Real-time organic aerosol chemical speciation in the indoor environment using extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Understanding the sources and composition of organic aerosol (OA) in indoor environments requires rapid measurements, since many emissions and processes have short timescales. However, real-time molecular-level OA measurements have not been reported indoors. Here, we present quantitative measurements, at a time resolution of five seconds, of molecular ions corresponding to diverse aerosol-phase species, by applying extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS) to indoor air analysis for the first time, as part of the highly instrumented HOMEChem field study. We demonstrate how the complex spectra of EESI-MS are screened in order to extract chemical information and investigate the possibility of interference from gas-phase semivolatile species. During experiments that simulated the Thanksgiving US holiday meal preparation, EESI-MS quantified multiple species, including fatty acids, carbohydrates, siloxanes, and phthalates. Intercomparisons with Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer suggest that EESI-MS quantified a large fraction of OA. Comparisons with FIGAERO-CIMS shows similar signal levels and good correlation, with a range of 100 for the relative sensitivities. Comparisons with SV-TAG for phthalates and with SV-TAG and AMS for total siloxanes also show strong correlation. EESI-MS observations can be used with gas-phase measurements to identify co-emitted gas- and aerosol-phase species, and this is demonstrated using complementary gas-phase PTR-MS observations.     

Differentiation of smooth muscle cells from undifferentiated cells of chicken gizzard occurs on the layer of fibroblast-like cells

Conflicting results have been reported in literature about the influence of beta-adrenergic stimulation on the fast cardiac sodium current (INa+). To elucidate these mechanisms in multicellular preparations we used the loose-patch-clamp technique to evaluate the effect of the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol 1-1000 nmol/l. Isoproterenol enhanced INa+ at all membrane potentials by elevation of the maximal available INa+ . Only at the high concentration of 1 micromol/l was INa+ slightly depressed after depolarizing conditioning clamps. The most marked increase of the maximal available INa+ was 30+/-9% after application of 100 nmol/l isoproterenol. To learn about the mechanisms in view of sodium channel modulation we combined isoproterenol with the sodium channel blocker lidocaine (47 micromol/l). Under these circumstances the effects of both drugs were completely independent. This investigation shows clearly that low concentrations of isoproterenol increase INa+ in multicellular preparations by a gating-independent mechanism.     

Three-dimensional anatomical model-based segmentation of MR brainimages through principal axes registration

Model-based segmentation and analysis of brain images depends on anatomical knowledge which may be derived from conventional atlases. Classical anatomical atlases are based on the rigid spatial distribution provided by a single cadaver. Their use to segment internal anatomical brain structures in a high-resolution MR brain image does not provide any knowledge about the subject variability, and therefore they are not very efficient in analysis. The authors present a method to develop three-dimensional computerized composite models of brain structures to build a computerized anatomical atlas. The composite models are developed using the real MR brain images of human subjects which are registered through the principal axes transformation. The composite models provide probabilistic spatial distributions, which represent the variability of brain structures and can be easily updated for additional subjects. The authors demonstrate the use of such a composite model of ventricular structure to help segmentation of the ventricles and cerebrospinal fluid of MR brain images. Here, a composite model of ventricles using a set of 22 human subjects is developed and used in a model-based segmentation of ventricles, sulci, and white matter lesions. To illustrate the clinical usefulness, automatic volumetric measurements on ventricular size and cortical atrophy for an additional eight alcoholics and 10 normal subjects were made. The volumetric quantitative results indicated regional brain atrophy in chronic alcoholics     

BONDING OF CERAMICS TO METALS WITH ACTIVATED COATING LAYERS MADE BY PLASMA SPRAYING

Bonding of ceramics to metals was carried out by using thermal sprayed coatings as interlayer materials. This bonding method is referred as the thermal spray bonding. In the present study, Si₃N₄ and Al₂O₃ ceramics were bonded to SS41 mild steel using activated Ti-Cu multilayer coatings plasma-sprayed on the steel in a low pressure atmosphere. The bondability was estimated by SEM/EDX analysis and shear tests of the joints. The results were compared to those obtained using Ti-Cu multilayer foils as interlayers. When using Ti-Cu foils as interlayers, brittle Fe-Ti compound layers were formed in the joint area after long time heating at a bonding temperature of 900°C, which deteriorated the joint strength. In contrast with the activated interlayers made by plasma spraying, the Ti-Cu eutectic reaction took place uniformly at the joint immediately after heating to the bonding temperature. This improved the bondabilrty, and the resultant joints exhibited shear strengths of about 180 MPa.     

