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Counterfeiting or forged imitation of banknotes is a perpetual practice engulfing global economies. This not only poses challenges for the material scientists to come forth with advanced security materials but also demands veracious forensic examination to detect counterfeits. The present article pursues novel efforts in summarizing a study that lays focus on the recent optical and analytical examinations being used for the characterization and detection of chemical profiles of authentic and counterfeited banknotes. The article briefs the trends in banknote materials, security paper manufacturing process, security inks used for printing, and types of the security printing process in banknote practices. Reported literature shows the introduction of new anti-counterfeiting materials viz. magnetically-responsive photonic anti-counterfeiting watermarks, and fluorescent nanoparticles that can be used as anti-counterfeiting inks, anti-stokes inks, metameric inks, etc. Analytical techniques such as IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Mossbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, LIBS, XRF, ELDI-MS, EASI/DESI-MS, HPLC, VSC, AFM, etc. in conjunction with different chemometrics approaches have been critically discussed. The study also presents the future scope in banknote examination like the use of hyper spectral imaging and sensor-based counterfeit detection systems.

A paper microfluidic device capable of conducting enzyme-linked assays is presented: a microfluidic enzyme-linked paper analytical device (μEL-PAD). The system exploits a wash-free sandwich coupling to form beads/analyte/enzyme complexes, which are subsequently added to the vertical flow device composed of wax-printed paper, waxed nitrocellulose membrane and absorbent/barrier layers. The nitrocellulose retains the bead complexes without disrupting the flow, enabling for an efficient washing step. The entrapped complexes then interact with the chromogenic substrate stored on the detection paper, generating a color change on it, quantified with an open-source smartphone software. This is a universal paper-based technology suitable for high-sensitivity quantification of many analytes, such as proteins or nucleic acids, with different enzyme-linked formats. Here, the potential of the μEL-PAD is demonstrated to detect DNA from Staphylococcus epidermidis. After generation of isothermally amplified genomic DNA from bacteria, Biotin/FITC-labeled products were analyzed with the μEL-PAD, exploiting streptavidin-coated beads and antiFITC-horseradish peroxidase. The μEL-PAD achieved a limit of detection (LOD) and quantification <10 genome copies/μL, these being at least 70- and 1000-fold lower, respectively, than a traditional lateral flow assay (LFA) exploiting immobilized streptavidin and antiFITC-gold nanoparticles. It is envisaged that the device will be a good option for low-cost, simple, quantitative, and sensitive paper-based point-of-care testing., (© 2023 The Authors. Biotechnology Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Anion exchange resin is responsible for removing harmful anionic contaminants in drinking water treatment, but it may become a significant source of precursors for disinfection byproducts (DBPs) by shedding material during application without proper pretreatment. Batch contact experiments were performed to investigate the dissolution of magnetic anion exchange resins and their contribution to organics and DBPs. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) released from the resin were highly correlated with the dissolution conditions (contact time and pH), in which 0.7 mg/L DOC and 0.18 mg/L DON were distributed at exposure time of 2 h and pH 7. The formation potential of four DBPs in the shedding fraction was also revealed that trichloromethane (TCM), dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN), nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), and dichloroacetamide (DCAcAm) concentrations could reach 21.4, 5.1, 12.1 μg/L, and 69.6 ng/L, respectively. Furthermore, the hydrophobic DOC that preferred to detach from the resin mainly originated from the residues of crosslinkers (divinylbenzene) and porogenic agents (straight-chain alkanes) detected by LC-OCD and GC-MS. Nevertheless, pre-cleaning inhibited the leaching of the resin, among which acid-base and ethanol treatments significantly lowered the concentration of leached organics, and formation potential of DBPs (TCM, DCAN, and DCAcAm) below 5 μg/L and NDMA dropped to 10 ng/L., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than 200 nt without evident protein coding function. They play important regulatory roles in many biological processes, e.g., gene regulation, chromatin remodeling, and cell fate determination during development. Dysregulation of lncRNAs has been observed in various diseases including cancer. Interacting with proteins is a crucial way for lncRNAs to play their biological roles. Therefore, the characterization of lncRNA binding proteins is important to understand their functions and to delineate the underlying molecular mechanism. Large-scale studies based on mass spectrometry have characterized over a thousand new RNA binding proteins without known RNA-binding domains, thus revealing the complexity and diversity of RNA-protein interactions. In addition, several methods have been developed to identify the binding proteins for particular RNAs of interest. Here we review the progress of the RNA-centric methods for the identification of RNA-protein interactions, focusing on the studies involving lncRNAs, and discuss their strengths and limitations., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

