Validation and use of a fast sample preparation method and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry in analysis of ultra-trace levels of 98 organophosphorus pesticide and carbamate residues in a total diet study involving diversified food types

This paper reports a comprehensive sensitive multi-residue liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method for detection, identification and quantitation of 73 pesticides and their related products, a total of 98 analytes, belonging to organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) and carbamates, in foods. The proposed method makes use of a modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rigged, and safe) procedure that combines isolation of the pesticides and sample clean-up in a single step. Analysis is performed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry operated in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, acquiring two specific precursor-product ion transitions per target compound. Two main fragment ions for each pesticide were obtained to achieve the identification according to the SANCO guidelines 10684/2009. The method was validated with various food samples, including edible oil, meat, egg, cheese, chocolate, coffee, rice, tree nuts, citric fruits, vegetables, etc. No significant matrix effect was observed for tested pesticides, therefore, matrix-matched calibration was not necessary. Calibration curves were linear and covered from 1 to 20 μg L⁻¹ for all compounds studied. The average recoveries, measured at 10 μg kg⁻¹, were in the range 70–120% for all of the compounds tested with relative standard deviations below 20%, while a value of 10 μg kg⁻¹ has been established as the method limit of quantitation (MLOQ) for all target analytes. Similar trueness and precision results were also obtained for spiking at 200 μg kg⁻¹. Expanded uncertainty values were in the range 21–27% while the HorRat ratios were below 1. The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of 700 food samples in the course of a baseline monitoring study of OPPs and carbamates.     

New Design for Quantum Dots Cellular Automata to obtain Fault Tolerant Logic Gates

In this paper, we analyze fault tolerance properties of the Majority Gate, as the main logic gate for implementation with Quantum dots Cellular Automata (QCA), in terms of fabrication defect. Our results demonstrate the poor fault tolerance properties of the conventional design of Majority Gate and thus the difficulty in its practical application. We propose a new approach to the design of QCA-based Majority Gate by considering two-dimensional arrays of QCA cells rather than a single cell for the design of such a gate. We analyze fault tolerance properties of such Block Majority Gates in terms of inputs misalignment and irregularity and defect (missing cells) in assembly of the array. We present simulation results based on semiconductor implementation of QCA with an intermediate dimensional dot of about 5 nm in size as opposed to magnetic dots of greater than 100 nm or molecular dots of 2–5Å. Our results clearly demonstrate the superior fault tolerance properties of the Block Majority Gate and its greater potential for a practical realization. We also show the possibility of designing fault tolerant QCA circuits by using Block Majority Gates.     

The use of stability bands to improve the performance of quadrupole mass filters

The possibility of increasing the resolving power of quadrupole mass filters has been discussed. It has been shown that the limitations associated with the finite time of flight imposed by Von Zahn’s rule are modified while using the islands of stability that appear when quadrupole is excited by the additional signals. By calculation of the exponential increment of growth of the oscillation amplitude the effect of the acceleration of mass separation and improvement of the peak shape, when the islands of stability are used for ion filtering, is explained. The case of the excitation by two signals at different frequencies has been studied theoretically. The conditions under which suppression of the first order resonance for one of the directions of motion is obtained. The direct modeling of the peak shape of the mass filter shows the possibility of obtaining a resolution of 10,000 with a time of flight of ions through the quadrupole of 100 cycles of the main RF supply, and low sensitivity of the new operating mode to the nonlinear field distortions in the quadrupoles with rods of circular cross sections.     

Water purification by membranes: The role of polymer science

Two of the greatest challenges facing the 21st century involve providing sustainable supplies of clean water and energy, two highly interrelated resources, at affordable costs. Membrane technology is expected to continue to dominate the water purification technologies owing to its energy efficiency. However, there is a need for improved membranes that have higher flux, are more selective, are less prone to various types of fouling, and are more resistant to the chemical environment, especially chlorine, of these processes. This article summarizes the nature of the global water problem and reviews the state of the art of membrane technology. Existing deficiencies of current membranes and the opportunities to resolve them with innovative polymer chemistry and physics are identified. Extensive background is provided to help the reader understand the fundamental issues involved. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Discrepancy of random graphs and hypergraphs

Answering in a strong form a question posed by Bollobás and Scott, in this paper we determine the discrepancy between two random k‐uniform hypergraphs, up to a constant factor depending solely on k. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 47, 147–162, 2015     

Density theorems for bipartite graphs and related Ramsey-type results

In this paper, we present several density-type theorems which show how to find a copy of a sparse bipartite graph in a graph of positive density. Our results imply several new bounds for classical problems in graph Ramsey theory and improve and generalize earlier results of various researchers. The proofs combine probabilistic arguments with some combinatorial ideas. In addition, these techniques can be used to study properties of graphs with a forbidden induced subgraph, edge intersection patterns in topological graphs, and to obtain several other Ramsey-type statements. Research supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and a Princeton Centennial Fellowship. Research supported in part by NSF CAREER award DMS-0812005 and by USA-Israeli BSF grant.