Interactions of ADP-stimulated human platelets with PEGylated polystyrene substrates prepared by surface amidation

A study primarily focused on the interactions between ADP-stimulated human platelets and PEGylated polystyrene substrates is described in this paper. The platelet–surface interactions were investigated using colorimetric acid phosphatase assay. Two types of amine-containing polymeric hydrogel materials based on poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), H₂N–PEG–OCH₃ and H₂N–PEG–NH₂, were used to PEGylate polystyrene surfaces derivatized with maleic anhydride by amidation at alkaline pH. In addition, comparative studies using surfaces non-covalently adsorbed by bovine serum albumin (BSA) or fibrinogen (Fg) were also conducted. The assay results showed that no significant platelet adhesion was observed when PEGylated surfaces or BSA-coated surfaces were exposed to unstimulated gel-filtered platelets (GFP). However, upon ADP-stimulation, platelet adhesion to the surfaces under investigation in this study all increased to varying degrees. Most importantly, the results showed that polystyrene surfaces PEGylated using H₂N–PEG–NH₂ were most effective in resisting platelet adhesion when assays were performed using ADP-stimulated GFP. By PEGylating the surfaces of polystyrene microtiter wells via the amidation reaction described in this paper, it is demonstrated that (i) higher degree of surface PEGylation is favored at more alkaline pH and (ii) polystyrene substrates capable of more effectively resisting the adhesion of ADP-stimulated GFP can be obtained by the PEGylation reaction carried out at pH 9.1 using H₂N–PEG–NH₂.     

Embedding procedure for ab initio correlation calculations in group II metals

In order to apply ab initio wave-function-based correlation methods to metals, it is desirable to split the calculation into a mean-field part and a correlation part. Whereas the mean-field part (here Hartree-Fock) is performed in the extended periodic system, it is necessary to use for the correlation part local wave-function-based correlation methods in finite fragments of the solid. For these finite entities it is necessary to construct an embedding. The authors suggest an embedding scheme which has itself no metallic character but can mimic the metal in the internal region, where the atoms are correlated. With this embedding it is also possible to localize the metallic orbitals in the central part. The long-range nonadditive contributions of metallicity and correlation are treated with the method of increments. In this paper they present different ways to construct such an embedding and discuss the influence of the embedding on the correlation energy of the solid.     

Fisher zeros in the Kallen–Lehmann approach to 3D Ising model

The distribution of the Fisher zeros in the Kallen–Lehmann approach to three-dimensional Ising model is studied. It is argued that the presence of a non-trivial angle (a cusp) in the distribution of zeros in the complex temperatures plane near the physical singularity is realized through a strong breaking of the 2D Ising self-duality. Remarkably, the realization of the cusp in the Fisher distribution ultimately leads to an improvement of the results of the Kallen–Lehmann ansatz. In fact, excellent agreement with Monte Carlo predictions both at high and at low temperatures is observed. Besides, agreement between both approaches is found for the predictions of the critical exponent α   and of the universal amplitude ratio Δ=A₊/A₋$\Delta =A_{+}/A_{-}$, within the 3.5% and 7% of the Monte Carlo predictions, respectively.     

Simple and precise detection of lipid compounds present within liposomal formulations using a charged aerosol detector

In recent decades the use of liposomal preparations as drug delivery systems has become very attractive in pharmaceutical development. Therefore, thorough characterization and quantification of the lipids which form liposomes is wished from both investigators and regulatory authorities when the application in humans is being considered. In this study a new HPLC method for the detection of lipids in liposomal formulations was established using corona charged aerosol detection (CAD) which has the advantage to be independent of the chemical properties of the analytes. The superiority of this method over UV detection was demonstrated. Compared to UV detection no absorption effects of the organic solvent in the mobile phase interfering with the lipid signals were observed with CAD. CAD showed good linearity (R² > 0.990) for all liposomal compounds. The acceptance criteria for precision including repeatability were met. The average recovery for each of the excipients of the liposomal formulation was in the range of 90.0–110%.     

