Comments on “Cofino statistics”

Cofino et al. have put forward a method for the analysis of data from interlaboratory studies. The method uses ideas and notation from quantum chemistry, and is quite sophisticated. A critical examination shows that it has some relationship with both kernel density estimation and robust estimation methods. The quantitative results it provides are not founded on any statistical probability model, and it is not at all clear how the variance in particular is to be interpreted. There is no clear argument for adopting Cofino statistics in preference to simple problem-free methods that are at least as effective in estimating a concensus value.This report was prepared for the Statistical Subcommittee by Professor T. Fearn, with the assistance of Mr T. Robinson, and approved by the AMC on 25/11/03. The Statistical Subcommittee comprised: Dr. S.L.R. Ellison, Professor T. Fearn, Mr M. Gardner, Dr. F. Hollywood, Professor R.J. Howarth, Dr. P. Lowthian, Professor J.N. Miller, Dr. E.J. Newman, Professor B.D. Ripley, Professor M. Thompson (Chair), Dr. R. Wood, Dr. A. Williams and Mr J.J. Wilson (Secretary).     

Vesicle formation in oleyldimethylamine oxide/sodium oleate mixtures

Vesicle formation in a mixture of oleyldimethylamine oxide (OleylDMAO) and sodium oleate (NaOl) was investigated by viscoelastic measurements and cryoscopic transmission electron micrograph (cryo-TEM) observations. The viscoelastic properties changed with increasing mole fraction of NaOl (X _NaOl) from the Maxwell behavior of OleylDMAO solutions (X _NaOl=0) suggesting a transient network of long flexible chains. For X _NaOl=0.2 and 0.4 mixtures, both the shear storage modulus G and the shear loss modulus G showed weak dependences on angular frequency with a relation G>G. From cryo-TEM observations, vesicles coexisted with threadlike micelles in mixtures of X _NaOl=0.2 and 0.3. As X _NaOl increased further (X _NaOl=0.5 and 0.6), threadlike micelles disappeared and the coexistence of vesicles and globular micelles was observed. At X _NaOl=0.5, the viscosity decreased remarkably, which was consistent with the disappearance of threadlike micelles. The results indicated that vesicles were formed by the addition of NaOl to OleylDMAO solutions, contrary to the expectation of a decrease of the packing parameter with the introduction of electric charges.     

New ent‐Abietanoids from Isodon rubescens

Six new ent‐abietane diterpenoids, rubescensins I–M ( 1 – 5 ) and P ( 6 ), along with two related acetonide derivatives ( 7 and 8 ), were isolated from Isodon rubescens. Their structures were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis. Compound 5 is the first N‐containing diterpenoid from the genus Isodon, exhibiting notable cytotoxicity against human tumor K562 cells.     

聚丙烯纤维辐射接枝进展

本文对聚丙烯纤维的辐射接枝方法、特征和机理、以及其研究进展和表征进行了扼要综述。     

甲醇／丙烷在ZSM－5分子筛上偶合转化过程的研究

考察了甲醇／低碳烷烃在ＺＳＭ－５分子筛上偶合转化为芳烃和低碳烯烃的反应过程。对特定的催化体系，存在一最佳原料配比，使反应的热效应近似为零。偶合转化时甲醇完全转化，低碳烷烃的转化率低；不同催化剂上偶合转化产物分布差别极大，与ＨＺＳＭ－５相比，Ｇａ改性后可获得较高的芳烃和低碳烯烃收率。     

Zur Verträglichkeit von Polyamid-6 und Hochdruckpolyethylen in Abhängigkeit von Temperatur und Mischungsverhältnis

Zusammenfassung Verschiedene Mischungen von Polyamid-6 (PA-6) und Polyethylen mit niedriger Dichte (LDPE) wurden von Raumtemperatur bis 373 K auf ihre Verträglichkeit mittels Analyse des Freien Induktionsabfalls untersucht. Das Mischungsverhältnis wurde im Bereich 0 Gew.-% bis 100 Gew.-% des PA-6 variiert.Der Vergleich der Relaxationszeiten der Mischungen mit denen des reinen LDPE zeigt, daß die Mischungskomponenten im gesamten untersuchten Temperatur- und Konzentrationsbereich unverträglich im Sinne einer behinderten Durchdringung von Segmenten sind. Dieses Ergebnis wird durch den Temperaturverlauf der Spindichte der frei beweglichen Protonen bestätigt.Der Temperaturverlauf der Spindichte der frei beweglichen Protonen des LDPE zeigt für das reine Material sowie für die Mischungen einen deutlichen Knick im Bereich 330 K bis 340 K. Dies wird als Folge eines bei dieser Temperatur aktivierten Bewegungsmechanismus in den Polyethylenbereichen interpretiert.Herrn Prof. Dr. F. H. Müller gewidmet.     