DNA is recognized as a powerful biomarker for clinical diagnostics because its specific sequences are closely related to the cause and development of diseases. However, achieving rapid, low-cost, and sensitive detection of short-length target DNA still remains a considerable challenge. Herein, we successfully combine the catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) technique with capillary action to develop a new and cost-effective method, a target DNA- and pH-responsive DNA hydrogel-based capillary assay, for the naked eye detection of 24 nt short single-stranded target DNA. Upon contact of target DNA, three individual hairpin DNAs hybridize with each other to sufficiently amplify Y-shaped DNA nanostructures (Y-DNA) until they are completely consumed via CHA cycling reactions. Each arm of the resultant Y-DNA contains sticky ends with i-motif DNA structure-forming sequences that can be self-assembled in an acidic environment (pH 5.0) to form target DNA- and pH-responsive DNA hydrogels by means of i-motif DNA-driven crosslinking. When inserting a capillary tube in the resultant solution, the liquid level inside clearly reduces due to the decrease in capillary force induced by the gels. In this way, the developed assay demonstrates sensitive and quantitative detection, with a detection limit of approximately 10 pM of 24 nt short complementary DNA (cDNA) targeting SARS-CoV-2 RNA genes at room temperature within 1 h. The assay is further shown to successfully detect target cDNA in serum, and it is also applied to detect several types of target sequences. Requiring no analytic equipment, precise temperature control, or enzymatic reactions, the developed DNA hydrogel-based capillary assay has potential as a promising naked eye detection platform for target DNA in resource-limited clinical settings., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Substandard and falsified (SF) antimalarials have devastating consequences including increased morbidity, mortality and economic losses. Portable medicine quality screening devices are increasingly available, but whether their use for the detection of SF antimalarials is cost-effective is not known. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of introducing such devices in post-market surveillance in pharmacies in Laos, conservatively focusing on their outcome in detecting SF artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). We simulated the deployment of six portable screening devices: two handheld near-infrared [MicroPHAZIR RX, NIR-S-G1], two handheld Raman [Progeny, TruScan RM]; one portable mid-infrared [4500a FTIR] spectrometers, and single-use disposable paper analytical devices [PADs]. We considered two scenarios with high and low levels of SF ACTs. Different sampling strategies in which medicine inspectors would test 1, 2, or 3 sample(s) of each brand of ACT were evaluated. Costs of inspection including device procurement, inspector time, reagents, reference testing, and replacement with genuine ACTs were estimated. Outcomes were measured as disability adjusted life years (DALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were estimated for each device compared with a baseline of visual inspections alone. In the scenario with high levels of SF ACTs, all devices were cost-effective with a 1-sample strategy. In the scenario of low levels of SF ACTs, only four devices (MicroPHAZIR RX, 4500a FTIR, NIR-S-G1, and PADs) were cost-effective with a 1-sample strategy. In the multi-way comparative analysis, in both scenarios the NIR-S-G1 testing 2 samples was the most cost-effective option. Routine inspection of ACT quality using portable screening devices is likely to be cost-effective in the Laos context. This work should encourage policy-makers or regulators to further investigate investment in portable screening devices to detect SF medicines and reduce their associated undesired health and economic burdens., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Medicine quality screening devices hold great promise for post-market surveillance (PMS). However, there is little independent evidence on their field utility and usability to inform policy decisions. This pilot study in the Lao PDR tested six devices' utility and usability in detecting substandard and falsified (SF) medicines., Methodology/principal Findings: Observational time and motion studies of the inspections by 16 Lao medicine inspectors of 1) the stock of an Evaluation Pharmacy (EP), constructed to resemble a Lao pharmacy, and 2) a sample set of medicines (SSM); were conducted without and with six devices: four handheld spectrometers (two near infrared: MicroPHAZIR RX, NIR-S-G1 & two Raman: Progeny, Truscan RM); one portable mid-infrared spectrometer (4500a), and single-use paper analytical devices (PAD). User experiences were documented by interviews and focus group discussions. Significantly more samples were wrongly categorised as pass/fail with the PAD compared to the other devices in EP inspections (p<0.05). The numbers of samples wrongly classified in EP inspections were significantly lower than in initial visual inspections without devices for 3/6 devices (NIR-S-G1, MicroPHAZIR RX, 4500a). The NIR-S-G1 had the fastest testing time per sample (median 93.5 sec, p<0.001). The time spent on EP visual inspection was significantly shorter when using a device than for inspections without devices, except with the 4500a, risking missing visual clues of samples being SF. The main user errors were the selection of wrong spectrometer reference libraries and wrong user interpretation of PAD results. Limitations included repeated inspections of the EP by the same inspectors with different devices and the small sample size of SF medicines., Conclusions/significance: This pilot study suggests policy makers wishing to implement portable screening devices in PMS should be aware that overconfidence in devices may cause harm by reducing inspectors' investment in visual inspection. It also provides insight into the advantages/limitations of diverse screening devices in the hands of end-users., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Post-market surveillance is a key regulatory function to prevent substandard and falsified (SF) medicines from being consumed by patients. Field deployable technologies offer the potential for rapid objective screening for SF medicines., Methods and Findings: We evaluated twelve devices: three near infrared spectrometers (MicroPHAZIR RX, NIR-S-G1, Neospectra 2.5), two Raman spectrometers (Progeny, TruScan RM), one mid-infrared spectrometer (4500a), one disposable colorimetric assay (Paper Analytical Devices, PAD), one disposable immunoassay (Rapid Diagnostic Test, RDT), one portable liquid chromatograph (C-Vue), one microfluidic system (PharmaChk), one mass spectrometer (QDa), and one thin layer chromatography kit (GPHF-Minilab). Each device was tested with a series of field collected medicines (FCM) along with simulated medicines (SIM) formulated in a laboratory. The FCM and SIM ranged from samples with good quality active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) concentrations, reduced concentrations of API (80% and 50% of the API), no API, and the wrong API. All the devices had high sensitivities (91.5 to 100.0%) detecting medicines with no API or the wrong API. However, the sensitivities of each device towards samples with 50% and 80% API varied greatly, from 0% to 100%. The infrared and Raman spectrometers had variable sensitivities for detecting samples with 50% and 80% API (from 5.6% to 50.0%). The devices with the ability to quantitate API (C-Vue, PharmaChk, QDa) had sensitivities ranging from 91.7% to 100% to detect all poor quality samples. The specificity was lower for the quantitative C-Vue, PharmaChk, & QDa (50.0% to 91.7%) than for all the other devices in this study (95.5% to 100%)., Conclusions: The twelve devices evaluated could detect medicines with the wrong or none of the APIs, consistent with falsified medicines, with high accuracy. However, API quantitation to detect formulations similar to those commonly found in substandards proved more difficult, requiring further technological innovation., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Although, in general, the application of coated capillaries is recommended for the separation of intact proteins, bare silica capillary is still the most often used capillary due to its simplicity and cheapness. In this work, the performance of bare fused silica capillary for intact protein analysis was compared to that of different (dynamically coated polybrene (PB) and permanently coated linear polyacrylamide (LPA)) coated capillaries using capillary zone electrophoresis - mass spectrometry (CZE-MS). In cases where low pH (pH=1.8) was used in bare silica capillaries, good precision (0.56-0.78 RSD% and 1.7-6.5 RSD% for migration times and peak areas, respectively), minimal adsorption and separation efficiency (N= 27 000/m - 322 000/m) similar to or even better than those obtained with the coated capillaries (created by an intricate multi-step process) was achieved. The PB and the LPA capillaries demonstrated their slightly better resolving power in terms of separating the different forms/variants of the same protein (e.g., hemoglobin subunits). Among the studied capillaries the one with LPA coating showed the most stable separations in the long term (n=25: 0.18-0.49 RSD% and 3.1-4.9 RSD% for migration times and peak areas, respectively). For the separation of a few proteins or even a larger number of proteins in biological samples (e.g., snake venom) the application of the simple and cheap bare fused silica capillary can be considered as an efficient choice., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

In the present work, three-dimensional (3D) and flower-like SnS 2 materials were coated on the surface of Fe 3 O 4 @nSiO 2 through an in-situ growth method. The 3D architecture could avoid the accumulation and reaggregation with better stability and was beneficial for the exposure of more active sites. The prepared magnetic SnS 2 composites were used for the enrichment of sulfonamide antibiotics (SAs), and various experimental parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated. The results showed the equilibrium of extraction and desorption towards target SAs could be reached within 3 min by using the Fe 3 O 4 @nSiO 2 -SnS 2 composites. Under optimized conditions, the proposed approach possessed good linearity in the range of 0.1-200 ng·mL -1 with correlation coefficients r 2 above 0.9964 and low limits of detection (LODs) from 0.025 to 0.250 ng·mL -1 for the five target SAs. Moreover, good repeatability was obtained with the intra-day and inter-day precision in terms of relative standard deviations (RSDs) within 1.1%-10.8% and 7.4%-13.1%, and the recoveries under three spiked concentrations were between 81.8% and 119.7% with adequate accuracy. Different samples including tap water, milk and honey were collected for magnetic solid-phase extraction and determination of target SAs by using the obtained Fe 3 O 4 @nSiO 2 -SnS 2 composites to demonstrate the utility. All the results indicated that the proposed method had great potential for effective preconcentration and determination of SAs in complex samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:, (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Here, a m-xylene bisphosphonate immobilized tentacle-type cellulose monolith (BP-PCM) is prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization for lysozyme purification. In the preparation, the m-xylene bisphosphonate was anchored glycidyl methacrylate and then polymerized to enhance the flexibility of the ligands to improve lysozyme adsorption capacity, and glycerol monomethacrylate serves as spacer to further optimize the layers structure and ligands density of the grafted tentacles for satisfactory adsorption capacity. The maximum static and dynamic adsorption capacity (10% breakthrough) of BP-PCM reach to 169.6 and 102.6 mg mL -1 , respectively. Moreover, BP-PCM displays weak nonspecific adsorption and is able to successfully enrich lysozyme from diluted chicken egg white, indicating the excellent selectivity. The results demonstrated that BP-PCM is promising for use as high-capacity protein chromatography., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

