Recursive solution of linear-quadratic Nash games for weakly interconnected systems

A recursive method is developed for the solution of coupled algebraic Riccati equations and corresponding linear Nash strategies of weakly interconnected systems. It is shown that the given algorithm converges to the exact solution with the rate of convergence ofO(²), where is a small coupling parameter. In addition, only low-order systems are involved in algebrdic computations; the amount of computations required does not grow per iteration and no analyticity assumption is imposed on the system coefficients.This work was supported by Rutgers University Research Council under Grant No. 2-02188.     

Composition of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Carlina acanthifolia</Emphasis> Root Essential Oil

The root of Carlina acanthifolia All. (Asteraceae) contained 1.0% of essential oil (expressed in g per 100 g of dried plant material). Using GC and GC/MS, nine components were identified (100% of total oil). The structure of benzyl 2-furylacetylene (carlina oxide), which is the principal component of the oil (91.5%), was spectrometrically identified. __________ Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 331–332, July–August, 2005.     

Validation of liquid chromatographic method for analysis of lidocaine hydrochloride, dexamethasone acetate, calcium dobesilate, buthylhydroxyanisol and degradation product hydroquinone in suppositories and ointment

In this paper, there was developed a sensitive, precise and accurate reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method and validated for simultaneous determination of lidocaine hydrochloride, dexamethasone acetate (DA) and calcium dobesilate (CD) in suppositories and ointment. Also there was achieved a parallel analysis of buthylhydroxyanisol, as a preservative, and hydroquinone, as a degradation product of calcium dobesilate, present in these dosage forms. The relative standard deviation (RSD) values for all five compounds indicated a good precision and accuracy of the RP-HPLC method. Method is selective, sensitive and reproducible with good recovery values and can be applied in simultaneous determination of all mentioned compounds.     

On the z-counting polynomial for edge-weighted graphs

The construction of the Z-counting polynomial for edge-weighted graphs is discussed.Dedicated to Professor Haruo Hosoya (Tokyo) on the occasion of his 55th birthday for enriching chemical graph theory with the elegant concept of the Z-counting polynomial.     

Mechanism of inactivation of inducible nitric oxide synthase by amidines. Irreversible enzyme inactivation without inactivator modification

Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are hemoproteins that catalyze the reaction of L-arginine to L-citrulline and nitric oxide. N-(3-(Aminomethyl)benzyl)acetamidine (1400W) was reported to be a slow, tight-binding, and highly selective inhibitor of iNOS in vitro and in vivo. Previous mechanistic studies reported that 1400W was recovered quantitatively after iNOS fully lost its activity and modification to iNOS was not detected. Here, it is shown that 1400W is a time-, concentration-, and NADPH-dependent irreversible inactivator of iNOS. HPLC-electrospray mass spectrometric analysis of the incubation mixture of iNOS with 1400W shows both loss of heme cofactor and formation of biliverdin, as was previously observed for iNOS inactivation by another amidine-containing compound, N5-(1-iminoethyl)-L-ornithine (L-NIO). The amount of biliverdin produced corresponds to the amount of heme lost by 1400W inactivation of iNOS. A convenient MS/MS-HPLC methodology was developed to identify the trace amount of biliverdin produced by inactivation of iNOS with either 1400W or L-NIO to be biliverdin IXalpha out of the four possible regioisomers. Two mechanisms were previously proposed for iNOS inactivation by L-NIO: (1) uncoupling of the heme peroxide intermediate, leading to destruction of the heme to biliverdin; (2) abstraction of a hydrogen atom from the amidine methyl group followed by attachment to the heme cofactor, which causes the enzyme to catalyze the heme oxygenase reaction. The second mechanistic proposal was ruled out by inactivation of iNOS with d3-1400W, which produced no d2-1400W. Detection of carbon monoxide as one of the heme-degradation products further excludes the covalent heme adduct mechanism. On the basis of these results, a third mechanism is proposed in which the amidine inactivators of iNOS bind as does substrate L-arginine, but because of the amidine methyl group, the heme peroxy intermediate cannot be protonated, thereby preventing its conversion to the heme oxo intermediate. This leads to a change in the enzyme mechanism to one that resembles that of heme oxygenase, an enzyme known to convert heme to biliverdin IXalpha. This appears to be the first example of a compound that causes irreversible inactivation of an enzyme without itself becoming modified in any way.     

Transition metal complexes with hydrazides and hydrazones

A study was made of the thermal decomposition of octahedral Co(II) complexes of the type CoL_n X ₂·mH₂O, wheren=2 and 3,m=1,2 and 5 andX=Cl, Br, I, NCS, OAc andv ₂So₄, in both air and nitrogen atmospheres. It was established that the complexes are completely decomposed below 800° and CoO is formed as final product. The most probable decomposition mechanism was proposed. The tris(ligand) complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, and spectral and magnetic measurements, and all the data suggested the presence of a point group symmetry of type O_h.

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Zusammenfassung Sowohl in Luft als auch in Stickstoffatmosphäre wurde die thermische Zersetzung von oktaedrischen Co(II)-Komplexen der allgemeinen Formel CoL_nX₂· mH₂O (n=2 und 3,m=1, 2 und 5,X=Cl, Br, I, NCS, OAc und SO₄) untersucht. Es wurde festgestellt, daß sich die Komplexe unterhalb 800°C vollkommen zu CoO als Endprodukt zersetzen. Der wahrscheinlichste Zersetzungsmechanismus wurde unterbreitet. Die tris-Ligandenkomplexe wurden mittels Elementaranalyse sowie Spektral- und magnetischen Untersuchungen charakterisiert, alle Angaben deuten auf eine Punktsymmetriegruppe vom Typ Oh hin.

     

Some remarks on the operator of Foias and Williams

In this paper we study the Foias-Williams operator

where , and is a Hankel operator with symbol . We exhibit a relationship between the similarity of to a contraction and the rate of decay of , the absolute values of the Fourier coefficients of the symbol .

     

Thermal stability of segmented polyurethanes

The thermal stabilities of two series of segmented polyurethane fibres have been compared with their chemical structure. The polyurethanes were synthesized from trimethylene diamine; 4, 4′ diphenylmethane di-isocyanate and two polyether based macrodi-isocyanates. Thermal stability was measured by thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis. By comparing the changes in weight loss and DTA peaks with chemical structure it has been found possible to separate soft segment from hard segment degradation.In the initial stages stability increases as soft segment concentration increases while the reverse is true in the later stages of degradation. The 100% soft segment polymer (polytetrahydrofuran) and the 100% hard segment polymer appear to behave anomalously. It is suggested that the hard segment has a stabilizing influence on the degradation of the soft segment. The results are discussed in the light of various theories of polyurethane degradation.