In this work a new material, the conducting polymer-DNA composite, has been reported for the first time due to its promise in micro extraction, transfer, and release of cations under controlled potential conditions by using electrochemically assisted solid phase micro extraction (SPME). The Polypyrrole/DNA composite can be formed easily by oxidation of pyrrole monomers in the presence of chromosomal DNA by electropolymerization. Environmental significant pollutants such as Cd, Pb, Hg, Co, Zn, Cu, and Bi metal ions can be extracted from the aqueous solution and are able to be transferred to another medium defined as the release solution where the metals were detected by anodic stripping voltammetry. Using Cd2+ as a model, this method has been examined to optimize its operational condition. Extraction efficiency and potential interference for this method were studied.

Os métodos convencionais para a determinação de fármacos em fluidos biológicos baseiam-se em técnicas cromatográficas e imunoquímicas. O tratamento prévio de amostras biológicas, o qual abrange as etapas de extração, pré-concentração e “clean-up”, tem sido requerido nas análises de fármacos, para aumentar a sensibilidade e seletividade analítica. No entanto, nos últimos anos, com o avanço das técnicas instrumentais, diversas técnicas têm sido avaliados para a análise de diferentes fármacos em fluidos biológicos, destacando-se entre elas a Microextração em Fase Sólida (SPME) e a Cromatografia Líquida acoplada a Espectrometria de Massas (LC/MS). A SPME apresenta uma série de vantagens em relação às técnicas de extração tradicionais, ou seja: não requer instrumentação analítica sofisticada, não utiliza solvente orgânico, permite automação das análises, a reutilização das fibras extratoras e integra em um único sistema, a extração, concentração e introdução da amostra no sistema cromatográfico. Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvida uma interface versátil e de baixo custo, que permite o acoplamento das técnicas SPME-LC/MS para análise dos fármacos antidepressivos tricíclicos e anticonvulsivantes. O planejamento fatorial empregado mostrou ser uma ferramenta estatística importante e simples, sendo obtido mais informações com um número menor de experimentos, avaliando não só os efeitos principais como os efeitos de interação de todas as variáveis nas respostas. As condições cromatográficas otimizadas foram adequadas para a análise por LC/MS. Os níveis de detecção alcançados ressaltam a importância e destaque da técnica de cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência acoplada à espectrometria de massas (LC/MS). O método desenvolvido, tanto para os fármacos antidepressivos tricíclicos como para os anticonvulsivantes, mostrou especificidade, precisão, linearidade e limite de quantificação adequado para a análise. / Conventional methods used for the determination of drugs in biological fluids are based on chromatographic and immunochemical techniques. The biological samples treatment - which includes extraction, pre-concentration and clean up steps – has been required in drugs analysis in order to increase both analytical sensitivity and selectivity. Nevertheless, lately, within the advancements in instrumentation, different techniques have been evaluated for the analysis of different drugs in biological fluids, such as: solid phase microextraction (SPME) and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC/MS). SPME presents many advantages towards the conventional extraction techniques (soxhlet, LLE and SPE), which include: use of simple analytical instrumentation, analysis automation, reuse of extractor fibers and integration of extraction, concentration and sample introduction in the same chromatographic system. In this work, a versatile and low cost interface was developed, which allows the coupling of SPME-LC/MS techniques to tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsivant drugs analysis. The employed factorial design has shown to be a simple and useful statistical tool. With this device more information could be obtained with fewer experiments by evaluating not only the main interaction effects but also the interaction effects of all variables on the results. The optimized chromatographic conditions were adequate for LC/MS analysis. The obtained detection levels highlight the importance of high performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC/MS). The developed method, for both tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsivants drugs, has presented specificity, accuracy, linearity and adequate limit of detection for this analysis.

As a result of increased terrorist activity around the world, the development of a canine training aid suitable for daily military operations is necessary to provide effective canine explosive detection. Since the use of sniffer dogs has proven to be a reliable resource for the rapid detection of explosive volatiles organic compounds, the present study evaluated the ability of the Human Scent Collection System (HSCS) device for the creation of training aids for plasticized / tagged explosives, nitroglycerin and TNT containing explosives, and smokeless powders for canine training purposes. Through canine field testing, it was demonstrated that volatiles dynamically collected from real explosive material provided a positive canine response showing the effectiveness of the HSCS in creating canine training aids that can be used immediately or up to several weeks (3) after collection under proper storage conditions. These reliable non-hazardous training aids allow its use in areas where real explosive material aids are not practical and/or available.

