Multivariate optimization of a GC-MS method for determination of sixteen priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental samples

This paper describes the development and optimization, by using multivariate analysis, of a GC-MS-SIM method for evaluation of the 16 polyaromatic hydrocarbons considered as priority pollutants in atmospheric particulate material by the US EPA. In order to assure an adequate separation in the shortest analysis time, a multivariate design was used to set the conditions of the oven temperature program. The optimization process was carried out using factorial fractional design and Box-Behnken design. The following factors were evaluated: initial temperature, temperature rate #1, intermediary temperature, temperature rate #2, and final temperature. The optimized conditions were set at: 70 degrees C (2 min) --> 200 degrees C (30 degrees C/min, 5 min) --> 300 degrees C (5 degrees C/min, 1.67 min). Moreover, we have also optimized the injector temperature as 310 degrees C and sampling time as 0.8 min. The total analysis time was 33 min. Validation of GC-MS-SIM yielded satisfactory results for repetitivity of the detector response and retention times, and linearity of calibration curves. LOD were established as 0.13-0.34 ng/mL (peak area) and 0.18-0.72 ng/mL (peak height). The method has been shown to be appropriate for the analysis of samples of atmospheric particulate material and/or other environmental matrices.     

Negative ion 'chip-based' nanospray tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of flavonoids in glandular trichomes of Lychnophora ericoides Mart. (Asteraceae)

This paper reports a method for the analysis of secondary metabolites stored in glandular trichomes, employing negative ion 'chip-based' nanospray tandem mass spectrometry. The analyses of glandular trichomes from Lychnophora ericoides, a plant endemic to the Brazilian 'cerrado' and used in traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic agent, led to the identification of five flavonoids (chrysin, pinocembrin, pinostrobin, pinobanksin and 3-O-acetylpinobanksin) by direct infusion of the extracts of glandular trichomes into the nanospray ionisation source. All the flavonoids have no oxidation at ring B, which resulted in a modification of the fragmentation pathways compared with that of the oxidised 3,4-dihydroflavonoids already described in the literature. The absence of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant di-C-glucosylflavone vicenin-2, or any other flavonoid glycosides, in the glandular trichomes was also demonstrated. The use of the 'chip-based' nanospray QqTOF apparatus is a new fast and useful tool for the identification of secondary metabolites stored in the glandular trichomes, which can be useful for chemotaxonomic studies based on metabolites from glandular trichomes.     

Activity Coefficients of Potassium Chloride in Water–Ethanol Mixtures

Activity coefficients of KCl were determined in water–ethanol solvents in the range 5–20% (w/w) ethanol, from experimental electromotive force (emf) data. The molalities varied from 0.1 mol-kg^–1 to near saturation and measurements were taken in the temperature range 25 to 45°C. The Pitzer model was used to describe the nonideal behavior of the electrolyte and the corresponding coefficients were determined for each solvent. The Pitzer–Simonson equations were also applied and found superior in the study of KCl in those nonaqueous solutions.     

Thionicotinamide SAM on Gold: Adsorption Studies and Electroactivity

STM and impedance results of the self‐assembled monolayer (SAM) formed with thionicotinamide (TNA) on gold indicate the presence of defects that increase with the immersion time of the electrode in the TNA solution affecting the SAM electroactivity toward the electron transfer reaction of the cytochrome c metalloprotein and [Fe(CN)₆]^4? and [Ru(NH₃)₆]³⁺ complexes. It was observed that this electroactivity was also affected by the pH of the electrolyte solution. SERS and STM data indicate sulfur coordination to the surface with contribution of the NH₂ group. From the dependence of the TNA surface coverage on the temperature and concentration in solution, thermodynamic parameters of adsorption were determined.     

Cross-sections for rotational excitations of C3H4 isomers by electron impact

We report elastic (rotationally summed) and rotationally resolved cross-sections for scattering of low-energy electrons by the C₃H₄ isomers allene, propyne, and cyclopropene, which belong to the D_2d, C_3v, and C_2v groups, respectively. We employed the Schwinger multichannel method with pseudopotentials at the static-exchange approximation, combined with the adiabatic-nuclei-rotation (ANR) approximation to calculate the rotational excitation cross-sections for energies ranging from 5 to 30 eV. Our rotational resolved cross-sections show the isomer effect more strongly related to scattering potentials of different molecular geometries and to transition selection rules than to differences in mass distribution which account for the energy spacing in the rotational spectra of the molecules.     

Multiple response optimization: a global criterion‐based method

Processes and products have by nature many quality characteristics that must be in some sense optimized simultaneously. With this aim, a method which can be used easily and efficiently by practitioners for optimizing multi‐response problems is proposed. Implementation steps and considerations, in addition to optimization measures to assess method's solutions and guide the analyst in finding an effective compromise solution, are also presented. Three classical examples from the literature are used to assess the performance of several prominent methods in the response surface methodology (RSM) framework and help practitioners make a better‐informed choice among them. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Glass-forming ability of butanediol isomers

In this study, the thermal behavior of butanediol isomers is investigated for temperatures ranging from 103 to 303 K using differential scanning calorimetry, complemented, when necessary, by polarized light thermal microscopy. The butanediol isomers display quite different thermal behaviors: for 1,2- and 1,3-isomers, glass transition is the only thermal event observed; for 1,4-butanediol, crystallization occurs on cooling even at a high scanning rate and no glass formation was detected; and for the 2,3-isomer, glass or crystal formation is dependent on the experimental conditions employed. The glass-forming ability of the isomers is correlated with data available on their molecular symmetry.     

Dark matter results from 100 live days of XENON100 data

We present results from the direct search for dark matter with the XENON100 detector, installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN, Italy. XENON100 is a two-phase time-projection chamber with a 62 kg liquid xenon target. Interaction vertex reconstruction in three dimensions with millimeter precision allows the selection of only the innermost 48 kg as the ultralow background fiducial target. In 100.9 live days of data, acquired between January and June 2010, no evidence for dark matter is found. Three candidate events were observed in the signal region with an expected background of (1.8 ± 0.6) events. This leads to the most stringent limit on dark matter interactions today, excluding spin-independent elastic weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) nucleon scattering cross sections above 7.0 × 10(-45) cm(2) for a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c(2) at 90% confidence level.