Determination of As, Ge, Hg, Pb, Sb, Se and Sn in coal slurries by CVG-ETV-ICP-MS using external or isotopic dilution calibration

A method for the multi-elemental determination of As, Ge, Hg, Pb, Sb, Se and Sn in coal reference materials by slurry sampling chemical vapor generation (CVG) using external calibration and isotopic dilution (ID) calibration and detection by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) is proposed. As, Ge, Sb, Se and Sn were determined using the external calibration, while, Hg, Pb, Se and Sn were determined by isotopic dilution. About 50–250 mg of sample was mixed with an acid solution, containing aqua regia and HCl, in an ultrasonic bath. For the isotopic dilution calibration, the enriched isotopes ²⁰¹Hg, ²⁰⁶Pb, ⁷⁷Se and ¹¹⁹Sn were added to the slurry in an adequate amount in order to produce an altered isotopic ratio close to 1. The vapor produced by the reaction of the sample slurry with the reducing agent was transported to the vaporizer and trapped in a Ir-treated graphite tube at 200 °C, before vaporization at 2100 °C and transportation of the vapor to the plasma. The accuracy of the method was assured by the analysis of four certified reference coal samples, using external calibration with aqueous solutions, prepared in the same medium and subjected to the same CVG and trapping procedure as the slurries and also by isotopic dilution calibration. The obtained concentrations were in agreement with the certified values, using the t-Student test for a confidence level of 95%. The detection limits (3 s; n = 5) of isotopic dilution, in ng g^− 1, were: 0.4 for Hg, 900 for Pb, 0.3 for Se and 0.2 for Sn. For external calibration, the detection limits, in ng g^− 1, were: 1.6 for As, 0.1 for Ge, 0.3 for Sb, 0.9 for Se and 7.5 for Sn. The relative standard deviations generally were lower than 14%, adequate for slurry analysis.     

Determination of mercury in biological samples by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry following cloud point extraction with salt-induced phase separation

Method development for the pre-concentration of mercury in human hair, dogfish liver and dogfish muscle samples using cloud-point extraction and cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry is demonstrated. Before the extraction, the samples were submitted to microwave-assisted digestion in a mixture of H₂O₂ and HNO₃. Cloud point extraction was carried out using 0.5% (m/v) ammonium O,O-diethyldithiophosphate (DDTP) as the chelating agent and 0.3% (m/v) Triton X-114 as the non-ionic surfactant. Phase separation was induced after the addition of Na₂SO₄ to a final concentration of 0.2 mol L⁻¹. Aliquots of the final extract were transferred to PTFE tubes and NaBH₄ and HCl were added. The mercury vapor was driven to a non-heated quartz tube for measuring the absorbance. The results obtained with salt-induced phase separation were in good agreement with the certified values at a 95% confidence level. An enrichment factor of 10 allowed a detection limit of 0.4 ng g⁻¹ to be obtained, which demonstrates the high sensitivity of the proposed procedure for the determination of mercury at trace levels.     

N-Hydroxy indoles as flexible substrates in rearrangements—a novel reaction with activated triple bonds

A novel rearrangement of N-hydroxy indole derivatives obtained from addition of N-hydroxy indoles to the activated triple bonds of alkynes was found to coexist with 3,3-sigmatropic rearrangements to the indolic ring. A mechanism involving an intermediate oxaziridinium ring rationalizes the transformation.     

Mass spectrometry of imidazole-4(5)-carboxaldehyde and some 1-methyl and nitro derivatives

The mass spectra of imidazole-4(5)-carboxaldehyde, its two 1-methyl derivatives, 4(5)-nitroimidazole, 5(4)-nitroimidazole-4(5)-carboxaldehyde and 1-methyl-5-nitroimidazole-4-carboxaldehyde are presented and discussed in comparison with those of other imidazole-carboxaldehydes and nitroimidazoles earlier reported. The imidazole-carboxaldehydes and their 1-methyl derivatives exhibit the characteristic fragmentation of aromatic aldehydes, and differences between the isomers can be observed. The nitroimidazoles show the fragmentation typical of aromatic nitrocompounds. In the o-nitroimidazole-carboxaldehydes, the typical losses of aldehydes do not occur, but primary ortho effects between the formyl and nitro groups give rise to important fragmentation routes. In their 1-methyl derivatives, the presence of the methyl group adjacent to the nitro group originates additional double and secondary ortho effects. For some of these transformations, fragmentation mechanisms are proposed.     

