Detection of glucocorticoid bioactivity in bovine urine samples using a reporter gene assay.

The illegal use of anabolic substances in the meat producing industry is an ongoing problem due to the continual production of new synthetic compounds and/or the practice of low-level cocktail administration to avoid detection by the surveillance schemes of EU member states National Plan surveillance systems.

We present a highly sensitive reporter gene assay and sample extraction procedure based on a two step solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography, developed for the detection of glucocorticoid abuse in bovine urine. The assay is capable of detecting compounds with glucocorticoid bioactivity and is extremely sensitive with an EC50 of 0.79 ng mL-1 for dexamethasone. New or unknown compounds with glucocorticoid bioactivity and low-level cocktail mixtures are detectable by this assay.

Cross-reactivity data for a range of 11ß-hydroxyglucocorticoids has been provided. This assay shows low interference from the 11-keto prohormones and other steroidal hormones. The assay may be suitable for application in other matrices such as hair. In conclusion this screening assay offers advantages over existing analytical techniques.

Ground-based detection of thermal emission from the exoplanet WASP-19b

We present an occultation of the newly discovered hot Jupiter system WASP-19, observed with the High Acuity Wide-field K-band Imager instrument on the VLT, in order to measure thermal emission from the planet's dayside at ~2µm. The light curve was analysed using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to find the eclipse depth and the central transit time. The transit depth was found to be 0.366 +/- 0.072 per cent, corresponding to a brightness temperature of 2540 +/- 180 K. This is significantly higher than the calculated (zero-albedo) equilibrium temperature and indicates that the planet shows poor redistribution of heat to the night side, consistent with models of highly irradiated planets. Further observations are needed to confirm the existence of a temperature inversion and possibly molecular emission lines. The central eclipse time was found to be consistent with a circular orbit.