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The routine maintenance of analytical laboratory instruments should always form part of the research budget. Unexpected instrument breakdowns can cause budget constraints – a situation recently experienced at our laboratory. We investigated the use of a more affordable alternative sample injection loop which was installed and validated for the Thermo Scientific™ DionexTM UltiMateTM 3000 series HPLC system’s WPS-3000TSL analytical autosampler. Linearity and precision validation parameters were used to test the alternative sample injection loop viability. A total of eight different injection volumes were tested. Both parameters tested gave acceptable validation values, with a linearity regression value of r2 = 0.999 over the eight different injections and %RSD reproducibility of less than 1.0% per injection volume over 10 repeated injections. These results support the use of the alternative sample injection loop on this HPLC analytical autosampler instead of the more expensive original. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matthew uses Hos. 6:6 in two scenes of conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees. He defines the differences between Jesus and the Pharisees in terms of adherence to the Law with focus on the mercy that God desires. Matthew depicts Jesus as one who teaches and enacts Hos. 6:6 in continuity with the original prophetic intention of this statement. Jesus teaches by example by enacting mercy towards the marginalized and people in need. He loves the way Hosea announces that God intends his people to love. Jesus Himself becomes the presence and source of mercy. Jesus forms the central focus and prototype of the Matthean community. The community should follow his example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the Torah is the subject of a full scale discussion in the first Gospel. This article investigates the socio-historical setting that produced this text with such an emphasis on Torah observance. To address these issues, the Matthean text is read to discover issues that were prevalent in the community where the text was produced and read. This is followed by an investigation into developments in the broader Jewish society in the second half of the first century C.E. It becomes clear that the Jewish society was fragmented, and this led to an urge to consolidate. During these developments the Torah was used by newly formed communities to define their norms of existence. In the first Gospel the author defines their position terms of specific Torah observance. While countering some form of Christian libertinism and allegations against the Torah observance of his community, he assures his community of their convictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides the strenuous relation of Matthew's community with non-Christian kinfolk, his text also reveals an underlying conflict with Roman Imperial ideology. Herod, Antipas and Pilate specifically impersonate this foreign domination. Apparently these figures have unlimited power which leaves Jesus and his followers as exposed victims. Yet, on the deeper level of the text, Jesus ironically emerges as victor. He represents the Kingdom of God and ironically counters their unfair rule with his authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity is considered valuable for various pharmaceutical and biomedical research projects. A specific high performance liquid chromatography-coulometric electrochemical detection method, for the assay of COMT activity was developed by measuring the formation of normetanephrine from norepinephrine. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a C 18 reversed phase column with a mobile phase consisting of 10 mM sodium dihydrogen phosphate buffer, 4 mM sodium 1-octanesulfonate, 0.17 mM ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid disodium salt, 6 % methanol and 4 % acetonitrile (pH ± 4.0). The detection of normetanephrine was achieved through electrochemical detection, with a coulometric cell potential setting of +450 mV. The flow rate was at 1 ml/min and the total run time was 45 min. The method was validated according to validation guidelines (Shabir 2006; European Medicines Agency 2011; US FDA 2018). The method was found to be linear (R² > 0.99) over the analytical range (100 to 2500 ng/ml) for all the analytes. All the other validation parameters (sensitivity, precision, accuracy, recovery and stability) were acceptable and within range. The method was applied for the determination of COMT activity in rat liver homogenate test samples. The known selective COMT inhibitor entacapone was used as test inhibitor. The results confirmed the ability of entacapone to inhibit COMT activity by decreasing the production of all the metabolites of norepinephrine.