Analysis of compounds present in complex matrices is always a challenge, which can be partly overcome by applying various sample preparation techniques prior to detection. Ideally, the extraction techniques should be as selective as possible, to minimize the concentration of interfering substances. In addition, results can be improved by efficient chromatographic separation of the sample components. The elimination of interfering substances is especially important when utilizing mass spectrometry (MS) as a detection technique since they influence the ionization yields. It is also important to optimize ionization methods in order to minimize detection limits. In the work this thesis is based upon, selective solid phase extraction (SPE) materials, a restricted access material (RAM) and graphitized carbon black (GCB) were employed for clean up and/or pre-concentration of analytes in plasma, urine and agricultural drainage water prior to liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Two SPE formats, in which GCB was incorporated in µ-traps and disks, were developed for cleaning up small and large volume samples, respectively. In addition, techniques based on use of sub-2 µm C18 particles at elevated temperatures and a linear ion trap (LIT) mass spectrometer were developed to improve the efficiency of LC separation and sensitivity of detection of 6-formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (FICZ) metabolites in human urine. It was also found that GCB can serve not only as a SPE sorbent, but also as a valuable surface for surface-assisted laser desorption ionization (SALDI) of small molecules. The dual functionality of GCB was utilized in a combined screening-identification/quantification procedure for fast elimination of negative samples. This may be particularly useful when processing large numbers of samples. SALDI analyses of small molecules was further investigated and improved by employing two kinds of new surfaces: oxidized GCB nanoparticles and silicon nitride.

The work presented in this thesis concerns the development and evaluation of new methods of sampling and analysis of organic pollutants in the indoor and outdoor environment. In Paper I, the development of a new method was reported for the determination of the brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) in air using sampling with glass fiber filter and polyurethane foam (PUF), ultrasonic solvent extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (LC-ESI/MS). The MS fragmentation mechanism of TBBPA was thoroughly investigated and different acquisition modes were evaluated to achieve the most sensitive and selective detection. In Papers II and III, the potential use of Empore SPE membranes was evaluated for air sampling of volatile, semi-volatile and particle-associated organic compounds. Breakthrough studies conducted for 24h at air flows of 10- 20 L/min showed that the SPE membranes efficiently retains volatile and semi-volatile organophosphate esters and particles >10 nm. Effort was invested in the development of fast and environmental friendly methods, with low cost, for sample clean up and analysis. In Paper II, the sample preparation technique was dynamic solvent extraction with methanol coupled to LC-ESI/MS. The total run time per sample, including both extraction and separation, was less than 34 min, consuming only 1.6mL methanol. In Paper III, efficiency of selective extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from particulate matter sampled with Empore SPE membranes, using dynamic subcritical water extraction (DSWE) was investigated. Acceptable recoveries of the investigated compounds from reference material (SRM 1649a) were achieved. In Paper IV, the application of dynamic solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) air sampling was evaluated using, gas chromatography/positive ion chemical ionisation (GC/PICI) and tandem-MS detection for the determination of organophosphate esters in work environment.

D'entre els defectes organolèptics associats al vi, en destaca l'anomenat "gust de suro" habitualment vinculat a la presència de cloroanisoles, els quals són productes de l'activitat microbiana formats a partir dels corresponents clorofenols. La present tesi doctoral recull, en primer lloc, metodologies analítiques adreçades principalment a la determinació dels compostos clorofenòlics (2,4,6-triclorofenol, 2,3,4,6-tetraclorofenol i pentaclorofenol) en el control de qualitat dels taps suro, emprant dissolucions hidroalcohòliques com a medi de maceració o d'extracció i utilitzant les tècniques d'extracció en fase sòlida (SPE) i microextracció en fase sòlida (SPME) acoblades a la cromatografia de gasos (GC).En segon lloc, per tal de dur a terme l'anàlisi de cloroanisoles juntament amb els seus precursors en matrius de suro s'ha avaluat un mètode basat en l'extracció amb dissolvent orgànic, el qual ha estat aplicat per a l'estudi de diferents sistemes d'eliminació d'aquests anàlits en la matriu citada. En darrer lloc, s'han proposat metodologies per l'anàlisi de mostres de vi, en les quals d'una banda s'han determinat els compostos clorofenòlics utilitzant la SPME i de l'altra el 2,4,6-tricloroanisole i el 2,4,6-tribromoanisole mitjançant l'acoblament de la SPE i la injecció de grans volums (LVI) en el sistema cromatogràfic. / The organoleptic defect known as cork taint is associated with a musty or mouldy aroma in wine. Chloroanisoles, which are produced through a process of detoxification by fungal methylation of chlorophenolic compounds, are considered to be the main contributory substances. In the present work, analytical methods for the determination of chlorophenols (2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 2,3,4,6-tetrachloropheol and pentachlorophenol) in cork matrices using the solid-phase extraction (SPE) and the solid-phase microextraction (SPME) as preconcentration techniques were evaluated. Therefore, hydroalcoholic solutions have been proposed as extractant solvent in order to test the quality of cork stoppers.Furthermore, a methodology based on extraction with an organic solvent for the simultaneous determination of chloroanisoles and chlorophenols in cork matrices was proposed. This methodology was applied with the aim of checking the efficiency of several washing treatments to remove the target analytes in naturally contaminated cork samples.Finally, different procedures have been developed for the analysis of wine samples. On one hand, chlorophenols were quantified by employing a SPME method. On the other hand, a reliable SPE method coupled to large volume injection was proposed for the determination of both 2,4,6-trichloroanisole and 2,4,6-tribromoanisole.

