Abstract: An extremely dilute mixture of a liquid in a flowing fluid stream is prepared by forming tiny droplets of the liquid and injecting the droplets individually into the flowing stream. The rate at which liquid is added to the flowing stream is determined by the number of droplet forming units that are provided and upon the frequency with which the units are activated, allowing a precise digital control of the concentration of the liquid in the flowing fluid stream.

Abstract: An extremely dilute mixture of a liquid in a flowing fluid stream is prepared by forming tiny droplets of the liquid and injecting the droplets individually into the flowing stream. The rate at which liquid is added to the flowing stream is determined by the number of droplet forming units that are provided and upon the frequency with which the units are activated, allowing a precise digital control of the concentration of the liquid in the flowing fluid stream.

Abstract: An extremely dilute mixture of a liquid in a flowing fluid stream is prepared by forming tiny droplets of the liquid and injecting the droplets individually into the flowing stream. The rate at which liquid is added to the flowing stream is determined by the number of droplet forming units that are provided and upon the frequency with which the units are activated, allowing a precise digital control of the concentration of the liquid in the flowing fluid stream.

Abstract: Ions carried in a flowing gas stream are transferred to another gas stream of different composition or purity through an ion selective aperture communicating between the gas streams. The ion selective aperture is formed of a central layer which has an electrically conductive layer on each of its surfaces. One or more open channels extend through the central layer and surface layers allowing physical movement of ions therethrough under the urging and influence of an electric field created by imposing a voltage differential between the conductive surface layers of the ion selective aperture. The gas flow rates of the different gas streams may be independently varied to allow adjustment of ion concentration and flow rate to meet the needs of the ion destination. This device can control sample ion introduction into gas-phase ion detectors, such as ion mobility analyzers, differential mobility analyzers, mass spectrometers, and combinations thereof.

Abstract: A system for the stand-off detection of trace amounts of analyte materials such as explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, and the like includes an ion source that is operably connected to an ion collection means and to a sensor. The ion source employs a first gas that is passed through an electrical discharge to produce metastable gas molecules as well as charged particles of various kinds. Ions and other charged particles are removed from the first gas which is then reacted with a second gas having a lower ionization potential to obtain reactant ions of relatively uniform energy. The reactant ions are focused and accelerated into a beam that is directed upon a surface, such as luggage or clothing that is being interrogated, to produce analyte ions which are collected and passed into the sensor that is preferably a differential mobility spectrometer.

Abstract: A system for the non-contact detection of analyte chemicals, including explosives, chemical warfare agents and the like, employs a non-equilibrium plasma that is maintained at a temperature sufficiently low so as to avoid thermal damage to a surface, such as clothing or skin, that is being examined to thereby produce analyte ions and other charged particles. The ions are collected and passed into a sensor for detection and identification.

Abstract: An improved ion source and means for collecting and focusing dispersed gas-phase ions from a remote reagent chemical ionization source (R2CIS) at atmospheric or intermediate pressure is described. The R2CIS is under electronic control and can produce positive, negative, or positive and negative reagent ions simultaneously. This remote source of reagent ions is separated from a low-field sample ionization region by a stratified array of elements, each element populated with a plurality of openings, wherein DC potentials are applied to each element necessary for transferring reagent ions from the R2CIS into the low-field sample ionization region where the reagent ions react with neutral and/or ionic sample forming sample ionic species. The resulting sample ionic species are then introduced into a mass spectrometer, ion mobility spectrometer or other sensor capable of detecting the sample ions.

Abstract: A char containing less than 5% volatile matter is produced by pryolyzing shredded scrap vehicle tires and other rubber scrap material in an externally heated retort until the rubber is completely decomposed and until the temperature of the gases produced by the pyrolysis process reaches at least 500° C. The char is then subjected to resonance disintegration of an intensity sufficient to produce an unltrafine, particulate carbon product. In a preferred embodiment, essentially 100% of the individual carbon product particles are smaller than about 8 microns, and that product displays a dispersion coefficient in rubber of greater than 87%. The surface properties of the carbon product particles may be further modified by reacting or coating the carbon with chemical compounds or coating agents during or immediately after the resonance disintegration to tailor the properties of the carbon product to its use.

Abstract: A system for the stand-off detection of trace amounts of analyte materials such as explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, and the like includes an ion source that is operably connected to an ion collection means and to a sensor. The ion source employs a first gas that is passed through an electrical discharge to produce metastable gas molecules as well as charged particles of various kinds. Ions and other charged particles are removed from the first gas which is then reacted with a second gas having a lower ionization potential to obtain reactant ions of relatively uniform energy. The reactant ions are focused and accelerated into a beam that is directed upon a surface, such as luggage or clothing that is being interrogated, to produce analyte ions which are collected and passed into the sensor that is preferably a differential mobility spectrometer.

Abstract: A system for the stand-off detection of trace amounts of analyte materials such as explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, and the like includes an ion source that is operably connected to an ion collection means and to a sensor. The ion source employs a first gas that is passed through an electrical discharge to produce metastable gas molecules as well as charged particles of various kinds. Ions and other charged particles are removed from the first gas which is then reacted with a second gas having a lower ionization potential to obtain reactant ions of relatively uniform energy. The reactant ions are focused and accelerated into a beam that is directed upon a surface, such as luggage or clothing that is being interrogated, to produce analyte ions which are collected and passed into the sensor that is preferably a differential mobility spectrometer.

Abstract: The low temperature pyrolysis of shredded scrap vehicle tires and other rubber scrap material yields a char consisting of coarse, granular particles of carbon. Those granular particles are converted to ultrafine carbon products useful as fillers and pigments by means of resonance disintegration. During resonance disintegration the char granules and particles are subjected to intense high energy shock waves resulting in a carbon particle product in which typically over half of the carbon particulate volume is below one micron when dispersed in water. The surface properties of the carbon particles or of carbon blacks produced by conventional techniques can be further modified by reacting or coating the carbon with chemical compounds or coating agents during or immediately after the resonance disintegration to tailor the properties of the carbon product to its use.

Abstract: An electrophoresis system which provides enhanced resolution and ability to identify nucleases through use of a two-dimensional technique involving isoelectric focussing of tube gels followed by the electrophoresis of second-dimension slab gels formed by the use of a holder allowing slab gels to be cast directly on the sides of the tube gels. DNA is employed as the substrate for casting the slab gels. The slab gels are electrophoresed for the second dimension in a chamber wherein the rack containing a stack of slab gels forms the partition between the anolyte and catholyte compartments. After the second-dimension electrophoresis, the slab gels are incubated in incubation buffer and placed in Pyronin Y to stain the unhydrolized DNA. After staining, they are destained in acetic acid. The DNAses are then visible as colorless spots in a reddish-colored gel.

Abstract: An electrophoresis system which provides enhanced resolution and ability to identify nucleases through use of a two-dimensional technique involving isoelectric focussing of tube gels followed by the electrophoresis of second-dimension slab gels formed by the use of a holder allowing slab gels to be cast directly on the sides of the tube gels. DNA is employed as the enzyme substrate within the slab gels. The slab gels are electrophoresed for the second dimension in a chamber wherein the rack containing a stack of slab gels forms the partition between the anolyte and catholyte compartments. After the second-dimension electrophoresis, the slab gels are incubated in incubation buffer and placed in Pyronin Y to stain the unhydrolized DNA. After staining, they are destained in acetic acid. The DNAses are then visible as colorless spots in a reddish-colored gel.