Comparison of different approaches for direct coupling of solid-phase microextraction to mass spectrometry for drugs of abuse analysis in plasma

The direct coupling of solid-phase microextraction(SPME)to mass spectrometry(MS)(SPME-MS)has proven to be an effective method for the fast screening and quantitative analysis of compounds in complex matrices such as blood and plasma.In recent years,our lab has developed three novel SPME-MS techniques:SPME-microfluidic open interface-MS(SPME-MOI-MS),coated blade spray-MS(CBS-MS),and SPME-probe electrospray ionization-MS(SPME-PESI-MS).The fast and high-throughput nature of these SPME-MS technologies makes them attractive options for point-of-care analysis and anti-doping testing.However,all these three techniques utilize different SPME geometries and were tested with different MS instruments.Lack of comparative data makes it difficult to determine which of these methodologies is the best option for any given application.This work fills this gap by making a comprehensive comparison of these three technologies with different SPME devices including SPME fibers,CBS blades,and SPME-PESI probes and SPME-liquid chromatography-MS(SPME-LC-MS)for the analysis of drugs of abuse using the same MS instrument.Furthermore,for the first time,we developed different desorption chambers for MOI-MS for coupling with SPME fibers,CBS blades,and SPME-PESI probes,thus illustrating the universality of this approach.In total,eight analytical methods were developed,with the experimental data showing that all the SPME-based methods provided good analytical performance with R^(2)of linearities larger than 0.9925,accuracies between 81%and 118%,and good precision with an RSD%≤13%.

Experimental Investigation of Multi-Mode Vortex-Induced Vibration of Flexible Risers with Different Mass Ratios

Experiments were conducted on risers with different mass ratios to study the effect of mode conversion and spanwise correlation. The slenderness ratio of the riser model was set as 169, and the Reynolds numbers are 1600-14400. The dynamic responses of riser models versus reduced velocity were analyzed, and the spanwise displacement, frequency,and trajectory of the mode conversion from the lower to the higher mode were explored. The results revealed that the riser model with a higher mass ratio excites a higher number of modes. The conversion region of multi-mode competition exists and narrows with the increasing mass ratio. Mode conversion is continuous and manifests as the transmission of peaks and troughs in mode shape: the peaks and troughs of mode shape move up in the mode stable development region and move down in the mode conversion region. The single-mode dominating vibration exhibits a standing wave feature, and the traveling wave feature is significant in the mode conversion region. Furthermore, the frequency jump is always transmitted from the trough to the peak of the mode shape, and finally, all the axial positions vibrate at the same frequency. The trajectory in the mode conversion region deviates from the 8-shape and recovers the standard8-shape at the middle and late stages of the mode stable development region.

Effect of CaO/SiO_(2) Slag Mass Ratio on Dissolution Rate of Alumina-based Refractory Ceramics

The dissolution of alumina-based refractory ceramics in CaO-Al2O3-SiO_(2)slag melts was performed based on the in-situ observation system of an ultra-high-temperature laser confocal microscope,and the effect of the CaO/SiO_(2)slag mass ratio(C/S ratio)on the dissolution rate of alumina-based refractory ceramics was investigated.The results indicate that the dissolution rate increases with an increase of the C/S ratio and is mainly controlled by diffusion.During the early stage of dissolution,for all C/S ratios,the dissolution process conforms to the classical invariant interface approximation model.During the later stage of dissolution,when the C/S ratio is≥6,the dissolution process is significantly different from the model above because of the formation of a thick interfacial layer,which can be explained by dissolution kinetics.

Headspace Solid-Phase Micro-Extraction Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry(HS-SPME-GC/MS)-Based Untargeted Metabolomics Analysis for Comparing the Volatile Components from 12 Panax Herbal Medicines

