Multivariate Modelling Based on Isotopic, Elemental, and Fatty Acid Profiles to Distinguish the Backyard and Barn Eggs.

The ability to trace the origin of eggs from backyard-raised hens is important due to their higher market value compared to barn-raised eggs. This study aimed to differentiate eggs from these two rearing systems using isotopic, elemental, and fatty acid profiles of egg yolks. A total of 90 egg yolk samples were analyzed, analytical results being followed by statistical tests (Student's -test) showing significant differences in δO, several elements (Mg, K, Sc, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Ba, Pb), and fatty acids compositions (C23:0, C17:0, C18:0, C16:1n7, C18:1n9, C18:2n6, C20:1n7, C20:4n6, C20:5n3, C22:6n3), as well as in the ratios of SFA, PUFA, and UFA.

Nutritional Quality and Safety Assessment of Pork Meat Cuts from Romania: Fatty Acids and Elemental Profile.

In this study, the fatty acids and elemental profiles of 53 pork cut samples were determined. To offer insights into their potential health implications, we computed 18 key nutritional indices. These indices included parameters such as saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), the MUFAs/SFAs ratio, PUFAs/SFAs ratio, atherogenic index (AI), thrombogenic index (TI), the hypocholesterolemic to hypercholesterolemic ratio (h/H), health-promoting index (HPI), hypocholesterolemic index (HI), unsaturation index (UI), saturation index (SI), peroxidizability index (PI), nutritional value index (NVI), hypocholesterolemic index of fatty acids (DFAs), hypercholesterolemic index of fatty acids (OFAs), and the DFAs/OFAs ratio.

Influence of Geographical Origin on Isotopic and Elemental Compositions of Pork Meat.

Pigs are a primary source of meat, accounting for over 30% of global consumption. Consumers' preferences are determined by health considerations, paying more attention to foodstuffs quality, animal welfare, place of origin, and swine feeding regime, and being willing to pay a higher price for a product from a certain geographical region. In this study, the isotopic fingerprints (δH, δO, and δC) and 29 elements of loin pork meat samples were corroborated with chemometric methods to obtain the most important variables that could classify the samples' geographical origin.

Application of fuzzy algorithms in conjunction with H-NMR spectroscopy to differentiate alcoholic beverages.

Background: Recent statistics from the European Commission indicate that wine is one of the commodities most commonly subject to food fraud. In this context, the development of reliable classification models to differentiate alcoholic beverages requires, besides sensitive analytical tools, the use of the most suitable data-processing methods like those based on advanced statistical tools or artificial intelligence.

Results: The present study aims to establish a new, innovative approach for the differentiation of alcoholic beverages (wines and fruit distillates), which is able to increase the discrimination rate of the models that have been developed.

SERS of cylindrospermopsin cyanotoxin: Prospects for quantitative analysis in solution and in fish tissue.

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN), a cyanotoxin occurring in environmental waters as a cyanobacteria metabolite, has recently raised increased interest both in the scientific community and the environmental, food control and health care bodies due to the incidence of poisoning reports and the lack of prompt, effective detection and monitoring techniques. Here we report comprehensive Raman and SERS spectroscopy data on CYN cyanotoxin and provide a detailed characterization of the vibrational Raman signal based on DFT calculation as well as the adsorption properties with respect to the silver nanoparticles surface. Quantitative SERS analysis was achieved for concentrations range from 0.

Differentiation of Transylvanian fruit distillates using supervised statistical tools based on isotopic and elemental fingerprint.

Background: The spirit drinks industry is one of the largest in the world. Fruit distillates require adequate analysis methods combined with statistical tools to build differentiation models, according to distinct criteria (geographical and botanical origin, producer's fingerprint, respectively). Over time a database of alcoholic beverage fingerprints can be generated, being very important for product safety and authenticity control.

Isotopic and elemental characterization of Romanian pork meat in corroboration with advanced chemometric methods: A first exploratory study.

In this study 93 pork meat samples (tenderloin) were analyzed via isotope ratios mass spectrometry (δH, δO, δC) and inductively coupled plasma - Mass spectrometry (55 elements). The meat samples are coming from Romania and abroad. Those from Romania are originating from conventional farms and yard rearing system.

Effects of Corruption Control on the Number of Undernourished People in Developing Countries.

