IMMEDIATE PIGMENT DARKENING: VISUAL AND REFLECTANCE SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ACTION SPECTRUM

Immediate pigment darkening (IPD) occurs in human skin upon exposure to ultraviolet-A and visible radiation. The spectral changes that occur during IPD were measured with a rapid scanning reflectance spectrophotometer (RS) which employs optical fiber bundles for delivery and detection of light between 400 and 750 nm. The radiation dose dependence and wavelength dependence (334-549 nm irradiation) of IPD were studied by both the classical visual grading method and by spectrophotometric scoring using the RS system. The spectral changes that occur at long wavelengths with IPD mimic the natural absorption spectrum of melanin. Therefore, the IPD was scored in terms of the apparent change in melanin optical density, using the method Kollias and Baqer [Photochem. Photobiol. 43, 49-54 (1986)], based on reflectance in the 620-720 nm range. The nonlinearity of the visual grading method is demonstrated. The degree of IPD is first-order with respect to delivered dose and saturates after high doses. The maximum amount of IPD attained at saturation is greater for shorter wavelengths. Extrapolation of the reflectance data suggests the longest wavelength capable of eliciting IPD is about 470 nm.     

Determination of emamectin benzoate in medicated fish feed

A method was developed to quantitate emamectin benzoate in fish feed at levels between 5 and 15 ppm. The active ingredient is extracted from 20 g medicated feed into aqueous-methanolic solvent by overnight shaking. A solid-phase extraction procedure using a 2 g C18 cartridge is then used to concentrate the active residue and remove interfering matrix components. The extracted drug and internal standard are eluted from the cartridge, evaporated to dryness, and reconstituted in methanol. A control feed sample and fortified control working standard are simultaneously prepared. Remaining interferences and sample analysis are further separated on a gradient liquid chromatographic system. Recovery of emamectin benzoate from fortified feeds ranged from 97 to 100%, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 1.2%. Determination of emamectin benzoate in medicated feeds resulted in CVs ranging from 2.3 to 4.2% and recoveries of 88 to 98% of label claim.     

Conformations of highly hindered aryl ethers: IX. Dipole moment evidence for an intramolecular donor-acceptor complex

In a search for evidence that a π cloud proximal halogen interaction is of importance to the mode of action of the thyroid hormones, the dipole moments of the 1'-naphthyl (I), (4.29 D), 4'-carboxymethylphenyl (II), (2.90 D), 2'-bromo4'-carboxymethylphenyl (III), (3.56 D), and methyl (IV), (3.24 D) ethers of 2,4dinitro-6-bromophenol were determined in benzene at 25 °C. The moments of (I), (II) and (III) are approximated best by those calculated for the twisted conformation in which the bromine closely approaches the face of the other ring. That of the naphthyl ether (I) can, however, be explained only by inclusion of an intramolecular electron donor-acceptor charge-transfer moment of 1.6 D directed from the π cloud of the naphthyl ring to the proximal nitro group of the other ring, or of 2.8 D to the proximal bromine of that ring. In the preferred conformation of the methyl ether (IV), the methoxy group is coplanar with the ring while the 2-nitro group is twisted 90° from coplanarity to accomodate it. A mesomeric moment of 2.3 D is estimated from this for the 2,4-dinitro-6-bromophenoxy moiety and is used in calculating the expected moments of the other ethers.     

LIMITING REACTIONS IN HYDROGEN PHOTOPRODUCTION BY CHLOROPLASTS AND HYDROGENASE

Abstract— Hydrogen was photoproduced from water in a system containing isolated chloroplasts, hy-drogenase, a coupling electron carrier (ferredoxin or methyl viologen), and an oxygen scavenger. The rate and extent of hydrogen production anaerobically was much less than the rate of aerobic electron-carrier reduction by chloroplasts and was not limited by hydrogenase. The limiting reaction in the coupled system was the extent of reduction of methyl viologen anaerobically rather than its oxidation by oxygen produced during the course of the reaction. Inhibition of photosystem II by 3-(3,4dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea and addition of a photosystem 1 electron donor did not lead to photoproduction of hydrogen or photoreduction of methyl viologen. Extensive photosystem I hydrogen evolution was obtained when thiols were also present. Platinum asbestos or palladium asbestos replaced hydrogenase in a system coupled to chloroplasts.     

The Analysis of volatile compounds by purge and trap with whole column cryotrapping (WCC) on a fused silica capillary column

The purge and trap (P&T) method of analysis has been interfaced with fused silica capillary column gas chromatography. This interfacing has been accomplished without splitting the P&T trap desorption carrier gas. Thus, 100% of the purged compounds are transferred to the column. The analytes are cryofocussed on the column using whole column cryotrapping (WCC) at ?80°C. The resulting P&T/WCC procedure is extremely well-suited to the analysis of trace purgeable aqueous organic compounds. Samples and standards containing a variety of aromatic standard compounds were analyzed. The standards included benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, C₃-C₄-benzenes, and naphthalene, as well as three P&T internal standard compounds. Chromatographic peak widths were uniformly less than 6 s at the base and excellent precision was obtained in the relative retention time data for all compounds. The chromatogram of a groundwater sample contaminated with aromatic gasoline compounds is also presented. Since P&T/WCC works well with fused silica capillary columns, the full sensitivity and chromatographic efficiency of capillary gas chromatography is made available to P&T analyses.     

Is the electromagnetic field an invariant superposition of the 42 states of a basic field?

It is shown that an invariant superposition of 42 symmetry-related states of a basic field can account for the experimental value of the fine-structure constant. Such a theory yields the formulac/e ²=N(N–1)/4=137.0324, withN=42 the order of the invariance group.     

The bimetric Weyl-Dirac theory and the gravitational constant

The Weyl-Dirac theory of gravitation and electromagnetism is modified by the introduction of a background metric characterized by a scale constant related to the size of the universe. One is led to a natural gauge giving . This is smaller by about a factor of ten than the value obtained on the basis of Dirac's large number hypothesis.