Low temperature absorption spectra of TcO 4 − and ReO 4 − in KClO4

The low temperature spectra of TcO ₄ ^– and ReO ₄ ^– both show two band systems with pronounced vibrational structures. The bands are identified as¹ A ₁¹ T ₂ transitions. No other bands are observed with certainty. It seems likely that the KClO₄ crystals contain KReO₄ crystallites. They are therefore not pure mixed crystals. It is concluded that the virtual orbital (2e) used in the construction of the low lying states resembles an atomic nd orbital more and more when going from n=3, Mn to n=5, Re.

---

Zusammenfassung Die Tieftemperaturspektren von TcO ₄ ^– und ReO ₄ ^– zeigen beide zwei Bandensysteme mit ausgeprägten Schwingungsstrukturen. Die Banden werden als ¹ A ₁¹ T ₂-Übergänge identifiziert. Keine anderen Banden werden mit Sicherheit beobachtet. Es scheint wahrscheinlich, daß die KClO₄-Kristalle KReO₄-Kristallite enthalten und deswegen keine reinen Mischkristalle sind. Es wird geschlossen, daß das virtuelle Orbital (2e), welches zur Konstruktion der tiefliegenden Zustände gebraucht wird, in der Reihe n=3, Mn bis n=5, Re immer weitgehender einem nd-Atomorbital ähnelt.

---

---

Nachwuchsstipendiat, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds.     

Synthesis of fused bicyclic pyridines with microwave-assisted intramolecular hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition of acetylenic pyrimidines

A series of acetylenic pyrimidines was synthesized and subjected to microwave irradiation. In contrast to conventional heating, the microwave irradiations generally gave clean conversion to fused bicyclic pyridines for all substrates reported with shorter reaction time. This method has been successfully applied to the synthesis of both fused lactones and lactams.     

Generation of peptide radical dications via low-energy collision-induced dissociation of [Cu<Superscript>II</Superscript>(terpy)(M + H)]<Superscript>·3+</Superscript>

The first example of the formation of hydrogen-deficient radical cations of the type [M + H](.2+) is demonstrated to occur through a one-electron-transfer mechanism upon low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) of gas-phase triply charged [Cu(II)(terpy)(M + H)](.3+) complex ions (where M is an angiotensin III or enkephalin derivative; terpy = 2,2':6',2'-terpyridine). The collision-induced dissociation of doubly charged [M + H](.2+) radical cations generates similar product ions to those prepared through hot electron capture dissociation (HECD). Isomeric isoleucine and leucine residues were distinguished by observing the mass differences between [z(n) + H](.+) and w(n)(+) ions (having the same residue number, n) of the Xle residues. The product ion spectrum of [z(n) + H](.+) reveals that the w(n)(+) ions are formed possibly from consecutive fragmentations of [z(n) + H](.+) ions. Although only the first few [M + H](.2+) species have been observed using this approach, these hydrogen-deficient radical cations produce fragment ions that have more structure-informative patterns and are very different from those formed during the low-energy tandem mass spectrometry of protonated peptides.     

Sorption behavior of Co(II) on γ-Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> in the presence of humic acid

The fate and transport of toxic metal ions and radionuclides in the environment is generally controlled by sorption reactions. The extent of sorption of divalent metal cations is controlled by a number of factors including cosorbing or complexing. In this work, the effects of pH, humic acid HA/Co(II) addition orders, ionic strength, concentration of HA, and foreign cations on the Co(II) sorption on γ-Al₂O₃ in the presence of HA were investigated. The sorption isotherms of Co(II) on γ-Al₂O₃ in the absence and presence HA were also studied and described by using S-type sorption model. The experimental results showed that the Co(II) sorption is strongly dependent on the pH values, concentration of HA, but independent of HA/Co(II) addition orders, ionic strength, and foreign cations in the presence of HA under our experimental conditions. The results also indicated that HA enhanced the Co(II) sorption at low pH, but reduced the Co(II) sorption at high pH. It was hypothesized that the significantly positive influence of HA at low pH on the Co(II) sorption on γ-Al₂O₃ was attributed to strong surface binding of HA on γ-Al₂O₃ and subsequently the formation of ternary surface complexes such as ≡S-OOC-R-(COO⁻) _x Co^2−x . Chemi-complexation may be the main mechanism of the Co(II) sorption on γ-Al₂O₃ in the presence of HA.