Developing countries will be home to 85% of the world's population by 2030. Hence, it is important to ensure food security for them. This effort is not easy, as the number of undernourished people (NUP) in the world has increased.

Authentication of Transylvanian Spirits Based on Isotope and Elemental Signatures in Conjunction with Statistical Methods.

The potential association between stable isotope ratios of light elements and mineral content, in conjunction with unsupervised and supervised statistical methods, for differentiation of spirits, with respect to some previously defined criteria, is reviewed in this work. Thus, based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA), it was possible to differentiate the geographical origin of distillates in a percentage of 96.2% for the initial validation, and the cross-validation step of the method returned 84.

Fuzzy Divisive Hierarchical Associative-Clustering Applied to Different Varieties of White Wines According to Their Multi-Elemental Profiles.

Wine data are usually characterized by high variability, in terms of compounds and concentration ranges. Chemometric methods can be efficiently used to extract and exploit the meaningful information contained in such data. Therefore, the fuzzy divisive hierarchical associative-clustering (FDHAC) method was efficiently applied in this study, for the classification of several varieties of Romanian white wines, using the elemental profile (concentrations of 30 elements analyzed by ICP-MS).

Applications of emerging stable isotopes and elemental markers for geographical and varietal recognition of Romanian and French honeys.

The research towards the identification of new authenticity markers is crucial to fight against fraudulent activities on honey, one of the top ten most falsified food commodities. This work proposes an association of stable isotopes and elemental content as markers for honey authentication, with respect to its floral and geographical origin. Emerging markers like isotopic signature of honey water alongside with carbon and hydrogen isotopic ratios of ethanol obtained from honey fermentation and Rare Earth Elements, were used to develop new recognition models.

Differentiation of tomatoes based on isotopic, elemental and organic markers.

In this study, 41 tomato samples were investigated by means of stable isotope ratios (δC, δO and δH), elemental content, phenolic compounds and pesticides in order to classify them, according to growing conditions and geographical origin. Using investigated parameters, stepwise linear discriminant analysis was applied and the differences that occurred between tomato samples grown in greenhouses compared to those grown on field, and also between Romanian and abroad purchased samples were pointed out. It was shown that Ti, Ga, Te, δH and δC content were able to differentiate Romanian tomato samples from foreign samples, whereas Al, Sc, Se, Dy, Pb, δO, 4,4'-DDT could be used as markers for growing regime (open field vs.

Isotopic and elemental profiling alongside with chemometric methods for vegetable differentiation.

In this study, three chemometric models for vegetables growing system (field versus greenhouse), geographical origin and species attribution using stable isotope (δC, δO, δH) and elemental fingerprints of 101 samples (54 squashes and 47 radishes) commercialized on Romanian market were developed. These models were constructed and validated through linear discriminant analysis. Initial validations of 94.

Bi-Po alpha source for the calibration and functional testing of silicon detectors: Preparation and characterisation.

Silicon detectors are widely used in space radiation dosimeter systems for measuring energetic charged particles. Calibration of such systems is usually performed with protons and heavier ions in high energy particle accelerators. For preliminary energy calibration and functional testing of silicon detectors, at any time during the development, an equipment producing a thin Bi-Po alpha particle emitting source was designed and constructed.

Testing the limits of FT-Raman spectroscopy for wine authentication: Cultivar, geographical origin, vintage and terroir effect influence.

FT-Raman spectroscopy represents an environmentally friendly technique, suitable for the analysis of high-water content food matrices, like wines, due to its relatively weak water bending mode in the fingerprint region. Based on metabolomics applied to FT-Raman spectra, this study presents the classifications achieved for a sample set comprising 126 wines, originated from Romania and France, with respect to cultivar, geographical origin and vintage. Cultivar recognition was successfully performed among four varieties (Sauvignon, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris) while subtle particularities exiting between the Chardonnay wines, coming from the two countries, because of terroir influences were pointed out.

Characterization and classification of wines according to geographical origin, vintage and specific variety based on elemental content: a new chemometric approach.

A highly informative chemometric approach using elemental data to distinguish and classify wine samples according to different criteria was successfully developed. The robust chemometric methods, such fuzzy principal component analysis (FPCA), FPCA combined with linear discriminant analysis (LDA), namely FPCA-LDA and mainly fuzzy divisive hierarchical associative-clustering (FDHAC), including also classical methods (HCA, PCA and PCA-LDA) were efficaciously applied for characterization and classification of white wines according to the geographical origin, vintage or specific variety. The correct rate of classification applying LDA was 100% in all cases, but more compact groups have been obtained for FPCA scores.

