This study outlines a simple method for pH-mediated stacking of natural and synthetic steroids facilitated with carboxymethyl-beta-CD. Sample stacking (10 kV, 60 s) is accomplished with 23 mM carboxymethyl-beta-CD in 50 mM 3-[cyclohexylamino]-1-propanesulfonic acid buffered at pH 10. Following stacking, steroidal compounds are separated in less than 5 min with a running buffer of 13 mM hydroxypropyl-beta-CD, 30 mM SDS in 200 mM phosphate buffered at pH 2.5. Using a 60 s electrokinetic injection, the limits of detection of estradiol, ethynyl estradiol, estrone, hydroxyprogesterone, progesterone, and 11-ketotestosterone range from 2 to 14 nM. For all steroids, the within-day and day-to-day reproducibility in migration time is < or =1 and < or =2% RSD, respectively. The within-day and day-to-day reproducibility in peak area is < or =9 and < or =22% RSD, respectively. The method is applied to fish plasma and holds potential to profile multiple steroids in a single biological sample.

A capillary separation method that incorporates pH-mediated stacking is employed for the simultaneous determination of circulating steroid hormones in plasma from Perca flavescens (yellow perch) collected from natural aquatic environments. The method can be applied to separate eight steroid standards: progesterone, 17alpha,20beta-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3-one, 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, testosterone, estrone, 11-ketotestosterone, ethynyl estradiol, and 17beta-estradiol. Based on screening of plasma, the performance of the analytical method was determined for 17alpha,20beta-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3-one, testosterone, 11-ketotestosterone, and 17beta-estradiol. The within-day reproducibility in migration time for these four steroids in aqueous samples was < or =2%. Steroid quantification was accomplished using a calibration curve obtained with external standards. Plasma samples from fish collected from the Choptank and Severn Rivers, Maryland, USA, stored for up to one year were extracted with ethyl acetate and then further processed with anion exchange and hydrophobic solid phase extraction cartridges. The recovery of testosterone and 17beta-estradiol from yellow perch plasma was 84 and 85%, respectively. Endogenous levels of testosterone ranged from 0.9 to 44 ng/ml, and when detected 17alpha,20beta-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3-one ranged from 5 to 34 ng/ml. The reported values for testosterone correlated well with the immunoassay technique. Endogenous concentrations of 17beta-estradiol were < or =1.7 ng/ml. 11-Ketotestosterone was not quantified because of a suspected interferant. Higher levels of 17alpha,20beta-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3-one were found in male and female fish in which 17beta-estradiol was not detected. Monitoring multiple steroids can provide insight into hormonal fluctuations in fish.

We report the anomalous temperature behaviour of phonons in the superconducting a-axis-oriented Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+x texture detected by far-infrared reflectivity spectroscopy.

No abstract

The unrelaxed excited states of atomic hydrogen centres in a mixed configuration in alkali halides, in which the hydrogen atom is tetrahedrally surrounded by three host anions and one heavier anion-HP(Br, I) centres-have been investigated for six configurations by means of magneto-optical and optical measurements. With a simple charge-transfer model for the optical transitions it is possible to explain quantitatively the oscillator strength, the change of the first moment of the magnetic circular dichroism and the energy splitting of the optical absorption bands. The unrelaxed excited state can be described as a charge-transfer state, in which two electrons reside at the interstitial H-ion, one in a 1s-type orbital and one in a 2s-type orbital, and one hole resides in an outer p orbital of the heavier anion, whereby the charge transfer is incomplete. The best agreement was obtained for a degree of transfer of H.