Formulation variation and in vitro-in vivo correlation for a rapidly swellable three-layered tablet of tamsulosin HCl

In order to develop a preferable once-a-day oral tablet formulation, various formulations of three-layered tablets containing tamsulosin HCl as a hydrophilic model drug were evaluated and compared with a commercial reference, tamsulosin OCAS?. When the test tablet was exposed to a release medium, the medium quickly permeated to the mid-layer and the two barrier layers swelled surrounding the mid-layer rapidly. Volume expansion showed faster and enough swelling of the three-layered tablet up to 2 h. Larger amount of barrier layers caused reduced release kinetics and a high molecular weight polymer showed more resistance against agitation force. A formulation with water-soluble mid-layer showed fast erosion decreasing its volume significantly. On the pharmacokinetic study, the mean ratio of area under the curve (AUC) and C(max) for the test formulation to the reference was 0.69 and 0.84, respectively, showing that the absorption of the drug was less complete than the reference. Plasma concentration at 24 h of the test formulation was higher than the reference. The Wagner-Nelson method showed that decreased initial dissolution rate might be the cause of the less complete absorption. On considering in vitro-in vivo correlation (IVIVC), level A, the reference (R2=0.981) showed more linear relationship than the test (R2=0.918) due to the decreased dissolution and absorption rate of the formulation. This result suggests that the in vitro dissolution profiles and release kinetics might be useful in correlating absorption kinetics as well as overall plasma drug concentration-time profiles for formulation studies.     

"A" cation polarity control in ACuTe2O7 (A = Sr2+, Ba2+, or Pb2+)

The synthesis and characterization of ACuTe(2)O(7) (A = Sr(2+), Ba(2+), or Pb(2+)) have been carried out. Interestingly, SrCuTe(2)O(7) and PbCuTe(2)O(7) are centrosymmetric and isostructural, whereas BaCuTe(2)O(7) is noncentrosymmetric and polar. All of the materials contain [CuTe(2)O(7)](2-) layers stacked along the b-axis direction that are separated by the "A" cations. The layers are composed of corner-shared CuO(5), TeO(6), and TeO(4) polyhedra. The influence of the "A" cation on the polarity is described by bond valence concepts, including the bond strain index and global instability index. Infrared, UV-vis, thermogravimetric, differential thermal analysis, and magnetic measurements were performed on all three materials. For BaCuTe(2)O(7), second-harmonic generation (SHG), piezoelectric, and polarization measurements were performed. A moderate SHG efficiency of approximately 70 × α-SiO(2) was measured. In addition, we determined that BaCuTe(2)O(7) is not ferroelectric; that is, the macroscopic polarization is not reversible. For BaCuTe(2)O(7), a pyroelectric coefficient of -9.5 μC/m(2)·K at 90 °C and a piezoelectric charge coefficient of 49 pm/V were determined. Crystal data are the following: SrCuTe(2)O(7), orthorhombic, space group Pbcm (No. 57), a = 7.1464(7) ?, b = 15.0609(15) ?, c = 5.4380(5) ?, V = 585.30(10) ?(3), and Z = 4; PbCuTe(2)O(7), orthorhombic, space group Pbcm (No. 57), a = 7.2033(5) ?, b = 15.0468(10) ?, c = 5.4691(4) ?, V = 592.78(7) ?(3), and Z = 4.     

Alveolar macrophages modulate allergic inflammation in a murine model of asthma

The role of alveolar macrophages (AMs) in the pathogenesis of asthma is still unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of AM in the murine model of asthma. AMs were selectively depleted by liposomes containing clodronate just before allergen challenges, and changes in inflammatory cells and cytokine concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid were measured. AMs were then adoptively transferred to AM-depleted sensitized mice and changes were measured. Phenotypic changes in AMs were evaluated after in vitro allergen stimulation. AM-depletion after sensitization significantly increased the number of eosinophils and lymphocytes and the concentrations of IL-4, IL-5 and GM-CSF in BAL fluid. These changes were significantly ameliorated only by adoptive transfer of unsensitized AMs, not by sensitized AMs. In addition, in vitro allergen stimulation of AMs resulted in their gaining the ability to produce inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, and losing the ability to suppress GM-CSF concentrations in BAL fluid. These findings suggested that AMs worked probably through GM-CSF-dependent mechanisms, although further confirmatory experiments are needed. Our results indicate that the role of AMs in the context of airway inflammation should be re-examined.     

Anti-adipogenic activity of Cordyceps militaris in 3T3-L1 cells

Inhibition of adipocytes differentiation is suggested to be an important strategy for prevention and/or treatment of obesity. In our present study, Cordyceps militaris showed significant inhibitory activity on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes as assessed by measuring fat accumulation using Oil Red O staining. Activity-guided fractionation led to the isolation of cordycepin (1), guanosine (2) and tryptophan (3) as active compounds. All the three compounds were more effective in the prevention of early stage of adipogenesis than in lipolysis. In addition, combinational treatment of three compounds significantly increased anti-adipogenic activity.     

