In vivo solid phase microextraction sampling of human saliva for non-invasive and on-site monitoring

On-site sample preparation is an analytical approach based on direct sampling from the system under investigation. It has the advantage of combining sampling and sample preparation into a single step, thus generally is fast, minimizes the potential sources of error and eliminates the risks for analytes instability. For such analysis solid phase microextraction in thin film geometry (TF-SPME) can provide robust and convenient in vivo sampling, offering in the same time faster analysis and higher extraction recovery (i.e., better sensitivity) due to large surface to volume ratio.     

Development of a solid‐phase microextraction LC–MS/MS method for determination of oxidative stress biomarkers in biofluids

Recently the connection between oxidative stress and various diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's, attracts notice as a pathway suitable for diagnostic purposes. 8‐Oxo‐deoxyguanosine and 8‐oxo‐deoxyadenosine produced from the interaction of reactive oxygen species with DNA become prominent as biomarkers. Several methods have been developed for their determination in biofluids, including solid‐phase extraction and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. However, still, there is a need for reliable and fast analytical methods. In this context, solid‐phase microextraction offers many advantages such as flexibility in geometry and applicable sample volume, as well as high adaptability to high‐throughput sampling. In this study, a solid‐phase microextraction method was developed for the determination of 8‐oxo‐deoxyguanosine and 8‐oxo‐deoxyadenosine in biofluids. The extractive phase of solid‐phase microextraction consisted of hydrophilic–lipophilic balanced polymeric particles. In order to develop a solid‐phase microextraction method suitable for the determination of the analytes in saliva and urine, several parameters, including desorption solvent, desorption time, sample pH, and ionic strength, were scrutinized. Analytical figures of merit indicated that the developed method provides reasonable interday and intraday precisions (<15% in both biofluids) with acceptable accuracy. The method provides a limit of quantification for both biomarkers at 5.0 and 10.0 ng/mL levels in saliva and urine matrices, respectively.     

SERS-based sandwich immunoassay using antibody coated magnetic nanoparticles for Escherichia coli enumeration

A method combining immunomagnetic separation (IMS) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was developed to enumerate Escherichia coli (E. coli). Gold-coated magnetic spherical nanoparticles were prepared by immobilizing biotin-labeled anti-E. coli antibodies onto avidin-coated magnetic nanoparticles and used in the separation and concentration of the E. coli cells. Raman labels have been constructed using rod shaped gold nanoparticles coated with 5,5-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) and subsequently with a molecular recognizer. Then DTNB-labeled gold nanorods were interacted with gold-coated magnetic spherical nanoparticle-antibody-E. coli complex. The capture efficiency and calibration graphs were obtained and examined in different E. coli concentrations (10(1)-10(7) cfu mL(-1)). The correlation between the concentration of bacteria and SERS signal was found to be linear within the range of 10(1)-10(4) cfu mL(-1) (R(2) = 0.992). The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values of the developed method were found to be 8 and 24 cfu mL(-1), respectively. The selectivity of the developed immunoassay was examined with Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter dissolvens, and Salmonella enteriditis which did not produce any significant response. The ability of the immunoassay to detect E. coli in real water samples was also investigated and the results were compared with the experimental results from plate-counting methods. There was no significant difference between the methods that were compared (p > 0.05). This method is rapid and sensitive to target organisms with a total analysis time of less than 70 min.     

Nonlinear transverse vibrations of a slightly curved beam carrying a concentrated mass

In this study, a slightly curved Euler Bernoulli beam carrying a concentrated mass was handled. The beam was resting on an elastic foundation and simply supported at both ends. Effects of the concentrated mass on nonlin- ear vibrations were investigated. Sinusoidal and parabolic type functions were used as curvature functions. Equations of motion have cubic nonlinearities because of elongations during vibrations. Damping and harmonic excitation terms were added to the equations of motion. Method of mul- tiple scales, a perturbation technique, was used for solving integro-differential equation analytically. Natural frequen- cies were calculated exactly for different mass ratios, mass locations, curvature functions, and linear elastic foundation coefficients. Amplitude-phase modulation equations were found by considering primary resonance case. Effects of nonlinear terms on natural frequencies were calculated. Frequency-amplitude and frequency-response graphs were plotted. Finally effects of concentrated mass and chosen curvature function on nonlinear vibrations were investigated.     

