Infrared laser ablation study of pressed soil pellets with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Potential of infrared laser ablation (LA) coupled with ICP-AES as a technique suitable for the determination of trace elements (Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, and V) in agricultural soils was studied. Operating parameters such as laser beam energy, laser beam focusing with respect to the sample surface, and velocity of the sample translation in the plane perpendicular to the laser beam were optimized. Soil samples were mixed with powdered Ag as a binder, and an internal standard (GeO(2)), and pressed into pellets. Calibration samples were prepared by adding known amounts of oxides of elements of interest into soils of known elemental composition and then processed in the same way as the analyzed samples. Calibration curves were found to be linear at least up to several hundreds of mg kg(-1) for the elements of interest. The elemental contents obtained by using LA-ICP-AES were compared with those obtained by analysis using wet chemistry followed by ICP-AES with pneumatic nebulization (PN). The results were in good agreement. Accuracy was also tested using certified reference soils with a bias not exceeding 10% relative.     

Multibiosensor based on enzyme inhibition analysis for determination of different toxic substances

An original concept of an enzyme multibiosensor for determination of toxic substances based on enzyme inhibition analysis has been proposed and its main performances have been analysed. For the development of this multibiosensor, two types of transducers such as potentiometric pH-sensitive field-effect transistors and conductometric thin-films interdigitated electrodes, and three enzymes, namely urease, acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase have been used. The experimental data have been treated by multivariate correspondence analysis. A complete procedure for a simultaneous determination of some heavy metal ions and pesticides has been proposed and its advantages have been discussed.     

Experimental and theoretical study of vibrational spectra and structure of dihalogermylene and dihalostannylene complexes with 1,4-dioxane and triphenylphosphine

Vibrational (Raman and IR) spectra of the 1:1 complexes of dihalogermylene and dihalostannylene with 1,4-dioxane and PPh₃ have been reported, the structures of the complexes Cl₂Ge·C₄H₈O₂ and Cl₂Ge·PPh₃ updated using high-resolution X-ray method. Quantum-chemistry calculations of the geometry and normal mode frequencies and eigenvectors were carried out for some of the complexes. The results show that in the structure of the polymeric solid complexes of X₂M with 1,4-dioxane, intermolecular coordination XM plays a prominent role, whereas the corresponding complexes with PPh₃ are monomeric. In the vibrational spectra of all the complexes, an inversion of symmetric and antisymmetric stretching νXM (X=Cl, Br; M=Ge, Sn) frequencies, found for ‘free’ X₂M^II particles, still persists, suggesting that the X₂M moieties preserve their specifity as carbene analogues also in the complexes.     

Separation of dideoxyribonucleosides in trace amounts by automated liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis.

No satisfactory high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is currently available for the separation of the major dideoxyribonucleosides (ddNs) and their derivatives. A method involving HPLC has been developed for the separation of five major ddNs [ddA, ddC, ddI, azT and 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydrothymidine (d4T)]. Elution of the common and modified components of DNA was also examined under the selected separation conditions of HPLC. The elution characteristics of these compounds were studied using serum plasma samples spiked with ddN derivatives. In addition, capillary electrophoresis (CE) was investigated for the separation of ddNs and their derivatives. Picomolar amounts of the five major ddNs and the metabolic product of azT [5'-O-glucuronide-3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (Glo-azT)] were satisfactorily resolved in 10 min by using a modification of CE. The spectral properties of the ddNs were characterized under different pH conditions and compared with those of their parent deoxyribonucleosides (dNs) because these compounds are commonly measured in HPLC by their spectral properties. The spectra of ddC and ddT derivatives resemble very closely those of dC and dT, but those of ddA and ddI differ to some extent from their parent dNs. The HPLC method was extensively examined for satisfactory resolutions of these compounds. For example, an isocratic elution method, although simple, failed to resolve these compounds and ion-pair chromatography did not offer any advantage. Gradient elution involving buffered solutions and increasing amounts of an organic modifier yielded satisfactory results. Methanol appeared to be the organic modifier of choice. A reversed-phase matrix with smaller than octadecyl alkyl chains did not produce the necessary interactions. Uniform spherical beads of smaller diameter produced superior resolutions. The separation of these compounds on three commercially available columns is discussed. The separation of human plasma samples spiked with dideoxynucleoside derivatives by HPLC was accomplished in ca. 16 min. The presence of the dNs did not interfere in their separations.     

