Solid Introduction to an ICP-Atomic Emission Spectrometer for the Analyses of Metals Contents of Air Filters

The direct introduction of solid samples (air filters) to the inductively coupled plasma source of an atomic emission spectrometer using a furnace atomizer has been studied. Conditions have been found for the analysis of elements which volatilize with varyling degrees of difficulty. Lead, copper and vandaium compounds retained on glass fibre filters from air pollution studies have been determined. The results are in good agreement with those obtained by means of established sample dissolution/atomic emision methods.     

Predicting Low-Pressure O2 Adsorption in Nanoporous Framework Materials for Sensing Applications

A set of 98 nanoporous framework material (NFM) structures was investigated by classical Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations for low-pressure O₂ adsorption properties (Henry’s constant and isosteric heat of adsorption). The set of materials includes those that have shown high O₂ uptake experimentally as well as a subset of more than 2000 structures previously screened for noble-gas uptake. While use of the general force field UFF is fruitful for noble-gas adsorption studies, its use is shown to be limited for the case of O₂ adsorption—one distinct limitation is a lack of sufficient O₂–metal interactions to be able to describe O₂ interaction with open metal sites. Nonetheless, those structures without open metal sites that have very small pores (<2.5 Å) show increased O₂/N₂ selectivity. Additionally, O₂/N₂ mixture simulations show that in some cases, H₂O or N₂ can hinder O₂ uptake for NFMs with small pores due to competitive adsorption.     

The Stabilization of Metal Oxide Nanocrystals by the Addition of Alumina

A problem in the study of nanoparticles is that they will tend to grow at moderate temperatures. For example, most oxides (e.g. SnO₂, ZrO₂, MgO) will show significant grain growth at 400°C. This severely limits experimental studies that require measurements over an extensive temperature range. In this contribution we demonstrate that the incorporation of A1₂O₃, can significantly restrict grain growth in MgO and ZrO₂ even at high temperatures.     

DFT study on H2O activation by stepped and planar Rh surfaces

In this research the effect of steps (lower coordinated surface atoms) and the presence of pre-adsorbed oxygen on the activation energy of water are studied with DFT. Without oxygen water activation is found to be structure insensitive. When oxygen is adsorbed on the surface and acts as the acceptor for the hydrogen at the step edge, the barrier will decrease significantly.     

Implicit QR algorithms for palindromic and even eigenvalue problems

In the spirit of the Hamiltonian QR algorithm and other bidirectional chasing algorithms, a structure-preserving variant of the implicit QR algorithm for palindromic eigenvalue problems is proposed. This new palindromic QR algorithm is strongly backward stable and requires less operations than the standard QZ algorithm, but is restricted to matrix classes where a preliminary reduction to structured Hessenberg form can be performed. By an extension of the implicit Q theorem, the palindromic QR algorithm is shown to be equivalent to a previously developed explicit version. Also, the classical convergence theory for the QR algorithm can be extended to prove local quadratic convergence. We briefly demonstrate how even eigenvalue problems can be addressed by similar techniques. D. S. Watkins partly supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through Matheon, the DFG Research Center Mathematics for key technologies in Berlin.     

One-dimensional photonic crystal design

In this article we present a method to determine the band spectrum, band gaps, and discrete energy levels, of a one-dimensional photonic crystal with localized impurities. For one-dimensional crystals with piecewise constant refractive indices we develop an algorithm to recover the refractive index distribution from the period map. Finally, we derive the relationship between the period map and the scattering matrix containing the information on the localized modes.     

Quantification of midazolam,morphine and metabolites in plasma using 96‐well solid‐phase extraction and ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Currently, pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic studies of sedatives and analgesics are performed in neonates and children to find suitable dose regimens. As a result, sensitive assays using only small volumes of blood are necessary to determine drug and metabolite concentrations. We developed an ultra‐performance liquid chromatographic method with tandem mass spectrometry detection for quantification of midazolam, 1‐hydroxymidazolam, hydroxymidazolamglucuronide, morphine, morphine‐3‐glucuronide and morphine‐6‐glucuronide in 100 μL of plasma. Cleanup consisted of 96 wells micro‐solid phase extraction, before reversed‐phase chromatographic separation (ultra‐performance liquid chromatography) and selective detection using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Separate solid‐phase extraction methods were necessary to quantify morphine, midazolam and their metabolites because of each group's physicochemical properties. Standard curves were linear over a large dynamic range with adequate limits of quantitation. Intra‐ and interrun accuracy and precision were within 85–115% (of nominal concentration using a fresh calibration curve) and 15% (coefficient of variation, CV) respectively. Recoveries were >80% for all analytes, with interbatch CVs (as a measure of matrix effects) of less than 15% over six batches of plasma. Stability in plasma and extracts was sufficient, allowing large autosampler loads. Runtime was 3.00 min per sample for each method. The combination of 96‐well micro‐SPE and UPLC‐MS/MS allows reliable quantification of morphine, midazolam and their major metabolites in 100 μL of plasma. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Third-order partial differential equations arising in the impulsive motion of a flat plate

We obtain numerical solutions to a class of third-order partial differential equations arising in the impulsive motion of a flat plate for various boundary data. In particular, we study the case of constant acceleration of the plate, the case of oscillation of the plate, and a case in which velocity is increasing yet acceleration is decreasing. We compare the numerical solutions with the known exact solutions in order to establish the validity of the method. Several figures illustrating both solution forms and the relative strength of the second and third-order terms are presented. The results obtained in this study reveal many interesting behaviors that warrant further study on the non-Newtonian fluid flow phenomena.     

On the formation mechanism for electrically generated exciplexes in a carbazole–pyridine copolymer

Although carbazole‐containing copolymers are frequently used as hole‐transporting host materials for polymer organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), they often suffer from the formation of undesired exciplexes when the OLED is operated. The reason why exciplexes sometimes form for electrical excitation, yet not for optical excitation is not well understood. Here, we use luminescence measurements and quantum chemical calculations to investigate the mechanism of such exciplex formation for electrical excitation (electroplex formation) in a carbazole–pyridine copolymer. Our results suggest that the exciplex is formed via a positively charged interchain precursor complex. This complex is stabilized by interactions that involve the nitrogen lone pairs on both chain segments. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012