L'objectiu principal d'aquestaTesi Doctoral és el desenvolupament de diferents estratègies per disminuir els límits de detecció de l’electroforesicapil•lar per a la determinació de compostos farmacèutics i els productes de cura personal. Aquestes estratègies es basen en les tècniques de preconcentració electroforètiques i cromatogràfiques, i l'ús de l’espectrometria de masses com a sistema de detecció. Com a tècniques de preconcentració electroforètiques s'han estudiat les tècniques de samplestacking i sweeping, i com a tècnica de preconcentració cromatogràficas’ha avaluat l'acoblament en línia entre l'extracció en fase sòlida i l'electroforesicapil•lar (In-line SPE-CE). Entre elsPPCPs, aquesta tesi doctoral es centra específicament en els antiinflamatoris no esteroïdals(AINE), els parabens i els filtres ultraviolats. Un altre dels objectius d'aquestaTesi Doctoral és estudiarl’aplicabilitat de les metodologies desenvolupades per a l'anàlisi de mostres ambientals per determinar PPCP. / The main objective of this Doctoral Thesis is the development of different strategies to decrease the detection limits of capillary electrophoresis for the determination of pharmaceutical and personal care products. These strategies are based on electrophoretic and chromatographic preconcentration techniques, and the use of mass spectrometry as a detection system. The electrophoretic preconcentration techniques studied included sample stacking techniques and sweeping while the chromatographic preconcentration technique evaluated was in-line coupling between solid phase extraction and capillary electrophoresis. With respect to PPCPs, this Doctoral Thesis focuses specifically on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), parabens and UV-filters. Another objective of this Doctoral Thesis is to study the suitability of the developed methodologies for the determination of PPCPs in environmental samples.

L'analyse de la composition chimique de deux orchidées de la sous-tribu des Aeridinae, Aerides rosea Lodd. ex. Lindl. & Paxton et Acampe rigida (Buch.-Ham. ex Sm.) P. F. Hunt, a été menée en ayant recours à des techniques de couplages et grâce à une stratégie de déréplication. Dix dérivés phénanthréniques ont ainsi été identifiés dans les tiges d'A. rosea, dont deux nouvellement décrits. Quatre stilbénoïdes, trois dérivés d'acides phénoliques et quatre esters d'acide cinnamique ont été identifiés dans les tiges d'A. rigida. Nous avons également effectué des dosages de traceurs dans différents échantillons de deux représentants de la tribu des Vandeae : Vanda teres (Roxb.) Lindl. et Vanda coerulea Griff. ex. Lindl., afin de mettre en évidence d'éventuelles variations de composition en fonction des facteurs environnementaux et du stade de croissance végétative. Enfin, nous avons mis au point des conditions d'isolement préparatif par chromatographie de partage centrifuge afin de purifier des marqueurs biologiques préalablement identifiés dans les tiges de Vanda teres : trois glucospyranosyloxybenzyl - malates ainsi que leur précurseur biosynthétique.

