ETAAS determination of aluminium and copper in dialysis concentrates after microcolumn chelating ion-exchange preconcentration

A procedure was developed for the preconcentration and determination of aluminium and copper in dialysis concentrates at the ng cm^–3 level. The preconcentration was achieved on microcolumns filled with Chelex-100 resin adjusted to a pH of 4.0. Five repetitive cycles of the sample through the column ensured a sufficient contact time for quantitative retention of aluminium and copper ions. The retained ions were eluted with HNO₃ (0.5 mol dm^–3). Aluminium and copper were determined in the eluate by Zeeman ETAAS using the standard addition technique. The procedure was performed under clean room conditions (class 10,000), The reliability of the results was evaluated by recovery tests, using dialysis concentrates spiked with aluminium and copper. The recoveries obtained ranged from 86 to 106% for aluminium and from 92 to 97% for copper. Using the recommended procedure, the LOD of aluminium and copper in dialysis concentrates (preconcentration factor 2) was found to be 0.5 ng cm^–3 and 0.2 ng cm^–3, respectively. Received: 19 December 1997 / Revised: 10 March 1998 / Accepted: 28 March 1998     

Kinetics of the sorption of metal ions from sea water on clinoptilolite

Based on a study of the sorption kinetics of metal ions from sea water onto granular clinoptilolite and powdered clinoptilolite incorporated into a grain of a highly permeable inert support it has been shown that the rate of the sorption processes is limited principally by diffusion in the microgranules of zeolite. For the Tedzami clinoptilolite studied the characteristic dimensions of the microgranules are 15–20 m and are commensurate with the dimensions of microcrystals determined independently.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 263–267, February, 1990.We thank E. V. Venetsianov, L. S. Kamenetskii and M. V. Veksler for assistance in the investigation.     

Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry of elements after electrochemical deposition on graphite electrodes

The application of electrochemical deposition on graphite rods for separation and preconcentration prior to electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (a.a.s.) is examined. The metals to be determined are electrolyzed onto a graphite rod which is tehn transferred to a cup atomizer for a.a.s. Although only some of the element present in the solution is deposited on the surface of the graphite rod, favorable preconcentration rates are obtained. The method was tested on the determination of cadmium in aqueous solution. The precision is satisfactory for concentrations down to 5 × 10^?8 g l^?1 cadmium, and the detection limit is 4 × 10^?9 g l^?1.     

Using variable and fixed topological indices for the prediction of reaction rate constants of volatile unsaturated hydrocarbons with OH radicals

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an important role in different photochemical processes in the troposphere. In order to predict their impact on ozone formation processes a detailed knowledge about their abundance in the atmosphere as well as their reaction rate constants is required. The QSPR models were developed for the prediction of reaction rate constants of volatile unsaturated hydrocarbons. The chemical structure was encoded by constitutional and topological indices. Multiple linear regression models using CODESSA software was developed with the RMS(CV) error of 0.119 log units.The chemical structure was encoded by six topological indices. Additionally, a regression model using a variable connectivity index was developed. It provided worse cross-validation results with an RMS(CV) error of 0.16 log units, but enabled a structural interpretation of the obtained model. We differentiated between three classes of carbon atoms: sp2-hybridized, non-allylic sp3-hybridized and allylic sp3-hybridized. The structural interpretation of the developed model shows that most probably the most important mechanisms are the addition to multiple bonds and the hydrogen atom abstraction at allylic sites.     

Determination of jasmonic acid in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lemna minor</Emphasis> (L.) by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A new method is described for the determination of endogenous jasmonic acid (JA) in Lemna minor plant extracts using liquid chromatography (LC) with fluorescence detection. Plant tissues were extracted and derivatised using 9-anthryldiazomethane (ADAM reagent) prepared in situ. Accuracy and precision were improved by using the internal standard dihydrojasmonic acid (dh-JA) for the correction of JA losses during sample preparation steps. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis of ADAM derivatives of JA and dh-JA confirmed that a single molecule of JA and dh-JA was coupled with one molecule of reagent. Derivatives of JA and dh-JA were separated with gradient elution on a C₁₈ reversed-phase column using acetonitrile/water as a mobile phase and detected by a fluorescence detector at excitation and emission wavelengths of 254 and 412 nm, respectively. The detection limits of JA and dh-JA were 2.9 ng mL⁻¹ and 3.7 ng mL⁻¹ per 50-μL injection. The method is reproducible and selective and yields single peaks for each compound regardless of isomer. The specificity and accuracy of the proposed LC/FD method was confirmed by liquid chromatography–TurboIon Spray tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) analysis of free JA in Lemna minor samples under multiple reaction monitoring conditions.     

