Chaos in thermal pulse combustion

An experimental thermal pulse combustor and a differential equation model of this device are shown to exhibit chaotic behavior under certain conditions. Chaos arises in the model by means of a progression of period-doubling bifurcations that occur when operating parameters such as combustor wall temperature or air/fuel flow are adjusted to push the system toward flameout. Bifurcation sequences have not yet been reproduced experimentally, but similarities are demonstrated between the dynamic features of pressure fluctuations in the model and experiment. Correlation dimension, Kolmogorov entropy, and projections of reconstructed attractors using chaotic time series analysis are demonstrated to be useful in classifying dynamical behavior of the experimental combustor and for comparison of test data to the model results. Ways to improve the model are suggested. (c) 1995 American Institute of Physics.     

Dynamics of Abelian Higgs vortices in the near Bogomolny regime

The aim of this paper is to give an analytical discussion of the dynamics of the Abelian Higgs multi-vortices whose existence was proved by Taubes ([JT82]). For a particular value of a parameter of the theory, , called the Higgs self-coupling constant, there is no force between two vortices and there exist static configurations corresponding to vortices centred at any set of points in the plane. This is known as the Bogomolny regime. We will develop some formal asymptotic expansions to describe the dynamics of these multi-vortices for close, but not equal to, this critical value. We shall then prove the validity of these asymptotic expansions. These expansions allow us to give a finite dimensional Hamiltonian system which describes the vortex dynamics. The configuration space of this system is the moduli space—the space of solutions of the static equations modulo gauge equivalence. The kinetic energy term in the Hamiltonian is obtained from the natural metric on the moduli space given by theL ² inner product of the tangent vectors. The potential energy gives the intervortex potential which is non-zero when is not given by its critical value. Thus the reduced equations for the evolution of the vortex parameters take the form of geodesics, with force terms to express the departure from the Bogomolny regime. The geodesics are geodesics on the moduli space with respect to the metric defined by theL ² inner product of the tangent vectors, in accordance with Manton's suggestion ([Man82]). This allows an understanding of the two main phenomenological issues—first of all there is the right angle scattering phenomenon, according to which two vortices passing through one another scatter through ninety degrees. Secondly there is the conjecture from numerical calculations that vortices repel for greater than the critical value, and attract for less than this value. The results of this paper allow a rigorous understanding of the right angle scattering phenomenon ([Sam92, Hit88]) and reduce the question of attraction or repulsion in the near Bogomolny regime to an understanding of the potential energy term in the Hamiltonian ([JR79]).     

A high performance liquid chromatography – inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry interface employing desolvation for speciation studies of platinum in chemotherapy drugs

A novel interface between high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is described. The eluent from the HPLC is nebulised into a heated cyclone spray-chamber and the solvent removed using a Nafion membrane drier, held at 75 degrees C, and a cryogenic condenser. The condenser consists of 6 Peltier heat pumps connected to liquid cooled aluminium blocks. At a nebuliser gas flow rate of 0.6 l min(-1), the membrane drier removes 58% of the vapour and the Peltier condenser 75% of the remaining vapour, i.e. a total desolvation efficiency of 89%. This enables the use of HPLC solvents which otherwise would destabilise the ICP, e.g. 100% acetonitrile or methanol, and permits the use of solvent gradients with minimal baseline drift. The system has been applied to the determination of platinum species in an organoplatinum drug used for chemotherapy in human plasma ultrafiltrate of patients treated with this new drug (JM-216). The limit of detection for platinum species has been 0.6 ng nl(-1) (i.e. 120 pg of Pt) and several species have been separated with good resolution.     

Stereochemically controlled synthesis of unsaturated acids via diphenylphosphinoyl (Ph2PO) -ketoacids

Acylation of phosphine oxide anions with derivatives of cyclic anhydrides or oxidative cleavage of cyclic allyl phosphine oxides gives Ph₂PO-ketoacids: reduction, separation of diastereoisomers, and completion of the Horner-Wittig reaction gives single isomers ($\text{E}$) or ($\text{Z}$) of unsaturated acids.     

Inelastic incoherent neutron scattering measurements of intact cells and tissues and detection of interfacial water

We have previously used inelastic incoherent neutron scattering spectroscopy to investigate the properties of aqueous suspensions of biomolecules as a function of hydration. These experiments led to the identification of signals corresponding to interfacial (hydration) water at low water content. A prediction from these studies was that in the crowded environment inside living cells, a significant proportion of the water would be interfacial, with profound implications for biological function. Here we describe the first inelastic incoherent neutron scattering spectroscopy studies of living cells and tissues. We find that the interfacial water signal is similar to that observed for water interacting with purified biomolecules and other solutes, i.e., it is strongly perturbed in the librational and translational intermolecular optical regions of the spectrum at 20-150 meV. The ratio of interfacial water compared to total water in cells (approximately 30%) is in line with previous experimental data for hydration water and calculations based on simple assumptions.     

Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry analysis of chloramphenicol in cooked crab meat

A liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method is described for the extraction, cleanup, determination, and confirmation of chloramphenicol (CAP) in cooked crab meat. The method involves pulverization of cooked crab meat with dry ice; extraction of the CAP into ethyl acetate (EtOAc); evaporation (by N2) of the EtOAc; addition of methanol, aqueous NaCl, and heptane; extraction of the lipids into the heptane, followed by extraction of the aqueous phase with EtOAc; evaporation (by N2) of the EtOAc; dissolution into methanol-water; filtration; and separation/detection/confirmation using LC/MS/MS. Crab meat was fortified at 0.25, 0.50, and 1.0 ng/g (ppb) chloramphenicol. Average absolute recoveries were 67, 84, and 86%, respectively, with relative standard deviation values all less than 1%. Four daughter ions (m/z 152, 176, 194, and 257) were monitored off the m/z 321 precursor ion. Determination was based on a standard curve using the peak areas of the m/z 152 daughter ion (the base peak) for standard solutions equivalent to 0.10, 0.20, 0.50, and 1.0 ppb in tissue (made with control crab extract). A set of 6 matrix controls (unfortified crab meat) was also analyzed, in which no chloramphenicol was detected. For identification purposes, the ion ratios (of each daughter ion versus the base daughter ion) of the fortified crab versus those of the chloramphenicol standards agreed within 10% (relative) at fortified chloramphenicol concentrations of 0.25-1.0 ppb.