A novel approach for an automated liquid/liquid extraction system—principle and application for the determination of several trace contaminants in highly alloyed steels and base alloys
AbstractA novel automated liquid/liquid extraction system was developed for the determination of trace contaminants in unalloyed, alloyed and highly alloyed steels and super alloys. In the presented batch extraction system the aqueous phase and the non-water miscible organic phase were brought into close phase contact by high-speed stirring with a magnetic stir bar. Iodide complexes of Ag, Bi, Cd, Pb, Sb, Sn, Tl, and Zn were extracted from aqueous steel digests into 4-methylpentan-2-one (MIBK) containing 20 g L−1 trioctylphosphine oxide. Ag, Bi, Cd, Pb, and Tl were extracted quantitatively whereas the extraction yields of Sb, Sn, and Zn were 83%, 61% and 75% respectively. Using high resolution continuum source flame AAS (HR-CS-FAAS) for analyte quantification the method was validated using 21 certified steel reference materials (CRMs).
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A modification to the extraction-atomic-absorption method for the determination of antimony, bismuth, lead and tin
It has been shown that the use of organometallic compounds for the calibration procedure used in the extraction-atomic-absorption determination of antimony, bismuth, lead and tin in metallurgical materials leads to erroneous results at low concentration levels. Results are presented, which demonstrate that the technique is satisfactory when calibrated with solutions that have been taken through the extraction procedure.
The denial of death and the out-of-the-body experience
The out-of-the-body experience is a phenomenon which continues to be reported and continues to be interpreted in many ways. It seems, however, that more attention is given to finding a spiritual base for this occurrence than a psychological understanding of it. This paper considers the psychological forces of denial as a suitable explanation for the OBE and suggests that these experiences may be understood as hallucinations caused by traumatic events rather than genuine previews of the afterlife. That is: “Do these people transcend their bodies and also time and space to acquire these experiences, or could it be that nothing has been transcended at all save the need to deny death and thus transcend its feared consequence, which is ‘not being’?”