Preliminary study on aerosol particle addition calibration method for on-line quantitative analysis of airborne radioactive particles with ICP-MS

An ambient aerosol concentration enrichment system coupled with ICP-MS for real-time monitoring of airborne radioactive particles is now under development. ICP-MS is very sensitive to sample introduction conditions, so it is necessary to develop an easy-use calibration method for on-line quantitative analysis in field application. In this paper, a calibration method using standard solution instead of monodisperse particles was established and validated preliminarily. First of all, four parameters for the method were determined experimentally, including: uptake flow rate and nebulisation efficiency of the Microconcentric nebuliser, nebulisation/transport efficiency of Aridus Desolvating Sample Introduction System, and Relative Sensitivity Factor between ¹⁵⁹?Tb and ¹⁷⁴?Yb. Then, monodisperse terbium nitrate particles were generated by a commercial Vibrating Orifice Aerosol Generator. Continuous aerosols of ytterbium nitrate droplets were nebulised from standard solution. They were mixed together, desolvated through the membrane dryer and introduced into ICP-MS for on-line analysis of terbium nitrate particles. The air sampled from nuclear environment was also introduced into ICP-MS to investigate the effect of flow rate on instrument responses. Finally, atom numbers of ¹⁵⁹?Tb in discrete terbium nitrate particles were determined using the calibration method and compared to the calculated value. Results show that when air flow rate increase from 10?mL?min^?1 to 100?mL?min^?1, the ratio of ¹⁵⁹?Tb ion count to ¹⁷⁴?Yb ion intensity keeps constant although instrument sensitivity decreases by a factor of 25. The relative standard deviation of ¹⁵⁹?Tb atom number measured is better than 18%. The discrepancy with the calculated value could be attributed to the over-estimation of atom number in the particles generated by VOAG because there was some liquid leakage in the VOAG.     

Organic Compounds in Surface and Deep Antarctic Snow

Abstract

Eight surface snow samples taken during the 1987/88, 1988/89 and 1990/91 Italian Antarctic Expeditions and six samples collected at different depths from two dissimilar sites during the 1990/91 Expedition, were analyzed for the non-chlorinated organic content using the GC capillary columns technique and GC-MS. Several biogenic and anthropogenic classes of organic compounds were identified and quantitatively determined. The data obtained give a more complete picture of the pollution level in Antarctica.     

Chelating 2,2′-Diaminodiethylamine Cellulose Filters and X-ray Fluorescence for Preconcentration and Trace Analysis of Natural Waters

Abstract

The 2,2′-diaminodiethylamine (DEN) functional group can be expected to have ideal properties for the chelation of transition metals and their collection from aqueous solutions, independent of the alkali and alkaline earth ions concentration. Introducing DEN into cellulose filters allows straightforward preconcentration of trace cations by a simple filtration step, and the DEN-filter constitutes a suitable target for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. The linearity between the XRF-response on the loaded DEN-filter and the trace cation concentration in the solution appears excellent, up to a total filter capacity of ca. 3 μeq.cm^?2. The detection limits are around 0.5 μg. l^?1 in most practical cases. Accuracy and precision are around 10%. The applicability of the proposed procedure is illustrated on a comparative basis by XRF-analysis of drinking water and surface water, after preconcentration by DEN-filtration and by alternative procedures.     

Sparse non-negative matrix factorizations for ultrasound factor analysis

Factor analysis is a powerful tool used for the analysis of dynamic studies. One of the major drawbacks of Factor Analysis of Dynamic Structures (FADS) is that the solution is not mathematically unique when only non-negativity constraints are used to determine factors and factor coefficients. In this paper, we introduce a novel method to correct FADS solutions by constructing and minimizing a new objective function. The method is improved from non-negative matrix factorizations (NMFs) algorithm by adding a sparse constraint that penalizes multiple components in the images of the factor coefficients. The technique is tested on computer simulations, and a patient ultrasound liver study. The results show that the method works well in comparison to the truth in computer simulations and to region of interest (ROI) measurements in the experimental studies.     

2. Mitteilung: Tetraphenylarsoniumverbindungen und Pentaphenylarsen

Es wurde ein Trennverfahren ausgeabeitet, das es gestattet, die Aktivitätsausbeuten für Mono-, Di- und Triphenylarsenverbindungen, für Tetraphenylarsoniumverbindungen und für Pentaphenylarsen sowie für nicht organisch gebundenes Arsen in neutronenbestrahlten Tetraphenylarsoniumver erbindungen und in Pentaphenylarsen zu bestimmen. Als Trennmethoden werden Extraktion, Ionenaustauwsch und Al₂O₃-Chromatographic benutzt. Zur Reinigung und Ausbeutebestimmung von Di- und Triphenylarsenprodukten sowie von Tetraphenylarsonimverbindungen finden Kristallisations- bzw. Fällungsreaktionen Anwendung unter Ausnutzung des Prinzips der Isotopenverdünnungsanalyse.     

Radioimmunologische Bestimmung von Pflanzenhormonen

In vorliegender Arbeit wird eine kurze Darstellung der Grundlagen, Erfordernisse, Vor- und Nachteile des Radioimmunoassay für Pflanzenhormone gegeben.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss briefly the basis, requirements, advantages, and disadvantages of radioimmunoassay with respect to plant hormones.     

VIBRATIONAL SPECTRA AND NORMAL COORDINATE ANALYSIS OF 1,2-BIS(2-FORMYLGLYCINEBENZENESULFENYL) ETHANE Pd(II) DICHLORIDE COMPLEX

The normal coordinate analysis of the title complex, 1,2-bis(2-formylglycinebenzenesulfenyl) ethane Pd(II) dichloride has been carried out by using the Urey-Bradley force field. According to the molecular structure determined by x-ray crystallographic analysis, 182 internal coordinates were established and 112 theoretical vibration frequencies agree well with the observed values with the average difference of 2.53 cm^?1 and the maximum deviation of 16.0 cm^?1.     

Chromatographic determination of some biomarkers of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients

Metabolomics has been shown to be an effective tool for disease diagnosis, biomarker screening and characterization of biological pathways. A total of 140 subjects were included in this study; urine metabolomes of patients with liver cirrhosis (LC, n = 40), patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC; n = 55) and healthy male subjects (n = 45) as a control group were studied. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry‐based urine metabolomics profiles were investigated for all participants. Diagnostic models were constructed with a combination of marker metabolites, using principal components analysis and receiver operator characteristic curves. A total of 57 peaks could be auto‐identified of which 13 marker metabolites (glycine, serine, threonine, proline, urea, phosphate, pyrimidine, arabinose, xylitol, hippuric acid, citric acid, xylonic acid and glycerol) were responsible for the separation of HCC group from healthy subjects. Also, eight markers metabolites (glycine, serine, threonine, proline, citric acid, urea, xylitol and arabinose) showed significant differences between the LC group and healthy subjects. No significant difference was detected between HCC and LC groups regarding all these metabolites. Metabolomic profile using GC–MS established an optimized diagnostic model to discriminate between HCC patients and healthy subjects; also it could be useful for diagnosis of LC patients. However, it failed to differentiate between HCC and LC patients.     

Equilibrium analysis for a mass-conserving model in presence of cavitation

We study the existence of equilibrium positions for the load problem in Lubrication Theory. The problem consists of two surfaces in relative motion separated by a small distance filled by a lubricant. The system is described by the modified Reynolds equation (Elrod–Adams model) which describes the behavior of the lubricant and an extra integral equation given the balance of forces. The balance of forces allows to obtain the unknown position of the surfaces, defined with one degree of freedom.