A rapid, sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of meropenem in pharmaceutical dosage form, human serum and urine.

A new, simple, precise and rapid high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of meropenem in human serum, urine and pharmaceutical dosage forms. Chromatography was carried out on an LC(18) column using a mixture of 15 mM KH(2)PO(4):acetonitrile:methanol (84:12:4; v/v/v), adjusted to pH 2.8 with H(3)PO(4). The proposed method was conducted using a reversed-phase technique, UV monitoring at 307.6 nm and cefepime as an internal standard. The retention times were 5.98 and 7.47 min for cefepime and meropenem, respectively. The detector response was linear over the concentration range of 50-10,000 ng/mL. The detection limit of the procedure was found to be 22 ng/mL. The detection limit for meropenem in human plasma was 108.4 ng/mL and the corresponding value in human urine was 179.3 ng/mL. No interference from endogenous substances in human serum, urine and pharmaceutical preparation was observed. The proposed method is sufficiently sensitive for determination of the concentrations of meropenem and may have clinical application for its monitoring in patients receiving the drug.     

Anodic oxidation of etodolac and its square wave and differential pulse voltammetric determination in pharmaceuticals and human serum

A voltammetric study of the oxidation of etodolac has been carried out at the glassy carbon electrode. The electrochemical oxidation of etodolac was investigated by cyclic, linear sweep, differential pulse and square wave voltammetry using glassy carbon electrode. Different parameters were tested to optimize the conditions for the determination of etodolac. The dependence of intensities of currents and potentials on pH, concentration, scan rate, nature of the buffer was investigated. For analytical purposes, a very well resolved diffusion controlled voltammetric peak was obtained in Britton-Robinson buffer at pH 2.15 for differential pulse and square wave voltammetric techniques. The linear response was obtained in the ranges of 2.10(-6)-8.10(-5) M with a detection limit of 6.8x10(-7) and 6x10(-6)-8x10(-5) M with a detection limit of 1.1x10(-6) M for differential pulse and square wave voltammetric techniques, respectively. Based on this study, simple, rapid, selective and sensitive two voltammetric methods were developed for the determination of the etodolac in tablet dosage form and human serum.     

Crystal Structure of the RE2PbS4 (RE = Y,Dy, Ho,Er, and Tm) Compounds and a Comparison with the Crystal Structures of other Rare Earth Lead Chalcogenides

The crystal structure of the RE₂PbS₄ (RE = Y, Dy, Ho, Er and Tm) compounds (space group Cmc2₁, Pearson symbol oC112, a = 0.79301(3) nm, b = 2.86966(9) nm, c = 1.20511(5) nm, R_Bragg = 0.0979 for Y₂PbS₄; a = 0.79484(8) nm, b = 2.8721(3) nm, c = 1.2039(1) nm, for Dy₂PbS₄; a = 0.79081(2) nm, b = 2.86222(7) nm, c = 1.20220(4) nm, R_Bragg = 0.0859 for Ho₂PbS₄; a = 0.7863(2) nm, b = 2.8525(5) nm, c = 1.1995(2) nm, R1 = 0.0482 for Er₂PbS₄ and a = 0.78419(3) nm, b = 2.84184(9) nm, c = 1.19655(4) nm, R_Bragg = 0.0893 for Tm₂PbS₄) was investigated by means of X‐ray single crystal and powder diffraction. Each RE atoms is octahedrally coordinated by six S atoms. Each Pb atoms is surrounded by seven S atoms to form a mono‐capped trigonal prism.     

Hamilton decompositions of graphs with primitive complements

A k-factor of a graph is a k-regular spanning subgraph. A Hamilton cycle is a connected 2-factor. A graph G is said to be primitive if it contains no k-factor with 1≤k<Δ(G). A Hamilton decomposition of a graph G is a partition of the edges of G into sets, each of which induces a Hamilton cycle. In this paper, by using the amalgamation technique, we find necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a 2x-regular graph G on n vertices which:

1.

has a Hamilton decomposition, and

2.

has a complement in K_n that is primitive.

This extends the conditions studied by Hoffman, Rodger, and Rosa [D.G. Hoffman, C.A. Rodger, A. Rosa, Maximal sets of 2-factors and Hamiltonian cycles, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 57 (1) (1993) 69-76] who considered maximal sets of Hamilton cycles and 2-factors. It also sheds light on construction approaches to the Hamilton-Waterloo problem.     

