Solid phase extraction and HPLC determination of spiramycin in plasma and vitreous concentrations

A method for extracting spiramycin by an octadecylsilica cartridge is described for plasma or vitreous samples. The macrolide antibiotic is then measured by reversed-phase HPLC with UV detection. The limit of detection is estimated to be 50 ng/mL. The coefficient of variation for the procedure is 6.1% and 5.2% for the range of concentrations 0.2 micrograms/mL and 10 micrograms/mL respectively. By this method, pharmacokinetic profiles were performed for five adult patients. Spiramycin could be accurately measured in the vitreous humour, allowing the determination of antibiotic at its site of action.     

Gamma irradiation effects on poly(hydroxybutyrate)

Brazilian poly(hydroxybutyrate), PHB, as well as its copolymer, poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate), P(HB-co-HV), containing 6.3 mol% of valerate, were irradiated with γ radiation (⁶⁰Co) at ambient temperature and in the presence of oxygen. The viscosity-average molar mass (M_v) was analyzed by the viscosity technique using an Ostwald-type capillary viscometer. The polymers showed a decrease in molar mass with the increase in dose, reflecting the scissions that occurred at random in the main chain. The value G (scissions/100 eV of energy transferred to the system) and the parameter α (scissions per original molecule) were also obtained by the viscosity technique. The melting temperature (T_m) was determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and showed a decrease with increasing irradiation dose. Analyses of DSC also revealed double endothermic peaks, associated with the polymorphic transitions, which became a single peak with increased dose. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) revealed small differences between the decomposition temperatures of the irradiated and non-irradiated samples. The degree of crystallinity of PHB samples, on the other hand, which were obtained by the DSC and X-ray diffraction techniques, increased with the irradiation dose. Changes in the lattice parameter of the irradiated samples and in the size of the crystallites were also observed by X-ray diffraction. The samples used in this work did not pass through any purification process and were analyzed in powder form, exactly as they arrived from the factory.     

Automated clean-up procedure for the analysis of sugars and acids in food

Summary In the gas-chromatographic analysis of sugars and acids in foodstuffs, isolation and purification of the two types of components is time-consuming and laborious. An automated clean-up procedure, based on ion-exchange, has therefore been developed. A liquid food sample is successively percolated over a cation and anion and a cation exchanger. Sugars and acids are collected under the second and third column, respectively. A time programmer operates a set of pumps and a pneumatic valve system enabling simultaneous regeneration of columns not being eluted. Hence, handling of samples is continuous; each clean-up cycle takes 50 min.

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Automatisiertes Abtrennungsverfahren für die Analyse von Zuckern und Säuren in Nahrungsmitteln

Zusammenfassung Eine flüssige Nahrungsmittelprobe wird nacheinander über einen Kationen-, einen Anionen- und einen Kationenaustauscher perkoliert. Die Zucker und die Säuren werden abgetrennt und im Eluat der zweiten bzw. dritten Austauschersäule gefunden. Ein Steuergerät schaltet auf Zeitbasis eine Gruppe von Pumpen und ein System mit pneumatischen Hähnen derart, daß in einem Cyclus (50 min) die Substanzen eluiert und die Säulen regeneriert werden. Anschließend werden die Proben verarbeitet. Einige Ergebnisse verschiedener Nahrungsmittel werden angeführt.

On leave from Lisbon University, Portugal.     

On the Cocircuit Graph of an Oriented Matroid

In this paper we consider the cocircuit graph G _M of an oriented matroid M , the 1 -skeleton of the cell complex W formed by the span of the cocircuits of M . In general, W is not determined by G _M . However, we show that if the vertex set (resp. edge set) of G _M is properly labeled by the hyperplanes (resp. colines) of M , G _M determines W . Also we prove that, when M is uniform, the cocircuit graph together with all antipodal pairs of vertices being marked determines W . These results can be considered as variations of Blind—Mani's theorem that says the 1-skeleton of a simple convex polytope determines its face lattice. Received August 14, 1998, and in revised form March 2, 1999.     

Synthesis of copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes with chalcone–thiosemicarbazone hybrid ligands: X-ray crystallography,spectroscopy and yeast activity

Four chalcone–thiosemicarbazones (C-TSCs) of the type 2-((E)-3-(4-R-phenyl)-1-phenylallylidene)-N-phenylhydrazinecarbothioamide, where R?=?Cl (HL1), NO₂ (HL2), CH₃ (HL3) or CN (HL4), were prepared in good yields from the reaction of the respective chalcone with 4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazide and HCl in EtOH. Reaction of HL with CuCl₂·2H₂O or ZnCl₂ in the presence of Et₃N afforded the complexes [M(L)₂], M?=?Cu(II) or Zn(II). X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the ligands coordinate in their deprotonated form, in a bidentate fashion through the iminic nitrogen and sulfur atoms. Yeast activities of the compounds were tested, where the ligand HL4 was the most damaging derivative, exhibiting cell viability at about 50%. On the other hand, lipid peroxidation assays revealed that the ligand HL1 was able to better induce membrane damage compared to the other compounds. It has been found that coordination with Cu(II) and Zn(II) did not increase the biological activities of the C-TSCs.     