An automated, sheathless capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry platform for discovery of biomarkers in human serum

A capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) method has been developed to perform routine, automated analysis of low-molecular-weight peptides in human serum. The method incorporates transient isotachophoresis for in-line preconcentration and a sheathless electrospray interface. To evaluate the performance of the method and demonstrate the utility of the approach, an experiment was designed in which peptides were added to sera from individuals at each of two different concentrations, artificially creating two groups of samples. The CE-MS data from the serum samples were divided into separate training and test sets. A pattern-recognition/feature-selection algorithm based on support vector machines was used to select the mass-to-charge (m/z) values from the training set data that distinguished the two groups of samples from each other. The added peptides were identified correctly as the distinguishing features, and pattern recognition based on these peptides was used to assign each sample in the independent test set to its respective group. A twofold difference in peptide concentration could be detected with statistical significance (p-value < 0.0001). The accuracy of the assignment was 95%, demonstrating the utility of this technique for the discovery of patterns of biomarkers in serum.     

Synthesis and properties of new polyazines—II

New polyazines have been synthesized by the polycondensation of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone, 9,10-anthraquinone, 1- and 2-chloroanthraquinone with hydrazine hydrate and disulphinylhydrazine. A reaction mechanism has been proposed for the polycondensation of phenanthrenequinone with hydrazine hydrate in DMF in the presence of zinc chloride. The electrical conductivity (10^?10–10^?6 ohm^?1 cm^?1) and the paramagnetic particle concentration (10¹⁸–10²¹ spin/g indicate the semiconducting properties of these polyazines.     

L-Carnitine, Immunomodulation, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-related Disorders

The use of pharmacologic doses of the conditionally-essential nutrient L-carnitine (LC) has been associated with positive effects on the immune system. We have recently suggested that this property of LC could be mediated through activation of the glucocorticoid receptor alpha. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals, especially those on antiretroviral therapy, may become LC-deficient. This evidence, together with the immunomodulatory properties of LC, its known major role in lipid and energy metabolisms, and its proposed antiapoptotic and neuroprotective actions, have encouraged the use of LC supplementation as a potential treatment for HIV-related disorders, such as lipodystrophy and peripheral neuropathy. Preliminary results, mostly from small-scale uncontrolled studies are conflicting, whilst larger controlled trials are warranted.     

On degenerate surface patches

A local construction of aGC ¹ interpolating surface to given scattered data in ³ can give rise to degenerate Bernstein-Bézier patches. This means that the parametrization at vertices is not regular in the sense that the length of the tangent vector to any curve passing through a vertex is zero at that vertex. This implies that the curvature of these curves tends to infinity whenever one approaches a vertex. This fact seems not to have a negative influence on the shape of the surface.     

Electrochemical study of interfacial composite nanostructures: polyelectrolyte/gold nanoparticle multilayers assembled on phospholipid/dextran sulfate monolayers at a liquid-liquid interface

The build up and electrochemical characterization of interfacial composite nanostructures containing a cationic polyelectrolyte and negatively charged mercaptosuccinic acid stabilized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is reported. The nanostructures were formed at the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions in which the organic phase is an immobilized 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether/PVC gel. The growth of the multilayer was verified with UV-vis spectra, and approximately a linear increase in UV-vis absorbance with increasing number of layers was observed. The interfacial capacitance of the multilayers was measured as a function of the potential and a theoretical model was developed to explain the results. The excellent agreement between theoretical and experimental capacitance curves allows us to conclude that nanocomposites behave similarly to polyelectrolyte multilayers, with the outmost layer determining the alternating sign of the outer surface charge density. Cyclic voltammograms were used to evaluate the transfer rate constant across the multilayers of a model drug, metoprolol, and the standard probe tetraethylammonium cation. The apparent rate constants were slightly larger than in other studies in the literature and decrease with the increasing number of layers.     

Coupling of ultrasonic nebulization to flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry—new possibilities for trace element determination

The use of ultrasonic nebulization (USN) with desolvation system for sample introduction in flame atomic absorption spectrometry (F AAS) and flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (FF AAS) with a nickel tube is described. Polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) adaptors were built to replace the pneumatic nebulizer for USN-F AAS measurements. For USN-FF AAS analysis, an alumina injector allowed the direct introduction of the dry aerosol into the nickel tube. The analytical performance of both systems is shown for Ag, Bi, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb, Sb, Se, Tl and Zn. The results demonstrate that a sensitivity gain of up to 39 times can be achieved using USN-FF AAS, mainly due to the increase in residence time and to the absence of dilution of the analyte by the flame gases, as the atomization takes place inside the nickel tube. However, elements that require higher atomization temperatures, such as Cr and Mn, are more efficiently determined using USN-F AAS. To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed methods for the determination of trace elements, five certified reference samples were analyzed, and good agreement was, in general, achieved between certified and determined values at a 95% confidence level. The relative standard deviation was frequently below 5%, demonstrating good precision, particularly for USN-FF AAS. In this sense, coupling of USN with F AAS and especially with FF AAS has proved to be simple, safe, with high precision and good accuracy, also maintaining some of the most important features of F AAS, such as the high analytical frequency and the low running cost.