A review of chemical ‘spot’ tests: A presumptive illicit drug identification technique

Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Chemical ‘spot’ tests are a presumptive illicit drug identification technique commonly used by law enforcement, border security personnel, and forensic laboratories. The simplicity, low cost, and rapid results afforded by these tests make them particularly attractive for presumptive identification globally. In this paper, we review the development of these long-established methods and discuss color test recommendations and guidelines. A search of the scientific literature revealed the chemical reactions occurring in many color tests are either not actively investigated or reported as unknown. Today, color tests face many challenges, from the appearance of new psychoactive substances to concerns regarding selectivity, sensitivity, and safety. Advances in technology have seen color test reagents used in digital image color analysis, solid sensors, and microfluidic devices for illicit drug detection. This summarizes current research and suggests the future of presumptive color testing

The antibody loci of the domestic goat (Capra hircus)

The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is an important ruminant species both as a source of antibody-based reagents for research and biomedical applications and as an economically important animal for agriculture, particularly for developing nations that maintain most of the global goat population. Characterization of the loci encoding the goat immune repertoire would be highly beneficial for both vaccine and immune reagent development. However, in goat and other species whose reference genomes were generated using short-read sequencing technologies, the immune loci are poorly assembled as a result of their repetitive nature. Our recent construction of a long-read goat genome assembly (ARS1) has facilitated characterization of all three antibody loci with high confidence and comparative analysis to cattle. We observed broad similarity of goat and cattle antibody-encoding loci but with notable differences that likely influence formation of the functional antibody repertoire. The goat heavy-chain locus is restricted to only four functional and nearly identical IGHV genes, in contrast to the ten observed in cattle. Repertoire analysis indicates that light-chain usage is more balanced in goats, with greater representation of kappa light chains (~ 20-30%) compared to that in cattle (~ 5%). The present study represents the first characterization of the goat antibody loci and will help inform future investigations of their antibody responses to disease and vaccination

Development and validation of a presumptive colour spot test method for the detection of piperazine analogues in seized illicit materials

The increasingly large quantities of potentially illicit samples received for confirmatory analysis highlights the importance and demand for preliminary testing procedures that are simple, rapid, selective, inexpensive and able to be used in the field. Colour testing fulfils the aforementioned requirements and is a technique frequently employed to achieve presumptive identification. Piperazine analogues (often marketed as 'legal ecstasy') are a group of psychoactive substances that have recently become established on the illicit drug market and are not effectively discriminated or identified by current colour testing methods. Herein, we report on the development and validation of a chemical spot test for piperazine analogues present in unknown seized materials using the spectrophotometric reagent, sodium 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulphonate (NQS). Primary testing revealed that NQS reacts almost instantly to form an intense, bright orange-red coloured complex with the representative piperazine 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP) at room temperature. The results of the test, assessed by colour development, were evaluated visually and variables affecting the coloured reaction were optimised. The colour test method was validated to meet requirements for use in preliminary screening, providing qualitative and reliable presumptive test results. Validation studies show that the characteristic colour change is unique to the piperazine class at room temperature, and is unaffected by the presence of common cutting agents, i.e. glucose and caffeine, in test samples of 5% purity, and other drugs such as N-methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDMA). The NQS reagent stability was found to be limited to storage in a refrigerated environment for no more than one week before results were affected. The operational limit of detection was found to be 40 μg. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Community economic development : an approach for urban-based economies

vi, 203 p

“Close but no cigar”: the measurement of corruption

The financial cost of corruption has recently been estimated at more than 5 per cent of global GDP. Yet, despite the widespread agreement that corruption is one of the most pressing policy challenges facing world leaders, it remains as widespread today, possibly even more so, as it was when concerted international attention began being devoted to the issue following the end of the Cold War. In reality, we still have a relatively weak understanding of how best to measure corruption and how to develop effective guides to action from such measurement. This paper provides a detailed review of existing approaches to measuring corruption, focusing in particular on perception-based and non- perceptual approaches. We highlight a gap between the conceptualisation of corruption and its measurement, and argue that there is a tension between the demands of policy-makers and anti-corruption activists on the one hand, and the motivations of academic researchers on the other. The search for actionable answers on the part of the former sits uncomfortably with the latter’s focus on the inherent complexity of corruption

The role of adipose secreted cytokines in driving the pathological changes in osteoarthritis

Adipose secreted cytokines are thought to contribute to pro-inflammatory state seen commonly in obese individuals, providing a potential metabolic link between obesity and osteoarthritis. The aim of this study is to further our understanding of the role of adipokines within OA by examining the serum and joint fluid adipokine expression profiles in relation to disease severity, BMI, and joint tissue turnover markers. The result of this study show that subchondral bone from overweight/obese hip OA patients exhibited reduced trabecular thickness, increased bone surface/bone volume ratio and an increase in the type I collagen α1/α2 ratio, compared to normal-weight hip OA patients. The serum concentration of resistin was higher in overweight/obese OA patients, compared to normal-weight OA patients (12740 vs 9818pg/mL respectively; p7 fold, 20-fold, 4-fold and 7-fold respectively). Visfatin significantly increased in catabolic proteases including MMP-1 (4-fold), MMP-2 (3-fold), MMP-3 (3-fold), MMP-7 (2.2-fold), MMP-8 (1.3-fold), MMP-9 (1.2-fold), MMP-10 (1.5-fold), and MMP-13 (5-fold) and localised to areas of cartilage damage. Targeted inhibition of adipokine signalling could therefore be a rewarding strategy for developing a novel therapeutic