Toward the Interpretation of Positive Testing for Fentanyl and Its Analogs in Real Hair Samples: Preliminary Considerations

Abstract The detection of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in hair has become extensively researched in recent years. Although most NPS fall into the classes of synthetic cannabinoids and designer cathinones, novel synthetic opioids (NSO) have appeared with increasing frequency in the illicit drug supply. While the detection of NSO in hair is now well documented, interpretation of results presents several controversial issues, as is quite common in hair analysis. In this study, an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method able to detect 13 synthetic opioids (including fentanyl analogs) and metabolites in hair was applied to 293 real samples. Samples were collected in the USA between November 2016 and August 2018 from subjects who had reported heroin use in the past year or had already tested positive to hair testing for common opiates. The range, mean and median concentrations were calculated for each analyte, in order to draw a preliminary direction for a possible cut-off to discriminate between exposure to either low or high quantities of the drug. Over two-thirds (68%) of samples tested positive for fentanyl at concentrations between LOQ and 8600 pg/mg. The mean value was 382 pg/mg and the median was 95 pg/mg. The metabolites norfentanyl and 4-ANPP were also quantified and were found between LOQ and 320 pg/mg and between LOQ and 1400 pg/mg, respectively. The concentration ratios norfentanyl/fentanyl, 4-ANPP/fentanyl and norfentanyl/4-ANPP were also tested as potential markers of active use and to discriminate the intake of fentanyl from other analogs. The common occurrence of samples positive for multiple drugs may suggest that use is equally prevalent among consumers, which is not the case, as correlations based on quantitative results demonstrated. We believe this set of experimental observations provides a useful starting point for a wide discussion aimed to better understand positive hair testing for fentanyl and its analogs in hair samples.

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New Psychoactive Substances and Suicidality: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina57060580 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (6) ◽

pp. 580

Author(s):

Stefania Chiappini ◽

Alessio Mosca ◽

Andrea Miuli ◽

Maria Chiara Santovito ◽

Laura Orsolini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

New Psychoactive Substances ◽

Psychoactive Substances ◽

Clinical Issue ◽

The Past ◽

Synthetic Opioids ◽

Online Databases ◽

Health Related

Background and Objectives: Over the past twenty years a large number of new psychoactive substances (NPS) have entered and modified the recreational drug scene. Their intake has been associated with health-related risks, especially so for vulnerable populations such as people with severe mental illness, who might be at higher risk of suicidality or self-injurious behavior. This paper aims at providing an overview of NPS abuse and the effects on mental health and suicidality issues, by performing a literature review of the current related knowledge, thereby identifying those substances that, more than others, are linked to suicidal behaviors. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive and updated overview of the literature regarding suicidality and NPS categories has been undertaken. An electronic search was performed, including all papers published up to March 2021, using the following keywords “NPS” OR “new psychoactive substances” OR “novel psychoactive substances” OR “synthetic cannabinoids” OR “phenethylamines” OR “synthetic cathinones” OR “tryptamines” OR “piperazines” OR “new synthetic opioids” OR “designer benzodiazepines” AND (“suicide” OR “suicidality”) NOT review NOT animal on the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science online databases. Results: Suicidality and self-injurious behavior appear to be frequently associated with some NPS such as cathinones, synthetic cannabinoids, and new synthetic opioids. The results are organized according to the substances recorded. Conclusion: The growing use of NPS has become a significant clinical issue, causing increasing concern and challenges for clinicians working in both mental health and emergency departments. Thus, considering the associations between NPS and suicidality or self-injurious behaviors, areas where suicide-prevention efforts and strategies might be focused are the early detection, monitoring, and restriction of NPS.

