Some regioselective reactions of photoaldrin and photodieldrin

A study has been made of the regioselectivities of some typical addition reactions of pbotoaldrin and epoxide ring-opening reactions of photodieldrin. The structures of the resulting products have been established by appropriate interconversions and syntheses. The factors responsible for the observed regioselectivities are discussed.     

Dark matter particle production in b-->s transitions with missing energy

Dedicated underground experiments searching for dark matter have little sensitivity to GeV and sub-GeV masses of dark matter particles. We show that the decay of B mesons to K(K(*)) and missing energy in the final state can be an efficient probe of dark matter models in this mass range. We analyze the minimal scalar dark matter model to show that the width of the decay mode with two dark matter scalars B-->KSS may exceed the decay width in the standard model channel, B-->Knunu , by up to 2 orders of magnitude. Existing data from B physics experiments almost entirely exclude dark matter scalars with masses less than 1 GeV. Expected data from B factories probe the range of dark matter masses up to 2 GeV.     

Einselection in action: decoherence and pointer states in open quantum dots

Recent work on the role of decoherence has suggested that the decay of quantum effects is governed by a discrete set of pointer states, which affect the quantum to classical correspondence. We show that the conductance oscillations exhibited by open quantum dots are governed by a discrete set of stable quantum states which have the properties of the pointer states, and which are closely related to trapped classical orbits in the open dot.     

Continuous analysis of δ18O and δD values of water by diffusion sampling cavity ring‐down spectrometry: a novel sampling device for unattended field monitoring of precipitation,ground and surface waters

A novel sampling device suitable for continuous, unattended field monitoring of rapid isotopic changes in environmental waters is described. The device utilises diffusion through porous PTFE tubing to deliver water vapour continuously from a liquid water source for analysis of δ¹⁸O and δD values by Cavity Ring‐Down Spectrometry (CRDS). Separation of the analysed water vapour from non‐volatile dissolved and particulate contaminants in the liquid sample minimises spectral interferences associated with CRDS analyses of many aqueous samples. Comparison of isotopic data for a range of water samples analysed by Diffusion Sampling‐CRDS (DS‐CRDS) and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) shows significant linear correlations between the two methods allowing for accurate standardisation of DS‐CRDS data. The internal precision for an integration period of 3 min (standard deviation (SD) = 0.1 ‰ and 0.3 ‰ for δ¹⁸O and δD values, respectively) is similar to analysis of water by CRDS using an autosampler to inject and evaporate discrete water samples. The isotopic effects of variable air temperature, water vapour concentration, water pumping rate and dissolved organic content were found to be either negligible or correctable by analysis of water standards. The DS‐CRDS system was used to analyse the O and H isotope composition in short‐lived rain events. Other applications where finely time resolved water isotope data may be of benefit include recharge/discharge in groundwater/river systems and infiltration‐related changes in cave drip water. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Creep in macromolecular solutions according to rigid dumbbell kinetic theory

The creep experiment is analyzed using the rigid-dumbbell suspension model. It is found that the equilibrium shear compliance J _e is given by $$J_e = \frac{{\theta _0 }}{{2\eta _0^2 }} + O(\kappa _\infty ^2 )$$ where η₀ and θ₀ are the viscosity and primary normal stress functions at zero-shear rate, and κ _∞ is the velocity gradient for large time. It is found that, to the lowest level of approximation, τ _yy ?τ _zz and τ _xx ?τ _yy have the same sign during the creep experiment.     

Biologically modified hydrogels for chemical and biochemical analysis

This review focuses on recent advances in the use of hydrogels for chemical and biochemical analysis. Specifically, we discuss recognition elements encapsulated within synthetic hydrogels, synthetic polymers grafted with biological molecules that form freestanding gels, and gels made of naturally occurring polymers, such as proteins or polysaccharides. Gels considered here serve as a platform for the analysis or separation of chemical systems with a high degree of selectivity. Analysis or separation was achieved primarily by incorporating biologically active molecules into a gel matrix. Future developments in biologically integrated gel research for chemical analysis are promising due to the diversity of chemical systems yet to be investigated by these versatile analytical platforms.     

Direct diagnosis of tuberculosis by computer assisted pattern recognition gas chromatographic analysis of sputum

Chemical detection of tuberculosis (TB) products in sputum was attempted by using gas chromatographic analysis in conjunction with different pattern recognition computer models. For the chromatographic separations, we used a 2 mm x 1.8 m packed column and a 0.25 mm x 30 m fused silica capillary column to analyse the methylated glycosides and fatty acid methyl ester derivatives. Three computer pattern recognition methods were applied: error score, TB score and discriminant analysis. These methods predicted the presence of active TB most often in sputa of active TB patients and less so in those from inactive, suspected and non-TB patients, in that order. Although the best true positive of 75% was obtained from the TB score method and best true negative of 98% from discriminant analysis, the accompanying false positive and false negative results (36% and 50%, respectively) were unacceptable. The use of capillary column or fatty acid methyl ester derivatives of the samples did not improve on the predictive values of chromatograms obtained from the packed column on trimethylsilylglycosidic derivatives. Additional work is needed before this method can have a direct clinical application.     

Fibre-optic double-pass confocal microscopy

This paper reports on the construction and characterisation of a novel double-pass confocal scanning microscope that uses a four-port fibre coupler. The new imaging system is self-aligned, compact, vibration-free, and purely coherent. Compared with fibre-optic transmission- and reflection-mode confocal systems, the fibre-optic double-pass confocal imaging system exhibits higher resolution.