Improved high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of ethylmorphine and its metabolites in microsomal incubations and cell culture media.

Ethylmorphine N-demethylation is used as a marker pathway in studies of rat cytochrome P450 3A and 2C11 biotransformations. At present, microsomal activities are generally measured by a colorimetric determination of the formed formaldehyde. In the present study, a high-performance liquid chromatographic method of separating and quantifying both the N-demethylated (norethylmorphine) and the O-de-ethylated (morphine) metabolites is described. Either samples are extracted with ethyl acetate or proteins are precipitated with zinc sulphate-barium hydroxide. Separation is achieved on a CN reversed-phase column, using a mobile phase of phosphate buffer (pH 4.5)-acetonitrile (90:10, v/v). At a flow-rate of 1.5 ml/min, the analysis time is 30 min. The limit of detection (ultraviolet, 210 nm) for ethylmorphine and its metabolites is 0.5 micrograms/ml.     

Some Experiences with the Teaching of Decision Support Systems to Management Students

There are essentially two schools of thought regarding the function of decision support systems. One is that the main purpose is to support the decision-maker in whatever style of decision-making he or she wishes. The other is that the support, while suiting the decision-maker's individual style, must also be based on an appropriate theoretical paradigm. The work with students of decision support systems reported here suggests that the latter, normative, view is not one which comes naturally to many of the students, even when working on an example where it seemed relatively easy to incorporate. Other conclusions are also presented, relating to the choice of software for decision support system development, the process of teaching about decision support systems, and group formation.     

Optimal estimation of a state based on deterministic and stochastic discrete measurements

A problem of constructing algorithms of optimal estimation of states of a discrete system accounting for deterministic and stochastic measurements is considered. A low order estimation algorithm is proposed in the form of a two-stage procedure for each instant of time obtained by direct application of the Kaiman optimal filtering algorithm.Translated from Dinamicheskie Sistemy, No. 4, pp. 85–89, 1985.     

Diagramme polythermique du systeme ternaire H2O—Al(NO3)3—Mg(NO3)2

The solid—liquid equilibria of the ternary system H₂O—Al(NO₃)₃—Mg(NO₃)₂ were studied at –30, –20, –10 and 0°C by using a synthetic method which allows to detemine all the characteristic points of isothermal sections. The stable solid phases which appear are respectively: ice, Al(NO₃)₃·9H₂O, Mg(NO₃)₂·9H₂O and Mg(NO₃)₂·6H₂O. Neither double salts nor mixed crystals are observed in the temperature and composition field studied. Polytherm diagram layout show two invariant transformations correspond with an eutectic point and a peritectic point.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Phase diagram of multilayer magnetic structures

Multilayer ferromagnet-layered antiferromagnet (Fe/Cr) structures frustrated because of roughness of interlayer boundaries were studied by mathematical modeling methods. The phase diagram of a three-layer system (plotted as film thickness versus the degree of roughness of the interfaces) was obtained, and the order parameter distributions in each phase were determined. The character of phase transitions in this system was studied. The applicability range of the Slonczewski magnetic proximity model was determined.     

Ablation of an optically homogeneous absorbing medium by scattered pulsed laser radiation

We have studied the ablation of an aqueous CuCl₂ solution in a pulsed Nd:YAG laser field featuring a speckle-patterned structure characterized by spatial radiation energy fluence fluctuations. This leads to a nonuniform distribution of the energy absorbed in the bulk of the sample being irradiated and causes local overheating centers to form, wherein ablation is observed to take place at laser energy fluences below the threshold value found in experiments with a homogeneous laser beam. This effect should be manifest in the laser irradiation of biotissues which, as a rule, scatter light strongly.