Determination of the antimitotic agents N-desacetylcolchicine, demecolcine and colchicine in serum and urine

In an effort to characterize the pharmacokinetic behavior of the antimitotic agent N-desacetylcolchicine a selective, sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of N-desacetylcolchicine, demecolcine and colchicine in serum or urine. To 0.5 ml of serum or 0.1 ml of urine diluted to 0.5 ml were added 50 microliters demecolcine (2 micrograms/ml) which serves as the internal standard. The sample was extracted using a C2 reversed-phase solid extraction column. N-Desacetyl-colchicine, colchicine and the internal standard were eluted from the column with methanol. The combined eluates were evaporated to dryness and the residue was reconstituted with water. The reconstituted sample was injected into a C18 reversed-phase column and eluted using a mobile phase consisting of 0.1 M potassium dihydrogenphosphate, 5 mM 1-pentanesulfonic acid in methanol and acetonitrile with a final pH of 6.0, at a flow rate of 1.5 ml/min. N-Desacetylcolchicine, colchicine and the internal standard were detected using a variable-wavelength ultraviolet detector at 254 nm. The limit of detection was 0.4 ng/ml for desacetylcolchicine and 4.0 ng/ml for colchicine. The method is linear over a concentration range of 1.0-200 ng/ml. The method has been shown to be a rapid, reliable method to monitor N-desacetylcolchicine levels in clinical trials in cancer patients.     

Generalized Langevin theory on the dynamics of simple fluids under external fields

A theory on the time development of the density and current fields of simple fluids under an external field is formulated through the generalized Langevin formalism. The theory is applied to the linear solvation dynamics of a fixed solute regarding the solute as the external field on the solvent. The solute-solvent-solvent three-body correlation function is taken into account through the hypernetted-chain integral equation theory, and the time correlation function of the random force is approximated by that in the absence of the solute. The theoretical results are compared with those of molecular-dynamics (MD) simulation and the surrogate theory. As for the transient response of the density field, our theory is shown to be free from the artifact of the surrogate theory that the solvent can penetrate into the repulsive core of the solute during the relaxation. We have also found a large quantitative improvement of the solvation correlation function compared with the surrogate theory. In particular, the short-time part of the solvation correlation function is in almost perfect agreement with that from the MD simulation, reflecting that the short-time expansion of the theoretical solvation correlation function is exact up to t(2) with the exact three-body correlation function. A quantitative improvement is found in the long-time region, too. Our theory is also applied to the force-force time correlation function of a fixed solute, and similar improvement is obtained, which suggests that our present theory can be a basis to improve the mode-coupling theory on the solute diffusion.     

Muon science in J-PARC

The intensity of proton accelerator has attained to the order to mega-watt, and several MW-class proton accelerators start to operate in the world. J-PARC is a complex of three accelerators, and generates a variety of secondary beams, i.e. muon beam, neutron beam, meson beam and neutrino beam. The muon facility is established in order to provide a pulsed muon beam for various experimental programs. The first muon beam is transported to the experimental area in September 2008. Although the accelerator is still under commissioning, and the beam power doesn’t reach the design value of 1 MW yet, the world strongest pulsed muon beam will be provided shortly. In this paper, we review the muon beam line in J-PARC, and discuss evolved scientific programs.     

Electromagnetic moments of short lived β emitters 21F, 23Mg, 27Si and 39Ca

The β-NMR spectra of ²¹F, ²³Mg, ²⁷Si and ³⁹Ca which were produced in heavy ion collisions and implanted in various crystals have been observed. The magnetic moments of ²¹F and ²⁷Si were determined to be |μ(²¹F)| = 3.9194 ± 0.0012 μ_N and |μ(²⁷Si)| = 0.8653 ± 0.0003 μ_N, respectively. The electric quadrupole coupling constants were determined for the first time to be |eqQ(²¹F in MgF₂)/h|= 9.94 ± 0.09 MHz, |eqQ(²³Mg in MgF₂)/h|= 1.96 ± 0.06 MHz, |eqQ(²⁷Si in Al₂O₃)/h|= 1.90 ± 0.12 MHz, |eqQ(³⁹Ca in CaCO₃)/h|= 0.60 ± 0.04 MHz. From the present eqQ/h, the Q moments were deduced as |Q(²¹F)|= 110 ± 22 mb, |Q(²³Mg)|= 114 ± 3 mb, |Q(²⁷Si)|= 60 ± 13 mb and |Q(³⁹Ca)|= 36± 7 mb. The present data were compared with the theoretical values obtained by the OXBASH shell model code. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Structure and synthesis of nectrisine, a new immunomodulator isolated from a fungus.

The structure of a novel immunomodulator, nectrisine (1), has been elucidated on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence. Its absolute stereochemistry was predicted on the basis of the dibenzoate chirality rule and finally confirmed by a synthesis from D-glucose.     

Determination of radioruthenium using a polyethylene film

A simple method is described for the determination of radioruthenium. A solution containing radioruthenium is placed in a conical flask with small amounts of sulfuric acid, silver nitrate, and potassium periodate. The mouth of the flask is covered with a thin polyethylene film, which is fixed with a soft rubber band, and the flask is heated for 2 hrs on a water bath. Radioruthenium is oxidized to tetroxide, evaporated by steam-distillation, and fixed quantitatively on the inner surface of the polyethylene film as a firm black stain. Contamination ratios of other nuclides are under 2·10^?4.     

Exciton spectra in SrS1−xSex mixed crystals

Exciton reflection spectra are investigated at 2 K on single crystals of SrS_1?xSe_x over the whole composition range. All the exciton reflection structures are found to show an amalgamation-type behaviour. From the observed dependence of the reflection peaks on composition and temperature, it is concluded that the exciton spectra of these Sr-chalcogenides are composed of two kinds of the exciton multiplets, the lower one being associated with the X-point band-edge and the higher one with the г-point band edge. It is predicted that these crystals have an indirect band-gap for which phonon-assisted dipole transitions are parity-forbidden.     

Optical spectra of monomeric and polymeric diacetylene crystals in the synchrotron radiation region of 1–20 eV

Polarized reflection spectra have been measured on monomeric and polymeric crystals of bis (p-toluene sulfonate) diacetylene in the synchrotron radiation region of 1–20 eV. Assignments are given for the spectral features observed in both crystals. The one-dimensional Wannier exciton model is proposed to interpret the polymer spectra.