk surfaces, with reproducibility of 12%. Blu-Ray disks have a unique combination of design, surface features and composition of the recording surface which makes them ideal for preparation of SERS substrates by gold sputter-coating.
Modified sugar adulteration test applied to New Zealand honey.
Frew, Russell; McComb, Kiri; Croudis, Linda; Clark, Dianne; Van Hale, Robert
2013-12-15
The carbon isotope method (AOAC 998.12) compares the bulk honey carbon isotope value with that of the extracted protein; a difference greater than 1‰ suggesting that the protein and the bulk carbohydrate have different origins. New Zealand Manuka honey is a high value product and often fails this test. It has been suggested such failures are due to the pollen in the Manuka honey and an adaptation of the method to remove pollen prior to testing has been proposed. Here we test 64 authentic honey samples collected directly from the hives and find that a large proportion (37%) of Manuka honeys fail the test. Of these 60% still fail the adapted method. These honey samples were collected and processed under stringent conditions and have not been adulterated post-harvest. More work is required to ascertain the cause of these test failures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
de Souza, Lindamara M; Rodrigues, Rayza R T; Santos, Heloá; Costa, Helber B; Merlo, Bianca B; Filgueiras, Paulo R; Poppi, Ronei J; Vaz, Boniek G; Romão, Wanderson
2016-03-01
Cocaine is a stimulant drug of the central nervous system (CNS) extracted from the leaves of Erytroxylum coca. It is defined as a tropane alkaloid containing 1R-(exo,exo)-3-(benzoyloxy)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylic acid methyl esther. However, despite its defined composition, a wide variety of chemical additives are present in cocaine found in the illicit market, such as benzocaine, lidocaine, caffeine, procaine and phenacetin. In this work, 512 cocaine samples seized by the Civil Police of Espirito Santo state (PC-ES, Brazil) were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) allied to principal component analysis (PCA) in order to classify the samples as a function of seizure year (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and location (metropolitan, north, south and central). The cocaine content (wt.%) and its adulterants were also estimated. Analyzing the samples seized between 2008 and 2011, three sample sets are clearly grouped according to the degree of adulteration with caffeine and lidocaine: 100-50 wt.% of cocaine; 50-20 wt.% of cocaine; and 20-80 wt.% of lidocaine and 60-80 wt.% of caffeine, simultaneously. The last group is formed by samples seized between 2008 and 2009, which proves the higher degree of adulteration during this period. In 2012, higher cocaine content was observed for the 191 analyzed samples than in samples from previous years. The PCA data also suggests that the metropolitan region samples had a higher degree of adulteration than the state countryside samples. Copyright © 2015 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Kumar, Keshav; Mishra, Ashok Kumar
2015-07-01
Fluorescence characteristic of 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS) in ethanol-water mixture in combination with partial least square (PLS) analysis was used to propose a simple and sensitive analytical procedure for monitoring the adulteration of ethanol by water. The proposed analytical procedure was found to be capable of detecting even small adulteration level of ethanol by water. The robustness of the procedure is evident from the statistical parameters such as square of correlation coefficient (R(2)), root mean square of calibration (RMSEC) and root mean square of prediction (RMSEP) that were found to be well with in the acceptable limits.
Alves, Júnia de O; Neto, Waldomiro B; Mitsutake, Hery; Alves, Paulo S P; Augusti, Rodinei
2010-07-15
Extra virgin (EV), the finest and most expensive among all the olive oil grades, is often adulterated by the cheapest and lowest quality ordinary (ON) olive oil. A new methodology is described herein that provides a simple, rapid, and accurate way not only to detect such type of adulteration, but also to distinguish between these olive oil grades (EV and ON). This approach is based on the application of direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in the positive ion mode, ESI(+)-MS, followed by the treatment of the MS data via exploratory statistical approaches, PCA (principal component analysis) and HCA (hierarchical clustering analysis). Ten distinct brands of each EV and ON olive oil, acquired at local stores, were analyzed by ESI(+)-MS and the results from HCA and PCA clearly indicated the formation of two distinct groups related to these two categories. For the adulteration study, one brand of each olive oil grade (EV and ON) was selected. The counterfeit samples (a total of 20) were then prepared by adding assorted proportions, from 1 to 20% w/w, with increments of 1% w/w, of the ON to the EV olive oil. The PCA and HCA methodologies, applied to the ESI(+)-MS data from the counterfeit (20) and authentic (10) EV samples, were able to readily detect adulteration, even at levels as low as 1% w/w. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lesiak, Ashton D; Cody, Robert B; Ubukata, Masaaki; Musah, Rabi A
2016-03-01
