An application of factorial design to the development of fused silica capillary columns

Stationary phase crosslinking conditions for fused silica capillary columns were optimized with the use of a factorial design experiment. This experimental strategy was chosen because it provided for the determination of two-factor interactions. A predictive model was developed for the desired chromatographic performance parameters as a function of the variables of the crosslinking reaction. Confirmatory experiments proved the usefulness of the mathematical model which resulted in the production of capillary columns of superior performance with significant improvements in reproducibility.     

An implicit function theorem: Comment

In Ref. 1, Jittorntrum proposed an implicit function theorem for a continuous mappingF:R ⁿ ×R ^m R ⁿ, withF(x ⁰,y ⁰)=0, that requires neither differentiability ofF nor nonsingularity of _x F(x ⁰,y ⁰). In the proof, the local one-to-one condition forF(·,y):A R ⁿ R ⁿ for ally B is consciously or unconsciously treated as implying thatF(·,y) mapsA one-to-one ontoF(A, y) for ally B, and the proof is not perfect. A proof can be given directly, and the theorem is shown to be the strongest, in the sense that the condition is truly if and only if.     

The optimization of silica gel synthesis from chemical bottle waste using response surface methodology

To reduce the amount of hazardous chemical bottle waste in the environment, we report the optimization research of silica extraction in chemical bottle waste into silica gel. Alkali fusion and sol–gel process were utilised to prepare silica gel effectively. The alkali fusion process was carried out by adding sodium hydroxide to produce sodium silicate. Afterwards, silica gel was prepared by the sol–gel method using hydrochloric acid. Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was applied to Optimisation factors the poptimiseactors affecting the silica recovery. The factors that optimised mass ratio, particle size, and temperature. The optimum recovery of silica gel was obtained by SiO₂: NaOH mass ratio of 1:3, the particle size of 63–74 µm, and a temperature of 800 °C. The purity of silica gel optimum is 63.74% characterised using X-ray fluorescence. The structure of silica gel is the appearance of amorphous peaks at 2θ 20-30° characterised using an x-ray diffractogram. The silica gel surface was characterises using scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray. It showed an irregular surface and characteristic showed that silica gel had a radius of 15.74 nm and a specific surface area of 297.08 m².     

Factor Xa: Simulation studies with an eye to inhibitor design

Factor Xa is a serine protease which activates thrombin and plays a key regulatory role in the blood-coagulation cascade. Factor Xa is at the crossroads of the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of coagulation and, hence, has become an important target for the design of anti-thrombotics (inhibitors). It is not known to be involved in other processes than hemostasis and its binding site is different to that of other serine proteases, thus facilitating selective inhibition. The design of high-affinity selective inhibitors of factor Xa requires knowledge of the structural and dynamical characteristics of its active site. The three-dimensional structure of factor Xa was resolved by X-ray crystallography and refined at 2.2 Å resolution by Padmanabhan and collaborators. In this article we present results from molecular dynamics simulations of the catalytic domain of factor Xa in aqueous solution. The simulations were performed to characterise the mobility and flexibility of the residues delimiting the unoccupied binding site of the enzyme, and to determine hydrogen bonding propensities (with protein and with solvent atoms) of those residues in the active site that could interact with a substrate or a potential inhibitor. The simulation data is aimed at facilitating the design of high-affinity selective inhibitors of factor Xa.     

Efficiency of connected binary block designs when a single observation is unavailable

In this paper the problem of finding the design efficiency is considered when a single observation is unavailable in a connected binary block design. The explicit expression of efficiency is found for the resulting design when the original design is a balanced incomplete block design or a group divisible, singular or semiregular or regular with ₁>0, design. The efficiency does not depend on the position of the unavailable observation. For a regular group divisible design with ₁>0, the efficiency depends on the position of the unavailable observation. The bounds, both lower and upper, on the efficiency are given in this situation. The efficiencies of designs resulting from a balanced incomplete block design and a group divisible design are in fact high when a single observation is unavailable.The work of the first author is sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant AFOSR-90-0092.On leave from Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, India. The work of the third author was supported by a grant from the CMDS, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.     

Functionality map analysis of the active site cleft of human thrombin

Summary The Multiple Copy Simultaneous Search methodology has been used to construct functionality maps for an extended region of human thrombin, including the active site. This method allows the determination of energetically favorable positions and orientations for functional groups defined by the user on the three-dimensional surface of a protein. The positions of 10 functional group sites are compared with those of corresponding groups of four thrombin-inhibitor complexes. Many, but not all features, of known thrombin inhibitors are reproduced by the method. The results indicate that certain aspects of the binding modes of these inhibitors are not optimal. In addition, suggestions are made for improving binding by interaction with functional group sites on the thrombin surface that are not used by the thrombin inhibitors. Abbreviations: MCSS, multiple copy simultaneous search; PPACK, d-phenylalanyl-l-propyl-l-arginine chloromethane; NAPAP, N -(2-naphthylsulfonylglycyl)-d-para-amidinophenylalanylpiperidine; argatroban, (2R,4R)-4-methyl-1-[N -(3-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-8-quinolinylsulfonyl)-l-arginyl]-2-piperidine carboxylic acid; rms, root mean square. The thrombin residues are numbered according to the chymotrypsin-based numbering by Bode et al. [8]. P1, P2, P3, etc., denote the peptide inhibitor residues on the amino-terminal side of the scissile peptide bond, and S1, S2, S3, etc., the corresponding subsites of thrombin     

