Application of liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry to the identification of acetamiprid transformation products generated under oxidative processes in different water matrices

This work allowed the identification of major transformation products (TPs) of acetamiprid (ACTM) during Fenton process. Acetamiprid is a chloronicotinoid insecticide widely used around the world for its characteristics (high insecticidal activity, good systemic properties, suitable field stability, etc.). The degradation of the parent molecule and the identification of the main TPs were evaluated in different water matrices (demineralized water and real agro-food industrial wastewater). TPs of acetamiprid generated by Fenton experiments were monitored and identified by liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (LC–QTOF–MS/MS). Up to 14 TPs were characterized based on the accurate mass of the molecular ion and fragment ions obtained in both full-scan and MS/MS modes. Most of them were eliminated after 75 min of treatment time in demineralized water. However, in real agro-food industrial wastewater, most of them were eliminated at 90 min of treatment time, demonstrating the influence of the matrix composition on the studied compound degradation.     

Differential inhibition of postnatal brain,spinal cord and body growth by a growth hormone antagonist

Background  

Growth hormone (GH) plays an incompletely understood role in the development of the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we use transgenic mice expressing a growth hormone antagonist (GHA) to explore the role of GH in regulating postnatal brain, spinal cord and body growth into adulthood. The GHA transgene encodes a protein that inhibits the binding of GH to its receptor, specifically antagonizing the trophic effects of endogenous GH.     

Finite element analysis of axisymmetric systems without ignoring shear strain effects

Summary The finite element method is used to calculate the elastic displacements and internal forces in shells with axisymmetric geometry and load; the shell is assumed to be strainable by shear as well as by bending and normal forces. It is assumed that the finite elements have a simple curvature whose displacement function is analytically expressed by power polynomials of the meridian coordinate; the chosen parameters are the displacement components of the nodes; their number may be smaller than that of the polynomial terms, whose dependence is therefore uniquely defined by the minimum total potential energy condition. By this means it is possible to obtain an accurate numeric solution even with a few elements as long as they are sufficient to represent the shell geometry and follow the load distribution. The exposition is completed by the block diagram of the numeric computing program and the results in some examples.

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Sommario Col metodo degli elementi finiti viene impostato il calcolo degli spostamenti elastici e delle azioni interne in lastre assialsimmetriche per geometria e per carico; si suppone la lastra deformabile oltre che alle azioni flettenti e normali anche all'azione di taglio.Si assumono elementi finiti a semplice curvatura con funzione spostamento analiticamente espressa da polinomi di potenze della coordinata meridiana; si scelgono quali parametri le componenti di spostamento dei nodi; il loro numero può essere inferiore a quello dei coefficienti polinomiali considerati la cui dipendenza viene pertanto univocamente definita con la condizione di minima energia potenziale totale.Seguendo questa via è possibile ottenere una soluzione numerica accurata anche con pochi elementi finiti purchè sufficienti a rappresentare convenientemente la geometria della lastra e a seguire la distribuzione dei carichi.L'esposizione è completata dallo schema a blocchi del programma di calcolo numerico per l'elaborazione elettronica e dai risultati ottenuti in alcuni casi esemplificativi.

     

Fusion around the barrier for 7Li+12C

Fusion cross-sections for the ⁷Li + ¹²C reaction have been measured at energies above the Coulomb barrier by the direct detection of evaporation residues. The heavy evaporation residues with energies below 3 MeV could not be separated out from the α-particles in the spectrum and hence their contribution was estimated using statistical model calculations. The present work indicates that suppression of fusion cross-sections due to the breakup of ⁷Li may not be significant for ⁷Li + ¹²C reaction at energies around the barrier.     

Synthesis of novel simplified eleutheside analogues with potent microtubule-stabilizing activity, using ring-closing metathesis as the key-step

The synthesis of a number of novel simplified eleutheside analogues with potent tubulin-assembling and microtubule-stabilizing properties is described, using ring-closing metathesis as the key-step for obtaining the 6-10 fused bicyclic ring system.