A new sensitive and selective analytical methodology to quantify glyphosate (GLY), aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), and glufosinate (GLU) in both soil and earthworms (Allolobophora chlorotica) was developed. The extraction and purification methods were optimized. The samples were extracted with various aqueous solutions (HNO 3 , H 2 O, KOH and borate buffer) and derivatized with 9-Fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOCCl). To optimize the extraction step, a method to remove the excess FMOCCl was applied based on liquid-liquid extraction with diethyl ether. The purification of derivatized extracts was carried out using XLB solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges before internal standard quantification by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The elution step was optimized to obtain the best recoveries possible, which was with acidic methanol (1% formic acid) (67% for GLY, 70% for GLU and 65% for AMPA). The extraction and purification method followed by analysis of the two herbicides and AMPA in soils using LC/MS/MS determined limit of quantification (LOQ) values of 0.030 μg g  -   1 for GLY, 0.025 μg g  -   1 for AMPA and 0.020 µg g  -   1 for GLU . For earthworms, LOQ were 0.23 μg g  -   1 for GLY, 0.20 μg g  -   1 for AMPA and 0.12 μg g  -   1 for GLU. . The developed method was applied to determine these compounds in natural soils and earthworms., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The advantages of using mixtures of organic solvents for the separation of labeled oligosaccharides on the amide stationary phase under hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography conditions are presented. The effect of the type of buffer as well as solvent or their mixtures on retention of uracil, saccharide labeling reagents (2-aminobenzoic acid, 2-aminobenzamide, ethyl 4-aminobenzoate, procainamide), and corresponding labeled saccharides were evaluated. The successful isocratic separation of labeled isomeric trisaccharides (maltotriose, panose, and isomaltotriose) was achieved in the mobile phase consisting of a 90% (v/v) mixture of organic solvents (methanol/acetonitrile 60:40) and 10% (v/v) 30 mM ammonium formate, pH 3.3. Changing the volume ratio between methanol/acetonitrile from 60:40 to 50:50 (v/v) allowed to obtain the separation of di-, tri-, and tetrasaccharides labeled by ethyl 4-aminobenzoate in less than 10.5 min., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Hemp and cannabis industry is undergoing a renewed interest due to legalization of marijuana (a topic that all countries are discussing, especially in recent years) and the growing importance of therapeutic properties of cannabinoids. Together with an increment in the production of hemp and recreational cannabis, there has been an increasing demand for accurate potency testing of products (i.e. quantification of main cannabinoids present in the plant in terms of weight percentage) prior commercialization. This translates in an urgent need of reliable analytical methods to characterize cannabis and hemp samples. Cannabis and hemp preparations are commercialized under various forms (e.g., flowers, oils, candies or even baked goods) usually containing a large number of often very similar compounds making their separation very challenging. Strictly connected to this, another emerging topic concerns the need for the developing of large scale separation techniques for the purification of cannabinoids from complex matrices and for the preparation of analytical-grade standards (including the chiral ones). This paper reviews the most recent achievements in both these aspects. Cutting-edge applications and novel opportunities in potency testing by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection (which is becoming the golden standard, according to several pharmacopeias, for this kind of measurements) are discussed. The focus has been given to the very important topic of enantio-discrimination of chiral cannabinoids, for which supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) appears to be particularly suitable. The last part of the work covers the purification of cannabinoids through preparative chromatography. In this regard, particular attention has been given to the most innovative multi-column techniques allowing for the continuous purification of target molecules. The most recent advancements and future challenges in this field are discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The carbon dots (CDs) from natural nanographite oxide mixture (NGO-MIX) and from its fraction NGO (3.5-10K) recovered after ultrafiltration and dialysis were analyzed by 3D-excitation/emission matrix and high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) combined with online fluorescence and absorbance detections. HPSEC chromatograms obtained simultaneously with absorption within the wavelength range 200-500 nm and fluorescence detection at λ exc /λ em  = 270/450 nm/nm showed that NGO-MIX sample is not homogeneous and consist of well resolved CDs fractions with different sizes, absorption spectra and distinct fluorescence and non-fluorescence properties. Despite the twice higher fluorescence intensity of fraction NGO (3.5-10K) compared to the NGO-MIX, some impurity of non-fluorescent components was detected by HPSEC. The absorbance spectra of chromatographic peaks, extracted from the data of multi-wavelength absorbance detector, demonstrated different combinations of absorbance maxima. It means that different chromatographic peaks correspond to sized and chemically different CDs fractions. This study demonstrated for the first time the possibility of separating oxidized nanographite into homogeneous free from non-fluorescent material CDs fractions with their simultaneous spectroscopic characterization., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with parallel mass spectrometry and flame ionization detection (GC × GC-MS/FID) enables effective chromatographic fingerprinting of complex samples by comprehensively mapping untargeted and targeted components. Moreover, the complementary characteristics of MS and FID open the possibility of performing multi-target quantitative profiling with great accuracy. If this synergy is applied to the complex volatile fraction of food, sample preparation is crucial and requires appropriate methodologies capable of providing true quantitative results. In this study, untargeted/targeted (UT) fingerprinting of extra-virgin olive oil volatile fractions is combined with accurate quantitative profiling by multiple headspace solid phase microextraction (MHS-SPME). External calibration on fifteen pre-selected analytes and FID predicted relative response factors (RRFs) enable the accurate quantification of forty-two analytes in total, including key-aroma compounds, potent odorants, and olive oil geographical markers. Results confirm good performances of comprehensive UT fingerprinting in developing classification models for geographical origin discrimination, while quantification by MHS-SPME provides accurate results and guarantees data referability and results transferability over years. Moreover, by this approach the extent of internal standardization procedure inaccuracy, largely adopted in food volatiles profiling, is measured. Internal standardization yielded an average relative error of 208 % for the fifteen calibrated compounds, with an overestimation of + 538% for (E)-2-hexenal, the most abundant yet informative volatile of olive oil, and a -89% and -80% for (E)-2-octenal and (E)-2-nonenal respectively, analytes with a lower HS distribution constant. Compared to existing methods based on 1D-GC, the current procedure offers better separation power and chromatographic resolution that greatly improve method specificity and selectivity and results in lower LODs and LOQs, high calibration performances (i.e., R 2 and residual distribution), and wider linear range of responses. As an artificial intelligence smelling machine, the MHS-SPME-GC × GC-MS/FID method is here adopted to delineate extra-virgin olive oil aroma blueprints; an objective tool with great flexibility and reliability that can improve the quality and information power of each analytical run., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Prof. Stephen E. Reichenbach has a financial interest in GC Image, LLC; Dr. James McCurry is employee of Agilent Technologies; and Dr. Daniela Peroni is employee of SRA Instruments a Premier Solution Partner of Agilent Technologies., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

