Use of chromatographic pre-concentration for routine uranium bioassay analysis by ICP-MS

Routine monitoring of urine is an effective way to detect occupational intake of radioactive material. Historically, determinations of uranium isotopic ratios have been performed by radiochemical separation followed by alpha spectrometry. With recent advancements in technology, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has become widely available for the determination of trace metals as well as radioactive nuclides with long half-lives, such as ²³⁸U in urine. Furthermore, ICP-MS measurements of ²³⁸U do not require radiochemical separation since the number of atoms in the sample is determined instead of the number of alpha particles emitted. However, this method does not provide good sensitivity for the determination of ²³⁵U due to its shorter half-life. An improved procedure using pre-concentration of uranium and determination by ICP-MS decreases the detection limit by a factor of ten or greater with only slight increase in total analysis time. The method also has the capability of accurately determining the isotopic ratio of the sample, which is very important in cases where enriched or depleted uranium is involved.     

Chelating Complexes of Diethylzinc and ZnCl2 with 2,2‐Bipyridine and 1,6,7,12,13,18‐Hexaazatrinaphthylene (HATN) as Ligands

The 1,6,7,12,13,18‐hexaazatrinaphthylene (HATN) complex [(Et₂Zn)₃(μ₃‐HATN)] was synthesized and characterized by IR spectroscopy, UV/Vis spectroscopy, elemental analysis and ESI‐MS spectrometry. Attempts to prepare ZnCl₂ complexes of HATN leads only to the mononuclear [(Cl₂Zn)(HATN)] derivative, characterized by X‐ray diffraction, IR‐ and UV/Vis‐spectroscopy as well as ESI‐MS spectrometry. The bright red 2,2′‐bipyridine (bipy) complex [(Et₂Zn)(bipy)] ( 1 ) was synthesized and characterized by X‐ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy. The UV/Vis‐spectra of the HATN‐complexes show absorptions in regions of far longer wavelengths than the corresponding 2,2′‐bipyridine or 1,10‐phenantroline complexes. Consequently the π*‐LUMO of HATN ( 5 ) is lower in energy than the π*‐LUMO of 2,2′‐bipyridine ( 2 ) or 1,10‐phenanthroline (phen).     

Rigorous analysis of novel dielectric resonator filters with printed tuning septum

This paper describes the analysis of dielectric resonator filters with printed tuning septum in waveguide sections operating below cutoff. In this design approach a thick dielectric slab of high permittivity is placed longitudinally in the waveguide. A bilateral ladder-shaped metallization determines the resonator and coupling sections (modified finline filter). In contrast to conventional dielectric resonator filters, this approach provides better passband separation and increased stopband attenuation. Furthermore, due to the bilateral tuning septum, the resonator and coupling sections can be manufactured accurately with photolithographic techniques rather than by expensive machining.     

Utility of lab-on-a-chip technology for high-throughput nucleic acid and protein analysis

On-chip electrophoresis can provide size separations of nucleic acids and proteins similar to more traditional slab gel electrophoresis. Lab-on-a-chip (LoaC) systems utilize on-chip electrophoresis in conjunction with sizing calibration, sensitive detection schemes, and sophisticated data analysis to achieve rapid analysis times (<120 s). This work describes the utility of LoaC systems to enable and augment systems biology investigations. RNA quality, as assessed by an RNA integrity number score, is compared to existing quality control (QC) measurements. High-throughput DNA analysis of multiplex PCR samples is used to stratify gene sets for disease discovery. Finally, the applicability of a high-throughput LoaC system for assessing protein purification is demonstrated. The improvements in workflow processes, speed of analysis, data accuracy and reproducibility, and automated data analysis are illustrated.     

Nb2O5 "pathway effect" on hydrogen sorption in Mg

In the present work we investigate the hydrogen sorption mechanism in a MgH(2)/Nb(2)O(5) composite and analyze why Nb(2)O(5) could strongly improve hydrogen sorption kinetics in magnesium. Hereby we make use of the fact that Nb(2)O(5) nanoparticles are able to reduce the milling time significantly with the achievement of excellent sorption kinetics, and can so exclude effects occurring at long-term milling that make difficult the study of the mechanism. On the basis of extensive chemical, crystalline, and microstructural characterization of the MgH(2)/Nb(2)O(5) nanopowder system, a "pathway model" is proposed, which explains the kinetic hydrogen sorption improvement by a formation of pathways of niobium oxide species with lower oxidation state that facilitate the hydrogen transport into the sample. This mechanism is shown to be supported by additional oxidation experiments, which indicate increased oxygen diffusion through these pathways.