High-sensitivity microchip electrophoresis determination of inorganic anions and oxalate in atmospheric aerosols with adjustable selectivity and conductivity detection

A sensitive and selective separation of common anionic constituents of atmospheric aerosols, sulfate, nitrate, chloride, and oxalate, is presented using microchip electrophoresis. The optimized separation is achieved in under 1 min and at low background electrolyte ionic strength (2.9 mM) by combining a metal-binding electrolyte anion (17 mM picolinic acid), a sulfate-binding electrolyte cation (19 mM HEPBS), a zwitterionic surfactant with affinity towards weakly solvated anions (19 mM N-tetradecyl,N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propansulfonate), and operation in counter-electroosmotic flow (EOF) mode. The separation is performed at pH 4.7, permitting pH manipulation of oxalate's mobility. The majority of low-concentration organic acids are not observed at these conditions, allowing for rapid subsequent injections without the presence of interfering peaks. Because the mobilities of sulfate, nitrate, and oxalate are independently controlled, other minor constituents of aerosols can be analyzed, including nitrite, fluoride, and formate if desired using similar separation conditions. Contact conductivity detection is utilized, and the limit of detection for oxalate (S/N = 3) is 180 nM without stacking. Sensitivity can be increased with field-amplified sample stacking by injecting from dilute electrolyte with a detection limit of 19 nM achieved. The high-sensitivity, counter-EOF operation, and short analysis time make this separation well-suited to continuous online monitoring of aerosol composition.     

Cauchy problem on non-globally hyperbolic space-times

We consider solutions of the Cauchy problem for hyperbolic equations on non-globally hyperbolic space-times containing closed timelike curves (time machines). We prove that for the wave equation on such space-times, there exists a solution of the Cauchy problem that is discontinuous and in some sense unique for arbitrary initial conditions given on a hypersurface at a time preceding the formation of closed timelike curves. If the hypersurface of initial conditions intersects the region containing closed timelike curves, then the solution of the Cauchy problem exists only for initial conditions satisfying a certain self-consistency requirement. To Vasilii Sergeevich Vladimirov with best wishes on his 85th birthday __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 157, No. 3, pp. 334–344, December, 2008.     

Experimente mit Erdalkalimetallen

Reactions of the alkaline earth metals magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium with water, phenolphthalein solution, diluted extract of red cabbage, diluted hydrochloric acid, or ammonia are well suited for a demonstration of the increase in reactivity within this group of metals with increasing atomic number. If the alkali metals lithium and sodium are included, the reactivity of six s‐block elements can be demonstrated in test tubes with small amounts of chemicals.     

Organometallic derivatizing agents in bioanalysis

Over the last few decades, the development of several innovative hyphenated analytical techniques and their routine use in laboratories has led to new possibilities for the quantitative analysis of biomolecules. Today, the identification and quantification of biomolecules such as peptides and proteins are essential to answer important medical, pharmaceutical, and biological questions. To allow efficient detection and structure elucidation of biomolecules, several approaches including derivatization strategies were investigated and applied during recent years. This article summarizes the current approaches for labeling and presents the different types of organometallic derivatizing agents used as labels. Furthermore, their analytical potential with respect to quantification and structure elucidation for different applications in the field of bioanalysis is discussed.     

Transport in graphene nanostructures

Graphene nanostructures are promising candidates for future nanoelectronics and solid-state quantum information technology. In this review we provide an overview of a number of electron transport experiments on etched graphene nanostructures. We briefly revisit the electronic properties and the transport characteristics of bulk, i.e., two-dimensional graphene. The fabrication techniques for making graphene nanostructures such as nanoribbons, single electron transistors and quantum dots, mainly based on a dry etching ??paper-cutting?? technique are discussed in detail. The limitations of the current fabrication technology are discussed when we outline the quantum transport properties of the nanostructured devices. In particular we focus here on transport through graphene nanoribbons and constrictions, single electron transistors as well as on graphene quantum dots including double quantum dots. These quasi-one-dimensional (nanoribbons) and quasi-zero-dimensional (quantum dots) graphene nanostructures show a clear route of how to overcome the gapless nature of graphene allowing the confinement of individual carriers and their control by lateral graphene gates and charge detectors. In particular, we emphasize that graphene quantum dots and double quantum dots are very promising systems for spin-based solid state quantum computation, since they are believed to have exceptionally long spin coherence times due to weak spin-orbit coupling and weak hyperfine interaction in graphene.     

Spectroscopy of the hyperfine structure of antiprotonic 4He and 3He

The spin magnetic moment $\mu^{\overline{p}}_{s}$ of the antiproton can be determined by comparing the measured transition frequencies in $\overline{p}^4$ He^?+? with three-body QED calculations. A comparison between the proton and antiproton can then be used as a test of CPT invariance. The highest measurement precision of the difference between the proton and the antiproton spin magnetic moments to date is 0.3%. A new experimental value of the spin magnetic moment of the antiproton was obtained as $\mu^{\overline{p}}_{s} = -2.7862(83)\mu_{N}$ , slightly better than the previously best measurement. This agrees with $\mu^{p}_{s}$ within 0.24%. In 2009, a new measurement with antiprotonic ³He has been started. A comparison between the theoretical calculations and experimental results would lead to a stronger test of the theory and address systematic errors therein. A measurement of this state will be the first HF measurement on $\overline{p}^3$ He^?+?. We report here on the new experimental setup and the first tests.     

Measures of noncompactness and essential pseudospectra on Banach space

In this research article, we work with the notion of the measures of noncompactness in order to establish some results concerning the essential pseudospectra of closed, densely defined linear operators in the Banach space. We start by giving a refinement of the definition of the essential pseudospectra by means of the measure of noncompactness, and we give sufficient conditions on the perturbed operator to have its invariance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.