Nitriding molybdenum： Effects of duration and fill gas pressure when using lO0-Hz pulse DC discharge technique

Molybdenum is nitrided by a 100-Hz pulsed DC glow discharge technique for various time durations and fill gas pressures to study the effects on the surface properties of molybdenum. X-ray diffractometry （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and atomic force microscopy （AFM） are used for the structural and morphological analysis of the nitrided layers. Vickers＇ microhardness tester is utilized to investigate surface microhardness. Phase analysis shows the formation of more molybdenum nitride molecules for longer nitriding durations at fill gas pressures of 2 mbar and 3 mbar （1 bar = 105 Pa）. A considerable increase in surface microhardness （approximately by a factor of 2） is observed for longer duration （10 h） and 2-mbar pressure. Longer duration （10 h） and 2-mbar fill gas pressure favors the formation of homogeneous, smooth, hard layers by the incorporation of more nitrogen.     

Small amplitude ion-acoustic double layers with cold electron beam and q-nonextensive electrons

Small amplitude ion-acoustic double layers in an unmagnetized and collisionless plasma consisting of cold positive ions, q-nonextensive electrons, and a cold electron beam are investigated. Small amplitude double layer solution is obtained by expanding the Sagdeev potential truncated method. The effects of entropic index q, speed and density of cold electron beam on double layer structures are discussed.     

Stability indicating HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of moxifloxacin and prednisolone in pharmaceutical formulations

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: A simple, specific, and fast stability indicating reverse phase liquid chromatographic method was established for instantaneous determination of moxifloxacin and prednisolone in bulk drugs and pharmaceutical formulations. RESULTS: Optimum chromatographic separations among the moxifloxacin, prednisolone and stressinduced degradation products were achieved within 10 minutes by use of BDS Hypersil C8 column (250 X 4.6 mm, 5 mum) as stationary phase with mobile phase consisted of a mixture of phosphate buffer (18 mM) containing 0.1% (v/v) triethylamine, at pH 2.8 (adjusted with dilute phosphoric acid) and methanol (38:62 v/v) at a flow rate of 1.5 mL min-1. Detection was performed at 254 nm using diode array detector. The method was validated in accordance with ICH guidelines. Response was a linear function of concentrations over the range of 20-80 mug mL-1 for moxifloxacin (r2 [greater than or equal to] 0.998) and 40-160 mug mL-1 for prednisolone (r2 [greater than or equal to] 0.998). The method was resulted in good separation of both the analytes and degradation products with acceptable tailing and resolution. The peak purity index for both the analytes after all types of stress conditions was [greater than or equal to] 0.9999 indicated a complete separation of both the analyte peaks from degradation products. The method can therefore, be regarded as stabilityindicating. CONCLUSIONS: The developed method can be applied successfully for simultaneous determination of moxifloxacin and prednisolone in pharmaceutical formulations and their stability studies.     

Two new antimicrobial metabolites from the endophytic fungus, Seimatosporium sp

Two new acaranoic acids, named seimatoporic acid A and B (1, and 2), together with six known compounds, R-(-)-mellein (3), cis-4-hydroxymellein (4), trans-4-hydroxymellein (5), 4R-hydroxy-5-methylmellein (6), (-)-5-hydroxymethylmellein (7), and ergosterol (8) were isolated from an endophytic fungus, Seimatosporium sp, by a bioassay-guided procedure. The structures of the new compounds have been assigned from analysis of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra, DEPT, and by 2D COSY, HMQC, HMBC and NOESY experiments. A mixture of compounds 1 and 2 showed strong antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea, Septoria tritici, and Pyricularia oryzae.     

