An algorithm to locate perinatal facilities in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro

In order to reduce infant mortality in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro it is desired to encourage all mothers-to-be to attend the appropriate health care facilities. A 3-level hierarchical prenatal–neonatal health care system is described together with a basic model for optimising accessibility to facilities. A genetic algorithm to solve the basic model is developed and some numerical experience reported. Extensions to the basic model and planned future research are briefly indicated.     

Encapsulation and sustained release of a model drug, indomethacin, using CO(2)-based microencapsulation

A carbon dioxide (CO(2))-based microencapsulation technique was used to impregnate indomethacin, a model drug, into biodegradable polymer nanoparticles. Compressed CO(2) was emulsified into aqueous suspensions of biodegradable particles. The CO(2) plasticizes the biodegradable polymers, increasing the drug diffusion rate in the particles so that drug loading is enhanced. Four types of biodegradable polymers were investigated, including poly(d,l-lactic acid) (PLA), poly(d,l-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) with two different molar ratios of LA to GA, and a poly(d,l-lactic acid-b-ethylene glycol) (PLA-PEG) block copolymer. Biodegradable nanoparticles were prepared from polymer solutions through nonsolvent-induced precipitation in the presence of surfactants. Indomethacin was incorporated into biodegradable nanoparticles with no change of the particle size and morphology. The effects of a variety of experimental variables on the drug loadings were investigated. It was found that the drug loading was the highest for PLA homopolymer and decreased in PLGA copolymers as the fraction of glycolic acid increased. Indomethacin was predicted to have higher solubility in PLA than in PLGA based on the calculated solubility parameters. The drug loading in PLA increased markedly as the temperature for impregnation was increased from 35 to 45 degrees C. Drug release from the particles is a diffusion-controlled process, and sustained release can be maintained over 10 h. A simple Fickian diffusion model was used to estimate the diffusion coefficients of indomethacin in the biodegradable polymers. The diffusion coefficients are consistent with previous studies, suggesting that the polymer properties are unchanged by supercritical fluid processing. Supercritical CO(2) is nontoxic, easily separated from the polymers, can extract residual organic solvent, and can sterilize biodegradable polymers. The CO(2)-based microencapsulation technique is promising for the production of drug delivery devices without the use of harmful solvents.     

Bicyclopentanoid sesquiterpenes. the synthesis of cedranoid sesquiterpenes via the photo-rearrangement of bicyclo[2.2.2]octenones

(±) - exo - 2,6,6 - Trimethyltricyclo[5.3.1.0^1,5]undecane - 8,10 - dione (11) has been synthesized from dimethyl 6,6 - dimethyl - 5 - oxobicyclo[2.2.2]oct - 7 - ene dicarboxylate (17). This constitutes a new synthesis of cedrol (3) since 11 has previously been converted to this compound.     

Carbon dioxide emulsion assisted loading of polymer microspheres toward sustained release materials

An organic solvent-free method for encapsulating progesterone at high loadings within micron-sized inert latex polymer beads is reported. This approach makes use of a polymeric surfactant to emulsify carbon dioxide into an aqueous latex suspension. In this way, preformed approximately 4 microm polystyrene (PS) microparticles surface-grafted with poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) were plasticized and swollen followed by rapid partitioning of progesterone into the polymer matrix. The as-prepared polystyrene beads incorporated over 10% progesterone by weight while maintaining their initial size and morphological uniformity. Dissolution experiments were also carried out to obtain the release profile of progesterone entrapped within the PVP/PS particles.     

Adsorption of CF4 on the internal and external surfaces of opened single-walled carbon nanotubes: a vibrational spectroscopy study

Infrared spectroscopy has been used to make the first experimental discrimination between molecules bound by physisorption on the exterior surface of carbon single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and molecules bound in the interior. In addition, the selective displacement of the internally bound molecules has been observed as a second adsorbate is added. SWNTs were opened by oxidative treatment with O(3) at room temperature, followed by heating in a vacuum to 873 K. It was found that, at 133 K and 0.033 Torr, CF(4) adsorbs on closed SWNTs, exhibiting its nu(3) asymmetric stretching mode at 1267 cm(-1) (red shift relative to the gas phase, 15 cm(-1)). Adsorption on the nanotube exterior is accompanied by adsorption in the interior in the case of opened SWNTs. Internally bound CF(4) exhibits its nu(3) mode at 1247 cm(-1) (red shift relative to the gas phase, 35 cm(-1)). It was shown that, at 133 K, Xe preferentially displaces internally bound CF(4) species, and this counterintuitive observation was confirmed by molecular simulations. The confinement of CF(4) inside (10,10) single-walled carbon nanotubes does not result in the production of lattice modes that are observed in large 3D ensembles of CF(4).     