Human scent has been the focal point of diverse scientific interests and research initiatives for the past several years. The knowledge gained about its composition has favored the advancement of multiple disciplines, and promoted the development of a wide variety of applications. Among these applications is the use of human scent as a resource for Forensic investigations, where scent profiles are often used as evidence to associate individuals to the scene of a crime. The characteristic nature of individual human scent has enabled this type of evidence to be used as a biometric tool for the differentiation of subjects. Nevertheless, the present study discusses a new perspective towards human scent's role and application in Forensic investigations. The foundation of this new perspective consists of employing human scent’s biometric quality to classify individuals using common traits. In this research study, underarm and hand odor samples were collected from Caucasian, Hispanic and East Asian individuals, of both genders. Subjects were also organized into 3 different age groups: 18-30, 35-50 and 55+ years. Headspace Solid Phase Micro-extraction Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) was used to create individual scent profiles for the evaluation of subject classification by age, gender and race/ethnicity. Individual classification was assessed through the identification of qualitative and quantitative patterns in the volatile organic compound (VOC) constituents that characterize human scent. Principal Component and Linear Discriminant analyses of the collected scent profiles, led to the identification and validation of characteristic VOC marker combinations for age, gender and race/ethnicity. Statistical analysis facilitated group classification and differentiation on the basis of these traits. Moreover, this study also evaluated the use of solvent extraction as a complementary technique to HS-SPME for human scent analysis. Findings from this assessment revealed that the simultaneous consideration of data from both extraction techniques favors an enhancement of the classification of subjects by means of human scent. The discoveries achieved in this study represent a significant step for human scent as a forensic tool. The outcome of this research has cleared a new path for further human scent investigation, and highlighted its further relevance to forensic applications.

Methods for fast, simple detection of biomarkers to detect and differentiate closely related Bacillus endospores including Bacillus anthracis (BA), Bacillus thuringiensis (BT), Bacillus atrophaeus (BG), and Bacillus cereus (BC) using thermochemolysis and methylation (TCM), coiled wire filament (CWF), solid phase micro extraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were developed. The main biomarkers detected and used for differentiation include dipicolinic acid methyl ester (DPAME), fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), 3-methyl-2-butenoic acid methyl ester (3M2BAME), 2-butenoic acid methyl ester (2BAME), and several methylated sugars. TCM of endospores was performed based on hydrolysis and methylation at elevated temperature after the endospores were mixed with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) with or without addition of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) in methanol (MeOH). TCM products were then introduced into a heated GC injector port using a coiled wire filament (CWF) or solid phase microextraction (SPME) for detection and differentiation of the endospores by GC-MS.The CWF, which consisted of a tiny platinum helical wire coil attached to a retractable plunger that moved the coil in and out of a syringe needle housing, allowed for sampling to be accomplished by dipping the CWF in an endospore sample suspension, evaporating the suspension liquid, and then introducing the CWF into the injection port to enable on-line TCM. New SPME techniques, including half-half extraction, coated-needle extraction (CNE), and a new home-made polymer coated needle were used to speed up solid phase micro extraction of biomarkers produced from TCM. These simplified the detection of anthrose and other biomarkers. TCM with a CWF and TCM with SPME produced high intensity profiles of DPAME, FAMEs, 2BAME, 3M2BAME and methylated sugars. While the presence of DPAME can be used for the general detection of endospores (Bacillus and Clostridium) and the presence of 3M2BAME for the detection of BA, specific saturated and unsaturated C15, C16, and C17 fatty acid methyl esters and methylated sugars provide additional information for differentiating various Bacillus species grown at different temperatures and in different media. DPAME was detected in samples containing as few as 2,500 and 6,000 endospores using TCM-CWF with and without a concentration step, respectively. GC-MS peak area percent reproducibility for FAMEs using TCM and CWF varied from 3 to 13% (RSD). Better than 97% correct predictability of Bacillus species identity was obtained from a blind experiment consisting of 145 samples using DPAME and specific FAMEs. Conventional SPME and a modified form of "in-needle" extraction allow for detection of the biomarkers in less than 35 min. The detection limits with SPME sample introduction injection were approximately 5 x 103 endospores.Using these approaches, differentiation of Bacillus endospores and other biological agents grown under different conditions were based on the following characteristics: (1) presence of DPAME and specific FAMEs (iso or anteiso C15:0 and iso or anteiso C17:0) in Bacillus endospores, (2) unique presence of 3M2BAME (anthrose by-product) in BA, (3) absence of 2-butenoic acid methyl ester in BG, and (4) presence and absence of specific methylated monosaccharides in various Bacillus species. Clostridium endospores and non-sporulating bacteria, such as Yersinia pestis (YP) and Francisella tularensis (FT) could also be easily distinguished from Bacillus endospores based on the presence and absence of several specific sugar derivatives and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), such as iso or anteiso C15:0 and iso or anteiso C17:0, and > C18 FAMEs which were simultaneously produced during TCM.

