High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of morphine and its 3- and 6-glucuronide metabolites: improvements to the method and application to stability studies

Improvements to previously reported methods for the determination of morphine, morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G) and morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G) in human plasma are described. The improved methods involve the use of a solid-phase extraction cartridge and a chromatographic system which uses paired-ion reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with a radially compressed column. Only one cartridge is used to prepare each sample for chromatography and each cartridge may be used for at least fourteen 1-ml plasma samples. The recovery is greater than 85%. The improvements to the method of sample pretreatment and in the chromatographic conditions have allowed determination of morphine, M3G and M6G in human plasma down to 13.3 nmol/l (coefficient of variation = 9.3%), 108 nmol/l (6.6%) and 41 nmol/l (6.7%), respectively, using ultraviolet detection alone. It was shown that all three compounds were stable in plasma for up to 101 weeks when stored at -20 degrees C.     

KINETICS OF LUMINESCENCE QUENCHING IN MICELLAR ASSEMBLIES INCLUDING EXCHANGE OF PROBE and QUENCHER*

The luminescence decay of excited probes in micelles in the presence of a Poisson distribution of quenchers is considered under conditions where both probe and quencher within the lifetime of the excited probe may exchange between the micelles. Analytical and numerical results show that the luminescence decay can be expressed by a generalized self convolution product of a multiexponential decay function.     

Electromagnetic properties of strange baryons in a relativistic quark model

We present some of our results for the electromagnetic properties of excited Σ hyperons, computed within the framework of the Bonn constituent-quark model, which is based on the Bethe-Salpeter approach. The seven parameters entering the model are fitted against the best-known baryon masses. Accordingly, the results for the form factors and helicity amplitudes are genuine predictions. We compare with the scarce experimental data available and discuss the processes in which Σ ^*'s may play an important role.     

Using Inquiry to Improve Pedagogy through K‐12/University Partnerships

This article focuses on the impact a collaborative project between university graduate fellows and K‐12 classroom teachers had on improved pedagogy in the classroom and in the future at the university. Nine teams participated in a yearlong professional development project to improve pedagogy and communication skills of the participants. This study shows that the participants, the fellows and the K‐12 teacher partners, made changes in planning, implementation, and even motivation for using inquiry‐based methods in their classroom. External observations of the teams further support the individuals' claims of improved pedagogy using inquiry and impact on student conceptual understanding. The Horizon Classroom Observation instrument was used for these observations. The teams showed an overall increase in scores, as well as overall effective and exemplarily implementation of their planning. The program design, the implementation, and the results of this three‐year study will be elaborated in this article.     

Studying high-spin ferric heme proteins by pulsed EPR spectroscopy: Analysis of the ferric form of the E7Q mutant of human neuroglobin

In this work, the high-spin ferric form of the E7Q mutant of human neuroglobin (E7Q-NGB) is studied by X-band continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW EPR) and hyperfine sublevel correlation (HYSCORE) spectroscopy. It is shown that the use of matched pulses in the HYSCORE experiment is essential to observe the nitrogen spectral contributions. The validity of approximating the high-spin Fe(III) system (S=5/2) as an effectiveS=1/2 system is tested and the consequences for the HYSCORE simulations are highlighted. Comparative HYSCORE experiments combined with deuterium exchange experiments for aquometmyoglobin and ferric E7Q-NGB clearly show that the heme iron of the latter protein is pentacoordinated, lacking the distal water. Furthermore, CW EPR experiments show that, at high pH, the E10K residue is coordinating to the heme iron in this globin. These observations are corroborated by resonance Raman experiments and could also be reproduced for other E7 mutants of human and mouse neuroglobin. Finally, the proton and nitrogen hyperfine and nuclear quadrupole parameters obtained for ferric E7Q-NGB are discussed in detail.     

Making equation of state models predictive: Part 2: An improved PCP-SAFT equation of state

We use the PCP-SAFT equation of state, which is of the Van der Waals type and has a sound physical basis, to predict mixture properties, such as vapor–liquid and liquid–liquid equilibria, as well as excess enthalpies. We use molecular properties, such as dipole moment, quadrupole moment, polarizability and dispersion interaction coefficients, that have been determined quantum mechanically in Part I of this publication and adjust the remaining three pure compound parameters to pure compound data. We finally present a new combination rule for the dispersion energy parameter ? that is based on the quantum mechanically determined data. The predictions based on quantum mechanically determined pure compound properties along with the new combination rule show an improved performance compared to the original PCP-SAFT combination rule.     

Vector-Orthogonality and Lanczos-Type Methods

A method for solving a linear system is defined. It is a Lanczos-type method, but it uses formal vector orthogonality instead of scalar orthogonality. Moreover, the dimension of vector orthogonality may vary which gives a large freedom in leading the algorithm, and controlling the numerical problems. The ideas of truncated and restarted methods are revisited. The obtained residuals are exactly orthogonal to a space of increasing dimension. Some experiments are done, the problem of finding automaticaly good directions of projection remains partly open.     

On the covariance of the level sizes in random recursive trees

In this paper we study the covariance structure of the number of nodes k and l steps away from the root in random recursive trees. We give an analytic expression valid for all k, l and tree sizes N. The fraction of nodes k steps away from the root is a random probability distribution in k. The expression for the covariances allows us to show that the total variation distance between this (random) probability distribution and its mean converges in probability to zero. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 20: 519–539, 2002     

Determination of uranium and thorium isotopes in soil samples by coprecipitation

Summary The paper presents a procedure to prepare soil samples for U and Th isotope measurement by alpha-spectrometry after coprecipitation with LaF₃. In this procedure the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) was performed by Zn metal in 4M HCl solution. The recoveries of chemical separation equal to e_U-chemistry = 78±4% for uranium and e_Th-chemistry = 82±4% for thorium. Canberra alpha-spectrometer was used with PIPS detectors of A-1200-37-AM Model of 1200 mm² active area. The counting efficiency of the measuring system equals to e_counting = 18% and the total efficiencies were e_U = e_counting ^.e_U-chemistry = 14.0±0.7% for uranium and e_Th = e_counting ^.e_Th-chemistry = 14.7±0.7% for thorium. The recoveries of chemical separation were rather high (about 80%), that leads to the use of a small weight of soil sample (about 0.5 g). The efficiencies were also stable, that allows analyzing the soil sample without using radiotracers. They are advantages of the sample preparation procedure of this work.     

The Organization of Interaction Between Oil Refineries

The paper deals with the appropriate form of interaction between two refineries with different demand patterns. This problem can be formulated as finding a decentralized solution of linear programming problems linked by buying and selling activities. The complete problem is first solved for central values of product demands and costs and revenues. The structure of the basis then determines the organization of the interaction in terms of which unit sets quantities and which prices, or whether centralized decisions should be made. If, for expected values of product demand and costs, the structure of the basis is the same then the related organization of trading can be used for day-to-day transactions. For a well-known oil refinery model it is found that, for fairly large demand variations, decentralized interaction is effective, but that the structure of the basis changes easily with crude price variations, and that simulations did not converge for these variations.