Capillary liquid chromatography as a tool for separation of hydrophobic basic drugs. Relation between tests for column characterization and real analysis

Two capillary columns for reversed phase (RP) capillary liquid chromatography (CLC), viz. Nucleosil 100‐5 C18 and LiChrosorb RP‐select B, were characterized by the Walters test, i.e. the chromatographic test proposed for RP stationary phases. Hydrophobicity indices were determined not only in acetonitrile/water mobile phase, as proposed in the test, but they were also measured in buffered systems. This approach was used to quantify the influence of mobile phase composition on the modification of the surface of the stationary phases. In the next step, small basic compounds differing in their hydrophobicity and basicity were selected and their retention on the stationary phases in mobile phases of the same composition as used for column testing was examined. Furthermore, the retention of newly synthesized drugs, chemotherapeutics derived from thioacridine and pyridoquinoline, differing in their structures, basicity, and hydrophobicity, was also studied. The composition of the mobile phases had to be shifted to higher contents of organic modifiers – acetonitrile or methanol – in order to elute these hydrophobic compounds from the columns. The question we wanted to answer was: How is the method for testing of reversed phases related to retention, separation efficiency, and peak symmetry of various analytes?     

Detection of stress whitening in plastics with the help of X-ray dark field imaging

The processing of thermoplastics can induce a wide range of defects such as stress whitening, cavitation and porosity, which can adversely affect the reliability of the final products. Hence, fast and effective non-destructive detection methods for such defects are highly important for quality assurance on production lines. In this paper, X-ray dark field imaging is presented as a new non-destructive testing method that allows the visualization of stress whitening or cavitation efficiently. The performance of the method is demonstrated for the case of an injection-moulded polyvinylidene fluoride part that exhibits stress whitening. Whereas the stress whitening could not be detected by conventional X-ray imaging, it was localized by an X-ray dark field image acquired within a few minutes. Once the precise location of the stress whitening was known, it was possible to verify the result by local micro X-ray computed tomography and by a micro section image.     

Using symbolic computation software packages in production of multidimensional finite volume‐based large eddy simulation codes

The numerical simulation of turbulence is one of the most challenging tasks in the field of the modern computational science. At present, the most advanced approach is the large eddy simulation (LES) technique wherein a formal separation between resolved (large) and unresolved (small) scales of the motion is in effect by means of a filtering operation applied onto the governing equations. However, LES requires very sophisticated numerical discretizations in terms of both accuracy and efficiency. Often, the modelling of the unresolved subgrid scale terms adds further computational complexities. This paper illustrates the suitability in using software packages for symbolic computation (in the present case, Maple© for helping in the production of subroutines for a new multidimensional, high‐order accurate finite volume‐based LES code. Specifically, it will be detailed how producing, rapidly and efficiently, the routines for computing convective, diffusive as well as subgrid scale modelling fluxes. It is particularly detailed how exploiting the package for differential calculus and linear algebra for the analytical integration of the flux polynomials over the finite volume faces. The structure of the LES code is illustrated, and an accuracy analysis of the local truncation errors is performed comparing the third‐order accurate multidimensional upwind and the classical second‐order centred reconstruction in the wavenumbers space. Then, some numerical results for the turbulent plane channel and some brief points concerning the parallelization issue are addressed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Toward low‐noise synthetic turbulent inflow conditions for aeroacoustic calculations

The accuracy of boundary conditions for computational aeroacoustics is a well‐known challenge, due in part to the necessity of truncating the flow domain and replacing the analytical boundary conditions at infinity with numerical boundary conditions. In particular, the inflow boundary condition involving turbulent velocity or scalar fields is likely to introduce spurious waves into the domain, therefore degrading the flow behavior and deteriorating the physical acoustic waves. In this work, a method to generate low‐noise, divergence‐free, synthetic turbulence for inflow boundary conditions is proposed. It relies on the classical view of turbulence as a superposition of random eddies convected with the mean flow. Within the proposed model, the vector potential and the requirement that the individual eddies must satisfy the linearized momentum equations about the mean flow are used. The model is tested using isolated eddies convected through the inflow boundary and an experimental benchmark data for spatially decaying isotropic turbulence. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

