Simultaneous determination of seven elements (Cl, K, Ca, Br, Fe, Cu, Zn) in blood serum by PIXE

Summary Proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) Spectra have been obtained for the blood serum of several old-age subjects by using the Van de Graaff accelerator of Catania University. The concentration levels of Cl, K, Ca, Br, Fe, Cu, Zn have been determined simultaneously within 2 min by using 5 l of blood serum. Good agreement with literature data has been found.

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Simultanbestimmung von sieben Elementen (Cl, K, Ca, Br, Fe, Cu, Zn) im Blutserum mit Hilfe von PIXE

Zusammenfassung Mit Hilfe des Van de Graaff-Beschleunigers der Univ. Catania wurden PIXE-Spektren vom Blutserum mehrerer alter Personen aufgenommen. Mit einer Probe von 5 l konnten die obigen sieben Elemente innerhalb von 2 min bestimmt werden. Die Übereinstimmung mit Literaturangaben war gut.

     

Tunnel spectroscopy into the YBa2Cu4O8 compound

Il Nuovo Cimento D - We have realized planar tunnel junctions using both Y123 and Y124 single crystals as base electrodes and Pb as counterelectrode. The crystals, with T c=90 K (Y123) and T c=80 K...     

Geometrodynamics vs. connection dynamics

The purpose of this review is to describe in some detail the mathematical relationship between geometrodynamics and connection dynamics in the context of the classical theories of 2+1 and 3+1 gravity. We analyze the standard Einstein-Hilbert theory (in any spacetime dimension), the Palatini and Chern-Simons theories in 2+1 dimensions, and the Palatini and self-dual theories in 3+1 dimensions. We also couple varions matter fields to these theories and briefly describe a pure spin-connection formulation of 3+1 gravity. We derive the Euler-Lagrange equations of motion from an action principle and perform a Legendre transform to obtain a Hamiltonian formulation of each theory. Since constraints are present in all these theories, we construct constraint functions and analyze their Poisson bracket algebra. We demonstrate, whenever possible, equivalences between the theories.     

Mercury(II) dibromo-bis-(3-amino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole): synthesis,crystal structure,and infrared characterization

The title compound C₄H₈N₈S₂HgBr₂ was prepared and characterized by means of X-ray crystallography, and i.r. measurements. The crystals are orthorhombic, space group Pbcn (no. 60) witha=9.707(2),b=8.609(1),c=16.128(2) Å, andZ=4. The compound exhibits discrete monometallic units with the 1,2,4-triazole molecule acting as a monodentate ligand. The structure consists of units in which the mercury atom is coordinated in a distorted tetrahedral geometry by two sulfur and two bromine atoms. The NH and NH₂ group of the 3-amino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole unit are involved in intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Infrared bands are diagnostic of the coordination environment around the metal atoms.     

Nonparametric Resampling for Homogeneous Strong Mixing Random Fields

Künsch (1989, Ann. Statist.17 1217-1241) and Liu ane Singh (1992, in Exploring Limits of Bootstrap (R. Le Page and L. Billard, Eds.), pp. 225-248, Wiley, New York) have recently introduced a block resampling method that is successful in deriving consistent bootstrap estimates of distribution and variance for the sample mean of a strong mixing sequence. Raïs and Moore (1990, in Interface ′90) and Raïs (1992, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Montreal) extended the results of Künsch and Liu and Singh in the case of the sample mean of a homogeneous strong mixing random field in two dimensions (n = 2). In this paper, the general case (n Z⁺) is considered, and a resampling technique for strong mixing random fields is formulated, which is an extension of the "blocks of blocks" resampling scheme for sequences in Politis and Romano (1992, Ann. Statist.20 (4) 1985-2007). The "blocks of blocks" method can be used to construct asymptotically correct confidence intervals for parameters of the whole (infinite-dimensional) joint distribution of the random field, for example, the spectral density at a point. A variation of the "blocks of blocks" resampling scheme that involves "wrapping" the data around on a torus will also be studied, in view of its property to yield an unbiased bootstrap distribution.     

Thed(7Li,p)8Li cross section nearE cm=0.61 MeV

The absolute cross sectionσ of thed(⁷Li,p)⁸Li reaction near theE _cm=0.61 MeV resonance has been measured using a⁷Li ion beam and a windowless gas target system filled with D₂ gas. The proton yield of the reaction and theβ-delayedα-activity of the residual nuclides⁸Li were observed both concurrently with the elastic scattering yield, relatingσ to the Rutherford scattering cross sectionσ _R. The resulting values,σ (fromp)=143.6±8.9 mb andσ (from⁸Li)=151±20 mb, lead to a weighted mean value ofσ=153±6 mb (x ²=2.26) including all available values andσ=146±5 mb (x ²=0.05) removing some values from the data set. The consequences for the expected flux of high-energy solar neutrinos are discussed.     

Preferential protonation and methylation at the nitrogen atoms of N,N-dimethylamino derivatives of pyridine

The relative reactivity toward protonation and methylation of the two nitrogen atoms in N,N-dimethylaminopyridines has been examined by ¹H NMR. The ring position of the dimethylamino group has no influence on protonation, which occurs in all the derivatives at the heterocyclic nitrogen. The N-methylation reaction does not follow a homogeneous behaviour, occurring at the exocyclic nitrogen in the 2-substituted dimethylamino derivative. The electronic characteristics of the molecules, determined by MO calculations at a semi-empirical level, indicate that both protonation and methylation should occur at the heterocyclic nitrogen; the calculated relative stabilites, however, of the N-protonated and N-methylated forms are in full agreement with the experimental results, and it appears that the anomalous behaviour of 2-dimethylaminopyridine in the N-methylation reaction is caused by steric factors.     

Qualitative organic analysis. I. Identification of drugs by principal components analysis of standardized thin-layer chromatographic data in four eluent systems

Principal component analysis of standardized RF values in four eluent systems [ethyl acetate-methanol-30% ammonia (85:10:15), cyclohexane-toluene-diethylamine (65:25:10), ethyl acetate-chloroform (50:50) and acetone, with the plate dipped in potassium hydroxide solution] provided a two-component model which accounts for 73% of the total variance. The "scores" plot allowed the restriction of the range of inquiry to a few candidates. This result is of great practical significance in analytical toxicology, especially when account is taken of the cost, the time, the analytical instrumentation and the simplicity of the calculations required by the method.     

Turbo soft combining hybrid ARQ techniques: Theory and application to 3G wireless networks

This paper deals with the application of Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (h-arq) techniques to allow reliable data communications in wireless 3G networks. Basically, retransmission of coded data is endowed with soft combining schemes applied, respectively, to packet replicas, or to decoding algorithm outputs. In particular, the proposed coding scheme takes advantage of error correction capabilities of the turbo codes, while the combining algorithm follows the diversity approach. The performance of the proposedh-arq schemes has been derived by means of a suitable analytical approach and numerical simulations in the case of a typical umts environment. The results highlight the good behavior of the proposed scheme in term of error rate, throughput, packet delivery delay and power reduction.