Microwave Spectroscopy of the Ground, nu18, 2nu18, and nu11 Vibrational States of CF3CFH2

Detection of Asthma Inhaler Use via Terahertz Spectroscopy

Inhaled medications are commonplace for administering bronchodilators, anticholinergics, and corticosteroids. While they have a defined legitimate use, they are also used in sporting events as performance-enhancing drugs. These performance enhancers can be acquired via both legal (i.e., at a pharmacy through over-the-counter medications or through a prescription) and illicit (i.e., black market and foreign pharmacies) means, thus making monitoring procurement impossible. While urine tests can detect these pharmacological agents hours after they have been inhaled, there is a significant lag time before they are observed in urine. Direct detection of these inhaled agents is complicated and requires a multiplexed approach due to the sheer number of inhaled pharmacological agents. Therefore, detection of propellants, which carry the drug into the lungs, provides a simpler path forward toward detection of broad pharmacological agents. In this paper, we demonstrate the first use of terahertz spectroscopy (THz) to detect inhaled medications in human subjects. Notably, we were able to detect and quantitate the propellant, HFA-134a, in breath up to 30 min after using an asthma inhaler, enabling the use of a point-of-care device to monitor exhaled breath for the presence of propellants. We also demonstrate via simulations that the same approach can be leveraged to detect and identify next-generation propellants, specifically HFA-152a. As a result, we provide evidence that a single point-of-care THz sensor can detect when individuals have used pressure-mediated dose inhalers (pMDIs) without further modification of the hardware.

The Ground and First Excited Torsional States of Acetic Acid

A global fit of microwave and millimeter-wave rotational transitions in the ground and first excited torsional states (v(t) = 0 and 1) of acetic acid (CH(3)COOH) is reported, which combines older measurements from the literature with new measurements from Kharkov, Lille, and NIST. The fit uses a model developed initially for acetaldehyde and methanol-type internal rotor molecules. It requires 34 parameters to achieve a unitless weighted standard deviation of 0.84 for a total of 2518 data and includes A- and E-species transitions with J </= 30 and K(a) </= 15. While these results represent a significant improvement over past fitting attempts, it should be cautioned that the present data set is dominated by v(t) = 0 transitions, and no direct infrared measure of the v(t) = 1 <-- 0 torsional interval is available. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

High-Resolution Infrared Study of the nu(7), nu(8), and nu(15) Bands and Millimeter-Wave Investigation of the v(8) = 1 State of CF(2)Cl-CH(3)

High-resolution (Deltavarsigma = 2.3 and 2.9 x 10(-3) cm(-1)) FTIR spectra of natural and (35)Cl monoisotopic CH(3)CF(2)Cl have been recorded at -70 degrees C in the 600-1400 cm(-1) range. The bands nu(7), nu(8), and nu(15) have been rotationally analyzed for both isotopic varieties. With the help of predictions based on nu(8) parameters, the millimeter-wave spectrum of the (35)Cl species in the v(8) = 1 state has been observed and jointly fitted with the IR data. Only a small number of local perturbations have been detected in the spectra. Altogether more than 8000 IR transitions have been fitted with an experimental precision of ca. 3 x 10(-4) cm(-1). Copyright 2000 Academic Press.