Novel drug delivery device using silicone: controlled release of insoluble drugs or two kinds of water-soluble drugs

Drug release mechanism from silicone carrier differs depending on physicochemical properties of the drug. So far, there have been few reports on controlled release of insoluble drug and on simultaneous release of two kinds of water-soluble drugs. The purposes of this study are to establish methods for (1). continuous release of insoluble drug, and (2). release of two kinds of water-soluble drugs from silicone carrier. Polystyrene beads (PSTB) and proteins such as interferon (IFN) and human serum albumin (HSA) were used as model drugs. PSTB was released from silicone only when citric acid (CA) and sodium bicarbonate (SB) existed as additives. The release patterns of IFN and HSA were almost same in the case of matrix and covered-rod formulations, but double-layered formulation released them in different patterns. As far as we are aware, this is the first report on the release of insoluble drug from silicone and the controlled release of two kinds of water-soluble drugs.     

Determination of absolute configuration of a metabolite (−)-hydroxyhexamide from acetohexamide, syntheses of (−)- and (+)-hydroxyhexamides and (−)- and (+)-acetoxyhexamides

Enantioselective acetylation of (±)-4-(1-hydroxyethyl)benzenesulfonamide 6 with ‘Acylase I’ (No. A 2156) from Aspergillus melleus in the presence of vinyl acetate gave (R)-4-(1-acetoxyethyl)benzenesulfonamide 7 (98% ee) and (S)-6 (98% ee). Both (S)-6 and (R)-7 were individually converted to the (S)-hydroxyhexamide 2 (>99% ee) and (R)-hydroxyhexamide 2 (>99% ee), respectively. The absolute configuration of a metabolite (−)-hydroxyhexamide 2 from acetohexamide 1 was found to be S based on unequivocal chemical methods including X-ray analysis.     

MALDI-Q-TOF mass spectrometric determination of gold and platinum in tissues using their diethyldithiocarbamate chelate complexes

A rapid determination method is presented for gold (Au³⁺) and platinum (Pt⁴⁺) in tissues using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-Q-TOF-MS). Au and Pt ions in wet-ashed tissue solution were reacted with diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), and the resulting chelate complex ions Au(DDC)₂ ⁺ and Pt(DDC)₃ ⁺ were detected by MALDI-Q-TOF-MS using α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid as a matrix. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.8 ng/g tissue and the quantification range was 2–400 ng/g for Au, and the LOD was 6 ng/g tissue and the quantification range was 20–4,000 ng/g for Pt. The Pt levels detected by MALDI-Q-TOF-MS in several tissues of a patient overdosed with cisplatin were nearly the same as those detected by flow-injection electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The LODs of Au and Pt were 0.04 pg per well (sample spot) and 0.3 pg per well, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to quantify Au³⁺ and Pt⁴⁺ ions in tissues by MALDI-Q-TOF-MS.

Synthesis of dihydroxamic acid chelating polymers and the adsorptive property for uranium in sea water

Preparation of new chelating polymers bearing dihydroxamic acid groups and the adsorptive ability for uranium in sea water are described. Chloromethylated polystyrene crosslinked with divinylbenzene was treated with diethyl malonate in N, N-dimethylformamide to give the polymer having diethyl malonate groups. This polymer was then treated with hydroxylamine in methanol to afford the dihydroxamic acid polymer. The presence of hydroxamic acid groups was confirmed by the appearance of IR absorption band at 1680 cm^?1. The dihydroxamic acid polymer contained carboxylic acid groups as well as hydroxamic acid ones, and the contents of carboxylic acid and hydroxamic acid groups were estimated from elemental analysis to be 2–3 and 2–4 mmol/g, respectively. The polymer showed the adsorptive ability of 40 μg-U/g in 8 days for uranium in sea water. In addition, the polymer showed the selective adsorptivity for iron, nickel, copper, and zinc as well as uranium. The macroreticular-type polymer showed much higher adsorption rate for uranium in sea water than the gel-type ones did, suggesting that the rate depends on the diffusion of the uranium in the polymer support.     

