Two selected examples of PIXE microanalysis in ecophysiology have been shown. Studies of heavy metal distribution in mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal roots of Plantago lanceolata showed different mechanisms in filtering of Zn/Pb and Fe/Mn, both enabling plants to cope with metals present in the environment. Studies of the mechanism used by the beetle Chrysolina pardalina to eliminate excessive am...

Inorganic compounds in biomass, often referred to as ash, are known to be problematic in the thermochemical conversion of biomass to bio-oil or syngas and, ultimately, hydrocarbon fuels because they negatively influence reaction pathways, contribute to fouling and corrosion, poison catalysts, and impact waste streams. The most common ash-analysis methods, such as inductively coupled plasma-opti...

Ruptured atherosclerotic plaques, lined with activated platelets, constitute an attractive target for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study evaluated whether microparticles of iron oxide (MPIO) targeting ligand-induced binding sites (LIBS) on the activated conformation of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa could be used to image platelets. MPIO (size: 1 microm) were conjugated to anti-LIBS or control...

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a rapid, in situ, diagnostic technique in which light emissions from a laser plasma formed on the sample are used for analysis allowing automated analysis results to be available in seconds to minutes. This speed of analysis coupled with little or no sample preparation makes LIBS an attractive detection tool. In this study, it is demonstrated that ...

Heat generation is a major safety concern in the design and development of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) for large scale applications, such as electric vehicles. The total heat generation in LIBs includes entropic heat, enthalpy, reaction heat, and heat of mixing (1-3). The heat of mixing will be released during relaxation of Li ion concentration gradient. For instance, after the drivers turn of...

Intracellular iron can be estimated semi-quantitatively by histochemical determination using the ferrocyanide reagent's score. Particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) allows accurate determination of various elements including iron in cells and biological fluids. Both techniques have been used to measure iron in alveolar macrophages gathered by bronchoalveolar lavage. The purpose of this study w...

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is shown to be capable of low volume (90 pL) quantitative elemental analysis of picogram amounts of dissolved metals in solutions. Single-pulse and collinear double-pulse LIBS were investigated using a 532 nm dual head laser coupled to a spectrometer with an intensified charge coupled device (CCD) detector. Aerosols were produced using a micronebulize...

The purpose of this study was to examine the mechanisms of lead (Pb) uptake by human intestinal cells and to compare the intestinal transport and relative lead-chelating ability of two diastereoisomeric forms (i.e., meso and racemic) of 2, 3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA). The model used was the human adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cell monolayer. The Caco-2 cells were cultured in flasks for examinati...