Numerical Simulation of Fire in Underground Commercial Street.

In this study, while aiming at the prevention of fire accidents in underground commercial streets, an underground commercial street is selected as a research object, and the building fire is numerically simulated using the PyroSim software. Fire simulation scenarios are divided according to different fire zones by analyzing the temperature, carbon monoxide (CO) concentration, and visibility in the smoke layer inside a building. The available safe evacuation time is calculated according to the critical fire hazard judgment conditions. We found that the time when the flue gas temperature and CO concentration reached the critical value in the fire site was longer than the time when the visibility reached the critical value reducing or even avoiding the spread of smoke from the fire area to the evacuation stairs can provide effective help for crowd evacuation. Finally, the safety of the building is evaluated, and fire prevention countermeasures are defined based on the actual situation and fire numerical simulation results to reduce fire incidence, casualties, and economic losses.

Biodegradable poly(D, L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres for sustained release of risperidone: Zero-order release formulation.

The preparation and investigation of sustained-release risperidone-encapsulated microspheres using erodible poly(D, L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) of lower molecular weight were performed and compared to that of commercial Risperdal Consta™ for the treatment of schizophrenia. The research included screening and optimizing of suitable commercial polymers of lower molecular weight PLGA50/50 or the blends of these PLGA polymers to prepare microspheres with zero-order release kinetics properties. Solvent evaporation method was applied here while studies of the risperidone loaded microsphere were carried out on its drug encapsulation capacity, morphology, particle size, as well as in vitro release profiles. Results showed that microspheres prepared using 50504A PLGA or blends of 5050-type PLGAs exerted spherical and smooth morphology, with a higher encapsulation efficiency and nearly zero-order release kinetics. These optimized microspheres showed great potential for a better depot preparation than the marketed Risperdal Consta™, which could further improve the patient compliance.

Anti-Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Single-Chain Fv Fragment-Decorated DM1 Nanoparticles for Specific Targeting of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Positive Breast Tumor Cells.

PURPOSE: Although monoclonal antibodies are used to decorate nanoparticles to target specific cells, penetration of tumor tissues by monoclonal antibodies is limited by their large size. Therefore, we prepared DM1 nanoparticles decorated with the small anti-HER2 single-chain Fv fragment (scFvHER2) of trastuzumab (TMAB) for targeting to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpressing in breast cancer effectively. METHODS: ScFvHER2 fragment was coupled with DM1 nanoparticles (NPs) via covalent thiol-maleimide linkages. Their physicochemical properties, uptake by cells, and toxicity to tumor cells were investigated. Their vivo biodistribution was assessed employing liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry, while their antitumor activity was investigated in nude mice burdened with BT-474 tumor. RESULTS: Viability of BT-474 cells incubated with scFvHER2-DM1-Nanoparticles (scFv-DM1-NPs) was significantly lower than that of BT-474 cell treated with TMAB-DM1-Nanoparticles (TMAB-DM1-NPs) (P < 0 05). Uptake by cells of scFvDM1-NPs was significantly higher than TMAB-DM1-NPs (P < 0 01). Accumulation of scFv-DM1-NPs in tumor tissue was notably higher than TMAB-DM1-NPs (P < 0 05). scFv-DM1-NPs exhibited improved antitumor effects compared to TMABDM1-NPs (P < 0 05), showing a tumor inhibition rate of more than 70%. CONCLUSIONS: ScFvHER2 fragment could serve as a more effective targeting ligand than TMAB, and scFv-DM1-NPs could be developed as a possible drug delivery system to target HER2-positive breast cancer.

Preliminary studies of a novel multifunctional wide-bore electrophoresis system.

This paper presents the results obtained from a novel multifunctional analysis platform established on the basis of wide-bore electrophoresis (WBE) and CE. The WBE­CE system integrated various analytical steps including separation, transfer, reaction, detection, and storage into a single system. During the WBE­CE process, a distinct three-electrode format was adopted to continuously separate and transfer samples between WBE and CE without the interruption of switching on-and-off the power suppliers. This continuous mode of operation also helped to eliminate the need for exactly timing the transfer of specific samples zone from WBE to CE and avoided the danger of missing specific samples. Samples representing mixtures of acids, bases, or proteins were analyzed on this system for evaluating its feasibility and applicability. The results indicated that the resolution achieved on this WBE­CE system was better than either the WBE or the CE alone. Further, samples transferred out of the WBE system could participate in online reaction, such as enzymatic reaction in the CE. Alternatively, samples from the WBE system could be transferred out and stored offline in a vial for post-transfer reaction. The results demonstrated that this WBE­CE system has the potential to be a multifunctional platform for a range of applications.