An analytical method based on low-temperature partitioning extraction (LTPE) followed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry analysis was developed and validated for the determination of eight multiclass antibiotics in wastewater. The analyzed target antibiotics included one β-lactam, two sulfonamides, three fluoroquinolones, one macrolide and one diaminopyrimidine. LTPE parameters such as sample pH, volume ratio between sample and extractor solvent, ultra-sonic extraction time, extraction tube material, solvent and volume to reconstitute the sample extracts, were optimized. Additionally, the influence of solids on extraction efficiency was evaluated. Quantification of the target antibiotics was performed by double consecutive injection method, without the use of a labeled compound, in order to correct matrix effects. The whole samples were analyzed, including, liquid and solid fractions of wastewater. The results revealed that the filtration step can underestimate the total antibiotics concentration, particularly to the hydrophobic compounds that have higher affinity for solids, indicating that the suspended wastewater particulate should not be neglected. The method detection limit ranged from 18.54 ng L -1 (trimethoprim) to 78.49 ng L -1 (ciprofloxacin). Intra-day precision of less than 12.3% was achieved. The recoveries values ranged from 13.9% (sulfadiazine) to 48.9% (erythromycin) in influent samples and from 19.1% (sulfadiazine) to 57.2% (ciprofloxacin) in effluent samples. The method was applied to the measurement of antibiotic residues in influent and effluent from wastewater treatment plants. The majority target antibiotics were detected in wastewater samples. Their concentrations ranged from 237 to 9553 ng L -1 in influent and from 212 to 1660 ng L -1 in effluent. This work provides new insights on the applicability of LTPE for antibiotic residues extraction from wastewater. In addition, the performed analysis highlights the importance of measuring total concentrations of analytes in whole sample., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Iron-based metal-organic framework, NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe), was doped with different dosages of cobalt phthalocyanine nanoparticles (CoPc) to synthesize a series of NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe)@CoPc nanocomposites. The NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe)@CoPc nanocomposites were then employed to construct novel impedimetric aptasensors for the detection of ochratoxin A (OTA). Combining the intrinsic advantages of NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe) (highly porous structure and excellently electrochemical activity) and CoPc (good physiochemical stability and strong bioaffinity), the NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe)@CoPc nanocomposites show promising properties, which are beneficial for immobilizing OTA-targeted aptamer strands. Amongst, the developed impedimetric aptasensor based on NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe)@CoPc 6:1 , prepared using the mass ratio of NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe):CoPc of 6:1, exhibits the best amplified electrochemical signal and highest sensitivity for detecting OTA. The detection limitation is 0.063 fg·mL -1 within the OTA concentration of 0.0001-100 pg·mL -1 , accompanying with high selectivity, good reproducibility and stability, acceptable regenerability, and wide applicability in diverse real samples. Consequently, the proposed sensing strategy can be applied for detecting OTA to cope with food safety., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pathogenic bacteria have become a huge threat to social health and economy for their frighteningly infectious and lethal capacity. It is quite important to make a diagnosis in advance to prevent infection or allow a rapid treatment after infection. Noble metal nanoparticles, due to their unique physicochemical properties, especially optical properties, have drawn a great attention during the past decades and have been widely applied into all kinds of fields related to human health. By utilizing these noble metal nanoparticles, optical diagnosis platforms towards pathogenic bacteria have emerged continually, providing highly sensitive, selective, and particularly facile detection tools for clinic or point-of-care diagnosis. This review summarizes the recent development in this field. It begins with a brief introduction of pathogenic bacteria and noble metal nanoparticles. And then, optical detection methods are systematically discussed in three distinct aspects. In addition to these proof-of-concept methods, corresponding algorithms and point-of-care detection devices are also described. Finally, the review ends up with subjective views on present limitations and some appropriate advice for future research directions., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Here we describe an in-house kit for high throughput DNA extraction using laundry detergent. A simplified lysis buffer made only from 0.08 M EDTA, 0.1 M Tris, and laundry powder is the core of our protocol. We extracted genomic DNA from 150 µL of whole blood collected from different farm animals and compared the performance to both the DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit (Qiagen) and the widely used salting-out procedure. An evaluation of the concentration and quality of the extracted DNA was then assessed by the NanoDrop absorption spectra, agarose gel migration, amplification in PCR and the Sanger sequencing. The in-house kit successfully extracted clean DNA from all blood samples, and discernably outperformed the commercial kits and the original salting-out procedure in the sense of the simplicity, cost-efficiency, quantity, and the quality of purified DNA. Apart from replacing proteinase K and the sodium dodecyl sulfate treatment by the laundry detergent, our protocol instructs a lysis buffer that eliminates sucrose, Triton X-100, MgCl 2 , NH 4 Cl, and KCl. Our handmade kit might be of interest for laboratories in underdeveloped countries with a budget shortage or applications in difficult field conditions, for example, when fridge storage for proteinase K cannot be ensured.

Discriminative and sensitive detection of environmentally important and health-related trichloroacetic acid (TCA) suffers from various problems such as bulky instruments and time-consuming operation as well as complex sample processing. Herein, we present a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for the detection of gaseous TCA using a fluorescent single-molecule array. An o -carborane-based benzothiazole derivative (CB-BT-OCH 3 ) with specific fluorescence properties was specifically designed and utilized to fabricate a film-based single-molecule array. It was revealed that the fluorescent film is photochemically stable and extremely sensitive to TCA vapor, depicting an observable fluorescence color change from green to blue. The experimental detection limit is 0.2 ppm, which is lower than the safety limit (1 ppm) required by the threshold limit values and biological exposure indices. In addition, the film could show detectable intensity change within 0.2 s. On the basis of multiple signal responses, a conceptual two-channel-based fluorescent TCA sensor was developed. Importantly, the proposed conceptual sensor paves a new route to the development of specific fluorescent film-based sensor arrays with a single fluorophore as sensing units.

We have developed a new method for the rapid (2 h) and inexpensive (materials cost < 0.02 €/sample) "2-in-1" determination of the total phenolic content (TPC) and the antioxidant activity (AOX) in honey samples. The method is based on hydrophilic colorimetric films with diazonium groups, which react with phenols rendering highly colored azo groups. The TPC of the sample is correlated to its trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC). The intensity of the color allows us to determine both TPC and TEAC of the sample by the analysis of a picture taken with a smartphone that is analysed by the use of the color-definition-parameters (RGB). The controlled light conditions and the systematic use of the same camera avoid the periodical calibration of the system improving the efficiency of the method. Thus, it is a simple method carried out by non-specialized personnel and it involves much lower money and time investment compared to traditional methods., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The performance of 18 routine chemical detection methods was evaluated by the sigma (σ) metric, and Westgard Sigma rules with run size were used to establish internal quality control (IQC) standards to reduce patient risks., Materials and Methods: External quality assessment (EQA) and internal quality control data from 18 assays in a biochemical laboratory were collected from January to June 2020. The sigma values of each assay were calculated, based on the bias, total error allowable, and coefficient of variation, appropriate quality control rules were selected. According to the quality goal index, the main causes of poor performance were determined to guide quality improvement., Results: At IQC material level 1, seven of the 18 assays achieved five sigma (excellent), and five assays (UA, Crea, AMY, TC and Na) showed world-class performance. At IQC material level 2, 14 of the 18 assays achieved 5 sigma (excellent), and thirteen assays (UA, ALT, CK, Crea, AMY, K, AST, ALP, Na, LDH, Mg, TC and GGT) showed world-class performance. The quality goal index (QGI) was calculated for items with analysis performance <5 sigma, and the main causes of poor performance were determined to guide quality improvement., Conclusions: Westgard sigma rules with run size are an effective tool for evaluating the performance of biochemical assays. These rules can be used to more simply and intuitively select the quality control strategy of related items and reduce the risk to patients., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

