Simultaneous Chemiluminometric Determination of Levodopa and Benserazide in a Multi-pumping Flow System with Multivariate Calibration

An automated multi-pumping flow system is proposed for the simultaneous chemiluminometric determination of benserazide and levodopa using multivariate calibration methods. The developed methodology is based on chemiluminescence (CL) emission generated by the reaction of benserazide with luminol, and on a concurrent inhibiting effect of levodopa on this reaction. A multi-pumping flow system comprising multiple solenoid micro-pumps as the only active components was developed to implement a stopped-flow approach for signal acquisition and processing. Artificial neural networks were used to establish a relationship between the CL emission profile and the concentration of both drugs. The concentration values used to establish the experimental calibration samples were varied between 5 and 30 mg l(-1) for levodopa and between 2.5 and 20 mg l(-1) for benserazide. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of levodopa and benserazide in pharmaceutical formulations combining both drugs.     

Investigation of hydroxyl-mediated spectral interference from easily ionized elements in laser-enhanced ionization spectrometry in the 281–285 nm range

The spectral background from 281 to 285 nm in the laser-enhanced ionization (LEI) spectrum of aqueous samples containing easily ionized elements (EIE) at concentrations similar to those found in blood was investigated. A complex, structured spectral background was observed, which appears in the presence of Na or K, but does not match the spectral signature of either element. The same behavior was also observed for Li. It was established that this background originates from an energy transfer between laser-excited hydroxyl (OH) molecules and ground-state EIEs. The intensity of this spectral feature was found to increase with EIE concentration and applied electrode voltage. This unexpected source of spectral interference may complicate the determination of trace metals by LEI in the presence of EIEs, since it can not be prevented by simply avoiding interference from atomic lines.     

Effect of instrumental particle sizing resolution on the modelling of aerosol radiative parameters

A more realistic estimation of the scattering and hemispheric backscattering coefficients, σ_sp and σ_bsp, and their respective optical cross section, C_sca and C_bk, of aerosol particles is presented on the basis of the exact resolution of the width of the size bins of the particle counter instruments when size distribution measurements are used, and, with the exact optical detector instruments ability. The scattering and hemispheric backscattering cross sections, C_sca and C_bk, of the particles are averaged over the full size bins of the particle counter instrument, while these quantities are usually estimated only on the value of the mean geometric diameter of each size bin. Six instruments, the APS, ASASP-X, DMPS, FSSP-100, ELPI, and SMPS frequently used in particle size distribution measurements are reviewed, for spherical sea-salt particles at a wavelength λ=0.55 μm. The comparison using the conventional geometric mean diameter versus the use of the full size bin leads to large amount of errors for the optical cross section with non-negligible effects on their respective optical coefficients. The maximal accuracy expected for these optical quantities depend on the particle diameter as well as on the channel width of the instruments, and are also function of the angular detector probe used to measure them.     

Procedure of test to compare the tail indices

We propose a test procedure which compares the extreme value indices of two samples with heavy tail distributions. On a theoretical point of view, we adopt the minimax nonparametric point of view. We exhibit the separating rate between the null hypothesis and the alternative of our procedure. Next, we present a data driven test methodology and we evaluate its performance thanks to an extensive simulation study. As a practical real-life application, we compare the risk behaviors of a panel of different financial data.     

Instant controlled pressure drop technology and ultrasound assisted extraction for sequential extraction of essential oil and antioxidants

The instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) technology enabled both the extraction of essential oil and the expansion of the matrix itself which improved solvent extraction. The sequential use of DIC and Ultrasound Assisted Extraction (UAE) triggered complementary actions materialized by supplementary effects. We visualized these combination impacts by comparing them to standard techniques: Hydrodistillation (HD) and Solvent Extraction (SE). First, the extraction of orange peel Essential Oils (EO) was achieved by HD during 4 h and DIC process (after optimization) during 2 min; EO yields was 1.97 mg/g dry material (dm) with HD compared to 16.57 mg/g dm with DIC. Second, the solid residue was recovered to extract antioxidant compounds (naringin and hesperidin) by SE and UAE. Scanning electron microscope showed that after HD the recovered solid shriveled as opposite to DIC treatment which expanded the product structure. HPLC analyses showed that the best kinetics and yields of naringin and hesperidin extraction was when DIC and UAE are combined. Indeed, after 1 h of extraction, DIC treated orange peels with UAE were 0.825 ± 1.6 × 10^?2 g/g of dry material (dm) for hesperidin and 6.45 × 10^?2 ± 2.3 × 10^?4 g/g dm for naringin compared to 0.64 ± 2.7 × 10^?2 g/g of dry material (dm) and 5.7 × 10^?2 ± 1.6 × 10^?3 g/g dm, respectively with SE. By combining DIC to UAE, it was possible to enhance kinetics and yields of antioxidant extraction.     

Probing complex materials with coherent soft X-rays

We motivate the use of coherent soft X-ray beams to study materials that exhibit complex nanoscale behaviors. A new beamline and magnetic scattering end station that has been constructed and commissioned at the ALS will be described. Finally, we present some initial results that indicate the performance of the beamline. K. Chesnel now at Department of Physics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. J.J. Turner now at Department of Physics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA. M. Pfeifer now at School of Physics La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.     

Adaptive estimation of the stationary density of a stochastic differential equation driven by a fractional Brownian motion

Statistical Inference for Stochastic Processes - We build and study a data-driven procedure for the estimation of the stationary density f of an additive fractional SDE. To this end, we also prove...     

Synthesis of Renewable meta‐Xylylenediamine from Biomass‐Derived Furfural

We report the synthesis of biomass‐derived functionalized aromatic chemicals from furfural, a building block nowadays available in large scale from low‐cost biomass. The scientific strategy relies on a Diels–Alder/aromatization sequence. By controlling the rate of each step, it was possible to produce exclusively the meta aromatic isomer. In particular, through this route, we describe the synthesis of renewably sourced meta‐xylylenediamine (MXD). Transposition of this work to other furfural‐derived chemicals is also discussed and reveals that functionalized biomass‐derived aromatics (benzaldehyde, benzylamine, etc.) can be potentially produced, according to this route.