The application of capillary electrophoresis for enantiomeric separation of N,N-dimethylamphetamine and its related analogs: intelligence study on N,N-dimethylamphetamine samples in crystalline and tablet forms

This paper reports a new capillary zone electrophoresis method for the simultaneous chiral determination of the enantiomers of N,N-dimethylamphetamine (DMA), methamphetamine (MA), ephedrine (E), pseudoephedrine (PE) and methylephedrine (Me-E). In this study, a number of electophoretic parameters were examined and optimized including the choice of chiral selectors, the use of short-chain tetraalkylammonium cations, the effect of chiral selector concentration, buffer concentration, applied voltage and capillary temperature. Heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)-beta-cyclodextrin (DM-beta-CD) and tetrabutylammonium (TBA) being the best chiral selector and buffer cation, respectively, the optimized electrophoretic conditions were found to be: 20 mM DM-beta-CD, 50 mM TBAPO(4) at pH 2.5, applied voltage at 30 kV and temperature at 25 degrees C. Under the optimized conditions, all analytes were well separated with resolution factors between 3.3 and 24.0 achieved. Using phentermine as an internal standard, the intra-day (n=8) precisions for the relative migration times and peak areas of all analytes were below 1.09%, while the inter-day precisions (n=12, 6 days) for the relative migration times and peak areas of all analytes were under 3.77%. This method has been applied to the measurement of the enantiomeric purities of the seized DMA samples. The result of the measurement could provide important clues about the possible synthetic pathways of these samples.     

An Explosion of a CNG Fuel Vessel in an Urban Bus

Abstract: An investigation is presented of the explosion of a CNG (compressed natural gas) fuel vessel, called a liner, in an urban bus. The explosion happened at a gas station 10 min after filling was completed. There were no traces of soot and flames at the failed liner, which would be indicative of explosion by ignition of the gas. The filling process of the station was automatically monitored and recorded in a computer. There was no unusual record of the filling system that indicated excess pressure at the time of the accident. There were cracks on the liner that were initiated at the outer surface of the cylindrical shell located at a point 4 cm above the lower dome where cracks did not originate easily as a result of overload. Chemical analysis was performed on a specimen that was cut from the liner, and there was no peculiarity in the mix. Mechanical analysis was performed on the specimens and showed that the hardness was not in the specified range because of inadequate heat treatment of the metal. The hardness of the liner was strictly controlled in the manufacturing process. All the liners that were manufactured at the same period with the failed liner were recalled for examination.     

Application of 3D Laser Scanner to Forensic Engineering

In the case of building collapses and overturned structures, a three‐dimensional (3D) collapse or overturn model is required to reconstruct the accident. As construction sites become increasingly complex and large, 3D laser scanning is sometimes the best tool to accurately document and store the site conditions. This case report presents one case of a structure collapse and one case of an overturned crane reconstructed by a 3D laser scanner. In the case of structural collapse of a prefabricated shoring system, a 3D model reconstructed all the members successfully, a task that is nearly impossible using a scale such as a tape measure. The reconstructed prefabricated shoring system was verified through a structural analysis through comparison with the construction drawings to investigate faults in construction. In the case of the overturned crane, the jib angle and other major dimensions were successfully acquired through 3D laser scanning and used to estimate the working radius. As a result, the propriety of the working radius with the given lifting load was successfully determined.     

美国新任商务部长骆家辉

2009年2月25日,美籍华人骆家辉(Gary Faye Locke)被奥巴马任命为商务部部长,成为新一届政府14位内阁部长中的第二位华裔部长。尽管此前奥巴马提名商务部长两度受挫,但选择前华盛顿州州长骆家辉仍为奥巴马赢得不少分数。白手起家、靠实干获取信任的骆家辉不仅符合新总统的执政理念与风格,更符合美国面临的国内外新环境。骆家辉的成功代表着华裔参政的成功,能赢得这份殊荣不仅是他个人努力的结果,更与美国社会包容、中国崛起等因素息息相关。     

Putting the Cart before the Horse: Accountability or Performance?

Conventional wisdom argues that a good set of performance measures builds accountability and that improved accountability generates better productivity in the organisation. By way of an analysis of a case study in one inland Chinese county, this article shows that the assumed relationship between performance and accountability is more rhetoric than real. In practice, the implementation of performance measurement in local China leads to an accountability paradox, in which enhanced accountability tends to hinder the improvement of government productivity. The implementation of the Chinese target-based responsibility system risks boosting the short term accountability of public employees while undermining the long term productivity of government agencies. With the deepening of China's market-oriented reform, this choice appears to put the cart before the horse.     

Antecedents of Chinese Parents’ Autonomy Support and Psychological Control: The Interplay Between Parents’ Self-Development Socialization Goals and Adolescents’ School Performance

Despite ample evidence for the benefits of parental autonomy support and the harms of parental psychological control to Chinese adolescents’ well-being, little is known about what foreshadows these parenting behaviors among Chinese parents. The current research addressed this gap in the literature. It tested the hypothesis that parents’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals (i.e., regarding a positive sense of self in terms of holding optimistic attitudes toward oneself, feeling autonomous in one’s actions, and establishing one’s independence from others, as important for adolescents to develop) and adolescents’ school performance may interact to predict parental autonomy support and psychological control in urban China. Three hundred and forty-one Chinese seventh graders (mean age?=?13.30?years, 58?% female) and their parents (186 mothers and 155 fathers) participated. Parents reported on their own and their spouses’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals; adolescents reported on parental autonomy support and psychological control; and adolescents’ grades were obtained from school records. Significant interactions were found between parents’ socialization goals and adolescents’ grades in predicting parenting behaviors. When adolescents were doing well at school, the stronger parents’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals, the greater their autonomy support and the lesser their psychological control; when adolescents were doing poorly at school, regardless of parents’ socialization goals, their autonomy support was relatively low and their psychological control was relatively high. These findings highlight a tension between parental concerns over adolescents’ self-development and academic success, which needs to be resolved to promote autonomy support and prevent psychological control among urban Chinese parents.     

随万里参加安德罗波夫葬礼 --中苏关系杂忆

198 3年底 ,我完成了在联合国秘书处的工作后回国 ,回京后 ,我没有料到 ,等待着我的是一次新的出差任务 :赴莫斯科为安德罗波夫送葬。1 984年 2月初的一天 ,苏欧司领导突然通知我要作好接受新任务的准备 ,据外电报道 ,苏联领导人安德罗波夫病危 ,其儿子伊戈尔已从苏外贸部派驻的国家回国 ,为安准备后事。 2月 1 0日晚上电视台播放了安德罗波夫去世的消息。中央决定派万里同志率中国政府代表团去莫斯科为安德罗波夫送葬 ,随行的有钱其琛同志等 ,由我担任翻译。我们当时看到的第一份有关安德罗波夫去世的材料是苏共中央、最高苏维埃主席团和部…     

科学发展观的实质是以人为本

以人为本的科学发展观有很强的现实性和针对性。首先是回答了发展为了什么,为了谁的问题。早在20世纪50年代我国社会主义政治学教科书就明确表述了社会主义生产目的,是不断满足人民群众日益增长的物质文化需要,而不是为生产而生产,为利润而生产,为小集团利益而生产。但是在社会主义市场经济条件下,一些企业和部门淡漠了生产目的性,甚至为了获取个人和小集团的利益不惜损害消费者和人民群众的利益。科学发展观强调以人为本,不仅重申了社会主义生产的目的,而且扩大了内涵,“就是要以实现人的全面发展为目标,从人民群众的根本利益出发谋发展,促…