Thermal behavior of some antihistamines

Thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized light thermal microscopy (PLTM), as well as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to study the thermal behavior and the chemical structure of cimetidine, famotidine, ranitidine-HCl, and nizatidine. The TG–DSC curves show that the famotidine and ranitidine-HCl suffer decomposition during melting and they are thermally less stable in comparison with cimetidine and nizatidine, the latter being the most stable of all the drugs studied in this study. The DSC curves of famotidine and ranitidine-HCl show exothermic peaks immediately after the melting, confirming the occurrence of thermal decomposition. The DSC curves also show that the cimetidine and nizatidine have some thermal stability after melting. The thermal events shown in the PLTM images are consistent with the results shown in the TG–DSC and DSC curves. The XRD patterns show that the cimetidine and famotidine are less crystalline compared with ranitidine-HCl and nizatidine. The theoretical FTIR bands are in agreement with those obtained experimentally, and in some cases, no difference is observed between the theoretical and experimental values, even being identical in one of the cases.     

Harmonized protocol for the design and interpretation of collaborative studies

Representatives of twenty international organizations have agreed on a harmonized protocol for the design of collaborative studies that utilizes at least eight laboratories, and five materials. Within-laboratory repeatability is obtained preferably by using split-level and/or blind duplicate test samples. The components of variance are obtained by one-way analysis of variance after removal of outliers by the Cochran extreme variance test and the Grubbs extreme value tests at a probability level of 0.01. Estimates of the mean, relative standard deviations (within- and between-laboratories), and repeatability and reproducibility values are reported before and after removal of outliers.     

Thermal analysis characterization of PAAm-<Emphasis Type="Italic">co</Emphasis>-MC hydrogels

This paper reports the thermal characterization of polyacrylamide-co-methylcellulose hydrogels and the constituent monomers (acrylamide and methylcellulose). Polymeric materials can be used to produce hydrogels, which can be natural, synthetic, or a mixture. The hydrogels described here were obtained by free radical polymerization, in the presence of N,N′-methylene-bis-acrylamide as a cross-linker agent. Four acrylamide concentrations were used for the synthesis of hydrogels: 3.6, 7.2, 14.7, and 21.7% (w/v). The materials so obtained were analyzed by TG, DTG, DSC, and FT-IR. The TG curves of acrylamide and methylcellulose showed three mass loss events. In DSC curves, the acrylamide exhibited one melting peak at 84.5 °C, and methylcellulose indicated one exothermic event. Nevertheless, acrylamide was considered more stable than methylcellulose. The TG curves of the hydrogels exhibited three mass loss events, and on the DSC curves, three endothermic events were observed. It was verified that the different acrylamide proportions influenced the thermic behavior of hydrogels, and that the authors considered the 7.2% hydrogel a promising drug carrier system. The absorption bands were well defined, confirming the presence of the functional groups in the samples.     

Validation of a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect the triggering proteins and peptides for celiac disease: interlaboratory study

The performance of Gluten-Tec (EuroProxima, Arnhem, The Netherlands) was tested through an interlaboratory study in accordance with AOAC guidelines. Gluten-Tec is a competitive ELISA that detects an immunostimulatory epitope of a-gliadin in dietary food for celiacs. Fifteen laboratories, representing 14 different countries, announced their interest in taking part in this study. Of the 12 laboratories that sent the results within the established timeframe, two submitted inappropriate standard curves and were excluded from the statistical analysis. Four different food matrixes (rice-based baby food, maize bread, chocolate cake mix, and beer) were selected for preparing the test samples. Two gliadin extraction procedures were used: the conventional 60% ethanol, and a new method based on the reducing reagent dithiothreitol. The 38 samples (19 blind duplicates) tested in this study were prepared by diluting the different extracts in order to cover a wide range of gliadin levels. Both sample extraction and dilution were performed by EuroProxima; the present interlaboratory study was focused only on testing the ELISA part of the Gluten-Tec kit protocol. Repeatability values (within-laboratory variance), expressed as RSD(r) ranged from 6.2 to 25.7%, while reproducibility values (interlaboratory variance), expressed as RSD(R), ranged from 10.6 to 45.9%. Both statistical parameters were in the acceptable range of ELISAs under these conditions, and the method will be presented to the Codex Alimentarius as a preferred method for gluten analysis.     

