Simultaneous determination of angiotensins II and 1-7 by capillary zone electrophoresis in plasma and urine from hypertensive rats

We describe the procedure developed for the simultaneous detection and quantification of angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7), by capillary zone electrophoresis with UV detection by photodiode-array, at a wavelength of 200 nm, in the plasma and urine from hypertensive rats. Optimal separation was achieved with a 100 mM boric acid + 3 mM tartaric acid + 10 fM gold (III) chloride electrolyte solution at pH 9.80. The applied voltage was 30 kV and the capillary temperature was kept constant at 20 °C. The method was over the concentration range of 0.01-500 pmol/mL. All determination coefficients were higher or equal to 0.9985. Limits of detection and quantification for angiotensin II were 0.0110 pmol/mL (S/N = 3) and 0.0195 pmol/mL (S/N = 5), respectively. While for angiotensin-(1-7), the limits were 0.0112 pmol/mL (S/N = 3) and 0.0193 pmol/mL (S/N = 5), respectively. The present method offers a time-saving way to simultaneous determination of angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7), since it can be completed in 10 min, compared to other methodologies reported in the literature for capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography, which require more than 1 h for analysis of complex matrices, such as plasma and urine. The procedure is illustrated by experiments that quantify simultaneously angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7) in plasma and urine from hypertensive and normotensive rats, with and without antihypertensive treatment. The levels of angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7) detected in the experimental model, resulted in a recovery of 99.00-106.01% and a reproducibility of less than 10%. The proposed analytical method is a use full tool for the simultaneous detection of angiotensin II and angiotensin-(1-7) implicated in vascular remodeling in pathologies such as hypertension.     

Fast determination of chlorogenic acid in tobacco residues using microwave-assisted extraction and capillary zone electrophoresis technique

In this work, for the first time, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) technique combined with microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was developed for the fast quantification of chlorogenic acid (CA) in tobacco residues. CA in tobacco residue samples were extracted by MAE technique, and then analyzed by CZE. As a new sample preparation method for tobacco residues, the MAE procedure is optimized, validated and compared with conventional methods including ultrasonic extraction (USE) and reflux extraction (RE). It is found that MAE gives the best result due to the highest extraction efficiency within shortest extraction time (only 4.0 min). Here, CA is determined by CZE based on the calibration curve of its authentic standard. The method linearity, detection limit, precision and recovery are studied. The results show that the combined MAE and CZE method has a linearity (R² 0.991, 0.003-0.5 mg ml⁻¹), a limit of detection (0.003 mg ml⁻¹), a limit of quantification (0.01 mg ml⁻¹), good precision (R.S.D. = 4.28%) and a finer recovery (89.0%). The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of CA in tobacco residue samples. The experiment results have demonstrated that the CZE combined with MAE is a convenient, fast, economical and reliable method for the determination of CA in tobacco residues.     

Observations of the atmospheric boundary layer across the land-sea transition zone using a scanning Mie lidar

Optical properties of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) above the land-sea transition interface were measured using a scanning Mie lidar located 30 km away from the Adriatic coast. Based on the two-dimensional range-height-indicator scans, detailed information on the ABL was obtained, including parameters such as atmospheric optical depth, aerosol extinction coefficient and the height of the ABL. The presented case study indicates that the height of the ABL in the land-sea transition zone and the adjacent mountainous region was changing rapidly due to highly variable atmospheric conditions.     

两轴光电跟踪仪高仰角跟踪盲区分析

 从轴准直误差、动态滞后误差两方面分析了采用俯仰轴叠加于方位轴光机座结构方式的光电跟踪仪在高俯仰角跟踪时的误差变化及由此导致的盲区问题,从轴准直误差和动态滞后误差两方面对高仰角跟踪盲区的形成及其空间分布进行分析,并用MATLAB进行了仿真,给出跟踪盲区随方位、俯仰角变化的的分布图形。从盲区分布图形可以看出：光电跟踪仪在性能一定的情况下,跟踪盲区随着仰角增大而增大,并结合直线航路给出这两种误差导致的跟踪盲区的计算方法。跟踪直线航路实验数据显示跟踪误差随着仰角增大而增大。     

菲涅耳波带板应用于聚变靶的高分辨X射线成像分析

在惯性约束核聚变研究中,为了实现1μm高空间分辨keV-X射线成像,文中发展了菲涅耳波带板(FZP)直接成像的分析方法,并通过数值计算研究了FZP的成像特性.针对钛K_α线(光子能量4.51 keV,波长0.275 nm),提出了FZP参数,对制作技术的要求较低.研究了靶尺度的影响.FZP的有效视场使它能够对数毫米大尺度靶实现高分辨成像.还研究了入射光的光谱带宽对成像的影响.FZP的色差有助于单色成像,但是带宽超过限度会导致像的反衬度降低.这些结果表明FZP应用于聚变点火靶的高空间分辨X射线成像的能力,也为应用提出了要求. 关键词： X射线成像 惯性约束核聚变 菲涅耳波带板     