Volatile composition of Brassica oleracea L. var. costata DC leaves using solid‐phase microextraction and gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry

Volatile and semi‐volatile components of internal and external leaves of Brassica oleracea L. var. costata DC, grown under different fertilization regimens, were determined by headspace solid‐phase microextraction (HS‐SPME) combined with gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry (GC/ITMS). Forty‐one volatiles and non‐volatile components were formally identified and thirty others were tentatively identified. Qualitative and quantitative differences were noticed between internal and external leaves. In general, internal leaves exhibited more aldehydes and sulfur volatile compounds than external ones, and less ketone, terpenes and norisoprenoid compounds. The fertilization regimens influenced considerably the volatile profile. Fertilizations with higher levels of sulfur produced Brassica leaves with more sulfur volatiles. In opposition, N and S fertilization led to leaves with lower levels of norisoprenoids and terpenes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vibrational study of A3In2B″O9 (A = Ba,Sr; B″ = U,W) double perovskites

Raman scattering and infrared transmittance techniques were used to investigate the room‐temperature phonon spectra of the polycrystalline Ba₃In₂UO₉, Sr₃In₂UO₉, Ba₃In₂WO₉ and Sr₃In₂WO₉ double perovskites. Although X‐ray diffraction has shown that both Ba₃In₂UO₉ and Ba₃In₂WO₉ crystallize in a disordered cubic (Pm3 m − O_h¹) structure with one formula unit per unit cell (Z = 1), Raman measurements revealed that both Ba₃In₂UO₉ and Ba₃In₂WO₉ compounds should exhibit a 1:1 ordered domains with Fm3 m symmetry, embedded in the Pm3 m matrix. Observation of a ν₁‐like vibration of the InO₆ octahedron reflects the occurrence of a two‐phonon‐like behavior due to the intrinsic occupational disorder at octahedral symmetry sites. Assignment of most of the Raman and infrared phonons is also given. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermochronology of the South American platform in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, through apatite fission tracks

The fission-track method (FTM) in apatite was applied to 45 samples collected in the Serra da Mantiqueira (Mantiqueira mountain range), the Serra do Mar (Mar mountain range), regions next to these mountain ranges and the coastal region between Ubatuba and Santos in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, to study the thermochronology of the South American Platform in southeast Brazil and its influence on Santos and Campos basins. The data presented in this work complement the previously presented data on the same region (Tello Saenz et al., 2003. J. S. Am. Earth Sci. 15, 765–774) with 31 new samples analyzed. The weighted mean of the corrected ages from high Mantiqueira (around 1000 m), , coincides with the South Atlantic opening. The fact that its thermal history starts at a relatively low temperature suggests that the age of would be the formation age of Serra da Mantiqueira due to a rapid pulse, in which tracks had no time to be retained at the closure temperature, that is . The Serra do Mar presents a more complicated thermal history, with several reactivations indicated by the changes in the slope of its cooling curve. The thermal histories obtained in the regions next to these mountain ranges are compatible with the results mentioned above. The Santos Basin has unconformities that agree with changes in the slope thermal histories of the studied region.     

Syntheses, molecular structures, electrochemical behavior, theoretical study, and antitumor activities of organotin(IV) complexes containing 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-cyclopentanecarboxylato ligands

The organotin(IV) compounds [Me(2)Sn(L)(2)] (1), [Et(2)Sn(L)(2)] (2), [(n)Bu(2)Sn(L)(2)] (3), [(n)Oct(2)Sn(L)(2)] (4), [Ph(2)Sn(L)(2)] (5), and [PhOSnL](6) (6) have been synthesized from the reactions of 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-cyclopentanecarboxylic acid (HL) with the corresponding diorganotin(IV) oxide or dichloride. They were characterized by IR and multinuclear NMR spectroscopies, elemental analysis, cyclic voltammetry, and, for 2, 3, 4 and 6, single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. While 1-5 are mononuclear diorganotin(IV) compounds, the X-ray diffraction of 6 discloses a hexameric drumlike structure with a prismatic Sn(6)O(6) core. All these complexes undergo irreversible reductions and were screened for their in vitro antitumor activities toward HL-60, BGC-823, Bel-7402, and KB human cancer cell lines. Within the mononuclear compounds, the most active ones (3, 5) are easiest to reduce (least cathodic reduction potentials), while the least active ones (1, 4) are the most difficult to reduce. Structural rearrangements (i.e., Sn-O bond cleavages and trans-to-cis isomerization) induced by reduction, which eventually can favor the bioactivity, are disclosed by theoretical/electrochemical studies.