Determination of 13C/12C-ratios of anthropogenic organic contaminants in river water samples by GC-irmMS

This study describes the application of a common analytical procedure adapted for compound-specific stable carbon isotope analyses of riverine contaminants. To evaluate the sensitivity of the analytical method and the precision of the isotopic data obtained, a set of numerous substances at different concentration levels were measured. For most of the anthropogenic contaminants investigated (including chlorinated aliphatics and aromatics, musk fragrances, phthalate-based plasticizers and tetrabutyl tin) acceptable carbon isotope analyses could be obtained down to amounts of approximately 5?ng absolutely applied to the gas chromatograph. These amounts correspond to concentrations in water samples at a natural abundance level of approximately 50–200?ng?L^?1 (low to medium contaminated river systems). However, it has to be considered that the precision and the sensitivity of the analytical method depend partially on the chemical properties of the substances measured. Five recovery experiments were conducted to assess changes in carbon isotope ratios during sample preparation and measurement. The compounds selected for these experiments are known riverine contaminants. Isotopic shifts or higher variations of the isotope ratios as a result of the analytical procedures applied were observed only for a couple of contaminants. Furthermore, compound-specific carbon isotope analyses were performed on eight water extracts of the Rhine river. By comparing the variation of the data of several individual compounds with the deviations obtained from the recovery experiments, it was possible to differentiate contaminants with unaffected isotope ratios and substances with significant alterations of the δ¹³C-values.     

Determination of the total purity of a high-purity silver material to be used as a primary standard for element determination

A candidate material for the use as primary standard for silver determination was characterized with respect to total purity. Except the radioactive elements and He, all possible impurities were considered. Based on glow discharge mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and carrier gas hot extraction measurements, the demonstrated total purity and its standard uncertainty is w(Ag) = (99.999 52 ± 0.000 11) %. The purity value and its uncertainty is dominated by the contributions from the measurements of the nonmetallic impurities, namely S, N, C and O.     

Glycation sites of human plasma proteins are affected to different extents by hyperglycemic conditions in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Glucose can modify proteins in human blood, forming early glycation products (e.g., Amadori compounds), which can slowly degrade to advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). AGEs contribute significantly to complications of diabetes mellitus and, thus, represent markers of advanced disease stages. They are, however, currently unsuitable for early diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring. Here, we report sensitive strategies to identify and relatively quantify protein glycation sites in human plasma samples obtained from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and age-matched nondiabetic individuals using a bottom-up approach. Specifically, Amadori peptides were enriched from tryptic digests by boronic acid affinity chromatography, separated by reversed-phase chromatography, and analyzed on-line by high-resolution mass spectrometry. Among the 52 Amadori peptides studied here were 20 peptides resembling 19 glycation sites in six human proteins detected at statistically significantly higher levels in T2DM than in the normoglycemic controls. Four positions appeared to be unique for T2DM within the detection limit. All 19 glycation sites represent promising new biomarker candidates for early diagnosis of T2DM and adequate therapeutic control, as they may indicate early metabolic changes preceding T2DM. Graphical Abstract

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FE-simulation of spatially graded gelation during adhesive's curing

In this contribution main aspects of material characterization and modelling of a curing adhesive are denoted. It is pointed out how to deal with the exothermic heat generation during curing, both, how to obtain it experimentally as well as how to account for it in the continuum mechanical an FE-modelling framework. Furthermore, a strategy to simulate spatially graded gelation processes in ANSYS® is presented. An academic simulation example completes this work. By the help of this simulation tool a better understanding of a novel manufacturing process of smart semi-finished light weight structures is ensured. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Towards a finite element simulation of coating by means of thermal spraying

Metal sheet forming processes like deep drawing are applied in order to produce carriage parts in mass production. Therefore, forming tools are required that are well protected against wear. For such forming tools, wear resistant surfaces are, e.g., produced by thermal spraying of hard material coatings. The thermal spraying process itself is a highly transient thermo-mechanical process. In order to gain a better understanding of the heat input and transfer during thermal spraying, a simulation framework for thermal spraying processes is presented. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Efficient time integration in multiplicative inelasticity

In Shutov et al. (Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 265:213–225, 2013), the numerical time integration of a famous large strain model of Maxwell fluid type has been considered. The underlying model is based on the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient and includes a Neo-Hookean hyperelasticity relation as well as an incompressible viscous flow rule. Shutov et al. presented a time stepping algorithm for implicit time integration of the inelastic flow rule, which is based on Euler backward time discretisation, prevents error accumulation and is iteration free. In this contribution, the basic idea of the this approach is applied to more general models of multiplicative viscoelasticity. Here, extended hyperelastic relations including general functions of the first principal invariant of deformation tensors are regarded. An efficient time stepping algorithm is derived, where only one scalar equation for one scalar unknown has to be solved within every time step. The approach is applied to a specific viscoelastic model. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)