Female-age-dependent changes in the lipid fingerprint of the mammalian oocytes.

Study Question: Can oocyte functionality be assessed by observing changes in their intracytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs) profiles?

Summary Answer: Lipid profile changes can reliably be detected in human oocytes; lipid changes are linked with maternal age and impaired developmental competence in a mouse model.

What Is Known Already: In all cellular components, lipid damage is the earliest manifestation of oxidative stress (OS), which leads to a cascade of negative consequences for organelles and DNA. Lipid damage is marked by the accumulation of LDs.

GC-MS analysis of dichlobenil and its metabolites in groundwater.

We have developed a new method for the determination of the widely used herbicide 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile (dichlobenil) and its major metabolites 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM) and 2,6-dichlorobenzoic acid (2,6-DCBA) in groundwater samples. The procedure is based on solid phase extraction (SPE) combined with a derivatization procedure before GC-MS analysis in order to quantify analytes simultaneously. This method can be used from regulatory laboratories for monitoring the presence of dichlobenil and its metabolites during testing groundwater samples quality.

Organic tracers identification as a convenient strategy in industrial landfills monitoring.

Today, a significant environmental problem is due to the presence of industrial landfills, some of them old, which can release toxic compounds into the environment (Chemosphere 42 (2001) 415; Chemosphere 31 (1995) 3455). The identification of directly linked to the leachate tracers of contamination in the wells around the landfills, as early markers of a potential risk for the environment and/or man, is a good strategy for an early evaluation of contamination. Our protocol developed for wells water characterization is based on solid phase extraction combined with GC-MS and HPLC-MS/MS.

Rapid determination of mercury in food colorants using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with slurry sample introduction.

The determination of mercury in different types of color food additives using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed. The procedure involves direct introduction of the additive samples as suspensions, and fast-program methodology is used to avoid mercury volatilization losses. Suspensions are prepared in a medium containing 0.

Determination of aluminium and chromium in slurried baby food samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.

Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry was used to determine aluminium and chromium in different types of baby foods. Samples without previous treatment were introduced into the atomizer as suspensions, which were prepared in a medium containing 0.1% (w/v) Triton X-100 (for chromium) or 10% (v/v) ethanol (for aluminium), 5% (v/v) concentrated hydrogen peroxide, and 0.