Chemical Fingerprinting of Counterfeits of Viagra and Cialis Tablets and Analogues via Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is shown to provide an efficient tech- nique for the investigation of polar composition of forensic tablets for male erectile dysfunction. ESI-MS fingerprinting of 41 commercial sildenafil samples (Viagra?, Cialis?, Lazar?, Libiden?, , Maxfil?, , Plenovit?, Potent 75?, Rigix?, V-50?, Vimax?, Pramil 75? and Pramil?) and 56 counterfeit samples (Viagra and Cialis) were obtained. The spectra for the authentic Viagra? tablets showed abundant ions exclusively corresponding to the sildenafil (SLD) molecule: [SLD + H]+ of m/z 475;[SLD + Na]+ of m/z 497;and [2SLD + H]+ of m/z 949. The spectra for com-mercial sildenafil samples also showed predominat SLD ions. Tablets of authentic Cialis? showed mainly ions of m/z 343, 365 and 707 from the lactose molecule (the excipient);as well as a minor ion of m/z 390 corresponding to the active ingredient tadalafil (TAD) in its protonated form [TAD + H]+. For counterfeit Cialis samples, how-ever, normally TAD ions of much high abundances was observed, together with ions corresponding to sildenafil analogues such as those of m/z 489 (homosildenafil) and 505 (hydroxyhomosildenafil). Principal component analysis was applied to ESI-MS fingerprint data, placing samples according to their contents of active ingredients hence authentic and counterfeit samples are easily recognized.

Morphological and microscopic identification studies of Cordyceps and its counterfeits

Macroscopic and microscopic studies were applied to distinguish Cordyceps sinensis(Berk.)Sacc.and its 5 common counterfeits.Transverse sections of stroma and larvae and surface sections of stroma of C.sinensis,Cordyceps gunnii,Cordyceps barnesii,Cordyceps gracilis,Cordyceps liangshanensis and Cordyceps militaris were examined and their morphological and microscopic features photographed.The main morphological and microscopic features of the 6 species of Cordyceps were basically similar except for certain diagnostic differences.These included macroscopic differences from C.sinensis as follows:the stroma of C.gunnii is stout and rough with sterile bulgy or branched apex;the larvae of C.barnesii has a pair of teeth on the head;the stroma of C.liangshanensi is thread-like;C.gracilis is without stroma;and C.militaris is without larvae.There were also microscopic differences:from C.sinensis as follows:the stroma of C.barnesii is without perithecia;C.gunnii,C.liangshanensis and C.gracilis are without bristles on the larva body.These differences allow C.sinensis and its counterfeits to be easily distinguished.

Construction of universal quantitative models for the determination of cefoperazone sodium/sulbactam sodium for injection from different manufacturers using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy

To develop near-infrared （NIR） reflectance spectroscopic methods for the quantitative analysis of cefoperazone sodium/ sulbactam sodium from different manufacturers for injection powder medicaments. Various powders of cefoperazone sodium/ sulbactam sodium were directly analyzed by non-destructive NIR reflectance spectroscopy using the spectrometer EQUINOX55. Two quantitative methods via integrating sphere （IS） and fiberoptic probe （FOP） models were explored from 6 batches of commercial samples and 42 batches of laboratory samples at a content ranging from 30% to 70% for cefoperazone and 60% to 20% for sulbactam. The root mean square errors of cross validation （RMSECV） and the root mean square errors of prediction （RMSEP） of IS were 1.79% and 2.85%, respectively, for cefoperazone sodium, and were 1.86% and 3.08%, respectively, for sulbactam sodium; and those of FOP were 2.93% and 2.92%, respectively, for cefoperazone sodium, and were 2.23% and 3.01%, respectively, for sulbactam sodium. Based on the ICH guidelines and Ref. 12, the quantitative models were then evaluated in terms of specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, robustness and model transferability. The non-destructive quantitative NIR methods used in this study are applicable for rapid analysis of injectable powdered drugs from different manufacturers.

颅脑损伤后精神障碍

颅脑损伤后精神障碍范利华，吴军（司法部司法鉴定科学技术研究所；上海２０００６３）颅脑损伤后遗的躯体伤残已得到许多资料证实，损伤伴发的精神障碍亦日益被人们所重视。损伤后遗症有精神障碍的人，生活质量及家庭关系受到严重损害，对家庭和社会来说要承受巨大的经济...

