Development and Validation of a GC-MS-EI Method to Determine α-PHP in Blood: Application to Samples Collected during Medico-Legal Autopsies.

New psychoactive substances (NPSs) still represent an issue of great concern worldwide despite efforts made by national and international control systems to limit the spread of these substances. Alpha-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP) is a fairly recent synthetic cathinone (the second largest group of monitored substances in Europe) with only a few published studies on the substance. Though there is a low incidence of NPS consumption in Portugal, a recent increase in apprehensions and detections in biological matrices of the substance was verified.

Double-Layer Flexible Neural Probe With Closely Spaced Electrodes for High-Density Brain Recordings.

Flexible polymer neural probes are an attractive emerging approach for invasive brain recordings, given that they can minimize the risks of brain damage or glial scaring. However, densely packed electrode sites, which can facilitate neuronal data analysis, are not widely available in flexible probes. Here, we present a new flexible polyimide neural probe, based on standard and low-cost lithography processes, which has 32 closely spaced 10 μm diameter gold electrode sites at two different depths from the probe surface arranged in a matrix, with inter-site distances of only 5 μm.

A versatile and modular tetrode-based device for single-unit recordings in rodent ex vivo and in vivo acute preparations.

Background: The demand for affordable tools for recording extracellular activity and successfully isolating single units from different brain preparations has pushed researchers and companies to invest in developing and fabricating new recording devices. However, depending on the brain region of interest, experimental question or type of preparation, different devices are required thus adding substantial financial burden to laboratories.

New Method: We have developed a simple and affordable tetrode-based device that allows interchangeable extracellular recordings of neuronal activity between in vivo and ex vivo preparations and can be easily implemented in all wet-bench laboratories.

Bioactive Compounds from the Aerial Parts of .

Three new caryophyllane-type sesquiterpenoids, linariophyllenes A-C (-), two new hamamelitol derivatives, linaritols A ( and B (), two new chromones, linariosides A () and B (), and three known chromones, cnidimol C (), monnieriside A (), and undulatoside A (), were identified from the aerial parts of . The structures of these compounds were elucidated by NMR, MS, and IR data. The absolute configurations of compounds - and were established via electronic circular dichroism data.

[Influence of season on bone mineral densitometry].

Objective: In places where sun exposure during the winter is limited, bone mineral density (BMD) may present seasonal variations, increasing during the summer and decreasing during the winter period. There have been suggestions that this variation could influence prospective evaluations of BMD studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the seasons of the year (summer/winter) are associated to variations in BMD values.

Sesquiterpenes and a phenylpropanoid from Cordia trichotoma.

Two new secondary metabolites, the phenylpropanoid 3-(2',4',5'-trimethoxyphenyl)propanoic acid (1) and the sesquiterpene (+)-1beta,4beta,6alpha-trihydroxyeudesmane (2) were isolated from the heartwood of Cordia trichotoma Vell., along with the known sesquiterpenes (-)-1beta,4beta,7alpha-trihydroxyeudesmane (3) and (+)-1beta,4beta,11-trihydroxyoppositane (4). Their structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic data interpretation, mainly 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometry.