A new reagent for the colorimetric and spectrophotometric determination of phosphorus,arsenic and germanium

A new reagent for the colorimetric and spectrophotometric determination of phosphorus, arsenic and gurmanium is described. It contains Mo(Vl) amd Mo(V) in the ratio of 3 : 2 in an acid medium, 10N with respect to H₂SO₄ and 3N with respect to HCl.The absorption spectra, the influence of temperature, time, quantity of reagent and selectivity of the method have been studied. Beer's law is applicable up to 160 μg for P₂O₅, 220 μg for GeO₂ and 230 μg for arsenic, in 50 ml.     

Acid-base and distribution equilibria of 5,7-dichloro-2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinoline in Brij-35 micellar media solutions

The acid-base equilibria of 5,7-dichloro-2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinoline (HQ) have been examined spectrophotometrically in aqueous micellar solution of the non-ionic surfactant Brij-35. The differences between apparent pK(a) values at different surfactant concentrations can be quantitatively explained in terms of the extraction constants of the neutral species HQ and the ion-pair Na(+)Q(-). Calculations have been performed by means of SPDIS program, developed in this work to handle multiwavelength spectrophotometric data in micellar systems.     

Determination of Tetracyclines in Water Samples Using Liquid Chromatography with Fluorimetric Detection

A liquid chromatographic method with fluorimetric detection is proposed for the determination of trace levels of oxytetracycline, tetracycline, chlortetracycline and doxycycline in water samples. The analytes are preconcentrated by solid phase extraction using reversed phase polymeric cartridges and acetonitrile as eluent. Preconcentration factors up to 125 can be obtained. The chromatographic separation is performed on a polymeric column with a gradient elution program using mobile phases based on mixtures of acetonitrile and 0.01 mol L^?1 oxalic acid aqueous solution at a flow rate of 1.2 mL min^?1. Tetracyclines are post-column derivatized with a reagent solution consisting of 0.1 mol L^?1 Mg(II) at pH 9 at a flow rate of 0.6 mL min^?1. The highly fluorescent Mg(II) chelates are detected at λ _ex = 374 nm and λ _em = 499 nm. The detection limits of the whole process are in the low μg L^?1 level. The proposed method has been applied to the analysis of spiked natural water samples, and recovery rates higher than 80% have been obtained.     

Two‐color operation of a free‐electron laser with a tilted beam

With the successful operation of free‐electron lasers (FELs) as user facilities there has been a growing demand for experiments with two photon pulses with variable photon energy and time separation. A configuration of an undulator with variable‐gap control and a delaying chicane in the middle of the beamline is proposed. An injected electron beam with a transverse tilt will only yield FEL radiation for the parts which are close to the undulator axis. This allows, after re‐aligning and delaying the electron beam, a different part of the bunch to be used to produce a second FEL pulse. This method offers independent control in photon energy and delay. For the parameters of the soft X‐ray beamline Athos at the SwissFEL facility the photon energy tuning range is a factor of five with an adjustable delay between the two pulses from ?50 to 950 fs.     

The feasibility of constructing a cylindrical array with a plane rotating beam for interstitial thermal surgery

Thermal surgery has been shown to be a useful therapeutic option when external ultrasound applicators cannot be used as their beam will not reach the target site. If plane transducers are used, the ultrasound beam has to be rotated in order to generate a sufficiently large volume of necrosis. However, rotating deep-seated interstitial applicators and controlling their shooting direction presents major technical problems. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of constructing a cylindrical array with a plane rotating beam for ablating esophageal tumors by interstitial hyperthermia. The feasibility of such an array has been initially evaluated using a plane array (which is easier to make from a technical point of view). This array was made with a new piezoelectric material because its mechanical properties make it ideal for the construction of a cylindrical array in the future. We showed that the beam of each array element is sufficiently divergent and that cross-coupling is small enough to generate a plane wave from a cylindrical array. In addition, power tests and electro-acoustic efficiency measurements demonstrated that the output was sufficient to induce tissue necrosis in the relevant conditions.     

