Determination of ferruginol in rat plasma via high‐performance liquid chromatography and its application in pharmacokinetics study

Ferruginol, a diterpene phenol, has recently received attention for its extensive pharmacological properties, including anti‐tumor, antibacterial, cardio‐protective and gastroprotective effects. In the present study, a high‐performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for determination of ferruginol in rat plasma and applied for the pharmacokinetics study. The HPLC assay was performed with a VP ODS‐C₁₈ column. The mobile phaseconsisted of methanol and 1% acetic acid solution (90:10, v/v). The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min, and the wavelength was set at 270 nm. This method was linear over the studied range of 0.1–10.0 µg/mL for ferruginol. The correlation coefficient was 0.9998. The intra‐day and inter‐day precisions were better than 4 and 5%, respectively. The extraction recovery and accuracy were greater than 97 and 96%, respectively. The detection limit was 30 ng/mL. The mean maximum concentration of ferruginol in rat plasma was 3.14 µg/mL at 40 min after oral administration at a dose of 20 mg/kg. Ferruginol was absorbed quickly p.o. with t_1/2ka = 14.86 min and had a high rate of elimination with t_1/2 = 41.73 min. The pharmacokinetic process of ferruginol in rat was well described with a one‐compartment model. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design and synthesis of 6-amino-5-oxo-1,2,3,5-tetrahydro-3-indolizinecarboxylic acids as β-sheet peptidomimetics

6-Amino-5-oxo-1,2,3,5-tetrahydro-3-indolizinecarboxylic acid was designed as a novel scaffold that can effectively mimic the extended conformation of a peptide. The key reaction in the synthesis of the scaffold involved a [3+2]-cycloaddition of a dicarbonyl stabilized isomünchnone intermediate. Its effectiveness as a β-sheet mimetic was demonstrated by the preparation of a potent HCV NS3 protease inhibitor.     

Two-dimensional magnetic cluster growth with a power-law interaction

A two-dimensional cluster model in which the morphology of clusters depends on power-law magnetic interactions that decay with distance r as a r^−α law is introduced. The growth algorithm is a generalization of diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) model. The particles with spin degree diffuse on a square lattice and each spin is allowed to flip under a Monte Carlo probability. The simulation shows that, for the antiferromagnetic coupling, the spins of the particles in clusters tend to be oriented alternately. For the ferromagnetic coupling, however, the spin distribution depends on the exponent α: for large value of α, domains with different sizes are observed in the clusters; while for small α, during the earlier stage of the growth process, the clusters exhibit approximately antiferromagnetic structure, then, in subsequent growth of the outer part of the clusters, the spin states of all particles are similar. The magnetization and system energy of the clusters as well as their evolutions with the growth parameters are also studied in detail.     

Lamb wave sensors array for nonviscous liquid sensing

The interdigital transducer (IDT) can excite Lamb wave in a piezoelectric plate loading with a liquid layer, and the phase velocity of Lamb wave is associated with the properties of the liquid layer. In this paper, the concept of effective permittivity is introduced to study the Lamb wave’s potential application in liquid sensing. Considering the measuring of ideal nonviscous liquid, the sensors array is designed to sense the density and the dielectric constant of the liquid layer simultaneously. Using LiNbO₃ as piezoelectric material, in order to improve the sensors array sensitivity and the electro-mechanical coupling coefficient, the optimized results including plate thicknesses and cut orientations are presented by numerical simulation. These studies show that the Lamb wave sensors array can be potential in liquid sensing.     

The chemical bonding and spectral assignments of rhodium(III)‐catalyzed closo‐dodecaborate complexes: Ab initio study

The chemical bonding and spectral assignments of rhodium(III)‐catalyzed closo‐dodecaborate (RhCD) complex are systematically studied using the density functional theory calculations. It is found that the calculated main bond lengths of framework are in good agreement with experimental X‐ray observation, and the pronounced hybridization of B‐2p and Rh‐4d states is responsible for the structural stability, reflected by the large dissociation energy and HOMO–LUMO energy gap. The AdNDP chemical bonding analysis indicates that the RhCD complex can be stabilized by two H‐bridged 3c‐2e σ‐bonds (B‐H‐Rh triangles). Additionally, the theoretical calculations reproduce well the main experimental IR spectrum, and the characteristic peaks are properly assigned. These results will be helpful for further insight into the unique electronic structure of the species, and provide valuable references for potential applications in novel materials.     

