Characterisation of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of methylcitric acid

Methylcitric acid (MCA) was synthesised in Reformatsky reaction (2RS, 3RS stereoisomers) and in the nucleophilic addition (2RS, 3SR stereoisomers). The stereoselectivity of these reactions was analysed. (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra of diastereoisomers of methylcitric acid were recorded and interpreted. The values of (1)H chemical shifts and (1)H-(1)H coupling constants were analysed. Proton-decoupled high-resolution (13)C NMR spectra of MCA diastereoisomers were measured in a series of dilute water solutions of various acidities. These data may provide a basis for unequivocal determination of the presence of MCA in the urine samples of patients' suffering from propionic acidemia, methylmalonic aciduria, or holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency. NMR spectroscopy enables determination of MCA diastereoisomers in body fluids and can be a complementary and useful diagnostic tool.     

Analysis of sucrose fatty acid esters by high temperature gas chromatography

A commercially available high temperature GC system has been investigated to determine its suitability for the automated analysis of sucrose fatty acid esters. In comparison with conventional GC, the high temperature variety broadens the scope of the technique to encompass high molecular weight carbohydrate derivatives while maintaining high separation efficiency. Despite the broad range of polarities, simultaneous quantification of educts and sucrose fatty acid ester fractions is possible in one run, after derivatization. Chromatographic requirements, sample preparation, structure verification by direct chemical ionization mass spectrometry, and advantages and limitations of the high temperature GC-analysis are discussed.     

On the approximation of plane curves by parametric cubic splines

A plane curveC can be approximated by a parametric cubic spline as follows. Points (x _i ,y _i ) are chosen in order alongC and a monotonically increasing variable is assigned values _i at the points (x _i ,y _i ): _i = the cumulative chordal distance from (x ₁ ,y ₁ ). The points ( _i ,x _i ) and ( _i ,y _i ) are then fitted separately by cubic splinesx() andy(), to obtain : (x(),y()). This paper establishes estimates for the errors involved in approximatingC by . It is found that the error in position betweenC and decreases likeh ³, whereh is the maximum length of arc between consecutive knots onC. For first derivatives, the error behaves likeh ²; for second derivatives, likeh.     

The initial boundary value problem for the nonlinear parabolic equation in unbounded domain

In this paper we consider the mixed problem for the equation u _tt  + A ₁ u + A ₂(u _t ) + g(u _t ) = f(x, t) in unbounded domain, where A ₁ is a linear elliptic operator of the fourth order and A ₂ is a nonlinear elliptic operator of the second order. Under natural assumptions on the equation coefficients and f we proof existence of a solution. This result contains, as a special case, some of known before theorems of existence. Essentially, in difference up to previous results we prove theorems of existence without the additional assumption on behavior of solution at infinity.      

Quantum melting and absence of Bose-Einstein condensation in two-dimensional vortex matter

We demonstrate that quantum fluctuations suppress Bose-Einstein condensation of quasi-two-dimensional bosons in a rapidly rotating trap. Our conclusions rest in part on the derivation of an exact expression for the boson action in terms of vortex position coordinates, and in part on a solution of the weakly interacting boson Bogoliubov equations, which simplify in the rapid-rotation limit. We obtain analytic expressions for the collective-excitation dispersion, which is quadratic rather than linear. Our estimates for the boson filling factor at which the vortex lattice melts are consistent with recent exact-diagonalization calculations.     

Second-harmonic generation in a direct-bonded periodically poled LiNbO(3) buried waveguide

We report the fabrication of a 12-mum -thick periodically poled LiNbO(3) planar waveguide buried in LiTaO(3) by direct bonding of precision-polished surfaces. Frequency doubling of the 1064-nm output of a cw diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser was performed in a 5.5-mm-long device with a 6.50-mum -period grating at an elevated temperature of 174 degrees C. The resultant green second-harmonic output exhibited fundamental-spatial-mode characteristics at a 4.3%W(-1) conversion efficiency.     

Coulomb excitation of the Kπ=16+ rotational band in 178Hf

A heavy-ion multiple Coulomb excitation experiment on a very exotic target containing microweight quantities of ¹⁷⁸Hf in the K^πn = 16⁺ isomeric state has been performed at 4.77 MeV/u ²⁰⁸Pb beam energy. The first excited I^π = 17⁺ state has been observed at an excitation energy of 357.4 ± 0.3 keV with respect to the isomeric state. The intrinsic electric quadrupole moment of Q ₀ = 8.2 ± 1.1 b has been derived from the experimental data within the rigid rotor model.     

Dynamics of three types of annual plants competing for water and light

We present and discuss a Monte Carlo model describing the dynamics of three types of annual plants which have different tolerances to shade and drought. External conditions (water and light) fluctuate around some values which are our control parameters and which decide how many resources the system receives. The plants compete with their nearest neighbours for the resources, however not in the same way. We show that for certain ranges of the control parameters a coexistence of the three species is observed. We discuss how the characteristics of the the plants — their number, germination, biomass or the number of nearest neighbours, depend on the two control parameters characterising external conditions. We show that elimination is done at the level of adult plants, not seedlings. We find also cooperative behaviour of plants in difficult conditions, as observed in field studies and we propose an explanation for this fact. Apart from plants tolerating shade but requiring more water and those tolerating drought but needing more light, which are common in nature, we introduce a third species with intermediary demands. We investigate under what conditions this new species could dominate and whether the total number of plants, regardless of their type, is larger with or without the intermediate plant. We show that in our model, like in nature, systems with two kinds of plants with opposite characteristics are, in general, as effective as a system with an additional third type of plants. We show that two contradictory hypotheses made by biologists, concerning the demands of plants in drought and shade, could be both true, however in different regimes.