Gas-phase deprotonation of arylalkylamines. A collision-induced dissociation study

The collision-induced dissociation (CID) of deprotonated arylalkylamines of general formula R(1)C(6)H(4)CHR(2)CH(2)NR(3)(2) (where R(1) = H, OH, F or NO(2); R(2) = H or OH; R(3) = H or CH(3)) generated by negative chemical ionization with H(2)O and D(2)O as ionizing reagents, is discussed. The negative chemical ionization mass spectra show that, in the absence of a hydroxy group in the aromatic ring, deprotonation takes place at the benzylic position whereas the proton is lost from the OH group when present. The nitro compound forms only M(-.) ions. The CID spectra of the deprotonated molecules show that fragmentations are strongly dependent on the structural features of the molecules, namely the presence or absence of substituents in the aromatic ring or aliphatic chain. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Isolation of NO(3)(-)-N as 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (Sudan-1) for measurement of delta(15)N

The conversion of nitrate (NO(3)(-)) to 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (Sudan-1) has been examined as a method for natural abundance measurement of delta(15)N of NO(3)(-). The reaction results in dilution of NO(3)(-)-N with only one reagent-derived N and the product is readily concentrated from dilute samples by reverse phase chromatography. There is systematic isotopic fractionation during the reaction, but this can be allowed for by analysing known NO(3)(-) standards along with each sample set. Sudan-1 prepared from surface water samples containing approximately 50 &mgr;g NO(3)(-)-N can be analysed by automated continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry with a precision of 0.2 per thousand (one standard deviation) and the accuracy is not affected by interference from other nitrogenous species in the sample or reagents. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancement of on chip chemiluminescence signal intensity of tris(1,10-phenanthroline)-ruthenium(II) peroxydisulphate system for analysis of chlorpheniramine maleate in pharmaceutical formulations

The effect of detection chip geometry on chemiluminescence (CL) signal intensity of tris(1,10-phenanthroline)-ruthenium(II) peroxydisulphate system for analysis of chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) in pharmaceutical formulations was investigated. It was observed that the design of the detection chip is very crucial and can play an important role in enhancing the CL signal intensity in this system. The CL signal intensity was enhanced 250% when a teardrop micromixer chip was used, compared to the commonly used serpentine chip geometry. The study was conducted using a multi-chip device. In this device, chip 1 was used to prepare and pump the reagent mixture, whereas chip 3 was used for pumping the sample. The two chips were connected to the teardrop chip (2) via silica capillary where detection took place. Non-linear regression curve fitting of the calibration data revealed that the calibration curves are best described by third order polynomial equation with excellent correlation coefficients (R² = 0.9998) for the concentration range 7.69 × 10⁻⁸ to 5.12 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹. A linear response is also observed over the range 7.69 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.28 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ (R² = 0.9996) and the detection limit was found to be 5.49 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹. The device was successfully used for the analysis of CPM in tablets and a multi-component cough syrup. Results were reproducible with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.6-1.1%.     

Observation of bubble domains at the cholesteric to homeotropic-nematic transition in a confined chiral nematic liquid crystal

We report observations on a chiral nematic liquid crystal confined in a plane cell treated for homeotropic alignment. The characteristics of the specimen investigated are such that at room temperature a uniform homeotropic alignment is observed and at higher temperatures the material displays the helical structure. It is observed that the changeover between homeotropic and helical textures does not occur at one single threshold. There are two thresholds, between which there is an intermediate texture where small circular domains are observed. These domains may be regarded as circular analogues of the plane solitons predicted by previous authors.     

DNA vaccine containing the mycobacterial hsp65 gene prevented insulitis in MLD-STZ diabetes

Background  

Our group previously demonstrated that a DNA plasmid encoding the mycobacterial 65-kDa heat shock protein (DNA-HSP65) displayed prophylactic and therapeutic effect in a mice model for tuberculosis. This protection was attributed to induction of a strong cellular immunity against HSP65. As specific immunity to HSP60 family has been detected in arthritis, multiple sclerosis and diabetes, the vaccination procedure with DNA-HSP65 could induce a cross-reactive immune response that could trigger or worsen these autoimmune diseases.     

Wave attenuation model for dephasing and measurement of conditional times

Inelastic scattering induces dephasing in mesoscopic systems. An analysis of previous models to simulate inelastic scattering in such systems is presented and a relatively new model based on wave attenuation is introduced. The problem of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations in conductance of a mesoscopic ring is studied. We show that the conductance is symmetric under flux reversal and the visibility of AB oscillations decays to zero as a function of the incoherence parameter, signaling dephasing. Further the wave attenuation model is applied to a fundamental problem in quantum mechanics, that of the conditional (reflection/transmission) times spent in a given region of space by a quantum particle before scattering off from that region.     

Terbium sensitized luminescence for the determination of fexofenadine in pharmaceutical formulations

A sensitive and specific luminescence method for the determination of Fexofenadine (FEX), in pharmaceutical formulations is reported. The method is based on the sensitization of terbium (Tb³⁺) by complex formation with FEX. The luminescence signal for Tb–FEX complex is greatly enhanced by the addition of triethylamine (ET₃N) and zinc nitrate in methanol solution. Monitoring of the signal is accomplished when the instrument is in the phosphorescence mode with the excitation and emission wavelengths set at λ_ex = 220 nm and λ_em = 550 nm respectively. Optimum conditions for the formation of the complex in methanol were 2.25 × 10^?6 M of Tb³⁺, 5.00 × 10^?6 M of Et₃N and Zn²⁺ which allows for the determination of 10–800 ppb of FEX in the batch mode with a detection limit of 0.3 ppb. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of FEX in pharmaceutical formulations.     

Qualitative properties of modified equations

Suppose that a consistent one-step numerical method of orderr is applied to a smooth system of ordinary differential equations.Given any integer m 1, the method may be shown to be of orderr + m as an approximation to a certain modified equation. Ifthe method and the system have a particular qualitative propertythen it is important to determine whether the modified equationsinherit this property. In this article, a technique is introducedfor proving that the modified equations inherit qualitativeproperties from the method and the underlying system. The techniqueuses a straightforward contradiction argument applicable toarbitrary one-step methods and does not rely on the detailedstructure of associated power series expansions. Hence the conclusionsapply, but are not restricted, to the case of Runge-Kutte methods.The new approach unifies and extends results of this type thathave been derived by other means: results are presented forintegral preservation, reversibility, inheritance of fixed points.Hamiltonian problems and volume preservation. The techniquealso applies when the system has an integral that the methodpreserves not exactly, but to order greater than r. Finally,a negative result is obtained by considering a gradient systemand gradient numerical method possessing a global property thatis not shared by the associated modified equations.