Stationary binary subdivision schemes using radial basis function interpolation

A new family of interpolatory stationary subdivision schemes is introduced by using radial basis function interpolation. This work extends earlier studies on interpolatory stationary subdivision schemes in two aspects. First, it provides a wider class of interpolatory schemes; each 2L-point interpolatory scheme has the freedom of choosing a degree (say, m) of polynomial reproducing. Depending on the combination (2L,m), the proposed scheme suggests different subdivision rules. Second, the scheme turns out to be a 2L-point interpolatory scheme with a tension parameter. The conditions for convergence and smoothness are also studied. Dedicated to Prof. Charles A. Micchelli on the occasion of his 60th birthday Mathematics subject classifications (2000) 41A05, 41A25, 41A30, 65D10, 65D17. Byung-Gook Lee: This work was done as a part of Information & Communication fundamental Technology Research Program supported by Ministry of the Information & Communication in Republic of Korea. Jungho Yoon: Corresponding author. Supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation grant (KOSEF R06-2002-012-01001).     

Synthesis and characterization of polyimides from bis(3‐aminophenyl)‐4‐(1‐adamantyl)phenoxyphenyl phosphine oxide

A novel diamine, bis(3‐aminophenyl)‐4‐(1‐adamantyl)phenoxyphenyl phosphine oxide (mDAATPPO), was synthesized via the Williamson ether reaction of 4‐(1‐adamantyl)phenol and bis(3‐nitrophenyl)‐4‐fluorophenyl phosphine oxide, followed by reduction. The phenol group was prepared by the Friedel–Crafts reaction of 1‐bromoadamantane and phenol, whereas the phosphine oxide group was synthesized by the Grignard reaction of 1‐bromo‐4‐fluorobezene and diphenyl phosphinic chloride, followed by nitration. The monomer and its intermediate compounds were characterized with Fourier transform infrared, NMR, and melting‐point apparatus. The monomer was then used to prepare polyimides with 2,2‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane dianhydride, 3,3′,4,4′‐benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride, 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic dianhydride, and pyromellitic dianhydride by the conventional two‐step synthesis: the preparation of poly(amic acid) followed by solution imidization. The molecular weights of the polyimides were controlled to 20,000 g/mol by off‐stoichiometry, and the synthesized polyimides were characterized with Fourier transform infrared, NMR, gel permeation chromatography, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. In addition, the solubility, intrinsic viscosity, dielectric constant, and birefringence of the polyimides were evaluated. Novel polyimides with mDAATPPO exhibited good solubility, high glass‐transition temperatures (290–330 °C), excellent thermal stability (>500 °C), low dielectric constants (2.77–3.01), low refractive indices, and low birefringence values (0.0019–0.0030). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2567–2578, 2006     

A numerical study of heat and momentum transfer for tube bundles in crossflow

A numerical scheme is developed to predict the heat transfer and pressure drop coefficients in flow through rigid tube bundles. The scheme uses the Galerkin finite element technique. The conservation equations for laminar steady-state flow are cast in the form of streamfunction and vorticity equations. A Picard iteration method is used for the solution of the resulting system of non-linear algebraic equations. Results for the heat transfer and pressure drop coefficients are obtained for tube arrays of pitch ratios of 1·5 and 2·0. Very good agreement of the present results and experimental data obtained in the past is observed up to Reynolds numbers of 1000. It is also observed that the results of the present method show better agreement with the experimental data and that they are applicable for higher Reynolds numbers than results of other studies.     

New Potassium- and Cesium-selective Ionophoric Bis(crown ether)s Derived from Xanthene-4,5-dicarboxylic Acid

A series of bis(crown ether)sbased-upon a xanthene-4,5-dicarboxylic acid skeletonwas prepared and their ionophoric properties towardalkali metal cations were investigated. Bis(crownether)s bearing 15-crown-5 and 18-crown-6 moietiesexhibited pronounced extraction efficiencies towardK⁺ and Cs⁺ ions, respectively, and theextraction constant estimated by solvent extractionstudies was as high as 10⁹ for the 2-K⁺ and 3-Cs⁺ systems. Using UVtitration of potassium picrate with 2 in THF, thecomplex was found to have a structure of a completelyencapsulated guest in the host. In transportexperiments, the bis(crown ether)s showed nosignificant selectivity pattern compared withextraction results, again implying the strongcomplexation of bis(crown ether)s. Ion-selectiveelectrode studies also demonstrated that the selectiveionophoric properties of 2 toward K⁺ werereminiscent of the natural antibiotic valinomycinexcept for a somewhat slow response.     

Solid-phase synthesis of the 2-aminobenzoxazole library using thioether linkage as the safety-catch linker

An efficient solid-phase methodology has been developed for the synthesis of 2-aminobenzoxazole derivatives. The key step in this procedure involves preparation of polymer-bound 2-mercaptobenzoxazole resins 3 by reaction of the Merrifield resin with 2-aminophenols and CS(2) in the presence of DIC in MeCN. Oxidation of the resulting resins followed by treatment with amines gives the desired 2-aminobenzoxazole products 5. Further diversification can be introduced to the key resin 11, derived from the nitro group containing resin 3c. This process produces the corresponding amine, which upon reaction with acid chlorides and isocyanates can be used to generate various 6-functionalized 2-aminobenzoxazole analogues 13 and 15.