New insights into electron spin dynamics in the presence of correlated noise.

The changes in the spin depolarization length in zinc-blende semiconductors when an external component of correlated noise is added to a static driving electric field are analyzed for different values of field strength, noise amplitude and correlation time. Electron dynamics is simulated by a Monte Carlo procedure which takes into account all the possible scattering phenomena of the hot electrons in the medium and includes the evolution of spin polarization. Spin depolarization is studied by examining the decay of the initial spin polarization of the conduction electrons through the D'yakonov-Perel process, the only relevant relaxation mechanism in III-V crystals. Our results show that, for electric field amplitudes lower than the Gunn field, the dephasing length shortens with increasing noise intensity. Moreover, a nonmonotonic behavior of spin depolarization length with the noise correlation time is found, characterized by a maximum variation for values of noise correlation time comparable with the dephasing time. Instead, in high field conditions, we find that, critically depending on the noise correlation time, external fluctuations can positively affect the relaxation length. The influence of the inclusion of the electron-electron scattering mechanism is also shown and discussed.

Uncertainty of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry based measurements: an application to the analysis of urinary barium, cesium, antimony and tungsten.

The wide use of barium (Ba), cesium (Cs), antimony (Sb) and tungsten (W) in many industrial and agricultural fields causes the increased release of these metals into the environment, laying the basis for health risk. To assess the exposure for the general population, the development of adequate and reliable analytical techniques becomes compulsory. This study refers to the quantification of urinary Ba, Cs, Sb and W levels by both quadrupole (Q) and sector field (SF) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The two procedures were compared for their performances and their measurement uncertainties. The limits of detection were (Q and SF) 23.0 and 5.21 ng L(-1) for Ba; 21.1 and 7.52 ng L(-1) for Cs; 1.09 and 0.43 ng L(-1) for Sb; and 0.36 and 0.49 ng L(-1) for W. The trueness was better than 93.3% and the precision less than 12% for both techniques. Relative expanded uncertainties of the analytical procedures, at the median levels found in the general population, were below 5% for all the elements with both ICP-MS techniques. The uncertainties related to the calibration and repeatability were the parameters most influencing the final analytical performance. The urinary median values observed in healthy subjects from central Italy were 1146, 4301, 60.8 and 48.5 ng L(-1) for Ba, Cs, Sb and W, respectively.

Comparison of different analytical procedures in the determination of trace elements in lichens.

A BCR standard reference material of lichen (CRM 482) was used to validate an analytical procedure consisting of a microwave oven digestion associated with ICP-OES, ICP-MS and GFAAS techniques for the analysis of trace elements (Al, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Ti, V and Zn) in biomonitor samples. Two different acid mixtures were used: (a) 7 ml of HNO3, 1 ml of H2O2; (b) 7 ml of HNO3, 1 ml of H2O2 and 200 microl of HF; all digestions were carried out using 100-250 mg samples brought to a final volume of 50 ml. The validation of the procedure was carried out by two laboratories in terms of accuracy and precision; the former was estimated as percentage recovery by comparing experimental data with certificate values; the latter evaluated according to ISO standard 5725. Real lichen samples were analysed too with the procedures above described. In certified CRM 482 and real lichen samples the procedure with HF showed higher recovery values for Al, Ti, V, Ba and Fe than the procedure without HF. For all the other elements the two procedures gave comparable results both in terms of accuracy and precision. The recovery obtained with HF procedure for all the elements was generally better than 90-103%.

Determination of total urinary mercury by on-line sample microwave digestion followed by flow injection cold vapour inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry or atomic absorption spectrometry.

The total mercury content in urine was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with the so-called cold vapour method after on-line oxidative treatment of the sample in a microwave oven (FI-MW-CV-ICPMS). Use of a KBr/KBrO(3) mixture, microwave digestion, and the final oxidation with KMnO(4), assure the complete recovery of the organic forms of Hg which would be difficult to determine otherwise if using only the CV-ICPMS apparatus. Quantitative recoveries were obtained for phenyl Hg chloride (PMC), dimethyl Hg (DMM), Hg acetate (MA) and methyl Hg chloride (MMC). Use of automatic flow injection microwave systems (FI-MW) for sample treatment reduces environmental contamination and allows detection limits suitable for the determination of reference values. Since no certified reference materials were commercially available in the concentration ranges of interest, the accuracy of the proposed procedure has been assessed by analysing a series of urine samples with two independent techniques, ICP-MS and AAS. When using the FI-MW-CV-ICP-MS technique, the detection limit was assessed at 0.03microg/L Hg, while with FI-MW-CV-AAS it was 0.2microg/L Hg. The precision of the method was less than 2-3% for FI-MW-CV-ICP-MS and about 3-5% for FI-MV-CV-AAS at concentrations below 1microg/L Hg. These results show that ICP-MS can be considered as a "reference technique" for the determination of total urinary Hg at very low concentrations, such as are present in non-exposed subjects.