Copper-mediated N- and O-arylations with arylboronic acids in a continuous flow microreactor: a new avenue for efficient scalability

A continuous flow procedure has been elaborated for the copper(II)-mediated N- and O-arylation of a range of compounds with arylboronic acids using a commercial microreactor setup. The compounds could be continuously generated in good yields paving the way for efficient scalability.     

Quantification of testosterone undecanoate in human hair by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Testosterone undecanoate (T‐C11) can be used by athletes in order to improve performance. After oral intake, T‐C11 is rapidly metabolized, hampering discrimination between exogenous and endogenous testosterone. A possible alternative is to detect the intact ester in hair. A method based on liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry was developed for the determination of T‐C11 in hair. The sample procedure consisted of digestion of 200 mg of pulverized hair with tris(2‐carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride and liquid–liquid extraction with n‐pentane. Several parameters such as the mobile phase, the ionization source and the washing step were optimized. The method was validated at different spiked levels obtaining satisfactory values for accuracy (between 92 and 102%) with relative standard deviations lower than 7% and a limit of detection of 0.2 ng/g. The applicability of the method was checked by the analysis of three samples from patients using T‐C11. A peak for the analyte was detected in all samples with concentrations between 0.4 and 8.4 ng/g. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gamow-Teller strength in the β+ decay of104In

Theβ-strength function of¹⁰⁴Cd is studied in theβ ⁺/EC decay of mass-separated¹⁰⁴In. The determination of theβ ⁺ feeding and theβ ⁺/β ⁺EC ratio is the result of the simultaneous measurement of beta and gamma rays in one semiconductor beta-spectrometer. Information on the strength function near theQ _EC value is obtained from the detection of high-energyγ rays. The total observedβ strength amounts up to 10% of the Extreme Single-Particle Shell Model value. A strong enhancement in theβ ⁺/EC feeding to a group of levels around 5.6 MeV shows the influence of the Gamow-Teller Resonance.     

Orthogonal similarity transformation into block‐semiseparable matrices of semiseparability rank k

Very recently, an algorithm, which reduces any symmetric matrix into a semiseparable one of semi‐ separability rank 1 by similar orthogonality transformations, has been proposed by Vandebril, Van Barel and Mastronardi. Partial execution of this algorithm computes a semiseparable matrix whose eigenvalues are the Ritz‐values obtained by the Lanczos' process applied to the original matrix. Also a kind of nested subspace iteration is performed at each step. In this paper, we generalize the above results and propose an algorithm to reduce any symmetric matrix into a similar block‐semiseparable one of semiseparability rank k, with k ∈ ?, by orthogonal similarity transformations. Also in this case partial execution of the algorithm computes a block‐semiseparable matrix whose eigenvalues are the Ritz‐values obtained by the block‐Lanczos' process with k starting vectors, applied to the original matrix. Subspace iteration is performed at each step as well. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Higher Order Parallel Surfaces in Bianchi–Cartan–Vranceanu Spaces

We give a full classification of higher order parallel surfaces in three-dimensional homogeneous spaces with four-dimensional isometry group, i.e., in the so-called Bianchi–Cartan–Vranceanu family. This gives a positive answer to a conjecture formulated in [2]. As a partial result, we prove that totally umbilical surfaces only exist if the ambient Bianchi–Cartan–Vranceanu space is a Riemannian product of a surface of constant Gaussian curvature and the real line, and we give a local parametrization of all totally umbilical surfaces. Received: December 20, 2006. Revised: March 15, 2007.     

On global existence of solutions to a cross-diffusion system

We consider a strongly coupled nonlinear parabolic system which arises in population dynamics in n-dimensional domains (n?1). We prove the global existence of classical solutions to the system for n<10.     

Surface characterization of a cross‐linked cytochrome c film on cysteamine‐modified gold electrodes

The aim of the present paper is to characterize a cross‐linked horse heart cytochrome c (HHC) film on cysteamine‐modified gold electrodes. The HHC film was deposited using 1‐ethyl‐3‐(3‐dimethylaminopropyl)‐carbodiimide (EDC) as a coupling agent. Attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR‐IR) spectroscopic analyses were performed to characterize the newly formed surface on a qualitative and conformational level. The film thickness was measured using a noncontact optical surface profiler, while quantitative data and information on the heterogeneity of the film were obtained by means of synchrotron radiation X‐ray micro fluorescence (SR micro‐XRF). Results indicate that, in addition to electrochemical studies, spectroscopic analysis methods are essential to gain insight in the effect of immobilization strategies on protein conformations. The latter is of relevance in the development and optimization of biosensors. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-interaction correction in a simple model

We discuss various ways to handle self-interaction corrections (SIC) to Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. To that end, we use a simple model of few particles in a finite number of states together with a simple zero-range interaction for which full Hartree-Fock can easily be computed as a benchmark. The model allows to shed some light on the balance between orthonormality of the involved states and energy variance.