Sex steroids are involved in biological functions that encompass from the complete sexual development of individuals up to the deregulation of metabolic pathways leading to some pathologies. Steroids are present in blood at low concentration levels from pg mL-1 to ng mL-1. For this reason, a high sensitive and selective method based on gas chromatography-negative chemical ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-NCI-MS/MS) is here proposed to quantify either androgens (androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, dihydrotestosterone and testosterone), estrogens (estrone and estradiol) and a progestogen (progesterone) in human plasma. The sample preparation steps, protein precipitation and solid phase extraction, were optimized to ensure the sample matrix removal and to extract steroids with high efficiency. Go 6983 clinical trial The NCI-MS/MS detection approach was compared with that based on electron impact to evaluate the incidence of the ionization source in the determination of steroids. The quantification limits for determination of these analytes were in a range from 10 pg mL-1 to 5 ng mL-1, with a high sensitivity for estrogens, typically found at low concentrations. The proposed method was tested for the determination of steroids in male blood samples, in which 6 out of 7 steroids were detected and quantified to report concentration values in agreement with those described in the literature.Uric acid-imprinted polypyrrole-based (MIP(UA)-Ppy) electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance sensor (EQCM) was developed. Experiments and theoretical calculations were focused on molecular interactions between uric acid molecule and i) polypyrrole imprinted by uric acid (MIP(UA)-Ppy) ii) polypyrrole film without any molecular imprints (NIP-Ppy). Resonant frequency differences during electrochemical deposition of MIP(UA)-Ppy and NIP-Ppy films were observed and were attributed to the phenomenon of molecule capture within formed Ppy matrix. EQCM-resonators modified by MIP-Ppy showed the following advantages selectivity, qualitative response, cost-effectiveness, and simple procedure. The selectivity of MIP(UA)-Ppy was tested by the replacement of uric acid in the PBS solution with several different concentrations of caffeine and glucose. Langmuir isotherm based molecular adsorption model was applied to evaluate the interaction of MIP(UA)-Ppy with uric acid. From experimental results calculated the standard Gibbs free energy of association (ΔGa) of uric acid with MIP(UA)-Ppy is -16.4 ± 2.05 kJ/mol and with NIP-Ppy is -13.3 ± 8.56 kJ/mol ΔG values illustrate that the formation of uric acid complex with MIP(UA)-Ppy is thermodynamically more favourable than that for complexation with NIP-Ppy.Herein, silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) with blue-fluorescence have been originally synthesized through one facile hydrothermal way, and this kind of SiNPs were water-soluble with the relative quantum yield of around 6%. Meanwhile, N-(triethoxysilylpropyl) urea severed as the silica source, while potassium hydrogen phthalate as the doping reagent. Also, SiNPs exhibited the acceptable stability and excitation-dependent fluorescence property. Moreover, their surfaces of the obtained SiNPs were equipped with multiple functional groups including -Si-O-Si-, -Si-H, -COOH, -NH2 and -OH. Importantly, the fluorescence of SiNPs could be specifically quenched by sulfadiazine sodium (SD-Na), thus achieving a label-free detection of SD-Na, which displayed a wide linear response in the range of 0.8 μM-800 μM with a detection limit of 1.02 μM. Additionally, we explored the mechanism of SiNPs sensing SD-Na on the basis of aggregation-induced quenching. To be specific, the particle size of SiNPs increased from 29.9 nm to 203.7 nm induced by the electrostatic interactions between SiNPs and SD-Na, which was further confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Consequently, the proposed strategy here broadened the ways of assaying sulfadiazine sodium.The potential of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been investigated for the rapid analysis of two representative organotin compounds (OTCs) dibutyltin maleate (DTM) and tributyltin chloride (TBT), after migration tests from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), as a model food packaging material in aqueous food simulant (acetic acid 3% w/v). OTCs, often used as heat stabilizers additives for PVC, are classified as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their migration potential has to be controlled in compliance with the normative prescriptions for food contact materials. In this study, colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were applied as liquid SERS substrate for direct-in-liquid analysis of food simulant after standardized migration tests of PVC samples spiked with OTCs. Promising results were obtained, reaching detection limits below the permitted limits for the considered OTCs (i.e. 0.15 mg/l) DTM and TBT were detected down to 0.01 mg/l and 0.08 mg/l, respectively. Calibration curves were calculated for standard solutions of DTM and TBT in the dynamic range between 0 and 1 mg/l (reduced χ2 = 0.8), and 0.5-5 mg/l (reduced χ2 = 0.2), respectively. Migrated TBT and DTM were detected in the food simulant, specifically identified and quantified by SERS, with a measurement uncertainty around 10% in all cases. In particular, it was found that TBT can migrate in higher amount compared to DTM when the PVC film is in contact with a slightly acidic matrix. These results were further confirmed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and UV-Vis spectroscopy. In the present study, direct-in-liquid SERS approach showed to be very promising because it provides a fast response and it allows to overcome most of the common drawbacks of solid SERS substrates due to inhomogeneity problems and low repeatability.With the consumption of chemotherapy agents, residues of anticancer drugs may be increasingly found in hospital and municipal wastewaters. Quantification of these highly polar micropollutants remains challenging due to poor chromatographic retention on typical reversed phases. This study investigated different solid-phase extraction (SPE) materials for automated on-line preconcentration of complex matrices (hospital and municipal wastewaters) and various chromatographic column options. A hyper crosslinked hydroxylated polystyrene-divinylbenzene copolymer SPE sorbent coupled on-line with hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS) yielded suitable limits of detection (LOD 1-2 ng L-1) for 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and 2′,2′-difluorodeoxyuridine (dFdU). Optimization of chromatographic conditions led to a single LC-MS/MS method for the analysis of other cytostatic drugs including cytarabine (CYT), gemcitabine (GEM), methotrexate (MTX), ifosfamide (IFO), cyclophosphamide (CYC) and capecitabine (CAP).