Development and validation of a UPLC‐MS/MS method for the determination of cucurbitacin B in rat plasma and application to a pharmacokinetic study

Cucurbitacin B (CuB), one of the most abundant forms of cucurbitacins, is a promising natural anticancer drug candidate. Although the anticancer activity of CuB has been well demonstrated, information regarding the pharmacokinetics is limited. A rapid, selective and sensitive UPLC‐MS/MS for CuB was developed and validated using hemslecin A (HeA) as internal standard (IS). Plasma samples were pre‐treated by liquid–liquid extraction with dichloromethane. Separation was achieved on a reversed‐phase C₁₈ column (50 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) at 35°C using isocratic elution with water–methanol (25:75, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The analytes were monitored by a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer with positive electrospray ionization mode. The calibration curve was linear (r > 0.995) in a concentration range of 0.3–100 ng/mL with a limit of quantification of 0.3 ng/mL. Intra‐ and inter‐day accuracy and precision were validated by percentage relative error and relative standard deviation, respectively, which were both lower than the limit of 15%. This assay was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of CuB in Wistar rats. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vertically aligned γ-AlOOH nanosheets on Al foils as flexible and reusable substrates for NH<Subscript>3</Subscript> adsorption

Vertically aligned γ-AlOOH nanosheets (NSs) have been successfully fabricated on flexible Al foils via a solvothermal route without morphology-directing agents. Three different reaction temperature (25, 80, and 120 ?C) and time (30 min, 45 min, and 24 h) are discussed for the growth period, which efficiently tune the density and size of the γ-AlOOH NSs. Meanwhile, the growth speed of the nanosheets confirms that dominant growth stage is seen in the initial 45 min. Furthermore, the interlayer of the γ-AlOOH NSs displays an average height of 140 nm and superhydrophilicity. By dynamic adsorption, the assynthesized γ-AlOOH NSs exhibit an outstanding NH₃ adsorption capacity of up to 146 mg/g and stably excellent regeneration for 5 cycles. The mechanism of NH₃ adsorption on the in-plane of the γ-AlOOH NSs is explained by the Lewis acid/base theory. The H-bond interactions among the NH₃ molecules and the edge groups (-OH) further improve the capture ability of the nanosheets.     

Temperature/Light Dual‐Responsive Inclusion Complexes of α‐Cyclodextrins and Azobenzene‐Containing Polymers

Three kinds of photoresponsive copolymers with azobenzene side chains were synthesized by radical polymerization of N‐4‐phenylazophenylacrylamide (PAPA) with N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM), N,N‐diethylacrylamide (DEAM) or N,N‐dimethylacrylamide (DMAM) respectively. Their structures were characterized by FT‐IR, ¹H‐NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopy. Their reversible photoresponses were studied with or without α‐cyclodextrin (α‐CD), which showed that both the copolymers and their inclusion complexes with α‐CD underwent rapid photoisomerization. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the copolymers and their inclusion complexes with α‐CD were investigated by cloud point measurement, which showed that the LCST of three kinds of copolymers increased largely after adding α‐CD. After UV irradiation on the solutions of copolymers and their inclusion complexes, the LCST of the copolymers increased slightly with the absence of α‐CD, while decreased largely with the presence of α‐CD. Furthermore, the LCST reverted to its originality after visible light irradiation. This change of LCST could be reversibly controlled by UV and visible light irradiation alternately. In particular, in the copolymer of PAPA and DMAM, the reversible water solubility of the inclusion complexes could be triggered by alternating UV and visible light irradiation.     

