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.     

A demonstration of melt rate control during VAR of “Cracked” electrodes

A particularly challenging problem associated with vacuum arc remelting occurs when trying to maintain accurate control of electrode melt rate as the melt zone passes through a transverse crack in the electrode. As the melt zone approaches the crack, poor heat conduction across the crack drives the local temperature in the electrode tip above its steady-state value, causing the controller to cut back on melting current in response to an increase in melting efficiency. The difficulty arises when the melt zone passes through the crack and encounters the relatively cold metal on the other side, giving rise to an abrupt drop in melt rate. This extremely dynamic melting situation is very difficult to handle using standard load-cell based melt rate control, resulting in large melt rate excursions. We have designed and tested a new generation melt rate controller that is capable of controlling melt rate through crack events. The controller is designed around an accurate dynamic melting model that uses four process variables: electrode tip thermal boundary layer, electrode gap, electrode mass and melting efficiency. Tests, jointly sponsored by the Specialty Metals Processing Consortium and Sandia National Laboratories, were performed at Carpenter Technology Corporation wherein two 0.43 m diameter Pyromet® 718 electrodes were melted into 0.51 m diameter ingots. Each electrode was cut approximately halfway through its diameter with an abrasive saw to simulate an electrode crack. Relatively accurate melt rate control through the cuts was demonstrated despite the observation of severe arc disturbances and loss of electrode gap control. Subsequent to remelting, one ingot was sectioned in the “as cast” condition, whereas the other was forged to 0.20 m diameter billet. Macrostructural characterization showed solidification white spots in regions affected by the cut in the electrode.     

Role of chain symmetry and hydrogen bonding in segmented copolymers with monodisperse hard segments

Thermoplastic segmented polyurethane and polyurea copolymers whose monodisperse hard segments are based on only a single diisocyanate molecule are discussed. The solid-state structure-property behavior of these materials demonstrates that a proper selection of the level of symmetry and/or cohesiveness of the hard microdomains may allow elimination of the traditional requirement of chain extension to obtain melt processable segmented urethanes, and more specifically, urea copolymers with useful structural properties.     

生物除臭滤池在污水厂污泥处理段的除臭效能

对采用天然有机滤料和合成无机滤料的生物除臭滤池在加拿大多伦多市Ash-bridge’s Bay污水厂污泥处理站的干化和转运段的应用效果进行了分析。详细介绍了污泥脱水工艺、臭气的产生及其组分，进而对软木树皮滤料和矿物合成永久性滤料的除臭效果进行了比较。还讨论了一些具体的运行经验，并采用动态模型对不同条件下的运行数据进行了分析。     

Engaging the aging workforce: The relationship between perceived age similarity, satisfaction with coworkers, and employee engagement.

Business publications and the popular press have stressed the importance of creating conditions for meaningful employee expression in work roles, also known as engagement. Few empirical studies, however, have examined how individual or situational factors relate to engagement. Consequently, this study examines the interplay between employee age, perceived coworker age composition, and satisfaction with older (older than 55) and younger (younger than 40) coworkers on engagement using a sample of 901 individuals employed in the United Kingdom. Results indicated that satisfaction with one's coworkers related significantly to engagement. Moreover, perceived age similarity was associated with higher levels of engagement among older workers when they were highly satisfied with their coworkers over 55 and lower levels of engagement when they were not. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metastatic parathyroid carcinoma in the MEN2A syndrome

We report a patient with a metastatic parathyroid carcinoma and medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. This patient represents a variation of the multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome (MEN) type 2A. There was no evidence of a phaeochromocytoma. The case illustrates the difficulties that may be encountered in localising the source of PTH secretion; the patient underwent four unsuccessful exploratory operations of the neck and mediastinum before further investigations revealed a single metastatic deposit of parathyroid carcinoma involving the first thoracic vertebra. PCR amplification and sequencing of the RET oncogene from the metastatic parathyroid carcinoma and genomic DNA revealed a heterozygous mutation (Cys634Tyr) in exon 11, as has previously been described to occur in MEN 2A. In addition, loss of tumour heterozygosity was demonstrated at loci from chromosomes 1, 2, 3p, 13q and 16p. This represents the first report of a parathyroid carcinoma in a MEN2A patient, in which the multiple allelic deletions are consistent with the generalised losses observed in aggressive tumours.     

Genetic mapping of a major susceptibility locus for juvenile myoclonic epilepsy on chromosome 15q

The epilepsies are a group of disorders characterised by recurrent seizures caused by episodes of abnormal neuronal hyperexcitability involving the brain. Up to 60 million people are affected worldwide and genetic factors may contribute to the aetiology in up to 40% of patients. The most common human genetic epilepsies display a complex pattern of inheritance. These are categorised as idiopathic in the absence of detectable structural or metabolic abnormalities. Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is a distinctive and common variety of familial idiopathic generalised epilepsy (IGE) with a prevalence of 0.5-1.0 per 1000 and a ratio of sibling risk to population prevalence (lambda(s)) of 42. The molecular genetic basis of these familial idiopathic epilepsies is entirely unknown, but a mutation in the gene CHRNA4, encoding the alpha4 subunit of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), was recently identified in a rare Mendelian variety of idiopathic epilepsy. Chromosomal regions harbouring genes for nAChR subunits were therefore tested for linkage to the JME trait in 34 pedigrees. Significant evidence for linkage with heterogeneity was found to polymorphic loci encompassing the region in which the gene encoding the alpha7 subunit of nAChR (CHRNA7) maps on chromosome 15q14 (HLOD = 4.4 at alpha = 0.65; Z(all) = 2.94, P = 0.0005). This major locus contributes to genetic susceptibility to JME in a majority of the families studied.     

Neural networks,rational functions,and realization theory

The problem of parametrizing single hidden layer scalar neural networks with continuous activation functions is investigated. A connection is drawn between realization theory for linear dynamical systems, rational functions, and neural networks that appears to be new. A result of this connection is a general parametrization of such neural networks in terms of strictly proper rational functions. Some existence and uniqueness results are derived. Jordan decompositions are developed, which show how the general form can be expressed in terms of a sum of canonical second order sections. The parametrization may be useful for studying learning algorithms.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council, the Australian Telecommunications and Electronics Research Board, and the Boeing Commencai Aircraft Company (thanks to John Moore).     

Use of the Extreme Groups Approach: A Critical Reexamination and New Recommendations.

Analysis of continuous variables sometimes proceeds by selecting individuals on the basis of extreme scores of a sample distribution and submitting only those extreme scores to further analysis. This sampling method is known as the extreme groups approach (EGA). EGA is often used to achieve greater statistical power in subsequent hypothesis tests. However, there are several largely unrecognized costs associated with EGA that must be considered. The authors illustrate the effects EGA can have on power, standardized effect size, reliability, model specification, and the interpretability of results. Finally, the authors discuss alternative procedures, as well as possible legitimate uses of EGA. The authors urge researchers, editors, reviewers, and consumers to carefully assess the extent to which EGA is an appropriate tool in their own research and in that of others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)