Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Marc Parrilla, Florine Joosten, Karolien De Wael
Summary: The study introduces a sensitive and low-cost electrochemical method for detecting five illicit drugs in oral fluid, providing law enforcement agencies with testing opportunities.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2021)
Article
Electrochemistry
Florine Joosten, Marc Parrilla, Alexander L. N. van Nuijs, Kenneth I. Ozoemena, Karolien De Wael
Summary: Illicit drugs pose a serious threat to society and public health, and accurate and efficient sensors are needed for their detection to combat the war on drugs. Electrochemical sensors have emerged as a promising technique for rapid and accurate on-site detection of illicit drugs in recent years. However, there is limited literature on their use for detecting drug use in biological samples. This review provides an overview of strategies for the electrochemical detection of illicit drugs in oral fluid and highlights key challenges to improve the design of future devices.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Scarlett Aguilera, Erick Flores, Rodrigo Segura, Herna Barrientos, Paulina Marquez, Camilo Garcia, Felipe Matamala-Troncoso, Jaime Pizarro, Maria Aguirre
Summary: In this study, a glassy carbon electrode modified with reduced graphene oxide was prepared and used for the determination of zaleplon. The modified electrode showed good accuracy and reproducibility in detecting zaleplon in saliva samples.
MICROCHEMICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Keugtae Kim, Stephanie Stoll, Rajendra Singh, Woo Hyoung Lee, Jae-Hoon Hwang
Summary: Illicit drugs have significant impacts worldwide, and there is a need for sensor technology to detect them in water for real-time monitoring. Electrochemical and optical sensors are promising tools due to their portability and low cost.
TRAC-TRENDS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Ariadna Denia, Francesc A. Esteve-Turrillas, Sergio Armenta
Summary: In this study, a GC-IMS analytical procedure was developed for the determination of psychoactive substances in oral fluids. The method showed sensitive and robust signals, with model compounds providing limits of detection ranging from 6 to 15 μg L-1. The proposed technique was proven to be reliable, selective, and sensitive for the analysis of psychoactive substances in oral fluids.
Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
Nicole Adrielli Monteiro Zemolin, Everton Daniel Rauber, Bruna Brondani, Jessica Klockner Knorst, Fausto Medeiros Mendes, Thiago Machado Ardenghi
Summary: This study examined the impact of the consumption of licit and illicit substances on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of adolescents in Brazil. Data was collected through a questionnaire and the Brazilian short version of Child Perceptions Questionnaire 11-14. The results showed that adolescents who reported using illicit substances had higher CPQ11-14 scores and that alcohol use was related to worse levels of OHRQoL, while cigarette consumption acted as a protective factor.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Yi-Ting Lai, Pei-Kuen Wei, Chih-Yu Kuo, Ji-Yen Cheng
Summary: Faced with the widespread availability of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and illicit drugs, there is an urgent need for real-time and on-site detection techniques. In this study, a simple yet accurate portable Raman spectral imaging system is presented. The system consists of a compact and cost-effective Raman spectrometer and a chemical compound identifier based on convolutional neural networks (CNN). Testing the system with twelve substances, it achieves excellent predictive accuracy and high sensitivity, even at low spectral resolution. The system is able to identify illicit drugs as suspicious compounds with an accuracy rate of about 92%, thanks to the CNN model's recognition of spectral signatures and structural similarities of the compounds.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Eric Deconinck, Celine Duchateau, Margot Balcaen, Lies Gremeaux, Patricia Courselle
Summary: This review provides an overview of the applications of spectroscopy combined with chemometrics in the analysis of illicit drug products. It emphasizes the importance of extracting relevant information and fully characterizing samples, and highlights the need to include chemometrics in daily work.