We demonstrate the utility of direct analysis in real time ionization coupled with high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DART-HRTOFMS) in revealing the adulteration of commercially available Sceletium tortuosum, a mind-altering plant-based drug commonly known as Kanna. Accurate masses consistent with alkaloids previously isolated from S. tortuosum plant material enabled identification of the products as Kanna, and in-source collision-induced dissociation (CID) confirmed the presence of one of these alkaloids, hordenine, while simultaneously revealing the presence of an adulterant. The stimulant ephedrine, which has been banned in herbal products and supplements, was confirmed to be present in a sample through the use of in-source CID. High-throughput DART-HRTOFMS was shown to be a powerful tool to not only screen plant-based drugs of abuse for psychotropic alkaloids, but also to reveal the presence of scheduled substances and adulterants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Li, Hao; Zhu, Qing xia; Chwee, Tsz sian; Wu, Lin; Chai, Yi feng; Lu, Feng; Yuan, Yong fang
2015-07-09
Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) coupled with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been widely used for the study of various complex systems, especially for the detection of adulterants in botanical dietary supplements (BDS). However, this method is not sufficient to distinguish structurally similar adulterants in BDS since the analogs have highly similar chromatographic and/or spectroscopic behaviors. Taking into account the fact that higher cost and more time will be required for comprehensive chromatographic separation, more efforts with respect to spectroscopy are now focused on analyzing the overlapped SERS peaks. In this paper, the combination of a TLC-SERS method with two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS), with duration of exposure to laser as the perturbation, is applied to solve this problem. Besides the usual advantages of the TLC-SERS method, such as its simplicity, rapidness, and sensitivity, more advantages are presented here, such as enhanced selectivity and good reproducibility, which are obtained by 2DCOS. Two chemicals with similar structures are successfully differentiated from the complex BDS matrices. The study provides a more accurate qualitative screening method for detection of BDS with adulterants, and offers a new universal approach for the analysis of highly overlapped SERS peaks. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Li, Dan; Zhu, Qingxia; Lv, Diya; Zheng, Binxing; Liu, Yanhua; Chai, Yifeng; Lu, Feng
2015-08-01
By using a silver nanoparticle wiper as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate, a highly sensitive, convenient, and rapid platform for detecting dye adulteration of medicinal herbs was obtained. Commercially available filter paper was functionalized with silver nanoparticles to transform it into the flexible wiper. This device was found to collect dye molecules with unprecedented ease. Experiments were performed to optimize various factors such as the type of wiper used, the wetting reagent, and the wetting/wiping mode and time. Excellent wiper performance was observed in the detection of the simulated adulteration of samples with dyes at various concentrations. The limits of detection for nine dyes, including 10(-6) g/mL for malachite green, 10(-7) g/mL for Rhodamine 6G, and 5 × 10(-8) g/mL for methylene blue, were discerned. The results of this investigation show that this proposed method is potentially highly advantageous for field-based applications. Graphical Abstract Schematic diagram illustrating the fabrication of the paper-based SERS substrate, sample collection process on a herb and SERS examination with the portable Raman spectrometer.
Avula, Bharathi; Sagi, Satyanarayanaraju; Gafner, Stefan; Upton, Roy; Wang, Yan-Hong; Wang, Mei; Khan, Ikhlas A
2015-10-01
Ginkgo biloba is one of the most widely sold herbal supplements and medicines in the world. Its popularity stems from having a positive effect on memory and the circulatory system in clinical studies. As ginkgo popularity increased, non-proprietary extracts were introduced claiming to have a similar phytochemical profile as the clinically tested extracts. The standardized commercial extracts of G. biloba leaf used in ginkgo supplements contain not less than 6% sesquiterpene lactones and 24% flavonol glycosides. While sesquiterpene lactones are unique constituents of ginkgo leaf, the flavonol glycosides are found in many other botanical extracts. Being a high value botanical, low quality ginkgo extracts may be subjected to adulteration with flavonoids to meet the requirement of 24% flavonol glycosides. Chemical analysis by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed that adulteration of ginkgo leaf extracts in many of these products is common, the naturally flavonol glycoside-rich extract being spiked with pure flavonoids or extracts made from another flavonoid-rich material, such as the fruit/flower of Japanese sophora (Styphnolobium japonicum), which also contains the isoflavone genistein. Recently, genistein has been proposed as an analytical marker for the detection of adulteration of ginkgo extracts with S. japonicum. This study confirms that botanically authenticated G. biloba leaf and extracts made therefrom do not contain genistein, and the presence of which even in trace amounts is suggestive of adulteration. In addition to the mass spectrometric approach, a high performance thin layer chromatography method was developed as a fast and economic method for chemical fingerprint analysis of ginkgo samples.
