Sensitive CE-MS method for monitoring of riociguat and desmethylriociguat levels in human serum

Riociguat is novel antihypertensive drug for treatment of pulmonary hypertension. As such, it is still being tested in many clinical and pharmacokinetic trials. Existing methods that determine serum riociguat and desmethylriociguat (DMR) are based solely on liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Therefore, we present a novel capillary electrophoresis with mass spectrometry method (CE-MS) for their determination in human serum as alternative method for ongoing trials. Complete resolution of both analytes was achieved by means of pH optimization of ammonium formate background electrolytes that are fully compatible with ESI/MS detection. Simple liquid-liquid extraction was used as sample pretreatment. The calibration dependence of the method was linear (in the range of 10–1000 ng/mL), with adequate accuracy (90.1–114.9%) and precision (13.4%). LOD and LOQ were arbitrarily set at 10 ng/mL for both analytes. Clinical applicability was validated using serum samples from patients treated with riociguat in pharmacokinetic study and the results corresponded with reference HPLC-MS/MS values. Capillary electrophoresis proved to be sensitive and selective tool for the analysis of riociguat and DMR.     

Direct Transformation of Arenols Based on C—O Activation

In the view of substrate availability, atomic efficiency and cost, directly using arenols as coupling partners in cross‐coupling, would be one of the most attractive goals. Up to date, many efforts have been made to activate the C—O bond of phenols with different strategies, for example, through in‐situ formed intermediates, through a catalytic reductive dearomatization‐condensation‐rearomatization sequence or catalytic deoxygenation. In this review, we summarized recent advances in cross‐couplings of arenols as the electrophiles via C—O activation.     

Target cell extraction coupled with LC‐MS/MS analysis for screening potential bioactive components in Ginkgo biloba extract with preventive effect against diabetic nephropathy

A rapid and useful approach for screening potential bioactive components in Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) with preventive effect against diabetic nephropathy (DN) was developed using mesangial cells extraction coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) analysis. Mesangial cells were first divided into two groups according to their treatments with high glucose or high glucose plus GBE. After incubation for 4, 8, 12, 16, 24 and 48 h, the cells were harvested and extracted with 40% acetic acid in water before LC‐MS/MS analysis. Then, 19 compounds and five metabolites were found to selectively combine with mesangial cells. Notably, compounds including quercetin and rutin were identified or tentatively characterized according to the results of retention time and MS spectra, which is highly consistent with our previous reports that quercetin and rutin are potent protective agents against glomerulosclerosis in DN. Therefore, all these results indicate that target cell extraction coupled with LC‐MS/MS analysis can be successfully applied for predicting the bioactive components in GBE with preventive effect against DN. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impedance Response of a Thin Film on an Electrode: Deciphering the Influence of the Double Layer Capacitance

The different contributions of the interfacial capacitance are identified in the case of passive materials or thin protective coatings deposited on the electrode surface. The method is based on a graphical analysis of the EIS results to determine both the passive-film capacitance in the high-frequency domain and the double-layer capacitance in the low-frequency domain. The proposed analysis is shown to be independent of the physicochemical origins of the frequency dispersion of the interfacial capacitances which results, from an analysis point of view of the experimental results, in the use of a constant-phase element However, for a correct evaluation of the thin-film properties such as its thickness, the high-frequency data must be corrected for the double-layer contribution. In particular, it is shown that if the double-layer capacitance gives a frequency-dispersed response, it is necessary to correct the high-frequency part for the double-layer constant-phase elements. This is first demonstrated on synthetic data and then used for the determination of the thickness of thin oxide film formed on Al in neutral pH solution.     

Composite generalized Laguerre spectral method for nonlinear Fokker–Planck equations on the whole line

In this paper, we propose a composite Laguerre spectral method for the nonlinear Fokker–Planck equations modelling the relaxation of fermion and boson gases. A composite Laguerre spectral scheme is constructed. Its convergence is proved. Numerical results show the efficiency of this approach and coincide well with theoretical analysis. Some results on the Laguerre approximation and techniques used in this paper are also applicable to other nonlinear problems on the whole line. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

重量法测定土壤水溶性盐总量的优化

土壤水溶性盐是表征土壤盐碱化程度的重要指标,也是评价耕地地力的重要参数,被纳入第三次全国土壤普查（“三普”）监测指标体系中。重量法是测定土壤水溶性盐总量的最常用方法,其测定过程易受多种因素影响,导致其测定结果不准。鉴于此,本文设计试验分别验证了水溶性盐浸提和浸提液固液分离这两个过程对测定结果的影响,结果表明浸提液固液分离是影响土壤水溶性盐总量测定准确度和精密度的主要因素。基于此进一步探究4种不同固液分离方式（布氏漏斗过滤、滤膜真空抽滤、离心、滤纸组合过滤）对测定结果的影响,结果表明相较于其它方式,滤纸组合过滤测定结果准确度高,适用于土壤水溶性盐总量的测定。对改进后的重量法测定土壤水溶性盐总量进行方法学确认,结果表明其检出限为0.01 g/kg,测定下限为0.04 g/kg;方法的准确度和精密度、适用范围等均符合相关要求。本文推荐的土壤水溶性盐总量测定方法为：土壤样品采用1:5土水比浸提,180 r/min振荡3 min,浸提液采用滤纸组合自然过滤;其测定结果的准确度和精密度符合相关要求。本文旨在为“三普”内业检测提供参考和借鉴,为全面摸清不同区域土壤水溶性盐含量水平及土壤盐渍化程度提供技术支撑。     

增敏剂改进超级微波消解-电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)法测定食品中硒元素

合适比例增敏剂会对超级微波消解-电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)测定食品中硒元素含量具有一定的优化效果。本文采用超级微波消解仪对1.0 g食品样品进行全消解,采用碰撞池模式规避质谱干扰,内标校正非质谱干扰,选择甲醇、乙醇、乙酸、异丙醇、丙三醇作为增敏剂,并调整测试过程中的添加比例,用电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定。结果表明：2%异丙醇存在时硒元素各同位素响应值最高,其中78Se具有低至0.0003 mg·kg-1的方法检出限;用以上方法对食品标准物质（GSB-8、GSB-9、GSB-24、GSB-30）及实际样品进行分析,标准物质测定值均在其认定值及不确定度范围内,相对误差小于-5.4%;实际样品测定值的相对标准偏差（n=7,RSD）为0.3~1.7%,加标回收率为99.2~105%。本方法操作简便,精密度好,准确度高,可以作为各类食品样品中硒含量测试方法。     

Monitoring of circulating amino acids in patients with pancreatic cancer and cancer cachexia using capillary electrophoresis and contactless conductivity detection

Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), alanine and glutamine are determined in human plasma by capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection (CE/C⁴D). The baseline separation of five amino acids from other plasma components is achieved on the short capillary effective length of 18 cm in 3.2 mol/L acetic acid with addition of 13% v/v methanol as background electrolyte. Migration times range from 2.01 min for valine to 2.84 min for glutamine, and LODs for untreated plasma are in the interval 0.7–0.9 μmol/L. Sample treatment is based on the addition of acetonitrile to only 15 μL of plasma and supernatant is directly subjected to CE/C⁴D. Circulating amino acids are measured in patients with pancreatic cancer and cancer cachexia during oral glucose tolerance test. It is shown that patients with pancreatic cancer and cancer cachexia syndrome exhibit low basal circulating BCAAs and glutamine levels and loss of their insulin-dependent suppression.