Semi-continuous High Speed Gas Analysis of Generated Vapors of Chemical Warfare Agents

A method is presented for the continuous analysis of generated vapors of the nerve agents soman and sarin and the blistering agent sulfur mustard. By using a gas sampling valve and a very short (15 cm) column connected to an on-column injector with a “standard length” column, the system can either be calibrated or used for performing high speed gas analyses. When using a flame ionization detector, the detection limit was ca. 100 ppb (ca. 0.5–1.0 mg/m³). This technique is applied in inhalation toxicokinetic studies of nerve agents and mustard gas in the guinea pig.     

Semi-passivity and synchronization of diffusively coupled neuronal oscillators

We discuss synchronization in networks of neuronal oscillators which are interconnected via diffusive coupling, i.e. linearly coupled via gap junctions. In particular, we present sufficient conditions for synchronization in these networks using the theory of semi-passive and passive systems. We show that the conductance based neuronal models of Hodgkin-Huxley, Morris-Lecar, and the popular reduced models of FitzHugh-Nagumo and Hindmarsh-Rose all satisfy a semi-passivity property, i.e. that is the state trajectories of such a model remain oscillatory but bounded provided that the supplied (electrical) energy is bounded. As a result, for a wide range of coupling configurations, networks of these oscillators are guaranteed to possess ultimately bounded solutions. Moreover, we demonstrate that when the coupling is strong enough the oscillators become synchronized. Our theoretical conclusions are confirmed by computer simulations with coupled Hindmarsh-Rose and Morris-Lecar oscillators. Finally we discuss possible “instabilities” in networks of oscillators induced by the diffusive coupling.     

Comprehensive inter‐laboratory calibration of reference materials for δ18O versus VSMOW using various on‐line high‐temperature conversion techniques

Internationally distributed organic and inorganic oxygen isotopic reference materials have been calibrated by six laboratories carrying out more than 5300 measurements using a variety of high‐temperature conversion techniques (HTC) a in an evaluation sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). To aid in the calibration of these reference materials, which span more than 125‰, an artificially enriched reference water (δ¹⁸O of +78.91‰) and two barium sulfates (one depleted and one enriched in ¹⁸O) were prepared and calibrated relative to VSMOW2 b and SLAP reference waters. These materials were used to calibrate the other isotopic reference materials in this study, which yielded:

Determination of Flavonoids and Resveratrol in Wine by Turbulent-Flow Chromatography-LC-MS

Turbulent-flow chromatography (TFC) on-line coupled to liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is used to determine flavonoids and resveratrol in different types of wines. A fully automated system was developed in which 10 mL of sample (diluted wine) was passed over a TFC column, after which the retained analytes were separated by reversed-phase LC and detected by negative ion mode atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization (APCI) MS. The method proved to be fast, non-laborious, robust and sensitive. The feasibility of the method was tested on several red, white and rose wines. Quantitation of resveratrol was possible using the standard addition procedure. Red wine showed the highest amount of resveratrol (4 mg L⁻¹), while rose and white wine contained concentrations which were about ten fold lower.

     

An index formula for the product of linear relations

Let , and be linear spaces and let A and B be linear relations from to and from to , respectively. The main result of this note is a formula which relates the nullities and the defects of the relations A and B with those of the product relation BA.     

On Kre?n's formula

Kre?n's formula provides a parametrization of the generalized resolvents and Štraus extensions of a closed symmetric operator with equal possibly infinite defect numbers in a Hilbert space in terms of Nevanlinna families in a parameter space. The aim of this note is to give a simple complete analytical proof of Kre?n's formula.     

Bounds for point recolouring in geometric graphs

We examine a recolouring scheme ostensibly used to assist in classifying geographic data. Given a drawing of a graph with bi-chromatic points, where the points are the vertices of the graph, a point can be recoloured if it is surrounded by neighbours of the opposite colour. The notion of surrounded is defined as a contiguous subset of neighbours that span an angle greater than 180 degrees. The recolouring of surrounded points continues in sequence, in no particular order, until no point remains surrounded. We show that for some classes of graphs the process terminates in a polynomial number of steps. On the other hand, there are classes of graphs with infinite recolouring sequences.     

High-spin- and low-spin-state structures of [Fe(chloroethyltetrazole)6](ClO4)2 from synchrotron powder diffraction data

The spin-crossover complex [Fe(teec)(6)](ClO(4))(2) (teec = chloroethyltetrazole) exhibits a 50 % incomplete spin crossover in the temperature range 300-30 K. Time-resolved synchrotron powder diffraction experiments have been carried out to elucidate its structural behavior. We report crystal structure models of this material at 300 K (high spin) and 90 K (low spin), as solved from synchrotron powder diffraction data by using Genetic Algorithm and Parallel Tempering techniques and refined with Rietveld refinement. During short synchrotron powder diffraction experiments (five minutes duration) two distinguishable lattices were observed the quantities of which vary with temperature. The implication of this phenomenon, that is interpreted as a structural phase transition associated with the high-to-low spin crossover, and the structural characteristics of the high-spin and low-spin models are discussed in relation to other compounds showing a similar type of spin-crossover behavior.