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The study aimed to show the limitations and advantages of the use of stable isotope labeled internal standards (SILISs) for the quantification of small polar compounds (ibuprofen, diclofenac, metoprolol, bisphenol A, 17β-estradiol) in water samples by GC/MS with selected ion monitoring (SIM). The selection of SIM ions shows that for some of the analytes, in the form of trimethylsilylated derivatives, it is problematic to have a minimum of two qualifiers because of the poor mass spectra, high impact of the background or overlapping of the peaks from the analytes and SILISs. The “isotope effect” was observed on GC chromatograms. During the development of the SIM method, special attention was given to the qualifier/quantifier ratio, for which a variety of acceptance criteria can be found in the official guidelines. The values of the solid-phase extraction efficiency, as well as the matrix effect and absolute recovery were the same for the analytes and their corresponding SILISs. The developed method was used for the quantification of analytes in wastewaters.

Background: Obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome are associated with lipid alterations, and they affect the risk of long-term cardiovascular disease. A reliable analytical instrument to detect changes in the composition or structures of lipids and the tools allowing to connect changes in a specific group of lipids with a specific disease and its progress, is constantly lacking. Lipidomics is a new field of medicine based on the research and identification of lipids and lipid metabolites present in human organism. The primary aim of lipidomics is to search for new biomarkers of different diseases, mainly civilization diseases. Objective: We aimed to review studies reporting the application of mass spectrometry for lipid analysis in metabolic diseases. Method: Following an extensive search of peer-reviewed articles on the mass spectrometry analysis of lipids the literature has been discussed in this review article. Results: The lipid group contains around 1.7 million species; they are totally different, in terms of the length of aliphatic chain, amount of rings, additional functional groups. Some of them are so complex that their complex analyses are a challenge for analysts. Their qualitative and quantitative analysis of is based mainly on mass spectrometry. Conclusion: Mass spectrometry techniques are excellent tools for lipid profiling in complex biological samples and the combination with multivariate statistical analysis enables the identification of potential diagnostic biomarkers.

Various definitions have been employed to describe or interpret the Catholic Imagination. The contributions of English Dominican Fathers Conrad Pepler (1908–1993) and Gerald Vann (1906–1963) may assist in furthering this discussion by using a Thomistic framework to define the imagination, identify threats to its formation and promote its restoration and the renewal of culture.

Entomopathogenic fungi are referred to as potential candidates as insect pest control agents. The objective of the study was to identify fatty acids and amino acids from Conidiobolus coronatuscultured on two different media. Each medium was extracted with ethyl acetate and its mixtures with isopropanol, acetonitrile and methanol. Analyses of fatty acids and amino acids of entomopathogenic fungus C. coronatuswere performed by means of gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The analysis showed that the fungus C. coronatusproduces the following groups of compounds: fatty acids and amino acids; α-and β-glucopyranose were also identified. The identified fatty acids included 12-20, 22 and 24 carbon atoms per chain. The highest content of fatty acids was detected in a mycelium sample cultured in a liquid minimal medium extracted with ethyl acetate. The lowest content of these organic compounds was identified in mycelium cultured in a liquid nutrient-rich medium extracted with ethyl acetate-methanol mixture. Fatty acids were found to account for 62.0 mass % to 94.4 mass % of all organic compounds in the analyzed mycelia. C18:1 acids were detected in the highest amounts when ethyl acetate was used as the extracting agent. The identified amino acids accounted for 4 mass % to 21 mass % of all organic compounds. Upon extraction of C. coronatusmycelium samples with the ethyl acetate-methanol mixture, two anomeric forms of glucose were also identified. An analysis of the studied material confirmed, that the entomopathogenic fungus C. coronatusis a very rich source of organic compounds, which might encourage its further research so as to identify an even larger number of compounds being produced by this species.

Sample preparation is a crucial step in the analytical process. The solid phase absorbents attracted more interest in research on the preparation of samples, because they have a crucial role in achieving a high effectiveness of the purification and enrichment in the analysis of trace compounds present in complex matrices. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit unique properties for a variety of processes and applications. The combination of structure, dimensions and topology allow for their use in Analytical Chemistry, primarily as a matrix in a matrix assisted laser desorption ionization, stationary phase in both gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and as sorbents in solid phase extraction (SPE). The aim of this review is to provide a broad overview of recent applications of CNTs for the isolation of pharmaceuticals from environmental, biological and food samples before chromatographic analysis, in the period from 2006 to 2015.