In the course of their life span, cells release a multitude of different vesicles in the extracellular matrix (EVs), constitutively and/or upon stimulation, carrying signals either inside or on their membrane for intercellular communication. As a natural delivery tool, EVs present many desirable advantages, such as biocompatibility and low toxicity. However, due to the complex biogenesis of EVs and their high heterogeneity in size distribution and composition, the characterization and quantification of EVs and their subpopulations still represents an enticing analytical challenge. Centrifugation methods allow to obtain different subpopulations in an easy way from cell culture conditioned medium and biological fluids including plasma, amniotic fluid and urine, but they still present some drawbacks and limitations. An unsatisfactory isolation can limit their downstream analysis and lead to wrong conclusions regarding biological activities. Isolation and characterization of biologically relevant nanoparticles like EVs is crucial to investigate specific molecular and signaling patterns and requires new combined approaches. Our work was focused on HF5 (miniaturized, hollow-fiber flow field-flow fractionation), and its hyphenation to ultracentrifugation techniques, which are the most assessed techniques for vesicle isolation. We exploited model samples obtained from culture medium of murine myoblasts (C2C12), known to release different subsets of membrane-derived vesicles. Large and small EVs (LEVs and SEVs) were isolated by differential ultracentrifugation (UC). Through an HF5 method employing UV, fluorescence and multi-angle laser scattering as detectors, we characterized these subpopulations in terms of size, abundance and DNA/protein content; moreover, we showed that microvesicles tend to hyper-aggregate and partially release nucleic matter. The quali-quantitative information we obtained from the fractographic profiles was improved with respect to Nano Tracking Analysis (NTA) estimation. The SEV population was then further separated using density gradient centrifugation (DGC), and four fractions were submitted again to HF5-multidetection. This technique is based on a fully orthogonal principle, since F4 does not separate by density, and provided uncorrelated information for each of the fractions processed. The "second dimension" achieved with HF5 showed good promise in sorting particles with both different size and content, and allowed to identify the presence of fibrilloid nucleic matter. This analytical bidimensional approach proved to be effective for the characterization of highly complex biological samples such as mixtures of EVs and could provide purified fractions for further biological characterization., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Valentina Marassi, Andrea Zattoni, Pierluigi Reschiglian and Barbara Roda are associates of the academic spinoff company byFlow Srl (Bologna, Italy). The company mission includes know-how transfer, development, and application of novel technologies and methodologies for the analysis and characterization of samples of nano-biotechnological interest., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

In the present research, a zone fluidics-based automated sensor for the analysis of captopril in in vitro dissolution samples is reported. Captopril is reacted under flow conditions with Ni(II) (10 mmol L -1 ) in alkaline medium (0.15% v/v NH 3 ) to form a stable derivate, which is monitored spectrophotometrically at 340 nm. The chemical and instrumental parameters were carefully investigated and optimized. The validation of the developed method was performed in the range of 5 to 120% of the expected maximum concentration using the accuracy profiles as a graphical decision-making tool. The β -expectation tolerance intervals did not exceed the acceptance criteria of ±10%, which means that 95% of future results will be encompassed in the defined bias limits. The variation of the relative bias ranged between -2.3% and 3.5% and the RSD values for repeatability and intermediate precision were lower than 2.3% in all cases. The limit of detection (LOD), and the lower and the upper limit of quantification (LLOQ, ULOQ) were satisfactory and found to be 1%, 5% and 120% (corresponding to 0.6, 2.78 and 66.67 μg mL -1 in dissolution medium). The developed method was successfully applied for the analysis of captopril in dissolution tests of two commercially available batches.

Recently, we developed a new approach for the selective enrichment of low-abundance compounds in biological samples by capillary electrophoresis. As a model test, the low-abundance compound lysozyme was successfully fractionated from a mixture containing high-abundance compound BSA (1:4500) using a custom-made apparatus. The feasibility of this approach for real complex biological samples was verified by rat serum, wherein three low-abundance proteins with high charge/mass ratios were detected., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane enclosed vesicles (<1 µm), such as exosomes (30-150 nm), involved in cell communication, which have important biological implications. In this study, EV preparations were enriched for exosomes from human serum by polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation. Different variables of the PEG precipitation method (i.e. concentration of PEG, filtration and centrifugation of the resuspended pellets) were evaluated by measuring the size of the isolated particles by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). In addition, a novel capillary electrophoresis-ultraviolet diode array (CE-UV-DAD) method was developed to obtain characteristic multiwavelength electrophoretic profiles of the EV preparations. Using EV preparations precipitated with 10% m/v of PEG, a background electrolyte (BGE) of 0.1 M Tris and 0.25 M boric acid at pH 7.9 with 0.5% m/v of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) allowed reducing the adsorption of the EVs to the inner wall of the fused silica separation capillary. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) at 0.1% m/v was also necessary to enhance dispersibility, while homogenizing the charge of the particles to improve the size-dependent separation induced by HPC. Under these optimized conditions, a characteristic electrophoretic multiwavelength profile of the EV preparation and a standard of exosomes was obtained, and separation showed excellent reproducibility and appropriate analysis times. The obtained electrophoretic fingerprints are a simple, effective and complementary tool for the quality control of EV preparations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Plant extraction has existed for a long time and is still of interest. Due to technological improvements, it is now possible to obtain extracts with higher yields. While global yield is a major parameter because it assesses the extraction performance, it can be of interest to focus on the extraction of particular compounds (specific metabolites) to enrich the sample and to avoid the extraction of unwanted ones, for instance the primary metabolites (carbohydrates, triacylglycerols). The objective then is to improve extraction selectivity is then considered. In solid-liquid extraction, which is often called maceration, the solvent has a major impact on selectivity. Its polarity has a direct influence on the solutes extracted, related to the chemical structure of the compounds, and modelling compound/solvent interactions by using various polarity or interaction scales is a great challenge to favor the choice of the appropriate extracting liquid. Technical advances have allowed the development of recent, and sometimes green, extraction techniques, such as Microwave-Assisted Extraction (MAE), Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction (UAE), Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE) and Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE). This review focuses on the specificity of these recent techniques and the influence of their physical parameters (i.e. pressure, intensity, etc.). In addition to the solvent selection, which is of prime interest, the physical parameters applied by the different techniques influence the extraction results in different ways. Besides, SFE is a versatile and green technique suitable to achieve selectivity for some compounds. Due to its properties, SC-CO 2 allows tailoring conditions to improve the selectivity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

