Determination of morphine in process streams by sequential injection analysis with chemiluminescence detection

A procedure for the determination of morphine in process streams by sequential injection analysis based on the chemiluminescence reaction of morphine with acidic potassium permanganate in the presence of sodium hexametaphosphate is presented. The chemiluminescence emission has been monitored using an in-house detection system which consisted of a fibre optic flowthrough cell and a sensitive, low dark current, photomultiplier tube. The calibration graph (range 2 × 10^–8 to 1 × 10^–4 mol/l) was not linear over the entire range of concentration, with a polynomial equation of best fit of y = 1.0 × 10¹⁵ x³ – 2.2 × 10¹¹ x² + 1.3 × 10⁷ x – 8.3. The calibration function approximates linearity over the concentration range 2.5 × 10^–6 to 3.0 × 10^–5 mol/l where the slope of the log-log plot is 1.09 ± 0.16. The detection limit was estimated at about 10^–8 mol/l from the response of the lowest calibration standard (2.5 × 10^–8 mol/l) which gave a signal to noise ratio of 3 : 1. Although the structurally related codeine did not interfere significantly the results suggest that this method may be susceptible to matrix effects, dependent on the location of sampling from the process stream.     

Colour and art: A brief history of pigments

Human beings have had an inherent urge to leave their mark in the form of works of art since prehistoric times. This has driven the quest for new and better pigments with which to make paints. This paper describes the origins and composition of earliest earth pigments used by primitive man to decorate the walls of caves through to the synthetic pigments developed in more recent times. Despite modern technology, the artist's palette remains a mixture of the pigments used by cave artists, natural pigments used in the middle ages, and modern organic compounds.     

Chemically induced phosphorescence from manganese(II) during the oxidation of various compounds by manganese(III), (IV) and (VII) in acidic aqueous solutions

Chemiluminescence was observed during the manganese(III), (IV) and (VII) oxidations of sodium tetrahydroborate, sodium dithionite, sodium sulfite and hydrazine sulfate in acidic aqueous solution. From the corrected chemiluminescence spectra, the wavelengths of maximum emission were 689±5 and 734±5 nm when the reactions were performed in sodium hexametaphosphate and sodium dihydrogenorthophosphate/orthophosphoric acid environments, respectively. The corrected phosphorescence spectrum of manganese(II) sulfate in a solution of sodium hexametaphosphate at 77 K exhibited two peaks with maxima at 688 and 730 nm. The chemical and spectroscopic evidence presented strongly supported the postulation that the emission was an example of solution-phase chemically induced phosphorescence of manganese(II) thereby, confirming earlier predictions that the chemiluminescence from acidic potassium permanganate reactions originated from an excited manganese(II) species.     

BRCA1/2 mutation carriers: living with susceptibility

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether being a BRCA1/2 mutation carrier affects a wide array of aspects of life, and if so, how. METHODS: Participants were grouped according to their carrier status (carrier and noncarrier status), health status (affected or unaffected by cancer), and their enrollment at the counseling service (probands and other family members). One hundred and sixty-five women completed a self-administered questionnaire following their genetic consultation session. RESULTS: Probands/nonprobands and carriers/noncarriers did not differ with regard to demographic characteristics, health behaviors including medical checkups, the distress they experience or their resources (sense of coherence, social integration, religiosity). Individuals affected by cancer did differ on some of these aspects from participants without cancer. CONCLUSIONS: From the results of this study, being a carrier could not be considered a psychosocial risk factor, nor does it seem to have an effect on carriers' resources and lifestyle.     

Grassmann phase space methods for fermions. I. Mode theory

In both quantum optics and cold atom physics, the behaviour of bosonic photons and atoms is often treated using phase space methods, where mode annihilation and creation operators are represented by c-number phase space variables, with the density operator equivalent to a distribution function of these variables. The anti-commutation rules for fermion annihilation, creation operators suggest the possibility of using anti-commuting Grassmann variables to represent these operators. However, in spite of the seminal work by Cahill and Glauber and a few applications, the use of Grassmann phase space methods in quantum–atom optics to treat fermionic systems is rather rare, though fermion coherent states using Grassmann variables are widely used in particle physics.     

Screening of cannabinoids in industrial‐grade hemp using two‐dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection

Widely known for its recreational use, the cannabis plant also has the potential to act as an antibacterial agent in the medicinal field. The analysis of cannabis plants/products in both pharmacological and forensic studies often requires the separation of compounds of interest and/or accurate identification of the whole cannabinoid profile. In order to provide a complete separation and detection of cannabinoids, a new two‐dimensional liquid chromatography method has been developed using acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection, which has been shown to be selective for cannabinoids. This was carried out using a Luna 100 Å CN column and a Poroshell 120 EC‐C₁₈ column in the first and second dimensions, respectively. The method has utilized a large amount of the available separation space with a spreading angle of 48.4° and a correlation of 0.66 allowing the determination of more than 120 constituents and mass spectral identification of ten cannabinoids in a single analytical run. The method has the potential to improve research involved in the characterization of sensitive, complex matrices.