Characterization and Improvement of Heat Resistance of a Polymer-Ceramic Pressure-Sensitive Paint at High Temperatures.

Degradation of fast response pressure-sensitive paints (PSP) above room temperature is a serious problem for PSP measurements in high-temperature environments. A standard polymer-ceramic PSP (PC-PSP) composed of platinum(II)-5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorphenyl)-porphyrin (PtTFPP), titania particles and poly(isobutyl methacrylate) (polyIBM) was characterized to elucidate the degradation mechanism. Applying a two-gate lifetime-based method, the PC-PSP has sufficient pressure and temperature sensitivities even at 100 °C, while the luminescence intensity significantly decreases during the test. Subsequent measurements on thermal and photostability as well as luminescence spectra reveal that the main cause of the degradation is the photodegradation of PtTFPP due to direct exposure of the dye molecules to the atmosphere. In order to suppress such degradation, a small amount of urethane resin is added to the dye solution as a simple additional step in the preparation of PC-PSP. The addition of the urethane resin significantly reduces the degradation of the PSP, although its time response is slightly slower than that of the standard PC-PSP.

Simultaneous high-performance liquid chromatography determination of coenzyme A, dephospho-coenzyme A, and acetyl-coenzyme A in normal and pantothenic acid-deficient rats.

We describe here a simultaneous high-performance liquid chromatography method for practical and rapid determination of coenzyme A (CoA), dephospho-CoA, and acetyl-CoA in tissues. These coenzymes are biosynthesized from the vitamin pantothenic acid (PaA), which is involved in the metabolism of fatty acids, amino acid catabolism, and several other nutrients. The method employed a Tosoh TSK-GEL ODS-100 V column (250×4.6mm i.d., particle size 5µm) eluted with 100mmol/L NaH(2)PO(4) and 75mmol/L CH(3)COONa (pH was adjusted to 4.6 by the addition of concentrated H(3)PO(4))-acetonitrile (94:6, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0ml/min. The ultraviolet detector was set at 259nm. The limits of detection for CoA, dephospho-CoA, and acetyl-CoA all were 10pmol. The method was applied to the analysis of several tissues of rats fed normal and PaA-free diets. The results clearly showed that the method was suitable for the simultaneous determination of CoA, dephospho-CoA, and acetyl-CoA in the liver, heart, kidney, spleen, testis, large colon, and muscle, but not for the small intestine, of rats.