Determination of remoxipride in human plasma and urine by reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography.

A sensitive method is described for the measurement of remoxipride in human plasma and urine. Remoxipride and its internal standard are extracted from plasma or urine at pH 12 with a mixture of hexane and methyl tert.-butyl ether. After washing the organic phase with base, the compounds are extracted into acid and analyzed on a C18 column with ultraviolet detection at 214 nm. The mobile phase is composed of acetonitrile and aqueous buffer (sodium perchlorate and phosphoric acid, pH 1.7). The limits of reliable quantitation for remoxipride are 12.5 and 50 ng/ml for plasma and urine, respectively. The run times are 6 min for plasma and 3 min for urine. The method has been successfully used to assay remoxipride clinical study samples. This mobile phase has also been successfully applied to the analysis of other basic drugs such as cimetidine, codeine, diltiazem and quinidine with minor modifications.     

Micelles of SDS Surfactants in Concentrated NaCl Solutions

We investigated the aggregation behavior of rod-like micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in concentrated NaCl solution by quasi-elastic light scattering (QLS) and viscosity measurement over a range of temperature (25 °C to 50 °C) and NaCl concentration. The reduced viscosity of aqueous SDS in the presence of NaCl has been measured by an Ubbelohde-type capillary viscometer. We show mean hydrodynamic radius of micelles can be determined from viscosity data. We also determined mean hydrodynamic radius using quasi-elastic light scattering. Micellar size decreases with increasing temperature, whereas it increases with increasing ionic strength. The results of viscosity and dynamic light-scattering measurements are interpreted as the extension of length of rod-like micelles. We compare viscosity and light scattering experimental results.     

Preliminary evaluation of the cadmium concentration in seawater of the Salvador City, Brazil

A method for preconcentration and determination of trace amounts of cadmium in high saline samples is described. It is based on the adsorption of the metal in the activated carbon as complex cadmium(II)-4-(2-pyridylazo-resorcinol) (PAR). The final determination was carried by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The optimization of extraction parameters such as the pH effect, PAR mass, activated carbon mass and shaking time was carried out using a two-level full factorial design (2⁴) and two Doehlert matrix designs. The results of the factorial design, considering the analysis of variance (ANOVA), demonstrate that all these factors are statistically significant, as well as the interactions (pH×PAR mass), (pH×activated carbon mass) and (activated carbon mass×shaking time). The final optimization was carried out using Doehlert matrix designs considering the results of the factorial design. The recoveries were quantitative (96.0-106.7%) for seawater samples spiked with Cd at concentrations of 0.125 and 0.625 μg l⁻¹. A preconcentration factor of 149 was obtained. The effect of diverse metallic ions on the proposed procedure was investigated too. The procedure was used for cadmium determination in surface seawater samples collected in Salvador City, Brazil. The cadmium content in the analysed samples varies from 0.035 to 0.17 μg l⁻¹. These results are agreement with other data reported in the literature.     

Congruence theorems for compact hypersurfaces of a riemannian manifold

Summary Let M^m, ^m be two m-dimensional compact oriented hypersurfaces of class C³ immersed in a Riemannian manifold R^m+1 of constant sectional curvature. Suppose that R^m+1 admits a one-parameter continuous group G of conformal transformations satisfying a certain condition (which holds automatically when G is a group of isometric transformations). Suppose further that there is a1 − 1 transformation T_τ ∈ G between M^m and ^m such that for each P ∈ M^m and each ^m. If the r-th mean curvature for any r, 1 ⩽ r ⩽ m, of M^m at each point P ∈ M^m is equal to that of ^m at the corresponding point , together with other conditions, then M^m and ^m are congruent mod G. This is a generalization of a joint theorem ofH. Hopf andY. Katsurada [5] in which G is a group of isometric transformations. Entrata in Redazione il 13 Giugno 1975. The first author was partially supported by the National Science Foundation grant GP-33944.     

Micro- and nano-mechanical characterization of polyamide 11 and its composites containing cellulose nanofibers

Nanocomposites from polyamide 11 and dried cellulose nanofibers (CNs), 16–30 nm in thickness and 50–400 nm in length, were prepared via direct melt mixing and their micro- and nano-mechanical properties were studied. (PF) QNM (Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping) method was used to map nanomechanical properties at the surface of polyamide 11 and nanocomposites. This new AFM method emphasized both the increased modulus in nanocomposites as compared to the matrix and the microstructure on different levels in polyamide 11 and its nanocomposites. PF QNM showed that their crystalline structure consists of bundles of lamellar stacks, 200–350 nm in width and 20–40 nm wide lamellar stacks. Moreover, PF QNM study emphasized higher structural order in nanocomposites with 3 and 5 wt.% CNs and lower in the nanocomposite with 8 wt.% CNs as compared to the reference. These observations were verified and are consistent with both crystallinity values determined by DSC and micro-mechanical test results. The oriented bundles of lamellar stacks, observed by PF QNM, could be considered as the main blocks determining high mechanical properties for the studied nanomaterials.     

The Vapor-Liquid Polycondensation of Cyclohexylphosphoric Dichloride with Hydroquinone

The vapor-liquid polycondensation of cyclohexylphosphoric dichloride with hydroquinone was investigated. The influence of the temperature, reaction time, base concentration, and molar ratio of reagents on the yield, inherent viscosity, and molecular weight of the obtained polymer was studied. Second order, central, composite, rotatable experimental design was used in order to carry out this work and to mark limits of the experimental field for optimal yields and high inherent viscosities.