Quality control of ginseng currently is mainly based on ginsenoside analysis,but rarely focuses on the volatile organic components.In the current work,an untargeted metabolomics approach,by headspace solid-phase micro-extraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry(HS-SPME-GC/MS),was elaborated and further employed to holistically compare the compositional difference of the volatile components simultaneously from 12 Panax herbal medicines,which included P.ginseng(PG),P.quinquefolius(PQ),P.notoginseng(PN),red ginseng(PGR),P.ginseng leaf(PGL),P.quinquefolius leaf(PQL),P.notoginseng leaf(PNL),P.ginseng flower(PGF),P.quinquefolius flower(PQF),P.notoginseng flower(PNF),P.japonicus(PJ),and P.japonicus var.major(PJvm).Chromatographic separation was performed on an HP-5MS elastic quartz capillary column using helium as the carrier gas,enabling good resolution within 1 h.We were able to characterize totally 259 volatile compounds,including 82 terpenes(T),46 alcohols(Alc),29 ketones(K),25 aldehydes(Ald),21 esters(E),and the others.By analyzing 90 batches of ginseng samples based on the untargeted metabolomics workflows,236 differential ions were unveiled,and accordingly 36 differential volatile components were discovered.It is the first report that simultaneously compares the compositional difference of volatile components among 12 Panax herbal medicines,and useful information is provided for the quality control of ginseng aside from the well-known ginsenosides.

Load-bearing characteristics and energy evolution of fractured rock masses after granite and sandstone grouting

Experiments on grouting-reinforced rock mass specimens with different particle sizes and features were carried out in this study to examine the effects of grouting reinforcement on the load-bearing characteristics of fractured rock mass.The strength and deformation features of grouting-reinforced rock mass were analyzed under different loading manners;the energy evolution mechanism of grouting-reinforced rock mass specimens with different particle sizes and features was investigated;the energy dissipation ratio and post-peak stress decreasing rate were employed to evaluate the bearing stability of grouting-reinforced rock mass.The results show that the strength and ductility of granite-reinforced rock mass(GRM)under biaxial loading are higher than that of sandstone-reinforced rock mass(SRM)under uniaxial loading.Besides,the energy evolution characteristics of grouting-reinforced rock mass under uniaxial and biaxial loading mainly could be divided into early,middle,and late stages.In the early stage,total,elastic,and dissipation energies were quite small with flatter curves;in the middle stage,elastic energy increased rapidly,whereas dissipation energy increased slowly;in the late stage,dissipation energy increased sharply.The energy dissipation ratio was used to represent the pre-peak plastic deformation.Under uniaxial loading,this ratio increased as the particle size increased and the pre-peak plastic deformation of grouting-reinforced rock mass became larger;under biaxial loading,it dropped as the particle size increased,and the pre-peak plastic deformation of grouting-reinforced rock mass became smaller.The post-peak stress decline rate A_(v) was used to assess the post-peak bearing performance of grouting-reinforced rock mass.Under uniaxial loading,parameter A_(v) exhibited reduction as the particle size kept increasing,and the ability of post-peak of grouting-reinforced rock mass to allow deformation development was greater,and the bearing capacity was greater;under biaxial loading,A_(v) increased with the particle size,and the ability of post-peak of grouting-reinforced rock mass to allow deformation development was low and the bearing capacity was reduced.The findings are considered instrumental in improving the stability of the roadway-surrounding rock by granite and sandstone grouting.

Determining the Charge-to-Mass Ratio of the Electron

The aim of this lab was to determine an experimental value for the charge-to-mass ratio e/me of the electron. In order to do this, an assembly consisting of Helmholtz coils and a helium-filled fine beam tube containing an electron gun was used. Electrons were accelerated from rest by the electron gun at a voltage of 201.3 V kept constant across trials. When the accelerated electrons collided with the helium atoms in the fine beam tube, the helium atoms entered an excited state and released energy as light. Since the Helmholtz coils put the electrons into centripetal motion, this resulted in a circular beam of light, the radius of which was measured by taking a picture and using photo analysis. This procedure was used to test currents through the Helmholtz coils ranging from 1.3 A to 1.7 A in increments of 0.1 A. Using a linearization of these data, the experimental value for the charge-to-mass ratio of the electron was found to be 1.850 × 1011 C/kg, bounded between 1.440 × 1011 C/kg and 2.465 × 1011 C/kg. This range of values includes the accepted value of 1.759 × 1011 C/kg, and yields a percent error of 5.17%. The rather low percent error is a testament to the accuracy of this procedure. During this experiment, the orientation of the ambient magnetic field due to the Earth at the center of the apparatus was not considered. In the future, it would be worthwhile to repeat this procedure, taking care to position the Helmholtz coils in such a way to negate the effects of the Earth’s magnetic field on the centripetal motion of electrons.

