On c‐Bhaskar Rao designs with block size 4

Several new families of c‐Bhaskar Rao designs with block size 4 are constructed. The necessary conditions for the existence of a c‐BRD (υ,4,λ) are that: (1)λ_min=?λ/3 ≤ c ≤ λ and (2a) c≡λ (mod 2), if υ > 4 or (2b) c≡ λ (mod 4), if υ = 4 or (2c) c≠ λ ? 2, if υ = 5. It is proved that these conditions are necessary, and are sufficient for most pairs of c and λ; in particular, they are sufficient whenever λ?c ≠ 2 for c > 0 and whenever c ? λ_min≠ 2 for c < 0. For c < 0, the necessary conditions are sufficient for υ> 101; for the classic Bhaskar Rao designs, i.e., c = 0, we show the necessary conditions are sufficient with the possible exception of 0‐BRD (υ,4,2)'s for υ≡ 4 (mod 6). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 10: 361–386, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10009     

Electron-impact and chemical ionization detection of nicotine and cotinine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in rat plasma and brain.

Nicotine and its metabolite, cotinine, were measured in rat plasma and brain by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Both agents were extracted from plasma and brain, separated on a capillary column, and quantified by single-ion monitoring. The major fragment ions of nicotine and cotinine at m/z 84 and m/z 98, respectively, were monitored by electron-impact ionization detection and the protonated molecular ions at m/z 163 and m/z 177, respectively, were monitored by chemical ionization detection. Both compounds were quantified using deuterium-labeled nicotine and cotinine, respectively, as internal standards.     

Preserving the chromatographic integrity of high-speed supercritical fluid chromatography separations using time-of-flight mass spectrometry

The advantage of high-speed time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) detection for ultrafast qualitative supercritical fluid chromatography/mass spectrometry (SFC/MS) applications allows the superior resolving power of SFC to be exploited in high-throughput analysis. A chromatographic comparison of quadrupole MS and TOF-MS shows high-speed TOF total ion current data point sampling to be more indicative of fast SFC separations and corresponding short (1-2 s) baseline peak widths. Results shown for analysis of a six-compound mixture with two peaks eluting at 0.86 and 0.89 min exhibit >50% resolution by high-speed TOF data sampling, whereas the same peaks appear to coelute using quadrupole MS data sampling. Additionally, a marked improvement in the peak baseline widths is afforded by fast TOF data acquisition of 0.1 s/spectrum, resulting in a reduction in the baseline width, 1.6 s, of sulfanilamide in a four-compound mixture that is more than 2-fold greater than that achieved at the slower data acquisition of 0.5 s/spectrum. The resulting increase in resolution and improved peak shapes allow automatic integration routines to perform more effectively. For most classes of compounds amenable to high performance liquid chromatography, including druglike species, steroids, and polymers, the union of SFC with TOF-MS provides the maximum density of chemical information per unit time available with any high-speed chromatographic/mass spectrometric method.     

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry using atmospheric pressure photoionization for high-resolution analyses of corticosteroids

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS) was coupled with atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) for the first time and used for the analysis of several corticosteroids.1 The analytes showed excellent response using APPI when compared with both electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). APPI has the advantage of requiring less heat for desolvation, resulting in less thermal degradation of the analytes and higher signal-to-noise than APCI. In terms of ultimate sensitivity, APPI is more efficient than either ESI or APCI for the analysis of corticosteroids. With some compounds, the high-resolution capability of FTICRMS was necessary to obtain an accurate mass due to contributions of the M(+.) (13)C isotope in the [M+H](+) ion peak.     

The use of water-soluble phthalocyanines as textile dyes in nylon/elastane fabric: fastness and antibacterial effectiveness

This work reports on dyeing of nylon/elastane fabric with water-soluble phthalocyanines ( 1-4 ) bearing quinoline 5-sulfonic acid substituents on the peripheral or nonperipheral positions and determining the antibacterial efficiency of the phthalocyanine compounds and the dyed nylon/elastane fabrics. The light, washing, water, perspiration, and rubbing fastness properties of nylon/elastane fabrics dyed with phthalocyanines were also determined. The results showed that all dyed fabrics showed very good wet fastness values. The lightfastness value of the nylon/elastane fabric dyed with phthalocyanine dye ( 1 ) showed a much better value than the others. Also, the antibacterial efficiencies of the dyed nylon fabrics and the dye compounds were investigated against a gram-negative ( Escherichia coli ) and a grampositive ( Staphylococcus aureus ) bacteria by using disc diffusion method. The results showed that the dyed nylon/elastane fabrics and the compounds exhibited antibacterial activities against both bacteria.     

The giant magnetoresistance of Co/Cu superlattices grown by MBE

We report the first observation of a giant magnetoresistance (MR) in Co/Cu superlattices grown by MBE. The maximum value of the MR is - 26% and this is found in a specimen for which the copper layers are about 7 Å thick and which includes a thin 10 Å layer of gold in the buffer region between the substrate and the superlattice. From RHEED and X-ray diffraction it is shown that the metallic layers in the specimens grown in this way are extremely flat and that the orientation of the copper is (111).     

Finite Linear Spaces II

Batten and Beutelspacher have characterized Finite Linear Spaces with lines of size n,n + 1 and n + 2, and with v (n + 1)²for n 22, and some of the cases for smaller n. In this article, using the structuredapproach we presented in our earlier article [8], we complete this characterization for smalln.     

Constructions for rotational near resolvable block designs

A (ν, k, k?1) near resolvable block design (NRBD) is r‐rotational over a group G if it admits G as an automorphism group of order (ν?1)/r fixing exactly one point and acting semiregularly on the others. We give direct and recursive constructions for rotational NRBDs with particular attention to 1‐rotational ones. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 157–181, 2001