Humidity influences the tribological performance of the head-disk interface in magnetic data storage devices. In this work a quartz crystal microbalance was used to measure the uptake of water on amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-CHx) films at room temperature and pressures of water corresponding to relative humidities of 25%: These experiments have used a-CHx films of varying thickness with and...

Oligonucleotides bearing a terminal lipophilic group attached through a biodegradable ester bond should be useful as antisense pro-drugs with improved cellular uptake. The synthesis of 5'-ester oligonucleotides is, however, problematic due to lability of the ester bond during aqueous ammonia treatment that is commonly used for the deprotection of synthetic oligonucleotides. The synthesis of 5'-...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of Sucro Ester 7 (sucrose distearate) as additive for preparing sustained release suppositories of tiaprofenic acid. Suppocire AIM (semi-synthetic glycerides) was used as suppository base and formulations were prepared containing different ratios of sugar ester: Suppocire AIM. Content uniformity, disintegration time and in vitro releas...

The prenyl ester and the phenylethyl ester of caffeic acid, formed in the bud excretion of poplar species, were shown recently to be the major contact allergens in bee-glue. An unambiguous synthesis of these compounds, based on the reaction of caffeic acid with 1-bromo-3-methyl-2-butene and with beta-bromoethylbenzene, respectively, is reported. The synthetic products confirm the previously des...

Several diesters were prepared from commercially available oleic acid and common organic acids. The key step in the three step synthesis of oleochemical diesters entails a ring opening esterification of alkyl 9,10epoxyoctadecanoates (alkyl: propyl, isopropyl, octyl, 2ethylhexyl) using propionic and octanoic acids without the need for either solvent or catalyst. Each synthetic diester was evalua...

Background: Cervical cancer is a pervasive yet preventable killer. Although routine screening exams are available to aid in the early detection of cervical cancer, women often avoid getting their routine annual screening exams. One explanation of this could be due to the discomfort of speculum exams. One way to minimize the discomfort of the speculum exam is to use gel-lubricant. However, there...

The copper-catalyzed diboration of aldehydes was used in conjunction with the Matteson homologation, providing the efficient synthesis of β-hydroxyboronate esters. The oxygen-bound boronate ester was found to play a key role in mediating the homologation reaction, which was compared to the α-hydroxyboronate ester (isolated hydrolysis product). The synthetic utility of the diboration/homologatio...

The effect of orally administered prostaglandin E(2) and its synthetic 15-methyl analogues on gastric secretion in man was studied. The parent E(2) compound did not inhibit basal secretion, whereas both the 15 (S) 15-methyl-E(2) methyl ester and its isomer, 15 (R) 15-methyl-E(2) methyl ester inhibited basal acid secretion. This action is likely to be a direct one on the parietal cell, and it co...

The first synthesis of the fungal natural product (-)-xylariamide A 1 is reported. N,Obis(trimethylsilyl)acetamide induced coupling of D-tyrosine with (E)-but-2-enedioic acid 2,5dioxo-pyrrolidin-1-yl ester methyl ester 5 produced the dechloro natural product 6, which was subsequently monochlorinated using oxone and KCl to yield synthetic 1. (-)Xylariamide A 1, (+)-xylariamide A 2 and (-)-dechlo...

OBJECTIVE Nonlubricated plastic specula can adhere to the vaginal introitus and cause discomfort with pelvic examination. We wanted to see if application of water-soluble gel lubricant to the plastic vaginal speculum would change the unsatisfactory cervical cytology diagnosis rate. METHODS Five public health family planning clinic sites were randomized to either water-soluble gel or water onl...