空间摄像机的热设计

根据空间摄像机的所处空间环境和结构特点,对其进行了热设计.采用被动热控措施进行热隔离和热疏导,充分利用了摄像机所搭载的卫星平台的热容;采用主动热控措施进行温差补偿,将温度拉平至热控指标范围之内.根据所采用的热控措施,针对空间摄像机进行了仿真分析,得到了满意的结果.     

An Experimental Design Approach to Quantitative Expression for Quality Control of a Multicomponent Antidiabetic Formulation by the HILIC Method

A rapid and reproducible hydrophilic liquid chromatography (HILIC) process was established for concomitant determination of remogliflozin etabonate (RE), vildagliptin (VD), and metformin (MF) in a formulation. A face-centered central composite experimental design was employed to optimize and predict the chromatographic condition by statistically studying the surface response model and design space with desirability close to one. A HILIC column with a simple mobile phase of acetonitrile (65% v/v) and 20 mM phosphate buffer (35% v/v, pH 6, controlled with orthophosphoric acid) was used to separate RE, VD, and MF. RE, VD, and MF were separated in 3.6 min using an isocratic mode mobile phase flow at a flow rate of 1.4 mL at room temperature, and the analytes were examined by recording the absorption at 210 nm. The developed HILIC method was thoroughly validated for all parameters recommended by ICH, and linearity was observed in the ranges 20–150 µg/mL, 10–75 µg/mL, and 50–750 µg/mL for RE, VD, and MF, respectively, along with excellent regression coefficients (r² > 0.999). The calculated percentage relative deviation and relative error ascertained the precision and accuracy of the method. The selectivity and accuracy were further confirmed by the high percentage recovery of added standard drugs to the formulation using the standard addition technique. The robustness of the HILIC processes was confirmed by developing a half-normal probability plot and Pareto chart, as the slight variation of a single factor had no significant influence on the assay outcomes. Utilization of the optimized HILIC procedure for concurrent quantification of RE, VD, and MF in solid dosage forms showed accurate and reproducible results. Hence, the fast HILIC method can be regularly employed for the quality assurance of pharmaceutical preparations comprising RE, VD, and MF.     

Simultaneous Estimation of Escitalopram and Clonazepam in Tablet Dosage Forms Using HPLC-DAD Method and Optimization of Chromatographic Conditions by Box-Behnken Design

The study aimed to develop a new reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method with diode array detection (DAD) detection for simultaneous estimation of escitalopram (EST) and clonazepam (CZP) in tablet dosage forms with a quality by design (QbD) approach. The chromatographic conditions were optimized by Box-Behnken design (BBD) and developed method was validated for the linearity, system suitability, accuracy, precision, robustness, sensitivity, and solution stability according to International Council for Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. EST and CZP standard drugs peaks were separated at retention times of 2.668 and 5.046 min by C-18 column with dimension of 4.6 × 100 mm length and particle size packing 2.5 µm. The mobile phase was methanol: 0.1% orthophosphoric acid (OPA) (25:75, v/v), with a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min at temperature of 26 °C. The sample volume injected was 20 µL and peaks were detected at 239 nm. Using the standard calibration curve, the % assay of marketed tablet was founded 98.89 and 98.76 for EST and CZP, respectively. The proposed RP-HPLC method was able to detect EST and CZP in the presence of their degradation products, indicating the stability-indicating property of the developed RP-HPLC method. The validation parameter’s results in terms of linearity, system suitability, accuracy, precision, robustness, sensitivity, and solution stability were in an acceptable range as per the ICH guidelines. The newly developed RP-HPLC method with QbD application is simple, accurate, time-saving, and economic.     

一种三次非旋转对称的相位板的检测系统设计

作为零位干涉检测方法中非常有前途的一种方法.计算全息可以用于非旋转对称的非球面的检测.以三次相位板为例,阐述了利用计算全息图检测非旋转对称的非球面的基本原理.分析并推导了三次相位传播过程引入的高阶波像差的理论公式,给出了三次相位板的检测系统的没计结果.详细讨论了计算全息图衍射级次的分离以及计算全息图的二元化,给出了振幅型的计算全息图的图样.计算全息图的刻线最小问隔是40μm,计算全息图的制作精度对检测结果的波前误差的影响仅仅为0.005λ.对检测系统作了详细的公差分析,结果表明所有调整公差对整个检测系统的影响和方根值为83.954 nm.