Analysis of thyreostatic drugs in thyroid samples by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry detection

A method based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of six thyreostatic drugs in thyroid tissue has been optimised and validated in accordance with the Decision 2002/657/EC. Samples are extracted with methanol and the extracts cleaned-up on silica cartridges. The recoveries range from 40% for 6-phenyl-2-thiouracil to 79% for 2-thiouracil. Quantification is carried out with blank tissue samples spiked with the analytes in the range 25-500 microg kg(-1). 5,6-Dimethyl-2-thiouracil is used as internal standard. CCalpha and CCbeta are in the ranges 4.3-16.1 microg kg(-1) and 8.7-20.7 microg kg(-1), respectively. Accuracy, expressed as percentage of error, is lower than 6% and relative standard deviation in reproducibility conditions falls between 5.6 and 10.3%. Nowadays, the proposed method is routinely implemented in the laboratory of the Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona and allows processing of up to 20 samples per day.     

Editorial: Saline Water Evaporation from Porous Media

Transport in Porous Media -     

Photodissociation/gas-diffusion separation and fluorimetric detection for the analysis of total and labile cyanide in a flow system

Total cyanide species are determined in a flow injection system which includes UV-photodissociation, gas-diffusion separation and spectrofluorimetric detection. Without the irradiation step, only cyanide easily released in acid medium, i.e. labile cyanide, is determined. Cyanide diffuses through a microporous PTFE membrane from an acid donor stream to a sodium hydroxide acceptor stream. Then, the transferred cyanide reacts with ?o-phthalaldehyde and glycine to form a highly fluorescent isoindole derivative. Complete cyanide recoveries were obtained for the most important metal cyanide complexes found in environmental samples, excepting cobaltocyanide. The sampling frequency for total cyanide was 4 samples h^–1 and the detection limit was 0.4 μg L^–1. Recoveries of total cyanide from river water obtained with this method are about 90% of those obtained with APHA Method 4500-CN C for total cyanide. Received: 10 February 1999 / Revised: 7 May 1999 / Accepted: 13 May 1999     

Functionalized Biomimetic Magnetic Nanoparticles as Effective Nanocarriers for Targeted Chemotherapy

Novel MamC‐mediated biomimetic magnetic nanoparticles (BMNPs) are proposed as valuable carriers for targeted chemotherapy because of the size (36 ± 12 nm) and of surface properties conferred by MamC coating. They are super‐paramagnetic at room and body temperatures, have a large magnetic moment per particle, mediate hyperthermia, are cytocompatible, and, having a negative surface charge at physiological pH, can be efficiently coupled with DOXOrubicin (DOXO) and a monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against the human Met/hepatocyte growth factor receptor (overexpressed in many cancers) displaying coupling stability, while releasing DOXO at acidic pH. This release can be enhanced by hyperthermia. The DOXO‐mAb‐BMNPs selectively recognize Met, bind efficiently to Met⁺ tumor cells, and discharge DOXO within their nuclei more efficiently than DOXO‐BMNPs, exerting cytotoxicity. These data represent proof of concept for future in vivo experiments in which the controlled dual targeting (mAb‐mediated and magnetic) approach and combined (chemotherapy and hyperthermia) therapy will be studied.     

A Techno-Economic Study on the Outside Plant Cost of Current and Next-Generation Fiber-to-the-X Deployments

Abstract

A techno-economic study on the outside plant costs of fiber-to-the-X infrastructures is presented in this article. Standardized passive optical network and active optical network technologies, implemented in fiber-to-the-home architectures, are presented/compared in terms of costs. Future architectures based on passive optical networks are investigated, their outside plant infrastructure, and corresponding costs are reviewed. Cost comparisons of fiber-to-the-X infrastructures reveal significant differences. Besides fiber-to-the-node being the less costly, it is shown that the cost of high splitting ratio passive optical network fiber-to-the-home infrastructures is not increasing linearly with the splitting ratio. The highest splitting ratio is not always the one with the largest savings percentage. Referring to current and future fiber-to-the-home access network architectures/technologies, the flexibility of wavelength division multiplexing/time division multiplexing passive optical networks is estimated to reach a 40% reduction in outside plant cost compared with the home run architecture.