There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

TRPA1 mediates the inflammatory actions of environmental irritants and proalgesic agents.

https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/hep.20703

AASLD position paper : the management of acute liver failure

The rational for the study was to review the literature on the toxicity and corresponding mechanisms associated with lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As), individually and as mixtures, in the environment. Heavy metals are ubiquitous and generally persist in the environment, enabling them to biomagnify in the food chain. Living systems most often interact with a cocktail of heavy metals in the environment. Heavy metal exposure to biological systems may lead to oxidation stress which may induce DNA damage, protein modification, lipid peroxidation, and others. In this review, the major mechanism associated with toxicities of individual metals was the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, toxicities were expressed through depletion of glutathione and bonding to sulfhydryl groups of proteins. Interestingly, a metal like Pb becomes toxic to organisms through the depletion of antioxidants while Cd indirectly generates ROS by its ability to replace iron and copper. ROS generated through exposure to arsenic were associated with many modes of action, and heavy metal mixtures were found to have varied effects on organisms. Many models based on concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) have been introduced to help predict toxicities and mechanisms associated with metal mixtures. An integrated model which combines CA and IA was further proposed for evaluating toxicities of non-interactive mixtures. In cases where there are molecular interactions, the toxicogenomic approach was used to predict toxicities. The high-throughput toxicogenomics combines studies in genetics, genome-scale expression, cell and tissue expression, metabolite profiling, and bioinformatics.

A review of toxicity and mechanisms of individual and mixtures of heavy metals in the environment.

Synthetic cannabinoids: Epidemiology, pharmacodynamics, and clinical implications

A number of N-alkyl indole or indazole-3-carbonyl analogs, with modified chemical structures, are distributed throughout the world as synthetic cannabinoids. Like synthetic cannabinoids, cathinone analogs are also abused and cause serious problems worldwide. Acute deaths caused by overdoses of these drugs have been reported. Various analytical methods that can cope with the rapid changes in chemical structures are required for routine analysis and screening of these drugs in seized and biological materials for forensic and clinical purposes. Although many chromatographic methods to analyze each drug have been published, there are only a few articles summarizing these analytical methods. This review presents the various colorimetric detections, immunochemical assays, gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric methods, and liquid chromatographic–mass spectrometric methods proposed for the analysis of synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones.

/pdf/comprehensive-review-of-the-detection-methods-for-synthetic-55ozkf4z5h.pdf

Comprehensive review of the detection methods for synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones

Monolith was first used as a material for chromatographic separation two decades ago and solid-phase extraction over 10 years, and since then, separation science has undergone a dramatic change owing to advancements in analytical technology. Recently, monolith has been modified to suit various devices for the extraction and enrichment of analytes in any matrices of environmental, food, and biological analyses. This approach has contributed to miniaturization and automation for sample preparation, and it can reduce the time and cost requirements of sample preparation. Recently, numerous applications have been demonstrated for online and inline preconcentration coupled with monolith, and many kinds of devices have been designed and developed for offline devices. In this review, these applications and devices are listed and discussed in reference to other fields.

Monolith as a new sample preparation material: recent devices and applications.

A 59-year-old man was found dead in his house, where three sachets containing herbal blends were found on a table. The sachet contents were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and found to contain [1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indol-3-yl](4-methyl-1-naphthalenyl)methanone (MAM-2201). The deceased was subjected to forensic autopsy. There were neither external injuries nor endogenous diseases judged by macroscopic and microscopic observations. Liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry was used to quantitate the concentrations of MAM-2201 in postmortem samples using deuterated MAM-2201 as internal standard. The MAM-2201 concentrations were: 12.4 ng/ml in whole blood; 18.1 ng/g in the liver; 11.2 ng/g in the kidney; 4.3 ng/g in the brain; and 1,535 ng/g in the adipose tissue. We concluded that the man’s death was caused by acute intoxication with MAM-2201. In addition, we propose that the adipose tissue is the specimen of choice to detect MAM-2201 in the unchanged form. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a fatal MAM-2201 poisoning case. In addition, this report is also the first to describe the distribution of the drug in postmortem human tissues and blood.

A fatal case of MAM-2201 poisoning

Rapid analysis of malathion in blood using head space-solid phase microextraction and selected ion monitoring.

Monoliths were first used as materials for chromatographic separation 20 years ago and as extraction sorbents for solid-phase extraction over 10 years ago. Recently, monolithic silica and polymers were modified to suit devices for extraction and enrichment of analytes in matrices for environmental, food and biological analyses. This approach contributed to miniaturization and automation, which can reduce the time and the cost of sample preparation. Numerous applications were demonstrated for on-line and in-line preconcentration with monoliths, and many kinds of off-line device were designed and developed. This review discusses trends in these device and applications.

Akira Namera

Papers

Comprehensive review of the detection methods for synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones

Monolith as a new sample preparation material: recent devices and applications.

A fatal case of MAM-2201 poisoning

Rapid analysis of malathion in blood using head space-solid phase microextraction and selected ion monitoring.

Advances in monolithic materials for sample preparation in drug and pharmaceutical analysis