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Novel Synthetic Opioids: The Pathologist’s Point of View

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci8090170 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (9) ◽

pp. 170 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Paolo Frisoni ◽

Erica Bacchio ◽

Sabrine Bilel ◽

Anna Talarico ◽

Rosa Gaudio ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽

Point Of View ◽

New Psychoactive Substances ◽

Psychoactive Substances ◽

Synthetic Drugs ◽

Synthetic Opioids ◽

Opioid Intoxication ◽

Fentanyl Analogs ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Novel Synthetic Opioids

Background: New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) constitute a broad range of hundreds of natural and synthetic drugs, including synthetic opioids, synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones, and other NPS classes, which were not controlled from 1961 to 1971 by the United Nations drug control conventions. Among these, synthetic opioids represent a major threat to public health. Methods: A literature search was carried out using public databases (such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus) to survey fentanyl-, fentanyl analogs-, and other synthetic opioid-related deaths. Keywords including “fentanyl”, “fentanyl analogs”, “death”, “overdose”, “intoxication”, “synthetic opioids”, “Novel Psychoactive Substances”, “MT-45”, “AH-7921”, and “U-47700” were used for the inquiry. Results: From our literature examination, we inferred the frequent implication of fentanyls and synthetic opioids in side effects, which primarily affected the central nervous system and the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. The data showed a great variety of substances and lethal concentrations. Multidrug-related deaths appeared very common, in most reported cases. Conclusions: The investigation of the contribution of novel synthetic opioid intoxication to death should be based on a multidisciplinary approach aimed at framing each case and directing the investigation towards targeted toxicological analyses.

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Evaluation of Gloriosa superba for Yield Attributing Characters and Quantification of Colchicine Originated from Different Agro Climatic Zones of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh

International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research ◽

10.25258/ijpcr.v9i3.8315 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Arun Kumar P. ◽

Elangaimannan R.

Keyword(s):

Seed Yield ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

High Performance ◽

Andhra Pradesh ◽

Crop Improvement ◽

Mean Value ◽

Hplc Method ◽

Gloriosa Superba ◽

Climatic Zones ◽

Colchicine Alkaloid

The study was conducted to evolve Gloriosa superba for yield characters and alkalodi content for selecting elite genotypes for comercial exploitatio n. The genotypes were sowm in Variyankaval village, Udayarpalayam taluk of Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu. The highest mean value for fresh and dry seed yield was observed in Chittor local. The genotype Mulanur local has recorded the highest mean value for number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod and Arupukotai local excelled the general mean for the traits seeds per pod, fresh and dry seed yield and also for tuber characters. An investigation was carried out to quantify the colchicine (alkaloid) present in tubers by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. The genotypes collected from Arupukotai recorded the highest colchicine content (0.760 mg/g) followed by Chittoor (0.578 mg/g) and Mulanur (0.496 mg/g) and there by these three genotypes were utilized for further crop improvement.

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Identification and Analytical Characterization of a Novel Synthetic Cannabinoid-Type Substance in Herbal Material in Europe

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26040793 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 793

Author(s):

Emmanouil D. Tsochatzis ◽

Joao Alberto Lopes ◽

Margaret V. Holland ◽

Fabiano Reniero ◽

Giovanni Palmieri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

Cannabinoid Receptor ◽

Analytical Data ◽

Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽

Synthetic Cannabinoid ◽

Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽

New Psychoactive Substances ◽

Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists ◽

Analytical Laboratories

The rapid diffusion of new psychoactive substances (NPS) presents unprecedented challenges to both customs authorities and analytical laboratories involved in their detection and characterization. In this study an analytical approach to the identification and structural elucidation of a novel synthetic cannabimimetic, quinolin-8-yl-3-[(4,4-difluoropiperidin-1-yl) sulfonyl]-4-methylbenzoate (2F-QMPSB), detected in seized herbal material, is detailed. An acid precursor 4-methyl-3-(4,4-difluoro-1-piperidinylsulfonyl) benzoic acid (2F-MPSBA), has also been identified in the same seized material. After extraction from the herbal material the synthetic cannabimimetic, also referred to as synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists or “synthetic cannabinoids”, was characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 1H, 13C, 19F and 15N nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HR-MS/MS) combined with chromatographic separation. A cheminformatics platform was used to manage and interpret the analytical data from these techniques.

