A Simple Extraction Method for Determination of High Molecular Weight Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sediments by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

A simplified extraction method was developed for extracting high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from river sediments. The samples were extracted 3 times with 5 mL of solvent (toluene:methanol, 9 : 1, v/v) at 100 °C, 10 minutes for each extraction. After clean‐up and concentration, extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer (GC‐MS). The extraction efficiency and accuracy was evaluated by the standard reference material (SRM‐1941b). Comparing to certified values, the average recoveries of high molecular weight PAHs with 3, 4, 5 and 6 fused benzene rings were 72.9∼113.2 % (R.S.D. 2.3∼6.3 %) except those of dibenz[a,h]anthracene (206.2±4.6 %). The average recoveries for PAHs spiked sediment samples were comparable with accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and Soxhlet methods. The simple extraction method consumes less solvent, fewer amount of sample than those of conventional methods. The lowest quantitation limit of PAHs is 1.1 μg/kg.     

Extraction of Intercalated O2 from Aligned Carbon Nanotubes: The Breaking of Intertube Paths and Exponential Changes in Resistance

In carbon nanotube films, the alignment of carbon nanotubes creates Lennard–Jones potentials at intertube junctions and trapped O₂ appears to oscillate at elevated temperatures. Electrical measurements reveal a low hopping barrier along the transverse direction and an underlying mechanism that involves intercalated molecules acting as charge carriers between tubes. Ab initio calculations support dynamic intercalation and charge transfer through O₂ bouncing between tubes.     

Thermal optical path difference analysis of off-axis lens ray trace foot-print

The optical system lens temperature difference will cause optical aberration increase. This study is applying finite element method (FEM) and optical ray tracing; calculate off axis ray thermal optical path difference (OPD). The optical system temperature distribution is calculated from finite element simulation result and weighting temperature to each optical ray path. The simulation result shows off-axis ray major thermal optical aberrations are tilt and piston at this study.     

Dynamic kinetic asymmetric synthesis of five contiguous stereogenic centers by sequential organocatalytic stetter and Michael-aldol reaction: enantioselective synthesis of fully substituted cyclopentanols bearing a quaternary stereocenter

A synthesis of fully substituted cyclopentanes bearing a quaternary carbon center and five contiguous stereogenic centers has been achieved by sequential organocatalyzed Stetter and Michael-Aldol reactions of heteroaromatic aldehydes, nitroalkenes, and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes via the [1 + 2 + 2] annulation strategy with dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation and excellent enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee).     

Considerations of single-machine scheduling with deteriorating jobs

This paper considers some scheduling problems with deteriorating jobs. The objectives are to minimize the makespan, the total completion time, the total absolute deviation of completion time, the earliness, tardiness, and due date penalty, the sum of earliness penalties subject to no tardy jobs, respectively. We also explore two resource constrained scheduling problems: how to minimize the resource consumption with makespan constraints and how to minimize the makespan with the total resource consumption constraints. Several polynomial time algorithms are proposed to optimally solve the problems with the above objective functions.     

Transition on the relationship between fractal dimension and Hurst exponent in the long-range connective sandpile models

The relationships between the Hurst exponent H and the power-law scaling exponent B in a new modification of sandpile models, i.e. the long-range connective sandpile (LRCS) models, exhibit a strong dependence upon the system size L. As L decreases, the LRCS model can demonstrate a transition from the negative to positive correlations between H- and B-values. While the negative and null correlations are associated with the fractional Gaussian noise and generalized Cauchy processes, respectively, the regime with the positive correlation between the Hurst and power-law scaling exponents may suggest an unknown, interesting class of the stochastic processes.     

Polarization-dependent optical tuning of focal intensity of liquid crystal polymer microlens array

This work demonstrates the feasibility of a microlens array (MLA) with a focal intensity that can be optically tuned by controlling the polarization of incident light. The proposed MLA has a focusing unit based on birefringent liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) and a tuning unit with a photo-alignment layer for controlling the polarization state of incident laser light. The optically variable refractive indices of LCP allow a positive or negative MLA to be realized by controlling the polarization of the incident light.     

Measurement of aflatoxin M1 in milk by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive method was developed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)/MS/MS with positive electrospray ionization for determining aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk and milk powder. A 50 mL quantity of low-fat liquid milk containing 100 ng/L AFM1, was prepared using immunoaffinity columns with a mean recovery rate of 79% (n = 3). UHPLC columns (BEH C18, BEH HILIC, and HSS T3) greatly reduced the chromatographic time and lowered the instrumental detection limits (IDLs) 16 to 58 times compared to an HPLC column (Betabasic C18). The HSS T3 column was chosen because it provided a low IDL (0.11 pg) and the lowest ion suppression of signal intensity (63.4%) among the tested columns. Matrix-fortified calibration curves were used for quantification and showed good linearity (r > 0.997) at 0.05-500 ng/mL. The LOD was 0.18 ng/kg for milk and 2.08 nglkg for milk powder, based on the signal intensity of the confirmatory product ion (m/z 259.1), which was less abundant than the quantitative product ion (m/z 273.1). Certified reference materials of milk powder at three levels (<0.05, 0.111 +/- 0.018, and 0.44 +/- 0.06 microg/kg) were measured within a day and between days; the results were all close to the certified levels with low variations (RSDs < 15%), showing good precision and accuracy.     

Dye-sensitized solar cells based on multiwalled carbon nanotube-titania/titania bilayer structure photoelectrode

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-TiO(2) nanocomposite as a light scattering layer. Morphology of the MWCNT-TiO(2) film was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FESEM and TEM images demonstrate that MWCNTs and TiO(2) nanoparticles can be dispersed with chitosan. Internal resistance in the DSSC was characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). EIS results reveal a decrease in the charge resistance of electrolyte/dye/MWCNT-TiO(2)/TiO(2) interface with increasing MWCNT content up to 3 wt% which leads to an improvement in the photovoltaic performance. Compare with a nanocrystalline TiO(2) single-layer cell, the DSSC based on the MWCNT (3 wt%)-TiO(2)/TiO(2) bilayer structure photoelectrode shows ~100% increase in solar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency, which is attributed to the inclusion of MWCNTs in TiO(2) matrix.     

Gold nanoparticle-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry amplification and magnetic separation for the sensitive detection of a virus-specific RNA sequence

We have developed a sensitive gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) amplification and magnetic separation method for the detection of oligonucleotide sequences. The assay relies on (i) the sandwich-type binding of two designed probe sequences that specifically recognize the target oligonucleotide sequences, (ii) magnetic bead separation, and (iii) AuNP-based ICP-MS amplification detection. To enhance the analytical signal and minimize the background signal resulting from nonspecific binding, we performed a series of experiments to evaluate the effects of various parameters (the concentration of the capture probe; the time required for hybridization; the number of washings required to eliminate nonspecific binding) on the oligonucleotide detection. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limit was 80zmol (corresponding to 1.6fM of the target sequence in a sample volume of 50μL). Moreover, it employs a shorter hybridization step and ICP-MS, this procedure is relatively simple and rapid (ca. 1.5h). Based on the analytical results obtained using complementary and mismatched sequences, our method exhibits good performance in distinguishing complementary and random oligonucleotides. Compared with the "gold standard" methodology (plaque assay) for the quantification of dengue virus, our method has the capability to allow early detection of dengue virus in complicated and small-volume samples, with high specificity, good analytical sensitivity, and superior time-effectiveness.