Miscible macromolecular antioxidants for polyethers

Oxidation reactions are one of the main reasons for the failure of polymeric materials. Antioxidants, compounds designed to protect against oxidation, must meet three main requirements for success: (1) an efficient antioxidative mechanism, (2) compatibility with the oxidizing polymer, and (3) permanence Within the oxidizing polymer. Common antioxidants are low molecular weight materials that can easily diffuse, leach, or evaporate from the polymer they are designed to protect. An increase in the molecular weight of the antioxidant not only decreases diffusion and volatility, but also decreases compatibility since most high molecular weight polymers will not mix. Selective sterically hindered phenolics, however, are concurrently antioxidants and “compatibilizers” through hydrogen bond formation. Carefully designed copolymers containing a small percentage of 2,6-diisopropyl-4-vinylphenol were found to mix intimately with two readily oxidizing polyethers and to protect them against oxidation.     

Novel Platinum(II) Complexes with Dipyridyl Containing Chelating Ligands and their Products with the Model Nucleobases 1‐Methylthymine and 1‐Methyluracil

The reactions of [Pt(dpma)(H₂O)₂]²⁺ (dpma = 2,2′‐dipyridylmethylamine) and [Pt(dpk)(H₂O)₂]²⁺ (dpk = 2,2′‐dipyridylketone) with the model nucleobases 1‐methylthymine (1‐MeT) and 1‐methyluracil (1‐MeU) were studied. Reaction products were characterized by ¹⁹⁵Pt NMR spectroscopy and by X‐ray structure analysis. The symmetric dpma and dpk diaqua complexes form dinuclear complexes with 1‐methylthymine, acting as secondary bridging ligand via its N3 and O4 donor atoms. [Pt₂(dpma)₂(1‐MeT)₂](ClO₄)₂ · H₂O ( 5 ) and [Pt₂(dpk)(dpk · H₂O)(1‐MeT)₂](PF₆)₂ · 4 H₂O ( 6 ) both show a head‐to‐head arrangement. Biological tests show a significant in vitro antitumor activity of [Pt(dpk)Cl₂] against the human glioma cell line U 87.     

Solution of a nonlinear two point boundary value problem

A class of singular second order nonlinear two-point boundary value problems is solved, by introducing a finite element approximation which preserves an assumed monotonicity condition in the discrete equations obtained.     

Determination of melanotan-II in rat plasma by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry: determination of pharmacokinetic parameters in rat following intravenous administration

A method is described for the determination of melanotan-II (MT-II), a synthetic cyclic heptapeptide analog of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), in rat plasma by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The analyte is recovered from plasma by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and subsequently analyzed by LC/MS/MS. A SPE procedure using OASIS 96-well plates is used for extraction of MT-II from rat plasma. Using the described approach a limit of quantitation of 5 ng/mL was achieved in rat plasma. This level of sensitivity allowed the determination of pharmacokinetic parameters, following intravenous administration of MT-II in rat.     

The Topological Representation of Oriented Matroids

We present a new proof of the Topological Representation Theorem for oriented matroids in the general rank case. Our proof is based on an earlier rank 3 version. It uses hyperline sequences and the generalized Schonflies theorem. As an application, we show that one can read off oriented matroids from arrangements of embedded spheres of codimension one, even if wild spheres are involved.     

Perfect metamaterial absorber

We present the design for an absorbing metamaterial (MM) with near unity absorbance A(omega). Our structure consists of two MM resonators that couple separately to electric and magnetic fields so as to absorb all incident radiation within a single unit cell layer. We fabricate, characterize, and analyze a MM absorber with a slightly lower predicted A(omega) of 96%. Unlike conventional absorbers, our MM consists solely of metallic elements. The substrate can therefore be optimized for other parameters of interest. We experimentally demonstrate a peak A(omega) greater than 88% at 11.5 GHz.     

Experimental demonstration of electromagnetic tunneling through an epsilon-near-zero metamaterial at microwave frequencies

Silveirinha and Engheta have recently proposed that electromagnetic waves can tunnel through a material with an electric permittivity (epsilon) near zero (ENZ). An ENZ material of arbitrary geometry can thus serve as a perfect coupler between incoming and outgoing waveguides with identical cross-sectional area, so long as one dimension of the ENZ is electrically small. In this Letter we present an experimental demonstration of microwave tunneling between two planar waveguides separated by a thin ENZ channel. The ENZ channel consists of a planar waveguide in which complementary split ring resonators are patterned on the lower surface. A tunneling passband is found in transmission measurements, while a two-dimensional spatial map of the electric field distribution reveals a uniform phase variation across the channel--both measurements in agreement with theory and numerical simulations.     

Purification of carbon-11 PET radiotracers from unlabeled precursors by preparative HPLC and SPE

A general methodology for the rapid purification of carbon-11 positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers from radiolabeling reaction mixtures has been developed. Preparative HPLC and solid-phase extraction (SPE) techniques are described which can separate some commonly used radiopharmaceuticals such as [(11)C]raclopride, [(11)C]beta-CFT and [(11)C]choline from their unlabeled precursors.     

Application of on-line HPLC-FAB mass spectrometry to the analysis of enzymatic digests of ribonuclease B

A tryptic digest of bovine ribonuclease B was analysed by on-line HPLC-FAB mass spectrometry to verify the primary sequence. Peptides obtained by digestion with trypsin before and after treatment with N-glycanase were separated on a slurry-packed fused silica LC column. The entire eluent was introduced into the mass spectrometer source via a continuous flow interface. A single injection of 100 pinoles of material provided data covering over 70% of the sequence.