Development of a Stability-Indicating LC Assay Method for Determination of Chloroquine

A simple and rapid development of a stability-indicating LC method for determination of chloroquine diphosphate in the presence of its hydrolysis, oxidative and photolysis degradation products is described. Stress testing showed that chloroquine diphosphate was degraded under basic conditions and by photolytic treatment but was stable under the other stress conditions investigated. Separation of the drug from its degradation products was achieved with a Nova Pack C18 column, 0.01 M PIC B7 and acetonitrile (40:60 v/v) pH 3.6, as mobile phase. Response was linear over the range 0.08-5.70 mu g mL(-1) (r = 0.996), with limits of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) of 0.17 and 0.35 mu g mL(-1), respectively.

Stability of clavulanic acid under variable pH, ionic strength and temperature conditions. A new kinetic approach

Clavulanic acid (CA) is a beta-lactam antibiotic that alone exhibits only weak antibacterial activity, but is a potent inhibitor of beta-lactamases enzymes. For this reason it is used as a therapeutic in conjunction with penicillins and cephalosporins. However, it is a well-known fact that it is unstable not only during its production phase, but also during downstream processing. Therefore, the main objective of this study was the evaluation of CA long-term stability under different conditions of pH and temperature, in the presence of variable levels of different salts, so as to suggest the best conditions to perform its simultaneous production and recovery by two-phase polymer/salt liquid-liquid extractive fermentation. To this purpose, the CA stability was investigated at different values of pH (4.0-8.0) and temperature (20-45 degrees C), and the best conditions were met at a pH 6.0-7.2 and 20 degrees C. Its stability was also investigated at 30 degrees C in the presence of NaCl, Na(2)SO(4), CaCl(2) and MgSO(4) at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 M in Mcllvaine buffer (pH 6.5). All salts led to increased CA instability with respect to the buffer alone, and this effect decreased in following sequence: Na(2)SO(4) > MgSO(4) > CaCl(2) > NaCl. Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of CA degradation were calculated adopting a new model that took into consideration the equilibrium between the active and a reversibly inactivated form of CA after long-time degradation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of the Salmonella/Microsome Microsuspension Assay with the new Microplate Fluctuation Protocol for Testing the Mutagenicity of Environmental Samples

The objective of this study was to compare the responses of the Salmonella/microsome microsuspension assay with the new microplate fluctuation protocol (MPF) for the evaluation of the mutagenic activity of environmental samples. Organic extracts of total particulate atmospheric air samples, surface waters, and effluents were tested in dose-response experiments. The assays were performed with strain TA98 in the absence and presence of S9 mix. Both protocols produced similar results, despite the fact that the maximum score of the MPF is limited to 48 wells, whereas in the regular plate assay it is possible to count up to 1,500 colonies using an automatic counter. Similar sensitivities based on the lowest dose that resulted in a positive response were obtained for both assays. The MPF procedure is less laborious (e.g., all-liquid format, use of multi-channel pipettors) and allows for automation of the pipetting and dispensing steps, thus, reducing time of the analysis which is particularly important in environmental quality monitoring programs or in effect-directed analysis. The results show that the MPF procedure is a promising tool to test environmental samples for mutagenic activity. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 51:31-38, 2010. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The intake of caffeine does not improve the performance of judo

The objective of this study was to investigate the ergogenic effects of caffeine on motor performance of judo female athletes. Thirteen female athletes (17.6 +/- 1.6 years, 58.3 +/- 11.4 kg, 162 +/- 4.1 cm, 22.5 +/- 4 kg/m(2)), registered in the State Federation of Judo for at least two years, participated in this study. The motor performance was assessed using the Special Judo Fitness Test (SJFT), from which was considered the number of throws in each block, the total number of throws, recovery and final heart rate (HR) and final score in SJFT. The subjects were tested in two different conditions, after ingestion of gelatin capsules of caffeine (6 mg.kg(-1)) or placebo (dextrose) 60 minutes before testing in a randomized double-blind, crossover study. The number of throws in each block did not differs between the caffeine (CAF) and placebo (PL) conditions (Block A: 4.53 +/- 0.51 CAF and 4.46 +/- 0.51 PL; Block B: 8.3 +/- 0.63 CAF and 8.23 +/- 0.72 PL; Block C: 7.23 +/- 0.59 CAF and 7.46 +/- 0.77 PL), as well as the total number of throws (20.07 +/- 1.18 CAF and 20.15 +/- 1.67 PL), HR (Final: 190.3 +/- 9.63 bpm CAF and 190.69 +/- 9.19 bpm PL; Recovery 162.07 +/- 13.78 bpm CAF and 164.3 +/- 9.64 bpm PL) and final score in SJFT (17.59 +/- 1.4 CAF and 17.75 +/- 1.98 PL). Ingestion of caffeine did not improve performance during high intensity and short duration exercise in judo fighters

