A novel,rapid and sensitive UPLC–MS/MS method for the determination of macitentan in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Macitentan is an endothelin receptor antagonist commonly used in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). A novel, rapid, simple and sensitive UPLC–MS/MS method was developed and validated for pharmacokinetic study and the determination of macitentan in PAH patients. Macitentan and bosentan, which are used as internal standards, were detected using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization in positive ion and multiple reaction monitoring mode by monitoring the mass transitions m/z 589.1 → 203.3 and 552.6 → 311.5, respectively. Chromatographic separation was performed on a reverse‐phase C18 column (5 μm, 4.6 × 150 mm) with an isocratic mobile phase, which consisted of water containing 0.2% acetic acid–acetonitrile (90:10, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Retention times were 1.97 and 1.72 min for macitentan and IS, respectively. The calibration curve with high correlation coefficient (0.9996) was linear in the range 1–500 ng/mL. The lower limit of quantitation and average recovery values were determined as 1 ng/mL and 89.8%, respectively. This method is the first UPLC–MS/MS method developed and validated for the determination of macitentan from human plasma. The developed analytical method was fully validated for linearity, selectivity, specificity, accuracy, precision, sensitivity, stability, matrix effect and recovery according to US Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The developed method was applied successfully for pharmacokinetic study and the determination of macitentan in PAH patients.     

Measurements of indoor radon concentration levels in Kilis,Osmaniye and Antakya,Turkey during spring season

The fact that 50% of the natural radiation dose to which humans are exposed is caused by radon gas makes indoor radon measurements important. In this study, levels of indoor radon gas were measured in 204 houses in Kilis, Osmaniye and Antakya using passive nuclear track detectors. Cr-39 radon detectors were left in the living rooms of participants’ houses, then analyzed at the Radon Laboratory of Health Physics Department in Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center (ÇANEM) of Atomic Energy Agency of Turkey (TAEK). Average indoor radon activity concentrations for Kilis, Osmaniye and Antakya were 50 Bq/m³ (1.26 mSv/y), 51 Bq/m³ (1.29 mSv/y) and 40 Bq/m³ (1.01 mSv/y), respectively.     

Phase diagrams of the spin-2 Ising model in the presence of a quenched diluted crystal field distribution

We have investigated the random crystal field effects on the phase diagrams of the spin-2 Blume-Capel model for a honeycomb lattice using the effective-field theory with correlations.To do so,the thermal variations of magnetization are studied via calculating the phase diagrams of the model.We have found that the model displays both second-order and first-order phase transitions in addition to the tricritical and isolated points.Reentrant behavior is also observed for some appropriate values of certain system parameters.Besides the usual ground-state phases of the spin-2 model including ±2,±1,and 0,we have also observed the phases ±3/2 and ±1/2,which are unusual for the spin-2 case.     

Trimodal random-field spin- Ising systems in a transverse field

The trimodal random-field spin- Ising system in a transverse field is investigated by combining the pair approximation with the discretized path-integral representation by introducing a parameter p to simulate the fractions of the spins not exposed to the external longitudinal magnetic field. The variation of the critical reduced transverse field and longitudinal magnetic field with the parameter p is studied for different coordination numbers and it is found that the system does not exhibit any tricritical points for p>0.22. The phase diagrams with respect to the external longitudinal random-field and the second-order phase transition temperature are obtained for given values of the transverse field, coordination numbers and the parameter p. It is found that for appropriate values of the system parameters the system does present tricritical points and reentrant phase transitions, which may be caused by the competition between the quantum effects and randomness.     

Preparation and characterization of antibacterial cobalt-exchanged natural zeolite/poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels

In the present study, potential application of the local clinoptilolite-rich natural zeolite in formulation of antibacterial hydrogels was investigated. The zeolite powder exchanged with cobalt(II) ions was used in preparation of the zeolite/poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel films in different amounts. The films were physically crosslinked by the freezing-thawing method and characterized for their crystallinity, surface and cross sectional morphology, chemical composition, thermal behaviour, mechanical properties, swelling and dissolution behaviours, and antibacterial activities against a Gram-negative bacteria. The films with 0.48 wt% and higher cobalt-exchanged zeolite contents showed antibacterial activity. Addition of the zeolite powder in the formulations did not cause significant changes in the other properties of the films.     

Size-Dependent HCl Generation of PVC/SiO2 Micro- and Nanocomposites

In this study HCl generation of polyvinyl (chloride) (PVC)/SiO₂ composites during its combustion was investigated. SiO₂ with different particle sizes were used as HCl absorbers and their HCl uptake ability results were compared to that of CaCO₃. It was found that the amount of released HCl gas during PVC combustion decreased in the presence of SiO₂. The HCl uptake ability of SiO₂ improved with decreasing of its particle size. Although thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed that SiO₂ particles decreased the first thermal degradation temperature (T _onset) of PVC by initiating dehydrochlorination of PVC at lower temperatures, SiO₂ particles had more effective HCl uptaking ability than that of CaCO₃. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs showed that some aggregates whose size was less than 100 nm were formed when Si-25 nm was used as filler. When SiO₂ with micron size was added to PVC as filler, more uniform and better distribution of the SiO₂ on the surface was observed.     

Measurement of the absolute branching fraction of D+→K0e+ve via K0→π0π0

By analyzing 2.93 fb^-1 data collected at the center-of-mass energy √s=3.773 GeV with the BESIII detector, we measure the absolute branching fraction of the semileptonic decay D⁺→K⁰e⁺v_e to be B(D⁺→K⁰e⁺v_e)=(8.59±0.14±0.21)% using K⁰→K_S⁰→π⁰π⁰, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. Our result is consistent with previous measurements within uncertainties..