Rapid and cost-effective LC–MS/MS method for determination of hydroxycitric acid in plasma: Application in the determination of pharmacokinetics in commercial Garcinia preparations

Garcinia cambogia is one of the most commonly used anti-obesity dietary supplements, and hydroxycitric acid (HCA) is a major constituent in the commercial preparations of Garcinia. High doses of HCA are often consumed without much awareness of its pharmacokinetic and toxicokinetic parameters, and therefore, a complete understanding of its effects is lacking. The first step in understanding these parameters is the availability of a reliable bioanalytical method. Here, we present the first report on a UPLC–MS/MS method for analysis of HCA in rat plasma after a simplified and cost-effective protein precipitation. Chromatographic separation of the analytes in the supernatant was achieved using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography, where mass parameters were optimized and a rapid 5-min quantitative assay was developed. The method was highly sensitive, accurate, precise and linear in the concentration range of 10.5–5000 ng/mL (validated according to the United States Food and Drug Administration guidelines). Further, the method was successfully used to describe the pharmacokinetic profile of HCA in rat plasma after the administration of pure HCA and commercial Garcinia preparations.     

A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace amounts of nitrite in environmental and biological samples using 4-amino-5-hydroxynaphthalene-2,7-disulphonic acid monosodium salt

A very simple, sensitive, fairly selective and rapid spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace amounts of nitrite has been described. This method is based on the diazotized intramolecular coupling of electrophilic diazonium cation with the phenolic group of 4-amino-5-hydroxynaphthalene-2,7-disulphonic acid monosodium salt (AHNDMS) in a phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.5. The cyclic product has a purple color with maximum absorbance at 560 nm and is stable for 6 h. Optimum reaction conditions and other important analytical parameters for the maximum color development were established. Beer's law was found to obey for nitrite in the concentration range of 0.1–1.6 μg ml^?1 with molar absorptivity of 2.6 × 10⁴ l mol^?1 cm^?1 and Sandell's sensitivity of 0.0075 μg ml^?1. The effect of interfering ions on the determination is described. The recommended method was applied for the determination of nitrite in different water, soil and human saliva samples. The performance of the recommended method was evaluated in terms of Student's t-test and variance ratio F-test, which indicated the significance of proposed method over the reference method.     

Fabrication and characterization of thermal evaporated n-Si/ p-ZnTe thin film heterojunction diodes

The paper reports the fabrication and detailed electrical characterization of thermal evaporated n-Si/p-ZnTe thin film heterojunction diodes. The heterojunction diodes were prepared by depositing ZnTe films on n-Si substrates. The conduction mechanism, barrier height, space charge density and width of the depletion region were determined by I–V and C–V characteristics of the heterojunction diodes. The bandgap and activation energies of n-Si and p-ZnTe were also determined and a theoretical band diagram of n-Si/p-ZnTe heterojunction was drawn based on Anderson's model.     

Formulation and Evaluation of Self‐Regulated Insulin Delivery System Based on poly(HEMA‐co‐DMAEMA) Hydrogels

In the present work a self‐regulated insulin delivery system based on the hydrogel poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate‐co‐N,N‐dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) with entrapped glucose oxidase, catalase and insulin was developed and evaluated both by in vitro and in vivo studies. The hydrogels were characterized by FTIR, DSC, SEM and elemental analysis. The swelling studies were carried out in different pH and glucose solutions. The mesh size of the hydrogels and diffusion coefficient of water and insulin in different glucose solution was calculated. The effect of the crosslinking agent (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) concentration (0–2% w/w) on swelling and insulin release was studied. The equilibrium swelling and insulin release was found to depend on the external glucose concentration and dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate content of the hydrogels. The in vivo studies indicated that the entrapped insulin was stable and was effective in reducing the blood glucose of streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The histopathological studies revealed that there was no fibrous tissue encapsulation after 56 days of implantation.     

Growth and characterization of semiconducting cadmium selenide thin films

Semiconducting thin films of cadmium selenide have been grown by conventional thermal evaporation technique. The effect of various growth parameters like rate of deposition and deposition temperature has been studied in detail. Films deposited at room temperature are cadmium rich with segregated selenium globules. A deposition temperature of 453 K has been found to yield stoichiometric, homogeneous films. The films have been analysed for optical band gap and thermal activation energies. Films of low electrical resistivity have been obtained for possible applications.     

The potentiometric and thermodynamic properties of some divalent metal ions with biologically active 2-phenyl-3-(2′-hydroxy-5′-methylbenzylidine)-quinazoline-4-(3h)-one Schiff’s base

The formation constants of 1: 1 and 1: 2 complexes between Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), Pb(II), Cu(II), Ba(II), Mg(II), Mn(II), Th(IV), and UO₂ (II) metal ions and 2-phenyl-3-(2′-hydroxy-5′-methylbenzylidine)-quinazoline-4-(3H)-one [PHBMeQ] were determined potentiometrically at 30 ± 0.1 °C and different ionic strengths (0.025, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20 M NaNO₃) in 60: 40 (v/v) alcohol-water solutions. The proton-ligand and metal-ligand formation constants were determined pH-metrically by the Calvin-Bjerrum titration technique. The order of stability constants was found. The negative ΔG° values suggest that the reactions occur spontaneously. Correlations between the log K ₁ values and some fundamental central metal ion properties are discussed.     

Effect of electron beam irradiation on physico-chemical properties of pullulan

Many widely used polymers undergo main chain scission or crosslinking when exposed to radiation. Effects of electron beam irradiation at different doses up to 500?kGy on the biodegradable pullulan polymer films have been investigated by ultraviolet?Cvisible (UV?CVIS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. UV?CVisible study shows increase of optical absorbance with increase of doses, attributing to the formation some groups or radicals. FTIR and TGA results reveal the processes of both crosslinking and degradation of polymer taking place depending upon the dose of e-beam radiation. The surface morphology of the film is found to be altered by the e-beam radiation as indicated by SEM micrographs.