Separation technologies have occupied a central role in the current practices of analytical methods used for drug analysis today. As the emphasis in contemporary drug analysis shifts towards ultra-trace concentrations, the contribution from unwanted matrix interferences takes on greater significance. In order to single out a trace substance with confidence from a rapidly expanding list of drug compounds (and their metabolites) in real complex specimens, analytical technologies must evolve to keep up with such trends. Today, the task of unambiguous identification in forensic toxicology still relies heavily upon chromatographic methods based on mass spectrometric detection, in particular GC-MS in electron ionisation (EI) mode. Although the combined informing power of (EI) GC-MS has served faithfully in a myriad of drug application studies to date, we may ask if (EI) GC-MS will remain competitive in meeting the impending needs of ultra-trace drug analysis in the fut ure? To what extent of reliability can sample clean-up strategies be used in ultra-trace analysis without risking the loss of important analytes of interest? The increasing use of tandem mass spectrometry with one-dimensional (1D) chromatographic techniques (e.g. GC-MS/MS) at its simplest, considers that single-column chromatographic analysis with mass spectrometry alone is not sufficient in providing unambiguous confirmation of the identity of any given peak, particularly when there are peak-overlap. Where the mass spectra of the individual overlapping peaks are highly similar, confounding interpretation of their identities may arise. By introducing an additional resolution element in the chromatographic domain of a 1D chromatographic system, the informing power of the analytical system can also be effectively raised by the boost in resolving power from two chromatographic elements. Thus this thesis sets out to address the analytical challenges of modern drug analysis through the application of high resolut ion comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC„eGC) to a series of representative drug studies of relevance to forensic sciences.

Die Aufgabenstellung der vorliegenden Arbeit ergab sich aus der Notwendigkeit organische Schwefelverbindungen in stark belasteten wäßrigen Proben zu identifizieren, um das toxische Potential dieser Wässer abschätzen zu können. Bei der chromatographischen Trennung und Identifizierung der einzelnen Komponenten traten insbesondere dann Probleme auf, wenn die einzelnen Komponenten in Konzentrationsbereichen auftraten die um Größenordnungen differierten. Da auch durch selektive Detektion unbekannte Komponenten nicht direkt identifiziert werden können, wurde angestrebt durch geeignete Probenvorbereitungsschritte einerseits die gesuchten Zielsubstanzen anzureichern und andererseits störende Matrixbestandteile abzutrennen. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es effektive und möglichst selektive Verfahren zu entwickeln, um organische Schwefelverbindungen aus wäßrigen Proben anzureichern. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden zwei Möglichkeiten erarbeitet. Für die Anreicherung von leicht- bis mittelflüchtigen Substanzen erwies sich die Adsorption an Ag2S aus der Gasphase als geeignet. Zur Extraktion mittel- bis schwerflüchtiger Verbindungen wurde eine Festphasenextraktionstechnik an einem mit Blei(II)ionen modifizierten Kationenaustauschermaterial entwickelt. Ein Vergleich beider Techniken erfolgte mit dem Verfahren der Festphasenmikroextraktion (SPME). Die adsorptive Anreicherung an Ag2S wurde mit einem Membranextraktionsschritt (ME) , Thermodesorption (TD) und GC/MS gekoppelt. Wie die SPME kann sie für den Nachweis leicht- bis mittelflüchtiger Verbindungen aus flüssigen, festen und gasförmigen Proben eingesetzt werden. Gegenüber der Festphasenmikroextraktion ermöglicht sie den Einsatz größerer Probemengen, was in niedrigeren Nachweisgrenzen (oberer bis mittlerer ng/l-Bereich) resultiert. Nachteile der entwickelten Technik bilden der höhere experimentelle Aufwand und die längeren Analysenzeiten. Das Festphasenextraktionsverfahren an dem mit Pb(II)ionen beladenen Kationenaustauschermaterial erlaubt gegenüber der SPME ebenfalls die Anwendung größerer Probenmengen und höherer Konzentrationen. Beide Verfahren zeigen vergleichbare Nachweisgrenzen (unterer µg/l - bis oberer ng/l-Bereich) für die verwendeten Modellsubstanzen. Sowohl durch die adsorptive Anreicherung an Silbersulfid als auch durch die Festphasenextraktion an Pb(II)-modifizierten Ionenaustauschmaterialien wird die Identifizierung unbekannter organischer Schwefelverbindungen in stark belasteten Proben erheblich erleichtert. Beide Methoden bilden als einfache und leistungsfähige Techniken wirkungsvolle Ergänzungen zu bereits etablierten Anreicherungsverfahren. Neben der Identifizierung und Analyse können die Techniken ebenfalls zur Entfernung von schwefelhaltigen Substanzen aus verschiedenen Matrizes dienen. Anwendungsmöglichkeiten der entwickelten Methoden bestehen neben der Umweltanalytik auch in der Lebensmittelchemie.