The aim of this research was the development of mass spectrometry-based methodologies for the high-throughput quantitation of peptides in biological matrices. Glucagon and GLP-1, which are of interest as biomarkers and in the development of therapeutics, were chosen as model peptides. Immunoassays that are traditionally used to quantify these often perform poorly; therefore, necessitating the development of alternative methodologies. Application of mass spectrometry-based methodologies to these analytes has, however, been limited, primarily due to sensitivity challenges, but also due to analytical challenges associated with their endogenous nature and instability in biological matrices. Chapter 2 describes the development and qualification of the first liquid-chromatography coupled tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantitation of endogenous glucagon from human plasma. A novel 2D extraction procedure was developed to ensure robustness and sensitivity, whilst a novel surrogate matrix quantitation strategy took into account the endogenous nature of the analyte. A lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) of 25 pg/mL was qualified, which was a considerable improvement over that previously reported in the literature (250 pg/mL) for a LC-MS/MS method. Clinical samples were cross-validated against a conventional radioimmunoassay (RIA), and similar pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles resulted, demonstrating that the methods were complementary. In Chapter 2 glucagon instability in biological matrix was noted. To characterise this further, in Chapter 3 in vitro glucagon metabolites were identified using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Metabolites observed by others (glucagon19-29, glucagon3 29 and [pGlu]3glucagon3 29) in alternative matrices were identified, alongside novel metabolites (glucagon20-29 and glucagon21-29). Cross-interference of these metabolites in immunoassays may help to explain their poor performance, whilst knowledge of metabolism may also aid the development of future stabilisation strategies. The method developed in Chapter 2 was refined in Chapter 4 to improve sensitivity, robustness and throughput, and to add GLP-1 as a secondary analyte. The sensitivity achieved (glucagon: 15 pg/mL LLOQ, GLP-1: 25 pg/mL LLOQ) is the highest reported for both peptides for an extraction avoiding immunoenrichment. Specificity of endogenous glucagon quantitation was assured using a novel approach with a supercharging mobile phase additive to access a sensitive qualifier transition. A cross-validation against established immunoassays using physiological study samples demonstrated some similarities between the methods. Differences between the immunoassay results exemplified the need to develop alternative methodologies. The resulting LC-MS/MS method is considered a viable alternative to immunoassays, for the quantitation of endogenous glucagon, dosed glucagon and/or dosed GLP-1 in human plasma.

Les technologies de traduction automatique existantes sont à présent vues comme une approche prometteuse pour aider à produire des traductions de façon efficace et à coût réduit. Cependant, l'état de l'art actuel ne permet pas encore une automatisation complète du processus et la coopération homme/machine reste indispensable pour produire des résultats de qualité. Une pratique usuelle consiste à post-éditer les résultats fournis par le système, c'est-à-dire effectuer une vérification manuelle et, si nécessaire, une correction des sorties erronées du système. Ce travail de post-édition effectué par les utilisateurs sur les résultats de traduction automatique constitue une source de données précieuses pour l'analyse et l'adaptation des systèmes. La problématique abordée dans nos travaux s'intéresse à développer une approche capable de tirer avantage de ces retro-actions (ou post-éditions) d'utilisateurs pour améliorer, en retour, les systèmes de traduction automatique. Les expérimentations menées visent à exploiter un corpus d'environ 10 000 hypothèses de traduction d'un système probabiliste de référence, post-éditées par des volontaires, par le biais d'une plateforme en ligne. Les résultats des premières expériences intégrant les post-éditions, dans le modèle de traduction d'une part, et par post-édition automatique statistique d'autre part, nous ont permis d'évaluer la complexité de la tâche. Une étude plus approfondie des systèmes de post-éditions statistique nous a permis d'évaluer l'utilisabilité de tels systèmes ainsi que les apports et limites de l'approche. Nous montrons aussi que les post-éditions collectées peuvent être utilisées avec succès pour estimer la confiance à accorder à un résultat de traduction automatique. Les résultats de nos travaux montrent la difficulté mais aussi le potentiel de l'utilisation de post-éditions d'hypothèses de traduction automatiques comme source d'information pour améliorer la qualité des systèmes probabilistes actuels. / Nowadays, machine translation technologies are seen as a promising approach to help produce low cost translations. However, the current state of the art does not allow the full automation of the process and human intervention remains essential to produce high quality results. To ensure translation quality, system's results are commonly post-edited : the outputs are manually checked and, if necessary, corrected by the user. This user's post-editing work can be a valuable source of data for systems analysis and improvement. Our work focuses on developing an approach able to take advantage of these users' feedbacks to improve and update a statistical machine translation (SMT) system. The conducted experiments aim to exploit a corpus of about 10,000 SMT translation hypotheses post-edited by volunteers through a crowdsourcing platform. The first experiments integrated post-editions into the translation model on the one hand, and on the system outputs by automatic post-editing on another hand, and allowed us to evaluate the complexity of the task. Our further detailed study of automatic statistical post-editions systems evaluate the usability, the benefits and limitations of the approach. We also show that the collected post-editions can be successfully used to estimate the confidence of a given result of automatic translation. The obtained results show that the use of automatic translation hypothese post-editions as a source of information is a difficult but promising way to improve the quality of current probabilistic systems.

