The Pharmacokinetic Profiles of Pre-Operative Prophylactic Cefepime Application in Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women Undergoing Surgical Interventions Using a Fully Validated Liquid Chromatographic Method

Pregnancy alters pharmacokinetic profile of many drugs, because of altering body volume and metabolism rate. Therefore, dosage rates and concentrations of drugs must be controlled during pregnancy. Here, we identified the pharmacokinetic profile of pre-operatively given cefepime in caesarean section and gynecological operations using a simple, rapid, cost-effective and valid liquid chromatographic method. The chromatographic separation was performed using 40 mM, pH 3.2 phosphate buffer containing 6 % methanol as mobile phase at 0.30 mL min^?1 flow rate. Gradient elution with methanol was applied to get shorter analysis time without any interference from plasma endogens. During analyses, temperature of column, autosampler and detector were set as 30, 10 and 40 °C, respectively. The detection wavelength was 260 nm and ceftizoxime was used as internal standard. At the optimum conditions, the cefepime analysis from plasma samples was completed in 7 min. Cefepime was extracted from plasma samples using perchloric acid with a very high recovery rate (99.3 %). The method was fully validated according to the Food and Drug Administration guidelines for bioanalytical method validation, and found to be selective, linear, repeatable, reproducible and robust. After validation studies, the method was applied to five caesarean-sectioned and four non-pregnant sectioned women treated with pre-operative, prophylactic single intravenous dose of cefepime (1 g Maxipime^®) in order to determine pharmacokinetic profile of cefepime. Peak serum concentrations of cefepime in caesarean-sectioned women at the arterial port after infusion was 70.11 ± 10.74 μg mL^?1. The mean elimination half-life, volume of distribution and calculated area under the concentration–time curve (AUC)_0–∞ were 1.10 ± 0.23 h, 14.22 ± 2.29 L and 101.55 ± 10.99 μg h mL^?1 for caesarean-sectioned women; and 1.14 ± 0.21 h, 14.76 ± 2.92 L and 104.71 ± 36.34 μg h mL^?1 for non-pregnant sectioned women, respectively. The area under curve, elimination half-life, maximum plasma concentration and the mean distribution volume of cefepime were not changed in case of pregnancy.     

Synthesis of 2,3‐Dihydro‐4H‐furo[3,2‐c] chromen‐4‐ones and 2,3‐Dihydronaphtho[2,3‐b]furan‐4,9‐diones by the Radical Cyclizations of Hydroxyenones with Electron-Rich Alkenes using Manganese(III) Acetate

We have obtained dihydrofurans 3a–j in the radical cyclization of 4‐hydroxycoumarin 1a and 2‐hydroxy‐1,4‐naphtoquinone 1b with electron rich alkenes 2a–i by manganese(III) acetate. Methods A and B, which have different molar ratios were studied comparatively in these reactions, and we observed that method B (molar ratio 2:1:3) gave the best results. Treatment of 4‐hydroxycoumarin 1a and electron rich alkenes 2a–e gave 2,3‐dihydro‐4H‐furo[3,2‐c]chromen‐4‐ones 3a–e in 36–86% yields by the method B. Under the same conditions, the reactions of 2‐hydroxy‐1,4‐naphtaquinone 1b with conjugated alkenes 2b and 2f–i afforded 2,3‐dihydronaphtho[2,3‐b]furan‐4,9‐diones 3f–j in an excellent yields.     

Synthesis of N,N‐Dimethylamines via Barbier–Grignard‐Type Electrophilic Amination

Aryl Grignard reagents react with N,N‐dimethyl O‐(mesitylenesulfonyl)hydroxylamine in THF under Barbier conditions at room temperature and give N,N‐dimethylanilines with high yields in a 2‐h reaction. The amination yield of in situ Grignard reagents were not lower than those of preformed aryl Grignard reagents. In situ cycloalkyl‐, allyl‐, and benzylmagnesium bromides did not react with N,N‐dimethyl O‐(mesitylenesulfonyl)hydroxylamine, except that amination of in situ n‐hexylmagnesium bromide resulted in a medium yield. Grignard–Barbier‐type amination of aryl bromides with N,N‐dimethyl O‐(mesitylenesulfonyl)hydroxylamine provides a new alternative route for the synthesis of N,N‐dimethylanilines.     

Synthesis and Characterization of New Chalcone Derivatives from cis-Bicyclo[3.2.0]hept-2-en-6-one

A series of chalcone derivatives (3a–k) were prepared via the reaction of cis-bicyclo[3.2.0]hept-2-en-6-one (1) with the respective arylaldehydes (2a–k) and were then characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and elemental analyses.     

Investigation of radiocesium biokinetics in Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum)

This study was carried out to better understand the biokinetics of radiocesium in clams living in sediment. The accumulation and depuration kinetics of ¹³⁴Cs were investigated in the Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) under controlled laboratory conditions. The concentration factor was found to be 3.0 for ¹³⁴Cs in the whole body; however, the concentration factor in the soft part of the clams (12) was significantly higher than those in the whole body and shell (0.80). The depuration kinetics of the radionuclide were described by a two-component exponential model for the whole body. The biological half-lives in the fast and slow components were found to be 0.63 and 22.1 days, respectively. The depuration kinetics for ¹³⁴Cs in the soft parts were described by a single-component exponential model with a resultant the biological half-life of 18.0 days.     

