Effects of cadmium and copper biosorption on Chlorella vulgaris.

Changes in protein levels and lipid compositions in algal cells indicate the severity of stress related to toxic concentrations of heavy metals. In this study, the effects of exposure to cadmium and copper on Chlorella vulgaris and its capacity to remove metals were evaluated. The data revealed ion removal activity by microalgae under all treatments and different levels of protein expression after 48 h of exposure. Furthermore, we analyzed lipids contents to characterize them.

Development and Validation of a Chromatography Method Using Tandem UV/Charged Aerosol Detector for Simultaneous Determination of Amlodipine Besylate and Olmesartan Medoxomil: Application to Drug-Excipient Compatibility Study.

A study was carried out to investigate compatibility of amlodipine besylate and olmesartan medoxomil with a variety of pharmaceutical excipients. Both drugs are antihypertensive agents that can be administered alone, in monotherapy, or in pharmaceutical association. The studies were performed using binary and ternary mixtures, and samples were stored for 3 and 6 months at 40°C under 75% relative humidity and dry conditions. For this study, a method based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of amlodipine besylate and olmesartan medoxomil in samples from pharmaceutical preformulation studies using diode array detector (DAD) and charged aerosol detector (CAD). The runtime per sample was 10 min with retention time of 7.926 min and 4.408 min for amlodipine and olmesartan, respectively. The validation was performed according to ICH guidelines. The calibration curve presents linear dynamic range from 12 to 250 µg mL-1 for amlodipine and from 25 to 500 µg mL-1 for olmesartan with coefficient of determination (R2 ≥ 0.9908) while repeatability and reproducibility (expressed as relative standard deviation) were lower than 1.0%. The excipients such as corn starch, croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, polyvinyl alcohol, talc, polyvinylpyrrolidone, lactose monohydrate, and polyethylene glycol showed potential incompatibilities after accelerated stability testing.

A single FIA system coupled with reduction and distillation processes for the determination of sulfate ion by spectrophotometry.

In the present work, all steps of the sulfate reduction procedures, such as reduction, distillation and sulfate determination were joined in only one FIA system. The formed sulfide was on-line determined by employ the Fisher reaction. The proposed method presented a LOD of 1.00 µg L(-1) and a LOQ of 3.33 µg L(-1), well lower than the most commonly used turbidimetric determination, with no significant interferences. Additionally, we reached an analytical frequency of 6 measurements per hour, including all steps, beginning with the introduction of the sample up to the signal reading. Therefore, it revealed very fast, low reagent/sample consumption, agreeing with green-chemistry statements. This method has also a wide linear range (3.33 up to 1000 µg L(-1)), being useful for both low and high sulfate concentrations.

Direct introduction of water sample in multisegmented flow-injection analysis for sulfide determination.

The present paper describes an inline flow-injection analysis system for the determination of sulfide in water samples, exploiting the Fischer reaction. Water samples were collected and introduced into a reactor of the FIA system. The sulfide released, after sample acidification, was carried out with a nitrogen gas flow and mixed with N,N diethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DEPD) solution in the presence of Fe(III). The blue dye formed was measured in the wavelength range between 672-679 nm. An evaluation of the effects of chemical and flow factors was performed using the factorial design of two levels, while optimization was accomplished by a Doehlert matrix. The system presented two linear-response ranges: the first of 0.433 to 400 µg L(-1) and the second of 400 to 3500 µg L(-1). The detection and quantification limit were found to be 0.130 and 0.433 µg L(-1), respectively, while the sample throughput was 12 h(-1). The precision was evaluated as the relative standard deviation (n = 10); for 50 and 100 µg L(-1) sulfide it was found to be 1.9 and 2.3%, respectively. The method showed satisfactory selectivity regarding the main interference present in environmental samples. The accuracy of the method was successfully evaluated in environmental water samples after a comparison with a literature reference method.