Determination of mineral and trace element concentrations in pine needles by ICP-OES: evaluation of different sample pre-treatment methods

In the present study, the determination of mineral and trace elements (Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P and Zn) from pine needles using three sample pre-treatment methods followed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, was examined. Sample pre-treatment methods tested were microwave digestion, ultrasound-assisted digestion and dry ashing. The new ultrasound-assisted digestion method was optimised by the analysis of the standard reference material (SRM) 1575a (pine needles) sample. The speed of dry ashing method was significantly increased by ultrasound dissolution after ashing. All the ICP-OES measurements were performed in robust plasma conditions which were tested by measuring the Mg II 280.270 nm/Mg I 285.213 nm line intensity ratios. The microwave digestion resulted generally in slightly higher element concentrations than ultrasound-assisted digestion. B, Cu and Na resulted in such low concentrations that they could not be accurately determined by using the microwave digestion method. The t-tests found no significant differences between the certified and the determined element concentrations of the SRM 1575a using the dry ashing method followed with ultrasound dissolution.     

Fast screening method for the analysis of total flavonoid content in plants and foodstuffs by high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry with polarity switching

A liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS) method based on time-of-flight (TOF) MS with polarity switching and continuous exact mass measurement using a LockSpray ion source was developed for fast evaluation of the total flavonoid content in plants and foodstuffs. No complicated sample preparation was needed, but only a dilution of the extracts. A fast generic gradient elution and wide mass range acquisition was used with good sensitivity. The total analysis time was only 23 min. The ion chromatograms for flavonoid compounds were automatically extracted, and the fragmentation patterns obtained using positive ion mode and exact mass data for both polarities were used for the tentative identification of compounds. Software-based automated searching of molecular ions for flavonoids and their glycosides (xylosides/arabinosides, rhamnosides, glucosides/galactosides) from total ion chromatograms was used. The compounds were quantified using quercetin, quercitrin, rutin and kuromanine as external standards and dextromethorphan as an internal standard. The detection limits ranged from 0.01-0.04 microg/mL, while the quantitation ranges obtained were 0.2-10 microg/mL for anthocyanins and 0.2-4 microg/mL for the other flavonoids. The accuracies within these ranges varied between 80-120% and precision was in the range 0-14% (relative standard deviation). Flavonoid contents of two medicinal plants (Hypericum perforatum and Rhodiola rosea), two grape red wines, two orange juices and two green teas were evaluated using the method, and the results obtained were in good agreement with those published previously.     

Direct measurements of controlled aerodynamic forces on a wire-suspended axisymmetric body

A novel in-line miniature force transducer is developed for direct measurements of the net aerodynamic forces and moments on a bluff body. The force transducers are integrated into each of the eight mounting wires that are utilized for suspension of an axisymmetric model in a wind tunnel having minimal wake interference. The aerodynamic forces and moments on the model are altered by induced active local attachment of the separated base flow. Fluidic control is effected by an array of four integrated aft-facing synthetic jet actuators that emanate from narrow, azimuthally segmented slots, equally distributed around the perimeter of the circular tail end. The jet orifices are embedded within a small backward-facing step that extends into a Coanda surface. The altered flow dynamics associated with both quasi-steady and transitory asymmetric activation of the flow control effect is characterized by direct force and PIV measurements.     

Plane wave propagation in a uniaxial bianisotropic medium with an application to a polarization transformer

Uniaxial bianisotropic medium is a generalization of the well-studied bi-isotropic and chiral media. It is obtained, for example, when microscopic helices with parallel axes are positioned in a host dielectric in random locations. Plane wave propagation in such a medium is studied and a simple solution for the dispersion equation and for the eigenwaves are found. As a numerical example, polarization properties of a transverse wave propagating in a uniaxial bianisotropic medium is considered. The results give a simple possibility to construct a polarization transformer with a transversely uniaxial chiral medium for changing the polarization of a propagating plane wave.     

Oxidomolybdenum(VI) complexes with atrane-type [O3N] ligands

Dioxomolybdenum(VI) complex [MoO₂Cl₂(dmso)₂] reacts with a series of tetradentate O₃N-type aminoalcohol–bisphenol ligands to form oxomolybdenum(VI) complexes of type [MoOCl(Lⁿ)]. The reaction of H₃L¹ produces [MoOCl(L¹)] as two separable isomers, whereas the reaction of H₃L² or H₃L³ yields a single product. The X-ray analyses of cis- and trans-[MoOCl(L¹)] reveal that the complexes are formed of monomeric molecules. The ligands have tetradentate coordination through three oxygen donors and one nitrogen donor, which is located trans to the terminal oxo group. The sixth coordination site is occupied by a chloro ligand.     

Impact of cavity symmetry on mode suppression and increase of free spectral range in solid-state dye microlaser

We describe modeling the solid-state dye laser with the microcavity size comparable to light wavelength.Certain symmetry in the allocation of gain material leads to depletion of odd longitudinal modes that,in turn, increases the tunability range of the microlaser. We provide simple physical explanation for the modeling results.     

Synthesis and ion conductance behavior of a tetrameric alamethicin ion channel

[structure: see text] A porphyrin-tethered construct, containing four full-length alamethicin monomers, has been synthesized and characterized. The ion conductance data of the assembly in 1 M HCl display long-lived, albeit noisy, channels that appear to be voltage-independent multiples of only one conductance state. The noise in the data is consistent with the molecular modeling studies, which indicate that the side chain of glutamine 7 of alamethicin does not fit well into the narrow pore of a parallel four-helix bundle.     

Asymmetric logistic peak as a suitable function for the resolution of highly asymmetric voltammograms in non-bilinear systems

The asymmetric logistic peak is tested as a new function for the parametric signal fitting (PSF) of highly asymmetric electrochemical signals in non-bilinear datasets, such as those obtained in linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) or in the presence of irreversible electrochemical processes. This new multivariate curve resolution strategy (PSF-ALPA) is successfully applied to LS voltammograms measured for the Cd(II)-glutathione system with a hanging mercury drop electrode, where Cd(II) is reversibly reduced, and to differential pulse voltammograms (DPV) measured at a glassy carbon electrode, where Cd(II) reduction becomes irreversible. Matrix augmentation by using LS voltammograms measured at different scan rates provides good results and encourages the development of ALPA methodology for third order data.     

SIMPRE: A software package to calculate crystal field parameters,energy levels,and magnetic properties on mononuclear lanthanoid complexes based on charge distributions

This work presents a fortran77 code based on an effective electrostatic model of point charges around a rare earth ion. The program calculates the full set of crystal field parameters, energy levels spectrum, and wave functions, as well as the magnetic properties such as the magnetization, the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility, and the Schottky contribution to the specific heat. It is designed for real systems that need not bear ideal symmetry and it is able to determine the easy axis of magnetization. Its systematic application to different coordination environments allows magneto‐structural studies. The package has already been successfully applied to several mononuclear systems with single‐molecule magnetic behavior. The determination of effective point charge parameters in these studies facilitates its application to new systems. In this article, we illustrate its usage with two example studies: (a) an ideal cubic structure coordinating a lanthanoid ion and (b) a system with slow relaxation of the magnetization, LiHo_xY_(1‐x)F₄. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.