Nondestructive and Rapid Screening of Aflatoxin-Contaminated Single Peanut Kernels Using Field-Portable Spectroscopy Instruments (FT-IR and Raman).

A nondestructive and rapid classification approach was developed for identifying aflatoxin-contaminated single peanut kernels using field-portable vibrational spectroscopy instruments (FT-IR and Raman). Single peanut kernels were either spiked with an aflatoxin solution (30 ppb-400 ppb) or hexane (control), and their spectra were collected via Raman and FT-IR. An uHPLC-MS/MS approach was used to verify the spiking accuracy via determining actual aflatoxin content on the surface of randomly selected peanut samples. Supervised classification using soft independent modeling of class analogies (SIMCA) showed better discrimination between aflatoxin-contaminated (30 ppb-400 ppb) and control peanuts with FT-IR compared with Raman, predicting the external validation samples with 100% accuracy. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of SIMCA models generated with the portable FT-IR device outperformed the methods in other destructive studies reported in the literature, using a variety of vibrational spectroscopy benchtop systems. The discriminating power analysis showed that the bands corresponded to the C=C stretching vibrations of the ring structures of aflatoxins were most significant in explaining the variance in the model, which were also reported for Aspergillus-infected brown rice samples. Field-deployable vibrational spectroscopy devices can enable in situ identification of aflatoxin-contaminated peanuts to assure regulatory compliance as well as cost savings in the production of peanut products.

End-stage osteoarthritis of the great toe/hallux rigidus: a review of the alternatives to arthrodesis: implant versus osteotomies and arthroplasty techniques.

Hallux rigidus is defined as end-staged arthrosis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint. Although the literature supports arthrodesis as being the gold standard for the treatment of end-staged hallux rigidus, there are several other treatments available that can either prolong the life of the remaining joint or artificially mimic the original biomechanics by replacing a portion of or the entire joint with the added advantage of preserving joint mobility. There are several new and emerging joint preservative techniques that may delay or prevent the need for a joint-destructive procedure, such as arthrodesis or arthroplasty.