Hydrothermal stable templated molecular sieve silica (TMSS) membranes for gas separation

In this work we compare the hydrothermal stability performance of a Templated Molecular Sieve Silica (TMSS) membrane against a standard, non-templated Molecular Sieve Silica (MSS) membrane. The tests were carried under dry and wet (steam) conditions for single gas (He, H2, CO and CO2) at 1-2 atm membrane pressure drop at 200oC. Single gas TMSS membrane H2, permeance and H2/CO permselectivity was found to be 2.05 x 10-8 mols.m-2.s-1.Pa-1 and 15, respectively. The MSS membrane showed similar selectivity, but increased overall flux. He permeance through membranes decayed at a rate of 4-5 x 10-10 mols.m-2.s-1.Pa-1 per day regardless of membrane ambience (dry or wet). Although H2/CO permselectivity of the TMSS membrane slightly improved from 15 to 18 after steam testing, the MSS membrane resulted in significant reduction from 16 to 8.3. In addition, membrane regeneration after more than 50 days resulted in the TMSS membrane reverting to its original permeation levels while no significant improvements were observed for the MSS membra ne. Results showed that the TMSS membrane had enhanced hydrothermal stability and regeneration ability.

The use of transcriptional profiles to predict adult mosquito age under field conditions

Age is a critical determinant of an adult female mosquito's ability to transmit a range of human pathogens. Despite its central importance, relatively few methods exist with which to accurately determine chronological age of field-caught mosquitoes. This fact is a major constraint on our ability to fully understand the relative importance of vector longevity to disease transmission in different ecological contexts. It also limits our ability to evaluate novel disease control strategies that specifically target mosquito longevity. We report the development of a transcriptional profiling approach to determine age of adult female Aedes aegypti under field conditions. We demonstrate that this approach surpasses current cuticular hydrocarbon methods for both accuracy of predicted age as well as the upper limits at which age can be reliably predicted. The method is based on genes that display age-dependent expression in a range of dipteran insects and, as such, is likely to be broadly applicable to other disease vectors.

Dissolution of a solid sphere in an unbounded, stagnant liquid

An exact analytical solution is obtained for the transient dissolution of solid spheres in a diffusion-controlled environment. This result provides a useful reference point for drug testing in humans. The dimensionless solution is expressed in terms of a single parameter, which accounts for solubility, bulk flow, and stagnant fluid composition. A simple, explicit and exact expression was found to predict time-to-complete dissolution (TCD). An approximate solution was also found which tracks the exact case for low solubility conditions.

Field prevalence of Wolbachia in the mosquito vector Aedes albopictus

The endosymbiotic bacteria in the genus Wolbachia have been proposed as a potential candidate to deliver pathogen-blocking genes into natural populations of medically important insects. The successful application of Wolbachia in insect vector control depends on the ability of the agent to successfully invade and maintain itself at high frequency under field conditions. Here, we evaluated the prevalence of Wolbachia infections in a field population of the Wolbachia-superinfected mosquito Aedes albopictus. A field prevalence of 100% (n = 1,016) was found in a single population in eastern Thailand via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of Wolbachia both from individual parent females and their corresponding F1 offspring. This is the first report of accurate Wolbachia prevalence in a field population of an insect disease vector. The prevalence of superinfection was estimated to be 99.41%. All single-infected individual mosquitoes (n = 6) were found to harbor group A Wolbachia. For this particular population, none was found to be single-infected with group B Wolbachia. Our results also show that PCR testing of field materials alone without checking F1 offspring overestimated the natural prevalence of single infection. Thus, the confirmation of infection status by means of F1 offspring was critical to the accurate estimates of Wolbachia prevalence under field conditions.

