Evaluation of the coupling between ultra performance liquid chromatography and evaporative light scattering detector for selected phytochemical applications

Fast analysis in LC can be performed with sub-2 microm particles at very high pressures (up to 1000 bar) known as ultra performance LC (UPLC). With this configuration, it is possible to obtain fast and/or highly efficient separations compared to conventional LC. For the analysis of compounds without chromophores, the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) is an attractive alternative because of its quasi-universality, versatility, low-cost and good sensitivity. The UPLC-ELSD was investigated in terms of sensitivity and apparent efficiency, with a conventional ELSD instrument, for two types of commercially available nebulisers, using different mobile phase flow rates and column ids. Results were finally compared with the UPLC-UV configuration. Three applications with phytochemical compounds were selected to highlight the potential of this approach (i.e. the isocratic separations of artemisinin and its derivatives, of calystegines and the gradient separation of several tropane alkaloids). Depending on the used column length, baseline separations were obtained in 3-10 min, with an average apparent efficiency ranging from 7000 to 30,000 plates.     

On the Littlewood cyclotomic polynomials

In this article, we study the cyclotomic polynomials of degree N−1 with coefficients restricted to the set {+1,−1}. By a cyclotomic polynomial we mean any monic polynomial with integer coefficients and all roots of modulus 1. By a careful analysis of the effect of Graeffe's root squaring algorithm on cyclotomic polynomials, P. Borwein and K.K. Choi gave a complete characterization of all cyclotomic polynomials with odd coefficients. They also proved that a polynomial p(x) with coefficients ±1 of even degree N−1 is cyclotomic if and only if p(x)=±Φp₁(±x)Φp₂(±xp₁)?Φpr(±xp₁p₂?pr−1), where N=p₁p₂?pr and the pi are primes, not necessarily distinct. Here is the pth cyclotomic polynomial. Based on substantial computation, they also conjectured that this characterization also holds for polynomials of odd degree with ±1 coefficients. We consider the conjecture for odd degree here. Using Ramanujan's sums, we solve the problem for some special cases. We prove that the conjecture is true for polynomials of degree α²pβ−1 with odd prime p or separable polynomials of any odd degree.     

Syzygies and the Rees algebra

Let a,b,c be linearly independent homogeneous polynomials in the standard Z-graded ring R?k[s,t] with the same degree d and no common divisors. This defines a morphism P¹→P². The Rees algebra of the ideal I=〈a,b,c〉 is the graded R-algebra which can be described as the image of an R-algebra homomorphism h: . This paper discusses one result concerning the structure of the kernel of the map h and its relation to the problem of finding the implicit equation of the image of the map given by a, b, c. In particular, we prove a conjecture of Hong, Simis and Vasconcelos. We also relate our results to the theory of adjoint curves and prove a special case of a conjecture of Cox.     

The Frölicher spectral sequence can be arbitrarily non-degenerate

The Frölicher spectral sequence of a compact complex manifold X measures the difference between Dolbeault cohomology and de Rham cohomology. If X is Kähler then the spectral sequence collapses at the E ₁term and no example with d _n  ≠  0 for n > 3 has been described in the literature.We construct for n ≥  2 nilmanifolds with left-invariant complex structure X _n such that the n-th differential d _n does not vanish. This answers a question mentioned in the book of Griffiths and Harris.     

On the radical of Brauer algebras

The radical of the Brauer algebra is known to be non-trivial when the parameter x is an integer subject to certain conditions (with respect to f). In these cases, we display a wide family of elements in the radical, which are explicitly described by means of the diagrams of the usual basis of . The proof is by direct approach for x  =  0, and via classical Invariant Theory in the other cases, exploiting then the well-known representation of Brauer algebras as centralizer algebras of orthogonal or symplectic groups acting on tensor powers of their standard representation. This also gives a great part of the radical of the generic indecomposable -modules. We conjecture that this part is indeed the whole radical in the case of modules, and it is the whole part in a suitable step of the standard filtration in the case of the algebra. As an application, we find some more precise results for the module of pointed chord diagrams, and for the Temperley–Lieb algebra—realised inside —acting on it.

“Ahi quanto a dir che sia è cosa dura lo radical dell’algebra di Brauer pur se’l pensier già muove a congettura” N. Barbecue, “Scholia”

Partially supported by the European RTN “LieGrits”, contract no. MRTN-CT-2003-505078, and by the Italian PRIN 2005 “Moduli e teorie di Lie”.     

Discrete behavior of Seshadri constants on surfaces

Working over , we show that, apart possibly from a unique limit point, the possible values of multi-point Seshadri constants for general points on smooth projective surfaces form a discrete set. In addition to its theoretical interest, this result is of practical value, which we demonstrate by giving significantly improved explicit lower bounds for Seshadri constants on and new results about ample divisors on blow ups of at general points.     

Decomposing simple permutations,with enumerative consequences

We prove that every sufficiently long simple permutation contains two long almost disjoint simple subsequences, and then we show how this result has enumerative consequences. For example, it implies that, for any r, the number of permutations with at most r copies of 132 has an algebraic generating function (this was previously proved, constructively, by Bóna and (independently) Mansour and Vainshtein). Supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship. Supported by EPSRC grant GR/S53503/01.