An online solid-phase extraction (SPE)-coupled liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was established for the determination of 10 nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAHs) in water. Water samples were mixed with methanol to generate 40% methanol solutions (v/v), and filtered by 0.45 μm membrane. The filtration with polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE) membrane got higher recovery rates than nylon membrane, especially for 4-ring and 5-ring nitro-PAHs. 2.5 mL solution was directly injected into online SPE flow path to allow for online purification and enrichment of target analytes in the SPE column. The nitro-PAHs eluted from the SPE column were automatically transferred to the analytical flow path by a well-designed valve-switching system. With the optimization of LC and MS condition, ten nitro-PAH isomers was separated and detected from each other by LC-MS/MS with negative atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). It was firstly found that nitro-PAHs could produce strong [M-H] - precursor ions in the primary MS besides [M+e] - and [M+15] - . In the secondary MS, the precursor ions mainly lose NO neutral molecule (30 Daltons) to produce daughter ions. The online SPE and LC-MS analysis process was completed in 15.5 min. The linear correlation coefficients of 10 nitro-PAH standard curves were higher than 0.99. The detection limits of nitro-PAHs were about 1.2~22.2 ng/L (S/N=3). The intra-day and inter-day reproducibility (RSD, n=6) were 1.6%~8.4% and 5.3%~16.9%, respectively. The recoveries of 10, 40 and 200 ng/L in tap water were 71.7%~106.4%, 79.7%~100.9% and 73.0%~105.5%, with the corresponding RSD of 2.4%~10.5%, 2.1%~8.6% and 2.7%~6.2%, respectively., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The use of a commercially available short length channel (14 cm length) is proposed to improve the efficiency associated to the separation by asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation of particles in the nanometer range respect to a standard channel (27 cm length). The effect of channel length on elution times, separation efficiency and resolution have been studied. Polystyrene particles between 50 and 500 nm in size have been used to compare the behavior of both channels. Theoretical aspects based on the different contributions on particle diffusion inside the channel during the separation process have been considered to justify the results obtained. Non-equilibrium diffusion contribution to the efficiency has shown to be the most relevant aspect to be controlled during the separation. The increment of the field strength applied through the cross-flow velocityallows the reduction of diffusion while keep elution times constant. The use of the same cross-flow in a channel with a smaller area is the key factor that justifies the better efficiencies observed along the whole size range studied (improvements that reach factors up to 4.7 in experimental efficiency respect to the standard channel were achieved). The separation of polystyrene particles of 100 and 200 nm was achieved with a resolution of 1.20, whereas a 0.66 value was obtained with the standard channel at the same elution times. Channel recoveries have been also compared under optimized conditions to ensure that no side effects are produced, including the separation of mixtures of TiO 2 nanoparticles. Similar or even better values were obtained with the short length channel, with recoveries higher than 85% for all the polystyrene particles tested and 75% recovery for the TiO 2 nanoparticle mixture, which justifies its use for the separation of nanoparticles, providing better resolutions without compromise elution times or recoveries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Fexofenadine hydrochloride is an antihistamine agent used for the treatment of allergic disorders like rhinitis. It is a second generation antihistamine. Montelukast sodium is an anti-asthmatic agent and leukotriene receptor antagonist used in the treatment of respiratory disorders. This article exemplifies the reported analytical methods like electrometric methods, ultraviolet spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, thin layer chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, high performance thin layer chromatography and tandem spectroscopy for determination of fexofenadine HCl and montelukast sodium in dosage form and in biological matrices. This review covers almost all the analytical methods for fexofenadine hydrochloride and montelukast sodium form 1968-2018 years. Complete analytical validation parameters reported are discussed in this review for both analytes. Among various analytical methods, HPLC and UV-visible spectrophotometry were found to be the most extensively used methods by the researchers.

Apremilast is an anti-inflammatory agent. It has been a flourishing molecule in the field of dermatology. In the year 2014, Apremilast got its approval for treatment of psoriatic arthritis. Presently it is known to treat a number of other conditions, including atopic dermatitis and plaque psoriasis. Apremilast a phthalimide derivative, is non-hygroscopic in nature. It is practically insoluble in water. Apremilast acts by inhibiting the activity of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), an intracellular enzyme. Analytical method plays a key role to understand the physio-chemical properties of a drug molecule. Because of poor solubility and low permeability, analytical method development and formulation becomes challenging. Till date, there are no standard test methods available to analyze Apremilast. So, a critical review of the analytical techniques of Apremilast was carried out. The literature search was done by screening the papers reporting analytical techniques of Apremilast from year 2014 to 2019. Methodologies particularly UV spectroscopy, HPTLC, HPLC, X-ray diffraction, NMR, LC-MS were collected and reviewed. Interminable efforts are made by the researchers to develop simple, accurate, robust and cost-effective methods of analysis. In pharmaceutical research, this information will aid in the development of new delivery systems. The review will prove beneficial and advantageous pre-formulation studies and will guide the formulation development.

Hypertension is commonly a quiet condition, and it expands the risk of heart diseases and stroke. Calcium delivers a substantial role in cardiovascular functions and hence is essential for cardiac automaticity and functioning. Calcium channel antagonists are the choice of drugs for the management of cardiovascular diseases; they precisely stop the introduction of calcium through L-type calcium channels are existing channels in the heart. Cilnidipine belongs to the class 4th generation calcium channel blockers as a foremost therapeutic agent used in the treatment of hypertension and heart diseases. This review article focuses on an inclusive account of crucial analytical methodologies used for the pharmaceutical analysis of cilnidipine in pure forms, biological samples and pharmaceuticals. According to literature reports several analytical techniques such as hyphenated techniques, high-performance thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid-chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, voltammetry, UV/Vis-spectrophotometry, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy approaches have been used for determination of cilnidipine alone or in the combined dosage form. We have also discussed the pharmacopeial assay methods, physicochemical properties, and also depict the stacked column chart for year wise publication count for cilnidipine. From literature, concluded that the high-performance liquid-chromatography and UV/Vis-spectrophotometry methods are the most prevailing methods for the analysis of cilnidipine. The data presented in this review may provide a very significant base for further studies on cilnidipine in the area of drug analysis.

1-Deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ), a polyhydroxylated alkaloid, is a highly selective and potent glycosidase inhibitor that has garnered great interest as a tool to study cellular recognition and as a potential therapeutic agent. The development of analytical methods for the quantification polyhydroxylated alkaloids in natural products requires a multifaceted approach. Many publications over the past five decades have described analytical methods for this compound. However, recently more advanced techniques have come to prominence for sample extraction, purification, detection, and identification. This review provides an updated, extensive overview of the available methods for the extraction, purification, identification or detection of 1-DNJ. The review highlights different strategies for the design of 1-DNJ detection methods, which we analyzed in light of recent detection data. Finally, we conclude with perspectives on possible strategies for increasing the efficiency of identification and quantification of 1-DNJ in the future.