Chemoproteomic Discovery of AADACL1 as a Regulator of Human Platelet Activation

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Improved electrochemical performance of nano-crystalline Li2FeSiO4/C cathode material prepared by the optimization of sintering temperature

Li₂FeSiO₄/C cathode materials have been prepared using the conventional solid-state method by varying the sintering temperature (650 °C, 700 °C and 750 °C), and the structure and electrochemical performance of Li₂FeSiO₄/C materials are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), galvanostatic charge–discharge tests, respectively. The results show that Li₂FeSiO₄ nano-crystals with a diameter of about 6–8 nm are inbedded in the amorphous carbon, and the Li₂FeSiO₄/C material obtained at 700 °C exhibits an initial discharge capacity of 195 mA?h g^?1 at 1/16 C in the potential range of 1.5–4.8 V. The excellent electrochemical performance of Li₂FeSiO₄/C attributes to the improvement of conductivity and reduction of impurity by the optimization of the sintering temperature.     

Fast Determination of Phenanthrene in Soil by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Using Chemometric Resolution and Standard Addition Method

A method for fast determination of the component in complex samples by using gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) was developed and used for quantitative analysis of phenanthrene in soils. In the method, window independent component analysis (WICA) was used for resolving the mass spectrum and non‐negative immune algorithm (NNIA) was employed for obtaining the chromatographic profile. Therefore, spectral and chromatographic information of a specific component can be obtained from the measured GC‐MS data of overlapping and high background. Six soil samples collected from different places were analyzed. The tedious pretreatments in preparing the samples and the elution in the separation were simplified for speeding up the analysis. Due to the complexity of the matrix, standard addition method was adopted for the final quantification. The applicability of the method was validated with a spiked sample and the results of the six samples are reasonable.     

Improved Photovoltaic Performance of MEH-PPV/PCBM Solar Cells via Incorporation of Si Nanocrystals

We have studied the effect of silicon nanocrystals （SiNCs） as a third component on performance of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells composed of poly[2-methoxy,5-（2＇-ethylhexyloxy）-l,4-phenylene vinylene] （MEH- PPV）：[6,6]-phenyI-C61-butyric acid methyl ester （PCBM） blend film. By adding suitable amounts of SiNCs into MEH-PPV：PCBM blend, the device performance such as external quantum efficiency, short circuit current density （Js（）, and power conversion efficiency （PCE） improved. Incorporation of 2.5% SiNCs in the blend led to 13.6% improvement of Jsc, which in turn resulted in 18% improvement of PCE up to 2.28%. The improved performance was mainly due to the improvements both in the charge generation from the interface of MEH-PPV/SiNCs and the charge collection at the cathode.     

GC-MS法快速测定食品接触材料油墨中16种多环芳烃

以正己烷超声提取,弗罗里硅土固相萃取柱净化,以正己烷-二氯甲烷溶液(体积比1:1)洗脱,用GC-MS联用仪SIM模式外标法定量测定食品接触材料油墨中16种多环芳烃.在优化条件下,16种多环芳烃的浓度在0.1～4.0 μg/mL范围内与色谱峰面积呈良好的线性关系,线性相关系数大于0.995,检出限为0.12～3.24 ng/L.加标回收率为77.24％～ 104.76％,测定结果的相对标准偏差为1.05％～1.69％(n=6).该方法适用于食品接触材料油墨中PAHs的日常检测.     

Rapid determination of α‐tocopherol in cereal grains using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction followed by HPLC

The traditional for the determination of α‐tocopherol in cereal grains includes saponification of a sample followed by liquid–liquid extraction, and it is time‐ and solvent consuming. In this study, a dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) method was developed to extract α‐tocopherol in situ from the saponified grain sample solution. The DLLME experimental parameters including the type and volume of extractants, the volume of dispersers, the addition of salt and the extraction/centrifuging time were examined and optimized. The recommended analytical procedure showed excellent precision (relative SDs of the α‐tocopherol amount of 3.1% over intraday and 7.2% over interday), high sensitivity (the detection limit of 1.9 ng/mL), and strong recovery values (88.9–102.5%). In addition, statistical analyses showed no significant difference between the detected amounts of α‐tocopherol found by the standardized method and this new procedure. The method was successfully applied to determining the amounts and distribution of α‐tocopherol in 14 cereal grain samples.