Analysis of forchlorfenuron in vegetables by LC/TOF-MS after extraction with the buffered QuEChERS method.

This paper describes the application of liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/TOF-MS), with electrospray ionization, for residue analysis of forchlorfenuron in tomato, zucchini and watermelon. The assessed method includes a sample preparation step based on the buffered QuEChERS approach. The TOF-MS fragmentation pattern of forchlorfenuron was studied at different fragmention voltages in the range of 120-270 V.

Pyrenochaeta keratinophila sp. nov., isolated from an ocular infection in Spain.

The new coelomycete Pyrenochaeta keratinophila, isolated from corneal scrapings of a case of keratitis in Spain, is described and illustrated. This fungus is morphologically characterized by grey-olivaceous to greenish olivaceous colonies, scarce pycnidial setae placed mainly near the ostiole and production of phialoconidia from the aerial mycelium. The latter feature is unknown in any other species of the genus Pyrenochaeta.

Scanning electron microscopy analysis of a sputnik-like intraocular lens 28 years after implantation.

Purpose: To report a pupil-supported, iris-clip intraocular lens (IOL) that was explanted more than 28 years after implantation.

Methods: A pupil-supported, iris-clip, Sputnik-like IOL was implanted in the left eye of a 33-year-old man to correct aphakia after extracapsular cataract extraction due to trauma.

Results: Twenty-eight years after implantation, the patient was referred to our center with loss of vision.

Molecular epidemiology of isolates of the Cryptococcus neoformans species complex from Spain.

To study genetic diversity of Cryptococcus neoformans species complex in Spain, 97 isolates of the yeast recovered from human, animal and environmental samples have been analysed using three molecular epidemiological techniques. One of these, URA5 gene fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, has been previously described as a molecular epidemiology tool. Thus, standard profiles and reference strains have been defined for it.

Correlation of taurine transport with membrane lipid composition and peroxidation in DHA-enriched Caco-2 cells.

Diets supplemented with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can promote lipid peroxidation and the propagation of oxygen radicals. These effects can be prevented by taurine, a functional ingredient with antioxidant properties. Here, we examined whether there is a correlation between transepithelial taurine transport, on the one hand, and membrane fatty acid composition and peroxidation in intestinal Caco-2 cells, on the other.

New pyrenochaeta species causing keratitis.

We report a new fungus as an agent of fungal keratitis in a diabetic woman. The fungal etiology was established by classic microbiology and PCR following 3 months of antibacterial therapy. The morphological features of the isolate and sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region indicate a new species of Pyrenochaeta (Coelomycetes).

[Usefulness of apraclonidine in the diagnosis of Horner syndrome].

Case Reports: We present four cases: two males with Horner Syndrome, who were diagnosed by means of apraclonidine 0.5% and cocaine 4% tests respectively. Two children with anisocoria, one of whom had Horner Syndrome confirmed with apraclonidine 1% and the other, in whom an apraclonidine test ruled out this syndrome but in whom pilocarpine 0.

[Social determinants of dietary patterns during pregnancy].

Objectives: To identify dietary patterns in pregnancy and describe their relationship with sociodemographic factors, smoking, and body mass index. As a secondary objective, intakes were evaluated relative to current dietary recommendations for pregnant women.

Methods: Cross-sectional assessment of dietary intakes in 473 pregnant women from the Island of Menorca (Spain) was performed.

Effect of olive powder on the growth and inhibition of Bacillus cereus.

A study was carried out to investigate the antimicrobial effect of olive powder on Bacillus cereus. Microorganism spores were inoculated in nutrient broth containing different olive powder concentrations and incubated at 32 degrees , 20 degrees , and 7 degrees C. Results indicated that this food ingredient had a bacteriostatic effect.

Validation and uncertainty study of a comprehensive list of 160 pesticide residues in multi-class vegetables by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method, in electrospray ionization positive mode, has been developed for the determination of 160 selected multi-class pesticides over a 33-min run time. Extracts were obtained using the acetonitrile-based QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) sample preparation technique. The validation study was carried out on tomato, pear and orange matrices following DG SANCO/2007/3131 of the European Quality Control Guidelines.

[Comparative study of refractive errors in simple congenital myogenic ptosis and control children].

Purpose: To study refractive errors in children with relatively serious congenital myogenic ptosis and to carry out a comparative study in relation to control children in our population.

Methods: We included 35 children with simple congenital myogenic ptosis, 27 of them had minor ptosis, 3 moderate ptosis and 5 serious ptosis. Thirty-five children were also in the control group.

Vessel shrinkage as a sign of atherosclerosis progression in type 2 diabetes: a serial intravascular ultrasound analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the natural history of vascular remodeling of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with type 2 diabetes and the predictors of vessel shrinkage.

Research Design And Methods: In this serial intracoronary ultrasound (IVUS) study, 237 coronary segments from 45 patients enrolled in the DIABETES I, II, and III trials were included. Quantitative volumetric IVUS analyses (motorized pullbacks at 0.

[The importance of methodology in serum testosterone measurement: comparison between a direct immunoassay and a method based on high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS-MS)].

Serum testosterone in its total or free form, is a highly valuable diagnostic test and is available in the great majority of clinical laboratories. This reality was possible due to the development of simple and direct assays, adaptable to large automatic systems. Recent publications have called attention to the limitations of these simplified methodologies, mainly in samples with low concentration, as women and children.