Hydrolysis is one of the most important abiotic processes leading to the degradation of organic compounds in aqueous media. Although there have been many reports concerning the biodegradability or photostability of the investigated compounds, much less information is available on their hydrolytic stability. Moreover, hydrolysis rates have been established using procedures other than the recommended standardized OECD 111 procedures. This standard ensures that 1st category reliability data for the ERA of pharmaceuticals is obtained. Therefore, in this study we have applied optimized analytical procedures utilizing HPLC for determination of degradation rates in aqueous environment of ciprofloxacin (CIP), norfloxacin (NOR), enrofloxacin (ENR) and metronidazole (MTZ). This study, aims to assess hydrolytic stabilities of these compounds, which are the four most commonly used pharmaceuticals. The developed procedures let us determine all of the analyzed pharmaceuticals in various pH values of solution, over three times magnitude linearity ranges, high precision (RSD % <8.2) as well as detection limits in the range of 0.007 to 0.033 mg L-1. Obtained analytical performance parameters enabled us to track in details hydrolytic kinetics even of the very low concentrations. The results clearly showed that the hydrolytic degradation of tested pharmaceuticals is below 10% in a pH range from 4 to 9. This means that the half-lives of these compounds in an aquatic environment are higher than 1 year at 25 °C. Thus, hydrolytic pathways do not lead to a fast degradation and reduced risk of persistency for the investigated compounds.

The main objective of this study was to adapt analytical procedures for determining antibiotic residues in solid and aquatic samples to marine sediments and to investigate the occurrence of 9 sulfonamides, trimethoprim and 2 quinolones in southern Baltic Sea sediments. The analytical procedure was applied to sediment samples characterized as sand and silty sand. The validation results showed that a sensitive and efficient method applying tandem solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) was obtained. Analytes were determined in the lower ngg−1range with good accuracy and precision. The proposed analytical procedure was applied to the analysis of 13 sediment samples collected from the Baltic Sea along the Polish coast. Concentrations of antibiotic residues in environmental samples were calculated based on external matrix-matched calibration. Residues of nine out of twelve of the above antibiotics were detected in sediment samples in a concentrations of up to 419.2ngg−1d.w. (dry weight). Sulfamethoxazole and sulfachloropyridazine were the most frequently detected compounds (58% of the analyzed samples). The occurrence frequency of trimethoprim was 42% and it was always detected simultaneously with sulfamethoxazole. Preliminary studies on the spatial distribution of the analyzed antibiotics indicate a high level of antibiotics occurring in the Pomeranian Bay and close to the mouths of Polish rivers. The study is the first one to demonstrate the occurrence of antibiotic residues in sediments of the Polish coastal area. The obtained results suggest that sediment can be an important secondary source of antibiotic residues in the marine environment.

In recent years, there has been a growing concern in the scientific community regarding the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water samples and the potential risks to humans from exposure to traces of pharmaceuticals via drinking water. These have been present in these matrices for a long time, but the importance of this fact has only been elucidated in the past few years. The increased interest in this field arises from the fact that they are not considered under the legislation which regulates water quality. However, they may be introduced in future legislation, because many organizations, e.g. the World Health Organization, have elaborated the need for more systematic studies on the transport, occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals in drinking water sources. One important limitation of such studies is the availability of sufficiently sensitive and reliable analytical methods for these investigations. Moreover, standardization of the protocols for the sampling and the analysis of pharmaceuticals is required, in order to better facilitate the comparison of data. This review summarizes the analytical methods for the determination of pharmaceutical residues in drinking water samples. The current methodology and future prospects, as well the capabilities, the potential and the limitations of the analytical protocols that are used for determining pharmaceuticals in drinking water are described and discussed in detail. These methods have been used to monitor not only the native compounds and some of their metabolites, but also the formation of degradation products during water treatment.

