A new restricted access molecularly imprinted polymer capped with albumin for direct extraction of drugs from biological matrices: the case of chlorpromazine in human plasma

A new restricted access molecularly imprinted polymer coated with bovine serum albumin (RAMIP-BSA) was developed, characterized, and used for direct analysis of chlorpromazine in human plasma samples. The RAMIP-BSA was synthesized using chlorpromazine, methacrylic acid, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as template, functional monomer, and cross-linker, respectively. Glycerol dimethacrylate and hydroxy methyl methacrylate were used to promote a hydrophilic surface (high density of hydroxyl groups). Afterward, the polymer was coated with BSA using glutaraldehyde as cross-linker, resulting in a protein chemical shield around it. The material was able to eliminate ca. 99 % of protein when a 44-mg mL^?1 BSA aqueous solution was passed through it. The RAMIP-BSA was packed in a column and used for direct analysis of chlorpromazine in human plasma samples in an online column switching high-performance liquid chromatography system. The analytical calibration curve was prepared in a pool of human plasma samples with chlorpromazine concentrations ranging from 30 to 350 μg L^?1. The correlation coefficient obtained was 0.995 and the limit of quantification was 30 μg L^?1. Intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy presented variation coefficients and relative errors lower than 15 % and within ?15 and 15 %, respectively. The sample throughput was 3 h^?1 (sample preparation and chromatographic analysis steps) and the same RAMIP-BSA column was efficiently used for about 90 cycles.     

Finite mixture modeling of censored and missing data using the multivariate skew-normal distribution

Advances in Data Analysis and Classification - Finite mixture models have been widely used to model and analyze data from a heterogeneous populations. Moreover, data of this kind can be missing or...     

Hepatic nodules in liver transplantation candidates: MR imaging and underlying hepatic disease

OBJECTIVE: To assess by MR imaging the frequency of hepatic nodules in patients waiting on the liver transplant list and to determine whether certain underlying hepatic diseases were more often associated with the development of such hepatic nodules. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed the MR and clinical records in all patients seen by the liver transplant service at our center since its inception in January 1998 until September 2002. A total of 371 patients (207 men and 164 women, age range 18-68 years, mean 45 years) were included in the study. The presence of hepatic nodules, size, number and underlying hepatic diseases were determined in all patients. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed on a 1.5-T MR imager using T1-weighted, T2-weighted and multi-phase gadolinium-enhanced sequences. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed to evaluate the association between the underlying hepatic disease and the development of hepatic nodule. RESULTS: Among 371 liver transplantation candidates, the most common underlying hepatic disease was hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, either alone (n=93; 25%) or associated with other hepatic diseases (n=40; 10.8%). Of all patients, 33 (8.9%) had regenerative nodules (RNs), 40 (10.7%) dysplastic nodules (DNs) and 57 (15.3%) hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). Hepatocellular carcinoma was observed in 35.3% of patients with HCV infection and alcohol abuse combined, 24.5% with cryptogenic cirrhosis, 25% with hemochromatosis and 19% with alcohol abuse. Patients who had either DNs or HCC were 2.5 times more likely to have either alcohol abuse or HCV, alone or combined, as the substrate of their liver disease (OR 2.54, 95% CI 1.56-4.13). Our data suggest a supra-additive interaction between HCV infection and ethanol in their association with MR imaging detected lesions. CONCLUSION: Patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis, alcohol abuse, HCV infection (alone or combined) and hemochromatosis had the greatest likelihood of having HCC, with the combination of HCV infection and alcohol abuse having the highest of all.     

Reactive Phenanthrene Derivatives as Markers of Amino Groups in Fluorescence Microscopy of Surface Modified Micro-Zeolite L

Journal of Fluorescence - Two reactive phenanthrene derivatives, 4-(1H phenanthrol [9,10-d] imidazole-2-yl) benzaldehyde (PIB) and 6,9-dimethoxyphenanthro[9,10-c]furan-1,3-dione (PA) with high...     

Simple route to ferrocenylalkyl nucleobases. Antitumor activity in vivo

Ferrocenylalkyl nucleobases ( 1 – 14 ) were prepared via the reaction of the α‐(hydroxy)alkyl ferrocenes FcCHR(OH) (Fc = ferrocenyl; R = H, Me, Et, Ph) with thymine, cytosine, iodo‐cytosine and adenine in DMSO at 100 °C, yields being 50–80%. The antitumor activities of ferrocenylmethyl thymine ( 1 ) against solid tumor models, carcinoma 755 (Ca755) and Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) were studied in vivo. Therapeutic synergism of antitumor activity against LLC was demonstrated in the case of combined application of compound 1 with anticancer drug cyclophosphamide. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of cooling on the optical properties and crystallization of UV-exposed photo-thermo-refractive glass

Photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass is a multi-component silicate glass that undergoes a refractive index change after UV-exposure and thermal treatment. This photo-thermo-refractivity is due to the precipitation of sodium fluoride nano-crystals; thus the glass remains highly transparent in the visible and near-IR regions. Up to now, most studies focused on the influence of temperature and duration of thermal treatment on the PTR glass properties, but no attention was given to the cooling step after thermal treatment. In this paper, the influence of cooling on crystallization and resulting optical properties of UV-exposed PTR glass is studied. We show that cooling between the nucleation and growth treatments is a mandatory step to achieve the full benefits of the first heat-treatment, i.e., a large number of small crystals. We also show that the main part of the refractive index change occurs on the cooling path after pre-nucleation. Non-isothermal DSC study associated with in situ pre-nucleation treatment shows that pre-nucleation enhances crystallization only if the temperature is decreased below T_g before the second (development) treatment. Using high temperature photometric measurements of the absorption spectra of UV-exposed PTR glasses, we tentatively associate that effect with the presence of liquid drops of a silver containing phase during regular pre-nucleation treatment. This fact explains the necessity to cool such drops below their melting point to obtain nucleation centers for efficient precipitation of NaF nano-crystals.     

Magnetic structure and magnetic excitations in the two-dimensional spin system of the Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>B<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>6</Subscript> compound

This paper reports on the results of measurements of the magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, neutron scattering, muon spin relaxation, and electron paramagnetic resonance in Cu₃B₂O₆ for the study of the ground state of the spin system of this compound. The results obtained suggest that, at a temperature of 10 K, the spin subsystem of the crystal, which consists of single spins and clusters of pairs and fours of spins interacting with one another, undergoes a transition to a state representing a superposition of the singlet (for clusters) and magnetically ordered (for single spins) states.     

Highly efficient narrow-line generation by difference-frequency mixing of a green pump and the stokes seed in RbTiOPO4 crystals: excitation of 943-nm emission

An efficient and compact scheme for diode-pumped Nd:YLF laser wavelength conversion to 943 nm was demonstrated by use of difference-frequency mixing and stimulated Raman scattering. We believe that this is the highest conversion efficiency from the laser fundamental wavelength reported to date. It is shown that RbTiOPO4 crystals are capable of providing highly efficient frequency mixing as a nonlinear medium.     

The Raman spectrum and aromatic stabilization in a cyclic germylene

For the stable germylene, N,N'-di-tert-butyl-1,3-diaza-2-germacyclopent-4-en-2-ylidene, 2, the Raman line for the cyclic C=C stretching mode is strongly enhanced and shifted to longer wavelength, compared with that in reference compounds. The enhancement and frequency shift are even greater than those found for the corresponding stable silylene 1. These results, along with NMR evidence and theoretical calculations, suggest that the aromatic electron delocalization is even greater in the germylene than that in the silylene.