<p>The objective for this master’s thesis was to test and evaluate two methods for determining the content of tannin in a pinebarkextract. The methods used at Södra for this previously have not been specific enough, only the amount of polyphenolics have been measured. One of these methods is a test based on the Stiasny test and it determines the extracts ability to form a gel with formaldehyde. When this test was carried out it showed that the extract did not contain much tannin. The other method used at Södra measures the amount of polyphenolic substances with a spectrophotometer. The result from this method showed that the content were 50 %.</p><p> </p><p>One of the two new methods that were evaluated determines the amount tannin present in the extract because of tannins ability to form a complex with proteins. According to this method, the amount tannin in the extract were 42,5 %, and 19,4 % of this in the form of tannic acid. These results are credible on basis of previous information about the extract.</p><p> </p><p>The other method uses a RP- HPLC where ellagic and gallic acid were used as standards. The amount ellagic acid in the extract was determined to 0,06 %, but the result from gallic acid was inconclusive. Further analysis is necessary to evaluate the obtained results and the methods reliability.</p><p> </p><p>If the metods is to be used on a regular basis, my recommendation would be to start evaluating the protein-binding method because this would be easier and less time-consuming than modifying the HPLC- method. The HPLC- method could on the other hand provide useful information about the extract, not only the amount tannin could be measured, but also which kind of tannin could be investigated.</p>

<p>The two additive brominated flame retardants, tetrabromoethylcyclohexane (TBECH) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) are used to prevent fire to start and spread. They are simply mixed with material and are most likely to leach out in the environment, because of non-covalently binding to the material. TBECH can exist as four pairs of enantiomers, α-, β-, γ- and δ-TBECH. The technical HBCD can exist as three pairs of enantiomers, α-, β- and γ-HBCD and two meso forms δ- and ε-HBCD. None of these compounds are produced in Sweden, but they are imported to industries. TBECH has been found in Beluga blubber and can accumulate in zebrafish. HBCD has been found in water environments and can be toxic to and bioaccumulate in water-living animals.</p><p>In this study, a method was developed for separation and detection of α-, β-, γ- and δ-TBECH on HRGC/HRMS. All TBECH-isomers could be separated with the developed method. How much of the TBECH isomers that were recovered after applying existing extraction and clean-up procedures, normally applied for clean-up and extraction of PCBs and PCDD/Fs, was evaluated. Low recovered amounts (6.8-35.5 %) of TBECH-isomers added in known amounts to three different whale samples indicate severe evaporation losses and possibly photolytic degradation. None of the four enantiomers were detected in the three whale samples. For HBCD analysis, both the chromatography and MS/MS parameters were optimised for δ- and ε- HBCD yielding good chromatography and sensitivity. However, due to technical difficulties during the time-period of this project, no whale samples could be analysed for HBCD on UPLC/MS/MS. </p>

The objective for this master’s thesis was to test and evaluate two methods for determining the content of tannin in a pinebarkextract. The methods used at Södra for this previously have not been specific enough, only the amount of polyphenolics have been measured. One of these methods is a test based on the Stiasny test and it determines the extracts ability to form a gel with formaldehyde. When this test was carried out it showed that the extract did not contain much tannin. The other method used at Södra measures the amount of polyphenolic substances with a spectrophotometer. The result from this method showed that the content were 50 %.   One of the two new methods that were evaluated determines the amount tannin present in the extract because of tannins ability to form a complex with proteins. According to this method, the amount tannin in the extract were 42,5 %, and 19,4 % of this in the form of tannic acid. These results are credible on basis of previous information about the extract.   The other method uses a RP- HPLC where ellagic and gallic acid were used as standards. The amount ellagic acid in the extract was determined to 0,06 %, but the result from gallic acid was inconclusive. Further analysis is necessary to evaluate the obtained results and the methods reliability.   If the metods is to be used on a regular basis, my recommendation would be to start evaluating the protein-binding method because this would be easier and less time-consuming than modifying the HPLC- method. The HPLC- method could on the other hand provide useful information about the extract, not only the amount tannin could be measured, but also which kind of tannin could be investigated.

