Two spectrophotometric methods for simultaneous determination of some antihyperlipidemic drugs

Two simple, accurate, precise and economic spectrophotometric methods have been developed for simultaneous determination of Atorvastatin calcium (ATR) and Ezetimibe (EZ) in their bulk powder and pharmaceutical dosage form. Method (I) is based on dual wavelength analysis while method (II) is the mean centering of ratio spectra spectrophotometric (MCR) method. In method (I), two wavelengths were selected for each drug in such a way that the difference in absorbance was zero for the second drug. At wavelengths 226.6 and 244 nm EZ had equal absorbance values; therefore, these two wavelengths have been used to determine ATR; on a similar basis 228.6 and 262.8 nm were selected to determine EZ in their binary mixtures. In method II, the absorption spectra of both ATR and EZ with different concentrations were recorded over the range 200-350, divided by the spectrum of suitable divisor of both ATR and EZ and then the obtained ratio spectra were mean centered. The concentrations of active components were then determined from the calibration graphs obtained by measuring the amplitudes at 215-260 nm (peak to peak) for both ATR and EZ. Accuracy and precision of the developed methods have been tested; in addition recovery studies have been carried out in order to confirm their accuracy. On the other hand, selectivities of the methods were tested by application for determination of different synthetic mixtures containing different ratios of the studied drugs. The developed methods have been successfully used for determination of ATR and EZ in their combined dosage form and statistical comparison of the developed methods with the reported spectrophotometric one using F and Student’s t-tests showed no significant difference regarding both accuracy and precision.

Determination of a novel ACE inhibitor in the presence of alkaline and oxidative degradation products using smart spectrophotometric and chemometric methods

Simple, accurate, sensitive and validated UV spectrophotometric and chemometric methods were developed for the determination of imidapril hydrochloride （IMD） in the presence of both its alkaline （AKN） and oxidative （OXI） degradation products and in its pharmaceutical formulation. Method A is the fourth derivative spectra （D4） which allows the determination of IMD in the presence of both AKN and OXD, in pure form and in tablets by measuring the peak amplitude at 243.0 nm. Methods B, C and D, manipulating ratio spectra, were also developed. Method B is the double divisor-ratio difference spectrophotometric one （DD-RD） by computing the difference between the amplitudes of IMD ratio spectra at 232 and 256.3 nm. Method C is the double divisor-first derivative of ratio spectra method （DD-DR1） at 243.2 nm, while method D is the mean centering of ratio spectra （MCR） at 288.0 nm. Methods A, B, C and D could successfully determine IMD in a concentration range of 4.0-32.0 mg/mL. Methods E and F are principal component regression （PCR） and partial least-squares （PLS）, respectively, for the simultaneous determination of IMD in the presence of both AKN and OXI, in pure form and in its tablets. The developed methods have the advantage of simultaneous determination of the cited components without any pre-treatment. The accuracy, precision and linearity ranges of the developed methods were determined. The results obtained were statistically compared with those of a reported HPLC method, and there was no significant difference between the proposed methods and the reported method regarding both accuracy and precision.

Pitching Moment Generation in an Insect-Mimicking Flapping-Wing System

Unlike birds, insects lack control surfaces at the tail and hence most insects modify their wing kinematics to produce control forces or moments while flapping their wings. Change of the flapping angle range is one of the ways to modify wing kinematics, resulting in relocation of the mean Aerodynamic force Center （mean AC） and finally creating control moments. In an attempt to mimic this feature, we developed a flapping-wing system that generates a desired pitching moment during flap- ping-wing motion. The system comprises a flapping mechanism that creates a large and symmetric flapping motion in a pair of wings, a flapping angle change mechanism that modifies the flapping angle range, artificial wings, and a power source. From the measured wing kinematics, we have found that the flapping-wing system can properly modify the flapping angle ranges. The measured pitching moments show that the flapping-wing system generates a pitching moment in a desired direction by shifting the flapping angle range. We also demonstrated that the system can in practice change the longitudinal attitude by generating a nonzero pitching moment.

Spatial identification and scenario simulation of the ecological transition zones under the climate change in China

Explicitly identifying the spatial distribution of ecological transition zones(ETZs)and simulating their response to climate scenarios is of significance in understanding the response and feedback of ecosystems to global climate change.In this study,a quantitative spatial identification method was developed to assess ETZ distribution in terms of the improved Holdridge life zone(iHLZ)model.Based on climate observations collected from 782 weather stations in China in the T0(1981–2010)period,and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(IPCC CMIP5)RCP2.6,RCP4.5,and RCP8.5 climate scenario data in the T1(2011–2040),T2(2041–2070),and T3(2071–2100)periods,the spatial distribution of ETZs and their response to climate scenarios in China were simulated in the four periods of T0,T1,T2,and T3.Additionally,a spatial shift of mean center model was developed to quantitatively calculate the shift direction and distance of each ETZ type during the periods from T0 to T3.The simulated results revealed 41 ETZ types in China,accounting for 18%of the whole land area.Cold temperate grassland/humid forest and warm temperate arid forest(564,238.5 km~2),cold temperate humid forest and warm temperate arid/humid forest(566,549.75 km~2),and north humid/humid forest and cold temperate humid forest(525,750.25 km~2)were the main ETZ types,accounting for 35%of the total ETZ area in China.Between 2010 and 2100,the area of cold temperate desert shrub and warm temperate desert shrub/thorn steppe ETZs were projected to increase at a rate of 4%per decade,which represented an increase of 3604.2,10063.1,and 17,242 km~2 per decade under the RCP2.6,RCP4.5,and RCP8.5 scenarios,respectively.The cold ETZ was projected to transform to the warm humid ETZ in the future.The average shift distance of the mean center in the north wet forest and cold temperate desert shrub/thorn grassland ETZs was generally larger than that of other ETZs,with the mean center moving to the northeast and the shift distance being more than 150 km during the periods from T0 to T3.In addition,with a gradual increase of temperature and precipitation,the ETZs in northern China displayed a shifting northward trend,while the area of ETZs in southern China decreased gradually,and their mean center moved to high-altitude areas.The effects of climate change on ETZs presented an increasing trend in China,especially in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.