Determination of flonicamid and its metabolites in bell pepper using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap)

The development and validation of a method to determine flonicamid and its metabolites as TFNA (4-trifluoromethylnicotinic acid), TFNG (N-(4-trifluoromethylnicotinoyl) glycine) and TFNA-AM (4-trifluoromethylnicotinamide) in bell pepper samples by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS) was performed. A fast and simple extraction procedure with acidified acetonitrile and salts (magnesium sulfate and sodium chloride) was used. The methodology was validated, checking for specificity, recovery, precision, limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs). The recoveries ranged from 84% to 98%, and precisions were lower than 17%. Finally, LODs ranged from 1 µg kg^–1 (flonicamid) to 6 µg kg^–1 (TFNA-AM), while LOQs ranged from 10 µg kg^–1 (flonicamid) to 30 µg kg^–1 (TFNA-AM). Bell pepper samples were analysed and concentrations up to 98 µg kg^–1 (flonicamid) were detected, although the sum of flonicamid and metabolites did not exceed the maximum residue limit (MRL) set by the European Union.     

Superparamagnetic Ag@Co‐Nanocomposites on Granulated Cation Exchange Polymeric Matrices with Enhanced Antibacterial Activity for the Environmentally Safe Purification of Water

Cation exchange polymeric matrices are widely used in water treatment protocols to reduce the mineral content of hard waters, even for human consumption. However, they are not antibacterial and flowing bacteria can be trapped in their structures and proliferate, thus acting as microbial contamination sources. Here, Ag@Co‐nanoparticles (Ag@Co‐NPs) with a low‐cost superparamagnetic Co⁰‐core and an antibacterial Ag‐shell are synthesized on granulated cation exchange polymeric matrices under soft reaction conditions. The presence of these NPs provides the final nanocomposite (NC) with additional functionalities (superparamagnetism and antibacterial activity) making it ideal for water purification applications. Ag@Co‐NPs are synthesized in situ on four cation exchange polymeric matrices containing either strong (sulfonic) or weak (carboxylic) acid functional groups homogeneously distributed (C‐type) or concentrated on an external shell (SST‐type) by the intermatrix synthesis (IMS) method. The NCs are characterized (metal content, NP size and distribution, metal oxidative state, and metal release) and evaluated for water purification applications.     

A COMPLEX CASE-BASED ADVISOR

The complexity of current organization systems, and the increase in the importance of the realization of internal controls in firms, make it necessary to construct models that automate and facilitate the work of auditors. A tool for the decision support process has been developed. The objective of the system is to facilitate the process of internal auditing in small and medium-sized enterprises. The system analyzes the data that characterizes each one of the activities carried out by the firm, then determines the state of each activity, calculates the associated risk, detects the erroneous processes, and generates recommendations to improve these processes. The developed model is composed of two case-based reasoning systems. One is used to identify the activities that may be improved and the other to determine how the activities could be improved. Each of the two subsystems use a different problem-solving method in each of the steps of the reasoning cycle. The system has been tested in 22 small and medium-sized companies in the textile sector, located in the northwest of Spain during the last 38 months and the obtained results are very encouraging.     

Phase assembly and electrical conductivity of spark plasma sintered CeO2–ZrO2 ceramics

Ce _x Zr_1?x O₂ (x = 0.10, 0.16 and 0.33) nanocrystalline powders were obtained by a two-step synthesis technique and sintered by spark plasma sintering (SPS). As consequence of the reduction of Ce⁴⁺ to Ce³⁺ species by carbon in the graphite environment in SPS, phase assemblies including tetragonal, monoclinic and pyrochlore phases were generated in the ceramics during the sintering process. The electrical conductivity was highly dependent on phase assembly and atmosphere (N₂, H₂ and O₂). A significant decrease in the activation energy was noticed in the ceramics with high pyrochlore content when measuring the conductivity in H₂ atmosphere, consequence of the strong reduction promoted in these ceramics during the measurement. Equal conduction behavior with similar activation energy was observed in all the ceramics when measuring in O₂ atmosphere.     

