Relating hygroscopicity and composition of organic aerosol particulate matter

A hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) was used to measure the water uptake (hygroscopicity) of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed during the chemical and photochemical oxidation of several organic precursors in a smog chamber. Electron ionization mass spectra of the non-refractory submicron aerosol were simultaneously determined with an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), and correlations between the two different signals were investigated. SOA hygroscopicity was found to strongly correlate with the relative abundance of the ion signal m/z 44 expressed as a fraction of total organic signal (f44). m/z 44 is due mostly to the ion fragment CO2+ for all types of SOA systems studied, and has been previously shown to strongly correlate with organic O/C for ambient and chamber OA. The analysis was also performed on ambient OA from two field experiments at the remote site Jungfraujoch, and the megacity Mexico City, where similar results were found. A simple empirical linear relation between the hygroscopicity of OA at subsaturated RH, as given by the hygroscopic growth factor (GF) or "ϰorg" parameter, and f44 was determined and is given by ϰorg = 2.2 × f44 − 0.13. This approximation can be further verified and refined as the database for AMS and HTDMA measurements is constantly being expanded around the world. The use of this approximation could introduce an important simplification in the parameterization of hygroscopicity of OA in atmospheric models, since f44 is correlated with the photochemical age of an air mass

Relating hygroscopicity and composition of organic aerosol particulate matter

A hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) was used to measure the water uptake (hygroscopicity) of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed during the chemical and photochemical oxidation of several organic precursors in a smog chamber. Electron ionization mass spectra of the non-refractory submicron aerosol were simultaneously determined with an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), and correlations between the two different signals were investigated. SOA hygroscopicity was found to strongly correlate with the relative abundance of the ion signal m/z 44 expressed as a fraction of total organic signal (f44). m/z 44 is due mostly to the ion fragment CO2+ for all types of SOA systems studied, and has been previously shown to strongly correlate with organic O/C for ambient and chamber OA. The analysis was also performed on ambient OA from two field experiments at the remote site Jungfraujoch, and the megacity Mexico City, where similar results were found. A simple empirical linear relation between the hygroscopicity of OA at subsaturated RH, as given by the hygroscopic growth factor (GF) or "κorg" parameter, and f44 was determined and is given by κorg=2.2×f44−0.13. This approximation can be further verified and refined as the database for AMS and HTDMA measurements is constantly being expanded around the world. The use of this approximation could introduce an important simplification in the parameterization of hygroscopicity of OA in atmospheric models, since f44 is correlated with the photochemical age of an air mass

Elastic properties of cubic crystals: Every's versus Blackman's diagram

Blackman's diagram of two dimensionless ratios of elastic constants is frequently used to correlate elastic properties of cubic crystals with interatomic bondings. Every's diagram of a different set of two dimensionless variables was used by us for classification of various properties of such crystals. We compare these two ways of characterization of elastic properties of cubic materials and consider the description of various groups of materials, e.g. simple metals, oxides, and alkali halides. With exception of intermediate valent compounds, the correlation coefficients for Every's diagrams of various groups of materials are greater than for Blackaman's diagrams, revealing the existence of a linear relationship between two dimensionless Every's variables. Alignment of elements and compounds along lines of constant Poisson's ratio $\nu(,\textbf{m})$, ($\textbf{m}$ arbitrary perpendicular to ) is observed. Division of the stability region in Blackman's diagram into region of complete auxetics, auxetics and non-auxetics is introduced. Correlations of a scaling and an acoustic anisotropy parameter are considered.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, presented on The Ninth International School on Theoretical Physics "Symmetry and Structural Properties of Condensed Matter", 5 - 12 September 2007, Myczkowce, Polan

Chemical aging of m-xylene secondary organic aerosol: laboratory chamber study

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) can reside in the atmosphere for a week or more. While its initial formation from the gas-phase oxidation of volatile organic compounds tends to take place in the first few hours after emission, SOA can continue to evolve chemically over its atmospheric lifetime. Simulating this chemical aging over an extended time in the laboratory has proven to be challenging. We present here a procedure for studying SOA aging in laboratory chambers that is applied to achieve 36 h of oxidation. The formation and evolution of SOA from the photooxidation of m-xylene under low-NO_x conditions and in the presence of either neutral or acidic seed particles is studied. In SOA aging, increasing molecular functionalization leads to less volatile products and an increase in SOA mass, whereas gas- or particle-phase fragmentation chemistry results in more volatile products and a loss of SOA. The challenge is to discern from measured chamber variables the extent to which these processes are important for a given SOA system. In the experiments conducted, m-xylene SOA mass, calculated under the assumption of size-invariant particle composition, increased over the initial 12–13 h of photooxidation and decreased beyond that time, suggesting the existence of fragmentation chemistry. The oxidation of the SOA, as manifested in the O:C elemental ratio and fraction of organic ion detected at m/z 44 measured by the Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer, increased continuously starting after 5 h of irradiation until the 36 h termination. This behavior is consistent with an initial period in which, as the mass of SOA increases, products of higher volatility partition to the aerosol phase, followed by an aging period in which gas- and particle-phase reaction products become increasingly more oxidized. When irradiation is stopped 12.4 h into one experiment, and OH generation ceases, minimal loss of SOA is observed, indicating that the loss of SOA is either light- or OH-induced. Chemical ionization mass spectrometry measurements of low-volatility m-xylene oxidation products exhibit behavior indicative of continuous photooxidation chemistry. A condensed chemical mechanism of m-xylene oxidation under low-NO_x conditions is capable of reproducing the general behavior of gas-phase evolution observed here. Moreover, order of magnitude analysis of the mechanism suggests that gas-phase OH reaction of low volatility SOA precursors is the dominant pathway of aging in the m-xylene system although OH reaction with particle surfaces cannot be ruled out. Finally, the effect of size-dependent particle composition and size-dependent particle wall loss rates on different particle wall loss correction methods is discussed

