Thinking machines

We propose that a sufficiently advanced civilisation may employ Cepheid variable stars as beacons to transmit all-call information throughout the galaxy and beyond. They might employ a pulsed neutrino beam to trigger the expansion of a Cepheid at an earlier than normal time, generating a binary signature of normal period or artificially shortened period. One can construct many scenarios wherein it would be desirable for such a civilisation of star ticklers to transmit data to anyone else within viewing range. The beauty of employing Cepheids is that these stars can be seen from afar (we monitor them out through the Virgo cluster), and any developing technological society would seem to be likely to closely observe them as distance markers. Records exist of Cepheids for well over 100 years. We propose that these (and other regularly variable types of stars) be searched for signs of phase modulation (in the regime of short pulse duration) and patterns, which could be indicative of intentional signalling.     

Predicting future duration from present age: A critical assessment

Using a temporal version of the Copernican principle, Gott has proposed a statistical predictor of future longevity based on present age (Gott III, J. R., 1993, Nature, 363, 315) and applied the predictor to a variety of examples, including the longevity of the human species. Although Gott's proposal contains a grain of truth, it does not have the universal predictive power that he attributes to it.     

Study of the purifying affects of thermal annealing for polymer‐wall liquid crystal cells

The thermal annealing process was proposed to purify the pixel regions of a liquid crystal (LC) cell with polymer walls. This technique, based on thermal‐induced phase separation, successfully evicts the residual monomers from the LC volume and significantly improves electro‐optical properties of the polymer‐wall LC devices. The influence of the annealing process on the purity of LC‐rich domain and the electro‐optic properties of a LC cell was explored with a series of experiments. According to the experimental results, the annealing technique is extremely prospective for constructing flexible polymer‐wall LC display applications.     

Stroboscopic microscopy—direct imaging of structure development and phase separation during spin‐coating

Spin‐coated polymer blends possess a rich variety of accessible non‐equilibrium morphologies, formed through a process of phase separation and self‐assembly, the complexities of which remain incompletely understood. The technique of stroboscopic microscopy has now been developed to allow direct observations of microscopic and mesoscopic morphological development during spin‐coating and has afforded unequivocal information regarding morphological development. The technique so far has three modes of operation providing information on topographical, compositional, and crystal development. In this review, we look at the technique's development, its applications and comment on the future potential for this technique. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 17–25     

Solvent selection in ultrasonic-assisted emulsification microextraction: Comparison between high- and low-density solvents by means of novel type of extraction vessel

There are numerous published reports about dispersive liquid phase microextraction of the wide range of substances, however, till now no broadly accepted systematic and purpose oriented selection of extraction solvent has been proposed. Most works deal with the optimization of available solvents without adequate pre-consideration of properness. In this study, it is tried to compare the performances of low- and high-density solvents at the same conditions by means of novel type of extraction vessel with head and bottom conical shape. Extraction efficiencies of seven basic pharmaceutical compounds using eighteen common organic solvents were studied in this work. It was much easier to work with high-density solvents and they mostly showed better performances. This work shows that although exact predicting the performance of the solvents is multifaceted case but the pre-consideration of initial selection of solvents with attention to the physiochemical properties of the desired analytes is feasible and promising. Finally, the practicality of the method for extraction from urine and plasma samples was investigated.     

Synthesis and characterization of fluorine-containing cholesteric liquid crystalline polysiloxanes bearing trifluoromethyl-substituted mesogens

A series of side-chain liquid crystal (LC) polysiloxanes were synthesised with Poly(methylhydrogeno)siloxane, 4?-(undec-10-enoyloxy) biphenyl – 4 – yl 4- (trifluoromethyl) benzoate (M_th) and a chiral nematic (N*) LC monomer 1-allyl 10-(cholesteryl)-decanedioate (M_ch). The chemical structures and LC properties of the monomers and polymers were characterised by FTIR, ¹H-NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, POM and X-ray diffractometer. M_ch is monotropic N* LC. The homopolymer derived from monomer M_ch is enantiotropic N* LC. Monomer M_th is a smectic A liquid crystal. The copolymers derived from M_ch and M_th are N* LCs. The temperatures at which 5% weight loss occurred are greater than 300°C for all the fluoro-containing polymers, and the residue weights of the samples at 600°C increased slightly as the content of trifluoromethyl mesogens increased in the polymers. The glass transition temperatures of the polymers increased as trifluoromethyl mesogens increased, too. The N*–I phase transition temperatures show a negative deviate from ideal or linear behaviour. The values of the enthalpy changes for the cholesteryl containing polymers are rather low and this is attributed to the biaxiality of cholesteryl moiety which tends to reduce the change in the orientational order at the N*–I transition. Compared to the monomers, the polymers show wider mesophase region.     

Chiral analytical method development of liquiritigenin with application to a pharmacokinetic study

Pharmacometric characterization studies of liquiritigenin have historically overlooked its chiral nature. To achieve complete characterization, an analytical method enabling the detection and quantification of the individual enantiomers of racemic (±) liquiritigenin is necessary. Resolution of the enantiomers of liquiritigenin was achieved using a simple high‐performance liquid chromatographic method. A Chiralpak® ADRH column was employed to perform baseline separation with UV detection at 210 nm.The standard curves were linear ranging from 0.5 to 100 µg/mL for each enantiomer. Limit of quantification was 0.5 µg/mL. The assay was applied successfully to stereoselective serum disposition of liquiritigenin enantiomers in rats. Liquiritigenin enantiomers were detected in serum as both aglycones and glucuronidated conjugates. Both unconjugated enantiomers had a serum half‐life of ~15 min in rats. The volume of distribution (V_d) for S‐ and R‐liquiritigenin was 1.49 and 2.21 L/kg, respectively. Total clearance (Cl_total) was 5.12 L/h/kg for S‐liquiritigenin and 4.79 L/h/kg for R‐liquiritigenin, and area under the curve (AUC_0‐inf) was 3.95 µg h/mL for S‐liquiritigenin and 4.23 µg h/mL for R‐liquiritigenin. The large volume of distribution coupled with the short serum half‐life suggests extensive distribution of liquiritigenin into tissues. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High‐performance liquid chromatographic enantioseparation of (RS)‐bupropion using isothiocyanate‐based chiral derivatizing reagents

A high‐performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for enantioseparation of bupropion was developed using two isothiocyanate‐based chiral derivatizing reagents, (S)‐1‐(1‐naphthyl) ethyl isothiocyanate, (S)‐NEIT, and (R)‐α‐methyl benzyl isothiocyanate, (R)‐MBIT. The diastereomers synthesized with (S)‐NEIT were enantioseparated by reversed‐phase HPLC using gradient elution with mobile phase containing water and acetonitrile, whereas diastereomers synthesized with (R)‐MBIT were enantioseparated using triethyl amine phosphate buffer and methanol. Derivatization conditions were optimized and the method was validated for accuracy, precision and limit of detection. The limit of detection was found to be 0.040–0.043 µg/mL for each of the diastereomers prepared with (S)‐NEIT. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.