Coronary stenosis severity by 64-slice CT angiography (CTA) is acceptably correlated with intravascular ultrasound. Stress myocardial perfusion imaging using SPECT is an established method for assessment of the functional significance of coronary stenosis. Our aim was to assess a clinical validation of quantitative measurements of coronary stenosis severity by 64-slice CTA and the relation to the physiologic significance of myocardial perfusion. Methods: One hundred four patients with suspected coronary artery disease underwent 64-slice CTA and stress 201 Tl SPECT. The stenosis severities of 105 coronary lesions assessed by CTA with sufficient image quality were compared with the results of stress 201 Tl SPECT. The body mass index (BMI) of the patients was 23.8 kg/m 2 (range, 21.1-25.6 kg/m 2 ). Results: Reversible defects began to increase progressively when the area of stenosis was at least 60%, and the prevalence of these reversible defects and their severity significantly increased as the degree of stenosis increased. When stenosis severity by CTA is , 60%, ischemia is seldom observed; when stenosis severity is $80%, ischemia is common (86%). For intermediate stenosis severity values of 60%-70%, the prevalence of reversible defects was 9 of 27 vessels (33%), and for stenosis severity values of 70%-80%, the prevalence was 20 of 37 vessels (54%). When evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of stenosis severity by CTA to identify patients with ischemia excluding all nonevaluable vessels, applying stenosis thresholds of .70% results in 79% sensitivity, 92% specificity, 66% positive predictive value, and 96% negative predictive value. A lesion minimal luminal cross-sectional area of , 3.7 mm 2 was a good accurate cutoff value for significant coronary narrowing using stress SPECT, with a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 83% by receiveroperating-characteristic analysis. Conclusion: Despite an excellent negative predictive value to rule out the presence of ischemia, 64-slice CTA alone is a poor discriminator of the functional significance of myocardial ischemia in a highly selected patient population with a low BMI.

An analytical method was developed for the identification and quantification of 15 mycotoxins (patulin, nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2, M1, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, zearalenone, fumonisin B1, B2, B3, and ochratoxin A) in beer-based drinks (beer, low-malt beer, new genre, and nonalcoholic) by a modified QuEChERS method and an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/MS/MS). Mycotoxins were extracted from samples using acetonitrile with sodium chloride, anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and sodium citrate, and were then purified with a solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridge including C18. The UHPLC conditions were also examined to establish its optimal conditions for separation. Fifteen mycotoxins were separated in a total of 6.5 min, and were quantified in the optimal mobile phase conditions. Determinations performed using this method produced high correlation coefficients of 15 mycotoxins (R > 0.99) and recovery rates ranging from 70.3 to 110.7% with good repeatability (relative standard deviation RSD < 14.6%). Further, 24 commercial beer-based drinks in Japan were analyzed using this method, and nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, and fumonisins were detected in several samples, but always under the limit of quantification (< 5 ng/mL). These results suggest that the health risk to consumers from beer-based drinks in Japan is relatively low.

A high-resolution liquid chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (LC-Orbitrap MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of 20 Fusarium toxins (nivalenol, fusarenon-X, deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyl deoxynivalenol, 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol, HT-2 toxin, T-2 toxin, neosolaniol, diacetoxyscirpenol, fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, fumonisin B3, fumonisin A1, fumonisin A2, fumonisin A3, zearalenone, α-zearalenol, β-zearalenol, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol) in cereals. The separation of 20 Fusarium toxins with good peak shapes was achieved using a pentafluorophenyl column, and Orbitrap MS was able to detect accurately from cereal matrix components within ±0.77 ppm. The samples were prepared using a QuEChERS kit for extraction and a multifunctional cartridge for purification. The linearity, repeatability, and recovery of the method were >0.9964, 0.8%–14.7%, and 71%–106%, respectively. Using this method, an analysis of 34 commercially available cereals detected the presence of deoxynivalenol, 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol, fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, fumonisin B3, fumonisn A1, fumonisin A2, fumonisin A3, and zearalenone in corn samples with high concentration and frequency. Trichothecenes was detected from wheat samples with high frequency; in particular, the concentration of deoxynivalenol was high. Conversely, α-zearalenol, β-zearalenol, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol were not detected in any of the samples.

An analytical method using two solid phase extractions and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was developed for the identification and quantification of 14 mycotoxins (patulin, deoxynivalenol, aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2, M1, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, zearalenone, fumonisins B1, B2, B3, and ochratoxin A) in domestic and imported wines. Mycotoxins were purified with an Oasis HLB cartridge, followed by a MultiSepTM #229 Ochra. As a result, sufficient removal of the pigments and highly polar matrices from the red wines was achieved. UHPLC conditions were optimized, and 14 mycotoxins were separated in a total of 13 min. Determinations performed using this method produced high correlation coefficients for the 14 mycotoxins (R > 0.990) and recovery rates ranging from 76 to 105% with good repeatability (relative standard deviation RSD < 12%). Twenty-seven samples of domestic and imported wines were analyzed using this method. Although ochratoxin A (OTA) and fumonisins (FMs) were detected in several samples, the FM levels were less than limits of quantification (LOQs) (1 μg/L), and even the largest of the OTA levels was below the EU regulatory level (2 μg/L). These results suggest that the health risk posed to consumers from the wines available in Japan is relatively low.