Development and validation of a UPLC–MS/MS method for determination of Sarsasapogenin‐AA22 in rat plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

A sarsasapogenin derivative, sarsasapogenin‐AA22 (AA22), with cyclobutylamine at the 3‐hydroxyl position of sarsasapogenin, has great neuroprotective activity in PC12 cells and NO production inhibitory activity in RAW264.7 cell lines. A method was developed to determine AA22 in rat plasma which was further applied to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of AA22 after taking a single dose of AA22. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was used in the method, while diosgenin was used as internal standard. A simple protein precipitation based on acetonitrile was utilized. A simple sample cleanup promoted the throughput of the method considerably. The method was validated over the range of 1–1000 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient > 0.99. The lower limit of quantification was 1 ng/mL for AA22 in plasma. Intra‐ and inter‐day accuracies for AA22 were 92–111 and 100–103%, respectively, and the inter‐day precision was <15%. After a single oral dose of 25 mg/kg of AA22, the mean peak plasma concentration of AA22 was 2114 ± 362 ng/mL at 6 h. The area under the plasma concentration–time curve was 196,098 ± 69,375 h ng/mL, and the elimination half‐life was 8.7 ± 2.2 h.     

Nanoscale observations of the operational failure for phase-change-type nonvolatile memory devices using Ge2Sb2Te5 chalcogenide thin films

In this study, a phase-change memory device was fabricated and the origin of device failure mode was examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) was used as the active phase-change material in the memory device and the active pore size was designed to be 0.5 m. After the programming signals of more than 2×10⁶ cycles were repeatedly applied to the device, the high-resistance memory state (reset) could not be rewritten and the cell resistance was fixed at the low-resistance state (set). Based on TEM and EDS studies, Sb excess and Ge deficiency in the device operating region had a strong effect on device reliability, especially under endurance-demanding conditions. An abnormal segregation and oxidation of Ge also was observed in the region between the device operating and inactive peripheral regions. To guarantee an data endurability of more than 1×10¹⁰ cycles of PRAM, it is very important to develop phase-change materials with more stable compositions and to reduce the current required for programming.     

Decay rate with coordinate-dependent diffusion coefficients

Using a master equation for the reduced density matrix of open quantum system, the influence of coordinate-dependent microscopical diffusion coefficients on the decay rate from a potential well is studied. For different temperatures, frictions, heights of barrier and ratios of stiffnesses of the potential in the minimum and on the top of the barrier, the quasistationary decay rates are obtained with the sets of coordinate-dependent and -independent microscopical diffusion coefficients, and coordinate-dependent phenomenological diffusion coefficients.     

Complex turing patterns in non-linearly coupled systems

Recently pattern formation in layered structures, showing complicated superimposed patterns, has been modeled by coupling two Turing systems linearly, i.e., passively, such that the characteristic length scales of the independent systems are well separated. Here we propose a model of two non-linearly coupled Turing systems to study pattern formation in layered membrane-like structures, where the coupling plays an active role and changes the kinetics of the uncoupled systems. Extensive numerical simulations show that non-linear coupling generates a number of new regular patterns different from the ones observed earlier with linearly coupled systems. Some of them turn out to be superimposed patterns with different length scales, but many are not. Also, contrary to the linear coupling case, the strength of the non-linear coupling is found to play an important role in the formation and selection of patterns.     

Characterization of Laves phase in Crofer 22 H stainless steel

This study investigated the effect of annealing temperature on the precipitation behavior of Crofer^® 22 H at 600 °C, 700 °C, and 800 °C. The grain size distribution, precipitate phase identification, and microstructure were analyzed using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The morphology of Laves phase (Fe,Cr,Si)₂(Nb,W) precipitates having the Cr₂Nb structure changed from strip-like to needle-shaped as the annealing temperature was increased. The precipitates of the Laves phase also shifted from the grain boundaries to the grain interiors when the temperature was increased. However, the average grain size (150 μm) of the ferritic matrix did not significantly change at 600 °C, 700 °C, and 800 °C for 10 h.     

Discrete approximations for complex Kac–Moody groups

We construct a map from the classifying space of a discrete Kac–Moody group over the algebraic closure of the field with p elements to the classifying space of a complex topological Kac–Moody group and prove that it is a homology equivalence at primes q different from p. This generalizes a classical result of Quillen, Friedlander and Mislin for Lie groups. As an application, we construct unstable Adams operations for general Kac–Moody groups compatible with the Frobenius homomorphism. Our results rely on new integral homology decompositions for certain infinite dimensional unipotent subgroups of discrete Kac–Moody groups.     

