Simultaneous Determination of Carbamate and Organophosphorus Pesticides in Honeybees by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Summary The potential of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been studied for the simultaneous determination of sixteen carbamate and organophosphorus pesticides in honeybees using a traditional sample preparation protocol based on acetone extraction and dichloromethane partitioning. The performances of both atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and electrospray (ES) interfaces were compared. APCI offered better sensitivity and specificity for a higher range of pesticides. Limits of quantification were from 0.01 to 0.17 mg kg^–1, at which recoveries obtained were between 64 and 93%, except for pirimicarb that was at 13%, with relative standard deviations ranging from 7 to 20%. Fenitrothion, fenoxycarb, methiocarb and phoxim were found in bees from Valencian Community beehives at concentrations between 0.03 and 3.75 mg kg^–1.     

Role of the microstructure on the transport properties of Y-doped zirconia and Gd-doped ceria

Transmission electron microscopy characterizations and XPS analyses have allowed us to show the influence of the microstructure and nanochemistry on the transport properties of Y₂O₃-(9 mol%)-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and Gd₂O₃ (10 mol%)-doped ceria (GDC). The grain boundary electrical conductivity (σ_gb) and oxygen diffusion coefficient (D_o) of conventional YSZ ceramics increase with the grain size, while an opposite behavior was found for GDC samples. This difference was attributed to glassy precipitates present at YSZ grain boundaries. Furthermore, it was shown that kinetic demixing processes take place during cooling, at the end of sintering. This causes important changes in the cationic species distribution at interfaces and plays an important role on the transport properties of these two materials. Paper presented at the 9th EuroConference on Ionics, Ixia, Rhodes, Greece, Sept. 15 – 21, 2002.     

Whispering-gallery modes in a barrel-shaped dielectric resonator

We experimentally study a new type of resonator, namely, a barrel-shaped dielectric resonator with whispering-gallery modes which is formed by the cutting dielectric hemisphere. Compared with a hemispherical dielectric resonator, the E type oscillation spectrum of such a resonator is rarefied with respect to the azimuthal index. Comparative analysis of the electromagnetic characteristics of the barrel-shaped dielectric resonator and half-disk dielectric resonators shows that the radiation losses of the mode energy from the spherical surface are smaller than those from the cylindrical surface. This fact stimulates the high values of the internal Q-factor of modes of the barrel-shaped dielectric resonator. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 12, pp. 1041–1048, December 2005.     

Investigation of charge effects on poling and stability for corona-poled polymer films

The optimal corona-poling temperature of polymer films was accurately determined by measuring the temperature dependence of the in situ second-harmonic (SH) intensity profile under the applied poling electric field. The in situ SH intensity profile was first measured by probing both the surface voltages and the poling currents induced by surface/space charges for the corona-poled polymer films. Moreover, charge effects on the stability of the chromophore orientation were first studied by using the thermally stimulated discharge-current technique. PACS 72.20.Jv; 42.65.Ky; 73.61.Ph; 81.40.Tv     

Dispersion analysis of the least‐squares finite‐element shallow‐water system

The frequency or dispersion relation for the least‐squares mixed formulation of the shallow‐water equations is analysed. We consider the use of different approximation spaces corresponding to co‐located and staggered meshes, respectively. The study includes the effect of Coriolis, and the dispersion properties are compared analytically and graphically with those of the mixed Galerkin formulation. Numerical solutions of a test problem to simulate slow Rossby modes illustrate the theoretical results. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Tandem Queue with Coupled Processors: Computational Issues

In Resing and Örmeci [16] it is shown that the two-stage tandem queue with coupled processors can be solved using the theory of boundary value problems. In this paper we consider the issues that arise when calculating performance measures like the mean queue length and the fraction of time a station is empty. It is assumed that jobs arrive at the first station according to a Poisson process and require service at both stations before leaving the system. The amount of work that a job requires at each of the stations is an independent, exponentially distributed random variable. When both stations are nonempty, the total service capacity is shared among the stations according to fixed proportions. When one of the stations becomes empty, the total service capacity is given to the nonempty station. We study the two-dimensional Markov process representing the numbers of jobs at the two stations. The problem of finding the generating function of the stationary distribution can be reduced to two different Riemann-Hilbert boundary value problems, where both problems yield a complete analytical solution. We discuss the similarities and differences between the two problems, and relate them to the computational aspects of obtaining performance measures.     

On commutator subspaces of GF(p a )SL2(p a )-modules

Let p a prime, X = SL₂(p^a) and K = GF(p^a). For S a Sylow p-subgroup of X, we explicitly describe the structure of the commutator series of S on each of the irreducible KX-modules.Received: 28 April 2004     

Active control and a simple estimation method for the onset of Rayleigh-Bénard convection in temperature-dependent-viscosity liquids

Active feedback control for the onset of Rayleigh-Bénard Convection in temperature-dependent-viscosity liquids is investigated. In this paper, three major problems are addressed: (1) The results of Tang-Bau control are improved by considering the effects of temperature-dependent viscosity; (2) A more efficient two-plate control strategy is presented. A phenomenon of coalescence of the unstable modes is observed as the controller gain is large enough; (3) A simple way to estimate the critical Rayleigh number under the effects of temperature-dependent viscosity is described. Numerical results show that the effects of temperature-dependent viscosity on the critical Rayleigh number should be taken into account in some cases and the onset of Rayleigh-Bénard convection can be effectively delayed or advanced by the active feedback control strategies studied here.