On a More Practical Note

How the HiGH-temperature superconductors work is, of course, a vital scientific question, and for the researchers who are losing sleep over it, an answer would be an end in itself. Let others pursue the search for superconductivity s practical applications. As for themselves, they are committed to the dictum of Max Planck, whose quantum theory ushered physics into the modern era. Scientific discovery and scientific knowledge, said Planck, have been achieved only by those who have gone in pursuit of it without any practical purpose whatsoever in view.  

The comic book also does what most scientists studiously avoid it discusses in grand terms the presumed payoffs of the new superconductors. 

The story does not shy from the realpolitik of science either. At one point, the spy explains to his friend that unless Japan develops high temperature superconductors, the U.S. could put Japanese researchers out of the race by banning exports of liquid helium. 

the spy proclaims, This is not the time to conceal superconducting materials or lock them up in secret rooms.  

A bit farfetched, perhaps, but it would be certainly naive to deny that the IBMs and the AT Ts, the GEs and the Du Ponts, the Westinghouses and the rest of them are not in it to commercialize the new technology even as they break new ground on the basic research side. And for the most part, they admit it. 

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The nature of the oxygens was readily apparent. Diacetylation to heroin by Wright15 proved the presence of two hydroxyl groups. Grimaux facile monomethylation to codeine16 established the phenolic nature of the first of them. (A reasonable stability to acid ruled out the possibility of a methyl enol ether.) On a more practical note, most subsequent studies in fact proceeded with codeine, in order to avoid potential oxidative and zwitterionic complications inherent in morphine s phenolic nature. The oxidation of... 

On a more practical note, it is generally understood that alternate crystal forms will exhibit sufficiently different solid-state properties so that one could anticipate encountering measurable differences in properties of pharmaceutical importance. For example, it has been reported that polymorphs of some drug substances exhibit different equilibrium solubilities and dissolution rates, and these differences have... 

For work on a 1 -mole scale one would thus have to use a 1.000-liter flask to activate and then lactonize the entire ft)-hydroxycarboxylic acid. Of course, it is much more practical to work in a smaller reaction vessel. However, one must also not exceed the mentioned concentration limit of < 1 pmol/L. Therefore, one can introduce only as much of the carboxylic acid in this smaller reaction vessel at a time so that its concentration does not exceed 1 pmoEL. Subsequently, one would have to activate this amount of acid and would then have to wait until it is lactonized. After that additional acid would have to be added and then activated, and so on. A more practical alternative is shown in Side Note 6.3. 

On a more general note, it must be pointed out that from a practical point of view, if the relative humidity is greater than 50%. the propensity of fibers or filaments to develop an electrical charge is much reduced, and the voltage developed will be lower, or no charge will be accumulated, or the half-life of the charge that is developed will be reduced. 

Several features of this general transformation, more commonly known as the Tsuji—Trost reaction, are of note. First, from an historical perspective, this reaction reflects the first demonstration of a metallated species acting as an electrophile, countering decades of research which indicated that such entities only behaved as nucleophiles. On a more practical level, the Tsuji—Trost reaction proceeds under neutral and mild conditions (typically at temperatures... 

One may note that in both methods, valuable side products can be obtained (formation of larger rings by 2-1-2 or 1 +1 condensations in Fig. 2a and 2b, respectively). In a more practical viewpoint, several comments have to be made. In the one-component cyclization the two reactive centers are present on the same molecule. What arises, therefore, is the need to hide the reactivity of the two centers (or at least one of the centers) until the ultimate moment. This is usually realized in the following way 1) one end of the reactive center is activated, while the other center is maintained in an unreactive form 2) then, a solution of the linear precursor is slowly added to a well-stirred solution containing the substance that is able to activate the protected site (bases often play this role). For... 

Another option is to have the organization s environmental health and safety staff conduct inspections. In a smaller organization, these types of inspections may adequately address the ILCI frequency recommendations. In larger institutions, the safety staff may be limited to semiannual or even annual walk-throughs. A more practical use of safety staff for inspections may be to target certain operations or experiments. Or the safety staff could focus on a particular type of inspection, such as safety equipment and systems. Finally, they could perform "audits" to check the work of other inspectors or look specifically at previous problem areas. It is important for the safety staff to address noted deficiencies with appropriate reminders and/ or additional training. Punitive measures should be employed, but only for chronic offenders or deliberate problems that pose a serious potential hazard. 

A big step forward came with the discovery that bombardment of a liquid target surface by abeam of fast atoms caused continuous desorption of ions that were characteristic of the liquid. Where this liquid consisted of a sample substance dissolved in a solvent of low volatility (a matrix), both positive and negative molecular or quasi-molecular ions characteristic of the sample were produced. The process quickly became known by the acronym FAB (fast-atom bombardment) and for its then-fabulous results on substances that had hitherto proved intractable. Later, it was found that a primary incident beam of fast ions could be used instead, and a more generally descriptive term, LSIMS (liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry) has come into use. However, note that purists still regard and refer to both FAB and LSIMS as simply facets of the original SIMS. In practice, any of the acronyms can be used, but FAB and LSIMS are more descriptive when referring to the primary atom or ion beam. 

The following is a brief introduction to making measurements that might be needed in the course of developing an lAQ profile or investigating an lAQ complaint. Emphasis has been placed on the parameters most commonly of interest in nonresearch studies, highlighting the more practical methods and noting some inappropriate tests to avoid. Most of the instruments discussed in this section are relatively inexpensive and readily available from many local safety supply companies. Air contaminants of concern in lAQ can be measured by one or more of the methods described below. 

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