A novel method for quantification of ethanol and methanol in distilled alcoholic beverages using Raman spectroscopy

In this study, direct quantification of ethanol and methanol in distilled alcoholic beverages using Raman spectroscopy was performed. Raman spectra of varying ethanol–methanol mixtures were obtained, baseline corrections were made, and the data were normalized using Raman scattering intensity of an internal standard (acetonitrile, 921 cm^–1). Then, calibration graphs were produced for ethanol and methanol concentrations in the ranges of 0–7 M and 0–10 M, respectively. Accurate R² values of the calibration graphs proved the notable linear correlations (0.998 for ethanol and 0.998 for methanol). The method was validated based on linearity, sensitivity, intraday and interday repeatability, and recovery tests. The limit of detection and limit of quantification values of the validated method were determined for ethanol concentration as 1.2 and 3.7 mM, and for methanol concentration as 3.4 and 10.3 mM, respectively. The ability of the developed method to detect ethanol and methanol concentrations in real samples was also investigated. The results of the developed method were compared with the experimental results from traditional method and high correlation value (R² = 0.926) was obtained. Besides being sensitive and cheap, the developed method is rapid with the analysis time of less than 30 s. Furthermore, it eliminates labor‐consuming operations, chromatographic separation, and measurement error due to the high number of experiment steps in the standard method. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Novel BODIPY-bridged cyclotriphosphazenes

Three new 2-component unsubstituted ( 4P ), diiodo- ( 5P ), and dibromo- ( 6P ) distyryl-BODIPY-bridged cyclotriphosphazene dimers were designed and synthesized. The newly synthesized BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene systems were characterized by ¹ H, ¹³ C, and ³¹ P NMR spectroscopy. The photophysical properties of the distryl-BODIPYs (4–6) and BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene dyads ( 4P – 6P ) were studied by UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. In these derivatives, the bino-type cyclotriphosphazene derivative bearing unsubstituted BODIPY unit 4P exhibited high fluorescence and no singlet oxygen generation due to the lack of spin converter. The attachment of heavy atoms (iodine and bromine) enabled the production of singlet oxygen. The bino-type BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazenes ( 5P and 6P ) were also used as triplet photosensitizers in the photooxidation of 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran to endoperoxide via generation of the singlet oxygen in dichloromethane. The singlet oxygen production of these compounds was also investigated via a direct method and produced a singlet oxygen phosphorescence peak at 1270 nm.     

Introduction of solid-phase microextraction as a high-throughput sample preparation tool in laboratory analysis of prohibited substances

A fully automated, high-throughput method based on thin-film solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed for simultaneous quantitative analysis of 110 doping compounds, selected from ten classes and varying in physical and chemical properties. Among four tested extraction phases, C18 blades were chosen, as they provided optimum recoveries and the lowest carryover effect. The SPME method was optimized in terms of extraction pH, ionic strength of the sample, washing solution, extraction and desorption times for analysis of urine samples. Chromatographic separation was obtained in reversed-phase model; for detection, two mass spectrometers were used: triple quadrupole and full scan orbitrap. These combinations allowed for selective analysis of targeted compounds, as well as a retrospective study for known and unknown compounds. The developed method was validated according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) criteria, taking into account Minimum Required Performance Level (MRPL) values required by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In addition to analysis of free substances, it was also shown that the proposed method is able to extract the glucuronated forms of the compounds. The developed assay offers fast and reliable analysis of various prohibited substances, an attractive alternative to the standard methods that are currently used in anti-doping laboratories.     

Synthesis, characterization and application of a novel mercapto- and amine-bifunctionalized silica for speciation/sorption of inorganic arsenic prior to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric determination

A bifunctional sorbent, (NH₂ + SH)silica, containing both amine and mercapto functionalities was prepared by modification of silica gel with 3-(triethoxysilyl)propylamine and (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. In addition to the bifunctional sorbent, silica gel was modified individually with the functional mercapto- and amino-silanes, and the mono-functional sorbents, namely (SH)silica and (NH₂)silica, were also mechanically mixed ((NH₂)silica + (SH)silica) for the sake of comparison of sorption performances. It has been demonstrated that (SH)silica shows quantitative sorption only to As(III) at two pH values, 1.0 and 9.0, while (NH₂)silica displays selectivity only towards As(V) at pH 3.0. On the other hand, the bifunctional (NH₂ + SH)silica possesses the efficient features of the two mono-functionalized sorbents; for example, it retains As(III) at a wider pH range, from 1.0 to at least 9.0 with the exception at pH 2.0, and it also shows quantitative sorption to As(V) at pH 3.0. This property gives the bifunctional (NH₂ + SH)silica a better flexibility in terms of sorption performance as a function of solution pH. The mechanically mixed (NH₂)silica + (SH)silica exhibits a similar but less efficient sorption behavior compared to the bifunctional sorbent. Desorption of both As(III) and As(V) species can be realized using 0.5 M NaOH. The validity of the proposed method was checked through the analysis of a standard reference material and a good correlation was obtained between the certified (26.67 μg L⁻¹) and determined (27.53 ± 0.37 μg L⁻¹) values. Spike recovery tests realized with ultrapure water (93.0 ± 2.3%) and drinking water (86.9 ± 1.2%) also confirmed the applicability of the method.