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Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry and High-Sensitivity Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Screening of Classic Drugs and New Psychoactive Substances and Metabolites in Urine of Consumers

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22084000 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (8) ◽

pp. 4000

Author(s):

Emilia Marchei ◽

Maria Alias Ferri ◽

Marta Torrens ◽

Magí Farré ◽

Roberta Pacifici ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

Gas Chromatography ◽

Mobile Phase ◽

High Performance ◽

High Resolution Mass Spectrometry ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽

New Psychoactive Substances ◽

Psychoactive Substances ◽

Resolution Mass

The use of the new psychoactive substances is continuously growing and the implementation of accurate and sensible analysis in biological matrices of users is relevant and fundamental for clinical and forensic purposes. Two different analytical technologies, high-sensitivity gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) were used for a screening analysis of classic drugs and new psychoactive substances and their metabolites in urine of formed heroin addicts under methadone maintenance therapy. Sample preparation involved a liquid-liquid extraction. The UHPLC-HRMS method included Accucore™ phenyl Hexyl (100 × 2.1 mm, 2.6 μm, Thermo, USA) column with a gradient mobile phase consisting of mobile phase A (ammonium formate 2 mM in water, 0.1% formic acid) and mobile phase B (ammonium formate 2 mM in methanol/acetonitrile 50:50 (v/v), 0.1% formic acid) and a full-scan data-dependent MS2 (ddMS2) mode for substances identification (mass range 100–1000 m/z). The GC-MS method employed an ultra-Inert Intuvo GC column (HP-5MS UI, 30 m, 250 µm i.d, film thickness 0.25 µm; Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and electron-impact (EI) mass spectra were recorded in total ion monitoring mode (scan range 40–550 m/z). Urine samples from 296 patients with a history of opioid use disorder were examined. Around 80 different psychoactive substances and/or metabolites were identified, being methadone and metabolites the most prevalent ones. The possibility to screen for a huge number of psychotropic substances can be useful in suspected drug related fatalities or acute intoxication/exposure occurring in emergency departments and drug addiction services.

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The Algorithm for Graphic Method of Rain-Flow Counting in Programming

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.225-226.1157 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 225-226 ◽

pp. 1157-1161 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Qing Deng ◽

Hong Jie Yuan

Keyword(s):

Computer Program ◽

Execution Time ◽

Counting Process ◽

Load Cycle ◽

Mean Value ◽

Graphic Method ◽

Counting Method ◽

Starting Point ◽

Mechanical Basis

In this article, a new algorithm for rain-flow counting method in computer program is introduced. In the whole counting process, this algorithm entirely follows the principle of graphic method of rain-flow counting method, and so it can embodies the mechanical basis of extracting load cycle in rain-flow counting method; during the processing of counting, the information of every load cycle can be accurately recorded, such as starting and ending time, the time of peak or valley, the value of starting point and peak (or valley), mean value and amplitude. Besides, the counting result is in full accordance with the result from graphic method. Compared to four peak-valley method, this algorithm has shorter execution time and higher efficiency.

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Revisiting the CompCars Dataset for Hierarchical Car Classification: New Annotations, Experiments, and Results

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21020596 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 596

Author(s):

Marco Buzzelli ◽

Luca Segantin

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

High Performance ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Future Research ◽

Levels Of Detail ◽

Excellent Starting Point ◽

Starting Point ◽

Hierarchical Nature ◽

Multiple Levels ◽

Entire Dataset

We address the task of classifying car images at multiple levels of detail, ranging from the top-level car type, down to the specific car make, model, and year. We analyze existing datasets for car classification, and identify the CompCars as an excellent starting point for our task. We show that convolutional neural networks achieve an accuracy above 90% on the finest-level classification task. This high performance, however, is scarcely representative of real-world situations, as it is evaluated on a biased training/test split. In this work, we revisit the CompCars dataset by first defining a new training/test split, which better represents real-world scenarios by setting a more realistic baseline at 61% accuracy on the new test set. We also propagate the existing (but limited) type-level annotation to the entire dataset, and we finally provide a car-tight bounding box for each image, automatically defined through an ad hoc car detector. To evaluate this revisited dataset, we design and implement three different approaches to car classification, two of which exploit the hierarchical nature of car annotations. Our experiments show that higher-level classification in terms of car type positively impacts classification at a finer grain, now reaching 70% accuracy. The achieved performance constitutes a baseline benchmark for future research, and our enriched set of annotations is made available for public download.

