Multielement determination in tobacco leaves by photon activation analysis

A nondestructive photon activation procedure with 30 MeV bremsstrahlung followed by high-resolution gamma-spectrometry has been applied to the multielement determination in tobacco leaves and commercial cigarettes. The elements determined by this method included essential minor elements such as Ca, Cl, K and Mg, essential trace elements such as Fe, Mn and Zn, and possibly toxic elements such As and Sb. The NBS Orchard Leaves could successfully be used as a comparative standard. The method is quite simple and gives good reproducible results for at least 12 elements.     

Continuous flow system for the determination of trace vanadium in natural waters utilizing in-line preconcentration/separation coupled with catalytic photometric detection

A sensitive and rapid method is presented for the determination of vanadium at ng to sub-ng ml(-1) levels in natural waters, in which in-line preconcentration/separation is directly coupled with catalytic detection of vanadium in a flow-injection system. Vanadium was adsorbed on a small column packed with Sephadex G-25 gel and desorbed with a small volume of 0.010 M HCl. The catalytic action of vanadium on the oxidation of chromotropic acid (1,8-dihydroxy-3,6-naphthalenedisulphonic acid) by bromate in pH 3.8 buffered media was used in the sensitive determination of vanadium. Effective preconcentration/separation of trace vanadium can be achieved from Fe(III), Cu(II) and a large excess of sodium chloride in seawater sample. A linear calibration using a 5 m sample loop was obtained for vanadium in the range 0-2.5 ng ml(-1). The limit of detection was 0.02 ng ml(-1) and the relative standard deviation was 1.2% for 1.0 ng ml(-1) vanadium (n=5). The present FIA system is rapid and sensitive and can be readily applied to river water and coastal seawater samples.     

Electrophoresis of mutant proteins in inherited diseases

The electrophoretic approaches for detection of mutant proteins in inherited diseases are briefly reviewed and discussed. Mutation of a protein, known to be associated with a specific inherited disease, is detected by immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation or enzyme staining, combined with various electrophoretic techniques. Some instrumental and technological devices for two-dimensional electrophoresis have been reported for the screening of mutant proteins in diseases of currently unknown etiology.     

Comparative pharmacokinetics of 67Ga among the different routes of injection

The pharmacokinetic study of 67Ga-citrate (67Ga) following intravenous (i.v.), subcutaneous (s.c.) and intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection was performed in anesthetized rats using the repeated blood sampling method by cannulation technique into the external jugular vein. The disappearance of 67Ga from the blood following i.v. and s.c. injection was best fit a three-exponential equation. There was no significant difference between the areas under the curves following i.v. and s.c. injection of 67Ga. In the case of i.p. injection, the disappearance of 67Ga from the blood was described by a two-exponential equation. However, the maximum blood radioactivity was very low, and the disappearance rate of 67Ga from the blood was extremely slow compared to the other routes of injection. The conclusion from these results was that s.c. injection was as suitable as i.v. injection, but i.p. injection was not appropriate for the distribution study of 67Ga such as scintigraphy or autoradiography. However, i.p. route may be available for a special experiment which needs the long-time retention of 67Ga in the blood.     

Interaction of pentoxifylline with human erythrocytes. III. Comparison of fluidity change of erythrocyte membrane caused by S-adenosyl-L-methionine with that by pentoxifylline

The change in fluidity by adding pentoxifylline to erythrocyte membranes was compared with that caused by S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) by the method of electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. When SAM or pentoxifylline was added externally to the erythrocyte suspension (outside), the fluidity of the membrane bilayer was increased after incubation at 37 degrees C. However, the fluidity change in the inner part of the bilayer was relatively small compared to that in its outer part. These fluidity changes were dependent on the incubation time and the temperature. When the erythrocyte suspension was preincubated overnight at 4 degrees C in the presence of drugs (inside), the fluidity of the inner part of the membrane changed significantly. Nevertheless, that of the outer part of the lipid bilayer was not affected. Such an asymmetric fluidity change in the lipid bilayer was not observed by the addition of other xanthine derivatives such as caffeine, theophylline and theobromine. S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine suppressed and MgCl2 enhanced the increase of the membrane fluidity by SAM or pentoxifylline. Furthermore, the effects of SAM and pentoxifylline on erythrocyte deformability were determined by a filtering technique method. In increasing order the additive effects of SAM and pentoxifylline on the erythrocyte filterability were SAM (outside) less than pentoxifylline (inside) less than pentoxifylline (outside) less than SAM (inside). These results suggest that pentoxifylline also affects the membrane fluidity through the enzymatic methylation of phospholipids.     

Infrared and Raman matrix isolation studies of methylamine

Infrared (4000-50 cm^?1) and Raman spectra are reported of methylamine, methylamine-d₁ and methylamine-d₂ trapped in argon and nitrogen matrices at 4–20 K. An anomalous intensity variation was found for the NH₂ wagging mode of methylamine isolated in nitrogen matrices, while in argon matrices the NH₂ wagging absorption exhibited a complex structure due to matrix site effects. A normal coordinate analysis was carried out using a new assignment of the NHD twisting frequency. Barriers to internal rotation in argon and nitrogen matrices, calculated from the observed torsional frequencies, are compared with the gas phase value.