Determination of acetaldehyde in saliva by gas-diffusion flow injection analysis

The consumption of ethanol is known to increase the likelihood of oral cancer. In addition, there has been a growing concern about possible association between long term use of ethanol-containing mouthwashes and oral cancer. Acetaldehyde, known to be a carcinogen, is the first metabolite of ethanol and it can be produced in the oral cavity after consumption or exposure to ethanol. This paper reports on the development of a gas-diffusion flow injection method for the online determination of salivary acetaldehyde by its colour reaction with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) and ferric chloride. Acetaldehyde samples and standards (80 μL) were injected into the donor stream containing NaCl from which acetaldehyde diffused through the hydrophobic Teflon membrane of the gas-diffusion cell into the acceptor stream containing the two reagents mentioned above. The resultant intense green coloured dye was monitored spectrophotometrically at 600 nm. Under the optimum working conditions the method is characterized by a sampling rate of 9 h⁻¹, a linear calibration range of 0.5–15 mg L⁻¹ (absorbance = 5.40 × 10⁻² [acetaldehyde, mg L⁻¹], R² = 0.998), a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.90% (n = 10, acetaldehyde concentration of 2.5 mg L⁻¹), and a limit of detection (LOD) of 12.3 μg L⁻¹. The LOD and sampling rate of the proposed method are superior to those of the conventional gas chromatographic (GC) method (LOD = 93.0 μg L⁻¹ and sampling rate = 4 h⁻¹). The reliability of the proposed method was illustrated by the fact that spiked with acetaldehyde saliva samples yielded excellent recoveries (96.6–101.9%), comparable to those obtained by GC (96.4–102.3%) and there was no statistically significant difference at the 95% confidence level between the two methods when non-spiked saliva samples were analysed.     

The influence of sample area on diclofenac sodium quantification by diffuse reflectance IR spectroscopy

A procedure for the quantitative determination of diclofenac sodium (DS) in commercial capsules and tablets based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) treatment of diffuse reflectance FTIR spectroscopic (DRIFTS) data is described. Two DRIFTS accessories, a Collector II (Spectra-Tech) and a Seagull (Harrick Scientific), were used to collect the spectra. The spectrometer beam area on the surface of the sample was approximately sevenfold smaller for the Collector II accessory compared to the Seagull accessory. Spectra collection using the smaller beam spot resulted in significantly higher quantification errors for the single measurements. To reduce the errors associated with the Collector II accessory spectra were collected seven times while randomly changing the sample position. The mean spectra were used in the analysis. To compare the predictive ability of the constructed models, the relative standard errors of prediction (RSEP) were calculated. The RSEPs were 1.3-2.9% and 2.0-2.6% using the Collector II accessory and 1.0-1.5% and 1.1-1.7% using the Seagull accessory, for calibration and validation data sets, for the different PLS models. Three commercial preparations containing 20.5, 23.2 and 34.5% DS were successfully quantified using the developed models. The proposed procedure can be used as a fast, precise and economic method for DS quantification in tablets and capsules.     

On Von Neumann Regular Rings of Skew Generalized Power Series

In this paper we introduce a construction called the skew generalized power series ring R[[S, ω]] with coefficients in a ring R and exponents in a strictly ordered monoid S which extends Ribenboim's construction of generalized power series rings. In the case when S is totally ordered or commutative aperiodic, and ω(s) is constant on idempotents for some s ∈ S?{1}, we give sufficient and necessary conditions on R and S such that the ring R[[S, ω]] is von Neumann regular, and we show that the von Neumann regularity of the ring R[[S, ω]] is equivalent to its semisimplicity. We also give a characterization of the strong regularity of the ring R[[S, ω]].     

A new class of unique product monoids with applications to ring theory

We introduce a class of ordered monoids defined by the existence of certain “unique products” with respect to artinian and narrow subsets of the monoid. The logical relationships between this and other significant classes of monoids are explicated with several examples. We conclude with results on skew generalized power series rings. The new class of monoids provides the appropriate setting for obtaining results on reduced rings and domains of skew generalized power series, and on analogues of Armendariz rings.     

Thermodynamic enhancement of oligomers in dynamic living polymer system involving end-group interaction. Distribution of living oligomers in equilibrated polydimethylsiloxanes

The concentrations of living oligomers of structure MtO[Si(Me)₂O]_nMt (n = 1 to 8, Mt = Na, K or Cs) are studied at equilibrium in the polymerization of permethylcyclopolysiloxanes initiated with alkali metal silanolates. The amounts of these oligomers are considerably higher than expected from the most probable distribution of molecular sizes, which is generally accepted as the distribution of linear chain size in equilibrated polydimethylsiloxane. This phenomenon is a consequence of interaction between living ends in connection with a dynamic character of a living polydimethylsiloxane system in which fast chain scrambling occurs. Other systems showing these features are expected to exhibit similar effects.     

Antioxidant and Antiglycation Effects of Cistus × incanus Water Infusion,Its Phenolic Components,and Respective Metabolites

Reactive oxygen and carbonyl species promote oxidative and carbonyl stress, and the development of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, and others. The traditional herb Cistus × incanus is known for its antioxidant properties; therefore, the current study aimed to assess how the chemical composition of a C. incanus water infusion corresponds with its antioxidative and antiglycative effects in vitro. The composition of infusions prepared from commercial products was analyzed with UHPLC-ESI-qTOF-MS. Total phenolics, flavonoids, and non-flavonoid polyphenols were determined. Antioxidant activity of infusions and selected polyphenols was investigated using DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP. Fluorometric measurements and methylglyoxal capture were performed to investigate the antiglycation activity. PCA and PLS-DA models were applied to explore the correlation between chemical and antioxidant results. The principal flavonoids in C. incanus were flavonols. In vitro tests revealed that a stronger antioxidant effect was demonstrated by plant material from Turkey rich in flavonoids, followed by Albania and Greece. Flavonols and ellagic acid displayed stronger antiradical and reducing power than EA-derived urolithins. Hyperoside was the most potent inhibitor of glycation. The results indicate that flavonoids are primarily responsible for rock rose antioxidant and antiglycation properties. PLS-DA modeling can be used to identify the origin of plant material with sensitivity and specificity exceeding 86%.     

On the conformation of the propranolol molecule

The structure of the propranolol molecule has been optimized within the AM1 and PM3 semiempirical framework followed by ab initio HF/6-31G^* refinement. On each calculation level the conformational space was sampled to search for the lowest-energy conformer(s) from among a few hundreds of conformers at the semiempirical step and next from among a few dozens of conformers at the ab initio level. Finally, five stable conformers were found; each stabilized by one or two of the three possible hydrogen bonds. The geometrical and electronic parameters were established and found to differ only slightly in the structures with the hydrogen bond either present or not.