Novel pulsed switched power supply for a fast field cycling NMR spectrometer

In this paper, we outline the operating principles of a pulsed switched power supply for a fast field-cycling nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. The power supply uses a variant of a four-quadrant chopper with a duty cycle that defines the average output current. With this topology only two semiconductors are necessary to drive hundreds of amperes with an output power of several kilowatts. The output current ripple has a well-defined shape that can be reduced to acceptable values by a careful design of the semiconductors' controlling circuits and drivers. A power supply prototype was tested with a home build air-core magnet operating with fields between 0 and 0.21 T. The system is computer controlled using pulse generator and data acquisition PC cards, and specific user-friendly home-developed software. A comparative proton relaxometry study in two well-known liquid crystal compounds 5CB and MBBA was performed to check the reproducibility of the T1 measurements.     

Trapping an intensely bright, stable sonoluminescing bubble

Previous works on single bubble sonoluminescence in sulfuric acid solutions have stressed the fact that the sonoluminescence (SL) emissions are the highest ever found, but at the same time the bubble moves in orbits. We have fixed the SL bubble spatially and at the same time we have reached higher SL emissions using another harmonic acoustic signal to produce the acoustic excitation. Multiple harmonic excitation produces up to a fourfold increase in SL emissions, reaching the peak value of about 40 microW for a moving bubble and 15 microW for a nonmoving bubble. The ability to have a bright stationary bubble also opens new research opportunities. In particular, we develop a new method to measure the absolute radius evolution of the bubble that exploits this stability.     

Cytotoxicity of Shear Exfoliated Pnictogen (As,Sb, Bi) Nanosheets

The experimental achievement of phosphorene, which exhibits superior electronic, physical, and optical properties has spurred recent interest in other Group 15 elemental 2D nanomaterials such as arsenene, antimonene, and bismuthene. These unique and superior properties of the pnictogen nanosheets have spurred intensive research efforts and led to the discovery of their diversified potential applications; for instance, optical Kerr material, photonic devices, pnictogen-decorated microfibers, high-speed transistors, and flexible 2D electronics. Previous studies have mainly been dedicated to study the synthesis, properties, and applications of the heavy pnictogens nanosheets; however, the toxicological behaviour of these nanosheets has yet to be established. Herein, the cytotoxicity study of pnictogen nanosheets (As, Sb, and Bi) was conducted over 24 h of incubation with various concentrations of test materials and adenocarcinoma human lung epithelial A549 cells. After the treatment period, the remaining cell viabilities were obtained through absorbance measurements with WST-8 and MTT assays. These findings demonstrate that the toxicity of pnictogen nanosheets decreases down Group 15, whereby arsenic nanosheets are considered to be the most toxic, whereas bismuth nanosheets induce low cytotoxicity. The findings of this study constitute an important initial step towards enhancing our understanding of the toxicological effects of pnictogen nanosheets in light of their prospective commercial applications.     

Purity assessment using the mass balance approach for inorganic in-house certified reference material production at Inmetro

Accreditation and Quality Assurance - The production of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) is one of the essential activities of the National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology...     

Shaping metal–organic framework (MOF) powder materials for CO2 capture applications—a thermogravimetric study

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The paper presents the effect of the tabletting pressure and time on the chemical structure and crystallinity of the CuBTC and MIL-53(Al)...     

Robustness to measurement noise of a globally convergent attitude observer with topological relaxations

Nonlinear Dynamics - In the past decade, substantial effort has been put in the design of attitude observers with bias estimation that present both stability and convergence guarantees. However,...     

Determination of cocaine adulterants in human urine by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and high-performance liquid chromatography

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry - This study aimed to determine simultaneously five major street cocaine adulterants (caffeine, lidocaine, phenacetin, diltiazem, and hydroxyzine) in human...     

A new methodology for the determination of silicon in plants by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence

Silicon is an important element for plants at their structure and physiology and plays an important role in bone mineralization and soft tissue development in human beings. Furthermore, its determination is being requested more frequently due to nutritional requirements. However, the methods found in the literature to determine silicon in this type of samples require a sample preparation step, which makes them time-consuming and provides high uncertainties. In this paper, a method for the determination of silicon in plants by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) spectrometry has been developed. Horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) and nettle leaf (Urtica dioica) have been used as a source of silicon due to its medical use. Sample preparation involved calcining the sample at 700°C and preparing fused beads from the calcined sample. Calibration standards for WD-XRF measurement were prepared by mixing certified reference materials and chemical products to reproduce the samples matrix. The linear range for silicon concentration ranges from 6 to 55 wt% SiO₂. The validation of the method was performed measuring a reference material (NCS DC73349 Bush branches and leaves) and comparing the results obtained by WD-XRF with those obtained by an independent method by atomic absorption spectrometry. The developed methodology is rapid and accurate, provides low uncertainties, and is environmentally friendly, as it does require the use of less hazardous reagents.     

One-dimensional displacement of active matter on curved substrates

We analytically find the diffusion of overdamped active Brownian particles (ABPs) constrained to move along curved one-dimensional channels. The autonomous motion of these particles is achieved by a projection of their internal propulsion force along the channels' long section. In particular, the diffusion of ABPs moving on one-dimensional channels with a form of a circle, an ellipse, and a limacon of second order is analysed. To characterise the effect of substrate's geometry and self-propulsion on their diffusion, analytical expressions for the ABPs short- and long-time variances, as well as their steady angular probability density functions are offered. Curvature effects are found to reduce the time an ABP reaches its steady state. Our theoretical results are validated using Brownian dynamics simulations. This model may be relevant for experiments dealing with catalytic driven systems, bacteria, and tumour cell dispersion in one-dimensional channels.