ZnS/PVA nanocomposites for nonlinear optical applications

We have found a correlation between ZnS nanocomposite nonlinear optical features and technological processing using electrolytic method. In the earlier researches this factor was neglected. However, it may open a new stage for operation by photovoltaic features of the well known semiconductors within a wide range of magnitudes. The titled nanostructured zinc sulfide (ZnS) was synthesized by electrolytic method. The obtained ZnS nano-crystallites possessed nano-particles sizes varying within 1.6 nm…1.8 nm. The titled samples were analyzed by XRD, HR-TEM, STEM, and nonlinear optical methods such as photo-induced two-photon absorption (TPA) and second harmonic generation (SHG). For this reason the nano-powders were embedded into the photopolymer poly(vinyl) alcohol (PVA) matrices. Role of aggregation in the mentioned properties is discussed. Possible origin of the such correlations are discussed.     

Superheating in linear polymers studied by ultrafast nanocalorimetry

To study phase transition kinetics on submillisecond time scale a sensitive ultrafast nanocalorimeter was constructed. Controlled ultrafast cooling, as well as heating, up to 10⁶K/s was attained. The method was applied for the measurements of the superheating phenomenon in a set of linear polymers: iPS, PBT, PET, and iPP. A power law relation between the superheating and the heating rate holds in the heating rate range 10^-2-10⁴K/s. A limiting superheating of about 10% of the melting temperature was observed at rates above 10⁴-10⁵K/s. This limit depends on annealing conditions before sample melting. The observed superheating limit, as well as the power law, can be accounted for the internal stresses near the crystalline amorphous interface in semicrystalline polymers induced by heating, which are related to the thermal expansion gradients inherent in a semicrystalline material.     

Three dimensional accurate morphology measurements of polystyrene standard particles on silicon substrate by electron tomography

Polystyrene latex (PSL) nanoparticle (NP) sample is one of the most widely used standard materials. It is used for calibration of particle counters and particle size measurement tools. It has been reported that the measured NP sizes by various methods, such as Differential Mobility Analysis, dynamic light scattering (DLS), optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), differ from each other. Deformation of PSL NPs on mica substrate has been reported in AFM measurements: the lateral width of PSL NPs is smaller than their vertical height. To provide a reliable calibration standard, the deformation must be measured by a method that can reliably visualize the entire three dimensional (3D) shape of the PSL NPs. Here we present a method for detailed measurement of PSL NP 3D shape by means of electron tomography in a transmission electron microscope. The observed shape of the PSL NPs with 100 nm and 50 nm diameter were not spherical, but squished in direction perpendicular to the support substrate by about 7.4% and 12.1%, respectively. The high difference in surface energy of the PSL NPs and that of substrate together with their low Young modulus appear to explain the squishing of the NPs without presence of water film.     

High pressure studies using two-stage diamond micro-anvils grown by chemical vapor deposition

Ultra-high static pressures have been achieved in the laboratory using a two-stage micro-ball nanodiamond anvils as well as a two-stage micro-paired diamond anvils machined using a focused ion-beam system. The two-stage diamond anvils’ designs implemented thus far suffer from a limitation of one diamond anvil sliding past another anvil at extreme conditions. We describe a new method of fabricating two-stage diamond micro-anvils using a tungsten mask on a standard diamond anvil followed by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) homoepitaxial diamond growth. A prototype two-stage diamond anvil with 300?µm culet and with a CVD diamond second stage of 50?µm in diameter was fabricated. We have carried out preliminary high pressure X-ray diffraction studies on a sample of rare-earth metal lutetium sample with a copper pressure standard to 86?GPa. The micro-anvil grown by CVD remained intact during indentation of gasket as well as on decompression from the highest pressure of 86?GPa.     

Quantification of imatinib and related compounds using capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry with field-amplified sample stacking

A quantification method for imatinib (IM), its major metabolite N-desmethyl imatinib (NDI), and a degradation by-product was developed using CE–MS combined with an online concentration technique. The use of multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)–MS/MS further improved the sensitivity of this technology. Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) using tertiary butyl methyl ether yielded high recovery and reproducibility for the pretreatment of serum samples. The recovery rate exceeded 83% for all three analytes, and was 90% for IM. To improve quantification results, a conductivity-induced online analyte concentration technique, field-amplified sample stacking (FASS), was used. The S/N ratios were improved at least 10-fold when compared with conventional capillary zone electrophoresis. The detection limits were 0.2 ng/mL for IM, 0.4 ng/mL for NDI, and 4 ng/mL for the degradation by-product. These results are superior to those previously obtained by other reported methods. The new method was validated in terms of its selectivity, intra- and interday repeatability and accuracy, and sample storage stability, following the guidelines issued by the European Medicines Agency. Considering the convenient pretreatment procedure (LLE), superior sensitivity, and fast analysis speed (<15 min), this method can be useful in the determination of imatinib levels in blood.     

An empirical re-examination of natural resource scarcity and economic growth

This paper is concerned with the effect of natural resource scarcity on economic growth in the United States. After defining the notion of scarcity and introducing two measures of scarcity—unit costs and relative resource price—changes in resource scarcity trends for lead, zinc, nickel, aluminium, silver, iron and copper over the most recent three decades are investigated. Only for silver and iron is there any indication that such a change has occurred. For silver, the change is transitory. To the extent that change takes place, it has implications for future economic growth, i.e. natural resource scarcity and economic growth are interrelated. To see whether this is a relevant concern, subsequent to the examination of changing resource scarcity trends an objective effort is made to identify a long-run equilibrium relationship between natural resource scarcity and economic growth. Relying on cointegration techniques, only for the unit cost measure for lead and copper for one of the measures of cointegration is there a suggestion that natural resource scarcity has affected economic growth in the United States over the period 1889–1992.     

