No abstract

Farmers, cereal suppliers and processors demand rapid techniques for the assessment of mould-associated contamination. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is among the most important Fusarium toxins and related to human and animal diseases...

The aim of the study was to optimize preprocessing of sparse infrared spectral data. The sparse data were obtained by reducing broadband Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance spectra of bovine and human cartilage, as well as of simulated spectral data, comprising several thousand spectral variables into datasets comprising only seven spectral variables. Different preprocessing approaches were compared, including simple baseline correction and normalization procedures, and model-based preprocessing, such as multiplicative signal correction (MSC). The optimal preprocessing was selected based on the quality of classification models established by partial least squares discriminant analysis for discriminating healthy and damaged cartilage samples. The best results for the sparse data were obtained by preprocessing using a baseline offset correction at 1800 cm−1, followed by peak normalization at 850cm−1 and preprocessing by MSC.

In this Review, the main techniques of the photothermal radiometry family with their varieties (modulated and pulsed photothermal radiometry and infrared photocarrier radiometry) and related methods (infrared thermography) are considered from the viewpoints of their specific features and application in chemical research and related disciplines. The basics of the methods and their technical implementation are briefly described. The focus of the paper is to examine the possibilities of photothermal radiometry methods—as techniques combining molecular spectroscopy and thermal characterization—physical and analytical chemistry, materials sciences, and biomedical research. The Review discusses the techniques of photothermal radiometry that find their applications in the various fields of the materials science like investigation of the thermal and structural properties of materials, defectoscopy, and dynamics of thermal processes. It also discusses the techniques that are used in the applied chemical research, in the evaluation of the optical properties at molecular or substance levels and the assessment of various substances including biomaterials. The outlooks of the further development in this area are briefly discussed.

The analytical performance of a compact infrared attenuated total reflection spectrometer using a pyroelectric detector array has been evaluated and compared to a conventional laboratory Fourier transform infrared system for applications in food analysis. Analytical characteristics including sensitivity, repeatability, linearity of the calibration functions, signal-to-noise ratio, and spectral resolution have been derived for both approaches. Representative analytes of relevance in food industries (i.e., organic solvents, fatty acids, and mycotoxins) have been used for the assessment of the performance of the device and to discuss the potential of this technology in food and feed analysis.