A rapid and highly sensitive UPLC-QTOF MS method for quantitative evaluation of Nardostachys jatamansi using Nardin as the marker

Nardostachys jatamansi DC. is a highly reputed Medhya and Nootropic (Learning and Memory) Ayurvedic medicinal plant. Its use as herbal medicine singly and as an ingredient of multi‐herbal formulations is fast increasing. In order to authenticate and evaluate it quantitatively, its standardization is highly warranted with respect to a reliable marker. In this connection a rapid and highly sensitive UPLC‐QTOF MS method has been developed. The analysis was carried out on an Acquity BEH C₁₈ column with gradient elution of methanol–water and 3 mm ammonium acetate using QTOF mass detector in negative ionization mode. The method was validated over a concentration range of 9.76–156.25 ng/mL nardin. The calibration curve is linear with the correlation coefficient (r) and coefficient of determination (R²) were 0.9997 and 0.9995 respectively. The LOD and LOQ were 3.050 and 9.277 ng/mL respectively. The recovery of nardin in the range 96.36–111.13% achieved from spiked samples was consistent and reproducible. The inter‐day and intra‐day assay precision of the analytes over the entire concentration range was less than 5%. The developed method required only 4 min for chromatography to authenticate and quantify the marker, viz. nardin in N. jatamansi samples, in addition to the sample preparation time. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Protein calculations on parallel processors. I. Parallel algorithm for the potential energy

We investigate and test an algorithm suitable for the parallel calculation of the potential energy of a protein, or its spatial gradient, when the protein atoms interact via pair potentials. This algorithm is similar to one previously proposed, but it is more efficient, having half the interprocessor communications costs. For a given protein, we show that there is an optimal number of processors that gives a maximum speedup of the potential energy calculation compared to a sequential machine. (Using more than the optimum number of processors actually increases the computation time). With the optimum number the computation time is proportional to the protein size N. This is a considerable improvement in performance compared to sequential machines, where the computation time is proportional to N². We also show that the dependence of the maximum speedup on the message latency time is relatively weak.     

Aqueous Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate Initiated by Potassium Peroxydisulfate-Ascorbic Acid Redox System

The aqueous polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by the redox system K₂S₂O₈-ascorbic acid has been studied at 35°C under the influence of oxygen. The rate of polymerization increases with increasing ascorbic acid concentration at low activator concentration, remains constant within the range 4.375 × 10^?3 to 11.25 × 10^?3 mole/liter, and at higher ascorbic acid concentration again decreases. The rate varies linearly with monomer concentration. The initial rate and the limiting conversion increase with increasing polymerization temperature. Organic solvents (water-miscible only) and small amounts of neutral salts like KC1 and Na₂SO₄ depress the initial rate and the maximum conversion. The addition of small amounts of salts like Cu²⁺ and Mn²⁺ increases the initial rate, but no appreciable increase in the limiting conversion is observed.