Study of some volatile compounds evolved from the thermal decomposition of atenolol

Simultaneous thermogravimetry–differential scanning calorimetry (TG–DSC) and coupled thermogravimetry–infrared spectroscopy (TG–FTIR) analyses were used to study the antihypertensive drug atenolol. The TG–DSC curves provided information concerning the thermal stability and decomposition profiles of the compound. From the TG–FTIR coupled techniques, it was possible to identify ammonia and isopropylamine as possible volatile compounds released during the thermal decomposition of the drug.     

Thermal studies of chitin–chitosan derivatives

New poly(azo) amino-chitosan compounds were obtained from the azo coupling reaction of N-benzyl chitosan and diazonium salts. The thermal behavior of these compounds was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTG), TG coupled with a Fourier-transform infrared, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). TG/DTG curves of chitin–chitosan polymer showed two thermal events attributed to water loss and decomposition of the polysaccharide after cross-linking reactions. Thermal analysis of the poly(azo) amino-chitosan compounds showed that the decomposition temperatures decreased when compared to the starting chitin–chitosan and N-benzyl chitosan. DSC results showed an agreement with the TG/DTG analyses. Thermal behavior of poly(azo) amino-chitosans suggest that these compounds could be considered as potential thermal sensors.     

Quantitation of 35S promoter in maize DNA extracts from genetically modified organisms using real-time polymerase chain reaction, part 2: interlaboratory study

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Network of GMO Working Laboratories have proposed development of a modular strategy for stepwise validation of complex analytical techniques. When applied to the quantitation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food products, the instrumental quantitation step of the technique is separately validated from the DNA extraction step to better control the sources of uncertainty and facilitate the validation of GMO-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. This paper presents the results of an interlaboratory study on the quantitation step of the method standardized by CEN for the detection of a regulatory element commonly inserted in GMO maize-based foods. This is focused on the quantitation of P35S promoter through using the quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR). Fifteen French laboratories participated in the interlaboratory study of the P35S quantitation operating procedure on DNA extract samples using either the thermal cycler ABI Prism 7700 (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) or Light Cycler (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, IN). Attention was focused on DNA extract samples used to calibrate the method and unknown extract samples. Data were processed according to the recommendations of ISO 5725 standard. Performance criteria, obtained using the robust algorithm, were compared to the classic data processing after rejection of outliers by the Cochran and Grubbs tests. Two laboratories were detected as outliers by the Grubbs test. The robust precision criteria gave values between the classical values estimated before and after rejection of the outliers. Using the robust method, the relative expanded uncertainty by the quantitation method is about 20% for a 1% Bt176 content, whereas it can reach 40% for a 0.1% Bt176. The performances of the quantitation assay are relevant to the application of the European regulation, which has an accepted tolerance interval of about +/-50%. These data were fitted to a power model (r2 = 0.96). Thanks to this model, it is possible to propose an estimation of uncertainty of the QRT-PCR quantitation step and an uncertainty budget depending on the analytical conditions.     

六羟基化合物为骨架的高分子固-固相变材料的合成与性能

分别使用三种含6个羟基的化合物(山梨醇、双季戊四醇和肌醇)作为分子骨架,聚乙二醇(PEG)作为相变功能链,4,4'-二苯基甲烷二异氰酸酯(MDI)为交联剂,合成了3种具有不同交联结构的新型固-固相变储能材料。通过傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT IR)、X-射线衍射(XRD)、偏光显微镜(POM)、示差扫描量热法(DSC)和热重量分析法(TG)分别对合成材料的分子结构、结晶性能、相变行为和热稳定性进行了研究。结果显示,所制备的材料在30~70℃温度范围内具有典型的固-固相变特性,其升温和冷却过程的相变焓最高可达107.5J/g和102.9J/g。此外,通过热重分析发现所合成材料具有较好的可重复使用性和热稳定性。因此,合成的新型固-固相变材料在热能储存和控温领域具有巨大的应用潜力。     

液晶性芳族共聚酯的DSC研究

<正> 近年来热致液晶性的全芳族共聚酯的研究受到了人们的极大的关注,某些具有刚性主链和主链上包含介晶段的聚酯能显示出热致液晶性,这种高聚物在熔融态表现出自发取向的倾向,通过简单熔融纺丝有希望制备出高强、高模纤维。     