Sze, Stephen Cho-Wing; Song, Ju-Xian; Wong, Ricky Ngok-Shun; Feng, Yi-Bin; Ng, Tzi-Bun; Tong, Yao; Zhang, Kalin Yan-Bo
2008-09-01
Fructus Lycii (Gouqizi) is well known in Chinese herbal medicine for its restorative function of benefiting the liver and kidney, replenishing vital essence and improving eyesight. However, ten species and varieties of Lycium have benn found to be substitutes or adulterants of Lycium barbarum (wolfberry) in commercial markets in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in China generally. L. barbarum cv. 'Tianjinense' and Lycium chinense var. potaninii are the most common examples. It is difficult to differentiate among the Lycium species by traditional morphological and histological analyses. An easy and reliable approach based on SCAR (sequence characterized amplified region) analysis was developed in the present study to differentiate L. barbarum from other Lycium species. Two characteristic bands of approx. 700 and 650 bp were detected on the RAPD (random amplification of polymorphic DNA) profiles generated from samples of L. barbarum and L. chinense var. potaninii using the primer OPC-7. They were isolated and sequenced. Two primer sets, based on the sequences, could amplify a single specific band in samples of L. barbarum respectively, whereas no bands were detected in samples of L. chinense var. potaninii. The results confirmed that the SCAR technique can be employed for authenticating L. barbarum and its adulterants.
Georgouli, Konstantia; Martinez Del Rincon, Jesus; Koidis, Anastasios
2017-02-15
The main objective of this work was to develop a novel dimensionality reduction technique as a part of an integrated pattern recognition solution capable of identifying adulterants such as hazelnut oil in extra virgin olive oil at low percentages based on spectroscopic chemical fingerprints. A novel Continuous Locality Preserving Projections (CLPP) technique is proposed which allows the modelling of the continuous nature of the produced in-house admixtures as data series instead of discrete points. The maintenance of the continuous structure of the data manifold enables the better visualisation of this examined classification problem and facilitates the more accurate utilisation of the manifold for detecting the adulterants. The performance of the proposed technique is validated with two different spectroscopic techniques (Raman and Fourier transform infrared, FT-IR). In all cases studied, CLPP accompanied by k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN) algorithm was found to outperform any other state-of-the-art pattern recognition techniques. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Astronomy and Existentialism in Albert Camus' ``The Adulterous Woman''
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Garwood, D.
2013-04-01
Camus' short story “An Adulterous Woman” from his collection Exile and the Kingdom narrates the experience of Janine, wife of a French Algerian cloth-trader, who accompanies her husband on a business trip to the Saharan interior at mid-20th century. The desert landscape and its weather play an integral role in the plot. Blending realism and fantasy that borders on science fiction, the narrator characterizes the sky as an animate cosmological energy whose virility is masked by sunlight during the day. Released after sundown and portrayed as a liberator at the climax of the story, the shaman-like night sky descends upon Janine as a shower of stars that leaves her with an existential sense of self. This paper explores themes of astronomy and existentialism that Camus develops through Janine's “adultery” with a cosmological force, supplemented by visual imagery related to the aesthetic and scientific cultural contexts of the story and Camus' era.
Analysis of pharmaceutical adulterants in plant food supplements by UHPLC-MS/MS.
Paíga, Paula; Rodrigues, Manuela J E; Correia, Manuela; Amaral, Joana S; Oliveira, M Beatriz P P; Delerue-Matos, Cristina
2017-03-01
A method based on the Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was successfully developed and validated for the analysis of 26 pharmaceutical compounds belonging to different therapeutic classes (anorexics, stimulants, anxiolytics, antidepressants and laxatives), which are all prone to be illegally added into weight-loss plant food supplements (PFS) for their pharmacological activity. Internal standard calibration with six isotopically labelled compounds rendered good linearity in the range of 5 to 1000μg/l, depending on the compound, and good sensitivity with limits of quantification in the range of 0.02-9.80μg/l. Recoveries were assessed for all the 16 samples analysed and were found between 70% and 120% for over 90% of the analytes. The average recovery value was 90.8%, for the different studied matrices (liquids, liquid ampoules, tablets and capsules), with RSD values lower than 10% for all forms. The changes introduced to the QuEChERS procedure maintained the good performance characteristics of the extraction method while preserving the chromatographic system for the introduction of unwanted matrix compounds. Synephrine was the only compound detected and quantified in one sample, but at a very low concentration (768μg/l) and its presence may be due to the plant extracts used in the formulation, as synephrine is known to be a natural constituent of Citrus aurantium amara. Despite none of the 16 evaluated samples were found to be adulterated by the illegal addition of the drugs included in this work, the developed methodology can be very useful for monitoring the adulteration of weight-loss PFS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Preparation of CMC-modified melamine resin spherical nano-phase change energy storage materials.
