Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry

Over the years, soft contact lenses for vision correction and cosmetic and therapeutic purposes have been greatly improved. For cosmetic contact lenses, the pigments need to be nontoxic, and the position of the pigment layer is particularly important because of the risks posed by pigment elution and the roughness of the lens surface. In this paper, we characterized the properties of brown cosmetic contact lenses made by three different manufacturers using surface analytical techniques. The surface topographies of the noncolored and colored parts were obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the position and composition of the pigment layer were determined by analyzing the cross section of the contact lenses using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The influence of pigment location on surface roughness was also examined. In addition, to find the method of the evaluation for the risk of surface elution of the pigments in the colored parts, the mass spectra and ion images of the surfaces were obtained by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) with a new sample preparation. From the ToF-SIMS spectra, we observed specific fragment ions of the poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) polymer and found differences in the composition of the pigment layer depending on the manufacturers. The cross-sectioned image and 3D chemical characterizations of metallic and specific ions in the brown cosmetic contact lenses clearly indicated the spatial distribution and location of the pigment layer that can be used for the evaluation of pigment elution.

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Sedimentary phosphorus (P) forms are important representatives of P sources and their bioavailability as well as the potential of sediments to release P in water. In this study, surface sediments along a transect of the Changjiang Estuary and two transects along the Andong salt marsh in the southwest of Hangzhou Bay were subjected to the elucidation of sedimentary P species using the standards, measurements, and testing (SMT) and sequential extraction (SEDEX) methods. The results showed that the mean sedimentary P forms elucidated by the SMT method were as follows: organic P (OP; ∼11–14 mg/kg; ∼30–45% of total P; TP) > apatite P (∼5–15 mg/kg; ∼21–36% TP) > Fe/Al-P (∼8–14 mg/kg; ∼31–34% TP), with inorganic P (IP) composing 54–70% of TP. The mean sedimentary P forms elucidated by the SEDEX method were as follows: authigenic P (∼54–68 mg/kg; ∼41–46% TP) > extractable P (Ex-P; ∼36–53 mg/kg; ∼28–34%) > Fe-P (∼21–27 mg/kg; ∼13–19%) > OP (∼8.7–13 mg/kg; ∼5–8%) > detrital P (De-P; ∼2 mg/kg; ∼1–2% TP), with IP composed of ∼91–94% TP. These results showed that the SEDEX method elucidated higher concentrations of sedimentary P forms as well as the TP from these coastal sediments although the SMT method had the advantage of being more economic and faster. The results of both the SMT and SEDEX methods showed that the Andong salt marsh and Changjiang Estuary sediments had much bioavailable P. The mean percentages of bioavailable P from the SMT and SEDEX methods were ∼64–74% and 52–56% of TP, respectively, indicating that these sediments were prone to release P to the coastal areas.

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Isoflavones and isoflavandiols have shown many health benefits, such as reducing cardiovascular disease, cancer, age-related disease, and osteoporosis. However, to investigate the relationships between consumption of isoflavones and their health benefits, it is important to be able to accurately quantify exposure in the large numbers of samples typically produced in association studies (i.e., several thousands). Current methods rely on solid-phase extraction protocols for sample cleanup, resulting in protracted extraction and analysis times. Here, we describe a fast and easy sample preparation method of human urine samples for subsequent quantification of daidzein, genistein (isoflavones), and equol (isoflavandiol) using LC-MS/MS. Sample preparation involves only the addition of dimethylformamide (DMF) and formic acid (FA) after enzymatic hydrolysis of their metabolites by a β-glucuronidase and sulfatase mixture. The method was validated by precision, linearity, accuracy, recoveries, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). Linear calibration curves have been shown by daidzein, genistein, and equol. The correlation coefficients values are r² > 0.99 for daidzein, genistein, and equol. LOD for daidzein and genistein was 1 ng/ml and equol was 2 ng/ml. Recoveries were >90%, and the relative standard deviation for intraday (<10%) and interday (≤20% over 10 days) was good. This method is suitable for quantification of isoflavones and the microbial metabolite equol in human urine and is particularly useful where large numbers of samples require analysis.

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Development of selective colorimetric detectors that can use green-fabricated silver nanoparticles’ () with localized surface plasmon resonances () to rapidly, simply, and selectively detect ions was undertaken in this study. Onion extract was used for synthesising photo-induced green crystalline silver nanoparticles (). The formation of nanoparticles is enhanced when ultrasound irradiation is present; bioligands could serve as stabilizing and reducing agents. Different methods of measurement, including UV-Vis, , and , are effective for characterization of nanoparticles. The spherical nature of green-fabricated is confirmed by TEM. High-density, spherical, and uniformly formed silver nanoparticle shapes were found in silver nanoparticle SEM images. The arrangement of in the form of face-centered cubic structures was confirmed by patterns. The formation of impurity-free was confirmed using the analysis results. with excellent sensitivity was sensitively and selectively detected by employing green-synthesized silver nanoparticles. The reduction of (1) to (0) was confirmed by a slight increase in (II) concentration and progressive reduction of green-synthesized , whose absorbance changed abruptly. The reduction of by the phosphate buffer medium enables to sensitively and selectively detect ions by providing good environment. Besides, a selective, sensitive, simple, and rapid method that is proposed for detecting (II) ions in samples of water is presented in the study. Harmful mercury ions in real samples of water (tap and ground water) can colorimetrically and selectively be detected using the. The results showed an RSD of below 6% and over 92% of good recovery.

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Biogenic amines (BA) are chemical compounds formed in foods that contain protein, allowing the foods to undergo a bacterial degradation process. Biogenic amines are labeled as toxic food because its consumption exceeding the FDA regulation (50 mg/kg) can be harmful to humans. Some countries also have regulations that prohibit the consumption of biogenic amines in high concentrations, especially histamine. The chromatography methods generally applied by researchers are liquid chromatography (LC) and gas chromatography (GC), where the use of a derivatization reagent is necessary to increase their sensitivity. This review is based on past and present studies about biogenic amine detection related to food samples. The rationale of this study is also to provide data on the comparison of the analytical approaches between LC and GC methods. Furthermore, the various approaches of biogenic amine determination and the most applied analytical methods have been reviewed.

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Ischemia/reperfusion cerebral injury can cause serious damage to nerve cells. The injured organelles are cleared by autophagy eventually, which is critical for cell survival. Dexmedetomidine is neuroprotective in various ischemia/reperfusion models. Mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) is the most important channel of mitochondrial Ca²⁺ influx into mitochondria, where Ca²⁺ has a potential effect on mitochondrial autophagy. However, the role of MCU in the changes of mitophagy and autophagy caused by dexmedetomidine is unknown. In this study, we constructed an in vitro I/R model by subjecting the oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion model to SH-SY5Y cells to mimic the cerebral I/R injury. We found that postconditioning with dexmedetomidine and 3-methyladenine (3MA, an autophagy inhibitor) increased the cell survival meanwhile reduced the production of autophagic vesicles and the expression of LC3 and Beclin 1. This process also increased the expression of BCL-2, P62, and TOM20. After applied with spermine (MCU-specific agonist), the expression of autophagy proteins by dexmedetomidine was reversed, and the same changes were also observed in immunofluorescence. The results of our study suggested that dexmedetomidine can inhibit MCU and reduce excessive mitophagy and autophagy for conferring protection against I/R injury.

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