Some comments on the use of nitrogen selective detectors

Summary Several detectors which have a selective response toward nitrogen containing compounds are discussed. Data on sensitivities, detection limits and reproducibility of response are given. The application of chemiluminescence to provide a nitrogen selective GC detector is proposed.     

Determination of the distribution of cannabinoids in cannabis resin from the Lebanon using HPLC. Part III

Samples taken from 61 slabs of cannabis resin originating in The Lebanon were examined by high performance liquid chromatography. The slabs were derived from seizures of cannabis resin made over a three-year period. From a study of 14 of these samples, taken from bags which bore a number of identical stamp marks, it was shown that there was a correlation between the cannabinoid distribution and the marks. The remaining 47 samples of cannabis resin, all of which were from bags with different marks, were each found to have a unique cannabinoid distribution. Such an examination can therefore be used to aid investigations where evidence of a common origin is sought.     

Dual column gas chromatographic system for use in mass spectral determination of nitrosamines.

A packed gas chromatographic column and a support coated open tubular (SCOT) column are connected in series. Between the columns are two micro-volume switching valves, one enabling solvent to be vented. Short retention nitrosamines are passed through both columns, whereas longer retention nitrosamines by-pass the SCOT column by means of the other switching valve.     

X-ray microfluorescence (μXRF) imaging of Aspergillus nidulans cell wall mutants reveals biochemical changes due to gene deletions

We used synchrotron X-ray fluorescence to create the first semiquantitative, submicron resolution, element distribution maps of P, S, K, and Ca, in situ, in fungal samples. Data collection was performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility beam line ID21, Grenoble, France. We studied developing hyphae, septa, and conidiophores in Aspergillus nidulans, comparing wild type and two cell wall biosynthesis gene deletion strains. The latter encode sequential enzymes for biosynthesis of galactofuranose, a minor wall carbohydrate. Each gene deletion caused hyphal morphogenesis defects, and reduced both colony growth and sporulation 500-fold. Elemental imaging has helped elucidate biochemical changes in the phenotype induced by the gene deletions that were not apparent from morphological examination. Here, we examined S as a proxy for protein content, P for nucleic acid content, as well as Ca and K, which also have important metabolic roles. Element distributions in wild-type fungi reflect biological aspects already known or expected from other types of analysis; however, the application of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging reveals aspects of gene deletion phenotypes that were not previously available. We have demonstrated that deleting a dispensable gene involved in galactose metabolism (ugeA) and one involved in biosynthesis of a minor cell wall component (ugmA) led to changes in hyphal elemental distribution that may have resulted from compromised wall composition.     

Bosonic and fermionic white noises and the reflection process

The reflection process is used to unify the bosonic and fermionic quantum stochastic calculi. But the reflection process cannot be converted to the standard Stratonovich form. It is shown that an analytically extended version of the Stratonovich calculus allows describing the reflection process at the bosonic white-noise level as well as constructing the fermionic white-noise variables. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 124, No. 1, pp. 36–47, July, 2000.     

The violin bow: taper, camber and flexibility

An analytic, small-deflection, simplified model of the modern violin bow is introduced to describe the bending profiles and related strengths of an initially straight, uniform cross-section, stick as a function of bow hair tension. A number of illustrative bending profiles (cambers) of the bow are considered, which demonstrate the strong dependence of the flexibility of the bow on longitudinal forces across the ends of the bent stick. Such forces are shown to be comparable in strength to critical buckling loads causing excessive sideways buckling unless the stick is very straight. Non-linear, large deformation, finite element computations extend the analysis to bow hair tensions comparable with and above the critical buckling strength of the straight stick. The geometric model assumes an expression for the taper of Tourte bows introduced by Vuillaume, which is re-examined and generalized to describe violin, viola and cello bows. A comparison is made with recently published measurements of the taper and bending profiles of a particularly fine bow by Kittel.