A simple polymer electrolyte membrane system for enrichment of low-level tritium (3H) in environmental water samples

Tritium (³H) is an essential tracer of the Earth's water cycle; yet widespread adoption of tritium in hydrologic studies remains a challenge because of analytical barriers to quantification and detection of ³H by electrolytic pre-concentration. Here, we propose a simple tritium electrolytic enrichment system based on the use of solid polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) that can be used to enrich ³H in 250–3000?mL environmental water samples to a 10-mL final volume. The IAEA PEM-³H system reported here can produce high enrichment factors (>70-fold) and, importantly, removes some of the deterrents to conventional ³H enrichments methods, including the use of toxic electrolysis and neutralization chemicals, spike standards, a complex electrolysis apparatus that requires extensive cooling and temperature controls, and improves precision by eliminating the need for tracking recovery gravimetrics. Preliminary results with varying operating conditions show ³H enrichments to 70-fold and higher are feasible, spanning a wide range of tritium activities from 5 to 150 TU with a precision of ～4.5?%. Further work is needed to quantify inter-sample memory and to establish lower ³H detection limits. The IAEA PEM-³H system is open source, with 3-D CAD and design files made freely available for adoption and improvement by others.     

Online induction heating for determination of isotope composition of woody stem water with laser spectrometry: a methods assessment

Application of stable isotopes of water to studies of plant–soil interactions often requires a substantial preparatory step of extracting water from samples without fractionating isotopes. Online heating is an emerging approach for this need, but is relatively untested and major questions of how to best deliver standards and assess interference by organics have not been evaluated. We examined these issues in our application of measuring woody stem xylem of sagebrush using a Picarro laser spectrometer with online induction heating. We determined (1) effects of cryogenic compared to induction-heating extraction, (2) effects of delivery of standards on filter media compared to on woody stem sections, and (3) spectral interference from organic compounds for these approaches (and developed a technique to do so). Our results suggest that matching sample and standard media improves accuracy, but that isotopic values differ with the extraction method in ways that are not due to spectral interference from organics.     

Computation and conversion of brain pH values obtained with two algorithms of phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy data analysis

The intracellular brain pH in phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy is calculated using the chemical shift between the inorganic phosphate and phosphocreatine with the Henderson–Hasselbalch equations. Researchers use various mathematical formulas that have different parameters and get various results for the same input data as a consequence. Thus, the aim of this article was to determine the mathematical formulas that allow the conversion of the pH values obtained by the most popular analysis methods to each other. To determine the relationships between pH results and the applied mathematical formula, the pH values were calculated using two algorithms for the theoretical chemical shift values. The pH results were compared with each other using the appropriate t-tests. Mathematical formulas were designed to simplify the conversion of pH values obtained by two data analysis methods to each other. The pH values with were obtained this way did not differ significantly from the pH values calculated directly from the given formula. The computed mathematical formulas will make it possible to simplify pH conversions without knowing the chemical shift between inorganic phosphate and phosphocreatine but only basing on the final pH values obtained by one of the formulas.     

在线教学的实践与反思*——以有机化学课程为例

以有机化学课程在线教学开展情况为背景,通过与传统教学模式对比,分析了在线教学的优势与不足。在此基础上,将笔者所在课程组开展在线教学以来在教学内容重构、教学环节设计、考核方式改革等方面的探索与尝试进行了总结与分享。     

Rheological Technique as a Sensitive Method to Characterize the Chain Diffusion across the Interface between Polystyrene and Carbon Black Filled Polystyrene

The mutual diffusion process and interphase development taking place at the interface between disks of polystyrene (PS) and carbon black filled polystyrene (CB-PS) in the molten state were investigated by a small-amplitude, oscillatory shear, rheological technique. The rheological method was employed to probe the thermorheological complexity of these polymer disks. It was found that the dynamic complex shear modulus, G*(t), increased with the time of contact in two time regimes at a fixed frequency. The time of transition between the two regimes was observed to be close to the time needed for the transition from the Rouse mode to the reptation mode. The results showed that the content of the carbon black and the temperature affected the slope of the G*(t) – t curve. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the interface disappeared when the diffusion process was complete.     