Simultaneous determination of triclosan,triclocarban, and transformation products of triclocarban in aqueous samples using solid‐phase micro‐extraction‐HPLC‐MS/MS

The presence of triclosan and triclocarban, two endocrine‐disrupting chemicals and antimicrobial agents, and transformation products of triclocarban, 1,3‐di(phenyl)urea, 1,3‐bis(4‐chlorophenyl)urea and 1,3‐bis(3,4‐dichlorophenyl)urea, in tap water, treated household drinking water, bottled water, and river water samples were investigated using solid‐phase micro‐extraction coupled with‐HPLC‐MS/MS, a rapid, green, and sensitive method. Factors influencing the quantity of the analytes extracted onto the solid‐phase micro‐extraction fiber, such as addition of salt, sample pH, extraction time, desorption time, and sample volume, were optimized using solid‐phase micro‐extraction‐HPLC‐MS/MS. The results showed that the method gave satisfactory sensitivities and precisions for analyzing sub‐part‐per‐trillion levels of triclosan, triclocarban, and transformation products of triclocarban in samples collected locally. The recoveries of analytes ranged from 97 to 107% for deionized water samples, and 99 to 110% for river water samples, and limits of detection were in the range of 0.32–3.44 and 0.38–4.67 ng/L for deionized water and river water samples, respectively. On average, the daily consumption of triclosan and triclocarban by an adult by consuming 2 liters of different types of drinking water were estimated to be in the range of 6.13–425 ng/day as a result of the concentrations of triclosan and triclocarban measured in this study.     

Interfacing ASE and HPLC for the Determination of PAH in Soil

A method is developed to couple an accelerated solvent extraction system (ASE) with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the analysis of PAH in soil samples. The resolution of HPLC is well maintained while the advantages of ASE, fast extraction, less solvent consumption and ease of operation,are well expressed. The precision and accuracy of this method are verified by a series of analysis of reference material and the precision of retention from multiple injection indicates minimum loss of chromatographic resolution by the interface of this technique. Detection limits for the studied PAH range from 0.07 ng/Kg to 0.21 ng/Kg with fluorescence detector.     

Some string matching problems from Bioinformatics which still need better solutions

Bioinformatics, the discipline which studies the computational problems arising from molecular biology, poses many interesting problems to the string searching community. We will describe two problems arising from Bioinformatics, their preliminary solutions, and the more general problem that they pose. The first problem is searching for α-helices in protein sequences. This particular instance of the search is based on matching of hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity. We find an algorithm which is linear in the sequence length for fixed helix length and is O(nlogn) for any helix length. The second problem is on matching probabilistic sequences against sequences or against other probabilistic sequences. In both cases we derive efficient formulas to compute scores according to a Markovian model of evolution.     

Produit de bivecteurs et quaternions complexes

First we calculate the product of two bivectors in vectorial spaceR(p, q) (p andq are integers such thatp+q=n). Second we prove that this product is a quaternion forR(3, 0) and we generalize to finite number of bivectors. Third we prove that this product is a biquaternion forR(1, 3) and we genaralize in the same way. Fourth we prove that some complex quaternions can be connected with real Clifford algebra by choosing correctly the usual imaginary.      

Etudes photochimiques en série hétérocyclique. V. Mise en évidence d'oxazoles par photooxydation de thiazoles

Formation of oxazoles as by-products of photooxydation of thiazoles In the presence of air, light (high pressure mercury lamp) and iodine as sensitizer, benzene solution of arylthiazoles 2 , 3 and 13 (see scheme 1) were converted into a mixture of photoisomers and aryloxazoles (see scheme 2). Upon shorter times of irradiation under oxygen in chloroform containing methylene blue as a sensitizer 2,4,5-triphenylthiazole (7) is converted in 2,4,5-triphenyloxazole. Under usual photooxidation conditions, in methanol as solvent, most of arylthiazoles studied gave a mixture of nitriles, amides, acids esters and diketones. In the case of thiazole 7 , the corresponding oxazole was also found. A possible mechanism for the photochemical oxidation of arylthiazoles to aryloxazoles, via 2,5- and 4,5-endo-peroxides, may be proposed (see schemes 5 and 6).