Anthelmintics are intensively used for veterinary treatment and after being released into the environment can ultimately pose environmental and health hazards. However, to date, there has been very limited information on the concentrations of anthelmintics in the aquatic environment. The monitoring of these compounds in different compartments (water, sediment and fish tissue samples) is crucial if a thorough risk assessment is to be made. In this study, such an analytical approach is presented for the first time. As model compounds, two benzimidazoles: flubendazole (FLU) and fenbendazole (FEN), and doramectin (DOR) representing avermectins, were selected. As a model aquatic environment - the Reda river in northern Poland was chosen. The water, sediment and fish tissue samples were collected in 2014, the sediments were also collected in 2013. All of the compounds were detected at least once in the survey. All of the risk quotients, apart from DOR in waters, were lower than 1, thus no risk to the environment can be derived from these results. However, in the case of DOR, such a risk was observed. The results were compared with those published for Poland and other countries. In summary, the simultaneous determination proposed here of anthelmintics in different compartments, significantly improves the environmental risk assessment of this class of drug.

The presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has been a subject of concern for the last ten years because many of these pollutants are persistent in such aquatic matrices. Latest studies have shown that they can pose a ecotoxicological risk due to their potential long-term negative effects on living organism, even though the relatively low concentrations of these compounds in drinking water (ng/L). For this reason, several researchers have been investigating the roles of various drinking water treatment (DWT) processes in the efficiency of these polar pollutants elimination to decrease their release into the drinking water system. What more, from several years the monitoring programs and advance risk assessment are being carried out in order to gives important information for indicators finding (for future monitoring) and consequential regulations. This study critically reviews available literature on pharmaceutical residues in drinking water, starting from their occurrence, fate and finally toxicology significance. Presented review is also presenting the issue of pharmaceuticals detection and products occurred after drinking water treatment. Moreover, it is also intended to provide an proposition into what future directions might be taken by drinking-water regulators, governments, and water suppliers in their challenging task of enhancing the availability of data on the fate, behavior, and ecotoxicity of pharmaceutical residues in drinking water, in order to be fully aware of the potential risks to humans from exposure to traces of pharmaceuticals via drinking water.

During the last years there has been a growing interest in the research focused on the pharmaceutical residues in the environment. Those compounds have been recognized as a threat to environmental stability, due to their inherent biological activity and their pseudo-persistency. Nevertheless, the analysis of pharmaceuticals in environmental samples is still a very difficult and demanding task, due to the fact that environmental concentrations of these compounds are mostly in the ng L-1 to μg L-1 ranges and due to the complexity of the analyzed samples. Therefore, there has been increasing interest in the development of new, more selective and sensitive methods for their monitoring in environmental samples. Hence, the aim of our study is to present the overview of the analytical challenges, of the development of analytical methods used in exposure assessment, and of the priorities for future research. Moreover, as many studies published to date concentrate mainly on freshwater ecosystem, in our work we want to focus on the analysis of different marine ecosystem compartments (water, sediment, biota), as this is a critical knowledge gap in environmental studies.

The article discussed the problems related to the narrow network health insurance policies and suggests ways to help clients finding a recourse. Topics discussed include unawareness of these low-cost policies clients about their limited network of providers until recovery of the "balance bills" and "surprise bills" from out-of-network providers, requirement of public education about these plans and provisions for statutory protection against the problems with "surprise" and "balance" billing.

The intensity of in vivolipogensis was measured and in this purpose, the radioactivity of incorporation of tritium into fatty acids (FAs) in tissues of C. crangonwas determined. De novosynthesis of FAs was five times higher in hepatopancreas than in muscle in summer period but not much higher in autumn. The higher FAs synthesis was recorded at 25 °C, both for hepatopancreas and muscle, and the summer was higher than the autumn in the hepatopancreas and in the muscles of the opposite situation was observed. The higher amounts of SFAs in hepatopancreas from autumn, when in experimental conditions the ambient temperature C. crangonchanged from 6 °C to the experimental higher temperature. When content of PUFAn-3 declined dramatically (Autumn 1 h, 25 °C). In contrast, at a lower temperature, the amount of polyunsaturated FAs is much higher than at 25 °C (Autumn 1 h 6 °C).