Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy as a Reliable Means of Comparing Ultraviolet Radiation‐induced Erythema in Extreme Skin Colors

Erythema is widely considered an indicator of skin cancer susceptibility, but assessments are challenging in black skin because melanin can mask erythema under traditional visual and advanced objective Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) L *a *b * assessments. Using spectral measurements (400–700 nm) from a spectrophotometer, an algorithm was developed to measure erythema in white Caucasians (n = 9) and black West Africans (n = 11) 19–24 h postsolar simulated radiation (SSR) exposures to the volar forearm. The derived spectrum achieved showed a strong maximum peak for hemoglobin at 580 nm and a linear slope between 650 and 700 nm for melanin absorption, as reported by other authors. Absorption by hemoglobin at 580 nm was used as a proxy for erythema, and melanin was quantified between 650 and 700 nm. Our algorithm corrected the erythema measurements for stray specular (mirror‐like) reflection and the melanin‐masking effect. A linear relationship between SSR exposure and erythema was evident (p < 0.0001 for white and black skin), and white skin is 8.4 times more responsive to SSR compared to black skin. The prediction of ultraviolet radiation sensitivity is vital in both clinical and investigative dermatology especially in the determination of starting phototherapy doses. Our methodology allows for the accurate assessment of erythema independent of constitutive pigmentation.     

Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy Versus Mexameter® MX18 Measurements of Melanin and Erythema in an African Population

Melanin provides protection against excess exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and related adverse health effects. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) can be used to calculate cutaneous melanin and erythema, but this is complex and has been mostly used for light‐to‐medium pigmented skin. Handheld reflectance spectrophotometers, such as the Mexameter^® MX18, can also be used. We compared DRS‐calculated melanin and erythema values with Mexameter melanin and erythema index values to understand how these techniques/measurements correlate in an African population of predominantly deeply pigmented skin. Five hundred and three participants comprised 68.5% self‐identified Black African, 9.9% Indian/Asian, 18.4% White and 2.9% Colored. The majority of Black African (45%), Indian/Asian (34%) and Colored (53%) participants self‐identified their skin as being “brown.” Measured melanin levels increased with darker self‐reported skin color. DRS‐calculated and Mexameter melanin values demonstrated a positive correlation (Spearman rho = 0.87, P < 0.001). The results from both instruments showed erythema values were strongly correlated with their own melanin values. This finding is considered spurious and may result from the complexity of separating brown and red pigment when using narrowband reflectance techniques. Further work is needed to understand melanin, erythema and color in Black skin given sun‐related health risks in vulnerable groups in Africa.     

Experimental and Chemometric Optimization to Enhance the Performance of Near-infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy

Approaches for improving the performance of near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIRDRS) have been extensively studied. The silver mirror was found to be a substrate to enhance the detection ability of this technique. For further optimization of the method, experimental and chemometric efforts were made in this study. Lysozyme samples of different concentrations were spotted on the silver mirror for measuring the spectra. Low-resolution spectra with repeated measurements were used for increasing the signal-to-noise ratio, and the chemometric methods of variable selection and nonlinear modeling were used to make the quantitative model more effective and accurate. The results show that the quality of the spectra was improved and a satisfactory quantitative model was obtained after optimization. The maximum deviation for the prediction samples is only 2.98?µg, which is much lower than the reported values in previous papers. Significant advances were obtained for NIRDRS for trace analysis.     

Contribution of Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy to Monitoring the Synthesis Improvement of Encapsulated Complexes

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) can be regarded as a solid state technique contribution to monitoring the process of encapsulation of transition metal complexes into cavities of zeolites. By employing DRS, it was revealed that the effectiveness of a method suggested for higher encapsulation of a tris(bipyridine) cobalt(II) complex into zeolite Y can easily be manifested. In addition to that, simple diffuse reflectance spectra give information about a relative amount of two spin states of the cobalt bipyridine complexes and their alteration upon the method used.__________From Koordinatsionnaya Khimiya, Vol. 31, No. 8, 2005, pp. 618–620.Original English Text Copyright © 2005 by Zanjanchi, Tabatabaeian, Hosseinzadeh.This text was submitted by the authors in English.     