High resolution adsorption isotherms of N2 and Ar for nonporous silicas and MFI zeolites

The high resolution adsorption isotherms of N₂ (77.4 K) and Ar (87.3 K) have been measured for two nonporous silicas with different silanol contents (3.3 and 0.35 OH/nm²) and for two MFI zeolite with different Al contents (Si/Al=12.5 and 500). Silanol groups and Al sites (acid sites) gives the significant effect on the N₂ isotherms at submonolayer, but the Ar isotherms are independent of silanols and Al sites. The Ar isotherms, therefore, are preferable in calculation of microporosity of zeolites. The N₂ and Ar isotherms for MFI zeolite (Si/Al=500) have been measured at temperatures of 77–94 K, from which the differential adsorption energies of N₂ and Ar are calculated. The interaction of N₂ with channel surface of MFI zeolite is greater than that of Ar in the range of α _s =0.1–0.7. The hystereses are detected for the N₂ isotherm in p/p ^o=0.1–0.3 at 77.4 K and for the Ar isotherm in p/p ^o=3×10⁻⁴–2×10⁻³ at 87.3 K. However, it is difficult to explain the hysteresis phenomenon using differential adsorption energy.     

Imino ene reaction catalyzed by ytterbium(III) triflate and TMSCl or TMSOTf

A novel combined system of Yb(OTf)(3) with TMSCl or TMSOTf catalyzed an imino ene reaction. The reaction of N-tosylbenzaldimine (1) with alpha-methylstyrene (2) proceeded smoothly to give homoallylic amine 3 in the presence of a catalytic amount of Yb(OTf)(3) and TMSCl. This catalytic system was successfully applied to the imino ene reactions of various aldimines with alkenes. This new imino ene reaction provides a unique method for the three-component coupling reaction of an aldehyde, tosylamide, and alpha-methylstyrene in the presence of Yb(OTf)(3) and TMSOTf, to give the corresponding homoallylic amine.     

Enhanced mass detection of oligonucleotides using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization ion-trap mass spectrometry

A new method providing enhanced sensitivity for the analysis of oligonucleotides using an on-line coupled system of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and electrospray ionization ion-trap mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has been developed. The presented method allows the use of the standard gradient elution of 0.1 M triethylammonium acetate (TEAA) buffer (adjusted to pH 7.0 with acetic acid) and acetonitrile that is typically used for the separation of oligonucleotides in RP-HPLC. An added feature of this method is the ability to combine and mix additional 0.1 M imidazole in acetonitrile after the separation column for improved ESI-MS performance. This is similar to the post-column reaction method in liquid chromatography (LC) and the liquid sheath flow method in LC/ESI-MS, both of which offer the advantage of not compromising the chromatographic separation conditions. The application of this new method is demonstrated to afford improved sensitivity for the analysis of oligonucleotides (20-50 mer) via on-line coupled HPLC/ESI-MS analysis and purification systems.     

Initial relaxation times in dynamic light scattering from once-broken rod molecules in solution

Initial relaxation times determined by the initial decay rate of the time correlation function of scattered light are calculated for the once-broken rod model (two rigid rods of equal length connected by a universal joint) following the Fujiwara–Saito theory. The coefficient C describing the initial angular dependence of the first cumulant of the correlation function is also calculated. The results are compared with Pecora's results based on the Yu–Stockmayer theory for this model; and it is shown that the Fujiwara–Saito theory gives reasonable results.     

ERP evidence for different strategies in the processing of case markers in native speakers and non-native learners

Background  

The present experiments were designed to test how the linguistic feature of case is processed in Japanese by native and non-native listeners. We used a miniature version of Japanese as a model to compare sentence comprehension mechanisms in native speakers and non-native learners who had received training until they had mastered the system. In the first experiment we auditorily presented native Japanese speakers with sentences containing incorrect double nominatives and incorrect double accusatives, and with correct sentences. In the second experiment we tested trained non-natives with the same material. Based on previous research in German we expected an N400-P600 biphasic ERP response with specific modulations depending on the violated case and whether the listeners were native or non-native.