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The feasibility of using visible/near-infrared (Vis/NIR) spectroscopy was assessed for non-destructive detection of diazinon residues in intact cucumbers. Vis/NIR spectra of diazinon solution and cucumber samples without and with different concentrations of diazinon residue were analysed at the range of 450-1000 nm. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were developed based on different spectral pre-processing techniques to classify cucumbers with contents of diazinon below and above the MRL as safe and unsafe samples, respectively. The best model was obtained using a first-derivative method with the lowest standard error of cross-validation (SECV = 0.366). Moreover, total percentages of correctly classified samples in calibration and prediction sets were 97.5% and 92.31%, respectively. It was concluded that Vis/NIR spectroscopy could be an appropriate, fast and non-destructive technology for safety control of intact cucumbers by the absence/presence of diazinon residues.

Introduction: Regarding the limited ability of the damaged cartilage cells to self-renew, which is due to their specific tissue structure, subtle damages can usually cause diseases such as osteoarthritis. In this work, using laser photobiomodulation and an interesting source of growth factors cocktail called the synovial fluid, we analyzed the chondrogenic marker genes in treated hair follicle dermal papilla cells as an accessible source of cells with relatively high differentiation potential. Methods: Dermal papilla cells were isolated from rat whisker hair follicle (Rattus norvegicus) and established cell cultures were treated with a laser (gallium aluminum arsenide diode Laser (λ=780 nm, 30 mW) at 5 J/cm2 ), the synovial fluid, and a combination of both. After 1, 4, 7, and 14 days, the morphological changes were evaluated and the expression levels of four chondrocyte marker genes (Col2a1, Sox-9, Col10a1, and Runx-2) were assessed by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: It was monitored that treating cells with laser irradiation can accelerate the rate of proliferation of cells. The morphology of the cells treated with the synovial fluid altered considerably as in the fourth day they surprisingly looked like cultured articular chondrocytes. The gene expression analysis showed that all genes were up-regulated until the day 14 following the treatments although not equally in all the cell groups. Moreover, the cell groups treated with both irradiation and the synovial fluid had a significantly augmented expression in gene markers. Conclusion: Based on the gene expression levels and the morphological changes, we concluded that the synovial fluid can have the potential to make the dermal papilla cells to most likely mimic the chondrogenic and/or osteogenic differentiation, although this process seems to be augmented by the irradiation of the low-level laser.

Recently, compression optical clearing (OC) was applied to detect dermal carotenoid using reflection spectroscopy. To enhance the precision and accuracy of reflection spectroscopy to better detect the spectral absorption of beta-carotene inside biological phantom, here, we simultaneously use compression and immersion OC using dimethyl sulfoxide. In addition, we analytically extract the absorption coefficient of beta-carotene using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (as an analytical OC). Our results show that the presented analytical OC can be applied alone as a noninvasive method to measure cutaneous chromophores at deep tissues. Finally, we also improve the ability of the analytical clearing method mediated with experimental OC. Our result demonstrates that the combination of analytical and experimental clearing methods enhance the ability of diffuse reflection spectroscopy for extracting the absorption coefficient of beta-carotene as one of the chromospheres inside biological phantom.

Low Level Light irradiation (LLLI) may proliferate cell growth at certain conditions during a set of photochemical reactions called biostimulation. However, phototoxic inhibitory reactions after irradiating natural or artificially inoculated cells are possible. The purpose of this study was to determine these effects on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Ar ion laser at 514 nm was used to determine the effect of various energy densities of green light on these bacteria. The most effective energy densities of Ar ion laser were chosen to irradiate both bacteria with He-Ne (633 nm) and SHG Nd:YAG (532 nm) lasers to compare the effect of red and green lights on the growth. Irradiation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for both He-Ne and SHG Nd:YAG lasers in the presence of toluidine blue O or safranine O as photosensitizers was also studied. All energy densities of Ar ion laser showed a proliferative effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus. Similarly, SHG Nd:YAG and He-Ne lasers with chosen energy densities were again proliferating for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and inhibitory for Staphylococcus aureus and SHG Nd:YAG was more effective than He-Ne in both cases. Irradiation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the presence of both photosensitizers led to the decrease of the cell population compared to the control.

This study was conducted to determine the most efficient method to produce vitamin D in mushrooms using UV radiation. For this purpose, mushrooms were irradiated with UV-B and UV-C lamps from their caps, stems, both caps and stems (oblique), and sliced surface at doses of 12.5 kJ m −2 and 3.6 kJ m −2 , respectively. Then, they were treated by UV-B at 27 °C, 35 °C, and 43 °C. In the next steps, samples were placed in 30 cm and 50 cm distances from the UV source. Afterward, they were irradiated from 15 to 120 min at an intensity of 3.5 W m −2 . In the stability tests, samples were stored at 25 °C, frozen, refrigerated and were cooked and their vitamin D2 content was re-analyzed using HPLC. All experiments were repeated three times. In the sliced group treated with UV-B, vitamin D2 content 14.43 μg gr −1 was significantly higher than other groups. The internal temperature of 27 °C was found as optimum temperature with the production of 3.81 μg gr −1 vitamin D. It was revealed that increasing the distance from the UV source had a significant effect on vitamin D production. After 90 min of exposure, the highest amount of vitamin D2 was produced. Data showed that the vitamin D2 content remained almost stable after one day at 25 °C and during the cooking but it decreased about 50% after 7 days of cold storage. The optimal method observed in this study incorporates the use of UV-B lamps, incensement of radiation area in mushrooms and distance reduction from the UV source within 30 cm the internal temperature of 27 °C should be considered as well in the experiment.

In this research, an optical system based on fibre optic Vis/NIR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics methods and software as a graphical user interface (GUI) was developed and presented for fast and non-destructive detection and determination of pesticide residues in agricultural products (a case study on diazinon in intact cucumbers). Vis/NIR spectra of cucumber samples without and with different concentrations of diazinon residue were analyzed at the range of 450-1000 nm. Partial least squares (PLS) regression models were developed based on chemical reference measurements and the spectral information of the samples after performing different pre-processing methods. Moreover, partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were developed based on different spectral pre-processing techniques to classify cucumbers with contents of diazinon below and above the maximum residue limits (MRL) as safe and unsafe samples, respectively. Finally, user-friendly software as a GUI was created based on the best PLS and PLS-DA models developed for prediction of diazinon contents in the samples and for classification of intact cucumbers by the absence/presence of diazinon residues, respectively. Evaluation of the system and software designed based on the best developed PLS and PLS-DA models indicated good performance for measuring and detection of

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