Analysis of amoxicillin in human urine by photo-activated generation of fluorescence excitation-emission matrices and artificial neural networks combined with residual bilinearization

Fluorescence excitation-emission data recorded for amoxicillin after photo-activated reaction with periodate have been processed by a novel second-order multivariate method based on the combination of artificial neural networks and residual bilinearization (ANN/RBL), since the signals bear a strong non-linear relation with the analyte concentration. The selected chemometric methodology is employed for the first time to evaluate experimental non-linear second-order spectral information. Due to severe overlapping between the emission profiles for the analyte reaction product and for the urine background, calibration was done using different spiked urine samples. This allowed for the determination of amoxicillin in test spiked urines, other than those employed for calibration. When new urine samples containing a fluorescent anti-inflammatory were analyzed, accurate prediction in the presence of unexpected components required the achievement of the second-order advantage, which is provided by the post-training RBL procedure. Amoxicillin was also determined by ANN/RBL in a series of real urine samples, which allowed one to perform a comparison study with the reference high-performance liquid chromatographic technique.     

Second- and higher-order data generation and calibration: A tutorial

An introduction to multi-way calibration based on second- and higher-order data generation and processing is provided, with emphasis on practical experimental aspects. After a discussion concerning a proper nomenclature scheme, a suitable classification of the obtainable data, and the general features of the available algorithms and their underlying models, a series of examples is discussed in detail, with the purpose of illustrating the great potentiality of the field for the analytical community. Emphasis is directed toward the most popular multi-way data, i.e., second-order or matrix data, which can be conveniently measured in a variety of instruments. Third-order data are being increasingly studied and are also discussed, along with the less explored field of fourth-order data. The estimation of figures of merit, which analysts need to report during method development, is now sufficiently mature to be provided for the general audience.     

Adsorptive stripping square wave voltammetry (Ad-SSWV) accomplished with second-order multivariate calibration determination of fenitrothion and its metabolites in river water samples

A method, using stripping square wave voltammetry (Ad-SSWV), for the simultaneous determination of fenitrothion (FEN) and its metabolites: fenitrooxon (OXON) and 3-methyl-4-nitrophenol (3-MET) in environmental samples is reported. All three compounds produce, at mercury electrode (HMDE), an electrochemical signal due to an adsorptive-reductive process. The electrochemical approach shows a very high overlap degree for FEN and OXON voltammograms, however the adsorption kinetic profile could be used as an additional differential variable between both analytes. Second-order multivariate calibration has been tested to solve the mixture of the three compounds. The second-order assayed methods were parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), unfolded partial least squares (U-PLS), multidimensional partial least squares (N-PLS) and the latest ones were used in combination with the residual bilinearization procedure RBL. U-PLS/RBL model was stated as the best second-order algorithm for the simultaneous determination of these three compounds up to 50 ng mL⁻¹ for each analyte. The detection limits and recovery values were 1.6 ng mL⁻¹ and 92 ± 7% for FEN; 3.7 ng mL⁻¹ and 101 ± 9% for OXON and 0.6 ng mL⁻¹ and 97 ± 8% for 3-MET.     

Multivariate curve resolution based chromatographic peak alignment combined with parallel factor analysis to exploit second-order advantage in complex chromatographic measurements

In the present contribution, a new combination of multivariate curve resolution-correlation optimized warping (MCR-COW) with trilinear parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) is developed to exploit second-order advantage in complex chromatographic measurements. In MCR-COW, the complexity of the chromatographic data is reduced by arranging the data in a column-wise augmented matrix, analyzing using MCR bilinear model and aligning the resolved elution profiles using COW in a component-wise manner. The aligned chromatographic data is then decomposed using trilinear model of PARAFAC in order to exploit pure chromatographic and spectroscopic information. The performance of this strategy is evaluated using simulated and real high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) datasets. The obtained results showed that the MCR-COW can efficiently correct elution time shifts of target compounds that are completely overlapped by coeluted interferences in complex chromatographic data. In addition, the PARAFAC analysis of aligned chromatographic data has the advantage of unique decomposition of overlapped chromatographic peaks to identify and quantify the target compounds in the presence of interferences. Finally, to confirm the reliability of the proposed strategy, the performance of the MCR-COW-PARAFAC is compared with the frequently used methods of PARAFAC, COW-PARAFAC, multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS), and MCR-COW-MCR. In general, in most of the cases the MCR-COW-PARAFAC showed an improvement in terms of lack of fit (LOF), relative error (RE) and spectral correlation coefficients in comparison to the PARAFAC, COW-PARAFAC, MCR-ALS and MCR-COW-MCR results.     

