The impact of blood on liver metabolite profiling – a combined metabolomic and proteomic approach

Metabolomics has entered the well‐established omic sciences as it is an indispensable information resource to achieve a global picture of biological systems. The aim of the present study was to estimate the influence of blood removal from mice liver as part of sample preparation for metabolomic and proteomic studies. For this purpose, perfused mice liver tissue (i.e. with blood removed) and unperfused mice liver tissue (i.e. containing blood) were compared by two‐dimensional gas chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC‐TOFMS) for the metabolomic part, and by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) for the proteomic part. Our data showed significant differences between the unperfused and perfused liver tissue samples. Furthermore, we also observed an overlap of blood and tissue metabolite profiles in our data, suggesting that the perfusion of liver tissue prior to analysis is beneficial for an accurate metabolic profile of this organ. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mixed finite difference and Galerkin methods for solving Burgers equations using interpolating scaling functions

The current paper proposes a technique for the numerical solution of Burgers equations. The method is based on finite difference formula combined with the Galerkin method, which uses the interpolating scaling functions. Several test problems are given, and the numerical results are reported to show the accuracy and efficiency of the new algorithm. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a versatile,easy and rapid atmospheric monitor for benzene,toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes determination in air

A new procedure for the passive sampling in air of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene isomers (BTEX) is proposed. A low-density polyethylene layflat tube filled with a mixture of solid phases provided a high versatility tool for the sampling of volatile compounds from air. Several solid phases were assayed in order to increase the BTEX absorption in the sampler and a mixture of florisil and activated carbon provided the best results. Direct head-space-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-GC–MS) measurement of the whole deployed sampler was employed for a fast determination of BTEX. Absorption isotherms were used to develop simple mathematical models for the estimation of BTEX time-weighted average concentrations in air. The proposed samplers were used to determine BTEX in indoor air environments and results were compared with those found using two reference methodologies: triolein-containing semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and diffusive Radiello samplers. In short, the developed sampling system and analytical strategy provides a versatile, easy and rapid atmospheric monitor (VERAM).     

A passive sampling-based analytical strategy for the determination of volatile organic compounds in the air of working areas

An analytical methodology based on the use of a polyethylene layflat tube filled with activated carbon and Florisil (ACFL-VERAM) was employed for the passive sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air of working areas of packing industries. VOCs amount in the ACFL-VERAM sampler was directly determined through head-space-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) allowing a direct determination in only 20 min without the need of any previous treatment. Uptake parameters, like sampling rate (R_S) and sampler-air partition coefficient (K_SA), were determined for every studied VOC from adsorption isotherm data. Additionally, experimental equations have been proposed to predict R_S and K_SA from the octanol-air partition coefficients reported in the literature. The proposed methodology reaches method detection levels from 0.007 to 0.2 mg m⁻³ for the studied VOCs.     

Determination of volatile organic compounds in contaminated air using semipermeable membrane devices

Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were evaluated as passive samplers for the determination of 26 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in contaminated air of occupational environments. A direct methodology based on the use of head-space-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) was developed for VOCs determinations in SPMDs, without any sample pre-treatment and avoiding the use of solvents. A desorption temperature of 150 °C for 10 min was sufficient for a sensitive VOCs determination providing limits of detection in the range of 15 ng SPMD⁻¹ for 21 of 26 studied compounds. Linear and equilibrium uptake models were established for each VOC from compound isotherms. Highly volatile compounds were slightly absorbed and moderately volatile compounds were strongly absorbed by SPMDs. This study is the first precedent of the use of SPMDs for the simultaneous sampling of a wide number of VOCs. The use of SPMDs is a simple and low cost alternative to ordinary sampling devices such as Radiello^® diffusive samplers or badge-type solid-phase supports.     

Abel’s integral operator: sparse representation based on multiwavelets

In this work, Abel’s integral operator is represented based on Alpert’s multiwavelets as a sparse matrix and then a non-linear Abel’s integral equation of the second kind is solved by multiwavelets Galerkin method. Nonlinearity and singularity make the numerical procedure more challenging. But the proposed scheme overcomes these problems. Convergence analysis is investigated and some numerical examples validated this analysis.

     

Microstructure and mechanical behavior of UFG copper processed by ECAP following different processing regimes

Commercially pure (99.9%) copper was severe plastically deformed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) following route-Bc in three different processing regimes in order to obtain ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructures leading to improved mechanical properties. In regime-1, the billets were processed at room temperature up to eight passes. The billets were processed at 200°C up to eight passes in regime-2. Regime-3 is a hybrid regime by which the billets were deformed at 200°C up to four passes first, and these billets were then processed at room temperature for one, two and four passes. In all regimes, the ECAP processing results in a refinement of the conventionally grained (CG) initial microstructure of copper down to sub-micron level leading to a great improvement in the strength as compared to CG copper. Among the regimes applied, regime-3 was found to be the best regime for improvement in strength along with adequate ductility. The samples showed more than eight times increases in yield strength after processing in regime-3 for 4?+?4 passes, from 47?MPa for CG copper to about 408?MPa for the UFG sample. Such improvement in strength was accompanied by a 16.9% total elongation and 6% uniform elongation. The processing in regime-2 resulted in the best elongation to failure of about 22% after eight passes, but it gave the lowest strength values among others.