REVIEWS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Optics
Zijian Hao, Shengli Pu, Jia Wang, Weinan Liu, Chencheng Zhang, Yuanyuan Fan, Mahieddine Lahoubi
Summary: In this work, an ultracompact reflection-type dual-channel sensor for vector magnetic field and temperature monitoring is proposed. The sensor consists of gold-plated wedge-shaped multimode fiber and gold-plated multimode-no-core fiber as the sensing probes, and utilizes surface plasmon resonance effect to resolve the issue of vector magnetic field and temperature cross-sensitivity. The proposed sensing probes are small in size and have high spatial resolution, making them suitable for narrow space and gradient magnetic field detection.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Arndis Sue Ching Love, Valpor Asgrimsson, Kristin Olafsdottir
Summary: Estimating illicit drug use on a community level through wastewater samples using wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a reliable method for obtaining near real-time results. The study in Reykjavik from 2017 to 2020 found an increase in amphetamine and methamphetamine use, with amphetamine being the dominant stimulant and stable MDMA use. There was a significant decrease in cocaine use and an increase in cannabis use during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The results by WBE aligned with other indicators such as seizure data and driving under the influence cases, successfully estimating temporal and spatial trends in illicit drug use.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nigar Anzar, Shariq Suleman, Suhel Parvez, Jagriti Narang
Summary: Drugs have both medicinal value and can lead to illegal activities such as sexual assaults and traffic accidents. Detection of drugs in biological fluids is crucial in cases of sexual assaults. Various traditional and emerging techniques are used for detecting illicit drugs for quick diagnosis of related crimes. Although the methods for identifying illicit drugs are costly and time-consuming, they are essential for maintaining public safety.
PROCESS BIOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Ruben F. Kranenburg, Chris K. Lukken, Peter J. Schoenmakers, Arian C. van Asten
Summary: This study investigates the capability of VUV spectral deconvolution for peak detection and identification in incompletely resolved drug mixtures. The deconvolution software was able to correctly detect both substances, even in cases of severe coelution at elevated GC temperatures.
JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY B-ANALYTICAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE BIOMEDICAL AND LIFE SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Elisa Robotti, Masho Hilawie Belay, Elisa Cala, Alessandro Benedetto, Simone Cerruti, Marzia Pezzolato, Francesco Pennisi, Maria Cesarina Abete, Emilio Marengo, Paola Brizio
Summary: In the field of food control for fresh products, identifying illicit conservation treatments is essential. This study used micro-Raman spectroscopy to characterize sea bass samples subjected to a Cafodos-like solution for different time periods. The results showed that the spectroscopy method successfully identified the short- and long-term effects on the fish's muscle and skin. This application of Raman spectroscopy in identifying illicit treatments could have future potential for use in the market with a portable device.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Alex S. Loch, Paul L. Burn, Paul E. Shaw
Summary: This paper describes four compounds that are capable of detecting illicit drugs through a photoinduced hole transfer process. The properties of these compounds can be tuned by adding different donor and acceptor units, and they can be used to prepare high-quality, undoped thin films. The films containing electron withdrawing groups such as aldehyde and dicyanovinyl can detect the vapors of methamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, and fentanyl, while the films without these groups cannot detect cocaine and MDMA.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Carmina Vejar-Vivar, Jaime Millan-Santiago, Claudia Mardones, Rafael Lucena, Soledad Cardenas
Summary: This study evaluates polydopamine inner wall-coated hypodermic needles as microextraction devices and electrospray ionization emitters for determining illicit drugs in oral fluid samples.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Roberta Risoluti, Giuseppina Gullifa, Vittorio Fineschi, Paola Frati, Stefano Materazzi
Summary: This study uses a novel approach based on thermogravimetry and chemometrics to estimate the time since death in vitreous humor and collect a databank of samples from postmortem examinations. Results demonstrate the ability to predict time of death even in contaminated samples with an accuracy not lower than 70%. The correlation coefficient of the measured versus predicted outcomes was found to be 0.9978, indicating the model's feasibility even in situations involving contaminated vitreous humor.