Room-temperature excitation-emission phosphorescence matrices and second-order multivariate calibration for the simultaneous determination of pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene

The present article describes the simultaneous phosphorimetric determination of pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene, two highly toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, through excitation-emission phosphorescence matrices (EEPMs) and second-order calibration. The developed approach enabled us to determine both compounds at μg L⁻¹ concentration levels without the necessity of applying separation steps, as well as significantly reducing the experimental time. An artificial neural network (ANN) approach was applied to optimize the chemical variables which have an influence on the room-temperature phosphorescence emission of the studied analytes. The present study was employed for the discussion of the scopes of the applied second-order chemometric tools: parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and partial least-squares with residual bilinearization (PLS/RBL). The superior capability of PLS/RBL to model the profiles of other potentially interferent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was demonstrated. The quality of the proposed method was established with the determination of both pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene in artificial and real water samples.     

Influence of selectivity and sensitivity parameters on detection limits in multivariate curve resolution of chromatographic second-order data

We have established a procedure for calculating limits of detection for second-order data. One of the steps involves curve resolution by iterative target transformation factor analysis (ITTFA) and we have checked some experimental factors that affect the efficiency of resolution by ITTFA. Therefore, they directly affect the estimation of the limits of detection (LOD). In this paper, we describe the quality of the LOD estimator as a function of the performance characteristics of a determination with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detection (DAD) (sensitivity and selectivity of spectra and chromatograms) and advise the end user about how he can improve it by modifying these experimental variables.     

Determination of atenolol in human urine by emission-excitation fluorescence matrices and unfolded partial least-squares with residual bilinearization

A second-order multivariate calibration method based on a combination of unfolded partial least-squares (U-PLS) with residual bilinearization (RBL) has been applied to second-order data obtained from excitation-emission fluorescence matrices for determining atenolol in human urine, even in the presence of background interactions and fluorescence inner filter effects, which are both sample dependent. Atenolol is a cardioselective beta-blocker, which is considered a doping agent in shoot practice, so that its determination in urine can be required for monitoring the drug. Loss of trilinearity due to analyte-background interactions which may vary between samples, as well as inner filter effects, precludes the use of methods like parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) that cannot handle trilinearity deviations, and justifies the employment of U-PLS. Successful analysis required to include the background in the calibration set. Unexpected components appear in new urine samples, different from those used in calibration set, requiring the second-order advantage which is obtained from a separate procedure known as residual bilinearization (RBL). Satisfactory results were obtained for artificially spiked urines, and also for real urine samples. They were statistically compared with those obtained applying a reference method based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).     

Direct and simultaneous spectrofluorometric determination of naproxen and salicylate in human serum assisted by chemometric analysis

A direct method for the simultaneous determination of naproxen and salicylate in human serum is reported, based on a combination of spectrofluorometric measurements with two multivariate calibration techniques: partial least-squares (PLS-1) and the novel net analyte preprocessing (NAP). The method is rapid, selective and sensitive, and is based on the measurement of the fluorescence spectra of NH₃ alkalinized whole human sera at the excitation wavelength of 315 nm. It can be applied within the ranges of concentrations 50-200 ng ml⁻¹ for naproxen and 100-300 ng ml⁻¹ for salicylate. The employed chemometric techniques have been compared on the basis of the statistical indicators for calibration and validation. Reproducibility and interference studies in abnormal sera have also been carried out.     