近红外漫反射光谱法测定黄连浸膏粉中生物碱含量

采用近红外漫反射光谱法对黄连浸膏粉中小檗碱、巴马亭、药根碱和总生物碱含量进行快速无损检测。以HPLC分析值作参比,采用偏最小二乘回归算法建立二阶导数光谱信息与各组分含量间的定量校正模型,并对未知样品中各组分含量进行预测。小檗碱、巴马亭、药根碱和总生物碱的预测均方差(RMSEP)分别为0．184、0．109、0．054和0．325;加样回收率分别为97．67％～99．59％、96．63％～100．70％、95．15％～101．15％和97．41％～99．89％,重现性实验相对标准偏差(RSD)分别为0．3％、0．6％、1．8％和0．3％。该方法结果准确可靠,重现性、稳定性均良好,适用于工业现场的原位和在线检测。     

Quantitative Analysis of Berberine in Processed Coptis by Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy

The near-infrared（NIR） diffuse reflectance spectroscopy was used to study the content of Berberine in the processed Coptis. The allocated proportions of Coptis to ginger, yellow liquor or Evodia rutaecarpa changed according to the results of orthogonal design as well as the temperature. For as withdrawing the full and effective information from the spectral data as possible, the spectral data was preprocessed through first derivative and multiplicative scatter correetion（MSC） according to the optimization results of different preprocessing methods. Firstly, the model was established by partial least squares（PLS）; the coefficient of determination（R2） of the prediction was 0.839, the root mean squared error of prediction（RMSEP） was 0.1422, and the mean relative error（RME） was 0.0276. Secondly, for reducing the dimension and removing noise, the spectral variables were highly effectively compressed via the wavelet transformation（WT） technology and the Haar wavelet was selected to decompose the spectral signals. After the wavelet coefficients from WT were input into the artificial neural network（ANN） instead of the spectra signal, the quantitative analysis model of Berberine in processed Coptis was established. The R^2 of the model was 0.9153, the RMSEP was 0.0444, and the RME was 0.0091. The values of appraisal index, namely R^2, RMSECV, and RME, indicate that the generalization ability and prediction precision of ANN are superior to those of PLS. The overall results show that NIR spectroscopy combined with ANN can be efficiently utilized for the rapid and accurate analysis of routine chemical compositions in Coptis. Accordingly, the result can provide technical support for the further analysis of Berberine and other components in processed Coptis. Simultaneously, the research can also offer the foundation of quantitative analysis of other NIR application.     

Diffusion of Ethane-Hydrogen Mixtures in LiLSX and CaA Zeolites Studied by Diffuse Reflectance IR Spectroscopy

The kinetics of the adsorption of ethane-hydrogen mixtures at low pressures (5–20 Torr) on the zeolites LiLSX and CaA are studied by diffuse reflectance IR spectroscopy. The adsorption of ethane mixed with hydrogen on the granulated zeolites is two orders of magnitude slower than the adsorption of pure ethane. Comparison of the adsorption kinetics of ethane-hydrogen mixtures on granulated samples and thin pellets shows that the transport of ethane into the microcrystals of the granular zeolites is retarded primarily by the counter-diffusion of ethane and hydrogen in the intercrystallite pores.     

银镜增强的近红外漫反射光谱法测定血清尿素

针对近红外漫反射光谱(NIRDRS)技术灵敏度低或检出限高的缺点,采用银镜作为吸附基底以改善其灵敏度.银镜的强反射能力不仅能够降低光谱的背景干扰,还能增强光谱的响应信号.研究了NIRDRS技术结合银镜基质用于快速定量分析血清尿素含量的可行性.直接采集富集了血清的银镜基质的NIRDRS光谱,结合光谱预处理和变量选择方法,采用偏最小二乘回归建立了定量校正模型并进行快速预测.结果表明,采用银镜基质结合NIRDRS技术可以准确地测定含量为2.8~26.1 mmol/L的血清尿素,预测值与参考值的相关系数(R2p)为0.9823,样品回收率为86.0%~117.0%,且预测得到的最大误差值低至1.45 mmol/L.     