Steric Stabilization of Colloids by Poly(dimethylsiloxane) in Carbon Dioxide: Effect of Cosolvents

Steric stabilization and flocculation of colloids with surface-grafted poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) chains are examined in liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide with and without hexane as a cosolvent. Neither poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nor silica particles with grafted 10,000 g/mol PDMS could be stabilized in pure CO(2) at pressures up to 345 bar at 25 degrees C and 517 bar at 65 degrees C without stirring. The addition of 15 wt% hexane to CO(2) led to stable dispersions with sedimentation velocities of 0.2 mm/min for 1-2 μm PMMA particles. The critical flocculation pressure of the colloids in the hexane/CO(2) mixture, determined from turbidity versus time measurements, was found to be the same for silica and PMMA particles and was well above the upper critical solution pressure for the PDMS-CO(2) system. The addition of a nonreactive cosolvent, hexane, eliminates flocculation of PMMA particles synthesized through dispersion polymerization in CO(2) with PDMS-based surfactants. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Investigative proteomics: identification of an unknown plant virus from infected plants using mass spectrometry

We describe the identification of a previously uncharacterized plant virus that is capable of infecting Nicotiana spp. and Arabidopsis thaliana. Protein extracts were first prepared from leaf tissue of uninfected tobacco plants, and the proteins were visualized with two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). Matching gels were then run using protein extracts of a tobacco plant infected with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). After visual comparison, the proteins spots that were differentially expressed in infected plant tissues were cut from the gels and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Tandem mass spectrometry data of individual peptides was searched with SEQUEST. Using this approach we demonstrated a successful proof-of-concept experiment by identifying TMV proteins present in the total protein extract. The same procedure was then applied to tobacco plants infected with a laboratory viral isolate of unknown identity. Several of the differentially expressed protein spots were identified as proteins of potato virus X (PVX), thus successfully identifying the causative agent of the uncharacterized viral infection. We believe this demonstrates that HPLC-MS/MS can be used to successfully characterize unknown viruses in infected plants.     

Quantum chemical studies on electrophilic addition

The geometries of the 2-aminoethyl cation and the isomeric protonated aziridine have been optimized using ab initio molecular orbital calculations employing the split-valence shell 4-31G basis set. The protonated aziridine is computed to be the more stable ion by 46.5 kcal/mole (4-31G level) and 44.9 kcal/mole (double-zeta basis set). The profile to interconversion is found to have a barrier of less than 15 kcal/mole (relative to the 2-aminoethyl cation) and this profile is compared with those computed for the similar ions XCH₂CH ₂ ⁺ where X=OH, F, SH and Cl.     

Quantum chemical studies on electrophilic addition

The geometries of the 2-chloroethyl and ethylenechloronium cations, two possible intermediates in the electrophilic addition of chlorine to ethylene, have been fully optimized using ab initio molecular orbital calculations employing the split valence shell 4-31G basis set.These geometries were then used to compute more accurate wave functions using Dunning's double-zeta basis set. The bridged chloronium ion was found to be more stable by 9.35 kcal/mole, the opposite order of stability from the C₂H₄F⁺ ions. Interconversion of the two C₂H₄Cl⁺ cations was computed to have a barrier of 6.25 kcal/mole.The activation energy for this chlorination reaction, using the ethylenechloronium cation and a chlorine anion at infinite separation as the model for the activated complex, was computed to be 128.7 kcal/mole, showing that this is not a feasible gas phase reaction.     

Adsorption geometry of 4-picoline chemisorbed on the Cu(110) surface: a study of forces controlling molecular self-assembly

The adsorption of 4-picoline (4-methylpyridine) on the Cu(110) surface has been studied with time-of-flight electron stimulated desorption ion angular distribution (TOF-ESDIAD) and other methods. Using deuterium labeling in the methyl group and hydrogen labeling on the aromatic ring, it has been possible to separately monitor by TOF-ESDIAD the C-D bond directions and the C-H bond directions in the adsorbed molecule. These triangulation measurements have led to a detailed understanding of the conformation of the adsorbed molecule relative to the Cu(110) crystal lattice, allowing one to witness changes in the molecular conformation as adsorbate-adsorbate interactional effects take place for increasing coverages. At low coverages, the molecule adsorbs by the N atom at an atop Cu site with the aromatic ring parallel to the <001> azimuth and with the molecular axis inclined 33 (+/- 5) degrees along the <001> azimuth. As rows of 4-picoline molecules form long range ordered chain structures oriented along the <112> azimuth, the aromatic ring twists 29 degrees about the inclined molecular axis as a result of forces between the adsorbate molecules. The initial tilting of the molecular axis at low coverage is likely due to the interaction of the positive-outward dipole with its image in the substrate. The ring twist may result from dipoleminus signdipole forces between the adsorbate molecules in the rows formed tending to form nested parallel pyridine rings. These studies are the first to apply the TOF-ESDIAD method for the measurement of the direction of chemical bonds at more than one molecular location within an adsorbed molecule and the new method is named electron stimulated desorption-molecular triangulation (ESD-MT). The results obtained give information of importance in understanding the factors which control conformational effects during the molecular self-assembly of complex adsorbed molecules on surfaces.