Integrated Smart Gas Tracking Device with Artificially Tailored Selectivity for Real-Time Monitoring Food Freshness.

The real-time monitoring of food freshness in refrigerators is of significant importance in detecting potential food spoiling and preventing serious health issues. One method that is commonly reported and has received substantial attention is the discrimination of food freshness via the tracking of volatile molecules. Nevertheless, the ambient environment of low temperature (normally below 4 °C) and high humidity (90% R.

Enhanced Fatigue Limit in Ultrafine-Grained Ferritic-Martensitic Steel.

The influence of the ultrafine-grained (UFG) structure on the fatigue endurance limit and the nature of fatigue failure have been studied. It is shown that the formation of the UFG structure containing carbides and the coincidence site lattice relationship (CSL) and twin boundaries leads to an increase in the fatigue endurance limit. To study the mechanisms of fatigue failure, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were used.

Volatile Organic Compound Fragmentation in the Afterglow of Pulsed Glow Discharge in Ambient Air.

Glow discharge (GD) source gained an increased level of attention in relation to the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) since past work showed that this soft ionization method allowed direct analysis of VOCs with minimal fragmentation, however, the issue of fragmentation was not previously studied in detail. The aim of the present work was to investigate the effect of discharge conditions on VOC fragmentation in the system consisting of the cell with pulsed glow discharge and a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Ionization of VOCs of different classes (hydrocarbons, alcohols, esters, and carboxylic acids) was investigated.

Metal-organic frameworks based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy technique for ultra-sensitive biomedical trace detection.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted widespread interest due to their unique and unprecedented advantages in microstructures and properties. Besides, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology has also rapidly developed into a powerful fingerprint spectroscopic technique that can provide rapid, non-invasive, non-destructive, and ultra-sensitive detection, even down to single molecular level. Consequently, a considerable amount of researchers combined MOFs with the SERS technique to further improve the sensing performance and broaden the applications of SERS substrates.

MASS SPECTROMETRY-BASED TECHNIQUES FOR DIRECT QUANTIFICATION OF HIGH IONIZATION ENERGY ELEMENTS IN SOLID MATERIALS-CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES.

The determination of nonmetals, first of all, the most electronegative ones-nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, and bromine, poses the highest challenge for element analysis. These elements are characterized by high reactivity, volatility, high ionization energy, and the absence of intensive spectral lines in the optical spectral range. Conventional techniques of their quantification include considerable "wet chemistry" stages so the application of these techniques for the solid sample is highly laborious and prone to uncontrollable uncertainties.

A study of matrix and admixture elements in fluorine-rich ionic conductors by pulsed glow discharge mass spectrometry.

Rationale: Dopants in ionic conductors play a crucial role in achieving the required electrochemical properties. A slight variation in their concentration considerably affects the conductivity of crystals and their applicability as ionic conductors and laser materials. To ensure the growth of high-quality fluoride crystals, adequate approaches for the quantification of matrix and admixture/dopant components are required.

Effects of the Tempering and High-Pressure Torsion Temperatures on Microstructure of Ferritic/Martensitic Steel Grade 91.

Grade 91 (9Cr-1Mo) steel was subjected to various heat treatments and then to high-pressure torsion (HPT) at different temperatures. Its microstructure was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Effects of the tempering temperature and the HPT temperature on the microstructural features and microhardness in the ultrafine-grained (UFG) Grade 91 steel were researched.

Trace element biomonitoring in hair of school children from a polluted area by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

In the current study, a biomonitoring of 18 hair trace elements (Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V, Zn, Ca, Na and P) in school children from Leningradskaya Oblast' is reported. A case group, residing in a proximity to the toxic waste disposal grounds (Krasniy Bor), has been assessed vs. controls from a non-urban settlement Seltso.

Use of radiation sources with mercury isotopes for real-time highly sensitive and selective benzene determination in air and natural gas by differential absorption spectrometry with the direct Zeeman effect.

A new analytical portable system is proposed for the direct determination of benzene vapor in the ambient air and natural gas, using differential absorption spectrometry with the direct Zeeman effect and innovative radiation sources: capillary mercury lamps with different isotopic compositions ((196)Hg, (198)Hg, (202)Hg, (204)Hg, and natural isotopic mixture). Resonance emission of mercury at a wavelength of 254 nm is used as probing radiation. The differential cross section of benzene absorption in dependence on wavelength is determined by scanning of magnetic field.

[Determination of Al, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Tl in whole blood by atomic absorption spectrometry without preliminary sample digestion].

Methods of whole blood trace element determination by Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (in the variant of Zeeman's modulation polarization spectrometry) have been proposed. They do not require preliminary sample digestion. Furnace programs, modifiers and blood dilution factors were optimized.

Application of Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with high-frequency modulation polarization for the direct determination of aluminum, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, mercury, manganese, nickel, lead, and thallium in human blood.

Determination of aluminum (Al), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and thallium (Tl) concentrations in human blood using high-frequency modulation polarization Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) was performed. No sample digestion was used in the current study. Blood samples were diluted with deionized water or 0.

[Microarray analytic system for multiplex analysis by real-time polymerase chain reaction with reagents immobilized in microreactors].

A microarray analytic system that uses a silicon chip with immobilized in microreactor test-system for multiplex analysis of DNA by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was developed and optimized. We suggested the method of immobilization of PCR-components of a test-system, chose the stabilizer, and conducted the optimization of the composition of reaction mixture to achieve permanent stability of a microarray. We conducted optimization of preparation of samples using magnetic sorbent and indicated that, with 2.

Surface modification of microchip input reservoirs for pressure-induced sample injection into microreactors.

Optimization of geometry and surface modification of microchip input reservoirs were performed to achieve uninterferenced pressure-induced sample injection of multiple samples into microreactors using a single syringe pump. Nine samples of 3.5 microL were pipetted onto input reservoirs and loading of PCR mixture into 260 nL microreactors was achieved followed by successful PCR amplification, confirming that no cross-contamination occurs during injection.

Direct and rapid analysis of ambient air and exhaled air via electrostatic precipitation of aerosols in an atomizer furnace and Zeeman spectrometry.

Techniques that allow the elements present in the air to be determined in a simple and rapid manner are very attractive. Direct aerosol sampling techniques avoid the need to pretreat the filter via wet digestion in order to remove any sources of contamination, and they decrease the precipitation time significantly. Analyzers based on this technique can also determine the concentrations of elements in the air automatically in situ.