Determination of arsenic in mussels by slurry sampling and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS)

A method for the determination of arsenic in slurries of mussel tissue using palladium-magnesium nitrate as modifier was optimized. The slurry was stabilized by a 0.015% (v/v) of Triton X-100. To achieve complete mineralization the slurries were ashed at 480 °C for 10s in an air flow (50 ml/min) and at 1200 °C for 15s in an argon flow (300 ml/min) in the presence of Pd—Mg(NO₃)₂ as modifier. The optimum atomization temperature was 2200 °C. The precision and accuracy of the method were studied using the Reference Material BCR n ° 278 Mussel Tissue (Mytilus edulis). The detection limit (LOD) of the final slurry solution was 1 g/l of arsenic corresponding to an arsenic level in the mussel of 1.3 g/g, for a 0.5% (m/v) slurry. Results of calibration using aqueous standards and the standard additions method were compared. The method was applied to the determination of arsenic in mussels from the Galician coast. The levels found lie between 2 and 9.3 g/g of arsenic.     

Use of headspace capillary GC to study the development of volatile compounds in fresh fruit

The composition of volatile compounds produced by fruit during growth and post-harvest storage and ripening has been studied and the different headspace methods compared. Static and dynamic headspace sampling have been compared and evaluated according to their capacity to collect and concentrate volatiles from the atmosphere surrounding the fruits, and FID, MSD, and organoleptic detection have been compared. The results emphasize that the headspace sampling procedure selected is crucial to the performance of subsequent analysis.     

Determination of trace impurities in boron nitride by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry using solid sampling

Two digestion-free methods for trace analysis of boron nitride based on graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) and electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma spectrometry optical emission (ETV-ICP-OES) using direct solid sampling have been developed and applied to the determination of Al, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Si, Ti and Zr in four boron nitride materials in concentration intervals of 1–23, 54–735, 0.05–21, 0.005–1.3, 1.6–112, 4.5–20, 0.03–1.8, 6–46, 38–170 and 0.4–2.3 μg g^− 1, respectively. At optimized experimental conditions, with both methods, effective in-situ analyte/matrix separation was achieved and calibration could be performed using calibration curves measured with aqueous standard solutions. In solid sampling GFAAS, before sampling, the platform was covered with graphite powder and, for determination of Si, also the Pd/Mg(NO₃)₂ modifier was used. In the determination of all analyte elements by solid sampling ETV-ICP-OES, Freon R12 was added to argon carrier gas. For solid sampling GFAAS and ETV-ICP-OES, the achievable limits of detection were within 5 (Cu)–130 (Si) ng g^− 1 and 8 (Cu)–200 (Si) ng g^− 1, respectively. The results obtained by these two methods for four boron nitride materials of different purity grades are compared each with the other and with those obtained in analysis of digests by ICP-OES. The performance of the two solid sampling methods is compared and discussed.     

DSC study and computer modelling of the melting process in ice slurry

In order to understand the non-isothermal melting kinetics in the ice slurry, a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used. Experimental results were compared to those obtained by a numerical simulation in which a general enthalpy method was applied. In this work the ice slurry studied consists of ice particles uniformly dispersed within a water-antifreeze liquid mixture. The effects of the heating rate and the initial antifreeze mass fraction are discussed. It has been found that the temperature gradients inside the sample of the solution become important if either heating rate increases or initial antifreeze mass fraction decreases.     

A Self‐Sampling‐and‐Flow Biosensor for Continuous Monitoring

A self‐sampling‐and‐flow biosensor was fabricated by sandwiching a nitrocellulose strip on the working electrode side of the double‐sided microporous gold electrodes and a wicking pad on the counter electrode side. The double‐sided microporous electrodes were formed by plasma sputtering of gold on a porous nylon substrate. Sample was taken up to the enzyme‐immobilized working electrode by the capillary action of the front nitrocellulose strip dipped into the sample solution, analyzed electrochemically at the enzyme‐immobilized electrode, and diffuses out to the backside wicking pad through the micropores of the electrodes, constituting a complete flow cell device with no mechanical liquid‐transporting device. Biosensor was formed by co‐immobilizing the glucose oxidase and electron transfer mediator (ferrocene acetic acid) on the thioctic acid self‐assembled monolayer‐modified working electrode. A typical response time of the biosensor was about 5 min with the sensitivity of 2.98 nA/mM glucose, providing linear response up to 22.5 mM. To demonstrate the use of self‐sampling‐and‐flow biosensor, the consumption rate of glucose in the presence of yeast was monitored for five days.     

Determination of airborne isocyanates as di-n-butylamine derivatives using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry

