Copper and iron interactions with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. A study by fast-atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry

Fast atom bombardment, combined with high-energy collision-induced tandem mass spectrometry, has been used to investigate gas-phase metal-ion interactions with captopril, enalaprilat and lisinopril, all angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.Suggestions for the location of metal-binding sites are presented. For captopril, metal binding occurs most likely at both the sulphur and the nitrogen atom. For enalaprilat and lisinopril, binding preferably occurs at the amine nitrogen. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of solid standards prepared by freeze‐drying

Solid standards prepared by freeze‐drying consistently showed a high degree of homogeneity. The freezing process, completed in fractions of a second, preserves the original homogeneous distribution of the dopants, and the subsequent sublimation step would minimize any disturbance. Compared to those prepared by conventional methods such as blending and spiking, freeze‐dried standards exhibited superior lateral distribution and better uniform depth distribution. There is, however, a concentration constraint for achieving homogeneity. At 5% doping, segregation was observed in both lateral and depth distribution. Many tungsten standards doped with 10–28 elements ranging from 10 to 200 ppm were successfully prepared and used as controls for a number of analytical techniques including glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS) and d.c.‐arc optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An integrated QCM-based narcotics sensing microsystem

We present the design, fabrication and successful testing of a 14x14x4 mm3 integrated electronic narcotics sensing system which consists of only four parts. The microsystem absorbs airborne narcotics molecules and performs a liquid assay using an integrated quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). A vertically conductive double-sided adhesive foil (VCAF) was used and studied as a novel material for LOC and MEMS applications and provides easy assembly, electrical contacting and liquid containment. The system was tested for measuring cocaine and ecstasy, with successful detection of amounts as small as 100 ng and 200 ng, respectively. These levels are of interest in security activities in customs, prisons and by the police.     

The impact of water column variability on horizontal wave number estimation and mode based geoacoustic inversion results

The influence of water column variability on low-frequency, shallow water geoacoustic inversion results is considered. The data are estimates of modal eigenvalues obtained from measurements of a point source acoustic field using a horizontal aperture array in the water column. The inversion algorithm is based on perturbations to a background waveguide model with seabed properties consistent with the measured eigenvalues. Water column properties in the background model are assumed to be known, as would be obtained from conductivity, temperature, and depth measurements. The scope of this work in addressing the impact of water column variability on inversion is twofold. Range-dependent propagation effects as they pertain to eigenvalue estimation are first considered. It is shown that mode coupling is important even for weak internal waves and can enhance modal eigenvalue estimates. Second, the effect of the choice of background sound speed profile in the water column is considered for its impact on the estimated bottom acoustic properties. It is shown that a range-averaged sound velocity profile yields the best geoacoustic parameter estimates.     

ESI‐MS/MS of expanded porphyrins: a look into their structure and aromaticity

Electrospray mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry was used to investigate the gas‐phase properties of protonated expanded porphyrins, in order to correlate those with their structure and conformation. We have selected five expanded meso‐pentafluorophenyl porphyrins, respectively, a pair of oxidized/reduced fused pentaphyrins (22 and 24 π electrons), a pair of oxidized/reduced regular hexaphyrins (26 and 28 π electrons) and a regular doubly N‐fused hexaphyrin (28 π electrons). The gas‐phase behavior of the protonated species of oxidized and reduced expanded porphyrins is different. The oxidized species (aromatic Hückel systems) fragment more extensively, mainly by the loss of two HF molecules. The reduced species (Möbius aromatic or Möbius‐like aromatic systems) fragment less than their oxidized counterparts because of their increased flexibility. The protonated regular doubly fused hexaphyrin (non‐aromatic Hückel system) shows the least fragmentation even at higher collision energies. In general, cyclization through losses of HF molecules decreases from the aromatic Hückel systems to Möbius aromatic or Möbius‐like aromatic systems to non‐aromatic Hückel systems and is related to an increase in conformational distortion. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Energy dependence of multiplicity in proton-nucleus collisions and models of multiparticle production

This is a continuation of our earlier investigation (Gurtuet al 1974Phys. Lett. 50 B 391) on multiparticle production in proton-nucleus collisions based on an exposure of emulsion stack to 200 GeV/c beam at the NAL. It is found that the ratioR _em = 〈n _s〉/〈n _ch〉, where 〈n _ch〉 is the charged particle multiplicity in pp-collisions, increases slowly from about 1 at 10 GeV/c to 1·6 at 68 GeV/c and attains a constant value of 1·71 ± 0·04 in the region 200 to 8000 GeV/c. Furthermore,R _em = 1·71 implies an effectiveA-dependence ofR _A =A ^0.18,i.e., a very weak dependence. Predictions ofR _em on various models are discussed and compared with the emulsion data. Data seem to favour models of hadron-nucleon collisions in which production of particles takes place through adouble step mechanism,e.g., diffractive excitation, hydrodynamical and energy flux cascade as opposed to models which envisage instantaneous production.     

Using mixed integer programming models to synchronously determine production levels and market prices in an integrated market for roundwood and forest biomass

Annals of Operations Research - We study a problem of integrating the supply chain of roundwood with the supply chain of forest biomass. The developed optimization model is a multiperiod,...     

Measurement and prediction of ultralow frequency ocean ambient noise off the eastern U.S. coast

Ultralow frequency (0.02-2 Hz) acoustic ambient noise was monitored from January to April 1991 at six ocean bottom stations off the eastern U.S. coast. The depths of the stations ranged from about 100 m to 2500 m. The measured spectra are in good agreement with predictions made using Cato's theory [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 89, 1076-1095 (1991)] for noise generation by surface-wave orbital motion after extending the calculations to incorporate horizontally stratified environments. Contributions from both the linear, single-frequency (virtual monopole) and the nonlinear, double-frequency (dipole) mechanisms are clearly recognizable in the data. The predictions make use of directional wave data obtained from surface buoys deployed during the SWADE experiment and an ocean bottom model derived from compressional wave speed data measured during the EDGE deep seismic reflection survey. The results demonstrate conclusively that nonlinear surface-wave interactions are the dominant mechanism for generating deep-ocean ULF noise in the band 0.2-0.7 Hz.