Studies on the Middle-phase Microemulsion of Lauric-N-methylglucamide

The phase behaviour of the middle-phase microemulsion for the quaternary system lauric-N-methylglucamide （MEGA-12）/n-butanollalkane/water has been studied with Winsor type, δ-γ, fishlike and novel ε-β fishlike phase diagrams. A series of phase inversions Winsor I （2）→Ⅲ（3）→Ⅱ （ 2 ） were observed for the three kinds of phase diagrams. The phase types, the phase volumes and the range of alcohol concentrations from the beginning to the end of the middle-phase microemulsion were obtained from Winsor phase diagram. From δ-γ, fishlike phase diagram, the physicochemical parameters, such as the mass fraction of n-butanol in the hydrophile-lipophile balanced inteffacial layer, A^s, the coordinates of the start and end points of the middle-phase microemulsion, and the solubilities of MEGA-12 and n-butanol in alkane phase were calculated. The novel ε-β fishlike phase diagram was also presented. From this kind of diagram, the above experimental phenomena were observed and the physicochemical parameters were calculated precisely. The novel fishlike phase diagram has advantages over the Winsor and δ-γ fishlike phase diagrams in the evaluation of the solubilization power of the microemulsion and calculation of the related physicochemical parameters.     

Transient vibration of thin viscoelastic orthotropic plates

This article deals with solutions of transient vibration of a rectangular viscoelastic orthotropic thin 2D plate for particular deformation models according to Flu¨gge and Timoshenko-Mindlin.The linear model,a general standard viscoelastic body,of the rheologic properties of a viscoelastic material was applied.The time and coordinate curves of the basic quantities displacement,rotation,velocity,stress and deformation are compared.The results obtained by an approximate analytic method are compared with numerical results for 3D plate generated by FEM application and with experimental investigation.     

Superatomic Boolean algebras constructed from strongly unbounded functions

Using Koszmider's strongly unbounded functions, we show the following consistency result: Suppose that κ, λ are infinite cardinals such that κ^{++ +} ≤ λ, κ^<κ = κ and 2^κ = κ⁺, and η is an ordinal with κ⁺ ≤ η < κ⁺⁺ and cf(η) = κ⁺. Then, in some cardinal‐preserving generic extension there is a superatomic Boolean algebra $\mathcal BUsing Koszmider's strongly unbounded functions, we show the following consistency result: Suppose that κ, λ are infinite cardinals such that κ^{++ +} ≤ λ, κ^<κ = κ and 2^κ = κ⁺, and η is an ordinal with κ⁺ ≤ η < κ⁺⁺ and cf(η) = κ⁺. Then, in some cardinal‐preserving generic extension there is a superatomic Boolean algebra $\mathcal B$ such that $\mathrm{ht}(\mathcal B) = \eta + 1$, $\mathrm{wd}_{\alpha }(\mathcal B) = \kappa$ for every α < η and $\mathrm{wd}_{\eta }(\mathcal B) = \lambda$(i.e., there is a locally compact scattered space with cardinal sequence 〈κ〉_η^??〈λ〉). Especially, $\langle {\omega }\rangle _{{\omega }_1}{}^{\smallfrown } \langle {\omega }_3\rangle$ and $\langle {\omega }_1\rangle _{{\omega }_2}{}^{\smallfrown } \langle {\omega }_4\rangle$ can be cardinal sequences of superatomic Boolean algebras.     

Development and validation of an efficient HPLC method for quantification of voriconazole in plasma and microdialysate reflecting an important target site

Voriconazole is a very potent antifungal agent used to treat serious fungal infections (candidiasis); it is also the therapy of choice for aspergillosis. After standard dosing, several factors affect exposure of voriconazole, resulting in large variability and demanding further elucidation of drug distribution. For measurements at the site of action, microdialysis is considered to be an outstanding minimally invasive method. For determination of voriconazole in microdialysate and human plasma a new, efficient, reliable, and robust HPLC assay using UV detection at 254 nm has been developed and validated. After simple sample preparation using acetonitrile for plasma and for microdialysate, 20 μL were injected and separated on an RP-18 column. The chromatographic run time was less than 4 min. Overall, the assay showed high precision (CV 93.9 to 99.5%) and accuracy (RE −96.7 to +107%) for both matrices. Of the 36 drug products typically co-administered with voriconazole, none except ambroxol interfered with its peak signal, and this interference was successfully managed. In summary, the method is highly suitable for application in (pre)clinical microdialysis studies, e.g., of critically ill patients with invasive mycoses. Figure Microdialysis probe situated in the interstitial space fluid containing voriconazole drug molecules (magenta coloured) extracting an important target site representative matrix (microdialysate) [Courtesy of CMA]     

Reversal of diastereofacial selectivity in hydride reductions of N-tert-butanesulfinyl imines

A variety of N-tert-butanesulfinyl imines were reduced with NaBH4 in THF containing 2% water to provide the corresponding secondary sulfinamides in high yield and diastereoselectivity. By using the same sulfinyl imine starting materials and changing the reductant to L-Selectride, the stereoselectivity could be efficiently reversed to afford the opposite product diastereomer in high yield and selectivity.     

