Detection of propranolol in pharmaceutical formulations by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

This paper describes an analytical reflectometric method that has an objective not only the industrial quality control but also to detect possible falsifications and/or adulterations of propranolol in pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on the diffuse reflectance measurements of the colored product (III) of the spot test reaction between propranolol hydrochloride (I) and 2,6-dichloroquinone-4-chloroimide (II) using filter paper as solid support. Spot test conditions have been investigated using experimental design in order to identify and optimize the critical factors. The factors evaluated were DCQ concentration, propranolol solvent and DCQ solvent. The best reaction conditions were achieved with the addition of 30 microL of propranolol solution in ethanol 35% (v/v) and 30 microL of DCQ solution at 70 mg mL(-1) in acetone, in this order. All reflectance measurements were carried out at 500 nm and the linear range was from 8.45x10(-4) to 8.45x10(-2)mol L(-1) (r=0.998). The limit of detection was 1.01x10(-4)mol L(-1). No interference was observed from the assessed excipients and drugs. The method was applied to determine propranolol in commercial brands of pharmaceuticals. The results obtained by the proposed method were favorably compared with those given by the British Pharmacopoeia procedure.     

Models for capacitated lot-sizing problem with backlogging,setup carryover and crossover

Setup operations are significant in some production environments. It is mandatory that their production plans consider some features, as setup state conservation across periods through setup carryover and crossover. The modelling of setup crossover allows more flexible decisions and is essential for problems with long setup times. This paper proposes two models for the capacitated lot-sizing problem with backlogging and setup carryover and crossover. The first is in line with other models from the literature, whereas the second considers a disaggregated setup variable, which tracks the starting and completion times of the setup operation. This innovative approach permits a more compact formulation. Computational results show that the proposed models have outperformed other state-of-the-art formulation.     

Stability and convergence of the spectral Lagrange-Galerkin method for mixed periodic/non-periodic convection-dominated diffusion problems

We present a convergence analysis of the spectral Lagrange-Galerkinmethod for mixed periodic/non-periodic convection-diffusionproblems. The scheme is unconditionally stable, independentof the diffusion coefficient, even in the case when numericalquadrature is used. The theoretical predictions are illustratedby a series of numerical experiments. For the periodic case,our results present a significant improvement on those givenby Süli & Ware (1991) SIAM J. Numer.Anal.28, 423-445).     

Photophysical properties of crowned porphyrins

In this study, we evaluated the photophysical properties of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis[4-(1,4,7,10,13-pentaoxacyclopentadecane-2-aminomethyl)2,3,5,6-(tetrafluoro)-phenyl]-porphyrin (H2C4P) and Zn(II)5,10,15,20-tetrakis[4-(1,4,7,10,13-pentaoxacyclopenta-decane-2-aminomethyl)2,3,5,6-(tetrafluoro)-phenyl]-porphyrinate (ZnC4P). We observed that these porphyrins have unique properties when compared with classical porphyrins. The porphyrins H2C4P and ZnC4P showed efficient transfer energy S1 to T1 by intersystem crossing with high and reasonable yields of triplet excited state and singlet oxygen production. These amphiphilic structures of these porphyrins could improve its localization in the tumor cells due to the presence of the crown ether in its framework. We also believed that the crown ether could modulate the change in ion homeostase (Ca(+2), K+, Na+) as already described by some new phthalocyanine dye. This fact makes us believe that it could be reasonably used as a photosensitizer for PDT purposes.