Characterization of brush type discharge electrodes and impact of enhanced corona discharge on operation of electrostatic precipitators

This project presents the results of investigation of current/voltage characteristics of brush type discharge electrodes (BTDE) in tube type electrostatic precipitators and the effect on operation. Experimental investigations were conducted with discharge electrodes of different wire diameter and different brush diameter. The effect of electrode geometry on current/voltage behavior was recorded. Corona current with brush type discharge electrodes was modeled and compared with experimental data. Brush type discharge electrodes produce an enhanced corona current compared with wire type discharge electrodes. Limited enhanced corona has improving effect on collection efficiency. An adjusted correlation was therefore deduced from experimentally obtained current/voltage data with BTDE.     

Enantiomeric resolution of ibuprofen and flurbiprofen in human plasma by SPE-chiral HPLC methods

Chiral analysis of profens in human plasma is an important area of research due to different pharmaceutical activities of their enantiomers. The solid phase extraction of ibuprofen and flurbiprofen from human plasma was carried out on C18 cartridges by using phosphate buffer (50 mM, pH 6.0) followed by elution with methanol. Chiral-HPLC was performed on AmyCoat RP (150 mm x 46 mm, 3 μm particle size) column by using different combinations of water-acetonitrile-trifluoro acetic acid at 1.5 mLmin-1 flow rate. The detection was achieved at 236 and 254 nm for ibuprofen and flurbiprofen, respectively with 27±1°C as working temperature. The chromatographic parameters i.e. retention (k), separation (α) and resolution (Rs) factors ranged from 4.54-14.42, 1.10-1.30 and 1.01-1.49, respectively. The binding differences of enantiomers of ibuprofen and flurbiprofen were 4.4 and 5.2, respectively. These values suggest that S-(+)- enantiomer of flurbiprofen is more active than ibuprofen due to low enantiomeric difference of the later drug. The developed SPE-Chiral HPLC methods were validated, which are selective, efficient and reproducible.     

Comparison of the site occupancies determined by combined Rietveld refinement and density functional theory calculations: example of the ternary Mo-Ni-Re σ phase

The site occupancies of the Mo-Ni-Re σ phase have been studied as a function of the composition in the ternary homogeneity domain by both experimental measurements and calculations. Because of the possible simultaneous occupancy of three elements on the five sites of the crystal structure, the experimental determination of the site occupancies was achieved by using combined Rietveld refinement of X-ray and neutron diffraction data, whereas calculation of the site occupancies was carried out by using the density functional theory results of every ordered (i.e., 3(5) = 243) configuration appearing in the ternary system. A comparison of the experimental and calculation results showed good agreement, which suggests that the topologically close-packed phases, such as the σ phase, could be described by the Bragg-Williams approximation (i.e., ignoring the short-range-order contributions). On the other hand, the atomic distribution on different crystallographic sites of the Mo-Ni-Re σ phase was found to be governed by the atomic sizes. Ni, having the smallest atomic size, showed a preference for low-coordination-number (CN) sites, whereas Mo, being the largest in atomic size, preferred occupying high-CN sites. However, the preference of Re, having intermediate atomic size, varied depending on the composition, and a clear reversal in the preference of Re as a function of the composition was evidenced in both the calculated and experimental site-occupancy results.     

Determination of tryptophan in raw materials, rat brain and human plasma by RP-HPLC technique

This paper describes tryptophan (TRP) estimation in raw human plasma and rat brain by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Estimation was carried out on a Purospher STAR C18 column using water-acetonitrile (90:10 v/v, at pH 2.7) mixture at a rate of 1.5 mL/min as mobile phase. Eluents were monitored at 273 nm by an ultraviolet detector. The method was linear (R(2) > 0.999), precise (intra-day and inter-day precision <2%) in the range of 0.25-20 μg/mL. The detection and quantification limits were 0.0144 μg/mL and 0.0437 μg/mL, respectively. In human plasma, Day 1 and Day 2 precision were 0.054-2.29% and 1.66-3.7%; whereas precisions in rat brain were 1.23-2.3% and 0.677-4.2%, respectively. The method was applied to study TRP level in human smokers and in arthritic rat brain. An efficient RP-HPLC method was developed for TRP determination that worked for clinical and research purposes.