Potential energy surfaces for rearrangements of Berson trimethylenemethanes

In this research, thermal rearrangements of the Berson trimethylenemethanes (Berson-TMMs) have been investigated by employing density functional theory (DFT) and high-level ab initio methods, such as the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF), multireference second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MRMP2), multireference configuration interaction singles and doubles (MRCISD), and coupled-cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples [CCSD(T)]. In all computations Pople's polarized triple-ζ split valence basis set, 6-311G(d,p), is utilized. The relevant portions of the lowest-energy, singlet-spin potential energy surface of the C(4)H(6) (parent TMM), C(6)H(8) (Berson-TMMa), and C(8)H(12) (Berson-TMMc) chemical systems have been explored in order to determine the reaction energies and activation parameters accurately, with the ultimate objective of providing a theoretical account of experiments by Berson on TMMc. The nature of the orthogonal and the planar structures of the parent TMM have been clarified in this study. We have concluded that the orthogonal TMM (1)B(1) minimum has a C(2v) symmetry structure, and there is no pyramidalization in the unique methylene group. It lies at 13.9 kcal mol(-1) above the triplet minimum (3)B(2) at MRCISD level. The closed-shell (1)A(1) state of the planar TMM is not a true minimum but a transition structure (TS) for 180° rotation of the unique methylene group in the orthogonal TMM minimum. It lies at 3.0 kcal mol(-1) above (1)B(1). The planar structures are also involved in the interchange of equivalent orthogonal TMMs (o(1), o(2), o(3)). Many features of the parent TMM are retained in TMMa and TMMc, despite the constraints imposed by the five-membered ring in the latter species. Thus, ring closure to the bicyclic molecules 3a (3c) and 5a (5c) takes place similarly to that in the parent TMM. Likewise, planar TMMa (TMMc) structures are TSs, while orthogonal ones are true minima. The adiabatic singlet-triplet gaps are also similar, being 14.7 (13.0) and 16.5 (16.2) kcal mol(-1) in the orthogonal (o(1)) and planar TMMa (TMMc), respectively. It has been shown here that the substantial reductions in the ring-opening barriers of MCP derivatives 3a (3c) and 5a (5c) can be largely attributed to ring strain in the former and π-bond strain in the latter species.     

Nano-oncology: drug delivery, imaging, and sensing

Innovation in the last decade has endowed nanotechnology with an assortment of tools for delivery, imaging, and sensing in cancer research—stealthy nanoparticle vectors circulating in vivo, assembled with exquisite molecular control, capable of selective tumor targeting and potent delivery of therapeutics; intense and photostable quantum dot-based tumor imaging, enabling multicolor detection of cell receptors with a single optical excitation source; arrays of semiconducting nanowire and carbon nanotube sensor elements for selective multiplexed sensing of cancer markers without the need for probe labeling. These rapidly emerging tools are indicative of a burgeoning field ready to expand into medical applications. This review attempts to outline most of the current nanoparticle toolset for therapeutic release by liposomes, dendrimers, smart polymers, and virus-based systems. Advantages of nanoparticle-based imaging and targeting by use of nanoshells and quantum dots are also explored. Finally, emerging nanoelectronics-based sensing and a global discussion on the utility of each nanoparticle system addresses their fundamental advantages and shortcomings in cancer research.     

Conformational search of peptides and proteins: Monte Carlo minimization with an adaptive bias method applied to the heptapeptide deltorphin

The energy function of a protein consists of a tremendous number of minima. Locating the global energy minimum (GEM) structure, which corresponds approximately to the native structure, is a severe problem in global optimization. Recently we have proposed a conformational search technique based on the Monte Carlo minimization (MCM) method of Li and Scheraga, where trial dihedral angles are not selected at random within the range [-180 degrees,180 degrees ] (as with MCM) but with biased probabilities depending on the increased structure-energy correlations as the GEM is approached during the search. This method, called the Monte Carlo minimization with an adaptive bias (MCMAB), was applied initially to the pentapeptide Leu-enkephalin. Here we study its properties further by applying it to the larger peptide with bulky side chains, deltorphin (H-Tyr-D-Met-Phe-His-Leu-Met-Asp-NH(2)). We find that on average the number of energy minimizations required by MCMAB to locate the GEM for the first time is smaller by a factor of approximately three than the number required by MCM-in accord with results obtained for Leu-enkephalin.     

A novel method for nonlinear fractional differential equations using symbolic computation

In this paper, a new approach, namely an ansatz method is applied to find exact solutions for nonlinear fractional differential equations in the sense of modified Riemann–Liouville derivative. Based on a nonlinear fractional complex transformation, a certain fractional partial differential equation can be turned into another ordinary differential equation of integer order. For illustrating the validity of this method, we apply it to solve the fractional-order biological population model and the space–time fractional modified equal width equation, and as a result, some dark soliton solutions for them are established.