Life‐cycle toxicity of dibutyltin to the sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus) and implications of the ubiquitous tributyltin impurity in test material

Dibutyltin (DBT) is used in the plastics polymerization process as a catalyst in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products and is the primary degradation product of tributyltin (TBT), an antifoulant in marine paint. DBT and other organotin compounds make their way into the environment through antifoulants, PVC processing plants, and PVC products maintained in water and water‐handling systems. A flow‐through saltwater life‐cycle toxicity test was conducted to determine the chronic effect of DBT to the sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus Lacepede), an estuarine species. Embryos were monitored through hatch, maturation, growth, and reproduction in DBT concentrations of 158, 286, 453, 887, and 1510 µg l^?1. Progeny were monitored for survival as embryos and fry/juveniles, and growth for 30 days post‐isolation. Mean length of parental generation fish was significantly reduced on day 30 at DBT concentrations ≥887 µg l^?1, setting the lowest observable effect concentration (LOEC) at 887 µg l^?1 and the no observable effect concentration (NOEC) at 453 µg l^?1. Fecundity, as egg viability, was significantly reduced at the LOEC. Survival of parental and progeny generation embryos and mean length, wet weight and dry weight of progeny generation juveniles were not significantly affected at concentrations ≤LOEC. TBT, a toxic impurity in DBT reversibly produced in DBT by the process of comproportionation, was also monitored throughout this study. Comparing measured levels of TBT in this study with levels exerting toxic effects in an earlier TBT life‐cycle study with C. variegatus suggests biological responses in this study were likely due to the TBT impurity and not to DBT alone. Results indicate that TBT impurity as low as 0.1% may have a significant influence on the perceived toxicity of DBT and that spontaneous production of TBT in DBT may be the major source of biological toxicity of DBT. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The graphite probe constant temperature furnace

A graphite probe, on which the sample is deposited, is thrust into a heated graphite furnace tube, providing a constant temperature furnace environment. By comparison with wall sampling, the graphite probe system provides equal or improved sensitivity and detection limit and considerably less memory effect. Experiments with metals that range from volatile to refractory show that the peak width is the same at the same atomization temperature. A tube was designed that provided a curtain of argon to limit the absorbance path to about 15 mm.     

Carbon isotope determination for separate components of heterogeneous materials using coupled thermogravimetric analysis/isotope ratio mass spectrometry

A gas-tight thermal analysis system (Netzsch STA 449C Jupiter) has been connected to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (PDZ Europa 20-20) via an interface containing an oxidizing furnace, water trap, and gas-sampling valve. Using this system, delta(13)C has been measured for CO(2) derived from the thermal decomposition of carbonate and oxalate minerals and organic materials at temperatures that correspond to different decomposition events. There is close agreement between measured and published delta(13)C values for carbonate and oxalate minerals, which have simple decarbonation reactions on heating. Cellulose and lignin-rich materials show much more complex thermal decomposition, reflecting differences in their purity and structure, and measured delta(13)C values vary with the temperature of gas sampling. Provided that measurements are made at temperatures that correspond to the decomposition of cellulose and lignin (indicated by maximum weight loss), internally consistent data can be obtained. However, measurements for cellulose and lignin are systematically enriched in delta(13)C (by up to 1.4 per thousand) with respect to those reported for reference materials, possibly due to the slower combustion kinetics (compared with EA-IRMS). Thermogravimetric analysis/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (TG-IRMS) is ideal for materials and samples for which it is not possible to use other isotopic measurement techniques, for example because of sample heterogeneity.     

Nonplanar aromatic compounds. 9. Synthesis, structure, and aromaticity of 1:2,13:14-dibenzo[2]paracyclo[2](2,7)- pyrenophane-1,13-diene

Pyrenophane (6) and an octaphenyl derivative (16) were synthesized using two different routes. Both cyclophanes contain a severely bent pyrene unit (6: theta = 93.6 degrees and 16: theta = 95.8 degrees , according to DFT-calculations (B3LYP/6-311G**)), which was generated at room temperature by a valence isomerization/dehydrogenation (VID) reaction. HOMA and NICS indicate 92-98% retention of aromaticity of the highly distorted pyrene systems compared to planar pyrene.     

Excitation-resolved hyperspectral fluorescence lifetime imaging using a UV-extended supercontinuum source

We present a time-gated, optically sectioned, hyperspectral fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) microscope incorporating a tunable supercontinuum excitation source extending into the UV. The system is capable of resolving the excitation spectrum, emission spectrum, and fluorescence decays in an optically sectioned image.     

Photoconductive response times of Si-on-sapphire damaged with Si28 ions

We present autocorrelation measurements showing the high-speed sampling and switching capabilities of SOS photoconducting elements which have been ion implanted with 60 and 160 keV Si²⁸ ions. An analysis of the circuit shows the intrinsic photoconductive decay to be very fast (3.5 ps) and that the measured response is primarily limited by the gap capacitance and the associated R-C time.     

REFLECTIVE INFRARED ELLIPSOMETRY OF PLASTIC FILMS

High resolution reflective ellipsometry is used to study freely suspended plastic films. We determine room temperature optical constants in the infrared for a variety of plastics using ellipsometry. The films are typically 6 to 100 μm thick and measurements are performed from near infrared to long wave-IR. The setup includes modeling software to fit the ellipsometric data to a generalized oscillator model. The films studied include acrylics, fluoropolymers, and variations of polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) among others. We are able to determine in-plane and out-of-plane optical constants. Transmission spectra from FTIR measurements are plotted and compared with ellipsometry results.     

Perturbing a product of stable flows

Suppose that and are axiom A flows with attractors and . Then the attractor for the product flow on the product manifold is no longer hyperbolic (although there is a hyperbolic action of ).

It is easy to see that the attractor cannot explode but we show here that it cannot implode: for any flow sufficiently close to any attractor whose basin is not too thin is -dense in .

     

Particle composition at high transverse momenta in p-p-collisions in the central region at the CERN ISR

Preliminary measurements have been made at centre of mass energies √s = 31 and 44 GeV of the π, K and p production ratios at 90° for p_T between 2.0 and 3.5 GeV/c. The (K+p)/π ratio is given down to p_T = 1.4 GeV/c. No strong energy dependence is observed for these transverse momenta.