Determination of phenylenediamine isomers in hair dyes by coal cinders micro-column extraction and MEKC

A new micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) method using beta-cyclodextrins (β-CDs) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphates (ionic liquids) as additives was successfully developed for determination of para-, meta-, and ortho-phenylenediamines isomers (p-P, m-P, and o-P) in hair dyes. To improve the sensitivity of the MEKC-UV, a simple and cheap flow injection (FI) technique using a micro-column packed with coal cinders (the by-products from combustion in a boiler) as solid-phase extractant was also investigated. In the presence of 20 mmol L(-1) phosphates at pH 5.5, addition of 12 mmol L(-1) ionic liquids and 8 mmol L(-1) β-CDs greatly improved the separation efficiency. The three analytes could be quantitatively adsorbed by coal cinders, and desorbed readily with 0.15 mL of 0.01 mol L(-1) NaOH. Under the optimum conditions, an enrichment factor (EF) of 33.3 was obtained, and determination limits of p-P, m-P, and o-P were 1.97?×?10(-7), 0.99?×?10(-7), and 0.61?×?10(-7) mol L(-1), respectively. The adsorption capacities of the coal cinders micro-column for p-P, m-P, and o-P were all 1.20 mg g(-1). The presented procedure was successfully applied to the determination of p-P, m-P, and o-P in hair dyes with satisfactory results.     

Analysis of doxorubicin uptake in single human leukemia K562 cells using capillary electrophoresis coupled with laser-induced fluorescence detection

The doxorubicin (DOX) uptake in single human leukemia K562 cells with changes in both drug dosage and exposure period was studied using capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. The cells were treated with DOX at different concentrations (1, 3, 10, 20, 30, and 50 μM) and for different exposure times (1, 3, 5, 24, and 48 h). At least 20 cells were analyzed for each DOX-treated cell population. A marked heterogeneity in DOX uptake among single cells was observed, because the relative standard deviation of the uptake of DOX by single cells ranged from 24.0% to 61.1% within each cell population. The cell-to-cell heterogeneity in DOX uptake first decreased and then became constant with increasing drug concentration, but it did not exhibit regular variation with increasing exposure time. The mean DOX uptake was a linear function of drug concentration (r ≥ 0.9667). In terms of the correlation with exposure time, the mean DOX uptake reached its maximum at 3 h for the cell populations treated with 1–10 μM DOX, while it kept increasing during 48 h exposure of cell populations to 20–50 μM DOX. Because it eliminates DOX fluorescence quenching and sample loss, the CE-LIF method directly detects the true DOX uptake by single cells, and thus presents accurate information on both the cell-to-cell heterogeneity in DOX uptake and the patterns of DOX uptake in K562 cells as functions of drug concentration and exposure time.     

Development of a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method for the determination of ursolic acid in rat plasma and tissue: application to the pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution study

A fast and sensitive liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method was developed for the determination of ursolic acid (UA) in rat plasma and tissues. Glycyrrhetinic acid was used as the internal standard (IS). Chromatographic separation was performed on a 3.5 μm Zorbax SB-C18 column (30 mm × 2.1 mm) with a mobile phase consisting of methanol and aqueous 10 mM ammonium acetate using gradient elution. Quantification was performed by selected ion monitoring with (m/z)⁻ 455 for UA and (m/z)⁻ 469 for the IS. The method was validated in the concentration range of 2.5 − 1470 ng mL⁻¹ for plasma samples and 20 − 11760 ng g⁻¹ for tissue homogenates. The intra- and inter-day assay of precision in plasma and tissues ranged from 1.6% to 7.1% and 3.7% to 9.0%, respectively, and the intra- and inter-day assay accuracy was 84.2 − 106.9% and 82.1 − 108.1%, respectively. Recoveries in plasma and tissues ranged from 83.2% to 106.2%. The limits of detections were 0.5 ng mL⁻¹ or 4.0 ng g⁻¹. The recoveries for all samples were >90%, except for liver, which indicated that ursolic acid may metabolize in liver. The main pharmacokinetic parameters obtained were T _max = 0.42 ± 0.11 h, C _max = 1.10 ± 0.31 μg mL⁻¹, AUC = 1.45 ± 0.21 μg h mL⁻¹ and K _a = 5.64 ± 1.89 h⁻¹. The concentrations of UA in rat lung, spleen, liver, heart, and cerebellum were studied for the first time. This method is validated and could be applicable to the investigation of the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of UA in rats.     

