Development and validation of a capillary electrophoresis method for the determination of phenothiazines in human urine in the low nanogram per milliliter concentration range using field-amplified sample injection

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method with ultraviolet-visible detection has been established and validated for the determination of five phenothiazines: thiazinamium methylsulfate, promazine hydrochloride, chlorpromazine hydrochloride, thioridazine hydrochloride, and promethazine hydrochloride in human urine. Optimum separation was obtained on a 64.5 cm x 75 microm bubble cell capillary using a buffer containing 150 mM tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane and 25% acetonitrile at pH 8.2, with temperature and voltage of 25 degrees C and 20 kV, respectively. Naphazoline hydrochloride was used as an internal standard. Field-amplified sample injection (FASI) has been applied to improve the sensitivity of the detection. Considering the influence of parameters affecting the on-line preconcentration (nature of preinjection plug, sample solvent composition, injection times, and injection voltage) and due to the significant interactions among them, in this paper we propose for the first time the application of a multivariate approach to carry out the study. The optimized conditions were as follows: preinjection plug of water for 7 s at 50 mbar, electrokinetic injection for 40 s at 6.2 kV, and 32 microm of H3PO4 in the sample solvent. Also, a solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure is developed to obtain low detection limits and an adequate selectivity for urine samples. The combination of SPE and FASI-CZE-UV allows adequate linearities and recoveries, low detection limits (from 2 to 5 ng/mL), and satisfactory precisions (3.0-7.2% for an intermediate RSD %).     

Unraveling the mystery of efficacy in Chinese medicine formula: New approaches and technologies for research on pharmacodynamic substances

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the key to unlock treasures of Chinese civilization. TCM and its compound play a beneficial role in medical activities to cure diseases, especially in major public health events such as novel coronavirus epidemics across the globe. The chemical composition in Chinese medicine formula is complex and diverse, but their effective substances resemble “mystery boxes”. Revealing their active ingredients and their mechanisms of action has become focal point and difficulty of research for herbalists. Although the existing research methods are numerous and constantly updated iteratively, there is remain a lack of prospective reviews. Hence, this paper provides a comprehensive account of existing new approaches and technologies based on previous studies with an in vitro to in vivo perspective. In addition, the bottlenecks of studies on Chinese medicine formula effective substances are also revealed. Especially, we look ahead to new perspectives, technologies and applications for its future development. This work reviews based on new perspectives to open horizons for the future research. Consequently, herbal compounding pharmaceutical substances study should carry on the essence of TCM while pursuing innovations in the field.     

用水合五氧化二锑分离放射性母子体的研究─—一个新的~(201)Pb—~(201)T1发生器的制备

本文研究了无机离子交换剂—水合五氧化二锑（Sb2O5·nH2O）的制备，并用它分离了放射性母子体，制备了一个新的201Pb—201Tl放射性发生器。结果表明，末发生器具有高效、快速、简便的特点，此外还讨论了离子交换反应的机理。     

Field-theoretic approach to second-order phase transitions in two- and three-dimensional systems

We review the physical principles which are at the basis of recent field-theoretic computations of the critical exponents in two- and three-dimensional systems. We concentrate on those points that do not show up explicitly in the more standard-expansion: they must be discussed with care if one uses a perturbative approach at fixed space dimensions (the loop expansion). We present in detail simple computations of the critical exponents, while we summarize the results of longer and more accurate computations.     

Organic acid solutions in the chromatography of inorganic ions VIII. Cation-exchange of Mn(II), Cd(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Cu(II), Fe(III), Sc(III), Y(III), Eu(III), Dy(III), Ho(III), Yb(III), Ti(IV) and Nb(V) in malate media

Summary The cation-exchange behaviour of Mn(II), Cd(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Cu(II), Fe(III), Sc(III), Y(III), Eu(III), Dy(III), Ho(III), Yb(III), Ti(IV) and Nb(V) in malate media at various concentrations and pH, was studied with Dowex 50 WX8 resin (200–400 mesh) in the ammonium form. Separation of Fe(III)/Cu(II), Fe(III)/Cu(II)/Zn(II), Fe(III)/Co(II)/Mn(II), Cu(II)/Ni(II)/Mn(II), Fe(III)/Cu(II)/Co(II)/Mn(II), Fe(III)/Cu(II)/Ni(II)/Cd(II), Yb(III)/Eu(III), Sc(III)/Y(III),Sc(III)/Yb(III)/Dy(III) and Nb(V)/Yb(III)/Ho(III) has been achieved, among others.This work was supported by C.N.R. of Italy.     

