Influence of CYP3A5 polymorphism on tacrolimus blood concentrations in renal transplant patients

Objective Tacrolimus is an immunosuppressive drug with narrow therapeutic range and wide interindividual variation in its pharmacokinetics. Tacrolimus is a substrate of cytochrome P450(CYP)3A5. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the A6986G polymorphism is associated with tacrolimus concentration /dose ratio. Methods Fifty-two Chinese renal transplant patients were enrolled in this study. Their body weight, dosage and concentration of tacrolimus were observed. CYP3A5 genotype was determined by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Results A significant association was found between tacrolimus levels per dose/kg/d and CYP3A5 gene A6986G polymorphism (P<0.001). The CYP3A5 * 3 * 3 patients have a significantly higher tacrolimus level/dose than CYP3A5 * 1 * 1 and CYP3A5 * 1 * 3. Conclusions CYP3A5 gene A6986G polymorphism is associated with tacrolimus pharmacokinetics and dose requirements. Pharmacogenetic methods could be employed prospectively to help the dose selection and to individualize immunosuppressive therapy according to the result. Foundation item: Project (03GZ3072) supported by the Science and Technology Department of Hunan Province; project (2004035206) supported by the China Postdoctoral Foundation and project (30300383) supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China     

A new colloidal precursor cooperative conversion route to nanocrystalline quaternary copper sulfide

A novel milk-like Cu-thiourea colloid has been synthesized. Nanocrystalline quaternary copper sulfide Cu₂FeSnS₄ was obtained through the Cu-thiourea colloidal precursor cooperative conversion route at low temperature. The samples were characterized by means of X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy techniques. The reaction details and features were described and discussed.     

马尾松木材中性脱脂工艺的研究

采用全因素试验法，对马尾松木材进行过热乙醇溶液脱脂处理，以获取马尾松木材高效脱脂工艺技术。试验结果显示：（1）脱脂温度对马尾松松脂溶出量的影响极显著，且溶出量随着脱脂温度的升高而增大；（2）脱脂时间对马尾松松脂溶出量的影响极显著，且溶出量随着脱脂时间的延长呈先增大后减小的趋势；（3）脱脂浴比对马尾松松脂溶出量的影响极显著，且溶出量随着脱脂浴比的延长呈先增大后减小的趋势；（4）利用过热乙醇溶液对马尾松木材进行脱脂，其最佳工艺是脱脂时间为130℃、脱脂时间为8h、浴比1：8。     

INDIRECT ACCELERATED ADAPTIVE FUZZY CONTROLLER

According to a type of normal nonlinear system, an indirect adaptive fuzzy （IAF） controller has been applied to those systems where no accurate mathematical models of the systems under control are available. To satisfy with system performance, an indirect accelerated adaptive fuzzy （IAAF） controller is proposed, and its general form is presented. The general form IAAF controller ensures necessary control criteria and system＇s global stability using Lyapunov Theorem. It has been proved that the close-loop system error converges to a small neighborhood of equilibrium point. The optimal IAAF controller is derived to guarantee the process＇s shortest settling time. Simulation results indicate the IAAF controller make the system more stable, accurate, and fast.     

Protoplast from <Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-carotene-producing fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Blakeslea trispora</Emphasis>: Preparation,regeneration and validation

The effects of key parameters on the preparation and regeneration of protoplast from the β-carotene-producing fungus Blakeslea trispora were discussed in this paper, including the combination of various enzymes, mycelial age, digesting time and temperature, pH value, osmotic stabilizers, pretreatment, culture medium and culture method. Under the condition of mixed enzymes in osmotic stabilizer (0.6 M NaCl) combined with 2% lysozyme, 3% cellulase and 3% snailase, the highest protoplast yield, as high as 7.48×106 protoplasts/mL, was obtained when mycelial age was 60 h at pH 5.0–6.0 with digesting for 14–16 h at 28 °C. After purification of the obtained protoplasts, they were regenerated in PDA regenerative medium using bilayer plate culture method. To validate the usability of the protoplasts, a novel plasmid with green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used in transformation for easy visual observation. The results showed that the protoplasts prepared by the optimized method were active and applicable in further gene manipulation experiments. This work was presented at 13 ^th YABEC symposium held at Seoul, Korea, October 20–22, 2007.     

Modeling for local dynamic behaviors of phenol biodegradation in bubble columns

A coupled three-dimensional (3-D) model, combining hydrodynamics with biochemical reactions, was developed to simulate the local transient flow patterns and the dynamic behaviors of cell growth and phenol biodegradation by yeast Candida tropicalis in the bubble-column bioreactor, using the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) method. In order to validate this proposed model effectively, the validation of the local hydrodynamic characteristics of the gas-mineral salt solution (gas-liquid) two-phase system, with the phenol concentration of 1200 mg/L, and with the absence of cells, was performed in a square-sectioned bubble column bioreactor using the LDA system and conductivity probe. Furthermore, the validation of phenol biodegradation behaviors by yeast Candida tropicalis at different initial concentrations of phenol and cell was also carried out in the above bubble-column bioreactor. The results indicated that the model simulations had a satisfying agreement with the experimental data. Finally, the local instantaneous flow and phenol biodegradation features including gas holdup, gas velocity, liquid velocity, cell concentration and phenol concentration inside the bioreactor were successfully predicted in different-scale bubble columns by the proposed model. © 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2006     

碳酸盐岩气藏加砂压裂重复改造试验效果分析

针对碳酸盐岩气藏部分气井生产效能低的状况，决定在长庆气田下古生界尝试开展加砂压裂重复改造试验，以期提高低产、低效气井的产量，延长气田稳产期。通过潜心研究、精细设计及现场质检监控，优选了4口老井进行加砂压裂重复改造现场试验。从试验结果来看，虽然只有1口井取得明显的改造效果，但4口井加砂压裂施工都是成功的，说明对碳酸盐岩气藏实施加砂压裂是可以实现的，但在选井思路和压裂工艺方面还有待探索和研究。     

A model for preventive maintenance operations and forecasting

Equipment costs constitute the greatest majority of overall costs for semiconductor manufacturing. Therefore, maintaining high equipment availability has been regarded as one of the major goals in the industry. The ability to forecast correctly equipment preventive maintenance (PM) timing requirements not only can help optimizing equipment uptime but also minimizing negative impacts on manufacturing production efficiency. This research used grey theory and evaluation diagnosis to construct a PM forecasting model for prediction of PM timing of various machines. The results showed significant improvements of PM timing predictions compared to the existing method based on experience and an alternative method proposed by Li and Chang (Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology Workshop 2002: 10–11, pp. 275–277) for the same fab cases. Received: June 2005 / Accepted: December 2005