Impact of biological factors on binding media identification in art objects: identification of animal glue in the presence of Aspergillus niger

The materials and especially organic materials used for creation of art objects can be utilized by various microorganisms for their growth and facilitate the microbial colonization of the object. An understanding of the chemical alterations in artefacts caused by the presence of microorganisms can be crucial for correct identification of the materials initially used for the artefact creation--nowadays an important step in restoration and/or art-historical investigation of the art object. The present article describes a model experiment in which we investigated the possible chemical alterations in animal glue films used as substrate for growth of the fungus Aspergillus niger. The sterilized animal glue solution was poured into Petri dishes, inoculated with Aspergillus niger, and subsequently incubated at 15 degrees C for 0, 7, 9, 14, and 28 days. After interruption of incubation, the content of the Petri dish was analyzed for amino acid composition by the GC-MS based method. It was found that the growth of Aspergillus niger on animal glue films did not cause significant changes in the amino acid composition of the film and had no impact on animal glue identification.     

Product Identification and Mass Spectrometric Analysis of n-Butane and i-Butane Pyrolysis at Low Pressure

The pyrolysis of n-butane and i-butane at low pressure was investigated from 823-1823 K in an electrically heated flow reactor using synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry. More than 20 species, especially several radicals and isomers, were detected and identified from the measurements of photoionization efficiency (PIE) spectra. Based on the mass spectrometric analysis, the characteristics of n-butane and i-butane pyrolysis were discussed, which provided experimental evidences for the discussion of decomposition pathways of butane isomers. It is concluded that the isomeric structures of n-butane and i-butane have strong influence on their main decomposition pathways, and lead to dramatic differences in their mass spectra and PIE spectra such as the different dominant products and isomeric structures of butene products. Furthermore, compared with n-butane, i-butane can produce strong signals of benzene at low temperature in its pyrolysis due to the enhanced formation of benzene precursors like propargyl and C4 species, which provides experimental clues to explain the higher sooting tendencies of iso-alkanes than n-alkanes.     

电喷雾萃取电离质谱法用于掺假白酒的快速分析

采用自行研制的电喷雾萃取电离源(EESI)与LTQ-XL质谱仪耦合,并结合主成分分析(PCA)和聚类分析(CA),建立了一种能在无需样品预处理的条件下直接、快速、准确鉴别茅台等八种掺假白酒(混掺水和工业酒精,且通过酒精计调控掺假酒的酒精度与真酒保持一致)的新方法. 同时,利用串联质谱能够对目标组分进行准确鉴定. 研究结果表明,EESI-LTQ-MS检测单个样品的时间小于1 min,且重现性好,PCA区分正确率高达96.5%. 通过设置未知样分析进一步验证了该方法的可行性. 此外,还结合单光子电离飞行时间质谱法(SPI-TOF-MS)对检测谱图进行对比分析. 阐述了EESI和SPI两种电离技术在挥发性有机物分析上具有各自的优势,且两种检测手段具有互补的特点. 为市场上酒类饮品真假的快速鉴别及品质鉴定建立了一个综合的分析方法,对于快速筛选伪劣酒类产品具有非常重要的应用价值.     

SPME/GC-MS鉴别地沟油新方法(Ⅱ)

采用固相微萃取/气相色谱-质谱(SPME/GC-MS)方法测定地沟油中的微量杂质成分,通过对各种纯正植物油中的内源性微量成分与不同地区地沟油中的外源性杂质成分的对比分析,以及对地沟油中杂质成分来源的分析,确定了广州、贵州、深圳、北京等地区地沟油的特征成分,并作为鉴别指示成分。该方法灵敏度高、特征性强,在卫生部组织的地沟油检测盲样考核中,对阳性样品判断的准确率高达95.5%。     

Mutation scanning analysis of genetic variation within and among Echinococcus species: Implications and future prospects

Adult tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus (family Taeniidae) occur in the small intestines of carnivorous definitive hosts and are transmitted to particular intermediate mammalian hosts, in which they develop as fluid‐filled larvae (cysts) in internal organs (usually lung and liver), causing the disease echinococcosis. Echinococcus species are of major medical importance and also cause losses to the meat and livestock industries, mainly due to the condemnation of infected offal. Decisions regarding the treatment and control of echinococcosis rely on the accurate identification of species and population variants (strains). Conventional, phenetic methods for specific identification have some significant limitations. Despite advances in the development of molecular tools, there has been limited application of mutation scanning methods to species of Echinococcus. Here, we briefly review key genetic markers used for the identification of Echinococcus species and techniques for the analysis of genetic variation within and among populations, and the diagnosis of echinococcosis. We also discuss the benefits of utilizing mutation scanning approaches to elucidate the population genetics and epidemiology of Echinococcus species. These benefits are likely to become more evident following the complete characterization of the genomes of E. granulosus and E. multilocularis.     