Fundação de Apoio a Pesquisa e à Inovação Tecnológica do Estado de Sergipe - FAPITEC/SE / Rice is one of the most important crops in the world. The waters near the areas of this crop has a raised risk of contamination, once the cultivation of rice requires large quantities of pesticides. Due to their high toxicity, uncontrolled use and high solubility in water, pesticides are considered one of the main pollutants of aquatic ecosystems. This present work aims to develop an efficient method based on solid phase extraction (SPE) techniques and high performance liquid chromatography with spectrophotometric detector in the ultraviolet and visible region with diode array (HPLC UV-Vis/DAD) for determination pesticides deltamethrin, epoxiconazole, pyraclostrobin, pyriproxyfen, tebuconazole and thiamethoxan in irrigated rice water, using biochar of aguapé as an alternative adsorbent for SPE. For that, tests were carried out to optimize the chromatographic conditions and the extraction method. In the extraction stage of the pesticides, the method was optimized using the adsorbents C-18 and bio-carbon produced from aguapé. When the C-18 adsorbent was used, the best results were obtained using 10 mL of acidified acetone at pH 5,0 with formic acid solution, 69 ± 0,5 - 100 ± 5,9%. However, when the biochar was tested as an adsorbent for SPE extraction, it presented satisfactory recovery results between 70 ± 0,7% and 122 ± 10,7% for the concentration levels 0,3 to 1,0 μg mL -1. The methods developed were suitable for the determination of pesticide residues in water samples. Thus, the method of extraction using the bio-pot of water was chosen to be validated, because besides being efficient in the extraction of pesticides, it is also a sustainable option. The parameters evaluated for the validation of the method were: linearity and sensitivity, showing good linear response with determination coefficients above 0,9832 in the range of 0,025 to 10 μg mL-1; selectivity, through matrix effect studies; and limits of detection and quantification in the range of 0,01-0,08 μg mL -1, 0,04-0,3 μg mL -1, respectively. / O arroz é uma das culturas mais importantes no mundo, e as águas próximas das áreas desta cultura possuem elevado risco de contaminação, já que o cultivo de arroz requer a utilização de grandes quantidades de agrotóxicos. Devido à sua alta toxicidade, seu uso descontrolado e sua alta solubilidade em água, os agrotóxicos são considerados um dos principais poluentes dos ecossistemas aquáticos. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo desenvolver um método eficiente baseado nas técnicas de extração em fase sólida (SPE) e cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência com detector espectrofotométrico na região do ultravioleta e visível com arranjo de diodos (HPLC UV-Vis/DAD) para a determinação dos agrotóxicos deltametrina, epoxiconazol, piraclostrobina, piriproxifeno, tebuconazol e tiametoxan em água de cultivo de arroz irrigado. Para tanto, foram realizados testes para otimização das condições cromatográficas e do método de extração. Na etapa de extração dos agrotóxicos, o método foi otimizado utilizando adsorventes comerciais e alternativos. Quando se fez uso do adsorvente C-18, os melhores resultados foram obtidos utilizando 10 mL de acetona acidificado a pH 5,0 com solução de ácido fórmico, 69 ± 0,5 – 100 ± 5,9 %. Já quando o biocarvão produzido a partir de aguapé foi testado como adsorvente para a extração por SPE, apresentou resultados satisfatórios de recuperação entre 70 ± 0,7% – 122 ± 10,7% para os níveis de concentração 0,3 a 1,0 μg mL-1. Os métodos desenvolvidos se mostraram adequados para determinação de resíduos de agrotóxicos em amostras de água. Assim, o método de extração utilizando o biocarvão de aguapé foi escolhido para ser validado, pois além de ser eficiente na extração dos agrotóxicos trata-se também de uma opção sustentável. Os parâmetros avaliados para a validação do método foram: linearidade e sensibilidade, mostrando-se boa resposta linear com coeficientes de determinação superiores a 0,9832 no intervalo de 0,025 a 10 μg mL-1; seletividade, através de estudos de efeito matriz; e limites de detecção e quantificação no intervalo de 0,01 - 0,08 μg mL-1, 0,04 - 0,3 μg mL-1, respectivamente. / São Cristóvão, SE