Unified Description of the Three Stable Particles in Self-Action Allows Determination of Their Relative Masses

The Dirac equation γμ(δμ-eAμ)Ψ=mc2Ψ describes the bound states of the electron under the action of external potentials, Aμ. We assumed that the fundamental form of the Dirac equation γμ(δμ-Sμ)Ψ=0 should describe the stable particles (the electron, the proton and the dark-matter-particle (dmp)) bound to themselves under the action of their own potentials Sμ. The new equation reveals that self energy is consequence of self action, it also reveals that the spin angular momentum is consequence of the dynamic structure of the stable particles. The quantitative results are the determination of their relative masses as well as the determination of the electromagnetic coupling constant.

Determination of Ten Kinds of Alpha-2 Agonists Residues in Animal Derived Food by UHPLC-Triple Quadrupole/Composite Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

[Objectives]The paper was to establish an ultra high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/linear ion trap complex mass spectrometry for the determination of 10 kinds ofα2-receptor agonists in animal derived food.[Methods]The samples were extracted with sodium carbonate buffer solution and ethyl acetate,and analyzed by mass spectrometry after solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography separation.[Results]Ten kinds ofα2-receptor agonists showed a good linear relationship in the range of 1-100μg/mL,with the average recovery of over 69%and the relative standard deviation less than 8.32%.The detection limit of 10 kinds of α_(2)-receptor agonists was up to 1μg/kg.[Conclusions]The method has good selectivity and strong anti-interference ability,and can meet the requirements of 10 kinds ofα2-receptor agonists residues in animal derived food.

Ratio of Gravitational Force to Electric Force from Empirical Equations in Terms of the Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature

Previously, we presented several empirical equations using the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature. Next, we propose an empirical equation for the fine-structure constant. Considering the compatibility among these empirical equations, the CMB temperature (Tc) and gravitational constant (G) were calculated to be 2.726312 K and 6.673778 × 10−11 m3∙kg−1∙s−2, respectively. Every equation could be explained in terms of the Compton length of an electron (λe), the Compton length of a proton (λp) and a. Furthermore, every equation could also be explained in terms of Avogadro’s number and the number of electrons in 1 C. However, the ratio of the gravitational force to the electric force cannot be uniquely determined when the unit of the Planck constant (Js) is changed. In this study, we showed that every equation can be described in terms of Planck constant. From the assumption of minimum mass, the ratio of gravitational force to electric force could be elucidated.

Mass Concentration and Mineralogical Characteristics of Aerosol Particles Collected at Dunhuang During ACE-Asia

Measurements were performed in spring 2001 and 2002 to determine the characteristics of soil dust in the Chinese desert region of Dunhuang, one of the ground sites of the Asia-Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment （ACE-Asia）. The mean mass concentrations of total suspended particle matter during the spring of 2001 and 2002 were 317μg m^-3 and 307μg m^-3, respectively. Eleven dust storm events were observed with a mean aerosol concentration of 1095μg m^-3, while the non-dusty days with calm or weak wind speed had a background aerosol loading of 196μg m^-3 on average in the springtime. The main minerals detected in the aerosol samples by X-ray diffraction were illite, kaolinite, chlorite, quartz, feldspar, calcite and dolomite. Gypsum, halite and amphibole were also detected in a few samples. The mineralogical data also show that Asian dust is characterized by a kaolinite to chlorite （K/C） ratio lower than 1 whereas Saharan dust exhibits a K/C ratio larger than 2. Air mass back-trajectory analysis show that three families of pathways are associated with the aerosol particle transport to Dunhuang, but these have similar K/C ratios, which further demonstrates that the mineralogical characteristics of Asian dust are different from African dust.

An online method to determine chlorine stable isotope composition by continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS) coupled with a Gasbench Ⅱ

An online method using continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry （CF-IRMS） interfaced with a Gasbench Ⅱ was presented to determine chlorine stable isotope composition. Silver chloride （AgCl） was quantitatively derived from chloride by using silver nitrate （AgNO3）, and then was reacted with iodomethane （CH3Ⅰ） to produce methyl chloride （CH3Cl）. A GasBench Ⅱ equipped with a PoraPlot Q column was used to separate CH3Cl from any other gas species. Finally, chlorine stable isotope analysis was carried out on CH3Cl introduced to the IRMS in a helium stream via an active open split. The minimum amount of Cl used in this method is of the order of 1.4 μmol. Inter-laboratory and inter-technique comparisons show that the total uncertainty incorporating both the precision and accuracy of this method is better than 0.007%. Furthermore, ten seawaters sampled from different locations have a narrow δ37Cl value range from -0.008% to 0.010%, with a mean value of （0.000±0.006）%. This supports the assumption that any seawater can be representative of standard mean ocean chloride （SMOC） and used as an international reference material.