Hu, Xiaofeng; Huang, Zhanhua; Zhang, Yanhua
2014-01-30
A novel carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-modified melamine-formaldehyde (MF) phase change capsule with excellent encapsulation was prepared by in situ polymerization. Effects of CMC on the properties of the capsules were studied by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that the CMC-modified capsules had an average diameter of about 50nm and good uniformity. The phase change enthalpy of the capsules was increased and the cracking ratio decreased by incorporating a suitable amount of CMC. The optimum phase change enthalpy of the nanocapsules was 83.46J/g, and their paraffin content was 63.1%. The heat resistance of the capsule shells decreased after CMC modification. In addition, the nanocapsule cracking ratio of the nanocapsules was 11.0%, which is highly attractive for their application as nano phase change materials. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Yan, Xiang; Al-Hayek, Samih; Gan, Weidong; Zhu, Wei; Li, Xiaogong; Guo, Hongqian
2012-10-01
This study was undertaken to assess the safety and efficacy of minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-PCNL) using ureteroscope and pneumatic intracorporeal lithotripsy in preschool age children with kidney calculi. We studied 27 renal units in 20 patients of preschool age (≤ 6 years) who underwent mini-PCNL at our institute. The mean age was 42.6 months (range 14-68 months). The average stone burden was 1.85 cm (range 0.9-2.8 cm). Eight patients aged 14 to 58 months had been exposed to melamine-tainted powdered formula. The mini-PCNL was performed with an X-ray-guided peripheral puncture. Minimal tract dilatation was undertaken to fit a 14-16 Fr peel-away sheath. Ureteroscope and pneumatic intracorporeal lithotripsy were used to fragment the stones. Complete clearance was achieved in 23 renal units (85.2 %) with mini-PCNL monotherapy. This has increased to 92.6 % after adjunctive ESWL. The average fall in hemoglobin was 1.28 g/dL. None of the patients required blood transfusion. The median length of hospital stay was 8.2 days. Patients were followed up every 6 months for 2 years. There has been only one recurrence of stone and no long-term complications. Mini-PCNL is a effective treatment for pediatric kidney stones refractory to extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, including stones induced by melamine-contaminated milk powder. The "mini-PCNL" technique, which uses ureteroscope and pneumatic intracorporeal lithotripsy, is a safe and feasible modality for treating renal calculi in preschool age children.
Blended polybenzimidazole and melamine-co-formaldehyde thermosets
Klaehn, John R.; Orme, Christopher J.; Peterson, Eric S.
2016-05-11
Polybenzimidazole [PBI; poly-2,2’(m-phenylene)-5,5’-bibenzimidazole] is known to have excellent high temperature stability (up to 450 ºC) and superb H 2/CO 2 selectivity compared to most high performance (HP) polymers. But, PBI has issues in thin-film formation compared to other HP polymers, due to challenging processing techniques. In this work, new blended thermosets were made with PBI and poly(melamine co-formaldehyde) [PMF] to produce stable thin-films after thermal processing at 220-250 ºC. PBI film formation is difficult, and the film tends to fracture and fissure due to loss of processing aids and stabilizers (salt/acid additives) that are found in PBI solutions above10 wtmore » %. The PBI-PMF blended thermosets we report do not have stabilizers, and can be made into dense thin-films. It is remarkable that these thermally processed PBI-PMF films were stable in deionized water for extended periods, whereas many PBI films that contain additives are not. The PBI-PMF films were analyzed using pure and mixed gas permeability measurement techniques. At 250 °C, the data show H 2/CO 2 gas selectivities greater than 13. Also, from the gas permeation data, the energy of activation (Ep) of a mixed gas stream for PBI-PMF shows that hydrogen permeates more easily than the other gases, while the permeabilities for the larger kinetic diameter gases are greatly diminished. The FT-IR spectra show that the PBI-PMF films have changed from parent PBI after thermal processing, and PMF dominates the spectra even in minor percent compositions. Altogether, the reported PBI-PMF thermoset films show good stability which can be used for high temperature gas separation.« less
Blended polybenzimidazole and melamine-co-formaldehyde thermosets
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Klaehn, John R.; Orme, Christopher J.; Peterson, Eric S.
