Determination of the Peptide AWRK6 in Rat Plasma by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and Its Application to Pharmacokinetics

AWRK6 was a synthesized peptide developed based on the natural occurring peptide dybowskin-2CDYa, which was discovered in frog skin in our previous study. Here, a quantitative determination method for AWRK6 analysis in rat plasma by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was established and validated following U.S. FDA guidelines. A combination of plasma precipitation and liquid–liquid extraction was applied for the extraction. For pharmacokinetics study, the rats were administrated with AWRK6 via intraperitoneal and intravenous injection. The prepared plasma samples were separated on an ODS column and analyzed by tandem MS using precursor-to-product ion pairs of m/z: 533.4→84.2 for AWRK6 and m/z: 401.9→101.1 for internal standard Polymyxin B sulfate in multiple reaction monitoring mode. AWRK6 concentrations in rat plasma peaked at about 1.2 h after intraperitoneal injections at 2.35, 4.7 and 9.4 mg/kg bodyweight. The terminal half-life was around 2.8 h. The absolute bioavailability of AWRK6 was 50% after 3 doses via injection, and the apparent volume of distribution was 4.884 ± 1.736 L. The obtained determination method and pharmacokinetics profiles of AWRK6 provides a basis for further development, and forms a benchmark reference for peptide quantification.     

Study of the structure and refractive parameters of diethylamine and triethylamine

The refractive index (n) and thermal coefficient of the refractive index (dn/dt) are measured at four wavelengths for the diethylamine and triethylamine. The measurements are carried out using the Bellingham+Stanley model 60/ED high-accuracy Abbe refractometer. The optical permittivity (ε) and its variation with temperature are calculated. Applying the Cauchy equation, the following refractive properties are obtained: the optical dispersion dn/dλ, the dielectric dispersion dε/dλ, the variation of -dn/dT, dε/dT, as a function of wavelength (λ), and Cauchy's constants against temperature. Additionally, molar refractivity versus temperature and wavelength are determined.     

Three-to-one internal resonance in multiple stepped beam systems

In this study, the vibrations of multiple stepped beams with cubic nonlinearities are considered. A three-to-one internal resonance case is investigated for the system. A general approximate solution to the problem is found using the method of multiple scales （a perturbation technique）. The modulation equations of the amplitudes and the phases are derived for two modes. These equations are utilized to determine steady state solutions and their stabilities. It is assumed that the external forcing frequency is close to the lower frequency. For the numeric part of the study, the three-to-one ratio in natural frequencies is investigated. These values are observed to be between the first and second natural frequencies in the cases of the clamped-clamped and clamped-pinned supports, and between the second and third natural frequencies in the case of the pinned-pinned support. Finally, a numeric algorithm is used to solve the three-to-one internal resonance. The first mode is externally excited for the clamped-clamped and clamped-pinned supports, and the second mode is externally excited for the pinned-pinned support. Then, the amplitudes of the first and second modes are investigated when the first mode is externally excited. The amplitudes of the second and third modes are investigated when the second mode is externally excited. The force-response, damping-response, and .frequency- response curves are plotted for the internal resonance modes of vibrations. The stability analysis is carried out for these plots.     

Inkjet Printing of Functional Polymers and Materials: 2nd International Workshop in Eindhoven

This section contains reports on topical conferences. Reports are usually written at the request of the editorial office, but unsolicited contributions are also welcome. Suggestions should be sent to the editorial office of the Macromolecular journals, preferably by E‐mail to macromol@wiley‐vch.de.     

Synergistic effect of sonolysis and photocatalysis in the degradation kinetics of effluent solution

In this study, degradation of the effluent solution using sonolysis, sonocatalysis, photocatalysis and sonophotocatalysis was investigated. For this purpose, an artificial effluent solution (AES) containing Acid Black 1 and Acid Blue 62 dyestuffs was prepared. The initial AES concentration, catalyst amount, light intensity and the power of ultrasound energy were chosen as the reaction parameters.The degradation rate of AES followed the pseudo-first order kinetics inconcentration of artificial effluent solution. The results showed that the sonophotocatalysis (US + UV + TiO₂) was more effective in the degradation than sonolysis (US), sonocatalysis (US + TiO2) and photocatalysis (UV + TiO₂) performed individually. The highest and lowest degradation rates were obtained in sonophotocatalytic process and sonolytic process (US), respectively. It was found also that the synergistic effect between sonolysis and photocatalysis processes is the main reason why the maximum degradation is achievable in the sonophotocatalytic process.     

Material modelling of a sheet-layered lamination stack by homogenization

In electrical machines, sheet-layered lamination stacks play an important role for the mechanical behavior of the system. Especially the interlayer between individual sheets and their interaction have a severe influence on the structure. In the context of performance and computational effort, it is desirable to avoid a full FE simulation of a lamination stack with every single sheet. Therefore, homogenization techniques are presented to identify a transversely isotropic surrogate material model, while Zero-Thickness elements are utilized during this process to cover the interplay of single sheets. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Performance Evaluation of Nickel Separation and Extraction Process from Simulated Spent Cr/Ni Electroplating Bath Solutions by ELM Process Using LIX63 and PC88A

The study was conducted to investigate synergistic extraction of nickel from simulated spent Cr–Ni electroplating bath solutions by emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) process using 5,8-diethyl-7-hydroxydodecan-6-one oxime (LIX 63) and 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (PC88A) as carriers. The importance of ELM composition and the properties of simulated spent electroplating bath solution have been optimized to synergistically extract nickel. The important parameters affecting the nickel extraction efficiency and ELM stability, such as acid concentration, stripping solution type and concentration, extractant concentration, surfactant concentration, and phase ratio, were experimentally studied. Along with obtained results, higher than 99% of nickel was selectively extracted within 30 minutes from simulated electroplating bath solutions that their metal concentrations was in the range of 100–500 mg/L. in the optimum conditions. The higher separation factor value of nickel over chromium (β_Ni/Cr) was obtained as 898. As a result, the nickel extraction kinetic was found to depend on PC88A, since extraction mechanism of PC88A is slower than that of LIX63. So, the combined use of LIX63 and PC88A improved the selective extraction of nickel in that process.     

Non-catalytic and catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass

Both the non-catalytic and catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass have been the objective of extensive research in recent years. An impressive amount of scientific studies related to non-catalytic and catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass has been reported in the literature. The experimental conditions such as temperature, residence time, pressure, the types of biomass, and the types of catalysts have an important effect on the product distributions. The details about the experimental conditions as well as the compositions of bio-oils are important for a better understanding of the biomass liquefaction pathways in hydrothermal media. This review is intended to summarize and discuss a survey of relevant research.     

A <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-deformed particle algebra with a unique <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>-dimensional representation

We present an algebra generated by a single pair of creation and annihilation operators b and b*. We prove that the algebra has a unique d-dimensional representation. Physically this algebra corresponds to a system where there are at most d − 1 particles in a state with otherwise same quantum numbers.