A method for the determination of isocyanates as di-n-butyl amine (DBA) derivatives using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and electrospray ionisation (ESI) is presented. Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) of the protonated molecular ions and corresponding deuterium-labelled d₉-DBA derivatives resulted in selective quantifications with correlation coefficients >0.998 for the DBA derivatives of isocyanic acid (ICA), methyl isocyanate (MIC), ethyl isocyanate (EIC), propyl isocyanate (PIC), phenyl isocyanate (PhI), 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), 2,4-, 2,6-toluene diisocyanate (TDI), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), 4,4′-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), 3-ring MDI, 4-ring MDI, HDI-isocyanurate, HDI-diisocyanurate, HDI-biuret and HDI-dibiuret. The instrumental precision for 10 repeated injections of a solution containing 0.1 μg ml⁻¹ of the studied derivatives was <2%. Performing MRM of the product ion [DBA + H]⁺ (m/z = 130) from the protonated molecular ion resulted in the lowest detection limits, down to 10 amol (for TDI). Quantification of concentrations below 10⁻⁶ of the occupational exposure limit (OEL) for TDI during 10 min of air sampling was made possible. In an effort to control the formation of alkali adducts, addition of lithium acetate to the mobile phase and monitoring of lithium adducts was evaluated. Having lithium present in the mobile phase resulted in complete domination of [M + Li]⁺ adducts, but detection limits for the studied compounds were not improved. Different deuterium-labelled derivatives as internal standards were evaluated. (1) DBA derivatives of deuterium-labelled isocyanates (d₄-HDI, d₃-2,4-TDI, d₃-2,6-TDI and d₂-MDI), (2) d₉-DBA derivatives of the corresponding isocyanates and (3) d₁₈-DBA derivatives of the corresponding isocyanates. An increase in number of deuterium in the molecule of the internal standard resulted in an increase in instrumental precision and a decrease in correlation within calibration series.     

Determination of aliphatic amines in air by membrane enrichment directly coupled to a gas chromatograph

Summary A method is described for the determination of shortchain aliphatic amines in ambient air based on impinger sampling in dilute H₂SO₄, selective enrichment across a PTFE gas membrane and quantification by gas chromatography. The enrichment step is carried out in a flow system directly connected to the chromatograph. The separation is performed on a packed column with nitrogen selective detection. The enrichment per sample volume was in the range 7.3 to 8.2 mL^–1 for C₁–C₆ amines. Detection limits were ca 3–10 nM with enrichment of a 2.9 mL liquid sample. After impinger sampling of 5 m³ air in 10 mL absorption solution, this corresponds, to 0.4–0.8 ng/m³ (ca 0.2–0.5 ppt by volume) in air.     

Improving the efficiency and reliability of free energy perturbation calculations using overlap sampling methods

A challenge in free energy calculation for complex molecular systems by computer simulation is to obtain a reliable estimate within feasible computational time. In this study, we suggest an answer to this challenge by exploring a simple method, overlap sampling (OS), for producing reliable free-energy results in an efficient way. The formalism of the OS method is based on ensuring sampling of important overlapping phase space during perturbation calculations. This technique samples both forward and reverse free energy perturbation (FEP) to improve the free-energy calculation. It considers the asymmetry of the FEP calculation and features an ability to optimize both the precision and the accuracy of the measurement without affecting the simulation process itself. The OS method is tested at two optimization levels: no optimization (simple OS), and full optimization (equivalent to Bennett's method), and compared to conventional FEP techniques, including the widely used direct FEP averaging method, on three alchemical mutation systems: (a) an anion transformation in water solution, (b) mutation between methanol and ethane, and (c) alchemical change of an adenosine molecule. It is consistently shown that the reliability of free-energy estimates can be greatly improved using the OS techniques at both optimization levels, while the performance of Bennett's method is particularly striking. In addition, the efficiency of a calculation can be significantly improved because the method is able to (a) converge to the right answer quickly, and (b) work for large perturbations. The basic two-stage OS method can be extended to admit additional stages, if needed. We suggest that the OS method can be used as a general perturbation technique for computing free energy differences in molecular simulations.     

聚对苯乙烯磺酸钠添加剂的分子量对水煤浆浆体性质的影响

选用了变质程度不同的八种煤和三种不同分子量的聚对苯乙烯磺酸钠（PSS）添加剂，详细考查了该添加剂的分子量对水煤浆浆体性质的影响。结果发现，在考查PSS相对分子量的范围内（质均分子量为5.34×104～33.39×104），八种煤的水煤浆成浆性随着分子量的增大而增加，水煤浆成浆性与PSS添加剂的平均分子量的关系可归因于添加剂在煤粒上的吸附，分子量小的PSS在煤粒上的吸附量大于分子量大的PSS；PSS分子量的增加有利于水煤浆的流变性由胀性向假塑性转变；PSS分子量的增加使水煤浆的静态稳定性得到显著的改善。     

Measurement of unbound cocaine in blood, brain and bile of anesthetized rats using microdialysis coupled with liquid chromatography and verified by tandem mass spectrometry

To investigate the disposition of unbound cocaine in the rat blood, brain and bile, we demonstrate an in vivo multiple sampling microdialysis system coupled with liquid chromatography for cocaine assay and verified by tandem mass spectrometry. Three microdialysis probes were concurrently inserted into the jugular vein, bile duct and brain striatum of each anesthetized rat. After a period of 2 h post-surgical stabilization, cocaine (10 mg kg(-1)) was administered through the femoral vein. Separation of unbound cocaine from various biological fluids was applied to a reversed-phase C(18) column (250 x 4.6 mm I.D., 5 microm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile--10 mm potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer (25:75, v/v, pH 4.0) and 0.8% diethylamine at a flow rate of 1 mL min(-1). The UV detector wavelength was set at 235 nm. The results indicate that cocaine penetrates the blood--brain barrier with a rapid distribution. However, unbound cocaine in the bile dialysate was not detectable in the UV detection. We therefore use LC--tandem mass spectrometry to detect the bile fluid after cocaine administration (3 mg kg(-1), i.v.). The results indicate that cocaine goes through hepatobiliary excretion.