Separation of serotonin from catechols by capillary zone electrophoresis with electrochemical detection

Capillary zone electrophoresis with electrochemical detection is demonstrated with columns having only 9-microns inner diameter. Amperometric detection limits of 0.7 amol are reported for serotonin. The difficult problem of resolving serotonin and dopamine--two neurotransmitters of interest having similar electrophoretic mobilities--is addressed by chemical means to improve selectivity. These include buffer modification with 2-propanol and a system employing borate complexation of the catechol in combination with sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles.     

Dewatering of liwuid radioactive wastes in thin-film rotary evaporators

Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 67, No. 1, pp. 11–15, July, 1989.     

AC hot-carrier effects in MOSFETs with furnaceN2O-nitrided gate oxides

AC hot-carrier effects in n-MOSFETs with thin (~85 Å) N₂O-nitrided gate oxides have been studied and compared with control devices with gate oxides grown in O₂. Results show that furnace N₂O-nitrided oxide devices exhibit significantly reduced AC-stress-induced degradation. In addition, they show weaker dependences of device degradation on applied gate pulse frequency and pulse width. Results suggest that the improved AC-hot-carrier immunity of the N₂O-nitrided oxide device may be due to the significantly suppressed interface state generation and neutral electron trap generation during stressing     

Relative value of selective group A streptococcal agar incubated under different atmospheres

A commercially available selective group A streptococcal agar (ssA) was evaluated for the recovery of group A streptococci (GAS) in comparison with recovery from simultaneous cultures on conventional sheep blood agar (SBA). Both sets of plates were incubated in air, 5% CO2, and anaerobically for 48 h, with a first reading taken at 24 h. A total of 402 (67.0%) GAS were isolated from the 600 specimens that were submitted. Recovery of GAS was significantly greater after 48 h of incubation than after 24 h of incubation for each medium-atmosphere combination. After 48 h of incubation, the sensitivities of GAS detection obtained by each culture technique were as follows: ssA-anaerobic atmosphere, 98.5%; SBA-anaerobic atmosphere, 89.5%; ssA-CO2 atmosphere, 88.0%; SBA-air, 86.5%; SBA-CO2 atmosphere, 82.0%; and ssA-air, 74.6%. There were no cultures positive in air or CO2 which were not positive anaerobically on either medium. The increased sensitivity of detecting positive GAS cultures when incubation was done in an ssA-anaerobic atmosphere for 48 h uncovered patients truly infected with the organisms.     

Substantiation of the Radiochemical Characteristics of Liquid Radioactive Wastes That Determine Safe Operation of Deep Waste Disposal Sites

The qualitative and quantitative radiochemical composition of liquid wastes is substantiated. This makes possible further safe operation of deep waste disposal sites at the Mining-Chemical Plant and the Siberian Chemical Plant. The toxicity and temperature in a formation with the wastes removed are used as the assessment criteria, satisfaction of which guarantees that the wastes will remain localized within the assigned boundaries of the waste-disposal formation site. It is concluded that the standard limit should be imposed on the specific activity of the long-lived group of radionuclides – ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs – rather than on the total specific activity of the wastes placed in deep disposal sites. For maximum specific activity of ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs of 37 GBq/dm³ and total specific activity not exceeding 185 GBq/dm³ for buried wastes with radionuclide composition characteristic of modern radiochemical production operations, it is impossible for potentially dangerous radiation and thermochemical processes to occur in the waste-disposal formation site. The recommended limit permits reducing substantially the volume of buried wastes and therefore the region over which the wastes propagate in the deep disposal site.     

Experience with the antibiotic resistance analysis and DNA fingerprinting in tracking faecal pollution at two lake beaches.

Posting or closing of swimming beaches because of faecal contamination is a widespread problem reported in many locations. In a risk-based approach to this problem, the risk to swimmers' health is assessed by field monitoring of indicator bacteria and the associated risks are managed by source controls and other remedial measures. In risk assessment, great advances have been made in recent years with the introduction of microbial source tracking (MST) techniques. Two such techniques, antibiotic resistance analysis and DNA fingerprinting, were applied in a study of causes of faecal contamination at two lake beaches in Toronto, Ontario. Both methods identified bird faeces as the dominant sources of E. coli. Coping with this type of pollution presents a major environmental challenge.     

Study of the technological properties of Karelian rocks as raw material for production of mineral wool

A technological study of basic and ultrabasic Karelian rocks as mineral wool raw material was conducted. It was found that ultrabasic rocks with a ratio of CaO: MgO ≥ 0.5 are the optimum raw material for production of mineral wool by the cupola method. Promising sections of these types of rocks for development are identified.