Radiolysis products and degradation mechanism studies on di-1-methyl heptyl methyl phosphonate

Di-1-methyl heptyl methyl phosphonate (DMHMP) is a promising alternative extractant for Th-U fuel reprocessing, in which the irradiation stability of extractant should be systematically studied. In this paper, the radiolysis products of DMHMP were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively with gas and ion chromatograph, the possible radiolysis mechanism of DMHMP was also concluded. Moreover, the effect of structure on the radiolysis products and irradiation stability of neutral organophosphorus compound extractant was also discussed.

     

高速碰撞中的有限元方法及其应用

讨论了连续介质力学守恒方程的有限元离散方法,针对高速碰撞的物理特点,提出了数值计算中所应重视的问题及其有效的解决办法。文中给出的典型算例说明本方法对各类高速碰撞问题的数值模拟计算是十分有用和成功的。     

Quantitative characterization of membrane formation process of alginate–chitosan microcapsules by GPC

The semi-permeable membrane of alginate–chitosan (AC) microcapsules has been proven important to control the microcapsule stability and selective substance diffusion rate. Therefore, a novel and operable methodology based on gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was established for quantitative characterization of the membrane formation process, so as to provide guidance on performance improvement of AC microcapsules in biomedical applications. Not only the molecular weight (M_w) and its distribution of chitosan can be obtained by GPC, but also the area integral of molecular weight peaks can be linearly correlated to chitosan concentration in certain range. The dynamic membrane formation process was then obtained by quantitatively analyzing reaction amount of chitosan with time, which showed that for chitosan molecules with wide M_w distribution, only parts of molecules bind with alginate to form microcapsule membrane. Moreover, the contribution of chitosan molecules participating in the membrane formation process was also different. These new findings, therefore, are helpful for adjusting and controlling the membrane formation process and properties of microcapsule membrane.     

比较研究山姜素和豆蔻明与人-γ球蛋白的相互作用

将互为同分异构体的两种植物药活性组分山姜素和豆蔻明作为研究对象,应用荧光光谱法、紫外光谱法以及红外光谱法并结合分子对接技术首次对这两种黄酮类化合物与人-γ球蛋白(Human gammagobulin,HG)的相互作用进行了详细研究.荧光光谱法的研究结果表明,这两种药物均与HG有较强的相互作用(结合常数均在104～105之间);山姜素对HG表现为静态猝灭机理,而豆蔻明对HG表现出非常少见的动态猝灭机理.比较不同温度(298,308和318K)下两种药物与蛋白相互作用的结合参数都有所差别,维持药物-HG体系的作用力也不同.山姜素和豆蔻明分子与HG色氨酸残基间的结合距离r值(分别为3.88和4.52nm)都小于7nm,说明发生了能量转移.同步荧光与红外光谱法定性及定量地研究了药物对HG二级结构的不同影响程度.两种分子对接结果表明了这两种药物与HG的结合区域.     

Monitoring of Cell Viability and Proliferation in Hydrogel-Encapsulated System by Resazurin Assay

Cell microencapsulation is a promising approach for cell implantation, cell-based gene therapy and large-scale cell culture. For better quality control, it is important to accurately measure the microencapsulated cell viability and proliferation in the culture. A number of assays have been used for this purpose, but limitations arise. In this study, we investigated the feasibility and reliability of resazurin as a cell growth indicator in microencapsulated culture system. According to the experiment data, there was a reversible, time- and dose-dependent growth inhibition as observed for resazurin application in encapsulated cells. A positive relationship was observed between reduction of resazurin and CHO cell number in microcapsule. Moreover, the resazurin assay provided an equivalent result to the commonly used MTT method in determining CHO cell proliferation in APA microcapsule with no notable influence on cell distribution and organization pattern. In conclusion, resazurin assay is offered as a simple, rapid and non-invasive method for in vitro microencapsulated cell viability and proliferation measurement.