Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) as the most toxic mycotoxin in contaminated food can greatly threaten human health, and sensitive and selective detection of AFB1 is thus highly desired. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/kpt-8602.html An ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) aptasensor was developed for AFB1 detection in peanut oil samples. SH-cDNA modified Fe3O4@Au nanoflowers acted as capture probes, SH-Apt modified Au@Ag nanospheres and commercial Cy3-Apt were used as reporter probes. Strong SERS signals of reporter probes were produced due to the recognition of AFB1 aptamer and its complementary strand (SH-cDNA). With the preferred binding of AFB1 aptamer to AFB1, reporter probes were released from capture probes, causing a linear decrease in SERS intensity. Therefore an ultralow detection limit of 0.40 pg·mL-1 in a wide linear range of 0.0001-100 ng·mL-1 was obtained and the sensibility of this SERS aptasensor was higher than that of the Cy3-Apt based SERS aptasensor. In addition, an excellent selectivity in interfering toxins and satisfactory recoveries of 96.6-115% in peanut oil samples were obtained, proving this aptasensor is a promising analytical tool in AFB1 detection. Identification and quantification of triacylglycerols (TAGs) in salmon muscle tissue were conducted using electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS/MS in a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The confirmation of three fatty acid moieties of individual TAGs was determined using the multiple neutral loss (NL) scanning mode. A total of 98 TAGs were identified, and the predominant TAG species were 160-180-205 (10.4%), 181-182-226 (9.0%), and 180-181-226 (16.4%) in salmon muscle tissue. NL scanning was an effective means to confirm the three fatty acid moieties of the TAGs, leading to the rapid and accurate identification of individual TAGs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of multiple neutral loss scanning to identify TAGs in salmonoid tissue, and many TAG species have been newly identified (i.e., 181-182-226, 160-182-205, 181-182-205, etc.). This study showed that the shotgun lipidomic approach along with NL scans is a useful means for studying TAG metabolism in fish. An Au patch electrode Ag-SnO2/SiO2/Si MIS capacitive sensor equipped with a microcontroller was designed and developed to sense low concentration (ppb to ppm regime) of volatiles (NH3, TMA, ethanol, and H2S) generated from chicken meat spoilage at room temperature. The quality threshold or the acceptance limit for consumption of chicken meat samples stored at 4 °C, 15 °C and 25 °C using our proposed technique was found to be 105 h, 48 h, and 17 h respectively, highly correlated with TVB-N, TVC, pH and sensory evaluation analysis. When these well established standard methods (TVB-N, TVC and pH analysis) take many hours to complete the analysis involving many complicated steps, our fabricated sensor takes 55 sec to deliver sensing response reflecting the meat spoilage status. The sensor calibrated with our compact technique promises portable and inexpensive onsite rapid and accurate quality assessment of meat spoilage at room temperature. Determination of Cr(VI) in rice is reported using ion chromatography (IC) and dynamic reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (DRC-ICP-MS). Cr(VI) is separated from other Cr species within 4.5 min using NH4NO3 solution at pH 8.8 as mobile phase. Spectral interferences on 52Cr+ are minimized with NH3 in DRC. The detection limit of (LOD) Cr(VI) is 0.06 ng mL-1. This methodology is utilized for the determination of Cr(VI) in different rice samples and can also be applied for screening of rice for toxicity with respect to Cr. The Cr species are leached from rice powder into 5% (v/v) tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution in an ultrasonic bath. The extracts are analyzed by IC-DRC-ICP-MS for Cr(VI). Spike recoveries of Cr(VI) are 98-102% and precision between sample replicates is better than 6.3%. No Cr(III) is converted to Cr(VI) during extraction. Cr(VI) is present in all the rice samples analyzed. Nanoparticulate titanium dioxide (TiO2) is widely used in cosmetic products and sunscreens. However, primarily due to their photocatalytic activity, some TiO2 products have been shown to be cytotoxic. Thus, the aim of this study was to reduce the photoactivity and consequent cytotoxicity of TiO2nanoparticles. As such, in this work, yttrium oxide (Y2O3) was deposited onto TiO2, at 5% and 10% Y/Ti weight ratio, via a hydrothermal method. The nanocomposites produced, TiO2@Y2O3 5 and 10 wt%, were characterised to assess their physical, photochemical and toxicological properties. These materials exhibit a uniform yttria coating, enhanced UV attenuation in the 280-350 nm range and significantly reduced photoactivity compared with a pristine commercial TiO2 sample (Degussa Aeroxide® P25). Furthermore, the comparative cytotoxicity and photo-cytotoxicity of these materials to a human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT), was assessed using a colorimetric tetrazolium salt (MTS) assay. Following 24-hour incubation with cells, both Y2O3 loadings exhibited improved biocompatibility with HaCaT cells, compared to the pristine TiO2 sample, under all subsequent test conditions. In conclusion, the results highlight the potential of these materials for use in products, applied topically, with sun protection in mind. Induced pluripotent stem cell lines (iPSCs) were generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from the peripheral blood of an eight months-old boy and the parents. Long QT syndrome type 5 (LQT5) was diagnosed after identifying a heterozygous c.226G>A (p.D76N) variant in KCNE1 gene carried by the boy and inherited from his father who has a prolonged QT in ECG as well. PBMCs were reprogrammed using non-integrative Sendai viral vectors containing reprogramming factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and C-MYC. iPSCs were shown to express pluripotent markers, have trilineage differentiation potential, carry KCNE1-D76N mutation, have a normal karyotype. Thus we established 2 new LQT5 iPSC lines and a related control line as useful tools for studying the pathophysiological mechanism of LQT5 and drug testing.