This PhD project investigated the ramifications of air-cured and nitrogen-cured manufacturing processes during silicone hydrogel contact lens manufacture in terms of lens surface characterisation and clinical performance. A one-hour contralateral clinical study was conducted for ten subjects to compare the clinical performance of the two study lenses. The main clinical findings were reduced levels of subjective performance, reduced surface wettability and increased deposition. Contact angle analysis showed the air-cured lenses had consistently higher advancing and receding contact angle measurements, in comparison with the nitrogen-cured lens. Chemical analysis of the study lens surfaces in the dehydrated state, by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), showed no difference due to surface segregation of the silicone components. Analysis of frozen lenses limited surface segregation and showed a higher concentration of silicone polymer components and lower concentration of hydrophilic polymer components at the surface of the air-cured lens, in comparison with the nitrogen-cured lens. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging showed the nitrogen-cured lens to have a surface typical of a hydrogel material, whereas the air-cured lens had regions of apparent phase separation. In addition, atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed the air-cured lens to have a rougher surface associated with greater adherence of contaminants (often observed in materials with reduced polymer cross-linking). In conclusion, clinical assessment of the study lenses confirmed the inferior performance of the air-cured lens. Surface analysis suggested that the non-wetting regions on the air-cured lenses were associated with elevated level of silicone components, reduced polymer cross-linking and polymer phase separation.

An automated on-line SPE-LC-MS/MS method was developed for the quantitation of multiple classes of antibiotics in environmental waters. High sensitivity in the low ng/L range was accomplished by using large volume injections with 10-mL of sample. Positive confirmation of analytes was achieved using two selected reaction monitoring (SRM) transitions per antibiotic and quantitation was performed using an internal standard approach. Samples were extracted using online solid phase extraction, then using column switching technique; extracted samples were immediately passed through liquid chromatography and analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry. The total run time per each sample was 20 min. The statistically calculated method detection limits for various environmental samples were between 1.2 and 63 ng/L. Furthermore, the method was validated in terms of precision, accuracy and linearity. The developed analytical methodology was used to measure the occurrence of antibiotics in reclaimed waters (n=56), surface waters (n=53), ground waters (n=8) and drinking waters (n=54) collected from different parts of South Florida. In reclaimed waters, the most frequently detected antibiotics were nalidixic acid, erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole and ofloxacin (19.3-604.9 ng/L). Detection of antibiotics in reclaimed waters indicates that they can’t be completely removed by conventional wastewater treatment process. Furthermore, the average mass loads of antibiotics released into the local environment through reclaimed water were estimated as 0.248 Kg/day. Among the surface waters samples, Miami River (reaching up to 580 ng/L) and Black Creek canal (up to 124 ng/L) showed highest concentrations of antibiotics. No traces of antibiotics were found in ground waters. On the other hand, erythromycin (monitored as anhydro erythromycin) was detected in 82% of the drinking water samples (n.d-66 ng/L). The developed approach is suitable for both research and monitoring applications. Major metabolites of antibiotics in reclaimed wates were identified and quantified using high resolution benchtop Q-Exactive orbitrap mass spectrometer. A phase I metabolite of erythromycin was tentatively identified in full scan based on accurate mass measurement. Using extracted ion chromatogram (XIC), high resolution data-dependent MS/MS spectra and metabolic profiling software the metabolite was identified as desmethyl anhydro erythromycin with molecular formula C36H63NO12 and m/z 702.4423. The molar concentration of the metabolite to erythromycin was in the order of 13 %. To my knowledge, this is the first known report on this metabolite in reclaimed water. Another compound acetyl-sulfamethoxazole, a phase II metabolite of sulfamethoxazole was also identified in reclaimed water and mole fraction of the metabolite represent 36 %, of the cumulative sulfamethoxazole concentration. The results were illustrating the importance to include metabolites also in the routine analysis to obtain a mass balance for better understanding of the occurrence, fate and distribution of antibiotics in the environment. Finally, all the antibiotics detected in reclaimed and surface waters were investigated to assess the potential risk to the aquatic organisms. The surface water antibiotic concentrations that represented the real time exposure conditions revealed that the macrolide antibiotics, erythromycin, clarithromycin and tylosin along with quinolone antibiotic, ciprofloxacin were suspected to induce high toxicity to aquatic biota. Preliminary results showing that, among the antibiotic groups tested, macrolides posed the highest ecological threat, and therefore, they may need to be further evaluated with, long-term exposure studies considering bioaccumulation factors and more number of species selected. Overall, the occurrence of antibiotics in aquatic environment is posing an ecological health concern.