Vid kemisk massatillverkning finns behov av mättekniker som möjliggör ytterligare optimering av processen. Möjligheten att analysera svartlut med hjälp av aktiv akustisk spektrometri utreddes genom att ett online instrument konstruerdes och installerdes på ett pappersbruk. Analyser med multivariata metoder utfördes på resultaten. På grund av yttre omständigheter försenades arbetet, och ett tillräckligt dataunderlag för en definitiv slutsats erhölls ej. En rad vidare arbeten föreslås. / There is a need for additional process monitoring techniques in the production of chemical pulp. The possibility of analyzing black liquor by active acoustic spectrometry was investigated by constructing an on-line instrument and installing it in a chemical pulp mill. The results were then analyzed with multivariate methods. Due to unforeseen delays a sufficient amount of data could not be collected, and therefore a definitive conclusion could not be reached. Further work is suggested.

Arbetet har jämfört de emissioner som olika tjocklek på lacklagren samt olika torkningstemperaturer ger upphov till. Det konstaterades att tjocka lager ger upphov till oproportionerligt höga emissioner både på kort och framförallt på lång sikt. En högre torkningstemperatur orsakar lägre emissioner på kort sikt men lika höga eller högre på lång sikt. Inverkan från underlaget som lacken applicerades på undersöktes också och där konstaterades att ett porösare medium, i detta fall en MDF-skiva, orsaker lägre emissioner. Sannolikt pga att ämnena sugs upp av materialet. Den tredje delen bestod i att jämföra olika testkammares förmåga att registrera de sökta ämnena. Två stycken kammare med volymen 1m3 och en liten kammare med volymen 3ml användes. Det visade sig att de båda stora kamrarna visade liknande resultat om tiden efter att lacken applicerats på proverna var densamma. Den mindre visade klart lägre koncentrationer i försöksluften men omräknat till ytspecifik utsöndring var värdena jämförbara. Ämnen med hög kokpunkt var överrepresenterade i den lilla kammaren och ämnen med låg kokpunkt underrepresenterade, vilket gör att kammaren lämpar sig bäst för jämförande studier.

<p>Arbetet har jämfört de emissioner som olika tjocklek på lacklagren samt olika torkningstemperaturer ger upphov till. Det konstaterades att tjocka lager ger upphov till oproportionerligt höga emissioner både på kort och framförallt på lång sikt. En högre torkningstemperatur orsakar lägre emissioner på kort sikt men lika höga eller högre på lång sikt. Inverkan från underlaget som lacken applicerades på undersöktes också och där konstaterades att ett porösare medium, i detta fall en MDF-skiva, orsaker lägre emissioner. Sannolikt pga att ämnena sugs upp av materialet. Den tredje delen bestod i att jämföra olika testkammares förmåga att registrera de sökta ämnena. Två stycken kammare med volymen 1m3 och en liten kammare med volymen 3ml användes. Det visade sig att de båda stora kamrarna visade liknande resultat om tiden efter att lacken applicerats på proverna var densamma. Den mindre visade klart lägre koncentrationer i försöksluften men omräknat till ytspecifik utsöndring var värdena jämförbara. Ämnen med hög kokpunkt var överrepresenterade i den lilla kammaren och ämnen med låg kokpunkt underrepresenterade, vilket gör att kammaren lämpar sig bäst för jämförande studier.</p>

The amyloid-β peptide is an amphiphilic peptide that exhibits self-aggregating properties, forming the amyloid fibrils that can be found in the brains of Alzheimer patients. Today it is believed that it is the soluble Aβ oligomers rather than the mature fibrils that are the main neurotoxic species. These small peptide assemblies are known to associate with lipid membranes and form pores that can transport Ca2+ into the cell, which in part could be responsible for their neurotoxic properties. However, most biophysical methods that have been developed to study Aβ target either the monomer or the mature fibrils, and not the low abundance and polydisperse oligomers. In this work, a soft ionization mass spectrometry method that retains non-covalent oligomer interactions in the gas phase has been developed. Using this method, monomeric and oligomeric Aβ (1-40) from dimers up to octamers, except heptamers, were detected in vitro. It was also possible to detect and study the effects of peptide modifications such as methionine-35 oxidation. As mass spectrometry is a non-averaging technique the aggregation kinetics for reduced and oxidized peptides are followed simultaneously, and the results showed that the oxidized form of Aβ(1-40) aggregates slower and forms lower amounts of soluble oligomers than the reduced form. Additionally, Aβ(1-40) interactions with zwitterionic SB3-14 detergent micelles were studied in the gas phase, and it was demonstrated that Aβ-micelle complexes can survive in the mass spectrometer and be identified. Detergent head group charges seem to be essential for peptide-micelle interaction, both in the gas phase and in solution as no structure induction is observed upon addition of the non-ionic detergent DDM. Overall gas phase and solution properties agree well, which is encouraging for future gas phase studies of Aβ interactions with membrane mimetics.