DNA Barcoding,Fungal Diversity,and Authentication of Wild Gourmet Mushrooms

The application of molecular tools for the identification of strains,populations and species has become a common practice in a variety of applied and basic investigations in many parts of the world.However,standardization of such applications varies widely among organisms and scientific fields.In this mini-review,the author provides a brief introduction to one of the most prominent effort for species identification-the international barcode of life(iBOL) project,discusses the features of fungal diversity including the proposed fungal barcode DNA fragment-the intergenic spacer regions(ITS) of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene clusters,and illustrates the potential promises and problems of using ITS for barcoding and for analyzing the phylogeographic pattern of the wild gourmet mushroom Tricholoma matsutake species complex.The analyses show that identification to species level is often insufficient for practical applications and that sequences from multiple genes in combination with critical morphological and physiological evaluations are needed to identify strains,populations and species.

Preparation of NaYF4:Yb^3+,Tm^3+@NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu3+double-jacket microtubes for dual-mode fluorescent anti-counterfeiting

Novel hydrophilic NaYF4:Yb^3+,Tm^3+@NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu^3+double-jacket microtubes(DJMTs)with upconversion/downconversion dual-mode luminescence were designed and prepared through epitaxial growth of NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu^3+shell onto the NaYF4:Yb^3+,Tm^3+microtube via poly(acrylic acid)(PAA)mediated hydrothermal method.It is demonstrated that PAA ligand played an important role in guiding the direct growth of NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu^3+shell onto the surface of NaYF4:Yb^3+,Tm^3+parent microtubes.The growth of NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu^3+shell experienced a crystal phase transition fromβ-NaGdF4 andβ-NaYF4 mixture toβ-NaYF4@NaGdF4 composite crystal,and morphology evolution from mixture ofβ-NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu^3+nanorods andβ-NaYF4:Yb^3+,Tm^3+microtubes to NaYF4:Yb^3+,Tm^3+@NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu^3+DJMTs.The formation mechanism of DJMTs was the dissolution−renucleation ofβ-NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu^3+nanorods and the growth ofβ-NaGdF4:Ce^3+,Eu^3+shell via the classical Ostwald ripening mechanism.The as-prepared DJMTs could exhibit blue upconversion and red downconversion luminescence,which was further made into environmentally benign luminescent inks for creating highly secured and fluorescent-based anti-counterfeiting patterns via inkjet printing.

Quality Assessment of Artemether/Lumefantrine Tablets Sampled from Pharmacies in Accra, Using the MVHimagePCv8.exe Color Software

Background: Widespread resistance has been recorded with the use of monotherapy in the management of malaria. In 2000, Ghana initiated the process of using Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation. Globally and in Ghana, there stands a high risk of development of resistance to the ACTs due to the act of counterfeiting or substandard drugs. In 2009, there was a report that fake Coartem, an ACT had been found in Ghana by the Drug Quality and Information (DQI) Program;this is a serious national problem that needs redress thus the need to conduct this study to check if there are any substandard or counterfeit Artemether/ Lumefantrine tablets on the Ghanaian market. Method: Using Representative sampling method, a total of nine different brands or samples of artemether/lumefantrine tablets were sampled from nine different Pharmacies in Accra. The samples were analyzed using a validated MVHimagePCv8.exe colour software technology. Results: The International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) and United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) recommend that for assay of tablets, the percentage concentration should fall within 80%-120%. After the analysis, seven out of the nine samples passed the test to varying degrees. Two samples (AL-S4 and AL-S6) however failed the test with AL-S4 recording artemether concentration (126.07%) above and Lumefantrine concentration (78.38%) below the recommended figure while AL-S6’s 51.53% failed to meet the minimum allowable concentration for lumefantrine in a tablet. Conclusion: The results presented show that some Artemether/Lumefantrine tablets on the Ghanaian market still have issues with regards to quality or level of active ingredients. There would therefore be the need for further studies to be conducted into these products especially those that failed the test.

