Collisional line shifting and broadening in the fundamental P-branch of CO in Ar between 214 and 324 K

The collisional shifts and widths of several P-branch spectral lines in the fundamental band of CO-Ar have been measured at temperatures between 214 and 324 K and pressures between 0.025 and 1 atm. The widths have been determined using a line shape model based on the solution of the transport/relaxation equation for the appropriate off-diagonal element of the density matrix. The model uses a realistic molecular potential energy surface to calculate the speed dependence of the collisional broadening, and a rigid sphere potential to calculate the translational motion. It is found that both the shifting and broadening coefficients follow a power law dependence on the temperature. Additionally, it is demonstrated that studies have tended to overestimate the accuracy of collisional widths when the line shape model used to obtain the widths involves multiple fitted line shape parameters or fails to fit the measured spectra within the experimental noise.     

Pulsed titration sensors: Part 1: A breath-by-breath CO2 sensor

A novel electrochemical sensor for the determination of CO₂ in expired breath is described. The sensor works by generating from the reduction of O₂ in dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) in a generating pulse. There is a rapid titration reaction between the and any CO₂ present. In the recovery pulse the amount of unreacted is determined. The larger the concentration of CO₂ the less is found in the recovery pulse. The solubilities and diffusion coefficients of O₂ and CO₂ in DMSO have been determined using rotating disc voltammetry and rotation speed step experiments. The stoichiometry, the product, and the rate constant of the titration reaction have been determined using ring—disc voltammetry and laser Raman spectroscopy. The operation and the effect of adventitious water on the sensor are described. Results are presented which show that the sensor can indeed measure the breath-by-breath rhythm of expired CO₂ from a human subject.     

ABSORPTION SPECTRA AND ACID-BASE DISSOCIATION OF THE 4-ALKYL DERIVATIVES OF 7-HYDROXYCOUMARIN IN SELF-ASSEMBLED SURFACTANT SOLUTION: COMMENTS ON THEIR USE AS ELECTROSTATIC SURFACE POTENTIAL PROBES

Abstract— The absorption spectra of the un-ionized and ionized forms of 4-heptadecyl-7-hydroxycoumarin (HHC) in aqueous self-assembled surfactant solution have been investigated. From a comparison with the absorption spectra of 7-hydroxycoumarin, 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin (MHC) and HHC in neat organic solvents and organic solvent/water mixtures it is shown that the 7-hydroxycoumarin chromophore of HHC in self-assembled surfactant solution resides, on average, in an interfacial microenvironment which has a lower effective dielectric constant than that of the bulk aqueous solution. The absorption spectrum of the ionized form of HHC in aggregates of self-assembled surfactant molecules with cationic quaternary ammonium headgroups is found to be consistent with there being specific molecular interaction between the anionic chromophore and the quaternary ammonium headgroup. pH titrations performed with MHC in pure water and in four molar aqueous solutions of sodium chloride and tetra-methylammonium chloride indicate that the acid-base dissociation of HHC in charged micelles and vesicles should not be substantially influenced by any interfacial salt-effects, and that the acid-base dissociation of HHC in cationic micelles and vesicles with quaternary ammonium headgroups should not be markedly affected by the specific molecular interaction that exists. Estimates of the electrostatic surface potentials of a number of self-assembled surfactant aggregates are made by utilising the acid-base dissociation of HHC and assuming that the nonionic micelles of n -dodecyl octaoxyethylene glycol monoether (C₁₂E₈) can serve as a reference state of zero surface potential. The validity of this assumption in relation to both micelles and vesicles is discussed in detail.     

Sequential Benzylic Oxidation of Naloxone 3-Methyl Ether

Naloxone 3-methyl ether was selectively oxidized by treatment with cerium ammonium nitrate in aqueous acetonitrile at ambient temperature to provide the 10-(S)-hydroxy adduct. The stereochemistry of the oxidation product was proven by single crystal X-ray structure determination. The Dess-Martin periodinane further oxidized the 10-hydroxy to the 10-keto analog. Deprotection formed 10-ketonaloxone as an analytical reference standard.     

Novel Amphiphilic Block Copolymers for the Formation of Stimuli-Responsive Non-Lamellar Lipid Nanoparticles

Non-lamellar lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) lipid nanoparticles contain internal multidimensional nanostructures such as the inverse bicontinuous cubic and the inverse hexagonal mesophases, which can respond to external stimuli and have the potential of controlling drug release. To date, the internal LLC mesophase responsiveness of these lipid nanoparticles is largely achieved by adding ionizable small molecules to the parent lipid such as monoolein (MO), the mixture of which is then dispersed into nanoparticle suspensions by commercially available poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide) block copolymers. In this study, the Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer (RAFT) technique was used to synthesize a series of novel amphiphilic block copolymers (ABCs) containing a hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) block, a hydrophobic block and one or two responsive blocks, i.e., poly(4-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)benzyl acrylate) (PTBA) and/or poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA). High throughput small angle X-ray scattering studies demonstrated that the synthesized ABCs could simultaneously stabilize a range of LLC MO nanoparticles (vesicles, cubosomes, hexosomes, inverse micelles) and provide internal particle nanostructure responsiveness to changes of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) concentrations, pH and temperature. It was found that the novel functional ABCs can substitute for the commercial polymer stabilizer and the ionizable additive in the formation of next generation non-lamellar lipid nanoparticles. These novel formulations have the potential to control drug release in the tumor microenvironment with endogenous H₂O₂ and acidic pH conditions.     

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations via dissociation of a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate

Recent experimental measurements of atomic intensity correlations through atom shot noise suggest that atomic quadrature phase correlations may soon be measured with a similar precision. We propose a test of local realism with mesoscopic numbers of massive particles based on such measurements. Using dissociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of diatomic molecules into bosonic atoms, we demonstrate that strongly entangled atomic beams may be produced which possess Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlations in field quadratures in direct analogy to the position and momentum correlations originally considered by EPR.     

Electron transfer rates in DNA films as a function of tether length

A homologous series of DNA-modified electrodes has been investigated in which the molecular tether length varies. Using intercalated, covalently bound daunomycin as a redox probe, an exponential dependence of electron transfer rates on the number of intervening methylene groups in the sigma-bonded tether is observed. In contrast, variation in DM position within DNA yields no detectable change in rate. These data confirm that overall electron transfer rates in DNA films are limited by the tether, not the DNA.     

On the choice of parameters for the weighting method in vector optimization

We present a geometrical interpretation of the weighting method for constrained (finite dimensional) vector optimization. This approach is based on rigid movements which separate the image set from the negative of the ordering cone. We study conditions on the existence of such translations in terms of the boundedness of the scalar problems produced by the weighting method. Finally, using recession cones, we obtain the main result of our work: a sufficient condition under which weighting vectors yield solvable scalar problems. An erratum to this article can be found at