[Capgras symptom associated parricides. ].

Capgras symptom is characterized by the delusional belief that a person significant to the patient has been replaced by a 'double' or 'impostor'. Capgras symptom was discussed to be associated with violent behavior. We report here the cases of two male patients with schizophrenia paranoid type, where parricide was connected to Capgras delusion.

Geographical origin and species differentiation of Transylvanian cheese. Comparative study of isotopic and elemental profiling vs. DNA results.

The present study proposed the cheese differentiation, according to geographical production area and with respect to species (cow, sheep) of two traditional cheese specialties, (salty and ripened), produced in Transylvania, Romania. For this purpose, the elemental profile and carbon isotopic ratios (C/C) of cheese and extracted casein were corroborated through statistic supervised techniques to get the best discrimination markers. The manganese content, along with Rare Earth Elements (REE) concentrations, proved to be very powerful predictors, for the traditional salted cheese mainly, due to the direct influence of the local salted water.

Optimized and validated method for simultaneous extraction, identification and quantification of flavonoids and capsaicin, along with isotopic composition, in hot peppers from different regions.

Nineteen hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) samples from five countries and twenty samples from Romanian producers were analyzed. Concentrations of flavonoids and capsaicin were simultaneously quantified for the first time with the method developed and validated in the present paper.

Isotopic and elemental markers for geographical origin and organically grown carrots discrimination.

This study proposes different markers associations for the discrimination of organically and conventionally grown carrots, as well as for the geographical origin differentiation. It was shown that one of the most powerful differentiation markers proved to be Mn content. Along with manganese concentrations, isotope ratios of nitrogen and a high number of Rare Earth-Elements (REEs) were able to differentiate the organically grown carrots samples in a percent of 83.

HCH phytoremediation potential of native plant species from a contaminated urban site in Turda, Romania.

Current physical or chemical methods used for remediation of soils contaminated with hexachlocyclohexane (HCH), leave behind significant levels of pollutants. Given the compound's volatility and persistence in the environment, sites contaminated with HCH remain a concern for the population living in nearby areas. By making use of both the recovery capacity and the pollutant uptake ability of spontaneously growing vegetation, our study aimed to identify native plant species able to cover and moreover take up the HCH left at a former lindane production unit in Turda, Romania.

The Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Pathway in Two Cases with Gastric Metastasis Originating from Breast Carcinoma, One with a Metachronous Primary Gastric Cancer.

Background: Metastases to the stomach are extremely rare and the metastatic pathway is not well understood.

Objective: To present two unusual gastric metastases and a review of the literature regarding the pathway of Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in the metastatic cells.

Method: The clinicopathological aspects of the two cases were presented in the light of the most recent patents.

Isotopic and multielemental fingerprinting of organically and conventionally grown potatoes.

Two marker combinations were used for the differentiation of organically produced from conventionally produced potatoes and also for the geographical origin identification. Fifty-seven samples (from Romanian local producers or imported) were analysed from the stable isotopic (isotope ratio mass spectrometry) and elemental profile (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) point of view. In order to assess the best marker combination, both isotopic and elemental experimental results were subject to chemometric analysis.

The Influence of the Variety, Vineyard, and Vintage on the Romanian White Wines Quality.

The wine is one of the most consumed drinks over the world, being subjected to falsification or adulteration regarding the variety, vintage, and geographical region. In this study, the influence of different characteristics of wines (type, production year, and origin) on the total phenolic content, total flavonoids content, antioxidant activity, total sugars content, pH, and O/O isotopic ratio was investigated. The differentiation of selected wines on the basis of tested parameters was investigated using chemometric techniques, such as analysis of variance, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis.

Spatial and seasonal variation of organic pollutants in surface water using multivariate statistical techniques.

In this study, analysis of variance (ANOVA), cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were employed in order to evaluate the concentration profile of organic contaminants found in three main river from central Transylvania, Romania. Samples were collected from nine sampling stations, in two different sampling campaigns (wet season and dry season). Water samples were extracted using solid-phase extraction and analyzed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS).