THE ENERGY ASPECT OF THE RECIPROCAL INTERACTIONS OF PAIRS OF TWO DIFFERENT VIBRATION MODES OF A CLAMPED ANNULAR PLATE

The standardized mutual active and reactive sound power of a clamped plate, representing the energy aspect of the reciprocal interactions of two different in vacuo modes, has been computed. It was assumed that the vibrations are axisymmetric, elastic and time harmonic, the plate's transverse deflection is small as compared with the plate's size, and that the vibration velocity is small as compared with the acoustic wavenumber generated. The Kirchhoff-Love theory of a perfectly elastic plate was used. The integral formulae for the mutual sound power were transformed into their Hankel representations which made possible their subsequent computation. A closed path integral was used to express the integral in its Hankel representation to compute the mutual active sound power. The asymptotic stationary phase method was used to compute the two magnitudes, i.e., the mutual active and reactive sound power. The results obtained are the asymptotic formulae valid for the acoustically fast waves. The oscillating as well as the non-oscillating terms have been identified in the formulae to make possible their further separate analysis. The availability of the asymptotic formulae makes possible some fast numerical computations of the mutual sound power. Moreover, the formulae presented herein, together with those for the individual modes known from the literature, make a complete basis for further computations of the total sound power of the plate's damped and forced vibrations in fluid.     

Rapid multielemental analysis of Chinese reference soils by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-source mass spectrometry

Summary Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-source mass spectrometry has been used to determine thirty elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, As, Rb, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Dy, Ho, Yb, Hf, Ta, W, Th, U) in seven Chinese reference soils. The Surrey prototype spectrometer was employed with sample ablation by a free-running ruby laser. Concentrations in the soils (GSS-2 to GSS-8) were calculated from elemental responses and sensitivities derived from another soil in the series, namely GSS-1. Comparisons with previous neutron activation analyses are made. Rapid semiquantitative analyses are proved feasible. About eighty percent of the LA-ICP-MS determined concentrations were within a factor of two of the concentrations measured by INAA, and many were considerably closer than this. Precisions were typically in the range 2–10% RSD, but some were considerably poorer for elements present at trace levels.     

Heterogeneous colorimetric sensor for mercuric salts

A novel chemical sensor for the colorimetric detection of mercuric salts is described. The sensor is based on a mesoporous nanocrystalline TiO2 film sensitised with a ruthenium dye; immersion of this film in an aqueous solution of Hg2+ results in a rapid colorimetric response, with both a high selectivity and a sub-micromolar sensitivity.     

Reversible colorimetric probes for mercury sensing

The selectivity and sensitivity of two colorimetric sensors based on the ruthenium complexes N719 [bis(2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylate)ruthenium(II) bis(tetrabutylammonium) bis(thiocyanate)] and N749 [(2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine-4,4',4' '-tricarboxylate)ruthenium(II) tris(tetrabutylammonium) tris(isothiocyanate)] are described. It was found that mercury ions coordinate reversibly to the sulfur atom of the dyes' NCS groups. This interaction induces a color change in the dyes at submicromolar concentrations of mercury. Furthermore, the color change of these dyes is selective for mercury(II) when compared with other ions such as lead(II), cadmium(II), zinc(II), or iron(II). The detection limit for mercury(II) ions--using UV-vis spectroscopy--in homogeneous aqueous solutions is estimated to be approximately 20 ppb for N719 and approximately 150 ppb for N749. Moreover, the sensor molecules can be adsorbed onto high-surface-area mesoporous metal oxide films, allowing reversible heterogeneous sensing of mercury ions in aqueous solution. The results shown herein have important implications in the development of new reversible colorimetric sensors for the fast, easy, and selective detection and monitoring of mercuric ions in aqueous solutions.     

Semiquantitative Analysis of Biological Materials by Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry

Semiquantitative analysis with accuracy of ±30 to 50% is a valuable tool for rapid screening of samples prior to quantitative determination of trace metals. In this study semiquantitative analysis software available with commercial inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrumentation is applied for rapid multielemental analysis, and the accuracy and precision of this semiquantitative analysis approach is evaluated with biological certified reference materials. Samples were prepared by high-pressure, high-temperature nitric acid vapor-phase digestion. For most elements the measured semiquantitative results are in the range of the certified values. With appropriate analyte solution dilution, the measured concentrations of the major elements (e.g., Ca) also agree with certified values. The accuracy is within ±10% for 28 element determinations that include 16 individual elements (Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sr, Tl, and Zn) and ±20% for 54 element determinations that include three more elements (Mg, V, and U) in eight certified reference materials including water. The method precision is 11 ± 11% (relative standard deviation,n= 65).     

Excition dynamics in the J-aggregates of a carbocyanine dye

We report on the exciton dynamics in the J-aggregating dye 5,5, 6,6-tetrachloro-1,1-diethyl-3,3-di(4-sulfobutyl)-benzimidazolocarbocyanine which is known readily to form J-aggregates, even at room temperature and at a low concentration. We performed a series of time-correlated singlephoton-counting experiments at different emission wavelengths and at different temperatures in the range between 1.5 and 125 K. Additionally, the temperature dependence of the relative fluorescence quantum yield was determined.