Mindlin second-gradient elastic properties from dilute two-phase Cauchy-elastic composites Part II: Higher-order constitutive properties and application cases

Starting from a Cauchy elastic composite with a dilute suspension of randomly distributed inclusions and characterized at first-order by a certain discrepancy tensor (see part I of the present article), it is shown that the equivalent second-gradient Mindlin elastic solid: (i) is positive definite only when the discrepancy tensor is negative defined; (ii) the non-local material symmetries are the same of the discrepancy tensor, and (iii) the non-local effective behaviour is affected by the shape of the RVE, which does not influence the first-order homogenized response. Furthermore, explicit derivations of non-local parameters from heterogeneous Cauchy elastic composites are obtained in the particular cases of: (a) circular cylindrical and spherical isotropic inclusions embedded in an isotropic matrix, (b) n-polygonal cylindrical voids in an isotropic matrix, and (c) circular cylindrical voids in an orthotropic matrix.     

Discussion on the Structure Stability and the Luminescence Switch under Irradiation of a Ce‐Doped Elpasolite Compound

Ce‐doped Rb₂KInF₆ elpasolite has the potential for tunable luminescence due to an unusual reversible redox process between the cerium and indium cations. Coupled with a deep understanding of the luminescence properties, XRD analysis and DFT calculations are used to locate the doping elements in the host lattice. The origin explanation of the charge‐transfer mechanism that causes a decrease or increase in the blue–green cerium emission in opposition to the red indium emission is discussed regarding the crystallographic structure, the connection of the metallic cations and their equilibrium valence. Still detectable after nineteen years, the optical contrast created under irradiation makes this material a good candidate as photosensor for data storage.     

Synthesis and study of Cu<Superscript>II</Superscript> complex with nitroxide,a jumping crystal analog

We synthesized 1-ethylimidazolyl-substituted nitronyl nitroxides, i.e., 2-(1-ethylimidazol-4-yl)- (L^4Et) and 2-(1-ethylimidazol-5-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole 3-oxide-1-oxyl (L^5Et). The stable radical L^5Et is an ethyl analog of 2-(1-methylimidazol-5-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole 3-oxide-1-oxyl (L^5Me) described earlier, the reaction of which with Cu(hfac)₂ (hfac is 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoropentane-2,4-dionate) leads to the formation of the [Cu(hfac)₂(L^5Me)₂] jumping crystals. The reaction of Cu(hfac)₂ with L^5Et with reagent ratios 1: 2 and 1: 1 yields heterospin complexes [Cu(hfac)₂(L^5Et)₂] and [Cu(hfac)₂L^5Et]₂, respectively. X-ray diffraction study of the mononuclear complex [Cu(hfac)₂(L^5Et)₂] determined that the compound has a packing similar to that of jumping crystals studied earlier, with the only difference being that the O...O contacts between neigh- boring nitroxide groups were found to be 0.3—0.5 Å longer than in [Cu(hfac)₂(L^5Me)₂]. As a result of the lengthening of these contacts, [Cu(hfac)₂(L^5Et)₂] crystals lack chemomechanical activi- ty. We found that when cooling crystals of binuclear complex [Cu(hfac)₂L^5Et]₂ below 50 K, the antiferromagnetic exchange between unpaired electrons of the >N—?O groups of neighboring molecules leads to the full spin-pairing of the nitroxides, with only the Cu²⁺ ions contributing to the residual paramagnetism of the compound.     

Assessing joint angles in human hand via optical tracking device and calibrating instrumented glove

The aim of this paper is to present a method for assessing joint angles in a human hand: a method suitable for the calibration of an instrumented glove. The method is based on an optical tracking device and an inverse-kinematic model of the human hand. It requires only one reflective marker to be attached to each finger and three on the dorsal aspect of the hand in order to assess angles in finger joints. A further three markers are needed to calculate angles in thumb joints. Joint angles assessed through inverse kinematics and with the calibrated glove were validated against reference angles calculated from the centers of rotation of the joints while measuring the finger movements with multiple markers. In fingers, the mean difference between the reference angles and the angles assessed by the glove did not exceed ±7° when the proposed model-based method was used to calibrate the glove. For the thumb the mean error did not exceed ±5° when the reference method was used to calibrate the glove.     

Study of the phenomena affecting the accuracy of a video- based particle tracking velocimetry technique

 The development of a video-based Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) technique has focused on the problem of the accuracy of this method. The PTV-method can be decomposed into three parts: the recording of the experiment, the image processing and the evaluation of the velocities. The accuracy of each stage has been studied. Inaccuracies due to resolution, length scale, light intensity and distortion of the x and y direction are analysed. One of the main factors influencing the accuracy is the selection of the time difference between frames. During the evaluation of velocities, incorrect identifications of particles may occur. The relation between the time-step of the frames and the percentage of incorrect identifications has been shown. The percentage of false identifications increases with the size of the time-step. The resolution accuracy is however improved when the time-step is increased. An adequate selection of the time-step has to be made to obtain a high resolution accuracy and a limited number of incorrect identifications. Received: 22 April 1996 / Accepted: 17 November 1996