Three-way partial least-squares/residual bilinearization study of second-order lanthanide-sensitized luminescence excitation-time decay data: analysis of benzoic acid in beverage samples

Lanthanide-sensitized luminescence excitation-time decay matrices were employed for achieving the second-order advantage using as chemometric algorithms parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and multidimensional partial least-squares with residual bilinearization (N-PLS/RBL). The second-order data were measured for a calibration set of samples containing the analyte benzoic acid in the concentration range from 0.00 to 5.00 mg L⁻¹, for a validation set containing the analyte and the potential interferent saccharin (in the range 0.00–6.00 mg L⁻¹), and for real samples of beverages containing benzoic acid as preservant, saccharin, and other potentially interfering compounds. All samples were treated with terbium(III), trioctylphosphine oxide as a synergistic ligand, and contained a suitable imidazol buffer, in order to ensure maximum intensity of the luminescence signals. The results indicate a slightly better predictive ability of the newly introduced N-PLS/RBL procedure over standard PARAFAC, both in what concerns the comparison with nominal analyte concentrations in the validation sample set and with results provided by the reference high-performance liquid chromatographic technique for the real sample set.     

Interference-free determination of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in plasma by using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence coupled with second-order calibration algorithms

Fluoroquinolones or so-called second-generation quinolones, in particular, ofloxacin (OFL), norfloxacin (NOR), and enoxacin (ENO), with therapeutic advantages possess strongly overlapped fluorescence spectra. In this paper, two strategies were proposed for simultaneous direct determination of OFL, NOR and ENO in plasma by combining fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) with second-order calibration based on the alternating trilinear decomposition algorithm (ATLD) and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). The results showed that both algorithms could solve the problem of serious fluorescence spectral overlapping of the sought-for analytes even in the presence of uncalibrated interferents. However, ATLD has advantages of being insensitive to overestimated component number and fast convergence. The results by using ATLD with an estimated component number of five were reasonably acceptable for clinical analysis. The average recoveries of OFL, NOR and ENO in synthetic samples were 99.7 ± 2.4, 101.5 ± 2.4 and 97.3 ± 3.8%, respectively; the average recoveries of OFL, NOR and ENO in complex plasma were 94.3 ± 2.6, 85.6 ± 3.3 and 103.3 ± 3.0%, respectively.     

Sequential injection analysis with second-order treatment for the determination of dyes in the exhaustion process of tanning effluents

A sequential injection (SI)-DAD spectrophotometric method to control the exhaustion of dyes in a mixture of three dyes from a tanning industry process has been developed. It is based on an interdiffusion process of the sample and reagents which leads to a gradual fall in pH through the channel to the detector recording a data matrix. The aim of this paper is to develop a second-order calibration model that is unaffected by interferents by applying multivariate curve resolution with alternating least squares (MCR-ALS). We obtained a linear calibration in the 5-30 mg l⁻¹ range with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 for each dye with detection limits of 2.6, 3.9 and 2.1 mg l⁻¹ for Acid Red, Acid Brown and Acid Orange, respectively. The simultaneous determination of the three dyes from tanning samples showed a satisfactory precision for the three analytes. The method has been validated comparing the concentration of some spiked samples with the expected concentration using a t-paired test. When we used this method to study the exhaustion of dyes, we found that there were several stages in this process. These data may be the key to optimising the exhaustion process.     

Efficient recovery of electrophoretic profiles of nucleoside metabolites from urine samples by multivariate curve resolution

Chemometric techniques usually employed in purity assessment and resolution of multicomponent peaks have been applied to analytical data from complex biological samples obtained with CE‐DAD. In the assessment of the purity of the electrophoretic peaks, the orthogonal projection approach, the orthogonal projection approach with Durbin–Watson criterion, and the simple‐to‐use interactive self‐modeling mixture analysis method have been employed. Multivariate curve resolution with alternating least squares has been successfully implemented to resolve co‐migrating peaks of metabolites in CE‐DAD and to recover qualitative and quantitative information about co‐migrating components of urine extract. The main challenge consisted of developing high‐quality multivariate curve resolution with alternating least squares models of multicomponent peaks acquired during the CE analysis of nucleoside patterns in 18 urine samples. The recovered ultraviolet visible (UV–Vis) spectra have been employed to identify additional nucleosides, such as 1‐methylinosine, 2‐methylguanosine, and 1‐methylguanosine, whose presence in the metabolic profile produced by the applied CE‐DAD method has not yet been recognized. Concentration profiles of these compounds can be used in metabonomic studies.     

