Permeation of Zidovudine and Probenecid from Oily Bases Containing Alcohols Through Rat Skin

Permeation of zidovudine (3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine, AZT) and probenecid from oily bases containing an alcohol through rat skin was examined. Isopropyl myristate (IPM), as an oily vehicle, showed a penetration enhancing effect for AZT and probenecid. Ethanol, n-propanol, and n-butanol were used as additives in IPM and were examined for their own permeation and the enhancing effect on the permeation of AZT and probenecid. The skin permeation of AZT and probenecid from IPM was enhanced by addition of the alcohol in IPM. The degree of the enhancement was decreased with increasing lipophilicity of the alcohol used. me permeation rate of the drug from those systems was shown to be governed by penetration-enhancing effects of the oily base and alcohol, and the penetration of the alcohol itself through the skin.     

Single-Threaded vs. Multithreaded: Where Should We Focus?

Today, with the increasing popularity of multicore processors, one approach to optimizing the processor's performance is to reduce the execution times of individual applications running on each core by designing and implementing more powerful cores. Another approach, which is the polar opposite of the first, optimizes the processor's performance by running a larger number of applications on a correspondingly larger number of cores, albeit simpler ones. The difference between these two approaches is that the former focuses on reducing the latency of individual applications or threads (it optimizes the processor's single-threaded performance), whereas the latter focuses on reducing the latency of the applications' threads taken as a group (it optimizes the processor's multithreaded performance). The panel, from the 2007 Workshop on Computer Architecture Research Directions, discusses the relevant issues.     

Occlusion-resistant camera design for acquiring active environments.

In this article, we present a detailed theoretical analysis and a prototype implementation of a family of cameras designed with the explicit goal of detecting and removing interfering dynamic occluders in real time, during live capture, as opposed to fixing the resulting artifacts a posteriori. Such an early-acquisition approach improves efficiency: more valid samples are acquired faster without worrying about moving occluders. One option for designing a camera to be unaffected by moving occluders is to sample through the occluder, but true x-ray-like vision is technically impractical. Another option is to sample around the occluder using a camera with a large effective aperture, but such an approach requires a bulky acquisition device. Yet another possibility of sampling around an occluder is to rely on second and higher order reflected rays that indirectly sample surfaces not directly visible. However, devising an acquisition device sufficiently sensitive and efficient to capture large environments using reflected rays will remain challenging for the foreseeable future.     

Parathion degradation and toxicity reduction in solar photocatalysis and photolysis.

The solar photocatalytic degradation of methyl parathion was investigated using a circulating TiO2/solar light reactor. Under solar photocatalysis condition, parathion was more effectively degraded than solar photolysis and TiO2-only conditions. With solar photocatalysis, 20 mg/L of parathion was completely degraded within 60 min with a TOC decrease of 63% after 150 min. The main ionic byproducts during photocatalysis recovered from parathion degradation were mainly as NO3-, NO2- and NH4+, 80% of the sulphur as SO4(2-), and 5% of phosphorus as PO4(3-). The organic intermediates 4-nitrophenol and methyl paraoxon were also identified, and these were further degraded in solar photocatalytic condition. Two different bioassays (Vibrio fischeri and Daphnia magna) were used to test the acute toxicity of solutions treated by solar photocatalysis and photolysis. The Microtox test using V. fischeri showed that the toxicity expressed as EC50 (%) value increased from 5.5% to >82% in solar photocatalysis, indicating that the treated solution is non-toxic, but only increased from 4.9 to 20.5% after 150 min in solar photolysis. The acute toxicity test using D. magna showed that EC50 (%) increased from 0.05 to 1.08% under solar photocatalysis, but only increased to 0.12% after 150 min with solar photolysis, indicating the solution is still toxic. The pattern of toxicity reduction parallels the decrease in TOC and the parathion concentrations.     

Highly Cooperative Tetrametallic Ruthenium-mu-Oxo-mu-Hydroxo Catalyst for the Alcohol Oxidation Reaction

The tetrametallic ruthenium-oxo-hydroxo-hydride complex {[(PCy(3))(CO)RuH](4)(mu(4)-O)(mu(3)-OH)(mu(2)-OH)} (1) was synthesized in two steps from the monomeric complex (PCy(3))(CO)RuHCl (2). The tetrameric complex 1 was found to be a highly effective catalyst for the transfer dehydrogenation of alcohols. Complex 1 showed a different catalytic activity pattern towards primary and secondary benzyl alcohols, as indicated by the Hammett correlation for the oxidation reaction of p-X-C(6)H(4)CH(2)OH (rho = -0.45) and p-X-C(6)H(4)CH(OH)CH(3) (rho = +0.22) (X = OMe, CH(3), H, Cl, CF(3)). Both a sigmoidal curve from the plot of initial rate vs [PhCH(OH)CH(3)] (K(0.5) = 0.34 M; Hill coefficient, n = 4.2+/-0.1) and the phosphine inhibition kinetics revealed the highly cooperative nature of the complex for the oxidation of secondary alcohols.     

Transdermal Absorption of Zidovudine from Ethanol-Isopropyl Myristate Mixed System and Influence of Probenecid on It in Rats

Transdermal absorption of zidovudine (AZT) from an ethanol-isopropyl myristate (IPM) mixed system was examined in rats. For comparison of bioavailability (BA) after topical applications, 0.25 ml of the ethanol/IPM system containing 40% ethanol and 60 mM AZT was applied as a standard formulation. Values of the area under the plasma concentration-time curves of AZT for 8 hr (AUC_0-8), as indices of BA, following application of various formulations were compared with that of the standard formulation. Then the influence of content of the drug and ethanol, and application volume of the system was evaluated. BA was effectively improved only when the total amount of ethanol applied on the skin was increased. On the other hand, simultaneous transdermal application of AZT and probenecid increased the AU_0-8, of AZT without necessitating the increase in ethanol content in the formulation. In addition, coadministered probenecid improved cerebrospinal fluid/plasma concentration ratio of AZT.     

中小城镇住宅消防设施现状及建设管理探索

通过对西部某小城市的住宅消防设施建设和管理现状的调查 ,反映了占西部绝大部分城市面积的中小城镇的住宅消防设施十分令人担忧的现状 ,分析了造成这一现状的原因 ,提出了解决这一问题的建设管理思路     

观赏草在庭园中的设计与应用

观赏草以其灵动的景观特质，草类特有的自然色调，飘逸的质感越来越受到设计师们的青睐，用于焦点、绿蒿、花镜、镶边均有不凡的表现，虽为草类，却有着灌木的功能。     

董公馆：嫁接之美

董公馆是一个6层楼的公寓，依山而建，业主将他交到设计师手里，让他在这基础上活活变出一个精美的“公馆”。     

持续发展是唯一出路

讨论了人类、环境与发展的关系，指出不适当的发展模式已使三者之间形成恶性循环，必须及时地改变发展模式。列举了中国面临的严重环境问题，指出只有走可持续发展的道路才是唯一出路。并提出为实施可持续发展应注意的６个主要问题。