Interaction of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate with Poly(ethyleneimine) in Bulk Solution and at the Air-Solution Interface

Interaction of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) with the cationic polyelectrolyte poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) was investigated in this study. Turbidity measurements were performed in order to analyze the interaction and complex formation in bulk solution as a function of polymer concentration and pH. Surface tension measurements were made to investigate the properties of SDS/PEI/water mixtures at air/solution interface. Results revealed that SDS/PEI complexes form in solution depending on the surfactant and polymer concentration. A decrease was observed in surface tension values in the presence of SDS/PEI mixtures compared to the values of pure SDS solutions. Both solution and interfacial properties exhibited pH dependent behavior. A shift was seen in the critical micelle concentration of SDS solutions as a function of PEI concentration and solution pH. Monovalent and divalent salt additions showed some influence on the interfacial properties of SDS solutions in the presence of PEI.     

The Effect of Sample Age and Neutron Radiation to Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Parameters in Some Asphaltene Suspensions

Nuclear magnetic resonance and the Overhauser effect type dynamic nuclear polarization experiments were performed to study suspensions of asphaltene in the xylene isomers at a low magnetic field of 1.44 mT at room temperature. Intermolecular spin-spin interactions occur between nuclear spins of hydrogen in the solvent medium and the free electron spins in the asphaltene micelles. The samples were prepared in three different asphaltene concentrations at vacuum. The samples were waited for four years and dynamic nuclear polarization parameters were found via dynamic nuclear polarization experiments performed again. Thus, it was investigated the effect of sample age to dynamic nuclear polarization parameters. In addition, the medium concentrations of each sample were exposed to radiation for 48 hours and neutron radiation effects to the dynamic nuclear polarization parameters were investigated. The results are discussed.     

Comparative Study of Biosorption of Heavy Metals Using Living Green Algae Scenedesmus quadricauda and Neochloris pseudoalveolaris: Equilibrium and Kinetics

The biosorption of several heavy metals such as cobalt(II), chromium(III), lead(II), cadmium(II), nickel(II), and manganese(II) from aqueous systems on living microalgae cultures, Scenedesmus quadricauda and Neochloris pseudoalveolaris were studied under laboratories conditions. The kinetic and statistical parameters were calculated by using the data obtained from batch cultivation and well fitted a pseudo-first-order rate equation. The initial metal concentrations in solution were about 5–40 mg · L^?1. According to the pseudo-second-order model, the biosorption capacities of Scenedesmus quadricauda for Co(II), Cr(III), Pb(II), Cd(II), Ni(II), and Mn(II) ions were found in the ranges of 2.14–52.48, 1.98–81.98, 8.05–4.26, 7.81–24.96, 2.17–55.71, and 3.54–75.20 mg g^?1, respectively. Kinetic studies revealed that the metal uptake capacity of each living green algae was rather fast. It was also observed that the biosorption kinetic rate decreased with increasing concentration for both microalgae. The application of diffusion-controlled models to the experimental results indicated that the contribution of intraparticle diffusion to the overall sorption kinetics was not very important. Results showed that Co(II), Cr(III), Pb(II), Cd(II), Ni(II), and Mn(II) ions could effectively be absorbed by using living microalga cultures from aqueous solutions.     

Cross-section calculations of proton induced (p,n) and (p,2n) reactions for production of diagnostic 67Ga, 81Rb, 111In, 123,124I, 123Cs and 123Xe radioisotopes

Investigation of pre-equilibrium (PEQ) and equilibrium (EQ) effects on proton induced reactions for production of radioisotopes are very important. Therefore, in this study, we have calculated the PEQ and EQ cross-sections for ⁶⁷Zn(p,n)⁶⁷Ga, ⁶⁸Zn(p,2n)⁶⁷Ga, ⁸²Kr(p,2n)⁸¹Rb, ¹¹¹Cd(p,n)¹¹¹In, ¹¹²Cd(p,2n)¹¹¹In, ¹²³Te(p,n)¹²³I, ¹²⁴Te(p,2n)¹²³I, ¹²⁴Te(p,n)¹²⁴I and ¹²⁴Xe(p,2n)¹²³Cs reactions for production diagnostic radioisotopes. Calculations have been performed by using the hybrid model, geometry dependent hybrid model and full exciton model of PEQ reaction mechanism with 1–40 MeV proton incident energy. We have also investigated the EQ effects on these reactions using the Weisskopf–Ewing model in the same energy range. The excitation functions including the PEQ and EQ effects on these reactions are evaluated by using the ALICE/ASH (2006) and the TALYS 1.4 (2011) codes. Our results have shown that using these codes is suitable for production diagnostic isotopes mentioned above. To obtain excitation functions for producing the diagnostic radioisotopes the PEQ mechanism has been found more dominant than that of the EQ. The results are discussed and compared with the available experimental data.     

Reversible Immobilization of Urease by Using Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibers

In this work, bacterial cellulose nanofibers were produced by using the Gluconacetobacter hansenii HE1 strain. These nanofibers were derivatized with dye affinity ligand Reactive Green 5, and these newly synthesized dye-attached nanofibers were used for affinity adsorption of urease. Reactive Green 5-attached nanofibers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, SEM, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis. Some adsorption conditions which significantly affect the adsorption efficiency were investigated. The maximum urease adsorption capacity was found to be 240 mg/g nanofiber in pH 6.0 and at room temperature. Dye-free plain nanofibers also used for studying nonspecific urease adsorption onto plain nanofibers and nonspecific adsorption were found to be negligible (3.5 mg/g nanofiber). Prepared dye-attached nanofibers can be used in five successive adsorption/desorption steps without any decrease in their urease adsorption capacity. The desorption rate of the adsorbed urease was found to be 98.9 %. The activity of the urease was also investigated, and it was found that free and desorbed urease from the dye-attached nanofibers showed similar specific activity.