HPLC with amperometric detection for the determination of pesticides of high polarity

A relatively simple procedure is described for the selective and highly sensitive determination of amitrole (3-amino-1,2,4-triazole) by ionpair HPLC with amperometric detection. The separation was achieved on a polar CN-column using hexane, propanol, water (62:36:2) with LiClO₄ (2.5 g·l^–1) and trichloroacetic acid (2 g·l^–1) as electrolytes. The determination range lies between 500 pg and 500 ng and the limit of detection was found to be 200 pg (s.d.: 11%; N=9). The minimum detectability for the alternative UV-monitoring was 2.5 ng. The developed method may be helpful in production and quality control and for the selective determination of amitrole in commercial formulations.     

Constructing two-weight codes with prescribed groups of automorphisms

We construct new linear two-weight codes over the finite field with q elements. To do so we solve the equivalent problem of finding point sets in the projective geometry with certain intersection properties. These point sets are in bijection to solutions of a Diophantine linear system of equations. To reduce the size of the system of equations we restrict the search for solutions to solutions with special symmetries.Two-weight codes can be used to define strongly regular graphs. We give tables of the two-weight codes and the corresponding strongly regular graphs. In some cases we find new distance-optimal two-weight codes and also new strongly regular graphs.     

Diastereoselective Photochemical Synthesis of α-Amino-β-hydroxyketones by Photocycloaddition of Carbonyl Compounds to 2,5-Dimethyl-4-isobutyloxazole

Summary. The photocycloaddition of aldehydes and α-ketoesters to 2,5-dimethyl-4-isobutyloxazole leads to bicyclic oxetanes with high to moderate (exo) diastereoselectivity that can be easily ring-opened to give α-amino-β-hydroxyketones.     

Gaussian collocation via defect correction

Summary For the numerical integration of boundary value problems for first order ordinary differential systems, collocation on Gaussian points is known to provide a powerful method. In this paper we introduce a defect correction method for the iterative solution of such high order collocation equations. The method uses the trapezoidal scheme as the basic discretization and an adapted form of the collocation equations for defect evaluation. The error analysis is based on estimates of the contractive power of the defect correction iteration. It is shown that the iteration producesO(h ²), convergence rates for smooth starting vectors. A new result is that the iteration damps all kind of errors, so that it can also handle non-smooth starting vectors successfully.     

Membrane-immobilized haptoglobin as affinity matrix for a hemoglobin-A1c immunosensor

An amperometric immunosensor for hemoglobin-A1c (HbA1c) determination has been developed utilizing membrane-immobilized haptoglobin as affinity matrix fixed in front of a Pt-working electrode. The HbA1c assay was carried out in a two-step procedure including the selective hemoglobin enrichment on the sensor surface and the specific HbA1c detection by a glucose oxidase (GOx) labeled anti-HbA1c antibody. Hydrogen peroxide generated by the enzyme label was oxidized at +600 mV versus Ag/AgCl. A standard curve for HbA1c was obtained with a linear range between 0 and 25% HbA1c of total hemoglobin which correspond to 7.8–39 nM. ELISA studies confirmed the advantage of a sandwich-type format with haptoglobin as capture molecule for selective hemoglobin binding over the direct adsorption method. Results by the sandwich immunoassay showed a linear correlation within the clinically relevant range 5–20% (CV < 3). For sensor application the immobilization procedure of haptoglobin onto CDI-activated cellulose membranes was optimized.