Lung cancer is one of the main causes of death for thousands of people yearly around the world. Biomarker aldehydes, such as hexanal and heptanal, are compounds related to the development of lung cancer, which can be detected in the early stages of this disease. A methodology was proposed to determine these aldehydes in urine, with a new configuration associated with the sample preparation step. A novel strategy with a parallel-disposable pipette extraction (DPX)-cork device was used, offering a fast and affordable extraction methodology with analysis performed by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector. In optimization steps, multivariate and univariate designs were applied, providing the following conditions: urine sample centrifuged at 3500 rpm for 15 min, 30 µL and 6 min of dinitrophenylhydrazine impregnation, 10× urine diluted in ultrapure water, pH adjusted to 4.8, 7 extraction cycles with 1.5 min each, 30 mg of cork, 2 desorption cycles and solvent acetonitrile with 300 µL. Limits of detection were 0.13 ng mL-1 for both analytes and limits of quantification were 0.40 and 0.41 ng mL-1 for hexanal and heptanal, respectively. Intraday and interday precisions ranged from 4 to 21%. Relative recoveries ranged from 86 to 107%, assessed at three concentrations. Urine samples were analyzed, but the presence of aldehydes was not detected.

Abstract Amongst the sustainable alternatives to increase maize production is the use of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). Azospirillum brasilense is one of the most well-known PGPB being able to fix nitrogen and produce phytohormones, especially indole-3-acetic acid - IAA. This work investigated if there is any contribution of the bacterium to the plant’s IAA levels, and how it affects the plant. To inhibit plant IAA production, yucasin, an inhibitor of the TAM/YUC pathway, was applied. Plantlets’ IAA concentration was evaluated through HPLC and dual RNA-Seq was used to analyze gene expression. Statistical differences between the group treated with yucasin and the other groups showed that A. brasilense inoculation was able to prevent the phenotype caused by yucasin concerning the number of lateral roots. Genes involved in the auxin and ABA response pathways, auxin efflux transport, and the cell cycle were regulated by the presence of the bacterium, yucasin, or both. Genes involved in the response to biotic/abiotic stress, plant disease resistance, and a D-type cellulose synthase changed their expression pattern among two sets of comparisons in which A. brasilense acted as treatment. The results suggest that A. brasilense interferes with the expression of many maize genes through an IAA-independent pathway.

This paper describes a new and simple electrode for the determination of bisphenol A (BPA) in different plastic samples using carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with a trihexyltetradecylphosphonium tetrachloromanganate(II) ([P6,6,6,14+]2[MnCl42-]) magnetic ionic liquid (MIL/CPE). Electrochemical characterization of MIL/CPE by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicated that MIL facilitated the electron transfer. Using squarewave voltammetry (SWV) under optimized conditions, the calibration curve showed a linear range for BPA from 2.0 to 53.0 µmol L-1, with limit of detection (LOD) of 0.87 µmol L-1. The proposed electrode demonstrated good precision with coefficients of variation of 4.5% (intra-day, n = 10), 2.0% (inter-day, n = 5) and 1.5% (electrode-to-electrode repeatability, n = 3). Recoveries of 93.0 to 101.1% demonstrated that the method is suitable for practical applications.

In this study, a disposable pipette extraction (DPX)-based procedure was fully optimized for the multiclass determination of 12 pesticides, with significant differences in their physicochemical properties, using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The variables optimized were type of extraction phase, sample pH, sample volume, number of extraction and desorption cycles, time of each cycle, type and volume of desorption solvent, and NaCl concentration of the samples. The analytical parameters of merit were determined under optimized conditions and satisfactory results were achieved, with limits of detection (LOQs) varying from 0.06 µg L-1 for carbofuran to 2.30 µg L-1 for carbendazim and correlation coefficients of 0.9923 to 0.9999. Relative recoveries ranged from 75 to 117%. Good results were achieved for intraday (n = 3) precision (1 to 20%) and interday (n = 9) precision (1 to 24%). The method was applied to the monitoring of 20 drinking water samples collected from water treatment plants.

In this study, the use of bracts as a natural sorbent in solid-phase microextraction was exploited for use in the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples with separation/detection performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fiber-to-fiber reproducibility was evaluated and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was lower than 14%. Optimizations were performed using both the proposed and DVB/Car/PDMS (divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane) fibers. The optimum extraction conditions were 80 min of extraction at 50 ºC with 12% (m/v) NaCl for the bract fiber, and 100 min of extraction at 80 ºC for the commercial fiber. The limits of detection and quantification for the proposed fiber were, respectively, 0.003 and 0.01 µg L-1 for fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene and pyrene, and 0.03 and 0.1 µg L-1 for acenaphthylene, benzo(a)anthracene and chrysene. The method using bract fiber provided relative recoveries ranging from 68 to 117%, intraday and interday precisions lower than 17 and 19%, respectively, and extraction efficiency similar to that of the DVB/Car/PDMS fiber.