用水热法在铁铬铝合金片上原位合成MCM-22沸石膜

 采用水热法在铁铬铝合金片载体上原位合成了MCM-22沸石膜,并采用X射线衍射和扫描电子显微镜对沸石膜进行了表征,探讨了成膜的影响因素. 结果表明,载体预处理条件对合成沸石膜的品质有较大的影响. 载体仅经碱处理后合成的沸石膜稀疏而不连续; 载体先经碱处理再经酸处理后可得到连续致密的沸石膜,且晶片取向均一; 载体预先涂覆Al2O3胶过渡层后制得的MCM-22沸石膜经超声波清洗后不会脱落,表明沸石膜与载体间的结合力增强. 此外,增大晶化母液量有利于沸石膜的生长.     

Estrogenic Activity of Mycoestrogen (3β,5α,22E)-Ergost-22-en-3-ol via Estrogen Receptor α-Dependent Signaling Pathways in MCF-7 Cells

Armillariella tabescens (Scop.) Sing., a mushroom of the family Tricholomataceae, has been used in traditional oriental medicine to treat cholecystitis, improve bile secretion, and regulate bile-duct pressure. The present study evaluated the estrogen-like effects of A. tabescens using a cell-proliferation assay in an estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). We found that the methanol extract of A. tabescens fruiting bodies promoted cell proliferation in MCF-7 cells. Using bioassay-guided fractionation of the methanol extract and chemical investigation, we isolated and identified four steroids and four fatty acids from the active fraction. All eight compounds were evaluated by E-screen assay for their estrogen-like effects in MCF-7 cells. Among the tested isolates, only (3β,5α,22E)-ergost-22-en-3-ol promoted cell proliferation in MCF-7 cells; this effect was mitigated by the ER antagonist, ICI 182,780. The mechanism underlying the estrogen-like effect of (3β,5α,22E)-ergost-22-en-3-ol was evaluated using Western blot analysis to detect the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, and estrogen receptor α (ERα). We found that (3β,5α,22E)-ergost-22-en-3-ol induced an increase in phosphorylation of ERK, PI3K, Akt, and ERα. Together, these experimental results suggest that (3β,5α,22E)-ergost-22-en-3-ol is responsible for the estrogen-like effects of A. tabescens and may potentially aid control of estrogenic activity in menopause.     

Mo/MCM-22分子筛碳化钼活性中心结构及甲烷活化机理的密度泛函理论研究

 应用密度泛函理论研究了Mo/MCM-22分子筛上碳化钼活性中心的几何结构和电子结构,以及甲烷在该活性中心上的活化机理. 设计了两种结构的活性中心模型: Mo(CH2)2(模型A)和Mo(CH)CH2(模型B); 它们都嫁接在MCM-22分子筛超笼边缘的T4位的Brnsted-酸性位上,用3T簇模型代替分子筛的骨架,对所设计的模型进行了几何结构优化和电子结构分析. 结构优化结果显示, Mo与CH2端基以双键结合,键长为0.18～0.19 nm, 而Mo与CH端基以叁键结合,键长为0.17 nm. 通过自然键轨道分析,证明中心钼原子以配位键与骨架氧原子结合. 根据前线分子轨道的分析,预测了甲烷活化反应将发生在甲烷分子的HOMO和钼活性中心的LUMO之间,即 C-H 键的电子流向 Mo-C 键的π*轨道. 甲烷 C-H 键发生异裂, H+和H3C-基团分别与 Mo-C 键上的Mo和C成键. 在模型A上,甲烷活化反应的活化能为119.97 kJ/mol; 在模型B上,甲烷的H原子可以分别结合到CH2端基和CH端基上,对应的活化能分别为91.37和79.07 kJ/mol.     

分子筛合成中六亚甲基亚胺与环己胺二元胺的模板作用

 以固体硅胶为硅源考察了六亚甲基亚胺(HMI)和环己胺(CHA)二元胺模板剂对分子筛合成产物的影响. XRD测试结果表明,当晶化温度为160 ℃,晶化时间为84 h, SiO2/Al2O3摩尔比为30, Na2O∶H2O∶(HMI+CHA)∶SiO2摩尔比为0.11∶45∶0.35∶1时,即使HMI仅占二元胺模板剂的25%(摩尔分数),所得分子筛仍为MCM-22; 其它条件相同时,以单纯CHA为模板剂得到的是ZSM-35分子筛. 用13C MAS NMR研究了HMI和CHA的状态,结果表明在单一HMI合成体系中,HMI既起MCM-22结构导向作用,又经质子化后起稳定骨架的作用; 而在HMI和CHA二元胺体系中,HMI主要起结构导向作用,CHA则填充在MCM-22层间十元环中稳定骨架.