Method of evaluation of the bitterness of clarithromycin dry syrup

The degree of bitterness of clarithromycin (CAM) dry syrup was evaluated using several methods. Using the inversion method, shaking method, and paddle method, a reasonable correlation between the bitter taste and the amount dissolved was not observed. A mini-column with inner diameter of 0.76 cm and height of 5 cm packed with CAM dry syrup was used for the release test. The release rate of CAM in test solution, which passed through the mini-column, was then measured to evaluate bitterness. The release rate of CAM in the release test using the mini-column correlated well with the results of a sensory test for the bitterness of CAM dry syrup. The dissolution rate constant, defined as the percentage of CAM dissolved from the unit void surface multiplied by the void volume, was inversely proportional to the linear velocity of the test solution. The critical factors affecting evaluation of bitterness were the void volume of the column and linear velocity of the test solution. The optimum linear velocity and void volume were 0.048-0.021 cm/min and 0.27-0.12 cm3, respectively. In addition, the threshold of bitterness of CAM dry syrup was defined as the concentration at which half of the volunteers recognized bitterness in the sensory test. This threshold was found to be 135 microg/ml using the mini-column.     

Synthesis and properties of rhodium(III) porphyrin cyclic tetramer and cofacial dimer

Rhodium(III) porphyrin complexes, [Rh(4-PyT(3)P)Cl](4) (1) and [Rh(2-PytB(3)P)Cl](2) (2) (4-PyT(3)P = 5-(4-pyridyl)-10,15,20-tritolylporphyrinato dianion, 2-PytB(3)P = 5-(2-pyridyl)-10,15,20-tri(4-tert-butyl)phenylporphyrinato dianion), were self-assembled and characterized by (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and electron spray ionization-mass spectroscopy methods. The spectroscopic results certified that the rhodium porphyrin complexes 1 and 2 have a cyclic tetrameric structure and a cofacial dimeric structure, respectively. The X-ray structure analysis of 1 confirmed the cyclic structure of the complex. The Soret bands of both oligomers were significantly broadened by excitonic interactions between the porphyrin units, compared to those observed for a corresponding analogue of Rh(TTP)(Py)Cl (TTP = 5,10,15,20-tetratolylporphyrinato dianion, Py = pyridine). Stepwise oxidation of the porphyrin rings in the oligomers was observed by cyclic voltammetry. The oligomers 1 and 2 are very stable in solution, and they slowly undergo reactions with pyridine to give corresponding monomer complexes only at high temperatures (approximately 80 degrees C).     

Measurement of butyltin contamination of water and sediment in Osaka Bay,Japan

The concentration of tributyltin (TBT) in surface water from Osaka Bay ranged from 0.023 to 0.061 µg l⁻¹ in 1989 and from not detected (ND) to 0.059 µg l⁻¹ in 1990 while the proportion of TBT as a percentage of the total butyltins (BTs) was more than 40%. The concentration of TBT was also surveyed in the Port of Osaka and the Yodo River basin. TBT levels were highest in the estuary (the Port of Osaka), followed by sea areas (Osaka Bay) and rivers (Yodo River basin). A fairly high correlation coefficient between TBT concentration and salinity in water from the estuary and the sea areas was observed. This result shows that the TBT in the estuary water is diluted by seawater. Generally, the TBT concentrations in the water columns were distributed uniformly and the composition of the BTs was also constant. TBT was detected in sediment from Osaka Bay in the range from ND to 0.023 mg kg⁻¹ dry weight with a high ratio of monobutyltin (MBT) to the total BTs. TBT in sediment core was also measured; its concentration decreased with core depth. It was estimated from these measurements that the release of TBT into Osaka Bay began in the 1960s. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Locust Bean Gum Hydrogels Formed by Freezing and Thawing

Locust bean gum (LBG) hydrogels were prepared by freezing and thawing. It was found that the junction zone of LBG hydrogels is tightly formed by repeating freezing and thawing. During this process, LBG molecules not connected with the junction zone are excluded from the gel portion and the remaining molecules gradually form densely packed hydrogels. Molecular conformation in the sol state affects the rate of the junction formation. Obtained LBG hydrogels are thermally stable and no gel-sol transition was observed in temperatures from 40 to 100 °C by the observation of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Non-freezing water content calculated from the DSC melting peak of water in the gel indicates that the junction zone became dense with increasing freezing and thawing.     

Nonlinear Proximal Decomposition Method for Convex Programming

In this paper, we propose a new decomposition method for solving convex programming problems with separable structure. The proposed method is based on the decomposition method proposed by Chen and Teboulle and the nonlinear proximal point algorithm using the Bregman function. An advantage of the proposed method is that, by a suitable choice of the Bregman function, each subproblem becomes essentially the unconstrained minimization of a finite-valued convex function. Under appropriate assumptions, the method is globally convergent to a solution of the problem.     

Complementarity Constraint Qualifications and Simplified B-Stationarity Conditions for Mathematical Programs with Equilibrium Constraints

With the aid of some novel complementarity constraint qualifications, we derive some simplified primal-dual characterizations of a B-stationary point for a mathematical program with complementarity constraints (MPEC). The approach is based on a locally equivalent piecewise formulation of such a program near a feasible point. The simplified results, which rely heavily on a careful dissection and improved understanding of the tangent cone of the feasible region of the program, bypass the combinatorial characterization that is intrinsic to B-stationarity.     

Construction and decomposition of reflecting diffusions on Lipschitz domains with Hölder cusps

Summary. We consider a -dimensional Euclidean domain whose boundary is Lipschitz continuous but admits locally finite number of outward or inward H?lder cusp points. Using a method of Stampacchia and Moser for PDE, we first construct a conservative diffusion process on the Euclidean closure of possessing a strong Feller resolvent and associated with a second order uniformly elliptic differential operator of divergence form with measurable coefficients . The sample path of the constructed diffusion can be uniquely decomposed as a sum of a martingale additive functional and an additive functional locally of zero energy. The second additive functional will be proved to be of bounded variation with a Skorohod type expression whenever is weakly differentiable and the H?lder exponent at each outward cusp boundary point is greater than regardless the dimension . Received: 4 October 1995     

Innovative instrumental analysis of heartbeat signals and its clinical application

A new apparatus has been built that annexes a normal electrocardiograph, ECG, with the aim to enhance its capacity. It adds the normal ECG power to superpose multiple records of ECG altogether and averages out them and, further, makes sophisticated analysis, such as normalizing the peak heights, evaluating the half-line widths of the peaks, or that of the standard deviations of measurements like the inter peak distances. The results of the said calculations have not been obtainable using the former instruments, and are expected to be useful for clinicians.     

Jet Spectroscopy of theD12B1–D01B1Transition of thep-Cyanobenzyl Radical

We have generated thep-cyanobenzyl radical in supersonic free expansion, and measured the vibrationally and rotationally resolved laser induced fluorescence (LIF) excitation spectra and the LIF dispersed spectra from the single vibronic levels (SVL) in the green-blue region. The lowest energy band at 20 738 cm⁻¹with the strongest intensity in the excitation spectrum has been assigned to the 0⁰₀band of the visible spectrum, on the basis of the vibronic structures in the SVL dispersed spectra. Based on the band type of the 0⁰₀band,a-type, determined from the rotationally resolved LIF excitation spectrum, we have definitely assigned the visible band to theD₁2²B₁–D₀1²B₁electronic transition. We have found, on the grounds of the vibrational analysis of the dispersed spectra, that the vibronic structure of the 2²B₁–1²B₁electronic transition of the benzyl type is characterized by totally symmetric fundamental modes, 1, 8a, and 9a.