Normal phase high performance liquid chromatography for determination of paclitaxel incorporated in a lipophilic polymer matrix

A normal phase (NP) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for analysis of paclitaxel incorporated in poly(sebacic-co-ricinoleic acid), a lipophilic polymer matrix utilized for preparation of an injectable formulation for the localized delivery of paclitaxel. Thin layer chromatography experiments revealed that separation of paclitaxel from the polymer is dependent on the eluting strength (solvent strength) of the mobile phase. The HPLC system consists of a Purospher STRAR Si analytical HPLC column (5 microm, 250mm x 4mm, Merck), and 1-2.5% (v/v) methanol in dichloromethane as the mobile phase. Detection was by UV absorbance at 240 and 254 nm. The effect of the mobile phase composition on paclitaxel retention, peak shape and column efficiency, and the influence of the sample loading on the shape of the paclitaxel peak were studied. The mobile phases used for the chromatography consisted of 1.5% (v/v) methanol in dichloromethane. Paclitaxel was determined in the formulation and in the samples from degradation studies using UV detection at a wavelength of 254 nm. UV detection at 240 nm has advantages for following polymer matrix degradation products due to higher detector response at this wavelength. The utility of the proposed NP HPLC approach was demonstrated by assessment of intra- and inter-batch content uniformity, and by the determination of paclitaxel content after 7 and 60 days exposure of the paclitaxel-loaded polymer matrix to in vitro and in vivo degradation.     

Platinum-dihalide complexes with N-alkyl O-ethylthiocarbamates

Summary The thiocarbamic esters (L)ETC(EtOSCNHEt) and PTC (EtOSCNHPr) act as sulphur donors towards platinum halides, yielding the cis-[Pt(L)₂Cl₂], trans-[Pt(L)₂Br₂], [Pt(L)₃X]X (X = Cl or Br) and [Pt(L)₄]X₂ (X = Cl, Br or I) complexes. By addition of n-hexane to platinum chloride solutions in pure ligands the 16 adducts [Pt(L)₄]-Cl₂·2L have been isolated. The non-bonded ligand molecules are easily released to give the corresponding 14 complexes. The compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopy. The 14 and 16 complexes decompose in benzene to form the 13 species, except for [Pt(ETC)₄]I₂, which releases two ligand molecules to give trans-[Pt(ETC)₂I₂]. The 12 and 13 complexes have been tested for in vitro cytostatic activity against KB cells.     

The balance between side-chain and backbone-driven association in folding of the α-helical influenza A transmembrane peptide

The correct balance between attractive, repulsive and peptide hydrogen bonding interactions must be attained for proteins to fold correctly. To investigate these important contributors, we sought a comparison of the folding between two 25-residues peptides, the influenza A M2 protein transmembrane domain (M2TM) and the 25-Ala (Ala₂₅). M2TM forms a stable α-helix as is shown by circular dichroism (CD) experiments. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with adaptive tempering show that M2TM monomer is more dynamic in nature and quickly interconverts between an ensemble of various α-helical structures, and less frequently turns and coils, compared to one α-helix for Ala₂₅. DFT calculations suggest that folding from the extended structure to the α-helical structure is favored for M2TM compared with Ala₂₅. This is due to CH⋯O attractive interactions which favor folding to the M2TM α-helix, and cannot be described accurately with a force field. Using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis and quantum theory atoms in molecules (QTAIM) calculations, 26 CH⋯O interactions and 22 NH⋯O hydrogen bonds are calculated for M2TM. The calculations show that CH⋯O hydrogen bonds, although individually weaker, have a cumulative effect that cannot be ignored and may contribute as much as half of the total hydrogen bonding energy, when compared to NH⋯O, to the stabilization of the α-helix in M2TM. Further, a strengthening of NH⋯O hydrogen bonding interactions is calculated for M2TM compared to Ala₂₅. Additionally, these weak CH⋯O interactions can dissociate and associate easily leading to the ensemble of folded structures for M2TM observed in folding MD simulations.     