Automated measurement of dye coverage in photographic negatives by flow-injection analysis

A system was designed to automate the determination of three image dyes in an instant photographic material. The method involves extracting negative samples with dimethylsulfoxide and filtering the extract, followed by quantitating the dye coverage (dye per unit area of negative) through a spectrophotometric flow-injection procedure. Significant spectral overlap exists among the dyes, and as a result calculation of coverage requires solving three simultaneous equations. A microcomputer and data acquisition system were employed for controlling the detector and flow-injection system, acquiring and integrating the detector response, calculating coverage, producing and displaying control charts, and automatically transferring results to a VAX based corporate database. In addition to automating sample preparation and measurement steps as much as possible, the goal of this project was to automate the data manipulation and transfer steps.     

Doubly excited states of highly stripped ions: a time dependent perturbation approach

Doubly excited singlet states have been calculated for the astrophysically important highly stripped He like ions Al^{11 +}, Si^{12 +}, P^{13 +}, S^{14 +} and Cl^{15 +} for the transitions 2s ²: ¹ S ^e, 2p ²: ¹ D ^e, 2snp: ¹ P ⁰, 2snd: ¹ D ^e and 2pnd: ¹F⁰ for n45. The transition energies are obtained from the position of resonances in the oscillations of the two electron charge cloud under an external harmonic perturbation. Linearised version of a suitably constructed variational functional is used for obtaining the response properties of the system. Most of the results are new. Agreement with the only few existing experimental data along this line is very reasonable. Analytic representations of the doubly excited states are obtained and the Coulomb repulsion integral in these states are estimated for checking the consistency of the wavefunctions. The doubly excited state wavefunctions so obtained may be used for evaluating other physical properties connected with transitions.     

Determination of cisplatin and related platinum complexes in plasma ultrafiltrate and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with on-line radioactivity detection

A reversed-phase ion-pair chromatographic method with on-line radioactivity detection for the simultaneous determination of 195mPt-labelled cisplatin and related platinum complexes has been developed. With this system a good resolution of various radiolabelled platinum complexes can be achieved. The detection limit of the radioactivity detector is 10 ng of cisplatin (specific activity of 15 MBq/mg cisplatin) per millilitre of urine or plasma ultrafiltrate. The detector response is independent of both the chemical structure of the platinum complexes and the matrix composition of the samples. This method may serve as a reference system for other high-performance liquid chromatographic systems with less specific and sensitive detectors.     

Zwei neue pentacyclische dimere des cycloheptatriens

Titanium - catalyzed dimerization of cycloheptatriene affords pentacyclo[7.5.0.0^2,8.0^5,14.0^7,11]tetradeca-3,12-diene, $\text{3}$, and pentacyclo[8.4.0.0^3,7.0^4,14.0^6,11]tetradeca-8,12-diene, $\text{4}$. By heating, $\text{3}$ is converted quantitatively into $\text{4}$.     

An evaluation of cellulose as a substrate for room-temperature phosphorescence

Cotton-linter pulps, wood pulps and several filter papers have been evaluated as substrates for room-temperature phosphorescence. A variety of chemical treatments of one filter paper is discussed in terms of reducing the background phosphorescence of the cellulose and in evaluating possible trace contaminants in cotton fibres. In order to account for uniformity of filter paper used in room temperature phosphorescence, a final evaluation of several different lots of one type of filter paper is presented.     

Imaging the activity of nitrate reductase by means of a scanning electrochemical microscope

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) was used to characterize immobilized nitrate reductase (NaR) from Pseudonomonas stutzeri (E.C. 1.7.99.4). Nitrate reductase with membrane fragment was embedded in a polyurethane hydrogel in a capillary and solubilized NaR without membrane fragment was covalently coupled to a diaminoethyl-cellulose-carbamitate film on glass. After systematic studies of possible mediators, SECM feedback imaging of both forms of immobilized NaR was accomplished with methylviologen as redox mediator.