A new method for the high performance liquid chromatographic determination of TA-870, a dopamine prodrug (catechol ester compound)

A new method for the high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) determination of N-(N-acetyl-L-methionyl)-O,O-bis(ethoxycarbonyl)dopamine (TA-870), a dopamine prodrug, in biological fluid has been developed. In order to measure with an electrochemical detector (ECD), TA-870 was passed first through an immobilized carboxylesterase column to be converted to the electrochemically active deethoxycarbonylated TA-870 (DEC-TA-870). The properties of this carboxylesterase immobilized on Sepharose 4B were examined by this flow injection system. Hydrolysis of TA-870 with this immobilized carboxylesterase was a maximum at pH 7-8 and 50 degrees C, and the activity decreased in the presence of organic solvent such as acetonitrile. For the determination of TA-870 in biological fluids, an HPLC-immobilized enzyme-ECD system using a column-switching technique was developed. The blood was deproteinized with ethanol, and TA-870 in the ethanol extracts was adsorbed in Bond Elut C18. The dichloromethane eluate from Bond Elut C18 was injected into the HPLC system. The HPLC apparatus was composed of three pumps, two separation columns (LiChrosorb Si 60 and mu Bondasphere), a trap column (Bond Elut), an enzyme column, ECD and the column-switching system. The calibration curve for TA-870 in blood was linear in the range from 2 to 200 ng/mL. This new assay method might be useful also for the determination of other catechol ester compounds.     

Effects of OH concentration and temperature on NO emission characteristics of turbulent non-premixed CH4/NH3/air flames in a two-stage gas turbine like combustor at high pressure

This study examined the effects of OH concentration and temperature on the NO emission characteristics of turbulent, non-premixed methane (CH₄)/ammonia (NH₃)/air swirl flames in two-stage combustors at high pressure. Emission data were obtained using large-eddy simulations with a finite-rate chemistry method from model flames based on the energy fraction of NH₃ (E_NH3) in CH₄/NH₃ mixtures. Although NO emissions at the combustor exit were found to be significantly higher than those generated by CH₄/air and NH₃/air flames under both lean and stoichiometric primary zone conditions, these emissions could be lowered to approximately 300 ppm by employing far-rich equivalence ratios (?) of 1.3 to 1.4 in the primary zone. This effect was possibly due to the lower OH concentrations under far-rich conditions. An analysis of local flame characteristics using a newly developed mixture fraction equation for CH₄/NH₃/air flames indicated that the local temperature and NO and OH concentration distributions with local ? were qualitatively similar to those in NH₃/air flames. That is, the maximum local NO and OH concentrations appeared at local ? of 0.9, although the maximum temperature was observed at local ? of 1.0. Both the temperature and OH concentration were found to gradually decrease with the partial replacement of CH₄ with NH₃. Consequently, NO emissions from CH₄/NH₃ flames were maximized at E_NH3 in the range of 20% to 30%, after which the emissions decreased. Above 2100 K, the NO emissions from CH₄/NH₃ flames increased exponentially with temperature, which was not observed in NH₃/air flames because of the lower flame temperatures in the latter. But, the maximum NO concentration in CH₄/NH₃ flames was occurred at a temperature slightly below the maximum temperature, just as in NH₃/air flames. The apparent exponential increase in NO emissions from CH₄/NH₃ flames is attributed to a similar trend in the OH concentration at high temperatures.     

Lifetime measurement of the ((11/2)−) isomer in 125Cs

A new rotational band has been observed in ¹⁶⁷Lu by ¹⁵²Sm (¹⁹F,4n)reaction at the HI-13 tandem accelerator of CIAE in Beijing. The high spin transition energies of the new band are almost identical to the triaxial superdeformed bands recently discovered in ¹⁶³Lu and ¹⁶⁵Lu. This new band is predicted as a triaxial superdeformed band by total routhian surface calculations. Received: 6 October 1997     

Introduction of multiple γ-ray detection to charged particle activation analysis

Charged particle activation analysis (CPAA) is a rapid method with high accuracy which can analyze multi-elements simultaneously. Since multiple γ-ray detection method is expected to improve the detection efficiency and the signal-to-noise ratio, we study what design of the γ-ray detector array is the most suitable for CPAA. We take up four design candidates and investigated the responses by the radiation simulation code Geant 4. From the results, we have deduced the best design with 5 germanium detectors in close geometry. By inspecting the sensitivity in CPAA, the method is proved to be useful and applicable to 116 nuclides.

     

Freezing limit of water in a closed circular tube

This paper is concerned with the freezing of water in a closed metal tube by regarding the effect of volumetric change of water which is closely related with solidification. The pressure of unfrozen water in the tube increases gradually with increasing frozen layer, consequently the freezing temperature of the water decreases monotonically. It is found from the present results that the freezing limit of water corresponding to the cease of freezing caused by no temperature difference between environmental temperature and freezing point would exist. This remarkable phenomena are mainly attributed to the combined effect of environmental temperature and inner diameter of the tube.     