A comparative study on textural characterization: cation-exchange and sorption properties of crystalline alpha-zirconium(IV), tin(IV), and titanium(IV) phosphates

Tetravalent metal phosphates (M=Zr, Ti, and Sn) were prepared and characterized by XRD, surface properties, and TG-DTA. The cation exchange and sorption behavior of these metal phosphates toward transition metal ions such as Cu(2+), Co(2+), and Ni(2+) have been studied comparatively as a function of temperature and concentration. The adsorption process was found to increases with increase in temperature and concentration. The selectivity order for alpha-titanium and alpha-tin phosphates is Cu(2+)>Co(2+)>Ni(2+), whereas for alpha-zirconium phosphate it is Cu(2+)>Ni(2+)>Co(2+). The ion exchange capacity of alpha-titanium phosphate is greater than those of other phosphates, which is explained on the basis of the surface behavior, disorderness of the system, degree of hydrolysis of incoming guest adsorbate metal ions, and structural steric hindrance of the exchangers during adsorption and sorption. The distribution coefficient, Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy values indicate that the ion-exchange processes are spontaneous.     

Control of separation selectivity in micellar electrokinetic chromatography by modification of the micellar phase with solubilized organic compounds

On the basis of the data on the distribution of various neutral solutes between sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles and water, the control of separation selectivity in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) by modification of the micellar phase with organic additives has been proposed and applied to the separation of simple model compounds. It was found that the distribution constants between the micelles and water (K_d,mc), which were determined by means of MEKC, of the solutes possessing hydrophilic functional groups are much larger than those between heptane and water (K_d,hep), whereas the K_d,mc values of the solutes possessing no hydropholic groups are comparable to their K_d,hep values. This indicates that the former solutes are preferentially solubilized in the Stern layer of the micelles and that the latter are located in the hydrocarbon core. In MEKC separations of aromatic compounds and metal acetylacetonates, considerable changes in separation selectivity were caused by the addition of compounds possessing both hydrophilic functional groups such as alcohols, phenol and ketones to the SDS micellar solution. The variations of the retention factors of the analytes could be explained in terms of saturation of the solubilization sites in the Stern layer with the modifiers, specific interaction of the modifiers with the analytes via hydrogen bonding in the micelles, and expansion of the core volume with the hydrocarbon parts of the modifiers. Such effects of the micellar modification could improve the resolution as well as the selectivity of MEKC separations.     

Closed tube sample introduction for gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry analysis of water contaminated with a chemical warfare agent surrogate compound

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is a proven technology for detection of vapor phase chemical warfare agents. The technology is suitable for field portable instrumentation due to its small size, high sensitivity, speed of analysis, and low power consumption. However, it suffers from a limited dynamic range and potential difficulties in identifying compounds in complex matrices. The use of gas chromatography (GC) coupled to IMS can overcome the difficulty of chemical identification in mixtures by separating the sample into individual components before detection. Using this approach, IMS technology has previously been adapted to detect biological aerosols using an open tube pyrolyzer and a short GC column (Py-GC-IMS). The open sample introduction tube of a Py-GC-IMS instrument would be a convenient configuration to accept aerosol particulates, and while viewed as needed for aerosol trapping, is not optimal for liquid chemical analyses. To examine the usefulness of an existing Py-GC-IMS system for analysis of chemicals in water, an existing open-port sample interface was replaced with a septum-equipped closed tube injector to contain analyte vapors resulting from liquid injection. Tributylphosphate (TBP) was used as a surrogate chemical warfare agent, and aqueous injections into both closed and open tube assemblies were performed. Sample introduction into the closed tube inlet was also accomplished using solid phase microextraction (SPME) preconcentration. The limit of detection for TBP using an open tube, closed tube, and closed tube configuration with SPME sample introduction was 0.980, 0.196, and 0.0098 mg/L, respectively.     

A characterization of probability distributions by mean values

Let (X) be a measurable complex function onR;X, Y, Z be i.i.d. random variables; and (t, u, v)=E(tX+uY+nZ), wheret, u, vR. In this paper we describe a class of function (x) such that the distribution ofX, Y, Z is determined by the funetion (t, u, v). The main result is a generalization of the author's characterization of normal and stable distributions.     

Field and photo-field electron emission from self-assembled Ge–Si nanostructures with quantum dots

Monolayer and multilayer Ge nanocluster structures were prepared on Si(1 0 0) using molecular beam epitaxy. The cluster size was 10 nm and cluster density was 10¹⁰ cm⁻². A stable field electron emission was obtained from these structures, showing current peaks in the current–voltage characteristics, which may be attributed to the resonant electron tunneling via the energy levels of the nanocluster potential well. For cluster multilayers, the current–voltage curves also showed current peaks with a complex shape. The cluster multilayer structures had a considerable temperature sensitivity, as well as photosensitivity, in the wavelength range from 0.4 to 10 μm.