Obliquely propagating ion-acoustic shock waves in a degenerate quantum plasma

A theoretical investigation has been carried out on the propagation of non-linear ion-acoustic shock waves (IASHWs) in a magnetized degenerate quantum plasma system composed of inertial non-relativistic positively charged light and heavy ions, inertialess non-relativistically or ultra-relativistically degenerate electrons and positrons. The reductive perturbation method has been employed to derive the Burgers' equation. It has been observed that under consideration, our plasma model supports only positive potential shock structure. It is also found that the amplitude and steepness of the IASHWs have been significantly modified by the variation of ion kinematic viscosity, oblique angle, number density, and charge state of the plasma species. The results of our present investigation will be helpful for understanding the propagation of IASHWs in white dwarfs and neutron stars.     

Commensurability oscillations in NdBa2Cu3Oy single crystals

Commensurability between inter-vortex distance and crystal lattice constant is investigated by angular dependent magnetization in very pure twinned and twin-free NdBa₂ Cu₃ O_y single crystals. With increasing temperature the incommensurate states split up and become finally commensurate with half the vortex distance. These new commensurate states are related to a substructure of the intrinsic pinning potential within the unit cell and discussed with respect to temperature, field, anisotropy, and twin structure.     

Determining a 'safe' high-mass limit in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectra of coal derived materials with reference to instrument noise

Three methods for determining a 'safe' estimate for high-mass limits of MALDI spectra of coal derived liquids were explored, using a sample of coal-tar pitch and its pyridine-insoluble fraction. Co-addition of increasing numbers of single-shot spectra (10, 30, 50 and 100 pulses) showed visually observable reductions in noise levels, consistent with robust and statistically meaningful signals. Three separate types of post-acquisition calculation were used to identify high-mass limits of the spectra. (i) A literature method indicated high-mass limits similar to those observed visually-as a shift from baseline at the highest masses, nearly 350 000 u for the coal tar pitch and about 390 000 u for its pyridine insoluble fraction. (ii) Comparing instrument signal with pre-selected multiples of the standard deviation, upper mass estimates of between 40-60 000 u for the coal-tar pitch and about 95 000 u for its pyridine-insoluble fraction were found. (iii) Calculation of the slope was used to identify 'lift-off' of the spectrum from baseline. The angle between the smoothed spectrum and the baseline was matched to a pre-selected value (e.g. 0.5 degrees and 1 degrees ). However, the arbitrary specification of the key parameter did not establish this last method on a firm basis. The choice of a criterion for estimating high-mass limits of MALDI spectra remains a semi-quantitative procedure; a reasonably conservative high-mass limit may be estimated by comparison of signal with five times the standard deviation. However, evaluation of size exclusion chromatograms of the present samples using polystyrene standards suggests that molecular mass distributions of pitch samples arrived at by MALDI mass spectrometry are, at least partly, determined by the limitations of available instruments. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Direct injection liquid chromatographic technique for simultaneous determination of two antihistaminic drugs and their main metabolites in serum

A very simple liquid chromatographic technique was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 2 antihistaminic drugs, loratadine (LT) and terfenadine (TR), and their major active metabolites, desloratadine (DL) and fexofenadine (FX), respectively, in human serum. LT, DL, TR, and FX from directly injected serum samples were enriched on a protein-coated RP8 silica precolumn (10 x 4.6 mm id) while serum constituents, such as proteins and salts, were eluted to waste. Using an online column-switching system, the drugs and their metabolites were quantitatively transferred and separated on a second analytical column (Shim-pack 5 microm particle size cyanopropyl, 250 x 4.6 mm id) followed by ultraviolet detection at 243 nm for LT and DL and 220 nm for TR and FX. Very good precision, accuracy, and linearity were obtained over the range of 10-1000 ng/mL for LT and DL, 10-500 ng/mL for TR, and 10-3000 ng/mL for FX in human serum. High extraction recoveries from serum ranging from 96.03 to 98.19, 95.44 to 97.26, 95.61 to 98.17, and 95.60 to 97.89 for LT, DL, TR, and FX, respectively, were obtained.     

Stability-indicating method for determination of oxyphenonium bromide and its degradation product by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for determination of oxyphenonium bromide (OX) and its degradation product. The method was based on the HPLC separation of OX from its degradation product, using a cyanopropyl column at ambient temperature with mobile phase of acetonitrile-25 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate, pH 3.4 (50 + 50, v/v). UV detection at 222 nm was used for quantitation based on peak area. The method was applied to the determination of OX and its degradation product in tablets. The proposed method was also used to investigate the kinetics of the acidic and alkaline degradation of OX at different temperatures, and the apparent pseudo first-order rate constant, half-life, and activation energy were calculated. The pH-rate profile of the degradation of OX in Britton-Robinson buffer solutions within the pH range 2-12 was studied.     

Spectroscopic investigations of new binuclear transition metal complexes of Schiff bases derived from 4,6-diacetylresorcinol and 3-amino-1-propanol or 1,3-diamino-propane

The bifunctional carbonyl compound; 4,6-diacetylresorcinol (DAR) serves as precursor for the formation of different Schiff base ligands, which are either di- or tetra-basic with two symmetrical sets of either O2N or N2O tridentate chelating sites. The condensation of 4,6-diacetylresorcinol with 3-amino-1-propanol (3-AP) or 1,3-diaminopropane (DAP), yields the corresponding hexadentate Schiff base ligands, abbreviated as H4La and H2Lb, respectively. The structures of these ligands were elucidated by elemental analyses, IR, mass, 1H NMR and electronic spectra. Reaction of the Schiff base ligands with copper(II), nickel(II), cobalt(II), zinc(II), cadmium(II), iron(III), chromium(III), vanadyl(IV) and uranyl(VI) ions in 1:2 molar ratio afforded the corresponding transition metal complexes. A variety of binuclear complexes for the metal complexes were obtained with the ligands in its di- or tetra-deprotonated forms. The structures of the newly prepared complexes were identified by elemental analyses, infrared, electronic, mass, 1H NMR and ESR spectra as well as magnetic susceptibility measurements and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The bonding sites are the azomethine and amino nitrogen atoms, and phenolic and alcoholic oxygen atoms. The metal complexes exhibit different geometrical arrangements such as square planar, tetrahedral, square pyramid and octahedral arrangement.     

Simultaneous determination of free and bound adriamycin, adriamycinol, adriamycinone and duanorubicin in plasma using column-switching technique and protein-coated pre-columns

Adriamycin, adriamycinol, adriamycinone and duanorubicin were simultaneously determined by the development of an on-line plasma clean-up system. A short protein-coated Lichrosorb, RP-8, RP-2, CN and muBondapak phenyl as well as ODS silica have been examined for their performance as pre-columns. The drugs and metabolites were separated from weakly retained plasma components through two steps; phosphate buffer saline, pH 7.4 and 15% acetonitrile in 0.1 M sodium dihydrogen phosphate, pH 3. The chromatographic conditions were: ODS/TM column, flow rate 1 ml/min, 35% acctonitrile in 0.1 M sodium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 3) containing 0.3% heptafluorobutyric acid as mobile phase. The detection was carried out using fluorescence monitor operated at an emission 555 nm and excitation 460 nm. Good resolution was obtained within 13 min. This method is reproducible for analysis of drugs and metabolites (99.3-100.1%, CV < 2%) in plasma.