Organic,inorganic and total mercury determination in fish by chemical vapor generation with collection on a gold gauze and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A method for organic, inorganic and total mercury determination in fish tissue has been developed using chemical vapor generation and collection of mercury vapor on a gold gauze inside a graphite tube and further atomization by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. After drying and cryogenic grinding, potassium bromide and hydrochloric acid solution (1 mol L^− 1 KBr in 6 mol L^− 1 HCl) was added to the samples. After centrifugation, total mercury was determined in the supernatant. Organomercury compounds were selectively extracted from KBr solution using chloroform and the resultant solution was back extracted with 1% m/v L-cysteine. This solution was used for organic Hg determination. Inorganic Hg remaining in KBr solution was directly determined by chemical vapor generation electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Mercury vapor generation from extracts was performed using 1 mol L^− 1 HCl and 2.5% m/v NaBH₄ solutions and a batch chemical vapor generation system. Mercury vapor was collected on the gold gauze heated resistively at 80 °C and the atomization temperature was set at 650 °C. The selectivity of extraction was evaluated using liquid chromatography coupled to chemical vapor generation and determination by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The proposed method was applied for mercury analysis in shark, croaker and tuna fish tissues. Certified reference materials were used to check accuracy and the agreement was better than 95%. The characteristic mass was 60 pg and method limits of detection were 5, 1 and 1 ng g^− 1 for organic, inorganic and total mercury, respectively. With the proposed method it was possible to analyze up to 2, 2 and 6 samples per hour for organic, inorganic and total Hg determination, respectively.     

Synthesis and Antimycobacterial Activity of 3-Phenyl-1H-indoles

Tuberculosis has been described as a global health crisis since the 1990s, with an estimated 1.4 million deaths in the last year. Herein, a series of 20 1H-indoles were synthesized and evaluated as in vitro inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) growth. Furthermore, the top hit compounds were active against multidrug-resistant strains, without cross-resistance with first-line drugs. Exposing HepG2 and Vero cells to the molecules for 72 h showed that one of the evaluated structures was devoid of apparent toxicity. In addition, this 3-phenyl-1H-indole showed no genotoxicity signals. Finally, time-kill and pharmacodynamic model analyses demonstrated that this compound has bactericidal activity at concentrations close to the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, coupled with a strong time-dependent behavior. To the best of our knowledge, this study describes the activity of 3-phenyl-1H-indole against Mtb for the first time.     

A Fractional Linear System View of the Fractional Brownian Motion

A definition of the fractional Brownian motion based on the fractional differintegrator characteristics is proposed and studied. It is shown that the model enjoys the usually required properties. A discrete-time version based in the backward difference and in the bilinear transformation is considered. Some results are presented.     

Generalized multiple-prism dispersion theory for pulse compression in ultrafast dye lasers

A generalized multiple-prism dispersion theory, applicable to pulse compression schemes in femtosecond dye lasers, is described. The equations can be utilized to determine the dispersive characteristics of any multiple-prism arrangement. Also, the difference in dispersive values resulting in the use of various prism materials, including ZnSe, is compared.     

A double-prism beam expander for pulsed dye lasers

The design of a pulsed dye laser cavity incorporating a double-prism beam expander is described and operating characteristics compared with those of single-prism systems. Narrow spectral linewidths (δλ = 0.008 Å) are achieved at relatively high efficiency (> 10%) for coumarin 500 dye solutions. Background superfluorescence in the output is low and the cavity is free from external coupling effects.     

Returns to the time axis in directed configurations

Directed configurations in dimensions 2 to 4 are investigated regarding the average number of returns to the anisotropy, or time, axis. Series expansions for this quantity, show that it vanishes asymptotically with a dimension dependent exponent equal to the critical exponent for directed animals in the corresponding dimensionality.     

On the approach to the final aperiodic regime in maps of the interval

We present a global approach to the final aperiodic regime in maps of the interval displaying a simple pattern with similarities to the Feigenbaum scheme.