Flux and fluence dependence of disorder produced during implantation of 11B in silicon

The flux and fluence dependence of disorder produced in silicon during the implantation of ¹¹B has been investigated at room temperature, -50°C. and -120°C. Implantations were carried out with 200 keV ¹¹B ions using current densities in the range from 0.06μA/cm² to 15μA/cm², and the disorder monitored by measuring the energy spectra of backscattered protons which were incident on the sample at 450 keV parallel to a (110) axis. Significant differences in the dependence of the disorder on ¹¹B flux and fluence were observed between the implantations performed at room temperature and those carried out at the two lower temperatures.     

Cross‐linking and properties of rubber magnetic composites cured with different curing systems

Rubber magnetic composites were prepared by incorporation of strontium ferrite into rubber compounds based on acrylonitrile butadiene rubber and ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber. The sulfur, peroxide, and mixed sulfur/peroxide curing systems were introduced as cross‐linking agents for rubber matrices. The aim was to investigate the influence of curing system composition on curing process and cross‐link density of composite materials. Then, static and dynamic mechanical properties and thermal and magnetic characteristics were investigated in relation to the cross‐link density of rubber magnetic composites and structure of the formed cross‐links. The changes of dynamical and physicomechanical properties were in close correlation with the change of cross‐link density, whereas the tensile strength of magnetic composites showed increasing trend with increasing amount of peroxide in mixed curing systems. On the other hand, thermal conductivity and magnetic characteristics were found not to be dependent on the curing system composition.     

带有二元连接函数的半参数模型

提出了一种新的带有二元连接函数的广义半参数模型,即二元连接模型(简称为BLM).使用轮廓似然方法估计模型的参数和非参数部分,并给出了计算算法.证明了所得的未知参数的估计量为n~(1/2)-相合,渐近正态且具有渐近最小方差,给出了实际数据分析和模拟研究,最终采用局部功效方法来检验非参数部分的线性性.     

Super-symmetric informationally complete measurements

Symmetric informationally complete measurements (SICs in short) are highly symmetric structures in the Hilbert space. They possess many nice properties which render them an ideal candidate for fiducial measurements. The symmetry of SICs is intimately connected with the geometry of the quantum state space and also has profound implications for foundational studies. Here we explore those SICs that are most symmetric according to a natural criterion and show that all of them are covariant with respect to the Heisenberg–Weyl groups, which are characterized by the discrete analog of the canonical commutation relation. Moreover, their symmetry groups are subgroups of the Clifford groups. In particular, we prove that the SIC in dimension 2, the Hesse SIC in dimension 3, and the set of Hoggar lines in dimension 8 are the only three SICs up to unitary equivalence whose symmetry groups act transitively on pairs of SIC projectors. Our work not only provides valuable insight about SICs, Heisenberg–Weyl groups, and Clifford groups, but also offers a new approach and perspective for studying many other discrete symmetric structures behind finite state quantum mechanics, such as mutually unbiased bases and discrete Wigner functions.     

Synthesis of Diquinolineno[1,3,7,9]Tetraazacyclododecine-7, 15 (14H, 16H)-Dibenzene,and DNA Binding Studies of Macrocyclic Co(II), Cu(II) Complexes: As New Class of Antimicrobial Agent

The synthesis of macrocyclic ligand, diquinolineno[1,3,7,9]tetraazacyclododecine-7, 15 (14H, 16H)-dibenzene(L), is described. The metal complexes of the type [MLX₂], where (M = Co(II) (1), Cu(II) (2) and X = (Cl), have been synthesized by the reaction of ligand(L) with the corresponding metal salts, and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹H-NMR and electronic spectra. The binding property of the complexes with CT-DNA was studied by absorption spectra, viscosity measurements, as well as thermal denaturation studies. The absorption spectral results indicate that the complexes (1) and (2) are binds with base pairs of DNA. The intrinsic binding constant K_b had the value 3.8 × 10⁴M ^?1 for (1 Chappell, L. L., Voss, A. D. and Morrow, J. R. 1998. Inorg. Chem., 37(16): 3989–3998.  [Google Scholar]) and 3.3 × 10⁴ M^?1 for (2), respectively, in 5 mM Tris-HCl/50 mM NaCl buffer at pH 7.2. The viscosity measurement results show the viscosity of sonicated rod-like DNA fragments increased when the complex were added to the solution of calf thymus-DNA. The synthesized ligand and its metal complexes have been screened for antibacterial and antifungal activities.