Thermal stability of metronidazole drug and tablets

TG and DSC data were used to determine the thermal parameters of metronidazole drug and tablets. Three tablets A, B and C were analysed. The TG curves of metronidazole drug and tablets A and B displayed five and C four thermal decomposition processes, respectively. Analysis of the DSC data pointed to chemical interactions between metronidazole drug and the excipients of tablets, suggested by alterations in the melting point of metronidazole. The rate constants obtained from the isothermal TG data presents following sequence of the thermal stability: tablet A>tablet C>metronidazole drug>tablet B. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermal characterization of indinavir sulfate using TG,DSC and DSC-photovisual

The object of the present work is to study the thermal characteristics of indinavir sulfate and to evaluate the quality of the raw materials. Indinavir A, B, C and reference samples were obtained from different suppliers and submitted to TG, DSC and DSC-photovisual analyses. TG/DTG curves indicated a desolvation and dehydration processes and were confirmed by DSC. According to the DSC curves the fusion took place at about 141–142°C for indinavir C and Reference sample B and about 146–149°C for the others. DSC-photovisual showed insoluble raw materials for indinavir C at 160°C. Indinavir sulfate is highly hygroscopic drug which requires attention during storage and manufacture by pharmaceutical industry.     

Thermal investigation of heavy crude oil by simultaneous TG–DSC–FTIR and EDXRF

Present study investigates thermal behavior of two heavy crude oils with different °API values by simultaneous thermogravimetry–differential scanning calorimetry–fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG–DSC–FTIR), and an evaluation of the chemical element levels present in the oils’ ashes was done by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. TG and DSC curves were obtained for two samples in nitrogen atmosphere. Among all inorganic components evaluated, the highest concentration in the two oils was SO₃. Thus this study may contribute to a better understanding of the thermal behavior of heavy crude oils and their composition.     

Use of an excess variance approach for the certification of reference materials by interlaboratory comparison

In the nuclear field, the accuracy and comparability of analytical results are crucial to insure correct accountancy, good process control and safe operational conditions. All of these require reliable measurements based on reference materials whose certified values must be obtained by robust metrological approaches according to the requirements of ISO guides 34 and 35. The data processing of the characterization step is one of the key steps of a reference material production process. Among several methods, the use of interlaboratory comparison results for reference material certification is very common. The DerSimonian and Laird excess variance approach, described and implemented in this paper, is a simple and efficient method for the data processing of interlaboratory comparison results for reference material certification. By taking into account not only the laboratory uncertainties but also the spread of the individual results into the calculation of the weighted mean, this approach minimizes the risk to get biased certified values in the case where one or several laboratories either underestimate their measurement uncertainties or do not identify all measurement biases. This statistical method has been applied to a new CETAMA plutonium reference material certified by interlaboratory comparison and has been compared to the classical weighted mean approach described in ISO Guide 35. This paper shows the benefits of using an “excess variance” approach for the certification of reference material by interlaboratory comparison.     

Thermal analysis of polymer networks consisting of different homopolymers

TG and DSC were carried out on PMAA-net-POTM in order to elucidate the relation between the heterogeneity and the thermal changes; moreover, TG and DSC were carried out on PPOTMDM and PMAA to compare the results. The onset temperature in the last stage in the TG curve of PMAA-net-POTM increases as the concentrations of DMF and POTMDM in the polymerization decrease. This is explained in terms of plasticizers effects. A single peak due to fusion of POTM chains appears in the DSC curves of most copolymers. However, it is not seen in the DSC curves of copolymers with high heterogeneity. This is explained in terms of the freezing of POTM chains by frozen heterogeneous moieties.     

Functional nonparametric classification of wood species from thermal data

In this study, thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curves, obtained by means of a simultaneous TG/DSC analyzer, and statistical functional nonparametric methods are used to classify different wood species. The temperature ranges, where the highest probability of correct classification is reached, are also computed. As each observation is a curve, a nonparametric functional discriminant technique based on the Bayes rule and the Nadaraya–Watson regression estimator is used. It assigns a future observation to the highest probability predefined class (supervised classification). The smoothing parameter needed in this nonparametric method is selected according to the cross-validation technique. The method proposed is applied to a sample of 49 wood items (7 per wood class) and also to classify between hardwoods and softwoods. In all the cases, the samples have been successfully classified, obtaining better results with the TG curves. The results are compared with those obtained with other nonparametric methods based on boosting algorithm. A discussion about the relation of the obtained results with the referenced wood component degradation temperature ranks is presented.     

