Separation techniques in speciation analysis for organometallic species

A comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art of the separation of various organically-bound metals and metalloids for speciation analysis is presented. Recent developments in chromatographic (gas, liquid and supercritical fluid), electrophoretic (free-flow and gel) and fractionation techniques are discussed, followed by a survey of pertinent applications to speciation analysis for organometals and metalloids. The required sample characteristics for a given separation technique are specified and appropriate derivatization procedures are characterized. Methods applicable to the speciation of organic species of a particular element in various matrices are critically evaluated.List of abbreviations APS ammonium pentanesulfonate - CCC counter current chromatography - CZE capillary zone electrophoresis - DBT dibutyltin - DCyT dicyclohexyltin - DDTC diethyldithicarbamate - DEAE diethylaminoethyl gel (anion exchanger) - DEL diethyllead - DET diethyltin - DMA dimethylarsinic acid - DMGe dimethylgermanium - DMHg dimethylmercury - DML dimethyllead - DMSb dimethylstibinic acid - DMT dimethyltin - DPhT diphenyltin - DPrT dipropyltin - EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetate - FFF field flow fractionation - GC gas chromatography - HEPES 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine-ethanesulfonic acid - HPLC high performance liquid chromatography - ICP inductively coupled plasma - IEC ion exchange chromatography - IIC ion interaction chromatography - LC liquid chromatography - MBT monobutyltin - MCyT monocyclohexyltin - MEA monoethylarsinic acid - MEHg monoethylmercury - MEL monoethyllead - MET monoethyltin - MIP microwave induced plasma - MMA monomethylarsonic acid - MMGe monomethylgermanium - MMHg monomethylmercury - MML monomethyllead - MMSb monomethylstibonic acid - MMT monomethyltin - MPhHg monophenylmercury - MPhT monophenyltin - MPrT monopropyltin - MS mass spectrometry - NAA neutron activation analysis - NaBS sodium 1-butanesulfonate - NaDS sodium dodecylsulfonate - NaPS sodium pentanesulfonate - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis - PAR 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol - PIXE proton induced X-ray emission - QF quartz furnace - RPC reversed phase partition chromatography - SDS sodium dodecyl sulfate - SEC size exclusion chromatography - SFC supercritical fluid chromatography - TBAP tetrabutylammonium phosphate - TAL tetraalkyllead - TBT tributyltin - TCyT tricyclohexyltin - TeEL tetraethyllead - TEL triethyllead - TeML tetramethyllead - TET triethyltin - TGME thioglycolic methyl ester - THF tetrahydrofuran - TMA trimethylarsinic acid - TMAH tetramethylammonium hydroxide - TMGe trimethylgermanium - TML trimethyllead - TMT trimethyltin - TPhT triphenyltin - TPrT tripropyltin - Tris tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane     

Observation of B(+)-->phiphiK(+) and evidence for B(0)-->phiphiK(0) below eta(c) threshold

We report measurements of the decays B(+)-->phiphiK(+) and B(0)-->phiphiK(0) using a sample of 231 x 10(6) BB pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B factory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The branching fractions are measured to be B(B(+)-->phiphiK(+))=(7.5+/-1.0(stat)+/-0.7(syst)) x 10(-6) and B(B(0)-->phiphiK(0))=(4.1(-1.4)(+1.7)(stat)+/-0.4(syst)) x 10(-6) for a phiphi invariant mass below 2.85 GeV/c(2).     

Measurement of the branching fraction and photon energy moments of B-->Xs gamma and A(CP)(B --> X(s+d gamma))

The photon spectrum in B-->Xs gamma decay, where Xs is any strange hadronic state, is studied using a data sample of 88.5 x 10(6) e+ e- --> Upsilon(4S) --> BB decays collected by the BABAR experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The partial branching fraction, DeltaB(B --> Xs gamma) = (3.67+/-0.29(stat)+/-0.34(syst)+/-0.29(model)) x 10(-4), the first moment = 2.288+/-0.025+/-0.017+/-0.015 GeV, and the second moment E2(gamma) = 0.0328+/-0.0040+/-0.0023+/-0.0036 GeV2 are measured for the photon energy range 1.9 GeV < E gamma < 2.7 GeV. They are also measured for narrower E gamma ranges. The moments are then fit to recent theoretical calculations to extract the heavy quark expansion parameters m(b) and mu2(pi) and to extrapolate the partial branching fraction to E gamma > 1.6 GeV. In addition, the direct CP asymmetry A(CP)(B-->X(s+d gamma) is measured to be -0.110+/-0.115(stat)+/-0.017(syst).     