RFID Anti-Counterfeiting for Retailing Systems

Counterfeiting is one of the most serious problems in the consumer market. One promising approach for anti-counterfeiting is to attach a low-cost Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) tag to the product authentication. In this paper, we propose an RFID system for detecting counterfeiting products. This RFID system consists of the tag authentication protocol and the database correction protocol. We use the tag authentication protocol for authenticating tags without revealing their sensitive information. This protocol also allows the customer to freely inquire the tag. To prevent the widespread of the counterfeit products, we use the tag status information along with tag identity information. Meanwhile, the database correction protocol guarantees the correctness of the tag status. Our anti-counterfeiting system is the first work considering the seller who plays an important role in the consumer product supply chain. Finally, we show that anti-counterfeiting system is quite secure against counterfeiting and the tag authentication protocol is lightweight enough to be implemented in RFID-based applications.

Substandard/Falsification Antibacterial Agents: A Systematic Review of Liquid Chromatographic and Spectrophotometric Methods for Their Detection

Falsified antibacterial agents continue to pose serious public health problems around the world. They are notably responsible for resistance emergence in the treatment of infectious diseases that can lead to death. The aim of this study was to summarize the literature on the methods developed and validated to detect poor quality antibacterial agents in order to assess the impact of these available methods in the fighting against Counterfeit/substandard medicines. Thus, studies published in the time from January 2000 to July 2017, were accessible via Google Scholar and Pubmed and allowed to analyze 41 papers. The majority (30) of developed and validated methods concerned LC methods, 9 regarded UV/V is spectrophotometry and two studies simultaneously developed both methods. Antibacterial agents belonging to beta-lactams group were the most concerned by the methods developed and validated (39%), followed by quinolones (18%) and macrolides (12%). Regarding active ingredients, amoxicillin (12%) was the most concerned by the development and validation methods. In spite of several available methods to detect substandard drugs, antibacterial agents for which methods were developed and validated were the most concerned by worldwide detected non-conformities. The fight against this scourge should not be only limited by their detection, but it also requires an effective involvement of different actors notably: health authorities, international organizations, pharmaceutical industries etc.

Preliminary Study on Counterfeiting of Artemether and Artesunate Marketed in Lubumbashi

Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is a health scourge responsible for several cases of morbidity and mortality. Counterfeit medicines cause therapeutic failure, emergence of resistance in the treatment of infections. This study was conducted in order to identify counterfeit and authentic medicines in circulation in Lubumbashi. The study included artemether and artesunate for oral administration. A careful visual inspection of medicine, investigation of authenticity of pharmaceutical products from manufacturers and pharmaceutical regulatory authorities and determination of content were used as study parameters. 52 samples: 37 artemether and 15 of artésunate were collected. 7 samples (13%) have proven to be counterfeit. Artemether was the most counterfeit (71%) and 29% for artesunate. 6 (12%) samples were substandard according to the international pharmacopoeia in terms of content of active ingredient. Sixty-seven percent of non-compliance concerned counterfeit medicines. The proportion of non-compliance is highest among counterfeit medicines (71.43% vs 2.22%;p = 0.000004). It is obvious that strengthening the capacity of the drug regulatory authority of the DRC reduces the influx of counterfeit drug and substandard.

Comparative dissolution study on counterfeit medicines of PDE-5 inhibitors

Counterfeit medicines are a growing problem in both developing and industrialised countries. In general the evaluation of these medicines is limited to the identification and the dosage of the active ingredients. In this study in vitro dissolution tests were conducted on two sets of counterfeit medicines containing PDE-5 inhibitors （sildenafil citrate and tadalafil）. The dissolution profiles were statistically compared to the ones of the genuine products using the f2-method and a comparison at each time point using the Cochran test. The results showed low equivalences between counterfeit and genuine products as well as higher variations around the mean dissolution value at the different time points for the counterfeit products.

Quality Control of Selected Antimalarials Sold in the Illicit Market: An Investigation Conducted in Porto-Novo City (Republic of Benin)

Malaria is a parasitic disease caused by the bite of female Anopheles mosquito and particularly affects the tropical areas of the world. According to national statistics it is the leading cause of consultations and hospitalizations. Nowadays, despite the surveillance systems for efficient malaria control and access to generic drugs, Benin is witnessing an increased development of illicit drug markets with a large part of the population going towards such markets. However, this is not without adverse impact on the health of individuals, as well as, the economic status of the country. Therefore, the situation needs to be seriously considered by policy makers at various levels, health professionals but also the entire international community in order to thwart this scourge.Regarding the aforementioned situation, the current study was undertaken aiming to perform a quality control of selected antimalarial drugs of the illegal market in Porto-Novo city. Therefore, 40 antimalarial batches were randomly collected in the illicit drug market and submitted to analytical tests such as: macroscopic examination (a visual and critical examination);mass uniformity test;disintegration test;identification test and active ingredients’ content measurement. At the end of the study, the percentages of non-compliance is 97.5%, 5%, 15% and 27.5%, respectively for the content uniformity tests, disintegration, identification and assay. Over-all, 42.5% of noncompliance was recorded. The findings of this study prove that street vended drugs offer no guarantee of good quality and pose a threat to the health of populations. Also, the rate of non-compliance denotes a flaw in the security of the drug distribution system.