Polybenzimidazole [PBI; poly-2,2’(m-phenylene)-5,5’-bibenzimidazole] is known to have excellent high temperature stability (up to 450 ºC) and superb H 2/CO 2 selectivity compared to most high performance (HP) polymers. But, PBI has issues in thin-film formation compared to other HP polymers, due to challenging processing techniques. In this work, new blended thermosets were made with PBI and poly(melamine co-formaldehyde) [PMF] to produce stable thin-films after thermal processing at 220-250 ºC. PBI film formation is difficult, and the film tends to fracture and fissure due to loss of processing aids and stabilizers (salt/acid additives) that are found in PBI solutions above10 wtmore » %. The PBI-PMF blended thermosets we report do not have stabilizers, and can be made into dense thin-films. It is remarkable that these thermally processed PBI-PMF films were stable in deionized water for extended periods, whereas many PBI films that contain additives are not. The PBI-PMF films were analyzed using pure and mixed gas permeability measurement techniques. At 250 °C, the data show H 2/CO 2 gas selectivities greater than 13. Also, from the gas permeation data, the energy of activation (Ep) of a mixed gas stream for PBI-PMF shows that hydrogen permeates more easily than the other gases, while the permeabilities for the larger kinetic diameter gases are greatly diminished. The FT-IR spectra show that the PBI-PMF films have changed from parent PBI after thermal processing, and PMF dominates the spectra even in minor percent compositions. Altogether, the reported PBI-PMF thermoset films show good stability which can be used for high temperature gas separation.« less
Ciccarone, Daniel; Ondocsin, Jeff; Mars, Sarah G
2017-08-01
The US is experiencing an unprecedented opioid overdose epidemic fostered in recent years by regional contamination of the heroin supply with the fentanyl family of synthetic opioids. Since 2011 opioid-related overdose deaths in the East Coast state of Massachusetts have more than tripled, with 75% of the 1374 deaths with an available toxicology positive for fentanyl. Fentanyl is 30-50X more potent than heroin and its presence makes heroin use more unpredictable. A rapid ethnographic assessment was undertaken to understand the perceptions and experiences of people who inject drugs sold as 'heroin' and to observe the drugs and their use. A team of ethnographers conducted research in northeast Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire in June 2016, performing (n=38) qualitative interviews with persons who use heroin. (1) The composition and appearance of heroin changed in the last four years; (2) heroin is cheaper and more widely available than before; and (3) heroin 'types' have proliferated with several products being sold as 'heroin'. These consisted of two types of heroin (alone), fentanyl (alone), and heroin-fentanyl combinations. In the absence of available toxicological information on retail-level heroin, our research noted a hierarchy of fentanyl discernment methods, with embodied effects considered most reliable in determining fentanyl's presence, followed by taste, solution appearance and powder color. This paper presents a new 'heroin' typology based on users' reports. Massachusetts' heroin has new appearances and is widely adulterated by fentanyl. Persons who use heroin are trying to discern the substances sold as heroin and their preferences for each form vary. The heroin typology presented is inexact but can be validated by correlating users' discernment with drug toxicological testing. If validated, this typology would be a valuable harm reduction tool. Further research on adaptations to heroin adulteration could reduce risks of using heroin and
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gainullina, Yu. Yu.; Guskov, V. Yu.
2017-10-01
The adsorption of organic molecules on the surface of a porous polymeric sorbent modified with a mixed cyanuric acid-melamine supramolecular structure is studied. The parameters of thermodynamic adsorption are considered and the contributions from intermolecular interactions to the Helmholtz energy of adsorption are assessed. Analysis of the molar changes in internal energy and adsorption entropy shows that the supramolecular structure formed on the surface could not exhibit dimension effects, indicating there were no cavities. The contributions from nonspecific interactions to the Helmholtz energy of adsorption generally fall, while those of specific interactions increase, indicating an increase in the polarity of the sorbent surface.
Posel, Deborah
2005-05-01
This paper traces the genealogy of sexual violence as a public and political issue in South Africa, from its initial marginalization and minimization during the apartheid era, through to the explosion of anguish and anger which marked the post-apartheid moment, and most dramatically the years 2001 and 2002. Of particular interest is the question of how and why the problem of sexual violence came to be seen as a scandal of manhood, putting male sexuality under critical public scrutiny. The paper argues that the sudden, intense eruption of public anxiety and argument about sexual violence which marked the post-apartheid period had relatively little to do with feminist analysis and politics (influential though this has been in some other respects). Rather, the key to understanding this politicization of sexual violence lies with its resonances with wider political and ideological anxieties about the manner of the national subject and the moral community of the country's fledgling democracy.
Vietina, Michelangelo; Agrimonti, Caterina; Marmiroli, Nelson
2013-12-15
Extra virgin olive oil is frequently subjected to adulterations with addition of oils obtained from plants other than olive. DNA analysis is a fast and economic tool to identify plant components in oils. Extraction and amplification of DNA by PCR was tested in olives, in milled seeds and in oils, to investigate its use in olive oil traceability. DNA was extracted from different oils made of hazelnut, maize, sunflower, peanut, sesame, soybean, rice and pumpkin. Comparing the DNA melting profiles in reference plant materials and in the oils, it was possible to identify any plant components in oils and mixtures of oils. Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR) platform has been added of the new methodology of high resolution melting (HRM), both were used to analyse olive oils mixed with different percentage of other oils. Results showed HRM a cost effective method for efficient detection of adulterations in olive oils. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Shapira, Barak; Goldstein, Lee; Reshef, Amikam; Poperno, Alina
2016-01-01
Sibutramine, an oral anorexiant, is often found as an adulterant in various counterfeit herbal slimming products and dietary supplements. The use of sibutramine has been associated with various cardiovascular and psychiatric symptoms. Here, we report a rare case of psychomotor disturbances, in a patient with no previously diagnosed movement disorders. A 26-year-old woman developed abnormal behavior, visual hallucinations, hyperkinesia, facial flushing, and dizziness after taking a counterfeit dietary supplement which contained undeclared sibutramine and phenolphtalein. Laboratory work-up revealed microcytic anemia; leucopenia; and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein levels, and antistreptolysin O titer, but rheumatic fever was ruled out. After a neurologic examination, involuntary movements were classified as chorea. The psychiatric examination result was unremarkable. The patient responded well to haloperidol therapy. Body temperature, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein levels eventually normalized. The patient was discharged. This is the first report we are aware of about a transient, chorea-like psychomotor movement disorder associated with sibutramine. Although the causal relationship between sibutramine and the patient's symptoms cannot be proven definitely, the temporal dimension does suggest sibutramine initiation and termination led to onset and resolution of symptoms, respectively. Furthermore, because of the widespread availability of adulterated food supplements containing sibutramine, physicians should be more aware of their implications for patients.