Mass ratio design based on compaction properties of backfill materials

The backfill-mining mass ratio is the ratio of the mass of the backfill materials in the goaf to the mass of the produced raw coal during solid backfill mining and it is regarded as a direct control index of the backfill effect in solid backfill mining. To design the backfill-mining mass ratio in a solid backfill mining panel, the backfill-mining mass ratio was defined on the basis of the basic principle of solid backfill mining. In addition, the density-stress relationship of backfill materials under compaction was obtained for five types of materials to derive a design formula for backfill-mining mass ratio. Moreover, the 6304-1 backfill panel under the large-scale dam of Ji′ning No. 3 coal mine was taken as an engineering case to design the backfill-mining mass ratio. In this way, it is found that the designed backfill-mining mass ratio is 1.22, while the mean value of the measured backfill-mining mass ratio is 1.245. Besides, the maximum roof subsidence is only 340 mm which effectively guarantees the backfill effect in the panel and control of strata movement and surface subsidence.

Female waist-to-hip ratio,body mass index and sexual attractiveness in China

Men and women at Northwest University （n=751）, Xi＇an, China were asked to judge the attractiveness of photographs of female patients who had undergone micrograft surgery to reduce their waist-to-hip ratios （WHR）. Micrograft surgery involves harvesting adipose tissue from the waist and reshaping the buttocks to produce a low WHR and an ‘hourglass＇ female figure. This gynoid distribution of female body fat has been shown to correlate with measures of fertility and health. Significantly larger numbers of subjects, of both sexes, chose post-operative photographs, with lower WHRs, as more attractive than pre-operative photographs of the same women. Some patients had gained, and some had lost weight, post-operatively, with resultant changes in body mass index （BMI）. However, these changes in BMI were not related to judgments of attractiveness. These results show that the hourglass female figure is rated as attractive in China, and that WHR, rather than BMI, plays a crucial role in such attractiveness judgments.

The Influence of Blocking Mass Parameters on the Vibration Isolation Performance of a Power Cabin

Rigid blocking masses are located in the typical base structure of a power cabin based on the impedance mismatch principle.By combining the acoustic-structural coupling method and statistical energy analysis,the full-band vibration and sound radiation reduction effect of vibration isolation masses located in a base structure was researched.The influence of the blocking mass’ cross-section size and shape parameters and the layout location of the base isolation performance was discussed.Furthermore,the effectiveness of rigid vibration isolation design of the base structure was validated.The results show that the medium and high frequency vibration and sound radiation of a power cabin are effectively reduced by a blocking mass.Concerning weight increment and section requirement,suitably increasing the blocking mass size and section height and reducing section width can result in an efficiency-cost ratio.

Numerical simulation of VIV for an elastic cylinder mounted on the spring supports with low mass-ratio

With the development of the offshore deep water oil industry many researchers are focusing on the vortex-induced vibrations （VIV） of deep risers. In the present work, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） equations were combined with the SST κ-ω turbulent model to simulate the stream-wise and transverse motion of an elastically mounted cylinder with a low mass-ratio, a natural frequency ratio of fx/fy = 1 and an Re number between 5 300 and 32 000, The four-order Runge-Kutta method was applied to solve the oscillating equation of the cylinder. The relationship between reduced velocity and parameters of the cylinder, including the lift coefficient, the drag coefficient, displacement and the vortex structure were then compared with recent experimental results and discussed in detail. The present numerical simulation reproduced effects have been observed in experiments, such as the lock-in phenomenon, the hysteretic phenomenon and beating behavior.

The Effect of Mass Ratio and Air Damper Characteristics on the Resonant Response of an Air Damped Dynamic Vibration Absorber

In this paper, it is shown that, a road vehicle 2DOF air damped quartercar suspension system can conveniently be transformed into a 2DOF air damped vibrating system representing an air damped dynamic vibration absorber (DVA) with an appropriate change in the ratio μ of the main mass and the absorber mass i.e. when mass ratio μ >> 1. Also the effect of variation of the mass ratio, air damping ratio and air spring rate ratio, on the motion transmissibility at the resonant frequency of the main mass of the DVA has been dis- cussed. It is shown that, as the air damping ratio in the absorber system increases, there is a substantial decrease in the motion transmissibility of the main mass system where the air damper has been modeled as a Maxwell type. Optimal value of the air damping ratio for the minimum motion transmissibility of the main mass of the system has been determined. An experimental setup has been designed and developed with a control system to vary air pressure in the damper in the absorber system. The motion transmissibility characteristics of the main mass system have been obtained, and the optimal value of the air damping ratio has been determined for minimum motion transmissibility of the main mass of the