Effects of viscous dissipation and boundary conditions on forced convection in a channel occupied by a saturated porous medium

Forced convection with viscous dissipation in a parallel plate channel filled by a saturated porous medium is investigated numerically. Three different viscous dissipation models are examined. Two different sets of wall conditions are considered: isothermal and isoflux. Analytical expressions are also presented for the asymptotic temperature profile and the asymptotic Nusselt number. With isothermal walls, the Brinkman number significantly influences the developing Nusselt number but not the asymptotic one. At constant wall heat flux, both the developing and the asymptotic Nusselt numbers are affected by the value of the Brinkman number. The Nusselt number is sensitive to the porous medium shape factor under all conditions considered.

Effects of viscous dissipation and boundary conditions on forced convection in a channel occupied by a saturated porous medium

Forced convection with viscous dissipation in a parallel plate channel filled by a saturated porous medium is investigated numerically. Three different viscous dissipation models are examined. Two different sets of wall conditions are considered: isothermal and isoflux. Analytical expressions are also presented for the asymptotic temperature profile and the asymptotic Nusselt number. With isothermal walls, the Brinkman number significantly influences the developing Nusselt number but not the asymptotic one. At constant wall heat flux, both the developing and the asymptotic Nusselt numbers are affected by the value of the Brinkman number. The Nusselt number is sensitive to the porous medium shape factor under all conditions considered.

Mg induced Ca deficiency under alkaline conditions

Little is known about Mg induced Ca deficiency in alkaline conditions, and the relationship between Mg induced Ca deficiency and Na induced Ca deficiency. Dilute nutrient solutions (dominated by Mg) were used to investigate the effect of Ca activity ratio (CAR) on the growth of mungbeans (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek cv. Emerald). At pH 9.0, root growth was reduced below a critical CAR of 0.050 (corresponding to 90 % relative root length). Root growth was found to be limited more in Mg solutions than had been previously observed for Na solutions. Using a CAR equation modified with plasma membrane binding constants (to incorporate the differing antagonistic effects of Mg and Na), new critical CAR values were calculated for both Na (0.56) and Mg (0.44) dominated solutions. This modified CAR equation permits the calculation of CAR irrespective of the dominant salt present.

Linearly-increasing-stress testing of carbon steel in 4 N NaNO3 and in Bayer liquor

This paper reports the application of linearly increasing stress testing (LIST) to the study of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of carbon steel in 4 N NaNO3 and in Bayer liquor. LIST is similar to the constant extension-rate testing (CERT) methodology with the essential difference that the LIST is load controlled whereas the CERT is displacement controlled. The main conclusion is that LIST is suitable for the study of the SCC of carbon steels in 4 N NaNO3 and in Bayer liquor. The low crack velocity in Bayer liquor and a measured maximum stress close to that of the reference specimen in air both indicate that a low applied stress rate is required to study SCC in this system. (C) 1998 Chapman & Hall.

Development and evaluation of neural network freeway incident detection models using field data

This paper discusses a multi-layer feedforward (MLF) neural network incident detection model that was developed and evaluated using field data. In contrast to published neural network incident detection models which relied on simulated or limited field data for model development and testing, the model described in this paper was trained and tested on a real-world data set of 100 incidents. The model uses speed, flow and occupancy data measured at dual stations, averaged across all lanes and only from time interval t. The off-line performance of the model is reported under both incident and non-incident conditions. The incident detection performance of the model is reported based on a validation-test data set of 40 incidents that were independent of the 60 incidents used for training. The false alarm rates of the model are evaluated based on non-incident data that were collected from a freeway section which was video-taped for a period of 33 days. A comparative evaluation between the neural network model and the incident detection model in operation on Melbourne's freeways is also presented. The results of the comparative performance evaluation clearly demonstrate the substantial improvement in incident detection performance obtained by the neural network model. The paper also presents additional results that demonstrate how improvements in model performance can be achieved using variable decision thresholds. Finally, the model's fault-tolerance under conditions of corrupt or missing data is investigated and the impact of loop detector failure/malfunction on the performance of the trained model is evaluated and discussed. The results presented in this paper provide a comprehensive evaluation of the developed model and confirm that neural network models can provide fast and reliable incident detection on freeways. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.