Analysis of Azithromycin in Human Plasma by LC–MS–MS

A simple sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic–tandem mass spectrometric method was developed and validated for the quantification of azithromycin in human plasma. Roxithromycin was used as the internal standard. The chromatographic separation was performed on a SunFire C18, 50 mm × 2.1, 3.5 μm column at 30 °C with mobile phase consisted of 1.54 g ammonium acetate, 250 mL water, 570 mL acetonitrile, 180 mL methanol and 0.6 mL glacial acetic acid. Flow rate was 0.2 mL min⁻¹. The work-up procedure involved a liquid–liquid extraction of the compounds. Mass spectrometric data were acquired in single ion monitoring. MRM mode of the ions 749.58 > 591.6 and 837.64 > 158.2 for azithromycin and roxithromycin, respectively. The method was validated in the concentration range of 2–1,000 ng mL⁻¹. Absolute recovery of azithromycin was 81.97%. Retention time for azithromycin was 0.9 and 1.1 min for roxithromycin. The run time was 2 min. This method was found suitable to analyse human plasma samples for application in pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, bioavailability/bioequivalance studies.

     

A comparison of electron ionization mass spectra obtained at 70 eV,low electron energies,and with cold EI and their NIST library identification probabilities

Electron ionization (EI) mass spectra of 46 compounds from several different compound classes were measured. Their molecular ion abundances were compared as obtained with 70‐eV EI, with low eV EI (such as 14 eV), and with EI mass spectra of vibrationally cold molecules in supersonic molecular beams (Cold EI). We further compared these mass spectra in their National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library identification probabilities. We found that

1. Low eV EI is not a soft ionization method, and it has little or no influence on the molecular ion relative abundances for large molecules and those with weak or no molecular ions.
2. Low eV EI for compounds with abundant or dominant molecular ions in their 70 eV mass spectra results in the reduction of low mass fragment ions abundances thereby reducing their NIST library identification probabilities thus rarely justifies its use in real‐world applications.
3. Cold EI significantly enhances the relative abundance of the molecular ions particularly for large compounds; yet, it retains the low mass fragment ions; hence, Cold EI mass spectra can be effectively identified by the NIST library.
4. Different standard EI ion sources provide different 70 eV EI mass spectra. Among the Agilent technologies ion sources, the “Extractor” exhibits relatively abundant molecular ions compared with the “Inert” ion source, while the “High efficiency source” (HES) provides mass spectra with depleted molecular ions compared with the “Inert” ion source or NIST library mass spectra.

These conclusions are demonstrated and supported by experimental data in nine figures and two tables.     

A Comment on Change of Nusselt Number Sign in a Channel Flow Filled by a Fluid-Saturated Porous Medium with Constant Heat Flux Boundary Conditions

The aim of this Letter is to show that, the Nusselt number sign might be changed without changing of heat transfer direction at the wall of channels, even for flows without viscous dissipation.     

Electrochemical Biosensor Design with Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube to Display DNA-Schiff Base Interaction

This paper demonstrates a Schiff base i. e. 5-(diethylamino)-2-((2,6-diethylphenylimino)methyl)phenol (5-DDMP) that was sensed by DNA biosensor. dsDNA was immobilized onto GCE modified with functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes to prepare a biosensor. The efficiency of dsDNA biosensor was determined and binding of 5-DDMP with dsDNA was searched by UV-vis spectrophotometry and differential pulse voltammetry. Molecular docking simulations between 5-DDMP and dsDNA were explored and as a result, a hydrogen bond and a π-π contact were observed between 5-DDMP and deoxyguanosine base (dG22) of the strand B, deoxyadenosine base (dA5) of the strand A, respectively. These studies could be useful for new anticancer drug design and development.     

Ultrasound-assisted ozone bleaching of cotton

In this study, the effects of ultrasound on ozone treatment processes for bleaching cotton fabrics were investigated and compared with the conventional hydrogen peroxide bleaching process (60 °C over 90 min). Two ultrasonic + ozone treatments of cotton fabric samples were carried out: (1) ozone in an ultrasonic homogenizer (UH) and (2) ozone in an ultrasonic bath. Ozone dosages, temperature and time variations were determined with both ozone-ultrasonic bleaching processes. Whiteness, yellowness, weight, tensile strength properties, FTIR (ATR) spectra and visual appearance, via scanning electron microscopy of treated cotton fabrics as well as chemical oxygen demand (COD) of bleaching effluents, were investigated. It was concluded that the ozone + UH process, conducted for 30 min at 30 °C, produced closely equivalent values of cotton fabric whiteness and yellowness to the classic peroxide bleaching process, with slightly less weight loss, dramatically less COD in the process effluent (29 mg/l for ozone-UH vs. 4,316 mg/l for classical peroxide treatment), and without causing any adverse and/or detrimental effects on loss of fabric strength or elongation of the cotton fabrics. The ozone-UH process also leads to time and energy savings with much less environmental impact. Consequently, the combination of ozonation plus UH carried out at 30 °C over 30 min can be used successfully for cotton bleaching instead of the classic hydrogen peroxide bleaching process.     

Some Solutions for a Class of Singular Equations

In this paper we obtain all solutions which depend only on r for a class of partial differential equations of higher order with singular coefficients.     

A new efficient presentation for PSL(2,5) and the structure of the groups G(3,m,n)

G(3, m, n) is the group presented by . In this paper, we study the structure of G(3, m, n). We also give a new efficient presentation for the Projective Special Linear group PSL(2, 5) and in particular we prove that PSL(2, 5) is isomorphic to G(3, m, n) under certain conditions.     

A numerical investigation of energy dissipation with a shallow depth sloshing absorber

A liquid sloshing absorber consists of a container, partially filled with liquid. The absorber is attached to the structure to be controlled, and relies on the structure’s motion to excite the liquid. Consequently, a sloshing wave is produced at the liquid free surface within the absorber, possessing energy dissipative qualities. The behaviour of liquid sloshing absorbers has been well documented, although their use in structural control applications has attracted considerably less attention.     

Reconstruction and crosstalk of protein-protein interaction networks of Wnt and Hedgehog signaling in Drosophila melanogaster

In the last few years, researchers have an intense interest in the evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways which have crucial roles during embryonic development. The most intriguing factor of this interest is that malfunctioning of these signaling pathways (Hedgehog, Notch, Wnt etc.) leads to several human diseases, especially to cancer. This study deals with the β-catenin dependent branch of Wnt signaling and the Hedgehog signaling pathways which offer potential targeting points for cancer drug development. The identification of all proteins functioning in these signaling networks is crucial for the efforts of preventing tumor formation. Here, through integration of protein-protein interaction data and Gene Ontology annotations, Wnt/β-catenin and Hedgehog signaling networks consisting of proteins that have statistically high probability of being biologically related to these signaling pathways were reconstructed in Drosophila melanogaster. Next, by the structural network analyses, the crucial components functioning in these pathways were identified. The proteins Arm, Frizzled receptors (Fz and Fz2), Arr, Apc, Axn, Ci and Ptc were detected as the key proteins in these networks. Futhermore, the hub protein Mer having tumor suppressor function may be proposed as a putative drug target for cancer and deserves further investigation via experimental methods. Finally, the crosstalk analysis between the reconstructed networks reveals that these two signaling networks crosstalk to each other.