A simple,rapid and sensitive method based on modified multiwalled carbon nanotube for preconcentration and determination of lead ions in aqueous media in natural pHs

In this study, multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) was modified by the pyridine group using a silane agent and characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermal analysis (TG/DTA), and elemental analysis (CHN) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The application of this sorbent was investigated in determination of lead ions in aqueous samples, using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Through this study, different parameters such as pH and sample flow rate on adsorption process and eluent concentration, volume and flow rate were optimized. The limit of detection (LOD), the relative standard deviation and the recovery of the method were 2 ng mL^?1, 1.3% and 99.7%, respectively. Two standard reference materials (NIST 1571 and NIST 1572) were used to verify accuracy of this method. Finally, the sorbent was successfully applied for extraction and determination of low levels of Pb(II) ions in aqueous samples.     

Dual-band isotropic metamaterial absorber based on near-field interaction in the Ku band

We numerically and experimentally investigate single-band and dual-band isotropic metamaterial absorbers (IMAs) based on metallic disks. By optimizing the diameter of the metallic disks and the thickness of the dielectric substrate, the single-band IMA is observed at 16.2 GHz with absorptivity of 97%. When adding one disk-pair to the structure, the dual-band IMA is obtained at 12.8 and 15.5 GHz due to the symmetry breaking. The physical mechanics is explained by near-field coupling effect and equivalent LC circuit model. The measurement results performed in the range 12–18 GHz show a good agreement with simulation and theoretical analysis. Our findings demonstrate a new approach to achieve dual-band and multi-band IMAs.     

Comparative absorption kinetics of seven active ingredients of Eucommia ulmoides extracts by intestinal in situ circulatory perfusion in normal and spontaneous hypertensive rats

Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. (E. ulmoides) is a valuable and nourishing medicinal herb in China that has been used in the treatment of hypertension. Given the fact that most traditional Chinese medicine is mainly used to treat disease, investigating the pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicines in the pathological state is more useful than that in the normal state. However, the differences in the absorption kinetics of active ingredients of E. ulmoides extract between pathological and physiological conditions have not been reported. Therefore, in this study, the rat intestinal in situ circulatory perfusion model was used to investigate the differences in absorption kinetics of seven active ingredients of E. ulmoides extract in normal and spontaneously hypertensive rats, namely, genipinic acid, protocatechuic acid, neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, (+)-pinoresinol di-O-β-D -glucopyranoside and (+)-pinoresinol 4′-O-β-D -glucopyranoside. Our results indicate that the pathological state of spontaneous hypertension may change the absorption of active components of E. ulmoides extracts, and these findings may provide a reference for improving the rational use of E. ulmoides in the clinic.     

High index of refraction via quantum interference in a three-level system of Er^3＋-doped yttrium aluminium garnet crystal

A simple three-level system is proposed to produce high index of refraction with zero absorption in an Er^3＋-doped yttrium aluminium garnet （YAG） crystal, which is achieved for a probe field between the excited state 4I13/2 and ground state 4I15/2 by adjusting a strong coherent driving field between the upper excited state 4I11/2 and 4I15/2. It is found that the changes of the frequency of the coherent driving field and the concentration of Er^3＋ ions in the YAG crystal can maximize the index of refraction accompanied by vanishing absorption. This result could be useful for the dispersion compensation in fibre communication, laser particle acceleration, high precision magnetometry and so on.     

Applications of synchrotron radiation in materials analysis

The synchrotron radiation (SR) emitted by circulating high-energy electrons has extraordinary properties: The light is intensive and bright, it is tunable and highly collimated, and finally, it is linearly polarized. These exceptional properties have initiated a unique revival of many spectroscopies using electromagnetic radiation. The techniques of special concern for materials analysis which are treated in this article are: X-ray absorption, reflection, fluorescence, diffraction and topography. A number of examples will be given in order to illustrate the possibilities of these techniques when SR is used.On leave of absence from Institut für Festkörperforschung, KFA Jülich, D-5170 Jülich, Federal Republic of Germany     

Systematic investigations of the multi-element preconcentration from copper by precipitation of the matrix as copper(I) oxide and copper(I) thiocyanate

Two methods for multi-element preconcentration from copper by reductive matrix precipitation are presented. In systematic investigations on the coprecipitation behaviour of Ag, Al, Au, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Ga, In, Mn, Mo, NJ, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Te and Zn during precipitation of the copper matrix as Cu₂O or CuSCN, the separation parameters were optimized. By combination with a hexamethyleneammonium hexamethylenedithiocarbamate collector precipitation, a concentration of 8 elements (Cu₂O precipitation) or 13 elements (CuSCN precipitation) in a small volume was achieved. The limits of detection of the procedures are, depending on the element, 0.1–5 μg g^?1 for flame atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and 0.01–0.1 μg g^?1 for graphite furnace AAS. The relative standard deviations are about 3%. The analytical performance of the procedures is compared with that of an electrolytic copper separation.     

Infra-red free-carrier absorption due to impurity scattering in semiconducting quantum well structures

The theory of free-carrier absorption (FCA) is developed, in the extreme quantum limit when the carriers are assumed to populate only the lowest quantized energy level, for quasi-two and one-dimensional semiconducting quantum well structures where the carriers are scattered by ionized impurities. The radiation field is assumed to be polarized in the plane of the layer in the quasi-two-dimensional case and along the length of the wire in the quasi-one-dimensional case. Expressions for FCA are obtained for the cases where the impurities are either in the well (background impurities) or outside the well (remote impurities). Variation of FCA is numerically studied with photon frequency and well width.     

The mapping properties of the radiosity operator along an edge

In this article we study the radiosity operator along an edge between two adjacent half‐planes. First we show that the radiosity operator is invertible in a whole scale of anisotropic Sobolev spaces. In the absence of any shadows we are able to derive regularity properties of the solution, which depend only on the angle between the half‐planes, the reflectivity coefficients and the right‐hand side. This work can be considered as a supplement to the article of Rathsfeld (Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences 1999; 22 : 217–241). Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rank-perfect and" weakly rank-perfect graphs

An edge e of a perfect graph G is critical if G−e is imperfect. We would like to decide whether G−e is still “almost perfect” or already “very imperfect”. Via relaxations of the stable set polytope of a graph, we define two superclasses of perfect graphs: rank-perfect and weakly rank-perfect graphs. Membership in those two classes indicates how far an imperfect graph is away from being perfect. We study the cases, when a critical edge is removed from the line graph of a bipartite graph or from the complement of such a graph.     

若干图类的邻强边染色

研究了若干图类的邻强边染色 .利用在图中添加辅助点和边的方法 ,构造性的证明了对于完全图 Kn和路 Lm 的笛卡尔积图 Kn× Lm,有χ′as(Kn× Lm) =△ (Kn× Lm) +1 ,其中△ (Kn× Lm)和χ′as(Kn× Lm)分别表示图 Kn× Lm的最大度和邻强边色数 .同理验证了 n阶完全图 Kn的广义图 K(n,m)满足邻强边染色猜想 .