Second-order advantage from kinetic-spectroscopic data matrices in the presence of extreme spectral overlapping A multivariate curve resolution--alternating least-squares approach

Multivariate curve resolution coupled to alternating least-squares (MCR-ALS) has been employed to model kinetic-spectroscopic second-order data, with focus on the achievement of the important second-order advantage, under conditions of extreme spectral overlapping among sample components. A series of simulated examples shows that MCR-ALS can conveniently handle the studied analytical problem unlike other second-order multivariate calibration algorithms, provided matrix augmentation is implemented in the spectral mode instead of in the usual kinetic mode. The approach has also been applied to three experimental examples, which involve the determination of: (1) the antiparkinsonian carbidopa (analyte) in the presence of levodopa as a potential interferent, both reacting with cerium (IV) to produce the fluorescent species cerium (III) with different kinetics; (2) Fe(II) (analyte) in the presence of the interferent Zn(II), both catalyzing the oxidation of methyl orange with potassium bromate; and (3) tartrazine (analyte) in the presence of the interferent brilliant blue, both oxidized with potassium bromate, with the interferent leading to a product with an absorption spectrum very similar to tartrazine. The results indicate good analytical performance towards the analytes, despite the intense spectral overlapping and the presence of unexpected constituents in the test samples.     

Quantification and methodology issues in multivariate analysis of ToF‐SIMS data for mixed organic systems

Multivariate methods, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate curve resolution (MCR), are often employed to aid the analysis of large complex data sets such as time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) images. There is, however, much confusion over the most appropriate choice of method for any given application and the effects of data preprocessing, which is exacerbated by the confusing terminologies and the use of jargon in this field. In the present study, a simple model system consisting of a ToF‐SIMS image of an immiscible polymer blend is used to evaluate PCA and MCR in the accurate identification, localisation and quantification of the phase‐separated polymer domains, using four data preprocessing methods (no scaling, normalisation, variance scaling and Poisson scaling). This highlights significant issues and challenges in the quantitative multivariate analysis of mixed organic systems, including the discrimination of chemically significant features from experimental noise, the resolution of weak chemical contributions and potential bias introduced by data preprocessing. Multivariate analysis using Poisson scaling, identified as the most suitable data preprocessing method for both PCA and MCR, demonstrates a marked improvement upon traditional (manual) analysis and provides valuable additional information that is difficult to detect using traditional analysis. Using these results, we present recommendations for the optimum use of multivariate analysis by analysts and provide guidance on selecting the most appropriate methods. Confusing terminology is also clarified. © Crown copyright 2008. Reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fast chromatographic method for the determination of dyes in beverages by using high performance liquid chromatography—Diode array detection data and second order algorithms

A fast chromatographic methodology is presented for the analysis of three synthetic dyes in non-alcoholic beverages: amaranth (E123), sunset yellow FCF (E110) and tartrazine (E102). Seven soft drinks (purchased from a local supermarket) were homogenized, filtered and injected into the chromatographic system. Second order data were obtained by a rapid LC separation and DAD detection. A comparative study of the performance of two second order algorithms (MCR-ALS and U-PLS/RBL) applied to model the data, is presented. Interestingly, the data present time shift between different chromatograms and cannot be conveniently corrected to determine the above-mentioned dyes in beverage samples. This fact originates the lack of trilinearity that cannot be conveniently pre-processed and can hardly be modelled by using U-PLS/RBL algorithm. On the contrary, MCR-ALS has shown to be an excellent tool for modelling this kind of data allowing to reach acceptable figures of merit. Recovery values ranged between 97% and 105% when analyzing artificial and real samples were indicative of the good performance of the method. In contrast with the complete separation, which consumes 10 mL of methanol and 3 mL of 0.08 mol L⁻¹ ammonium acetate, the proposed fast chromatography method requires only 0.46 mL of methanol and 1.54 mL of 0.08 mol L⁻¹ ammonium acetate. Consequently, analysis time could be reduced up to 14.2% of the necessary time to perform the complete separation allowing saving both solvents and time, which are related to a reduction of both the costs per analysis and environmental impact.     