Puscas, Anitta; Hosu, Anamaria; Cimpoiu, Claudia
2013-01-11
Honey is a saturated solution of sugars, used for a long time as a natural source of sugars and is an important ingredient in traditional medicine due to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Therefore, methods for quality control of honey and detection of its adulteration are very important. For this reason, the aim of this study is to develop and validate a new, simple and economical analytical method for detecting the adulteration of some Romanian honeys based on high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) combined with image analysis. The proposed method involved the chromatographic separations of glucose, fructose and sucrose on silica gel HPTLC plates, developed twice with ethyl acetate-pyridine-water-acetic acid, 6:3:1:0.5 (v/v/v/v), followed by dipping in an immersion solution. The documentation of plates was performed using TLC visualization device and the images of plates were processed using a digital processor. The developed HPTLC method was validated for selectivity, linearity and range, LOD and LOQ, precision, robustness and accuracy. The method was then applied for quantitative determination of glucose, fructose and sucrose from different types of Romanian honeys, commercially available. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Lau, Aik-Jiang; Holmes, Michael J; Woo, Soo-On; Koh, Hwee-Ling
2003-02-26
Adulterations with synthetic drugs are common problems with herbal medicine and this can potentially cause serious adverse effects. It is therefore important to determine the presence of synthetic drugs in herbal medicine to ensure patients' safety. The objective of this study was to develop sensitive and specific methods to analyse phenylbutazone, caffeine and oxyphenbutazone present in a traditional Indonesian herbal product. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) methods in the selected reaction-monitoring (SRM) mode were developed. It was found that the sample contained 0.53% w/w (n=3, RSD=7.56%) phenylbutazone and 0.04% w/w (n=3, RSD=8.39%) caffeine. This corresponded to 43.17 mg phenylbutazone and 3.23 mg caffeine in each sachet of powder. The methods were validated for linearity, precision, accuracy, LOD and LOQ. LOD and LOQ were found to be 3.69 and 12.29 ng/ml, respectively for phenylbutazone. For caffeine, the LOD and LOQ were 0.84 and 2.80 ng/ml, respectively. Oxyphenbutazone in the sample was found to be present at a level below the quantification level of 10.2 ng/ml. With better methods developed for analysis of adulterants in herbal medicine, the quality and safety of these medicines can be better controlled and regulated to ensure patients' safety.
Yin, Hongyao; Feng, Yujun; Liu, Hanbin; Mu, Meng; Fei, Chenhong
2014-08-26
Owing to its wide availability, nontoxicity, and low cost, CO2 working as a trigger to reversibly switch material properties, including polarity, ionic strength, hydrophilicity, viscosity, surface charge, and degree of polymerization or cross-linking, has attracted an increasing attention in recent years. However, a quantitative correlation between basicity of these materials and their CO2 switchability has been less documented though it is of great importance for fabricating switchable system. In this work, the "switch-on" and "switch-off" abilities of melamine and its amino-substituted derivatives by introducing and removing CO2 are studied, and then their quantitative relationship with basicity is established, so that performances of other organobases can be quantitatively predicted. These findings are beneficial for forecasting the CO2 stimuli-responsive behavior of other organobases and the design of CO2-switchable materials.
