Polarized Lidar Reflectance Measurements of Vegetation at Near-Infrared and Green Wavelengths

There is growing interest in the use of lidar for remote sensing of vegetation owing to the emergence of reliable and rugged lasers and highly sensitive detectors. Lidar remote sensing has a distinct advantage over conventional techniques in vegetation remote sensing due to its capability for three-dimensional characterization of vegetative targets. The Multiwavelength Airborne Polarimetric Lidar (MAPL) system was developed primarily for vegetation remote sensing applications from an airborne platform of up to 1,000 -m altitude. The lidar system has full waveform capture and polarimetric measurement capability at two wavelengths in the near-infrared (1064 nm) and the green (532 nm) spectral regions. This study presents preliminary ground-based lidar reflectance measurements on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees under fully foliated conditions with a view towards tree species discrimination. Variations in the reflectance characteristics of selected deciduous trees under unfoliated and fully foliated conditions were also investigated. Our study reveals distinct differences in the reflectance characteristics of various trees.     

A simple, rapid and efficient protocol for the synthesis of methylthiomethyl esters under Swern oxidation conditions

A rapid, mild and high yielding method for the synthesis of methylthiomethyl esters is reported from the corresponding aliphatic, aromatic and unsaturated carboxylic acids under Swern oxidation conditions using dimethylsulfoxide, oxalyl chloride and triethylamine at low temperature.     

Asymmetric synthesis of 4,4-disubstituted-2-imidazoli-dinones: potent NK1 antagonists

[structure: see text] A highly efficient and practical synthesis of 4,4-Disubstituted-2-Imidazolidinones utilizing a "self-reproduction of the center of chirality" strategy is described.     

Thermodynamics of alpha-Cyclodextrin-p-Nitrophenyl Glycoside Complexes. A Simple System To Understand the Energetics of Carbohydrate Interactions in Water

Thermodynamic studies of the binding of a series of p-nitrophenyl glycosides (PNPGly) of varying stereochemistry to alpha-cyclodextrin (alpha-CD) were performed at three different temperatures (25, 35, and 42 degrees C) using a microcalorimetric technique. The system p-nitrophenol (PNP) at pH = 3 and alpha-CD was also studied for the sake of comparison. All these complexes were found to be enthalpy driven with a favorable enthalpic term clearly dominant over an unfavorable entropic term. A clear enthalpy-entropy compensation effect was observed at all the temperatures, with a slope close to unity (alpha = 1.02) and an intercept TDeltaS degrees (o) = 2.91 kcal mol(-)(1). This thermodynamic pattern is in agreement with those usually found for lectin-carbohydrate associations and for the binding processes of several host-guest systems. This pattern is explained in terms of the contribution of primarily two driving forces: the van der Waals interactions between the host and the guest, and the solvation/desolvation processes which accompany the association reaction. The presence of the carbohydrate molecule in the PNP ring causes a slight destabilization of the complex at 25 degrees C with respect to the alpha-CD-PNP (pH = 3) complex, although a different behavior has been observed depending on the axial/equatorial configuration of the glycoside and the temperature. This behavior is modulated by the stereochemistry of the glycoside. Differences were observed between the deoxy-derivatives (LAra and LFuc) and those derivatives with a hydroxymethyl group (Glc, Gal, Man). DeltaC(p) degrees values were obtained from the dependency of DeltaH degrees on temperature (=( partial differentialDeltaH degrees / partial differentialT)(p)). These values are small and negative except for alphaMan complex. For the latter complex, discrepancy between the calorimetric and the calculated van't Hoff enthalpies was observed. Parallels are drawn between the thermodynamics of our model and those proposed for carbohydrate-protein associations.     

Heterocyclic nitrogen base adducts of nickel(II)–di(2,4-dibromophenyl)carbazonate

The title complex was prepared and characterized by elemental and spectral analyses. The formation constants of various heterocyclic nitrogen base adducts with the Ni^II–di(2,4-dibromophenyl)carbazonate have been determined in a monophase by spectrophotometry at 25 ± 0.1 °C. The monodenatate and bidentate bases form penta- and hexa-coordinated adducts respectively with 1:1 stoichiometry for the metal chelate-base, whereas the unsaturated monodentate bases form hexa-coordinated adducts with 1:2 stoichiometry. The behaviour of saturated heterocyclic bases such as pyrrolidine, piperidine, hexamethyleneimine and morpholine towards the metal chelate has been studied, and the results are discussed in terms of steric hindrance, basicity and ring structure.     

Gas chromatographic study of the urinary codeine-to-morphine ratios in controlled codeine consumption and in mass screening for opiate drugs

The urinary codeine-to-morphine ratios in fifteen volunteers administered codeine tablets at intervals were studied by gas chromatography (GC) and compared with one month's GC results for enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT)-screened urine specimens in a mass-screening programme for abuse of opiate drugs, particularly heroin. It appears that when M less than 2 and C/M greater than 0 or when M greater than 2 and C/M greater than 0.5, where C and M are codeine and morphine concentrations in micrograms per 10 ml of urine, codeine consumption has to be presumed.     

Analytic relativistic model for a superdense star

A new analytic relativistic model has been obtained for superdense stars by solving the Einstein field equations for the spherically symmetric and static case. The model stands all the tests of physical reality. The density,, remains positive under all conditions and decreases smoothly from the center to the surface of the structure. The pressure,P, the ratioP/ anddP/d decrease with decreasing density. For all the finite values of pressure, the configurations are stable under radial perturbation. FordP/d 1, the maximum mass of neutron star model is 4.17, and the surface and central red shifts are 0.63 and 1.60, respectively. For an infinite central pressure, the surface red shift is 1.61. The structures are bound and the binding coefficients increase with the increasing mass.