Although comprehensive two-dimensional (2D) gas chromatography (GC × GC) is a powerful technique for complex samples, component overlap remains likely. An intriguing route to address this challenge is to utilize the additional peak capacity and chemical selectivity provided by comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) gas chromatography (GC 3 ), especially with time-of-flight mass spectrometry detection (GC 3 -TOFMS). However, the GC 3 -TOFMS instrumentation reported to date has employed one or both modulators with a duty cycle < 100%, making the potential gain in detection sensitivity over GC × GC modest, or perhaps even worse. Herein, we describe instrumentation for GC 3 -TOFMS in which both modulators provide total-transfer (100% duty cycle). Specifically, the instrument is based on the facile modification of a commercial thermally modulated comprehensive GC × GC-TOFMS platform for modulation from the 1 D column to the 2 D column, with recently described dynamic pressure gradient modulation (DPGM) as the second modulator from the 2 D column to the 3 D column, which is a total-transfer flow modulation technique. Area measurements of 1 D peaks are compared to the sum of 3 D peak areas to validate the assumption that total-transfer from 1 D to 3 D is accomplished. Additionally, peak heights were amplified by as high as a factor of 177 (x̅ = 130, s = 47) via comparison of 1 D peak heights to the maximum 3 D peak heights. Column selection is explored, with emphasis on the resulting peak width-at-base on each dimension and usage of 3D space as evaluation metrics. Using a nonpolar × polar × ionic liquid column combination, an effective peak capacity which considers modulation-induced broadening as high as 32,300 for select analytes was achieved (x̅ = 19,900, s = 10,700). The analytical benefits of employing three selective phases, mass spectrometry detection, and total-transfer modulation are explored with separations of a metabolomics-type sample, i.e., derivatized porcine serum, and a jet fuel spiked with various sulfur-containing compounds., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

A rapid and simple method is proposed for detection of elemental mercury (Hg) vapor by ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). Negative corona discharge (CD) as the ionization source and chloroform as the dopant gas were used to produce Cl - reactant ion. A mass spectrum of the product ions confirmed that the mechanism of ionization is based on Cl - anion attachment to Hg and formation of HgCl - ion. It was found that the optimum drift gas temperature for Hg detection was about 160 °C and the drift gas flow rate should be minimized and just sufficient to clear contaminants and carry-over from the drift cell. The drift time of the HgCl - peak relative to that of the Cl - peak at 160 °C is 1.52 ms corresponding to the reduced mobility of 1.90 cm 2 /Vs. Because many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as alcohols, amines, aldehydes, ketones, and alkanes are not ionized in the negative mode of CD-IMS, these compounds do not interfere with the detection of Hg. Mercaptans peaks also did not show any interference with the Hg signal. Hence, the method is highly selective for detection of Hg in natural gas containing sulfur compounds. The detection limit of Hg obtained by the proposed method was 0.07 mg/m 3 . The method was successfully verified in determination of the mercury vapor content of a fluorescent lamp, as a real sample., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Off-line two-dimensional countercurrent chromatography has been widely applied to the isolation of complex samples, but little research on the investigation of orthogonality in the selection of biphasic solvent systems is available. In the present work, the orthogonality in the selection of a biphasic solvent system for liquid-liquid chromatographic separation of aqueous extract and ether extract from the traditional Chinese medicinal plant Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc was evaluated by the correlation coefficient and space occupancy rate. In total, 25 different biphasic solvent systems were tested, and 313 system combinations were analysed. A convex hull methodology was used to determine the separation space and to optimize separation conditions. The correlation coefficient matrix was transformed into dendrograms and a colour map to visualize the dissimilarity between, and orthogonality for, all solvent systems. The aqueous extracts from Polygonum cuspidatum were separated using selected biphasic solvent systems with high orthogonality: ethyl acetate-ethanol-water (70:1:70, v/v) and petroleum ether-ethyl acetate-water (1:5:5, v/v). The ether extracts from Polygonum cuspidatum were also separated using selected biphasic solvent systems with high orthogonality: petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-aqueous 0.25 M NH 3 •H 2 O (5:5:5:5, v/v) and petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:5:5, v/v). Thirteen compounds were successfully obtained. The experimental results demonstrated that the evaluation of orthogonality provided an alternative strategy to select an applicable solvent system for the separation of complex samples using off-line two-dimensional countercurrent chromatography., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

This work proposes an experimental method for the estimation of the phase ratio of reversed-phase C8 columns by employing the equation log(k)=alog(K om )+log(Φ), where k is the retention factor, K om is the octane-mobile phase partition coefficient, a is a proportionality constant and Φ is the phase ratio (defined as volume ratio of the stationary phase to the mobile phase). The immiscible liquid octane and mobile phase are chosen as the surrogate model for the C8 stationary phase and mobile phase of the chromatographic system. The octane-mobile phase is used for measuring the partition coefficient K om of six compounds of the homologous series of linear alkylbenzenes, viz. benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene, butylbenzene and pentylbenzene. The distribution of a compound between the octane and mobile phase is proposed to simulate the partitioning process in the chromatography. The retention factor k of each compound is measured using the same mobile phase for two C8 columns (Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C8 and Symmetry C8). The set of data of k and K om is fitted to the above linear equation to give the best-fit values of a and log(Φ) for each column and various mobile phase compositions (methanol-water or acetonitrile-water). The regression analyses have coefficients of determination r 2 > 0.992. This observed linear relationship can therefore be expressed as k=K om a Φ. The experimental values of Φ for the C8 columns are in the range of 0.206 to 0.842, with a from 0.544 to 0.811, respectively., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Industrial separation technologies can be improved and greatly simplified by using the methods of counter-current chromatography (CCC). We have previously proposed the use of currently available solvent extraction equipment (a series of multistage columns, a cascade of centrifugal mixer-settler extractors) as large-scale CCC devices. For industrial separations, the application of closed-loop recycling counter-current chromatography (CLR CCC) methods seems to be the most promising. To improve the performance of the CLR CCC separations, semi-continuous three-stage processes (1 - continuous loading of the mixture solution over a definite time; 2 - separation of solutes in recycling closed-loop; 3 - elution of the fractions of the separated solutes with the mobile phase) can be used. The purpose of this study is to present a simple and easy to use mathematical model allowing the simulation and design of various options for implementing such separation processes and analyze the influence of its main parameters on separation efficiency., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Electrical asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (EAF4) is an interesting new analytical technique that separates proteins based on size or molecular weight and simultaneously determines the electrical characteristics of each population. However, until now, the research using EAF4 has not been published except for the proof-of-concept in the original publication by Johann et. al. in 2015 [1]. Hence the methods capabilities and optimized conditions need to be further investigated, such as composition of the carrier liquid, pH stability and effect of the electric field strength. The pH instability was observed in the initial method of EAF4 due to the electrolysis products when applied electric field. Therefore, we have investigated and provided a modified method for rapid pH stabilization through additional focusing step with the electric field. Then, the electrical properties such as the zeta-potential and effective net charge of the monomer and oligomers of three different proteins (GA-Z, BSA, and Ferritin) were determined based on their electrophoretic mobility from EAF4. The results showed that there were limitations to the applicability of separation by EAF4 to proteins. Nevertheless, this study shows that EAF4 is an interesting new technique that can examine the zeta-potential of individual proteins in mixtures (or monomers and oligomers) not accessible by other techniques., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Sorptive extraction techniques have experienced increased popularity, but they face limitations in dynamic range and sensitivity. In this study, a new method combining stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and thin-film solid-phase microextraction (TFSPME) was developed, and optimization for extraction temperature (70 °C) and time (120 min) was carried out. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated SBSE and PDMS/carboxen (PDMS/CAR)-coated TFSPME were used, and both headspace and direct immersion extraction modes were also studied. Using 40 selected volatile compounds, the combined method generally gave a wider linearity range with lower minimum limits (2 to 3 orders), satisfactory coefficient of determination (R 2 >0.980), and improved sensitivity when compared to SBSE-only or TFSPME-only techniques. Furthermore, despite the combined use of two extraction devices, the repeatability (<13.1 %) and reproducibility (<13.4 %) of the combined method were comparable to SBSE-only or TFSPME-only results. Higher recoveries of up to 20% were also achieved by the combined method. Compared to the conventional SBSE method, the new method provided superior performance in terms of dynamic range and sensitivity for compounds of various polarities. In conclusion, this study provided insights on the suitability of the various extraction methods for compounds of different chemical properties which could aid in future applications for volatiles analysis in food, biological, and environmental sectors., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) stabilized by glutathione (GSH) have been synthesized using a simple one-pot method, which were used as a fluorescence-enhanced probe for the detection of cysteine (Cys) and GSH. The detection is based on the finding that the weak yellow fluorescence of the AuNCs, with excitation/emission maxima of 430/600 nm, can be enhanced by Cys and GSH via NCs aggregation. This method is selective for Cys and GSH. According to the fluorescence enhancement, the detection ranges of AuNCs for Cys and GSH are 2.49 µM ~ 0.80 mM and 1.99 µM ~ 0.44 mM, with the detection limit of 0.42 µM and 0.27 µM, respectively. In addition, the probe has good anti-interference performance over other common biomolecules. Importantly, the probe is successfully used for the determination of Cys in human serum samples, displaying the potential application of the probe in the detection of biological sulfhydryl molecules in actual samples.