Changes in organic aerosol composition with aging inferred from aerosol mass spectra

Organic aerosols (OA) can be separated with factor analysis of aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) data into hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) and oxygenated OA (OOA). We develop a new method to parameterize H:C of OOA in terms of f_(43)(ratio of m/z 43, mostly C_2H_3O^+, to total signal in the component mass spectrum). Such parameterization allows for the transformation of large database of ambient OOA components from the f_(44) (mostly CO^+_2, likely from acid groups) vs. f_(43) space ("triangle plot") (Ng et al., 2010) into the Van Krevelen diagram (H:C vs. O:C) (Van Krevelen, 1950). Heald et al. (2010) examined the evolution of total OA in the Van Krevelen diagram. In this work total OA is deconvolved into components that correspond to primary (HOA and others) and secondary (OOA) organic aerosols. By deconvolving total OA into different components, we remove physical mixing effects between secondary and primary aerosols which allows for examination of the evolution of OOA components alone in the Van Krevelen space. This provides a unique means of following ambient secondary OA evolution that is analogous to and can be compared with trends observed in chamber studies of secondary organic aerosol formation. The triangle plot in Ng et al. (2010) indicates that f_(44) of OOA components increases with photochemical age, suggesting the importance of acid formation in OOA evolution. Once they are transformed with the new parameterization, the triangle plot of the OOA components from all sites occupy an area in Van Krevelen space which follows a ΔH:C/ΔO:C slope of ~ −0.5. This slope suggests that ambient OOA aging results in net changes in chemical composition that are equivalent to the addition of both acid and alcohol/peroxide functional groups without fragmentation (i.e. C-C bond breakage), and/or the addition of acid groups with fragmentation. These results provide a framework for linking the bulk aerosol chemical composition evolution to molecular-level studies

Rotating non-asymptotically flat black rings in charged dilaton gravity

We derive new rotating, non-asymptotically flat black ring solutions in five-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity with dilaton coupling constant $\alpha=\sqrt{8/3}$ which arises from a six-dimensional Kaluza-Klein theory. As a limiting case we also find new rotating, non-asymptotically flat five-dimensional black holes. The solutions are analyzed and the mass, angular momentum and charge are computed. A Smarr-like relation is found. It is shown that the first law of black hole thermodynamics is satisfied.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX; v2 a reference added, typos correcte

Использование бактериофага F44 для поиска внегенных супрессоров у Erwinia horticola

Из Е. horticola выделен фаг F44 с широким спектром бактерий-хозяев. С помощью гидроксиламина получали его nonsense-мутанты, которые отбирали на штаммах Escherichia coli со строго определенным внегенным супрессором (supE44/su2*). Из ауксотрофных мутантов Е. horticola His⁺ (полученных с помощью 2-аминопурина и гидроксиламина) изолировали спонтанные ревертанты His⁺ . Супрессорные штаммы этой бактерии отбирали по чувствительности ревертантов His к фагу F44 и его nonsense-мутантам. Использование фага F44 в качестве тест-системы для поиска внегенных супрессоров у Е. horticola является достаточно эффективным для таких малоизученных бактерий, как Erwinia.Раніше з Е. horticola було виділено фаг F44 з широким колом бактерій-господарів. За допомогою гідроксиламіну отримано його nonsense-мутанти, які відбирали на штамах Escherichia coli з чітко визначеним позагенним супресором (supE44/su2 ) . З ауксотрофних мутантів Е. horticola His⁺ (одержаних за допомогою 2-амінопуріну та гідроксиламіну) ізолювали спон­танні ревертанти His⁺ . Відбір супресорних штамів цієї бак­терії здійснювали за чутливістю ревертантів His⁺ до фага F44 та його nonsense-мутантів. Використання фага F44 як тест-системи для пошуку позагенних супресорів у Е. horticola є достатньо ефективним для таких маловивчених бактерій, як ErwiniaEarlier we have separated from E. horticola the phage F44 which has the wide area of the host bacteria. The hydroxylamine has been used to obtain the F44 nonsense mutants. The selection of F44 nonsense mutants has been carried out on Escherichia coli having the definite suppressor (supE44/su2 ). We have isolated spontaneous revertants His⁺ from the auxotrophic mutants of the E. horticola His⁺ which have been obtained by the treatment of 2-aminopurine and hydroxylamine. The selection of the E. horticola suppressor strains has been based on the sensitivity of the revertants to the F44 and to its nonsense mutants. We have concluded that the use of the F44 as the test system for the search of the E. horticola external suppressors is sufficiently effective for such poorly investigated bacteria as Erwinia