Zhao, Zhongkui; Dai, Yitao; Ge, Guifang; Wang, Guiru
2015-05-26
A facile and scalable approach for fabricating structural defect-rich nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (MCSA-CNTs) through explosive decomposition of melamine-cyanuric acid supramolecular assembly is presented. In comparison to pristine carbon nanotubes, MCSA-CNT exhibits significantly enhanced catalytic performance in oxidant- and steam-free direct dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene, demonstrating the potential for metal-free clean and energy-saving styrene production. This finding also opens a new horizon for preparing highly-efficient carbocatalysts rich in structural defect sites for diverse transformations. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Ren, Junan; Deng, Tingting; Huang, Wensheng; Chen, Ying; Ge, Yiqiang
2017-01-01
Meat adulteration is a worldwide concern. In this paper, a new droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) method was developed for the quantitative determination of the presence of chicken in sheep and goat meat products. Meanwhile, a constant (multiplication factor) was introduced to transform the ratio of copy numbers to the proportion of meats. The presented ddPCR method was also proved to be more accurate (showing bias of less than 9% in the range from 5% to 80%) than real-time PCR, which has been widely used in this determination. The method exhibited good repeatability and stability in different thermal treatments and at ultra-high pressure. The relative standard deviation (RSD) values of 5% chicken content was less than 5.4% for ultra-high pressure or heat treatment. Moreover, we confirmed that different parts of meat had no effect on quantification accuracy of the ddPCR method. In contrast to real-time PCR, we examined the performance of ddPCR as a more precise, sensitive and stable analytical strategy to overcome potential problems of discrepancies in amplification efficiency discrepancy and to obtain the copy numbers directly without standard curves. The method and strategy developed in this study can be applied to quantify the presence and to confirm the absence of adulterants not only to sheep but also to other kinds of meat and meat products. PMID:28319152
Mikami, Eiichi; Ohno, Tsutomu; Matsumoto, Hiroshi
2002-12-04
An easily available, simultaneous identification/determination procedure for phentolamine (PHE) and sildenafil (SIL) in adulterated dietary supplements was established by using a combination of three different analytical methods; thin-layer chromatography (TLC), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/photo-diode-array. The sample solution for TLC was applied to silica gel 60 F(254) plates with chloroform/ammonia solution (28)/methanol (70:5:3, lower layer) and chloroform/diethylamine/methanol (15:3:2) as the developing solvent. Spots were located under UV radiation at 254 nm. Mass spectra of PHE and SIL by LC/MS were investigated with electrospray ionization (ESI) interface, under both positive and negative ion mode. The HPLC analysis was performed on a column of Wakosil 5C18 (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 microm) with water/methanol/acetonitrile/triethylamine (580:250:170:1) adjusted with phosphoric acid to pH 3.0 as the mobile phase, and the effluent was monitored with a photo-diode-array detector. Quantitative HPLC analysis of PHE and SIL were detected at 280 nm. When this procedure was applied to commercial soft drinks, PHE and SIL were identified and determined at a concentration of 17 mg PHE and 44 mg SIL per bottle, respectively. The procedure described here is available for the screening of PHE and SIL in adulterated supplements. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.
Quantification of adulterations in extra virgin flaxseed oil using MIR and PLS.
de Souza, Letícia Maria; de Santana, Felipe Bachion; Gontijo, Lucas Caixeta; Mazivila, Sarmento Júnior; Borges Neto, Waldomiro
2015-09-01
This paper proposes a new method for the quantitative analysis of soybean oil (SO) and sunflower oil (SFO) as adulterants in extra virgin flaxseed oil (EFO) by applying Mid Infrared Spectroscopy (MIR) associated with chemometric technique of Partial Least Squares (PLS). The PLS models were built in accordance with standard method ASTM E1655-05 and these showed good correlation between the reference values and those calculated using the PLS models with low error values, with R = 0.998 for SFO and R = 0.999 for SO in EFO. These models were validated analytically in accordance with Brazilian and international guidelines through the estimate of figures of merit parameters, thus showing an effective and feasible method to control the quality of extra virgin flaxseed oil. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
London, Jillian
2014-01-01
The 1860 Adulteration Act in England and the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act in the United States were two of the earliest pieces of legislation to provide generalized regulation of food and drugs on a national scale. While significant scholarly attention has been given to explaining the factors and forces that led to the passage of each Act independent of the other, few books or articles have directly compared the similar individuals and events that led to the adoption of both Acts. This paper attempts to fill that gap. Through a comparative examination, this paper reveals that four main components were key to the national pure food and drug movements in both countries: individuals who crusaded for national adulteration legislation; tragedies that shocked the public into calling for reform; press and publicity that was willing and able to bring the evils of adulteration to the forefront of the public mind; and a transformation of the social, political, and economic systems, which created atmospheres conducive to reform. This paper aims to shed new light on the 1860 Adulteration Act and the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act--two acts that derive their importance not just from the effect that they directly had on the regulation of food and drugs but also as some of the earliest examples of western governments coming to recognize the need for national regulation to protect the public from harm and coming to embrace their changing role as spearheads of modern regulatory states.
Trivedi, Drupad K.; Hollywood, Katherine A.; Rattray, Nicholas J. W.; Ward, Holli; Trivedi, Dakshat K.; Greenwood, Joseph; Ellis, David I.
