Isotope ratio monitoring gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry of D/H by high temperature conversion isotope ratio mass spectrometry

Of all the elements, hydrogen has the largest naturally occurring variations in the ratio of its stable isotopes (D/H). It is for this reason that there has been a strong desire to add hydrogen to the list of elements amenable to isotope ratio monitoring gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (irm-GC/MS). In irm-GC/MS the sample is entrained in helium as the carrier gas, which is also ionized and separated in the isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS). Because of the low abundance of deuterium in nature, precise and accurate on-line monitoring of D/H ratios with an IRMS requires that low energy helium ions be kept out of the m/z 3 collector, which requires the use of an energy filter. A clean mass 3 (HD(+.)) signal which is independent of a large helium load in the electron impact ion source is essential in order to reach the sensitivity required for D/H analysis of capillary GC peaks. A new IRMS system, the DELTA(plus)XL(trade mark), has been designed for high precision, high accuracy measurements of transient signals of hydrogen gas. It incorporates a retardation lens integrated into the m/z 3 Faraday cup collector. Following GC separation, the hydrogen bound in organic compounds must be quantitatively converted into H(2) gas prior to analysis in the IRMS. Quantitative conversion is achieved by high temperature conversion (TC) at temperatures >1400 degrees C. Measurements of D/H ratios of individual organic compounds in complicated natural mixtures can now be made to a precision of 2 per thousand (delta notation) or, better, with typical sample amounts of approximately 200 ng per compound. Initial applications have focused on compounds of interest to petroleum research (biomarkers and natural gas components), food and flavor control (vanillin and ethanol), and metabolic studies (fatty acids and steroids). Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of the quantitative properties of the quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer with electrospray ionisation using 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine

This paper describes the investigation of the potential of a quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-TOF) equipped with an atmospheric pressure ionisation interface for quantitative measurements of small molecules separated by reversed phase liquid chromatography. To this end, the detection limits and linear dynamic range in particular were studied in an LC/MS/MS experiment using 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine standards and 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine for internal standardisation. In a second phase, the experiment was repeated with real biological extracts (whole blood, serum, and vitreous humour). A calibration for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and its metabolite 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine was prepared in each of these matrices again using 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine as internal standard. The resulting quantitative data were compared with those obtained by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection for the same extracts. The Q-TOF results revealed excellent sensitivity and a linear dynamic range of nearly four decades (2-10 000 pg on-column, r(2) = 0.9998, 1/x weighting). Furthermore, all the calibration curves prepared in biological material were superimposable, LC/MS/MS and LC-fluorescence, and the quantitative results for actual samples compared very favourably. It was concluded that the Q-TOF achieves a linear dynamic range for quantitative LC/MS/MS work exceeding that of fluorescence detection and at much better absolute sensitivity. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中低变质程度煤显微组分结构的13 C-NMR研究

利用13C-NMR核磁共振技术对中低变质程度煤显微组分（镜质组和惰质组）的分子结构进行了研究,计算了5种煤9个显微组分的13C-NMR结构参数,获得了样品的结构特征及变化规律。结果表明,惰质组结构中芳构化程度要高于镜质组;脂碳数量则少于镜质组,芳环上的烷烃侧链也没有镜质组长;随着煤变质程度的提高,煤分子中芳构化程度不断提高,但惰质组的芳香度随变质程度变化的规律明显不如镜质组;在中低变质阶段,对煤化进程起主导作用的的是芳构化作用而不是环缩合作用,但在惰质组中脂碳断裂形成芳环的现象不明显。惰质组中含氧官能团的总量要低于同等变质程度的镜质组。     

Lattice QCD at finite temperature and density

QCD at finite temperature and density is becoming increasingly important for various experimental programmes, ranging from heavy ion physics to astro-particle physics. The non-perturbative nature of non-abelian quantum field theories at finite temperature leaves lattice QCD as the only tool by which we may hope to come to reliable predictions from first principles. This requires careful extrapolations to the thermodynamic, chiral and continuum limits in order to eliminate systematic effects introduced by the discretization procedure. After an introduction to lattice QCD at finite temperature and density, its possibilities and current systematic limitations, a review of present numerical results is given. In particular, plasma properties such as the equation of state, screening masses, static quark free energies and spectral functions are discussed, as well as the critical temperature and the QCD phase structure at zero and finite density.     

Lp空间Kantorovich-Vertesi算子逼近的Jackson型估计

考虑了Kantorovich-Vertesi有理插值型算子L^*n,s（f,X,x）对L^p[-1,1]（1≤p≤∞）空间函数逼近的Jackson型估计。并获得了如下逼近阶：‖L^*n,s(f,X,x)-f(x)‖L^p[-1,1]≤Cp,sw(f,1/n 2)L^p[-1,1] （s＞2）。     

Sunbed radiation provokes cutaneous vitamin D synthesis in humans--a randomized controlled trial

We wanted to investigate whether the use of sunbeds with sunlamps emitting mainly UVA and only 0.5% or 1.4% UVB will increase the level of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). In a randomized, controlled, open study on healthy, Caucasian females (> 50 years) sunbed radiation was given as follows: four 6-min sunbed sessions (days 0, 2, 4 and 7) and four 12-min sunbed sessions (days 9, 11, 14 and 16 ) with sunlamps emitting 0.5% UVB (n = 20) or with sunlamps emitting 1.4% UVB (n = 15). The controls (n = 21) had no intervention. Serum levels of 25(OH)D were measured on days 0, 9 and 18 in all three groups. The average increase in serum 25(OH)D from day 0 to day 9 was 12 nmol L(-1) (SD 11 nmol L(-1), P = 0.0002) in the 0.5% UVB group and 27 nmol L(-1) (SD 9 nmol L(-1), P < 0.0001) in the 1.4% UVB group. From day 9 to day 18 a further but not significant increase in serum 25(OH)D of 3 nmol L(-1) (SD 9 nmol L(-1), P = 0.2) in the 0.5% UVB group and 0.6 nmol L(-1) (SD 18 nmol L(-1), P = 0.9) in the 1.4% UVB group was seen. No significant changes were found in the control group. Increasing with UVB dose and exposure time, 37-64% of the sunbed sessions resulted in side effects such as erythema or polymorphic light eruption. The results showed that sunbeds emitting 0.5% and 1.4% UVB increased 25(OH)D serum levels. The increases were dose dependent but reached a plateau after few sessions. Sunbed use as vitamin D source is, however, not generally recommendable due to the well-known carcinogenicity and high frequency of acute side effects.