Rapid screening and confirmation of drugs and toxic compounds in biological specimens using liquid chromatography/ion trap tandem mass spectrometry and automated library search

Recent advances in liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) technology have provided an opportunity for the development of more specific approaches to achieve the ‘screen’ and ‘confirmation’ goals in a single analytical step. For this purpose, this study adapts the electrospray ionization ion trap LC/MS/MS instrumentation (LC/ESI‐MS/MS) for the screening and confirmation of over 800 drugs and toxic compounds in biological specimens. Liquid‐liquid and solid‐phase extraction protocols were coupled to LC/ESI‐MS/MS using a 1.8‐µm particle size analytical column operated at 50°C. Gradient elution of the analytes was conducted using a solvent system composed of methanol and water containing 0.1% formic acid. Positive‐ion ESI‐MS/MS spectra and retention times for each of the 800 drugs and toxic compounds were first established using 1–10 µg/mL standard solutions. This spectra and retention time information was then transferred to the library and searched by the identification algorithm for the confirmation of compounds found in test specimens – based on retention time matches and scores of fit, reverse fit, and purity resulting from the searching process. The established method was found highly effective when applied to the analyses of postmortem specimens (blood, urine, and hair) and external proficiency test samples provided by the College of American Pathology (CAP). The development of this approach has significantly improved the efficiency of our routine laboratory operation that was based on a two‐step (immunoassay and GC/MS) approach in the past. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Structure of Parafermion Vertex Operator Algebras: General Case

The structure of the parafermion vertex operator algebra associated to an integrable highest weight module for any affine Kac-Moody algebra is studied. In particular, a set of generators for this algebra has been determined.     

Numerical and experimental analysis on green laser crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films

The effect of laser fluence on the crystallization of amorphous silicon irradiated by a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser is studied both theoretically and experimentally. An effective numerical model is set up to predict the melting threshold and the optimized laser fluence for the crystallization of 200-nm-thick amorphous silicon. The variation of the temperature distribution with time and the melt depth is analyzed. Besides the model, the Raman spectra of thin films treated with different fluences are measured to confirm the phase transition and to determine the optimized fluence. The calculating results accord well with those obtained from the experimental data in this research.     

Surface modification of pure titanium by pulsed electron beam

The microstructure, hardness and corrosion resistance of commercially pure Ti treated by low energy high current pulsed electron beam (LEHCPEB) have been investigated. The thin near-surface melted layer rapidly solidified into β and subsequently transformed into ultrafine α′ martensite. This has led to a drastic improvement of the corrosion properties and a significant increase (more than 60%) in hardness of the top surface.     

Extension of the GHJW theorem for operator ensembles

The Gisin-Hughston-Jozsa-Wootters theorem plays an important role in analyzing various theories about quantum information, quantum communication, and quantum cryptography. It means that any purifications on the extended system which yield indistinguishable state ensembles on their subsystem should have a specific local unitary relation. In this Letter, we show that the local relation is also established even when the indistinguishability of state ensembles is extended to that of operator ensembles.     

Investigation on cell biocompatible behaviors of polyaniline film fabricated via electroless surface polymerization

Considering for the potential application in tissue engineering, polyaniline (PANi) film was fabricated via a two-step route: a self-assembled monolayer of C₆H₅NHC₃H₆Si(OMe)₃ was firstly formed on the single-crystal Si substrate; the conducting PANi film was then prepared through electroless surface polymerization of the aniline molecules on the aniline monolayer-bearing silane surface in an acidic aqueous solution. The formation of PANi film on Si surface was confirmed by characterizations of X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) and specular reflectance Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) spectrum, etc. At last, the proliferation behaviors of PC-12 cells on the PANi film surface were studied by the [3-(4,5-dimethyldiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] (MTT) colorimetric assays, acridine orange fluorometric staining, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation, etc. The results demonstrate that the as-prepared PANi film provides high ability for cell proliferation, exhibiting promising potentials as surface coating to cultivate neuronal cells for applications in the tissue engineering.     

Tuning the Surface Hydrophobicity of Keplerate {Mo<Subscript>72</Subscript>Fe<Subscript>30</Subscript>} Porous Molecular Capsules by Surface Ligand-Replacement Process

A spontaneous ligand-replacement process at the external surface of Keplerate polyoxometalate molecular nanocapsules {Mo₇₂Fe₃₀} occurs when dissolving {Mo₇₂Fe₃₀} in pure methanol, with the water ligands coordinated to the Fe(III) centers of {Mo₇₂Fe₃₀} gradually being replaced by CH₃OH ligands, resulting in the formation of partially hydrophobic nanocapsules. The new nanocapsules have negligible deprotonation capability and different solution behaviors. The methanol ligands can be easily exchanged back to water ligands when a small amount of water is added into the system. The exchange of water ligands dramatically changed the self-assembly behaviors of the {Mo₇₂Fe₃₀} clusters in solution.