Intratumoral Thermal Reading During Photo‐Thermal Therapy by Multifunctional Fluorescent Nanoparticles

The tremendous development of nanotechnology is bringing us closer to the dream of clinical application of nanoparticles in photothermal therapies of tumors. This requires the use of specific nanoparticles that must be highly biocompatible, efficient light‐to‐heat converters and fluorescent markers. Temperature reading by the heating nanoparticles during therapy appears of paramount importance to keep at a minimum the collateral damage that could arise from undesirable excessive heating. In this work, this thermally controlled therapy is possible by using Nd³⁺ ion‐doped LaF₃ nanocrystals. Because of the particular optical features of Nd³⁺ ions at high doping concentrations, these nanoparticles are capable of in vivo photothermal heating, fluorescent tumor localization and intratumoral thermal sensing. The successful photothermal therapy experiments here presented highlight the importance of controlling therapy parameters based on intratumoral temperature measurements instead of on the traditionally used skin temperature measurements. In fact, significant differences between intratumoral and skin temperatures do exist and could lead to the appearance of excessive collateral damage. These results open a new avenue for the real application of nano­particle‐based photothermal therapy at clinical level.     

PbS/CdS/ZnS Quantum Dots: A Multifunctional Platform for In Vivo Near‐Infrared Low‐Dose Fluorescence Imaging

Over the past decade, near‐infrared (NIR)‐emitting nanoparticles have increasingly been investigated in biomedical research for use as fluorescent imaging probes. Here, high‐quality water‐dispersible core/shell/shell PbS/CdS/ZnS quantum dots (hereafter QDs) as NIR imaging probes fabricated through a rapid, cost‐effective microwave‐assisted cation exchange procedure are reported. These QDs have proven to be water dispersible, stable, and are expected to be nontoxic, resulting from the growth of an outer ZnS shell and the simultaneous surface functionalization with mercaptopropionic acid ligands. Care is taken to design the emission wavelength of the QDs probe lying within the second biological window (1000–1350 nm), which leads to higher penetration depths because of the low extinction coefficient of biological tissues in this spectral range. Furthermore, their intense fluorescence emission enables to follow the real‐time evolution of QD biodistribution among different organs of living mice, after low‐dose intravenous administration. In this paper, QD platform has proven to be capable (ex vivo and in vitro) of high‐resolution thermal sensing in the physiological temperature range. The investigation, together with the lack of noticeable toxicity from these PbS/CdS/ZnS QDs after preliminary studies, paves the way for their use as outstanding multifunctional probes both for in vitro and in vivo applications in biomedicine.     

Cost-effectiveness comparative study of ceftriaxone verus cefotaxime in the treatment of complicated urinary infections

Prospective, randomized, multicenter study in 267 patients with complicated urinary infection from 9 hospitals nationwide. Drug treatment was either Ceftriaxone 1 g once daily parenterally or Cefotaxime parenteral 1 g 8 hourly for a minimum of 7 days. Patients were clinically, analytically and microbiologically evaluated before and after treatment to assess the efficacy and tolerance of both drug products. To evaluate treatment cost, we used the price of both drugs and the material required for their administration (syringe and disposable needle). 119 patients were excluded from the cost-efficacy evaluation and 148 remained in the study (75 assigned to treatment with Ceftriaxone and 73 to Cefotaxime). Clinical efficacy of treatment was 93% and 87.6% for Ceftriaxone and Cefotaxime respectively (p > 0.05). Cost per patient was 27,347 pesetas for Ceftriaxone and 34,490 for Cefotaxime (p < 0.05).     

Non-digestible fraction of cooked bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivar Bayo Madero suppresses colonic aberrant crypt foci in azoxymethane-induced rats

The non-digestible fraction (NDF) of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivar Bayo Madero was evaluated for its chemopreventive effect on azoxymethane (AOM) induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in rats. Diets containing cooked beans (CB) or its non-digestible fraction (NDF) were fed to 72 male rats after 2 azoxymethane injections (15 mg kg(-1) of body weight once a week for 2 weeks). ACF number, short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and β-glucuronidase activity were measured in colon sections from rats sacrificed 7 weeks after the last AOM injection. Food intake and weight gain of rats were unaffected by CB and NDF. CB and NDF suppressed the AOM-induced formation of ACF (0.8 and 1.5 ACF/distal zone, respectively vs. 6.6 ACF/distal zone based on methylene blue stain) and lowered β-glucuronidase activity in cecal, colonic and fecal content compared to AOM group. SCFA production was not significantly different among fecal, cecal and colonic content. These results indicate that CB and NDF from Bayo Madero provide direct chemoprotection against early stage of azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon cancer in rats.