Application of thermal analysis to the study of antituberculosis drugs–excipient compatibility

First-line drugs (rifampicin, RIF; isoniazid, INH; ethambutol, ETA; and pyrazinamide, PZA) recommended in conventional treatment of tuberculosis were analyzed in 1:1 w/w binary mixtures with microcrystalline cellulose MC 101 (CEL) and lactose supertab^® (LAC) by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and Fourier transformed infrared analysis (FTIR) as part of development of fixed dose combination (FDC) tablets. Evidence of interaction between drug and pharmaceutical excipients was supposed when peaks disappearance or shifting were observed on DTA and DSC curves, as well as decreasing of decomposition temperature onset and TG profiles, comparing to pure species data submitted to the same conditions. LAC was showed to interact with RIF (absence of drug fusion and recrystallization events on DSC/DTA curves); INH (thermal events of the mixtures different from those observed for drug and excipient pure in DSC/DTA curves); PZA (decrease on drug fusion peak in DSC/DTA curves), and ETA (shift on drug onset fusion and absence of pure LAC events on DSC/DTA curves). In all cases, an important decrease on the temperature of drug decomposition was verified for the mixtures (TG analysis). However, FTIR analysis showed good correlation between theoretical and experimental drug-LAC spectra except for INH–LAC mixture, evidencing high incompatibility between these two species and suggesting that those interactions with PZA and RIF were thermally induced. No evidence of incompatibilities in CEL mixtures was observed to any of the four-studied drugs.     

A DANREF certified reference plastic for measurement of overall migration into the food simulant olive oil by single sided testing

A reference material for the determination of overall migration from a plastic coextrudate into the fatty food simulant olive oil was produced and certified in an interlaboratory study. The analyses were carried out according to the ENV 1186 standard from the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) [ 1, 2, 3] with exposure of the coextrudate to olive oil for 10 days at 40 degrees C. After an initial preliminary interlaboratory study eight laboratories participated in the certification round, and two different methods were used to obtain single sided exposure of the plastic to the oil. The certified value was determined as the mean of laboratory mean values. No outliers were found. A reference value of 8.6 mg/dm2 +/- 1.4 mg/dm2 (+/- half width of the 95% confidence interval) was obtained which is within the range relevant for the regulatory limit (10 mg/ dm2), making this reference material suitable for laboratories measuring according to the EU overall migration limit [4]. The material has been found stable over 45 months.     

The influence of different evaluation techniques on the results of interlaboratory comparisons

The influence of different evaluation techniques on the results of an interlaboratory comparison for the determination of nutrients in ground- and surface water was investigated. The outlier-test procedure was found to influence the interlaboratory standard deviations (SDs), but not the averages. It was shown that even small differences in the numbers of outliers detected can change the SD severely. Comparing the outlier-test procedures of Hampel, Grubbs and Graf-Henning, it was found that Hampel's test detected the most outliers, thus generally resulting in smaller SDs between interlaboratory comparisons. The Graf-Henning test detected the fewest outliers and its application resulted in the highest SDs of the three test procedures investigated. The comparison of different summarising indices, namely the rescaled sum of z-scores, average of absolute z-scores and average deviation showed no comparability. Possibilities to improve the comparability of interlaboratory comparisons and to minimise misunderstandings are suggested.     

Thermal and surface study of phenolic resin from cashew nut shell liquid cured by plasma treatment

In this study, phenolic resins from cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) were applied as coating on Carbon Steel 1020 samples and successfully cured by plasma treatment or with hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA). The crosslinked samples were characterized by thermal analysis using thermogravimetry (TG), derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques in order to evaluate the thermal stability of these samples, as well as understand and study the curing process. TG/DTG curves showed that the thermal stability of the HMTA-cured resin was slightly higher than the resin treated by plasma. According to the DSC curves, HMTA-cured resin and plasma-treated resin exhibited only transition temperatures, so both resins were predominantly amorphous. Images generated by AFM provided qualitative evaluation of the resin surfaces, demonstrating that the coating surface with best homogeneity was cured by plasma treatment.