痰涂片阳性肺结核患者分枝杆菌培养及药敏结果743例分析

目的研究衢州地区痰涂片阳性肺结核患者对常用抗结核药物的耐药情况,为结核病控制和临床用药提供对策.方法对衢州地区的743例痰涂片阳性肺结核患者痰标本进行酸性改良罗氏培养基痰培养,将培养阳性菌株以硝基苯甲酸(PNB)培养基和噻吩-2-2羧酸肼(TCH)培养基进行菌种鉴定,采用绝对浓度间接法对异烟肼(INH)、利福平(RFP)、链霉素(SM)、氧氟沙星(OFLX)、乙胺丁醇(EMB)、卡那霉素(KM)6种抗结核药物进行敏感性试验.结果743例获得菌种鉴定和药物敏感试验结果者中有结核分枝杆菌复合群728例(97.98%),非结核分枝杆菌15例(2.02%).728例结核分枝杆菌复合群中总耐药率为26.63%,初治耐药率为19.35%,复治耐药率为57.32%;总耐多药率为5.36%,初治耐多药率1.39%,复治耐多药率36.59%.6种抗结核药物的耐药顺序依次为INH 8.20%、SM 7.74%、OFLX 4.80%、RFP 1.86%、KM 1.24%、EMB 1.08%.结论衢州地区肺结核患者中耐药情况较为严重,应开展分枝杆菌培养和药敏试验并根据药敏结果组成个体化化疗方案,同时进一步落实和提高非住院肺结核患者全面监督化学治疗(DOTS)质量,提高各类患者的治愈率,减少各种耐药的发生概率.     

Zero Current Potentiometry for Measuring the Interface Potential at the Electrode/Solution Interface. Theoretical and Experimental Study

A novel electrochemical approach has been proposed to measure the interface potential at the electrode/solution interface based on reconstructing the three‐electrode system of a potentiostat. In this work, the method was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Mathematical expressions, describing current? potential characteristics, were derived. Zero current potential E_zcp was defined as the potential at which the current is zero based on linear sweep voltammetry, and was determined from the I? E curve to measure the interface potential. The experimental results obtained with the couples Fe(CN)₆^3?/Fe(CN)₆^4? and Co(NH₃)₆³⁺/Co(NH₃)₆²⁺ as examples agreed well with the theory. The proposed approach exhibits an excellent performance for measuring the interface potential due to the advantages of rapidity, high stability and accuracy.     

Non‐contact evaluation of the electrical conductivity of thin metallic films by eddy current microscopy

An eddy current microscopy technique to evaluate the electrical conductivity of thin metallic films in a non‐contact manner is reported. A narrow track formed in an approximately 100 nm thick Au film was prepared, and a Co–Cr coated magnetic tip was driven to oscillate above the track both with and without current passing through the track. Despite the absence of current, the electromagnetic interaction between the tip and the stray magnetic field from the track gave rise to a phase delay in the probe. This was due to an eddy current being induced within part of the track. Moreover, measurements of the phase change in the probe oscillation for different metallic films with thicknesses of about 100 nm found this to be proportional to the electrical conductivity of the film. Finally, the electrical conductivity of an Al film was evaluated using the eddy current microscopy technique. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Importance of verifying queue model assumptions before planning with simulation software

This case study uses empirical data gathered at an Australian refinery to verify the assumptions for queue distributions before using special-purpose software to plan the off-road-truck hauling of titanium dioxide to a refinery (n = 773). Easy-to-use spreadsheet software is utilized to verify assumptions for queue models. Managers are able to make decisions based on economic implications of queue models to avoid making costly planning mistakes. Analysts can use nonparametric hypothesis-testing techniques to verify distribution assumptions for optimization without having to write hard-to-maintain and complex algebraic linear equations or nonlinear search routines.     

Contribution à l'étude Électrochimique de Dérivés de l'Acide Mercapto-2 Pyridinecarboxylique-5. II

Abstract

Electrochemical caracteristics of 2-mercaptopyridine-5-carboxylic acid and its methylic ester have been determined using recent polarographic techniques. Measurements have been carried out as a function of parameters such as frequency, others surimposed signals and as a function of concentration and pH. Results are compared to those obtained for selectively methylated on sulfur or nitrogen atoms derivatives. Interpretations of the data are given. The optimal conditions for a quantitative determination by D.C. and differential pulse polarography are fixed.     

Residual‐based artificial viscosity for simulation of turbulent compressible flow using adaptive finite element methods

In this paper, we present a finite element method with a residual‐based artificial viscosity for simulation of turbulent compressible flow, with adaptive mesh refinement based on a posteriori error estimation with sensitivity information from an associated dual problem. The artificial viscosity acts as a numerical stabilization, as shock capturing, and as turbulence capturing for large eddy simulation of turbulent flow. The adaptive method resolves parts of the flow indicated by the a posteriori error estimates but leaves shocks and turbulence under‐resolved in a large eddy simulation. The method is tested for examples in 2D and 3D and is validated against experimental data. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.