Combined supercritical-fluid chromatography/mass spectrometry in the analysis of diuron in plasma using on-line phase-system switching

On-line sample pretreatment by means of the phase-system switching approach is an interesting technique for the analysis of aqueous samples, e.g., plasma, by means of supercritical-fluid chromatography. In order to analyse plasma samples the following analytical procedure is used. The plasma sample is injected on to a short precolumn, which is washed with water and subsequently dried with nitrogen. Next, the solutes are desorbed with the supercritical mobile phase, analysed with packed-column supercritical-fluid chromatography and detected with either a UV detector or a mass spectrometer, equipped with a moving-belt interface. The herbicide diuron is selected as a test compound to study the feasibility of this approach. Using a selective detector the procedure is sufficiently sensitive to detect diuron in plasma, but not appropriate to detect the diuron metabolites in a post-mortem plasma sample. These have been identified with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The detection limit of diuron in plasma using the procedure described is about 30 ng/mL.     

Photonic switches and switch arrays on LiNbO3

In recent years there has been tremendous progress in lithium niobate-based photonic switches. The various switch configurations proposed and implemented, and their characteristics, are reviewed. A summary of the device technology is given. Performance analysis based on different architecture and the size of arrays that can be relalized are discussed.Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India     

An interpretation of cortical maps in echolocating bats

Target parameters such as reflectivity, range, velocity, and angular position are represented by ordered maps of tuned cortical neurons in insectivorous bats. It is suggested that the response of each neuron in such a map is determined by a hypothesis test conditioned on a particular value of the mapped parameter. The excitation of each neuron is then interpreted as a sample value of a conditional log-likelihood ratio or a log-likelihood function. Interpolation between the samples, which is needed to find the parameter that maximizes the mapped function (e.g., the maximum likelihood parameter estimate), can be accomplished with overlapped tuning curves. An attempt to portray a sharp peak by a weighted sum of relatively broad neuronal tuning curves or interpolation functions results in excitatory center/inhibitory surround behavior. Facilitation or antifacilitation of neurons that are likely to be excited by succeeding observations can be used for sequential detection and tracking. Interpolation and pulse-to-pulse data storage capability are required to explain range jitter sensitivity and to allow for moving target indication in bat sonar. If a cortical map represents an ordered array of hypothesis tests, then many such tests are implemented in parallel when target parameters are unknown. Detection performance is then degraded relative to the idealized situation in which all parameters are specified. Performance in noise may thus appear to be much worse than that of an ideal detector, even if each hypothesis test is optimally implemented.     

Effect of rare-earth oxides on the magnetic properties of anisotropic barium ferrites

The effect of rare-earth oxides on the properties of anisotropic barium ferrites has been studied by x-ray structural and Mössbauer methods. Additions of SrCO₃, as well as SrCO₃ and La₂O₃, SrCO₃ and Pr₆O₁₁, SrCO₃ and Nd₂O₃, SrCO₃ and Sm₂O₃ in amounts of 7.5 mole % Sr and 10 mole % rare-earth element to grade-A barium powder results in the substitution of barium ions by Sr and rare-earth ions; consequently, the energy of magnetic anisotropy changes and the technically important parameters B_r and (BH)_max increase.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 34–39, January, 1989.     

Vibrations of a magnet levitated over a flat superconductor

Based on a dipole-dipole interaction model, we discuss the levitation force and related vibration problems to understand the effects of flux pinning in type-II superconductors, and the applications of levitation in superconducting systems.     

Direct numerical simulation of settling of a large solid particle during bioconvection

Settling of a large solid particle in bioconvection flow caused by gyrotactic microorganisms is investigated. The particle is released from the top of the bioconvection chamber; its settling pattern depends on whether it is released in the centre of the bioconvection plume or at its periphery. The Chimera method is utilized; a subgrid is generated around a moving particle. The method suggested by Liu and Wang (Comput. Fluid 2004; 33 :223–255) is further developed to account for the presence of a moving boundary in the streamfunction‐vorticity formulation using the finite‐difference method. A number of cases for different release positions of the particle are computed. It is demonstrated that bioconvection can either accelerate or decelerate settling of the particle depending on the initial position of the particle relative to the plume centre. It is also shown that the particle impacts bioconvection plume by changing its shape and location in the chamber. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role of Bulk Vaporization in the Dynamics of Laser-Induced Erosion Plumes of Metals

In different regimes of exposure of metals to pulsed laser radiation, we show the role played by the liquid-drop phase formed from the target material in a laser-induced erosion plume due to bulk vaporization, in the dynamics of this plume. For some metals, the ranges of power densities of the acting laser radiation, at which the condensed-phase particles influence the passage of laser radiation to the target surface, have been determined experimentally. The mechanism of realization of a low-threshold breakdown has been revealed.     

Asymptotics of collision integral matrix elements in the isotropic case

The method of nonlinear moments, when used to solve the Boltzmann equation, necessitates the calculation of collision integral matrix elements. The matrix elements are hard to calculate numerically, especially at large indices. The asymptotics of the matrix elements are constructed. In terms of the model of pseudopower particle interaction, a formula free of summation is derived. This makes it possible to find the asymptotic behavior of linear and nonlinear elements when two indices are large. For an arbitrary interaction cross section, asymptotic expansions of linear and nonlinear matrix elements in one index are obtained. For Maxwellian molecules, asymptotic formulas are derived for three large indices.     

Relationships between Electrodynamic and Quantum-Mechanical Parameters in the Theory of Quantum Transitions

Relationships between the electrodynamic (wave propagation constants) and quantum-mechanical parameters (probability of induced transitions) of interaction between energy quanta and particles of the medium are derived for dipole and paramagnetic interaction types. It is demonstrated that quantum-mechanical parameters are generally complex.