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An analytical method based on HPLC with MS/MS detection was developed and optimized in order to determine the most useful antibiotics (sulphonamides and tetracyclines) used in aquaculture. A simple extraction procedure, without any clean-up step, was evaluated in order to obtain maximum analyte recovery from ¢sh samples (Sparus aurata). A mixture of methanol:water 70:30 (v/v)11mL EDTA 0.1M was selected as optimum extractant solution. Because no matrix e¡ects were observed, a standard calibration curve prepared in mobile phase was used for quanti¢cation purposes. Antibiotic-free ¢sh samples were spiked at di¡erent concentration levels and analysed by the optimized HPLC method. The average recoveries (n 5 6) obtained were satisfactory, ranging from 88% to 110% at 100 mg kg À 1 . The proposed methodology provided limits of detection for the tested antibiotics in the 1.2^16 mg kg À 1 range, lower than 100 mg kg À 1 , the maximum residue level established by the European Union. Finally, commercial ¢sh samples from di¡erent origins were analysed in order to con¢rm the usefulness of the developed methodology.

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A highly sensitive and specific SPR-based competitive immunoassay for the detection of Thiabendazole (TBZ) has been developed. An indirect format where a TBZ-protein conjugate is immobilized onto gold surfaces has been selected. Under the optimal conditions, a LOD of 0.67 nM (0.13 μg L(-1)) and an IC(50) of 3.2 nM (0.64 μg L(-1)) have been achieved which are comparable to the values obtained by conventional ELISA. Analysis of real samples has been attempted by first evaluating the influence of complex matrix samples coming from whole oranges and secondly measuring samples containing TBZ previously evaluated by chromatographic methods. A methanolic extraction procedure followed by a simple dilution in assay buffer has proven to be sufficient to measure orange samples using the developed immunoassay with an excellent recovery percentage. The sensitivity and the feasibility of measuring whole orange samples demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the SPR biosensor, which can be useful for the determination of TBZ in food at concentrations below the Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) established by the European legislation.

The metacommunity concept provides a theoretical framework that aims at explaining organism distributions by a combination of environmental filtering, dispersal, and drift. However, few works have attempted a multitaxon approach and even fewer have compared two distant biogeographical regions using the same methodology. We tested the expectation that temperate (mediterranean-climate) pond metacommunities would be more influenced by environmental and spatial processes than tropical ones, because of stronger environmental gradients and a greater isolation of waterbodies. However, the pattern should be different among groups of organisms depending on their dispersal abilities. We surveyed 30 tropical and 32 mediterranean temporary ponds from Costa Rica and Spain, respectively, and obtained data on 49 environmental variables. We characterized the biological communities of bacteria and archaea (from the water column and the sediments), phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, amphibians and birds, and estimated the relative role of space and environment on metacommunity organization for each group and region, by means of variation partitioning using generalized additive models.Purely environmental effects were important in both tropical and mediterranean ponds, but stronger in the latter, probably due to their larger limnological heterogeneity. Spatially correlated environment and pure spatial effects were greater in the tropics, related to higher climatic heterogeneity and dispersal processes (e.g., restriction, surplus) acting at different scales. The variability between taxonomic groups in the contribution of spatial and environmental factors to metacommunity variation was very wide, but higher in active,