ALBERT

Description: Red ginseng (RG) has been extensively utilized in Asian countries due to its pharmacological effects. For the quality evaluation of RG, small molecules, such as ginsenosides, have been widely considered as candidates of its quality markers (Q-markers), and various analytical techniques have been developed in order to identify these compounds. However, despite the efforts to analyze the hydrophobic constituents, it is worth pointing out that about 60% of the mass of RG is made of carbohydrates, including mono-, oligo- and polysaccharides. Consequently, the quality differentiation and identification of RG from the perspective of sugar-markers should be focused. High performance liquid chromatography and evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC–ELSD) method for the determination of disaccharides in RG was established. Furthermore, high performance size exclusion chromatography–multi-angle laser light scattering–refractive index detector (HPSEC–MALLS–RID) for the determination of molecular weight and high performance liquid chromatography photodiode array (HPLC–PDA) for the determination of compositional monosaccharides in RG polysaccharides were also established. HPLC–ELSD/PDA combined with HPSEC–MALLS–RID could be used to determine the contents of disaccharides, molecular weights, and compositional monosaccharides of RG polysaccharides, which could be used for quality control, and this is a new view on the sugar marker to quality differentiation of various origins of RG.

Description: Fosetyl-aluminum is a widely used ionic fungicide. This pesticide is not amenable to the common multi-residue sample preparation methods. Herein, this paper describes a novel method for the simple and sensitive determination of fosetyl-aluminum residue in wheat flour. The sample preparation method involved extraction with water under ultrasonication and subsequent dilution with six-fold acetonitrile. The fosetyl-aluminum concentration was determined by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The limit of detection and quantification were only 5 and 10 ng/g, respectively, which meet the requirement of the current European legislation. Matrix-matched linearity (r2 = 0.9999) was established in the range of 10–2000 ng/g. Satisfactory recoveries were achieved in the range of 95.6% to 105.2% for three levels of spiked samples (10, 50, and 100 ng/g). Finally, the method was applied to analyzing 75 wheat flour samples produced in four provinces in China. Two samples were positive with concentrations over the limit of detection. This is the first method focusing on fosetyl-aluminum determination in wheat flour with an extract-dilute-shoot strategy and is very promising for the routine quality control of fosetyl-aluminum in similar cereal matrices.

Description: In this work, a dynamic, one-dimensional, first principle-based model of a novel membrane storage reactor (MSR) process is developed and simulated. The resulting governing equations are rendered dimensionless and are shown to feature two dimensionless groups that can be used to affect process performance. The novel process is shown to intensify production of a desired species through the creation of two physically distinct domains separated by a semipermeable boundary, and dynamic operation. A number of metrics are then introduced and applied to a case study on Steam Methane Reforming, for which a parametric study is carried out which establishes the superior performance of the MSR when compared to a reactor operating at steady state (SSR).

Description: A novel magnetic solid phase extraction based on mercaptophenylboronic acid (MPBA)-functionalized Fe3O4-NH2@Au nanomaterial (Fe3O4-NH2@Au-MPBA) was developed for selective separation and enrichment of catecholamines (including dopamine, norepinephrine and adrenaline). Fe3O4-NH2@Au-MPBA nanoparticles were achieved by self-assembly-anchoring MPBA molecules on the surface of Fe3O4-NH2@Au nanocomposites, which were synthesized via a facial ultrasonic auxiliary in situ reduction process. The interaction between cis-diol from catecholamines and boronic acid was reversible and could be flexibly controlled by adjusting pH value. The catecholamines could be quickly adsorbed by Fe3O4-NH2@Au-MPBA in weak alkaline solution (pH 8.0–9.0) and subsequently released in acid solution (pH 1.0–2.0). The process of adsorption and dissociation was very fast. Furthermore, the three catecholamines could be detected in urine from children by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detector. Under optimal conditions, norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (EP) and dopamine (DA) were separated very well from internal standard and exhibited a good linearity in the range of 2.5–500.0 ng mL−1, with correlation coefficients of r2 〉 0.9907. Limits of detection (LOD) (signal to noise = 3) were 0.39, 0.27 and 0.60 ng mL−1 for NE, EP and DA, respectively. Recoveries for the spiked catecholamines were in the range of 85.4–105.2% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) 〈 11.5%.

Description: In the present study, acetaminophen (ACT) molecularly imprinted polymer (ACT-MIP) were successfully synthesized via surface imprinting polymerization. The structural and morphological properties of ACT-MIP were characterized using various analytical techniques. ACT-MIP were used as an adsorbent in a vortex-assisted dispersive molecularly imprinted solid-phase micro-extraction (VA-d-μ-MISPE), coupled with a high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) method for the determination of ACT in water samples. Influential parameters such as the mass of adsorbent, vortex speed, extraction time, desorption volume, and desorption time were optimized using a multivariate approach. Under optimum conditions, the maximum binding capacities of ACT-MIP and NIP (non-imprinted polymers) were 191 mg/g and 71.5 mg/g, respectively. The linearity was attained across concentrations ranging from 0.630 to 500 µg/L, with a coefficient of determination of 0.9959. For ACT-MIP, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ), enhancement factor, and precision of the method were 0.19 ng/L, 0.63 ng/L, 79, and

