NON-CLASSICAL ASYMPTOTICS OF THE TRACE OF THE HEAT KERNEL FOR THE MAGNETIC SCHRÖDINGER OPERATOR

We consider the effect of a magnetic field for the asymptotic behavior of the trace of the heat kernel for the Schrödinger operator. We discuss the case where the operator has compact resolvents in spite of the fact that the electric potential is degenerate on some submanifold. According to the degree of the degeneracy, we obtain non-classical asymptotics.     

Conductive liquid crystalline compounds having a piperazine structure

New conductive thermotropic liquid crystalline materials having a piperazine ring in the central core: 1-[4-(9-decenyloxy)phenyl]-4-alkylpiperazines ( 6 ) were synthesized. The mesomorphic behaviours of these compounds and their conductivity in the liquid crystal phase were measured. The principal features of these compounds are to exhibit a smectic B phase around room temperature (for example 6 : Cr 50 SmB 81 I, °C) and to exhibit a large dark current (6d: 430 μA cm^-2, applied voltage 20 V, at 70°C) in the smectic B phase.     

Use of ring-repeller, double-skimmer electrodes for efficient ion focusing in mass spectrometry.

The design and construction of a new type of time-of-flight mass spectrometer is described. The instrument was designed to improve the ionization efficiency and to efficiently detect ions. The system performance was evaluated using the SIMION software, and was compared with the experimental results. The shapes of the repeller, extraction, and ground electrodes had a strong effect on the trajectory of ions in the processes of ion acceleration and focusing. The major difference between the theory and the experiment can be attributed to space-charge effects.     

Determination of lead in seawater by flow-injection on-line preconcentration-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry after coprecipitation with iron(III) hydroxide.

A flow-injection on-line preconcentration-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric (ETAAS) method coupled with a coprecipitation method has been developed for the determination of lead in seawater. The combination of two preconcentration procedures, coprecipitation with iron(II) hydroxide and solid-phase extraction with a lead-selective resin, Pb-Spec, allowed the determination of lead at the ng kg(-1) level. Lead in 250 g of a sample solution was collected by coprecipitation with 10 mg of iron. The precipitate was dissolved in 25 ml of 1 mol l(-1) nitric acid; then, a 4-ml aliquot of the sample solution was introduced into the flow-injection system to preconcentrate and separate lead from iron on a Pb.Spec microcolumn. The sorbed lead was eluted with a 1.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1) EDTA solution. The 30-microl portion of the eluate corresponding to the highest analyte concentration zone was injected into a graphite furnace. The overall enhancement factor was about 200 for 250 g of the sample. The average and standard deviation of ten blank values obtained were 1.7 ng and 0.38 ng, respectively. The recovery was 93.7 +/- 5.0% for seawater spiked with 20 ng kg(-1) lead. The proposed method is applicable to the analysis of seawater for lead at slightly higher levels.     

Exopeptidase degradation for the analysis of phosphorylation site in a mono-phosphorylated peptide with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

The utility of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) coupled with a peptide ladder sequencing method employing exopeptidase degradation for the analysis of phosphorylation site in a mono-phosphorylated peptide is investigated. MALDI-TOFMS analysis of time-dependent exopeptidase digestion using carboxypeptidase W and aminopeptidase M of the mono-phosphorylated 33-48 fragment isolated from a beta-casein tryptic digestion mixture allowed for the sequencing analysis from both the C-terminus and N-terminus. Negative ion detection MALDI-TOFMS made it possible to clearly measure the peptide ladder of mono-phosphorylated peptide by the strong negative charge localized at the phosphoric acid group. Since exopeptidase activity was suppressed by the existence of a phosphorylated amino acid residue, the termination exopeptidase degradation therefore suggested the existence of a phosphorylated amino acid residue at that site. This peptide ladder sequencing method using exopeptidases was effective for the identification of the site of a phosphorylated amino acid residue by a simple MALDI-TOFMS analysis in the negative ion detection mode.     

Scattering of a plane wave from a periodic random surface: a probabilistic approach

This paper deals with a probabilistic formulation of the wave scattering from a periodic random surface. When a plane wave is incident on a random surface described by a periodic stationary stochastic process, it is shown by a group-theoretic consideration that the scattered wave may have a stochastic Floquet form, i.e. a product of a periodic stationary random function and an exponential phase factor. Such a periodic stationary random function is then written by a harmonic series representation similar to a Fourier series, where Fourier coefficients are mutually correlated stationary processes instead of constants. The mutually correlated stationary processes are represented by Wiener - Hermite functional series with unknown coefficient functions called Wiener kernels. In case of a slightly rough surface and TE wave incidence, low-order Wiener kernels are determined from the boundary condition. Several statistical properties of the scattering are calculated and illustrated in figures.     

Studies on vocal fold injection and changes in pitch associated with alcohol intake

The current study was carried out with particular emphasis on the association between phonetic function tests and alterations in the appearance of the hypopharyngeal and laryngeal mucosa, such as capillary dilatation, edema, and vocal fold injection after alcohol intake. The results demonstrated the occurrence of previously unrecognized pathophysiological changes associated with synchronous phonetic functions in the vocal pathway after alcohol intake. Serum ethanol and aldehyde concentration levels were evaluated hourly for 2.5 h after ingestion of alcohol. When an electronystagmogram showed the typical pattern of alcohol intake, the study was initiated. Occasionally, rhinography was performed on subjects complaining of a stuffy nose after alcohol intake.     

Sensitive derivatizatton reagents for the resolution of carboxylic acid enantiomers by high-performance liquid chromatography

Two highly sensitive, chiral derivatization reagents, D- and L-1-aminoethyl-4-dimethyl-aminonaphthalene, were synthesized from 1-dimethylaminonaphthalene. Condensation of carboxylic acids with the chiral reagent was readily effected in the presence of a watersoluble carbodiimide. The diastereoisomeric amides formed from N-acetylamino acid and α-arylpropionic acid enantiomers were efficiently resolved by normal phase chromatography (μPorasil column) -with hexane/ethyl acetate or hexane/tetrahydrofuran as a mobile phase. With a fluorescence detector (excitation 320 nm, emission 395 nm), the detection limit was 0.1 ng.     

Study on the effect of diand trifluoromethyl groups on the baeyer-villiger reaction

Case studies of the Baeyer-Villiger reaction applied to diand trifluoromethylketone derivatives and the effect of the fluoromethyl groups on the Baeyer-Villiger reaction, are described.