Determination of molecular orientation distribution of a stable paramagnetic probe in oriented 4-cyano-4’-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-pentylbiphenyl

The molecular orientation distribution function of a stable radical 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl in magnetic-field oriented 4-cyano-4’-n-pentylbiphenyl was determined from the angular dependence of the ESR spectra. The preferred molecular orientation of radical species in the liquid crystal matrix was determined. The temperature evolution of the orientation distribution function was studied.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 190–195, January, 2005.     

Spectral regions selection to improve prediction ability of PLS models by changeable size moving window partial least squares and searching combination moving window partial least squares

Changeable size moving window partial least squares (CSMWPLS) and searching combination moving window partial least squares (SCMWPLS) are proposed to search for an optimized spectral interval and an optimized combination of spectral regions from informative regions obtained by a previously proposed spectral interval selection method, moving window partial least squares (MWPLSR) [Anal. Chem. 74 (2002) 3555]. The utilization of informative regions aims to construct better PLS models than those based on the whole spectral points. The purpose of CSMWPLS and SCMWPLS is to optimize the informative regions and their combination to further improve the prediction ability of the PLS models. The results of their application to an open-path (OP)/FT-IR spectra data set show that the proposed methods, especially SCMWPLS can find out an optimized combination, with which one can improve, often significantly, the performance of the corresponding PLS model, in terms of low prediction error, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) with the reasonable latent variable (LVs) number, comparing with the results obtained using whole spectra or direct combination of informative regions for a compound. Regions consisting of the combinations obtained can easily be explained by the existence of IR absorption bands in those spectral regions.     

偏最小二乘光度法同时测定铜和铁的研究及应用

７－（１－苯偶氮）－８－羟基喹啉－５－磺酸钠在ＰＨ＝４．７５ＨＡｃ－ＮａＡｃ缓冲溶液中能与Ｃｕ（Ⅱ）和ＦＥ（Ⅲ）形成稳定的络合物，本文研究了Ｃｕ（Ⅱ）－ＰＡＨＱＳ、Ｆｅ（Ⅲ）－ＰＡＨＱＳ体系的显色条件，以偏最小二乘法处理两者重叠吸收峰，建立了光度法同时测定铜和铁的方法。     

Consequences of sample size, variable selection, and model validation and optimisation, for predicting classification ability from analytical data

This article discusses problems of validating classification models especially in datasets where sample sizes are small and the number of variables is large. It describes the use of percentage correctly classified (%CC) as an indicator for success of a classification model. For small datasets, %CC should not be used uncritically and its interpretation depends on sample size. It illustrates the use of a common classification method, discriminant partial least squares (D-PLS) on a randomly generated dataset of 200 samples and 200 variables.

An aim of the classifier is to determine whether the null hypothesis (there is no distinction between two classes) can be rejected. Autoprediction gives an 84.5% CC. It is shown that, if there is variable selection, it must be performed independently on the training set to obtain a CC close to 50% on the test set; otherwise, over-optimistic and false conclusions can be reached about the ability to classify samples into groups.

Finally, two aims of determining the quality of a model are frequently confused, namely optimisation (often used to determine the most appropriate number of components in a model) and independent validation; to overcome this, the data should be split into three groups.

There are often difficulties with model building if validation and optimisation have been done on different groups of samples, especially using iterative methods, each group being modelled using properties, such as a different number of components or different variables.     

Chemometric data analysis of pollutants in wastewater—a case study

In this study, chemometric techniques such as cluster analysis (CA), discriminant analysis (DA), principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) were used to analyse the wastewater dataset to identify the factors which affect the composition of sewage of domestic origin, spatial and temporal variations, similarity/dissimilarity among the wastewater characteristics of cis- and trans-drains and discriminating variables. Samples collected from 24 wastewater drains in Lucknow city and from three sites on Gomti river in the month of January/February, May, August and November during the period of 5 years (1994-1999) were characterized for 32 parameters. The multivariate techniques successfully described the similarities/dissimilarities among the sewage drains on the basis of their wastewater characteristics and sources signifying the effect of routine domestic/commercial activities in respective drainage areas. Spatial and seasonal variations in wastewater composition were also determined successfully. CA generated six groups of drains on the basis of similar wastewater characteristic. PCA provided information on seasonal influence and compositional differences in sewage generated by domestic and industrial waste dominated drains and showed that drains influenced by mixed industrial effluents have high organic pollution load. DA rendered six variables (TDS, alkalinity, F, TKN, Cd and Cr) discriminating between cis- and trans-drains. PLS-DA showed dominance of Cd, Cr, NO₃, PO₄ and F in cis-drains wastewater. The results suggest that biological-process based STPs could treat wastewater both from the cis- as well as trans-drains, however, prior removal of toxic metals will be required from the cis-drains sewage. Further, seasonal variations in wastewater composition and pollution load could be the guiding factor for determining the STPs design parameters. The information generated would be useful in selection of process type and in designing of the proposed sewage treatment plants (STPs) for safe disposal of wastewater.     