基于MnO2/石墨烯纳米材料的表面辅助激光解吸电离质谱在内毒素快速鉴定中的应用

利用大肠埃希菌（E.coli O111：B4）中提取精制的内毒素（Control standard endotoxin,CSE）为研究对象,以MnO₂/石墨烯（MnO₂/G）纳米复合材料为基质,建立了一种基于MnO₂/G纳米材料的表面辅助激光解吸电离质谱（Surface-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry,SALDI-MS）的内毒素检测新方法.利用SALDI-MS方法可实现对不同注射液和饮用水中内毒素的快速鉴定与定量分析.与传统的鲎试剂检测方法相比,基于MnO₂/G纳米复合材料的SALDI-MS方法具有操作简便、灵敏度高、分辨率高、检测速度快、高通量和耐盐性好等优点,有望应用于更多食品和药品中细菌内毒素的高通量快速筛查.     

Metabolite identification of tanshinol borneol ester in rats by high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Tanshinol borneol ester (DBZ) is a potential drug candidate composed of danshensu and borneol. It shows anti‐ischemic and anti‐atherosclerosis activity. However, little is known about its metabolism in vivo. This research aimed to elucidate the metabolic profile of DBZ through analyzing its metabolites using high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. Chromatographic separation was performed on an Agilent TC‐C₁₈ column (150 × 4.6 mm, 5.0 μm) with gradient elution using methanol and water containing 0.2% (v/v) formic acid as the mobile phase. Metabolite identification involved analyzing the retention behaviors, changes in molecular weights and MS/MS fragment patterns of DBZ and its metabolites. As a result, 20 potential metabolites were detected and tentatively identified in rat plasma, urine and feces after administration of DBZ. DBZ could be metabolized to O‐methylated DBZ, DBZ‐O‐glucuronide, O‐methylated DBZ‐O‐glucuronide, hydroxylated DBZ and danshensu. Danshensu, a hydrolysis product of DBZ, could further be transformed into 12 metabolites. The proposed method was confirmed to be a reliable and sensitive alternative for characterizing metabolic pathways of DBZ and providing valuable information on its druggability.     

新型尾式硫代苯并噻唑基卟啉化合物的合成与表征

通过不对称的单羟基卟啉化合物、溴代烷烃和巯基苯并噻唑合成了一系列新型硫代苯并噻唑基尾式卟啉化合物, 并采用核磁共振氢谱、碳谱、红外光谱、质谱和元素分析对卟啉化合物的结构进行了表征.     

Electrochemical Characterization of Egyptian Blue Pigment in Wall Paintings Using the Voltammetry of Microparticles Methodology

The solid state voltammetric response of Egypt blue, Han blue and ploss blue pigments upon attachment to graphite electrodes in contact with aqueous phosphate buffer at pH 7.0 is studied by voltammetry of microparticles and scanning electrochemical microscopy. Such voltammetric responses, combined with those for synthetic specimens consisting of binary mixtures of the pigment and SiO₂ or CaCO₃ as well as ternary ones of CaCO₃ and SiO₂ mixtures allow for the identification of the pigment and the support in samples from wall paintings using different electrochemical parameters, in particular upon performing the Tafel and modified Tafel analysis of voltammetric peaks. Identification of Egypt blue in microsamples of murals from a Roman archaeological site in Castulo (Jaén, Spain) is discussed.     

Testing an alternative search algorithm for compound identification with the ‘Wiley Registry of Tandem Mass Spectral Data,MSforID’

A tandem mass spectral database system consists of a library of reference spectra and a search program. State‐of‐the‐art search programs show a high tolerance for variability in compound‐specific fragmentation patterns produced by collision‐induced decomposition and enable sensitive and specific ‘identity search’. In this communication, performance characteristics of two search algorithms combined with the ‘Wiley Registry of Tandem Mass Spectral Data, MSforID’ (Wiley Registry MSMS, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ, USA) were evaluated. The search algorithms tested were the MSMS search algorithm implemented in the NIST MS Search program 2.0g (NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA) and the MSforID algorithm (John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ, USA). Sample spectra were acquired on different instruments and, thus, covered a broad range of possible experimental conditions or were generated in silico. For each algorithm, more than 30 000 matches were performed. Statistical evaluation of the library search results revealed that principally both search algorithms can be combined with the Wiley Registry MSMS to create a reliable identification tool. It appears, however, that a higher degree of spectral similarity is necessary to obtain a correct match with the NIST MS Search program. This characteristic of the NIST MS Search program has a positive effect on specificity as it helps to avoid false positive matches (type I errors), but reduces sensitivity. Thus, particularly with sample spectra acquired on instruments differing in their setup from tandem‐in‐space type fragmentation, a comparably higher number of false negative matches (type II errors) were observed by searching the Wiley Registry MSMS. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.