Assessment of bitter taste of pharmaceuticals with multisensor system employing 3 way PLS regression

The application of the potentiometric multisensor system (electronic tongue, ET) for quantification of the bitter taste of structurally diverse active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is reported. The measurements were performed using a set of bitter substances that had been assessed by a professional human sensory panel and the in vivo rat brief access taste aversion (BATA) model to produce bitterness intensity scores for each substance at different concentrations. The set consisted of eight substances, both inorganic and organic – azelastine, caffeine, chlorhexidine, potassium nitrate, naratriptan, paracetamol, quinine, and sumatriptan. With the aim of enhancing the response of the sensors to the studied APIs, measurements were carried out at different pH levels ranging from 2 to 10, thus promoting ionization of the compounds. This experiment yielded a 3 way data array (samples × sensors × pH levels) from which 3wayPLS regression models were constructed with both human panel and rat model reference data. These models revealed that artificial assessment of bitter taste with ET in the chosen set of API's is possible with average relative errors of 16% in terms of human panel bitterness score and 25% in terms of inhibition values from in vivo rat model data. Furthermore, these 3wayPLS models were applied for prediction of the bitterness in blind test samples of a further set of API's. The results of the prediction were compared with the inhibition values obtained from the in vivo rat model.     

基于Android平台的USB通信技术研究

针对Android平台的USB通信技术的广阔应用前景,对Android 设备与单片机的USB通信技术进行了研究;搭建了Android设备与单片机进行USB通信的硬件平台;以Android USB Host通信技术为核心,开发了Android端与单片机端的USB应用程序;着重阐述了Android端USB应用程序的完整开发过程,给出了其所需API类的功能描述、使用方法以及程序的开发流程图、主要功能实现的关键代码;对Android开发板与单片机之间的数据通信过程进行了测试,结果表明两者通信正常,实现了Android平台下的USB通信功能。     

云平台分布式智能感知物联网应用开发

在全面分析物联网应用开发复杂性的基础上,探讨了使用全新异步非阻塞的服务器平台Node.js用于开发物联网的优点。在开源框架Zetta基础上提出了各种物联网设备的基于Node.js的统一模型法,并将物联网与云平台集成开发新型物联网应用的有益探索和运用。     

An alternative efficient approach for the synthesis of Fingolimod hydrochloride

An efficient process for the synthesis of API Fingolimod Hydrochloride is presented. This proposed synthesis involves simple commercially available octanophenone as a starting material. The route is effective involving seven steps to achieve the target, thus reducing the cycle time, and is cost efficient by 50%. It is an immune modulating drug for the treatment of heart failure and arrhythmias.     

An improved Balz-Schiemann reaction enabled by ionic liquids and continuous processing

A Balz-Schiemann reaction was developed to convert 2-cyano-5-aminopyridine to 2-cyano-5-fluoropyridine. The use of an ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, BMIMBF₄) as a solvent was found to be critical in achieving high assay yields and high selectivity for the fluorination vs. protonation. A process was developed to recycle and reuse the ionic liquid enabling its cost-effective use as a solvent. Finally, the optimal conditions were demonstrated under as a continuous process to address process safety risks associated with diazonium intermediates and the product was used to access a key intermediate in the synthesis of β-amyloid cleaving enzyme 1 inhibitor, verubecestat.     

Improving the solubility of berberine

A possible solution for improving the water solubility of berberine by the formation of multicomponent pharmaceutical salts provides the background for this commentary.     

An experimental and computational study on the dissociation behavior of hydroxypyridine N‐oxides in atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry

A tandem mass spectrometric study of protonated isomeric hydroxypyridine N‐oxides was carried out with a hybrid quadrupole/time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer coupled with different atmospheric pressure ionization sources. The behavior observed in the collision‐induced dissociation (CID) mass spectra of the parent cations, was similar irrespective of the source employed. However, there were intrinsic differences in the intensities of the two fragments observed for each isomer. The major fragment because of elimination of a hydroxyl radical, dominated the CID spectra (in contrast with weaker water loss) at different energy thresholds. Therefore, it was possible to differentiate both isomers at collision energies above 13 eV by comparing the ratio of intensities of the major fragment relative to the precursor cation. In addition, quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP/6‐31 + + G(d,p) level of theory were performed for the protonated isomers of hydroxypyridine N‐oxide and their radical cation products in order to gain insight into the major routes of dissociation. The results suggest that dissociation from the lowest triplet excited state of the protonated species would provide a reasonable rationalization for the difference in behavior of both isomers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cavitation based cleaner technologies for biodiesel production and processing of hydrocarbon streams: A perspective on key fundamentals,missing process data and economic feasibility – A review

The present review emphasizes the role of hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and acoustic cavitation in clean and green technologies for selected fuels (of hydrocarbon origins such as gasoline, naphtha, diesel, heavy oil, and crude oil) processing applications including biodiesel production. Herein, the role of cavitation reactors, their geometrical parameters, physicochemical properties of liquid media, liquid oxidants, catalyst loading, reactive oxygen species, and different types of emulsification and formation of radicals, formation as well as extraction of formed by-products are systematically reviewed. Among all types of HC reactors, vortex diode and single hole orifices revealed more than 95 % desulfurization yield and a 20 % viscosity reduction in heavy oil upgrading, while multi-hole orifice (100 holes) and slit Venturi allowed obtaining the best biodiesel production processes in terms of high (%) yield, low cost of treatment, and short processing time (5 min; 99 % biodiesel; 4.80 USD/m³). On the other hand, the acoustic cavitation devices are likely to be the most effective in biodiesel production based on ultrasonic bath (90 min; 95 %; 6.7 $/m³) and desulfurization treatment based on ultrasonic transducers (15 min; 98.3 % desulfurization; 10.8 $/m³). The implementation of HC-based processes reveals to be the most cost-effective method over acoustic cavitation-based devices. Finally, by reviewing the ongoing applications and development works, the limitations and challenges for further research are addressed emphasizing the cleaner production and guidelines for future scientists to assure obtaining comprehensive data useful for the research community.     

Crystal structures,thermal stabilities,and dissolution behaviours of tinidazole and the tinidazole–vanillic acid cocrystal: insights from energy frameworks

The crystal structures of the antimicrobial drug tinidazole [ TNZ ; systematic name: 1‐(2‐ethylsulfonylethyl)‐2‐methyl‐5‐nitroimidazole, C₈H₁₃N₃O₄S] and the 1:1 cocrystal of TNZ with the naturally occurring compound vanillic acid ( VA ; systematic name: 4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxybenzoic acid, C₈H₈O₄), namely, the TNZ – VA cocrystal, were determined by single‐crystal X‐ray analysis at 100 K. The supramolecular structure of the TNZ – VA cocrystal is composed of a carboxylic acid dimer and an O—H…N(heterocycle) synthon in the form of layers made up of O—H…N and O—H…O hydrogen bonds. The layers are joined via C—H…O hydrogen bonds, π–π stacking and C—H…π interactions. The energy framework analysis, together with interaction energy calculations using the DLPNO‐CCSD(T) method, indicates that the TNZ – VA cocrystal inherits strong interactions from the TNZ and VA crystals, which accounts for the enhanced thermal stability and reduced dissolution rate. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of a cocrystal containing TNZ .