A Specific HPLC Method to Determine Residual HEPES in [68Ga]Ga-Radiopharmaceuticals: Development and Validation

Background: Nowadays, in Nuclear Medicine, clinically applied radiopharmaceuticals must meet quality release criteria such as high radiochemical purity and radiochemical yield. Many radiopharmaceuticals do not have marketing authorization and have no dedicated monograph within European Pharmacopeia (Ph. Eur.); therefore, general monographs on quality controls (QCs) have to be applied for clinical application. These criteria require standardization and validation in labeling and preparation, including quality controls measurements, according to well defined standard operation procedures. However, QC measurements are often based on detection techniques that are specific to a certain chromatographic system. Several radiosyntheses of [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-radiopharmaceuticals are more efficient and robust when they are performed with 2-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazin-1-yl] ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) buffer, which is considered as an impurity to be assessed in the QC procedure, prior to clinical use. Thus, Ph. Eur. has introduced a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) method to quantify the HEPES amount that is present in [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-radiopharmaceuticals. However, this is only qualitative and has proven to be unreliable. Here we develop and validate a new high-performance liquid chromatography (UV-Radio-HPLC) method to quantify the residual amount of HEPES in ⁶⁸Ga-based radiopharmaceuticals. Method: To validate the proposed UV-Radio-HPLC method, a stepwise approach was used, as defined in the guidance document that was adopted by the European Medicines Agency (CMP/ICH/381/95 2014). The assessed parameters are specificity, linearity, precision (repeatability), accuracy, and limit of quantification. A range of concentrations of HEPES (100, 80, 60, 40, 20, 10, 5, 3 μg/mL) were analyzed. Moreover, to test the validity and pertinence of our new HPLC method, we analyzed samples of [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATOC; [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-PSMA; [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE; [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-Pentixafor; and [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-NODAGA-Exendin-4 from different batches that were prepared for clinical use. Results: In the assessed samples, HEPES could not be detected by the TLC method that was described in Ph. Eur. within 4 min incubation in an iodine-saturated chamber. Our developed HPLC method showed excellent linearity between 3 and 100 μg/mL for HEPES, with a correlation coefficient (R²) for calibration curves that was equal to 0.999, coefficients of variation (CV%) < 2%, and percent deviation value of bias from 100% to 5%, in accordance with acceptance criteria. The intra-day and inter-day precision of our method was statistically confirmed and the limit-of-quantification (LOQ) was 3 μg/mL, confirming the high sensitivity of the method. The amount of HEPES that was detected with our developed HPLC method in the tested [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-radiopharmaceuticals resulted well below the Ph. Eur. limit, especially for [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-NODAGA-Exendin-4. Conclusions: The TLC method that is described in Ph. Eur. to assess residual HEPES in [⁶⁸Ga]-based radiopharmaceuticals may not be sufficiently sensitive and thus unsuitable for QC release. Our new HPLC method was sensitive, quantitative, reproducible, and rapid for QCs, allowing us to exactly determine the residual HEPES amount in [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-radiopharmaceuticals for safe patient administration.     

In Silico Drug Repurposing of FDA-Approved Drugs Highlighting Promacta as a Potential Inhibitor of H7N9 Influenza Virus

Influenza virus infections continue to be a significant and recurrent public health problem. Although vaccine efficacy varies, regular immunisation is the most effective method for suppressing the influenza virus. Antiviral drugs are available for influenza, although two of the four FDA-approved antiviral treatments have resulted in significant drug resistance. Therefore, new treatments are being sought to reduce the burden of flu-related illness. The time-consuming development of treatments for new and re-emerging diseases such as influenza and the high failure rate are increasing concerns. In this context, we used an in silico-based drug repurposing method to repurpose FDA-approved drugs as potential therapies against the H7N9 virus. To find potential inhibitors, a total of 2568 drugs were screened. Promacta, tucatinib, and lurasidone were identified as promising hits in the DrugBank database. According to the calculations of MM-GBSA, tucatinib (−54.11 kcal/mol) and Promacta (−56.20 kcal/mol) occupied the active site of neuraminidase with a higher binding affinity than the standard drug peramivir (−49.09 kcal/mol). Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies showed that the C-α atom backbones of the complexes of tucatinib and Promacta neuraminidase were stable throughout the simulation period. According to ADME analysis, the hit compounds have a high gastrointestinal absorption (GI) and do not exhibit properties that allow them to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB). According to the in silico toxicity prediction, Promacta is not cardiotoxic, while lurasidone and tucatinib show only weak inhibition. Therefore, we propose to test these compounds experimentally against the influenza H7N9 virus. The investigation and validation of these potential H7N9 inhibitors would be beneficial in order to bring these compounds into clinical settings.     

