Development of a simple and valid method for the trace determination of phthalate esters in human plasma using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

A new method was developed for the trace determination of phthalic acid esters in plasma using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry analysis. Plasma proteins were efficiently precipitated by trichloroacetic acid and then a mixture of chlorobenzene (as extraction solvent) and acetonitrile (as dispersive solvent) rapidly injected to clear supernatant using a syringe. After centrifuging, chlorobenzene sedimented at the bottom of the test tube. 1 μL of this sedimented phase was injected into the gas chromatograph for phthalic acid esters analysis. Different factors affecting the extraction performance, such as the type of extraction and dispersive solvent, their volume, extraction time, and the effects of salt addition were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factors and extraction recoveries were satisfactory and ranged between 820–1020 and 91–97%, respectively. The linear range was wide (50–1000 ng/mL) and limit of detection was very low (1.5–2.5 ng/mL for all analytes). The relative standard deviations for analysis of 1 μg/mL of the analytes were between 3.2–6.1%. Salt addition showed no significant effect on extraction recovery. Finally, the proposed method was successfully utilized for the extraction and determination of the phthalic acid esters in human plasma samples and satisfactory results were obtained.     

Applications of Raman spectroscopy in herbal medicine

Raman spectroscopic techniques are a group of chemical fingerprint detection methods based on molecular vibrational spectroscopy. They are compatible with aqueous solutions and are time saving, nondestructive, and highly informative. With complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) becoming increasingly popular, more people are consuming natural herbal medicines. Thus, chemical fingerprints of herbal medicines are investigated to determine the content of these products. In this study, I review the different types of Raman spectroscopic techniques used in fingerprinting herbal medicines, including dispersive Raman spectroscopy, resonance Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform (FT)–Raman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy, and confocal/microscopic Raman spectroscopy. Lab-grade Raman spectroscopy instruments help detect the chemical components of herbal medicines effectively and accurately without the need for complicated separation and extraction procedures. In addition, portable Raman spectroscopy instruments could be used to monitor the health and safety compliance of herbal products in the consumer market.     

A combination of dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and surface plasmon resonance sensing of gold nanoparticles for the determination of ziram pesticide

We have developed a reliable, fast, and highly sensitive analytical method utilizing dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and gold nanoparticles probes for ziram (zinc bis(dimethyldithiocarbamate)) determination. The method is based on the in situ formation of gold nanoparticles in carbon tetrachloride as an organic phase. It was found that the trace levels of ziram influenced the formation of gold nanoparticles, leading to absorbance change of a sedimented phase. The results of the colorimetric ziram determination were in the concentration range of 0.12–2.52 ng/mL with a limit of detection of 0.06 ng/mL. The formation of the stable and dispersed gold nanoparticles in the organic phase provides a good precision for dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction method, resulting in the relative standard deviation of 3.8 and 1.2% for 0.56 and 1.58 ng/mL of ziram, respectively. This method has been successfully used for the ziram determination in samples of well and river water, soil, potato, carrot, wheat, and paddy soil.     

Superconvergence of a two‐grid method for fourth‐order dispersive‐dissipative wave equations

In this paper, the superconvergence analysis of a two‐grid method (TGM) with low‐order finite elements is presented for the fourth‐order dispersive‐dissipative wave equations for a second order fully discrete scheme. The superclose estimates in the H¹‐norm on the two grids are obtained by the combination technique of the interpolation and Ritz projection. Then, with the help of the interpolated postprocessing technique, the global superconvergence properties are deduced. Finally, numerical results are provided to show the performance of the proposed TGM for conforming bilinear element and nonconforming element, respectively. It shows that the TGM is an effective method to the problem considered of our paper compared with the traditional Galerkin finite element method (FEM).     

Simultaneous determination of 75 abuse drugs including amphetamines,benzodiazepines, cocaine,opioids, piperazines,zolpidem and metabolites in human hair samples using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

A liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric method for the simultaneous determination of 75 abuse drugs and metabolites, including 19 benzodiazepines, 19 amphetamines, two opiates, eight opioids, cocaine, lysergic acid diethylamide, zolpidem, three piperazines and 21 metabolites in human hair samples, was developed and validated. Ten‐milligram hair samples were decontaminated, pulverized using a ball mill, extracted with 1 mL of methanol spiked with 28 deuterated internal standards in an ultrasonic bath for 60 min at 50°C, and purified with Q‐sep dispersive solid‐phase extraction tubes. The purified extracts were evaporated to dryness and the residue was dissolved in 0.1 mL of 10% methanol. The 75 analytes were analyzed on an Acquity HSS T3 column using gradient elution of methanol and 0.1% formic acid and quantified in multiple reaction monitoring mode with positive electrospray ionization. Calibration curves were linear (r ≥ 0.9951) from the lower limit of quantitation (2–200 pg/mg depending on the drug) to 2000 pg/mg. The coefficients of variation and accuracy for intra‐ and inter‐assay analysis at three QC levels were 4.3–12.9% and 89.2–109.1%, respectively. The overall mean recovery ranged from 87.1 to 105.3%. This method was successfully applied to the analysis of 11 forensic hair samples obtained from drug abusers.     

