A Validated Spectrofluorimetric Method for the Determination of Citalopram in Bulk and Pharmaceutical Preparations Based on the Measurement of the Silver Nanoparticles-Enhanced Fluorescence of Citalopram/Terbium Complexes

A simple, sensitive, and accurate spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of citalopram in bulk and pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on the enhancement of the weak fluorescence signal (FL) of the Tb (III)-citalopram system in the presence of silver nanoparticles. Fluorescence intensities were measured at 555 nm after excitation at 281 nm. Prepared silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were characterized by UV-Visible spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Various factors affecting the formation of citalopram-Tb (III)-AgNPs complexes were studied and optimized. The fluorescence intensity versus concentration plot was linear over the range 0.02–14 μg?mL^?1, with an excellent correlation coefficient of 0.9978. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 7.15?×?10^?6?μg?mL^?1 and 2.38?×?10^?5?μg?mL^?1 respectively. The proposed method was found to have good reproducibility with a relative standard deviation of 3.66 % (n?=?6). The interference effects of common excipients found in pharmaceutical preparations were studied. The developed method was validated statistically by performing recoveries studies and successfully applied for the assay of citalopram in bulk powder and pharmaceutical preparations. Percent recoveries were found to range from 98.98 % to 100.97 % for bulk powder and from 96.57 % to 101.77 % for pharmaceutical preparations.     

Patterns in Protein Flexibility: A Comparison of NMR “Ensembles”, MD Trajectories,and Crystallographic B-Factors

Proteins are molecular machines requiring flexibility to function. Crystallographic B-factors and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations both provide insights into protein flexibility on an atomic scale. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) lacks a universally accepted analog of the B-factor. However, a lack of convergence in atomic coordinates in an NMR-based structure calculation also suggests atomic mobility. This paper describes a pattern in the coordinate uncertainties of backbone heavy atoms in NMR-derived structural “ensembles” first noted in the development of FindCore2 (previously called Expanded FindCore: DA Snyder, J Grullon, YJ Huang, R Tejero, GT Montelione, Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics 82 (S2), 219–230) and demonstrates that this pattern exists in coordinate variances across MD trajectories but not in crystallographic B-factors. This either suggests that MD trajectories and NMR “ensembles” capture motional behavior of peptide bond units not captured by B-factors or indicates a deficiency common to force fields used in both NMR and MD calculations.     

Application of Crude Pomace Powder of Chokeberry,Bilberry, and Elderberry as a Coloring Foodstuff

Berry pomace, rich in polyphenols, especially anthocyanins, accumulates during the production of red juices. Pomace from chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa Michx.), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), and elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) represent good sources of coloring foodstuffs. Pomace powders (PP) were prepared by milling the seedless fractions of the three dried berry pomaces (50 °C, 8 h). Techno-functional properties of the powders such as particle size distribution, bulk density, sedimentation velocity, and swelling capacity were determined to evaluate the powders for possible food applications. Total anthocyanin content was quantified by UHPLC-DAD before and during a storage experiment to monitor the degradation of anthocyanins in the PP and in a yogurt model application. The high content of phenolic compounds and the still intact cell structure ensured high stability of anthocyanins over 28 days of storage. In the model application, color saturation was stable over the whole storage time of 14 days. Regarding the techno-functional properties, only a few differences between the three PP were observed. The particle size of elderberry PP was larger, resulting in lowest bulk density (0.45 g/mL), high cold-water solubility (16.42%), and a swelling capacity of 10.16 mL/g dw. Sedimentation velocity of the three PP was fast (0.02 mL/min) due to cluster formation of the particles caused by electrostatic and hydrophobic properties. Compared to other high-intensity coloring foodstuffs, the use of PP, showing acceptable color stability with potential health-promoting effects, represents a wide applicability in different food applications and especially in products with a longer shelf-life.     

Solvent-free microwave-assisted synthesis of imidazo[1,5- a]pyridine and –quinoline derivatives

A quick and highly efficient microwave-assisted preparation of imidazopyridines and –quinolines is described, starting from the corresponding ketones and amines. The method requires no solvent and uses activated MnO₂ as an oxidant. A mechanism for the cyclization is proposed and discussed.     

Linearization of holomorphic germs with quasi-Brjuno fixed points

Let f be a germ of holomorphic diffeomorphism of \mathbb Cⁿ{\mathbb {C}^{n}} fixing the origin O, with d f _O diagonalizable. We prove that, under certain arithmetic conditions on the eigenvalues of d f _O and some restrictions on the resonances, f is locally holomorphically linearizable if and only if there exists a particular f -invariant complex manifold. Most of the classical linearization results can be obtained as corollaries of our result.     

Modal theory for the two-frequency mutual coherence function in random media: general theory and plane wave solution: II

In a previous publication (part I) it has been shown that for an arbitrary statistically isotropic and homogeneous medium the parabolic equation for the two-frequency mutual coherence function can be separated and thereby expressed as a superposition of modes. A parameterization based on the longitudinal part of this representation has also been treated. This paper explores the transverse structure and parameterization of the field solution by employing dimensional, variational and the modified WKB procedures for solving the eigenfunction/eigenvalue problem. General expressions are derived first for a general structure function and then specialized for a power-law structure function with emphasis on quadratic and Kolmogorov media.