The Brand Made in Italy： A Critical Analysis

Several studies about the brand ＂made in Italy＂ have illustrated the real significance of this brand, placing it in the top position for brand awareness in most countries. The words ＂made in Italy＂ evoke in consumers＇ minds attributes that positively characterize the image of Italy as a country--in particular, the attributes of creativity, aesthetics, quality, and sophistication--facilitating the perception of a differential value through the effect of the product-country association. Italians are proud of this, but what really composes the brand ＂made in Italy＂？ Above all, is there any truth behind this expression？ The paper aims to propose a critical analysis about the ＂made in Italy＂ value appropriation and the future development of this brand.

Webinar on “Existing challenges and solutions on combating counterfeiting of ICT devices”

February-15,virtual ITU is organizing a series of webinars on Combating counterfeiting and stolen information and communications technology(ICT)devices.The Episode 1:"Existing challenges and solutions on combating counterfeiting of ICT devices",will take place fully virtually on 15 February 2023.

NEQM （NFC Based Equipment Qualification Management） System Preventing Counterfeit and Fraudulent Item

Qualification of equipment essential to safety in NPPs （nuclear power plants） ensures its capability to perform designated safety functions on demand under postulated service conditions. However, a number of incidents identified by the NRC （Nuclear Regulatory Commission） since 1980s catalysed the US nuclear industry to adopt standard precautions to guard against counterfeit items. The purpose of this paper is to suggest the NFC （near field communication） based equipment qualification management system preventing counterfeit and fraudulent items. The NEQM （NFC based equipment qualification management） system works with the support of legacy systems such as PMS （procurement management system） and FMS （facility management system）.

Monitoring and Limiting Deceptive Counterfeiting:a Two-Stage Model

Over past decades,deceptive counterfeits which cannot be recognized by ordinary consumers when purchasing,such as counterfeit cosmetics,have posed serious threats on consumers’health and safety,and resulted in huge economic loss and inestimable brand damages to the genuine goods at the same time.Thus,how to effectively control and eliminate deceptive counterfeits in the market has become a critical problem to the local government.One of the principal challenges in combating the cheating action for the government is how to enhance the enforcement of relative quality inspection agencies like industrial administration office(IAO).In this paper,we formulate a two-stage counterfeit product model with a fixed checking rate from IAO and a penalty for holding counterfeits.Tominimize the total expected cost over two stages,the retailer adopts optimal ordering policies which are correlated with the checking rate and penalty.Under certain circumstances,we find that the optimal expected cost function for the retailer is first-order continuous and convex.The optimal ordering policy in stage two depends closely on the inventory level after the first sales period.When the checking rate in stage one falls into a certain range,the optimal ordering policy for the retailer at each stage is to order both kinds of products.Knowing the retailer’s optimal ordering policy at each stage,IAO can modify the checking rate accordingly to keep the ratio of deceptive counterfeits on the market under a certain level.

Four counterfeit coins problem

Let S be the set of n coins,in which there are m counterfeit coins, heavier (or lighter) than the normals. How many weighings do we need to find the m fakes by a balance? Denote by g_m(n) the least number of weighings we need.

Legal regulations on the counterfeiting of social media accounts

With the advent of the mobile Internet era,social media has developed rapidly,and its operating entities have become more diverse.Social media accounts have become external business cards of various entities such as governments,enterprises,and individuals and are precious intangible assets.At the same time,social media accounts are also at risk of being counterfeited.

COUNTERFEIT CHARACTERS

There is a legendary,though perhaps apocryphal,story regarding Xu Bing’s most famous and influential artwork'Book from the Sky'(天书tionshu)—Xu’s bold creation of 4,000'false'Chinese characters.A senior editor at a