2016-01-01
Adulteration of high quality food products with sub-standard and cheaper grades is a world-wide problem taxing the global economy. Currently, many traditional tests suffer from poor specificity, highly complex outputs and a lack of high-throughput processing. Metabolomics has been successfully used as an accurate discriminatory technique in a number of applications including microbiology, cancer research and environmental studies and certain types of food fraud. In this study, we have developed metabolomics as a technique to assess the adulteration of meat as an improvement on current methods. Different grades of beef mince and pork mince, purchased from a national retail outlet were combined in a number of percentage ratios and analysed using GC-MS and UHPLC-MS. These techniques were chosen because GC-MS enables investigations of metabolites involved in primary metabolism whilst UHPLC-MS using reversed phase chromatography provides information on lipophilic species. With the application of chemometrics and statistical analyses, a panel of differential metabolites were found for identification of each of the two meat types. Additionally, correlation was observed between metabolite content and percentage of fat declared on meat products’ labelling. PMID:26911805
Kahmann, A; Anzanello, M J; Fogliatto, F S; Marcelo, M C A; Ferrão, M F; Ortiz, R S; Mariotti, K C
2018-04-15
Street cocaine is typically altered with several compounds that increase its harmful health-related side effects, most notably depression, convulsions, and severe damages to the cardiovascular system, lungs, and brain. Thus, determining the concentration of cocaine and adulterants in seized drug samples is important from both health and forensic perspectives. Although FTIR has been widely used to identify the fingerprint and concentration of chemical compounds, spectroscopy datasets are usually comprised of thousands of highly correlated wavenumbers which, when used as predictors in regression models, tend to undermine the predictive performance of multivariate techniques. In this paper, we propose an FTIR wavenumber selection method aimed at identifying FTIR spectra intervals that best predict the concentration of cocaine and adulterants (e.g. caffeine, phenacetin, levamisole, and lidocaine) in cocaine samples. For that matter, the Mutual Information measure is integrated into a Quadratic Programming problem with the objective of minimizing the probability of retaining redundant wavenumbers, while maximizing the relationship between retained wavenumbers and compounds' concentrations. Optimization outputs guide the order of inclusion of wavenumbers in a predictive model, using a forward-based wavenumber selection method. After the inclusion of each wavenumber, parameters of three alternative regression models are estimated, and each model's prediction error is assessed through the Mean Average Error (MAE) measure; the recommended subset of retained wavenumbers is the one that minimizes the prediction error with maximum parsimony. Using our propositions in a dataset of 115 cocaine samples we obtained a best prediction model with average MAE of 0.0502 while retaining only 2.29% of the original wavenumbers, increasing the predictive precision by 0.0359 when compared to a model using the complete set of wavenumbers as predictors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All
Effect of oxidizing adulterants on human urinary steroid profiles.
Kuzhiumparambil, Unnikrishnan; Fu, Shanlin
2013-02-01
Steroid profiling is the most versatile and informative technique adapted by doping control laboratories for detection of steroid abuse. The absolute concentrations and ratios of endogenous steroids including testosterone, epitestosterone, androsterone, etiocholanolone, 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol and 5β-androstane-3α,17β-diol constitute the significant characteristics of a steroid profile. In the present study we report the influence of various oxidizing adulterants on the steroid profile of human urine. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis was carried out to develop the steroid profile of human male and female urine. Oxidants potassium nitrite, sodium hypochlorite, potassium permanganate, cerium ammonium nitrate, sodium metaperiodate, pyridinium chlorochromate, potassium dichromate and potassium perchlorate were reacted with urine at various concentrations and conditions and the effect of these oxidants on the steroid profile were analyzed. Most of the oxidizing chemicals led to significant changes in endogenous steroid profile parameters which were considered stable under normal conditions. These oxidizing chemicals can cause serious problems regarding the interpretation of steroid profiles and have the potential to act as masking agents that can complicate or prevent the detection of the steroid abuse. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Schwarz, Dana; Weber, Jens
2015-08-04
The acid-catalyzed polycondensation of oligo(melamine-formaldehyde) in aqueous phase and in the presence of silica nanoparticles leads to a stable dispersion of coexisting silica and polymer nanoparticles. The dispersion can be processed into mesoporous xerogels (SBET ≈ 200 m(2) g(-1)), whose porosity can be enhanced by etching of silica up to specific surface areas of >400 m(2) g(-1). The formation mechanism and the characteristics of the hybrid dispersion are crucial to the materials derived from it and analyzed in detail using a variety of experimental techniques (electron and force microscopy, light and X-ray scattering, ultracentrifugation, and spectroscopy). The transformation of the dispersion into xerogels by electrostatic destabilization is described. Furthermore, the obtained materials are characterized with regard to their porosity and morphology using microscopy and porosimetry. The impact of selected synthesis parameters on the obtained properties is discussed, and it was found (most interestingly) that stable porosity was only observed if silica nanoparticles were present within the dispersion.