Improvement of salt rejection efficiency of cellulose acetate membrane through modification by poly(amidoamine) dendrimer-functionalized graphene oxide

In this work, the grafting method using graphene oxide (GO) - poly(amidoamine) dendrimer (PAMAM) nanocomposite as filler for the functionalization of cellulose acetate membrane is reported. Here, cellulose acetate membrane incorporated by nanocomposite in the polymer solution was prepared through the phase inversion technique. The effect of embedding GO-PAMAM on the characterization properties and rejection performance was studied. The results of zeta potential, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), contact angle measurements, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) established successful modification. Based on the data found, adding the filler improves membrane properties. Loading of 1.00 wt% of GO/PAMAM was found to be the optimized amount of the filler in the membrane processing with the highest porosity (74%), antifouling behavior (88%), reversible fouling ratio (45.71%), and the least contact angle (∼40°). Hence, the rejection and permeability tests of the prepared membrane were examined by Na2SO4 (98.40%), NaCl (52%), and MgCl2 (57%) solutions through a lab dead-end cell. According to the results, the value of salt rejection established more permeability and rejection than neat cellulose acetate membrane.

Comparison of renal ultrasonography and dimercaptosuccinic acid renal scintigraphy in febrile urinary tract infection

Accurate and early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of patient with urinary tract infection (UTI) are essential for the prevention or restriction of permanent damage to the kidneys in children. The aim of this study was to compare renal ultrasonography (US) and dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) renal scan in the diagnosis of patients with febrile urinary tract infection. This study involved the medical records of children with febrile urinary tract infection who were admitted to the children's hospital in Qazvin, Iran. Pyelonephritis was diagnosed on the basis of clinical symptoms, laboratory tests and abnormal DMSA renal scans. The criteria for abnormality of renal US were an increase or a decrease in diffuse or focal parenchymal echogenicity, loss of corticomedullary differentiation, kidney position irregularities, parenchymal reduction and increased kidney size. Of the 100 study patients, 23% had an abnormal US and 46% had an abnormal DMSA renal scan. Of the latter patients, 15 had concurrent abnormal US (P value ≤ 0.03, concordance rate: 18%). Renal US had a sensitivity of 32%, specificity of 85%, positive predictive value of 65% and negative predictive value of 60%. Of the 77 patients with normal US, 31 (40.2%) had an abnormal DMSA renal scan. Despite the benefits and accessibility of renal US, its value in the diagnosis of pyelonephritis is limited.

Optimization of solid-phase microextraction of volatile phenols in water by a polyaniline-coated Pt-fiber using experimental design

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography (GC) was applied to the extraction of phenol and some of its volatile derivatives in water samples. The SPME fiber consisted of a thin layer of polyaniline, which was electrochemically coated on a fine Pt wire. The stability of the coating was such that it could be used at temperatures as high as 325 degrees C, without any deterioration. The effects of various parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were studied, simultaneously. From these, optimization of the extraction temperature, extraction time, coating thickness, sample pH, salt concentration and desorption time was carried out by means of a (2(6-2)) fractional factorial design. It was found that the effects and interactions of five out of six factors were significant. However, the coating thickness showed a large main effect but an insignificant interaction effect, so it was kept constant. Also, the effect of desorption time was insignificant if sufficient time was allowed for desorption to take place. Therefore, a central composite design (CCD) with four remaining factors, i.e., sample pH, salt concentration, extraction time and sample temperature was performed and a response surface equation was derived. The statistical parameters of the derived model were r=0.97 and F=25.3. The optimum conditions were obtained using a grid method. Using the optimum conditions, the method was analytically evaluated. The detection limit, relative standard deviation, linear range and recovery were 1.3-12.8 ng mL(-1), 2.2-5.3%, 0.01-5.0 microg mL(-1), and 88-103%, respectively. The results showed the suitability of polyaniline-coated fiber in analyzing volatile phenolic compounds in water samples.

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) of permethrin residues from cucumber using a silica-bonded phase-coated stainless steel fibre

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a rapid, economic and solvent-free sample preparation method for the isolation of an analyte from its matrix. The technique uses a few centimetres of some adsorptive materials such as activated charcoal, polydimethylsiloxane or octadecyl silane coated onto fused silica optical fibres or, more recently, stainless steel fibres mounted into a microsyringe. The proposed method allows the extraction of permethrin from cucumber matrix into the coating, avoiding sample handling and saving evaporation of solvents and concentration steps. Adsorbed permethrin was desorbed in the split/splitless injection port of the gas chromatograph. The time required for each run was about 1.5 h, which gave a preconcentration of several orders of magnitude. The method could separate and quantify cis- and trans-isomers of permethrin. The calibration curve showed linearity in the range 1-9 micrograms ml-1, with detection limits of 0.03 and 0.05 microgram ml-1 for the cis- and trans-isomers of permethrin, respectively. The method had a recovery rate of about 70% and a relative standard deviation of less than 13%. Results suggest that this procedure provides a rapid and sensitive alternative method to those currently available.

Prediction of relative response factors of electron-capture detection for some polychlorinated biphenyls using chemometrics

The relative response factor (RRF) of an electron-capture detection (ECD) system is predicted for a set of 118 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Due to the wide range of relative retention times of PCB congeners, the RRFs of these compounds were calculated based on two different internal standards. Therefore, the compounds were divided into two molecular subsets. As a first step, multiple linear regression (MLR) was employed to find informative descriptors that can predict the RRFs of these compounds. Two descriptors of molecular ion ionization potential (MIIP) and ionization potential of the molecule (IP) that are related to affinity of the compounds for the electrons show the highest mean effects in subsets 1 and 2. respectively. The descriptors appearing in the MLR models were considered as inputs for developing the back-propagation artificial neural networks (BP-ANN). Two networks with the architectures of 5-5-1 and 7-6-1 were generated for the prediction of RRFs of molecules of subsets 1 and 2, respectively. Comparison of the results indicates the superiority of neural networks over that of the MLR method indicating the nonlinear behaviors of the ECD system. Inspection of the models reveals that the surface of the molecules play different roles in response factors of two subsets due to rotation of one phenyl group with respect to the other for the subset consisting of larger number of chlorine atoms.

Determination of roquefortine C in blue cheese using on-line column-switching liquid chromatography

A method is described for the determination of roquefortine C in (blue) cheese. After liquid-liquid extraction with a mixture of hydrochloric acid and methanol, and filtration, an aliquot is analysed using column-switching reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The recovery of roquefortine C in Fetta cheese is about 85%, the calibration curve is linear from 10 to 2500 ng g(-1) (r2 = 0.998), and the detection limit is about 10 ng g(-1). In different batches of Danish Blue concentrations of 1000-2000 ng g(-1) of roquefortine C are found. As regards the stability of roquefortine C its half-life in diffuse daylight is ca. 50 min, while after irradiation with ultraviolet light, it is about 10 min.

Determination of roquefortine C in blue cheese using on-line column-switching liquid chromatography

A method is described for the determination of roquefortine C in (blue) cheese. After liquid liquid extraction with a mixture of hydrochloric acid and methanol, and filtration, an aliquot is analysed using column-switching reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The recovery of roquefortine C in Fetta cheese is about 85%, the calibration curve is linear from 10 to 2500 ng g(-1) (r2 = 0.998), and the detection limit is about 10 ng g(-1). In different batches of Danish Blue concentrations of 1000-2000 ng g(-1) of roquefortine C are found. As regards the stability of roquelfortine C its half-life in diffuse daylight is ca. 50 min, while after irradiation with ultraviolet light, it is about 10 min.