An approach to the generation of gas phase ions by field extraction from liquid solutions has been investigated. The method uses a polymer membrane with nano-size channels as an interface between the liquid and the atmospheric pressure gas. Ions are produced by dissociation in the polar solvent and secondary ion-molecular reactions in the solution, which fills the channels of the membrane. Field extraction of the ions from the channels is stimulated by pulses of the electric discharge between the membrane and an adjacent electrode in the gas. The gas-phase ions are removed from the extraction zone by air flow and are detected by mass spectrometry. Possibilities of the membrane interface for generation of gas phase ions have been demonstrated from mass spectral investigation curried out for angiotensin II, gramicidin S and cytochrome C solutions. The current kinetics of the membrane ion source has been investigated to elucidate the mechanism of the ion extraction.

As a sequel to a previous paper on electrostatic potential of point charges inside dielectric prolate spheroids [J. Electrostatics 66 (2008) 549-560], this note further presents the exact solution to the electrostatic problem of finding the electric potential of point charges inside a dielectric oblate spheroid that is embedded in a dissimilar dielectric medium. Numerical experiments have demonstrated the convergence of the proposed series solutions.

The objective of this study was to investigate the electrical impedance properties of rat lung and other tissues ex vivo using Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy. Rat lungs (both electroporated and naïve (untreated)), and mesenteric vessels (naïve) were harvested from male Sprague-Dawley rats; their electrical impedance were measured using a Solartron 1290 impedance analyzer. Mouse lung and heart samples (naïve) were also studied. The resistance (Real Z, ohm) and the reactance (Im Z, negative ohm)) magnitudes and hence the Cole-Cole (Real Z versus Im Z) plots are different for the electroporated lung and the naive lung. The results confirm the close relationship between the structure and the functional characteristic. These also vary for the different biological tissues studied. The impedance values were higher at low frequencies compared to those at high frequencies. This study is of practical interest for biological applications of electrical pulses, such as electroporation, whose efficacy depends on cell type and its electrical impedance characteristics.

In order to study the inactivation effects of electrostatic field of electret films on , a plane-plane electrode system was used to simulate the electric field of the electret films and the viability of affected by electrostatic field for different applying durations was investigated. It was found that the survival ratio of can be considerably affected by the field and duration. It was also found that the viability of bacillus decreases with the increase of the duration. In addition, the comparative survival ratio (CSR) of decreases to 35% even during a short duration as the applied field reaches an enough high value of more than 15 kV/cm. These indicated that the uniform field inactivated the viability of availability. Based on the inactivation effect of the applied field on the , the effectiveness of charged polypropylene films on the inactivation of was measured and discussed.

The exact solution to an electrostatic problem of finding the electric potential of point charges inside a dielectric prolate spheroid is discussed in this note by using the classical electrostatic theory, where the prolate spheroid is embedded in a dissimilar dielectric medium. Such a problem may find its application in hybrid solvent biomolecular simulations, in which biomolecules and a part of solvent molecules within a dielectric cavity are explicitly modeled while a surrounding dielectric continuum is used to model bulk effects of the solvent beyond the cavity. Numerical experiments have demonstrated the convergence of the proposed series solutions.