The potential of accelerator-based techniques as an analytical tool for forensics: The case of coffee.

We discuss how different accelerator-based techniques can be employed synergistically as a powerful analytical tool for forensic studies of foodstuff. Brazilian and Jamaican coffees were chosen as a showcase due to its popularity and potential risk of adulteration and/or falsification. Comprehensive characterization of major and trace elements, age since production and compound contents were achieved using different techniques, including PIXE (Particle-Induced X-ray Emission), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared), and AMS-14C (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry - Radiocarbon Analysis). While PIXE provides information on the elements present in the samples, FTIR probes the types of compounds through their vibrational spectra. Finally, AMS-14C is capable of dating organic samples regarding their harvesting time. Five different laboratories from research institutions around the world took part in the experiments. The integration of the results obtained with different techniques provided multifaceted perspectives on the coffee under study, thus allowing a direct assessment of the material for forensic purposes such as authentication, determination of provenance, and combat counterfeiting.

Vitrification of bovine blastocysts pretreated with sublethal hydrostatic pressure stress: evaluation of post-thaw in vitro development and gene expression.

Sublethal stress treatment has been reported to enhance gametes' performance in subsequent procedures, such as cryopreservation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different equilibration times between the termination of a sublethal hydrostatic pressure (HP) stress treatment and the initiation of vitrification on the post-thaw survival, continued in vitro development, hatching rate and gene expression of selected candidate genes of in vitro-produced (IVP) expanded bovine blastocysts. Day 7 IVP blastocysts were subjected to 600 bar pressure for 60 min at 32°C. Immediately after pressure treatment (HP0h) or after 1 or 2h incubation (HP1h and HP2h groups, respectively), embryos were either vitrified and warmed using the open pulled straw method, followed by 72 h in vitro culture or were stored at -80°C until gene expression analysis. Re-expansion and hatching rates after vitrification-warming were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the HP0h (88 and 76%, respectively) and HP1h (90 and 75%, respectively) groups than in the untreated (82 and 63%, respectively) and HP2h groups (79 and 70%, respectively). Moreover, the HP1h group showed further improvement in the speed of re-expansion and resumption of normal in vitro development. Cumulative analysis of all genes (SC4MOL, HSP1A1A, SOD2 and GPX4) revealed a similar pattern of expression, with a tendency for peak transcript abundance 1h after HP treatment. Application of HP stress treatment was found to be efficient in increasing the in vitro developmental competence of vitrified bovine embryos.