Biological Material analysis

Hawk, G.L. and Kingston, H.M., Laboratory robotics and trace analysis in Quantitative Trace Analysis Biological Materials, Edited by McKenzie, H.A. and Smythe, L.E., Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1988. 

Sample preparation. Whole samples, aqueous homogenates, or alkaline digests of samples can be used for analysis. Biological materials that lend themselves to the three methods of sample preparation are listed below. 

Microscopes are also used as analytical tools for strain analysis in materials science, detenuination of refractive indices and for monitoring biological processes in vivo on a microscopic scale etc. In this case resolution is not necessarily the only important issue rather it is the sensitivity allowing the physical quantity under investigation to be accurately detennined. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST is the source of many of the standards used in chemical and physical analyses in the United States and throughout the world. The standards prepared and distributed by the NIST are used to caUbrate measurement systems and to provide a central basis for uniformity and accuracy of measurement. At present, over 1200 Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) are available and are described by the NIST (15). Included are many steels, nonferrous alloys, high purity metals, primary standards for use in volumetric analysis, microchemical standards, clinical laboratory standards, biological material certified for trace elements, environmental standards, trace element standards, ion-activity standards (for pH and ion-selective electrodes), freezing and melting point standards, colorimetry standards, optical standards, radioactivity standards, particle-size standards, and density standards. Certificates are issued with the standard reference materials showing values for the parameters that have been determined. 

Comprehensive accounts of the various gravimetric, polarographic, spectrophotometric, and neutron activation analytical methods have been pubHshed (1,2,5,17,19,65—67). Sampling and analysis of biological materials and organic compounds is treated in References 60 and 68. Many analytical methods depend on the conversion of selenium in the sample to selenous acid, H2Se02, and reduction to elemental selenium when a gravimetric deterrnination is desired. 

Chromatography is a technique for separating and quantifying the constituents of a mixture. Separation techniques are essential for the characterization of the mixtures that result from most chemical processes. Chromatographic analysis is used in many areas of science and engineering in environmental studies, in the analysis of art objects, in industrial quahty control (qv), in analysis of biological materials, and in forensics (see Biopolymers, analytical TECHNIQUES FiNE ART EXAMINATION AND CONSERVATION FoRENSic CHEMISTRY). Most chemical laboratories employ one or more chromatographs for routine analysis (1). 

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) is one of the analytical methods recommended for low level Mo determination in biological materials. 

Recently in the surveillance of exposed workers, it has proved useful to carry out analysis of the harmful compound or its metabolites using biological material or a change of biochemical parameters caused by the harmful chemical or its metabolites. 

Fig. 11-6. X-ray spectrographic system for the analysis of small amounts of biological material. Note the features which contribute to increased intensity (11.4). (Courtesy of Hall, Proceedings, Sixth Annual Conference on Industrial Applications of X-ray Analysis, Denver, Colo., 1957, page 297.)...

ANALYSIS OF THE AMINO ACID CONTENT OF BIOLOGIC MATERIALS... 

Supply data obtained by analysis of various biological materials from the newborn,... 

At present, the most promising methods for synthetic colorant analysis seem to be those based on separation approaches such as HPLC and capillary electrophoresis (CE). CE is the method of choice for the determination of synthetic dyes in biological materials while HPLC is generally a more suitable method for the identification and determination of hydrophobic natural pigments, having a better sensitivity and efficiency than CE. 

Bowen HJM (1965) A standard biological material for elementary analysis. In Shallis PW, ed. Proc of the SAC Conference, Nottingham, pp 25-31. W Heifer and Sons, Cambridge. 

The classical approach for particle size determination, or more correctly for particle size selection - which is still used for solids like soils, sediments and other technical materials like coal, and also for biological materials - is sieving analysis. The raw material is milled, generally after drying, see Section 2.1, and if the required particle size is obtained, typically ranging from <0.1 to a few mm, it is allowed to pass sieves with different apertures to discard coarse particles and remaining materials. For materials consisting of numerous different particles microscopical inspection is used. 

Ihnat M (1988c) Biological reference materials for quality control. In McKenzie HA, Smythe LE, eds. Quantitative Trace Analysis of Biological Materials, pp 331-351. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam. 

Maechandise H (1987) Accuracy in analysis of biological materials. Fresenius Z Anal Chem 326 613-617. 

Morrison GH (1979) Elemental trace analysis of biological materials. CRC Critical Rev Anal Chem 10 287-320. 

Murayama, K. and Shindo, N., Recommended method for the analysis of amino acids in biological materials, /. Chromatogr., 143, 137, 1977. 

The technique is referred to by several acronyms including LAMMA (Laser Microprobe Mass Analysis), LIMA (Laser Ionisation Mass Analysis), and LIMS (Laser Ionisation Mass Spectrometry). It provides a sensitive elemental and/or molecular detection capability which can be used for materials such as semiconductor devices, integrated optical components, alloys, ceramic composites as well as biological materials. The unique microanalytical capabilities that the technique provides in comparison with SIMS, AES and EPMA are that it provides a rapid, sensitive, elemental survey microanalysis, that it is able to analyse electrically insulating materials and that it has the potential for providing molecular or chemical bonding information from the analytical volume. 

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