Direct Analysis of Aerosolized Chemical Warfare Simulants Captured on a Modified Glass-Based Substrate by “Paper-Spray” Ionization

Paper spray ionization mass spectrometry offers a rapid alternative platform requiring no sample preparation. Aerosolized chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulants trimethyl phosphate, dimethyl methylphosphonate, and diisopropyl methylphosphonate were captured by passing air through a glass fiber filter disk within a disposable paper spray cartridge. CWA simulants were aerosolized at varying concentrations using an in-house built aerosol chamber. A custom 3D-printed holder was designed and built to facilitate the aerosol capture onto the paper spray cartridges. The air flow through each of the collection devices was maintained equally to ensure the same volume of air sampled across methods. Each approach yielded linear calibration curves with R2 values between 0.98–0.99 for each compound and similar limits of detection in terms of disbursed aerosol concentration. While the glass fiber filter disk has a higher capture efficiency (≈40%), the paper spray method produces analogous results even with a lower capture efficiency (≈1%). Improvements were made to include glass fiber filters as the substrate within the paper spray cartridge consumable. Glass fiber filters were then treated with ammonium sulfate to decrease chemical interaction with the simulants. This allowed for improved direct aerosol capture efficiency (>40%). Ultimately, the limits of detection were reduced to levels comparable to current worker population limits of 1 × 10–6 mg/m3

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Mass exhumation and deposition of Mulinia lateralis (Bivalvia : Mactridae) on an intertidal beach, St. Catherines Island, Georgia, USA

Volume: 45Start Page: 65End Page: 7

Children's Competence Beliefs, Achievement Values, and General Self-Esteem

Two studies of how elementary school and middle school-aged children's general self-esteem, competence beliefs, and subjective taskvaluesfordifferent activities change overtime are presented. In Study 1, elementaryschool children completed questionnaires once a year for 3 years. Study 2 assessed how the transition to junior high school influenced children's self-beliefs. Children completed questionnaires in the fall and spring of their sixth-grade year in elementary school and the fall and spring of their seventh-grade year in junior high school. Results showed that children's self-esteem did not change during elementary school but decreasedfollowing the junior high transition. Children's competence beliefs and beliefs about the usefulness and importance of different activities generally decreased. Children 's interest in the activities showed a more mixed pattern of change. Boys' and girls' beliefs and values differed in fairly genderstereotypic ways.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67639/2/10.1177_027243169401400203.pd