Abstract This paper describes the application of the solid-phase microextraction (SPME) technique for the determination and monitoring of the volatile profile of minimally-processed pineapple fruit stored at various temperatures (-12 °C, 4 °C and 25 °C) for different periods (1, 4 and 10 days). The SPME fiber coating composed of Car/PDMS presented the best performance. The optimal extraction conditions obtained through a Doehlert design were 60 min at 35 °C. The profiles for the volatile compounds content of the fruit at each stage of storage were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The variation in the volatile profile over time was greater when the fruit samples were stored at 25 °C and at -12 °C compared to 4 °C. Thus, according to the volatile profiles associated with the storage conditions evaluated in this study, packaged pineapple retains best its fresh fruit aroma when stored at 4 °C.

Microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) are present in several production processes in biotechnology. In this study it is evaluated the viability of use of a method involving solid-phase microextraction (SPME), in vivo SPME, in the extraction of MVOCs, associated with the pigment production process by the Monascus fungus. PDMS/Car/DVB (50/30 µm) fiber in the headspace mode (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to fermentation broth study. Seventeen compounds were found associated with the presence of the fungus, being the main ones ethanol, 2-methyl-propanol, 3-methyl-butanol, 2-methyl-butanol and 2-phenyl-ethanol. These compounds have maximum concentration of 313.87, 5.51, 2.37, 0.95 and 0.70 mg L-1. The values of biomass and red pigment found for fermentation for ten days were 4.03 ± 0.21 g L-1 and 3.96 ± 0.17 (UA480). Regular MVOC productions were observed in this study, which were useful in the prediction and control of fermentation by Monascus fungus.

<p>A new single-drop microextraction approach is proposed for the extraction of compounds with a wide range of volatilities from tap water samples with separation/detection by gas chromatographymass spectrometry. This new microextraction mode is called direct immersion-headspace-single drop microextraction (DI-HS-SDME). Trihalomethanes (THMs), hydrocarbons with low molecular weight (benzene, ethyl benzene and xylenes) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were the model compounds. Ten milliliters of tap water samples and drop volume of 1.5 µL of 1-octanol were used. The optimal condition for DI-HS-SDME mode was 80 min of total extraction time (48 min at 40 °C in DI-SDME mode and 32 min at 12 °C in HS-SDME mode) and the addition of 1.2 g of NaCl. The analytical figures of merit were evaluated, the limits of detection ranged from 0.03 µg L^-1 for o-xylene and ethyl benzene to 6 µg L^-1 for THMs. The proposed method represents a promising alternative for the analysis of aqueous matrices which contain compounds with very different ranges of volatility.</p>

Neste estudo é proposto um novo procedimento analítico para a determinação de fenóis em amostras de couro utilizando a técnica de microextração em fase sólida refrigerada internamente (CF-SPME) com derivatização direta na fibra e cromatografia gasosa acoplada a espectrometria de massas com monitoramento de íons selecionados (GC-SIM-MS). As condições experimentais para a extração e derivatização foram otimizadas utilizando procedimentos quimiométricos, sendo tempo de extração e temperatura da amostra de 5 min e 170 ºC, temperatura do recobrimento da fibra de 20 ºC, e exposição da fibra ao headspace de 70 µL do agente derivatizante bis(trimetilsilil)trifluor-acetamida por 23 min. Limites de detecção variaram entre 1,03 e 2,68 µg g-1 e o desvio padrão relativo (RSD) foi menor que 15% (n = 5). Estudos de recuperações em três níveis de concentração variaram entre 64,5 e 92,3%.

This study proposes a new analytical procedure based on an internally cooled solid phase microextraction technique (CF-SPME) combined with on-fiber derivatization and gas chromatography-selected ion monitoring-mass spectrometry (GC-SIM-MS) for the determination of phenols extracted directly from leather samples. The extraction and derivatization conditions were optimized using experimental designs, such as: extraction time and sample temperature of 5 min and 170 ºC, fiber recoat temperature of 20 ºC, and exposing the fiber to the headspace of 70 µL of bis(trimethylsylyl)trifluoro-acetamide derivatizing agent for 23 min. Detection limits ranging from 1.03 to 2.68 µg g-1 and relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 15% (n = 5) were obtained. The recovery was studied at three concentration levels and excellent recoveries ranging from 64.5 to 92.3% were obtained.