Radiative melting of a horizontal clear ice layer

In this paper the horizontal layer of clear ice sticking to the substrate is melted by comparatively short wave radiation similar to solar radiation for the purpose of removing ice from the surface of the material subject to atmospheric icing. The radiating source used for melting is 300 wattages halogen lamps whose color temperature is 3200K at 100 voltages. From the present investigation, a typical phenomenon of backmelting is observed clearly and it can be found that the predicted results including the melting rate of upper and lower layers which are melted by radiant energy impinged on or penetrated the ice layer are in good agreement with the experimental results.

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Aufschmelzen einer waagerechten Klareisschicht durch Strahlung

Zusammenfassung Eine waagerechte Klareisschicht, die auf einer Unterlage aufgefroren war, wurde durch kurzwellige Strahlung, Ähnlich der Sonnenstrahlung, zum Schmelzen gebracht, um die Entfernung von Eis nach atmosphÄrischer Vereisung zu untersuchen. Die Strahlungsquelle war eine 300 Watt-Halogenlampe mit einer Farbtemperatur von 3200 Kelvin bei 100 Volt. Als typische Erscheinung wurde ein Rückseiten-Schmelzen gefunden, im übrigen sind die vorausberechneten Schmelzraten an der Ober- und der Unterseite durch aufgenommene oder durchgelassene Strahlungsenergie in guter übereinstimmung mit den Messungen.

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Nomenclature a_v monochromatic absorption coefficient - A transmission (= q _r ⁺ {h_i}/q_ro) - c_p specific heat - E_bv monochromatic emissive power - h_D mass transfer coefficient - h_i initial thickness of ice layer - h_m thickness of substrate - L_i latent heat of melting - L_w latent heat of evaporation or condensation - heat flux absorbed at surface of substrate - q_r0 radiant heat flux impinged onto ice or free surface - q _r ⁺ {y} forward radiant heat flux - q _r ^– {y} backward radiant heat flux - S₁ thickness of upper melt layer - S₂ thickness of lower melt layer - S'₂ distance from free surface to bottom surface of ice layer - t time - T temperature - T₁ temperature of air-water or air-ice interface - T₂ temperature of substrate surface - T₃ temperature of back side surface of substrate - T_b temperature of radiating source - T_i temperature in ice layer - T_w1 temperature in upper melt layer - T_w2 temperature in lower melt layer - T environmental temperature - W_w saturated vapor concentration at free surface - W_t8 vapor concentration at environment - y distance from free or ice surface - y grid size of water or ice - y_m grid size of substrate Greek symbols heat transfer coefficient - spectral absorptivity - _t total absorptivity - _i thermal diffusivity of ice - _m thermal diffusivity of substrate - _w thermal diffusivity of water - _i thermal conductivity of ice - _m thermal conductivity of substrate - _w thermal conductivity of water - wavelength - _av densitiy of air-vapor mixture - _i density of ice - Stefan-Boltzman constant     

Visual observations of flow structure and melting front morphology in horizontal ice plate melting from above into a mixture

Visual observations reveal a complicated flow in the liquid melt and a melting front configuration resulting from horizontal ice plate melting from above into a 20 wt% calcium chloride aqueous solution. The initial temperature of the ice plate and the mixture are both −5°C. Small scale “mountain and valley” structures (∼1 mm) appear on the flat melting front just after melting begins, which have been called “sharkskin”. Innumerable upward and downward flows appear near the sharkskin and are controlled by its “mountain and valley” structure. These typical flows will considerably promote the melting of the ice plate to be 30% larger as compared to the numerically predicted results assuming a flat melting front (i.e., without the sharkskin), and also by three times larger compared with the results for melting from below.     

Spectroscopic measurements of excited particles in a N2 gas RF plasma-assisted carbon laser ablation

In this work, we investigated a carbon plasma plume produced by laser ablation of a graphite target in a nitrogen gas environment. The spatial distributions of C and N atoms were measured by time-resolved absorption spectroscopy. The spatial distributions of the relative densities of CN radicals, C₂, and C₃ molecules were measured using time-resolved emission spectroscopy. We determined that nitrogen gas produced an increase in carbon atom and molecule densities in the ablation plume. It was observed that the addition of RF plasma to the plume increased the CN radicals and C atom densities, and decreased the C₂ and C₃ molecule densities. The RF plasma changed the evolution of various fractional species of C, N, CN, C₂, and C₃ in the ablation plume. The chemical reactions with and without RF plasma were explained using the evolution and density of the fractional species of C, N, CN, C₂, and C₃in the plume. PACS 52.38.Mf; 42.62.Fi; 33.20.-t; 81.05.Uw