电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法测定记号笔笔芯和墨水中铜和铬

报道了使用ICP-AES测定记号笔芯和墨水中的铜和铬的方法。 主要关注了不同的样品前处理方法的研究。 结果表明: 对标记用的油性记号笔笔芯和含有高分子树脂的墨水, 采用550 ℃灰化, 混合酸(V_HNO3∶V_HClO4=3∶1)溶解的方法处理样品, 是该类样品比较好的处理方法; 而对不含有高分子树脂的墨水, 采用直接用混合酸(V_HNO3∶V_HClO4=3∶1)的消解即可。 消解后的样品经稀酸酸化后, 采用ICP-AES测定铜和铬, 结果准确、稳定。该方法适合记号笔或墨水中元素的测定。     

Improving signal-to-noise ratio for the forensic analysis of glass using micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

Micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (μXRF) is a standard technique used for the elemental analysis of glass fragments in forensic casework. The glass specimens encountered in casework are usually small (<1 mm), thin fragments that are partially transparent to the exciting X-ray beam. In addition to providing fluorescence from the small glass fragments, the primary beam X-rays can scatter within the chamber and provide noise in the measurements. To reduce scatter from the sample stage, the fragments are typically mounted on a thin plastic film and raised on an XRF sample cup (≤3 cm in height). However, at these heights, there may still be significant scatter from the sample stage, which adversely affects the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the limit of detection (LOD). A plastic mount was designed and 3D-printed in-house to allow fragments to be raised as high as possible from the sample stage, thereby minimizing stage scatter. Most elements detected in glass showed an improvement in the SNR when using the 3D-printed mount for analyses. The greatest improvement (>30%) was observed for lower atomic number elements (Na and Mg) and higher atomic number elements (Sr and Zr). Another simple method to improve SNR is the use of primary beam filters; when using primary beam filters during analyses, elements with characteristic lines in the high-energy range (Rb, Sr, and Zr) showed the greatest improvement (>70%) in SNR. The impact of both strategies for the improvement of SNR is presented here.     

高盐样品中锂的电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法(ICP-OES)测定研究

锂是重要的战略金属和新能源材料,其开发利用受到全球的高度关注。在高盐卤水特别是盐湖卤水和地下卤水中富含巨量的锂资源,在对这些资源进行锂的开发利用过程中,需对锂的含量进行准确测定,然而卤水中共存的高浓度Na+, K+, Ca2+和Mg2+会对微量锂的准确测定产生严重的干扰。电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法(ICP-OES)具有线性范围宽和多元素同步分析能力,针对卤水中锂的快速准确测定,详细开展了高盐样品中锂的ICP-OES分析方法研究。结果表明,锂在610.364 nm处具有较高的信噪比,且Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+和Ar不会对锂的测定产生显著的谱线干扰。然而,样品中大量共存的Na+, K+和Mg2+会对锂的测定产生严重的基体正干扰,而Ca2+产生负干扰。尽管内标法在消除基体干扰方面具有广泛的应用,但传统的以钇和钪为内标元素的内标法不能有效解决该问题。此外,针对标准加入法操作繁琐、不适合批量样品分析问题,以及基体匹配法需多离子匹配,且不适合样品基体组成变化的批量样品分析等问题,考察了采用单一组分进行复杂基体匹配的可行性。由于NaCl广泛存在于卤水中,且对锂的测定具有显著的增敏效应,通过系列研究发现,通过同时向样品和标准溶液中加入10 g·L-1的NaCl,成功解决了总量不超过40 g·L-1的NaCl, KCl和MgCl2所产生的干扰。尽管采用该法或沉淀预分离方式均不能消除Ca2+产生的负干扰,但当样品中Ca2+含量不高于1.8 g·L-1时,对测定不产生显著的影响。通过采用该方法对三种不同基体组成的卤水样品进行加标回收测定,其回收率在96.60%~104.20%范围内。此外,通过与电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)测定结果进行对比,充分论证了该法的准确性和可靠性(相对误差±3.66%)。该法仅以单一的NaCl进行复杂基体匹配,不仅简化了操作,还实现了基体组成变化的批量样品分析,因而在卤水中锂的快速准确测定及锂资源开发利用方面具有重要意义。     

Binary neutron stars gravitational wave detection based on wavelet packet analysis and convolutional neural networks

This work investigates the detection of binary neutron stars gravitational wave based on convolutional neural network(CNN).To promote the detection performance and efficiency,we proposed a scheme based on wavelet packet(WP)decomposition and CNN.The WP decomposition is a time-frequency method and can enhance the discriminant features between gravitational wave signal and noise before detection.The CNN conducts the gravitational wave detection by learning a function mapping relation from the data under being processed to the space of detection results.This function-mapping-relation style detection scheme can detection efficiency significantly.In this work,instrument effects are con-sidered,and the noise are computed from a power spectral density(PSD)equivalent to the Advanced LIGO design sensitivity.The quantitative evaluations and comparisons with the state-of-art method matched filtering show the excellent performances for BNS gravitational wave detection.On efficiency,the current experiments show that this WP-CNN-based scheme is more than 960 times faster than the matched filtering.