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Detection of Fentanyl Analogs and Synthetic Opioids in Real Hair Samples

Journal of Analytical Toxicology ◽

10.1093/jat/bky093 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 43 (4) ◽

pp. 259-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Alberto Salomone ◽

Joseph J Palamar ◽

Rachele Bigiarini ◽

Enrico Gerace ◽

Daniele Di Corcia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Synthetic Opioids ◽

Hair Samples ◽

Fentanyl Analogs

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Towards Biohydrogen Separation Using Poly(Ionic Liquid)/Ionic Liquid Composite Membranes

Membranes ◽

10.3390/membranes8040124 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 124 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Andreia S.L. Gouveia ◽

Lucas Ventaja ◽

Liliana C. Tomé ◽

Isabel M. Marrucho

Keyword(s):

Ionic Liquid ◽

High Performance ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Composite Membranes ◽

Feed Pressure ◽

Starting Point ◽

Poly Ionic Liquid ◽

Separation Performances ◽

H2 Selectivity

Considering the high potential of hydrogen (H2) as a clean energy carrier, the implementation of high performance and cost-effective biohydrogen (bioH2) purification techniques is of vital importance, particularly in fuel cell applications. As membrane technology is a potentially energy-saving solution to obtain high-quality biohydrogen, the most promising poly(ionic liquid) (PIL)–ionic liquid (IL) composite membranes that had previously been studied by our group for CO2/N2 separation, containing pyrrolidinium-based PILs with fluorinated or cyano-functionalized anions, were chosen as the starting point to explore the potential of PIL–IL membranes for CO2/H2 separation. The CO2 and H2 permeation properties at the typical conditions of biohydrogen production (T = 308 K and 100 kPa of feed pressure) were measured and discussed. PIL–IL composites prepared with the [C(CN)3]− anion showed higher CO2/H2 selectivity than those containing the [NTf2]− anion. All the membranes revealed CO2/H2 separation performances above the upper bound for this specific separation, highlighting the composite incorporating 60 wt% of [C2mim][C(CN)3] IL.

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Criteria for Best Performance of Pre-Optimized Solid Dampers

Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power ◽

10.1115/1.4040820 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 141 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Chiara Gastaldi ◽

Muzio M. Gola

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Nonlinear Finite Element ◽

Design Stage ◽

Experimental Investigations ◽

Early Design Stage ◽

Real Contact ◽

Starting Point ◽

Definition Of ◽

Stiffening Effect ◽

Contact Parameters

This paper furthers recent research by these authors. The starting point is the pre-optimization of solid dampers, which ensures that all dampers bound to “misbehave” are excluded since the early design stage. The authors now enlarge the scope of their investigations to explore those damper configurations selected inside the admissible design area. The purpose of the paper is to present a set of criteria apt to select a damper configuration which not only avoids unwanted situations, but in addition guarantees high performance under different design conditions. The analysis starts with the definition of a set of requirements a high performance damper should meet. In detail, the present investigation seeks to answer the following questions: in the low excitation regime, what is the frequency shift and the stiffening effect each damper can provide? for increasing excitation levels, which damper will start slipping sooner? in the high excitation regime, which damper provides the maximum dissipation? Like pre-optimization, it does not involve nonlinear finite element calculations, and unlike existing optimization procedures, is not linked to a specific set of blades the damper may be coupled to. The numerical prediction of the blade-damper coupled dynamics is here used only for validation purposes. The approach on which this paper rests is fully numerical; however, real contact parameters are taken from extensive experimental investigations made possible by those purposely developed test rigs which are the distinctive mark of the AERMEC Lab of Politecnico di Torino.

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