Augant pasaulinei pramonei aplinkos tarša nepaliaujamai didėja, tad augalai augantys užterštoje aplinkoje, savo sudėtyje taip pat turi nemažai įvairių junginių, kurie gali įtakoti juos vartojančių žmonių sveikatą. Eterinių aliejų išgautų iš augalų tyrimas yra vienas iš būdų nustatant augalo kokybę, užtikrinant, kad taršalai nepateks tolesniam perdirbimui. Eteriniams aliejams išgauti yra daug būdų, kaip kad distiliacija vandens garais, šviežių aromatinių dalių išspaudimas, ekstrakcija tirpikliais, tačiau tokie išgavos būdai būdingesni išgaunant didelius kiekius, tad reikia ir daug žaliavos. Tyrimams naudojami greitesni, bei mažiau žaliavos reikalaujantys metodai, kaip, kad ekstrakcija superkritiniais skysčiais, kietafazė mikroekstrakcija bei ekstrakcija iš bandinio viršerdvės. Šio darbo tikslas - eterinių aliejų, išgautų superkritinių skysčių ekstrakcijos, kietafazės mikroekstrakcijos bei tiesioginės viršerdvės ekstrakcijos būdais, sudėties nustatymas dujų chromatografijos – masių spektroskopijos metodu. Panaudojant gautus duomenis nustatyti kuris ekstrakcijos būdas pasižymi didžiausiu efektyvumu. Duomenų tikslumo užtikrinimui bandiniai pakartotinai leisti po 3 kartus, identifikuoti junginiai tikrinti skaičiuojant kovačo retencijos indeksus ir juos lyginant su jau žinomais indeksais internetinėje bibliotekoje. Darbo metu remiantis gautais duomenimis nustatyta efektyviausias eterinių aliejų ekstrakcijos metodas, junginiai, esantys bandiniuose bei būdingųjų junginių kiekis. / As the word industry develops, the amount of wastes, that are being released in to our environment is always increasing, as a result vegetables that are growing in such a environment are also contaminated with compounds that can affect the health of people that are using them. Many methods can be used to obtain essential oils, such as distillation using water vapour, extruding from fresh fragrant, extraction using solvents, but these kind of methods are used for getting large amounts of essential oils, so staple is used. For chemical analysis faster and less staple demanding methods are used, such as, super critical fluid extraction, solid phase micro extraction or direct head space extraction. The goal of this work is to determine the composition of essential oils and to estimate witch, super critical fluid extraction, solid phase micro extraction or direct head space extraction is the best for obtaining essential oils from spice herbs. In order to secure the precision of data each sample was analyzed three times, for correct compound identification kovach retention indexes were calculated and compared with the known ones on the internet library. Using the obtained data the most effective method foe essential oils obtaining was determined, also compound composition in samples and the amount of specific compounds were analyzed.

