Development of a bioanalytical method for the quantification of sinococuline in human plasma and its application in phase I clinical pharmacokinetic study

A selective, highly sensitive, precise, and novel bioanalytical method has been developed and validated to quantify sinococuline, an active constituent present in the phytopharmaceutical drug product containing Cocculus hirsutus plant extract, in vivo. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Luna Omega Polar-C18 bonded analytical column maintained at 45°C. The isocratic mobile phase consisted of methanol and ammonium formate buffer (60:40, v/v) at acidic pH with a low flow rate of 0.250 mL/min. Detection was performed on an API 4000 mass spectrometer using electrospray ionization in positive polarity and multiple reaction monitoring mode to achieve a lower limit of quantification of 1.50 ng/mL. Excellent accuracy and precision were obtained after extracting the analyte from plasma samples using a chemical analogue as an internal standard in the absence of an isotope-labeled compound. The extraction efficacy was evidenced from recovery study, and the analyte was found to be stable in plasma. Validation study demonstrated linearity with coefficient of correlation, r ≥ 0.99, and minimal matrix effect. This bioanalytical method was successfully applied to evaluate pharmacokinetic parameters of sinococuline from a phase I clinical trial of an aqueous extract of C. hirsutus in healthy human volunteers.     

Polarized Lidar Reflectance Measurements of Vegetation at Near-Infrared and Green Wavelengths

There is growing interest in the use of lidar for remote sensing of vegetation owing to the emergence of reliable and rugged lasers and highly sensitive detectors. Lidar remote sensing has a distinct advantage over conventional techniques in vegetation remote sensing due to its capability for three-dimensional characterization of vegetative targets. The Multiwavelength Airborne Polarimetric Lidar (MAPL) system was developed primarily for vegetation remote sensing applications from an airborne platform of up to 1,000 -m altitude. The lidar system has full waveform capture and polarimetric measurement capability at two wavelengths in the near-infrared (1064 nm) and the green (532 nm) spectral regions. This study presents preliminary ground-based lidar reflectance measurements on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees under fully foliated conditions with a view towards tree species discrimination. Variations in the reflectance characteristics of selected deciduous trees under unfoliated and fully foliated conditions were also investigated. Our study reveals distinct differences in the reflectance characteristics of various trees.     

Intermittency in the Slow Particle Emission During Hadron–Nucleus Interactions

The study of the angular distribution of slow particles during high energy hadron-nucleus interaction indicates that emission of slow particles takes place from a thermally non-equilibrated system. This evidence has come out from the presence of intermittency - a phenomenon that reveals a fractal structure and represents a self-similarity in the particle production process. Hence, this study highlights inadequacy of cascade-evaporation model and advocates the need of its refinement.     

Water-induced stabilization of ZnS nanoparticles

Surface states become important in particles with reduced size as the surface to volume ratio increases. Here we provide direct evidence of water-induced structure buildup and stabilization of nanocrystalline ZnS. The ZnS nanoparticles, prepared employing a non-equilibrium route, provide an ideal platform to investigate microscopic details of water induced structural transformation and thus demonstrate the role of S-H interactions in the time-evolution of crystalline behaviour in these particles. The colossal changes observed make these materials ideal for water sensing.     

Working group report: Neutrino and astroparticle physics

This is the report of neutrino and astroparticle physics working group at WHEPP-7. Discussions and work on CP violation in long baseline neutrino experiments, ultra high energy neutrinos, supernova neutrinos and water Cerenkov detectors are discussed.     

Preconcentration and recovery of uranium and thorium from Indian monazite sand by using a modified fly ash bed

Adsorption of uranium, as UO₂ ²⁺, and thorium, as Th⁴⁺, has been studied using a modified fly ash bed. Effects of pH and various ions like La³⁺, Fe³⁺, Ce⁴⁺, SiO₃ ^2- etc., have been examined. Synthetic mixtures of UO₂ ²⁺ and Th⁴⁺ in different concentrations were passed through the bed and eluted separately with various selective reagents viz. ammonium carbonate, sodium carbonate and acetic acid-sodium hydroxide buffer. Separations of these elements at ppm level are shown to be very effective. The separation of uranium and thorium in the presence of lanthanides in monazite sand has been studied successfully. In the analysis of monazite sand, the oxalate precipitation has been avoided. The method is simple and of very low cost. The modified fly ash bed can also be used to remove uranium from contaminated water.     

Invariants for normal completely positive maps on the hyperfinite II1 factor

We investigate certain classes of normal completely positive (CP) maps on the hyperfinite II₁ factorA. Using the representation theory of a suitable irrational rotation algebra, we propose some computable invariants for such CP maps. Dedicated to Professor K B Sinha     

Ion Beam Driven Ion Cyclotron Double Layers

We present here a self consistent theory of small amplitude double layers associated with electrostatic ion cyclotron waves in a plasma containing hot electrons, cold ions and traversed by an ion beam. It has been shown that compressive type of double layers solution exists when θ_b (beam temperature) < α_b (beam concentration) < 1.