Effect of hot ion temperature on obliquely propagating ion-acoustic solitons and double layers in an auroral plasma

Properties of obliquely propagating ion-acoustic solitons and double layers in a magnetized auroral plasma composed of hot adiabatic ions and two types of, cool and hot Maxwellian electrons are studied using Sagdeev pseudo-potential technique and assuming the quasi-neutrality condition. The new and surprising result which emerges from the model is that in contrast to the case of cold ions where ion-acoustic solitons and double layers are found for subsonic Mach numbers only, the hot ions case allows these nonlinear structures to exist for both subsonic and supersonic Mach number regimes. The double layers exist at lower angle of propagation as hot ion temperature is increased. The soliton electric field amplitudes are increased but their width and pulse duration are decreased with the increase in hot ion temperature. For the auroral zone parameters, the maximum electric field amplitude, width, pulse duration and speed for the solitons come out to be in the range ∼ (0.3–15) mV/m, ∼ (195–455) m, (7–20) ms and (22–26) km/s, respectively. The results seem to be in agreement with the Viking satellite observations in the auroral zone.     

薄差储层有效驱替理论与应用

应用油藏工程方法,综合考虑驱替压力梯度和启动压力梯度的影响对薄差储层有效驱替理论进行研究.根据不等产量一源一汇驱替压力梯度公式,分别得到地层压力、注入压力、井底流压以及井距变化时的驱替压力梯度图版,并分析其变化规律;根据岩心水动力实验结果,建立启动压力梯度与渗透率的关系,分析有效驱动不同渗透率的储层所需要的驱替压力梯度临界值.研究表明:驱替压力梯度大于最大启动压力梯度是薄差储层有效驱替的必要条件;小井距是薄差层有效驱动的最优选择;可以通过措施和注采压力系统调整达到驱替压力梯度高于最大启动压力梯度的目的,从而有效驱动薄差储层.研究对薄差储层开采具有重要的指导意义,并在矿场试验中得到了有效论证.     

A stable and accurate projection method on a locally refined staggered mesh

In this paper, a robust projection method on a locally refined mesh is proposed for two‐ and three‐dimensional viscous incompressible flows. The proposed method is robust not only when the interface between two meshes is located in a smooth flow region but also when the interface is located in a flow region with large gradients and/or strong unsteadiness. In numerical simulations, a locally refined mesh saves many grid points in regions of relatively small gradients compared with a uniform mesh. For efficiency and ease of implementation, we consider a two‐level blocked structure, for which both of the coarse and fine meshes are uniform Cartesian ones individually. Unfortunately, the introduction of the two‐level blocked mesh results in an important but difficult issue: coupling of the coarse and fine meshes. In this paper, by properly addressing the issue of the coupling, we propose a stable and accurate projection method on a locally refined staggered mesh for both two‐ and three‐dimensional viscous incompressible flows. The proposed projection method is based on two principles: the linear interpolation technique and the consistent discretization of both sides of the pressure Poisson equation. The proposed algorithm is straightforward owing to the linear interpolation technique, is stable and accurate, is easy to extend from two‐ to three‐dimensional flows, and is valid even when flows with large gradients cross the interface between the two meshes. The resulting pressure Poisson equation is non‐symmetric on a locally refined mesh. The numerical results for a series of exact solutions for 2D and 3D viscous incompressible flows verify the stability and accuracy of the proposed projection method. The method is also applied to some challenging problems, including turbulent flows around particles, flows induced by impulsively started/stopped particles, and flows induced by particles near solid walls, to test the stability and accuracy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nucleation kinetics of paracetamol–ethanol solutions from metastable zone widths

A study of the nucleation kinetics for a cooling crystallisation of paracetamol–ethanol solutions in a batch reactor is described in this paper. Metastable zone width (MSZW) experiments were conducted in order to estimate the nucleation kinetics of the system. Measured MSZWs can be affected by numerous process parameters, such as cooling rate, concentration, agitation rate, and working volume. Two theoretical approaches were employed to estimate the nucleation kinetics, the classical mass based approach of Nývlt, and a more recent approach by Kubota, which also considers number density. Both approaches were found to produce similar estimates for the nucleation rates of the paracetamol–ethanol solutions as a function of supersaturation for an assumed nucleus size of 10 μm. The theory of Kubota was found to predict satisfactory estimates for the induction time of the nucleation process from MSZW data. The induction time was observed to be independent of the solution temperature as suggested by Kubota’s theory. This is a novel finding and serves to validate the induction time theory of Kubota. In this investigation, MSZWs were observed to decrease with increased levels of agitation and found to be independent of working volume.     

Overview of diagnostic methods used in shock-tube investigations of mixing induced by Richtmyer–Meshkov instability

We present an overview of the diagnostic methods used in shock-tube investigations of mixing induced by Richtmyer–Meshkov instability. The different diagnostic techniques are first briefly presented, and then reviewed in a simple single table, which lists their advantages and disadvantages, their technological characteristics and domain of validity, the physical parameters measured, the laboratory in which they were developed and an assessment of their mean cost. Received 19 November 1997 / Accepted 3 March 1998