FT-Raman Spectroscopy as a Tool to Study the Secondary Structures of Wheat Gliadin Proteins

Raman spectroscopy is a useful method in biological, biomedical, food, and agricultural studies, allowing the simultaneous examination of various chemical compounds and evaluation of molecular changes occurring in tested objects. The purpose of our research was to explain how the elimination of ω-fractions from the wheat gliadin complex influences the secondary structures of the remaining αβγ-gliadins. To this aim, we analyzed the endosperm of wheat kernels as well as gliadin proteins extracted from two winter wheat genotypes: wasko.gl+ (control genotype containing the full set of gliadins) and wasko.gl− (modified genotype lacking all ω-gliadins). Based on the decomposition of the amide I band, we observed a moderate increase in β-forms (sheets and turns) at the expense of α-helical and random coil structures for gliadins isolated from the flour of the wasko.gl− line. Since ω-gliadins contain no cysteine residues, they do not participate in the formation of the disulfide bridges that stabilize the protein structure. However, they can interact with other proteins via weak, low-energetic hydrogen bonds. We conclude that the elimination of ω-fractions from the gliadin complex causes minor modifications in secondary structures of the remaining gliadin proteins. In our opinion, these small, structural changes of proteins may lead to alterations in gliadin allergenicity.     

Luminescence Spectroscopy as a Tool to Study the Amorphization of Indomethacin upon Co-Grinding with Polymers

The possibility of using luminescence spectroscopy to study even the early stages of the amorphization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) during their co-grinding with different polymers has been demonstrated using indomethacin as an example. Amorphization of an API is observed only on co-grinding with those polymers that have functional groups capable of interacting with the API to form supramolecular complexes. It is the formation of supramolecular complexes due to the chemical affinity between them, rather than local heating caused by plastic deformation of an API or of a polymer, that is responsible for the amorphization of the API on co-grinding with selected polymers. It has also been shown that luminescence spectroscopy can be a sensitive method of monitoring the crystallization of the amorphous phase of APIs during storage of API mechanocomposites with polymers depending on temperature and relative humidity.     

Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy as a Tool to Study Polyplex‐Glycoaminoglycan Interactions

Summary: This article reports the application of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to monitor the interaction between polymer‐DNA complexes and glycoaminoglycans (GAG). The GAG selected was hyaluronic acid (HA). First a HA derivative containing a disulfide linkage was synthesized, enabling chemisorption onto a gold surface. Next, the interaction between different complexes (prepared using PEI or PDMAEMA) and HA was studied using SPR. This study clearly indicates that GAG‐polyplex interactions depend on the type of polymer selected and on the charge ratio of the polyplexes prepared.

The derivative developed opens up new perspectives in the field of nonviral gene delivery.     

Application of Near Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy with Radial Basis Function Neural Network to Determination of Rifampincin Isoniazid and Pyrazinamide Tablets

Partial least squares(PLS),back-propagation neural network(BPNN)and radial basis function neural network(RBFNN)were respectively used for estalishing quantative analysis models with near infrared(NIR)diffuse reflectance spectra for determining the contents of rifampincin(RMP),isoniazid(INH)and pyrazinamide(PZA)in rifampicin isoniazid and pyrazinamide tablets.Savitzky-Golay smoothing,first derivative,second derivative,fast Fourier transform(FFT)and standard normal variate(SNV)transformation methods were applied to pretreating raw NIR diffuse reflectance spectra.The raw and pretreated spectra were divided into several regions,depending on the average spectrum and RSD spectrum.Principal component analysis(PCA)method was used for analyzing the raw and pretreated spectra in different regions in order to reduce the dimensions of input data.The optimum spectral regions and the models' parameters were chosen by comparing the root mean square error of cross-validation(RMSECV)values which were obtained by leave-one-out cross-validation method.The RMSECV values of the RBFNN models for determining the contents of RMP,INH and PZA were 0.00288,0.00226 and 0.00341,respectively.Using these models for predicting the contents of INH,RMP and PZA in prediction set,the RMSEP values were 0.00266,0.00227 and 0.00411,respectively.These results are better than those obtained from PLS models and BPNN models.With additional advantages of fast calculation speed and less dependence on the initial conditions,RBFNN is a suitable tool to model complex systems.     

Resonance Raman Spectroscopy as a Tool for the Detection and Identification of Pollutants in Water

The use of resonance Raman spectroscopy in water pollution is reviewed. After a short introduction to the technique, the results obtained with this method are illustrated with examples of coloured compounds (such as fabric dyes and food dyes) and non-coloured compounds (such as phenolic compounds and nitrobenzene pesticides). Attention is given to detection limits in distilled and natural water, to identification capabilities and to quantitative determinations. The major advantages are indicated and the problem of interferences due to fluorescence and its reduction are shortly discussed.     

Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy and Spectroscopy as a Tool for Chemical Analysis

Research into the nanometer-scale region is currently of relevance in many branches of modern science and engineering, such as in microelectronics, supramolecular chemistry, and in a biological context. A great deal of attention is given to the design of molecular devices, usually towards understanding the function of existing "molecular machines". Central to this task are powerful diagnostic tools capable of recording chemical information with spatial resolution in the nanometer range. While elemental analysis of surfaces with a lateral resolution of a few dozen nanometers is almost routine, analysis of molecular species with a resolution of <1 μm is very difficult. Scanning-tunneling and atomic-force microscopies usually do not give any chemical information. By combining scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM)-the "optical member" of the family of scanning-probe microscopies-with optical spectroscopy, it is possible to obtain molecular information from sample areas as little as 50 nm in diameter. In SNOM, a light source is scanned above the object of interest at a distance of a few nanometers. In the optical near field, the illuminated area is not subject to the Abbé diffraction limit, but merely by the size of the illuminating source. High quality SNOM probes can be reproducibly prepared by a chemical-etching method. These etched probes have an optical transmission up to 1000-fold higher than commercial (pulled) SNOM tips and can withstand higher laser power. This last advantage allows not only high resolution optical imaging, but also localized spectroscopic investigations of surfaces and even optical "nanosampling" by pulsed-laser ablation. The ablated material can be transported over a considerable distance, which opens the possibility for its subsequent analysis with a complementary, highly sensitive analytical method, such as mass spectrometry.     

重金属在黄铁矿中的相态及其释放的分级提取和漫反射红外光谱分析

以分级提取-电感耦合等离子体质谱考察了黄铁矿中重金属的相态分布。结果表明,黄铁矿中的重金属以Pb为主,总量达830mg/kg,并且酸可交换态Pb主要存在于碳酸盐相中或直接以PbS形式存在,这部分Pb达56.9%;易还原态Pb主要存在于铁氧化物相中,为29.7%;可氧化态和残余态Pb存在于硫化物相和硅酸盐相中,分别为3.5%和9.9%。黄铁矿在自然条件下以Pb释放为主,Cr和Cd的释放也不容忽视。漫反射红外光谱表征发现,黄铁矿在表面氧化过程中,其表面羟基增强,表明存在表面溶解及表面酸化现象。进一步的机理探讨认为,重金属在黄铁矿表面存在一种“溶解-吸附”平衡,这一平衡由黄铁矿表面氧化和碳酸盐中和作用共同控制,并决定重金属的释放及迁移。     

On the Possibility of Using UV Spectroscopy as a Measure of the Low-Barrier Hydrogen Bond

In many enzyme-catalyzed biochemical pathways, a short, strong hydrogen bond between an enzyme and substrate is an important structural feature. These bonds are termed low-barrier hydrogen bonds. In this paper, we show that UV spectra can be used as an experimental technique to determine if a system contains a low-barrier hydrogen bond (LBHB). We simulate, using the time-dependent view of UV spectroscopy, several different UV spectra: absorption, photodissociation, and emission, on systems containing a low-barrier hydrogen bond. We find several distinguishing spectral features in these UV spectra for systems that possess a LBHB.     

The Diversity of Linear Conjugated Polyenes and Colours in Nature: Raman Spectroscopy as a Diagnostic Tool

This review is centered on the linear conjugated polyenes, which encompasses chromatic biomolecules, such as carotenoids, polyunsaturated aldehydes and polyolefinic fatty acids. The linear extension of the conjugated double bonds in these molecules is the main feature that determines the spectroscopic properties as light-absorbing. These classes of compounds are responsible for the yellow, orange, red and purple colors which are observed in their parent flora and fauna in nature. Raman spectroscopy has been used as analytical tool for the characterization of these molecules, mainly due to the strong light scattering produced by the delocalized pi electrons in the carbon chain. In addition, conjugated polyenes are one of the main target molecular species for astrobiology, and we also present a brief discussion of the use of Raman spectroscopy as one of the main analytical tools for the detection of polyenes extra-terrestrially.