Ionic liquid‐based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction followed by RP‐HPLC determination of saquinavir in rat serum: application to pharmacokinetics

An ionic liquid‐based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction followed by RP‐HPLC determination of the most commonly prescribed protease inhibitor, saquinavir, in rat plasma was developed and validated. The effects of different ionic liquids, dispersive solvents, extractant/disperser ratio and salt concentration on sample recovery and enrichment were studied. Among the ionic liquids investigated, 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate was found to be most effective for extraction of saquinavir from rat serum. The recovery was found to be 95% at an extractant/disperser ratio of 0.43 using 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate and methanol as extraction and dispersive solvents. The recovery was further enhanced to 99.5% by addition of 5.0% NaCl. A threefold enhancement in detection and quantification limits was achieved, at 0.01 and 0.03 µg/mL, compared with the conventional protein precipitation method. A linear relationship was observed in the range of 0.035–10.0 µg/mL with a correlation coefficient (r²) of 0.9996. The method was validated and applied to study pharmacokinetics of saquinavir in rat serum. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of As(III) using developed dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and flame atomic absorption spectrometry

The method relies on selective complexation of As(III) with a suitable chelating agent followed by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) method. Flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) equipped with microsample introduction system was utilised for determination of As(III). 1-Undecanol and acetone were used as extraction solvent and disperser solvent respectively. Some effective parameters on complex formation and extraction have been optimised. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factor of 108 for As(III) was obtained from 9.8?mL of water samples. The calibration graph was linear in the range of 2–15?µg?L^?1 with detection limits of 0.60?µg?L^?1 for As(III). The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) for ten replicate measurements of 5.00?µ?gL^?1 of As(III) was 6.2%. Operation simplicity and high enrichment factors are the main advantages of DLLME for the determination of As(III) without necessity for hydride generation in water samples.     

塑封倒装焊器件DPA试验流程研究

倒装焊器件与常规的引线键合结构不同,现行的DPA标准不能完全适用于倒装焊结构.结合现有标准和倒装焊器件结构特点,以某塑封倒装焊集成电路器件为例,提出一套经过试验验证的、实用性强的倒装焊器件DPA试验流程.在原来标准的基础上提出了对BGA焊球材料成分分析、底充胶检查的超声扫描要求、芯片凸点结构检查等一些新的DPA要求.BGA焊球材料成分分析是使用能谱分析实现的,而芯片凸点结构检查则是通过对器件进行研磨开封实现的.经过试验验证,该流程方案可用于倒装焊集成电路器件的实际DPA工作.     

双各向异性色散介质电磁波传播Z-时域有限差分分析

基于一种改进的Z变换-时域有限差分(Z-Finite-Difference Time-Domain,Z-FDTD)方法,即将双各向异性色散介质的频域本构方程先转化到Z域中,再利用Z变换的性质将其转换到时域,得到离散时域的FDTD迭代式,分析了双各向异性色散介质电磁波传播特性.由于Omega媒质是一种典型的双各向异性色散介质,以此为例编程计算了垂直入射在Omega介质板情形下产生的同极化和交叉极化电磁波的反射和透射情况,并通过算例和解析解对比验证了算法的正确性,最后对其电磁散射特性进行了分析.     

A selective electromembrane extraction of uranium (VI) prior to its fluorometric determination in water

A novel method for the selective electromembrane extraction (EME) of U⁶⁺ prior to fluorometric determination has been proposed. The effect of extraction conditions including supported liquid membrane (SLM) composition, extraction time and extraction voltage were investigated. An SLM composition of 1% di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphonic acid in nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE) showed good selectivity, recovery and enrichment factor. The best performance was achieved at an extraction potential of 80 volts and an extraction time of 14 minutes Under the optimized conditions, a linear range from 1 to 1000 ng mL⁻¹ and LOD of 0.1 ng mL⁻¹ were obtained for the determination of U⁶⁺. The EME method showed good performance in sample cleanup and the reduction of the interfering effects of Mn²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, Fe³⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cl⁻ and PO₄³⁻ ions during fluorometric determination of uranium in real water samples. The recoveries above 54% and enrichment factors above 64.7 were obtained by the proposed method for real sample analysis.