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is routinely used to analyze polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water. A common SPME-GC/MS approach quantifies target analytes using isotopically labeled standards (IISs); one IIS is needed for each target analyte. This approach is challenging, even prohibitive since IISs are often expensive; moreover, they are generally not available for each analyte of interest. This study developed a novel SPME-GC/MS approach for the quantification of PAHs in water. The new method, which employs only a small number of IISs, uses relative response factor (RRF) (i.e., analyte corresponding to IIS) to quantify PAHs in water. Possible matrix dependency of RRFs values was examined using water that was modified concerning different physical-chemical characteristics (i.e., ionic strength, pH, suspended solids, humic acid, and biological organic carbon represented by hemoglobin). The results revealed that RRFs are not noticeably affected by changing ionic strength and pH; the other three parameters did affect the RRFs. However, the results also showed that the effect is minimal when the solution is dilute (i.e., low concentrations of suspended solids, humic acid or hemoglobin). Relatively stable RRFs for dilute water solutions indicates that this approach can be used for routine quantification of water that does not contain prohibitive amounts of suspended solids, humic acid, and biological organic matter. The developed method was employed to quantify trace levels of PAHs in three different types of water, namely river water, well water, and bottled water. PAH levels in every kind of water were less than 100 ng/L level (i.e., 0.1 ppb). Analyses of spiked water samples containing 2 ng PAHs revealed correlations between calculated RRFs and the physical-chemical properties of the PAHs investigated (i.e., vapor pressure, boiling point, octanol/water partition coefficient, octanol/air partition coefficient, GC retention time). This implies that RRFs for PAHs not examined in this study can be predicted. Overall, the results presented herein constitute a meaningful contribution to the development of SPME-GC/MS methods for quantitative analysis of PAHs and other chemicals in dilute aqueous solutions. Moreover, the development of methods that alleviate the need for IISs corresponding to each target analyte.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:08:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maycon Fernando Percio.pdf: 4386871 bytes, checksum: fd68bea53c4d4cbfe32a314a01715c6e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In the present work a vitreous composition based on combination of the oxides BaO-SiO2-Li2O modified by adding of oxides Nb2O5, TiO2, V2O5 and ZrO2 as nucleating agent was evaluated and used in the manufacture of glass and glass-ceramic fibers for use in SPME-CG. The stability of the resulting glasses was accompained by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The stability parameters of Weinberg (KW), Hubrÿ (KH), Lu e Liu (KLL), Du and Huang (KDU) and Saad and Poulain (KSP) were obtained by DTA data. By KSP was observed that stability of glassy phases follows the descending order: Composition 5 (ZrO2) > Composition 2 (Nb2O5) > Composition 1 (without nucleant) > Composition 4 (V2O5) > Composition 3 (TiO2). Through these data it was possible to determine the apparent activation energies of the crystallization process by the crystallization peaks of the DTA curves, whereby the decreasing order was obtained: Composition 5 (ZrO2)> Composition 4 (V2O5) > Composition 2 (Nb2O5) > Composition 3 (TiO2) > Composition 1 (without nucleant). It was found, through the Avrami index, a surface crystallization mechanism of the compositions that leads to a correspondent transition to the glass ceramic. From DRX data obtained after thermal treatment at varying time, the TTT diagrams (Time, Temperature and Transformation) of the compositions were constructed, which delimited the conditions for preparation of glass ceramic fibers. The XRD analysis indicated that the main crystalline phases formed after heat treatments are rhombic Li2SiO3 Li2Si2O5. The fibers obtained were further tested in chromatographic analysis by HS-SPME-GC of the methanol in aqueous solution at concentrations of 10 and 100 mgL-1 with satisfactory results. / No presente trabalho, foram estudadas composições vítreas baseada na combinação dos óxidos Li2O-BaO-SiO2 modificadas pelos óxidos Nb2O5, TiO2, V2O5 e ZrO2, utilizados como nucleantes na fabricação de fibras de vidro e vitrocerâmicas para a utilização em SPME-CG. Determinou-se a estabilidade vítrea para cada composição através da difração de raio-X (DRX) e análise térmica diferencial (DTA) sendo observada a estabilidade das fases vítreas na ordem decrescente: Composição 5 (ZrO2) > Composição 2 (Nb2O5) > Composição 1 (sem nucleante) > Composição 4 (V2O5) > Composição 3 (TiO2). Através destes dados foi possível determinar as energias de ativação aparente das fases cristalinas através dos picos de cristalização das curvas de DTA, cuja ordem decrescente obtida foi: Composição 5 (ZrO2) > Composição 4 (V2O5) > Composição 2 (Nb2O5) > Composição 3 (TiO2) > Composição 1 (sem nucleante). Verificou-se através do índice de Avrami que as composições vítreas obtidas apresentaram mecanismo de nucleação de superfície para a formação do vitrocerâmico. Os dados de DTA possibilitaram a obtenção de diagramas de Tempo, Temperatura e Transformação (TTT), que delimitaram as condições de preparo das fibras vitrocerâmicas. Foram fabricados 5 tipos diferentes de fibras vítreas (Fibras A), que após tratamento térmico deram origem a fibras vitrocêramicas parcialmente cristalizadas (Fibras B) e fibras vitrocerâmicas totalmente cristalizadas (Fibras C), resultando um total de 15 espécies de fibras de composições e estruturas cristalinas diferentes. As análises por DRX indicaram que as principais fases cristalinas formadas depois dos tratamentos térmicos são Li2SiO3 e Li2Si2O5 ortorrômbicos. As fibras obtidas foram ainda testadas em análises cromatográficas por Cromatografia Gasosa na extração de metanol em solução aquosa nas concentrações de 10 e 100 mgL-1 com resultados satisfatórios.