径向基-偏最小二乘-贝叶斯方法及其在化学模式分类中的应用

提出一种用于模式分类的RBF-PLS—Bayes方法。它集成地应用径向基(RBF)变换与偏最小二乘(PLS)方法，从原有模式中提取出分类能力甚强的成分，然后进行贝叶斯(Bayes)判别。这种集成方法尤其适用于复杂化学信息的模式分类，本文将其应用于两种类型的化学模式分类问题，均取得了令人满意的效果。与经典的判别分析方法和单纯的神经网络方法相比，具有明显的优越性。     

Fast Marching Method for Calculating Reactive Trajectories for Chemical Reactions

We present a method for computing classical Newtonian trajectories that minimize the path length or transit time from reactant to product. Our approach is based on a generalization of the fast-marching method, which allows us to construct the solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the action that optimizes the desired quantity. The resulting “reactive paths” can be interpreted as reaction coordinates but, unlike more conventional choices, they contain dynamical information about the chemical system of interest.     

Chemometric analysis of groundwater quality data of alluvial aquifer of Gangetic plain, North India

Water quality data set from the alluvial region in the Gangetic plain in northern India, which is known for high fluoride levels in soil and groundwater, has been analysed by chemometric techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant analysis (DA) and partial least squares (PLS) in order to investigate the compositional differences between surface and groundwater samples, spatial variations in groundwater composition and influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. Trilinear plots of major ions showed that the groundwater in this region is mainly of Na/K-bicarbonate type. PCA performed on complete data matrix yielded six significant PCs explaining 65% of the data variance. Although, PCA rendered considerable data reduction, it could not clearly group and distinguish the sample types (dug well, hand-pump and surface water). However, a visible differentiation between the water samples pertaining to two watersheds (Khar and Loni) was obtained. DA identified six discriminating variables between surface and groundwater and also between different types of samples (dug well, hand pump and surface water). Distinct grouping of the surface and groundwater samples was achieved using the PLS technique. It further showed that the groundwater samples are dominated by variables having origin both in natural and anthropogenic sources in the region, whereas, variables of industrial origin dominate the surface water samples. It also suggested that the groundwater sources are contaminated with various industrial contaminants in the region.     

Fermentation characteristics and the dynamic trend of chemical components during fermentation of Massa Medicata Fermentata

As a representative of traditionally fermented Chinese medicine, Massa Medicata Fermentata (MMF) shows the functions of invigorating the spleen and stomach and promoting digestion, which plays an important role in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. The fermentation mechanism and the key factors that affect the quality of MMF have not been revealed yet, which has become an urgent issue that limits its clinical application. This article aims to systematically and comprehensively reveal the transformation of physical properties and the dynamic trend of chemical components including substrate components, volatile components, and lactic acid as anaerobic fermentation product during MMF fermentation. Along with obvious hyphae growth observed for MMF, the weight of MMF decreased, and the moisture and temperature increased. Through the quantified 14 components from substrate, ferulic acid increased from 45.53 ± 6.94 to 141.89 ± 78.40 μg/g, while glycosides and phenolic acids declined except caffeic acid. Also, within the 66 volatile components analyzed, alcohols and acids increased, while aldehydes and ketones decreased. Lactic acid was not detected in the fermentation substrate, but an apparent increase in lactic acid content was observed along with the increased fermentation days, resulting in 2.54 ± 0.15 mg/g on day 8. Based on the tested components, the fermentation process of MMF was discriminated into three distinct stages by principal component analysis, and an optimal fermentation time of four days was proposed. The results of this study will be of great significance to clarify the characteristics of fermentation and conduce to improving quality standards of MMF.     

A preconditioner for constrained and weighted least squares problems with Toeplitz structure

We study methods for solving the constrained and weighted least squares problem min _x by the preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) method. HereW = diag (₁, , _m ) with _{1 m} 0, andA ^T = [T ₁ ^T , ,T _k ^T ] with Toeplitz blocksT _l R ^{n × n} ,l = 1, ,k. It is well-known that this problem can be solved by solving anaugmented linear 2 × 2 block linear systemM +Ax =b, A ^T = 0, whereM =W ^–1. We will use the PCG method with circulant-like preconditioner for solving the system. We show that the spectrum of the preconditioned matrix is clustered around one. When the PCG method is applied to solve the system, we can expect a fast convergence rate.Research supported by HKRGC grants no. CUHK 178/93E and CUHK 316/94E.