Vibrational and microbiological study on alkaline metal picolinates and o-iodobenzoates

FT–IR and Raman experimental data were assigned to appropriate bond vibrations and used to compare the different electronic charge distributions in the aromatic rings and carboxylic anions of various lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and caesium o-iodobenzoates and picolinates. Then principal component analysis (PCA) was applied in order to attempt to distinguish the biological activities of these compounds according to selected band wavenumbers. The growth of the bacteria Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis and the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Hansenula anomala under optimal growth conditions were measured after 24 hours of incubation by the classical plate method. The influence of the picolinates and o-iodobenzoates on the growth of these microorganisms, again after 24 hours of incubation, was also measured and compared to the effect of sodium benzoate, which was used as a reference material. In general, the o-iodobenzoates exhibited more activity against the microorganisms than the picolinates. A statistically significant linear correlation between the spectral data and the degree of influence of a given compound on microorganism growth was established. The correlation coefficients for the o-iodobenzoates were 0.696, –0.628, 0.693 and 0.755 for E. coli, B. subtilis, H. anomala and S. cerevisiae, respectively, and for the picolinates they were 0.818, 0.826, 0.821 and 0.877 for E. coli, B. subtilis, H. anomala and S. cerevisiae, respectively. Therefore, IR spectroscopy is shown to be a rapid and reliable analytical tool for preliminary estimation of the antimicrobial properties of newly synthesized compounds, that can be applied before microbial performance tests.     

Influence of discharge conditions on the charge decay characteristics

A simplified analysis of the charge decay processes for samples equipped with different types of grounding electrodes is presented. It is shown that the electrical properties of the back electrode (injecting or blocking) can strongly influence the charge decay process for plane parallel dielectric samples. The theory is confirmed by experimental investigation. For the sample with blocking back electrode the 50% time decay parameter can be an order of magnitude higher compared to that obtained for injecting or side electrode. In practical situations charge decay with the plane parallel samples may be much slower than that predicted by measurements carried out according to current standards.     

On the efficiency of bile salt for stable suspension and isolation of single-walled carbon nanotubes—spectroscopic and microscopic investigations

In this contribution we present a systematic study on the dispersion of SWCNTs in a water-based solution of biocompatible detergent: sodium deoxycholate (DOC). By avoiding harsh chemical conditions, which are known to damage nanotubes structure, a stable SWCNTs suspension was created. Long term stirring of the solution led to preparation of a stable transparent solution, containing well-dispersed isolated SWCNTs. The as-prepared dispersion remained stable and clear for two months. Optical absorption spectroscopy was employed to measure SWCNTs suspension stability. Nanotube aggregation was evaluated through the tangential mode (G mode) present in the Raman spectrum. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy was employed to observe the mechanism of debundling process.     

Families of Strictly Pseudoconvex Domains and Peak Functions

We prove that given a family \((G_t)\) of strictly pseudoconvex domains varying in \(\mathcal {C}^2\) topology on domains, there exists a continuously varying family of peak functions \(h_{t,\zeta }\) for all \(G_t\) at every \(\zeta \in \partial G_t\).     

Decomposition of Minkowski–Rådström–Hörmander Space to the Direct Sum of Symmetric and Asymmetric Subspaces

Any abstract convex cone S with a uniformity satisfying the law of cancellation can be embedded in a topological vector space $\widetilde{S}$ (Urbański, Bull Acad Pol Sci, Sér Sci Math Astron Phys 24:709–715, 1976). We introduce a notion of a cone symmetry and decompose in Theorem 2.12 a quotient vector space $\widetilde{S}$ into a topological direct sum of its symmetric subspace $\widetilde{S}_s$ and asymmetric subspace $\widetilde{S}_a$ . In Theorem 2.19 we prove a similar decomposition for a normed space $\widetilde{S}$ . In section 3 we apply decomposition to Minkowski–Rådström–Hörmander (MRH) space with three best known norms and four symmetries. In section 4 we obtain a continuous selection from a MRH space over ?² to the family of pairs of nonempty compact convex subsets of ?².     

Double-layer fabrication scheme for large-area polymeric photonic crystal membrane on silicon surface by multibeam interference lithography

We report on the fabrication of two-dimensional polymeric photonic crystal membranes on the surface of silicon using visible-light multibeam interference lithography. The structures are created by the interference of three beams of a green laser. A polymer buffer layer doped with a Rhodamine B laser dye, interlaid between the lithography layer and the silicon substrate, suppresses the effects of strong reflection and nonradiative absorption of silicon on the interference pattern. Large-area defect-free photonic crystal membranes are experimentally realized on silicon surface.     

No-local-broadcasting theorem for multipartite quantum correlations

We prove that the correlations present in a multipartite quantum state have an operational quantum character even if the state is unentangled, as long as it does not simply encode a multipartite classical probability distribution. Said quantumness is revealed by the new task of local broadcasting, i.e., of locally sharing preestablished correlations, which is feasible if and only if correlations are stricly classical. Our operational approach leads to natural definitions of measures for quantumness of correlations. It also reproduces the standard no-broadcasting theorem as a special case.