Automated zebrafish chorion removal and single embryo placement: optimizing throughput of zebrafish developmental toxicity screens

The potential of the developing zebrafish model for toxicology and drug discovery is limited by inefficient approaches to manipulating and chemically exposing zebrafish embryos-namely, manual placement of embryos into 96- or 384-well plates and exposure of embryos while still in the chorion, a barrier of poorly characterized permeability enclosing the developing embryo. We report the automated dechorionation of 1600 embryos at once at 4 h postfertilization (hpf) and placement of the dechorionated embryos into 96-well plates for exposure by 6 hpf. The process removed ≥95% of the embryos from their chorions with 2% embryo mortality by 24 hpf, and 2% of the embryos malformed at 120 hpf. The robotic embryo placement allocated 6-hpf embryos to 94.7% ± 4.2% of the wells in multiple 96-well trials. The rate of embryo mortality was 2.8% (43 of 1536) from robotic handling, the rate of missed wells was 1.2% (18 of 1536), and the frequency of multipicks was <0.1%. Embryo malformations observed at 24 hpf occurred nearly twice as frequently from robotic handling (16 of 864; 1.9%) as from manual pipetting (9 of 864; 1%). There was no statistical difference between the success of performing the embryo placement robotically or manually.     

Limited evidence of zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) consumption by freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) in Lake Winnipeg

Freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) may be a predator of the invasive zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), which established in Lake Winnipeg in 2013. In this study, the diets, trophic position, and growth of 51 freshwater drum collected in 2019 (six years post-zebra mussel invasion) were compared to 64 freshwater drum sampled in 2000. Benthic insect larvae were the dominant food items in both years. Although mollusks occur in high densities in Lake Winnipeg, they were only consumed by a few freshwater drum in either sample year. Zebra mussels were not a frequent prey item in 2019 as they were only consumed by four of the sampled freshwater drum. Stable isotope analysis of white muscle tissue yielded similar δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values in both years and were consistent with a benthic, insectivorous diet. Length-at-age data derived from otoliths revealed that the 2019 population had at least an equal growth rate to the 2000 population. Weight-at-length data suggested that fish condition was greater in 2019 than in 2000, which coincided with increased benthic macroinvertebrate density in Lake Winnipeg. Based on these findings, Lake Winnipeg freshwater drum continue to feed predominantly on insect larvae and not zebra mussels.     

Preparation of superacid of iron-supported zirconia for reaction of butane to isobutane

A highly active superacid of 2 wt% Fe-supported ZrO₂ for the skeletal isomerization of butane to isobutane was obtained by sfexposing Fe₂O₃/ZrO₂ to 1 N H₂SO₄ followed by calcining in air at 700°C for more than 24 h; the Fe₂O₃/ZrO₂ was prepared by impregnating zirconia gel with a solution of Fe(NO₃)₃ followed by drying at 300°C (2 wt% Fe). A much lower activity was observed with the opposite procedure, where the first impregnation was sulfation of the gel, followed by a second impregnation with the iron compound. It was proved from analysis of the sulfur content in the catalysts that residual sulfur species were not related with generation of the superacidic sites. XPS showed the catalyst to be Fe₂O₃ supported on ZrO₂.Superacids by metal oxides, VIII. For previous publications VI and VII in this series see refs. [10,11].     

低气压等离子喷涂TiO2涂层结构的研究

本研究分析了在低气压等离子喷涂条件下,TiO_2涂层的结构受等离子弧喷涂过程中氧分解量所影响。氧分解量很大程度上依赖于离子气中氢流量的大小,此外喷涂室压力也有一定影响。而等离子弧功率和喷涂距离对TiO_2涂层的氧分解量没有多大影响。在离子气中氢流量不变的条件下,涂层中Ti_3O_5量随喷涂室压力(从100×133.322Pa至400×133.322Pa)增加而增加。     

Modeling heavy metal mass releases from urban battery litter

Consumer batteries littered on urban pavements release metals of environmental significance (Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Li, Mn, Ni, Pd, Ti, Zn) to stormwater runoff. Predicting the mass loading of any one metal is difficult because of the random composition of battery litter. However, when littering is modeled as a conditional filtered Poisson process, bounds may be estimated for the mean and variance of site mass loading for any metal if the site litter rate and battery product contributions are known. Site-specific data on the battery brand distribution in litter can improve load estimates, but statistics computed from 5500 littered batteries collected in the Cleveland area may be used to approximate the brand distribution. Zinc load calculations based on battery litter size, type and brand discretizations are implemented in a model titled BLML and illustrated for a case-study location. Results indicate that, at some urban sites, zinc released from battery litter can be the largest source of zinc in urban pavement runoff.