Description: The harmful impact of mercury on biological systems is of great concern. Regardless of the efforts made by the regulating agencies, a decrease in Hg2+ concentration has not been realized, and hence mercury accumulation in the environment remains of utmost concern. Designing novel and efficient probes for recognition and detection of toxic metals in environmental samples has been of primary importance. Among the available techniques, probe designs involving the study of spectral properties has been preferred because of its obvious ease of instrumentation. Furthermore, occurrence of significant changes in the visible portion of electronic spectra enables detection by the naked eye, thereby endorsing the preference for development of probes with off-on binary responses to aid in the in-field sample analysis. The prominence is further streamlined to the use of fluorescence to help characterize on-response the cellular detection of Hg2+ with ease. In order to overcome the problem of developing efficient probes or sensors bearing fluorescence on-response mechanism that can work effectively in physiological conditions, various methodologies, such as chemo-dosimetric reaction mechanisms for the designing of new luminescent ligands, are being adopted. Additionally, modified charge transfer processes are also being considered for optical detection of the mercury (II) ion. In this review, all such possible techniques have been discussed in detail.

Description: The determination of alcohol, SO2, and total acids in wine through conventional laboratory techniques have some limitations related to the amount of the samples, analytical preparation of laboratory staff, and time to carry out the analysis. In recent years, spectroscopic and chromatographic methods have been proposed to determinate simultaneously multiple analytical parameters. The new methods claim the speed of analysis and easy execution. However, they need a validation process that guarantees the reliability of the results to be used in official determinations. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of FT-infrared reflectance (FT-IR) to quantify total acid, alcohol, and SO2 concentration in the wines. For this purpose, 156 DOC Italian wines were tested with IR technology, and results were compared to those obtained by official analysis methods. The comparison was performed using two non-parametric statistical methods: the Bland & Altman test and Passing & Bablok regression. Our results showed that the spectrophotometric methods make errors due to interfering contaminants in the sample that can be corrected by blank determination. Therefore, the spectrophotometric methods that use the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum can be used by the wine industry and regulators for the wine routine as an alternative to official methodologies.

Description: An assessment was performed on methods of separating and disinfecting airborne droplet nuclei containing viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. The droplet nuclei originate from evaporating aerosols emitted by the coughing, singing, sneezing, etc. of infected humans. Based on empirical data and theoretical analysis, we successively determined: (i) the particle number distribution of nuclei versus the nucleus diameter, (ii) the statistical distribution of the viral content in the droplet nuclei starting from a uniform random distribution of viruses in the mucus, (iii) the particle number distribution of droplet nuclei containing at least one virus particle, and (iv) the effectiveness of methods for removing and disinfecting nuclei containing one or more virus particles from indoor air; viz., ventilation with fresh air, filtering with porous media, such as HEPA, and centrifugal separation and simultaneous disinfection, particularly with a rotational particle separator (RPS). Indoor aerosol removal with RPS supplemented with HEPA to arrest tiny volumes of very small particles was found to be the most effective. It is as good as particle removal through ventilation with clean air over long periods of time. An RPS facilitates direct elimination of viruses in the collected nuclei by flushing with a disinfection liquid. The components of an RPS are recyclable. Combining HEPA with an RPS extends the service time of HEPA by almost two orders of magnitude compared to the relatively short service time of stand-alone HEPA filters.

Description: Dalbavancin (DBV) is an intravenous long-acting second-generation glycolipopeptide antibiotic with high efficacy and excellent tolerability, approved for use in the treatment of Gram-positive skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI). Nevertheless, little is known about its pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) properties in real life, which is also due to technical challenges in its quantification in human plasma, preventing an effective application of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). In fact, DBV has a high affinity to plasma proteins, possibly resulting in poor recovery after extraction procedure. The aim of this study was to validate a simple, cheap and reliable HPLC-MS method for use in TDM, in accordance with FDA and EMA guidelines. The optimized protein precipitation protocol required 50 μL of plasma, while chromatographic analysis could be performed in 12 min/sample. This method fulfilled the guidelines requirements and then, it was applied for routine DBV TDM in patients receiving off-label high doses (two 1500 + 1500 mg weekly infusions instead of 1000 + 500 mg), with normal renal function or undergoing hemodialysis: continuous hemodiafiltration caused a relevant reduction in DBV exposure, while intermittent dialysis showed comparable DBV concentrations with those of patients with normal renal function. This confirmed the eligibility of the presented method for use in TDM and its usefulness in clinical practice.

Description: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) represents a heterogeneous group of hyperglycemic metabolic disorders that are associated with health outcomes for mothers and offspring. Currently, diagnosis of GDM is based on repetitive measurement of increased fasting plasma glucose (FPG) or upon results showing increased postprandial plasma glucose (PPG). Recently, it was discovered that the changes in the gut microbiome during pregnancy are associated with insulin resistance and obesity. Therefore, in this study, relevant products of gut bacteria, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and their derivatives were evaluated together with baseline body composition characteristics and common biochemical parameters in women with three different phenotypes of GDM, healthy pregnant and nonpregnant women. Plasma SCFA and their derivatives were derivatized, separated on reversed-phase liquid chromatography and detected by a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-OH-BA), 4-methylvalerate (4-MVA) and isovalerate (IVA), together with selected parameters associated with baseline body composition characteristics and biochemistry, were evaluated as statistically significant. 3-OH-BA, which was increased in all three groups of women with different phenotypes of GDM, reflects a ketogenic state of GDM. In all groups of pregnant women, elevated/suppressed concentrations of 4-MVA/IVA were found. These findings show the importance of monitoring SCFA and other parameters besides glucose in women with GDM.