[Analysis of detecting methods of digoxin blood drug level].

Digoxin plays a part in healing of congestive heart failure in clinic. Its therapeutic dose is very approximate to toxic dose and even they overlap each other sometimes. There are many influencing factors on blood drug level of digoxin. Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics varies with different individuality. It is indispensable to detecting blood drug level in order to treat disease and prevent intoxication. Integrating with the detecting-methods of blood drug level of digoxin home and broad, characteristic of many methods are summarized from sensitivity, linearity range, cross-reaction and precision. These methods include radio immunoassay, enzyme immunoassay, chemiluminescence immunoassay, fluorescence immunoassay and HPLC-MS-MS. These methods are popular for their specialized ascendancy. The cost of radio immunoassay is low. Enzyme immunoassay has good specificity. Sensitivity and stability of chemiluminescence immunoassay is very excellent. Fluorescence polarization immunoassay is sensitive and convenient. HPLC-MS-MS has high resolution and good specificity. One of the development tendencies is to combine two or more methods in detecting the blood drug level of digoxin which contribute to these methods integrated use.

Pharmacokinetics and in vitro and in vivo correlation of huperzine A loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) microspheres in dogs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics and in vitro/in vivo correlation (IVIVC) of huperzine A loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres in dogs. Several huperzine A loaded PLGA microspheres were prepared by an O/W method and three of them (single dose) were injected intramuscularly (i.m.) or subcutaneously (s.c.) to five beagle dogs, respectively. With the increase of the molecular weight of PLGA and the particle size of microspheres, the in vitro and in vivo release periods of huperzine A were prolonged. After s.c. injection, the release of huperzine A from microspheres was faster than that after i.m. injection. The IVIVC models of huperzine A loaded PLGA microspheres were established successfully and after i.m. administration the linear relationship between the in vitro and the in vivo releases was better than that after s.c. administration. It was also found when the particle size of the microspheres was smaller; the values of correlation coefficient were higher.

Optimization, validation and application of an assay for the activity of HMG-CoA reductase in vitro by LC-MS/MS.

A stable HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) reaction in vitro was developed by a sensitive, selective and precise liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. The optimized enzyme reaction condition contained 1.5 µg of HMGR, 20 nM of NADPH with 50 min of reaction time. The method was validated by several intra- and inter-day assays. The production transitions of m/z 147.0/59.1 and m/z 154.0/59.1 were used to detect and quantify mevalonolactone (MVAL) and MVAL-D7, respectively. The accuracy and precision of the method were evaluated over the concentration range of 0.005-1.000 µg/mL for MVAL and 0.010-0.500 µg/mL for lovastatin acid in three validation batch runs. The lower limit of quantitation was found to be 0.005 µg/mL for MVAL and 0.010 µg/mL for lovastatin acid. Intra-day and inter-day precision ranged from 0.95% to 2.39% and 2.26% to 3.38% for MVAL, 1.46% to 3.89% and 0.57% to 5.10% for lovastatin acid, respectively. The results showed that the active ingredients in Xuezhikang capsules were 12.2 and 14.5 mg/g, respectively. This assay method could be successfully applied to the quality control study of Xuezhikang capsule for the first time.

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of exenatide in monkey plasma by tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry.

A highly sensitive ultra-high-performance liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS/MS) method was developed for the quantification of the synthetic peptide drug of exenatide in monkey plasma. Sample preparation was carried out by solid-phase extraction (SPE), and bivalirudin was used as the internal standard (IS). An excellent chromatographic separation was obtained on a reversed-phase C18 column with a gradient elution. Detection utilized a Qtrap 5500 system operated in the positive ion mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The proposed method was validated by assessing the specificity, linearity, intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy, recovery, and stability. The method resulted in a linear calibration range of 0.10-30 ng/mL, extracting with only 50 µL monkey plasma aliquots. The intra- and inter-day precisions (as relative standard deviation) were less than 7.5% and 9.6%, respectively. The method could be successfully utilized for the pharmacokinetic study of exenatide in monkeys following a single subcutaneous injection of Byetta.