Lymphocytes Studied by Raman Microspectroscopy

The Raman spectroscopy detects the interaction of the incident light with the electrons in the illuminated molecule. The use of Raman spectroscopy to investigate biological molecular structures and the recognition of their particular functional groups have been growing rapidly, and nowadays the use of Raman spectroscopy has expanded toward the cellular level. The activation of lymphocytes occurs when they are exposed to viruses or other foreign antigens. We have observed that Raman spectroscopy can be used to screen the activation of lymphocytes during viral infection. We have indicated the bands that reveal differences between activated and intact cells. The most important marker of the lymphocyte activation process is the prominent 521 cm−1 disulfide band which marks the immunoglobulin formation. The blood from the patients with viral infections, e.g., mononucleosis, and from healthy volunteers was obtained by venipuncture during hospitalization in the University Hospital in Kraków

Raman microspectroscopy as a unique method of the investigation of acid proof steel foil oxidation

In this paper, the results of the investigation of the morphology and phase composition of the oxide layers formed on the surface of the 1H18N9T acid proof steel foil by confocal Raman micro-spectroscopy with optical microscopy, SEM, XRD and TEM-EDS-SADP are presented. The foil oxidation was performed by thermo-programmed heating up to 823, 1023 or 1113 K and next annealing at the final temperatures in the air flow for 48 h, 4 h and 4 h, respectively. The great advantages of the use of the Raman spectroscopy for the phase determining in the oxide layers on the acid proof steel foil are shown. Moreover the possibility of applying the optical microscopy for investigation of the surface morphology of both the initial steel foil and the oxide layers is pointed out

Identification of Olfactory Nuisance of Floor Products Containing Bitumens with the TD–GC–MS/O Method

The adopted TD–GC–MS/O method helps determine the correlation between the odour signals and compounds separated on the chromatographic column, from the analysed gas mixture. It is possible to compare the retention times at which the odour signals were identified with the retention time of eluting compounds, when the test system and matrix are known. The presented study describes the details of representative samples obtained from (1) indoor air samples from a room where floor materials containing bitumen are present, (2) wooden floor staves placed in an emission chamber, and (3) fragments (chips) of the materials mentioned above, placed in glass tubes, exposed to an elevated desorption temperature. The results, presented in the paper, describe the identified odours and their intensity and assign chemical compounds to each odour, indicating their likely source of origin. The results presented in the manuscript are intended to show what methodology can be adopted to obtain intense odours from the tested samples, without losing the sensitivity derived from GC–MS. The manuscript presents representative results—case studies. The results for various types of samples were not very reproducible, related to the complex matrix of bituminous products. The enormity of compounds present in tar adhesives makes it possible to indicate only the groups of compounds that emit from these systems. They include, primarily, aliphatic, aromatic and heteroaromatic hydrocarbons, particularly Naphthalene and Phenol derivatives

Tests of floor products using the method olfactometric (TD-GC/MS-O)

Artykuł opisuje metodologię TD-GC-MS/O, która pozwala ustalić korelację pomiędzy sygnałami zapachowymi a poszczególnymi związkami rozdzielanymi na kolumnie chromatograficznej z analizowanych próbek powietrza. Jest to możliwe dzięki porównaniu czasów retencji, przy których zidentyfikowano sygnały zapachowe z czasem retencji eluujących związków przy znajomości badanego układu i badanej matrycy. Badania przedstawione w artykule szczegółowo opisują reprezentatywne wyniki otrzymane z: próbek powietrza wewnętrznego w pomieszczeniu, w którym znajdują się materiały podłogowe zawierające bitumy, drewnianych klepek podłogowych umieszczonych w szczelnie zamkniętych workach strunowych oraz fragmentów tych materiałów umieszczonych w szklanych rurkach poddanych podwyższonej temperaturze desorpcji. Wyniki zamieszczone w pracy zawierają opisy zidentyfikowanych zapachów, ich intensywności oraz związki chemiczne, które są za nie odpowiedzialne.The article describes the TD-GC-MS/O methodology, which allows to establish the correlation between odorous signals and individual compounds separated on the chromatographic column from the analyzed air samples. This is possible thanks to the comparison of the retention times at which the odor signals were identified with the retention time of the eluting compounds with the knowledge of the tested system and matrix. The research presented in the article describes in detail the representative results obtained from: internal air samples in the room with flooring materials containing bitumen, wooden floor staves placed in tightly closed string bags and fragments of these materials placed in glass tubes subjected to high desorption temperature. The results included in the work contain descriptions of the identified odours, their intensity and the chemical compounds that are responsible for them

About the Flood in the Puranas. On the basis of the text from Matsyapurana

W niniejszej pracy znajduje się opis puran i ich główne cechy, spekulacja na temat datowania tych dzieł, a także informacje o najważniejszych z nich. W kolejnych rozdziałach jest przedstawiona dokładniej jedna z nich, Matsjapurana, a w szczególności opis potopu w niej zawarty oraz tłumaczenie z oryginału fragmentu opisującego to zdarzenie. W pracy znajdują się także informacje na temat potopu w innych dziełach hinduistycznych.In this work there is a description of the puranas and their principal features, speculations about the date ranges of the process of creation of the puranas and basic informations about the most important of them. In following chapters one of them, The Matsyapurana, is described in detail, in particular a description of the flood contained in it and the translation from the original text the part about this incident. In this work there are also informations about the flood in other hindu works

Comparison of VOC Emissions Produced by Different Types of Adhesives Based on Test Chambers

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from building materials into the indoor air may cause discomfort associated with a perceptible chemical odour and may irritate the upper respiratory tract. Hence, it is vital to control indoor air pollution sources, such as interior finishing materials, including adhesives. The study involved carrying out a series of experimental tests of VOC emissions of 25 adhesives based on the ISO 16000 series standards. The research concerns three groups of construction adhesives with indoor applications, i.e., flooring (10), finishing walls and ceilings (6), and for other applications such as edge-gluing or gluing tiles or mirrors (9) differing in chemical composition. A series of temperature tests were carried out for a representative floor adhesive at selected temperatures: 25 °C, 35 °C and 45 °C. The theoretical correlation approach was adopted to characterise the relationship between the emission rate and temperature of selected chemical compounds