Comparison of analytical tools and biological assays for detection of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins

The paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (PSTs) were, as their name suggests, discovered as a result of human poisoning after consumption of contaminated shellfish. More recently, however, the same toxins have been found to be produced by freshwater cyanobacteria. These organisms have worldwide distribution and are common in our sources of drinking water, thus presenting another route of potential human exposure. However, the regulatory limits for PSTs in drinking water are considerably lower than in shellfish. This has increased the need to find alternatives to the mouse bioassay, which, apart from being ethically questionable, does not have a limit of detection capable of detecting the PSTs in water at the regulated concentrations. Additionally, the number of naturally occurring PSTs has grown substantially since saxitoxin was first characterised, markedly increasing the analytical challenge of this group of compounds. This paper summarises the development of chromatographic, toxicity, and molecular sensor binding methodologies for detection of the PSTs in shellfish, cyanobacteria, and water contaminated by these toxins. It then summarises the advantages and disadvantages of their use for particular applications. Finally it recommends some future requirements that will contribute to their improvement for these applications.     

Generalization of Carré equation

The present work offers new equations for phase evaluation in measurements. Several phase shifting equations with an arbitrary but constant phase shift between captured intensity signs are proposed. The equations are similarly derived as the so-called Carré equation. The idea is to develop a generalization of Carré equation that is not restricted to four images. Errors and random noise in the images cannot be eliminated, but the uncertainty due to their effects can be reduced by increasing the number of observations. An experimental analysis of the mistakes of the technique was made, as well as a detailed analysis of mistakes of the measurement. The advantages of the proposed equation are its precision in the measures taken, speed of processing and the immunity to noise in signs and images.