Optimization of structural parameters for spatial flexible redundant manipulators with maximum ratio of load to mass

Optimization of structural parameters aimed at improving the load carrying capacity of spatial flexible redundant manipulators is presented in this paper. In order to increase the ratio of load to mass of robots, the cross-sectional parameters and constructional parameters are optimized respectively. The cross-sectional and configurational parameters are optimized simultaneously. The numerical simulation of a 4R spatial manipulator is performed. The results show that the load capacity of robots has been greatly improved through the optimization strategies proposed in this paper.

Influences of C/S Mass Ratio and Kieserite Impregnation on Performance of 95-Grade Magnesia Bricks

The irfluences of C/S mass ratio and kieserite im-pregnation on performance of 95-grade magnesia bricks prepared using sintered magnesia DBM95 as main start-ing material, silica fi, me and limestone as additives were researched. The cold and hot physical properties were tested according to Chinese standards on refractories. The hydration resistance was determined in a high pres-sure autoclave with 0. 55 MPa of water vapor pressure for different holding times of 0. 5 h, 3 h, and 5 h. The tri-al results show （ 1 ） adding silica fume to decrease C/S ratio from 0. 84 to 0. 33 improves sintering property; addin,g limestone to increase C/S ratio J？om 0. 84 to 1.95 causes more pores and negatively influences physi-cal properties： BD decreases, AP increases, MOR and CCS decrease generally, but HMOR increases obviously; （2） for non-impregnated specimens, adjusting C/S mass ratio can not improve hydration resistance; （3） the impregnation with kieserite solution can improve hydra-tion resistance of magnesia bricks significantly.

Effect of Mass Ratio on Hydrodynamic Response of a Flexible Cylinder

The effect of the mass ratio on the flow-induced vibration （FIV） of a flexible circular cylinder is experimentally investigated in a towing tank. A Tygon tube with outer and inner diameters of 7.9 mm and 4.8 mm, respectively, was employed for the study. The tube was connected to a carriage and towed from rest to a steady speed up to 1.6 m/s before slowing down to rest again over a distance of 1.6 m in still water. Reynolds number based on the cylinder＇s outer diameter was 800-13,000, and the reduced velocity （velocity normalized by the cylinder＇s natural frequency and outer diameter） spanned from 2 to 25. When connected, the cylinder was elongated from 420 mm to 460 mm under an axial pre-tension of 11 N. Based on the cylinder＇s elongated length, the aspect ratio （ratio of the cylinder＇s length to outer diameter） was calculated as 58. Three mass ratios （ratio of the cylinder＇s structural mass to displaced fluid mass, m＊） of 0.7, 1.0, and 3.4 were determined by filling the cylinder＇s interior with air, water, and alloy powder （nickel-chromium-boron matrix alloy）, respectively. An optical method was adopted for response measurements. Multi-frequency vibrations were observed in both in-line （IL） and cross-flow （CF） responses; at high Reynolds number, vibration modes up to the 3rd one were identified in the CF response. The mode transition was found to occur at a lower reduced velocity for the highest tested mass ratio. The vibration amplitude and frequency were quantified and expressed with respect to the reduced velocity. A significant reduced vibration amplitude was found in the IL response with increasing mass ratios, and only initial and upper branches existed in the IL and CF response amplitudes. The normalized response frequencies were revealed to linearly increase with respect to the reduced velocity, and slopes for linear relations were found to be identical for the three cases tested.

The Mystery behind the Fine Structure Constant Contracted Radius Ratio Divided by the Mass Ratio? A Possible Atomist Interpretation

This paper examines various alternatives for what the fine structure constant might represent. In particular, we look at an alternative where the fine structure constant represents the radius ratio divided by the mass ratio of the electron, versus the proton as newly suggested by Koshy [1], but derived and interpreted here based on Haug atomism (see [2]). This ratio is remarkably close to the fine structure constant, and it is a dimensionless number. We also examine alternatives including the proton mass divided by the Higgs mass, which appears to be another possible candidate for what the fine structure constant might represent.