Article
Polymer Science
Michelina Catauro, Pavel Siler, Jiri Masilko, Roberta Risoluti, Stefano Vecchio Ciprioti
Summary: The present study investigated the structure, morphology, thermal behavior, and bacterial growth analysis of novel three-component hybrid materials synthesized by the sol-gel method. The materials were found to be amorphous and homogeneous regardless of the content of PEG or CGA. The PEG-rich materials retained a lower content of water, while the materials containing CGA had a higher water content due to a larger number of H-bonds with water.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Roberta Risoluti, Roshan Colah, Stefano Materazzi
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Antonio Gigliuto, Rosalia Maria Cigala, Anna Irto, Maria Rosa Felice, Alberto Pettignano, Demetrio Milea, Stefano Materazzi, Concetta De Stefano, Francesco Crea
Summary: The study investigated the interactions of dopamine with methylmercury(II), magnesium(II), calcium(II), and tin(II) at different ionic strengths and temperatures, and evaluated the sequestering ability of dopamine towards these cations. The results showed that entropy is the driving force of the process, and the stoichiometry of the precipitates formed depends on the metal:ligand ratios and concentrations of the starting solutions.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Roberta Risoluti, Giuseppina Gullifa, Laura Barone, Elena Papa, Stefano Materazzi
Summary: This review presents the latest advancements in on-line thermally induced evolved gas analysis (OLTI-EGA) and provides starting references for their applications. On-line coupling of heating devices and mass spectrometry (EGA-MS) allows for the accurate interpretation of thermally-induced reaction mechanisms and the characterization of evolved products. Selected references from 2019, 2020, and 2021 are collected and briefly described in this review.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giuseppina Gullifa, Laura Barone, Elena Papa, Stefano Materazzi, Roberta Risoluti
Summary: This article introduces the wide application of on-line thermally induced evolved gas analysis (OLTI-EGA) in various fields and reviews the latest applications of Evolved Gas Analysis coupled with infrared spectrometers (EGA-FTIR) online. The collected references from 2019, 2020, 2021, and early 2022 are briefly described, providing researchers with easy access to sometimes hard-to-locate applications.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giuseppina Gullifa, Roberta Risoluti, Cristina Mazzoni, Laura Barone, Elena Papa, Alfredo Battistini, Rodrigo Martin Fraguas, Stefano Materazzi
Summary: Recently, there has been an increasing interest in developing functional foods with encapsulated probiotic bacteria due to their positive impact on human health. Incorporating probiotics into dairy products has been a major challenge, especially for non-refrigerated products. This study utilized spray drying technology to produce a novel nutraceutical formulation using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and demonstrated that it can maintain a good storage stability of probiotics at room temperature. The optimized formulation showed promising characteristics in terms of providing a sufficient amount of viable cells after digestion and protecting the probiotics during the microencapsulation process by spray drying.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Patrizia Caprari, Elisabetta Profumo, Sara Massimi, Brigitta Buttari, Rachele Rigano, Vincenza Regine, Marco Gabbianelli, Stefania Rossi, Roberta Risoluti, Stefano Materazzi, Giuseppina Gullifa, Laura Maffei, Francesco Sorrentino
Summary: The rheological properties of blood, including increased aggregation and reduced deformability of red blood cells, as well as increased adherence to vascular endothelial cells, play a crucial role in the regulation of blood flow in microcirculation and macrocirculation. Thalassemia patients, both transfusion-dependent and non-transfusion-dependent, exhibit altered hemorheological profiles that may indicate vascular impairment and disease severity. Evaluation of hemorheological profiles, along with the levels of inflammation biomarkers, can provide new indicators for preventing thromboembolic events in thalassemia.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Michelina Catauro, Antonio D'Angelo, Marika Fiorentino, Giuseppina Gullifa, Roberta Risoluti, Stefano Vecchio Ciprioti
Summary: The sol-gel process was used to synthesize organic/inorganic hybrid materials by entrapping different amounts of quercetin in a silica matrix. FTIR spectroscopy was used to reveal the nature of bonds between inorganic and organic components. The hybrid materials showed increased mass loss percentages and antibacterial properties against various bacterial strains.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY
(2022)