Presence of Sudan I in food stuff can be problematic and need to be checked in order to protect our health from possible carcinogen. Therefore, it is essential to detect Sudan I by efficient, rapid and reliable method. In this work, we have designed a Ru(II) polypyridyl complex, [Ru(bpy) 2 (CIP)] 2+ probe for the selective and sensitive detection of Sudan I. Upon addition of Sudan I to the solution of [Ru(bpy) 2 (CIP)] 2+ in ethanol, the luminescence quenched rapidly, and linear concentration range with analyte has been obtained from 0.8 to 100 μM with the limit of detection as low as 0.26 μM (S/N = 3). The effective luminescence quenching was resulted due to the inner filter effect (IFE) between luminophore, [Ru(bpy) 2 (CIP)] 2+ and quencher, Sudan I. Our spectroscopic study was essentially provided sufficient analytical evidences in order to prove occurrence of IFE mechanism. As there were no interferences observed in luminescence measurement from the other substances the present probe has been successfully applied for the detection of Sudan I in commercial chili powder sample, making the probe suitable for practical usage.

A new molecule incorporating two units of 7-nitro-benzoxadiazole (NBD), bridged by m-xylylenediamine, was synthesized and characterized on the basis of analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The metal ion sensing property of this molecule was studied spectroscopically with a large number of metal ions. This study revealed that it can perform as a dual-channel probe for colorimetric as well as fluorometric detection of Hg 2+ . In presence of Hg 2+ , a substantial change in UV-Vis spectrum with the appearance of a new band at 545 nm and a distinct colour change from yellow to red was observed. In the fluorescence spectrum, the intensity of the emission band was substantially quenched only upon addition of Hg 2+ . No significant interference from any other metal ion used in this study was noted, the limit of detection (LOD) for Hg 2+ was found to be 60 and 10 nM for colorimetric and fluorometric detection method, respectively. This new chemosensor was used for removal of Hg 2+ from aqueous solution with 92% efficiency. For on-site monitoring and field application, this molecule was immobilized into the agarose based hydrogel film, which was used successfully for detection of Hg 2+ in water. The study on reversible behaviour of this chemosensor revealed that it can be recycled in solution as well as in solid phase by treatment with Na 2 S.

Colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe for cations gain very well attention by the chemist, biologist and environmentalist. Metals has two sides, first is biolgical active for living creature and toxic nature for the ecosystem. From last three decades the scientists are contiously trying to find out the best solution for the detection of cations at micro as well as nanomolar levels. In the present review we discussed the colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe synthesized by the authors in almost half decade.

This article presents a sensitive and straightforward colorimetric chemosensor for the determination of phosphate ion utilizing curcumin nanoparticles (CUNPs) as the sensing system. The color of as-prepared CUNPs can be changed from yellow to orange upon adding iron(III) ions due to the formation of a complex with CUNPs. However, in the presence of phosphate ions, iron(III) ions prefer to bind to phosphate ions and, subsequently the color of CUNPs is selectively recovered because of releasing the iron(III) ions from the CUNPs-iron(III) complex. Therefore, in this work the selective color changing of the CUNPs-iron(III) system upon the addition of phosphate ions was used for the quantitative sensing of phosphate ions. Various factors, such as the pH, concentration of iron(III) and volume of CUNPs, were examined and the optimum conditions were established. A linear calibration graph over the range of 10 - 400 ng mL -1 for phosphate (r = 0.9995) was achieved using the optimal conditions. The limit of detection (LOD) of the proposed method for phosphate was 7.1 ng mL -1 and the relative standard deviation (RSD) for measuring 50 ng mL -1 of phosphate was 3.7% (n = 8). The developed method was applied for the measurement of phosphate in water, soil, and bone samples. Satisfactory results were obtained.

A laminated paper-based analytical device (LPAD) for histidine detection was fabricated from a chromatography filtration paper and laminate films. Histidine recognition was effected by histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HisRS), and its detection was signaled colorimetrically based on the molybdenum blue reaction. The analytical conditions and detectable concentration range of histidine were examined. The method provided selective quantification from 1 to 100 μM histidine. LPAD fabrication is considerably simple, involving only the craft-cutting of the chromatography filtration paper and laminate film, and is cost-effective.

The large-scale use of pesticides such as organophosphate pesticides (OPPs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) has led to serious environmental problems worldwide, and their high toxicity could cause serious damage to human health. It is crucial to remove and track them precisely in the environment and food resources. As novel nanomaterials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted significant attention in the fields of adsorption and luminescence sensing due to their rich topology, tunable pore size and shape, high surface area, and abundant active sites. Luminescent metal-organic frameworks (LMOFs) have sprung up as great potential chemical sensors to detect pesticides with fast response, high sensitivity, high selectivity and easy operation. Therefore, in this highlight, we focus on recent progress of MOFs in sensing and adsorbing pesticides, as well as in the possible mechanism of sensing, so as to attract more attention to pesticide detection and adsorption.

Developing a cost-effective and simple micro-analysis tool has long been an important objective in the toxicological detection of fluorene. In this study, a disposable paper-based micro-analysis device (μ-PAD) was designed using graphite doped with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to hand draw the electrode (MWCNTs/μ-PAD). We investigated the feasibility of the designed MWCNTs/μ-PAD as a cell-sensing platform using voltammetry measurements. Its application for evaluating the cytotoxicity of fluorene was studied based on the electrochemical determination of human breast cancer cells induced by fluorene. The results showed a dose-dependent toxicity effect of fluorene on cellular activity. The measurements were comparable with those obtained using a methyl-thiazolyl-tetrazolium assay. The detection limit of the MWCNTs/μ-PAD for human breast cancer cells was as low as 4.00 × 10 3 cells·mL -1 owing to the enhanced catalytic activity of the MWCNTs. Notably, the MWCNTs/μ-PAD-which had a diameter of 7.00 mm-allowed a sampling volume of 10.0 μL, which is 50.0 times less than the sampling volume required with a conventional electrode (500 μL). Advantages such as the simplicity of manufacture, low consumption, low cost, rapid detection, and disposability, suggest that the MWCNTs/μ-PAD could provide new opportunities and directions for in vitro microanalysis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)