Simultaneous determination of sulfonamides and metabolites in manure samples by one-step ultrasound/microwave-assisted solid-liquid-solid dispersive extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

An in-line matrix cleanup method was used for the simultaneous extraction of 15 sulfonamides and two metabolites from manure samples. The ultrasound/microwave-assisted extraction (UMAE) combined with solid-liquid-solid dispersive extraction (SLSDE) procedure provides a simple sample preparation approach for the processing of manure samples, in which the extraction and cleanup are integrated into one step. Ultrasonic irradiation power, extraction temperature, extraction time, and extraction solvent, which could influence the UMAE efficiency, were investigated. C18 was used as the adsorbent to reduce the effects of interfering components during the extraction procedure. The extracts were concentrated, and the analytes were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) without any further cleanup. The isotopically labeled compounds sulfamethoxazole-d 4, sulfamethazine-d 4, sulfamonomethoxine-d 4, and sulfadimethoxine-d 6 were selected as internal standards to minimize the matrix effect in this method. The recoveries of the antibiotics tested ranged from 71 to 118 % at the three spiking levels examined (20, 200, and 500 µg · kg(-1)). The limits of detections were 1.2-3.6 µg · kg(-1) and the limits of quantification were 4.0-12.3 µg · kg(-1) for the sulfonamides and their metabolites. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by analyzing 30 commercial manure samples. The results indicated that UMAE-SLSDE combined with LC-MS/MS is a simple, rapid, and environmentally friendly method for the analysis of sulfonamides and their metabolites in manure, and it could provide the basis for a risk assessment of the antibiotics in agricultural environments.

[Influence of parameters of ZnS film on the organic/inorganic composite luminescence devices].

In the present paper, to fabricate electroluminescent devices CdSe QDs were used as active materials, TPD (N,N'-biphenyl-N,N'-bis-(3-methylphenyl)-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine) was used as a hole transport layer, and ZnS was used as an electron transport layer. The electroluminescent properties of the organic/inorganic composite ITO/TPD/CdSe QDs/ZnS/Ag light emitting devices were studied. Both TPD and CdSe QDs thin films were spin-coated and ZnS thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering. The surfaces of the devices are smooth. The luminescence (EL) peak of the CdSe QDs is at 580 nm which is assigned to the band-edge exciton emission. Compared to the previous EL device of ITO/ZnS/CdSe QDs/ZnS/Ag, it is seen that the new devices do not display surface state related emission peaks and EL intensity is about 10 folds that of the previous device. The enhancement of luminescence efficiency is attributed to both of the excitation of CdSe QDs by accelerated electron collision and carriers injection into QDs: (1) electrons are accelerated by the ZnS layer and collide with CdSe QDs, which excites electrons in QDs to excited states and allows them to emit photons; (2) the holes injected into QDs recombine with some of electrons excited in the QDs. The authors further studied the influence of thickness variation of ZnS on the luminescent properties. ZnS thin films are of 80, 120, and 160 nm thickness, respectively. It was found that as the thickness of ZnS increases the threshold voltage rises and EL intensity increases, but breakdown voltage decreases. The EL peak position blue shifts when the thickness of ZnS decreases. The explanation of underlying mechanism is given.

Different dosage regimens of nifedipine, labetalol, and hydralazine for the treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVES: This network meta-analysis aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) hydralazine, oral nifedipine, and IV labetalol with different dosage regimens in the treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) exploring the effects of hydralazine, nifedipine, and labetalol in the treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy. RESULTS: A total of 21 RCTs with 2183 patients comparing 7 regimens (oral nifedipine 50,60,90 mg; hydralazine 15,25 mg; and labetalol 220,300 mg) were identified. Compared with IV labetalol 300 mg, nifedipine 50,60, and 90 mg significantly improved the successful treatment rate of severe hypertension during pregnancy, nifedipine 50 and 90 mg and IV hydralazine 25 mg required significantly fewer doses to achieve target blood pressure (BP), and nifedipine 50 mg took significantly shorter time to achieve target BP. Subgroup analysis showed that only nifedipine 50 mg tablets, not capsules, required a significantly shorter time and fewer doses to achieve target BP than IV labetalol 300 mg. Moreover, nifedipine 60,90 mg showed superior effectiveness than IV hydralazine 15,25 mg in the successful treatment rate of severe hypertension during pregnancy. SUCRA analysis suggested that nifedipine 50,60,90 mg as the better regimens with the lower rates of overall ADR and neonatal complications. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated the superiority of oral nifedipine 50,60,90 mg, especially oral nifedipine 50 mg tablets, in the treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy than IV labetalol 300 mg, while oral nifedipine 60,90 mg also showed superiority in the successful treatment rate of severe hypertension during pregnancy than IV hydralazine 15,25 mg. However, the limitations of the underlying data indicate that future large-scale and rigorous RCTs are needed to confirm such findings.

Aging-related changes in the default mode network and its anti-correlated networks: a resting-state fMRI study.

Intrinsic brain activity in a resting state incorporates components of the task negative network called default mode network (DMN) and task-positive networks called attentional networks. In the present study, the reciprocal neuronal networks in the elder group were compared with the young group to investigate the differences of the intrinsic brain activity using a method of temporal correlation analysis based on seed regions of posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). We found significant decreased positive correlations and negative correlations with the seeds of PCC and vmPFC in the old group. The decreased coactivations in the DMN network components and their negative networks in the old group may reflect age-related alterations in various brain functions such as attention, motor control and inhibition modulation in cognitive processing. These alterations in the resting state anti-correlative networks could provide neuronal substrates for the aging brain.