Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a natural contaminant that has displayed nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity in mammals. It contaminates a great variety of foodstuffs and threatens people's lives. The molecular mechanism of OTA-induced toxicity has been studied since 1965. Moreover, epigenetic mechanisms are also studied in OTA-induced toxicity. Additionally, the mode of OTA epigenetic research has been ad...

A pseudo-differential fully balanced fully symmetric CMOS operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) architecture with inherent common-mode detection is proposed. Through judicious arrangement, the common-mode feedback circuit can be economically implemented. The OTA achieves a third harmonic distortion of 43 dB for 900 mVpp at 30 MHz. The OTA, fabricated in 0.5m CMOS process, is used to desi...

This paper presents a new methodology of the over-theair (OTA) assessment for vertically arranged multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) array antennas. Particular emphasis is placed on how well handset MIMO antennas with a vertically arranged structure are characterized using the limited number of scatterers implemented in a fading emulator. First we studied the mechanism of the arrangement of ...

SCOPE In this study, human exposure to the mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) and its thermal degradation product 2'R-ochratoxin A (2'R-OTA, previously named as 14R-Ochratoxin A [22]) through coffee consumption was assessed. LC-MS/MS and the dried blood spot (DBS) technique were used for the analysis of blood samples from coffee and noncoffee drinkers (n = 50), and food frequency questionnaires were ...

This paper presents positive and negative full-wave rectifier. The proposed structure is based on OTA using commercially available ICs (LT1228). The features of the proposed circuit are that: it can rectify and amplify voltage signal with controllable output magnitude via input bias current: the output voltage is free from temperature variation. The circuit description merely consists of 1 sing...

The OTA content of 30 roasted coffees purchased in French supermarkets was evaluated by two validated different methods: one using immunoaffinity column (IAC) clean-up after alkaline extraction; the second using toluene extraction under acidic conditions. OTA recoveries (0.5 to 5 µg/kg) ranged from 16-49% with the alkaline extraction method and 55-60% with the acidic method. OTA recoveries from...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) causes pathological lesions in the organs of animals. Males are more sensitive to OTA exposure than females but the reasons for this are unknown. The objective of this study was to explore the role of testosterone in male rats with OTA-related pathogenesis. To test the effect of testosterone on OTA toxicity, the testes of a group of rats were surgically removed. Male and fema...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a potent nephrotoxin and carcinogen which is found in a wide variety of common foods and beverages and it is produced by several species of Aspergillus and Penicillium. Ochratoxin α (OTα), a major metabolite of OTA, has also been reported to occur in cultures of OTA-producing species. However there is some controversial about the participation of OTα in the biosynthesis of...

A total of 93 Portuguese grape samples destined for wine production were examined for the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) and the OTA producing fungi Aspergillus carbonarius and A. niger aggregate. Samples came from 11 vineyards from four winemaking regions in the North and South of the Portuguese mainland, during the harvest seasons of 2001, 2002 and 2003. Grapes were examined at 3 maturation s...

This paper presents the design of an ultra low-voltage (ULV) pseudo operational transconductance amplifier (P-OTA) that is able to operate with a single supply voltage as low as 0.4 V. The proposed circuit is based on the bulk-driven technique and use of cross-coupled self-cascode pairs that boosts the differential DC gain. The stability condition of this structure for the DC gain is considered...