Mechanical behavior and wrinkling patterns of phase-separated binary polymer blend film

The wrinkling of phase-separated binary polymer blend film was studied through combining the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation for morphologies with the lattice spring model (LSM) for mechanical properties. The information of morphology and structure obtained by use of MC simulation is input to the LSM composed of a three-dimensional network of springs, which allows us to determine the wrinkling and the mechanical properties of polymer blend film, such as strain, stress, and Young’s modulus. The simulated results show that the wrinkling of phase-separated binary polymer blend film is related not only to the structure of morphology, but also to the disparity in elastic moduli between polymers of blend. Our simulation results provide fundamental insight into the relationship between morphology, wrinkling, and mechanical properties for phase-separated polymer blend films and can yield guidelines for formulating blends with the desired mechanical behavior. The wrinkling results also reveal that the stretching of the phase-separated film can form the micro-template, which has a wide application prospect.     

Precise asymptotics in the deviation probability series of self-normalized sums

Let X,X₁,X₂,… be a sequence of nondegenerate i.i.d. random variables with zero means. Set Sn=X₁+?+Xn and . In the present paper we examine the precise asymptotic behavior for the general deviation probabilities of self-normalized sums, Sn/Wn. For positive functions g(x), ?(x), α(x) and κ(x), we obtain the precise asymptotics for the following deviation probabilities of self-normalized sums:

     

The cyclicity and period function of a class of quadratic reversible Lotka-Volterra system of genus one

In this paper, we investigate a class of quadratic reversible Lotka-Volterra system of genus one with b=3/5. It is proved that the cyclicity of the period annulus under quadratic perturbations is equal to two. Moreover, we prove that the period function of its period trajectories is monotone increasing.     

Quantum Schur algebras revisited

A geometric construction of quantum Schur algebras was given by Beilinson, Lusztig and MacPherson in terms of pairs of flags in a vector space. By viewing such pairs of flags as representations of a poset, we give a recursive formula for the structure constants of quantum Schur algebras which is related to certain Hall polynomials. As an application, we provide a direct proof of the fundamental multiplication formulas which play a key role in the Beilinson-Lusztig-MacPherson realization of quantum gl_n. In the appendix we show how to groupoidify quantum Schur algebras in the sense of Baez, Hoffnung and Walker.     

Characteristics of wave propagation in piezoelectric bent rods with arbitrary curvature

The wave propagation in the piezoelectric bend rods with arbitrary curvature is studied in this paper. Basic three-dimensional equations in an orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system (r, θ, s) are established. The Bessel functions in radial co-ordinate and triangle series in the angular co-ordinate are used to describe the displacements and electrical potential. Characteristics of dispersion, distributions of displacements and electrical potential over the cross section are calculated, respectively. In the numerical examples, the effects of the ratio of the two ellipse axes on the dispersion relations of the first three modes are observed. The characteristics of the distribution of displacements and electric potential in the cross section, along the radial and s direction are investigated.     

Chiral hierarchical molecular nanostructures on two-dimensional surface by controllable trinary self-assembly

The bottom-up fabrication of surface hierarchical nanostructures is of great importance for the development of molecular nanostructures for chiral molecular recognition and enantioselective catalysis. Herein, we report the construction of a series of 2D chiral hierarchical structures by trinary molecular self-assembly with copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), 2,3,7,8,12,13-hexahexyloxy-truxenone (TrO23), and 1,3,5-tris(10-carboxydecyloxy) benzene (TCDB). A series of flower-like chiral hierarchical molecular architectures with increased generations are formed, and the details of these structures are investigated by high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The flower-like hierarchical molecular architectures could be described by a unified configuration in which the lobe of each architecture is composed of a different number of triangular shape building units (TBUs). The off-axis edge-to-edge packing of TBUs confers the organizational chirality of the hierarchical assemblies. On the other hand, the TBUs can tile the surface in a vertex-sharing configuration, resulting in the expansion of chiral unit cells, which thereby further modulate the periodicity of chiral voids in the multilevel hierarchical assemblies. The formation of desired hierarchical structures could be controlled through tuning the molar ratio of each component in liquid phase. The results are significant for the design and fabrication of multicomponent chiral hierarchical molecular nanostructures.     

Three aromatic amino acids in gastric juice as potential biomarkers for gastric malignancies

For screening early-stage gastric malignancies, the existing serum biomarkers have limited sensitivity and specificity. Gastric juice biomarkers are scarce and require further investigation. We divided this study on searching potential biomarkers into four parts: (1) detection of differential fluorescence spectrum and peaks in the gastric juice from patients using fluorescence spectroscopy and HPLC, (2) identification and validation of differential peaks using LC/MS and NMR, (3) quantification of potential biomarkers, and (4) establishment of diagnostic detection. The fluorescence intensity (FI), tyrosine, phenylalanine, tryptophan and total protein content were significantly higher in the gastric juice of patients with gastric malignancies (all P<0.01). With all P<0.001, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of the biomarkers were tyrosine, 0.838; phenylalanine, 0.856; and tryptophan, 0.816. At a specificity of 79.4%, the sensitivity for gastric malignancy detection with phenylalanine was 87.9% only. Aromatic amino acids in gastric juices could be used as potential diagnostic biomarkers to screen gastric malignancies. It is a less-invasive and economical method compared to gastric biopsy.