Adjusting the Operational Potential Window as a Tool for Prolonging the Durability of Carbon-Supported Pt-Alloy Nanoparticles as Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts.

A current trend in the investigation of state-of-the-art Pt-alloys as proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) electrocatalysts is to study their long-term stability as a bottleneck for their full commercialization. Although many parameters have been appropriately addressed, there are still certain issues that must be considered. Here, the stability of an experimental Pt-Co/C electrocatalyst is investigated by high-temperature accelerated degradation tests (HT-ADTs) in a high-temperature disk electrode (HT-DE) setup, allowing the imitation of close-to-real operational conditions in terms of temperature (60 °C).

Alternative and facile production pathway towards obtaining high surface area PtCo/C intermetallic catalysts for improved PEM fuel cell performance.

The design of catalysts with stable and finely dispersed platinum or platinum alloy nanoparticles on the carbon support is key in controlling the performance of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. In the present work, an intermetallic PtCo/C catalyst is synthesized double-passivation galvanic displacement. TEM and XRD confirm a significantly narrowed particle size distribution for the catalyst particles compared to commercial benchmark catalysts (Umicore PtCo/C).

One-year prediction of cognitive decline following cognitive-stimulation from real-world data.

Clinical evidence based on real-world data (RWD) is accumulating exponentially providing larger sample sizes available, which demand novel methods to deal with the enhanced heterogeneity of the data. Here, we used RWD to assess the prediction of cognitive decline in a large heterogeneous sample of participants being enrolled with cognitive stimulation, a phenomenon that is of great interest to clinicians but that is riddled with difficulties and limitations. More precisely, from a multitude of neuropsychological Training Materials (TMs), we asked whether was possible to accurately predict an individual's cognitive decline one year after being tested.

Validation and clinical evaluation of a UHPLC method with fluorescence detector for plasma quantification of doxorubicin and doxorubicinol in haematological patients.

A rapid and simple UHPLC-fluorescence detection method for the quantification of doxorubicin and its main metabolite, doxorubicinol, in human plasma has been developed. The method was also validated for its application in therapeutic drug monitoring, a clinical approach used in the optimization of oncologic treatments. Following a single protein precipitation step, chromatographic separation was achieved using a C18 column (50mm×2.

Development and validation of an HPLC method for vancomycin and its application to a pharmacokinetic study.

A rapid and simple method of high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection for the quantification of vancomycin in artificial perfusion fluid and lung tissue samples has been developed and validated. Chromatographic separation was carried out in a Nucleosil 120 C(18) 5 microm column (length, 15 cm; inner diameter, 0.4 cm) using a mixture of 0.

Pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of amikacin encapsulated in carrier erythrocytes.

Objectives: To study the changes in the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of the aminoglycoside amikacin in rats using amikacin carrier erythrocytes as a delivery system.

Methods: Amikacin-loaded erythrocytes were obtained using a hypotonic dialysis method. The pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution of amikacin were studied in three groups of rats receiving intravenous amikacin in saline solution, amikacin-loaded erythrocytes and amikacin-loaded erythrocytes treated with glutaraldehyde.

Pulmonary versus systemic delivery of levofloxacin. The isolated lung of the rat as experimental approach for assessing pulmonary inhalation.

The present work was aimed to compare levofloxacin pulmonary disposition after systemic or inhalatory delivery and to evaluate the influence of respiratory pattern on lung distribution. An experimental model of the isolated lung of the rat was used. Twenty-four Wistar rats were distributed in four groups receiving levofloxacin under different experimental conditions including systemic or pulmonary delivery and higher or lower respiratory frequency with lower or higher tidal volume, respectively.

Disposition of linezolid in the isolated rat lung after systemic and pulmonary drug delivery.

Objectives: To characterize the distribution of linezolid in lung when it accesses this organ from the systemic circulation and when administered through the pulmonary route and to evaluate the influence of the 'respiratory mode' in the pulmonary distribution for both routes.

Methods: The study was conducted with 24 Wistar rats divided into four groups treated with linezolid under different experimental conditions. After the animals had been subjected to a tracheotomy followed by mechanical ventilation, the lungs were isolated.

Pulmonary versus systemic delivery of antibiotics: comparison of vancomycin dispositions in the isolated rat lung.

Vancomycin dispositions in the respiratory system were compared after systemic and inhalatory administration under two respiratory conditions using the isolated-lung model. Inhalatory delivery led to much higher drug levels in pulmonary tissue and fluids. The respiratory pattern affects vancomycin disposition in the pulmonary system regardless of the administration route.

Encapsulation and in vitro evaluation of amikacin-loaded erythrocytes.

The aim of our present work was to establish the effect of the osmolality of the hypotonic buffer on the encapsulated amount and the in vitro properties of Amikacin-loaded erythrocytes. Amikacin was encapsulated in rat erythrocytes using a hypotonic dialysis method with hypotonic buffers of different osmolalities with mean values around 90 and 150 mOsm/kg. Morphological examination of the ghost erythrocytes was accomplished using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Pharmacokinetic study of the digoxin-acenocoumarol interaction in rabbits.

A study was carried out to evaluate the potential pharmacokinetic interaction between digoxin and acenocoumarol. The binding of digoxin to rabbit cardiac tissue homogenates was assessed in vitro, using the equilibrium dialysis technique. An increase in the first-order constant (p<0.