Numerical solution of scattering problems using pseudo-differential impedance operators

Direct numerical solutions of scattering problems based on boundary-integral equations are computationally costly at high frequencies. A numerical method is presented that efficiently computes accurate approximations to unknown surface quantities given known surface data (an approximate Dirichlet-to-Neumann map). The method is based on a pseudo-differential impedance operator (PIO) numerically implemented using rational approximations. An example of a PIO is the so-called on-surface radiation condition (OSRC) method. For a convex obstacle, the method can be viewed as applying a parabolic equation directly on the surface of a scatterer. In contrast to past OSRCs, the use of rational approximations provides accuracy for wide scattering angles which is needed for grazing angles of incidence. Generalization to impedance operators for two-dimensional acoustic scatterers with concave parts is presented. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Microwave heating of ceramic composites

The microwave heating of a ceramic composite is modelled andanalysed. The composite consists of many small ceramic particlesembedded in a ceramic cement. The composite is assumed to bewell insulated, and each particle is assumed to be in imperfectthermal contact with the surrounding cement. Based on thesetwo assumptions an asymptotic theory exploiting the small Biotnumber and small non-dimensional contact conductance is developed.Our asymptotic theory yields a set of nonlinear partial differentialequations which govern the temperature in the composite. Theseare reduced to a set of coupled nonlinear ordinary differentialequations in which the surface area of each particle entersas a parameter. Recent experiments with such composites haveshown that the steady-state temperature of the composite isstrongly dependent upon the radii of the embedded particles.Our model captures this effect. In fact, our analysis showsthat the assumption of imperfect thermal contact between theparticles and the ceramic cement is essential for this trendto be established.     

Bis-Amiridines as Acetylcholinesterase and Butyrylcholinesterase Inhibitors: N-Functionalization Determines the Multitarget Anti-Alzheimer’s Activity Profile

Using two ways of functionalizing amiridine—acylation with chloroacetic acid chloride and reaction with thiophosgene—we have synthesized new homobivalent bis-amiridines joined by two different spacers—bis-N-acyl-alkylene (3) and bis-N-thiourea-alkylene (5) —as potential multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). All compounds exhibited high inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) with selectivity for BChE. These new agents displayed negligible carboxylesterase inhibition, suggesting a probable lack of untoward drug–drug interactions arising from hydrolytic biotransformation. Compounds 3 with bis-N-acyl-alkylene spacers were more potent inhibitors of both cholinesterases compared to compounds 5 and the parent amiridine. The lead compounds 3a–c exhibited an IC₅₀(AChE) = 2.9–1.4 µM, IC₅₀(BChE) = 0.13–0.067 µM, and 14–18% propidium displacement at 20 μM. Kinetic studies of compounds 3a and 5d indicated mixed-type reversible inhibition. Molecular docking revealed favorable poses in both catalytic and peripheral AChE sites. Propidium displacement from the peripheral site by the hybrids suggests their potential to hinder AChE-assisted Aβ₄₂ aggregation. Conjugates 3 had no effect on Aβ₄₂ self-aggregation, whereas compounds 5c–e (m = 4, 5, 6) showed mild (13–17%) inhibition. The greatest difference between conjugates 3 and 5 was their antioxidant activity. Bis-amiridines 3 with N-acylalkylene spacers were nearly inactive in ABTS and FRAP tests, whereas compounds 5 with thiourea in the spacers demonstrated high antioxidant activity, especially in the ABTS test (TEAC = 1.2–2.1), in agreement with their significantly lower HOMO-LUMO gap values. Calculated ADMET parameters for all conjugates predicted favorable blood–brain barrier permeability and intestinal absorption, as well as a low propensity for cardiac toxicity. Thus, it was possible to obtain amiridine derivatives whose potencies against AChE and BChE equaled (5) or exceeded (3) that of the parent compound, amiridine. Overall, based on their expanded and balanced pharmacological profiles, conjugates 5c–e appear promising for future optimization and development as multitarget anti-AD agents.     

在接枝微粒PS/SiO2上固载季铵盐及初步应用

采用"grafting from"的方式在溶液聚合体系中将苯乙烯(St)接枝聚合在微米级硅胶表面,制备了接枝微粒PS/SiO2;使用新型氯甲基化试剂1,4-二氯甲氧基丁烷,对接枝的聚苯乙烯进行了氯甲基化反应,制得了接枝有氯甲基聚苯乙烯(CMPS)的接枝微粒CMPS/SiO2;使用叔胺试剂对CMPS大分子链上的苄氯基团实施了季铵化反应,最终制得了固载有季铵盐(Quaternary salt)的复合型功能微粒QPS/SiO2.用红外光谱(FTIR)与化学分析法对功能微粒QPS/SiO2的化学结构与组成进行了表征;研究了各种因素对CMPS/SiO2季铵化反应的影响规律;初步考察了QPS/SiO2对大肠杆菌的(E.coil)抗菌性能.研究结果表明,接枝微粒CMPS/SiO2的季铵化反应比较容易进行;溶剂性质、叔胺试剂的种类及温度对CMPS/SiO2的季铵化反应均有影响.使用CMPS的良溶剂和用位阻小的叔胺试剂,所得产物的季铵化度均较高.QPS/SiO2具有很强的抗菌活性.使用很小的剂量(10 g/L)、在很短的接触时间内(3 min)抗菌率即可达100%,是一种优良的水不溶抗菌材料;QPS/SiO2的季铵化度越高,其抗菌活性越高;使用碳氢链较长的三丁胺制备的QPS/SiO2,其抗菌性能明显优于使用三乙胺制备的QPS/SiO2.