Standard addition analysis of fluoroquinolones in human serum in the presence of the interferent salicylate using lanthanide-sensitized excitation-time decay luminescence data and multivariate curve resolution

Three fluoroquinolone antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and danofloxacin) have been determined in human serum in the presence of the potential interferent salicylate, by processing lanthanide-sensitized excitation-time decay matrix data for their terbium (III) complexes. The algorithm employed, multivariate curve resolution-alternating least-squares, is one of the few methodologies which permit the achievement of the second-order advantage in the presence of a high degree of overlapping between the time decay profiles for the analyte and the interferent complexes. Furthermore, the presence of analyte-background interactions makes it necessary to employ the standard addition method for successful quantitation. Both simulations and experiments showed that the modified standard addition method was suitable for this purpose, in which the test data matrix was subtracted from the standard addition matrices, and quantitation proceeded using classical external calibration procedure. The analyte concentration ranges were all within the therapeutic range, i.e., 0-6 mg L⁻¹ in serum, with final concentrations in the measuring cell in the order of 0.2 mg L⁻¹.     

Spectrofluorimetry in organized media coupled to second-order multivariate calibration for the determination of galantamine in the presence of uncalibrated interferences

The present article describes the spectrofluorimetric determination of galantamine, a widely used acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, through excitation-emission fluorescence matrices and second-order calibration. With the purpose of enhancing the fluorescence intensity of this substance, the effect of different organized assemblies was evaluated. Although the interaction of galantamine with different cyclodextrins is weak, it was corroborated that the fluorescence intensity of this pharmaceutical in the presence of α-cyclodextrin is increased by a twofold factor. Among the studied micellar media, the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate produced the largest signals for the compound of interest (sixfold enhancement), and was selected as auxiliary reagent for the subsequent determinations. The developed approach enabled the determination of galantamine at the ng mL⁻¹ level without the necessity of applying separation steps, and in the presence of uncalibrated interferences. The applied second-order chemometric tools were parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), unfolded partial least-squares coupled to residual bilinearization (U-PLS/RBL), and multidimensional partial least-squares coupled to residual bilinearization (N-PLS/RBL). The ability of U-PLS/RBL to successfully overcome spectral interference problems is demonstrated. The quality of the proposed method was established with the determination of galantamine in both artificial and natural water samples.     

HPLC法测定人尿中尿酸含量

建立了一种人体尿液中尿酸含量的高效液相色谱测定方法.采用ACE5 AQ亲水色谱柱,pH3.2的乙酸水溶液为流动相,检测波长280nm.尿酸含量在7.1～224.6μg/mL范围内线性关系良好,平均加样回收率为99.7%～100.5%,RSD小于1.4%.将该法用于健康人和肝硬化病人尿液样本的测定,两类样本中尿酸含量无显...     

Four-way kinetic-excitation-emission fluorescence data processed by multi-way algorithms. Determination of carbaryl and 1-naphthol in water samples in the presence of fluorescent interferents

Four-way data were obtained by recording the kinetic evolution of excitation-emission fluorescence matrices for samples containing the analytes carbaryl and 1-naphthol, two widely employed pesticides, in the concentration ranges 0-363 μg L⁻¹ and 0-512 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The reaction followed was the alkaline hydrolysis of carbaryl to produce 1-naphthol, a fact which introduced strong linear dependencies and multi-linearity losses in the analyzed system. Data processing was performed with unfolded partial least-squares combined with residual trilinearization (U-PLS/RTL) and also with a suitably initialized and restricted parallel factor model (PARAFAC), combined with calibration based on multi-linear regression. U-PLS/RTL is shown to be significantly simpler in its implementation and to provide similar figures of merit. The applied chemometric strategy is able to successfully determine the analytes in water samples containing uncalibrated interferences, such as other commonly employed agrochemicals and also a naturally occurring background signal.     

Multicomponent flow injection based analysis with diode array detection and partial least squares multivariate calibration evaluation. Rapid determination of Ca(II) and Mg(II) in waters and dialysis liquids

Flow injection analysis (FIA) with multiwavelength scanning of the FIA peaks using a diode array detector (DAD) has been combined with a multivariate calibration approach applying the partial least squares (PLS) method for the data evaluation. In this way, various side effects like dilution of the reagent, high blank, absorbance changes due to the pH gradient throughout the peak and/or the other interferences can be accounted for. Thus, even with a simple FIA manifold instrumentation the satisfactory results of multicomponent analysis are obtained. The method described has been checked on analysis of binary (Ca and Mg) and ternary (Ca, Mg and Cu) mixtures with pyridylazo resorcinol (PAR) as reagent and applied for rapid determination of calcium and magnesium in dialysis liquids and waters.