Synchrotron radiation total reflection X-ray fluorescence (SR-TXRF) for evaluation of food contamination

Summary The objective of this study was to use synchrotron radiation total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis (SR-TXRF) for the determination of metals and other elements in food available to the population in commercial establishments, in order to evaluate the risks of contamination by these products. The analyzed species were vegetables, leafy vegetables, fruits, cereal and grain. The results indicated that some species were contaminated by Cr, Cu, Zn and Pb with concentrations much higher than the reference values.     

Excess noise peaks in porous silicon-based diode structures

Results of an experimental observation of the voltage oscillations associated with a discrete tunneling of holes in porous silicon at room temperature are presented. The noise characteristics of diode structures with a porous silicon interlayer formed on heavily boron-doped silicon single crystals are studied. Peaks of excessive noise are observed at frequencies of ～1 MHz, at which single-electron oscillations should be expected. The peak noise power is found to increase with current according to the ～2.5 power law and, at a current density of 0.15 A/cm², to exceed the noise power of the receiver by three to four orders of magnitude. The complex shape of the noise spectrum and its extension to the higher frequency region with increasing current are explained by the three-dimensionality of the system of nanometer-sized silicon grains embedded in insulating silicon dioxide of porous silicon.     

Autour du théorème de Ferrand–Obata (Concerning the Theorem of Ferrand–Obata)

The aim of this article is to give a new dynamical proof of the Ferrand–Obata theorem when the manifold is compact. This will give us a generalisation of this theorem to transversally conformal foliations ofcodimension greater than three and constant basic functions.     

A note on the Lyapunov equation for discrete linear systems in Hilbert space

It is given a simple and unified new proof for the following well-known stability condition: an infinite-dimensional time-invariant discrete linear system is uniformly asymptotically stable if and only if the associate Lyapunov equation has a unique strictly positive solution. The proof is partially based on an application of Rota's model construction technique.     

High resolution electronic study of ONO, ONO and ONO: A rovibronic survey covering 11 800-14 380 cm

The 11 800-14 380 cm⁻¹ frequency range has been scanned for rotationally resolved rovibronic transitions in the A²B₂-X²A₁ electronic band system of the symmetric (C_2v) ¹⁶O¹⁴N¹⁶O and ¹⁸O¹⁴N¹⁸O isotopologues and in the corresponding electronic band system of the asymmetric (C_s) ¹⁸O¹⁴N¹⁶O isotopologue. The rotational analysis—reflecting minor differences in mass—in combination with symmetry induced spectral differences allows an identification of 68 ¹⁶O¹⁴N¹⁶O vibronic levels, 26 ¹⁸O¹⁴N¹⁸O vibronic levels and 51 ¹⁸O¹⁴N¹⁶O vibronic levels. The bands are recorded using near infrared fluorescence spectroscopy and a piezo valve based pulsed molecular beam expansion of premixed ¹⁸O₂ and ¹⁴N¹⁶O in Ar. The majority of the observed bands is rotationally assigned and can be identified as transitions starting from the vibrational ground state of one of the isotopologues. Numerous hot bands have also been identified. A comparison of the overall spectroscopic features of C_2v vs. C_s symmetric species provides qualitative information on symmetry dependence of vibronic couplings.     

Slow positron beam study of corrosion-related defects in pure iron

Corrosion-related defects of pure iron were investigated by measuring Doppler broadening energy spectra (DBES) of positron annihilation and positron annihilation lifetime (PAL). Defect profiles of the S-parameter from DBES as a function of positron incident energy up to 30 keV (i.e. ∼1 μm depth) were analyzed. The DBES data show that S-parameter increases as a function of positron incident energy (mean depth) after corrosion, and the increase in the S-parameter is larger near the surface than in the bulk due to corrosion. Furthermore, information on defect size from PAL data as a function of positron incident energy up to 10 keV (i.e. ∼0.2 μm depth) was analyzed. In the two-state trapping model, the lifetime τ₂ = 500 ps is ascribed to annihilation of positrons in voids with a size of the order of nanometer. τ₁, which decreases with depth from the surface to the bulk, is ascribed to the annihilation of positrons in dislocations and three-dimensional vacancy clusters. The corroded samples show a significant increase in τ₁ and the intensity I₂, and near the surface the corroded iron introduces both voids and large-size three-dimensional vacancy clusters. The size of vacancy clusters decreases with depth.     

Homogeneous immunoassays

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology -     

Detection of silent temporal gaps in sinusoidal markers

Gap detection thresholds were measured by forced-choice procedure for conditions where the duration of a silent gap was varied adaptively between pairs of sinusoidal markers of the same or different frequency. Frequencies of the first sinusoid in a pair of markers ranged from F1 = 500 to 4000 Hz. Second-sinusoid marker frequencies F2 included F1 = F2, and usually frequencies 2%, 5%, 24%, and 50% higher than F1. In preliminary studies the role of presentation level (E/N0) on gap detection was considered. Preliminary data revealed confounding extraneous factors arising from gating transients and from overall stimulus (i.e., markers + gap) and/or masker duration cues. In the main experiments, the contributions of these extraneous cues were evaluated with experimental designs aimed at identifying and minimizing the confounding roles of these cues in gap detection. For conditions where extraneous gating transient cues were minimized (by presenting the sinusoidal markers in a continuous noise masker with random onset phase for the second sinusoid in every pair of markers) and overall stimulus duration cues were diminished (by randomizing the duration of each marker independently), gap detection thresholds increased from 5 to 90 ms as the frequency separation between F1 and F2 was increased by half an octave. When the gap detection thresholds were treated as filter attenuation values by normalizing and converting the data into decibels, the data were closely fit by the roex filter model. On average, the listeners' performances were modeled well by a constant-percentage (7%) bandwidth filter centered on F1.