在役老旧拱桥的极限承载力分析

在役老旧拱桥的承载力是人们关心的热点问题之一,某些桥梁随着使用年限的不断增加,拱肋以及其他结构部件变形甚至破坏,其承载能力削弱问题会变得尤为突出．以宁波市灵桥为例详细分析了其极限承载力,分析过程中考虑了材料和几何双重非线性,以及涉及到灵桥由于战争、船体碰撞、行车事故和其他意外事故引起的拱肋变形和扭曲情况．计算结果表明：拱肋面外的初始变形极大地削弱了灵桥的极限承载能力;要准确评估该桥的极限承载能力,必须考虑材料非线性和几何非线性的影响．     

耦合FE/WB法在声分析中的应用

简要描叙FE法(finite element method)和WB法(wave based method)的理论背景以及耦合FE/WB法的数学基础.耦合FE/WB法利用两者的优势——FE法的广泛应用和WB法的高收敛特性,将FE模型中较大且几何简单的部分采用WB法代替.耦合模型具有相对较少的自由度.对于较高的频率还可以进行细分得到更高的计算精度,并利用模态缩减法进一步减少自由度数.数值算例结果表明,该耦合方法有潜力覆盖中频段的声分析.     

LIMITED MEMORY BFGS METHOD FOR NONLINEAR MONOTONE EQUATIONS

In this paper, we propose an algorithm for solving nonlinear monotone equations by combining the limited memory BFGS method （L-BFGS） with a projection method. We show that the method is globally convergent if the equation involves a Lipschitz continuous monotone function. We also present some preliminary numerical results.     

二维多群辐射输运程序LARED-R-1的并行化

利用有向图描述数据依赖关系,应用已有的并行流水线通量扫描算法,实现基于非协调网格的二维辐射输运程序LARED-R-1的并行化.同时,采用消息缓冲技术提高并行程序的性能.经测试,对于典型的问题规模(100群、3800个网格单元、40个方向),在某并行机的64个和128个处理器上,并行程序分别获得80%和53%的并行效率.     

自适应间断有限元方法求解双曲守恒律方程

研究自适应Runge-Kutta间断Galerkin (RKDG)方法求解双曲守恒律方程组,并提出两种生成相容三角形网格的自适应算法.第一种算法适用于规则网格,实现简单、计算速度快.第二种算法基于非结构网格,设计一类基于间断界面的自适应网格加密策略,方法灵活高效.两种方法都具有令人满意的计算效果,而且降低了RKDG的计算量.     

航天器对接相对位置姿态自主测量方法研究

航天器间相对位置姿态的准确测量是实现自主自动对接的先决条件。将三圆标志靶安装在目标航天器上;追踪航天器用数码相机对靶拍照。设计了亚像素处理方法实时处理数字照片,可精确测定圆心像点位置和特征直径的像长;用其作为基本特征参数,基于透视投影原理,建立了求圆心物空间坐标的公式,求出靶面的平面方程,可用来求两航天器间的相对位置姿态参数和实时标定相机的可变参数。计算机仿真结果表明,测距为2m时,测圆心像点位置的误差小于0.03个像素,测距误差小于1mm,测姿态角的误差小于0.01°。该方法也适用于无人直升飞机定点着陆时自主测量其相对位姿参数。     

继电器动态过程中动态参数的测试方法

本文介绍了一种测试继电器在动态过程中动态参数测试的方法。采用此方法能直接测量和观察继电器动态过程中的线圈电压、电流 ,同时可测出继电器的动作时间 ,还可了解其接点在接触过程是否有振动现象存在。所以 ,此方法是一种多用途的继电器动态参数测量方法     

Stable edge dislocations in finite crystals

Dislocations have been considered as mechanically unstable defects in bulk crystals, ignoring the Peierls oscillations. Eshelby [J. Appl. Phys. 24 (1953) p.176] had showed that a screw dislocation can be stable in a thin cylinder. In the current work, considering Eshelby's example of an edge dislocation in a single crystalline plate, we show that an edge dislocation can be stable in a finite crystal. Using specific examples, we also show that the position of stability of an edge dislocation can be off-centre. This shift in the stability from the centre marks the transition from a stable dislocation to an unstable one. The above-mentioned tasks are achieved by simulating edge dislocations using the finite element method.