Gold(I)-catalyzed intermolecular addition of carbon nucleophiles to 1,5- and 1,6-enynes.

Gold(I)-catalyzed addition of carbon nucleophiles to 1,6-enynes gives two different type of products by reaction at the cyclopropane or at the carbene carbons of the intermediate cyclopropyl gold carbenes. The 5-exo-dig cyclization is followed by most 1,6-enynes, although those bearing internal alkynes and alkenes react by the 6-endo-dig pathway. The cyclopropane versus carbene site-selectivity can be controlled in some cases by the ligand on the gold catalyst.

Laboratory diagnosis of endophthalmitis: comparison of microbiology and molecular methods in the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons multicenter study and susceptibility testing.

Purpose: To investigate and compare the use of molecular biology with the use of traditional Gram stain and organism culture for the laboratory diagnosis of postoperative endophthalmitis.

Setting: Twenty-four ophthalmology units together with 9 microbiology laboratories and 2 European reference molecular biology laboratories.

Methods: A prospective randomized partially masked multicenter cataract surgery study recruited 16 603 patients.

Maternal smoking very early in pregnancy is related to child overweight at age 5-7 y.

Background: Despite being associated with lower birth weight, maternal smoking in the last 2 trimesters of pregnancy has been associated with increased risk of offspring overweight in several studies. To date, only one study has examined whether smoking in the first trimester only, which is not associated with birth weight, is also associated with childhood overweight.

Objective: This study uses prospective data to examine associations between maternal smoking in the first compared with later trimesters of pregnancy and child overweight at age 5-7 y.

Is hormone therapy a protective factor for late hematuria after high-dose radiotherapy in prostate cancer?

Objectives: To identify potential clinical and dosimetric factors predictive of a higher risk of grade 2 or higher late hematuria in patients with prostate cancer treated with high-dose radiotherapy.

Methods: For this purpose, we have analyzed 229 T1c-T3b prostate cancer patients treated with 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) in a prospective dose escalation study and with a minimum follow-up of 1 year. The mean radiation dose was 79 Gy (range 72.

Determination of selected non-authorized insecticides in peppers by liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry.

In this work, two analytical methods based on liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-TOFMS) and tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) are described for the identification, confirmation and quantitation of three insecticides non-authorized in the European Union (nitenpyram, isocarbophos and isofenphos-methyl) but detected in recent monitoring programmes in pepper samples. The proposed methodologies involved a sample extraction procedure using liquid-liquid partition with acetonitrile followed by a cleanup step based on dispersive solid-phase extraction. Recovery studies performed on peppers spiked at different fortification levels (10 and 50 microg kg(-1)) yielded average recoveries in the range 76-100% with relative standard deviation (RSD) (%) values below 10%.

Characterization of glycoside residues of porcine zona pellucida and ooplasm during follicular development and atresia.

The glycoside residues (glycoconjugates, GC) of the zona pellucida (ZP) glycoproteins are important during the first phases of fecundation. Our aim in this work was to determine the lectin affinity pattern of porcine ZP in order to analyze the changes that take place during: (a) preantral folliculogenesis, (b) the follicular atresia process, and (c) antral growth. Several prepubertal and adult pig ovaries and different sized antral follicles were used.

Bactericidal effect of intravitreal levofloxacin in an experimental model of endophthalmitis.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal 1.5% levofloxacin versus combined treatment with vancomycin and ceftazidime in an experimental model of bacterial endophthalmitis.

Methods: The right eye of 75 New Zealand White rabbits was inoculated in the vitreous cavity with strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Mediterranean diet in pregnancy is protective for wheeze and atopy in childhood.

Introduction: Dietary intake of specific nutrients or food groups during pregnancy could play a role in the risk of asthma and atopy in offspring, but specific dietary patterns have not been implicated. The authors evaluated the impact of maternal (during pregnancy) and child adherence to a Mediterranean diet on asthma and atopy in childhood.

Methods: Women presenting for antenatal care at all general practices in Menorca, a Mediterranean island in Spain, over a 12 month period starting in mid-1997 were recruited.

[Genetic susceptibility to Andes Hantavirus: Association between severity of disease and HLA alíeles in Chilean patients].

Andes hantavirus (ANDV) infection in Chile has a variable clinical expression, and infected individuals may present with different grades of disease severity. This study aimed to determine if clinical expression of ANDV infection in Chilean patients is associated with the HLA system. HLA alíeles A, B, DRB1 and DQB1, were studied in two groups of patients with confirmed ANDV infection: 41 patients with a mild disease course (without respiratory failure and cardiovascular shock) and 46 patients with a severe disease course (with respiratory failure and shock).

Large scale pesticide multiresidue methods in food combining liquid chromatography--time-of-flight mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry.

Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOFMS) are powerful and complementary techniques that can independently cover the majority of the challenges related with pesticide residue food control. The sequential combination of both systems benefits from their complementary advantages and assists to increase the performance and to simplify routine large scale pesticide multiresidue methods. The proposed approach consists of three stages: (1) automated pesticide screening by LC-TOFMS; (2) identification by LC-TOFMS accurate mass measurements; and (3) confirmation and quantitation by LC-MS/MS.