The two additive brominated flame retardants, tetrabromoethylcyclohexane (TBECH) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) are used to prevent fire to start and spread. They are simply mixed with material and are most likely to leach out in the environment, because of non-covalently binding to the material. TBECH can exist as four pairs of enantiomers, α-, β-, γ- and δ-TBECH. The technical HBCD can exist as three pairs of enantiomers, α-, β- and γ-HBCD and two meso forms δ- and ε-HBCD. None of these compounds are produced in Sweden, but they are imported to industries. TBECH has been found in Beluga blubber and can accumulate in zebrafish. HBCD has been found in water environments and can be toxic to and bioaccumulate in water-living animals. In this study, a method was developed for separation and detection of α-, β-, γ- and δ-TBECH on HRGC/HRMS. All TBECH-isomers could be separated with the developed method. How much of the TBECH isomers that were recovered after applying existing extraction and clean-up procedures, normally applied for clean-up and extraction of PCBs and PCDD/Fs, was evaluated. Low recovered amounts (6.8-35.5 %) of TBECH-isomers added in known amounts to three different whale samples indicate severe evaporation losses and possibly photolytic degradation. None of the four enantiomers were detected in the three whale samples. For HBCD analysis, both the chromatography and MS/MS parameters were optimised for δ- and ε- HBCD yielding good chromatography and sensitivity. However, due to technical difficulties during the time-period of this project, no whale samples could be analysed for HBCD on UPLC/MS/MS.

A new class of drugs has been developed for treatment of muscle and bone mass wasting diseases called non-steroidal selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs). Because of their positive androgenic effects such as muscle gain, they are desirable as performance enhancers. One of those substances is LGD-4033 (4-[(2R)-2-[(1R)-2,2,2-trifluoro-1-hydroxyethyl]pyrrolidin-1-yl]-2-(trifluoromethyl)- benzonitrile). It has been detected in human samples in routine doping control and another SARM has been detected in an equine blood sample in routine doping control. It is therefore indicated that SARMs need to be screened for in routine testing in equestrian sport. The aim of this project was to identify what metabolites were found in equine plasma after an intra venous administration of LGD-4033 using UHPLC coupled with QToF-MS and determine whether the parent compound or any of its metabolites were most suitable for doping control. With the sample preparation method protein precipitation, six possible metabolites were identified in samples from three horses. Two of the metabolites were identified as phase I-metabolites (monohydroxylated and dihydroxylated). Four of the metabolites were identified as phase II-metabolites, where glucuronidation had occurred. The most suitable species for doping control were determined based on a semi- quantification and were M1a, M2 and M3a.

Mellan November 2020 och januari 2021 utfördes ett examensarbete på Scanias förbehandling i Oskarshamn med fokus på att utvärdera skiktvikt och ytfinish vidproduktionsstörningar. Förbehandlingens funktion är att rostskydda lastbilshytten genom att behandla den med ett lager fosfat kristaller vilket ger ytan en matt mörkgrå finish. Temperatur och pH identifierades som de faktorer med störst påverkan på skiktvikt och ytfinish och dessa faktorer analyserades i olika förhållanden genom att doppa galvaniserade paneler i justerad badlösning från kamrarna i förbehandlingen. Analyser med fokus påskillnader i temperatur visade att en sänkning av temperaturen i G02 eller G03 inte signifikant påverkade skiktvikten. Däremot påvisade analys av temperaturens påverkan vikten av att hålla temperaturen i G06 runt om börvärdes området för att ge resultat liknande referens panelerna. Test panelerna för 005, kall G06, har liknande färg som referens panelerna men HDG panelen har en mycket mattare ytfinish. HDG panelen har dessutom enskiktvikt på 5,70 g/m² vilket ligger utanför börvärdes området. Test panelerna för 006, varm G06, har på samma sätt som 005 en liknande färg som referens panelerna men här är det istället EG panelen som har en mattare ytfinish men panelen har trots detta inte en avvikande skiktvikt. På grund av den avvikande ytfinishen är det möjligt att det finns en avvikelse i kristallens struktur men utan en SEM analys är det omöjligt att avgöra. Analys av pH gav oväntade resultat då det verkade som att en mer alkalisk miljö gör att panelen inte får ett fosfatskikt utan har samma ytfinish som en obehandlad panel. Däremot får panelerna i den sura miljön ett beige grå ytfinish.