Composite doped emeraldine–polyethylene oxide-bonded lithium-ion nano-tin anodes with electronic–ionic mixed conduction

Mixed-conducting lithium-ion doped emeraldine polyaniline (PAni)–polyethylene oxide (PEO) blends have been developed to achieve an optimal electronic–ionic conductivity balance in nano-tin composite anodes. Electrochemical evaluation was performed on the anodes with differing electrode preparation procedures, doping methods and PEO contents. Results indicate that both good electronic and ionic conductivity in the binder are required for rapid lithium insertion/extraction and low polarization. This doped PAni–PEO polymer blend is an attractive binder for high capacity composite anodes with low polarization.     

A comparison of similarity measures for use in 2-D-3-D medicalimage registration

A comparison of six similarity measures for use in intensity-based two-dimensional-three-dimensional (2-D-3-D) image registration is presented. The accuracy of the similarity measures are compared to a “gold-standard” registration which has been accurately calculated using fiducial markers. The similarity measures are used to register a computed tomography (CT) scan of a spine phantom to a fluoroscopy image of the phantom. The registration is carried out within a region-of-interest in the fluoroscopy image which is user defined to contain a single vertebra. Many of the problems involved in this type of registration are caused by features which were not modeled by a phantom image alone. More realistic “gold-standard” data sets were simulated using the phantom image with clinical image features overlaid. Results show that the introduction of soft-tissue structures and interventional instruments into the phantom image can have a large effect on the performance of some similarity measures previously applied to 2-D-3-D image registration. Two measures were able to register accurately and robustly even when soft-tissue structures and interventional instruments were present as differences between the images. These measures were pattern intensity and gradient difference. Their registration accuracy, for all the rigid-body parameters except for the source to film translation, was within a root-mean-square (rms) error of 0.53 mm or degrees to the “gold-standard” values. No failures occurred while registering using these measures     

Facile construction of C10 modified prostaglandin precursors. diyl trapping reactions using phenyl vinyl sulfoxide and phenyl vinyl sulfone.

The application of 1,3-diyl trapping reactions to the synthesis of commonly used prostanoid precursors is described.     

Characterization of Maya pottery by INAA and ICP-MS

A total of 81 pottery and 25 clay samples from the archaeological site and hinterland areas of Blue Creek in northwest Belize were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis and inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry at the University of Missouri Research Reactor. Data generated for this study offers insight into local clay-resource variability and movement of pottery in the transition from Early (A.D. 250–600) to Late Classic (A.D. 600–850) occupation. Comparison of data generated by the two analytical techniques demonstrates the relative strengths and weaknesses of each method. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Montmorillonite clay-catalyzed hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene with benzaldehydes

Montmorillonite K10 clay was found to catalyze the hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene with o-anisaldehyde and other benzaldehyde derivatives; a transition state involving chelation of the clay’s metal ions with the dienophile’s heteroatoms is proposed.     

Applications of a travelling wave-based radio-frequency-only stacked ring ion guide

The use of radio-frequency (RF)-only ion guides for efficient transport of ions through regions of a mass spectrometer where the background gas pressure is relatively high is widespread in present instrumentation. Whilst multiple collisions between ions and the background gas can be beneficial, for example in inducing fragmentation and/or decreasing the spread in ion energies, the resultant reduction of ion axial velocity can be detrimental in modes of operation where a rapidly changing influx of ions to the gas-filled ion guide needs to be reproduced at the exit. In general, the RF-only ion guides presently in use are based on multipole rod sets. Here we report investigations into a new mode of ion propulsion within an RF ion guide based on a stack of ring electrodes. Ion propulsion is produced by superimposing a voltage pulse on the confining RF of an electrode and then moving the pulse to an adjacent electrode and so on along the guide to provide a travelling voltage wave on which the ions can surf. Through appropriate choice of the travelling wave pulse height, velocity and gas pressure it will be shown that the stacked ring ion guide with the travelling wave is effective as a collision cell in a tandem mass spectrometer where fast mass scanning or switching is required, as an ion mobility separator at pressures around 0.2 mbar, as an ion delivery device for enhancement of duty cycle on an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight (oa-TOF) mass analyser, and as an ion fragmentation device at higher wave velocities.     

Preparation of alpha-C-glycosides from glycals

[reaction: see text]. A novel approach to simple C-glycosides is reported. Reductive ring opening of 1,2-anhydro sugars with titanocene(III) chloride produces an anomeric radical that can be trapped with a variety of agents. The reaction stereospecifically affords alpha-glycosides and produces a free C-2 hydroxyl group allowing for further elaboration.     

The preparation and evaluation of superior bonded phases for reversed-phase,high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary The preparation of efficient chemically bonded phases based upon interaction of silica gel with trichlorosilanes is reported. Chlorinated solvents are found to yield superior products whilst reaction at elevated temperatures is shown to be unnecessary. A new capping procedure, involving methanolysis and subsequent reaction with trimethylchlorosilane, is shown to be more effective than existing procedures.