Isolation of electron conductivity of a coaxial ion diode by the pulsed magnetic field of a spiral line

Engineering-Physics Institute, Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 33, No. 8, pp. 965–969, August, 1990.     

Thermal conductivity of laser-produced plasma corona

Various methods of theoretically describing the thermal conductivity of a of plasma corona are considered. The processes of laser heating and ablating a spherical-shell target in the TRITON program (Inst. of Appl. Mech., USSR Acad. Sci.) are computer-simulated. Numerical and analytic methods are used to investigate the influence of heat-transport suppression on the principal hydrodynamic characteristics of the plasma. It is shown that the most sensitive to a reduction of the heat transport is the electron-density distribution in space and in time. The requirements imposed on experimental measurements capable of determining, in comparison with numerical computations, the degree of heat-transport suppression, are analyzed for a large range of flux densities. It is shown that when the flux density is decreased to 10¹³ W/cm² the present accuracy of measuring the position of the criticaldensity region in the corona, as well as the rate of evaporation of the material, becomes inadequate to determinethe deviation of the thermal conductivity from the classical value. Reliable conclusions concerning the transport coefficients can be drawn in this case from a comparison of high-speed interferometry data on the dynamics of a low-density corona (/_cr = 10^-3–10^-1) with the results of computer simulation.Division of Quantum Physics, Lebedev Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Translated from Preprint No. 188 of the Lebedev Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow (1988).     

Efficient extraction of hydrogen ions from high-velocity plasma bunches by a pulsed electric field

The systematized results are presented of an investigation of the process of the efficient extraction of ions, by a pulsed electric field, from the surface of a plasma moving at a velocity of 10⁴ m/sec under the conditions of small accelerating diodes. A mathematical model is analyzed of the propagation of a plasma bunch formed by a laser pulse (E _las<1 J) in a quasicylindrical diode system. The possibilities are considered of increasing the current of the extracted ions by utilizing the phenomenon of magnetic confinement of electrons, and diode systems with a transparent anode. The designs of small acceleration tubes for generating neutron pulses are presented.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 4, pp. 65–74, April, 1996.     

Deuteron flux production in a small high-voltage high-current diode with pulsed magnetic insulation

Technical Physics - The results of new studies on the production of accelerated deuteron fluxes in a small ion diode with pulsed magnetic insulation of electrons have been presented. A plasma anode...     

Faraday-rotation method for magnetic-field diagnostics in a laser plasma

The possibility of using the Faraday effect for the diagnostics of magnetic fields in a dense plasma is theoretically demonstrated. A procedure for measuring the plane of polariztion of the probing radiation is examined in detail, with account taken of the wave polarization and of the presence of plasma self-luminosity. A procedure for determining the spatial distribution of the magnetic field is described. A new three-channel polarointerferometer scheme is proposed. The idea behind the method is illustrated with reconstruction of the magnetic fields in a laser plasma as an example.Laser-Plasma Laboratory, Lebdev Physics Institute. Translated from Preprint No. 135 of the Lebedev Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 1989.     

Generation of nanosecond neutron pulses in vacuum accelerating tubes

The generation of neutron pulses with a duration of 1–100 ns using small vacuum accelerating tubes is considered. Two physical models of acceleration of short deuteron bunches in pulse neutron generators are described. The dependences of an instantaneous neutron flux in accelerating tubes on the parameters of pulse neutron generators are obtained using computer simulation. The results of experimental investigation of short-pulse neutron generators based on the accelerating tube with a vacuum-arc deuteron source, connected in the circuit with a discharge peaker, and an accelerating tube with a laser deuteron source, connected according to the Arkad’ev-Marx circuit, are given. In the experiments, the neutron yield per pulse reached 107 for a pulse duration of 10–100 ns. The resultant experimental data are in satisfactory agreement with the results of computer simulation.