A comparison of the reproducibility of the parameters of the ¹³C-aminopyrine breath test for the assessment of hepatic function

This study determined the within-subject and between-subject variability of different ways of expressing the results of the (13)C-aminopyrine breath test ((13)C-ABT) and the effect of shortening the test duration. The (13)C-ABT was conducted on three separate occasions in 10 healthy volunteers and on a single occasion in 22 patients with established liver cirrhosis. The within-subject variability of cumulative percentage dose recovered (cPDR), using measured CO(2) production rate (VCO(2)), in the reference group over three trials was 15% over 120 min. Higher within-subject variability in cPDR would have been evident if the test was terminated at either 30 or 60 min. Substitution of predicted VCO(2) to calculate cPDR yielded comparable values at all time points. Significant differences between cirrhotics and reference group were evident after just 10 min using PDR/h, cPDR or enrichment (all P<0.05). The ABT demonstrates clinically acceptable reproducibility. Shortening of the duration may make the test more acceptable clinically, but it is associated with increasing imprecision.     

Self-chemical ionization of diethylzinc

The self-chemical ionization of diethylzinc is examined by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry and semiempirical molecular orbital calculations. Electron impact of diethylzinc neutral produces the radical cation, C(4)H(15)Zn(+) (m/z x 122), which reacts further with the neutral (C(2)H(5))(2)Zn to give the following product ions: Zn(+) (m/z x 64), C(2)H(5)Zn(+) (m/z x 93), C(4)H(9)Zn(+) (m/z x 121), C(4)H(11)Zn(2)(+) (m/z x 187), and C(6)H(15)Zn(2)(+) (m/z x 215). To determine the structure and pathways for production of these ions, monoisotopic (12)C(4)H(15)(64)Zn(+), (64)Zn(+) and (12)C(2)H(5)(64)Zn(+) were individually isolated and reacted with the neutral background. We also performed semiempirical molecular orbital calculations (ZINDO/1). The molecular orbital calculations and experimental data are consistent in predicting that the ethyl group on the diethylzinc cation carries the positive charge. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method for rapid reaction optimisation in continuous-flow microfluidic reactors using online Raman spectroscopic detection

An extremely rapid tool for continuous flow synthetic process optimisation is described. A microfluidic reaction system operating in continuous flow is used in conjunction with confocal Raman microscopy to afford rapid molecule synthesis and product quantitation. Accordingly, the approach allows for rapid reaction optimisation within a continuous flow system. Specifically, the catalytic oxidation of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to acetone using tetra-N-propylammonium perruthanate (TPAP)/N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMO) in a radial interdigitated micromixer is studied as a model reaction system. The composition of the reaction effluent can be determined with great facility and information relating to catalyst/co-oxidant ratios, catalyst turnovers and reaction endpoints extracted. Specifically, variation of catalyst and co-oxidant volumetric flow rates between 0 and 50 microL min(-1) is used to vary reactant concentrations, define reaction residence times and control product conversions between 0 and 100%. The rapid nature of the system allows chemical information to be gathered and utilised on a sub-minute timescale.     

Bringing order through disorder: localization of errors in topological quantum memories

Anderson localization emerges in quantum systems when randomized parameters cause the exponential suppression of motion. Here we consider this phenomenon in topological models and establish its usefulness for protecting topologically encoded quantum information. For concreteness we employ the toric code. It is known that in the absence of a magnetic field this can tolerate a finite initial density of anyonic errors, but in the presence of a field anyonic quantum walks are induced and the tolerable density becomes zero. However, if the disorder inherent in the code is taken into account, we demonstrate that the induced localization allows the topological quantum memory to regain a finite critical anyon density and the memory to remain stable for arbitrarily long times. We anticipate that disorder inherent in any physical realization of topological systems will help to strengthen the fault tolerance of quantum memories.     

Multiple prime covers of the riemann sphere

A compact Riemann surface X of genus g≥2 which admits a cyclic group of automorphisms C _q of prime order q such that X/C _q has genus 0 is called a cyclic q-gonal surface. If a q-gonal surface X is also p-gonal for some prime p≠q, then X is called a multiple prime surface. In this paper, we classify all multiple prime surfaces. A consequence of this classification is a proof of the fact that a cyclic q-gonal surface can be cyclic p-gonal for at most one other prime p.